Monochrome beat (boyxboy)✔

Beat 36

Orlando's POV

"He's leaving Rittertown...in a few hours."

My mother was looking at me suspiciously. Cellphones were not allowed at the table. I was breaking that rule. After the words I'd just heard though, I didn't care about having broken a stupid rule.

It was Monday morning. It was an okay day – the weather was okay that is. It was shining brightly outside. Inside the Lewis' house, it was tense and suffocative. Mom was sitting across from me at the kitchen table and I didn't miss her stare of disapproval. I was disrespecting her, yet again.

Mom wasn't pleased I skipped church to go to the hospital. She was even more displeased that I refused to tell her what had happened. Why bother when all she would do was judge Jax for how he'd chosen to leave the world? It wouldn't matter what the reason was.

We hadn't talked at all after I'd returned from the hospital the previous day. Eric and I had come back from the hospital before the family returned from church and I'd stayed in my room the whole day. I couldn't go out and face my family, or anyone for that matter. I waited for the call that never came.

Things were tense as mom woke me up for school that morning. She only said a few words to me. I had no energy for school but I had no energy for arguing either. I showered and prepared for school, planning to ditch sometime in the afternoon to visit Jax.

The whole family pitched for morning breakfast, even Eric though he had nowhere to be. Few words were exchanged. The whole atmosphere was suffocative, maybe just for me. I was waiting for my mom to try painfully extracting information from me.

Mom had opened her mouth to talk just as my phone rang. I didn't miss her disapproval, even more when I answered. Janice had finally called me. There was no way I was going to ignore that phone call, and I was glad I hadn't left my phone in my room.

"Hi Orlando, it's Janice," Janice said when I answered.

"Any news?" I asked with no hesitation.

"Yeah. He's awake and doing really well. He was discharged last night," she said.

My heart burst into joy. Jax was awake. He was out of the woods. I had a chance to apologize to him, to fix us.

"That's grea–" I said and she interrupted hastily.

"He's leaving Rittertown...in a few hours."

"What do you mean he's leaving?" The words escaped me.

"His dad came and decided this place isn't good for him, especially after what happened. I agree. He's going to live with him," she replied.

"Where is he now?" I asked desperately.

"He didn't want me to tell you, but I thought you deserve to know," she said. "Right now he's at a hotel with his father. They asked me to pack his things. They are coming to pick them up in an hour."

"Which hotel? Janice, which hotel?" I demanded to know, getting up from my seat. My voice commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

Janice sighed. "Come to my house instead. They'll be coming here. If you go to the hotel you might miss them."

"I'm on my way," I said and she hung up.

Jax was leaving. The news came as a bombshell to me, but instead of freezing me, it demanded that I take action. I couldn't let Jax leave without talking to him. My last memory of us couldn't be me sitting on a plastic chair while he lay motionless, comatose. There was a lot I needed to say to him.