Page 130 of From Me to You

My phone dropped from my hands along with my coffee. I didn’t even feel the hot droplets burning my feet. I didn’t care because something was wrong with Aunty M.

I ran out of the apartment. I only ran with Aunty M in my mind—something had happened to her. I could feel it. Something bad.

My lungs burned as I reached the ER of Seattle General. I burst through the door. The loud chatter in the busy room stopped me short for a second. My mind didn’t work, and I didn’t know where to go.

It took me a while to spot the figure huddled up on the far corner floor. Liam.

Every step felt so heavy as I made my way to him. Something was terribly wrong.

“Liam,” I whispered as I reached him.

He looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. His shirt was stained with dark red splotches. Blood.

“What is it? Where is Aunty M?” My voice cracked.

He just shook his head but didn’t say anything.

“Liam, where is Aunty M?” I willed my voice to be a little louder.

“I am so s-sorry,” he croaked.

Panic overtook my body. “Why are you sorry?”

Tears started to overflow his eyes. “Ma-arie is go-on-ne,” he stammered his voice barely a whisper.

“I don’t understand.”

“She is no more. She di-ied Evy.” He choked out through his sobs.

“No.” My lips wobbled. The lump in my throat burned. “She was fine this morning, Liam. She should be fine. She is okay, I know.” But I knew—I could feel it—that Aunty M was gone.

I saw through my blurry vision as he shook his head. “I am sorry, but she is gon-ne.”

My knees gave out, and I sank to the floor. Tears overflowed my eyes. The pain was just too much. How could she leave me like this? All alone. She promised she would always be there for me. I trusted her.

I screamed in agony. Aunty M was gone. Was it possible that my already-shattered world could shatter even more?

I couldn’t breathe. I screamed and screamed on that hospital floor. Aunty M was gone. She was gone. She left me all alone when she promised that she would always be there for me. Shepromised. It was the only thing that repeated in my head over and over again.

I screamed so much that the doctors had to pull me away. Sorry, they said. Car accident, they said. They couldn’t do anything, they said. But nothing stopped my screaming. I wailed in agony. I prayed for God to take me away too. I was already dead anyway. Why couldn’t it have been me? I screamed so hard that my vision soon blurred, and darkness consumed me.

I woke up to a plain white wall. I blinked in confusion.Where was I?

A woman in a nurse’s dress rushed to my side.

“Sweety, are you okay?” she asked, and her voice was kind, just like Aunty M.

Aunty M,I thought as I shot up from the bed.Please tell me all of that was a nightmare. Please tell me that Aunty M was still here.

“Aunty M,” I whispered. My throat felt raw and sore.

The nurse looked at me with the saddest eyes, and I knew that it wasn’t all a nightmare.

She rubbed my back and gave me a small smile. “I am sorry, sweetie. Marie is no more. The impact of the car accident was too much for her. She died instantly.”

My heart sank as I stared at the white wall. What was I supposed to do now? The pain was just too much. I felt so alone.

I blinked back tears. I needed him. I didn’t care if his dream was on the line. I didn’t care if he couldn’t make music anymore. His album was released anyway. He had already made a big name for himself. He was famous now. White couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t hold him back. Hold me back from seeing him. Screw that wretched contract.