FicWad

Arriving at Grace’s house, Amy knocked on the door and waited for her sister to answer, which she eventually did. As soon as the door opened, Grace pulled Amy into a tight hug and they both began to cry together. They simply stood like that, crying and consoling each other until they could no longer cry anymore. Then they let each other go and sat down to discuss what would happen next.
“So mom always wanted a simple funeral,” Grace said pulling out a glossy funeral home booklet, “And one of these arrangements looks good.”
Grace passed the booklet over to Amy and she flicked through it before agreeing that it looked alright.
“And,” Grace said drying her eyes with a tissue, “Now we have to ring everyone and tell them about it.”
Amy nodded and grabbed her sister’s hand, “I can do it if you want,” she said reassuringly.
“Thanks Amy,” Grace said, “I’ll get us some strong coffees I think, we’ll need it to get through this afternoon.”
Amy nodded, “Definitely.”

Amy decided to stay with Grace that night and after Grace had gone to bed exhausted, Amy went outside to ring Patrick like she had promised. She dialed his cell phone number and he soon picked up and asked her how she was.
“Well it’s hard,” Amy said with a sigh to him, “But I’ll get through it and so will Grace.”
“Yeah,” Patrick said, “You’re strong, I can tell, and remember I’m here alright? If you need me.”
Amy smiled a little, “I know, and I wish I could see you now.”
“No problem,” Patrick said kindly, “I’ll come over if you’d like.”
“It’s just I don’t want to wake Grace if we’re talking, I mean she’ll never get back to sleep again…and I feel responsible you know? I’m the older sister.”
“How about we go for a short drive? For you to just get out for a bit and we won’t go far so you can get back quickly if she wakes and rings you.”
“It sounds perfect,” Amy said, “But…”
“You feel guilty right?” Patrick finished off.
“How did you know?”
“I went through a similar thing a few years ago, I’ll tell you about it on the drive,” Patrick said in almost a whisper.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Amy said, “Well alright, let’s go for the drive.”
“See you soon,” Patrick said before he hung up. Amy hung up too and then she made her way back inside Grace’s house to do the dishes for her sister before making her way out to the front of the house to wait for Patrick.

After a few minutes of waiting for Patrick to arrive, he pulled up in front of where Amy was standing and she got in his car. Patrick greeted Amy with a quick kiss on the lips and then she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Finally they let go and Amy spoke.
“So are we just going to go around the block?” Amy asked putting her seatbelt on.
“Yeah and then find a park somewhere and chat. How does that sound?” Patrick said putting the car in drive and taking off from the curb.
“Sounds good,” Amy said, “You know, Patrick?”
“Yeah?” He said looking at Amy briefly.
“Thanks for coming, I needed to see you.”
Patrick smiled, “I needed to see you too.”

Amy and Patrick eventually found a car park and Patrick brought the car to a stop. Then they decided to go and sit on a bench in the park they had stopped in front of. They sat down and then there was silence between them until Patrick spoke.
“I was going to tell you what happened to me,” he said.
Amy nodded her head, “Only if you want to.”
“I do,” Patrick said looking around at Amy, “Well, a really good friend died a few years ago. It was sudden and unexpected. Another of my friends didn’t cope well with it, worse than the rest of us and I stayed with him the night it happened.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Amy said grabbing Patrick’s hand. He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.
“It’s alright,” he whispered before continuing, “So that night I couldn’t sleep and I remembered that I had to pick the belongings up of the friend who had died, for his mom, from his flat. I had the key you see.”
Amy looked up at Patrick and then snuggled in closer towards him, trying to comfort him as he talked.
“I had a dilemma, whether to stay with my friend in case he woke up or pick up the belongings.”
“What did you do?” Amy asked.
“Well I went and I felt so guilty like you are now. But the friend didn’t wake and I got the belongings, so it was the right thing to do. And the point of this story is don’t feel guilty because Grace will be fine and you need a break.”
Patrick kissed Amy on the top of her head and held her tighter.
“Thanks for telling me,” she said, “And I’m glad I came, I am.”
Amy then kissed Patrick on the lips and he returned it before they decided it was time to head back to Grace’s house.