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Writer's pictureDavid Vorhees

The Pain Eater

Updated: Aug 6

The Pain Eater

Chapter one

Jason

Jason walked out of the door by the big dock bay door. He wanted a cigarette and even though he was trying to quit he knew he wasn’t quitting today.

When he stepped around the corner of the warehouse to enter the smoking area was when he saw her. She was standing with her back to the building looking across the parking, not to anything particular from what Jason could tell. She had a stern look on her face and when she lifted her cigarette to take a drag he saw a single tear slide down her face. “Uh, Chloe, right? Is everything ok?”

She turned to see who was talking to her and Jason could tell she had been crying more than a single tear. Jason had worked at the shipping warehouse for almost 5 years now. Chloe had been there just a few weeks. He hadn’t had the chance to meet her but he remembered seeing her for the very first time.

She was in the break room talking and laughing with one of the other girls who worked in the office. He remembered thinking she may be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, maybe the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen. He had wanted to talk to her many times but he could never muster the courage to and now here she was standing before him broken and crying. She was even more beautiful in her tragedy and that alone drew the words from his lips. She was broken and he knew it, he also knew that he could help her.

Chapter 2

Chloe

“Uh, Chloe right?” She spun around when she heard him say her name. He had a soft voice but it felt solid as if he spoke with a quiet confidence few could ever muster. She was instantly put at ease. As she took in the man who had spoken to her she recognized him. She didn’t know his name but she had seen him around the warehouse. He was one of the loaders. He was tall, a little skinny with the beginning of a small belly around his waist.

Chloe remembered seeing him the day she started and thought he was a decent looking guy, but now, with him just a few feet away she thought he was radiant. Some kind of glow seemed to emanate from him and she became instantly attracted to him.

“Is everything ok?” She heard him ask and things weren’t ok. She began to say she was fine but when she locked eyes she felt she wanted to tell him everything. No, needed to tell him everything. And so she did.

She told him about how her asshole husband, as she put it, had gotten their neighbor’s 19 year old daughter pregnant, almost four months ago. And the nineteen year old had babysat their four and two year old sons for them a month and a half ago so they could go celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.

By this time he had walked up and hugged her, telling her it was going to be ok. She was telling him, this stranger everything and he was listening. He would say the uh-huh’s, and I hear you’s and even it will be ok, in all the right places. He wasn’t just listening, he was hanging on every word that came out of her. She didn’t even know his name. He was a complete stranger, but somehow she felt that she had known him for years and that she could trust him. She did trust him.

I’m sorry. I unloaded all that on you and I don’t even know your name. “ Chloe said.

“Name’s Jason, and it’s ok. Unload away. I got broad shoulders I can take it.” Jason replied and she smiled at that. “Feel better?”

“Yeah.” And she did. She didn’t know why, maybe it was just getting it all out Maybe it was him or both. Either way she felt better. “Jason, I should get back in. Can we talk later?” She wanted to talk to him, needed to.

“Sure whatever you need.” He said back and she smiled as she walked away. She was still smiling as she turned the corner to head back inside the warehouse.

Chapter 3

Jason

Jason watched as she walked away. She was smiling and so was he. He knew he would feel her pain soon. But he wanted to take in her happiness first. Then he collapsed.

When he awoke he was laying on his side and he hurt all over. Especially the side if his face. He sat up and realized his face must have hit the end of the rubber coated metal picnic table. That painful impact may have saved him from his head bouncing off the concrete. A bruise is better than a concussion, he thought.

He wobbled as he stood up and quickly sat down at that aforementioned picnic table. His head was spinning. Jason was a pain eater and in his thirty-six years he had never collapsed after eating someone’s pain. Until today.

Once his head began to clear he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He felt lucky that he didn’t land on the side that had his phone.

He looked at the time, he was only out for a few moments at best and better yet no one was around to see him fall. He saw the cigarette he pulled out but never lit, laying broken on the sidewalk. He must have dropped it and then landed on it when he fell. He picked it up and crushed it even more. “Guess I am quitting today.”

He got up and began to head back to work. I should call Aunt Sue, she might know why I collapsed, he thought. Jason was raised by his Aunt Sure. His dad had died when he was five years old and not three months later his mom dropped him off at her sister’s house and he never saw her again.

