a hell called home (completed)

4:37 am

david's pov

i drove back to the hospital after dropping off adam. i pulled into the parking lot and just sat in my car. i started sobbing. my son... i cant let him go. i just can't. i'll do whatever it takes to keep him.

i just want to see him smile.

a car pulled up next to me. i heard a knocking on the passenger window. i rolled it down to see gwen.
"hey, can i come in?" she said.
i nodded and unlocked the car. she opened the door and got in the passengers seat. she immediately leaned over and hugged me. she rubbed my back.
"hey, hey. it's gonna be alright. max is gonna be alright. i know it."
i sobbed into her shoulder, knowing she was probably just saying that. i could feel my shirt getting wet. she was crying too. neither of us believed a word she was saying, but hoped to god it was true.

gwen and i sat there for what seemed like hours. i looked at the clock that read 02:51 (2:51 am). i pulled back from gwen.
"let's go inside." i said. she nodded. we got out of the car and held hands as we walked inside the hospital.
"we aren't giving up on him yet." she said quietly.
i nodded and we continued the walk to max's room.
it felt as though time was going in slow motion. everything felt slow, as though simple actions took minutes at a time. we walked through the halls. most of the rooms were dark, but the hallways were blindingly bright. we walked into max's room and sat down next to each other. we both started crying.

our son...
what if he never wakes up?
is it our fault?
did we not love him enough?
this is all our fault.

gwen and i both fell asleep crying, only to be woken up by a noise and lights coming on. it was the monitors.

a solid line ran across all of them, accompanied with a noise you never want to hear. a flat tone spread across the room. doctors and nurses came rushing in.

max...

he will never get the chance to be a kid.
he will never be able to laugh and talk with his friends.
he will never get to run in track again.
he will never have another birthday.

our son....

don't give up.

we need you.

404 words.