Chapter 22

Maddie

I just looked at a video of my brother cutting himself, I was so sick to my stomach. Like why the fuck was he doing this. Claudia's phone rang again a couple of minutes later, I picked up the call. Claudia wasn't really in a state of talking right now, she was sobbing uncontrollably. 'Hello' I said. 'I think he is gonna die, I think he is gonna die.' The guy on the other side of the call repeatedly said, I could tell he was so scared and crying as well. 'Where you guys at? Is there any hospital near you, he clearly cut his radial arteries. You need to get him to the hospital now.' 'Okay.' He said in between sniffles. I stayed on the call with him till he told me an ambulance came, I could hear the sirens in the background and people yelling which made it a little hard for me to hear him properly.I ended the call and thanked the guy on the phone for saving Ken's life and asked him to keep me updated when they get to the hospital. My whole attention instantly shifted from the call to my best friend who was now curled up in bed sobbing. I laid next to her and cuddled her, her crying escalated. I tried so hard not to cry as well but I also found myself tearing up. We continued sobbing in silence for a while, the silence was deafening. 'This is all my fault.' 'What! No Claudia, it ain't your fault.' 'Ken is in this state because of me, if he dies I would never be able to live with myself.' 'Claudia, look at me.' I cupped her cheek with my hand so she could look me in the eye. 'It's not your fault and Ken is not going to die.' 'How do you know?' 'Because I know he won't die, it's too soon.' I was comforting her with words I wasn't sure of myself. What if he dies? The thought of him dying was heart-rending. I found myself praying, something I rarely do. 'Dear God, please let him live.'

I left an hour later and went home. I really needed some time alone to think. A lot happened today to be honest. I threw myself on the bed and sobbed til I couldn't anymore. I don't when I fell asleep but I woke up to a redolence aroma coming from the kitchen. I bet it's mom, dad can't cook such good smelling food. I got up and headed to where the scent came from, mom was in the kitchen. She clearly wasn't aware she was not alone in the kitchen. I hugged her from behind and she jumped, screamed. 'Mom, it's me.' 'Oh my god, you scared me.' 'I am sorry.' I said laughing. She smooched my forehead. 'I really thought you were at Claudia's.' Mentioning Claudia's name made me recall the events that actually happened when I was there. My heart started racing. 'Why do you look like you just saw a ghost? Can you help me set the table?' 'Mom, something happened today.' I managed to say after staring dismally at her. 'Okay_' She passed me the plates. I went and put them on the table. 'You might wanna sit down for this' I said pulling her to the dining room. 'What is it Maddie? You are really scaring me honey.' She sat down and looked at me all ears. I began telling her everything that happened today. 'My Ken is in the hospital! We should go see him. How come they haven't called me? What if he is dead?' She was sobbing. I hugged her, already in tears as well. 'We need to go see him Maddie.' I hugged her even more tight while she continued sobbing in my arms. 'What's going on?' a familiar voice asked. Dad was home. I turned to look at him and he looked back at me with concern. I told him what I just told my mom. He didn't waste any more time, he went and started the car while I went to fetch my jacket. We left and headed to Ken's school. We got there after almost three hours later.

My dad went to the offices while we remained behind in the car. He came back after some time and we headed to the hospital which was a twenty minutes drive from the school. Turns out the school had no idea Ken was injured, when all this happened Ken was not in school or close to the school for that matter. We arrived at the hospital and my dad went up to the receptionist. We all headed to the waiting room and waited for the doctor. Several minutes later, the doctor arrived and led us to where Ken was. My mom and I went in to see him while my father remained outside with the doctor. I slowly walked towards his bed, regretting all the bad things I ever said to him. 'What if he dies?' The thought kept lingering in my mind ever since i saw the video of him cutting himself. I finally made it to his bedside, and hesitantly took his bandaged hand into mine. I was afraid I might hurt him. 'My baby!' My mom sobbed. I nearly forgot she was in the room with us. We stayed in his room for a while, but he hasn't woken up yet. "Oh shit! I haven't spoken to Claudia" I recalled. I then went outside and called her. She answered instantly, I could tell she has been waiting for this call. "I am sorry for taking this long to call you." I faintly said. "Please don't tell me he is dead, no, no, no, no." She shrieked in terror. "He is not dead Claudia, he will be okay." Her breathing started to subside. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he died Maddie." I could hear the pain in her voice as she said this, if I were with her right now. I would have hugged her. "It was never your fault Claudia."

"Have you had something to eat?" I asked trying to change the topic. "Not yet, I don't have appetite." "You know you gotta eat Claudia, I'mma call you with a video call just so I make sure you ate." I didn't give her time to say anything, I instantly switched the call to video call. It made my heart sank as soon as her face appeared on the screen. Her eyes looked swollen and so red. It like she hasn't slept for days.