When Jason got home and opened the front door to his small two-bedroom, one bath house he was greeted by one wagging tale and two cats meowing. He knew what they wanted- food. He took his dog, Max, outside and set up his food and water dish before coming in to feed the cats. He looked at the clock, it was almost 4:30, his aunt should be home by now, so he pulled put his phone and clicked on her picture. The phone began to do its thing.

When the phone rang for the sixth time he was about to give up and try again later when he heard the faint sound of someone breathing heavily. “hello.” The familiar voice said.

“Hey, Aunt Sue, are you Ok?”

“I’m fine, I was outside pulling weeds. And boy you know better than to ask me that question.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry. Well, I have another question for ya.” Jason said

“Well, spit it out and I will see if I can give you an answer.”

“There was this girl at work, and she was crying…”

“And you instantly jumped in to help her?” She said asking the question as more of a statement. “I swear all you pain eaters have hero complexes, especially if there is a pretty girl involved. I am assuming she was pretty.”

“Yeah, well way more than just pretty, but something weird happened. I passed out after absorbing her pain. That’s never happened before. Ever hear of anything like that happening?”

“Was that all that happened? Did you feel any of her suffering right away?”

“Actually no. At first I felt her happiness.”

That’s odd. I’ve never heard of a pain eater absorbing someone’s happiness before.”

“I didn’t absorb it. At least not like I did the pain. I could just feel it.”

“I wonder if the happiness you felt delayed the pain and it took its toll physically?”

“Maybe. But I can still feel the pain. Its coming soon.”

“Maybe you just delayed it then and that was enough to cause you to pass out. All I know is I heard about a pain eater long ago that had absorbed so much pain and suffering from someone he loved that it killed him. He couldn’t process the pain because all he could feel was the happiness that she gave him. If this woman’s pain or her happiness of being relieved of that pain caused you to pass out, then maybe you need to stay away from her. She might have too much for you. I worry about you. No one knows how much a pain eater can absorb at one time or over a lifetime.”

“I’ll be careful. I promise, but I wont walk away from someone who needs my help.”

“No one needs your help. You help ease their pain and suffering, but they can handle it themselves. They will be fine; it will just take longer.”

“Tell that to Scott Hauffman.” Jacob said a little coldly.

“You couldn’t have helped that boy. He was set on leaving this world and there was nothing you could do to stop it.”

“I could have absorbed his pain and maybe even saved his life, but you wouldn’t even let me try.”

“I wouldn’t let you try because that boys pain was too deep. You could have gotten lost in it and maybe it would be you who killed himself.” She heard Jason take a deep breath and let out a sigh. “Back then you were still very young and new to this pain eating business, but now you’re a grown man and I can’t stop you, but I can ask that you please be careful.”

“I promise, I’ll be careful.” He said just before he hung up the phone. He sat down in his chair. Before he called he was trying to decide what to eat for dinner, now he wasn’t hungry at all. He began to think about Scott and started to wonder if he was worthy of this power, this ability. He began to wonder if he was worthy of anything. He knew this was coming, this feeling, it was hers, it was what he had absorbed from her. Although he admitted he wasn’t expecting it to manifest around Scott. None of the other pain that he had absorbed from his clients, patients, whatever he called the people he helped had ever made him think of Scott. He wondered why now?

That night Jason grabbed his notebook and began to write. He never considered himself a poet or a writer for that matter, but it sometimes helped get the feelings he absorbed from others out faster. He opened the notebook and began to write:

My past haunts me.

Like a poltergeist in an old horror movie.

Always taunting and terrorizing me.

Trying desperately to drive me crazy.

It’s working.

Using my gifts against me.

Showing me a life that could never be.

At least not for me.

Always a dream never a reality.

A nightmare.

I try to close the images off in my mind

It bursts through the walls leaving nothing but dust and rubble behind.

It shows those dreams becoming reality.

Just to take them away, laughing, calling me unworthy.

It’s right.

No one ever sees my pain.

I wear a smiling mask so people think I’m right as rain.

I listen to their troubles, I am their light.

I give and give until I have no fight.

I’m very tired.

