DorkFish 4: The Ruthless Scheme

Husband, Father, Murderer

*Yes, its my son's 18th bday. He asked me to post this for all of you. He says its only fair to share.  He's my biggest fan. So without further crying, here is the newest chapter, enjoy*

SOMEWHERE
SOMETIME

Breathing.
‘That sound is my breathing. Keep doing it.’
…
‘What else can I do?’
‘Can I wiggle my fingers? Yes.’
‘Toes? Yes.’
‘Wait.’
‘Who’s “I”?
…
‘I have a name.’
‘Jared.’
‘Yes, that’s it.’
‘How old am I?’
‘Twenty-seven.’
‘Birthdate?’
‘July 19th,’
‘Occupation?’

Jared’s eyes fluttered open as an entire life’s worth of memories uploaded into his consciousness Like light filling a dark, empty space.

‘Husband, Father, Murderer.’

He tried to focus on the white ceiling of the lowly lit room as he considered each one of those words.

‘Husband, if not a widower.’
‘Father, so long as my baby is still safe.’
‘Murderer... There was no other choice.’
‘That man had to die, one of us had to do it, and I wanted to.’

“Christ, I wanted to,” he whispered, the words coming out raspy and crackling on account of his dry, unused voice.

‘Don’t think about that now.’
‘Jensen and Justice are all that matter now.’
‘Where are they?’
‘Why am I here?’

The warm, thick light of the room and the heavy, close silence bespoke the peaceful, slumbering mystery of midnight. A shift of his gaze to the right met with only a half-drawn curtain; no real help there. A shift to the left, however confirmed his intuition regarding the late hour when he discovered night’s darkness peeking through the blinds on the wall-length window.

Rustling far off -

A whirr, and something began constricting his right calf.

‘Automatic blood pressure monitor,’ Jared thought. ‘What else am I rigged to?’

The steady bleep of another monitor reported to anyone listening that his heart was still beating. A soreness on the back of his left hand made him glance downward to discover the intravenous line into his bloodstream, and he looked up to find a half empty bag of clear liquid hanging from a tall stand beside him.

Imagining the cold, watery fluid running through his veins made him shiver, Jared realized he was naked beneath the thin hospital linens.

‘Am I still bleeding?’
‘What the hell happened?’
‘Why can’t I remember anything after catching Jensen’s fall?’

“How long have I been here?” he murmured aloud.

“A wee bit over thirty hours,” a familiar, soft voice answered, Jared looked to his right again to see Alan arriving at his bedside.

Jared’s heart shattered.

‘No. No. no. no. If he’s here, then....’

“Oh God, he’s dead,” Jared whispered, his voice breaking on the word.

“You only wish,” came another voice from behind him, and Jared’s heart repaired itself only to explode with the hot blue light of countless newborn stars.

Jensen stepped up to stand beside his father, and with identical teasing smiles playing at their lips, they looked like twins separated by three decades. ‘Just wait ‘til you find out what I’m going to do to you for stealing my mother’s painting.”