EIGHTY-SEVEN

Death Calls When No one Answers

The ride back to New York was the most silent, depressing thing Hayden’s ever been in, and he had been in a lot of depressing scenarios. It had just never affected him before, not like this. He could hear Rocky’s thoughts through his actions: the way he peered at Hayden when he thought he wasn’t looking, the way he quietly and silently stops at intervals and leave the car for Hayden to have a moment to himself, and the way he buys snacks and food on the way and place it on the center console without asking if Hayden needed food.

These were all the tell signs that he had fallen from the lord he used to be to a whimpering person, lost in the passions of his own emotions. Hayden wasn’t entirely sure he liked the change, but he didn’t object to it either. It was a welcome adjustment to how he felt most of the time. Now he could really dwell in sadness and self-pity.

When they got to the hospital, Hayden went straight to his position on the bench in the w