Chapter 218: Max’s Painful Reality
"What did you just say?" Joe shouted, his voice cracking with disbelief. "Stop bullshitting! Why would you even say something like that? What kind of sick, cruel prank is this, how the hell can he be dead?!"
Joe practically lunged forward, nearly throwing himself at the doctor, but Aron stepped between them and slapped his arm away with a firm hand.
"Aron, what the hell are you doing?!" Joe yelled. "You can’t seriously believe this guy! We were just talking to him a few hours ago! We literally had lunch together today, he was breathing fine! What does he mean, dead? Dead?! Max, say something! Tell him he’s lying, tell him he’s making this crap up!"
But Max didn’t say a word.
He just stood there, frozen, his eyes locked forward in a hollow stare. Not even a flicker of emotion crossed his face.
It wasn’t the first time Max had heard those words.
He had heard them too many times before. And while people often said that hearing it got easier the more it happened... that wasn’t true. Not even close.
The thing Max had learned about death was, it was never the same. Each time hurt differently. It wasn’t about the act of someone being gone. It was about the memories you shared, the time you’d spent together, and what that person had come to mean to you. All those pieces decided just how deep the pain would cut.
And this time, for Max, the pain cut deeper than he’d expected.
’Damn it... I haven’t even spent that long in this body... so why does it hurt this much? Is it because... in such a short time, that idiot did so much for me? Crap... that damn idiot... that damn idiot...’
Max dragged his sleeve across his face, wiping the tears that slipped down without warning.