35.

"I must've died and gone to hell," Elliot's frail, pale skinned father said when he saw his son enter the room.

Elliot took a deep breath and held back the anger that rose in him.

"Nice to see you too dad," he said and closed the bedroom door behind himself. He sat in an old wooden chair next to his father's bed.

His father had always been tall, muscular and energetic. Lying in the bed now, he looked small and weak. The sickness that had robbed him of his health and energy, had also made him look years older than he actually was.

"So why are you here, you think you can take me now, cus I'm sick?" He asked and laughed. It was broken up by a wet, hacking cough. Thick, yellow globs of spit shot out of his mouth and landed on the bed around him.

"No, Elvin told me to come home and see you before...." his voice trailed off. He couldn't stand his father, but the thought of him dying was too much.

"Before I die? Is that what he said? Listen son, I'm sick but I ain't giving up. I still got some fight in me," He said and raised a weak fist.

Elliot couldn't help smiling. Even though his dad had treated him like the scum of the earth when his powers awakened, he still loved the man.

"So, what exactly is wrong with you?" Elliot asked.

"The doctor says it's some kinda bacteria or something. All I know is that whatever it is, it's kickin my ass son.

Elliot couldn't help but notice that his dad had now called him son twice. The last time he saw him, he dropped him off at the bus station and called him an abomination, before driving away and not looking back.

"So why does Elvin think you're dying?" Elliot asked as he fought off the memories of that day.

"Your brother panics too fast. He was never as strong as you," his dad said with a slight shake of his head.

Elliot tilted his head at that comment, had he heard that correctly? His dad noticed.

"Something you wanna say? I know you ain't never been scared to speak up, don't change now," he said.

"It's just, that last comment kinda sounded like a compliment. It caught me off guard," Elliot responded.

"Was it really a compliment? It ain't never been a secret that you were the stronger and braver of my boys. That's probably why you got powers, if any of us could handle that it's you. See now that's a compliment," he said and started laughing again.

Elliot wasn't ready for this sudden shift in his character. He wanted to walk in and tell this old fool off. He wanted him to know how big of a mistake he had made by calling him names and sending him away. Why was he being nice all of a sudden?" Elliot thought as he stared at his sick father.

"Listen, Ellie I know you probably hate me for the way I treated you. To be honest, I hate myself for that too. I just knew that I had to send you off into a world I didn't know anything about, with people that I didn't understand," he said thoughtfully.

"So you tried to break me, before you did? What kinda sense does that make?" Elliot asked. This was the conversation he wanted. This was where he got answers.

"No son, I knew it wouldn't break you. Like I said, you were always strong, I tried to give you an edge. I wanted you to be ready to take on anybody with the stones to try you. It was my way of motivating you with tough love," he said before a string of coughs interrupted him.

"You called me an abomination and a freak, how is that love?" Elliot said, his fists were clenched.

"I did. Tell me though, did those words ever give you any motivation? Ever make you keep working at getting better when you needed it? If they did then my plan worked. Son I can't fight the kinda battles you're gonna have to. God gave you that power for a reason, all I could do is give you the best push forward I knew how. Now when these people, who truly look at you like a spawn of evil, come after you, I just hope you're strong enough to fend them off. That's why I said the things I did," he said.

Elliot didn't want to accept his answer, he wanted him to be the religious nut job he had written him off as. If what he was saying now was true, Elliot had simply fallen for a weird self help scheme. Where did he go from there? He didn't have a plan b, he completely expected to still hate his father after talking to him. This feeling he had now was confusing, but it definitely wasn't hate.

"What am I supposed to do with that? Just stop hating you? I can't do that. You hurt me worse than anyone, no matter what the reasons were," Elliot said, trying to sort his feelings.

"Listen, I only told you because I honestly don't know if I'll get the chance to later. You have the luxury of time to figure out what to do with the knowledge. If you leave this room and still hate me, I'll have no choice but to accept that. I did what I did, and have to be satisfied with where that leaves us," he said with a slight nod of his head.

"How do I know this isn't just you trying to mend fences as a way to earn a ticket to heaven or something like that?" Elliot asked suspiciously.

"Don't be like that. You know we don't believe anything like that. My real motivation is getting back my golden boy," he said and smiled weakly.

Elliot dropped his head when he heard his secret nickname. His dad used to always pat him on the shoulder and say that's my golden boy after he did something praiseworthy. It was always followed by don't tell your brother I call you that okay? Now that Elliot thought about it, there was a moment when they arrived at the train station. His dad put his hand on his shoulder as if he was about to say it, but he just stood quietly for a few seconds and then pushed him forward. Elliot was so mad he didn't even look back to see him drive away.

Elliot's mom walked in with a serving tray.

"I hope you two had a good talk, I can see that everything is still where it should be," she said and smiled.

"I think we did," Elliot said, suddenly realizing how long they had been talking for.

"Did he tell you, he randomly reaches out for you in his sleep? His golden Ellie," She said and imitated him reaching off into the distance.

"That never happened, your mom is loca, been in the kitchen too long," his father said and shook his head.

Elliot laughed. He knew his mom was telling the truth because of the nickname. He didn't even know if she knew about the nickname, she had certainly never used it before.

"Whatever tough guy, are you ready to eat?" his mom asked his dad.

"Umm son, I'm happy you're here but I can't eat with you in the room. Man's gotta have some dignity, ya know?" he said.

"Oh so now it's embarrassing that I have to feed you? You weren't this macho until Ellie came home," His mom protested.

Elliot got up and walked toward the door. He felt strangely optimistic as he left the room.