"Dad, don't move!" Elmer spun, a wave of dizziness washing over him from the motion as he reached out, snagging his father's hand before he could dislodge the IV line. If that came out with the effects of the anticoagulant, he knew there was a chance he would be literally seeing his father bleeding to death outside as well as in. "It's okay. Lona's all fixed up now. We've just got to get you fixed up too and everything will be fine. Dad, please, for once, can't you just listen to me?" Elmer whispered, a bit of heartbreak creeping into his voice as he looked down at his father. "Please, dad!"
"Elmer...." Why couldn't he convince his son of the reality of the situation, that it was just too late for him? Although he didn't feel any pain, Louis could only assume that he was likely bleeding in his head due to whatever damage had taken his vision. And such bleeding was most likely lethal given their current circumstances. Louis could barely hold back tears now. He didn't want to die although he kept trying to cling to the belief that he would be okay with it. He didn't want to leave his son, not like this. What choice did he have, though? And what else could he do other than to try to convince Elmer of the futility of the situation, that there was absolutely nothing that he could have done to change things? If he didn't, he knew his son would blame himself forever.
"Dad?" Elmer looked closely at his father. Did it look like he
might be about to cry? Had he ever seen his father cry before? "Dad?
Please, I promise it's going to be okay in just a few minutes." Where was
that anteater with that medicine? His father NEEDED it! "Dad, I'm so
sorry I've been a bad son." Elmer whispered as he gently stroked his
father's fingers with his own. "I know I'm not as good as Edgar but I
promise I'll try harder to be what you want. Just please hang on for me
for just a few more minutes, okay?"
"Elmer you're exactly what I want." Louis said gently. How had he
messed things up so badly with his son, convinced Elmer that he was so
unloved? He had NEVER meant to do that to his son. How had he failed him
so badly? "Elmer, I swear to you that you have never been a disappointment
to me. If anything, you ought to be disappointed in me for being such a
bad father." How had this happened? Louis remembered the first time he
had been finally allowed to hold his son, the things that he had promised.
"I promised that I would love you and protect you and keep you safe." He
didn't even realize that he was speaking out loud at this point. "I'm so,
so sorry."
"Dad, it's not your fault." Elmer stared at his father in shock.
Were those actually tears? His dad had to definitely be sicker than he
thought if he was crying. "It's my fault. If I was a better son, then you
wouldn't have to be upset with me all the time. Please, I can do better!
I promise! Just please hold on for me for a few more minutes, okay? Dad,
I need you!"
"And I need you. I need you to live for me." Louis said gently but firmly. He could definitely feel more than a bit of a change now with his condition. How much blood? How much blood had his son lost? Elmer still seemed functional but.... "Elmer, I lost your brother because I was a poor excuse for a father. If I loose you too, I couldn't live with that." The hand with the IV twitched before he slowly raised it, reaching up and touching his son's face. He almost gave in at that point. He could just feel the pain there. He knew he couldn't though, not if he wanted to protect his son like he had failed to do so many times before. "Elmer, I love you. I.... Please, don't do this. Just.... Please, don't risk yourself for me. There's nothing that you can do."
"Dad?" How could his father keep asking this of him, asking him to just sit there and let him die? "Dad, NO! You are going to be fine! I promise that you're going to be fine!" Elmer didn't care how much blood he had to give his father. He would give it all before letting his father die on him! Didn't his dad realize ho much he was hurting him, how it was breaking his heart that his dad seemingly would rather die than fight to stay here with him? Why wasn't he enough to fight for? "Dad!" He hesitated for a moment before speaking, trying to think of what might get through to his father. "If I'm not enough for you to consider being worth fighting to stay with then think about Lona! How do you think that she's going to feel if she wakes up and finds out you died because you tried to help her? Are you selfish enough to put her through that just so you can be with Edgar again?"
"I...." Why didn't his son understand? If it was simply a matter of having something that he cared enough about to fight for, then he would never give up, would never stop fighting. The thought of leaving his son alone was breaking his heart although he kept reminding himself that Elmer would be okay. "Elmer, I love YOU! Please...."
"If you love me," Elmer said in a tone that implied that he was
more than a little sure that his father's claim to that was totally false,
"then you can just stop talking about dying and let me help you! Or are
you just wanting to make sure I feel nice and guilty for the rest of my life
like you do for not saving Edgar or my mother?" He was getting angry once
more, something that he definitely didn't want with his sick his father was
but he just couldn't help it. Didn't his dad realize how much he was
hurting him by not being willing to fight to stay with him, by not loving
him enough to want to stay with him? "There was nothing you could do!
Hook told me what happened with my mother and that there was absolutely
nothing you could have done and.... There is something I can do to help
you, though and you think YOU feel guilty? How do you think I'm going to
feel if you die on me? Dad, please." This last bit slipped out with a
sob. Elmer couldn't loose his father, he just couldn't. "Please, I love
you. Please let me help you."
"Elmer...." Was he doing what his son was saying? Louis certainly didn't think so but.... "Elmer, I don't want anything to happen to you. I love you. If you loose much more blood...." And even if Elmer could somehow get some sort of medicine to counteract the warfarin, he didn't see how it could work in time to make a difference. "I love you. If anything happened to you...."
Before Elmer could speak, he heard a padding sound coming down the hallway and a moment later the anteater came in lagging a large bag in its mouth.
'You should see all of the stuff that's down in those rooms'
Antubis said with a shake of his head as he dropped the bag at Elmer's feet
and then surveyed the situation. 'My, isn't this cozy?' he snickered as
he saw Lona next to them, the table lowered as low as possible. 'Thinking
of doing some more naughty things?'
Elmer wasn't even listening, was instead frantically searching the
bag the anteater and brought. Food, packages of cookies and other snacks.
Hook wasn't going to be pleased about that. It looked like the anteater
had raided whatever he used for a kitchen. "I thought I told you to bring
medicine.' Elmer muttered under his breath before his eyes suddenly fell on
the Vitamin K at the bottom of the bag under a candy bar. He eagerly
grabbed it and snagged a syringe, starting to draw up a dose as quickly as
he could. This was going to be okay. Everything was going to be fine now.
"It's okay, Dad." He said as he reached out, his hand trembling as he gently felt his father's other arm for a moment before inserting the needle and starting the injection. "Your medicine's here. You're going to be feeling a lot better in just a few minutes, I promise." It was going to be okay. His father was going to be fine now.