Now that the trial has been put to rest, Rueben believes that life is on an upward trend. It's not long before he understands he is sadly mistaken.
Around every corner lies a new demon lurking with the desire to rip the rug out from under him. He m...
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𝗥ueben flexed his palm, staring at his knuckles as he turned the corner to room two hundred fifty – four. His father had texted him a bit ago explaining that Beau was awake; he was up and moving as if nothing happened.
It was a good and a bad thing.
He looked up and took in the room. Beau was sitting cross legged on his bed, Nintendo in hand, tongue sticking out in concentration as he feverishly tapped the buttons. Emmet and Elle were off to the side with a doctor; his father's arms were crossed and his face was indifferent, but his step – mom looked like she was about to faint.
Rueben stood silently across the room; he waited until the doctor left to approach his parents.
"What happened?" he asked immediately.
Emmet rubbed his face, "He has amnesia; he doesn't remember what happened."
He turned and looked at his brother. That made sense. No eleven year old would look that happy after knowing what happened to Rayne – especially after witnessing it.
"Will he ever get his memories back?"
"They don't know," Elle whispered; a hand covered her heart, ".. they don't know," she repeated.
"Mom," he said quietly, walking over to her.
He intended to wrap his arms around her, to give her a hug, but she just put her hand up and shook her head. She didn't make eye contact with him. In fact, it almost felt like he was the reason Beau ended up like this.
He dropped his hands and took a step back, letting Elle walk out of the room. He watched her quietly, his lip pulled between his teeth. Anything – fucking anything – to stop himself from blubbering like a fucking idiot again. That's all he's been able to do.
It was sickeningly pathetic.
His father clamped his hand down on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.
"He's going to be fine," he started, looking at his son, "The doctor said that he knows everything except for the events of the last couple days."
"Is there something we can do to trigger his memories?"
"Yes, but we shouldn't," Emmet looked at him, "There's no reason for him to remember what happened to Rayne. He's a kid, but he's much like you," he sighed "—he'd blame himself for something that was never his fault to begin with."
Rueben nodded shortly, "Then it's probably for the best."
"Yeah."
He gave his father a small side hug before separating and walking over to Beau. His little face was still glued to the gaming system.
He placed his hand on his head and messed up his hair, "Hey, little man."
His brother looked up, surprised, but he recovered quickly. He snapped the Nintendo shut and tossed it to the side, using both hands to pull him into the bed. Rueben laughed for the first time since this all happened as he supported his weight with his own hands as Beau buried his face into his chest.
