A/N: Here we are so close and yet so far away from the end. With only four chapters left I can't help but be excited about where this is going. So the next chapter is the last 'regular' chapter and the three following it are all part of the finale. Leave a review, and thanks again if you've been leaving review and following along since the beginning.
Benny's Baby
Chapter 12: Those Closest Hurt You Most
Benny woke up Monday morning with the same euphoric feeling of the previous day; he tossed off his covers and did a few stretches before heading down the hall into the nursery. The first thing he noticed was his son's slightly flushed complexion, he placed his lips on his forehead and flinched at the sudden warmth.
"Hey little buddy are you ok?" asked Benny as rubbed Eric's back. "Why are you so warm?"
Eric let out a little groan, opened his eyes for a moment and then closed them again.
"Manus temperatio aperio."
He touched his son's forehead, on his other hand numbers appeared: 99.8. He left the nursery door open and headed down to the main level of the house. He peered into the kitchen, found no one and then tried his Grandma's study. Sure enough he found her sitting at her desk reading over several books and examining various magical items.
"Grandma, Eric has a fever of 99.8."
"Don't worry," said Evelyn as she looked up from the book. "Most infants get a fevers at one point or another, it should pass in a day or so."
"Shouldn't we call the doctor? What if it's something serious? Maybe we should use magic to get rid of it."
"First of all never use magic on an infant; you have no idea what it can do to them. It's similar to giving them medicine if you use the wrong spell or say the wrong word it could have a lethal effect. If his fever gets worse then I'll call the doctor and we'll take it from there. And before you say anything else listen; these things tend to last twenty four hours. Most likely by the time you get back from school he'll be feeling better."
"Are you sure?" asked Benny uncertainly as he thought about his son. "What if you're wrong?"
"It's going to be ok," said Evelyn as she got up. She noticed the worried look on his face and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I promise it will. If he gets any worse then I'll call you."
Benny nodded and backed out of the room feeling uneasy. Eric would be ok; he was with his Grandma… right? He shivered at the idea of his son getting worse...
Ethan went over the notes from his supernatural notebook and reviewed them one final time. The clues had been so obvious...
"Vampires can't have kids it's biologically impossible."
Benny walked in talking on his cell phone, from his facial expression it was clear he was far from happy. He took a seat next to Ethan and continued to talk on his phone.
"Yeah, so if the fever get's any worse we should bring him in?"
"Benny," began Ethan and stopped as his friend held up a finger and motioned to the phone.
"Can I give him any medicine? Uh-huh…."
"Benny it's-"
"Ethan I'm on the phone," said Benny as he gave him a frustrated and annoyed look. "No sorry, ok…. Thank you, hopefully it won't come to that. Thank you for your time Doctor G."
Benny clicked off the phone rubbed his face. He gave Ethan a weary half-hearted smile. "Sorry about getting angry with you, Eric's got a fever and I'm freaking out."
"Benny I need to tell you something-"
Before he could say anything else the teacher walked in and demanded their immediate attention. The rest of the period was spent in silence while they went over various mathematical equations and formulas.
When the bell rang Benny was the first one out of the class, Ethan ran as fast as he could to keep up with him but it was futile. It wasn't until the break period that Ethan found him, and when he did he saw the Spellmaster talking with Erica.
"So he's got a fever, when I left it was 99.8. I called the doctor and he said not to worry, but if it gets higher we should take him in."
"Why didn't you call me this morning?" asked Erica with concern in her voice as she crossed her arms. "I could've easily have made it to your house before school."
"Because it's not serious, that's why I called the doctor first to make sure. I didn't want to worry you over nothing."
"How could you leave him alone if he was sick?"
"I wanted to make sure it wasn't serious first," said Benny looking flustered. "I didn't want you to panic because Eric had a fever. If I was in your shoes I know that I would've panicked, I'm just worried and-"
"If you're worried then why are you here?" Her voice was rapidly becoming more accusatory than concerned. "Why didn't you take him to the doctors?"
"Erica please-"
"Why are you even here? You should be with him-"
"Do you honestly think I would've come to school today if it was something serious?" asked Benny quietly as he tried to keep his calm. "Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"
They looked at each other and Erica took a step back looking at the ground looking embarrassed and ashamed.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I'm just worried."
He reached out and gave her a hug, and as he did he whispered in to her ear, "I know, I am too."
