Salvage

Chapter 14

 Aurelius 

It starts with the silence.

Not the peaceful kind, The wrong kind. The kind that presses against your ears  until you realize something is missing. I'm standing in a hallway I know too well. The walls are white. To white. The lights flicker overhead like they can't decide whether to stay alive or give up. 

My hands are small. Too small and the air smells like antiseptic. No, not again. I try to move, but my legs feel slow, like i'm walking through water. At the end of the hallway, there's a door. slightly open. 

I hear crying... a baby. My heart stops. " Lucien.." I breathe. I pushed the door open. The room is dark except for a single light above a crib.

He's there. so small. so helpless. One year old, barely steady on his feet. His curls messy from the sleep, his tiny hands gripping the crib rails while tears streak down his cheeks. " Da..... da...." he whimpers. My chest caves in. " I'm here." I try to say. but my voice doesn't work, I rushed forward but the floor stretches making the crib get farther away. The crying gets louder and then I see  them.  

Shadows in the corners.

Guards.... watching..... waiting. One of them steps closer to the crib. Lucien cries even harder. " NO!" I finally screamed. The man reaches in and the world fractures.

I wake up gasping, clawing at my throat. Not gentle, not slow but violent. Like I've been dragged up from drowning. My body jerks upright, my vision is blurry. My heart slamming in my ears and racing so fast that it hurts. I can't breathe, I can't... I can't . The room is dark, too dark that it's making this feeling worse. 

My hands are shaking, my chest tightens even more and the air feels too thin. I can still hear him crying and the guard still reaching for him. " No, no,no,no..." I whispered hoarsely. I swing by legs off the bed too fast and nearly collapse. My knees hit the floor.

I can't breathe.

I press my palm against my chest like I can physically slow my heart down.

Inhale, It doesn't work, Exhale. It doesn't work.

The door creaks open. "Aurelius?"

Damien.

His voice is steady but laced with worry. I try to answer him but it comes out broken — more air than sound. He's beside me in seconds.

"Hey. Hey. Look at me." His hands are on my shoulders, firm but careful. "You're here. You're safe."

Safe.

The word doesn't register.

"I saw—" My voice cracks. "They had him. I couldn't reach him." Damien's expression softens instantly. "Lucien's in his crib. In his room. Sleeping." My breathing stutters. "I heard him."

"That was the monitor," Damien says gently. "He turned over. That's it." My body still doesn't believe him. Footsteps approach quickly.

Kingston.

Marco.

The door stays partially open so the light spills in. Then I hear it. A tiny babble. Soft. Sleepy. Confused.

"Da?"

Lucien.

Real, not screaming. Not crying. Just... awake. Damien glances toward the hall. Moon is already there. My son. Seconds later, Moon walks in holding Lucien carefully against his chest.

Lucien's hair is sticking up on one side. His little fist is wrapped in Moon's shirt. His eyes are half-lidded and heavy with sleep.

The moment Lucien sees me on the floor.... "Da."

Arms reach. That does it. The panic breaks. Moon kneels and carefully transfers his baby brother into my arms. Lucien immediately presses against me, tiny hands grabbing my collar like he's afraid I might disappear.

I hold my son tighter than I mean to. He's warm.

Solid.

Alive.

His breathing is steady against my neck.

"I'm here," I whisper into his curls. "I've got you."

He hums softly, already falling back asleep against my chest. 

My heart finally begins to slow.

Damien sits beside me on the floor. Kingston leans against the doorway. Marco stands close. No one rushes me. No one panics, they just stay. And for the first time since waking up, the room feels real.

The nightmare starts to fade.

"I couldn't reach him," I admit quietly. Damien squeezes my shoulder. "You always reach him."

Moon kneels in front of me now, I reached for him and he carefully laid against me on my right side.  My oldest son, his eyes search my face. Not as a child, but as someone who understands fear. "He's safe," Moon says softly.

I nod and I know that. But fear doesn't disappear just because logic says it should. Lucien sighs against my chest, tiny hand fisting into my shirt. And that grounds me. That's real.

The next morning comes slow. No alarms, No shouting, just sunlight slipping through the curtains. Lucien wakes up first, he pats my face like I'm a toy. "Da."

I open my eyes to him smiling at me. Not scared, not crying, just happy. The nightmare feels smaller now, it's still there but smaller.

Moon is already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed like he kept watch, My son, my baby.

Damien leans against the doorway, coffee in hand. "You look better," Damien says quietly. I nod.

Lucien leans forward and presses his forehead to mine like he does when he's tired and I realize something.

The nightmare wasn't about the past. It was about fear of losing what we finally have my sons, family, safety,  and healing.

I kiss Lucien's temple gently. "I'm not going anywhere," I whisper. And this time, I believe it. Outside the room, life is already moving but here, for a moment, everything is still.

And we're together.