Circles

Chapter XIII

Saturday morning, Alister set off on a business trip. He packed his suitcase very early and left without saying a word.

Noah had spent the entire night awake, tossing and turning in bed, and all he heard was the door closing. His eyes widened in surprise, and as he realized what was happening, his heart started beating rapidly and painfully.

A few hours later, Lizzie entered the room carrying a tray in her hands. Noah didn't even look at her. He didn't answer her questions either. It was as if he couldn't hear her. He was absent, in a faraway place.

At lunchtime, Lizzie returned.

"I'm sorry, Noah, but Mr. Alister told me to make you eat."

She placed the tray on the nightstand and gently touched the young man's shoulder.

As there was no response, she pulled the blankets gently to uncover his face.

His eyes stared blankly at the wall.

"Noah?" she called.

For a moment, the boy seemed to react, and he slowly turned to look at her.

"Here's your lunch..."

"I'm not hungry," he muttered in a hoarse voice as he struggled to sit on the bed.

"Come on, just a little bit. I brought your favorite," she said, smiling, trying to get a response.

But Noah didn't move again. He had disconnected.

"Alright, don't blame me for this."

Lizzie took a large spoonful of food, and holding his face firmly, she forced him to open his mouth.

Noah didn't resist, and he swallowed the food almost without chewing.

"Hey, chew!" she scolded, "you'll choke if you swallow it like that."

The boy didn't respond, but at least he cooperated, and that was a relief.

When Lizzie finished feeding him, she gave him some water, making him swallow forcefully as she had done before.

She felt uneasy. For some reason, sometimes felt resentment starting to grow within her. She didn't understand why Mr. Alister cared so much about his brother when he was clearly throwing a tantrum. She disliked having to take care of him, and even more so, that he didn't even defend himself. Given Noah's personality, she had expected him not to let her touch him, and then her job would have been done, and a professional would take over. That's what Mr. Alister had said. But out of loyalty to him, she couldn't do less than give her best effort, and to make things worse, she had to stay in the house while he was away.

Lizzie sighed, tired.

"You look damn miserable, Noah. I don't understand how someone like you can worry him so much," she muttered under her breath as she left the room, slamming the door.

Noah jumped at the noise and looked in that direction for a moment, but then he lowered his gaze again as if nothing had happened.

Lizzie returned two more times to the room; the first time to force-feed him dinner, and the second time to ask if he needed anything before going to bed. As she expected, she received no response, so she simply went to bed, leaving Noah in the darkness and silence of the room.

The seconds on the clock on his nightstand resounded violently in his head, while images from his childhood flashed before his eyes at irregular intervals. He remembered some of the situations with anguish and tried his best to suppress what he was feeling, as if by doing so, he could erase what had happened. He couldn't even sleep anymore. Furthermore, he had entered a state of drowsiness that was very difficult for him to break out of, and he knew it. Now that he thought about it, he should have treated Alister better.