Broken Fairytales part 6
by Phantaz-Magoria
* * *
Present day…
Wyatt Cain sat in an uncomfortable chair in an uncomfortably quiet hospital room. The only sound was the soft beeping of the heart monitor, the only thing that reassured him that Ambrose was still alive. He was too pale, too still. He couldn't even see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
Cain supposed it was an improvement from the thrashing and the violent shaking. The doctors had given him a muscle paralytic to stop the seizures and buy him some time. Some time… Cain's heart wrenched.
The doctor had in no uncertain terms told him that was all they were doing.
He wanted to drown out the memory of that conversation, but it kept playing over and over again in his head…
"I don't understand."
"I'm sorry, sir. I know this is hard to hear, but there's nothing we can do for him except keep him comfortable."
"But you know what the problem is. If you know what the problem is, you should be able to fix it."
"That's not how Erebus works, Mr. Cain."
"Then explain it to me!" Cain was pacing back and forth while the doctor watched with sympathetic eyes.
"The first thing that Erebus does to a person is to destroy their brain's ability to produce a specific necessary enzyme. Without this enzyme, the brain can't control the electrical signals that are sent to the various parts of the body. It begins to flood the body with erroneous signals, telling the muscles to expand and retract rapidly. This accounts for the constant shivering. The longer the body is without this enzyme, the worse the effect gets until the convulsions begin to affect his heart and lungs. Once that happens..."
The doctor raised his hands, a gesture of defeat.
"There has to be something… anything! I can't lose him."
"Mr. Cain, the only thing that keeps Erebus addicts alive is more Erebus. That's partly why it's so deadly. Coupled with the havoc it plays on short term memory, most addicts don't survive more than a few months without somebody taking care of them and strictly regimenting their drug intake."
"Then why can't we just give him more Erebus?"
"It's not as simple as that. Nobody has ever been able to replicate the formula. If you can get some through unofficial channels, I would be more than happy to administer it, but we can't reproduce the drug ourselves."
"I thought you people were supposed to be smart."
"Whoever designed this drug was smarter." The doctor shook his head. "I've been working for the last two years to help people in just this situation, but the design of the drug is complicated, unique. It kills people, Mr. Cain. More than cocaine, more than heroin, Erebus kills people. There is no cure."
"There has to be a cure," Cain whispered to the sleeping figure on the bed. "You wouldn't have made it this way, there has to be something you did... I just need you to wake up and tell me what it is."
The heart monitor slowly beeped in reply.
A soft gasp from the doorway caught Cain's attention. He turned to look and saw a tiny little girl with raven black hair and the widest blue eyes he'd ever seen. She sucked in a breath at the sight of him and flattened herself against the door.
"Hey. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
The little girl gave him a disbelieving look. Cain couldn't blame her. At least he didn't look as disheveled as he had when he brought Glitch in. Having nothing better to do while he waited for Ambrose, he had gone to the gift shop and bought an overnight toilette kit. He'd shaved and cut his hair. He didn't look nearly as bad as he had, but she was so very vulnerable looking herself, pale in a hospital gown with only a too large brown coat for protection. It dragged on the floor, and obviously belonged to somebody else. In fact… Cain looked closer. In spite of the wear and tear, it looked familiar.
"What are you doing, Ambrose?"
"I thought I would dress up as Wyatt Earp for Halloween. What do you think?"
"Hey! Are you saying my coat is old fashioned?"
"No… but it does look like it belongs on the set of El Dorado. Hey, maybe I could pass off as John Wayne in this."
"Only in your dreams, short stuff." Cain ruffled Ambrose's hair. "The coat looks good on you, though. Why Wyatt Earp?"
"Well… I don't know, I think you're going to laugh at me."
"Maybe a little bit. But not much."
"He's got a tin star just like you do. Trounces bad guys just like you do. Seemed like a cool guy to dress up as. Well, aside from you, but I asked at the costume shop and it would have cost me a fortune for all the ugly make up I would have needed… Hey!"
Ambrose struggled helplessly as Cain grabbed him and began tickling him mercilessly.
Cain shook his head, tears springing to his eyes from the fond memory. "You must be DG. Ambrose mentioned you."
The little girl still looked dubious.
"My name's Wyatt. I don't know if Ambrose told you about me…"
Cain had to guess at her next expression. But it seemed confused. A 'Who's Ambrose?' sort of look if ever he saw one.
"He's my son. He gave you that coat."
