Thank you so much! This chapter was a heart-breaker. I hope you enjoy it. I will be working for 3 nights in a row, so the next chapter will be up sometime on Monday. Please review. It gives me strength.
Chapter Two
It was raining heavier now, each raindrop a lurid pellet against the windshield. The wipers made their hypnotizing swoosh as the taillights of the cars ahead beamed weakly through the thick fog. One could hardly make the road, let alone the construction signs directing traffic through a labyrinth of construction cones and narrow lanes. No one was in a rush. The cars lazily made their way out of the city, each one vigilantly precautious.
The black car slightly swerved as the rainwater under the wheels made it lose all control. His hands slipped on the wheel as he tried to make a left turn. He lost control of the wheel. The small sedan skidded across the slippery road. He tried to regain control, but it was no use. She held onto the arms of the seat. He tried the brakes. The car would not stop. Instead, it skidded sideways to the left.
She screamed and looked ahead into the growing darkness, shielding her eyes with one hand. There was a giant roar of metal on metal; then, metal on broken glass. Something powerful slammed into her from behind and shattered. It knocked her seat against the door that gave way. She flew a few feet above the ground. The car that sped to her left crashed into a construction warning sign. A big chunk of metal whopped by. So did a thousand shards of glass and it seemed, to her, that she could see each individual one flying all around, twisting and rotating in the air, the taillights catching in each. She crashed against the road, still in her seat. Then, a shower of dirt and glass and metal fell, falling… falling one with the rain as if it came down from the same gray clouds above. The dark oblivion consumed her battered and broken world…
Arya could not hear the house phone ring. She was sleeping so soundly that she thought it was all part of her dream. She sighed and pulled the cover closer, wrapping her exposed shoulder. The ringing stopped. Gendry must have taken the call.
Gendry picked up the phone and answered sleepily, "Hello?" There was a pause as someone else on the phone answered. It sounded like Jon, with Ygritte cutting in between. "What?" Gendry bolted up and sat at the edge of the bed, holding his head. Arya was awake, now. She turned around to see if it was all real. It was.
"Okay. Yes. Of course. We will be there in fifteen minutes. Tell Sansa to stay with them. They shouldn't know just yet… hmmm…. Alright." Gendry turned off the phone and put it down.
Arya looked at the nightstand iHome radio; it read 12:40 AM. What could be so important at this time? Perhaps, Sansa was not home yet and they were getting worried. But this was a common occurrence. Possibly, Robb and Jeyne had another fight. Or maybe, Rickon was getting into trouble with some of his friends that were trying to form another rock band. But all these thoughts did not make any sense. Arya knew whatever it was must have been important to have Jon and Ygritte call their home on a Thursday night. She knew it must have been bad, but ignored it.
Sleepiness all gone, Arya wrapped her arms around Gendry. "What happened?" she croaked.
Gendry couldn't make himself tell her. He just sat there, staring at the space between his bare feet on the rug. He could feel the softness underneath, but not her hug. He could feel the sweat make his hands grow cold, but not her soft kiss on the cheek. He couldn't tell her. It would break her.
Arya got out of bed, worry now taking hold. She slipped herself between his legs and looked up at him. She could see how much pain he withheld from her by the wrinkling of his brow and the tense way he took her hands in his. The lamplight casted a melancholy glow to his frame. He looked so small to her, vulnerable and defenseless even. She wanted to tell him that nothing could be so bad, that she was here, that he could tell her. But something kept those words in her mouth as she waited, quietly and unmoving.
Gendry kissed her soft fingers and grazed them over his cheek, contemplating. She had to know. There was no way out of it. It could not be avoided. Not telling her would not bring them back. Not telling her would not make the process of mourning and healing go away. It would be better that he tell her. And so he did. He took her face in his hands and kissed her temple, deeper this time, as if able to give her all his strength. He pulled back and said, "Robb and Catelyn passed away in a car accident. Jon wants us to meet him at the hospital."
Arya stared back at Gendry, blankly. The words that flowed from his mouth thereafter made no sense, no sound. She just heard the pounding of her heart grow louder as her chest filled with a pain so indescribable by human words. It suffocated her, making her gasp for air. She tried to form words, but the pain robbed her of sound. It just sat on her chest, twisting every nerve until they snapped.
Gendry waited for her to say something. But when she did not, he did not know what to do. He thought a hug would comfort her, but when she just lay against his chest limp, he pulled away. She said something. He couldn't make it out. But she said it again, "No." It was a weak denial, but intensified by the pain that emitted through her gray eyes. She said it again, louder and it was followed by a sob. She choked on the word when she said it again, realizing that she had just lost her mother, that she was an orphan. She said it again when she thought of Robb cold on a metal table, waiting to be identified by Jon. She saw his face and the auburn wisps that made his trimmed beard. She knew it was ashen now, lifeless and empty. She said it again, making herself sob intensely, "No!"
Gendry took her in his arms and rocked her as she said that word again and again, frightening him. He let her break. She needed to feel. There was no point in postponing it. If she let go now, she would heal sooner in time. So, Arya broke into a convulsing torrent of tears, sobs, and choking. She had to let it go or she would crumble. She tried to make sense of it all, but all she could do was cry and let Gendry hold her. She felt safe in his arms, protected somehow.
"I'm so sorry," Gendry kept repeating as she held onto him like a life-raft in a violent ocean. He wanted it to be possible to absorb her pain, share it with her. So, he pressed her closer to him.
But such an act was impossible and Arya kept weeping, the pain a raw experience she had never thought she would feel again.
