Broken Strings

C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - S I X

"You have been in every way all that anyone could be...If anyone could have saved me, it would have been you."

- J. N.

▼▲▼▲▼ ▼▲▼▲▼ ▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼

Andrew slowly opened the door, entering the dimly lit hospital room. His footsteps were light, careful as he didn't want Anisha to wake up.

Gently, he placed the paper bag on the table beside her bed.

Blueberry muffins. Her favorite. Just as she liked them.

Last night had been hell for him. Neither Ryan nor Mira made a single sound on the way home. Surely, Mira must've known the truth by the time they'd gotten home. Especially considering the fact that he'd carried her, teary-eyed and whimpering to her room. And Ryan, he'd slammed his door shut the minute they'd gotten home.

It had just been one night. And the house, it already felt empty without Anisha.

It no longer felt like home.

And the night, it had seemed to drag on.

Sighing, he sat down the chair, instantly reaching for Anisha's hand. Her hand felt cold.

If anything, he'd fucked up he knew, but to have to sit there, begging for her to wake up, he'd thought life couldn't have hurt him anymore.

Over again, he could've never thought that life would fuck him again. That circumstance would ruin him, again and again.

This time, everything was on the life.

Because of everything he'd ever done in life, after the name he'd built for himself, after the mistake's he'd made to ruin his own and her life, after every little thing he'd fucked up, she'd always been there.

If it was one thing, then it was the fact that Anisha was the only one who hadn't given up on him. And them, she hadn't given up, on them.

"Anisha, I got you muffins." His voice was light. He reached out, gently brushing away the stray hairs from her face.

"Anisha?"

Standing up, he reached for her left hand, confusion clouding his sky-colored eyes. Frantically, he grabbed her right hand.

"No. No. No."

The IV wasn't there.

He looked around the room, staring at the blank monitor. Fear slowly highlighting him.

"We've been calling you for the past hour now."

Andrew turned around, desperately, staring at Sebastian as he walked into the room, tugging on his plaid tie before adjusting his white coat.

And for sure, there and then, the way Sebastian's eyes softened, almost a hint of sympathy, Andrew knew his broken heart would never heal.

Andrew turned back to Anisha, reaching for her hand again. "No. No. Fuck no. She...she." He pressed his fingers against her wrist. He pressed harder, begging to feel anything, just the smallest faint beat of a pulse.