Heyyy, I promised a quick update so here you go! It’s a little heavy but I hope you like it!

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“What do you mean?”

The man hesitated, “They disconnected her, she’s gone, they took her body away late last night.”

Jaide’s jaw dropped, “No one warned him?”

“I wasn’t here, I’m the only one that contacts him, I called him as soon as I found out. Listen, he needs to get out of there, I could get into a lot of trouble if-.”

She didn’t stick around for the rest; she jogged down the hall until she came across room 342. She opened the door slowly, the room was all white, and the only color was the pale blue sheets on the empty bed.

Blaize was sitting on the only chair in the room, he was facing the bed but his head was in his hands. He was completely silent and unmoving.

“Blaize?”

No answer or reaction.

“It’s me...Jaide.” She waited a good ten minutes in silence but still no motion came from him.

“Blaize.” She said again, she crossed the room to where he was sitting and put a hand on his shoulder blade, “Why don’t we get you out of here, this place in depressing. Hospital environments always are.”

He didn’t answer for a couple minutes but when he did, he still didn’t look up or even appear to move a muscle, “I didn’t even get to say good bye.” He said it so quietly that she barely heard him.

She rubbed his shoulder soothingly, not really sure what to do or say, “I know, let’s get out of here though, this place isn’t helping you. I’ll drive you back to school and we can talk...or not talk, whatever you want.” She pulled him up out of his seat and he didn’t resist, his face was completely void of emotion except for his eyes which looked so sad it made her want to cry. She really wanted to give him a hug but she was guessing that wasn’t the best idea.

She led him out of the room and out of the hospital, never letting go of his arm because she had the feeling that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. She urged him into the passenger seat of his truck before getting herself into the driver seat. She had to adjust his seat so that she could push the clutch all the way in, absently registering that it was a manual transmission and she hadn’t driven one in a while. She started the truck with the spare key that Chance had told her about.

Blaize didn’t buckle up or say anything; he just sat looking straight out of the windshield.

“It’ll be ok Blaize, you can say your goodbye’s at the funeral.”

“They’re not going to have a funeral.” He said harshly, obviously disgusted with the fact.

“Oh...well you can visit the cemetery-.”

“No grave, they gave her body to science. Stupid fuckers where too cheap to give her a proper ceremony. That’s the only reason they let her go, media attention is gone, too expensive to keep her on the machines. They never cared about her.” He’s voice was scary because it had absolutely no feeling behind it even though he was saying angry words.

“I’m really sorry Blaize, that’s wrong. If there is anything I can do, just tell me ok?”

He didn’t answer, just looked straight ahead.

They reached the school parking lot and she turned the truck off but neither of them made a move to get out. “Do you want to talk?”

He shook his head and she was grateful for the response.

“You should go to class.” He told her.

“Nah, I’ll get notes later.”

“You already missed first period, you can’t go to practice.”

“I know, neither can you.”

The silence stretched out for a few minutes.

“Just so you know, Chance came too, to the hospital I mean, but I told him to go back to school and let me handle it.” She wasn’t sure why she’s wanted to tell him that but she felt it was important.

“Do they know?” Each time he spoke there was still zero emotion and it was starting to worry her.

“No, no one knows.”

He waited a few more minutes before abruptly getting out of the truck, she followed, but wasn’t sure what he was doing.

“Are you going to go to class?” She asked when she caught up to him.

“I’m going for a run.”

“Mind if I tag along?”

No answer, so she took it as a yes.

She had to change quickly into running gear once they got back to the room because he was not taking his time. He stalked out the door when he was finished changing, she was still putting on her running shoes and had to jog to catch up to him in the hallway.

As soon as he got outside he broke into a fast jog. She figured she had better find a good stride because she had a feeling that he wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, she just hoped that she could keep up, he didn’t seem to have any regard for how heavily he was breathing. He didn’t head for the track like she expected, he left the school grounds and they ended up on a biking path that ran alongside of a river.

He didn’t say a word, mile after mile, she didn’t know how far they had gone but they had been running for about 45 minutes at the speedy pace. She hoped that he was ready for a rest soon and sure enough when they reached the halfway point on a bridge that crossed the large river, he stopped.

They were both panting hard by this point, she stood beside him and looked down the river. He leaned against the railing and stared out over the river but his eyes were unfocused and she knew that he wasn’t really looking at the scenery.

