The Quiet Ever After

A Lawn of Leaves and Grass - 9

Axel woke and found Nina sitting up in bed rubbing her knuckles, her hair a ruffled mess. He rolled out of bed and did his morning stretches.

"Can't believe you talked me into drawing with chalk," Nina said, then joined him.

She completed her stretches and checked her phone as she moved to open the blinds. Axel did the same.

Geoff had called, twice. Strange. He never called so late in the—

"What's going on outside?" Nina asked, her voice laced with fear.

Cars were built up around Geoff's house. An ambulance was there. Neighbors surrounded the lawn. Phil stood there among the crowd while Hideki walked outside, face sunken.

"What..." Axel muttered, but Nina was already changing.

"Come on!" she exclaimed. "Axel, come on!"

He stumbled through getting dressed as fast as he could and the two ran out of the house.

Brittany was there, standing with Phil and Hideki. Even Ryan, Axel spotted, observed the goings-on from his driveway.

Phil grabbed Axel as he instinctively tried to go into the house.

"We were told to wait," he said.

Brittany sighed, stifling a sob.

"Is everyon—Geoff—Hideki?"

Axel could hardly form thoughts, let alone words.

Hideki stood tall. The man was used to being in tense situations. Health scares were frightening to him, of course, but were also a matter of professionalism and care.

Even he, though, stuttered as he began speaking.

"We're losing him," Hideki said. "His body is going to shut down soon. He's in a coma, completely unresponsive. Today, Geoff..." He pursed his lips and considered the people staring at him with whatever shreds of hope they had remaining about the situation. "I'm sorry."

"Can we see him, can anyone see him?" Nina asked.

"We're waiting for word from the care team."

"I don't understand what's happening," Axel said. "He was fine. He was great yesterday."

"People often get a sudden burst of life right before the end," Hideki said. "As if their body is giving them one final moment to take it all in. Maybe so that others can remember them as they've always truly been."

Axel realized Phil was still holding his arm pretty tightly. Nina drifted toward the house absentmindedly but Hideki stepped forward to give her pause, too.

Brittany sniffled, catching Nina's attention.

"Do the boys know?" Nina asked

"They can see the ambulances but they're not sure what's going on," she said. "Jaime is with them now."

"How are you feeling?" Hideki asked.

Brittany sighed. "I barely slept last night thanks to a bunch of heartburn so this is a great way to continue the morning." She wiped her nose and let out a little laugh. Though small, it had enough of a ripple to get the others to smile at her attempt at levity.

For a dreadfully long set of perhaps ten minutes, they engaged in small talk. Brittany gave them all the updates on her pregnancy and how she was progressing: the hospital tour went well, the doctors were kind, and little Jane was doing incredible. She was just giving her mother a nasty inability to sleep or digest foods peacefully.