The Fall of the Aftons

071: Michael Afton

Michael stumbled over his feet for what felt like the hundredth time in the past few minutes. He crashed onto his knees and hands, the already-raw skin stinging sharply in protest, making him hiss in pain. He could feel Noah's hands underneath his arms as his friend helped him back onto his feet. Once he was standing again, he brushed the teeny, tiny pebbles from the sidewalk off of his shredded knees and ripped palms. Noah watched him with concerned eyes, anxiously biting his lip.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Noah asked quietly as he bit harder on his lip. "You've been acting... off... for the past few weeks, but it's even worse today."

Michael could barely focus on paying attention to the question, less than answering it. He was lightheaded and dizzy, and his equilibrium faltered and shifted for unknown reasons. His mouth was dry, his stomach was hollow, and his eyelids were too heavy. Yet he still nodded in response to Noah's question and continued down the sidewalk.

About ten minutes ago, he and Noah had asked if they could go to the park down the street. William said yes and told them that he'd pick them up to bring Noah home in about thirty minutes.

Michael hadn't been feeling the best for the past few days, with today being noticeably worse than previous days, though he thought that he'd be fine if he and Noah went to the park. But now he was starting to doubt if he made the right choice. He could barely think, he felt so terrible. How much worse would he become until he felt better?

Suddenly, Noah grabbed Michael's wrist, stopping Michael in his tracks.

"Mikey, we're here," he said quietly, gently dragging Michael to his side.

Michael looked around and his cloudy vision revealed that he almost passed right by the playground. "Oh," he mumbled. But he quickly regretted it. He was stunned at how much energy it required to say the singular acknowledging word.

"You're so clammy and pale," Noah pointed out. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Michael murmured as he clutched his way-too-light head. "I'm just dehydrated. William always keeps bottles of water in the car--I can drink one when he picks us up."

"Dehydrated? Or malnourished?" he asked suspiciously as he crossed his arms over his chest. He caught Michael by his shoulders when his best friend started to waver again. "Mikey, you've been starving yourself for years. The loss of nutrition is catching up to you--you need to eat something!"

"I'm not starving myself," Michael insisted. He held onto Noah until he found his balance. Once he steadied, he looked closer at his friend and offered a slight smile. "Come on. Let's go play before my dad comes."

"Are you positive that you're up for this?"

Michael nodded his head, lightly touched Noah's shoulder to start a game of tag, then darted off. He could hear Noah's fast-falling footsteps behind him as the two of them ran around the playground. He sprinted up the stairs at the base of the playset. He was still stumbling over his feet, but he was lucky enough that he didn't fall. He semi-gracefully dodged Noah's "attacks," rushing up more stairs to get to the playset's tallest slide.

But before he could get there, he started to slow down. His head was so light that it felt like a feather. He was so dizzy that it felt like his mind was in a tornado. His limbs felt like lead as he continued to trudge on, and his vision started to double and fuzz.

The next thing he knew, he collapsed and everything went black.

~ ~ ~

Michael slowly woke up, distant voices becoming clearer. But he couldn't pay any attention to the voices, no matter who they belonged to. He could only pay attention to the pain in his head, everything else too overbearing to handle. He groaned and clutched his head, closing his eyes as he tried to take a deep breath.

Suddenly, somebody rested a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and looked at them, not surprised to see William. But he was surprised to see two doctors surrounding him, as well.

Was he in the hospital? Why was he in the hospital?

"Michael?" William asked worriedly, brushing a tear from Michael's eyes. "What's wrong, bud?"

"My head," Michael mumbled. "It hurts."

Somebody knocked on the hospital room door, making Michael flinch again. He slowly turned to see Henry standing in the doorway with little Evan in his arms. He looked like he was heartbroken and worried as he stared at Michael with scrutinizing eyes.

"Er-wince!" Evan exclaimed excitedly, trying to pull himself out of Henry's arms as he struggled to get to Michael in the hospital bed.

Henry walked over to William and rested his head on his friend's shoulder as he rested Evan on Michael's bed. As soon as Evan was safe next to Michael, he held on tightly to William's arm, talking softly in William's ear.

Michael let Evan cling to him as he looked around the room for Noah. Where could Noah have gone? He wouldn't have gone home without knowing that Michael was okay, right? Or did Mister Wright come to pick him up already? He hoped not. He wanted to make sure that his friend knew that he was okay and that nothing was wrong.

"How're you feeling, Mike?" Henry asked after he stopped talking to William.

He blatantly ignored Henry's question. "Where'd Noah go?"

William chuckled and stepped to the side, dragging Henry along with him.

Noah was sitting in a chair against the wall, his legs pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on his knees. He had such a dismal, anxious expression that it made Michael feel worse than he already did, and his mismatched eyes were red and puffy as he focused on an invisible spot on the floor.

"Noah?" Michael asked quietly.