The Advocate

Meeting the Finns

A husband and wife sit in a sparsely decorated hallway. They are holding each other's hands, anxiously awaiting the doctor's return. The emergency doors swiftly open and a man dressed in a labcoat, wearing a grim look on his face enters.
"Mr. and Mrs. Finn?" They look up expectantly, their eyes red from tears. "May I have a word with you in my office?"

The couple nod in agreement and walk with the doctor into his office, the only decorations being a few framed doctorates behind his white desk. He waits until they're seated before speaking, his hands interlaced in front of him.

"I hate to tell you this, but the cat-scan came back positive. Little Seamus has brain cancer. That's why he passed out earlier." The couple started asking questions feverishly, but the doctor raises his hand, quickly replying to their panic.

"I wish I could say it's treatable, but the cancer is too widespread throughout his left hipocampus; chemotherapy won't work fast enough and his health would fail before getting better. He would experience severe pain, hair loss, vomiting... That's not how a kid should live before whatever awaits him."

The doctor presses his glasses up to his face with two fingers, clears his throat and continues. "I know what I'm saying is unsettling and I wish I could say we had a solution. I can contact Heroes for Hope, see if they can arrange Seamus to meet with a hero he always wanted to see." The couple look at each other, tears streaming down their faces and nod in agreement, both parents at a loss for words. "Do you want to tell your son with me?" The father rubs his eyes before clearing his throat, trying to find his voice. "Can... Can we wait until the guy from HFH comes?" The doctor nods in silence as he sighs heavily. "I'll have Seamus moved to a room until the agent arrives."

A couple hours pass, the parents spending time with their son, when a knock on the door frame to Seamus's room jar them out of their daze. "He's here."

Behind the doctor stands a short tubby man, a doughnut in one hand and black coffee in the other. His professional brown suit belies his carelessness as crumbs roll down his shirt like a mudslide.

"Mr. and Mrs. Finn, Seamus," the agent announces in a rude, condescending voice, "I am from Heroes for Hope. We have an extensive list of heroes and heroines for your boy to meet."

Seamus looks at the slob with a confused look. "Heroes for Hope only visits sick kids. Am I sick?" The doctor slowly nods before his parents sit on the end of the boy's bed.

"Seamus," the mother says softly, "You're a good boy, But... Sometimes good kids get sick. The man from Heroes for Hope is here for you."

"Seamus," the agent asks, "is there anyone you would like to have visit you?"

The boy looks at the portly man through his curly red hair and shakes his head. "But I don't want to meet a hero. Actually, who I'd like to meet is Quantum Breaker."

The agent drops his coffee in shock. "Q-Quantum Breaker?! But he's a villain! He's probably the most deadly villain in the whole world! Wouldn't you rather meet Every Man? Or Gamer lad? Anyone would be better than Quantum Breaker!"

The boy shakes his head fiercely. "No. No one but Quantum Breaker. I don't want to see anyone else."

The agent sternly glares at the kid. "Seamus... He could kill you."

The kid was quick to answer the portly man back. "I'm gonna be dead soon anyway. What does it matter?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Finn, can I see you and the doctor outside for a moment?" The agent walks out to the hallway, the family and the doctor following behind him. The doctor wisely closes the door, but even the heavy wooden barricade can't muffle the agent's outburst.

Running short of breath the agent screams "There... is no way... that I... am looking for Quantum Breaker! I will take this to the agency and see who else will take it. I seriously doubt anyone would try to even find him; that's a suicide mission." The agent promptly walks towards the elevators, leaving the parents with more questions than answers.