Chapter Two

Aaron followed the doctor back to her office, she motioned for him to sit on the sofa this time. “How long will Dave be out?” He asked her.

“Not as long as you might think, the procedure is fairly quick.” She told him and picked up the notebook, opening it to a fresh page. “So Mr Gray, how is David doing?”

“His grades are alright, given everything.” Aaron told her. He had a feeling she wasn’t actually worried about David’s grades.

“That’s good.” The doctor placated him. “But I meant at home.”

“Aren’t you supposed to already know that?” Aaron asked directly.

“I know what David has told me.” She countered and scribbled something in her notebook.

Aaron crossed his arms. It’s not like he was against the idea of therapy, more that he was against the idea of finding a therapist. With one presented right in front of him he may as well take advantage. “I personally think he’s still angry, with no way of burning off some energy.” He decided to say.

Clara nodded. “He was in a pretty bad situation, even before the fall.” She told him. Aaron swallowed, gulped really. “It happens a lot with older kids in the system.” She went on. “Maybe what happened was for the best.”

“How can you say that?” Aaron asked a little disgusted in his little brother’s therapist. “He was just a kid.”

“He seems to be in a better situation now.” She agreed, then looked at him with her piercing brown eyes. “Which brings me to my next point, your parents.”

“Hey, I’ll come back and we can talk about it.” Aaron said now defensive.

“They died.” She stated. Aaron was getting uncomfortable. “Six years ago. How old was David then?”

“T-ten.” Aaron stammered knowing how impossibly young that sounded. But she knew that already, it was just a trick.

“How old were you Mr Gray?” Dr Bellamy interrogated.

“I was twenty.” Aaron said he was actually getting a little emotional. “I was in college.”

Clara nodded again. “Why was David in foster care?” She asked him. This was what she actually wanted to talk about.

Aaron’s chest started beating quickly, like a caged rabbit wanting free. “Our parents died.” He stammered.

“Did his social worker not talk to you about options?” She went on.

“I was in college.” He said now getting a little angry with her himself. It's not like he was one of her patients. “My parents had also just died.” He spat.

Clara nodded again, scribbling away in her notebook. “Yes. I suppose those things are true.” She agreed diplomatically.

“Look, it’s not like I didn’t want to do something for him.” He added, unprompted. “I tried to visit as often as I could and it’s not like we had a place to stay due to the fire.”

“You do now, your current house.” Clara agreed. “The new one.”

“The insurance company really dragged their feet, but it’s the same house, same rooms, same layout, same place.” Aaron told her.

This time Clara flipped through the book, looking for something. “Right. The house was rebuilt according to the original plan.” She told him.

“David spoke about it?” Aaron asked her, still reeling from the interrogation and would much rather talk about the four year long construction project he managed from college.

“Mostly that neither of you sleep in the master bedroom.” Clara noted.

“Oh. Yeah.” Aaron told her. Obviously she didn’t care about countertop finishes. “Didn’t feel right.” She nodded along.

“With this treatment you will need to be there for David, he’ll be confused.” Clara told him, switching subjects as if she hadn’t just pissed him off.

“I will be, he’s my responsibility now.” Aaron assured her.

“Even after he turns eighteen?” She asked which caught him off guard.

“What? Of course!” He again reaffirmed. “We are brothers, I’ll be there, no matter what, no matter how long he needs my help. I won’t leave him alone again.” Aaron’s eyes went a little wide at his own admission.

Dr Bellamy was writing quickly and nodded along to what he was saying. “Good.” She said firmly, as if he had completed some assignment for her. She reached over to her desk and picked up a small card. “If you want to chat some more or have any questions about the treatment after today, please call me.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Aaron said, although he was pretty sure he could find her number online he took the card anyway and placed it into his wallet.

The doctor noticed something on her monitor. “Your brother is awake, faster than I thought.” She told him.

***

David happily giggled as his Dad pushed him on the swing. “HIGHER!” He screamed. “I WANNA GO HIGHER!” He could feel every time he swung forward his Dad’s strong hand pushed firmly against his back as the chain of the swings rattled and creaked.

“Careful Davey” His Dad told him.

