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Zack blinked. He was so glad that he could blink! What kind of day had he had that he was glad that he could blink?
He also knew...somehow...that this wasn't the first time he had woken up. It was the first time he was aware that he was awake, though. And the first time he wasn't in surgery. And the first time he wanted to see Cody.
"Zack! Carrie, he's awake! Zack can you hear me?" he knew that voice...Maddie?
A hand was gripping his, and he squeezed it as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard. He heard another person enter the room. "Zack!" another hand was on his arm.
"M-mom?" he heard excited mutterings and a tear-strained voice reply, "Yeah, baby. I'm here."
He tried again. "Mom...C-Cody?" he heard more mutterings, these not so excited. Then the hand that had been squeezing his own was gone. Maddie left.
"Honey, do you remember what happened in there? You know that you got shot, and it went through you and into Cody?" Zack nodded, he remembered. He wanted to know about Cody. Even if he was-
"D-dead?" Zack croaked, feeling tears start in his eyes at the thought. Arms went around his shoulders.
"Oh, honey, no! Cody's not dead. He's hurt though. And he hasn't woken up yet. He lost a lot of blood. Apparently, the bullet hit an artery...do you understand?" Zack nodded again, he understood...
And an immense weight seemed to leave his shoulders. Cody was alive! They had escaped a bullet. He was chilled at the thought of how close they had come to death, though. And he had one more question. "J-Joe?"
His mother seemed to not want to talk to him about whatever had happened. "Joe? The black boy who was in there with you?" Zack nodded, wondering when his voice would be back to normal. "He's...he's fine. He's at the hospital, too."
She was holding something back. He could feel it. All Zack could do was wait for her to continue, really, really wishing Cody was here. Cody would know what to say.
"The bigger one's fine. The smaller one...his brother? Zack, I'm so sorry, I wish I didn't have to-"
Zack moved his hand so that it was covering hers. The amount of strength he had to use to move that one body part astounded him. And scared him. A lot. "W-want to kn-know."
Carrie was blinking back tears. "The smaller one, Jake, he's dead."
Zack didn't bother trying to hold it back. He hadn't known Jake all that well, but he wasn't crying for him. He was crying for Joe. Because he'd lost his little brother. Zack didn't know what he'd do if he lost Cody. All he knew was that he'd lose himself.
Zack was still crying when his mother left an hour later, promising to be back the next day. He didn't know if he'd ever stop. He didn't know if he'd want to stop.
Can you say de-press-ing?
Can you say truth? This can really happen, anywhere.
Yeah, I know...review, peoples, okay?