A/N: Madison is thought to be 27 years old in-game, because that is what she writes when she checks into the motel. However, if she dies, it is revealed that she is/was 30 at the time. I support the theory that she simply lied about her age, probably due in part to the fact that the guy was a creep. Hence the timing of this flashback.
)O(
Friday
June 5, 1995
4:10p.m.
Summer was nearly in full swing. Only a week of school separated the children from months of relaxation and fun. Madison was thrilled to be nearly done with her first year of high school. She preferred to spend her days reading anyway, or - when she was much younger - solving mysteries.
"Maddy!" Adrian, her ten-year-old little brother, called through the many rooms of their modest suburban house. "Maddy, I need you!"
"Adrian, buddy, what's wrong?" She knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm the boy.
"Josh is hurt - I think he was in another fight or something - I tried to get Mom, but she wouldn't wake up and I know she needs her rest." Adrian paused to breathe. "So then I called Dad's office - I know he said only to do that if it's an emergency but this is an emergency! The lady who answered the phone wasn't very nice and she said Dad already left the office for the day but he isn't here yet and Josh is bleeding and you gotta help him, Maddy!"
He had worked himself up now to the point of sobbing. Madison's mind went into hyperdrive; she suddenly knew exactly what to do, or she thought she did anyway. That was good enough.
Josh was indeed banged up pretty bad. Madison caught a glimpse of his injuries as he staggered through the front door. Much of the flesh that was not covered by his torn clothes was, in fact, covered by small to moderately-sized bruises. They ranged greatly in color and looked rather painful, but not as painful as the cut on his forehead.
Shit, what if he needed stitches?
Madison helped him to the couch where he proceeded to collapse heavily onto the cushions, seemingly exhausted from having to drag his beaten body home. She instructed Adrian to find all the first-aid supplies they had and pile them on the coffee table, which he did in record time.
The most pressing issue was the laceration. First she applied pressure to the wound until the bleeding stopped. Luckily, it wasn't deep enough to require stitches. Everything she needed was right here. Madison cleaned the cut gently with warm water before disinfecting it. After the bandage was on, she simply sighed and looked at him.
"Thanks." Josh said.
"He kicked your ass, didn't he?" Madison demanded, the corners of her mouth quirking into a kind of smile.
"What makes you think that?"
But her smile was gone just as quickly. "Why don't you grow up? You're seventeen, for God's sake! I mean, Dad is going to kill you! Mom can't handle this shit right now, you know she can't, and you nearly scared Adrian to death!"
"What about you, Maddy?" he asked calmly. "What do you think?"
"I think you are an idiot." Madison replied. "And I think you're going to get yourself killed one day because I won't always be there to fix everything for you."
Just then, a car pulled into the driveway. Adrian ran outside to greet their father while Josh prepared to be yelled at and she prepared to be ignored. That was the way of things, now.
In the past, before they even knew what congestive heart failure was or how devastatingly it would change their lives, it was always their mother who fixed things. But since she was too frail and sick to do so, the job ultimately fell to Madison.
)O(
The phone rang during English class: Madison's favorite class. Everyone in the room fell silent when they noticed the grim look on their teacher's face. What terrible thing had happened? Which one of them would she address?
The answer was already abundantly clear.
"Madison, your father is downstairs." the aging woman said too kindly, pity in her round eyes. "Take your things with you, please."
She wouldn't be coming back. Linda had been in and out of hospitals for months, but this was different; she could feel it. There was no denying the truth any longer: Linda Paige was dying. Of course, she wanted to say goodbye. But what was she supposed to say to the person who had raised her, whose only wish it had been to see her only daughter walk across that stage and receive her high school diploma?
A wish that would never be granted…
The rest of the students fixed her with sympathetic looks as she left the room, running through the empty halls until at last she reached the front doors where her father waited.
They drove on in near perfect silence. Adrian was crying and no one faulted him for it. Madison noticed that Josh wasn't in the car, and when she asked her father why, he said it was because he was already at the hospital.
Madison hated hospitals. The bright lights and semi-sterile environment made her feel uncomfortable and nervous. Not to mention it didn't help seeing her mother like that...
Linda was lying in a pristine white bed, tubes and wires snaked in and out of her pale frame, connected to various machines that monitored and even controlled aspects of its function. The rhythmic 'beep, beep, beep' was the only true indication that she was actually alive at all.
The heartbeat was weakening rapidly. Her breathing was labored, but she was breathing, at least.
Linda's spirit started to fade, and she was so thin now that Madison could practically see every vein inside her.
"The angels are waiting for me..." Linda smiled, delirious from the drugs.
Madison just didn't have the heart to tell her that she no longer believed in God or Heaven or angels, especially angels.
Not long after that, her body finally gave out and she went into cardiac arrest. The machines could do nothing for her, now. Doctors and nurses ushered the irrevocably broken family into the hall. There was silence once more, but of a different kind. Adrian was crying again, as was she. Josh simply looked angry.
And Robert Paige stood away from the others, stone-faced and solemn, trying to imagine how this could really be happening. Just a few hours ago he'd tried to wake his wife, but his efforts were all to no avail. Her condition had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, and there was no going back.
From then on they would try to force some sense of normality into their lives, mostly for Adrian's sake. Robert worked more than was necessary and, when he finally came of age, Josh enlisted in the army.
Madison hoped this did not mean her prediction was coming true.
)O(
The session ended. Dr. Eberson bid her farewell and then it was over. Madison set off on the long trek through falling snow and ice to her apartment. There was no doubt about it now: winter was definitively approaching fast.