novelraw Chapter 250: Dead
Chapter 250: Dead
Chapter 248
KATYA POV
I stumbled back a step, my legs weak, my hands hovering uselessly in the air like I didn’t know what to do with them anymore. The moment I let go, Lila sagged fully into the mattress.
The doctor leaned in, lifting Lila’s chin carefully. She froze. "What the hell—" The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Her eyes widened as she took in Lila’s mouth. "Oh my God." Nonna made a broken sound behind her. "Is it bad?"
"Yes," the doctor said quickly, snapping herself back into motion. "Yes. This is very bad."
She opened Lila’s mouth gently, inspecting with practiced efficiency. The doctor exhaled sharply and reached for her bag. It hit the floor beside the bed with a dull thud as she flipped it open, hands already moving fast for me to follow.
The doctor worked fast. She pulled on gloves, her movements sharp and practiced as she checked Lila’s pulse at the neck, then her wrist.
Her fingers lingered there longer than they should have. Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Come on," she muttered under her breath—not to us, not even really to Lila. Just... hoping.
She reached into her bag and pulled out stuffs, pressing it carefully where she could, then leaned close to Lila’s face, watching her chest.
Nothing.
Her eyes flicked to Lila’s lips. Then back to her chest. Then to the clock on the wall.
My stomach twisted. "She’s still breathing," I said quickly, desperately. "She was—she just—"
The doctor didn’t answer me.
She adjusted Lila’s position slightly, placed two fingers beneath her jaw again, then shook her head once.
"No," she said quietly.
Nonna sucked in a sharp breath. "No?" she echoed, her voice cracking. "What do you mean, no?"
The doctor straightened, just a little. Not fully standing—like she didn’t want to tower over what she was about to say.
"She’s not breathing anymore," she said gently. "And I can’t find a pulse."
"That’s not—" I shook my head hard. "That’s not true. She was just—her eyes were open. She looked at me."
"She was fading," the doctor said softly. "I’m so sorry."
"No," I said again, louder this time. "No....No...no...no" The doctor met my eyes then.
"She’s lost too much blood," she said. Calm. Professional. Devastating. "The time I arrived, it was already too late."
I stared at Lila. She looked the same. Too much the same. Still curled slightly on her side. Still pale. Still—still there.
No...no...I...I.... didn’t...I didn’t kill her, it wasn’t my fault...I’m not a killer...no...No..NO.
The word kept repeating in my head, louder each time, until it stopped sounding like language at all. Just noise. Just pressure.
The room tilted. The edges of everything blurred, like someone had smeared oil over my vision. The doctor was still talking—her lips were moving, I could see that—but the sound didn’t reach me. It was like I’d been shoved underwater.
My ears rang. And then I wasn’t in Nonna’s room anymore. I saw my father’s face.
Not the way he looked when he was alive Not the permanent hate in his eyes...Worse. I saw his burnt face, twisted and curved into my memory exactly as it had been that night—his skin grey, his eyes open and empty, his mouth twisted in an expression I had never been able to forget.
He was standing in front of me. Too close. I staggered back instinctively, my heel bumping into something I couldn’t see. My breath hitched painfully in my chest.
"No," I whispered. Or maybe I screamed it. I couldn’t tell. Another face slid into view. Adelasia. Her eyes were lifeless, staring straight through me, unblinking. The same blank gaze I’d seen when it was already too late to save her.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out—just accusation, heavy and suffocating.
Then Frank. I saw it again—the moment frozen in time. Romeo’s steady hands. The gun raised. Frank’s eyes widening just before.....I flinched violently, my hands flying up to cover my ears.
"Stop," I gasped. "Please—stop—" But they didn’t. They surrounded me.
My father. Adelasia. Frank. And then Lila.
She was still cold. Still pale. Her body unnaturally still, her eyes half-lidded like she hadn’t even had the strength to close them herself.
They stood in a circle around me. So close I could feel them pressing in, tightening the space around my chest until I couldn’t draw a full breath.
Their mouths moved. At first, I couldn’t hear the words. Just a dull, distant roar—like a crowd screaming from far away.
Then it sharpened.
You let it happen. You didn’t stop it. You knew. You always survive. And we don’t.
I shook my head violently, tears blinding me. "No," I sobbed. "I didn’t—I didn’t kill you. I didn’t—"
My father’s face twisted, charred and unforgiving. You were there.
Adelasia’s eyes burned into me. You always are.
Frank’s voice was the loudest. You watched.
Lila didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. She just looked at me. And somehow that was worse.
My chest seized painfully. I clawed at my throat, desperate for air that wouldn’t come. My heart was beating so hard it felt like it might burst straight through my ribs.
"I’m not a killer," I cried, my voice breaking apart. "I’m not. I swear I’m not."
The room spun faster. The walls felt like they were closing in, bending inward, crushing me beneath their weight.
My legs gave out completely this time, and I collapsed to the floor, my hands scrambling uselessly against the carpet. I couldn’t feel them. I couldn’t feel anything except terror.
Hands grabbed my shoulders. Someone was shaking me.
"Katya!" a voice shouted—muffled, distorted. "Katya, look at me!"
I couldn’t.
All I could see were their faces.
All I could hear were their accusations, screaming over each other, tearing into me until there was nothing left inside but guilt and fear and the sick certainty that maybe—maybe they were right.
Maybe wherever I went, death followed. Maybe I didn’t pull the triggers. Maybe I didn’t cut her tongue. But I was always there.
And that had to mean something.
"I didn’t mean to," I sobbed. "I didn’t mean to—I didn’t know—" I screamed. A raw, animal sound ripped out of my chest as sharp pain flared on my neck.
The faces began to blur, smearing into shadows as my vision darkened around the edges. The last thing I felt was arms wrapping tightly around me—strong, familiar—pulling me close as the world finally collapsed in on itself.
Then...
...Nothing.
****
Lila unfortunately didn’t make it lol