Worry creased her brow as she watched Henry run up to Archie. He'd been acting weird all day, but whenever Emma asked if he was alright, he'd answer with a short "fine." Now, here he was, confiding in Archie. Jealousy built up a little as Archie hugged Henry, and the boy cried into him. She'd thought Henry felt comfortable enough with her to confide in her, but apparently she'd been wrong.
Archie finally let go of Henry, and the two of them walked toward his house, not saying much. Emma knew she shouldn't snoop, but she couldn't help but follow. She needed to make sure Henry was alright. They entered the house, leaving Emma to wonder how long their emergency session would last. After waiting for about an hour, she couldn't take it any longer, she had to check up on her son. She snuck into the house, hoping not to disturb them if they were talking about something important. She could just slip back out if Henry needed her too.
Instead, to her shock, she found them in Archie's living room, watching a movie. Henry had managed to fall asleep, head resting on Archie's shoulder, but the psychiatrist was enraptured with the movie, tears slipping down his face as one of the characters on screen died.
"Archie," Emma whispered, but it was enough of a shock to cause him to jump. Luckily, he avoided waking up Henry, and he quickly paused the movie before wiping away some of his tears.
"Emma, I'm sorry, I must not have heard you knock," he said, causing her to feel guilty for barging in like this. But she really had to know …
"Is he alright?" Archie nodded, fresh tears springing to his eyes.
"He'll be fine. He's just … we're just taking some time to get over this." Emma looked at him quizzically, and then the psychiatrist seemed to realize she didn't know what was bothering Henry.
"Has he told you about Star Trek?" Archie asked by way of explanation.
"Yeah, it's some sort of sci-fi show that he's really into. Why?"
Archie sighed, running his free hand though his hair. "Well, Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Spock, died today." He trailed off there, looking up at the screen, where a guy with pointy ears had his hand pressed up against the glass. "Henry wanted to honor his death somehow, so, um … he wanted to watch the Wrath of Khan. He said it should just be the two of us, since we're the only trekkies in town." He stared at the screen again, eyes starting to fill with tears again.
"He must have been a wonderful actor," Emma commented, sitting on the other side of her son.
"The best," he whispered, voice strained from trying to hold back the tears.
"Would you introduce me to him?"
"Of course." He turned off the movie, and started to go to Netflix, when Henry stirred.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Dr. Hopper was going to introduce me to Star Trek. Is that alright, kid?" He nodded, tears already starting to trickle down his face. Leonard Nimoy really must have been a wonderful actor.
"Well, here it is," Archie said, having pulled up the series. "Is everyone ready?" Henry looked expectantly at Emma, and while sci-fi wasn't her thing, she knew she had to do this, for Henry. Besides, she really wanted to get to know the actor that could cause both her son and the town psychiatrist to cry.
"I am," Emma agreed, and Henry nodded, so Archie hit play. Emma sat back prepared to be introduced to the actor who'd had such a profound impact on her son's life, not realizing how much he'd was about to impact her.
Author's Note: This is my way of honoring Leonard Nimoy. Rest in Peace.