Page 26 of Stained Hearts
I put the glass down in front of him, then rushed to the bedroom and found several bottles of pills. I wasn’t sure which it was, so I grabbed them all and carried them back. He held out his hands, and I put the pills there, then sat down beside him.
“Do you need help?”
He scowled. “I’m fine. You can go now.”
If he thought I couldn’t see the pain he was in, he was sadly mistaken. I took out my phone and dialed Olivia’s number.
“What? Hang up!”
I ignored him, despite him reaching for the phone. When she answered, he cringed.
“Don’t tell her. Please?”
It was my turn not to listen. “Aiden’s hurting. I came over and found he’s in pain. He almost fell over with his walker.”
“What the hell do you mean? Put him on the phone!”
I held it out, and he gave me such a look of anger, I was surprised I didn’t burst into flames. He put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Livvy.”
Whatever she was saying, it must have scared the shit out of him.
“No! Don’t come home. I’m okay. I just overdid it today. Yes, I promise, I’m all right. I have my meds, and I’ll take those.” His gaze narrowed. “Just a minute.” He held out the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”
Taking it from his hand, I put her on speaker. I didn’t want this to be a secret conversation.
“I’m sorry to bother you, and I know I don’t have any right asking, but could you stay with Aiden until I can get home?”
“What? No! I don’t need a babysitter.”
“You listen to me, Aiden Charles Dawson. If you had told me you were hurting, I wouldn’t have gone to work. You know damn good and well you can’t keep things like this hidden. What would have happened if you’d fallen when I was out?”
“I would have gotten back up!” There was such ferocity in his voice, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Despite what you all seem to think, I’m not fucking helpless.”
“You watch your tone, young man.”
“You’re my sister, not my mother!” His eyes popped open, and he leaned closer to the phone. “Oh, Livvy. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
She snuffled. “I’m sorry. I get you’re an adult. I just… I worry about you.”
“I know you do, and I love you for it. But I’m old enough to make bad decisions on my own.”
“I’m always going to watch out for you. That’s what love means, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” He took a deep shuddering breath. “Don’t come home, okay? I’ll be fine. Tom will stay.” He looked up, his eyes pleading. “Won’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay, thank you, Tom. I’ll try to get home as soon as I can.”
She disconnected, and Aiden put the phone aside. He turned to me, no longer angry, but looking somewhat disappointed.
“Why did you do that?”
I reached for his hand. “Because I was worried, and you wouldn’t talk to me. I needed to know how to help you. I’m sorry if you think I overstepped, but I’ll be honest, I would do it again. I would rather you be angry with me, than in pain.”
“Oh.” He bit his lip. “I thought you were just being a dick.”
“I can’t say there wasn’t a little of that in there too.”