All that remains is a shadow.

A lifeless husk walking, talking avoiding other people’s glow.

A darkness.

One day the light and the shadow will be gone from this plane.

Not even a forgotten memory will remain.

Cast into the sea of the unknown.

Forgotten and alone.

No one notices.

Chapter 4

Chloe

When Chloe got to work on Monday she began to scan the warehouse floor for Jason. She needed to tell him what had happened over the weekend, she needed someone that would listen, to help her feel better. She needed him. At first she thought he might not be at work, and she began to feel a little worried until she saw him driving his tow motor towards her. She flagged him down and he stopped. “What’s up?”

“Can we talk later, maybe at break?”

“Sure, anything you need.”

She smiled as he drove away. She recalled a conversation she had with Gina on Friday after her and Jason had talked. She mentioned how cute she thought Jason was and Gina had just responded by saying he was alright looking but cute might be a stretch. She now realized they were both wrong, Jason was a damn good-looking man.

Later that day, Chloe met Jason out at their smoking spot, it was how she now thought of this spot now. Something had happened that day, something magical had happened, and this spot had become theirs. She told him about how over the weekend her soon-to-be-ex, Carl, came over begging for another chance. She told him she was torn because she still loved him but wasn’t sure she could ever get over him cheating like that. Tears had begun to form again as she talked about how much Carl had hurt her.

“I can’t tell you what to do Chloe, but you need to decide what you want. What you think is best for you. What will make you happy.”

“I know. I think I want to see if… I don’t know.”

“What is it? You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know. Maybe another time.” She trusted Jason completely. She wasn’t sure how or why she would trust someone who was a stranger just a few days ago, but they seemed to have a deep connection and understanding of each other that superseded normal societal rules about getting to know each other. It was as if they had known each other for years.

Jason pulled out a pen and a piece of paper and scribbled something on it.” here, this is my cell, call or text anytime night or day if you need anything.” Jason wasn’t sure if he could eat pain over the phone, but it was worth a shot.

“Thank you. I’ll call you tonight then.” Chloe said smiling as she heading back to work. She had planned to give him her number, but this had worked out better. She thought about him the rest of the day.

When she got home Carl was there keeping an eye on the kids. “Where is my mom?”

“These are my kids. I can watch them while you’re at work.”

“I don’t want you here right now. You need to leave.”

“Ok, just please think about what I said. I still love you and what I did was wrong, but I think we owe it to the kids to give this another shot.”

“Maybe you should have thought about the kids when you were impregnating you nineteen-year-old girlfriend. Now please leave.” Carl put up his hands in an I surrender gesture and left. Chloe sat down and started to cry.

Chapter 4

Jason

Jason was sitting in the dark. He was angry and embarrassed. He That feeling of worthlessness wash over him again, but this time it had friends- confusion and loneliness. He knew he could be sitting next a thousand people, and he would still feel lonely, because that’s how she felt. He didn’t pass out this time. Maybe it was because he was more ready, or the emotions weren’t quit as strong. He wasn’t sure but they felt strong to him.

He began to think this had never been this easy. He usually had to coax the feelings out but with her they just flowed naturally. He stood up to get a drink and his knee buckled and he fell to the floor hard. What the hell, he thought. He never had knee issues before. He took off his pants and his knee was purple and swollen. He grabbed his phone thinking about calling his Aunt but decided against that. Instead he sat the phone back down and limped into the kitchen to get an ice pack.

On his way back to his chair to sit and ice his knee, his phone began to ring. He hobbled as quickly as he could, picked it up and looked at the caller ID. He didn’t recognize the number. He touched the green phone icon, “Hello”

“Hey Jason, it’s me Chloe.” He’d recognize that voice anywhere and all of a sudden all those emotions he had been feeling disappeared. It was as if he had a one-ton weight on his chest and she whisked it away with just a whisper. He began to smile instantly.

Over the course of the next seven hours they talked about everything. They talked about adventures they had had; abuses they had suffered. Nothing seemed to be off limits except Jason wouldn’t tell her that he was a pain eater. How do you tell that to someone, he thought. They found they had a lot in common and enough not in common that they could share them with each other.

