So Many Doctors, So Many Fears

Chapter 33

"um," My voice sounded like rocks scraping each other. "what exactly happened?" I had to blink a couple of times to regain my balance as a headache awakened. My wired hand massaged my forehead with a scary intensity.

Alex laughed nervously, which was not like him at all. He rubbed the back of his neck. "To be honest...I don't really know. You just sorta left me hanging." He smiled. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry." then it was silence. 

The quiet lasted for a good five minutes then my mom spoke. "Well Evan honey, I have to unload which may take a while. Are you okay with staying with Alex for- about an hour."

"Since when does it take you an hour to unpack?" 

"I have to drive to Alex's house and unpack everything, then I have to grab some stuff so I can spend the night here." 

Dread made a pit stop in my stomach. "What?" I asked, hoping I heard her wrong. 

"Evan," Alex said calmly. "Since we're still not sure what happened, we're gonna keep you here for tonight, just in case anything happens or if we want to run some extra tests on you."

Tests. That word and its synonyms scare me half to death. 

"No," I insisted. "No I'm fine I don't need this." My words came out in a fearful slur. "I'm fine it was probably just stress and-"

"You're probably not wrong, but we- I still want to keep you safe Evan. Can you please do this, if not for yourself then for me." 

I hesitated.

"No." I said again. "I hate this place I'm scared of it Alex I'm scared of you!" 

"I understand Evan but-"

"I'm gonna go home..." My mom said. There was a hint of doubt to her voice, as if she was scared to know what would happen if she left. 

When she left, Alex looked at me. "I know it's hard Evan, I know you're scared but...honestly: So am I? Okay? So if we don't get this fixed I'm going to be terrified of what's going to happen to you. I don't want anything to happen to you and I hope you don't either." He looked me in the eye and for a split second I felt bad.

"Alex...I don't know if I can spend that long in here." I tensed up; the needles stung. "I don't like any of this and..." I rambled on but I was aware he was only partially listening. 

"You're already in bed." He said after I finished talking. "And maybe, just maybe, this will reduce your fear."

"Yeah..." I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Exposure therapy, nothing like it." I got Alex to laugh but I didn't understand the joke. 

"Try it for me?" He suggested. "If at any point you want to go home we can."

"I want to go home." I said plainly. 

Alex smiled. "Any point in the night, okay?"

I didn't meet his gaze, but agreed. 

---

"Yes!" Alex sounded like he'd just won a game of some sort. "Score."

"But- one thing. I don't really know how to tell this to her, but with my mom I feel like... I can't explain it but-"

"I get it. I'll tell her." he smiled. 

"Thanks Alex." 

BAM! Two chapters in one day!! Hope you enjoyed!! 

-Demon