The Good Son - 19. Chapter 19: From Heaven

“We’ve managed to resuscitated him and he’s stabilized,” the doctor spoke to Arty in the hallway of recovery rooms. “But his oxygen was cut off for a long time.”

Arty dragged his hand down his face, sighing. “...You don’t know how this happened?”

“No, we don’t. We’re really sorry.”

“You said this happened around four?” Arty dropped his hand to his side, suddenly feeling like he hadn’t slept last night, when he had.

“Yes, sir.”

Four. Four p.m. That was about the time that Arty was there with Daniel and his friends. At least, the kids. Arty had stayed out in the car with Geil. It was six p.m now, because Jack was at work and Arty had misplaced his phone at the house when the hospital tried calling. By the time he found his phone, he had six missed calls. Almost seven until he’d finally answered.

“And… you don’t have any cameras over on this part?”

The doctor sighed. “No, I’m afraid we don’t.”

“...Okay,” Arty cleared his throat and brought his hand back up to run it through his hair. “He’s going to make it?”

“...If he does, he’ll most likely never wake up. I… can give you paper work for-”

“No, no, we’re not pulling the plug. Again. How much is it going to cost to keep him on?”

“If we’re being honest, thousands. Monthly. With all of the snow here, we get hundreds of accidents- more than what rooms we have available.”

Arty bit his lip so that he wouldn’t cuss up a storm. He couldn’t help himself though and let out a loud “Fuck!” while gripping his hair. The doctor didn’t seem to be too fazed. He probably got that a lot. “Fuck! Fuck, okay,” Arty crossed his arms, since he couldn’t seem to stand still, “I… need to go. Just make sure that nothing else happens to him, okay?”

“We’ll certainly try, but-”

Arty turned away from the doctor, cutting the older man off. He had to leave. Daniel and Geil were outside in the car, which Arty had to argue with them about because Daniel wanted to… Daniel. Arty stopped walking. Daniel. He turned back to the doctor, but he had gone. There was a nurse walking by, though, so he grabbed her by the arm.

“Ma’m, did you see a teenager around this room earlier today? Curly brown hair, tall-” The nurse shook her head.

“Er, I wasn’t here earlier. You could ask the morning shift, but they won’t be in until tomorrow.”

Arty sighed and shook his head. “No, that’s okay.” He let go of her arm and watched as she walked away, the woman glancing back at him while scampering away in her blue hospital scrubs. She’d offered him a small, apologetic smile, but he just turned away to leave to the elevator. Elevator L was around the corner, which would take him to the first floor. He stopped walking again.

...He should visit Henry. Yes, he was in a coma. Yes, he would probably never wake up. That was precisely why he needed to visit him. He felt at fault for what had happened. If he hadn’t let Daniel get to him, he wouldn’t have had Henry drive Daniel and Geil around- Daniel was trying to get to him. He was trying to get to him, and he knew that he could. That’s what he was doing. He was trying to own him.

Arty turned on his heel and started off to Henry’s room. Room 302.

There was no check-in at the front desk, there were no cameras, there was no nurse or security waiting outside of the room- there was only an empty hallway with dying patients in lonely, empty rooms. There were no lights on in their rooms. Henry was no exception. His room was dark and lonely, besides the life support breathing and his heart monitor beeping.

These rooms are absolutely perfect for killing someone. Daniel could have pulled the plug and gotten away with it five times over. Arty couldn’t stop questioning himself- why did he think he could help Daniel? Why didn’t he notice anything sooner? No, he did notice. Why didn’t he do anything sooner?

Arty walked to Henry in his bed, where he looked the opposite of what you see in movies. In movies, there are only bruises and scrapes, and casts. Reality had a way to change those pictures. With Henry, it was scary. Life had no censorship. Even with Arty’s brother Andrew was in the hospital. His amputated limbs were swollen and yellow with sick bruises; stitches that looked like black hair sticking out of his surgically removed legs and left arm. Henry looked like that, swollen with yellow bruises where the stitches had taken to his right cheek and head, which had been shaved to allow for surgery. Bandages took his arms, and his legs were covered by the blanket, a luxury that Andrew wasn’t allowed. He wasn’t allowed bandages, because his amputated limbs needed to breath for proper healing.

Arty started crying. He dropped his head into his hands and sobbed in the seemingly lifeless room. Life was so ugly. No, death was. Death, when it claimed Andrew due to an infection in his blood. When it claimed Jack’s youngest son Avery, hanging from a noose in the art room for Arty to find. When it took Arty’s father, David, in a motorcycle crash in his childhood. Now, as it tried claiming Henry.

All of that had the capacity to be avoided. Arty didn’t have to talk Andrew into going to that ski trip. He didn’t have to leave Avery alone that day. He could have tried harder to make David stay home. He should have done something about Daniel before the crash.

Why was he so weak? He couldn’t even look at Henry for a minute. The bruises and stitches and swollen eyes made him think of Andrew, and he couldn’t look at Andrew.

