Page 1 of Fractured Grief
Prologue
Sebastian Apollo Papadakis
Two Months Ago
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you have a near-death experience. You see all your missed opportunities, any regrets, and hopefully some good moments from your life.
That’s all crap!
All I felt when I was shot was dread, protectiveness, and anger—then nothing but darkness. No white light, no other side, no past family members waiting to welcome me. Maybe it was because I didn’t actually die, but it was very anticlimactic. I was ripped off. I didn’t even feel the bullet. One moment, an unhinged asshole was waving a gun around, threatening my family, and then the next, he pointed the muzzle at my big brother, Atticus, and I reacted, jumping into the line of fire.
I remember waking up, feeling groggy as hell, in unspeakable pain, and barely able to breathe. I was in a hospital bed with Ma crying at my side.
“Ma-m-m-m?” I tried to croak out, my voice barely a raspy whisper. It didn’t even sound like me.
What the fuck happened?
What is wrong with my voice?
I tried to lift my arm to touch my throat, but it felt like I had lead weights attached to it, and it hardly twitched.
What is wrong with me?
Why can’t I move?
“Oh, Sebastian.” Ma brought a cup and straw to my lips. “Here, have a sip. You’re in the hospital. The doctor said your throat will be sore from the intubation tube.”
I let the ice-cold water soothe my raw throat.
“Hap... W-w-w-t?” I hissed, but panicked. The words hadn’t come out of my mouth! Why couldn’t I talk right? “Ww-www.” I looked imploringly at my Mama for answers.
“Oh, agóri mou, you saved Atticus.” She started to sob. “But you were shot. You barely survived.” Tears trailed down her cheeks as she looked me over. She appeared disheveled, like she hadn’t slept in days. Her clothes were a mess. Her beautiful brown waves were flat and greasy as they hung limp around her face. Her bright brown eyes had bags under them and were red-rimmed.
Ma reached for my hand. “When you were shot, the bullet nicked your liver. You lost a lot of blood and have been in a coma for over a week. We weren’t sure you were going to wake up. I wasso scared.”
“Mr. Papadakis.” A deep voice spoke from somewhere to my right. My brain felt foggy, and the world was hazy and far too bright as I turned my head toward the voice. A slender man in his fifties, who must be my doctor, stood at my side checking over my chart.
“You are lucky to be alive. You gave your family quite the scare.” He glanced compassionately at Ma. “I’m going to explain a few things, and I want you to try and follow along, okay? So, you were shot, and we performed emergency surgery as soon as you arrived. During surgery, you suffered an ischemic stroke. This has caused weakness and paralysis on your right side. We won’t know the full extent of the damage until we run a few more tests. Your speech has likely been affected too. We’ll work out a treatment plan when the results are in. I’m afraid you’re going to be with us for a while, Mr. Papadakis, but we can work together to help you get back on your feet.” He finished with a pat to my shoulder. “I’ll leave you to visit with your mom and send a nurse in soon to take you for those tests.”
With a wave, he left me reeling from everything he’d just said.
Chapter 1
Indiana Jay Clark
Heaving the last box out of my old, battered Honda Odyssey into the little townhouse had me covered in sweat and wishing I’d been able to hire a moving company. On my way into the kitchen, I couldn’t help but smile at Hazel in what would be our new living room. Boxes surrounded her, and she was oblivious to the world, engrossed in her coloring book. Her thick mahogany curls cascaded around her slight shoulders as she lay on her stomach, feet kicking up behind her. She colored carefully, concentrating hard on keeping the picture perfect.
Taking a step closer, I could see she was coloring one of the pages in a favorite book she’d picked out with her mother. I was hit with a new wave of sadness. It was coming up to a year, and the grief of losing my best friend still hit me hard in the solar plexus and took my breath away. I braced myself through the pain. Setting the box on thefloor, I took in the mess around me. There was so much to do, I was a little overwhelmed.
Lexi always dreamed of moving North and starting a new life. As far away from the religious town where we’d grown up, and the influence of her parents. We used to dream of running away somewhere fun, progressive, and safe for both of us. If not for this new job in the private health sector, I could never have come close to fulfilling Lexi’s wish. Or as close as I could for now. I’d escaped and had moved to Missoula, Montana.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the small town we’d dreamed of, but a massive city that would take some getting used to. My new job, thankfully, offered temporary housing for us to help us settle in and adjust. I had worked my butt off to graduate with honors and to land the best job I could. We were so excited when I received the offer. Lexi had burst into tears of happiness at finally being free and able to start our life.
She always loved the idea of living in a safe, small town with a friendly and welcoming community. Someplace we could put down roots, and preachers didn’t sermonize about private business on Sundays. Where her parents had no influence. We could finally live peacefully and without fear of our neighbors. We could be an average, run-of-the-mill family, like everybody else.
“I miss you, Lex,” I whispered and closed my eyes. “We’ll fulfill your dream one day. I promise. For you, for me, and Hazel.”
My eyes welled with tears, and I quickly blinked them away. I had too much to do. No time to break down. Shaking off my melancholy was becoming second nature.
