Somebody That I Used To Know

See You Soon

"Baby?" Molly gently says. "Daddy and I gotta talk to you."

"About what?" Lily responds.

Tom groans as he sits down and holds Lillian's hand. "Darling, I... I have to go away for a few days."

"You're leaving me?"

"No, no, just for a few days, I promise."

"Where are you going?"

"To a hospital."

"Are you sick?"

"No, darling."

"Do you feel icky?"

"Well... there are two kinds of hospitals. The ones you hear about most often are for if you physically feel icky. The one I have to go to is for your mind feeling icky."

"Is yours icky?"

"Very." Tom whispers. "And it makes Daddy feel very bad. Although we'll miss each other very much, when I came home, it'll be better, okay? I won't feel icky anymore and then I can be a better Daddy for you."

"But you're already a good Daddy. I don't want you to leave me."

"Oh, darling, Mummy will be here too. It'll go by fast. You've been without me longer. Remember when I was at the other hospital? For when you're hurt? We didn't see each other for a few days."

"And Mummy told me that you might not ever come home." Lily says, starting to cry.

Tom feels his heart fall to the ground. "Maybe I should stay here, Molly. Look at her."

"You need help, Tom." Molly whispers. "Listen, baby, Daddy is going to come home, okay? This is his choice, not like last time."

"Come here, Lils."

Lily climbs onto her father's lap, holding him tight. "Can I still talk to you?"

"I'm sure that I can call you."

"I don't want you to leave me."

"I'm not leaving, darling. It's just for a few days."

"Please don't go."

"Lillian," Molly says. "Daddy has to go. I'll miss him too but we have to be strong, okay? Your Daddy is one of the strongest people I know and he needs some help getting through it so we have to support him."

"I just don't want him to leave."

"I'm gonna come back so much better, I promise. I'll feel better and... and we'll get to do more fun stuff because of it."

"Why does your brain feel icky? Can we get rid of it?"

"That's what they're going to try and do. They're going to help me with my brain feeling icky."

"But why?"

"Because then I'll feel better."

"No, no, why does your brain feel icky?"

Tom looks over at Molly.

"Remember what we talked about? What happened to Daddy."

"Yeah."

"Well that makes me feel very icky." Tom gently says. "I need to get some help with it."

"Okay."

"Okay? Alright, we're going to go there now and you can see that I'll be with very nice people that can help me. Let's go."

Tom holds Lillian's hand as they walk into the large facility. Lily looks around, tightening her grip to he father's hand. "It looks scary." she whispers.