Page 220 of Forged in the Fire
She was wheezing then, these thin rasps that he begged to continue.
“You’re okay. You’re okay.”
Sweat drenched his body as he staggered through the woods, mixing with the tears and blood that obscured his sight.
He forced off the darkness that kept trying to enclose. The waves of dizziness that whooshed through his body.
He finally stumbled out from beneath the trees, and his father’s truck idled on the deserted dirt road just in the distance.
Relief sliced through him on a gush of fatigue. On the failing that his body was getting ready to surrender to.
They were almost there. They were almost there. He could do this. Just a few more feet.
“Dad,” he shouted. “Help!”
The engine turned over, and the lights flashed on.
Except his father didn’t climb out to help him.
He shifted into gear and gunned the gas.
The roar of the old engine and the spitting of dirt as the tires peeled out hitting Silas’s ears.
His father swerved as he hit the road, his taillights disappearing in the distance.
“No! Come back! You have to help her! Help us!” He screamed it, his voice hoarse and croaked.
He attempted to fumble along behind him.
“No!” he wailed, a sob hitching in his throat.
He stumbled, and his right knee gave out from under him. He fought to right himself, but he fell forward, he and his mother slammed into the dirt.
Blackness flashed, agony clawing through every one of his senses.
Somehow, he managed to get onto his hands and knees, and his chest battered and bashed as he rolled his mother over.
She flopped onto her back, and her kind eyes were wide and terrified.
“Mom. Oh God, Mom, please! Look at me. You’re going to be okay.”
At the sound of his voice, her eyes flicked to his. The second they did, they softened, an expression coming over her face that he didn’t deserve.
Pride and love.
So much love.
“Take care of your brother and sister.”
He shook his head. “No. You’re fine. You’re fine.”
She coughed and blood spluttered from her mouth. “Promise me.”
Tears poured, and he choked, “Mom.”
“Promise me,” she wheezed.
“I will always take care of them. Just like I’m going to take care of you.” He wanted the words to come out firm. Full of belief. Except the tears that wouldn’t stop polluted them.
