It was a Monday. Cold. Stormy. The kind of weather no one wants to be outside in if they could help it. The perfect type of weather to curl up with a nice book, a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket. John pulls up to the driveway of his house excited to see how his pregnant wife Amber has fared with her day. Things have been kind of a struggle for both of them since the news of the babies. John has had to pick up extra work wherever he could get it. From staying late at his office to checking local paper listings for part time work. He needed to make sure he could afford to provide for his family. He often jokes that he should just start selling drugs. It’s one of those jokes that never really lands but he continues to tell it anyway because it fills the spaces in the silence that has grown ever larger in his marriage. Plus he thinks it’s pretty funny. Becoming a father is a lot of work, and he can’t be everywhere. Him being gone so often has created a divide within his marriage. One that he’s taken the liberty to try and start rectifying tonight. He’s ahead on all the bills, gotten off of work on time and already has Amber's favorite food ordered and on the way. He’s ready to rekindle, and thinks that tonight is the night where they can finally sync up and ignite some sparks again. To remind her why they’ve worked so well up until this point. He reaches into his glove compartment and pulls out a vitamin b12 spray. It gives him the energy to stay focused and alert for his day to day needs and the needs of his wife. He gives himself a quick squirt and checks his reflection in the rearview mirror; winks at himself and gets out of his car. John walks up to the door, takes a deep breath, unlocks the door and walks inside.
It was a Monday. Cold. Stormy. Amber wakes up alone again, without her husband John. Johns has been working crazy hours as of late because he’s stressed to the maximum worrying over the birth of their soon to be two daughters. She gets out of bed and does a crossword puzzle out of her puzzle book while coffee starts brewing. She’s thinking that tonight she’s going to serve John the separation papers. Amber feels like in John's pursuit of financial stability he’s lost sight of everything else that is also important and necessary in a marriage. She’s tried talking to him, but he’s always one foot out the door. Metaphorically and physically. They’ve maybe said five words to each other all week, and that’s on a good week. John often tells Amber that she doesn’t know what it’s like being this overworked. That she has it the easiest in this equation. He just doesn’t listen to her anymore. They’re not a team like they once were. Which they need to be if they have any hope of raising their kids. Amber knows John sees things differently. That there’s hope and that she's just hormonal. But it’s not that. She’s fallen out of love with John and knows deep down that he’s not going to change. She’s tried. She’s been patient. But if she has any hope of raising these kids successfully she’d rather do it alone. She spends her day packing a small suitcase ready to leave to her parents for the next little bit. She hides the suitcase underneath their bed and pours out her stale coffee. Amber then hears John pulling into the driveway. She walks over to the bathroom, opens the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. Pulls out of a vitamin b12 spray. She needs it these days. Gives her the little boost she needs to keep going. Especially at the tail end of her pregnancy. She hears the door unlock, and John walks in.
“Hey sweetie.” John says, greeting Amber. “I ordered your favorite for tonight, figured we could pig out and maybe play a board game”
“Listen John, I think we need to sit down and have a talk, there’s something I've been meaning to tell you. I have a lot to get off my chest.” Amber responds.
“Okay sure! Just let me go wash my hands!” John says anxiously. He starts rushing down the hallway to the bathroom but before he’s even able to make it there Amber calls him back into the living room. He does a 360 degree spin and rushes even faster back to where Amber is. He finds her half bent over on one of the shelves kind of by their T.V. “John….I think my water just broke…” Amber says in a state of disbelief. John and Amber rush to his car and get in. John drives as fast as he can, ignoring most traffic rules and his own wife's safety in a mad dash to get to the hospital. They thankfully make it in one piece, but they are both a bit rattled. They admit Amber right away while John waits in the waiting room. They both knew this day would come. They just didn’t know it’d be this soon, and it’s not at all like how either of them pictured it happening. What follows is seven hours of pain and discomfort on Amber's part. There’s a lot of screaming, pain and blood and John is nowhere to be found.
It was now Tuesday. 3:45 am. John gets a call from the nurse while he’s anxiously sitting in the fast food chain across from the hospital telling him that his daughters are born. But there’s been an incident. John starts heading back to the hospital while his mind floods with doubts about being a father. He walks through the doors and to the reception. He asks to see his kids. They ask to speak to him privately before heading into the room with his daughters. He agrees and they sit him down in a small white room. The doctor comes in soon after and lets John know that Amber died giving birth to their daughters. John pauses. Accepts the news from the doctor and asks if he can see his kids. The doctor was confused as to John's response to what he said. But brings him to see his kids nonetheless. They’ve already got their name plates on their little beds. Quire and Quentin. Just what they both agreed on. John thought to himself and smiled. The hospital usually has to hold onto newborn children for about 48 hours afterward just to make sure everything is in order healthwise. John leaves the hospital, goes home alone and goes to bed.
It was a Thursday. Warm. Sunny skies. John drives back to the hospital, grabs Quire and Quentin and puts his daughters in the backseat of his car. He drives them about 15 miles out of the city, to a much smaller town. The town of Sawcreek, Missouri. He drives up to the ‘T.D.S.F Halfway House for Recovering Youth’. He looks around. Sees that there’s nobody out and about on the Sanctums grounds. Grabs his daughters from the backseat, walks down the path and sets them on the front steps of the halfway house. Complete with their nameplates from the hospital. He rings the buzzer. Turns around, rushes to get into his car, and drives off without ever looking back.
THERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS! Part 1 of Sanctum, Short story number 1 of 4 in the soon to be collected ‘Eye Candy’ that’ll hopefully be coming out sometime next year. Compelte with cool art, bookending each chapter. Some hand drawn sketches by yours truly and maybe a 3d printed toy here and there! So that’s the taste! Let me know what you think. I’ll be seeing you guys and gals soon for the next part. All the cool support i’ve gotten for my substack so far has been really encouraging to read. You know who you are. Thanks so much! It means the world.
Also Rest in Peace George Perez. The world is a little darker without you in it. But your influence will live on with me till the day I die, and with millions of others i’m sure as well.
Until next time. Stay groovy, fam.
Vinnie Panic
May 9th 2022
NEED. MORE. NOW.
also need some b12 spray apparently.
Need to read more!