All The Stars We See // muke

chapter twenty-one

There's a woman in bed, a steady beeping filling the room as a heavy hand rested on his shoulder. The adults are crying, and somehow he thinks he is but he's too frozen in place to tell.

Who was she?

"Liz..." He heard and he turned to see a man leaning over the bed. "My love, don't go."

"You knew this was coming," a gentle voice whispered and there was a hand covering his eyes. "- take the kids out. They can't see this."

Mom?

"You can't leave us alone. I can't do this without you." Someone was sobbing and the beeping was growing faster, and faster.

It was steady now, a stream of noise as screams and rushed voices covered it. Everyone was pushing, forcing their way into the room as he was suddenly picked up and lifted to a higher level.

She was looking at him, blue eyes almost closed but not quite there yet. Then people in white were moving, covering her body before a door was shutting.

It was just them.

*

It's cold. Freezing. And there's sirens blaring while people are shouting. They're muffled voices and his ears are warm, and he can see two different hands on either side of his face.

"I can't do it! I can't do it! Take them!" A male is shouting as he's dragged to the white car in front of them, gates blocking their vision of him.

"Where's he going?"

Was that him talking?

"He's not going to hurt us anymore, okay?" He's familiar. He's so familiar but he can't put his tongue on it.

"Ben, I'm scared. Now what happens?" Someone else said and that voice is even more familiar.

They're guided to a car, and he's clinging to someone but he can't tell who because everything's fuzzy and shifting in and out of focus. They're holding him, cradling him, and it's suddenly warm and safe but still scary. He feels afraid.

"Jack, hold Luke. I'm going to get us some things from the house." Ben is saying, and his face is coming in clearly.

"Like mom?"

Mom?

"He has to. It's for the best, okay?"

Dad?

*

His body is jerking forward, and he's not in a car anymore when he opens his eyes to see what happened. The building is wide and open, rows of kids sitting in a circle and playing on a circular rug. There's open windows, open doors, and people are walking in and out freely.

"Catch up, Luke!" He heard and he turned around to see two other kids running around with a ball in their hands.

"Calm down, children." Someone was laughing and he paused as an elderly woman bent down to run her bony fingers through his hair. "Hey, Luke, how are you?"

Who was she?

"Go play with your brothers." She grinned and he took off in the direction of his brothers.

They're his brothers, Jack and Ben.

"Jack! Toss the ball to me!" Luke cried and then wrapped his arms around the inflatable toy before tossing it back.

It was back and forth before he tripped, and the ball was landing on his head. "Luke! Are you okay?"

"Boys," a scolding voice sounded and Luke looked up. "- be careful. Luke, honey? Luke?"