TW: Death of a child, blood
On his fourth birthday, Garroth was given light up shoes.
He had been begging for those shoes. Any time his parents asked him what he wanted for his birthday, the first and most important was those light up sneakers. The sneakers he could stomp around in as much as he pleased, and they'd light up the characters that decorated the shoes in response.
His little face lit up as he opened those shoes adorned with Spider-Man on his birthday.
In the hospital, they were a sense of relief. As Garte, Zianna, and Garroth waited in the facilities for testing to occur, the little one got incredibly anxious and antsy awaiting his several procedures.
"I bet you can't make those shoes light up," Garte would say in an effort to distract Garroth.
"Yes, I can!" Garroth would stomp his foot on the ground. The little shoes were illuminated.
The four year old would smirk with pure mischief in his eyes. He knew he'd proved his father's statement incorrect. Garte then smirked back, making a game out of these shoes that Garroth so desperately wanted.
So, when Garte walked into the room where the doctors and the warlock were injecting his son with the Forever Potion, he expected to see the little one ready to jump off the table and show off the shoes he still had on.
Maybe that wasn't what he expected and more so what he wanted to see, but seeing his son dead on a table he was strapped to was neither of which.
Derek was unable to keep his eyes from turning red. He launched at Michael, only to be held back by Zack. He was belligerent, more outwardly angry than Garte would ever show.
"You knew this would fucking happen!" Derek screamed.
Michael smirked smugly. Though he was distraught over the death himself, he was too amused at Derek's reaction.
"Wipe that smile off your fucking face," Derek growled. "There's a dead child two feet away from you."
Garte reached the side of Garroth on the table he lay on. Against the repeated objections from Elizabeth, Garte loosened the straps that held his son so tightly. He picked up Garroth as though he were a precious relic, an ancient artifact too delicate to be touched.
Michael stood in front of the livid Derek, unbothered by the blood red color in his iris. He was continuously blowing Derek off. Elizabeth was screaming back at Derek and attempting to have her voice reach a volume above his. Zack was screaming at everyone to calm down, to remember the situation at hand here.
Garte was left holding Garroth's lifeless body. A slight green hue ran throughout the veins that once granted life to him. He was still warm, and if Garte hadn't thought twice he could've sworn his preschooler's heart was beating. He sat down on the table that once held Garroth and put a hand on his head, stroking his blonde hair.
"So what is he, just another casualty to add to your list?!" Derek exclaimed.
Zack was slowly advancing towards Garroth and Garte. He was attempting to avoid Derek's attention gravitating from Michael to him as he was moving to save a child's life. Zack reached both arms out to Garte, who was still holding Garroth as though he was a baby once again.
"Can I see him for a moment?" Zack inquired gently.
Garte pulled Garroth's lifeless body closer to himself. Without words, the panic came to his face. He was so afraid of what remained of Garroth being taken away from him as well.
Zack felt a tight grip on his arm. He snapped his head around to see Derek, whose eyes were glowing a beady red. He was breathing through his gritted teeth.
"Don't you dare touch either of them," Derek snarled.
"I'm trying to save him, you asshole," Zack hissed in rebuke. He turned his attention back to Garte. "Garte, please, if we don't act now and we save him we risk severe brain damage."
"Save him?! You killed him!" Derek turned to yelling again.
In his own initiative, Garte slowly handed over Garroth. He couldn't help but stare at the bluish-grey that was slowly overtaking his son's lips and fingertips. He stood up from the table that he was sitting on. Zack quickly placed the little one down and started chest compressions.
Steady, fast, and consistent. Zack was going to be damned if he gave up on this child that he had fought so hard to experiment on. Derek's red eyes dissipated. He watched Garte, whose eyes were glued to the scene of his son's chest being pressed in to get his heart to start again.
"Zack," Michael began, almost scoffing at Zack's efforts to revive the boy.
"Don't stop," Garte said with a thousand yard stare. "Stop, and you'll be dead, too. All of you."