The girl pointed at the bed then looked back up at Cain.
"Yeah. That's Ambrose. He's a nice kid, isn't he?"
The little girl still looked puzzled.
"Hmm. I guess he calls himself Glitch, now."
The girl nodded and stepped forward. She curtsied and Cain laughed.
"I suppose that means that if I know Glitch, I must be alright?"
She nodded.
"You don't talk much, do you?"
DG shook her head. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, then closed it again and shrugged unhappily. She walked to the side of the bed and took Glitch's hand. She looked back at Cain.
"I wish I could tell you he was going to be alright. I bet he's happy that you're here to help look out for him, though."
The little girl looked at Cain with pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know it's hard to understand. Hell, I can't even wrap my head around it myself… but they just can't fix what's wrong with him." The words stung, felt dry in his mouth. He hadn't even admitted the truth of them to himself, now trying to repeat them to a little girl who had nobody else in the world. It would have been better if he hadn't known, would have been better if he hadn't gotten involved. Hope… what a silly thing to have after all this time… and see where it got him.
DG shook her head emphatically and reached into one of the large pockets of her coat. She pulled out a syringe and held it out to Cain. He looked at it, uncertain. DG pointed at the syringe, then pointed at Glitch lying on the bed.
"This is the stuff he takes?"
She nodded quickly.
"You're certain?"
Again, she nodded. Cain crossed the room to her in two big strides, causing her to cringe in alarm. "It's okay. I won't hurt you, I just need to see it." She held it out to him and he took it, careful not to stab himself with the needle. "You haven't stuck yourself with this at all, have you? It's important. It could make you sick if you have."
The little girl shook her head.
"Okay, wait here, I'm going to find a doctor so they can give this to him, okay?"
Cain didn't wait for an answer, he just ducked out the door and hurried off to find the doctor.
* * *
Glitch couldn't recall how long he lay floating in the pool of cold blackness. It seemed like forever and at the same time not very long at all. It seemed peaceful and relaxing, so he had no objection to continuing in this state at all. It wasn't an uncomfortable cold blackness, after all. More like the refreshing retreat into darkness after being out in the sun too long, like jumping into a cold pool when it's ninety degrees and the sweat is rolling down your back, or running cold water over your hand after you've burnt it on the stove.
There was a certain amount of relief to be had here and Glitch was enjoying it. At least until he could hear the voices.
Echoes of sound, familiar and yet so terribly hard to place, surrounded him in his darkness. There was something about one of those voices… He tried to ignore it, but it had already seeped into his awareness. Was that the voice of someone he knew? Someone he should know?
Glitch concentrated harder on the voice, until the words were clearer and less muddled.
"…hear me… need… wake up…"
That voice was so familiar! Why did he know that voice? The other voice said something, frantic urgency coloring it harsh in this peaceful darkness. But he didn't care about that other voice. He listened harder to the one he knew.
"…kid… need to breath… fight this… Ambrose!"
But my name is Glitch…
"Ambrose! You have to fight this for me, kid, now come on! Breathe dammit! Don't you quit on me, boy, don't you DARE quit on me yet, do you hear?"
The familiar voice was frantic with worry too.
Don't worry… please don't worry, Dad…
Lightning jolted through his brain and memories hit him like a flood of fire. Broken cars and the smell of engine oil and grease, riding his bike to the station with a box of fresh doughnuts balanced on the handlebars and that voice saying, "Son, until you can beat me in a footrace, I don't want to hear a thing about fat cops and doughnuts. I LIKE doughnuts." Memories of milk and cookies and old scary movies late on Wednesday nights and "Don't tell your mother I'm letting you stay up this late on a school night." And a quick reply of "I'm in high school. I'm ALLOWED to stay up this late on school nights." Meatloaf and board game night, chemistry sets… "Ambrose, give the chemistry a break and wash up for dinner. Your mother's gonna kill me if you aren't down here in two minutes."
The memories were too much and all too quickly they were already fading. So was the voice.
No! Don't go!
Glitch reached out through the darkness, but now it wasn't the cool, refreshing, relief giving darkness that had embraced him so gently before, it was an inky nightmarish monster that had him wrapped tight in a crushing hold that he couldn't escape from.
Help…! Don't leave me! I don't want to stay here! Don't go!
He struggled wildly against the iron bands that constricted his chest, fought as hard as he could to free himself.
"That's right, Ambrose, keep fighting! Keep fighting for me boy, please, don't give up! You're doing damn good, just take a breath for me, kiddo. Can you do that?"
