The Silence | ✔️

41. M

It's the second of December. It's been six months since I met Aiden. It's hard to believe how much has happened in such a short span of time. Aiden was in hospital for almost a month. And even after he came home, he took a long time to heal. He hated being off his feet for so long. Whenever a pang of pain hit him, he tried to fight it off and pretend that he was fine. But he wasn't. He would be. The doctor was confident that all that he'd be left with were a number of scars that raised the skin on his abdomen. And emotionally, he was managing just fine. He was used to that sort of violence. So he assured me that that there was nothing lingering that stopped him from getting his usual amount of sleep.

The house was quiet. More quiet than it had been since I moved in. Hunapo was gone. He was in jail awaiting a trial that would determine his sentence. I knew that it was hard for Aiden but he promised me that he didn't resent the decision that I made not to talk him out of it. He said that he understood and would have done the same thing. "You need closure baby. I would never take that from you." He'd said it as soon as I went back to the hospital that afternoon. He did his best to comfort me and I knew how much he wanted to hold me tight. But the fact that he was less than twelve hours post op made things sort of difficult.

Zoerina had disappeared as well. She didn't come back to say goodbye. She didn't tell Imani where she was going. She didn't tell Hunapo, who we were allowed to talk on the phone with once in a while. It didn't seem to concern Aiden as much as it did me. He claimed that this was the norm for her. She took off when things got tough. It was how she coped. He couldn't promise that she wouldn't relapse. But he hoped that she was strong enough to remain sober.

I stood at the door to her bedroom and wished that I could talk to her. To even just find out that she was safe. Her bed was made, the satin black sheets and pillows were crisp and made to a hotel standard. The aesthetic was dark but it was her. Framed photos of twisted urban art, candles were arranged all over the top of her drawers and a white canopy hung above her bed. Zoerina was private about her room. She kept the door closed most of the time and it was never going to be one of those gathering spots where the entire squad congregated to chat about whatever was going on in the family.

Aiden wandered up behind me and wound his arm around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. There was so much comfort in that simple action. And the fact that he was still here, I could touch him, see him, hear his voice and kiss his lips was not something that I took for granted. It was a second chance. Something that I knew a lot of people didn't get and I didn't want to waste it. So I chose to forgive and move on from the choice that he'd made. It wasn't something that either of us could change and it didn't change who he was. He loved me and he would move mountains to ensure that I was safe and well. That was the most important part. To move forward and build a life together.

"She's safe," he said, pressing a soft kiss against the side of my throat. "I promise."

"How do you know," I questioned squeezing his arms tight against me.

He turned me around and let his hands come to rest on my lower back. His gentle green gaze inspected my face. "Because I've got someone watching her. From a distance."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Mhmm. I told them not to tell me where she is but just to let me know if she gets into trouble."

He didn't have to use the words. It was obvious that he meant if she relapses. She'd told me on more than one occasion that she struggled with the temptation to use again. It scared the hell out of me not to know where she was or what she was doing or who she was living with. But if Aiden said that she was safe, then she was safe. He wouldn't let her down.

"Why don't you want to know where she is?" I asked, letting him lace our fingers together so that he could shut her bedroom door. We began to walk down the corridor towards the guest room.