Behind Closed Hearts

Chapter 44

"Are you sure about this?" Laura asked from behind him. She was holding the handles of Aleks' wheelchair as Sean checked Aleks out of the hospital.

The three of them stood in the waiting room and Aleks sat stiffly in his wheelchair with a sling on one arm and the cast on his leg. He felt utterly helpless.

"There's no use in sitting around," he said, tapping his hand against his pants. "I need to see James and they won't let me while sitting in a hospital bed."

"I can't believe all of this was happening in my own sister's home," Laura said, her voice grievous. "Lily never told me. She could have been killed and I would never had known why. I'm a terrible sister!"

Aleks glanced up at her, grimacing when he noticed the tears were already flooding Laura's face. "What happened there, Aleks?" She said, trying to get herself under control. People were staring. "I wonder how long this was going on."

"That's something you'll have to talk to Lily about," Aleks said. She was already upstairs at James' bedside. She'd left for his room only moments after Aleks was wheeled out to the waiting room.

"You'll just have to understand her side of the story." His own words struck him. If James... No. When James woke, Aleks was going to get to the bottom of why James had had to keep everything a secret for so long.

What had actually happened in the house to cause Nathen to pull a gun on the two of him? Why did he push Lily down the stairs?

"I'm worried," Laura said, seemingly to herself. "Lily had been so attached to Nathen, she is going to be devastated. And if James doesn't-"

"He'll make it through," Aleks said through gritted teeth.

"Aleks..."

"He'll make it!" He shouted, glaring at his guardian.

Sean appeared just then with a smile on his face, but it wavered when he noticed the state of his family. "He's good to go."

"Great," Aleks said, perking up. "Let's roll on up there."

--

The ICU was a quiet, mournful place. It was full of bustling nurses, silent families, and sickly patients who were on the verge of dying.

To Aleks, it felt like they were entering a cemetery. Inside the ICU were a few separate wings that housed different kinds of patients. Walking into James' ward, he realized that there wasn't any sounds of the ill or quiet, forced conversations of relatives. James' ward was quieter still: Just beeping and silent people who looked like hell.

Aleks did not like this ward one bit.

James' room was toward the middle and Laura wheeled him inside without delay. And it was like something out of a bad dream.

James was lying on the bed, unmoving, with wires and machines hooked up all over him. A breathing mask was placed over his nose and mouth to ensure his breathing.

He looked absolutely ragged. Bruises littered his face and they reached down his neck and onto his exposed arms. It looked as if he were made of black, blue, and purple bruises.

Above his forehead and a little to the left was a patch on his head that was missing hair. It must have been the area they had done the incision for the surgery. At the sight of it all, Aleks felt his stomach drop.

He took hold of one wheel of his wheelchair with his good arm and pushed himself forward to get a closer look at his brother. Laura let go but entered the room after him, followed by Sean.

Lily was seated at the chair beside the bed. Her head was down and she did not look up when the three entered. She just kept her hand on James'.

"How is he?" Laura questioned softly.