Through the Dark (Sequel to Taking Chances)

Chapter Twenty-Four: "I Won't Lose This Game"

It's been a rough week, especially when confronting the loss of someone who was once a part of your life. It won't get easier. Everyone knows that. But I will try pretty damn hard to ignore that.

Updates might be slower than usual, I'm afraid. My timing is never a great thing, not something I'm known for. But I will try to get them up when the time is appropriate.
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Niall
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Claire and Harry returned the next day, but they didn't look like I'd expected them to. It didn't seem possible, yet they looked grimmer than they had before.

Claire cleared her throat, her eyes casting glances at Brielle every second. Then she looked at me.

"Her Aunt Charlotte... she's here."

"And Uriah, her uncle," Harry added.

Those faces flashed in my head, and for an instant I remembered just what we'd been doing that led us to where we were now - we were getting those files. Judie was trying something, and we needed to keep moving ahead if we wanted Brielle to stay alive.

I didn't know what it was about her family that made her go through so much hell, why family would be the biggest backstabbers of them all, but I knew that I needed to protect Brielle if anything else. It had to be me. I couldn't allow something like this to happen to her again.

I gave Brielle's hand a gentle squeeze as I stood, nodding my head once. "Okay. I'll go talk to them."

They parted ways as I slipped through, eyes glancing around the hallways for the two people whose intentions I'd clearly misjudged; they wanted to protect Brielle as much as I did, and if I couldn't get my shit together to help her, none of us would be of help.

I found them pacing, talking in hushed whispers, their faces drowning in worry. They turned when my footsteps echoed off the walls, and relief spread through them like a wildfire to trees. But I knew better than to think they were completely relieved. Brielle was still not awake and her condition was still a bit of a mystery to the doctors.

"Niall," Charlotte rasped. "How is she?"

I took a deep breath as I fiddled with my hospital gown. I desperately wanted my own clothes back, but the doctors refused until I was released.

"She's been... asleep..." I looked at them, despite my regret, and forced the words out of my mouth. "... for four weeks."

Uriah paled, but Charlotte stayed quiet. She watched me, biting down hard on her lower lip. Her eyes slipped to Uriah once before she reached out to rub his back reassuringly. She looked back to me.

"What happened?"

I felt my heart race, and the fear of their judgements crept up on me before I could push it away.

"We... we got into an accident."

Charlotte nodded. Her eyes stayed on mine, as if scrutinizing me. "You were getting the reports weren't you?"

Surprise flashed, but I forced myself to nod. "Yes." But then I began to panic. "But... we lost them in the crash... I don't know where they are."

She smiled softly. "I have them, don't worry. When we got the news, we headed straight to the police department to retrieve them. Niall, that was a stupid move."

"No, it wasn't. What do we have against her without them?" I protested quietly.

I would take the blame for the accident, for Brielle's not waking up, for always getting us into a mess that I knew I couldn't get out of easily, but I would not say that what we did was stupid. Without those reports, those files, we would be as blindly walking into it as we did Liam. We had to be smart. We had to do things differently.

"Your life," Uriah replied sternly. "Safety. Without those files, you would not be in this mess. This accident would not have happened and Brielle would be awake."

I couldn't tell if they blamed me or the accident for what happened, but I still felt immensely remorseful for it all. It didn't have to rely on what they thought.

"It doesn't matter now," Charlotte cut in. She stared me hard in the eyes as she stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Judie is getting closer, Niall. She found a distant cousin of Anna's that knew of Liam's behavior. Lord knows what she did with him. You have to watch your back."

"We're working on keeping her away for awhile, but you guys have to be careful," Uriah said. He stared at me as sternly as he could, which was enough to make me shut my mouth. I couldn't argue with them when it came to this.

"Be more careful, please," Charlotte urged. "If we lost you or Brielle or anyone to this woman, I don't know how we'd take it..."

I nodded, smiling as reassuringly to them as I could manage. "She's playing games that she thinks we can't keep up with. But I don't intend to lose. I won't lose this game. Even if it kills me."

Even if.

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They stayed for awhile longer to sit with Brielle. When they left, they urged me to proceed with caution. And then all too soon they were gone.

It wasn't until later that Jon and Carly showed up. Jon was in shambles, and Carly looked fearful as to what she'd find. Not once did I blame her. There was much to fear when the person you depended on heavily wasn't able to look at you or touch you or even breathe on their own. It was scary to assume, but it was scarier to see it for yourself.

I smiled weakly, hoping my presence would comfort even the slightest part of her that feared this. She ran from Jon and hugged me tightly around the waist, her eyes scrunched shut. I leaned down and hugged her back, closing my eyes as I took in this small girls frame.

She was so sweet. I remembered her telling me that she wanted Brielle and I to get married one day, and that she would want to be the flower girl. That was the day I'd taken her out for ice cream, and she'd gotten some on her chin. She reminded me so much of Brielle, and her innocence and creativity was something to always be cherished a world like this. In a world experienced like Brielle had all her life.

I wished Carly wouldn't have to go through this, that her life would've been easy. But nothing was ever easy. And I had learned that the hard way.

"Niall," Jon mumbled, earning my attention. He looked close to crying, but he held it in for what I was assuming was Carly's sake. Although I almost felt that it was also for his sake, as well.

I pulled from Carly's grasp just as Claire appeared, smiling down at her. Carly ran to Claire, and then I walked to Jon. I hesitated, unsure how to approach him.

But he surprised me by grabbing my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. I was stiff, so tense that I almost crumbled in his strong grip. And then I fell into his embrace as I felt myself crumble all over again.

This one person that we all cared deeply for was suffering in a place that none of us knew how to get through to. We missed her, we suffered just as immensely. And yet we still stood. How, I had absolutely no idea. But I knew that we wouldn't give up if she was still breathing. It didn't matter how she was breathing, just that she was.

I won't lose this game, I thought. I won't.