Burn (Barlyle) (COMPLETE)

64

When Phillip finally moved, it was to curl himself up into a ball. His stab wound flared with fresh pain, but he bit his lip - hard enough to draw blood - and took it. He buried his face in his knees and didn't look up when the door opened.

"Phillip."

He froze at the sound of the voice that met his ears. Still hugging his knees, he lifted his eyes to meet the source.

Charity Barnum was a shell of her former self. Dark circles rimmed her bloodshot eyes and she was pale. Very pale. She sat on the edge of Phillip's hospital bed - neither of them wanted to even look at the empty bed beside them - and her lips trembled as she spoke.

"How are you?" she whispered.

"The girls?" Phillip's voice cracked. They were the first words he'd spoken since that doctor told him to be quiet, but he wanted to talk about anything other than himself.

Charity sighed heavily. "With my parents. They're - they're not in good shape."

She buried her face in her hands. Phillip looked up at her, unsure of what to do.

"How could this happen?" she moaned.

"I - I'm sorry," Phillip finally whispered. "It's...my fault. If I hadn't - if we hadn't—"

His voice cracked. He couldn't continue.

"He loved you," Charity whispered.

The wail that escaped Phillip's lips was mortifying. He looked down again, unable to look her in the eyes.

Charity took a deep, shuddering breath. Her next words shocked Phillip to the very core and it took a moment for them to sink in.

"Would you...like to see him?"

So I did research on this and nowadays you can view a body in the hospital mortuary right after the person dies/before they begin autopsy prep. I'm not sure how historically accurate that is (1870s hospital death regulations are a little...errr...harder to research), but just roll with it. :)

Also, THANK YOU for 1,000 votes!!!