Glitch tried, he struggled to fight off the darkness. With one last phenomenal effort of will, the darkness began to give way and he was able to drag air into his lungs.
"Good, Ambrose, that's good. Now do it again."
It was easier this time and the darkness sank back just a little further. His throat burned, but the air was good and he drank it in. He could hear the voices much clearer, could hear the relief, the gravelly emotion in the voice that had struck such a chord in him. He could hear the mild surprise in the other voice. "His vitals are stabilizing. He seems to be coming around."
"Ambrose? Ambrose can you hear me?"
Glitch sucked in another breath, his lungs rasping from the effort. He choked and coughed, welcoming the pain. He couldn't quite believe how close he'd come to dying. The pain let him know that he was really still alive. He took another breath and opened his eyes again.
Images were still blurry, still hard to distinguish, but he could make out a face, a concerned face with blue eyes…
"Do I…" He broke off coughing. He took a breath and tried again. "Do I know you?"
All the sadness of the world in those blue eyes… "Yeah, kid. You know me."
Cain's heart wrenched in his chest at the blank confusion he saw in Glitch's face, then the tentative, embarrassed smile when he whispered, "I'm sorry."
Cain cleared his throat. "You haven't done anything wrong." He took the young man's hand and squeezed it gently.
The doctor was writing notes on the clipboard. "Mr. Cain, I can't stress enough that this is only a temporary improvement. Nothing has changed. I'll leave you alone to say goodbye."
Glitch watched the doctor go, swallowing hard against the dryness in his throat. "Could…" He broke into another coughing fit. "Could I get some water?"
Cain nodded and quickly went to fill a paper cup from the sink as Glitch carefully tried to sit himself up. Cain helped Glitch to take a sip or two, holding the cup steady when the trembling in the young man's hands proved too much for him. "How you feeling?"
"Sore. Everything hurts... like I got hit by a… a… bus or something."
"I'm not surprised. Your body's been through the ringer tonight."
"Has it?"
"Yeah."
Glitch's brown eyes darkened as he struggled to remember even a glimmer of what had gone before. "Was I in a fight or something?"
"I wouldn't call it a fight so much as getting trounced by a bunch of bullies." And then getting raped, but he wasn't sure he had the heart to tell him that. If he didn't remember, it would be best to just let him forget.
"Guess I lost?"
"There were three of them, Ambrose. They had you outgunned pretty good."
"That's not true… I should have… I know better… should know better. I was taught better… I think."
"You think?"
"I guess. I thought I remembered something, but it's gone now. I almost had that one, too. Dammit!"
"It's okay, kid, just watch the swearing."
Brown eyes sharpened as Glitch's gaze focused on Cain. His voice was soft. "My dad taught me better… You called me Ambrose…"
"That's your name."
There was still confusion there, but Cain could see the gears slowly working around in that tenacious brain of his. "He called you Mr. Cain, but that's not right… it wasn't mister… It was lieutenant… or colonel. Major Cain? No… that's not right either… Something. Some kind of an officer… but not… Officer. That's it, Officer Cain… Hey! I remember now! You're… you're Officer… Dad… Oh!" And there it was. Dawning, realization, that perfect smile that lit up his face at the simple triumph. And then the smile fell almost as quickly as it came, the color draining from his face almost just as fast, the elation replaced by horror. "Oh…"
"So you DO recognize me." Cain squeezed Glitch's hand again and Glitch's gaze dropped, as if he was surprised by the contact. He looked back up again, uncertainty and fear evident in his expressive brown eyes. "Talk to me, Ambrose. You recognized me back in that ally, why did you lie about it?"
Tears sprung up in his eyes and he smiled to cover it up, but he couldn't hold it for very long. His voice was quiet, shaky, "I didn't want you to see me like this… I didn't…" His voice cracked and broke. "I didn't want to hurt you this way… not after what I did… I'm so sorry…" He hid his face behind trembling hands, his thin body shaking as he sobbed.
Cain stayed still, unsure if he should comfort the young man or if his efforts would be unwelcome just now. He didn't have long to think about it. The door to the bathroom opened wide and the little girl in the hospital gown, who had been hiding evidently since Cain had left to get the doctor, came trotting out. Not intimidated by the mess of wires and IV lines, she clambered onto the bed and forced her way under Glitch's arms to give him a hug.
