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She felt her heart stop as the rings of light disappeared.
The boy leaned against the wall behind him, and blood poured through the fingers clamped over his chest. He’s a ghost, her brain whispered, and the gun’s plastic casing rattled with her suddenly trembling hands.
“I’m okay.” His words were soft, but strained, and she wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself as a steady stream of red streaked down the stomach of his white shirt.
He stared at her for a moment, eyes wide and lower lip pinching between his teeth. The blaster drooped in her grip and she lifted her goggles off her face, eyes burning as her stunned brain pushed past the unexpected transformation and finally realised who exactly was leaving streaks of blood on her laboratory floor.
“Danny?”
He swallowed, then took a shaky breath and glanced at the bloody hand clamped over his chest before meeting her eyes again. “I’m okay,” he repeated, as though saying it enough times would make it true. “Don’t cry, it’ll be alright.”
The electric lights were suddenly far too bright, and tears dripped off her chin as Maddie’s heart clenched so tightly that it felt like she couldn’t breathe.
She took a step forward, stopping again when Danny flinched.
They both stayed there for a moment, harsh breaths mingling in the space between them, and he winced. “Sorry, Mum. I’ll… I’ll be okay.” He pushed himself up where he had begun to slide down the wall. “Please don’t cry.”
His eyes, wide and blue and familiar, darted from her face to her hands. She followed, staring at the gun as horror wound through the spaces in her ribs and squeezed tightly around her lungs.
“Danny?” she whispered again, and he gave her a shaky smile, pressing both hands harder against his chest.
“Uh… surprise?”
The gun clattered to the floor, and she threw herself onto her knees, pressing her hands over his. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry, it’s okay, you’re gonna be alright…”
He smiled again, mouth tight with pain, and clasped her forearm. His fingers left bloody streaks on the waterproof fabric. “You didn’t mean it,” he said, as the colour began to leach from his cheeks. “It’s alright, Mum, you didn’t mean to hurt me.”
A dark, nasty corner of her mind reminded her that yes, she most definitely had meant to hurt him, but she ignored the thought and concentrated on the boy in front of her.
It didn’t matter why she’d shot him, only that she had. Whatever her son was, whoever he was, could be dealt with later. For now, she pulled him into her arms, and lifted him off the bloody floor. He gave a pained whine at the movement and her heart clenched.
She’d fix this, even if it killed her.
As Maddie carried her son over to the bench, she kicked the gun across the floor, and it disappeared into the darkness beneath a shelf.
She never wanted to see it again.