In The End (On Hold)

t w o

a/n:
•this "• • •" signals the following section will be done in a THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW.
•chapter is really short
   •Posted: July 17, 2015
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t w o

November 21, 2014

Groaning, I sat up from my bed. Weirdly enough, I was not awake because of the nightmare. No, I guess I escaped sleep before the terror could catch me.

My clock blinked red  numbers  at me, and I mirrored the action to get used to the contrast of the bright red in the darkness. Two-oh-eight. I only had about two hours of sleep. I had fallen asleep at twelve to avoid the dream, but eventually gave into the slumber.

'I need to pee,' I told myself. Slowly, I got up from my bed and began the journey to the restroom all the way at the other end of the hall. It wasn't long before I felt like my whole body was put through an eight-hour workout. It hurt, all over. 'It's because you just woke up.'

My vision was blurry. Trying to be rid of it, I blinked several times, only stopping when it dawned on me that the action alone only made the focus of my eyes more messed up than it was.

I'll manage, I told myself.

Before I was able to take a step toward the toilet, the ground disappeared from beneath me and I was falling, and the only thing I was able to do was hook three fingers around the towel rack and wrap my hand around the knob, and for a second, I thought I was fine and I just needed to pick myself up. For only a second. The next, the towel rack broke itself from the wall and brought everything down with it (in this family, a towel rack's use wasn't only meant to hold towels). My hand's grasp on the knob slipped in my surprise. Reaching for the sink that is exactly by the entrance was my last chance. My hand glided along the surface of it but it couldn't find grasp on anything, only tipping and pushing everything in my hand's way to the floor.

The towel rack, everything on the towel rack, and everything that fell off the counter of the sink only creates a cacophony as all the things crashed to the floor at once.

On the floor, my eyesight only became worse. There was two of everything. I wasn't sure which one was which. Two Dads and two Moms, and the warmth of Mom's hand around mine. The last thing I was able to process were the two Tommys at the threshold of the bathroom, each sporting a horrified expression, tears leaking from their eyes.

• • •

Ashley and Evan Calebs rushed their unconscious son to the hospital. Mrs. Calebs willed herself not to cry to keep from drowning in tears as to not panic her husband who was driving, speedily turning corners to avoid traffic and stoplights.

They'd left a sobbing Tommy in the care of Ashley's sister, Emma, who was awoken by the loud bangs on her front door in the early hours of morning.

Just as much as his wife tried not to cry, Evan willed himself not to crash. It's not the first time Mason's collapsed. No, but it was just as terrifying.

Unknowingly, the couple began to relive the first time Mason collapsed. It had been less disturbing. He had been complaining of his legs hurting, aching. The family of four were gathered in the living room, watching movies they had received from the nearby Red Box. Mason had quieted down a bit about his legs after he found he was comfortable.

Thirty minutes into the movie, Mason decided he wanted to enjoy some popcorn before the movie got better than it already was. He merely picked himself five inches off the couch, so he hovered it, before he was tumbling and couldn't react. Thankfully, his body wasn't far off the ground, so it wasn't much of a fall. But he did pass out.

Only one good thing that came of his passing out was when after he awoke: the leukemia destroying his health lessened and the pursuit of killing him slowed—a relief to everyone, because around his second year of living with the leukemia, it began gnawing him quicker than his physicians expected. But the coma he woke from quickly, miraculously (and ironically) had helped.

His parents hoped this was like last time.

But, Mason knew, deep down, if his death was to be anymore elongated, the suffering would have only been worse.

⋆⋆⋆

Doctor Angus, Mason's usual doctor, looked at his clipboard, flipping through the papers pinched together. His parents watched, though they had a feeling of what he was about to tell them. "He seems to be in a coma."