Alette

20: stormy eyed saviour

Finally, they wheeled me back to the room and I sat on the bed feeling beyond exhausted.

"Did you want something to eat dear?" one of the nurses asked me kindly.

I shook my head slowly, wanting to just sleep again.

"Well you can lay down quickly, I can tell you're tired, and you can have a meal as soon as you're up!"

The nurses left the room, and Uncle Syl and Grams helped me lay back down. My eyes fluttered with fatigue, and the last thing I noticed before succumbing to sleep was that Aresius was no longer here.

I fell in and out of sleep, until finally the afternoon sun was too much to handle and I couldn't close my eyes. I moved up in the bed slowly, not seeing anyone in the room. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes but the sound of the door opening made my heart race and my eyes shot open.

He was back.

He walked back into the room, his massive stature making the room feel small. He had changed his clothes, and his hair looked damp.

He was holding a bag of food in his hand, which he placed on the table beside the sofa in the room. With his back to me, he began rifling through the bag.

Turning towards me with a round container and spoon in his hand, he asked, "You slept fine?"

"N-" my first instinct was to say no, I hadn't slept properly because of the memories filtering through my mind, but I didn't want to be a bother to him so instead I said, "Yes, I slept okay."

His jaw clenched and he moved towards me, placing the container on the table beside the bed.

He grabbed a water bottle and unscrewed the cap, then moving to the bag he brought, he pulled out a pink straw and put it inside the bottle.

He moved towards me again and brought it close to my mouth, "Open."

I opened my mouth and began drinking the water out of the straw. He let go of the bottle, now that I was holding it securely, and opened the lid of the container he had gotten.

Inside the container was some kind of a soup. He mixed it slightly and then put some onto the spoon.

"You have to eat now Alette," his voice was so gentle, I wanted nothing more than for him to pull me into a hug because I needed to cry.

I had to cry. I couldn't even begin to process what had happened that night.

And it was all my fault.

He brought the spoon to my mouth, and I had no choice but to drink the soup. I swallowed slowly, my throat hurting.

"I c-can do it m-myself, you d-don't have to do that f-for m-"

"Let me do it," his voice sounded strained, but I couldn't tell if I had just imagined it.

I looked at him, and he brought the spoon back to my mouth. After a few bites, my eyes widened, and I put my hand on his hand that had extended the spoon towards me and pushed away.

"I-is Tai okay? Is he hurt?" I asked him frantically. This was all my fault, what if he gets hurt?

Aresius looked at me with an undecipherable look in his eye, until he finally shook his head, "Tai is fine, nothing happened to him."

I let out a small sigh of relief and he resumed his motion of feeding me. Once I couldn't eat anymore, he finally closed the lid, and went to wash his hands in the bathroom that was in the room.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, as he walked out of the bathroom and turned my head towards the door as it opened again.

Tai, Josephine and Grams all walked in through the door, Josephine had balloons in her hand, and Grams had flowers. Tai immediately walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. I melted into his brotherly embrace and closed my eyes, not wanting to burst into tears.