As it happened, I bumped into Eleanor seconds before stumbling through the hospital door. Her face shined with tears. Her eyes were bloodshot and drooping. She wore a heavy winter coat, a knitted hat with a fuzzy pink ball at its apex, gloves, scarf, the whole nine yards. Her mouth was set in a grim line of focus. She was so focused, in fact, she didn’t even notice me. Granted, the lights weren’t the brightest, but Stone and I were the only ones in the corridor at the time.
This was so surprising, I said nothing. My voice had decided to go on vacation.
After a few rushed steps, Ell stopped on a dime and spun around. Her expression melted. “Grady?”
“Ell,” I croaked.
Happiness flashed in her eyes. During that second you would’ve thought she was crying with joy instead of fear. This emotion didn’t last long, however. Her gaze fell upon Stone in my arms. I hadn’t looked down at the spot he’d been shot since coming into the light because there was no time to. Now that I had stopped, I saw just how much blood there was. My hat was soaked, and a steady stream of drops pattered the floor around my snowy boots.
Stone wasn’t moving either. His eyes were closed, and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.
“Stone?”
He didn’t answer.
“Stone?” I shifted. It took every last bit of strength inside of me not to shake him violently. Gaining composure, I rocked him gently instead. Stone would’ve killed me if he knew I was doing this, but he was so out of his mind at this point, I doubted he could’ve told me his own name. When this light jostling proved fruitless, I shook him a little harder.
Still, nothing.
His left hand, the one holding the blood-soaked hat up against his wound, fell, and the hat hit the corridor floor with a wet slap.
Ell screamed in shock and horror. I thanked whatever higher power lived above us for that, because at that point, my brain had totally shut down. I forgot how to do almost everything aside from breathe and blink.
Scream? My mind said, What’s that?
The problem with shouting for help now was that so many were distracted by what was going on outside the gates that no one was around to hear us, and we needed help.
Stone wasn’t only my best friend, he was my family. We may have had different skin colors, different DNA, different blood, but that meant nothing. Our bond was unbreakable. I mean, how many people do you have in your life who you could punch in the face around noon, and then play Xbox with a few hours later like nothing happened? Maybe none, and that’s understandable. A relationship like that is hard to find.
And we had already been through so much together, not to mention Stone had been through so much on his own with the car accident, the loss of his parents, and the near-complete loss of his ability to walk. But Stone shook such hardships off. He persevered when most people would give up. That’s not to say he didn’t consider it. I remember him after the accident. I’m sure I’ve told you before. He barely moved, barely ate, barely talked, barely left the basement room my father allowed him to move into. It was beyond tough to watch, like seeing a loved one slowly deteriorate from a type of organ-eating cancer. But then one day he snapped out of it. He saw the light at the end of the tunnel and returned to his old self, more or less.
That’s the thing about wounds. I know it’s a cliché, but I believe time really does heal them, both big and small. The memory of the pain will fade, yes, but not completely. A scar is left behind, and that scar is there to remind you of where you came from, because you’re not supposed to forget. Stone understood that, and he embraced it.
For him to have it all end because of a random gunshot? I know life isn’t fair, but that is the very definition of unfairness.
No longer able to stand and hold him, I lowered myself to the floor. I was kneeling in my best friend’s blood, thinking he was already dead, thinking it was all over.
But I was wrong.
Stone’s eyes opened to slits. He twisted his lips and bared his teeth. The shock of the situation must’ve been wearing off, and now the terrible pain was settling in.
A string of wispy words escaped his mouth. I leaned closer, unable to hear him. How many times had I been in this situation since the snow fell? I couldn’t even tell you. All I know was that I was with Jonas when he died, with Helga when she sacrificed herself, with Mikey when he bled out, his ankles twisted and broken. I wasn’t sure I could handle it again.
Part of me wanted to let Stone go, leave him, run away as far as I could. That part of me thought if I distanced myself, then the pain wouldn’t be as severe. Another part of me, the stronger part, thankfully said that I’d never leave him.
These two sides didn’t matter in the end, because I couldn’t move. Shock and fear and exhaustion rendered my muscles useless.
“What’d you say, man?” I whispered. The tears in my eyes blurred Stone’s face. They also blurred the steady flow of blood and the growing pool spreading beneath us, but I knew it was there.
“I-I s-s-said…if y-you’re gonna grab