When Jason finally ended the call he felt relieved, but also he felt something else. Something he hasn’t felt in a long time- love.

Jason had always been told that pain eaters suffer a very lonely life. they can fall in love, get married, have kids, but no one will fall in love with them. They will absorb another’s pain and that person will believe they have fallen in love with the pain eater because they will feel so much better after being with them, but once the pain is gone so will the emotion of love. They will begin to pull away and the pain eater goes back to a solitary life. even the ones that get married are alone inside because they can absorb the pain but can never share their own. Jason had understood this, but never thought it was true. He hoped it wasn’t now. He was falling in love with her and was damn sure she was falling in love with him. Chloe was different, Chloe was special, this will work he told himself as he climbed into bed and fell asleep.

He was awakened by a searing pain coming from his right eye. He sat up and ran into the bathroom across the hall from his bedroom door as quickly as he knee would allow. He didn’t need to fall on top of everything else.

When he got into the bathroom he flipped on the light and looked into the mirror above the sink. Jason watched as an angry red semi-circle formed on his eyeball around his cornea. He could see the blood vessels fill up, and he watched as his eye went from white to red in a moment. His eye was burning as if someone had shoved a hot poker in his eye socket.

He called into work that day and made a doctor’s appointment to look at his knee and eye. As the day went along he kept looking at his phone expecting to see a message or a missed call from Chloe, but there was no notifications at all. His doctor told him that something must have gotten in his eye as he slept and scratched the eyeball. He told him it would hurt for a day or two but after that he would be fine. For the knee the doctor ordered an MRI. Jason not wanting to wait went across the hallway and got the pictures of his knee taken.

The MRI showed swelling and a slight pull on the ACL ligament. He was told to rest it for a few days and gave him a note for work. Jason went home and lay down on his bed. He checked his phone again before falling asleep that day and there was nothing.

For the next three days, Jason rested and iced his knee as directed. He stayed off of it as much as possible. The pain in his knee was receding, but the pain in his soul was getting worse. He felt Chloe pulling away. He knew he had absorbed enough of her pain for her to be able to live on with her life and it was at this point the when those he helped began too pull away. He had hoped she was different, that her feelings for him were real and not just the side effect of being a pain eater.

After 3 days on bed rest and his normal weekend off, when his alarm went off on Monday he damn near jumped out of bed. It had been five days since he has seen or spoken to Chloe. He tried calling and texting but there was no response. He wondered what could have happened that she wouldn’t even answer the phone. When he finally got to work he didn’t see her initially and began to worry that something bad may have happened. His heart nearly stopped when she rounded the corner

Her smile have never been brighter and as she walked by him she waived and said morning and kept walking. He told himself she was walking and talking with Gina and that’s why she didn’t stop, but he couldn’t figure out why she didn’t even ask him where he had been most of last week.

At break time he went out to smoke alone. As he rounded the corner to the smoke shake he saw standing there, much like she was that first day he saw her. “Chloe, everything ok?”

“Yeah. Carl came over this weekend and hung out with the kids. He wants to get back together, but I can’t ever forgive him for getting that girl pregnant. I will never be able to trust him like that again.”

Jason felt a twinge of pain in his left eye. “Go on. Tell me anything you want.”

“To be honest there isn’t much else to tell. We took the kids to the park and hung out. He is their dad and even if we aren’t together I still care about him and we’re still friends, I guess. We have been together a long time and he is one of the most important people in my life.” I just wish he could be more like you.” When she said this she looked up at him with a smile. “ I do care about you , ya know. A lot actually. I wanted to call or text you , but I wasn’t sure I should.”

“Why?”

“It sounds stupid, but you scare me.”

“That’s the last I want to do.”

“Its not that kind of scare. You and I have grown close fast and I have developed strong feelings for you and that is what scares me

I just got out of a long-term relationship and I know that with you I would be jumping right back into another one and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I hope you understand that.”

“I undoubtedly do. I get that and we can slow it way down if you want.” Jason was feeling real hope for the first time in days. He smiled at her and she smiled back. He could feel his heart pounding just before he passed out.

