The Shadow of Levi

prologue: lost boy

Thomas held onto the hand of Levi, his boyfriend of two years, as they sat in the cold hospital room. Levi had been diagnosed with stage three brain cancer eight months prior and his condition only became worse, and worse as the months dragged on. Thomas held the frail, pale boys hand as Levi struggled for breath. Ever since the two had met, Thomas found a new reason to keep his head high and give his unconditional love to another. Their smiles were brighter when in the presence of one another, their laughs were always louder and, the two were inseparable.

Levi's mother had just left the room to give Thomas space with his boyfriend. Thomas laid his head on Levi's rising chest as the heart monitor slowly beeped in the background. The gifts family members had brought surrounded the room. The balloons, the teddy bears, the candies and, all the things scattered across the room gave Thomas a slight sense of hope that the one he loved would soon be well but deep down, he knew that the inevitable goodbye was too soon. The two had met while Thomas was working as a host at Olive Garden when Levi and his mother walked him. Levi grinned at Thomas as he asked how many were dining in. "Just the two of us," Levi's mother answered, as her son blushed at the ground next to her. Thomas had written his number onto a napkin but was too shy to give it to the boy and put it in Levi's to-go order of Alfredo.

The heartbeat seemed to grow fainter and fainter as Thomas laid next to Levi and he only held tighter with every faint heartbeat. The heart monitor suddenly began to loudly emit a tone and Thomas shot straight up. Doctors and nurses ran into the room and Thomas was quickly rushed out as he screamed his boyfriends name. The loud chatter of the staff in the room slowly began to settle and Levi's family stood next to Thomas as they waited outside the door. The doctor opened the door and behind him was a nurse, with tears down her face. All of the family was silent as the doctor slowly began to speak, "I'm afraid that your son has passed away," Thomas ran straight into the room and saw Levi's lifeless body in the bed, where he was just laying, listening to his heartbeat. His eyes filled with tears as he ran out of the building with Levi's mother calling after him.

After Levi's death, Thomas was not the same. There was never a smile, the laughter was gone, and he sobbed for months after he lost his everything. His parents did not know how to handle the situation whatsoever, they stood back and watched as their son slowly rotted away from the world. Thomas dropped out of University due to the occurrences and could rarely accomplish simple task. His weight dropped, he rarely spoke and, he was only in his room where he kept his photos of Levi.

Every night Thomas would pray to anything "Why Levi? Why not me? He was so innocent, I should've gone in his place," as he hoped for an answer and an angel to guide him. Through the dark of night, he could have sworn he heard the whispers of Levi telling him "I love you and please smile again, I miss it," but he knew it was only his imagination that caused it.

Thomas began to finally move on after Levi's death and reenrolled into the University of the Oregon. His heart ached when he heard Levi's favorite songs, or when anything about him was brought up. Thomas then began to notice shadows being around more and, more often. At one point, he could have sworn it was Levi's shadow.