"After The Fire"
By: Wheat
Source: 4archive {dot} org/board/trash/thread/8604865
"Gumbaaaall, take a look at what I've got~"
The despondent child on the sofa looked up from the television, trailing his good eye to his mother.
"What is it?"
With as hard a smile she could muster, Nicole nervously took out a cereal box from behind her back.
"Since we haven't really had a proper breakfast in our new home yet, I thought we could break it in with some Smashmallows!"
Gumball simply stared at his mother in response, his frown unwavering.
"That's cool, I guess."
"A-and since we haven't really had dinner yet, I was thinking we might do something fun and have breakfast for dinner. Does that sound good?"
Nicole's smile began to slump as Gumball turned himself back to the television, flicking through the channels on their recently expanded cable plan.
"I'm not really hungry right now, Mom."
"B-but you haven't eaten anything since we had lunch."
"Maybe later."
Nicole could feel her heart waver once more.
She could feel the tears starting to form under her eyes.
But she simply walked out of Gumball's view before she could break down.
Before entering the new kitchen, Nicole swallowed back her sadness and cleared her throat, turning her head slightly to the living room.
"I'm going to put the box in the pantry, in case you change your mind, okay?"
"That's fine."
Nicole turned back from looking at her son, her forced smile giving way to her true melancholy.
As she shuffled her feet forward, she kept her quivering lips shut tight.
The two of them were suffering, that much was undeniable.
But Nicole was a determined woman and a much more caring mother.
She'd never let Gumball see her pain and make things worse.
She'd put on as much of a façade as she needed to.
For both of them.
...
"Gumball, it's time to wake up."
Nicole gently nudged her son's sleeping form, taking great care to not push too hard.
After a few more attempts Gumball roused from his slumber, greeting his mother with a yawn.
"There we go. I'm sorry to wake you up so early, but I just want to make sure that you're well taken care of for your first day back to school."
Gumball, half asleep, weakly accepted her actions with an incoherent mumble.
Taking firm hold of her son in her arms, she carried him carefully to the new bathroom.
The house, still quite new to the both of them, made remembering which door it was a bit of a gamble.
It did not take too long to find the door though, and Nicole gingerly stepped into the room.
Nicole set Gumball down onto his feet, keeping him stable until he found his footing.
Once sure he could stand on his own, Nicole placed her hands on his shirt and began slowly lifting it over his head.
As the cloth fled from Gumball's torso, Nicole couldn't help but linger at his back.
Nicole stared in a stupor of guilt and despondence at the bandages over him.
Seeing the covering on his face was hard enough on the poor mother.
Pushing the feelings keeping her from her duty away, Nicole slowly undid the wrappings along Gumball's body.
Even after having done this many times before, the sight of the scars marring her little boy's body was unsettling.
Taking caution with her removal, Nicole took the old bandages and disposed of them.
Last thing she wanted was to hurt her son.
With Gumball undressed and dressed down, Nicole moved to the shower and turned the dial to the usual setting.
Running the water over her hand, Nicole knelt down until the water was tepid enough to soothe and use for bathing.
Once she was sure of the temperature, Nicole ushered Gumball into the shower and picked up the bar of antibacterial soap.
Slow, circular motions.
Just as the doctor ordered.
The process was almost as automatic for Nicole as breathing.
The fact that Nicole was getting no cry of pain relieved her immensely.
Sure, the doctors said that he was already over the hump with most of the healing, but she wouldn't take any chances.
Not with such a delicate matter.
Reaching over to the side of the shower, Nicole picked up the fresh towel and gently patted down the myriad burns patterned across his back , and the stray burn on his stomach.
Satisfied with her work, Nicole set out to take a look at his face.
Lifting the coverings on him, Nicole could see that the damage on his head had mostly subsided.
He still had a scar running over his right eye, but the rest of his face had begun to cover itself back in his usual fur.
Nicole reached out for the tube besides the shower and gently spread it over his closed eye.
With any luck, it'd actually work and fix the damage over time and allow him to use it properly again.
Nicole then trailed her hand along his back, feeling the temperature of them.
He was around the right range for her to apply the salve to the rest of the scars.
Nicole was glad that she decided to take care of this now, since the spread was large enough to take a few minutes to reapply the dressings.
Having finally gotten the last bit of his back finished, she hesitantly moved onto his front.
Looking at the mark, it was definitely the most awkward of them all.
A trail leading from his navel to the uppermost region of his groin.
Nicole couldn't help but be restrained whenever she came to this one.
Not for lack of care for her son, but because it caused her to think far too much.
Of all the traumas he could've endured that one would have been the worst.
His pain would've been near constant if he'd gotten that any closer to his nethers.
A small part of Nicole also realized that he would still be able to give her grandchildren.
But she always kicked herself for the thought.
It was far too selfish a thing to think of at a time such as this.
So, she set about her work again, repeating the process she had practiced.
Gumball remained compliant enough for her to clean his mark thoroughly.
Nicole could feel the heat radiate from it still.
Unlike his back, it took a little longer to completely die down.
Finished with cleaning up her son's stomach, Nicole grabbed the gauze wrap and began to bandage her son.
It was an odd thing to do.
The wrapping had to be loose enough to not rub against the skin and possibly cause an infection, but it also had to cling tight enough to not do the same.
