Never Coming Home

Is That... Clorox?

Frank awoke in a strange room. It was brighter than the white walled rooms he had been accustomed to. He wasn't sure where he was. Perhaps another room in parallax?

None of this really set into Frank yet. He kept dwelling on the pounding of his head and the soft ache in his stomach.

It almost made him smile. It wasn't a bitter smile, but it wasn't a happy one either. Waking up delirious reminded Frank of the day he first heard his mother had cancer. He got drunk and convinced himself that he could overdose on cough medicine. He thought, since there was only Advil in the medicine cabinet, cough syrup was the next best thing.

He remembered praying to whatever there was above, "Take me now. Take me now."

And, of course, when he woke up the next day, he was almost disappointed.

That's how Frank felt now. He didn't really want to wake up.

The one thing that pulled him out of his thoughts was a strange yet familiar sound from outside. A car horn.

He was closer to the ground.

Groggily, Frank stood up, slowly making his way over to the blinding window. He grimaced, noting that his right hand had, in fact, grown back and was void of tattoos.

The boy could feel his legs tremble as he stared down  onto the street in front of him. He was out of Parallax. He was free.

Frank flipped around, studying the door that kept him from going into the hallway. It was closed, a snoozing guard sitting behind it.

After quickly pulling on the pants that sat on a plastic chair beside his bed, Frank approached the door. He quietly pulled it open, cringing as it let out a soft creak.

He had to get out of there.

He had to run.

Frank finally stepped out of the door and sprinted down the hall. His eyes scanned every room, looking for an exit.

The panic was setting in now. His heart continued to race, feeling as if someone was behind him, even if there was no one there.

His breath was shallow, the lights were blinding, and the halls never seemed to end. He almost felt mistaken when he heard it...

"Frankie?"

The boy skidded to a stop.

No. It couldn't be.

Frank backtracked a few steps and almost dropped to his knees.

It was his mother, hooked up to countless machines, looking more weak and frail than ever.

"Ma..?" Frank breathed, taking a step forward. "Oh my god! Ma!"

The boy sprinted to his mother's bed side, cupping her cheeks with his rough, calloused hands.

Linda smiled. "My baby boy..." she croaked, her lungs rattling with every little breath. "Where have you gone...? Why are you in a hospital gown? Are you alright?"

Frank shushed his mother, trying to bite back the tears in his eyes. He didn't have the guts to tell her what he had been through. He couldn't tell her about Gerard, or Parallax, or the monstrosities that he had witnessed. The only thing he could force out was "I'm okay ma, I'm okay."

Now, Frank took the time to really understand his mother's state. She looked pale, almost inhumanly pale. Her once bright eyes were sunken and dark. The plump cherry lips that Frank had become accustomed to were now cracked and faded as they bled with every smile she gave the boy.

This was cancer.

It wasn't pretty, nor was it something to be romanticized.

You have to watch someone you knew wither away into nothing, and you can't stop it.

Frank felt sick.

He felt very sick.

"Frank, honey, you're bleeding."

Linda's words sounded fuzzy and distant.

The boy dropped to the floor, clutching his stomach.

That was the first time he noticed that the medicine hadn't healed him, and all that sprinting had caused his stitches to rip.

"I'll buzz the nurse." Linda said, almost to herself. Her hands shook as her frail fingers had hovered over the bright red button.

Before she could press it, a woman Linda did not recognize walked into the room.

"Mrs. Iero, do not worry." She said calmly. "I'll take care of your son. Please, relax. He will be okay."

The woman kneeled next to Frank and tugged his arm over her shoulder, lifting him to his feet with ease.

Frank's hazy vision recognized something about this woman. Something about her dark brown eyes, bright red lipstick, and neat pigtails sparked familiarity in the boy.

The woman sat Frank on a plastic chair outside his mother's room.

"Frank." She began. "I'm going to give you two options."

He didn't understand. Nothing made sense.

"Option one," she began. "You come back with me... I give your mother the first treatment of Parallax."

Parallax? How did she know about Parallax?

"Option two..."

Frank blinked.

Wait.

Was he an idiot?

"Stay here, and your mother slowly dies, and so does everyone else back in the building. You don't understand the scale of this all, Frank. You are our missing link. With your blood, we can make Parallax accessible to people all around the world. Think of it, no more disease, no more famine.... No more cancer." 

There was a nurse walking towards the two.

Frank studied the woman.

It was Lindsey.

"Frank, think of your mother." She pressed.

The boy looked away.

"She would tell you to go to hell." He growled and stood up, feeling incredibly lightheaded. He didn't dare think of what Parallax would do to him if he went back. He also wouldn't dare think of what they would do if he didn't.

"You need to help me." Frank said, clutching the male nurse's arm. "She's going to hurt me."

The man was frightened. His wide eyes and shaky hands reminded Frank of the first day he met Gerard.

"You're making a big mistake." Lindsey said, shaking her head and quickly walking away, muttering something into her walkie talkie.

"Please, call the police." Frank muttered, leaning heavily on the man. He nodded, quickly placing Frank back on the chair, saying:

"Don't worry. I'm coming back. Do not fall asleep."

Frank muttered a soft "okay" and watched as the tall nurse sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction of where Lindsey left.

The boy didn't have to wait long before he was assisted by other nurses who worked on getting his bleeding to stop.

Frank was then taken to another room where yet another surgery was performed on him, only this time, he was asleep and didn't feel a thing.

When he awoke the next morning, we was being questioned by the police. Frank found himself spilling every little detail about the company and the horrible things going on in there. What Frank didn't know was that it had been a few days since he left Parallax, and he had no idea if his friends were still okay.

Now, he just had to wait.

Frank just hoped that he told the police in time to save them.