#malcolm bright

Everything went hazy around the edges and Dani's voice became distant. She touched his face gently, which usually would be enough, but not this time. The allure of disassociation was too strong. To be able to leave all of this behind and distance himself was too strong a feeling.

Martin lay on the ground, clutching his belly and Malcolm focused on the wound. Shallow, from the front, didn't hit an artery, there wasn't enough blood. With emergency services on the way, he would survive. Malcolm didn’t kill his own father.

"No, no, Bright!"

But Malcolm had already slipped beneath the surface of his mind's defense mechanism. For a while everything was distant. The people rushing in, loading his father onto a gurney. He saw it happen but barely took the information in.

He was brought back to himself somewhat when Gil placed a heavy, warm hand on his shoulder and squeezed. It hurt, especially considering he'd been hanging by his arms only an hour ago. Which did a solid job of bringing him back out.

"Kid, I really need you to come back so I can take you to the hospital."

"No hospital," Malcolm whispered hoarsely.

"Damn it, kid, Vivian Capshaw confessed she gave you an embolism two days ago. You can't go without being checked."

"He saved me. And then he tried to kill me. He told me he'd never be able to hurt me, but he was going to. After I did so much for him." Disassociation was luring him back in. He could resist, but he didn't want to.

Gil placed his hands on either side of Malcolm's neck and stared at him. "You know the pathology better than anyone. You're an extension of him and if you don't do what he wants you to do."

"He'll dispose of me," Malcolm finished.

"That's right, it's not your fault. It's never been your fault. And I really need you present so you can tell the doctors everything that went wrong."

"Okay," Malcolm conceded.