Doctor Dash

Chapter 27

Falling asleep seemed to take him forever. At five in the morning, he was still lying in bed staring up at the ceiling in his dark room as the events of the evening replayed in his mind. He still couldn't believe that Fenton broke down like that, in front of him no less. It was almost surreal to have Fenton crying on his shoulder and trying to comfort the man. When Paulina told him that Sam died, Dash never thought it would be because someone shot her. He thought maybe she got sick or something. He imagined some sort of sudden but peaceful passing in her sleep. But the fact that she was shot sent a chill down his spine as a rage burned through his veins. He may not have liked Manson all that much during high school, but he surely never would have wished death upon on her, especially not like that. Not in front of her child who would have to live with that memory for the rest of his life. And Fenton, holding it all in for so long. Dash couldn't think of how the man managed to deal with all that pain. He half understood putting the blame on himself, but Fenton had to realize that it wasn't his fault.

Dash frowned as he glared at the ceiling, doubting that his words really got through to the man. He could probably tell Fenton a million times that he wasn't to blame for Manson's death, but the man would probably continue to put it all on his shoulders, burdening himself with that pain. As the thoughts circled around his mind, Dash decided he was probably lucky that his girlfriend was a witch and dumped him and left his life for good with no real love between them. If he had to go through what Fenton did, he wasn't sure how he would handle that pain of losing a loved one, especially right after it happened and having a child to take care of. But Fenton did have his family and friends to help him through that time. Dash knew he could count on Kwan and Paulina, as well as his parents, to help him through the bad times in his life.

It was six in the morning, and his room was turning gray with the morning light of the rising sun, when Dash decided to give up on sleep and climbed out of bed. He threw on a pair of jeans and a clean black shirt before he left his bedroom to head downstairs. Pausing in front his son's bedroom, he peeked inside to check on the boys. They were still sleeping soundly while Lex clutched tightly to the Phantom doll that Xander made for him. A smile managed to find its way onto his face when he saw them so peacefully curled up with each other. Quietly closing the door, he walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen. He halted in the doorway when he spotted the man sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest. Fenton held a mug in his hands, halfway to his mouth as his blue eyes gazed blankly in front of him.

"How long have you been down here?" Dash questioned as he took a seat beside the man and leaned back against the cabinets. It was around one in the morning when he managed to convince Fenton to come upstairs and try to sleep after the man seemed have finished crying out the last of his tears. For that moment, at least. He couldn't recall hearing the man pass by his bedroom, and the floorboards could be creaky sometimes.

Fenton turned his head, and Dash noticed immediately the dark circles under his eyes. "Uh," he drew out the word, trying to think of how long he sat there on the floor, "what time is it?"

"Six," Dash answered as he plucked the mug from Fenton's loose hold. It was coffee, of course, but it had long since grown cold. Getting to his feet, he set a pot of coffee to boil and put the mug of cold coffee in the microwave to heat it up again.

"Oh," Fenton mumbled, sounding distant like his mind was elsewhere. "I guess three, maybe four hours."

Dash frowned as he dropped his gaze to the man. Fenton sat down here alone for that long? "Couldn't sleep then?"

"I-" Fenton lowered his gaze then bent his head down, burying it between his legs as he laced his fingers behind his neck. "I tried. But it kept replaying in my head and I couldn't sleep."