Despair's Insanity - an II x DR fic

TTM - 7 (Chapter End)

I woke up in the trial room still, but saw Bomb had sat on the floor next to me. I sat up, and he sighed with relief.

"You're up."

"Where is everyone?" I asked through small, hoarse squeaks. I guessed my voice came back, although it sounded like I smoked two packs a day for the past thirty years.

Bomb looked down at the bowl in front of him. "Well- a llllot of people are c-confused. Blue had a panic attack- Oj did too. They're u-up in the nurse's station right now... b-b-but I got you chicken broth." He held up the bowl, holding it in front of me so I'd pick it up. "It's n-not too hot... please drink it."

"Wait. This is all- it's happening too fast. Paper... I didn't even..."

"Paper died sssso you could live. He- d-didn't have time to say goodbye. Look- I'm not in the mmmmood to discuss it right now. We can d-deal with it tomorrow. Just drink this."

"Why should I?"

"You're starving," Bomb said simply. "I- I know what it's like to starve. Just drink it."

"...Baseball's dead."

Bomb sighed at my little comment, put the bowl down, and leaned back a bit. "I know. P-Pickle, Ssssoap, Loony, Paper, Pepper... t-they were all my friends. It sucks. But if y-you sssssit and think about it, you're just gonna miss out o-on the people still here, right? Y-You told a lot of people that before. And- I- I'm still gonna have Oj and Apple. You have Blueberry, and... if you want, I- I can keep you sssome company, too."

We both stared at each other for a moment, completely silent, but then my vision blurred as I began to cry yet again. What was going on?... how could I have lost two people so quickly? How was I so stupid to think making attachments would be good for me?!

Paper, Bristol, Jeremy, and the others were all dead in one go, and Baseball died in my own arms! I couldn't see myself recovering from something like that! As I cried, I could barely see Bomb wiping his face off and sniffling.

"I miss them, too. I can't ssssay much else. I can't fix this. It- it's just... happening. And we need to w-work together to make it stop, ok? Please- drink the broth."

I glanced down at the bowl beside me, moved to sit against a podium, and picked up the bowl to just drink out of. I got it all down in one sitting, and huffed. "What's the point of chicken broth anyway?"

"...I just know t-that if you don't eat, and then try to go back like it's normal- you g-get sick. Personal experience. Y-You can work your way up in little bits, but thhhis works well enough t-to keep you alive a little bit."

"Why do you even care?" Bomb's eyes widened at my question, but he had a quick answer.

"You're a person. Y-You've been through a lot, and Blueberry isn't h-here or able to help. So... I chose to. If y-y-you don't do it- who will? And I know w-what's going on. Depression sucks, b-but this isn't going to help. It's g-g-gonna take a lot of willpower, but you gotta try. Please?"

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to deny this was depression, but at this point that was impossible. Forgetting to eat wasn't exactly normal. And Blueberry would be just as upset as I was earlier if I ended up dead. I didn't want to put him through that... Bomb helped me stand up.

"You can stay in m-my room tonight, ok?"

"...mmhm." With that, he led me to the elevator. I felt like so much had happened, and I got no closure from it, but... having someone hold me without any dread of a potential argument or confession felt nice. I closed my eyes and leaned further against him a little bit, to which he didn't even react beyond a soft squeeze. The funeral tomorrow would be a pain in the ass- but I knew I had to go. Nobody would host it now that the previous one ended up dead. If I didn't get to give Paper any sort of send off, I would at least cover for him. Paying respects might help, anyway.