The Fall of the Aftons

088: Michael Afton

Michael poked, stabbed, and prodded at his leg with the tip of a pencil he'd found on the car's floor. It didn't hurt, though. He couldn't feel any pain when he aggressively shoved the pencil into his leg. He had no reaction when the sharp graphite tip drew blood. He had no reaction when the blood started dribbling down the side of his leg. He simply couldn't feel it. The doctors had told him at one of his last appointments that the bottom half of his leg was permanently paralyzed. His brain had lost all connection to it. He'd never be able to move it. He'd never be able to feel it. Because of that, the doctors suggested he have the bottom half of his leg amputated.

He hadn't told William about either thing yet. He hadn't told him about the permanent paralyzation nor the amputation suggestion.

What was Michael supposed to do? He wanted to get the amputation so he could be more productive and get around easier. The amputation would make his life so much easier. He wouldn't have to pay for a prosthesis, either--he could just make his own fake limb. It'd be much easier and much, much cheaper. But where was he supposed to get the money from to pay for the amputation? The cost of the surgery would be around forty-five thousand dollars, the doctors told him. He only made about five to eight dollars an hour at the hardware store--and he wasn't a paid employee at Fredbear's Family Diner and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.

"You're awfully quiet today," William said, breaking the silence in the car. "Do you have something on your mind?"

"I'm just wondering how long it'll be until I can move my leg again," Michael lied, his voice quiet yet convincing. "I'm tired of not being able to go to school. I'm going to fall behind."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You're already so far ahead of everyone."

"But my grades are slipping! I'm technically already falling behind!"

"Just because you can't focus in class because of your bullies doesn't mean that you're falling behind, Michael."

"Yes, it does mean that I'm falling behind."

William sighed. "Do you want to go back to school? I can ask your doctors if they think you're clear to go. If you wanted to go back, you could've just told me."

Michael hesitantly nodded his head. "Yes, I do want to go back. I may not care for my bullies very much, but it's definitely better than not being in school."

When William didn't continue the conversation, Michael went back to stabbing his leg, watching as more streams of blood started to trickle down the side of his numb leg.

~ ~ ~

Michael smiled as he listened to Evan's fascinated rambles. About thirty minutes after they returned home, Michael had gone into his little brother's room to check on how Evan was doing with his homework and speech therapy exercises. But since he couldn't feel the bottom half of his leg, he didn't realize that his foot wasn't still in the doorway. So when he shut Evan's bedroom door, his foot was sliced open on the edges of the doorframe and door, which led to him explaining to his little brother that he couldn't move or feel anything in the bottom half of his leg. At the moment, Evan was continuously prodding and gently smacking Michael's leg, asking him every time if he could feel it. The answer was always no, which only amazed the boy even more.

"Tha's so cool!" Evan exclaimed, bedazzled. "You really nah feel tha?"

"Nope! Can't feel anything," Michael answered, laughter filling his words.

"Woah."

A sudden knock on Evan's bedroom door made the little boy scream as he cowered and clung to Michael. Michael ruffled the boy's hair as he turned to the door, where William was standing in the doorway with Elizabeth babbling in his arms.

"Are you boys ready to go? We're going to be late for dinner at the Emilys'."

"Yes, we're ready," Michael said as he stood up, grabbing Evan's hand. He started to walk away, but Evan wasn't following, so he turned to his brother and gave the boy a soft smile. "It's okay, Evi. Your nightmares won't be there. We'll only be there for about an hour."