Chapter 5

Chloe

“Jason!” She screams as he collapses to the floor. Her cigarette still smoking rolls next to the unconscious man. Chloe had dropped it in her rush to catch him. She was able to cushion his fall and prevented his head from hitting the concrete. Later Jason would say he was two times lucky, but right now he wasn’t saying anything. His breathing was raspy. She felt for his pulse and to her it seemed erratic.

She began to search for a phone to dial 9-1-1 when his eyes opened and he sat up. “Jason?” he looked at her but couldn’t see her. He was just following the sound of her voice. It was as if he was in a fog and everything g was fuzzy, but her voice seemed to cut through it all and was bringing him back to life.

“Chloe?” he said finally.

“I’m calling for help. You need a doctor.”

“No, don’t. They can’t help.”

“What do you mean? You need help Jason. Jesus, your eye is all red.”

“That explains some of the red tint and fuzziness. Must’ve popped a blood vessel in that eye or something.”

“You need help.” She said tears starting to form in her eyes.

“I need rest and solitude. I will get better, it’s not the first time.”

“What? I..I don’t understand, are you sick or something?”

“No, I’m not. It’s just… things tend to happen to me. One day I swear I will explain everything, but for now I just need rest. Can you help me up?”

“You better be ok. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t, not yet.”

She looked at him confused. She wondered what not yet meant, was he being coy and flirtatious after passing out and scaring her near to death or was he being prophetic. She hoped for the latter.

When she got home, Carl was there waiting for her again.

“Why are you here?”

“My name is still on the mortgage and my kids are here. And I wanted to see them and you.”

“I had a rough day can you just go please. We can talk tomorrow. I need to call a friend and see how he is doing.”

“Just a friend?”

“Carl, I’m not doing this tonight. We can talk later, I swear.”

Carl nodded his head and headed towards the door. “I don’t know who this guy is but I would prefer to meet him before the kids do.”

“Jesus Carl, like how I meant your girlfriend back when she was seventeen before she started babysitting for us?” Just go. You lost the right to meet anybody I date or befriend the moment you stuck your dick in the neighbors daughter.”

Chloe watched as Carl got into his truck and left. She pulled out her phone and found Jason’s number and hit the green button to start the call. A few moment later she heard his voice. She couldn’t help but smile every time she heard it. She was concerned and she wanted answers to what happened earlier today at work. His voice had become a place of serenity to her. She loved that voice. She loved him.

“Hey, Chloe.”

“Hey, how you doing?”

“Better, much better now.” She could feel his smile through the phone. She knew she was having the same affect on him as he was her. She wondered if he loved her, she hoped.

“What happened?”

“I had an episode caused by this ability I have. I can’t explain right now but I swear. I will soon.”

“Why can’t you explain it now?”

“Well, one you might not believe me and two, and more importantly you might and I ain’t done yet. When I am, if we are still like this, then I will explain everything. I swear, just please, be patient with me.”

“Ok, I trust you completely. I will wait.”

“Thank you. I hate to cut this off tonight, but I do need to sleep.”

“OK, I will see you tomorrow.”

“Maybe. One can never tell.”

They both hung, neither wanting to. Chloe looked up Gina’s number and called her best friend.

The next morning as Chloe was getting ready for work and she kept thinking about what Gina had said to her. She doesn’t understand her attraction to Jason. Gina didn’t like or trust him. They talked for a little bit. She didn’t like talking to Gina about him, she was always so negative. She said he gave her the creeps. Chloe told her she needs to get to know him and that Chloe may be falling in love with him.

Gina blew this off and told her she was being ridiculous and that she was just emotionally raw because of Carl. Chloe knew that was a possibility but she felt that wasn’t true. She was in love with him and she wanted to tell him.

The next day Chloe tried to find Jason at work but what she found out was that he had called off. That he wasn’t feeling good. Chloe went to her supervisor and told him that she needed to leave. There was a family emergency. She clocked out and headed to Jason’s house. He had given her his address the night they talked for hours, but she still had trouble finding the little house.

When she finally found it she parked on the street in front of the house. She was nervous. She was in love and wanted to scream it from the rooftops, but she was afraid he wouldn’t feel the same way. She was afraid to tell him.

She lit a cigarette and took a deep drag to help steady her nerves. She got out and walked to his door and knocked.

