Nothing is Alright (Steve)

The next few days went by in a blur. I got out of the hospital (finally) and back to the mineshafts and open fields where I was meant to be. The cold air called me out further, but something in the back of my mind prevented me from going further.

Everything around me was falling to pieces. Caitlin needed to be transferred to the ER for severe asthma attacks that lead to severe seizures. (Yet she keeps telling me that she's fine.) Kyle attempted suicide and, I would imagine, feels scared and confused in the psych ward. Andreas was angry about his friend being whisked off to some unknown place. Andrew's skin picking got worse. He needed to get ten stitches on his left hand and thirteen on his right. Mark was grieving the death of his cousin in the village attacks. Apparently, they were very close.

I still needed to order the cake, more decorations, and practice my part for "World's End Dancehall", the duet we planned to play in lieu of a first dance. The song Everything's Alright was a knife to the heart. Nothing is alright. Not now. It will never be. Mira, a freshman flute, needed a major surgery. When she left, she gave me a hug and headed out the door smiling with her usual enthusiasm. Mira is naturally very happy, even under the worst of circumstances. She gave me a stuffed pig with music notes stitched in the side. Mira is like an older Alex, but with brown hair instead of red.

Speaking of Alex, she came to the door selling chocolate. I bought the rest of it. Since this was the end of her route, she told me she needed a hug.
         "Why?" I asked. Her normally bubbly face turned serious suddenly, a cue that I should listen.
         "Do you know how it feels when your life is falling apart?" I needed to protect this girl. She should not feel like this, not at this tender young age. "Well, all my friends are dead, dying, sick, or sad."
         "That must be hard." I put my arm around Alex and embraced her as if she were my own daughter. She cried on my shoulder, heaving sobs. I needed to protect this girl. Caitlin is the closest thing Alex has to a mother. It would do her good knowing that I was taking care of her (along with Jordan, but I'm slightly less useless at emotions than he is). I made some hot chocolate for Alex, not the insipid brown powder that doesn't even taste like chocolate, but hot chocolate that required me to use actual chocolate. This is the only thing I can make that doesn't taste horrible afterwards.

We drank the hot chocolate to our friends and mentors, that they would get better soon. With warmer souls, we ended up playing games and fighting zombies together for the rest of the day.