Engaged At The Moment ✔️

16: That 12-year-old boy throwing fits

One minute? 

How could only one minute have passed since I last checked the time?

I flung my phone on the bed, plopping beside it soon after. 

If time flew when one was having fun, then believe me, it crawled slower than a pregnant snail when one was worried sick. And I knew that because I was experiencing it right about now.

Since leaving the house over two hours ago, Aiden still hadn’t returned. All my attempts at trying to reach him over the phone had proved futile so far. And it definitely didn’t help that my worries seemed to grow with every passing minute. 

I’d tried texting too, but even that went unanswered. But then again, there weren’t many reply options to: ‘are you okay?’ You know, especially considering the fact that he was obviously not – gosh, that was so stupid of me now that I think about it.

But I just didn’t know what else to do, and it was so damn frustrating. 

After Aiden left, his grandma had muttered some complaints and stomped off to her room – well, after talking to the doctor that is. Emma, on her part, wasn’t as eager to leave. She stayed glued to Kara’s side, intently watching her sleeping form. 

It had taken more than a little persuading from Dr. Leo, with a little assistance from my end, to convince her to get some rest as well. With Emma gone to her room, I left for Aiden’s room as well – and that was where I was now, tossing on the bed, counting every passing second. 

I’d changed out of my gown a while ago, and was now just in a plain tee and shorts – but the change in clothes still didn’t make me feel any better. Even my sweet precious gummy bears didn’t taste as enjoyable tonight; since about an hour of laying here, I had only managed to make it through two packs. 

I know – it was horrible. 

But I couldn’t bring myself to care much for my low gummy bear intake tonight. There were more important things at hand – and by that, I meant him. 

I reached for my phone yet again, there was still nothing. And this time, I couldn’t suppress a groan when I looked up at the screen, only to find that just one minute had passed since the last time I checked. 

god, I was going nuts. 

I tried getting up and walking circles around the room. I tried yoga – I was pretty sure I did a shit job of it, but whatever. I even tried push ups – I managed to make it through five rounds, and never came up again.

I was in the middle of contemplating stretches next, when the door creaked open. At the sound, my head immediately shot towards that direction, and lo and behold, there he was.

“Aiden,” I breathed, the name coming out more as a sigh of relief. 

His response was a small smile. “Hey.”

“You’re back.”

I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth. 

You’re back? Of all things, ‘you’re back?’ Was he not aware of that already? But then again, there wasn’t much else I could think of that wouldn’t make me sound like a wife with a cheating husband. 

Because that was exactly what it’d sound like if I gave in to the burning questions inside me that went like: ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Why weren’t you answering your phone?’ ‘Why didn’t you reply to my texts?’ ‘Why are turkeys so much bigger than chickens when they’re literally cousins?’