When he opened the door she saw the surprise on face and watched as it went from surprise to pure joy when he smiled.

“Hey, what are you doing here, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Your not, so I figured I didn’t want to be either. Plus, I wanted to talk to you.” Needed would be more accurate but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“You scared me the other day, I mean you really scared me.”

“I know and I’m sorry.”

“You told me there was something you needed to tell me and I need you to tell me now.”

Jason swallowed hard, stepped outside and shut the front door. “Your right. I…, man this is harder than you think. You know how super heroes have secret identities?”

“What you’re a super hero?”

He laughs a little at the thought, “No, nothing like that. What I mean is you know they have to keep their identity a secret, even from the ones they love, especially the ones they love. They do this to protect them, not just from the bad guys but also to protect them from worrying about the super hero.”

“OK, I still don’t see how thus pertains to you collapsing yesterday.:

“I’m getting there. Just bare with me for a few moments. I have a gift, a special ability.” She stares at him intently and a little confused, but she doesn’t say anything. She just waits for him to finish. “I am what people call a pain eater.”

“You eat pain?”

“Kinda, more like I absorbed the pain and suffering from other people to help them get through the moments they may not be strong enough to get through without my help.”

A realization begins to dawn on her. “Go on.” She says nervously.

When I absorb others pain and suffering it becomes mine and I have to deal with it emotionally. If I don’t, I guess it can manifest itself in physical ailments.”

“So, have you been eating my pain?”

“Yes.”

“And its my pain that caused you too collapse?”

“Yes, but not right away. As we talked and I absorbed your pain , but then we would start to laugh and talk about so much other stuff that I never dealt with it and to be honest I’m not sure I could because for me to deal with it, I need to feel it on a deeply emotional level. I need to get through it and when I think of you all I can do is smile and be… feel happy.”

“So it’s my fault you collapsed?”

“No! It’s mine. I went to help you. It was my choice. That’s what I do, I help people.”

“So, in a way you are a super hero?”

He smiles a little at this. “I guess in a way I am, but there is a problem.” Jason had never thought about himself as a super hero, he kind of liked it.

“What’s that?”

“When I am helping someone they become attracted to me. The either want to be my friend or they develop feelings for me. It’s a side effect of being relieved of that pain, of me relieving them of that pain, but once they, we get through it they tend to forget those feeling. They no longer her want to be around me very much. They don’t know how much I have helped them or that I did anything at all other than a few conversations.”

She felt his tone change and could almost feel his loneliness through his words. “I’m still here and I am not going anywhere. You absorbed all the pain I had from my husband and I am still here. I want to be here. In fact, I was hoping that once all this settled a little and you’re feeling better, we could… I don’t know”

“Go on a date?” he said smiling.

“Yeah, something like that.” She was smiling now too.

“I would love that.”

“Me too, but you have to promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“You'll take a break from the pain eating thing. I like you, I like you a lot and when you collapsed yesterday it..” She wasn’t sure she should tell him. She didn’t want him to eat this pain, she didn’t want to hurt him again, but something was drawing it out of her. She didn’t know how this worked so she turned her face away from thinking that if she couldn’t stop herself from telling or if he was drawing it out of her that if he couldn’t see her face or her eyes to absorb her suffering. If that was the case then she wasn’t going to let him. “It reminded me of the day my mom died.” Her voice cracked when she said mom. “ We were at the park walking and talking. We were laughing and all of a sudden she got a surprised look on her face and… and she collapsed.”

Jason could feel her pain rising. He stepped closer. It helped to eat the suffering if he was closer. He heard the pain in her voice and he could not bare to see her hurting like this. One more time he thought. Just once more, she needed this, she needed him.

“The doctors said it was a brain aneurism. That she was dead before she hit the ground, that she didn’t suffer, but they didn’t see her face.”

He feels a sharp pain shoot up his left arm. He grabs and as he does he vision turns to a blinding white light. His chest tightens and explodes into pain. He can feel his heart stopping and starting like an engine not getting enough fuel. He know he is having a heart. It’s a massive one and he is dying.