Luckily she had received proper instruction and observed the nurses performing it.
Gumball was quickly returned to his prior wrapped state, keeping his burns safe from the possible troubles he could have befall him.
With that concluded, Nicole focused her efforts back to his abdomen.
Hovering a hand above Gumball's skin, Nicole could feel the heat had left him finally.
Nicole then took another gob of the prescription and worked it slowly onto him.
Gumball's trepidation actually began to emerge at this time, however.
His body squirmed as Nicole continued to apply the ointment.
Nicole became somewhat worried, but continued on as Gumball made no actual sound.
After making it to the end of her trial, Nicole paused for a moment.
During the last part of her care, she felt her wrist brush up against something.
Nicole, being the person she was, knew what it was without needing to look to confirm it.
It's not like it phased her, either.
She'd already been notified that his sensory responses wouldn't be what was considered normal.
This was one of those responses.
Stealing an unnoticed glance, Nicole could see that even as bereft of expression as he was, Gumball was still a young boy.
He couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
Nicole thought to herself for a moment on if she should respond to it.
She decided against it though, and pretended she noticed nothing.
Nicole brushed against him a couple more times, but the times were far less prominent.
With Gumball properly tended to, Nicole reapplied the trappings to his stomach and stood up.
"There, all done. That actually went faster than I expected."
Nicole moved to the sink, and began to free her hands of the remaining gel.
"Since we're both up, I'm going to go make us breakfast now, Gumball. Brush your teeth and come down once you're dressed for school, alright?"
Gumball gave Nicole a meek nod and watched as she dried her hands and made for the door.
"If you need anything, just give me a call, okay?"
"Okay, Mom."
With that, Nicole closed the door behind her and walked to the staircase.
Stepping down, Nicole thought about what to make for her son.
Obviously, a bowl of Smashmallows was the primary choice.
But she couldn't just feed her son a bowl of sugar.
She needed to accompany it with something.
Maybe she could ask Rich-
Nicole froze as she made contact with the penultimate step.
She stood motionless as she stared at the wall in front of her.
Her mind became blank, unable and unwilling to continue thinking about anything.
She'd have stood there until her legs gave out from under her, if not for the sound of a turned faucet bringing her back to reality.
Nicole picked up her foot and planted it firmly down on the next step.
Smashmallows, two pieces of whole wheat toast, two sunny-side up eggs and a glass of orange juice.
That would be their meal.
It was a perfectly normal breakfast for a family in the morning.
It would be the right way to start off a normal day.
"How do you like breakfast?"
"It's fine."
"Would you like more, Gumball?"
"No, I'm good."
Nicole watched solemnly as Gumball picked at his food, the plate barely half eaten.
He had at least eaten the cereal, and finished his juice.
It wasn't much, but Gumball at least ate something before he had to set out to school.
Nicole wasn't much better off.
She neglected her own eating, far too focused on ensuring Gumball had his.
As Nicole prepared to take a bite out of her own food, she heard the clink of glass and metal.
Gumball had set down his fork.
He then pushed his chair out and slowly walked away from the table.
Nicole paused mid-bite and turned to her fleeing son.
"Gumball, what are you doing?"
"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm gonna go for a walk."
"But the bus is going to be here in half an hour."
"I'll walk to school, then."
"It's chilly out there, Gumball."
Nicole's words fell on deaf ears.
Gumball simply grabbed his backpack and made for the front door.
Nicole softly sighed to herself and got out of her seat.
She walked to her son, almost out the door.
Before he could take hold of the handle, Nicole grabbed his shoulder.
He reflexively turned around, and was met with a very tender hug.
"Have a good day at school, Gummypuss."
Gumball closed his eyes, soaking in the affection of his mother.
Letting his pack go, he put his own arms around his mother and returned her hug.
Stifling back more than a few tears, Nicole let go of her son and opened the door for him.
He walked out the door and waved back to his mother as he made his way down the street.
Nicole slowly closed the door, praying silently that he would have an easy time adjusting to school.
...
Nicole released her grip on the wheel and slumped down into the seat.
The erratic honks of the vehicles stuck around her were still not loud enough to drown out her thoughts.
Nicole looked through the car, trying to keep her mind occupied.
As she combed over the vehicle with her rearview, she could see nothing there.
No crayons, no leftover wrappers, and no stuffed animal stuck on the seats.
The new car hadn't been touched by the usual mess left behind by a family of five.
Nicole wrested her gaze from the back, looking forward into traffic again.
She put her hand on the radio, tuning to various stations.
Nothing she heard truly caught her interest on it, however.
She gave up her fiddlings as she hit the smooth jazz station.
Her boredom got the better of her, and she began to let her mind wander back to thoughts of her current situation.
How life was now.
How they could afford all of the things they had.
What used to be out of reach had suddenly come into their hands like manna from heaven.
Windfalls from every direction, both policy payouts and some out of court settlements led to their debts vanishing overnight.
Far enough was left over to line their pockets quite easily.
The family had gone from straddling the poverty line, to upper middle class in no time.
If Nicole was being honest with herself, it was pretty nice to no longer have to worry about finances.
But then again, this hurt her deeply.
What kind of mother thought about that?
About profiting off of tragedy?
A terrible one.
That was her conclusion.
And why she wished that she could stop thinking about everything.