“Mom, why do we keep coming here?” Isaac asked as he strolled down the hallway holding his mother’s hand.

“So that we can visit your brother, honey”

“Why doesn’t he just come home?” Her fingers twitched.

“Well, Isaac, the people here are taking care of Aaron. The kind of care he couldn’t receive at home.”

“But it’s been months now and Dad said he’d be okay.”

She could not respond and Isaac grows even more curious. They eventually arrived at Aaron’s room and once they entered, Isaac saw his brother on a bed with huge curtains on his side spread out perpendicular to the bed. 

“Hey, Isaac, how’re you doing? Got in trouble with Mei lately?”

Isaac hesitated to approach as Aaron looked different from what he remembered. The person in front of him had a pale complexion and Isaac could make out different bones in his body given how thin this person was.

“Who are you? Where’s Aaron?”

Behind him, his mother covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes started to moisten.

“I thought I was the one who fell down that hill. Why is YOUR memory the foggy one here?” Aaron responded with the most forced smile he could manage. He clenched his fists beneath the sheets of the bed.

“Aaron? Aaron!” 

Isaac rushed to his brother’s side but before he could hug him, their father stepped in and carried Isaac over his shoulder.

“Oops! Your brother still needs some rest! So we can’t have him doing anything that will tire him out.” Mr. Aikawa started walking towards the door.

“Dad, please. Let me talk to him.” Aaron requested. His father turned to him and let Isaac go with a pained expression on his face.

“Hey, buddy! How’s it going?”

“Nothing really, it’s no fun without you around.”

“Really? How about Mei? You two get into a fight?” 

“Well… Things are kind of weird between us.”

“Oh? Weird how?” Aaron asked, placing his fingers on his chin.

“What are you? A detective? It’s just that… I kind of told her I’d marry her someday.”

“That’s great news! I always said you guys would make a great couple, didn't I?” 

Aaron continued to tease Isaac throughout the afternoon. Hours pass but it only seemed like seconds as the brothers shared laughs while their parents looked on with the brightest smiles.

“Sir, it’s time.” A nurse entered the room and told Mr. Aikawa.

“Isaac, honey, it’s time for us to go home.” Mrs. Aikawa motioned for Isaac to come with her.

“Just another minute Mom, please,” Aaron said, and she replied with a nod.

“Hey Aaron, when are you coming back?”

Aaron couldn’t come up with a response.  He sat there smiling as he looked down at his palms.

“Hey Isaac, the other night I saw something REALLY amazing outside the window. Wanna know what it was?” 

Isaac nodded in response.

“Explosions! In the sky, right over one of the outlets! They were all in different colors and I thought, ‘I bet Isaac could draw this!’ But that means you’d  have to go see them yourself, right?”

“Woah! Yes! I wanna see them with you, Aaron!”

“That’d be fun, yeah? But you have to promise me something, okay?” Aaron asked, Isaac, nodded in response.

“Even if I’m not around, you’ll still go see it, okay?”

“What do you mean? Are you going somewhere?” Isaac asked as he tilted his head in curiosity.

“Just promise me. Promise me you’ll go see the fireworks with your friends and get new ideas for your paintings. Promise me, Isaac.”

The nurse entered the room again, this time with the doctor. They talked to the parents then Mrs. Aikawa approached the brothers. She gave Aaron a deep kiss on the forehead.

“Isaac, it’s time to go home.” She said as she took Isaac’s hand. 

Isaac extended his other hand towards his brother but the distance between them increased as they neared the door. 

“I promise, Aaron! I promise!” Isaac shouted.

Aaron gave his brother one last smile, the biggest one he could muster. The moment before the doors closed bits of tears started escaping through his eyelids. That single moment froze from Isaac’s perspective. So many thoughts came rushing into his mind.

‘What did he mean by that?’ 

‘Why was he crying?’

Isaac felt even more confused when he thought more about it. He decided to ask his mother.

“Hey Isaac, do you want to get some ice cream before we head home?” Mrs. Aikawa asked before Isaac could.

“Really?! Ice cream this late?! Yes please!” Isaac jumped up and down after hearing the wonderful offer.

“Oh, can we bring some home for Aaron too? He looked a little sad just now. I know! He loves cookies and cream flavored ones so let’s get him that!” Isaac looked up to his mother with an innocent smile.

“Sure honey, we’ll buy some for him too.” 

They walked into the convenience store just below the hospital and made several purchases. The excitable Isaac picked out multiple flavors of ice cream sticks and one tub for his brother. On their way home in the cab, Isaac was fast asleep. Mrs. Aikawa stroked his hair as he slept and looked out the window and at the hospital. Now that he was asleep, she could finally let it all out.

“Are you really sure about this son?” Mr. Aikawa asked, one last time.

“Dad, we already talked about this, remember? I don’t wanna see you going back on your word now.” The father and son share a laugh. 

Aaron started to take deeper breaths. Mr. Aikawa leaned in, lightly hugged his son, and kissed him on the forehead. The nurse then removed the curtains placed on the side of the bed, revealing machines that provided him fluids and life support through tubes going into his body. The heart monitor displayed a pulse measuring values lower than 60 beats per minute and beeped together with all the other machines he was hooked up to.

“Sir, are we prepared?” 

The doctor asked Mr. Aikawa to which he replied with a nod bearing a mournful expression. He took one last look at Aaron who, despite struggling with his breaths, had the brightest smile in the entire room. 

“I love you, son.” 

“I love you too, Dad. Take care of Mom and Isaac for me, okay?”

Mr. Aikawa nodded and gave his son one last hug before proceeding to one of the machines. He looked at the doctor who gave him a sympathetic look and back at Aaron. He placed his trembling hand on the life support plug, hesitated but begrudgingly pulled. All the machines stopped beeping, only Mr. Aikawa’s soft sobbing could be heard as Aaron turned to look at the ceiling. 

“I can see them again.”

“What do you see, son?” 

“The explosions in the sky.”