How To Save A Life || Asher || Self
There are five stages to loss. Denial & Isolation. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. & Acceptance. No one can say for sure which of these steps find us first or even how long they last. The only thing that anyone can say for sure is that acceptance is the last step and that all the things that come before it is pure agony. Asher had already experienced anger. Now he was going through denial & isolation. But he was also having to deal with what was left of his family.
Walking into his parents house, he felt small arms wrap tight around his waist and looked down finding Lizzy bear hugging him for all he was worth and it brought the glimmer of a smile to his face. But also struck such a chord of pain in him that tears left his eyes before he picked her up pressing his lips to the side of her head. "I've got you." He said quietly. "I will always have you, and I will always protect you. At all costs." He murmured softly. Lizzy leaned back, tears staining her own little cheeks and Asher wiped them away.
"Can I go home with you? Mom and Daddy have been fighting all day." She told him quietly. He thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Go pack a bag." He told her setting the nine year old down on her feet before making his way to the office where he could clearly hear the shouting. "Adelaide." His father's voice pleaded. "No. No, you don't get to sit here and tell me it's going to be fine, you don't get to be stoic. You don't get-" They stopped shouting when Asher walked through the door before he leaned against the bookshelf.
His hands folded in front of him, he didn't make eye contact with either parent. "Lizzy is spending the night with me at the apartment. Seeing as neither of you two are in a good place at the moment, maybe that's for the best. Don't know what stage you two are at but she can cuddle with Ein and I can watch her for a few days. Make it easier on the two of you." He mumbled. His thumbs twiddled as he heard the tick of the clock.
Footsteps approached and the clack told him it was his mother making her way to him. Glancing up, he wasn't prepared for the resounding smack the rang through the room. His eyes shut as he felt the sting in his cheek, letting the tears gather but not fall as he clenched his jaw. "You want me to put her in your care." She whispered. The accusation in her voice was all too clear. She blamed him. "Adelaide." His father's voice came from behind the desk.
"Your father taught you everything you had to do and it was simple. You only had to look out for four things. And because you were careless, because you couldn't care any more about another person in this house who doesn't belong to your precious body of students in that god damn school, your brother is dead." She whispered. Her words were like daggers in his chest, and the weight that was on his shoulders increased ten-fold. "It is a fight to get you home, to get you to spend any time with us. And yet now you want me to put my daughter in your hands."
His father stepped between the two of them, Asher could feel and hear that much. But he kept his eyes closed not daring to lock gazes with his mother. "You know this is not his fault. Nothing could've prevented the embolism." Reid Coleman explained to his wife quietly. "There was nothing he could've done, Adelaide." But his mother would hear none of it. "The anti-coagulants are in the bathroom, like the rest of the medication. Everything is perfectly labeled." She stated back furiously. Then he felt her gaze train on him.
"I want you out of this house. I want you away from me, and from your sister. I don't want to see you. Do you hear me Asher. Do you?!" She practically screamed over his father's shoulder before she broke down in sobs. Asher simply nodded, walking back out the sliding french doors, heading for the front. His baby cousins peering through the spires of the staircase down at him before Lizzy came bolting after him, wrapping her arms around his middle again. "Lizzy... You can't come." He murmured, trying to keep his voice even.
She looked up, shaking her head. "I don't care what mommy says and I don't care what anyone else says. I still love you." She told him, her lower lip sticking out as her own little eyes welled up again. Getting down on his knees, Asher cleared his throat. "What do you want to be when you're a big girl?" He asked quietly. She sniffled before thinking about it. "I want to be pretty. I want to dance. I want to be happy." She replied. Asher nodded his head. "Then don't ever not chase those things. Okay? No matter how much someone pushes you to choose something else. Even mom and dad or me." He explained.
"Can I be pretty like Audrey and Amelie?" She asked. He laughed, biting his lip as he nodded. "Prettier." He told her quietly, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I want to go with you." She pouted once more and it hurt him to have to say no. "I promise. When mom and dad stop being so mad at me, when I figure out how to make it alright, me and you are going to spend a whole week together. Because there's someone I want you to meet." He told her matter of factly.
"Did you meet a princess?!" She asked getting giddy and excited. He chuckled, nodding his head. "I may have. Her name is Nessa. And she's very pretty. She's becoming one of my favorite people on this whole planet." He replied, setting his hands in his lap. Suddenly a jealous look crossed her features and he gave her a sideways grin. "But no one is ever going to beat you for first place. You're my only forever and always girl." He reminded her. For now it was enough to soothe the nine year olds qualms with the world.
"Tell her she better make you a happy prince or I'll sick Ein on her." She huffed. "Because Ein is the most terrifying guard dog in all the land." A real smile lit up Asher's features before sadness retook it's place. "I love you Lizzy Bizzy." He murmured. She wrapped her arms around his neck getting a tight grip on him. "I love you most." When he finally disentangled the girls hold on his neck, he made his way out and off the porch, hearing someone chase him out the door with rapid steps.
"Asher-" His father called after him, closing the door. Asher turned on his heel, tears streaming down his face. "I did everything I knew how and it wasn't enough. I did everything and maybe I screwed up, dad. But I would give anything, I would do it all, I would go back in time and read every book if it could've helped me save him. But I can't. I can't take it back. And neither can you." He said, jaw clenched as he turned, hopping into his car and speeding off back to the school.
During the long drive, he felt the tears free-fall, trying to keep his breathing even before he punched the steering wheel a few times, pulling over and succumbing to sobbing. "I'll do anything." He wasn't sure who he was talking to at this point. "I'll give my own life, I'll do whatever you want. Just bring him back."