It rained like a son of a bitch. There had been an accident. Holly had called them. He drove as fast as he could. He had wished that this wouldn't become true, but his wish wasn't fulfilled. The first thing he found was the helmet. He was scared. What if his son's decision had been wrong? He wasn't able to think about that. He tried to think about his son's strong will and the fact that this had brought him everywhere he had wanted to.
He found him. He stopped the car. Got out of it and ran to his youngest. He lay between a lamppost and his bike. It looked worse than he had been able to imagine. He never had seen the results of a road accident and never had thought it could look as bad. He didn't panic. He knew how to handle this. At least one thing the NASA training had been good for. He looked around for some help. Only Holly stood there in the rain, helpless only crying. Obviously she hadn't administered any first aid. Fury arose in him. How stupid must one be? He wondered where her parents were, but he knew that also her parents were nothing more than rich people who thought that education and money was enough. He had felt himself how wrong this assumption was.
"Mr. Taggart!" She screamed, when he had reached her.
"Did you call an ambulance?" He immediately asked her? She was obviously in shock.
"What?"
"An ambulance?" She shook her head.
"Here, can you do that?" She nodded, took his mobile and called for an ambulance. He went to his son who lay there, motionless. He still was in rage because of this unskilled chicken his son had called girlfriend. If one thing was for sure then that she wasn't close to be a girlfriend for his son.
"Hey skinny, do you hear me?" His son's face was pale. His nose was bleeding. He prayed for this not being what he thought this was. Now he wished he hadn't won knowledge through his NASA training. Maybe this wasn't as helpful as he thought. Knowing what injuries your son might suffer from was worse than seeing it, without any idea. At least this would give some more hope.
"Hmm." he heard his son. One good sign. His son still was alive. He needed him to stay awake.
"Can you tell me what has happened?" He asked his son. He didn't get a response. 'Keep cool, everything will be alright.'
"Neil, are you there?" He heard how his son groaned in pain. He touched his son's hand. It was cold as ice.
"Where does it hurt?" He asked him.
"Every…where." The voice sounded weak, but there was still a voice and he should be glad about this.
"Your head? Back, chest? Your legs?" Why did he ask this? He couldn't do anything against it anyway.
"In…this order." His son answered. He couldn't hide a smile. His son laid here in pain, but still was able to give smug answers. Maybe he would make it.
"Air." His son whispered. He didn't understand.
"What do you want?"
"Take…this…fucking…bike from…my back." His son managed to say. Now he realized how his son struggled for breath and that he not only lay, but even was jammed between the lamppost and his bike.
"I can't, we have to wait for an ambulance." The last thing he wanted to do was to move his son. He only would cause more damages. The position of the bike indicated that it had hit his son's back and probably broke his backbones.
"Dad…please." Neil whispered. He looked into his son eyes. They were begging for relieve. It was the same look his youngest had when he ha asked him for a little help, for a little attention, what he never had gotten. He sighed. He had refused him so much he had asked for and this probably was the last relief he could offer his son. 'Fuck off'.
"Okay, but if you start to feel uncomfortable, you tell me." He started to get the bike from his son's back. He was close to kill this Holly who only stood there and did nothing. Wasn't Neil supposed to be her boyfriend? After he had managed to get the bike of Neil, he feared that his son might have left.
"Hey, better?"
"Hmm." His son was shivering badly and he still struggled for air. He took of his jacket and put it over his son. He kneeled down, into the puddle beneath. He wished he could do more, but this was all he could have done. He only had to keep his son alive. 'Damn it, how long do they need to come here?'
"Holly, where is the ambulance?" He asked her.
"They…told me they …send for one as…as…as soon as one …will be free."
"Damn it! Couldn't you have told me earlier?" He screamed at her. His son laid in the wet dirt in front if her house and probably wouldn't make it, and she stood there doing nothing and now telling him that the ambulance won't be there early enough. He began to despair. He wanted to do something, but there was nothing and this thought was driving him insane.
"Neil?"
"hmm."
"Just stay here okay?" He had no idea what he should talk about to his son. He carefully stroke through his sons hair, dried his face from the rain and tried to stop the bleeding at his temple. He did everything to let his son know that he wasn't alone. His son's breath went harder with every passing second and strange sounds came from his son's chest.
"How's…Mum?" His son asked him? He wondered why his son started to worry about his mother. He more should worry about himself right now.
"She's okay. A bit confused after what had happened. But I think, concerning our first time travel we can imagine how she feels."
"No…dream?" Now he knew where the cat jumped.
"No dream. No sentients, no synthetics. Only normal and boring everyday life."
"Cool." His son fought for more air and there was no sign for an ambulance coming. He began to be nervous and he had the feeling as if he already waited for hours.
"Neil, can you promise me something?" He waited, but no response. 'No, I'm not going to make things that easy for you. You'll push though this, free will or forced.'
"Hey, c'mon. Neil?"
"hmm."
"Neil, do you know what we've always said?" He started to talk. He wasn't sure if he only did this for his son or for himself to remain calm. He also had no clue why he had started to talk about this he only hoped that this might keep his son's will to fight upright.
"We've always said: this boy never will make it to something appropriate. And then you showed it to everyone." He felt how his eyes filled with tears. He felt how his son had to struggle and he was proud that he didn't give up, what would have been easier, but he also felt how his son's strength left and that he had no chance to win this fight, without help.
"Maybe you can do this again?" He son didn't respond, but began to cough. Red foam came out his mouth. 'No, no, this is not going to happen. Not here, not in front of my eyes. When you want to die, you have to do it somewhere else.'
"Neil, c'mon. You have to fight. I know you can make it." He started to hold his son's head up right.
"What's wrong with him?" Holly hysterically asked him. This was the last thing he needed.
"He's choking on his own blood!" He screamed. He didn't like this girl. He never had. He always had known that this girl wasn't the right one for his son. She wasn't good enough for him. Then he heard nothing. No coughing, no strange noise from his son's chest.
"Neil?" His son's eyes were closed.
"Skinny? Hey, you can't leave me alone." Now he had begun to cry. He held his son tight in his arms.
"We've gone together through so much shit. You can't leave me alone. Who else at the centre then is going to drive me nuts? Who else shell start to annoy Hodge? Who else shell fool around with these science freaks?" He cried and cried. How was he supposed to survive the death of his youngest? How would he and Paige be able to live on? How would Marc deal with his brother's death?