The bell rang and the two of them separated and then looked at each other uneasily. Benny cleared his throat trying to avoid the strange tension between them and said:
"If I find out anything else I promise I'll let you know ok?"
She nodded before heading down the hall. Benny sighed and Ethan took this chance to approach him, but as he did students entered the once empty hallways. Before he could get any closer his friend was gone.
At lunch Ethan found Rory, Della and Sarah sitting at their table talking about their plans for the weekend. As he took a seat he looked around, then sighed when he saw no sign of Benny.
"If you're looking for Benny he's talking on his cell phone in the hall," said Rory. "He said something about calling his Grandma."
"Is everything all right Ethan?" asked Sarah as she put her hand on his. "Did you remember what was special about that night?"
"That was just after we became friends, I remember thinking about how strange you were for collecting them. Especially from the vampires, since you know we can't have kids."
"N-no," said Ethan refusing to look her in the eyes. "I-I just needed to ask Benny one last question."
He was afraid she would see through his lie, but when she gave him a sympathetic smile he knew he was in the clear. He needed to talk to Benny, but was time a factor? He didn't know; everything appeared all right, but…. He shook his head to clear the thoughts away.
"Is everything all right between Benny and Erica?" asked Rory suddenly. "I saw them arguing this morning and I saw you spying on them Ethan."
"I wasn't spying on them, but they were arguing about Eric, he's got a fever."
"Poor thing," whispered Della. "I can't imagine how worried the two of them must be."
"Yeah…." Whispered Ethan as he thought the obvious truth that rested in from of them, how could they all miss it?
"You have no DNA, at all. Vampires are like whiteout, their lack of a genetic code wipes anything with a genetic code. So even if you fell in love with a human you couldn't have a kid, you can't create a new life without genetics, it's not possible."
"How's he doing Grandma?" asked Benny as he walked down the empty hallway. "Is he feeling better yet?"
"His fever hasn't gone down," Benny began to feel nauseous and used the locker closest to him for support. "It's increased he's at 100.3 and-"
"I'm coming home Grandma, before you say anything I already talked with my other teachers and I got my homework. I'm not going to sit around here doing nothing while my son is getting worse."
Before she could say anything else he disconnected the line and stuffed the phone in his pocket. He should never have come to school, not when Eric was sick.
"What's taking him so long?" asked Ethan as he looked down at his cell phone. It had been fifteen minutes; he got up and headed for the hallway. As he opened the door he ran into Erica who looked as worried and uneasy as Benny did this morning.
"Have you seen Benny?" asked Erica. "I need to talk to him about something."
"He's on the phone in the hallway; I was on my way to check in on him."
"You might hate me for saying this, but I can see both you and Erica in him."
"He's not, I was just-" Her phone went off and she peered down at it.
Went home. Eric's fever got worse. –B
"I have to go."
"What's the matter?"
Erica said nothing and vanished down the hall in flash. Ethan sighed in frustration and headed back to the table in defeat.
"Is everything ok?" asked Sarah as she noticed his defeated look. She scooted closer to him. "You remember what it was didn't you?"
"I... I did."
"You figured out your vision?" asked Rory as he leaned across the table. "Am I going to be a dad?"
"Not if I have anything to say about," said Della earning a laugh from Sarah and frown from Rory.
"I can't tell you," said Ethan as the bell went off. It's not possible. "Not until I talk to Benny first."
"Just because she's genetically Eric's mom doesn't mean you have to listen to anything she says."
Erica walked up the porch and stopped herself from knocking on the door. She wanted to knock, that was true, but what if her son got worse. Could she really deal with the fear of a sick child, particularly her own? No, she couldn't think like that. Benny had made it a point of welcoming her into Eric's life, and she was a mother now she couldn't turn away.
She tapped on the door, and was not the least bit surprised when Benny opened it. In his hand was a phone, he nodded to her.
"No he's drinking…. Come in. Sorry…. There's nothing we can do? What about magic?"
Erica gave him a looked and he mouthed: Weir Family Doctor. "My Grandma said the same thing too; no he's sleeping right now… no he's normally awake at this hour…."
She took a seat on the sofa and watched as Benny paced around the living room both asking and answering questions. After what seemed like an eternity he turned it off, sat on the sofa next to her and took her hands in his. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.
"What did they say?" asked Erica as she rubbed his back.
