Eldritch

Chapter 30

Daniel tries to blink away the weariness spreading through his body, so as to watch his mother, hoping for her to awaken at any moment. He gently grazes her hand with his thumb as he talks to her. Mom,' he starts. 'I need you to wake up. Please. I love you, and I need you. I want to thank you for getting me to start talking to Dad again. To forgive him. Because it makes me feel so much better to have him around. But I need you too. I know Dad and I are getting closer and everything, but you're the one that brought me up. You're the one who was there for me always. You're the one I could always talk to when I needed to. And I'll never have that bond with Dad, ever. So, I need you to wake up, Mom. Please. I need you.'

Louis, who has been listening in on his son, has tears in his eyes. He bites his lip and allows the door to close over quietly. He sits back out in the waiting area.

It's then that Daniel feels a sharp twinge in his side. He winces and looks down to it. The pain intensifies and he clutches his shirt to see that a patch is soaked.

He stands up from his hunched position at Marissa's bed side. He squeezes her hand gently. 'I'll be back in a few minutes, Mom.'

As he shuffles through the corridor, he scrunches his face at the sensation of his wound stinging as it weeps. Lisa catches his eye and calls him. 'What's wrong?' she asks. 'You're really pale.'

'It's nothing,' he dismisses. 'It's just my wound. It's stinging a little, that's all.'

She eyes him with concern. 'Dan, we should get that checked out. Has it healed at all?'

'Not really,' he answers, bringing his hand to his side once more. 'But, I didn't get to put any of that ointment on for the last week, or clean it out, Lisa.'

'Let me see it,' she says, her face earnest.

He sighs, steps out of view from the corridor, and lifts the corner of his shirt to reveal his wound, its edges crusted, but the centre still raw and gaping. It looks as though it's trying to heal and the process is being inhibited. Puss oozes from the center, dripping onto his surrounding skin.

'Dan, that looks like it's really badly infected. It looks like you need to get it cleaned and stitched.'

'I need to check on my Mom again.'

Lisa gives him an are you serious look?

She points him toward the receptionist's desk. 'I'll stay with your Mom,' she says. 'Go get it checked out. And if you don't, I'll just tell your dad and have him make you.'

Daniel looks hesitantly toward Marissa's room. 'Okay,' he murmurs. 'Thank you.'

----

Daniel jolts upwards from his sleep as he hears the door creaking open. Louis stands in the doorway, a milkshake and a brown paper bag in his hands.

'I figured, given you refused leave to get something to eat, I should bring some food here instead.'

Daniel smiles. 'Thanks Dad.'

Louis outstretches his arm and Daniel reaches for the bag, only to have it snatched from his reach. His Dad's expression falls earnest. 'On one condition,' he says. 'You leave your mom's side for a while, go home, have a shower and get some sleep.'

'But, Dad, I want to be here for her if she wak--'

'If she wakes up,' he interrupts. 'I'll call you.'

Daniel glances toward Marissa and watches as her chest rises and falls in a rhythmic pattern. 'You promise?'

Louis nods. 'I promise.'

Daniel takes the bag. 'Okay, thanks, Dad.'

Louis watches as a ravenous Daniel wolfs down the cheeseburger he's just purchased for him, taking gulps of the milkshake in between. Once he's finished eating, Louis cocks his head toward the door, gesturing for him to leave. Reluctantly, he rises from his seat and as he's passing the bed, he leans his face to Marissa's and plants a gentle kiss to her forehead. 'Love you, Mom.'

Then, he shuffles through the doors, trudging onto the corridor, his exhaustion really starting to get the better of him. He ploughs forward, sluggish and weary. He can feel his eyelids drooping and really wants to give into the desire to fall asleep. It's counteracted when he comes face to face with the Sheriff in the reception area. His heart almost skips a beat and flutters in his chest as he spots Ella and Sean standing behind him. Lisa smiles at him as the reality sinks in.

He moves forward, his arms wide open, and he and Sean meet each other halfway for the tight hug they share. They stand, holding onto each other for a few long moments, and Daniel backs away to face him, tears in his eyes. 'Thank God, man,' he swallows. 'I was beginning to think that you—that you'd all--'

Sean nods. 'It's good to be back,' he smiles. 'I heard your Mom's the reason we're alive and we owe you and her. I'm sorry about what happened.'

Daniel nods and proceeds to wrap his arms around Ella for a brief moment. She smiles and reassuringly squeezes his shoulder. 'She's going to be okay, Dan.'

He nods and shakes his head, hoping to divert the route of conversation from his mother. When he's not in the room by her side, the last thing he wants to think, or talk about, is the fact of her being in a critical condition. 'Charlene?' he says.

For a moment, his stomach turns to a hollow pit and he feels as though he's going to vomit. He automatically thinks the worst; that she didn't make it out.

'She's over there,' Ella says, pointing in the direction of the entrance. Charlene sits, her left leg crossed over her knee, reading from a pamphlet from the table before her. 'She doesn't want to speak to any of us because of what we did.'

Daniel's heart sinks in his chest slightly. He doesn't want her to be angry with him, but he can still understand her feelings. He swallows. 'I'm just going to check that she's okay.'

He shuffles toward her and comes to stop a few inches from her seat. 'Charlene?'

She looks up at him, a look of ferocity dancing in her eyes.

'I'm so sorry, Charlene. About Abi. What we did. And how you got dragged into it.'

She bows her head and places the pamphlet back on the table. Once she stands up and closes in the distance between them, Daniel pleads to her with his eyes to say something. Anything. Even if it's that she hates him.

What he doesn't expect though, is the blow that comes to the side of his cheek, as she strikes his face with her palm. A whipping sound fills the air as she slaps him. 'I hate you,' she screams, tears pouring onto her cheeks. 'You killed Abi, all of you. I hate you all for what you did.'

Daniel stumbles backwards and allows her to continue hitting him as she cries hysterically. Sheriff Ryan intervenes and pulls her into his chest until her outburst of anger ebbs. Daniel still stands, unsure of what to do, as he reflects on what's just happened. Tears build in his throat and threaten to choke him.

He turns back toward the others, who look at him, their expressions uneasy. 'I told you she was angry,' Ella says.

Daniel nods. 'She has a right to be. And I just needed to apologise for everything. She deserved so much more than us.'

Lisa infiltrates the discussion. 'Sheriff Ryan is taking all of us to a safe house. He's picking up Martin and Sophie along the way. Including Charlene. If you want, I'll share rooms with her.'

Ella furrows an eyebrow. 'But, Lisa. She hates all of us now.'

Lisa nods solemnly. 'I know,' she sighs. 'But she's always hated me, so I'm used to it.'

It then occurs to Daniel, what's he just been told. 'A safe house?'

Sean nods. 'According to Kooky A, that thing is going to keep coming back until it gets us all. So, the Sheriff wants to protect us for now until he figures out what to do.'