The Ways of Patching Up | ✓

Fourth

For the rest of the day, Elliot didn't dare to disturb his father again. As they were eating their dinner, Dad was clearly still disoriented and upset about what happened. His blond hair was completely unkempt, as if he had been running through it countless times. His empty, darkened eyes stared blankly into some random space, but Elliot didn't bother to snap him out of his daydream. He simply ate his food in silence.

Dad never finished his food as usual. He quietly left the table to go back to whatever he was doing, leaving large amounts of leftovers. Elliot quietly sighed at the sight, and without complaints, he took the remains and dumped it into his own plate, finishing them all at once. Consequently, the child ended up with a really stuffed stomach, but he didn't mind at all. He wanted to let Dad know that he understood the grave situation they were in.

Darkness had befallen the entire town, with the skies absent of the moon and the stars. It was dead silent, despite some occasional noises like cars passing by Elliot's home. From the windows, he observed snowflakes falling from above and slowly landing on the pane. He also could feel the stinging coldness against his skin, causing his body to inevitably shiver.

Elliot breathed out and decided to call it a day. He shut the blinds and switched off the lights before hopping into his bed. He quickly found comfort within his thick blanket, keeping himself warm for the night. After all, he was going back to school the next day, so he should get to bed early so that he could wake up tomorrow.

If Mom was still here... Dad would sometimes visit his room and tell him a bedtime story about the world out there, but the child knew that now wasn't the proper time. Regardless, Elliot found himself missing every of his interesting stories. If only Mom could do something good to Dad... but instead she left both of us.

Elliot immediately shook his head to clear off the haunting thoughts and closed his eyes. His mother did some unforgivable things that affected Dad greatly, and so he should have been hating her with every fiber of his being, but he just couldn't. Mom... she had been nice and kind to him despite their conflicting moments. She still showed that she cared about him, but if she was truly concerned, then she...

SMASH!

Suddenly, Elliot's ears picked up the sound of glass shattering to pieces, interrupting his thoughts. He jumped and immediately jolted up to his sitting position. He found his eyes going wide as a basket of questions began to swirl on his head. Is it Dad? What is he doing in the middle of the night...? Isn't he supposed to be done with his work and sleeping at this time?

Without further thoughts, Elliot immediately jumped off his mattress and strode for the door. His heart was pounding hard on his chest as he exited his room and ran downstairs, not caring if he made a lot of noises. At this point, he didn't even care about being scolded by Dad for being awake at this hour... he just wanted to see his father safe and sound.

As he stepped down to the floor, he noticed a familiar man standing on the hallway, his head hung low. Even when his back was facing him, Elliot knew that it was Dad since he was still wearing the same lab coat from this morning. Gulping, the child called him out before he quickly approached him. The child could see Dad staring down at the test tubes that had broken to pieces, spilling out unknown chemicals into the floor.

"Dad, are you hurt?!" Elliot raised his voice as he looked up and down his father. There were no signs of anything suspicious on his hands, but he could still be injured. He scanned Dad up and down, trying to find any wounds that should be treated as soon as possible.

"Elliot... you're supposed to be sleeping at this time... don't you have school tomorrow?" Dad grumbled as his gaze bored down on his son. He didn't even care about himself...

"Well I was sleeping when I heard you breaking something," the child exclaimed as he pointed at the mess, "okay Dad, don't touch the mess or you'll hurt yourself. I'm gonna go get-"

"I'm fine Elliot," Dad cut his son on his path, grabbing his shoulders, "now go back to sleep, kid. I'll clean this by myself."

"Dad..." the child's voice trailed off, and that was when he decided to speak out, "Dad, I still wanna be by your side. I'll try my best to help you!"

"Well, that's good news," the man muttered, "but I'm doing just fine, Elliot. This happens all the time. I don't need help for now."

"But-" he tried to protest.

"I tend to be clumsy and trip on things," Dad commented before Elliot could say anything, "so don't worry about me, Elliot. I'll clean everything up so don't get involved. I'm busy right now, so go back to your room this instant."

The demanding tone on his father's voice pierced through Elliot's heart, which closed his mouth in an instant. Chills were running down the child's spine as he impulsively took a step backward. Lawson's fiery eyes narrowed into slits and his brows furrowed as he gazed hard at Elliot, trying to get him to just obey his instructions. He didn't need anyone to disturb his work again, even his own son.

Well that worked, because Elliot nodded quietly. He simply hung his head as he began to slowly make his way to the staircase. He obviously didn't want to see his father breaking down and shouting at him just like this noon. Guilt was running down his veins as he thought back about that moment, but he tried his best shrugging it off as he returned to his room.

Dad...

Elliot stopped in the middle of his path.

I just hope he knows that I still love him.