My New Addiction

25. Flower

When I was little, I watched my grandma die. She had an inoperable tumor and was left with only a few days to live. Of all people, she was the one to be given a platter full of crap by the universe. It's plain shitty I think. It's unfair how all these horrible people get to live their lives being assholes...

While the ones who deserve to live just, don't.

My mother always told me:

"When you see a patch of flowers, which one do you pick?

The beautiful ones."

But I'm not some lovely flower to pick now death am I?

The smell of burnt rubber filled the air. Glass shards were everywhere. One out of the three cars involved in the crash was lit in flames. Screams of the injured surround me. Though I couldn't bring myself to release any kind of noise to convey the amount of pain I was in. It hurt too much. I could barely move my arm.

"T-Tessa!" I heard Blue call me. Her voice quivering. My eyes scanned the darkness to find the two children safely tucked in the back seat. I groggily felt the passenger seat door and kicked it open. A crack broke through my leg making me scream. God, did I just break my own leg? But it worked. The door was open. I took one last look to make sure the kids were alright and breathing. They had superficial wounds. But that was it.

What really took a lot of damage and impact was the front. Seeming as how we crashed onto a boulder. Blue had been propelled out of the windshield because of her not wearing a seat belt. If I remember correctly, it was because Emma and Eddie started fighting. Blue, being the mother she is, scolds at them and tried to make them stop by turning to face them. What we didn't see coming was my psychotic ex-boyfriend zooming down on us that same moment.

"Blue," I choked out. My throat hurting from the knot I stubbornly tried to gulp away. Dragging my bad leg, I stagger over to her side. Her body lay flat on her stomach. She could barely breathe from the state she was in. With a shaky breath, she turns her face to the side so she could see me. I crouched down to sit in front of her, assuring her the kids were okay.

"Eddie.. is h-he?" She barely whispers. I nodded, "He's okay." I looked down on my leg and saw a whole lot. Skin flap, flesh, blood, and lastly, bone. It took a while and a great deal of pain to position myself so I could sit comfortably.

"I.." she takes multiple breaths, trying to speak. I felt tears prick my eyes at the sight of her struggling. If only my arm worked, I could hug her. Instead, I could only hold her hand.

"I need you," she gulps before continuing. "I need you t-to promise m-me."

"No no. I'm not gonna promise you anything. We're gonna get out of here. Okay?" I assured her. My hope as big as ever. "You can't do this. You can't die from this when you've had bullets go through you. Come on." My eyes widen at the sight of the blood pooling around her. More blood dripping out of her nose. My hope was crushed.

Her eyes said it all. She had accepted the fact that she was dying.

"Promise m-me," she smiled sadly. "Promise you what damn it," I sob out.

"T-that you will give m-my Eddie a good life. The b-best life I c-could never give him."

She squeezes my hand, begging me to agree. I nodded, making her breathe out in relief. With her lips barely twitching to a smile, "You t-tell him I love him. Okay?"

"I will," I nodded with tears pouring down my cheeks. Not minding the sting it gave my cuts.

"I promise I'll bring him to the park, to the movies. We'll even buy popcorn. Even if they're expensive," I chuckled lightly.

"Y-you do that," she smiles with her eyes getting droopy by the second.

"M-make it.. so he gets a new start. Even if," tears start to fall as she winces from sobbing quietly.

"Even if he doesn't remember me. I.. think it'd be best if he doesn't," she squeezed her eyes close to get the tears out.

"I can't do that! You're a great mom. He deserves to know!" I protest.

"Promise me. You'd do that for me won't you?" She smiled one last time. I nodded with my heart feeling like it had been stomped on.

"I promise."

"Y-you promise." And with that, she took her last breath with content.

The sound of something scraping on the ground sobered me up from crying my eyes out. I turned my head just in time to see a half dead and mutilated Ace making his way over to me. He was covered in blood, cut up in unimaginable ways. Still, he had the strength to possibly seek me out and end my life for good. The smell of his flesh burning made it all the more horrific.

I gave one last scream before the deafening sound of the gunshot went off. So soon I was met with darkness.

Maybe I am a flower. One picked out of it's roots to rot and die.

Maybe I just am.