Reece's Haven

21

"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I have nothing to say,
But fuck you..."
– Nautica

❀❀❀

~ D O R O T H Y ~

November 1997

Since the day mother brought me back to London, Reece Walker has been nothing but cruel towards me. He has degraded my very being in front of many people in the most disgusting way possible. He is a weed, an unwanted, troublesome weed that would never have caused problems in my life if it were removed in the first place.

So can somebody please tell me why I am currently sitting in Damien's car, as he drives the two of us to the hospital?

"Joanna is there," Damien says, drawing my attention. "She asked me to pick you up. She didn't want to leave Linda alone."

I nod my head, not surprised since she and Linda are quite close.

"What happened?" I ask, wary of his reaction as he is in a vulnerable state.

"Well," he begins, clearing his throat. "Linda called me. She sounded frantic, and it was sort of hard to keep up with her. Your mum took over and told me that Reece had b-burnt himself a-and now... he's in the burn centre."

He blinks, and a tear rolls down his cheeks. I don't think he realises it, so I lean towards him and wipe the shiny trail of wetness away with my left sleeve. He stills when I touch him, but then relaxes when he realises what I'm doing. I never knew that he cared about Reece a lot.

I cannot help but wonder why.

***

Damien strides into the hospital. I follow him through the maze-like corridor, trying to keep up with his pace. After asking the receptionist, Damien leads me down a narrow corridor to a door numbered 201. Just when he is about to touch the door handle, the door swings open to reveal mother and Linda. We step back, allowing them to enter the corridor. Mother glances at me before focusing her attention on Linda, who is covering her face with her hands. Mother escorts her distraught friend to a bench down the corridor, near the reception, and the two of them sit down. Damien and I follow them.

"He says it was an accident," mother says, rubbing Linda's arm in attempt to soothe her.

Mother is wearing her dark blue night dress, which reaches her knees and is rather revealing with its deep V-neckline and thin straps. Linda shakes her head.

"I won't risk it. He's going back to therapy, whether he likes it or not," she says, her voice hoarse.

"Linda, you need to be more understanding about what he wants–" Linda removes her hands from her face, narrowing her bloodshot eyes at her.

"He wants to die, Joanna."

What...?

Reece wants to... die?

"I can't let him die. Not on my watch. NOT ON MY WATCH!" she continues, shaking her head. 

"Calm down, Linda. Please," mother whispers, wrapping her in her arms.

"Are you sure he did it on purpose?" Damien asks.

"He has been giving me hints for a while now," the distraught woman replies.

...She's right.

I remember what Reece did in his garden, drunk, and how Linda tried to calm him down. I didn't think he was serious at the time, however.