pills // malum

twentytwo// lifeforms

"you can try to forget me but i won't let you easily"

it was day 8 of calum's coma when he woke up. it wasn't sudden, as he had been stirring around for the past few, but it sure was a relief. calum's mother visited once a day for a few hours, but luke was missing school while sitting at calum's bedside, waiting for him to wake up. finding calum in the bathroom that day had been nothing but hard in luke, the blond boy couldn't get a wink of sleep without reliving the terrifying moment, but now that calum was awake, luke hoped he'd be able to get some sleep and a decent meal.
calum didn't talk much at first, only a raspy yes or no every once in a while. it was scary to see the once tanned boy in a sea of sheets that were nearly the same shade of his skin. he'd eat portions of gross hospital food, but never all of it. one day luke brought in a small hershey kiss for him. when he presented it to calum, he hesitated then took it from luke's hand, giving luke a small smile before placing it in his mouth and letting it melt, enojoying the taste of something he hadn't had in months.
luke could tell calum was getting better when he played some quiet music for calum during his visit, and calum sang along at the same volume of the music, smiling at the lyrics to his favorite song.

calum, however, was living his days in fear, waiting for michael to come and ruin this new appreciation calum has for the little things in life. instead of michael, ashton had been seated in one of the chairs since calum woke up. he wasn't a nuisance or rude like michael was, he literally just quietly sat there, picking at his fingernails with a small smile glued to his face. it wasn't until one night when calum was alone in his room when ashton disappeared. he had felt a sinking feeling in his stomach all day, and that night when luke or his mom weren't there, it just got worse.
"i can't believe you," michael said when he appeared in the dark room. calum's eyes widened and he turned away, wanted michael to go away and for ashton to come back.
"i worked so hard for you to die, just like you wanted, and this is how you repay me?" michael yelled. calum almost shushed him before remembering that he was only in his head.
"you shouldn't be here right now, you should be in the ground. you know that," michael said, words like venom.
"it's okay though, we can just try again when we get home. it's not like your mom's has ever cared. she's only ever been scared of you," michael continued, "this conversation has been very one sided, what do you have to say for yourself, calum?"

"i should have never listened to you," calum said.

"yet you did anyway," michael said with a smirk.

"i'm not going to try again, not if you say so," calum said bravely. he couldn't do that to luke.
the smirk disappeared from michael's face.

"i'm done with you," calum said, turning away once again.
"you can't get rid of me," michael said, strangely sounding like he was going to cry, "you're stuck with me, and we don't know what to do about it."
the boy was just voicing calum's thoughts.
"i can try. i'll figure it out," calum said, and then didn't hear another word from michael all night.