Page 104 of That One Heartbreak

A memory flashed into his mind. Paul had been telling him a story about one of Kate’s library groups. Stitch and bitch, or something like that. And right as he was about to tell Marley the punchline, a smile already making his lips pull up, he’d winced, touching his head.

“Fucking headaches.” Paul pressed along his brow. “Had this one all day. I’m telling you, don’t get old. There’s always something that hurts.”

“You’re not old.”

“I feel it.” Paul winced. “Kate tells me I need to slow down.”

“You should go home,” Marley had suggested. “I can finish up here. Turn your phone off, get some sleep.”

“I…”

And then it happened. Before he could say anything else, Paul had crumpled to the ground, his head and body banging against the blacktop with a horrifying thud. He’d already been unconscious at that point, not able to put his hands out to soften the impact. And for a full ten seconds Marley had stood there, panic rising up in his body at the sudden change in his friend.

He'd been trained to respond. To be calm, to think things through logically. But when it was your friend who was the patient, everything changed. His mind was hazy as he dropped down to the ground, taking Paul’s pulse, finding it.

But barely.

What’s next? Check his breath.

Call the fucking medic.

He started shouting, fear rising through him, his hand on Paul’s chest. “Breathe, buddy, just fucking breathe.”

Everything was going wrong.

His whole body was shaking by the time the medic arrived and started asking questions, then Paul had stopped breathing.

They did CPR. Got him in an ambulance. Continued CPR because that’s what they were trained to do.

“Stay with me,” he’d said, his voice cracking. “Paul, you gotta start breathing. For Kate. For your kids. Fucking fight for them.”

But he was gone and they knew it before they even reached the hospital. And Marley wanted to scream because this shouldn’t be happening.

He should have been able to save his best friend. He was there. He should have done more.

Kate had lost her husband and her kids had lost their dad because of him.

“Hey Marley, you got the hose?” Tayto’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Yeah, I got it.” His voice was raspy.

“Great. I’m reeling it in, start feeding it.”

Marley pulled his gaze away from Paul’s never-blinking eyes in the photograph and did as Tayto asked.

And as the hose reeled away, the guilt inside him grew and grew.

Before they wheeled Paul into the hospital, he’d kissed his friend’s cheek. Promised him he’d take care of his family. That he’d never let his kids get hurt.

He’d let his friend down that day by not saving him. And this weekend he’d let him down again in so many ways it made him want to hurl.

And he wasn’t sure how to deal with that.

The kids are all in bed. Want to play Romeo to my Juliet? – Kate xx

She hit send on the message and let out a low breath. She’d missed Marley so much today. After their trip together, even after it ended so badly, she’d felt so close to him.

Right now she needed his arms around her. To feel safe in them. It had been a tough day, getting Ethan settled and his medicine right. A couple of times he’d cried from the pain.

---