Another Unoriginal Oneshot Book

Dead Man Walking

The Hub, NCR, September 2277.
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"I love you, August."

"I love you too," August muttered into his mother's warm embrace. He didn't want to let go. If he could just stay curled into her arms, he would never have to descend further into this strange facility. Once he was checked in, he'd never come out.

His father's cigarette-stained hand found his shoulder. He turned his son to face himself. "August. Be good. Write." His mouth twitched, trying to come up with more fatherly advice. "I signed off on an experimental treatment plan. If the research they get from you is worth something, we get paid. So... cooperate." His father pulled him into a rough, awkward hug. August couldn't remember being hugged by his dad before. He tried to suppress the tears summoned by this realization before he had to look the man in the face again.

That left Layla. Her expression was drawn tightly, arms crossed to show exactly how she felt about the whole situation. She scanned the room, sizing up the doctors and orderlies, and decidedly not looking at her brother.

"Layla," Mom whispered, her tone pleading.

Layla's eyes locked onto August's, studying him. Why did she have to make this so much worse? Finally, she broke into an easy smile and hugged him tightly. "Good luck, buddy. I'll see you soon."

"Layla!" Dad snapped. "There's no 'soon' and you know it. You'd better cut that out right now."

August's sister didn't accept that she was losing him. The fact had slipped right out of her reality as soon as she'd heard it. He wanted to shake her — beg her to understand. I'm not coming back. Please, make my last memory of you a good one. But the petulance in her expression did not falter. "Excuse me for not losing my mind over the opinion of some bargain-bin quack," she said coldly. "If you'd coughed up for a real doctor, we wouldn't even be here."

"Rolf has been our doctor since before you were born. Grow up, Layla." Their father was stern, but Layla was stubborn.

"Wonder how much Hub Psych paid him for the referral. On his salary, he probably jumped at the opportunity."

August buried his eyes behind his hands. "Shut up, shut up, shut up." If Layla wasn't away at work, then she and Dad were fighting. August had hoped they would make an exception in this case, but the world hadn't failed to disappoint him yet. He might have expected it from Dad, but Layla had been his hero since he was a child. She'd been so supportive when she'd found out. Promised she'd always be there for him. And now, at the end, when he needed her most, she was abandoning him.

Mom clung to August's side, a quiet apology. That was all she'd ever been able to give him. Still, she was his mom. And right now, she was there for him. The other two couldn't even do that much.

The room's attention had fallen back onto him. He hadn't noticed it shift. He could feel his mind failing him in little ways like that. Missteps, surges of emotion, the vague sense that his wretched body wasn't his own. Knowing that he was being sent away to keep his family safe was the only thing that had gotten him through the hospital's double doors. But now was the goodbye. And that was a lot harder.

"Will—" his voice cracked. "Will you be able to visit me?" The trip from their farm in the Boneyard was a huge time commitment, not to mention dangerous. But he had to know he'd see them again.

The quiet nurse with the clipboard broke her silence. "Visitation privileges are extended on a case-by-case basis, depending largely on good behavior."

August felt his face flush, and hoped it wasn't visible through his peeling skin. Good behavior. He felt scrutinized, like a kid under discipline.