He sniffed and wiped his eyes, shaking his head. Suck it up. He told himself that, but he didn’t look at Henry again to gain the upper hand on his weakness. Instead, he dried his eyes and walked back out of the room. So that he could face Daniel.

Daniel was in the car with Henry and Geil. He was at the hospital when Henry’s life support stopped. It had to have been him.

After walking back to elevator L, Arty waited until he was on the third floor; the first floor before the morgue and another, and left the hospital to his car. There, he got in and buckled his seat-belt. Daniel looked at him from the passenger seat.

“What’s happened to him?” he asked. Arty looked at the teen before taking his gaze to the steering wheel.

“He’s dead.” He turned the key in the ignition.

Daniel rose an eyebrow before shaking his head softly. “...Wow. I mean, I can’t believe it happened that fast. ...I’m sorry, Arty.” He looked at Arty’s face, the man’s blue eyes glaring at the steering wheel.

“...It’s okay. We’re still a family, with or without the extensions, huh?” Arty looked at Daniel with his eyes. Daniel watched him for a moment and then smiled, showing his dimples that Arty found so cute before.

“Yes, with or without.”

l.l

Laura waited for Daniel to arrive for lunch. That was really the only time that she could see him anymore- he was always quick to get to class or talking to Joe. She didn’t want to be a nuisance and take Daniel away from Joe when Kaiden was dead, but she didn’t have any other friends. The girls in class would talk to her and laugh with her, but they weren’t her friends.

Laura glanced up from the table, where she fiddled with her fingers atop of. Daniel was coming into the cafeteria, alone. He looked at Laura and she smiled, standing up from the table to get his attention. He decided to walk over.

“What’s up, Laura?” he asked while setting his lunch on the table. Laura sat back down, putting her hands in her lap. She cleared her throat and waited for him to sit before speaking.

“I um, heard about your uncle. Sorry.”

“Yes, it’s a shame he’s passed.”

Laura furrowed her eyebrows. “Uh, no… my aunt said that they revived him. I’m sorry that he’s in the hospital.” She tilted her head curiously, noticing that Daniel looked as confused as she felt. “...They revived him after his life support-”

“Y-yes, I am aware of what you said,” Daniel said, eyebrows knit together. Arty had said… The teen blinked and let out a breath. He’d been played. He sucked his teeth.

“Um… what’s going on with you?” Laura sounded, prompting Daniel to look at her. She looked like a puppy, head cocked to the side. “You just...” she straightened up and twisted her lips. “You keep hanging out with Joe, and you don’t tell me anything anymore.”

“Since when did I tell you things?” Daniel’s voice came out a little soft; he was still in amazed awe that Arty had the guts to lie to him like that. It sort of made him excited, the more he thought of it.

“Daniel, really.”

“Alright,” Daniel snapped into full reality, looking into Laura’s small brown, haunted eyes. What had she seen in her short years? Kind eyes, but haunted by something unforgiving… what were her secrets? “What do you want to know?”

“What’s going on between you and Joe? Are you guys doing things that I don’t know about? Like, are you doing something that’s going to get you in trouble?” Laura’s eyes looked worried. Like she actually cared for Daniel. Daniel laughed.

“What, like drugs? No, silly. I suck him off. Is that simple enough for you?”

Laura shifted like she had been slapped upside the head. She was filled with the utmost confusion. “What?”

“Joe is gay. He doesn’t think people will accept him, so I invite him over because he’s scared. Is that what you wanted to know?”

“...I just… feel like you’re keeping secrets.”

“Well of course I am. Are you trying to know my secret life? It’s secret for a reason.”

In the small silence that followed, Laura had time for something to click in her head. The cogs had been turning for a while, but she didn’t want to believe anything like what her brain was telling her. Even if Daniel was… sucking off Joe, the looks that went on between them and the two always leaving in the manner they did- it was like they were hiding something… else. “...Daniel, um… Wasn’t Kaiden bullying you, before?”

Daniel watched Laura’s thinking face. “...I’ve told you before, it’s just boys being stupid. Stupidity probably caught up with him.” He dropped his gaze down to start unpacking his lunch.

Laura stared at Daniel, biting her lip. Should she bring it up? No. Yes. No. “Do you think… Did you try to teach Kaiden a lesson? I understand if he tried to hurt you or something and you had to hurt him in self defense, but did you-”

“Laura, you are seriously thinking I’ve done this? You think that I would kill someone?” Daniel scoffed. “What is wrong with you? I may have hated him, but I didn’t-”

“I know that I’m probably annoying or something to you, but you could have told me! I mean, whatever happened, you could have told me, not… Joe- why do you trust him so much?”

“First off, Laura,” Daniel brought a hand up. “If I ever… killed Kaiden, I would not have told his best friend, Alright? And second, I did not kill him. Maybe I don’t tell you that Jessica raped me, or that I suck cock, or that I was being pestered every day by Kaiden because I knew that you would bring it up during lunch with the most loudest voice and then accuse me of killing an idiot who could have killed himself with his stupidity.” Daniel rose his voice a little, but just to get his point across. His point of: Your mind is getting the better of you. Because he knew that she wasn’t wrong. In a sense; Daniel didn’t kill Kaiden by hand. And it seemed to get across. Laura’s eyes had fallen to the table.

