Page 380 of As the Rain Falls
Blood gushes out of his mouth.
His limbs are flat against the floor.
“Enough!”
Mateo comes out of the building, steps faltering before he pushes Beckett off Nathaniel.
It’s not, though.
It’snotenough.
“Get off him!” he cries, his face so pale and sickly. “What the fuck!”
“Man, don’t die on me!” I hear Kayla say.
She’s checking my brother’s pulse; she’s—
She’s checking his pulse.
But all I can think isdie.
Die.
Die.
“Cassie?” Antony shakes me harder, doubt creeping into his mind. “She didn’t die because of him, right? He’s… He’s lying, isn’t he?”
I ask, voice barely audible. “Is he dead?”
My voice feels distant, like it’s coming from someone else.
Antony breaks, hands flying up, gripping his hair. “I was supposed to drive her… He couldn’t—no. No! It was an accident! It was an… accident! It was…”
Beckett is sobbing now.
Loud, ragged sobs that don’t even sound like him. It’s the sound of something shattering for good, the loudest thing I’ve ever heard, because a heart like his isn’t used to breaking like mine. It unravels as it hits the floor.
He looks so small, so broken.
It’s all so unlike him.
I did that.
I try to reach out for him, but my body won’t move.
Die, die, die.
“Say something!” Antony pleads. “Did he really kill her?”
“Is he… Is he dead?” I repeat, but the world is tilting, my legs beholding beneath me. Antony reaches for me, steadying me just as I stagger. “My head hurts…”
My brother’s body is lying completely still on the floor.
His eyes are closed.
I can see him clearly from where I stand.
Too clearly.
