Laughter [Tobuscus/Toby Turner]

Chapter Six

Pace, sit, pray, stand, pace, sit, pray, stand, pace. This has been Toby's life for the past hour. Every time he sits down, he clutches my hand and and starts to pray under his breath. I sit quietly, listening to his breathy whispers as he begs God for another chance.

At one point, I realize that nobody but us knows what's happening, so I take out my phone and open the camera. As Toby is praying, I untangle my fingers from his and stand up, heading into the hallway. After taking a deep breath, I press record.

"Hey, Audience..." I start, my nerves not helping me keep my voice steady. "So, um, I know you were probably expecting Toby to be talking about whatever crap he likes to talk about in these things, but something... happened. No, Toby's not dead, but, um..." I let out a breath I didn't know I've been holding. "Gryphon, he... his heart was all fast, and he was panting and stuff. He collapsed, so Toby called me over. We drove to the vet, and Gryphon's being examined right now." I hear shuffling behind me, so I turn around and see Toby walking over. He takes the camera once he reaches me, and I decide to let him finish.

First of all, Toby's appearance won't be of comfort to the Audience whatsoever. His face is red and damp with tears. His shirt collar is soaked with sweat, and his hair is pointing in all different directions. He doesn't even take a breath before starting.

"Can you all pray for Gryphon? Something's wrong with him, something bad, and I don't know what it is. So maybe you could keep him in your thoughts? I know if we all got together and begged God, even if you're not religious, he might..." I can tell the tears are coming, so I ease the phone out of Toby's hand before it gets worse.

"I hope you all keep Gryph in your prayers..." I start, grabbing Toby's hand and rubbing the top of it with my thumb. "That'd be awesome." I think, then smirk nervously. "Uhhh... peace off... boop?" And I press the red button.

---

Sitting. That's all we've done for the past hour. I'm itching to do something and my butt hurts. We uploaded the vlog, and comments came in almost instantly.

Oh no! I'm so sorry, Toby!!

Praying for poor little Gryph :(

Stay strong, Toby. The audience is with you.

Get well soon, Gryphon!

But then there were the occasional comments that are totally irrelevant to the video whatsoever.

Toby, when's a new gaming video?

Who's the chick?

Notice me!

After growing more and more annoyed, I turn off the phone. Toby has been in and out of sleep, constantly being startled awake by nightmares. I stand up, gently shaking him awake. His eyes open slowly, and he looks around for a few seconds, momentarily unaware of his surroundings. "Toby," I whisper gently, rubbing his arm. "I think we should go home and get some sleep. It's no use waiting. The doctor said he would have to stay overnight, anyways." Toby tries to protest, opening his mouth to speak, but a thoughtful expression crosses his face and he nods. I pull him up, his hand still firmly clasped in mine, and we inform the desk woman that we're checking out for the night. Toby is sure to add that we'll be back tomorrow morning.

The drive home is nearly silent, and gentle rain drips down the car windows, the darkness of 3 a.m. closing in on us. The window reflects the features of Toby's face as he stares outside into the nothingness.

I sigh with relief when I turn into our neighborhood, thankful that sleep is near. Nevertheless, I decide to walk Toby inside, making sure nothing happens on his way to bed. Don't ask me what could happen, but he's in a depressed mood. I don't know.