Between Us and These Bones

37

"Mom," I cried, screaming in agony when my wounds stretched, the stitches pulling on my skin. Carson and Skyler caught ahold of my arms as they held me upright.

"Tarryn, you have to stay calm," Carson warned. "You can't move too much right now. Your back needs..."

I shoved him with my hand weakly. "Mom," I whispered, tears pricking in my eyes. "You h-have to go find out wh-what's h-happening."

He sighed and glanced over his shoulder. "Okay, I'll go look, see what's going on," he said. He looked back at me, his eyes narrowing. "You are staying here."

"Keep her from moving," Carson instructed Skyler, easing his hold on me. "I'll go check on mom." He gave me a look, warning me not to follow him.

Skyler and Haisley moved closer to me, holding me upright as my oldest brother left the hospital room. I could barely breathe, my chest heavy.

"What if ..."

"Don't do that," Haisley whispered, shaking his head. "It only makes things worse." He rubbed my arm, trying to comfort me. Mom needed to be alive. She needed to get to know her son. She needed to heal. She deserved to live.

I needed her to live.

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Carson had been gone for forty minutes. I could barely breath, my heart pounding in my chest as my thoughts tried to stay positive but doubts kept slipping through the cracks.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Haisley blurted, tears flowing down his cheeks. "This is my fault. This is my fault."

"No, no it's not Haze." Skyler's tone was final, but it didn't stop tears from running down Haisley's cheeks. "You were manipulated into thinking mom abandoned you. That's not true at all. You have to know it's not your fault, it's your fathers."

"Will Trey and Matthew think that?"

"I've already talked to them and told them what happened. You don't need to worry about them."

"It's not your fault, Haze." I cupped my twins face. "It's Wayne's. And he'll pay."

"Damn right he'll pay," Skyler mumbled. "With his fucking life."

"What?" Haisley and I both whipped our heads toward our older brother.

"Ivan knows people. Wayne is a dead man walking." It didn't surprise me. I knew who Ivan was, a gang leader, and he would do anything to protect his family. Even if that meant murder.

"God. She has to live."

"Hey, whatever is happening, she's a fighter." Skyler tried to reassure me.

After what seemed like hours, Carson re-entered the hospital room, his face etched with grief and the weight of an unbearable truth. The air seemed to constrict as he met my eyes, his expression conveying a sorrow that words couldn't capture. My heart sank, and an unspoken fear seized me.

"Carson, what's happening? How's Mom?" I pleaded, my voice quivering with a mixture of dread and denial.

He hesitated, a heavy pause that seemed to stretch into eternity. Skyler's grip on my arms tightened, as if preparing for the storm about to descend upon us.

"I'm so sorry, Tarryn," Carson finally spoke, his voice a solemn whisper. "Mom... she didn't make it."

Time seemed to freeze, the words hanging in the air like a cruel echo. A deafening silence followed, broken only by the shuddering breaths I struggled to take. Skyler made a sound beside me.

"No," I whispered, a denial born from the depths of anguish. "No, you're lying. This can't be real."

Tears welled in my eyes, blurring the sight of Carson's solemn face. Skyler's grip softened, a futile attempt to offer comfort in the face of an irreversible loss.

Haisley, who had been standing by my side, wrapped his arms around me. It felt like a feeble attempt to shield me from the harsh reality crashing down upon us.

Carson, his eyes heavy with grief, nodded in confirmation of the unbearable truth. "I wish it weren't true, Tarryn." His voice cracked and tears fell down his cheeks.

The hospital room now harbored the emptiness of loss. My mother, the anchor of our fractured family, was gone. The weight of her absence settled in the silence, and the world seemed to crumble around us, leaving nothing but the echoes of sorrow in its wake.

Sobs racked my body, tears spilling. I pulled back the scratchy, blue sheet and tried to swing my legs over the side of the bed, but Carson stopped me by grabbing my arms. "Tarryn, no-"

"Let go," I screamed, thrashing around, pain rippling through my body. "I need to see her, please." He didn't stop me from moving and followed me to the door.

As I entered the room, the air felt heavy with an unsettling stillness. My breath caught in my throat as I laid eyes on her lifeless form. The pale, serene face that had once held warmth and love was now a canvas of stillness. I approached tentatively, as if my very footsteps could shatter the illusion and bring her back to life.

"Mom," I choked out, my voice barely audible, as if speaking too loudly would awaken the reality I desperately wished to deny. The room echoed with the hollowness of loss, the silence a cruel reminder of what once was.

Carson, standing by my side, offered a comforting touch to my shoulder. His eyes mirrored the sorrow etched into my own as we confronted the undeniable truth together. I reached out, my trembling fingers brushing against her cold, bruised hand. It sent chills sent shivers down my spine, a visceral confirmation of the irreversible separation.

Tears blurred my vision as I whispered fragments of words, a desperate attempt to communicate with someone who could no longer hear. The room seemed to close in, a cocoon of grief, and the harsh reality of her absence pressed upon me like a suffocating weight.

Carson, sensing the overwhelming pain, enveloped me in a tight embrace, careful of my back. He cried softly with me, as we stood there, clinging to each other amid the heart-wrenching silence of the hospital room.

In that moment, the world outside ceased to exist. There was only the empty room, the memories of a once vibrant life, and the ache of a profound loss that could never be fully articulated. My mother, lay in the hospital bed,

"She can't be dead," I cried, my voice breaking as I stared at her beaten and bloodied face. The brutality inflicted upon her seemed inconceivable, a cruel tableau etched with the horrors of a reality I desperately wished to escape.

Her features, once a canvas of warmth and love, now bore the scars of a violence that defied reason. The room seemed to close in, shadows dancing across her lifeless form, and I clung to the futile hope that this nightmare would unravel, revealing itself as a grotesque illusion.

Carson, his expression a mirror of my grief, stood by my side, a pillar of strength in the face of an unbearable truth. The silence in the room echoed with the weight of the unsaid, a symphony of pain that surrounded us.

"I can't believe this is real," I murmured, my disbelief woven into every syllable. The reality of her death loomed over us, an impenetrable darkness that threatened to engulf my very soul. I reached out, my trembling hand hovering above her battered face, as if by touch, I could somehow bridge the gap between life and death. "She ... she was supposed to live. She was supposed to fight, fight harder. She's supposed to be here, she's supposed come home. She promised!"

"She fought like hell, Tarryn. She succumbed to her injuries. She fought until her last breath." Carson, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, gently guided me away from the harrowing scene. We stepped out into the sterile hallway, leaving behind the stillness that clung to the room, and faced the daunting task of navigating a world forever altered by the absence of her presence. In the hallway, I broke down into sobs again. My big brother didn't say anything, he simply cried with me and held me in his arms.

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- Charlie 🧡