The Time We Have Left

Chapter 5: Motherly

(Previous Chapter: Hope creased her forehead and then gasped, "Oh!" She turned to me, "Aidan, I hadn't ever told you this but I was born with a lot of health issues. I had my thyroid removed, and so I take medicine to keep me alive. Without it, the doctor says I could die." She explained.

I nodded slowly. "I see...So that's why it never leaves. Don't skip that medicine." I said, with an awkward laugh. "So, the black zero doesn't mean certain death?" I asked. Matthew shrugged, "well, everyone dies, it's a cycle of life... but this is just my hypothesis. If you let me have your eyes, I may be able to confirm that info..." He said. I huffed. "You're a freak."

This 'hypothesis' of Matthews' seemed logical, but there was something bothering me. Hope has a black zero just because she takes medicine that keeps her alive? It seemed to make so much sense, but it also seemed to be such an easy answer... And things in my life never seemed to have such a simple answer. I had a feeling that somehow, he was wrong. There must be something else...)

Chapter 5: Motherly

"As a small child, I felt two contradictory feelings, the horror of life and the ecstasy of life." ~ Charles Baudelaire 

      There was a knock on the door, a beautiful woman came in with a distinguished looking man. I could see the exact resemblance between the both of them and Hope, she looked especially like her mother. But Matthew looked almost nothing like either of them, and for a split second I wondered if he were adopted. It would make sense. This must be their parents. 

"Oh, Hope, Matthew. Who is this?"The woman asked, eyeing me closely. Her eyes were big and curious but seemed warm and loving. I felt comfortable immediately. The man stayed in the doorway, silent. "This is Aidan... ya know, the child with the Dead Heart?" Matthew said, referring to me by the hurtful nickname everyone knew me by.

"Oh, my..." She trailed off. Above her, I saw a red 4. Did she only have 4 hours left...?

"Well, um...I'm going on a trip, as you know... your father doesnt want me to go..." Her voice trailed off, as I stopped paying attention. If she only had 4 hours left, should I tell Hope and Matthew? How would they react knowing she had so little time?

"We'll talk about this later, we're kind of in the middle of something important." Hope told her. The woman looked at me and then back at her husband. They both shrugged, and then left the room.

"Sorry about that whole dead heart thing." Matthew said. I thought about how I should go about this. What if they didn't want to know?

"What's the matter, Aidan?" Hope asked. Then, I remembered Matthew's theory. If Hope could keep herself alive with medicine even though she was meant to die without it... did that mean there were certain things we could do to make us live longer?

I noticed long ago that people who were fit and healthy seemed to have higher numbers than those who weren't but by just a few gold digits or so. Was this the same concept? Their mother spoke about going on a trip, if that's what would kill her, couldn't she live longer if she didn't go?

"Aidan...? Are you okay?" Hope asked. I looked up at the two of them. "I was thinking." I said. Matthew laughed, "yeah, pretty damn hard. What's on your mind?" he asked. I took a breath. "Well, don't freak out... but I really think your mother should not go on the trip she spoke to your guys about." I said.

Hope seemed scared. "Why, Aidan? What did you see?" She asked. "A red 4. That means she has 4 hours left." I explained. Hope and Matthew looked at each other, concern and worry on their faces. "We'll convince her not to go." They said. I nodded, "But don't tell her what I said... Or she'll think you're crazy and go anyway." I said.