Marvin sat in almost complete silence staring down at his hands which had an iv in one and a pulse oximeter on the other. The only sound came from the machine which measured his heart and oxygen levels, both which could be better. In quiet like this, Marvin was often left to his thoughts and memories of his time with his lover whose face no longer blessed his eyes. Whizzer was gone. He had been gone for a few months now and each day only had gotten harder from there. It didn't help that this was the exact same room Whizzer was in. Why didn't the hospital have any other empty rooms? Why couldn't the hospital have any other empty rooms?
Often when Marvin closed his eyes he imagined his lover was laying beside him holding his hand and reassuring him everything would be alright. But by now, it was painfully obvious things clearly wouldn't be getting better. In the way of visitors, Cordelia was really the only person to visit him on a regular basis- bringing him delicious foods to try. Despite how lonely things were, Marvin couldn't really blame them. They all had busy lives and it's not like he had always treated them the best. Specifically Trina. But he was happy for her now. She got the man she deserved, because it sure of hell wasn't him. And over the past few weeks, Marvin had been reviewing his life which the lonely quiet hospital was good at. None of it mattered though, and never would. Intelligence was something he took pride in and so Marvin wasn't an idiot. It was only a matter of time before he met the same fate as Whizzer, but hey, at least he would see him again, hold him again, feel him again.
These memories were something hard to swallow and left the man with an already scratchy throat choke from holding back tears. He hated crying, because when Marvin cried his thoughts would suddenly all come out at once leading him to sob. Not only were there tears in his eyes but he couldn't stop coughing. Reaching with every bit of strength he still had, Marvin still was just too far. Charlotte opened the door to check in on him and quickly saw the situation. She rushed over to his side, putting the cup of water up to his lips, sitting him upright, and rubbing circles on his back.
"It's okay, breathe I'm here now-" Charlotte stammered, still trying to calm down her heart rate from what had just happened. It was hard enough to deal with patients like this in the first place but after watching one of her friends die and now the other? Marvin sipped the water and gently swallowed, soothing his throat slowly. He remembered doing the same for Whizzer, and now here he was. Everything that Charlotte did for him though was more than appreciated. It was obvious she did the most she could to help him out.
As she sat the cup back down, Marvin gently grabbed her hand just as he did back when Whizzer was sitting where he was now. "Thank you, really. I couldn't do this without you." Charlotte's eyes got watery as the words left his lips. This is why she did her job.
"Of course Marvin. Not only am I your doctor but I'm your friend. I will do everything I can to help you. I promise," she said, comforting him with a smile. "But, I believe someone is here to see you." Looking past Charlotte standing in the doorway was Trina with her hand on Jason's back. After giving him a little nudge, he walked over to Marvin's bed side. Giving a quick nod to Marvin, Charlotte joined Trina's side and the two left the room, closing the door behind them.
Jason stood there nervously still in his baseball uniform. "Hey Kid-" Marvin smiled, trying to make conversation out of the hard to handle situation. "How'd the baseball game go?!" Ever since Whizzer had helped him out, Jason had gotten much better. Hell, he was practically the star of his team.
Nervously staring at his hands as he fidgeted with his fingers, Jason mumbled. "It went well, dad. We won 5-0." The awkward silence was loud and Marvin noticed Jason's behavior, making him feel worse. He hated what this disease had done to their family; the family that had finally started to work out. Placing his hand gently on Jason's cheek, Marvin rubbed it with his thumb which made Jason finally look him in the eyes. The man coughed a little before placing his hands on Jason's shoulders.
"I'm sorry. I know how hard and unfair this is for you, I do, and I know you're smart- and hopefully smarter than I was, but what if we just pretended that everything is relatively okay for now. I want your last few memories of me to be good ones, okay?" Jason slowly nodded his head as his eyes filled with tears until it was too much, quickly wrapping his arms around his father he tucked his head into Marvin's shoulder and sobbed into it. Every muscle in Marvin's face tightened as he held back a flood of tears. He didn't want to upset his son too much. All he could do was just place his hand on Jason's soft brown hair which reminded him so much of his.
Minutes had passed before Jason finally raised his head off Marvin's shoulder. His cheeks had been stained with tears as his nose dripped, his soft brown eyes reminding him of Whizzer. Marvin smiled through the pain and sadness, hoping to cheer his son up a little at least.
Marvin scooted over before patting the bed next to him. "Come sit with me, I have something for you." Slowly coming around the other side of the bed, Jason sat down on the hospital bed next to his father and scooted close. The bed was stiff but at least warm from Marvin's body heat. Reaching over to his side table the man grabbed what looked like a book at first glance. The outside of it read "Memories" and upon opening the book it was addressed to Jason. Marvin then closed the book and handed it to him but kept his hands on it while he spoke.
"I put this together with the help of Cordelia for you- you can thank her," he laughed a little at his own joke which led to a cough. "Don't open it until I'm... well you'll know when the right time is." Jason frowned a little, he hated thinking about losing his other father too. This prompted another awkward silence. But his frown soon faded as Marvin brought up the idea of playing a few chess games. It was something the two shared a passion for. Climbing out of the bed Jason went over to the dresser which had the chess board sitting on top of it. Marvin watched as he didn't have to reach on his tippy toes to get stuff like that anymore. He was growing up and getting older, Marvin just wished he would get to see it all.
Sitting the board on the bed Jason pulled over a chair and the two played numerous games until Trina came back in with Charlotte, her eyes a little watery. "Alright honey it's time to go home, you have school tomorrow." Jason turned to his dad whom he gave a goodbye hug to and went to put the chess board. To his surprise Trina walked over to Marvin and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Take care of yourself, for Jason." The two left just as quick as they came, leaving Marvin alone with his thoughts again. Everything hurt. There was no way he was making it to the end of the week, and he was right. By the end of the week he wasn't even able to sit up in bed anymore nor pick up anything over a pound.
Only three days after seeing Jason, Marvin passed away during the night. In his hand they found the white king chess piece along with a paper he had scribbled his will onto. After the funeral Jason opened the book his father had given him. Inside it were photos of him and Marvin from each stage of his life, and at the end it was a collage of the three of them. Just Jason, Marvin, and Whizzer. Now, he would never have to worry about losing the memories.
