Under Our Care

Chapter 13

Chris's pov

"Isaiah," She said unhesitatingly. I looked at her closely to see if she made a mistake but she didn't look the slightest bit deterred. I expected her to say, Ezekiel, I was almost prepared to call him but I should have known Aliyah is the most unpredictable of them all.

"I am sorry for all the mess I caused." She said looking at Nurse Madison.

"You don't need to be sorry, sweetheart. You are allowed to be sick in a hospital." She winked, I gave her a small smile. It warmed my heart to see the nurse being so nice to my sister. "Let's get you all cleaned up, come on I'll take you to the washroom."

Aliyah nodded and I helped her up. She was slightly disoriented, her hands still trembled and her steps were shaky. I don't think she noticed that, Madison took her to the washroom while I sat on the uncomfortable chair to call Isaiah.

I tried calling Isaiah but could not muster up the courage. How was I going to tell them when even I couldn't accept the fact? I rubbed my face trying to form the exact words I was going to tell Isaiah but nothing came up. I hesitantly called Isaiah, he picked up in a few rings. I was still contemplating on saying anything.

"Hey, man are you there?" He asked after I didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"Uh yeah, I am"

"Are you okay? You don't sound fine."

"Yeah yeah I am fine." I cleared my throat before continuing. "Isaiah, could you come to the hospital right now?"

"What? What happened to you? Is everything alright? I am coming right away."  He blabbered, I could hear a lot of shuffling from the background. He was probably at his job, I felt a little guilty to call him right now but nothing was more important than Aliyah's well-being right now.

"Calm down, kid. I am fine, everything is fine, well not everything, but it's not what you think. I need you to stay calm and come to the hospital we took Aliyah last time, Aliyah needs you right now. Don't inform  any other of our brothers." I told him in the calmest voice I could come up with.

"Okay, I'll be there."

I was glad Isaiah didn't ask any questions and felt even better thinking, the moment I said it's about Aliyah he decided to come without any questions. It would be better if I told him in person rather than on call. It was certainly not a conversation I would like to have on a call.

Until Aliyah came I sat on the chair trying to not dwell on the feeling. I knew I had to stay strong for Aliyah because if I broke down all hell will break loose. I have to cover up with a tough facade even if there was a battle going on inside but at this moment I couldn't stop the nagging voice telling me I wasn't doing enough. All this was happening under my watch, even if this wasn't something in my control, I somehow felt it to be my fault. I felt like a failure when I couldn't even handle my sister's panic attack alone, how was I going to take care of her in the future when the situations would get harder. She would need me more than ever how was I going to handle her with my full-time job, which I need so much now to manage expenses. The questions and self-doubt kept coming up until my head was spinning.

I didn't realize I had my head in my hands until I felt a pat on my shoulders. I saw Aliyah with concerned eyes. I quickly sat up internally wishing she had not seen me like that, looking so weak.

"Are you okay?" She asked her voice so soft that it broke my heart.

"Yeah of course I am fine," I said trying to sound as convincing as I could. I made her sit beside me and told her Isaiah was on his way. She wasn't as shaky as before but she looked nervous. She was constantly bouncing her knees and biting her lips in anxiousness, her face was pale as a ghost and I didn't blame her for that anyone in her place would be like this maybe even worse, she was still trying to play strong.