White Flag

The first thing he noticed, as he came to, was the pain in his stomach and his head. He tried to swallow but he found himself unable to do so. His throat was dry and he tasted something bad as he tried again. He remembered that taste from when he had hurt his hand with daddy's tools once. It had been bleeding a lot and he licked it away. Now he felt the same bad taste in his mouth.

Theo opened his eyes in panic. There was blood in his mouth! He had been bleeding! To his horror, he didn't recognize his surroundings. He couldn't see much either, his head felt weird and his eyes weren't working all right.

He blinked a few times, closing his eyes for a longer period then opening them again. Slowly his vision became clearer and he could see the dark room he was currently in.

The walls looked white with little bunnies and ducks in the middle. There were strange machines beside his bed. One of them was making a beeping sound every once in a while. He noticed that it was connected to him. There was a strange feeling in his left arm and when he craned his head to look down on it, he saw a thin hose attached to it. The hose was connected to a see-through bag with something like water dripping slowly into the hose.

He was becoming rapidly scared and he wondered where his mommy and daddy were and why he needed to have all these weird things connected to his body. He looked around in the room once more and just as he was about to start crying, the door opened.

A lady came in, dressed in weird clothes. He figured, he must be in a hospital, judging from the strange room and the clothes of the lady. He had seen people wear clothes like this once when his daddy had been in a hospital. But that was a long time ago.

"Oh, you're awake." She said, as she stepped closer to his bed. She looked at a clipboard that she had taken off of the front of the bed he was lying in. She looked at the machines around him and wrote something on the clipboard before putting it down. When she was done scribbling she sat on a chair beside his bed and looked at him.

"How are you feeling?"

Theo could now see the lady's face better. She had short, red hair and blue eyes. She looked nice. She wore a pin with a teddy on it and there were letters on it too. He assumed it was her name but he couldn't read it.

"I'm thirsty." he whispered. His throat hurt when he talked and it was still difficult to swallow.

The lady stood up and poured some water in a plastic cup. She helped him sit up and he noticed the pain in his stomach again. It hurt a lot more now but he didn't cry. He was going to be a big boy and not cry. He took the cup from the nurse and drank the water slowly. He noticed that even as he swallowed, and the liquid entered his stomach, it hurt. He handed the cup to the lady again and lay back down again.

"Is that better?" she asked, sitting down again. Theo nodded.

"You're in pain, right? I'll get you something for that in a little while. I just need to tell you something." she said and he couldn't read the look on her face. He lay back down on the bed, wincing slightly at the pain as he moved again. Once he was settled in bed, he focused his attention on her. She noticed and started talking.

"You have been in an accident with your parents. You were badly hurt when you came in and so were your parents. A doctor operated you. That means he fixed you on the inside." she made a short pause here and let the information sink in. This also left room for questions but the little boy didn't seem to have any.

"Your mom and your dad were very badly hurt. The doctors worked very hard to fix them. They did everything they could to fix them on the inside as they had fixed you but they couldn't. Your parents died." the nurse said in a deceitfully even voice. It was always hard to give news of death but somehow this was the hardest. Giving the news to a child that he was now an orphan. It was at times like this that she truly hated this job.

Theo didn't say a word. He stared at the lady nurse in absolute silence. He didn't really understand what she was saying. His parents were hurt and they needed to be fixed again. He had been hurt also but the doctors had fixed him. They had all been hurt on the inside. His parents could not be fixed but he could.

Fixed. His daddy used to fix his broken toys sometimes. He was very good at it and his toys always worked fine after his daddy had fixed them. Sometimes the toys would be very broken and his daddy would not be able to fix them. Was this like that? Were his parents also broken like his toys had been?

But that didn't make sense. His parents weren't toys. And even if they were, his daddy would always throw his broken toys away, saying he'd get new ones. After that, they would go to the toy store and buy new toys. But there weren't any stores for parents were there? You couldn't just buy parents. You just"¦had them. Even if you could just buy new parents, he didn't want new ones. He was happy with the ones he had.

"Theodor?" he heard lady nurse call his name and blinked.

"So my parents are broken?"

"Yes, they are very broken."

"They can't be fixed?"

"No."

"Don't throw them out! Why can't you fix them? Please fix them! Please don't throw them out!" he yelled, his throat hurting very much as he did so. His stomach hurt very much too and he felt the warmth of tears as they ran down his cheeks.

He felt the nurse's hands on his own as she tried to soothe him. She caressed him repeatedly over the head.

"Ssssh! No one's going to throw your parents away." she said looking right into his eyes.

"So someone's going to fix them? Another doctor?" Theo said through his falling tears.

"No. I'm afraid they can't be fixed at all. They are dead, Theodor."

