Spring in September (Short Story)

Chapter 8

Aaron woke up in the hospital room with one window overlooking the city. The walls were clean and a light blue color, as soon as he came to his senses he immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the door. A doctor saw him leaving his room and stopped him from leaving.

"where is she?! where is Sydney?!" Aaron yelled at the top of his lungs as doctors and nurses stared at him.

"young man please calm down and go back to your room." the doctor tried to lead him back but Aaron pushed him aside and fell on the ground.

"I'm not going anywhere! where is Sydney?!" Aaron curled up in a ball and started crying in the hallway as Lucy kneeled down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Aaron calm down, shes alright." Lucy spoke in a hushed tone that calmed Aaron down.

She helped Aaron to his feet and led him to a room at the end of the hall, room 217. Lucy opened the door and went inside, Aaron followed just a few steps behind her. He went up to Sydney who lay asleep on a bed hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV that was dripping blood into her body.

"i got a call from the hospital and rushed over here as fast as i could" Lucy lifted her glasses and looked at Aaron who was crying by Sydney's bedside. "what happened while i was gone Aaron?"

Aaron's eyes were dull with sadness and pain and he still had a ringing in his head but he mustered up the courage to speak, "there was a power outage and she fell down the stairs."

Lucy chuckled a little and looked back at Sydney, "so that's why one of my best mugs are broken." her voice lowered and she still spoke with a sweet and calm tone.

"aren't you mad?" Aaron's voice cracked as tears fell from his dull hazel eyes.

"why would i be mad? if anything I'm glad you were there, if you hadn't been then she would be dead." Lucy hugged Aaron as she spoke.

Aaron's vision blurred with the tears that came to him, he let them fall and he cried out loud for the first time in years. Lucy held him close and stroked his back trying to calm him down. Aaron gasped for breathe and continued to cry.

Sydney's eyes fluttered open and she couldn't move, she had been out cold for 2 days and it was now Sunday. She was in her bedroom with the curtains opened and the window cracked open a few inches to let in some fresh air. "i hope Aaron went home-" she thought as her vision cleared and she could see a person curled up in a ball in her room, he was sitting up against her bed curled up in a ball wearing a red hoodie with the hood up.

Sydney tried to sit up but she got dizzy and fell back on her pillow, the boy turned around to look at her and she was shocked to see it was Aaron. He didn't look how he normally does, his eyes didn't shine but instead they were dull and sad, he had bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess, sticking up in every direction as he lowered his hood.

"I'm sorry..." Aaron's voice sounded like he was sick, he had obviously been crying a lot in the time she was out.

"for what?" 

Tears began streaming from Aaron's eyes as he saw the pain in Sydney's. "for everything! for being annoying, for reacting the way i did when you kissed me, and for not being able to save you when you fell down the stairs..." Aaron wiped the tears from his face, "i didn't mean to make you feel like kissing me was a mistake..." Aaron stood up and began to walk away but Sydney grabbed his arm.

Pain seared her arm as she gripped Aaron's wrist so he wouldn't leave her, "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Sydney, your arm-" Aaron looked at her arm as it bled, she had reopened her cuts.

"Answer me Aaron." She wouldn't let him go, instead she gripped tighter until the stitches in her arm snapped making them bleed even more.

Aaron grabbed her arm to stop the bleeding as it dripped on to the floor and stained the gray carpet. "Sydney please-"

"what did you mean"

"I'm trying to tell you I love you Sydney! Please let go, your going to bleed out!" Aaron yelled, Tears started streaming from his eyes.

Sydney let go of Aaron and he covered her cut with his hand, the bleeding showed but didn't stop. "What do you mean?..." Sydney could feel the pain on her arm but never acknowledged it was there, the didn't know how to react to what Aaron had said.

Aaron looked at Sydney with tears still streaming down his face from his dull eyes, "I love you so much Sydney... I didn't know how to tell you... But when I saw you on the floor with blood coming from your arm i-"  he no longer looked like the cheerful Aaron Sydney had come to know, but he still smiled as he spoke to her. "I realized I couldn't hide it anymore.."

Aaron used his other hand and put it on Sydney's cheek he pulled her in close to him slowly and kissed her, still holding on to her arm so she didn't bleed anymore. She felt his warm, soft, lips against hers as he kissed her gently, the soft warm light from the afternoon light seeped into her bedroom.

When he pulled away from her he smiled and whispered to her in a soft tone, "I know we just met, but would you want to spend the rest of our lives together?"

Sydney smiled and whispered back to him, "I would like that."

And for the first time, Sydney smiled. Aaron saw her genuinely happy, it brought a warm feeling to his entire body, he smiled and kissed her again. Looking into each other's eyes they could tell that they would be together forever.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Aaron helped Sydney to the bathroom and cleaned her cut and bandaged it up again so it would heal properly.

Apart they were faking happiness and saying "I'm fine" to get through the day to wake up the next morning and start over. Together those days of sadness is over, now they can experience true joy, without their filters.

What came of their dark past?
Their fears?

And please like this week's episode and follow the story so you don't miss what happens next!