help. - a Scömìche short story

stay.

"I'm not tired." Scott mumbles when I suggest going to bed.

"I kind of figured, but I thought I would offer anyway."

"Will you stay up with me?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's do something fun, okay? To take your mind off of everything?" He nods and I lead him up the stairs to the living room, letting him sit down on the couch before crawling carefully into his lap.

"Before we do anything, do you mind helping me, like...bandage....my arm?"

"Oh, of course." After twenty minutes of cleaning and wrapping Scott's arm, we go back in to the living room to watch TV. "Let's see, let's see." He sits on the couch while I scan the shelves of DVDs for something lighthearted. "Wanna watch Rat Race?" I glance over my shoulder to see him grinning and nodding giddily. "Alright. Rat Race it is." I grab the case and put the disk into the DVD player, watching the TV turn on before going into the kitchen to get a glass of water. When I come back, Scott is watching the TV with pure fascination while the opening credits roll. He looks completely at ease with a blanket from his parents' house draped over his lap and Rat Race, a movie that he used to watch every Saturday with his family, playing, and it relieves a tiny bit of the tension in my chest to see him that way after everything that just happened. While I want to convince myself that he can stay this way forever, blissfully happy in one of his own little worlds, I know that the heaviness doesn't just disappear that easily. It has to be fought, driven out, and that is my goal. To keep him happy, and, more importantly, alive.

***

Halfway through the movie, although I am tired and cannot sleep, Scott, who claimed that he was not tired, is fast asleep. He is laying across my lap, hands curled into fists around my shirt hem even in his sleep. He's always done that, says it comforts him. I do the same thing with him. After about ten more minutes, I click the TV off and shut my eyes in a desperate attempt to sleep. Before long, I am just as asleep as Scott.

****

At 8:00 I wake up in a panic, squinting against the sun flooding through the window.

"Scott! Wake up, I'm late!" He sits straight up, staring at me for a second in a sleepy state.

"What?"

"I'm late for work." I jump off the couch and start toward our bedroom, yanking my shirt off and already starting to undo my belt buckle so I can change.

"Do you have to go?" His voice is small, and already being halfway down the hall, I barely hear him say it.

"If I miss another day, I'm gonna get fired, and we both know that can't happen."

"I know, I know. I'm just not all that excited about being alone all day."

"I mean...I can call Kirstie and ask her to come over, if you want." He gets up and follows me into the bedroom, where I search for clean jeans and a button down.

"No, I'll be fine. I'll be okay until you come home. Don't bother her." I nod, but when he leaves to go to the bathroom, I call Kirstie immediately.

"Hey, Mitch." she says through a yawn.

"Hi. I can't talk for long but I have a pretty huge favor to ask."

"Is everything okay?"

"Can't answer that. Can you come over and stay with Scott today? I don't want him to be alone and he doesn't want to be alone and I really don't know who else to ask."

"Uh, sure. Just give me a little bit to get over there. I just woke up, like, ten minutes ago and I look like hell."

"If doing your makeup is going to take a while, can you please skip it and just come over?"