Prompt for @emma-dale17
Fifteen seconds; fifteen seconds is all it took for his world to come crashing down on him again. He had gotten distracted, took his eyes off his son for fifteen seconds, and he was gone.
"Seb!" Robert shouted as loud as he could for his boy. He frantically ran through the house looking, room by room, to see if he could find him first. When every room turned out empty, the fear sunk in. He was out there. Seb was out there in the world, he was out there in the world Robert was too afraid of now. It's like the world hated him.
After everything, the world still hated him.
As if six years in prison hadn't been enough, it turned out he never should have been there. A woman had come out, a nurse, one that had seen Lee when he had first been taken in due to Robert's attack. She had recognized him, a face she would never forget. She had been another one of his victims.
Six years had eaten away at her, six years she had an innocent man on her conscience, the man that had gotten life for the crime she had committed. With a simple act, she had snuck into Lee's room, and taken his life. The medical jargon had all gone over his head as his solicitor explained it, not that it mattered, he had been freed.
And now as he struggles to get his life back together, it's as if the world still plots against him.
"Seb!" Robert shouts at the top of his lungs as he steps outside his door, as he steps outside the only thing keeping him safe.
"I...I don't see him anywhere." A woman says with an apologetic look on her face. She had been trying to help.
It's all Robert needs to hear and he takes off in a run. He doesn't give her a second thought and runs as fast as he can towards the road. His son couldn't have gotten too far away.
He's nearly at the end of the road when he hears a loud bang, the sound instantly takes him back, it's like the cells slamming around him, and suddenly he's being swallowed. His breathing goes into a panic and he feels like he's about to pass out, he can't breathe.
He barely manages to make it back into his home, slamming the door closed behind him, and sliding down to the floor with tears in his eyes. The world, it's scary, it's more frightening than he remembers. It's different. He's different. Prison has ruined him.
Agoraphobia is what his counselor had called it. He was afraid of the world now. It's what prison had done to him. He was afraid of the world out there. He was afraid of his own fucking shadow.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!" He let out a scream as he slammed the back of his head against the door. He couldn't even help his own son.
He dug through his pocket as quickly as he could.
"Hi...I...uh...my son." He was finally able to get out. "He's missing."
As he waited all he could do was open the door and stare out. His body ached to step out, to go in search of his son, to do something useful, and everything failed him. Every time he tried to take a step out he could feel everything going dark.
All he could do was dwell on how fucked everything was. How fucked he was.
He'd only been out for five months. They had been hell. Finding out that the love of his life had moved on just as he had hoped, his son had been taken away by his mother to the other side of the world, and the sister he had tried to keep safe had made family with her attackers family. The life he had left behind didn't exist anymore. There wasn't a place for him, not anymore.
His heart began to beat fast, too fast really, an attack would follow. He quickly stood up and ran for his medication, then moved towards the small kitchen, grabbed a glass of water, and threw the pills into his mouth before chasing them with water.
He nearly choked on the water when a loud bang came from the door.
"ROBERT!" An old familiar voice shouted through the door. "Open the door Robert. I know you're in there!" The voice continued along with the bangs.
Aaron. It was Aaron's voice.
"I...I can't." His voice was shaky. "I can't, Aaron. I can't." His voice broke this time.
"Dad!" Seb's voice broke him from his panic. "Open the door dad."
And just like that his breathing came down, his shoulders dropped, and he felt a bit of the world lift from his shoulders. He held his breath and opened the door.
Aaron stood on the other side, he stood there looking as if he had been stuck in time. He still looked the same. The same beautiful eyes, the same scruff, the same fluffy hair at the top of his head. Just the way he always pictured him in his dreams. Aaron stood there holding onto Seb's hand.
"You okay dad?" Seb asked as he noticed the tears on Robert's face. He released Aaron's hand and wrapped his arms around Robert's waist. His cuddles were magic. They always did the trick.
"I am now, mate." He let go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding on to. "I am now."
"You sure?" Aaron asked as his hand moved, reaching for Robert's face, his thumb ready to wipe away the tears.
All Robert could do was flinch, panic rushing through him. He couldn't help it. Physical contact was difficult for him. Even the small arms around his waist at the moment made him feel a bit uneasy.
"I...I…" He tried to say something when he saw the hurt in Aaron's eyes.
"What...what are you doing here?" Aaron asked. "When did you get out?" The look in Aaron's eyes, it was obvious he was full of questions, and maybe a bit of something else. Hope maybe.
"You guys alright then?" The woman was still there. "I need to get back to my deliveries." She added.
"Yeah, we're good." Aaron gave her a smile, and like that she was gone.
She was gone and there they stood, just the three of them. A strong familiarity about it all. The three of them. They used to be a family. They used to be many things.
Now, only time would tell.
