Promise

Chapter 28 - Eli

     Zayne falls asleep in an instant. Adrian chuckles as he gently moved Zayne off of him and got up. He bent back down and gave Zayne a kiss on his forehead and lightly ruffles his hair before walking out of the room.

     He goes into the kitchen to get something to eat. "Is Zayne with Eli?" Astrid asked as Adrian took a seat. Adrian shook his head, "he's sleeping."

     "You got him to go to sleep?" Astrid laughed as she passed a cup over to Adrian. "Put on a shirt!" Aspen grumbles at him.

     Adrian waved him off and grabbed the jar of cookies on the table. "Just tell me you want to be alone with her, no need to shout." Adrian said with a smirk as he got up.

     Aspen glared at Adrian as he walked out of the kitchen with the cookie jar. He walked back to his room where Zayne was sleeping and sat on the chair beside the bed.

     The cookie jar was put down onto the table as he pulled out a ring from his pocket. It was a simple silver ring that Adrian had gotten a few weeks ago.

     He twirled it around his fingers as he watched Zayne sleep. He was suppose to give it to Zayne that night of the party, but plans changed and he couldn't.

     He took Zayne's hand in his own and started rubbing over his knuckles. A ring would look good on his finger, Adrian thought. But he couldn't give it to him now, he didn't now how.

     The time wasn't right either and everything was a mess. Adrian pulled open a drawer and put the ring under some pieces of paper. "I'll give it to you, soon." Adrian whispered.

     Zayne hummed and turned to his side, almost like he heard what Adrian said. Adrian chuckled as he continued to sit there with Zayne's hand in his and stared out the window at the waves splashing on the beach.

     His cousin was a dangerous man and Adrian wasn't sure what he was going to do next, what his plan was. But Adrian knew that there was only a slight chance that they could all get out of all this unharmed.

     Adrian sighed. "I promise, I'll keep you safe. I can't lose you." He mumbled as he stood up. He walked over to the curtains and pulled them close before he left the room.

     Maybe he should go to the beach for a walk, he thought as he walked down the hallway. He walked past Eli's room and decided to check in on him.

     He pushed open the door and the bed was empty. Adrian blanked there for a minute before he walked into the room.

     The IV pole with the drip bag was still in the room and Adrian walked over. Eli was sitting in the corner of the room, in between the curtain and the wall. "Hey kid." Adrian called as he pulled the curtain away.

     "Does something hurt?" He asked as he squatted down in front of Eli. He could hear Eli sniffling but there was no answer.

     Adrian sighed and sat down against the wall. "You're going to be staying here with us for a while. There's Zayne, me, Zayne's sister and my brother."

     "I hope you remember me. I built sandcastles with you, remember that?" Adrian prompted Eli. There was a tiny hum but Eli still didn't lift his face.

     They sat there in silence for a while then Adrian thought of something. He got up and went back to his room to grab the jar of cookies before walking out to the living room.

     "Hey, make some food for Eli. He's awake." Adrian said to Aspen as he walked past the kitchen to the living room.

     When they first brought Eli back a few hours ago, the doctor was treating him in the living room, where his jacket was left. Adrian, with both his jacket and cookie jar then went back to Eli's room.