The Fall of the Aftons

139: Michael Afton

Ten days. Ten days since the Bite of '87. It was funny: Michael and Evan were both victims of having their frontal lobes bitten by animatronics. Both of them would always hold a grudge against the one who caused the Bites, too. Michael would always hold a grudge against Henry for not fixing the bugs in Foxy's code he put off fixing. Evan would always hold a grudge against Michael for not standing up to the boys.

Michael had been skipping school every day to watch over Evan in the hospital, hoping that he'd wake up. But it would probably be futile. If he woke up, he would probably kick Michael out of the room. And once he would return home, he would probably ignore Michael for the rest of his life. There was no doubt about it. What Michael had done was unforgivable, regardless of how many reasons he gave anyone. He wouldn't be surprised if everyone ignored him.

Michael sighed heavily, slumping in his chair against the wall of Evan's hospital room, resting his head against the brick wall. Why am I even here? Evan is going to hate me now. There's no purpose in being here.

The sound of someone's familiar near-silent weeping jerked Michael out of his thoughts. He looked up to see where the sound was coming from.

It was Evan.

Evan was the one crying.

He was awake, crying quietly as he clutched his assumedly aching head.

Michael immediately rushed to his feet, sticking his head out of the door to call for the nurse to call William, then went straight to Evan's side.

"Mmnh... Mi-ee?" Evan asked weakly, his voice hoarse and distorted. The distortion was most likely from his injury, which wasn't surprising; Michael couldn't speak at all after his Bite. "Is... Is 'at you?"

He hesitated, surprised by his brother's question. "Y-Yeah, it's me," he said softly, gently resting his hand on Evan's shoulder.

Evan seemed to relax a little bit, slowly resting his hands at his side. "How... How long 've been out?" he mumbled.

"Um... Ten days."

He chuckled weakly, the sound barely audible. "No mo'e ba's under my eyes?"

"None at all," Michael said softly.

Evan chuckled again, then sighed weakly. "Wha... Wha'd the 'oys do to... you?"

He hesitated, nervously shifting his weight. "They, um... They springlocked me again. Thankfully, they avoided the arm I could've lost, but they springlocked my leg in replace of that." When Evan didn't say anything, he took advantage of the silence. "I, uh... I never got to tell you before, but I'm really, really sorry for what happened. I didn't mean"—his voice cracked and he cleared his throat—"I didn't mean for this to happen. I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Evan mumbled, sounding mildly irritated. "I know 'ou regre' it. I 'on't wan' 'o talk abou' wha' happen' right now."

"Um... Okay," he said quietly, standing there silently.

"When will Da-ee and Be-ss be 'ere?" Evan asked.

"That's a good question," Michael replied, chuckling softly. "I assume that they'll be here soon if the nurse actually called William."

"You wan' 'o know if I for'ive you. Don' you?" he asked suddenly.

Michael hesitated again. "I never said anything of the sort," he said quietly.

"Bu' you 'o want 'o know, right?"

He looked away, fiddling with his thumbs. "Yes and no," he said quietly.

"Well, I don'. I do not for'ive you. I may la'er, bu' righ' now, I don' for'ive you."

Michael stayed quiet, letting the words sink in. I don't forgive you. It was surprising, but also not. The words hurt horribly, but at the same time, they didn't hurt at all. Hot tears welled in his eyes and he grabbed onto his necklace, fidgeting with the three stones on it for comfort. He didn't need to cry. He knew that something like this would happen. What he'd done was unforgivable, after all.

"Mi-ee? Are 'ou still there?" Evan asked quietly, frowning. "I'm s-sorry if I hur' you, but I'm jus' being honest. I hate lying. You know tha'."

Michael shook his head, laughing shakily. "No, no, it's..." He sniffled softly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "It's fine. I'm glad you're being honest." His tears started to fall and he quickly wiped them away. "I just... I need a minute. I'll be right back," he mumbled, then quickly left the room.