I Was Hoping For A Quiet Life, But You Gave Me So Much More

December 26th, 2022

Fluorescent lights blinded him.

The cold smell of death entered his nose.

Continuous beeping, footsteps, and whispering filled his ears.

His eyes focused and landed on his mother. Sitting in a hospital bed, in the same room she had died in.

He scrambled towards her sitting on the bed.

She smiled at him, "Hi sweetheart, wow, you look so much older."

His voice was tired as he spoke, "Mom?"

"Of course, baby. How are you?" She reached for his hand, squeezing it.

Tears pricked at his eyes, "God... I wish we had more time."

"Oh I know, sweetheart, I do too, but we don't really have a choice do we?" her voice was soft, just like he'd remembered it. He just shook his head in response. "I miss you boys every second of every day. I wish with my entire soul that I could be with you two for just one more minute," she ran a hand down his cheek, "and I'm sorry."

He looked up at her confused, "For what? You didn't do anything."

She nodded, "Yes I did. I married your father."

He stiffened, "Mom you-you couldn't have known."

"Oh, but I could have. I always knew his reaction to pain was anger, but I hoped he would be different."

"There was nothing you could have done. You couldn't have predicted this," He squeezed her hand.

She nodded, "I wish I could believe you."

The world started to fade.

"I love you, Isaac," She said quietly.

Darkness came into view

He felt the fabric of the bed sheets, and the warmth of a body laying half on top of him.

His eyes blinked open and he stared at the ceiling, tears stinging his eyes, "I love you too," he muttered.

Later that morning felt slow. Like time was almost stagnant. After Isaac had woken up from his dream in the middle of the night he stayed awake for several hours, careful not to wake up Scott. Which, seeing as he slept like a rock, wasn't very hard. He didn't do anything, just thought. Thought about his mother, about seeing her again, how she blamed herself. Even though he knew it was a dream, if his mother did know about their father, she probably did blame herself for what he'd done.

He felt like he was going to pass out again, but then he heard a loud sob from down the hall. Liam. He was suddenly fully awake again. His attention was drawn to where he could hear the cries, where he knew Theo was there for him. He couldn't get himself to move, his mind just told him to listen, so he did. The sobbing sounded agonizingly familiar, like a memory, and his stirred mind faded to black.

"Izzy!" Liam yelled running into his room, tears running down his face. He was little, around 6.

"Li? What happened?" Liam jumped onto his bed and Isaac whipped the tears from his eyes. Liam just sobbed and Isaac's mind jumped to what he hoped wasn't true. "Did dad do something? Did he hurt you?"

"He yelled at me!" Liam sobbed. The answer didn't make him happy, but a miniscule wave of relief washed over him.

"It's okay, Liam," Isaac said, stroking his back, "Everything is okay."