"They said right now he should be ok," whispered Benny. "And the same thing as earlier, if his fever gets above 102 to bring him in. If it doesn't get that bad then we have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow afternoon."
"What about magic?"
"Not to use it. And no medication either, Eric's unique birth makes it hard to give him an age. So the medicine might actually make things worse."
"So we have to wait then?" asked Erica in disbelief. "We have to watch as our son suffers and they have nothing else to say but to wait?"
"Yeah."
"What if it's something serious? How could they tell us to wait?"
"Because that's what the doctor recommends, and I trust him. He's been with the family for years, as much I want to bring him in tonight-"
"Then why don't we, I don't want him getting worse than he already is!"
"I know, but we have to trust what my Grandma and the doctor says."
"Think for yourself!" yelled Erica as she pulled her hand out of his. "I don't want my son getting any worse than you let him get!"
"Are you saying this is my fault?" screamed Benny unable to take it anymore. He stood up and glared at her. "How dare you say this is my fault!"
"I'm not saying this is your fault, but you should have taken him in before it-"
"You're blaming this entire thing on me! If that's the entire reason you're here then get out!"
"I'm sorr-"
"I'm so sick of hearing your stupid apologies! It was so stupid of me to try and get you involved in Eric's life, now get the hell out of my house!"
Erica bit her lip as tears began to run down her cheeks. Benny did his best to hide his own emotions as she casted one final look over her shoulder. He could see the look of betrayal, but he couldn't stand it anymore, the constant judgment she always placed on him, and way everything he did seemed to fall short of what she expected. Benny sat back down on the sofa feeling worse than before.
This has to be the worse night in Benny's entire life, as he sat in the backseat of his Grandmother's car listening to Eric cough and cry. All around them streetlamps and signs zoomed past as they drove towards the emergency room. He looked over at the clock, saw that it was three in the morning and then sent a text to Ethan and Erica. He felt tears well up into his own eyes as they entered the emergency room, and eventually ushered into the one of the various rooms. He felt his heart break as the nurses suddenly rushed Eric away leaving him alone with his Grandma. A random nurse entered the room with a clipboard in her hand a few seconds later.
"Mr. Weir? If you'll follow me." Benny nodded and followed her through the emergency room. "My name Annie, they took your son to a hospital room because he was having a hard time breathing on his own and these emergency rooms are ill equipped to deal with 'unique' infants such as yours."
"If he going to be ok?"
"I honestly don't know. But I can assure you Doctor G, is the best when it comes to dealing with infants created through magical means." She stopped and motioned to one of the many available times. "I hate to leave your here on your own without any more information, but I'm needed else where. I'll do my best to find out anything else I can."
"Thanks," said Benny as walked around the room. When it couldn't take it anymore he headed outside in an attempt to escape his own worries and fears. While he paced around the gardens he watched as a familiar figure approached him. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark and when he did he realized it was Erica slowly walking towards him. For a second he half expected her to hug him, and instead was rewarded with a hard slap across the face. He stumbled backwards and placed a hand on his burning cheek. The next thing he knew she was holding him tightly.
"I'm so sorry," said Benny as he wrapped his arms around. "I'm so sorry for what I did."
"Please," whispered Erica as she cried into his shoulders. "Don't do that to me again."
Ethan entered the waiting room, and was surprised to see Evelyn was sitting alone. She turned to him with a confused look on her face.
"Ethan what are you doing here?"
"I came with Erica and I snuck in here hoping to see Benny," began Ethan as he approached her. "I need to tell him something important about Eric, but I-I should probably tell you first."
"I doubt you can tell me anything I don't already know."
"He…." Ethan stopped. How long had he waited to reveal this truth? Here he was in the very moment and he was unsure if he should say it. No that wasn't it, he couldn't say it, because speaking it aloud would mean revealing the horrible secret that would change his best friend's life... It was at that moment he decided it needed to be said:
"Eric isn't possible. He can't exist. Sarah said Benny collected the hair samples after we had become friends which means Erica's doesn't have DNA. It doesn't make sense because Eric looks so much like her, but logically her lack of genetic code should have eaten away and erased Benny's. If Benny had to use biology to create him then that means this spell is bound by the rules of life, which means Eric is impossible. He can't exist."
"I know," said Evelyn without looking at him. "He is the impossible child."