Stay (Boy × Boy) ✔

CHAPTER 14

Aydan didn't quite remember getting there, but he was sitting in the hospital waiting room.

Someone had given him a blanket, but underneath he had the soaking wet, bloody and stained clothes. There was blood on his hands as well, but he didn't think he could get up and scrub it off. Aydan wasn't alone in the bleak waiting room, but he might as well have been — he had never felt so alone in his life.

Had it been minutes? Had it been hours? There were windows in the waiting room, but the window shades were shut, so he couldn't tell if it had already started to dawn.

Aydan had lost his cell phone somewhere, probably at the same place where his jacket was. Had he dropped them on the ground or in the ambulance, he had no idea.

When the worst shock was over, Aydan began to think about all the things he could have done differently. If he didn't insist to have one more drink, if he didn't go say goodbye to Claudia, if he had told Mason and Anthony to shut up and let him talk, if he didn't demand William to come in the first place,..

Could I have forbore this? Could William be okay?

Aydan didn't let his mind go to things such as what he would do, if William didn't make it, because it was simply too much to bear.

All of this is too much. None of this should have happened, Aydan thought and rested his head against the blood stained hands. The song was still playing on his mind, or well, the part of it he could remember:

''When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me''

(Stand by me, Ben E. King)

Hot tears fell on Aydan's cheeks again. He cried quietly, and he cried without caring about his snotty nose or if someone saw him. All he cared about was to hear that William was going to be okay. Aydan would never forgive himself, if something irreparable happened to William.

After god knows how long, Aydan got up and walked to the bathroom. He looked at his pale face and red eyes, not really seeing anything.

For a moment he was sure the mirror was cracked and blood stained, but when he blinked, the mirror was intact and there was no trace of blood. Aydan took a deep breath and started scrubbing his hands with scalding water and soap. He continued scrubbing long after all the blood was gone.

It should have been me, was the thought that occupied his mind whenever he didn't hear the song or see William laying unconscious on the ground.

''..opened the emergency exit door and the alarm was shut off. They also knew to stay away from the surveillance cameras, so the assault was likely planned.'' A police officer was talking with a man Aydan identified as Matthew Davies, William's dad, even though he could see only his back and he wasn't wearing his usual elaborate clothes.

''He had a cellphone, a credit card, keys and two ID cards. The other has a different name and age, but it has his picture, so we have a reason to think he had been using it to get into clubs. Can you tell me, if there's anything missing?'' The officer kept talking, and Matthew muttered something about his son not having a fake ID and then something about an expensive watch. He didn't talk with his usual charisma either, the words came sounding discombobulated just as the look on his face was.

''I'm sorry, but we have to ask these questions now.'' The officer apologised before asking: ''Does your son have any known enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt him?'' William's dad said that the only reason he could think of anyone wanting to hurt William was money, but as only the watch was taken, he didn't think it was about that.