His Cure

Fatherhood, Ripped Away

"Really Morgan?!" I heard John yelling from outside. Confused, I stood up and walked outside to see a group of the gang watching Arthur and John argue. "Well someone has to be a father to that kid!" Arthur yelled back. "Yeah, me! I'm his damn father Arthur! Not you!" "What's going on?" I whispered to Karen as I stood next to her. "John's mad at Arthur for taking Jack fishing." This confused me because, after all, if Jack was happy did it really matter? "Then why don't you act like it?!" Arthur replied. "Don't tell me how to be a father to my own damn kid!" "If you were a better one, I wouldn't have to!" "A better one like you?!" John exclaimed. Hosea quickly cut in with, "John, don't go there." "One word, Arthur. Isaac!" John exclaimed, causing every camp member that was listening to tell him off. "John what the hell?" "John!" "What the fuck John?" Were just a few of the things that could be heard from the others.
Issac? I questioned in my head before Arthur turned and, without saying another word, jumped onto his horse and rode out of camp. "Shit, Arthur, I'm sorry..." John called out but Arthur didn't look back. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Abigail shouted at John as she dragged him away inside the house and, I'm assuming, up to their room.
Who the hell was Issac...?
***
(An hour later)
"Hosea?" I asked as I walked into the house. "Yes, Miss Elizabeth." He replied with a smile as he looked up from his notebook. "Can I ask you something?" "Of course you can. Sit." He said as he gestured for me to sit down with him. "What's your question?" He asked as I sat myself down. "Who's Isaac?"
I assumed that he was an old member of the camp but the answer I got was not one that I had expected. "You don't know?" He asked in slight shock as he put his pencil down and looked up to me as I shook my head in response. "Isaac..." he began as he gave me his full attention. "Was Arthur's son."
I instantly felt my jaw drop with surprise, "Arthur has a son?!" I exclaimed in something that could only be described as pure shock. "Had a son." He corrected me with a sad expression. "Holy shit..." I muttered as I tried to gather my thoughts. "What? Why? How? When?" I asked as I had so many questions running through my mind. "Talk to Arthur." Hosea responded with a sad smile. "Are you sure? I don't want to cross a line..." I began before he quickly responded, "Liz, if he's gonna talk about it with anyone then it's gonna be you." "Why me?" "Because he trusts you." Hosea replied, reassuring me. "He does?" "He's sleeping with you Liz, you tell me." He said with a slight smirk. "Okay, okay, keep your voice down." I responded as I facepalmed. "Talk to him." Hosea repeated. "I will. Thanks." I said as I went to stand up but he quickly stopped me. "Before you go, you wanna help me with this?" He asked as he gestured towards the paperwork in front of him. "Sure, what is it?" I asked as he slid them over to me. "Plans for the bank robbery." "We're actually doing that?" "Unfortunately so."

