Despite being known heroin addicts, John and Linda Sturbridge have always told themselves that they are good parents. Their 8 year old son Matthew has had a long history of heart complications, many of which stemming from Linda’s excessive use of drugs during her pregnancy. Despite this, the Sturbridge family has always been close and both Linda and John make sure to take care of their child to the best of their abilities.
For the past month though, the couple had begun to use drugs in much higher doses. After the latest binge, John and Linda agreed to take a day off to recuperate.
“Linda we can’t keep living like this” John said in a half awake stuper. “It’s not fair to Matt”.
“You’re right honey” Linda said between drags of her cigarette. “Especially since he’s begun having sleeping problems”.
“He has?” John asked as he stretched his legs.
“Yeah, on Monday he said that he’s been feeling tired during the day and restless during the night” Linda said as she put out her cigarette butt.
“Well shit” John said as he stood up “maybe we should check on him”
Linda nodded and the two got out of bed and went down the hall.
“Fucking hell, this house smells like shit” John gagged.
“Well maybe if you cleaned for once it wouldn’t be so fucking gross” Linda retorted.
The two then got to Matthews’ door and quietly turned the knob so as to not disturb him. As they walked into the room, the smell of the house seemed to grow much stronger. Doing their best to hold back their disgust for the smell and eachother, John and Linda looked down at Matthew as he rolled back and forth in bed.
“He looks fine to me” John whispered. “Just seems like he’s having a bad nightmare.
John then crouched down by Matthews bed began to pat the boys back.
“It’s ok buddy, we’ll bring you to the doctor tomorrow” John said reassuringly.
As he rubbed the boys back, John froze.
“Linda, somethings wrong with Matthew” John muttered.
“What do you mean?” Linda whispered back concerningly.
“I felt a lump in his back, and as soon as I touched it the lump began to move” John shuttered as he slowly got up.
“Hey buddy, I’m just gonna fix your blanket. I promise we’ll take you to the doctor first thing in the morning” John said as he looked back at Linda. “Hey, what time is the doctor open on tomorrow?”
“Not sure hun, let me check” Linda said as she reached in her pocket.
Linda took out her phone and froze.
“John?” Linda stuttered
“What’s up babe?” John said as he sat beside Matthew.
“How long were we high for?” Linda asked as she kept her gaze locked on her head phone.
“I don’t know, a week or so. Why, what’s wrong?” John asked nervously.
“Matthew told us he couldn’t sleep on Monday” Linda sniffled. “It’s fucking Sunday now”.
A surge of panic swept over John as he looked back at their restless child. He quickly flung off Matthew’s sheets and watched in horror as their sickly green child continued to thrash in his bed.
“Matthew!” John wailed as he went to pick up his son.
As he picked up the child, Matthew’s body seperated and landed on the moldy carpet with a sickening squish. The two parents watched in horror as both pieces of his body continued to squirm on the floor as maggots began crawling out of the child’s hollowed corpse. As the devastated parents watched the sea of bugs squirm in Matthews eye sockets and mouth, Linda spotted a small pamphlet griped in his severed hand. She picked it up and screamed in agony. John quickly grabbed it from her and as he scanned the pages, his eyes widened.
“If your child has any of the following signs, call 911 immediately. Restlessness, Constant state of tiredness and confusion, Sleep Apnea, trouble staying asleep. These are all signs that your child may be experiencing heart failure”.