Haunted 2/3
Chapter 2:
It's 3:13.
Sane people are asleep at this hour. Don's not among them.
Twelve hours. Twelve hours since Terry left him.
That's what she did, he thinks bitterly. She left me.
That's not the way it was supposed to go. She was supposed to convince him what a big lug he'd been for not wanting to get back together when they were finally working in the same city. She was supposed to convince him it wasn't all about work, that love and family were important too. That family didn't just mean parents and siblings, it meant starting a new family of your own.
Now there'd be no kids, no carpooling, no house in the suburbs. Just a lonely apartment in the city and no one to share it with when the day was done.
Don wasn't much of a drinker but this seemed like the best excuse ever to get completely drunk.
He'd waited until Charlie fell asleep first then snuck back out to the kitchen to drown his grief in alcohol.
His little brother had been shocked by Terry's sudden death as well but somehow managed to realize it was more important for him to take care of Don. He'd not left Don alone for a moment since he rushed from Cal Sci to be with him.
They'd cried and hugged and sat together. Talked when Don wanted to talk and sat in silence when he couldn't bear to speak.
He'd managed to convince Charlie he was tired and got him off to sleep in the spare room. Don had no intention of sleeping, couldn't imagine how sleep would come feeling the way he did. So he waited, knowing Charlie always fell asleep quickly, and then came back out to start the real grieving process.