"Mrs Dean, I'm very sorry…….We did all that we could" The Doctor said in that cold 'done this a thousand times' manor.
"No…….How?" Becca staggered to the nearest chair. She felt as though she had just be punched as she struggled to catch her breath. She was sure that she was going tofaint as the walls of her world slowly began to collapse around her.
"Well it seems Mr Burton suffered two broken ribs from his confrontation earlier today……."
Becca cut him off. "Broken ribs? BROKEN RIBS! People don't die from broken ribs!" Becca shouted, letting out a forced laugh. 'This has got to be some sort of sick joke' she thought.
"…..As I was saying Mrs Dean, It wasn't the broken ribs that killed him. It was the punctured lung that happened as a result of his broken ribs. The rib punctured his lung, causing him to suffocate."
Justin was too proud, too stubborn to go hospital after the brutal beating by Jake. He wasn't going to go, no matter how much his mother or his sisters tried. He had felt unusually tired that afternoon when Becca came to see him and Becca went bananas when he finally gave up the fight and fell asleep, she was pouring her heart out too him and the least I could do was hear her out! But as Becca shook him violently she soon realised that this was no joke, he was not breathing and his heart rate was slow. She frantically called the ambulance and the rest had been a blur.
"Oh Justin, why did you have to be so stupid? Why couldn't you have come to the hospital so they could check you out? Maybe they could have saved you!" She said with an angry concern. She waited for a moment at his bedside as if waiting for an answer. But as she stared at his lifeless face she realised that this was not a dream, this was not some kind of twisted joke, but she knew that from the second the doctor had told her about her teenage lovers fate. Her anger gave way to floods of tears as she flung herself across his cold chest.
"You can't leave me Justin, you can't leave US!" She cried as she beat her fists on his hollow chest. Becca took his hand in hers and placed it on her pregnant belly. "No matter what happens, she will always know what a beautiful, caring and loving father she had. I will be grateful if she grows up to be half the person you are……"
"Erm, Mrs Dean"
Becca turned and was greeted with the site of the nurse tentatively standing at the door.
"Please, call me Becca." She whispered.
"Sorry, Becca, the coroner's waiting to take Justin." The nurse said in her soft, soothing tone.
"Could you..." Shestopped for a moment to collect herself. "Could youjust give me one more minute please?"
"Of course dear, you take as long as you need." The nurse slinked out of the room, silently closing the door behind her. Allowing Becca to say her final farewell.
"Justin Burton, you have turned my world upside down. You've touched my heart and made me do things I never believed I'd be capable of….." She trailed off, she couldn't say anymore. Her sorrow finally took hold, and she let it. As the tears were streaming down her face she buried he head in Justin's hand. "Just know this; I will never love anyone as much as I love you. You will always be in my heart in everything I do and anywhere I go."
She pressed her lips against his. They were cold and lifeless, but Becca needed closure. She looked at the lifeless body on the bed. It was no longer the man she had loved, this was just his shell. But he and his spirit would live on through the life they had created together.
