Page 78 of Stained Hearts
“Say hi for me.”
I swiped a finger over the screen to answer the call, then put the phone to my ear. “Hey, how are you?”
“Tom?” Her voice cracked, and I was on alert. “Tom, I….”
“Olivia? What’s wrong?”
She sobbed, and my heart froze. “It’s Aiden. He… I need you to come to the hospital.”
The world cracked open beneath my feet, plummeting me into an abyss.
Chapter Nineteen
I HADno idea how we got to the hospital. After Olivia said she needed me, I froze. Mom took the phone and spoke with her, and the next thing I knew, we were sitting in the waiting room at Froedtert.
Olivia came in and handed Mom a cup of coffee, then took a seat beside me. Mom went over to talk with a nurse but kept looking over at me.
“He’s okay.” Olivia drew in a breath that told me she was trying to convince herself as well as me. “They broke his arm, and he’s got cuts and bruises all over, but the doctor said if he hadn’t been curled up, it would have been a lot worse. When he was brought in, they sedated him because he was hysterical.” She peered into her coffee cup. “He kept calling for you.”
And I wasn’t there. I knew I should have taken him to the studio, but I wanted him to know he had his independence too. This was my fault. Because of me and my stupidity, Aiden got hurt.
“What happened?”
“The police told me the witnesses said Aiden got off the bus, and was headed down Wisconsin toward the studio when he stopped on the bridge. A group of kids approached him and said something, to which Aiden shook his head. Then one of them stepped up from behind him and knocked him and the chair over. They were trying to take the chair, but Aiden was laying on the ground, doing his best to hold on to the wheel and screaming ‘Don’t take my legs! Please, Tom, don’t let them take my legs!’” When he wouldn’t let go, they stomped his arm and broke it at the elbow, but somehow he still held on. Then they hit and kicked him, trying to force him to let go. He curled up into a ball and lay there as they beat him, still begging them not to take his legs. When he finally couldn’t hold on anymore, they grabbed the chair and ran off.”
Bile rose in my throat. “What the fuck? People watched this and didn’t do anything?”
“Worse. They recorded it and a few uploaded it to social media. The cop I spoke with told me they knew the people and promised they’d get them.”
I wanted every one of those sons of bitches found and beaten within an inch of their lives. Who could stand there and watch a young man being assaulted and not do a damn thing about it?
She reached out and pulled me close. “I guess we should be grateful someone called the police.”
Small comfort.
“I’m going to check on him. I’ll be right back.” She got up and sort of walked-stumbled toward the desk. It was impossible to miss how much this was affecting her.
Mom came over and held the cup of coffee out to me. “I think you need this more.”
I shook my head. “I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not. Your fingers are digging divots into your palms, and your face is redder than I’ve ever seen. You’re angry, and I get that, but—”
I lurched up out of the seat. “You get it? How, Mom? Tell me how you get it. This? It’s all on me. I never should have let him go to the shop alone. I should have driven him there and waited. What happened to him? It all could have been avoided if I had just fucking told him I loved him.”
She stood, and for a moment, I thought she was going to slap me. Instead, she got close to me and poked me in the chest. “Did telling Brian you love him stop him from getting cancer? You told him every day of your life. Did it save him? No. Stop being an ass, Tom. This had nothing to do with you, and you damn well know it.” Her gaze softened. “I know it hurts, and I get that you think you could have prevented it, but even wrapping Aiden up in wool batting and putting him on a shelf wouldn’t necessarily keep him safe.”
Olivia came over to us. “Listen to her, Tom. Aiden wouldn’t love you if you tried to change him. He needs to be an equal partner, and I think he’s earned that right.”
No. I wouldn’t accept this. It was getting hard to breathe, and I needed to get away from this place. “I’ll be back.”
“Tom, I—”
“I’ll be back!”
I stormed out of the waiting room and went down to the doors that led outside. Once there, I got in a cab and had it take me home. Only it wasn’t my home anymore, was it? Brian said I should sell it and start a new life with Aiden. When we arrived, I paid the driver, then stormed inside and slammed the door. My heart was hammering so hard, it probably would have hurt less if it burst from my chest.
I stomped over to the fireplace where Brian’s urn was and snatched it down.
