Disclaimer: I don't own The Middle and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Before Mike Heck got the phone call that changed his and his children's lives forever, he was yelling at Axl about his latest screw up while Sue and Brick ate a snack in the kitchen and looked on in horror. After the phone rang multiple times because the caller refused to give up, Mike finally answered it, and after the person on the other line spoke, his face drained of color. His children looked at him in confusion as he hung up, grabbed his keys, and bolted out the door without a door. It was a moment that Axl, Sue, and Brick would remember forever because it haunted them their whole lives.
They sat at the kitchen table debating what had happened when one of the neighbors came over and told them to get to the hospital as soon as possible – Mike's orders. The three of them were terrified by this point and listened to her immediately.
"What if something happened to Mom?" Sue was the first to voice that thought on the way to the hospital. She had a bad feeling that wasn't going no matter how much she willed it to.
Axl was feeling it too, but he didn't say anything. "We'll find out when we get there." He was dreading walking in and finding out what was wrong.
A nurse greeted the three Hecks when they walked into the emergency room. "Come this way. And don't be scared of all the wires."
Brick grabbed onto Axl's hand and for once, the oldest didn't complain about it. He even grabbed Sue's hand, and three of them walked into the room at once. Sue gasped when she saw her mother looking pale and hurt very badly in the bed.
Mike cleared his throat several times, but his voice still cracked when he spoke. "There was an accident. A drunk driver. Your mother's injuries are too severe. Fuck." He normally didn't swear like this in front of the kids, but he was still reeling from the news that his wife was dying to care.
"Mommy's dying?" Sue gripped her older brother's hand tighter as she swayed from the shock to her system.
Mike nodded. "I want you to say goodbye to her." He had already said his, and it had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do in his entire life.
Axl was at a loss for words and had to be forced to his mother's side by Sue and Mike. "Bye, Mom. I'll take care of Dad and the other brats. Love you." He wanted to bolt the hell out of there, but was rooted in place. He was having a hard time grasping the fact that he was saying goodbye to his mother.
After Sue and Brick said their goodbyes, the four Hecks waited in the room for a little while. A little less than an hour later, Frankie Heck died surrounded by her family.
Mike had to make the arrangements and he broke down in the bathroom by himself several times during the entire process. Frankie's parents and sister arrived in the middle of the night and took over the childcare, even though Axl and Sue could take care of themselves.
Two days after she was died, Frankie was buried. Axl, Sue, and Brick clung to each other and Mike. It seems like their mother's death had brought the three of them closer together, something Mike wanted to acknowledge, but couldn't because he didn't have the words. He had closed himself up tight and shut down because it was easier that way. He knew it was unhealthy, but he honestly didn't care. His wife was dead and now he was floundering.
A week after Frankie's unexpected death, Pat and Tag returned home, leaving the four Hecks by themselves for the first time since it happened. Brick buried himself into a book while Axl and Sue just sat and watched TV in silence.
Because it was them, this silence didn't last very long. Axl and Sue started fighting over to what to watch even though neither cared. They found it hard to care about anything, really, but they tired of doing nothing because all they could think about was their mom dying. Sue was still having nightmares and was hesitant to admit it, unaware that her family already knew. "Stop it! I want to watch something else!"
"Leave me alone!" Axl made a move to grab the remote out of his sister's hand, but she kept it away from him. Brick even stopped reading his book to watch his siblings fight because at least it was another distraction.
"No! I'm not leaving you!" Sue didn't know why she had just said that, but she held on to her anger because it was a feeling she wanted to stay. Anger was easy and she was sick of crying.
Axl made another move for the remote and successfully grabbed it out of her sister's hand. "Go out with your boyfriend or something!" He didn't want to go anywhere, but he liked being angry too. And he wanted to stew in privacy, but at the same time he wanted his siblings and father near him. He hated that he was being so clingy.
Sue was absolutely furious at this point. "Fu … Screw … Shut up, Axl! I don't want to go anywhere! Stop trying to push me away."
"See, you can't even tell me to fuck off! Grow up, Sue!" He hated seeing her so upset, but he was in far too deep to stop now.
"You grow up!" And to Sue's horror, she started to sob. She sunk to the floor and continued to cry.
"Shit. Please don't cry again. You know I can't handle that!" Axl had already broken down several times already this week because he had been set off by either Sue or Brick. It was driving him crazy.
"It's not like I can help it! I'm sorry." Sue was grateful when Brick decided he had had enough and put his book down to join her on the floor. He hugged her. Axl joined them a few minutes later and pulled them both in for a hug.
That's how Mike found them when he returned from works hours later – On the living room floor holding onto each other. "You kids okay?"
Brick was the first to speak. "Yes. I'm lying," he whispered under his breath.
"Oh, kid. You don't have to lie to me. I know none of you are okay. I'm not okay and I'm not handling this very well." Mike was a widower now, a single father. He had never expected to this happen and now he had to live with this for the rest of his life. He missed Frankie so much. He had resorted to sleeping on the couch because the bedroom reminded him too much of his wife.
"Screw it." Mike joined his children on the floor and hugged all of them, a hard feat, but something he managed to do because he was stubborn.
"I miss Mom." Axl hated that he had taken for granted now and wasn't planning on making that mistake again with his father. He was a little terrified to that he was also going to lose him now. That fear was keeping him up at night.
"I'm never going to forget that night in the hospital." Sue just wanted her mom back and hoped this was the nightmare, although that was a naïve dream.
"I'm scared," Brick reluctantly admitted. He wasn't sure what he was scared of exactly, but the fear was overpowering him. That's why his books were his best friend right now.
"I'm going to try my best to be here for you kids, but I may mess up. This threw me for a loop. But I want you to know that I love you. That's never going to change." Mike kissed the top of their heads and let out a sob. He normally wasn't like this and he wanted to be strong for them, but he was exhausted and didn't have a handle on his emotions anymore. He was raw and emotional as hell. But Mike decided he was allowed to be. Who care what anybody else thought? He had just lost Frankie and could do whatever he wanted.
Frankie's death had brought her family closer, something no one had seen coming. They never truly recovered from the unexpected loss either and struggled with it in the years to come. Axl leaned on Cassidy, too, and they eventually married, naming their third child and first daughter after her late grandmother. Sue was afraid to get close to get anybody again, but after a kick in the pants from Mike, eventually settled down with a nice man. And Brick became a famous figure in the scientific world. Mike dated a little, but never remarried because he couldn't move on from Frankie.
The Hecks emerged from the aftermath of Frankie's death stronger than they ever had been, although the pain always lingered.
Author's Note: I had a dream last night that Frankie died suddenly, and the idea wouldn't leave me alone after I woke up.