Page 27 of Broken Pieces

The world moves in slow motion as people rush around me, saying things that are just a monotonous drone of indistinguishable sounds.

"Maddox? Maddox?" Violet's voice is the only one my ears attune to. "We have to go."

I blink and see that the ambulance is driving away. The place where Max just was is an empty pile of blankets. I pick up my jacket, unsure what to do next.

Violet guide me towards a cops car. "They're going to drive us to the hospital. Your dad's on his way there already."

I nod.Words don't come to me, I'm not sure I know how to form them anymore. It's like everything I knew before has been taken away from me. Without Max here, I'm just an empty shell of a person.

8

Violet

I’m going to be sick.

Again.

I’ve puked so many times tonight that there’s nothing else to come up, but my body hasn’t received that memo yet.

I wash my face in the tiny sink in the hospital restroom and dry off with some coarse paper towels. They make my skin look even more red and blotchy, but my mess of makeup is mostly gone now, save for the smear of black circling my eyes. No matter how many times I scrub at it, it won’t go away.

Maddox’s hoodie is now covering up my outfit, but Mom still managed to guess where I’d been tonight. Both her and Reginald think all three of us were at the party together.

Maddox isn’t talking right now and I’ve not corrected them yet.

What am I supposed to say?

No, Mom, my stepbrothers came to pick me up because I was sad and wasted. Then I sucked them both off before running away and Max almost died saving my life.

I sob and grab onto the counter for support.

Fuck.

This is all my fault.

If something happens to Max…

I don’t know if Maddox will even be able to manage by himself. He’s so codependent on his twin. They’re practically the same person, I can’t picture one without the other.

The door swings open behind me and I look up to see my mom scowling at me.

“Are you done? I want to get home. There’s no point in us being here and I can’t have your father blaming me for raising you wrong!” She stands next to me and starts fixing her bleached blonde hair in the mirror.

When she catches me looking at her in the reflection her nose turns up.

She’s never liked the way I look. I know it’s her own insecurities though, she’s been on fad diets and cleanses her whole life to stay thin. Not because she wants to, but because she thinks it’s the only way she can keep a man.

I would have thought she’d bite her tongue tonight and not give me any grief about my appearance.

Seems like I’ve been wrong about a lot of things recently.

“We should stay to make sure Max and Maddox are okay,” I snap at her, my arms folding over my chest.

How can she be so flippant right now?

Without sparing me another glance, she unzips her purse and reapplies her lipstick. She’s dressed like she’s been up for hours, even though it’s not even sunrise yet. I’m sure she’s actually been up all night with whoever her current side piece is.

“Maddox is a big boy, he’ll be fine and the doctors said Max will still be in surgery for a few hours.”

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