Death By Flowers

Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The ride home was deathly silent. Not even the radio -which Valerie usually hooked to her phone and played Disney- made a noise. This made Virgil even more anxious. He had to have something playing in order to keep the voices and ringing at bay. When was the last time he sat in complete silence anyways? This wasn't natural. It was... It was unnatural.

"I got a call from Patton's father at work this morning asking if you were doing any better. He wouldn't tell me what he meant though, so I went home. I was gonna wait for you to come home and ask you about it but then I found rose petals in the trash." Valerie pulled into the semi-empty parking lot to the old museum. "They were covered in blood for Merlin's sake. So now you get to tell me what in Chuck's name is going on. Do you have a secret garden? Do you have weirdo admirer? You can tell me."

"Valerie, do you remember when we were younger and Uncle Bill passed away?" Virgil asked softly as he pulled on the sleeves of his jacket and fiddled with them.

"Yeah, he died of, what's it called, Hanahaki I think?" She narrowed her eyes and turned to him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"That's how he died? Anyways, Hanahaki, said to be a fictional disease. A person feels unrequited love for another and it gets to the point where the person starts coughing up flowers. If the person does not get surgery or for the other person to confess true love to the other, then the person can die. They suffocate on the flowers and petals. Valerie, Hanahaki is extremely dangerous. If I get the surgery then I lose the feeling of love. I don't want to lose it."

Valerie looked at Virgil in consideration. He watched as her face went from confusion, to anger, to sadness. Everything was in slow motion. Valerie undid her seatbelt and hugged Virgil. He really didn't understand how much he needed it until it happened. Suddenly he was sobbing into her shirt. Everything suddenly dawned on him.

He was going to lose everyone. Valerie, Talyn, Logan, Patton, Dee, Remus, Roman, his moms. This was the first time he had honestly realized it and it hurt. So he just cried. He cried until he started laughing.

"Is it bad that all I can think about right now is when you were four and Aunt Candy took us to London with her? We watched that one movie and half way through you got so bored you started grabbing flowers out of her bag and threw them at the screen." Valerie whispered into Virgil's ear.

"She couldn't get mad because she just wanted to figure out where they were coming from, right?"

"Yeah, and when you told her you were gonna give them to Grandma, she just laughed and took us to her house."

They sat, hugging for a minute before Valerie pulled back. She grimaced slightly and pulled a bag from the backseat. Pulling out some wipes, she cleaned all of the makeup off of Virgil's face.

"There we go," she smiled and pulled out her phone, "Arby's, Red Robin, or Dairy Queen?"

"I will never say no to Dairy Queens."

"Then let's go there," Valerie smiled and buckled up again, "So..."

"So, what?"

"So who is the guy you like?"

Virgil started coughing, but was able to get the petals out of his throat faster than normal. He spit them into his mouth and looked at her bewilderment clear in his purple-green eyes.

"Is it that one kid," she paused and scrunched up her nose. "Roman? Or is it the kid you brought over, Dev? He's been hanging around a lot lately.""

"N-no" Virgil stuttered and his blush deepened when she laughed.

"It is!"

"Shut up. You like-"

Valerie cut Virgil off by playfully glaring at him. He broke into laughter as they made their way to Dairy Queen. His laughter broke off into a scream as he shoved Valerie back into the car. Everything was in slow motion again. His legs, unbeknownst to him, carried him toward the little girl who was about to be hit by the car. Her mom, he assumed, looked up just in time to see the car coming towards her. Virgil pulled the little girl towards him and reached out to grab the mom but was to late. The car stopped the second it hit the mom, making her fly forward. Virgil heard a loud and sickening crunch as he covered the crying girl. He heard a lot of shouts and then suddenly everything was black.

Valerie's Pov:

"I shot Virgil a look and he started laughing. But then he pushed me. I didn't know what was happening but I saw him run. I went to yell his name but he had already grabbed the girl" Valerie took a shuddering breath as she told the officers what happened, "The mom looked up from her cell phone but was too late to move. She was hit. Virgil reached out for the mom but it was to late. His arm was caught and when he moved to cover the girl it broke his arm. The he was out. Oh Chuck."

Valerie turned around and threw up into the trash by her chair. They were currently at the hospital waiting for Virgil to get out of surgery. The little girl was going to be fine except for a few bumps and bruises. Her dad was talking to the other officer. It was hectic in the waiting room.

"Is he going to be okay?" Valerie heard a voice ask, "Whe- Valerie!"

Valerie pulled her ponytail back and wiped her mouth. She looked up and saw Patton, Remus, Logan, and Dee.

She was met with a storm of questions "Is he alright?" "What happened?" "Is he okay?" "where is he?"

"Virgil is in surgery. Has been for the last half hour. I don't know if he'll be fine," Valerie sighed again and turned to the officer, "His arm snapped clear in half so they have to go in and set the bone. He should be fine but we just have to wait out here. Officer do you have any other questions?"

"No ma'am that would be all" Officer Luffy stated as he walked over to his partner.

"Code 15 in OR 3, Code 15 in OR 3." A woman's voice said over the intercom.

Things were hectic again. 3 Nurses and a doctor ran past Valerie and into the hall where they were operating. People were gasping and freaking out- wondering if it was their family member everyone was freaking out over. The officers were trying to calm people down until one of the nurses came out. She looked around and put her hand up bringing everyone to complete silence.

"Hello everyone. I am very sorry about what has happened to your friends and family but Code 15 is very serious. We do not have enough details yet but please keep calm. It is hard, I know but please be patient and sit down." There was silence for just a moment but it didn't last.

"You don't know what it's like," A man yelled, " you don't have to deal with the fact that that man almost killed your little sister along with 5 other people."

The nurses face dropped as she walked toward the man. "No, I don't. But i do have to live with the fact that out of those 16 people that man hurt, only 10 will survive because of how bad the damage is. I have to be the one to tell you guys that your spouse, your child, your parent, your friend, didn't make it. I'm the one who has to deal with jerks like you who blame it on me. I have to deal with the fact i watch hundreds of people die a year and there is nothing," she paused emphasising the next few words, "nothing I can do to help them. You don't have to be here you can go home. I have to be here. Now are you going to sit down or am i calling security?"

The man blanched and sat down as Dee and Remus cheered for the nurse. Roman, Patton, and Logan laughed and saluted her. The nurse turned to them and gave a little bow.

"Now can i have anyone and everyone here for Virgil Sanders follow me?"