Chapter 6.5

—The wind was brisk and cold. It was a chilly Sunday morning. Jayson—still under his sheets—was staring blankly at the ceiling. His room consisted of his bed, a nightstand, and a desk with a computer on top of it.

Every Sunday he would visit the hospital, whether it was with his family or with friends. It seemed to be his only motivation to get out of bed on cold days like these. As Jayson sat straight on his bed, he notices a thin layer of frost that had formed on his window overnight.

Getting out of bed and putting on some clothes, Jayson goes about with his usual morning routine. While brushing his teeth, he can hear his father downstairs talking with the rest of his family. Although Jayson couldn't make out most of what they were saying, Jayson knew what was going down. The rest of his family would be staying home, and only his father and he would be going to the hospital.

Jayson spots his father putting on an oversized jacket next to the front door, heading down the stairs.

"Morning," Jayson says.

His father doesn't respond. Jayson tries to get a response once again.

"Hey, what's up?" Jayson asks.

His father doesn't acknowledge his question, but talks.

"The car's unlocked. You can get in." His father says, motioning Jayson out of the house.

Jayson looks at his father directly, seeing a death-imposed look on his father's face. He seemed to be looking into the living room, where the rest of their family was. His father sighs and opens the front door. Jayson follows close by.

Exiting the house, Jayson sees his sister playing basketball in the driveway. Not wanting to talk with her, Jayson avoids making eye contact and heads straight into his dad's car.

Once he and his dad buckled their seatbelts, it was just a matter of time before Jayson could see his mom.

On the highway—After some time getting out of their neighborhood— Jayson silently spaces out while looking out of the window. He thinks about The Nexus and how to level up faster. His father glances his way but turns away immediately back to the road.

"You know, you should at least say 'Hi' to your mother-" Jayson's dad starts but is cut off.

"*Step* mother." Jayson says in a low tone, "She doesn't deserve a warm welcome from me."

Jayson's father holds back his words of resentment for what Jayson had to say and looks at the traffic ahead in a passive-aggressive motion.

"What about your siblings?" he says.

"Step-siblings." Jayson corrects him.

"You never had any other siblings before them, so what's your deal there?"

"Why don't they ever visit mom? And then act so nice to me? She's family too, you know."

There was an awkward pause between the two of them. Jayson's dad looks down at the glove box and opens it up. Jayson leans back while he does this. After some time looking through the scattered mess of papers and files in the glove box, his father takes out a pamphlet-shaped form. After picking it up, he tosses it to Jayson.

"I didn't want it to be so sudden to you or the rest of the family, but..."

Jayson looks at the pamphlet in horror.

"We're..."

"*Moving?!" Jayson yells.

Jayson's father corrects the wheel after jumping from Jayson's outburst. This must've been what his father was so weird about today.

"Not for another month!" Jayson's father says, "And just to be clear, it's because—"

"—It was my stepmom's idea?" Jayson snaps.

"No! My work needs me over in a new site a couple of hours away from here! The commute is too long, so Moving is going to be the only option!"

"...Then what about mom?"

"She's getting the care she needs, but we would have less time to visit her."

Jayson's anger had reached its max. His blood boiled at what his father was saying. Sure It couldn't be helped, but that doesn't mean Jayson has no right to be mad.

"Then, what about school?" Jayson asks.

"You'll transfer." His father says, "Trust me, I just had this conversation with the rest of the family. they aren't too thrilled either, especially since they moved in a month ago."

Jayson's extended family was the outcome of his father going back into the dating scene after some time waiting on Jayson's mother to wake up. His new wife is hated heavily by Jayson, representing to him that his father has given up on his real mom.

After extending their squabble throughout the ride, the car stops, and Jay looks back out of the window to spot the hospital in view. Instead of going to the parking garage, his father had parked out in the front entrance parking lot instead. Jayson didn't make eye contact with his father while they got out of the car and entered the building.

Jayson turns on his NIE by thinking about it, using the same technique to send a text message to Isabelle and Josh. He explains to them over text his situation. They both respond in the group chat, asking questions.

>What school are you going to transfer to?

>What do you mean you're moving?!

>How much longer until you can log on? we can talk more about this in-game.

> ^Agreed!!

ˆˆsent just now

Talking with his friends over the NIE—walking inside of the hospital corridors—Jayson notices his father stop in his tracks in the middle of the hallway they were in. They had made it to his mom's room. Jayson steps inside, noticing that the lights are off like usual. The machinery around the room still looked like it came from a sci-fi movie. Jayson's father exits the room to talk with some of the doctors and nurses.

Immediately, Jayson walks over to the calendar and marks today's date off with the bright red marker sitting on the nightstand. His mother was lying still, in a deep sleep. She has been in a coma for around one year and eleven months, with next week being her 2nd year anniversary in the hospital.

After staying by his mother's side for many days, Jayson has become numb to her lifeless expressions. It's sometimes sad to ponder on, but Jayson tries his hardest not to think about it.

Jayson stands up to leave the room, having given his mother some time today. Before exiting her space, he hears his father talking with the doctors outside in the hallway. It seemed to be a heated discussion. Instead of going straight out in the hallway, Jayson stands next to the door, hiding in the room to eavesdrop.

"...She hasn't had any signs for a very long time now. It's your call, Mr. Maguire." A doctor says.

Jayson could hear his father exhale deeply, seemingly in frustration.

