I really did write too many scenes where Andy Brown killed himself.

  

Ephram was the one that found him, of course.

Dr. Brown had sent Delia to play at Nina's on a day he was sure Ephram would be home before her, and had gone upstairs. And Ephram, indeed, was home before Delia. The only reason he went straight upstairs was because he was angry about being double booked the next Thursday - his dad had scheduled a piano lesson for the night of something else. Six months ago, Ephram would have gone up to his room, slammed the door, and taken his father's silence with gratitude, no matter how angry he was. But now.

He opened his dad's door, all ready to ream him out and then go make dinner - except the water in the ensuite was running. When he saw the shower curtain drawn, he just knew.

Ephram called the ambulance, asked them not to use the siren so his sister wouldn't hear. Then he called Nina, told her to keep Delia away from the windows, and then he had to go.

The ambulance took a long time to get there, at least it felt like a very long time. Ephram sat on the tile of the ensuite, and didn't look at the running water in the sink. When the paramedics came upstairs, one of them turned it off as they put his father's body on a stretcher. When the tap was turned off, Ephram knew he was dead. he'd made his exit. Without Ephram.

Ephram was kind of in shock, the whole ride to the hospital, he couldn't believe that his dad could do that to them, not when they were finally getting along. It was typical, Ephram thought. He was in shock anyway.

 

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