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(tw: attempted suicide, vomit, death)
POE HAD JUST TURNED TWELVE WHEN EVERYTHING IN HIS LIFE WENT TO SHIT. He didn't wake up that morning all excited to be a year older. He didn't run around the house in his pajamas belting out the lyrics to his favorite songs while Marlon recorded him with the camera. He didn't get to go to the Rosbergs' to celebrate his birthday like he had done the past six years. He didn't get to have happy birthday sung to him by his father and the Rosbergs like he had gotten it done for the past six birthdays. He didn't get to blow out his candles like he had done the past six birthdays. He didn't get to eat his cake and share it with them like he had the past six birthdays.
This time is different. This time is very different.
Because he knows something is wrong. Very, very wrong.
The sound of a distressed Marlon calling his name—the first sign that something is wrong—makes him wake from the peaceful slumber he had been having. He's surprised he even heard him. Poe is a heavy sleeper. He blinks sleep from his eyes as he looks around in confusion, trying to figure out what is going on.
"Papa?" he calls out as he's met with silence—the second sign something is wrong—after a few minutes. A few minutes. He knows he should have been out there immediately but the tiredness he's feeling from being woken up isn't making him as alert as he should be. Worried, he climbs out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he leaves his bedroom.
Going to the living room had been a mistake.
It had only been a few minutes. Only a few minutes. A few seconds could change everything, but a few minutes was so much worse.
The third sign something is wrong is when he sees a half-empty bottle of some alcoholic beverage spilled on the floor, the bottle smashed as if it had fallen, and the only reason Poe knows if because the amount of liquid on the floor is not enough to be a completely full bottle. Beside the mess of alcohol is several bottles of different pills—mainly painkillers—discarded on the tile, open and spilled, contents scattered.
The fourth sign something is wrong is when Poe's eyes following the path of alcohol and pills and he sees a pool of blood and vomit surrounding Marlon, who is collapsed on the floor.
The fifth sign that something is wrong is that Marlon is unconscious and not breathing. Not breathing because he had attempted suicide and had poisoned himself and more than likely was going to die at any minute if he did not get the proper medical attention immediately.
