Epilogue
AXEL
Dying sucks.
I mean I imagine it does.
Or am I imagining it now?
It hurts really bad, but I think being betrayed hurts more. My thoughts are a bit of a jumble. I dream of her, think I see her, and then it fades out and she’s gone just like the pain of getting hit with two bullets.
My insides did not appreciate becoming outsides, but here we are.
What was I talking about again? Oh right, dying, sucking, good times, look a bird’s at the window. I wonder if they know I can hear them? I can’t talk also, sucking the suckage right out of my hero moment.
But at least I can dream of her.
At least in my dreams she’s free.
That’s nice.
Maybe one day I’ll be able to talk again.
“…he’s lucky to be alive.”
“He’s in a coma!”
“…press charges.”
“…she ran.”
Ouch, that stings. Well, I wouldn’t want to go to prison either.
“He wouldn’t want to press charges, even shot and bleeding out, that’s not Axel.” Hey, that’s my favorite cousin’s voice. God, I love that dude. “Just let him rest and get better. I don’t give a fuck what it costs, get him better.”
“Sir, with all due respect we can’t just force someone out of a coma.”
“Put a tarantula on his chest, and you just might,” he whispers.
Son of a bitch! He wouldn’t. Would he? My fingers twitch. Hell yeah, I will wake up if only to choke him to death!
“Look, he moved!” Lilah’s voice sounds in. “Huh, maybe you can scare someone alive.”
Hate them, both of them.
And now I’m sleepy again and dreaming of a girl with an easy smile who is a terrible shot. Would have been nice, if she would have just kept holding onto my hand.
Real. Fucking. Nice.
Book Two, Axels story, “The Honor Roll”, out this fall!