We spent the next half an hour organising and going through the plan so many times that it couldn't possibly have any faults. "You and Abigail are going to cause the distraction, do you want me to come with you as collateral?" I asked as I looked down at the plans. "I thought you were holding up the bank with the others?" He asked. "My people skills are awful and you need someone there for protection, just in case. Plus I'm not sure how useful I'll be to them with my leg n' all." "Well, you're robbing a bank so I don't think that people skills are going to matter but I'd appreciate it if you did." I chuckled slightly at his words as I agreed to go with them. "Here or here?" I asked as I pointed to two different points on the map of Saint Denis that we had picked for possible distraction locations. "I'll have to ask Dutch but I'm thinking there." Hosea replied as the door to the house swung open. "Looks good to me." I said as I looked over my shoulder to see Arthur quickly retreating upstairs. I felt so bad for him, I had no idea what he'd been through.
"Go talk to him." Hosea demanded as he noticed my expression. "Shouldn't we finish this first?" I asked as I turned back to look at the map. "We have finished it, Liz. Go." I took a deep breath before nodding and standing up before making my way up the stairs. The truth was that I wasn't sure how to approach this. Arthur and I never talked about emotions. We never spoke about feelings but here I was, about to ask him quite possibly the most personal question of them all.
I gently knocked on his door and waited for a response. "Come in." He said after a moment, so I promptly pushed the door gently open. "Hey..." I said as I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. "What's up?" He asked, trying to sound as confident as possible but I could see that he'd been crying by the redness on his face. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" I knew he was lying. "Hosea told me about... you know..." I added awkwardly. "Of course he did." Arthur responded, slightly annoyed. "I didn't mean to cross a line, I was just curious... I didn't realise that Isaac was your..." I began but trailed off as I wasn't sure what to say next. "My son?" "Yeah... I'm sorry. The worst thing in the world is out living your own child." I said as I remembered how sad my parents were anytime they'd talk about my brother. Arthur didn't reply, he just sniffed and shrugged his shoulders. "What happened?" I asked after a moment of silence. "Hosea didn't tell you?" "No, he said I should talk to you... you don't have to tell me." I quickly added, trying to respect his privacy. "Nah, it's fine. We were stupid kids. She knew what I was but I promised I'd try and do right by them. I'd drop by for a few days every month or so... One day, I saw two graves outside and I instantly knew..." He began to get emotional as he re-lived the events of his past. I quickly walked over to his bed and sat down next to him, trying to be as comforting as possible but I'd never been all that good at it. "Turns out... they were murdered during a robbery all for 10 dollars..." he sobbed. "Oh Arthur..." I whispered as I reached up and placed my hand on the back of his head, gently stroking his hair. "10 god damn dollars!" He exclaimed through tears. "I'm so sorry, Arthur..." I said as I shuffled towards him and snuggled into his side. He let out another sob as he turned and nuzzled his head into my chest, crying silently. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him as I tried to comfort him. "I'm so fucking sorry Arthur..." I whispered as I stroked his hair.
I'd never seen Arthur cry before. It hurt to think about how much pain that must have caused him. It hurt to know that there was nothing I could do to take his pain away.
We sat there in silence for a while and I cuddled him close as he began to calm down. "Shit, sorry." He said as he sat up and wiped his tears away. "It's okay, Arthur..." I said as I wiped one of the tears off of his face causing him to smile slightly. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." Arthur replied but this time a lot more believable. "I should have told you." "Arthur, you don't owe me anything. I'm sorry for digging, I had no idea who he was." "Don't apologise, you meant no harm." He responded as he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a quick hug. "You can talk to me, you know." I added, causing him to pull back slightly and look at me in confusion. "About stuff. I know we don't really do emotions but I'm still your friend at the end of the day." "We're friends?" He asked sarcastically with a smile. "Shut up Morgan." I replied with a chuckle as I pushed him slightly. "Thank you." He added after a moment which caused me to smile.
It had gotten dark by this point. "You should get some sleep." I said as I stood up with a smile.

"Up." I demanded as I grabbed John's arm. "What?" He sleepily asked as he stood up out of his bed. "We need to talk." I said as I began to walk out of his room. "Now, John!" I exclaimed when I realised he wasn't following me. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." He quickly followed behind me as we walked down the stairs and outside before I pulled him away from where the rest of the camp was sleeping and under a tree. "I know what you're gonna say..." John began as I looked him dead in the eye. "Good, saves me having to explain myself. What the fuck John?!" "I know, I'm sorry. It was a shitty thing to say." He replied. "A shitty thing to say?! It was bang out of line John!" "I know! He was going on about Jack and I—" "I don't care what he said!" I began as I cut him off. "I can't believe you!" "I didn't think it would affect him so much!" He exclaimed as I got more and more irritated. "You didn't think it would affect him so much?! It's his dead son John!" "Shit... is he okay?" John questioned, seeming genuinely concerned. "Okay? Considering that I just spent the last half an hour trying to calm him down and stop him from crying I'm gonna say he could be better!" "He's crying...?" John asked and I could see guilt flash across his face. "Yes, you moron!" "Look, Liz, I'm sorry. I crossed a line and I feel terrible." He began but I quickly cut him off with, "Don't apologise to me. Apologise to him." "I will." He responded. "You better. Do you have any idea what it's like to loose a child?" I questioned as I looked him dead in the eyes. "No." "Well I do. You have no idea how much it hurts John. How much it affects people." "Wait... you lost a child...?" He asked, clearly shocked. "No. My brother, I saw what it did to my parents. You haven't got a clue." "That ain't fair. Jack was taken by Bronte and you don't understand how fucking stressed I was!" John exclaimed. "That's the difference, John. Jack came back. Isaac didn't." I grunted as I stared him down. "I..." he began as if he was going to argue the matter but decided against it. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry." He finished as he looked at the ground. "I'll say it again, I'm not the one you should be apologising to." "Okay, I'll go right now." "No you won't. I told him to get some sleep. First thing tomorrow morning." I instructed as if I was his mother. "Okay." He replied. I firmly nodded before pushing past him and heading towards my tent. "You really care about him, don't you?" John asked as I walked away which quickly made me stop in my tracks but I couldn't think of the right words to say so I just continued walking.
As I laid down in my tent I couldn't help but think about what John had said. Of course I cared about him. I cared about everyone in the camp but I knew that wasn't what he meant. I cared about him more than anyone else... but why...?