Muslimah by Name to Muslimah by Heart

Helping Aiden

Cody Christian as Aiden Willows. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's Aiden. He's in trouble."

Sarah's heart pounded in her chest as she ran towards the stairs with Kailey trailing behind her. Ayesha stayed behind, at the door, as she watched Kailey, Sarah and Hannah carry the weight of Aiden on their shoulders. His body was slumped, dead almost. His face covered in blood and cuts all over his arms. Ayesha stepped aside, letting Sarah carry Aiden all the way to her bed.

The three girls stood by Aiden's side as he groaned, clutching his arms in pain. Sarah ran to the bathroom and grabbed a few wet towels and alcohol wipes. "What the hell happened to him?" She yelled, gently wiping the blood off his face.

"I don't know. I found him like this at the parking lot." Kailey spoke up, behind a shuddering Hannah who winced every time Aiden groaned. Sarah gently sat Aiden up, leaning him against the wall.

"Water," he managed to croak out. Hannah ran to the kitchen to grab a water bottle. He chugged it down, out of breath as he finished half the bottle.

Soon, the door opened to reveal Liam dressed in pyjamas. "I got your text. What happened?" Aiden shook his head, too tired to speak. Ayesha looked over at Sarah who was busy cleaning Aiden's wounds. She was frantically rubbing alcohol wipes, trying to get the bleeding to stop.

"The cut is too deep. I need bandages."

Hannah and Kailey looked at each other, mentally conversing whether or not they had bandages. The college clinic was going to demand a reason to hand out bandages so Ayesha spoke up.

"I have bandages," she said, breaking the silence. She ran towards the bathroom and opened her first aid kit. It was moments like these when she was grateful for her mother's preparatory choices.

"You never know when you are going to need aid. Always keep a first-aid kit with you," she remembered her mother saying.

"Apply some pressure on his wounds," Ayesha said, throwing clean towels at Sarah as she applied pressure. Sarah grabbed the bandages and wrapped them around Aiden's arm. The pain subsided and so did Aiden's groans.

Ayesha handed Sarah strong alcohol wipes before saying, "This might sting." Aiden nodded. "Just do it." Taking a deep breath, Sarah poured some water and cleaned the blood off his wounds. Aiden winced when the alcohol stung his cut, though he cooperated as Sarah gently cleaned his wounds, Ayesha instructing her how to do so.

"The bleeding stopped." The girls sighed in relief.

"Let's take him to the clinic," Liam suggested. The girls nodded, agreeing with him. Though Aiden shook his head.

"No." He said. Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean? Your cuts are pretty deep. We need to get them checked by a professional."

Aiden shook his head in denial.

"No, she's right. The wounds can get infected if you don't get them checked." Ayesha said. This time Aiden had enough of it.

"NO! I said I won't go. Okay?" Sarah had felt taken aback by Aiden's change in tone. He seemed quite adamant to keep this a secret. Ayesha shrugged as she sat on her bed. "Look. It's your choice if you wanna go or not but I saw the janitor cleaning the blood off the floor as you walked -- more like stumbled in here," she took a pause. "He will be asking questions."

"I know. I just can't tell anyone how or why I am hurt."

"But..." Aiden cut Sarah off. "You need to trust me on this. Look Ayesha, I'm sorry that I'm here. I know you don't like guys in your room so I'll leave as soon as the pain subsides."