Walks like Rain

Breathe

"Is everything all right? Do I need to come home early?"

"No, no it's fine. We're all fine."

"Hi mommy! I'm at a hospital!"

Austin's loud outburst caused many people to stare at us in the waiting room, some with angry, dagger eyes. "Austin, sh. You can't be loud in here."

"I've got to go now. Love you both." She said, and the line went dead. I got up to go talk to the nurse who had been assisting us.

"Do you mind watching Austin? I need to go talk to Liam alone." I asked.

"I can't. But if you go to the lower level we have a day care. Twenty pounds per hour."

"You've got to be kidding me! I just need fifteen minutes."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but that's all I can do."

I sighed and quickly ran Austin downstairs and paid the twenty pounds. I watched as the attendant took him into the room and watched him as he went to go play in the corner alone, ignoring the other kids. I felt bad leaving him alone but I needed to talk to Liam. I ran back upstairs to his room and thankfully he was awake. I closed the door behind me.

"Good, you're awake." I took a seat next to him again. He didn't look at me. "You have to talk to someone. Please." I begged.

"I'm fine. I don't need to talk to anyone." He said, still not looking at me.

"If you were fine we wouldn't be sitting here." I said, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"It's been building up for years. You wouldn't understand."

"You'd be surprised."

"Please." I pleaded so desperately my voice cracked from my emotions. He looked at me with those big brown eyes of his before breaking his gaze from me to the ground seconds later.

"I was picked on a lot in primary school." He said. "I visited my family in America a lot, so I brought back clothes and things. People started to think I was conceited and that I thought of myself as better than anyone else. I was fairly good at track so I didn't have much reason to feel down about myself until them. It only got worse in secondary school."

"Liam...I--"

"Six people came to my sweet sixteen." He was getting choked up. "Six people!" He repeated for emphasis.

"You sounded so sweet when you were younger.....w-what made you so...dark?" I shuttered, shocked at the words that had just came out of my own mouth.

He took a deep breath. "I had a younger brother. I didn't want the same things to happen to him. I protected him from everything."

"What happened?"

"He went out one night with his friends. It was the first time my parents let him go to the theatre without an adult.... t-there was a shooting there... he was the only one of his group of friends who didn't make it out alive." He explained to me. Tears were rolling continuously down his cheeks but you could tell he was trying hard not to cry.

I understood then. He protected everyone from everything because he couldn't do that for his brother. He turned cold, stopped caring about everyone he didn't need. Liam made his circle of friends smaller. Less people to worry about, to protect. I understood his ways. It all made sense now. He watched over me like a guard dog because he cares about me.

I walked over to him and gave him a hug, careful not to unplug any of the many cords hooked up to him. "It's okay." I wiped tears from his cheeks and planted a kiss on his sweet pink lips. "I promise."

"I want to go home."

I looked at the clock on my phone. "They're keeping you under supervision for the next 42 hours." I said, taking my seat again.

"You don't have to stay." Liam said, twirling one of the cords between two of his fingers.

"I want to. And I'm going to."

"Where's Austin?"

"In that daycare thing downstairs. I paid for an hour. He's going to stay for an hour. It's just you and me."

"I hate hospitals."

"I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have done this." He said, picking at the gauze wrapped around his arm.

"It's okay. I understand."

"Stop. Don't be nice to me." He muttered.

"Why not?"

"I'm such a fuck up. I don't know why you're still with me."

"Don't talk like that."

"It's true." I glanced at the clock. 'I'm gonna go get Austin and get some McDonalds. I'll bring you back something."

"I'm not hungry."

I looked back at him. "You need to eat."

* * *

After the forty eight hours of observation the doctors concluded he had bipolar disorder. No shit. They gave us a prescription for pills that Liam needs to take to even out his mood swings.

When we got home, Aunt Carolyn was waiting for us. She told Liam that she was glad he was well, went inside and gathered Austin's things and left.