"Yeah. Nurse Jackson said it was just his time." Mike sighed.
"Guys, how are we going to tell Davy?" Micky asked.
"We'll have to break it to him as gently as possible." Mike said.
The three entered the room Davy and Peter shared. Davy was still sound asleep.
"Maybe we should let him sleep a little longer." Peter suggested.
"We have to tell him Pete." Mike explained gently.
He than began to shake Davy gently. "Wake up. Come on Dave. We need to talk to you."
Davy let out a groan. "Five more minutes."
"No Davy now. We need to talk to you." Mike said.
"Alright." Davy let out a soft moan.
He rolled over and opened his eyes. An uneasy feeling ran through him. His friends' eyes seemed to be burning through him.
"What? Did something happen?"
"It's Charlie. Um something happened last night." Mike gently explained.
"He's okay isn't he?" Davy asked.
He looked over at Peter who was on the verge of tears. He then turned back to Mike.
"I'm sorry." was all Mike could say.
Davy closed his eyes tightly fighting back tears.
"Mrs. Jackson said it was just his time." Mike added.
Micky reached over to where Davy was laying. He placed a hand on Davy's shoulder. Davy yanked out of Micky's grip and left the room. Slamming the door hard behind him. Micky was hurt by Davy's reaction.
"I was only trying to comfort him."
"Leave him be Mick. He'll come around. He's just upset that's all." Mike said squeezing Micky's arm.
"Yeah, he'll come to us when he's ready." Peter said giving off a
slight smile.
But Davy didn't turn to his friends. A few weeks had passed since
Charlie's funeral and there was no change in Davy. He became
withdrawn and distant. After Charlie's funeral he simply went to his
room without a word and stayed there. What scared his friends the
most was he didn't cry at Charlie's funeral. Peter had cried. Micky
had cried. Even Mike had cried. Davy however didn't. He didn't react
at all.
"We have a problem." Mike sighed.
The trio were at the band stand trying to figure out a way to help their fourth member.
"Yes we do. He hardly eats. He hardly speaks." Micky sighed.
"All he does is lay in bed. He's still in the same pajamas he wore the night of Charlie's funeral." Peter pointed out.
"Yesterday, I asked him if he was okay. I thought he was going to bite my head off." Micky sighed.
"I'm worried about him Michael."
"We all are Pete. We all are." Mike said rubbing his forehead.
"Headache?" Micky asked.
"Yeah. He used to come to me whenever he had a problem. I don't know why he isn't now." Mike sighed.
"You know what scares me the most. He isn't reacting at all. He hasn't cried, or even talked about Charlie. I don't know how to help him." Micky said sounding worried and hurt.
"He's become how Charlie used to be." Peter said sadly.
"What do we do?" Micky asked.
"I don't know. I do know one thing. I have a headache so I think I'll hit the hay."
"We have hay? And will it help Davy?" Peter asked.
Mike let out a light laugh. "Night Peter."
A few days had passed since the secret meeting. Davy didn't seem any
better. If anything he seemed worse. He still hardly spoke. Micky
was running out of patience with him. Mike just stayed out of his
way. Peter however came up with an idea. He entered his and Davy's
room.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked.
"Do I look okay?" Davy snapped.
"No. You look like you could use some sleep. And what's with the stumble. I thought you hated having hair on your face. You said it made your face itch."
"I don't feel like talking okay?!" Davy asked sharply.
"You don't feel like doing anything but push everyone away! Why Davy?"
"I don't know." Davy said with no emotion in his voice.
"We care about you very much." Peter said. Then turned the conversation to a different angle. "I mean Charlie died...and you stopped living too. It's a shame because you were such a great guy. I'll leave you alone now I guess."
Peter got up from the corner of Davy's bed. He took one last look at Davy and sighed. He said a silent prayer as he was leaving.
"I hope the talk somehow helped him." Peter thought.