Cain recognized the look on his face, the startled confusion, the puzzled blankness. Cain was starting to think of it as the "Hello? Do I know you?" look. It only lasted a few moments before recognition set in and Glitch smiled, sniffling back the tears that hadn't quite fallen yet.
Glitch hugged her back. "DG! Silly little girl, you should be in bed resting so you can get better!"
DG shook her head.
"What? You shouldn't be resting?"
She shook her head again and pointed at him, tapping him lightly on the chest with her finger while wearing a severe expression.
"Me? You think I should rest so I can get better?"
DG nodded firmly. Glitch nodded and hugged her tighter.
"I'm trying, kiddo."
Cain's lips twitched up in a sad smile at the unexpected use of his nickname for Ambrose. He cleared his throat. "So how is it that you can remember her name, but you can't remember me?"
A faint trace of blush crept up Glitch's pale face. "I don't know… I just… I remember things better when DG's around. Maybe it's because I have to? When I forget about things like eating and stuff, it doesn't bother me so much, but I have to remember to cook dinner now that she's staying with me. You can't take care of someone if you can't take care of yourself, so I try harder to remember… I'm not the best parent, I guess, but I've been trying really hard. I didn't mean for her to get sick."
"People get sick, Ambrose. Especially kids. It's not your fault. DG doesn't think it's your fault, do you kiddo?"
DG shook her head vigorously.
"There, see? Not your fault."
Glitch hugged DG tightly. "Thanks, Deege. I'm still sorry, though."
DG snuggled closer.
"I wish you were still in bed, though. I was really worried about you and I want to make sure that you get all better."
DG looked up at him. "They were going to take me away…" Her voice was quiet, cracked and rusty sounding from disuse.
Glitch was confused. "Take you away…? Hey! You talked! I didn't know you could talk."
"My mom told me not to. She said that I had to go with my new mom and dad and listen to everything they said and be a good girl and that I wasn't to talk to anyone because if I did, the bad people might find me and hurt me again…"
Glitch hugged her tighter. He wasn't about to let any bad people hurt this sweet little girl. Cain cocked his head listening in interest, blue eyes intense as he watched her.
DG sniffled a little bit and rubbed her eyes with a sleeve of her too large hospital gown. "But I lost them in the storm and I was so scared! And then you saved me and I wanted to talk, but I couldn't! And now the people upstairs want to take me away again and I don't want to go, Glitch! I don't want to go!" She hid her face in his shoulder and Glitch looked up at Cain for help.
"Deege… I, uh… I don't want you to go either… but I can't… I can't take care of you, kiddo, you know that… They'll find some really nice people that will take so much better care of you than I could."
"But I don't want better people! I want you!"
"Deege-"
"I'll take care of you, DG. You don't have to worry about going anywhere. I'll keep you safe. And you can help me take care of Glitch, right?"
DG nodded emphatically. "Then we can make him all better, right?"
"Right." DG smiled. Glitch looked up at Cain and mouthed the words, 'Thank you'. "But right now, I think we need to let Glitch get some rest. We'll go back up to your room and find your clothes and break you out of this joint, what do you think?"
DG clambered down off the bed with a nod. She was ready to go. Cain turned to leave but glanced back. "You okay, Ambrose?" The kid's hands were shaking again.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine... I'm fine... I'm fine..."
"Glitch." Cain reached out and gently touched Glitch on the shoulder. Red rimmed eyes turned to focus on him.
"Sorry. Guess I was glitching again, huh?"
"Yeah."
Glitch's lips twisted up in an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry." He looked away for a moment, then glanced back at Cain. His eyes seemed different and Cain knew what was coming. "Do I know you?"
Cain felt his heart twist painfully. "Yeah, kid. You know me. Get some sleep, okay? I'll be back before you wake up."
"Okay…" Glitch's eyes fluttered closed and his breathing evened out in sleep.
Cain stood and grabbed his coat from the chair. DG's eyes followed him curiously. Seeing her look, he nodded towards Glitch. "Change of plan. Keep an eye on him for me, alright? You keep him safe until I get back. I want you to promise me."
DG nodded. "I promise. Where are you going?"
Cain put his hat on. "I'm going to find the man who did this to him. Then I'm going to fix it."
* * *
TBC…
A/N: Wow, that was an epic length of time between posts. I apologize. I blame it on my other story. I get more reviews for that one and they keep distracting me. I'm easily distracted by good reviews. I'll try not to let it go four months again without another chapter, though. We'll see how well I succeed. =)