8 months ago; the night of the shooting
He didn’t remember much from that night after he was shot. He remembers Riley’s panicked voice calling his name. He remembers her cradling his head while she called an ambulance. He remembers her fighting with the EMT for not letting her ride with them. He remembers the last time he saw her face, tears in her eyes, choking back sobs. He remembers how he wished he could wipe away her tears and tell her that everything was going to be fine.
His memory of the rest of that night is fragmentary. Bright lights and him being rushed through the hospital on a gurney, doctors and nurses shouting. The rest of his night is blank.
Present day
He heard voices. He could recognize some of them. He hears Liam and Savannah, Bartie’s cooing, but no matter how much he strained he couldn’t hear her voice. Slowly, he opened his eyes, closing them soon after unaccustomed to the glaring light. He tried to call out to them, but he couldn’t find his voice. After a few minutes, they finally noticed he woke up.
“Drake!”
“You’re awake, thank god!”
When he could finally find his voice, he only had one thing on his mind.
“Brooks,” He choked out, his voice barely above a whisper. “Where’s Brooks?”
They looked at each other, expressions unreadable.
“Um, she…” Savannah trailed off.
“She went to go visit some of her old friends in New York.” Liam finished.
Before they could say anything else, the doctor escorted them out to run some tests.
Later on, Savannah returned alone, telling him that Liam had a meeting to attend and Bartie’s with Bertrand. She filled him in on everything that went on in the past 8 months. After she answered all the questions he had (most of them about Riley), she gave him a envelope addressed to Riley’s estate.
“I got this a week ago, inside it was another envelope that said ‘For Drake’…”
He had her open it for him, still struggling to move his hands after not using them for 8 months. He immediately recognized the handwriting, as he carefully read her letter.
By the end of it, his hands were shaking and the letter was now covered in both her and his tears.
“What’s wrong, Drake?!” Savannah asked, noticing the pure despair evident on his face.
Unable to respond, he wordlessly handed her the letter.
Two weeks later
He won’t talk to anyone since he found out about Riley. The only times he does speak, he says as little as possible and leaves as quick as he can. He still can’t walk for more than short periods of time, and has to use a wheelchair whenever he goes somewhere farther than his bathroom.
Today’s the first time he’s going outside since he’s been released.
Riley’s funeral.
He was against the idea of going, thinking it’s stupid to go watch them bury an empty casket, since they never found her body. Liam and Savannah insisted, saying it’ll bring him closure and it’ll help him move on.
But he knows better than that. He knows he’ll never move on.
