6. Death

Alex had been at school when he’d received the call, and in that split second he swore his heart stopped beating. His ears strained to hear the last of the information from the phone call, before abruptly pressing the red button and stuffing his phone in to his pocket as he began throwing his school supplies in to his bag, before grabbing his coat and running out of the room without another word to anyone.

He didn’t remember much else until he reached the hospital, the run to his car and the drive from then on had passed in a complete blur, he’d stumbled through the door to the room he desperately hoped he would never have to be in.

He ran to the chair at the side of the bed, instantly seating himself in it and grabbing the hand of the person whom the room was appointed to. Tears began to stream down his face as he saw the struggle his loved one was facing in order to just stay alive.

As if sensing the importance of their visitor, the beds occupant opened their eyes as they turned their head in the direction of the chair, offering a timid smile and a slight squeeze of the hand.

“Hey.” Just the croak of their weakening voice was enough to send Alex over the edge, his defences broke down as floods of tears made their way down his face.

“Hi.” He managed to squeak back, hating how weak he sounded. The other tenderly reached up to brush the tears from their guests’ eyes.

“Please don’t cry, ‘Xander. You have to be strong.” This only made his sobs stronger; how could they be so strong when they were so close to fading away? How could they have so much positivity when they were about to lose so much?

“I don’t know how. I can’t. I need you, please don’t leave me.” He placed his other hand on top of their already joined hands, leaning his body closer as he looked into their eyes and begged, “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m so sorry. You know I would stay if I could, but there’s nothing we can do ok? So you have to accept it, be strong and accept it. Don’t you ever forget me. Promise me you’ll never forget.”
Alex held out his pinky, not caring about the childishness of the action. A weak finger joined with his own, as he shuffled himself even closer.

“I promise. I promise I’ll never forget. I love you.” Sobs wracked his body as the grip on his hand began to loosen, he knew this was it, he knew this was the moment they’d been anticipating for years now.

“I love you too, ‘Xander, take care of yourself.” The grip continued to loosen, he could see the losing battle happening behind their eyes as they tried to stay just that little bit longer.

“I will Mum, I promise I will.” Alex knew this wasn’t right; this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Your parents were supposed to be there until the end, not leave you clueless at just the mere age of 17.

“Oh, and tell Jack he has my blessing, ok?” He didn’t have time to process the words before he was instantly agreeing to pass on the message, just hoping to get a few last words out of his mother before she was gone for good, but it was too late. Her eyes closed one last time as her hand fell limp. Alex watched as her breathing slowed until eventually her chest lay still.

He stood up and lifted the thin sheet covering his mother, gently shuffling her further back before climbing in to the hospital cot beside her and cuddling in to her chest just one last time. His tears kept coming and coming, feeling like they were never going to end as he wondered how he was going to continue through life with no parents.

His father had left before he was born, and ever since then it had just been Alex and his mum, but now he was alone. He had no-one to show him how he was supposed to live his life anymore, no-one to scold him when he did wrong, or praise him when he did right.

No, Alex Gaskarth was now all alone, and he most definitely felt the emptiness making itself at home inside.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there; probably not long. The Doctors knew that it was inevitable for his mother to pass away today; he expected it wouldn’t be long before they came along to remove him and the body, so when a hand gently grasped his shoulder he just curled further in to his mothers’ chest, desperately praying for just 5 more minutes.

What did shock him however was when it wasn’t a Doctors voice that called his name, but that of Jack. Jack Barakat. The one person Alex had left. He turned his head, only to be met by the first of many pitying looks to come.

“Please don’t look at me like that.” He whispered; his voice not yet recovered from his tears.

“I’m sorry.” The sentence held multiple meanings, and not a single one of them needed to be explained, because when it came to Jack, Alex just knew exactly what was meant.

“C’mere ‘Lex.” Jack sat in the seat previously occupied by the crying boy, opening his arms out in a welcoming manner. “Please?”

Alex hesitated, but soon decided that he was going to have to leave eventually anyway, so he might as well make the first step and at least let her body go. He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, taking deep breaths as his feet touched the ground before taking two steps to the seat.

He gently placed himself sideways on the skunk-haired males lap, snuggling in to his chest as he was engulfed in the loving arms of his partner. He brought his feet up to rest on the edge of the seat and pulled his arms up to his chest, silent sobs beginning to once again take over his body and the younger male rubbed comforting circles in to his back, whispering soothing words in his ear.

“We should go ‘Lex, it’s not good for you to stay here.” Alex made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, and his cries became just that tiny little bit louder, but he nodded none the less, although the agreement was easily said than carried out. In the end Jack had had to gently coax the Englishman in to standing up, before instantly standing himself and wrapping his arms around him in a protective manner.

He hated seeing his boyfriend like this, he didn’t know how to handle it, didn’t know what to say to take even the slightest bit of pain away, but what he was doing seemed to be enough, because within a few minutes Alex was pulling back, trails of hours worth of tears staining his face as he gave a small nod.

Jack wrapped his arm around the elders shoulders, feeling his body snuggle closer to his side in return as they left the room. There was a small group of nurses standing in the corridor, all discussing one case or another. Jack gently released his boyfriend before walking over to the gathering, he coughed to gain their attention.

“Uhm, excuse me. Isob- I mean Mrs Gaskarth, she’s uhm,” Jack began to feel his emotions get the better of him as the realisation began to settle in, his voice cracked slightly as he continued “she’s gone, and I’m uh, I’m going to take her son home now. I just thought... I just thought I should let you know.”

The nurses expressions all turned in to one of the same emotion- pity. He gave them a small nod as he turned on his heal and walked back to his boyfriend, his heart breaking that little bit more as he took in how weak and vulnerable he looked, his arms folded across his chest, his shoulders hunched and his eyes expertly trained on the floor.

“Come on Alex, let’s get you home. Do you want to go to mine or yours?” The young Gaskarth whimpered slightly as he quietly replied “yours please.” To which Jack just returned his arm to its previous position around his shoulders, instantly feeling the heat of his partners’ body returning to his side.

As they walked down the long and dreary corridors, Alex suddenly remembered something, stopping in his tracks and looking up at the younger, “Hey Jack, before she uh, y’know, Mum told me to tell you something.” Those few words was all it took for Jacks ears to prick up, “Oh yeah? What’d she say?” He had a good feeling he knew what it was, but he wasn’t about to let anything on. “She told me to tell you she gives you her blessing. What did she mean, Jack?”

A small smile graced the skunk-haired males face as he silently thanked the angel that was Isobel Gaskarth. He slightly tightened his griped around his lovers shoulder as he placed a gently kiss to the others temple. “Don’t worry about yourself about it ‘Lex, that’s another story for another day. C’mon let’s go home.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I know. I love you too.”