What Are You? - Ohmtoonz Fanfiction

Uncle (13)

Ryan had already thrown himself out of the house and was running barefoot across the cement. I could hear his short and panicked breathes escaping his mouth. He was getting tired but kept running at full speed. 

As soon as we got the text from Craig everything had gone so fast. Ryan tried to message him as he ran but Craig didn't respond back to anything. He didn't even read it. I tried my best to calm Ryan's nerves but nothing seemed to work. He was entirely focused on where we were going and all I could do was follow close behind him. 

Of course I was worried about Craig too.

I noticed Ryan was slowing down at a small house. His eyes scanned all around it. There was a huge white truck in front of it that had flashing red lights. It was noisy and and people were scattered about. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks and watched the chaos. I approached next to him with a heavy breath. 

The most noticeable person was a woman out front talking to men in dark blue uniforms. While they had grim faces she seemed distant and distracted. She was speaking but her eyes were on the truck and you could tell her mind was in a completely different place. Her face showed droplets of sweat mixed with dark makeup that was running down her cheek. 

I turned towards the house. 

The front door was wide open with a boy sitting on the steps. His hands were pressed to his head and he was slumped over. The only part of his head you could see was brown hair. Ryan caught a glimpse of him too and put his palm over his bandana. Covering what I assumed was his mouth. Ryan stopped breathing for a second. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes but I didn't dare say anything. 

It was Craig. He looked awful. His muscles were shaking and tense and his posture was caved in. He looked as though something was physically weighing in on his shoulders. 

Ryan grabbed my arm and led me forward. He instantly walked towards the woman wiping away his own tears before she saw them. She moved away from the men she was talking too and pulled Ryan into a long, tight, hug. Ryan released me and wrapped his arms around her lightly. She sniffled and pulled away, glancing at me before leaning down to speak to Ryan.

"I have to go to the hospital with him." She gestured to the truck. "You know how my boy is though." Ryan turned to stare at Craig who was still oblivious to our presence. His obvious depression was leaking off the front door step. "Can you keep him here and attempt to calm his worries? As much as I want to be here for him right now, I have to go take care of things." She stood up and straightened her back, now shifting her gaze to me. She swiped away her makeup on her cheeks and gave a half smile."I'm Craig's mother, I'm assuming you are Luke. Craig told us you were coming for dinner, I'm absolutely sorry we had to meet like this..." She walked over and pulled me into a tight squeeze. 

"It's okay." I replied although I have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on right now. She let me go and walked back to the busy scene. Ryan nodded his head and took me slowly over to Craig. Ryan was super stiff in his movement and looked almost uncomfortable. 

What happened?

Craig flinched and looked up at Ryan. His eyes then followed to me. He stood up and let out a sigh. His cheeks were red and wet from tears. His eyes had a pink tint as well. Ryan reached forward to touch his shoulder, but Craig moved away into the house. There was a strong silence between the two of them. Their normal fun, understanding attitude disappeared. Ryan walked in behind him. I felt obliged to follow. Craig led us to the kitchen where a whole bunch of supplies and half-done hot dogs were. 

"They weren't in a rush to take him to the hospital. I know mom saw it too." Craig took a seat at the counter and set down his elbows to support his head. His hands held his neck and he stared down at the table. "He's not coming back." His voice let out a small, helpless crack at the end of his sentence. He whimpered lightly and set his forehead down on the table. It was almost as if you could see his heart aching from the outside.