When Azrael's sister, McKenzie, died, I saw the look on his face. He was crushed. Afraid
to move. I held his hands and told him it would be okay.
"Get away from me!"
He pushed me and ran out of the hospital. I chased after him, hoping to at least talk to
him.
"Azrael, wait. I heard what you said to your sister earlier. You can come stay with me whenever you need."
"I don't need you."
He was holding onto something behind his back, and he looked insane. It was a gun. He
loaded it and held it up to me.
"Azrael, what are you doing?"
"Get away, Bella."
"Azrael," I reached my hand out to try and grab the gun. "Put the gun down. This isn't you. You
know that. Please just put the gun down."
He looked like he was considering it, but he didn't put it down.
"Azrael, please put the gun down. Think about what you'll be doing if you shoot me."
He shot the gun. It went past me and shot a little boy that looked about seven. I was
speechless.
Azrael took the ammunition out of his gun and then walked away. I ran over to the boy and checked if he was alright.
"Are you okay? Do you know where your parents are?"
"Inside," his voice was raspy. "They're inside."
I picked him up gently and carried him inside. A doctor ran up to me and grabbed the boy. A man and a woman that I assumed were his parents walked up to me and thanked me. I
nodded and walked out of the hospital.
I went to the art museum where Azrael and I first met, hoping that he would be there. I sat down and waited. I noticed my art supplies, and assumed I forgot to take them with me.
Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me.
"Listen, I know you probably won't want me living with you, but I would like to. Only if the
offer is still available."
It was Azrael. He sat down next to me.
"I threw the gun away. I realize what I did was wrong. Very wrong. But I'm just hurting. I wasn't planning on losing my sister. Especially not a few months after losing my parents. And I
didn't mean to shoot anyone. Especially not that little boy. Bella, just please let me stay with you for a little while. I'll become a better man. I promise."
"Only on one condition."
"Which is?"
"You let me help you. Not just with school or work. With everything."
"Deal."
We shook hands but didn't let go. I looked down at our hands and got nervous. I could
see him blushing, so I pulled my hand away. We both looked at the ground, afraid to look at
each other. Suddenly, Azrael looked up at me.
"I'm not in school anymore. I got kicked out."
"What? Why?"
"I got put in a psych ward. They didn't want a psychotic student."
"I'm sure we could get you enrolled in another school. What were you studying?"
I pulled my phone out and searched for local schools. I could hear him laugh quietly.
"Psychology and mathematics."
"So, you're a nerd now."
"That's not what I said."
"It's what you meant."
He reached out to grab my phone to see what schools I was looking at, and our hands
touched again. I gave him the phone.
"We should go to my house."
"Okay," he smiled. "Is anyone there or will it just be us?"
"My brother is there. He treats me like ass, so if he says anything to me, just ignore it."
"Where are your parents?"
"They're on a vacation."
"Without you?"
"Yeah," I looked down at the ground. "Well, let's get going. You can look at schools on my
phone while we walk."