Ripple - [COMPLETED] [Undergoing Editing]

Chapter Fifteen

Annie looked down, and smiled at the tiny baby in her arms. A tiny hand grasped around her large finger. Her heart was warmed and at this moment she was in pure bliss. Her sweet baby girl Evelyn sleeping in her arms. She sighed and looked at the door wondering when Katie would show. She got up and laid Evelyn in the small mobile crib they had in the room and smiled down with her hand gently a top of her, so entranced by how much of this tiny baby was covered by her hand. Kevin walked in, she turned to him with the widest smile she ever had, and he looked at her with the deepest sorrow she'd ever seen. Her heart sunk.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Annie, you need to sit down," he said gesturing to the bed.

"No. You tell me now. What is it?"

He crossed over and grabbed her shoulders sitting her on the bed. He looked at her his eyes glazed with tears. "There's been a shooting at Greenville High school."

She heard the words. She heard them, but together they didn't make any sense. Her head tilted and she stared at him. His mouth was moving, but she heard no sound.

"Wait a shooting?" She asked and he stopped.

"Annie." The agony in the way he said her name, confirmed that she heard correctly. "Annie. Katie was shot. She didn't make it."

"No." She said, but her voice was calm. She didn't believe him. What she heard was a lie. "No. You're wrong. You're wrong. I'll call her. I'll call her right now."

She stood up and walked over to her purse and dug out her phone. She started to go through the contacts, but Kevin grabbed her hand.

"Annie. She's gone."

Her body stiffened. She stared at him. No sound, no tears, nothing. She just stared. She could feel her heart beat. She became aware of every single beat. Evelyn started to cry. She turned to her. Her body very precise with its movements. She crossed over and picked her up bringing Evelyn to her chest. She exposed her breast and fed her. She walked backwards and sat on the bed. Her eyes staring forward at nothing. The ringing in her ears refusing to silence.

When Evelyn was satisfied she crossed over and laid her back down and felt her legs give out. Kevin rushed to her, picking her up and helping her back on the bed. He was talking. She saw his mouth moving, but no sound came out. She felt the trickle of a single tear falling down her cheek. This was a moment she never prepared for. A girl who prepared for everything. A girl who had a nursery closet color-coated and an entire medicine cabinet stocked with every type of medicine she could grab. A girl who walked the nurses through her birth to ensure everything went smoothly. A girl who planned out her entire life, never planned for this moment.

"Katie," she whispered.