𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌 {𝑯.𝑺}

Chapter Ten | Brave or Reckless?

I was surprised when my brother visited me.

He had never willingly left the house unless it was another trip to therapy or an inpatient clinic. In addition, he had been bed rested for the past four months, so seeing him before my hospital release didn't seem plausible.

But later that evening, Alice was wheeling him into my room, causing my heart monitor to skyrocket. I was taken aback by the sight; breath hitching, hands clamming up and eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Aiden didn't appear to be happy. In fact, he looked completely pissed off due to being out of the house.

"What are you doing here?" I stammered, mouth agape.

He rolled his eyes. "I should be asking you that question."

The air lingered with silence as Alice rolled him to my bedside, locking his wheels and ruffling his hair. "Be nice to your sister." She ordered. "I've already given her an earful for the day." Then she smiled, causing him to blush.

I blinked in surprise at the interaction. Aiden never blushed.

It had been years since I even saw blood rush to his cheeks, nevertheless a normal human interaction with someone else other than me.

"You're such a dumbass." Aiden grumbled the minute Alice left the room. He turned to me with a harsh glare. "A shooting? Really? Do you think you're some sort of superhero now? Think you can save lives?"

I flushed under his scrutiny, shrugging my shoulders in embarrassment. "What's wrong with saving people?"

"Nothing's wrong with it, Mia. It's just not realistic. So stupid..." He huffed, running a frail hand through his hair—or what was left of it. He began to bald a few years ago. "You're not God or the creator of some universe, Mia. You can't just go running around trying to save people—people that you don't even know. Not everyone wants to be saved." He mumbled; the last sentence coming out icier than expected. I knew what he was trying to tell me, without even looking at his face.

Here I was again, trying to do the same thing for someone else that I'd been struggling to do with Aiden all of these years. For so long, I was fighting for Aiden to stay alive—trying to save him from a demise that he wasn't trying to escape. This wasn't about Harry or my impulsive attempt at trying to make a difference in the world. This was about Aiden; this was about me caring for him more than he ever desired. This was about me forcing him to live, when he was barely trying to exist. Like always, he had misconstrued this situation so it could be about him. Because as long as he was breathing, it would always be about him.

But not anymore.

The world was bigger and more complex than Aiden's problems.

"No, you're right. Not everyone wants to be saved. And I know that you don't want to be." I agreed. "But this isn't about you, Aiden. This is about the terror that everyone felt that night when a coward decided to hide behind a gun and inflict his pain on innocent people.

"It's about a coward who tried to take a beautiful night away from us; a coward that I singlehandedly saw gun down Harry Styles—who saved my life multiple times because of his music." My heart monitor was beeping excessively now. It wouldn't be long before a nurse came in to check on me. But I had to get this off of my chest.

"I'm sorry that I didn't realize it was abnormal to try to be a decent human being," I puffed out, trying to take deep breaths to calm my nerves. His jaw tightened and untightened, adverting his gaze from me as time passed on. "If there's danger, you try to alert everyone that is near—it's a basic human reaction, Aiden. Humanity isn't completely fucked, you know. There are some good people left in this world-"

He sighed, throwing his hands up to cut me off. "Alright, Jesus. I get it. Just shut up."

I blinked away my tears, trying to swallow my anger. I never liked being cynical towards Aiden. It wasn't long before I was drowned with guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm just a bit keyed up. I'm tired of being in this hospital bed."

"You have no one to blame but yourself for that." He grumbled, eyes still as cold as ever.

I bit my tongue, trying to keep the tears at bay. He could be harsh at times... "So, do you have a crush on Alice?" I questioned, attempting to change the subject; to lighten the mood.

"That's none of your business, Mia."

"Okay." Silence. And then, "Well, did you eat today?"

"Dad made tomato soup. Didn't taste as good as yours," He wrinkled his nose. "But it was doable."

That caused me to smile. "I'm glad you ate!"

I asked him a few more worrisome questions: Are you resting? Did you shower? Are you drinking water?

After a while, Aiden stopped answering me, rolling his eyes before turning his full attention towards my television. So I let him be, simply pleased that he had made the effort to visit me.

It wasn't long before my nurse came bursting into my room, scolding me about 'getting myself worked up'. She told me not to do anything that would raise my heart rate again, before filling up my ice cup and leaving the room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiden shaking his head at me disapprovingly with a faint frown on his lips. It sounded like he muttered, "...can't believe this happened."

But it was too low for me to know for certain.