“Do you come here a lot?” She asked.

“I come here to be alone.”

“Oh...I'm sorry.”

He shrugged and it was a few minutes before he spoke again, “I don’t understand it.”

She didn’t reply because she wanted him to continue on his own.

“I’m more angry then anything, I feel like I should be sadder.”

“You spent a year being sad. You’re angry that you didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“It figures, her parents hated me, they did it on purpose.”

She didn’t know what to say so she didn’t say anything, it was silent for a few minutes.

“You don’t have to stay you know, I’m not going to jump or anything.” He said, a little cynically.

“I know, it’s not like this bridge is high enough to kill you anyway, you’d just got for a swim. I want to be here though, but I’ll leave if you want.”

He shrugged, “I have seen sad for a while, huh?”

“Well yea, since I’ve met you and from what I’ve heard from the guys.”

He nodded slowly, “They are good friends.”

“Yeah, they are.”

“Sorry I dragged you all the way out here. It was either run off some aggression or beat someone up.”

“Oh no problem, we need a work out anyways since we won’t be going to practice.”

“Do you believe in the ‘they’re looking down on you from heaven’ thing?”

She thought for a moment, looking up at the sky, “I don’t know, but I’ve never lost anyone close to me.”

“Never?” He actually looked at her this time.

“Nope, I mean, my mom is dead but I was so young I never knew her. My real father is dead but I wasn’t close to him either.”

“You’re father killed your mother right?”

She nodded slowly, “Yeah.”

“Do you have any family left?”

“I never knew my mom’s side, I tried to get in touch with them a few years ago but they didn’t want anything to do with me. My father was an only child and his parents are dead too. So no, not a biological family. But Tremaine and my dad now are great, just like really family, I don’t know what I would do if I lost one of them.”

“That’s good that your guys are so close.”

She nodded and they stood in silence for a little longer, she knew that he was deep in thought.

“It feels sort of like a release, you know? Is that terrible or what?”

“No, not at all, its natural I’m sure.” She could tell that he was confused and receiving some mixed emotions.

“I’m relieved, this is how she would have wanted it from the beginning and I knew this day was gonna come but I just wish I had a chance to say goodbye.”

“Yeah, you should have had that chance but it was stolen from you and that’s not fair, but I’m sure she knows. I bet she’s relieved now too.”

He nodded and let go of the railing to stand up straight, “If we head back now we can make lunch and the second half of our classes, maybe coach won’t be to mad at us. They guys are probably creating havoc in the school without us.”

She smiled a little, “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m ready.”

They took a much lighter pace back so it took them close to an hour, they returned before the students had been released for lunch. They headed upstairs but didn’t bother to get dressed, they just pulled on sweats over their shorts and made it back downstairs just as the bell was ringing.

They were first to get seated with food at the table. As the rest of the boys began to sit down Blaize kept silent and kept his head down, eating slowly. Jaide flashed the boys a look that told them not to ask questions. The silence at the table was tense and everyone seemed uncomfortable.

Blaize clearly didn’t like the silence either so he decided to break it, “Maddy’s gone.” He said suddenly and loud enough for the whole table to hear.

The boys all looked shocked and sad and were stunned into silence for a few moments, slowly they regained composure and offered their condolences. “Hey man, that’s terrible but its best, right?” Leith, who was sitting closest to him, said and slapped him on the back lightly.

Blaize just nodded.

The other boys added things like, “If you need anything...” “It’s what she would have wanted.” and “We’re here for ya.”

Blaize nodded politely to all of them before finishing his meal quickly and leaving.

Jaide didn’t followed because she was pretty sure he just wanted a little space and the boys probably had questions. As soon as Blaize was in the hallway they all looked at her expectantly.

“So how is he really?” Chance asked.

“Angry, and sad. But I think he’s gonna be ok.”

“Angry?” Alex asked.

“They pulled the plug last night, she was gone by the time he got there this morning, he didn’t get to say goodbye and they aren’t having a funeral or anything.”

“Ohh.” All the boys said, understanding a little better.

“We went for a long run and talked a little bit, I really think that he’s gonna be ok, he just needs a little time is all.”

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Did you guys like it? Please review and tell me what you thought, I would love to get some feedback, positive or negative! :)