Imperfection by John K. Perkins Jr. Always open to comments/criticism (constructive/otherwise) Email me! jokerpajamas@gmail.com Or add me on MSN! john@randomnet.org
-------------------------------- Ch. 3: Booze, and Domestic Abuse --------------------------------
Shortly after Aiden left my house, my phone rang, and it was Mica. "Hello?"
"Wes! I'm in the emergency room, you need to get here now!" screamed an obviously distraught Mica.
"What?!"
"It's Aiden! Just come, and I'll explain!" A click on the other end signalled her disconnect.
Cold terror gripped me. Although I had knew absolutely nothing of what happened, I knew something was wrong with Aiden, and I knew I needed to get there as fast as I could. I called the only person I could think of with a car. Jake.
I don't recall the exact conversation, as the memory is a bit fuzzy now. The end result was that Jake came to my house as fast as he could and took us to the hospital at about the same speed, driving only slightly over the speed limit.
When we finally arrived at the hospital, I met up with Mica, who looked like she'd been pouring tears out of her eyes for quite a while.
"What the hell happened?!" I demanded.
"It's Aiden's mom... She hit him pretty bad, and knocked him out cold. He's fine now, but he's pretty bruised up."
"How? I thought he was with you!"
"We went back to his place so he could grab his phone charger, and the next thing I know, he's laying on the floor! And that bitch left as fast as she could! She smelled pretty badly of booze, too! So I called 911..."
"Where is he now?!"
"He's in a hospital room. They're going to keep him for a little while to make sure he's stable, and then he's free to go."
"Not back to his mom's, I hope."
"God, no. I wouldn't let him even if he wanted to."
"Okay, good... He can stay with me, if he needs a place to go."
"I was going to ask you, actually. I think that would be the best place for him to go at this point. I know how much you care about him, so I know he'll be safe."
If only she really knew just how much I cared about him, I thought. But I didn't say that. Instead, I just nodded, and said something back about it being fine.
She left shortly after that to get to her workplace.
After that, Jake and I sat silently in the waiting room, until a nurse came and let us know we were welcome to visit him.
As we made our way into the room, I saw Aiden, my precious angel Aiden, laying in bed with bruises all over his face. It took everything I had in me to keep from crying.
"Hey, Wes. Hey, Jake," Aiden said.
Jake nodded once in recognition.
"Hey, man," I said, somewhat quietly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he responded, "I'm fine, I guess. A little bruised. But that's life, y'know?"
I nodded silently.
"Do you wanna crash at my place again, then?" I asked.
"Yeah," he nodded, "That'd be cool. I think I'm gonna get some shut eye, though, before they kick me out of here."
"Sounds good. I really don't blame you," I agreed. And with that, he closed his eyes, and fell asleep quickly.
I sat there, just watching him sleep, and before I knew it, an hour had passed, and a nurse came in to discharge him.
Jake drove us back to my house, and when Aiden and I got inside, I noticed how cluttered the kitchen was. "Damn, I really should take better care of the house when Mom and Dad are gone," I remarked halfway to myself.
My parents were gone for about a month. My dad just retired recently, so they decided to go on a month-long vacation to the Bahamas and leave me behind to fend for myself. As much as I protested outwardly, I secretly didn't mind. It was kinda nice to have the house to myself.
The evening after that was pretty uneventful. Aiden slept on my bed, and I pretended to watch TV, but watched him instead.
At about 9 o'clock, Aiden woke up and jokingly proclaimed, "Good morning, beautiful!" To that, I pretended to act indignant, and muttered something about being nothing but a housewife, only being around to clean and cook. He snickered at that.
I went over to the bed, pulled my pillow out from underneath his head, and hit him with it. He retaliated by flying off of bed and pinning me down. His face was so close to mine I could taste his breath.
I looked directly in his eyes, and I somehow found courage I'd never found before. "This is it," I thought to myself. "I have to find out. It's now, or never." With that, I pulled him down, and kissed him.