In Our Heads

Chapter 56

*****

"You said we were going to the park."

Theodore watched as Zion hopped along in front of him, trying to keep each of his footsteps in specific pavement blocks. He didn't really understand the sequence or rules of his brother's made-up game because all the bricks looked the same and Zion had to step on more than one to keep from having to walk on his tiptoes, but he seemed to be deliberately stepping on two at a time as if it had some purpose.

Theodore had given up trying to figure out the game when he thought he had the sequence recognised, until Zion suddenly wasn't following it anymore.

"Yeah, if we can find it."

He had not driven around Cassian's neighbourhood much, and apparently, neither had Cassian because Jonathan had to explain where the park was. Both the parents had gone to work. Cassian was a very extroverted homebody, not usually a combination. Derek had told Theodore they could use the cars, but he didn't like driving to parks. So here they were, walking and trying to find the place.

"I think it's this way." Zion pointed with an outstretched arm; his soccer ball tucked under his other arm. "Jonathan said right."

"Okay."

"Um – Wait. Maybe he meant later, a different right."

"We can always come back." Theodore smiled. "Lead the way."

"Okay!" Zion turned and began hopping in the direction he had pointed while holding the ball against his stomach.

The streets here were much quieter than any place they had lived before and Theodore found that a little unsettling, which was weird because he didn't like being around people but would have preferred if the streets were not completely empty. He kept looking around, expecting to see anyone or someone who was going to jump out of nowhere and attempt to kill them.

It made him chuckle to himself, but the laughter was cut short when he heard a grunt from ahead.

"Zion –" He kicked his leg out to stop the ball from rolling further down the pavement as Zion got up from a fall.

"I'm okay! Just a little dizzy." Zion grinned, stumbling slightly as he moved towards Theodore so he could pick the ball up and return to walking up the road.

Theodore frowned.

The random dizzy spells were another side-effect of Zion's hospitalisation, but they were spacing out further from each other and becoming less frequent, so he figured it was getting better... Hopefully.

Theodore watched his brother closely for a few seconds just in case, but when Zion didn't stumble again, he ran his eyes over the empty streets framed by high walls before an opening appeared just as Zion yelled, "I was right!"

He chuckled picking up his pace into a jog to follow a sprinting Zion onto the grass. They put the ball beside the swings and began playing on everything in the playground. Now Theodore was happy about there being no one around, because they didn't have to wait to play on anything and he didn't have to be hyper-vigilant about where Zion was in the crowd.

They swapped between the different swings for some time. The feeling of playing around in a park was familiar, but not doing it to get away from somewhere for a while wasn't, and Theodore enjoyed playing with his brother without thoughts in the back of his mind about when it would be relatively safe to return home.

Cassian was not with them because he had some lessons and a meeting that his parents insisted that he needed to attend, so Theodore and Zion had been home alone for the most part until Rosa arrived.