Keeping Secrets

Unexpected Questions

He stood there for a while, watching me with that look I hate. He looked at me like I was weak. I am not weak.

"I'm fine." I said cooly.

"Oh come on, don't give me that tone. I can tell something is wrong and I just want to help! Can't you accept that?"

"No"

I tried to close the door, unable to handle this right now, but he stepped into door and prevented it from closing.

"Malcom please" I could feel my throat tightening and I knew I was on the verge of tears. "I-I'm just having a bad day, okay? Now can you just leave me alone?"

"No I can't just leave T. You haven't answered any of my calls nor Roni's. We care about you!"

"Well don't! I don't need your pity!"

"T please. We don't pity you, hell we barely know you. We only want to help because we know what it's like to move to a new place. When my sister died, my whole family moved here and we were the new kids. I've been there okay?"

"Okay."

"Can I come in?"

"I think it's better if you didn't..."

Clearly he was not going to listen because he just pushed his way in.

"Sure Malcom, just come on in." I said sarcastically. 

"wow you have a nice place. It's so... clean"

"thanks I like it that way"

"So wanna give me a tour?" he asked with a cute grin.

I just rolled my eyes and began walking around. I ignored my indoor gym and simply said it was my moms room. I wasn't technically lying, it would have been my moms room - if she were here...

"well thats my house. Now I am baking so you can leave..."

"I like baking. Can I help?"

"Sure I guess"

"I know I may seem pushy, but I'm just trying to show you that I mean well. I'm not a jerk like Luke, trust me"

"Yeah I get it, I can be hard to get along with. I've just been through a lot."

"Well I'm here if you ever want to talk about it"

"Thanks but I'll pass, this time" I said with a smile.

"Great. Well what are you baking?"

~~~

We spent over an hour baking and talking. It was actually quite nice to talk with someone. I haven't laughed like this since... Jaxon.

Tears threatened as I thought about Jaxon. I zoned out and stared at my hands washing the dishes. I was on the verge of an 'episode' as my therapist called them and Malcom just had to be here. 

"Hey are you okay?" he asked with concern.

Everything was beginning to become blurry and my head was pounding. This was a bad one. My therapist told me this was part of my grieving and coping process, sometimes my body just shut down. I knew this meant I was going to pass out any second so I steadied myself on the counter.

"Malcom I-" I tried to talk but I knew I was going down. 

~~~

MALCOMS POV

I waited for her to answer my question, but she just stared down at the sink. She was zoned out.

"Hey are you okay?" I asked.

She began to shake and her eyes were rolling back slightly. She took her hands out of the soapy water and gripped the counter. She looked at me with terror in her eyes.

"Malcom I-" She started before she fell towards the ground. Before she could fall I grabbed her into my arms. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this. I guess I thought she would start to shake or something like a seizure I've seen on tv, but instead she just lay there looking peaceful. We sat on her floor for 5 minutes before I began to worry. Why wasn't she waking up? I continually checked her pulse and breathing and it was fine, no decrease in either. After another couple minutes I decided to move her to the couch, so I picked her up and walked her over. 

I did not want to snoop or anything, but I was starting to think about maybe using her phone to call her mom. Just as I was about to grab her phone, it began to ring. The screen said 'mom' and I was so relieved. 

"Hello?" I answered.

"Uh hi, who is this? Wheres Jus- wheres T"

"Oh yeah! I'm Malcom, I was just about to try to contact me. T passed out or something and I don't know what to do. I moved her into the couch and she didn't hit her head or anything, so I think she's okay, but I just don't know what to do. Should I call for an ambulance?"

"Oh no, no need. T suffers from thing that causes her to pass out sometimes. How long has she been out?" she said 'thing' in a weird tone and I could tell she was not telling the full truth, but it was not my place to ask questions.

"Uh less than 10 minutes, maybe 7 if I tried to be specific"

"Hmm okay" She said with an unsure tone.

"What is it? Is that okay?"

"Oh I'm sure she is fine, it's just slightly longer than normal. I'm sure its just that she has had a bad day"

"Yeah I could tell something was off when I got here, but she seemed to be having fun. We were just baking and then, well you know"

"Yeah, she just gets overwhelmed sometimes, but it's okay. Thank you for being there for her"

"Oh my, no problem at all! When will you be home? I can order us a pizza or something if you haven't eaten yet"

"Oh no that's fine. I won't be there tonight."

"Uh okay. What should I do?"

"You can just go home, its getting late and I wouldn't want you to miss your family time or anything. It is highly likely that she just went straight into sleep after passing out"

"Nonsense, I'm not just going to leave her. I will stay until she wakes up, I can call Roni to come over and join me."

"Okay you can stay, but I think maybe just keep this between you and her, I know she doesn't tend to like people in her business."

"Yeah I get that impression" I said with a laugh.

"Oh uh Malcom? Before I let you go I just want to warn you that she may be embarrassed when she wakes up. She does not like to feel vulnerable or weak. She may try to push you away"

"Thanks for the advice, I will do my best to make her feel safe. I just want to make sure she is okay."

"I cannot tell you how much it means to me to hear someone say that. Maybe this move was good for her."

"I hope so"

With that, we exchanged goodbyes and hung up the phone. I texted Roni that I wouldn't be home for dinner and to tell mom not to wait up. I set myself up on her couch and turned on the tv, waiting for T to wake up.