That word again. Dead. Theo didn't really understand what it meant. His grandmother was dead. He had never seen him but mommy had talked about her when she told him what it was like when she was a little girl. He had never seen his grandmother because she was dead. Mommy said she was in heaven now and that she wasn't anywhere in this world anymore. She was somewhere else. Dead. So if his parents were dead, that meant they were in heaven as well.

"But if mommy and daddy are dead then I won't see them again." he whispered softly.

The nurse was quite as she looked at him. She shook her head once, not entirely sure what she was supposed to say to that. What was one supposed to say? She was a nurse. She had to give news such as this. That was a part of her job. Saying that the boy would be able to see his parents in heaven was not part of her job. She didn't want to confuse him further but she wanted to somehow ease the pain for him.

"But who will take care of me if my mommy and daddy aren't here anymore?"

Another question she couldn't answer properly.

"I'm not sure. We have told your brother about it but"¦"

"But I don't have a brother."

<<<>>>

The apartment felt cold and empty as Mark sat in the middle of his and Killian's bed and gazed out into the strangely barren room.

He had never felt this way in this place. The only times were when Killian was gone. This feeling scared him. He knew why it was like this. Killian had left urgently, his expression dead and cold. Nothing like the person he loved so much. He had been so very different in a way that made Mark cringe.

Mark slumped back in the bed and stared up into the white ceiling. The Christmas lights from the street dressed it in different colours but even with the happy lights it remained cold and barren just as the rest of the room.

He turned to his side and hugged Killian's pillow close to his body. It was still slightly warm and it smelled of Killian's shampoo. He buried his nose into it and took a deep breath.

"Killie"¦"

He hoped his lover was alright. He had never seen him behave like he had done.

It all started with the phone call. The person on the other end of the line said he was a police officer and that he wanted to speak to Killian Woodward. This had already made him nervous. What would the police want with his lover? But what really got to him was the grave voice the police officer had used. Not accusatory like he would imagine a police officer's voice to sound, had a crime been committed. It was more"¦sad.

It didn't ad up in his head. After he had given the receiver to Killian he had become cold and distant. He said he had to leave and not to wait up for him. No questions, no pleading helped. He didn't say more than that. It terrified Mark to some extent but he didn't press the matter. He knew Killian would tell him when he was ready so let it go. He let Killian go and now here he was, hoping his lover would return soon.

It was very frustrating. All sorts of bad thoughts entered his head and he couldn't make sense of them. He couldn't make sense of anything anymore.

"Aaargh!" he growled into the pillow before he tossed it onto the floor and rose from the bed. Rubbing his eyes to prevent any tears of anger and frustration to seep out, he walked to the kitchen and started to prepare a mug of hot chocolate.

<<<>>>

"Are you Killian Woodward?" the police officer greeted as Killian stepped in through the glass doors of the hospital. As the doors slid shut behind him, he had the distinct feeling his fate had just been sealed. A shudder shook his body slightly and he swallowed before he looked at the officer and nodded in agreement.

"I'm Officer Morgan. Please follow me." the police officer said and started walking down some corridors. Finally he stopped in front of a door and turned toward Killian and motioned for him to sit down on a chair in front of the room.

Killian did so and watched the officer as he heaved himself into the chair beside him. Officer Morgan was a heavy man. His blue shirt stretched over his stomach and Killian thought it looked quite uncomfortable to wear. He wondered briefly if Officer Morgan wore this sort of shirt at home as well. He shook his head mentally at these thoughts and wondered what was wrong with him.

"Mr. Woodward, firstly, I am sorry for your loss. But I need you to identify them. Standard procedure." Officer Morgan said, fumbling with grey streaked moustache. A nervous habit, Killian reckoned.

"I understand." he said, nodding briefly. His cool about the situation at hand left him wondering what had happened to his sanity but he didn't ponder this for long as Officer Morgan rose from his seat with a grunt as headed for the door. Killian followed.

Inside the room a woman greeted them in a white robe. She showed them toward two stretchers that were covered with white sheets. There were two bodies under the sheets. A strange feeling came over Killian. It was as though he was in a dream. It was no longer him who was walking toward the two dead bodies. He watched through someone else's eyes as one of the sheets were lifted and the familiar face of a woman was uncovered. That same someone nodded coldly and said:

"Yes, that's my stepmother."

The person who was controlling his body moved toward the other body and watched as the face of it was uncovered.

Suddenly, he was back in his own body as he stared at the face of his father. His brown eyes were closed and he looked peaceful. Killian had never seen him like this. Even in sleep, his face would have some sort of expression, usually a menacing one.

Now, his father's face looked a lot older than he had remembered, even though it had only been three years ago when he had last seen it. The alcohol had done its evil deed to the handsome face his mother had once fallen in love with so long ago. There were dark circles around his eyes, which admittedly, could have been one of the consequents of being dead but the wrinkles and the state of the skin on his face told a different story.

