Chapter Text
I rush through the door, grinning as I proudly held up my wooden sword. My dad walked in slowly behind, oddly solemn.
In the hospital bed in the center of the room lay a familiar figure. She was as pale as a snowflake.
“Mom! Look I learned some more cool training moves from dad!”
My hand brushes hers, causing the woman’s eyes to open like small slivers of a fading light.
Her lips quiver into a small smile before parting to form words. Her gentle voice was like she had just ran a few miles, airy and tired.
“I’m so proud of you two.” She whispered, gently cupping her hand on my cheek.
I nod in excitement before pulling away and holding up the sword, making sure to obey dad’s advice from earlier. I pull the sword into a fighting position, double checking my hand placements on the hilt before slashing the air.
“MOM! DAD! LOOK! DID YOU SEE THAT?!”
I turn to look back at my mom before pausing. Why was dad standing over the hospital bed? Mom wasn’t doing any cool tricks, right? A long low beep could be heard.
My dad looks at the monitor before tensing, his gruff voice shouting through the long deep tone. “DOCTOR! DOCTOR!”
I turn over to look at the monitor. Before I could get a proper view, doctors rushed in.
I pause, eyes wide. Before I could comprehend anything, the doctors were saying things like “CLEAR” as me and my dad were ushered out into the waiting room.
I sit down quietly, watching my dad pace in a circle. I’d never seen him so worried before. Before I can stop myself, words slip out of my mouth. “Mom’ll be okay, right?”
Dad pauses, as if he forgot I was there. He responds, voice thick. “Brad…I don’t know.”
A doctor comes out of the room, her movements slow and steady. “Mr. Thaniyel, I’m so sorry.”
Even the city outside seemed to stop in that moment, in ways I can’t explain. I look up to see if my father’s face could explain what was happening.
His face didn’t show answers, but rather pure unfiltered pain. The desperate look of someone who had known it was coming but refused to believe it.
The doctor motioned quietly to the room. Dad went to the room, hand frozen just above the knob.
It seemed slow, the door opening. The unconscious woman was still on the bed, her eyes closed like she forgot to tell them something.
I rush over to wake her, brushing her hand with mine. Her skin was cold, like that of the winter season.
“Dad? Why’s mom cold?”
Dad looked almost as pale as the lifeless shell before them. His hand twitches like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
We stayed there for a while. The air was heavy with something I couldn’t understand.
“Bradley, she won’t wake up.”
“Never ever…?”
I finally understood why the world had stopped. Why it was all so heavy.
“Oh…”
The ride back home was silent. Usually I would look out of the jeep and point out pretty flowers or cool buildings. But this time I couldn’t find anything but pink carnations.
At home, dad was quick to go to bed.
Nighttime stories suddenly didn’t become so important.
In my room, I sit in bed with the wooden sword still in hand. My grip tightens. I knew it then that I’d do whatever it took to live up to mom’s confidence in me and dad.
I carefully sneak out of bed, peeking out of my room to practice with my wooden sword.
I watch my steps carefully to make sure my steps are light. Half way down, a dim glow catches my eye. A dark green sword was in a case on the wall.
It was the Venomshank. My dad’s sword. He always screamed when I asked about it. So I decided to leave it alone to make him happy. A quiet whisper enters my mind.
”Don’t you want to live up to her words?”
I blink, that wasn’t my thought. I hesitantly drop the wooden sword, taking a step towards the case. The wood weapon hits the floor with a loud thump.
I automatically freeze as footsteps become louder until the light turns on. At the top of the stairs was dad.
“Dad I-“
“Brad. Bed. Now.”
I hesitate, going upstairs. My dad’s voice was final, that was something I learned a long time ago. I slip back into my room in time to hear my dad mumbling about moving the sword.
I tense. What if I’m not able to prove myself? I try to close my eyes. Though whenever I closed my eyes, I saw my mother’s pale face and last words.