Forever's Not Supposed to End

Nathan's point of view

I walked slowly into the kitchen. I was hungry, but I didn't want to cook. I pondered the situation for a few moments before my phone started to ring.

The caller I.D. said Matthew.

"What do you want now buttmunch?" I answered, walking back into the lounge and dropping down onto the couch.

"Nathan? I... I..."

Immediately I knew something was very wrong.

"You OK?" I asked. He had only left here less than an hour ago.. what could have happened in half an hour that was so bad?

"I.. I think so. I'm g-going to the h-hospital. I t-think I b-bumped my head."

His voice sounded odd. It was as if the phone was very far away, with a bad signal.

"You hit your head? Are you alright?" I felt the beginnings of an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Something wasn't right about this.

"I think so. I d-don't remember. It's b-bleeding a bit, I-I might have to g-get some s-stitches."

I stood up.

"You sit tight OK? I'm on my way now, I'll be five minutes," I told him as I pulled on my shoes and jacket. The uneasy feeling in my stomach was only getting worse.

I had a feeling this wasn't the minor injury Matthew was playing it out to be.

"Can you h-hurry up? I f-feel weird."

I could hear the beginnings of panic in his voice.

"I'm out my door, I'm walking down the hall, keep talking to me," I told him, as I slammed my door closed behind me, rushing for the elevator.

My heart was pounding. I jabbed the 'down' button with my thumb, over and over again.

I could hear faint voices from the phone. I pressed it harder to my ear, trying to hear what they were saying.

"Matthew? You still there?"

"Y-yeah." He sounded weak and faint.

"Who's with you?" I asked, I was getting more worried by the second. Matthew just didn't sound right.

"Some c-cops... I-" The phone clicked and went silent.

"Matthew?"

Dial tone.

"MATTHEW?!"

I abandoned the elevator and sprinted down the stairs and out into the night, running as fast as I could towards the hospital.

I could hear sirens, and saw an ambulance speeding down the street, it was heading towards me, then took a left.

Instinctively I knew it was heading for my twin.

I followed it. I didn't have to run much further.

Up ahead there was a man on the ground, sitting, his back against the wall, his head in his hands, a police officer kneeling at his side.

I would have recognised him from a mile off.

"Matthew!" I yelled, sprinting to his side and dropping to my knees.

I did everything in my power to not puke at that moment.

Matthew was drenched in his own blood, he looked like Carrie on prom night. His head was still bleeding profusely from a large wound and looked a slightly different shape to normal.

"I think I hit my head," he mumbled, eyes squeezed tightly closed.

I grabbed his hand. It was freezing and trembling. I knew right away he was seriously hurt.

I knew I couldn't tell him.

He squeezed my hand so tightly I was worried he might break it.

"Its just a scratch, you're good," I told him, rubbing his bloody hand to try and warm it up. He jolted violently and his eyes peeked open, then slammed closed again.

"You cold Matthew? Huh? You look kinda cold," I said, my shaking hands pulling off my jacket and draping it around his shoulders.

His entire body was shaking violently. Maybe almost as much as mine.

"Hi there, Matthew right?" said the paramedic who had just got out of the ambulance.

Matthew nodded slightly.

"Can you open your eyes for me?" he asked gently, kneeling in front of my brother, looking at him carefully. Something in his expression had me really worried.

Matthew shook his head.

"I'm not messing around with this, lets get him straight to UHC," said a second paramedic.

"Sir can you step back please?" asked the first paramedic.

"No, I need to stay with my brother," I said, turning my face to look at the medics and police.

Once they realized I was identical to the broken and bleeding man on the ground, they didn't ask me to step back again.

"We're gonna pick you up now OK?" said the police officer who was holding Matthew's other hand.

Matthew nodded a little.

"On three," the cop said to me.

"One, two, three," we pulled Matthew to his feet. He wobbled violently to the right and I grabbed his shoulder to steady him.

"Come on, two steps," I told him, my voice shaking.

We dragged him to the stretcher and then the stretcher to the ambulance.

The new few minutes were a blur of blood and frantic voices. I stayed silent, sitting in the ambulance as it raced the few blocks to the hospital, clasping my brothers hand tightly.

"Are you sure I need to go to the hospital? I don't have insurance..." he mumbled, slurring his words slightly.

"It doesn't matter. We'll figure it out. Its only a scratch. You'll be fine. Couple of stitches and home to bed," I assured him.

That was most definitely not going to be the case.

"Matthew? I gotta put a needle in your hand OK? Its just some medicine, make you a little more comfortable," said the paramedic, filling a syringe with a liquid from a bottle.

"Its just mild sedative, to take the edge off," he assured me, seeing the way I looked at the needle. I nodded and blinked hard.

Is this really happening?

He took an alcohol swab and cleaned the back of Matthew's hand, the hand I wasn't clinging to.

He quickly found a vein and put in a valve for an IV line, then injected the syringe full of liquid into it. Matthew didn't flinch.

"You still in there buddy?" I asked, my voice sounding nothing like my own.

He didn't respond.

"Matthew?" I shook his hand a little.

He'd finally passed out.

Looking at his head I wasn't surprised.

The ambulance stopped moving and everything turned into a frantic rush. I stayed at his side, holding onto his limp hand, waiting for him to squeeze back so I knew he was still in there.

"OK, take him right up to-"

"He needs a CT scan," I said quickly, cutting off the doctor who was trying to speak.

"Sorry?"

"He needs a CT scan," I repeated. I didn't even know where the words were coming from.

"And... you are?"

"Identical twin. Look at his head... its not.. its not the same as me..." I said quietly, trailing off.

I didn't even know how a CT scan had popped into my mind, but I knew Matthew needed one right away.

The doctor looked at him, then me, then back to him.

"Take him right to get a full scan of his head, I want to-"

An alarm started beeping on one of the machines hooked up to Matthew's lifeless body.

Matthew's heart rate was dropping.

My heart rate was going through the roof.

All hell broke loose.

Matthew's hand was wrenched from my grip as they took off running down the corridor and through a set of double doors.

I went to follow them but a nurse stopped me.

"You can't go with them, I'm sorry," she said.

"But I-" I went to go for the door again and she stepped in front of me.

"You aren't allowed. Nobody is. I'm sorry. You have to wait here."

"I need to be with my brother, we're never apart, we-"

That was when I heard it.

The voice from the other side of the double doors.

The words that ripped my heart right out of my chest.

"I think we're losing him."