Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"At the end of the world,
or the last thing I see
you are never coming home:
- My Chemical Romance
*~~***~~*






The police knocked on my door an hour later. I had been worried sick. Benji had been gone for so long, and he wasn’t answering his cell. I told myself to calm down, that he was fine. That he’d be back as soon as possible. But when I saw the officers standing in the doorway, I lost it. “No, no, no!” I screamed. The police officer came towards me, arms outstretched, meaning to comfort me. “Ms. Switalski? I’m sorry, but I have to inform you…” But he never finished. “No!” I interrupted him, tears glistening in my eyes as it began to sink in. “No,” I whispered, softly, the disbelief showing in my eyes. “No.” My legs gave out from beneath me. The last thing I remembered was a rushing blackness and a sharp pain, before everything disappeared and there was comfort and the feel of strong, tattooed arms around me, and a familiar voice that whispered in my ear and soothed me.

I woke up to the beep of electronic machines. I struggled to open my eyes, until they fluttered open at last. The room I was in was a bright white, its sterile pureness interrupted by the four black-clad young men collapsed in the various chairs by my bed. Joel was slumped down in the chair nearest my bed, his hand over mine. He felt me move and stirred slightly. “Joel…” I gasped out hoarsely. His eyes flew open, they were bloodshot. He fixed them on mine. I took in his rumpled appearance and the various hospital blankets covering the other guys. “How long have you been sitting there?” He smiled a worried smile. “A few hours. The police called us right after you collapsed. We were so worried about you.” I felt a strange anger burn in my veins, “About me? You were worried about ME? Joel, did they tell you WHY I passed out? Why I’m here?” He gripped my hand tighter, and I knew he was willing me to calm down in his head and not wake the others. He wanted this moment. “Yes, they did. They said that they hadn’t even told you before you passed out. They said it seemed like you already knew, like, lovers intuition. But they told us the details, and, I don’t know if you want to hear it right now. But, yeah, we were worried about you, Kate, of course we were. We all love you.” I saw that his eyes were tear-stained and was shocked to see more tears rolling from his eyes as he spoke. I blinked back tears of my own. The anger left my voice as I stuttered out weakly, “But what about Benj?” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, breathing deep to calm himself. “I don’t think you’re up to hearing this right now.” I felt that anger welling up again. “Just tell me, dammit Joel! I deserve to know! I’m as up to it as I’ll ever be. I love him Joel, so much. With all my heart, all my soul,” my tone softened, “tell me everything you know. Please.” I heard a rustling and noticed that Billy had woken up due to my sudden outburst. He picked himself off the ground and came to stand by my other side. “Hey Katie, I guess you’re feeling better huh?” he leaned in to peck my cheek, “I think they heard that all the way down at the other end of the hall.” I smiled at him, “Wow you’re a comedic genius Billy. Really, you’ve got all the other patients in stitches.” My smile widened and we both let out a mutual chuckle, while Joel just groaned. “I don’t understand you two, you’re nuts, I swear. How two people can be sooo immature…” I cut him off. “Don’t think you can weasel out of this Joel, you are going to tell me, and you are going to tell me right now.” Billy’s eyes widened, but he knew better than to argue with me. He just reached out and gripped tightly to my other hand.

"Tell me. Everything. He’s my world, my life, and I need to know. I HAVE to know.” Joel gulped once, and a saw a stray tear roll down his cheek. I reached out and wiped it away. He held my hand against his cheek for a long moment, before he gripped it tighter and laid our hands back down on the sheet. “Well, it’s not going to be easy for you to hear this. But it was a good thing you passed out because you didn’t have to, to, identify the body.” He paused because I was sobbing, the truth was killing me. Benji was dead. I felt a part of me dying as Joel continued. “They said it wasn’t his fault. He was doing the speed limit and everything, obeying every traffic law I’ve ever heard of. He was trying to keep himself safe, because he had you to come home to. There was an eighteen wheeler on the road, going in the other direction. The driver had been going for far too long, and he’d been drinking as well. Benj never saw it coming. The truck hit him head-on.” I was shaking uncontrollably, and Billy pulled up a chair so he could sit down and put his arms around me. I nodded to Joel to finish. “They said he was alive in the car for a good half and hour, which I don’t know how because the car is so bent up. He had to have been conscious, because a guy driving by saw the accident and he went straight for the car, and was talking to Benji until the paramedics came. He wasn’t making any sense with anything he said, but then, right before the paramedics came, he grabbed this guy by the shirt, and he spoke perfectly coherently. He told the guy, to tell you that he loved you and that he would always be with you, no matter what. The guy says it was like he knew he wasn’t going to make it. And the paramedics didn’t get there in time. They tried to resuscitate him, but, they said there was no way they could have saved him. His lungs collapsed.” I buried my head in Billy’s chest as he gripped me tighter. I felt the tears rolling off his cheeks and dropping into my hair. I felt my own tears bursting out; I couldn’t hold them in any longer. I felt my heart breaking, as realization hit me like a brick wall. Benji was never coming back. He was never coming back. I let out a fresh sob, and was surprised to hear the same sound coming from the right side of the bed. Joel had his head on my stomach, and he was weeping. I wrapped my arms around him and Billy wrapped his arms around me and we all held onto each other as our hearts beat together.