Man In The Mirror
folder
DarkFic › General
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
2
Views:
1,666
Reviews:
1
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Currently Reading:
0
Category:
DarkFic › General
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
2
Views:
1,666
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter 2
Man In The Mirror - Chapter 2
By VR
Apparently, that rainy night where I thought I was a goner, Leon went back to the hospital for medicine. It turned out his pneumonia wasn\'t completely gone, and he was too weak to do anything by the time the doctors could see him. They rushed him to the emergency room and hooked him up on oxygen because he couldn\'t breathe... He was going to die if his immune system couldn\'t fight the virus.
That\'s what Daniel told me, anyway. I wouldn\'t know because I had never set foot outside of the basement before. Leon raised me down there for fourteen years, and I was so oblivious to everything else - The house, the outside, everything - that I felt like the biggest idiot when I first was allowed upstairs. Daniel brought me to the bathroom after I woke up that day and had to tell me where everything was.
Something was different about him that day, though. He wasn\'t his cheerful self. Instead of a bright smile I could look forward to when Leon wasn\'t around and he came to care for me, his face was neutral, like he had no emotion. I couldn\'t figure out why... Until after I took a long shower and put on some comfortable clothes he gave me, and he sat down with me in the living room just to talk.
We had a dull conversation - Daniel was never good with that. But suddenly, he lowered his head.
"I don\'t... think that Leon is going to come home," he said, in a depressingly low voice. "I don\'t think he\'s going to make it. He called and he sounded... really, really bad..."
I didn\'t know what to say to that, really. Consider me stupid if you want, but even though Leon was so hateful to me my whole life, a part of me still... loved him. It was kind of like how a son loves his parents even if he claims that they\'re not fair. I just had that child-to-father affection that never left. When I looked back at Daniel, I just shook my head.
"You shouldn\'t think like that," I finally said.
"Why not? I\'m not being negative... I\'m being honest... Leon told me that I should always think... What was the word..." Daniel stared ahead, his eyes narrowed in frustration. "Ree...a-listy..cal."
"Realistically?" I corrected, raising my eyebrows. I was surprised that Leon would ever tell him something like that. While I didn\'t know much about their relationship, I knew one thing for sure, and that was that both my fathers loved each other to death. It was romantic, not a sex-driven love-hate deal like most relationships I\'ve witnessed. The only time I can say I\'d heard them argue was once, and it was over me. Of course, Leon won and Daniel lost.
"Y-Yeah! That. Rea..listically. I know how to do it. I just didn\'t remember the word." Daniel looked back at me, and he smiled for a second there.. But then he sighed, and his head went back down. "I shouldn\'t pretend everything is okay, if I know it\'s not. I shouldn\'t pretend the sky is pink when it\'s really green."
"...The sky\'s blue, Dad."
"...Oh.. But still... Vincent, I don\'t know what I would do if Leon... leaves me," Daniel curled his arms around himself and closed his eyes. "I want to see him one last time..." It was like he didn\'t want to believe it, the way he dodged any \'death\' words. I sighed, again not knowing what to say to him. I knew I wanted to see my father again too, but I was just a little scared. I didn\'t know what to expect if I went with Daniel to see him, but after I took a moment to mentally debate the idea...
I finally nodded, standing from the couch. "Then let\'s see him. We should go now, Dad."
With that, both of us got ready to go. I had to put long sleeves and jeans on instead of the shorts and T-shirt I had been wearing, to hide all my scrapes and bruises. I put a pair of Leon\'s shoes on, and Daniel brushed my hair nice and neat to cover the scar on my forehead. We left the house, got into the car, and drove to the hospital, which wasn\'t as crowded as I expected. In fact, it was kind of calm. Not many cars in the parking lot. But that was probably a given - I lived in a quiet town miles away from any big cities.
Daniel bolted for the reception desk the moment he was out of the car. I trotted closely behind, then watched curiously as the security guard at the front desk searched up Leon\'s name. Soon she picked up the phone, and my mouth had gotten dry, so I sidled away towards a water fountain after a moment or so. I leaned in for a sip, which was quickly interrupted.
"WHAT? NO!" I jumped at the volume of Daniel\'s voice, whirled around in an instant to see what had happened. There was a man with a stethoscope around his neck and a clipboard in his hand standing in front of my dad, who had burst into tears. My eyes widened.
"I\'m sorry, but he\'s not going to last much longer. We tried what we could. He\'s in room 221, this way." And the doctor walked off into a hallway, with Daniel following, sobbing hysterically. When I got my drink, I ran after them and into the room they entered, hoping it wasn\'t too late...
...And luckily, it wasn\'t. I walked in to find Daniel facing a bed, holding a near-limp, darker skinned hand in his own. He had stopped crying, because Leon was shushing him. I bit my lip and stayed in the doorway, just watching for the moment... Until Daniel turned to look at me.
"Come here, Vincent.. Come say bye..."
I was hesitant about getting closer, but I did it for Daniel. He was hurting - I didn\'t want to show disrespect by not saying at least something to Leon. So I moved towards the bed, my lip still sucked into my mouth. He didn\'t look good at all - His skin was pale, his lips especially. They were almost blue from how little oxygen was in his system. There was an oxygen mask over his mouth. When he looked my way, I tried to smile.
"Hello..."
Immediately, Leon\'s eyes narrowed in a hateful leer. "You little shit," he hissed in a low voice that I was sure only I could hear. "I wish I could have killed you when I had the chance." He looked away again, his eyelids slowly closing... And I heard the steady beeping from the heart monitor next to him slow down. I glanced up in time to see the jagged green line go flat.
