Grief

“Promise me,Lucien. I need to know that you’ll be okay.”

​ “I promise.”

​

Gary passed away that night.He died peacefully in his sleep with his loving son by his side.

Audrey left the room to give Lucien privacy, but she could hear his silent sobs through the door as he grieved.Gary had been everything to him.And now he had to navigate the world alone.

​ The hospital came to take Gary away, and Audrey peaked in the room.

Lucien hadn’t moved from his spot.

​ “Lucien,” Audrey called gently.

​ “I don’t know if I want you to stay or go,” he answered.

​ “I can wait out here until you’re ready to go.”

​ “He made me promise I’d be okay. Why would he want me to lie to him like that?” Lucien looked away from her. He couldn’t stand for her to see him like that, but he wasn’t in his rational mind. He had never known sadness like this. He was sad when he lost his mother, but he was young.

His father raised him, and was the only constant he ever had. “He wasn’t supposed to leave me,” Lucien’s voice