"We can only fund her for another year on insurance, and paying out of pocket for treatment like this would make me go broke." Jayson's father says.

"So, what are you going to do?" The doctor asks.

"One more year, and we'll pull the plug." Jayson's father says.

Jayson's heart dropped to the floor. His mind didn't just race. It sprinted across his skull. Every emotion Jayson had was nullified, and only a feeling of immense and overwhelming sadness overcame him. His eyes quickly watered up, but Jayson prevented himself from crying or having a breakdown. His father had just decided to keep his mother alive for only one more year.

Jayson exits the room with his red hoodie up over his head. His long hair was covering his eyes, which were spaced out looking at the floor. Jayson was overthinking a lot of things.

"Hey, good going back home now?" His father said calmly.

Jayson doesn't look up to talk to him.

"Yes." He says in a monotone voice.

Once they walked outside of the hospital, Jayson stopped. His father notices and turns around to see Jayson shaking.

"What's up?" Jayson's dad says, stumbling over his words.

"I heard what you said." Jayson says, trying not to cry, "Mom's only lasting until next year."

Jayson's father is shocked to find out Jayson heard his conversation but more frustrated that his son called him out for making a financial decision.

"If she wakes up, then everything will be ok," He says, "But I can't fund her treatment on my own. You know that."

Jayson's teeth gritted against each other.

"What about your new wife? She works..." Jayson says.

"This isn't something that she is required to take part in!" Jayson's father yells across the parking lot.

"Mom's gonna die because of you!" Jayson explains.

"And I've had to accept that!" Jayson's father says.

Jayson stops his breathing and doesn't blink. A single tear falls down his face. His father doesn't want her alive? Or he's already accepted that she's dead? Whatever he meant, Jayson didn't understand his motive.

"That's why I remarried, damn it!" Jayson's father says, fed up with Jayson's attitude, "If there were something I could do for your mom, trust me, I would've done it in these past two years..."

"*You can pay for her treatment!*" Jayson yells, "There *IS* something you can do!"

"Not without sacrificing the livelihood of my family!" His father responds.

"She is family!"

"She's practically dead already, Jayson!"

Again, Jayson's heart stopped its motions. His throat started to cramp up in anger and guilt. This conversation he has had so far with his father has shown built-up resentment for each other on both parties and shows his father's true intentions.

His father looks down at the ground, realizing what he must be making Jayson feel like.

"I...I'm sorry. Just get in the car, and I'll explain everything..." Jayson's father calmly says, walking towards the car.

"No," Jayson mumbles.

Jayson's father looks behind him to his son. Jayson's face was scrunched up in anger, with tears draining out of his face and onto the floor.

"I'm not going back home! *Ever!*" Jayson screams, "You guys can just watch mom die in your new house in your new town!"

As he says this, Jayson runs away from his father and the parking lot, ignoring his father's calls. He ran like he never ran before and continued to sweat out his agonizing feelings. His thoughts were so full of emotion that he didn't feel anything in the rest of his body.

He truly felt empty. Defeated.

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

Jayson wakes up in a cold sweat.

He slowly sits up straight, realizing that he had fallen asleep on Isabelle's couch. He has another headache. Before he could get out of 'bed' and actually wake up, the smell of eggs hit his nose immediately. Looking over the couch and into the kitchen, he spots Isabelle making herself breakfast.

This was a different scene Jayson was used to. After he ran from his father, not going back home, he had to convert COIN into real-world cash just to survive. He had to use half of his Nexus wallet to stay a week in a cheap motel, buying cheap fast food if he was hungry. That was one of the most depressing weeks of his life, but his friends were very supportive of him, visiting him whenever they had a chance.

Isabelle was the one who offered him a place to stay after a couple of days. After talking with her parents and explaining Jayson's situation, they happily agreed to let him stay over. They, of course, were skeptical—given that their daughter was inviting a boy over to her house—but their suspicions were quelled after seeing how timid Jayson was. He was just a friend.

Jayson walks over to the kitchen next to Isabelle. She notices that he's awake and heads over to the fridge.

"Good morning—" Jayson says, but before he could even expect a response back, Isabelle shoves two things into his face: A carton of eggs and a packet of bacon.

"You can only choose one, so what will it be?" Isabelle demands.

"Uh, eggs, I guess?" Jayson says with a confused expression.

Isabelle smiles and walks back to the stove. Jayson stands awkwardly close by, still wondering if Isabelle even heard his 'good morning.'

"You know you don't gotta be so tense. This *is* gonna be your home for a little bit." Isabelle says.

'Yeah, she didn't hear me...' Jayson thinks.

He didn't ever tell Isabelle and Josh about his mother's new set condition, being that she wouldn't survive for much longer. That would put too much stress on them, and he had to keep that to himself anyways.

If there were one thing that he had to do right now, it would be focusing on his training for the tryouts next week. If he wanted to have some way to save his mom, he would need to make some serious money to pay for her treatment. Since his father was neglectful to help, it would all rest on him. Joining a Guild is the only gateway for some fast progression, so he would need to make it on a team.

After eating breakfast, Jayson and Isabelle log in to The Nexus after telling Josh to get on simultaneously as them. They needed to talk strategy.

They only had a week to prepare for the Guild tryouts, and time was ticking.

'It's time to visualize and execute success,' Jayson thinks.