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Pulling my gaze away, I see his hands in his lap. His fingers tap his thigh as he mumbles something to himself. I can’t hear the words, but whatever he’s saying can’t be good because his jaw is tight as he mutters them through clenched lips.
“What’s going on?”
He doesn’t speak, doesn’t acknowledge me.
“Aiden, I don’t know what’s happening. But you’ll get through this if you need me. Just take a breath, remember that—”
“Cut the shit, Pip, you aren’t Mrs. Saber.”
The fact that he knows the social worker I talk to takes me off guard, but I guess it shouldn’t. He’s been around multiple times when she’s stopped by.
I take a deep breath, knowing he doesn’t mean to snap at me. That’s not Aiden. Aiden would never hurt me. “I’m just trying to help you.” My words come out slightly above a whisper.
“I don’t need your help.”
“What do you need?”
“Just sit with me.” At his words, I plop down beside him, leaning my back against the bark of the trunk. “Your being with me is enough.”
The door opening of the suite has my memories drifting away and thrusting me back into the present.
I watch as Aiden walks in. His presence alone sucks up all the oxygen from the room.
He pushes his sleeves up and addresses me on the couch.
“I’ll sleep on the couch.” He grunts, barely giving me the time of day.
Aiden is stuck in his head. He needs time to calm down. I want to object to the notion that I’d ever let him sleep on the couch, and I will, but right now, he needs a minute, and that’s exactly what I’m going to give him.
Standing, I turn to him and nod. Keeping silent, I cross the space toward the bedroom. Once there, I sit on the bed and try to keep busy.
I can’t imagine how hard this is for him right now.
Me being in his space when he tries to silence the war going on inside himself.
From where I’m located, I can hear the slight mumbling as he talks to himself.
Most likely berating himself.
It crushes my soul.
After a few minutes, the mumbled words die down, and I hear a door open and close. The bathroom. The faucet turns on, and then a few moments later, there’s more noise, rummaging, a curse.
The words he said all those years ago play on a loop in my brain.
“Your being with me is enough.”
I kick off the bed and stand.
Enough time has passed. I’m going to him.
Crossing the space, I head out to where he’s sitting on the couch, but this time, there’s a pillow and blanket beside him.
I sit beside him. Giving him a second to adjust to my presence.
From the corner of my eye, I can see his shoulders drop, and then he moves to recline back into the sofa.
The breath I didn’t realize I was holding trickles out of my mouth as I lean back too and get comfortable.
