"I don't know what I'll do without you." Frankie murmured, pushing back the rogue strand of her son's hair. "Parents are supposed to die first you know."

He chuckled, took her hand in his and squeezed. "Hah, I win, took another thing away from you. First your happiness and now the joy of having me hold you when you die from old age."

"It's not funny, Everett."

"If it isn't funny It's just sad." he countered. "What could be funnier than you getting to watch me go one ragged breath at a time. Only fair since i stole your happiness."

"Doesn't matter how many times you say it. You never took away my happiness, butt munch." She smiled despite the pain. She couldn't tell him that she had lost her job at the cybernetics division. That could wait. She just needed to focus on him.

He smiled "You aren't supposed to call me butt munch, it isn't very parental. and even worse to speak ill of the dead...well soon to be dead."

They sat in silence, each caught up in their own thoughts. Finally she spoke "I can see if I can get the meds."

"Mom, that's stupid. They're never going to give those to us. To me. I'm not a contributing member of society. Can we just sit here?"

"I can take you back to the hospital. They can help." She squeezed his hand gently, sounding as desperate as drying flower in the desert. Everett winced from the pressure and his mother realized her mistake "I'm sorry, I forgot, I just...I'm just worried if I don't hold on to you that you'll just be gone."

"It's okay, butt munch." He said, attempting to put a little bit of a smile in his voice. "I don't want to go back to the hospital, they don't let me eat anything."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"As I recall they wouldn't let me bring you cheesecake for your birthday." Frankie admitted. "True sacrilege."

Cheesecake was one of the few items that Everett could eat without complications. Well, one of the few items he liked to eat that didn't cause complications with his body. "Especially cheesecake, they basically leave me in my bed for 12 hours a day until they roll me over to avoid bed sores. Why should they get the honor when you can do it?"

She made a surprised laugh, looking away to wipe her eyes clear. The machines whirred in the background. Life sustaining technology that ran as long as there were credits in the account. Able to barely keep him alive, but not restore his mobility. That required credits, lots and lots of credits. She looked around their small dingey apartment that seemed to always have cold air passing through it somehow. The off white walls and the windows that looked out onto the bronze colored skyscrapers of Tiesosa city. The name was based on some comet with metals that helped make their city increase in technology by leaps and bounds. Technology that could have give her son back his arms and legs. If only she had credits. She bit her lip. "I could take some work in the Retrograde. The bank account is getting pretty low."

She received no response, and when she looked she saw his eyes were closed.

The image froze.

The image faded to black.

Frankie took off her dream gear, a technological device able to let her live out her fantasies while she slept, or relive old memories. An inexpensive device, just make sure to keep up your monthly subscription, as the advertisements said. She wiped her eyes and got ready for her day.

Maybe she would make some cheesecake. It would have been Everett's birthday today.