Painkiller

3

    "Luke! You're phone is ringing and it's fucking annoying!" Ashton shouted from outside his bandmates door.

    Luke groaned in reply, before pushing himself up from his bed and dragging his feet across his bedrooms carpet, wishing he could go back to sleep. He stumbled around, sleep-deprived, grimacing as he scratched the back of his head.

    "Jesus Christ, it's too early." Luke grumbled. It's only... 10. Oh." His voice was still rough from sleep as he grabbed his phone off the table and turned the screen on. He swiped across the screen to answer the phone call before pressing it to his ear, frowning as he realised it wasn't a number he recognised. "Hello?"

    "Hi. Is this Mr Hemmings speaking?" The voice on the phone came out gravelly and deep, unrecognisable to Luke.

    "It's just Luke; Mr Hemmings is my dad."

    "I apologise. I'm Mr Brown and I work in Sydney's Police Department. I regret to inform you that your parents have been involved in a car accident-"

    "What?"

    Luke's world was crumbling. His hands shook and his legs nearly gave way beneath him. Time slowed as his brain tried to comprehend the fact that his parents - the people who raised him - were hurt, or possibly dead.

    His heart thumped in his chest as tears brimmed in his eyes. "Are they okay?" The question came out as merely a whisper, and Luke had never felt so vulnerable. He knew that he sounded like a child, and that they weren't going to be okay - no one came out of a car crash unscathed.

    "I'm sorry, Luke, your parents didn't survive the collision. They died on impact."

    "Oh."

    Luke knew he should say something more, but his mouth wouldn't form the words and his brain couldn't process what was happening.

    "Your sister, Elena, is currently in hospital and I'd like to discuss her options with you. As she is a minor she will be needing a guardian. Now, you can either become her guardian or-"

    "I'll take her." Luke was all she had left, and there was no way he was going to abandon her now. Luke's mind was already set.

    Luke was already leaving his bedroom when Mr Brown continued.

    "That's brilliant! There will be a few papers that you will need to sign, but that can all be done when you arrive at the hospital."

    "Ok."

    "Once again, I am extremely sorry for your loss."

    "Thank you." What more could Luke say?

    The call ended and Luke stood in silence. His breathing became deeper as he struggled to pull in breaths, and his legs gave way beneath him as he fell to the floor with a thud. Luke clutches at his chest, and panic flared inside of him as his lungs no longer contained the oxygen he needed.

    "Luke?" The noise from Luke's fall had caught the attention of Calum, who was now stood before the man.

    "I-I-I can't- I cant bre-breathe." Luke gasped for air as he spoke.