"Mr. Woodward?" the voice of Officer Morgan startled him from his musings and he nodded again, turning away from the dead body of his father.

"It's him." he said and turned to walk out of the room but was stopped by a soft touch to his arm.

"Mr. Woodward, there is another thing I need to discuss with you." the officer said, looking quite nervous. Killian added it up to him thinking this whole death situation was traumatizing and sad for him and admittedly he was right about the first part. The second part could be discussed.

"Yes?" he asked, stopping in his tracks.

"This way please." the officer said, sounding abashed as he led the way out of the room.

Killian was once again left to his own musings as he followed the officer down several corridors. He was slightly taken aback by the fact that he had taken this so well. Sure, he didn't know his father very well and what he knew, he had never liked but he would have thought that the event of seeing him dead would make some of his emotions surface. But there was nothing. He felt quite empty.

His musings were stopped once again as they stopped in front of yet another door and Killian was asked to sit down on a chair again. He sat silently and looked at the officer, wondering what more there was to say.

"As I said, there is another thing I need to discuss with you. I trust you know that Mr. and Mrs. Woodward"¦your father and his wife, had a son together." he said and paused here to look at Killian's reaction.

Killian sat and stared at him just like before. Inside him, however, there was a storm raging. He had completely forgotten about his half brother! He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought about him until now. He felt guilt and worry mix within him and for the first time since he had gotten that godforsaken call earlier that night, he felt genuine sadness and fear creep up on him.

"Yes, I know that. How"¦is he"¦He isn't"¦" he stammered, not sure how to put his question.

"No"¦he isn't dead. Would you like to see him?" the officer said, standing up, looking down the corridor. Killian followed his gaze and saw a doctor standing at the far end of it, seemingly waiting for them to finish. The officer beckoned her to come closer.

"I'm Doctor Wallace. I was the doctor who treated your parents and your brother. Would you like to see him?" she asked. Killian didn't bother to correct her on the art where she assumed that Sabina was his mother. He followed her into the room and the officer nodded a little, signalling that he didn't have anything else to say. He left them and walked down the corridor instead.

It was dark in the room and there was only one bed. In it, was a little body, seemingly asleep. There were various machines attached to the boy in the bed and Killian's heart was beating loudly at the sight of him.

He walked closer to the bed and looked at his brother's sleeping face. There were scratches and wounds all over but other than that, he looked peaceful. His hands rose of their own volition and he stroked the soft, blonde hair of the little boy gently.

His face was unfamiliar for him. He had grown very much since he had last seen him. Back then he had only been a baby who had just started to try and say "Mama" and "Dada". His blonde hair was the same as then, if a little longer and stronger.

"How is he?" he whispered and the doctor stepped closer to him, looking down at the sleeping boy.

"His condition is stable. He had some internal bleeding and he needed some surgery but he is a strong boy. The surgery went very well and he should be recovering real soon."

Killian let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. So Theo was going to be all right. He would recover nicely and he would live. But he wouldn't have any parents. Who would be taking care of him then? Did he even know that he was an orphan now? How did this happen?

"What really happened? The police told me that they were in an accident and that my father and Sabina were dead but"¦" he ran his hand through his ruffled hair and slumped down on a chair that was standing beside the bed. The doctor took a chair from another corner and dragged it to stand beside his own chair and sat in it.

"They were in an accident. Your father was driving and he was intoxicated and drove too fast. The road was very slippery and they almost crashed with another car but your father avoided the crash and instead, he drove off the road and crashed into a tree. Your parents died shortly after we started operating." she stopped talking and let him take this dreadful information.

Killian was not surprised his father had been driving when he was drunk. Nor was he surprised about the accident. His father had always been a reckless driver. That was one of their minor differences. There were lots more and bigger aside from this but he had always suspected that his father would be in an accident some day. There were times when he feared for his father's life. Now the only thing he could think about was that his father had killed himself and his own wife. He had almost killed his own son and he had made him an orphan with his crazy driving.

"Who will be taking care of him now?" he asked quietly.

The doctor didn't answer immediately. She studied him for a few moments. Her gaze made him uneasy and slightly impatient.

"Your mother was brought in first and"¦"

"She was my stepmother." Killian corrected half-heartedly.

"Well, your stepmother was brought in first since they had trouble removing your father from the wrecked car. She died shortly after your father was brought in. Before they prepared him for the operation, he was still conscious and he told us that he wanted you to take care of Theo, should he die. By then he knew his wife was dead."

To Be Continued

Author's Note: Well, that was the first chapter then. I hope you liked it. Please review. I'm not very satisfied with the summary and I have gotten a comment about it. I tried to do something about that but it still sucks. I would love some help with that. If you have other views on my story then please let me know. This is my first serious story, as well as my first original story. Up to now, I've been writing slashy fanfics and such and it's not the same thing. Please be so kind as to review and let me know what you think.