A week has gone by since Jaylen died. His body was shot more times than I could count. His body, once the authorities arrived was blown to bits from the bullets, no longer recognizable. Though he killed Aaron out of jealousy, I can’t help but feel remorse for his death. But, what Jaylen did to Aaron was wrong; he had no right to kill him out of jealousy. Once he killed Aaron, I felt nothing more than hate. You could say I cursed his existence, but even after he murdered Aaron, he still protected Charlotte till his last breath left his body.

My heart hurts. A different kind of hurt from my normal heart pains. My heart feels like it’s missing something. I have seen both of my friends die one after another. The loss of my friends has a different weight to it than the loss of my parents. This pain, I hate it.

Other than my lifeless body resting in a coma back in the hospital, I have no one left but Charlotte. I’ve watched her fall apart throughout the two weeks. It breaks my heart to watch her like this. She was never diagnosed with any mental problems even after our parents both died suddenly from cancer. She was just feeling the pain of loss that every child must face after their parents die. But the death of both Aaron and Jaylen was different. This goes beyond the normal feeling of loss. It’s as if her beautiful, bright smile has been tainted.

Knowing that neither Aaron nor Jaylen would be waiting for her causes her steps to become heavy and slow. Her legs are stone blocks full of sorrow. Her face is still puffy and red from crying. I just hope that when I wake up from this coma a ray of hope will brighten up what’s left of her hollow self.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Charlotte’s phone rings as we walk on the large highway bridge to her house.

“Doc, how’s Mallory?” Charlotte almost yells. Her eyes instantly light up. I lean against my sister to try to listen in on their conversation. Please wake up! I want to save Charlotte from the pain of loss. We can weather the storm together.

“We just took him out of the coma and—” the doctor starts.

“Doc the patient flatlined!” An assistant yells over to the doctor loud enough for even us to hear as clear as day from the other side.