“I just can’t see you collapse like that, like she did.” Her back still turned to him, she hasn’t seen the veins protruding from his neck or seen him clutch his chest. He falls to his knees. “Jason…” She says as she turns to face him and stops. “Jason! What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m having a heart attack.” He mutters every word feels like he is lifted a car over his head. She pulls out her phone and this time she does dial 9-1-1. She tells the operator what is going and the operator asks the usual questions; is he conscious, is he breathing. Is his breathing erratic? She answers yes to all of them.

Jason fell onto his back still clutching his chest. The veins and gotten bigger somehow. “Jason!” she screams again and drops her phone. She lifts his head, “Don’t do this to me, please! I can’t do this. I can’t. I can’t lose you, I need you..” here eyes are red and swollen as the tears streak down her face.

He looks up at her,” I love you , Chloe.” He said in a strained whisper.

“I love you too.” She kisses him she can’t believe this is their first kiss and most likely their last.

Chapter 6

Jason

He looks up at her. He is dying and he knows there us no saving him. He is scared, terrified actually. He doesn’t want to due. He thinks of all yhe people he has helped and he feels guilty because there are so many more than need his help

He looks at her, she needs him now more than ever. He is dying, but it’s her that will be to one who suffers it. He can’t let that happen, he won’t. “ It… will… be… ok.” He says struggling to talk.

“No it won’t, I can’t do this without you, any of it.”

“It… will… be… ok.” He repeats and this time he touches the side if her face with his hand. She feels a peace cone over her. She can hear the sirens in the background now. They’re getting closer. He hears them too, but knows that they will be too late. “You… will… be… fine.. I… promise.”

“it will be ok.” She repeats back yo home. His voice is stained and his words are broken but she can still hear the serenity in his voice, she can feel it course throughout her. The tears stopped falling. He is going to be ok, she thinks to herself. I will be ok.

She feels the breath leave him for the final time. His hand falls from her face and lands next to him. She lays his head down and stands up.

The paramedics arrive and they begin chest compressions and try to resuscitate him. She knows now they will fail. She will be ok.

The police show up and she answers their questions. Two hours later she walk into her one bedroom apartment and passes out on her bed.

Chapter 7

Chloe

Three days later she walk into work and Gina rushes to her and hugs her. “What was that for.” She asks giggling.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Jason’s funeral is tomorrow aren’t you going?”

“Jason, the forklift guy? Why would I go to that? I barely knew. I mean we talked a few times out at the smoke shack, but he was just some guy I barely knew.”

Gina looks at her puzzled, “ You told me that you might be in love with him?”

Chloe thinks about this, “You know, I remember telling you, but I don’t know why. It must be all this crap I am dealing with, especially with Carl. Did I tell you he wants to get back together, as if.”

“Hey, wanna talk about it over a cigarette?”

Chloe looked at the door leading to the smoke and all of sudden she never wanted another cigarette again. “No, that’s ok. I think I’m gonna quit.”

Epilogue

Sue Brubaker, Aunt Sue, stands and looks down at her nephew. He looks good she thinks. She bought him a brand new suite, every man should have at least one new suit and now he has his, she thinks. She looks around the mostly empty room. She sees that she is alone except for the funeral director and her sons supervisor and an HR rep from the company he worked for sitting in the back row. There was seven rows of empty chairs between them and the casket.

The director was standing next to her. “He was my son in everything but title. I raised him since he was six years old.” She says as she wiped tears from her eyes with a worn out tissue. The director hands her another. He has been by her side this whole time, he is a good man, she thinks, or at least good at his job. “I loved him and he loved everyone. He was so full of love. He loves to laugh. God, how he loved to laugh . He didn’t get to laugh very much, but when he did he laughed big. He suffered so much and he suffered in silence. He used to tell me that it will be ok, it will always be ok.” She pauses as she tries to wipe away the tears again but the cheap tissues provided by the funeral home can not keep up. The director, what’s his name again, she thinks as he hands her a fresh one.

She takes a deep breath and steadies herself. “He helped so many people. When they were at their worst, he was there to help them. To ease their suffering, to help them make it through. He probably saved many of their lives and for what? They barely remember him and none of them know what he did for them, what he sacrificed for them. He loved them all and he loved helping them no matter the cost. He loved them and it killed him.”

The end


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