Never Crossed My Mind (boyxboy)

Chapter Six

"Mommy, Daddy, where are we going?" I chirped, wiggling in my seat. This drive was taking too long, I had to move.

"It's a surprise, sweetie," Mommy replied softly, her eyebrows drawn together and her face twisted in a grimace. Daddy's face was set like stone, hard and cold.

"Dad?" I asked tentatively. "Can we go to Clark's tonight?"

"I don't think so, Sam," he told me. "We're busy tonight. It's part of the surprise."

I sighed, sitting back in my seat and drumming my fingers against my knee impatiently. I peered through the car window, shaking as my seatbelt forced me to stay put. We pulled up a hill and into a long, wide parking lot. I squinted at a sign as we drove past. I easily read the word hospital.

"Mommy, why are we at the hospital?" I asked, cocking my head in confusion.

"Because we have something to drop off, honey. We'll be quick, I promise."

As the car stopped, I quickly pressed the button on my seatbelt, releasing my body from the safety restraints. I pushed the car door open, jumping down and bouncing on the balls of my feet to keep myself occupied, humming some song I'd heard on the radio under my breath.

Mom grabbed my hand, pulling to me to glass double doors that lead inside to the hospital. I smiled as we walked up to the front desk. The secretary was a small brunette with soft features and a bright smile that mirrored mine.

"Hello, ma'am," she said politely. "How can I help you?"

"I called earlier last night about my son," Mommy said.

I looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "Mommy, I thought you said that we had to drop something off?"

She looked down at me sadly, pity burning in her eyes. "We are, honey."

Dad stood silently behind us.

The lady behind the desk looked at me worriedly. "Can I get your name?"

"Sheila Bendetti, and my son is Sam Bendetti."

The woman clicked and typed away at her computer, looking at me quickly and then back to Mom.

"Is he being admitted?" she asked softly.

Mommy nodded curtly, and my smile dropped, being replaced by a confused line. "Mommy, what's going on?"

She crouched down until she was eye level with me. "Sam, sweetie, you're going to be staying here for awhile. These people are going to help you, okay? This is for you, baby. I promise."

Tears burned my eyes. "Mommy, I don't wanna stay here. Please don't leave me here, I wanna go home with you and Daddy," my voice trembled.

"I'm sorry, baby," she said sadly.

Someone grabbed my hand, and I looked up to see the woman from behind the desk looking down at me, smiling sadly. "Hello, sweetie. My name's Samantha, but you can call me Sammie. I'm going to take you to your room, okay? Do you wanna say goodbye to your parents?"

"No," I whimpered. "No, I don't wanna go! Mommy, Mommy, don't go! Daddy, no!"

Mommy and Daddy watched me as they walked to the door, saying they loved me and that it would be okay, that they would be back for me.

"No!" I screamed. "No, don't go! Please! Mommy, Daddy! Don't leave! Don't leave!" Tears raced down my cheeks, wetting my neck and shirt. I shook my hair out of my eyes. I tugged on my hand, trying to run toward Mommy and Daddy.

The lady, Sammie, pulled me toward another room, farther away from the door and farther away from my parents. I screamed and thrashed and cried. As we made our way deeper into the hospital, men and women in white uniforms stopped to look, but then continued on their way, as if they had seen the same thing before.

Sammie pulled me into a room. She sat me down on the bed, holding me by my forearms. "Shhh," she murmured. "It's okay, Sam. Calm down, please, calm down."

I sat still, chest heaving and eyes running. Sammie wiped away my tears with her thumbs, but couldn't do much for the ones that followed.

"You're going to be okay, Sam, I promise," she told me.

"They left me!" I cried. "They really left me!"

"I know, honey. But they're just trying to help you get better. How about this? I'll be your family. I can be like, your sister, or something."

I sniffled, but nodded slowly.

She ruffled my hair. "Okay. Now, go to sleep, 'cause the doctor's gonna want to see you when you get up."

And as I fell asleep, all I heard was my mother's voice as a whisper in my head.

"...we have something to drop off..."

I opened my eyes with a gasp.