Page 126 of Eternally Yours
Except for Greyson, who wasn’t taking no for an answer. He shows up every day to get me out of bed, forcing me to train and attend morning practices. Even forcing me to shower when I’ve gone too many days without.
I’ve been trying my best to put my personal problems aside on the ice. Everyone knows I’m going through some shit, and most have been understanding. Clay has pretty much been stepping in as captain for now since he’s our alternate captain, at least until I get myself sorted and my head back in the game and on my team.
Although I wouldn’t be surprised if I were stripped of my captaincy by the end of the season.At this point, I wouldn’t even care.
I’m in the middle of a peaceful sleep, the first in a long time, when voices and footsteps resonate through my brain. I open my groggy eyes and blink a few times to clear the fog.
In the corner of the living room, I see Milo’s head pop up, but he doesn’t move from his post. He hasn’t been the same since Minnie left.
He’s depressed, just like me.
“What the fuck? Why is it so dark in here?” someone says from somewhere in the house when blinds are ripped open, and Greyson taps my foot that sticks out from the couch.
“Wake up, Dracula. You can sleep when you’re dead,” he says as he pulls the blanket off me.
I groan in protest and flip onto my stomach. “You do realize that makes no sense, right? You just called me Dracula, Dracula is dead. Which means I can sleep, so fuck off.”
He kicks my foot again, harder this time. “No, get up.”
“Ugh!Why are you even here?” I sit up on the couch and look around, noticing Gabe and Noah in the kitchen. They both look down when we make eye contact, and I spin back to Grey with a sick feeling in my gut.
“What’s going on!?” I say urgently, needing an answer.
At that moment, a loud thump sounds behind me. I rise and turn to the noise, finding Clay standing behind the couch with piles of boxes that he just dropped to the ground.
“No... no, not this. You don’t need to do this, she’s coming back. She just needs time. She’ll be back.” I look at all their faces, waiting for someone to agree with me. But they all look at me with pity.
Clay speaks up for the others. “She’s not. She wants her stuff, and I promised her I’d get them. So we’re going to pack up her things whether you like it or not. You can either make this easy for everyone or make it hard. But at the end of the day, I’m still walking out of here with her things.”
He looks to his left at Noah and Gabe, motioning them to go on. “Grab some boxes and start up in the room. She still has clothes in the closet and take anything that seems to belong to a woman. If we take things that aren’t hers, we’ll just bring them back when she’s sorted through it all.”
“NO, STOP! Don’t fucking touch her things! You can’t fucking do this!” I try to sidestep Greyson, but he puts his hand to my chest.
“Stop, Silas. The sooner this is done, the sooner we can leave. I know it sucks, but it’s what she asked for. Respect that.”
“Fuck!” I drop back to the couch and push the heels of my palms into my eyes, forcing the tears to stay in place. I’ve cried enough over the last weeks.My eyes are already raw from it.
She’s really leaving me... she can’t even stand to have her things here anymore. She’s fully erasing herself from our life... from me.
Milo walks over and jumps on the couch, nestling between my arm and body over my lap. He whimpers softly as I stroke his fur. “I know... I miss her too.”
An hour later, and multiple filled boxes out of the house, I walk up to my room, dragging my feet along the way. I feel lost and empty. This place used to be so beautiful, filled with love and laughter. But now it just feels hollow and dull.
I don’t want to be here anymore. I hate it here.My only reminder left is our backyard—where we got married. It was the most beautiful day of my life, and now it’s all I have.A distant memory.
I go to the bathroom first and notice drawers empty of all her products, hershampoo and conditioner no longer in the shower. I take a deep breath and exit, wandering over to the walk-in. Where the left side used to be filled with color and life, it now consists of empty walls and hangers.
In the corner near the end, I notice some balled-up fabric. Walking over, I bend and pick it up to inspect it. It’s one of Minnie’s satin pajama tank tops, I remember her wearing it to bed often. I remember ripping it off her body right before we made love the last time that she wore it.
I bring up one of the thin straps, and like expected, it’s broken. I lift the fabric up to my nose and take in a big lungful of her scent.It still smells like her. Fuck…
I drop to the ground, my back to the drawers and knees bent up. With the fabric over my face, I pour my heart out into it as Milo joins me, cuddling up close.
Someone comes to the entrance of the walk-in. I can hear them breathing, but they don’t speak for a long time, giving me my moment.
“Sy...” Greyson says from beside me, kneeling down and placing his hand on my shoulder.
“It’s... it’s all I have left... she’s gone... my wife is gone... she left me...” Snot leaks from my nose, tears drenching her shirt.I’m a fucking pathetic mess.“A shirt... a fucking broken pajama shirt is the only evidence of my wife left...” I fold my arms over my knees and howl into them. “She’s gone and never coming back...”
