Ash's dreams contained nothing but peace and happiness that night, but the same could not be said for Roth.
He was thrown back into his pre-death memories, back to before Ash died.
He was in a hospital room, and two people were standing over him. One of them was sobbing, while the other had a grave look on his face. The first was his mother.
It looked like she had been crying for a while, and with his memories, Roth knew why.
He had been diagnosed with cancer, and it was already too late for any treatments. He only had a month to live.
The other person, a tall man dressed in medical attire was his doctor.
"I'm sorry, miss Hal. If the cancer had been found sooner, we might have been able to do something… but it is too late now."
Pain could be heard in the doctor's voice.
Why did this innocent kid, who was always cheery and kind whenever he came in for a checkup, have to die so young. Why was this world so unfair?
Roth spoke up, wanting to comfort his mom. The irony of the situation was a bit sad.
"Don't cry mom, It's ok. Everyone dies eventually, I guess I am just going to a little early! At least now we know, I will spend this last month of my life doing fun stuff!"
Roth's mother kept weeping, and he eventually had to drag her out of the hospital on his own.
"Hey mom, can you not tell anyone else, please? I don't want everyone else to just look at me with pity all month."
She nodded her head, still unable to stop the tears leaking from her eyes. The two slowly made their way home.
"Mom, are you fine if I go hang out with Jeff (Ash) on saturday? I wanted to go check out the wildlife sanctuary after we both got girlfriends, but I guess that won't be happening, so I want to go with him now!."
Roth's mother didn't provide an answer, just looking at the ground.
"Why… why god, why do I have to bury my own child."
Roth spent much of the night trying to cheer his mother up, but she was completely unresponsive. It was almost like she thought Roth was already dead.
Soon Roth's father got home from work. He worked for a big corporation, and due to him getting sick earlier in the year, he had already used up all of his off-time.
He could face losing his job if he left work without permission, and his family couldn't afford that at the moment.
He sprinted to Roth and gave him a big hug the moment he returned home, tears leaking from his eyes.
"It's ok, kid. I'll find some way to save you. I won't let you go."
Noticing his distraught wife, he pulled her into the group hug.
"We'll get through this together. Families stay together no matter what. I won't let some damn sickness take my son!"
What followed was a quiet and depressing family dinner.
Roth's mother was still completely out of it, and his father seemed determined to do the impossible, to save his son from certain death.
Roth seemed to be the least affected out of the three of them, and he was the one with t
Roth recognized that there was nothing he could do to cheer up the two people closest to him, at least for now.
Retiring for the night, Roth made his way up to his room and began making plans for the weekend. Saturday would be spent with his best friend, Jeff, first at the wildlife sanctuary, then after they got tired of that, they could go into the city and find some good food to eat.
Roth began planning out every day's activities, up until the day the doctor predicted his death. The prediction wasn't accurate, but Roth had a strong will to live, so the doctor believed he could hold on for a while.
"Alright, wildlife park on saturday!"
A nauseating feeling came over Roth as he said this, making him rush for the washroom.
He heaved and heaved until the entire contents of his dinner were laid out in front of him.
^Is this because of the cancer… or something else? Why did I feel horrible, like I was doing something wrong, when I said that?^
The next few days went past quickly. Roth told no one about his impending downfall, and the depressing atmosphere at home didn't clear up.
His mother was still in a daze, completely ignoring Roth.
She occasionally muttered under her breath, "Why… why did you take my son…"
She acted like Roth was already dead.
His father wasn't much better. Every day after work, he would rush to the computer and furiously search for cancer treatments.
Every time he found some underground lab offering a cure for cancer his eyes would light up, then dim back down when he remembered that these were most likely scams.
Soon it was saturday, and Roth packed a bag full of snacks for the day's activities.
The feeling that something bad was coming constantly grew stronger, but he chocked it up to his upcoming death.
Roth met up with Jeff at the train station, and the two headed for the wildlife sanctuary.
"Hey bro, I thought you said we were going here after we got girlfriends, what pushed it up?"
Roth looked a little started at Jeff's question, but brushed it off easily.
"My parents are busy for the weekend and I needed something to do, so I figured I'd spend it with my best bro!"
Jeff wasn't convinced, and kept pushing forwards.
"You've been acting a little off recently, Roth. If there is anything you need to talk about, I'm your man."
Roth nodded, but still kept his lips closed. He didn't want to ruin their remaining time as friends.
The closer the two got to the wildlife park, the more uneasy Roth felt.
The train came to a half with a screech, and a few passengers disembarked, the two best friends among them.
This wildlife park was a popular tourist attraction, and a great place to take someone on a first date. A number of couples roamed around between the animal exhibits, gawking at the impressive animals within.
The two wandered about the park randomly, snacking on the food Roth brought as they walked.
"Yo Roth, check this out! They have a wolf pen, let's go take a look!"
Roth flinched at the word wolf, but quickly agreed and followed Jeff towards it.
^Why am I feeling so weird today? Maybe I should tell Jeff what's going on in case I collapse here.^
Soon the two arrived at the wolf exhibit. They stood on a ledge overlooking the wolves, giving them a birds eye view of the animals. Another wave of nausea overcame Roth as we watched the wolves play, and he needed to excuse himself.
"Hey bro, I'll be right back. Gotta go use the restroom real quick."
Roth turned and walked towards the restroom, which was luckily right next to the wolf enclosure.
Jeff stayed to watch the wolves, waiting for his friend to return.
Just below him, a small wolf pup with deep black fur was roaming around. Leaning against the railing of the enclosure, he tried to get a better look at the pup.
Seemingly noticing him watching it, the pup turned his head to look curiously at the human.
The pup's deep emerald eyes met with Jeff's own dark blue eyes
As the two locked eyes, someone bumped into Jeff from behind, pushing him against the railing. CRACK!
The railing gave out, and Jeff, unable to stabilize himself, fell with it.
Roth had just come out of the bathroom, and the first thing he saw was Jeff's back disappearing over the edge of the wolf pit.
Quickly running over, he looked over the edge and down into the pit.
Jeff had fallen only a few meters, but there was a ton of blood… not his own blood.
He had landed smack on the black wolf pup, killing it instantly. Jeff's landing couldn't have been much worse, because not only did he kill the wolf pup, but also smacked his head into a rock, knocking himself out.
The other wolves in the enclosure looked over at the human that had just killed their pack member in rage, rushing over to avenge their fallen pup.
The wolves began ripping at Jeff's flesh, tearing open countless gashes on him.
Everyone around the wolf pit was yelling it terror, and it didn't take long for security to come and drive the wolves away from Jeff's torn and bloodied body. Roth had climbed down into the pit from above, and helped the workers carry his friend's heavily wounded body to a nearby ambulance.