Claws in the Dark | ✔

XXVII

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Bill led Gina to a small room where he'd left George under the supervision of one of the doctors that worked at the hospital. Before they entered, he turned to Gina, whose face held nothing but distraught, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him, bringing herself back to reality.

"I'm sorry about Miles," he said. "If there was still time, I would have gone out for him. But he would have wanted the kids to be safe."

Gina sighed, holding up a hand. "Please...don't remind me. I don't want to think of my husband's possible death just before seeing my son."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He pouted.

"It's okay," Gina replied.

"I'll wait for you in the ICU. It's just down the hall." He pointed to where the letters and the name of the section hung, tattered and unlit, from the ceiling. "You can't it."

She nodded in response and watched as he walked away, and turned to pass through a glass door at the end of the hall.

Gina now turned her attention to the door to her son's room and grabbed the knob. She slowly entered and briskly padded towards her child.

He was lying on a cot across the room, facing the wall and his back heaved as he took in shaky breaths while sobbing quietly. Sniffling, George sat up and wiped his nose, turning to see who had entered.

He paused mid-wipe and stared in surprise, with reddened eyes, at Gina, who housed a tearful smile.

"Mommy!" George shouted when he blinked back to reality. He ran to his mother and wrapped his arms around her as she crouched to lift him up. They spun around in a circle and embraced each other tightly, sobbing with joy that they have finally been reunited.

"My baby," Gina whispered. She pulled away and used a hamd to brush aside the hair draping over his eyes. The mother observed her son's face keenly for any cuts and bruises; there wasn't anything major but for a few light scars along both of George's cheeks.

"Mommy, I missed you," the little boy said as Gina lowered him to the floor once more. "Where were you?"

"Oh, honey, I've missed you, too. Mommy and Daddy just had to find somewhere to hide after those monsters invaded the town." Gina lowered her gaze to the floor. "Your father and I were worried about you the entire time and were doing everything in our power to get back to you."

"Where is Daddy?" he asked, now realizing his father wasn't there.

Gina's lips quivered and she closed her eyes for a brief moment, focusing on the soft clanging that emanated from outside the room, down the hallway. Then, she met George's gaze and shook her head.