Game Over: Life's Over

Accident

I made sure not to drink anything after dinner and I went to the bathroom right before bed. I wasn't going to have another accident. It had to be a fluke thing. Just a one-time occurrence. I had to make sure it didn't happen again.

I went to bed feeling like that night would be the end and I could forget it ever happened.

But when I woke up the next morning with my wet shorts sticking to my legs, I knew my problem wasn't going away so easily. I still had some hope that it wasn't going to last forever but there was a part of me that knew it likely would.

I went through the cycle of changing into dry clothes and gathering up my blankets. It seemed like an everyday occurrence anymore and I hated it. I hated always having to wash my blankets and hide what I was doing from Theo. But the other option wasn't so easy for me.

I didn't want to believe that I was losing the independence of going to the bathroom when and where I wanted and needed to. I was still clinging to the hope that it would go away over time and I would be fine. So telling Theo or talking to him about it only made it a problem. A real problem. A problem I didn't want to will into existence, even if it was already there.

As I tossed the blankets into a pile on the floor, I noticed something on the mattress. I hadn't noticed it before and maybe it wasn't there. But that morning, it was.

A small stain was left on the bed. Enough of a stain to alert anyone who saw it that I had wet the bed and it went down to the mattress. It was even a tint of yellow. An unmistakable sign that I'd wet the bed.

Shit.

I tossed a clean blanket over it just to hide it and then I carried the blankets down the steps. Theo was busy in the kitchen and didn't notice me heading for the basement.

I crept down the steps and started the washing machine quickly. I wasn't sure how long I could keep up with washing my blankets every day. I didn't know a single person who washed their blankets every day. It was too excessive to be reasonable. I just hoped Theo didn't ask any questions.

Theo was quiet as I headed back up the steps. He didn't say anything to me as I made my way back to my room and I was grateful for that. I wasn't up for a confrontation about-

I should've known there was a reason Theo was so quiet. He wasn't in the kitchen when I came upstairs because he was in my room, waiting for me.

My eyes met his as I stepped into the doorway. The blanket that I'd tossed over the stain on the bed had fallen onto the floor and Theo was standing right in front of it.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I had no idea what to say. I needed to convince him that my problem wasn't really a problem and that I had it all under control but even I didn't believe that.

Theo spoke first, breaking the silence in the room with a soft voice. "Jacob, we need to talk about this."

Immediately, I went defensive. "It's not a big deal."

"It doesn't need to be but we still have to talk about it."

I shook my head. "N-no, we don't."

"You can't wash your blankets every day."

"I haven't been."

The look he gave me said he knew otherwise.

"Look-Can you just get out and give me some space? I don't need you breathing down my neck all the time."

Theo ignored what I said and walked over to the changing table. He opened the doors underneath and pulled something white out. It looked like a bed sheet. He set it on the top of the table. "I'll help you clean the mattress and then we can put this on top. It will help to absorb any liquid that leaks through the blankets."