Derek, utterly flabbergasted at what Garte said, turned his head with his mouth agape at the man. Garte Ro'Meave, the man who was often too scared to even speak back to a furious Derek, had threatened the entire room with not just violence, but murder.
Michael couldn't even sigh or scoff at Garte's threat. From the look in Garte's eye in that moment, even Michael was shaken up. The businessman had meant this threat down to every atom within him.
So, the wizard stepped forward. He placed a hand on Garroth's head. The boy's head slowly glowed as Zack was still focused on performing intense chest compressions. Elizabeth was ready on standby if Zack would tire. Nothing came of the glowing that Michael had performed.
"Michael," Elizabeth said, shaking her head as she looked at the heart monitor.
"Give him to his father," Michael said gently.
"I said don't stop," Garte scowled with a new, dangerous look in his eye.
"Garte, trust me," Michael responded.
"Haven't we trusted you enough?" Derek responded for Garte.
But, Garte once again took his own initiative. Elizabeth picked up Garroth's still lifeless body, though the color was somewhat returning. When Garte's arms were out in front of her, she placed the boy in his father's arms.
Seconds passed. Nothing.
Just as Zack was about to jump in with chest compressions, the single sound of a beeping machine was heard. The most joyous sound to everyone in the room. The green line on the heart monitor peaked quickly.
Garte's mouth dropped as he stared at the monitor. The peaking was slow and infrequent, but the beeping continued. He gazed down at Garroth who had color appearing back into his face.
Without asking, Elizabeth took Garroth back from Garte and set him on the table again. Michael strapped him on the table, though looser this time. Zack let out a breath and looked at Garroth.
"Welcome back, buddy," He mumbled. "We almost lost you there, didn't we?"
Garte and Derek didn't have a moment to object before they were ushered out of the room once again so that they could continue infusing the potion that had killed him. Derek was annoyed, but Garte was in too much shock to process anything that was going on.
It was hard to tell how many minutes had passed where Garroth was not breathing. Though Zack later calculated about six minutes, it felt like an eternity for Garte. Six minutes was too long for his son's heart not to be beating.
"I didn't know that was in you," Derek commented.
"Hm?" Garte was snapped out of his daze.
"You threatened an entire room of people with death. You can hardly threaten your boys with punishment without feeling guilty."
"Ah," Garte shrugged. "He's my son. I would've done the same for Zane and Vylad."
"I know you would," Derek smirked. In a way, he was somewhat proud.
Another thirty minutes passed. There was no screaming from the infusion, or abrupt stopping. It was just quiet outside the room all around.
Inside, Michael, Zack, and Elizabeth had stopped the potion infusion. They were all staring at the heart monitor at frequent points out of paranoia that monotone sound would buzz through the room again.
They waited a moment. The heart rate was still steady, the boy was still breathing. Though he was weak, he was stable. That's what mattered.
"Well, let's see how it worked," Michael said, motioning for Elizabeth to take action.
So, she reached over and grabbed a needle and vial. She took Garroth's tiny arm and found a vein. Subsequently, she took his blood for testing for any signs of cancer. The vial was quickly full of the thick, crimson liquid.
The vial was prepared as quickly as possible. Everyone, including Derek and Garte, were anxious to see how the potion had worked. Was the boy's fate to live, or stuck to death?
Elizabeth examined the blood sample from the microscope. When she looked, she felt a pit in her stomach. She stood back with her mouth dropped, unable to articulate what she was feeling.
Zack quickly rushed over to examine the microscope. He took an exacerbated sigh when he stared at the sample. As he walked back to where Garroth and Michael were standing, he found himself unable to do anything but nod.
Derek and Garte sat still outside the room. Garte's leg was bouncing, as it normally did. The metal door flew open. Just Michael's presence was beaming. He looked right at Garte with a smile. Not a cunning, evil one. The most genuine smile that Garte had ever seen.
"The cancer's gone. He's going to live."