“...I’m sorry, Daniel. I just...”

Daniel clicked his tongue and pointed at her in “realization”. “You’ve never been to my house, have you? You feel left out.”

Laura twisted her lips and breathed through her nose. “...Yeah, I guess so.” She did feel left out, that was true. Every time she asked, Daniel seemed to beat around the bush. Riding in the car with Arty and Daniel and Geil, such a functional family… she wanted to do that again. How silly she was, accusing Daniel of… murder.

“Then why not come over today?”

“What about Joe, though?”

“He’s off at Kaiden’s locker paying his respects, you know, the little memorial thing they’ve set up.”

Laura reached up to rub her neck. “...But won’t he want to come over?”

“Laura, have some confidence. He’s upset over his friend, he won’t be coming over.” Daniel gave Laura a smile and she gave a small one back, her previous worries fading away.

When school ended, Daniel took a happier Laura to Arty’s car. Geil seemed to remember her instantly, because he smiled at her with his small teeth and wide eyes. Arty glanced to the side at Daniel when the teen got in the seat beside him.

“Inviting a friend over?” he asked dully, tired from lack of sleep lately. And from all of the research he was having to go through on Daniel. It was appearing to be very hard to get the information he wanted, even with Cameron’s help.

Daniel looked at Arty and nodded, smiling to the man. “That’s alright, isn’t it?” he asked. Arty gave a light shrug and pulled the car out of the driveway. While Arty was driving, Daniel pulled his phone out of his pocket, keeping it hidden against his thigh. Pulling up Joe’s number, he sent the teen a quick text message, one that he almost hesitated to send.

Laura looked around once inside the shed with Daniel, eyes wide in admiration of an abandoned shed filled with snow. Something about it was aesthetically pleasing. “Wow, this is yours?” she asked, looked at Daniel with an open-mouthed grin.

“I found it, that makes it mine enough, hm?” Daniel glanced at Laura. She chuckled. “Come here,” Daniel added before walking further into the shed. He walked her to the bedroom, where the metal bed-frame still had blankets thrown over it, but a thin coat of snow had gathered atop of them. He motioned around. “It’s very baren, isn’t it?”

Laura nodded. “Yeah. Are you gonna do stuff with it? Like, decorate it?” Looking around, she could already see where things like Christmas lights would make it look fun and homey. A proper place for friends to hang out.

Daniel looked at her, slipping his hands into his pockets. Over her shoulder, he could see Joe creeping up behind her from the bathroom, where he had been hiding. He averted his gaze to look around the room again. “Maybe. Any recommendations?” He could see a grin find its way on Laura’s face, that he purposely avoided looking at.

“Are you really asking me that? Maybe-” A creak. A creak on the old wood behind her. She turned around to see what it was and her eyes found Joe. Before she could do or say anything, Joe thrust a knife into her stomach. As soon as the pain struck in, Laura shoved him back and ran passed him into the hallway. Daniel yelled at him, “Don’t let her go!”

Joe pushed off of the hallway wall and turned to run after Laura, catching her by the back of her coat and pulling her back inside of the shed just as she managed to get a single foot out of the front door.

Wrapping an arm around her throat, Joe held onto her tightly and slammed the knife into her abdomen- again and again and again until she got weak in the knees. She couldn’t scream because of the tight hold that gripped her around the throat, choking her- smothering her.

After holding her for a while, Laura slumped in his grasp and he let her go, her body falling to the ground. He panted heavily from the chase.

“Clean your hands with the snow,” Daniel said as he stepped into the room. He watched Joe nod and leave the shed. Then he walked to Laura and knelt down beside her body. Taking her yellow hair, he moved it from her face, her haunted brown eyes open and lips parted; teeth stained with blood that dared to come out. He cut through the tears that trailed down her flushed cheeks with his thumb before petting her head softly and breathing deeply through his nose. “Just sleep, Laura.”

Joe came back inside, hands cold and fingers flushed from the snow. “Is she dead?” he asked. Daniel nodded, keeping his eyes on Laura’s pale, flushed face.

“Yeah.”

Joe walked to Daniel and knelt beside him, grabbing Laura by the arms. It went unspoken, but the two picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, where the giant pile of snow was from the hole in the ceiling. They silently buried her in the pile of fluffy white. Like a grave from Heaven.

“Her body will stay preserved longer in the cold,” Daniel finally spoke. Joe nodded and glanced at the brunette, who was looking at the snowy grave.

“You okay?” he asked. Daniel didn’t nod or reply, so the noirette reached out to take Daniel’s hand, but the teen pulled it away. “...Are people going to know where she is?” Joe asked after a moment of silence between them. Daniel shook his head.

“She didn’t tell anyone she was coming over.”