Staying Grounded [BXB]

Caretaker

SEBASTIAN:

"Nephew!"

Judy's shout startles my feet to a jarring halt. Out of my truck and several long strides away from its thrown-wide door, caught midway across the grassy divide between carpark and road, I snap around. And from the look on her face as she hastens down the hospital steps toward me, it would seem she's witnessed entirely too much of this scene.

"Hey, Aunt!" I take an extra beat to get myself moving again. Flashing a quick smile, I cross back through the rows of cars and swerve the Ranger's rear end to open the passenger side door ahead of her. "Just needed to stretch my legs a little."

But my jaw remains tense, my gaze sweeping defiantly back over the hospital's boundary to the bus shelter beyond. I'm too slow in blinking from the hateful porter-prick stood there alone.

And my aunt isn't a fool, her treacle stare missing nothing. She holds her tongue as she joins me, climbing into the cab, waiting until I've circled to my own side and slid in behind the wheel. "That man wasn't here for work this afternoon, Sebastian. He's currently on compassionate leave."

It's a close catch, clamping down on my immediate urge to blurt the very permanent leave from compassion that that man is most assuredly on. Instead, I clip in my seatbelt and start the thunderous engine.

Judy's car is in the garage for its MOT today. She'd asked me at breakfast if I could collect her from work, and after an hour in Clark's company, I'd been beyond glad of the excuse to escape. I ended up bailing on him while he was taking two bags of kitchen refuse to the black bin outside. Far-too-easily, I convinced myself that waiting on Mum to arrive home for what might just be a rushed, hello, goodbye would be pointless.

So, as it was, I got here early. For a full forty minutes, I sat in my truck without anything to occupy my mind from itself. I spent that time thinking about Gary fucking Tinwell, and the near-confrontation Derek refused to indulge me in. Feeling the pressure of my stepdad's toxic influence, a deep ache pulsing through my every futile effort to block Craig. And truthfully, my move hadn't been wholly intentional, giving chase at the sight of porter-prick passing by. Caught in my wing mirror, an opportune distraction, I acted solely for some sense of release.

A double-decker has pulled up to the bus shelter, obstructing my view of him as I turn out of the hospital onto the busy main road. "So, what?" My eyes finally flick to Judy. "We're supposed to pity him now, are we?"

"No," she sighs, still watching me. "No, Isaac's misfortune doesn't in any way justify his contemptible attitude. But, dear Nephew," her hand pats mine on the gearstick. "If you'd succeeded in your effort to teach him a hard lesson, then learned that he's been visiting his daughter in the ICU. How would you be feeling about yourself in this moment?"

I'm prompt in returning my attention to the road. "Oh."

"Exactly."

I don't believe I would have hit the man, wanting only for him to know who I am. My aunt has made her point well, though. Because, of course, damnit, she always does, and there's a twist in my gut even now at just the thought of whatever else I might have unleashed.

"You're a born caretaker," Judy continues. "You can't help yourself from seeing a problem and wanting to fix it, I understand this, and it's one of the very many reasons I love you. But, of course, it's also one of the main reasons I worry so much."

"You realise I could say the exact same thing about you, right, Aunt?"

I can feel her soft smile warm on the side of my face. "I'm a grown woman, Sebastian. I can handle pin-brained weasels such as him. You have plenty enough on your own plate already without taking from mine, okay?"