“I’m going to jump!” David announced and without warning at the top of his swing let go of the chains and slipped off the seat, the momentum propelling him forward.

The sandy ground beneath him disappeared and what appeared in its place was a staircase, hard, firm and broken. His childlike cheer vanished in a moment when he realised he was falling down them again, his Dad no longer there.

David’s eyes open up as if he had been sleeping an entire night, they practically burst open with energy. This wasn’t his room though, it was some hospital. Had he been back to treat his burns? No, that didn’t sound right. He hadn't done that in years. He looked to his left at the empty bed, then his right. It felt like he had a weight on the back of his head and collapsed back down onto the pillow. “Hello.” He called out, perhaps one of the hospital nurses could tell him what’s going on.

David laid there for a few minutes as his world became a little more clear. He remembered he was at the university and tried Dr Bellamy’s new treatment. He shrugged his dizziness to whatever treatment he was on. Then a thought struck him, his leg! He hadn’t even been able to feel the pain of the injuries from before. David pulled away the covers. His jeans sat loosely on his legs. That confused him. “What the.” He said out loud and finally managed to sit up. His hoodie had always been a little baggy but now it enveloped him like he was wearing his Dad’s clothes.

The thought of his Dad sent a twisting feeling in his stomach, prickles crawled over his skin as he thought about him. He hadn’t felt like this in years, he could already feel his involuntary tears filling his eyes as his vision blurred.

That’s when the door opened to reveal Dr Bellamy and his Dad! “Dad!” David cried out in an unbelievable shout. “What’s going on!”

“What happened to him!” Aaron said in a worried tone and hurried over to his brother. “He’s… Smaller.”

“Daddy!” David cried and reached out with both arms. The teary needy look on David’s face couldn’t help but invite Aaron into one of the first hugs he had received from his brother since they reunited in the hospital over two years ago.

“Dave, it’s me… Aaron.” He corrected him as he held him in a longer than comfortable embrace.

Realisation struck David’s face. “Right…” He said as if a thousand miles away. “Mom and Dad are…”

“Yeah…” Aaron said uneasily at the vulnerable state of his brother.

Dr Bellamy was busy filling in a clip board of information observing the two. Eventually she put the clipboard down to address the brothers directly. “You have probably noticed some changes.” She said vaguely.

David pushed himself away from Aaron. “You thINK!” David exclaimed with a crack in his voice causing him to clear his throat with a forced cough.

“What happened?” Aaron asked again, still shocked.

“His cells have reverted to a previous state, about three years ago.” Dr Bellamy stated in her matter-of-fact tone as if the two brothers had known this was the result of the treatment.

David gasped as he pulled back the covers, his hand grasped his injured leg and it truly hit him that he no longer felt the pain from his injury a couple years ago. “It worked!” He exclaimed, the fear and surprise in his voice changing into disbelief.

He swung his legs off the bed and practically fell down onto the floor. He caught himself and steadied himself by holding onto the bed.

“Careful.” Aaron told him.

“Like you care.” David spat out with renewed contempt, then winced. “Sorry…” He looked a little concerned then let it pass. He and Aaron weren’t incredibly close but it had been years since he snapped at him like that. David steadied himself, his clothes hung loose on his frame. His jeans extended well past his ankles and his sweater looked downright oversized. “This might be a problem.”

Dr Bellamy performed a full examination of David, even marvelling at the state of him. He had him remove his oversized clothes while she took notes, pictures and generally gave him a physical. “The treatment seems to be working as intended, based on your medical history you are physically the same as you were when you were thirteen.” She told him with a little pride.

David held his now unnecessary cane in his hand and looked at the doctor, by now he had returned to his oversized clothes and was practically giddy. He was hopping up and down a little and even standing on one leg. “This is amazing!” He exclaimed.

“There are no side effects?” Aaron asked, still worried about how fast everything had changed, this whole procedure challenged his whole perception of how science worked.

David was eager to get going and Aaron didn’t really want to be left alone with Dr Bellamy. “We can meet every other day, but if something comes up give me a call.” She instructed.

David handed her his cane, thanked her again and the two went on their way.