A Much Needed Goodbye
Bella Jenkins watched as her middle child, Nebula, squirmed in their bed. His hair was stuck to their forehead with sweat, he was flushed, and he appeared to be having a bad dream. Nebula had come down with a bad fever early yesterday and it had to break.
Sheâd been taking care of him all day. A bucket (freshly dumped) sat by their bed. A water rag rested on their nightstand. Bella wouldnât leave Nebula to fight off the fever by themself.
At first, she thought the footsteps outside were her husbands, Theo, but the steps were to heavy. A knock on the door and it creaked open. Turning to look over, all the breath left Bella. An older version of Nebula stood in the doorway. They looked so different to the younger in front of her.
âHey Ma.â He said weakly.
âNebula?â She asked, and he smiled. Grabbing the chair by the door they pulled over to her and sat in it.
âI know this probably doesnât make sense, and Iâm sorry. But..IâŚugh I just needed to see you one last time.â
âOne last time? Why in the world do you look a pirate from one of your books?â He laughed at that and continued to stare his younger self.
âI do donât I? I didnât like how I dressed when I joined the crew, so I picked a new style. Do ya think it fits me?â
âHow..how did you get here? I have so many questions.â They gestured out in front of their self.
âAsk away and Iâll answer. Iâve been alone for awhile, and I think Iâll be joining the others soon. So I wanted to actually say goodbye this time. My crew, The Pests, can travel through time. I donât think any of us figured it out but I could be wrong. Warren was special, though Aurora could also jump through time.â
âWarren? Aurora? Crew? Nebula, what is going on?â Bella looks over then and realized that her child is crying. Full on sobbing as they bury their face in their hands. It takes a few minutes for him to calm down.
âA bad thing happened to me, here in this town. And I got picked up by a crew. They put me back together, gave me a family I would do anything to have back, gave me a life worth living. We fought and killed each other but we loved each other. Ma, I miss them a lot.â Hold on, killed? Bella was missing something, something big.
âKilled? You killed each other?â
âThey literally put me back together. When one gets mostly metal internal organs, one becomes âimmortalâ.â He spat with such bitterness that Bella leaned away a bit. âWe roamed the galaxy, told peoples stories, made a life for ourselves. We werenât good people. We killed, murdered just for the hell of it. I believe half the crew blew up their home planets.â
âHowâŚhow many have you killed?â A bitter laugh.
âI couldnât even guess. You get sucked into the hunt, the feeling of the chase, the adrenaline of knowing youâll be the survivor. I wonât apologize for something I enjoyed. Many of the people we killed actually deserved it.â Her child, a serial killer. She bit her lip and wiped the few tears that fell down her face.
âHave you come to kill someone?â
âNo, I killed them a long time ago. I got my revenge once. I wish I could protect younger me from her, but then I wouldnât get the crew. You should look us up when I leave.â Itâs then when Bella looks at Nebula, truly looks at him, sheâs sees the brokenness in his eyes.
âHow long have you been alone?â His jaw clenches.
âA while. It was me and Ralphie but fro got the end they wanted. Made both of us gravestones first. How long have I been sick?â
âAlmost two days.â
âCan I tell you something?â Bella nodded. âPlease, when I push you away later in life, please donât hate me. Iâll never know if the you from then hated me but please donât hate him. They will lie to you, the story will be wrong. I was the one hurt and left to rot. Not them.â
âCan I protect you?â Silence, and then he stood.
âI need to go, the petss will be hungry soon. I love you, Ma. Goodbye.â
âI love you too, goodbye.â And like that, Nebula was gone.
Bella Jenkins cried as she watched her child fight a fever. Something would happen to him, something she couldnât stop.
It was years later, when Chrissy brought the news of Nebulas death that she knew. Bella couldnât say anything but she knew Chrissy had killed her child. Watching Lacey become friends with her and fall in love with Chrissy was painful but she could do nothing.
When news spread of Chrissys horrible death, well, Bella was great at fake crying.