Those hateful words to me... were his last.
-----------------------------
By VR
Apparently, that rainy night where I thought I was a goner, Leon went back to the hospital for medicine. It turned out his pneumonia wasn\'t completely gone, and he was too weak to do anything by the time the doctors could see him. They rushed him to the emergency room and hooked him up on oxygen because he couldn\'t breathe... He was going to die if his immune system couldn\'t fight the virus.
That\'s what Daniel told me, anyway. I wouldn\'t know because I had never set foot outside of the basement before. Leon raised me down there for fourteen years, and I was so oblivious to everything else - The house, the outside, everything - that I felt like the biggest idiot when I first was allowed upstairs. Daniel brought me to the bathroom after I woke up that day and had to tell me where everything was.
Something was different about him that day, though. He wasn\'t his cheerful self. Instead of a bright smile I could look forward to when Leon wasn\'t around and he came to care for me, his face was neutral, like he had no emotion. I couldn\'t figure out why... Until after I took a long shower and put on some comfortable clothes he gave me, and he sat down with me in the living room just to talk.
We had a dull conversation - Daniel was never good with that. But suddenly, he lowered his head.
"I don\'t... think that Leon is going to come home," he said, in a depressingly low voice. "I don\'t think he\'s going to make it. He called and he sounded... really, really bad..."
I didn\'t know what to say to that, really. Consider me stupid if you want, but even though Leon was so hateful to me my whole life, a part of me still... loved him. It was kind of like how a son loves his parents even if he claims that they\'re not fair. I just had that child-to-father affection that never left. When I looked back at Daniel, I just shook my head.
"You shouldn\'t think like that," I finally said.
"Why not? I\'m not being negative... I\'m being honest... Leon told me that I should always think... What was the word..." Daniel stared ahead, his eyes narrowed in frustration. "Ree...a-listy..cal."
"Realistically?" I corrected, raising my eyebrows. I was surprised that Leon would ever tell him something like that. While I didn\'t know much about their relationship, I knew one thing for sure, and that was that both my fathers loved each other to death. It was romantic, not a sex-driven love-hate deal like most relationships I\'ve witnessed. The only time I can say I\'d heard them argue was once, and it was over me. Of course, Leon won and Daniel lost.
"Y-Yeah! That. Rea..listically. I know how to do it. I just didn\'t remember the word." Daniel looked back at me, and he smiled for a second there.. But then he sighed, and his head went back down. "I shouldn\'t pretend everything is okay, if I know it\'s not. I shouldn\'t pretend the sky is pink when it\'s really green."
"...The sky\'s blue, Dad."
"...Oh.. But still... Vincent, I don\'t know what I would do if Leon... leaves me," Daniel curled his arms around himself and closed his eyes. "I want to see him one last time..." It was like he didn\'t want to believe it, the way he dodged any \'death\' words. I sighed, again not knowing what to say to him. I knew I wanted to see my father again too, but I was just a little scared. I didn\'t know what to expect if I went with Daniel to see him, but after I took a moment to mentally debate the idea...
I finally nodded, standing from the couch. "Then let\'s see him. We should go now, Dad."
With that, both of us got ready to go. I had to put long sleeves and jeans on instead of the shorts and T-shirt I had been wearing, to hide all my scrapes and bruises. I put a pair of Leon\'s shoes on, and Daniel brushed my hair nice and neat to cover the scar on my forehead. We left the house, got into the car, and drove to the hospital, which wasn\'t as crowded as I expected. In fact, it was kind of calm. Not many cars in the parking lot. But that was probably a given - I lived in a quiet town miles away from any big cities.
Daniel bolted for the reception desk the moment he was out of the car. I trotted closely behind, then watched curiously as the security guard at the front desk searched up Leon\'s name. Soon she picked up the phone, and my mouth had gotten dry, so I sidled away towards a water fountain after a moment or so. I leaned in for a sip, which was quickly interrupted.
"WHAT? NO!" I jumped at the volume of Daniel\'s voice, whirled around in an instant to see what had happened. There was a man with a stethoscope around his neck and a clipboard in his hand standing in front of my dad, who had burst into tears. My eyes widened.
"I\'m sorry, but he\'s not going to last much longer. We tried what we could. He\'s in room 221, this way." And the doctor walked off into a hallway, with Daniel following, sobbing hysterically. When I got my drink, I ran after them and into the room they entered, hoping it wasn\'t too late...
...And luckily, it wasn\'t. I walked in to find Daniel facing a bed, holding a near-limp, darker skinned hand in his own. He had stopped crying, because Leon was shushing him. I bit my lip and stayed in the doorway, just watching for the moment... Until Daniel turned to look at me.
"Come here, Vincent.. Come say bye..."
I was hesitant about getting closer, but I did it for Daniel. He was hurting - I didn\'t want to show disrespect by not saying at least something to Leon. So I moved towards the bed, my lip still sucked into my mouth. He didn\'t look good at all - His skin was pale, his lips especially. They were almost blue from how little oxygen was in his system. There was an oxygen mask over his mouth. When he looked my way, I tried to smile.
"Hello..."
Immediately, Leon\'s eyes narrowed in a hateful leer. "You little shit," he hissed in a low voice that I was sure only I could hear. "I wish I could have killed you when I had the chance." He looked away again, his eyelids slowly closing... And I heard the steady beeping from the heart monitor next to him slow down. I glanced up in time to see the jagged green line go flat.
Those hateful words to me... were his last.
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