𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑─𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐫

10.

I had spent the ambulance ride to the hospital staring at my "dead" brother, my eyes wide and teary as the paramedics worked on him. They had asked me what happened, and I relayed the story Stiles had gone over with me. 

I came home from a friends, called out for Scott, and entered his room to find him like that. I told them that he has suffered from asthma in the past, leading them to believe that maybe an asthma attack had taken place. 

Upon our arrival to the hospital, Scott had been whisked away to the room, Liam's stepdad soon rushing in after. 

I had been ushered out to the waiting room, waiting until someone would inevitably come out and tell my my brother was dead. 

Tears fell from my eyes, and I couldn't really tell whether it was part of the act, or if I was crying for real. I wiped my face as I texted Stiles, letting him know that we were here, and things the plan was in motion. 

Minutes after my brother had disappeared from my sight, my mother came bolting down the hall, coming to a halt outside of Scott's room. She was stopped as Dr. Geyer walked out, giving her a sad look as he explained what had happened. Her son was dead.

My mother let out a heart wrenching wail as she fell to the ground, crying over the "death" of her son. I truly hadn't known my mother was that good of an actress. 

I felt my own heart break at the sight of her, and for a moment I forgot that none of this was real. But, we had to pretend it was. And so, I jumped to my feet, rushing down the hall to my mom. 

Dr. Geyer had her up on her feet by the time I reached her. He looked over to me with sympathetic eyes as my mom crashed into me, pulling me close to her chest as she cried. Tears, this time 100% real, fell from my eyes as I buried my head in her chest. 

If losing Scott for real was going to hurt more than this, then I really didn't think I ever wanted to go through that. People had stopped what they were doing, watching as my mother embraced me in the hallway. Too many people.

How were we going to explain it to everyone when Scott miraculously showed up at the next staff family picnic, alive and well?

"Mom," I whispered, so quiet only she could hear, "We need to go."

She nodded, pulling me back from her chest, instead wrapping an arm tightly around my waist. As she pulled me away from the room, I looked inside to see that Scott's body had already been taken down to the morgue- they worked fast. 

That meant that by the time my mom and I got down there, everyone else was already gathered around my brother's body. 

Before we entered, my mom stopped for a moment, composing herself as she wiped the tears from her face, "Are you okay?" she asked softly, reaching to wipe my face.

I nodded, "I just really don't like this." I admitted as we turned toward the entrance.

My mom took my hand, giving it a quick squeeze as she pulled open the door, "We better get in there," she announced.

Letting out a final shaky breath, I followed her in watching as everyone turned to look at us. They were all gathered around Scott's body which had been placed in a body bag. Liam turned to me upon my arrival, whispering a small, "Hey."

I forced the best smile I could, pushing my hair from my face as I looked down at Scott, he looked more dead than before.

"I hate this plan," My mom muttered, sniffling as she stared down at Scott. 

Mrs. Yukimura gave her a soft smile, reaching her hand out, "Here," she whispered. 

My mom looked to Stiles, hesitant to reach out and do whatever Mrs. Yukimura was requesting of her.