The Space in Between

Chapter 5

Lara got out of Dre's room but the door wasn't fully closed. I stood up and looked at her.

She walked up to me and asked, "You were there, right? Care to tell me what exactly happened to my son and why he ended up in this hospital?"

I felt like I was struck by a lightning bolt. My blood started to rise and my heart was pumping so fast as if it's going to jump out of my chest. I couldn't find the words to say and there's nothing coming out except for, "Uhm, ahh". My mouth suddenly became so dry. The scene this morning came back in my head in reverse. Her eyes narrowed and her gaze was piercing through my soul.

She looked at her wrist watch. Is she putting a timer on my response?

Then she broke the silence. "I'm sorry, you might still be in shock and everything may still look woozy to you. Will you stay here with my son?"

"Yes." I answered. Wait, what? Why did you say yes? He's not your responsibility. Yeah, you feel guilty but come on.

She cut me off with my own self-debate, "Perfect! Can you look after him? I really need to rush to my next job."

I smiled and said, "Sure." I wish she didn't feel that it was a forced movement of my lips.

*****

I went inside Dre's room. He's sleeping and I quietly walked to the chair I was sitting in earlier.

"Sorry about that." Dre's voice cracked the silence I was trying to observe.

I almost jumped out of the chair. I heard a silent laugh followed by grunts of pain.

When he recovered, Dre said, "I didn't mean to startle you. Anyway, I'm sorry my mom caught you off guard outside. I couldn't tell her what happened. You saw how she was when she entered. If I told her, I saved you, she'd turned to you and who knows what she can do. She's just protective, that's all. Well, sometimes, she's overprotective."

Should I tell him it's okay? No, it's not okay. He shouldn't have done it in the first place.

"I really don't know what to tell you. But my life could have been better if you didn't interrupt." I replied.

There's that smirk on his face again, "You mean, loss of life." He sighed and continued. "I'm sorry if I stopped you from doing it to yourself but maybe there's a reason why I was standing nearby, why I saw you, why I ran so fast, why I grabbed you and most especially, why I am wearing a Superman suit."

"How can someone be this self-absorbed?" I didn't realize it came out of my mouth. It's supposed to be only inside my head.