Breaking Boundaries •jb•

47; A Little Distance

                 

"You might be okay with starving and depriving yourself of sleep but that's not okay with me,"

Justin's POV:

"It's 1am, why are you up?"

I turned around from typing on my laptop, blinking a few times before clearing my vision and seeing Theo standing at the joint of the kitchen rubbing his eyes.

"I was waiting for Hazel to fall asleep so I could work," I said, a yawn leaving my lips with my last few words as he hummed.

"She actually fell asleep?" He asked, his tone disbelieving and I nodded, knowing that for the past week the word sleep and Hazel hadn't exactly mixed.

It was like oil and water concerning the situation she was in.

"Your grandad gave her something to drink, she dozed off within the hour when we were upstairs in bed," I said and he nodded once scratching his cheek. "Why are you up?"

"Came downstairs to get some water," He said simply and I nodded, seeing the bottle water in his hands as he motioned to it as he spoke up.

We were currently staying at Hazel's granddads and it had all together been a week since we had flown to Miami. All in all the start of the trip had been complete misery since we had to wait two days for Mariana to be stable enough to be taken out of her medically induced coma.

It had everybody walking on eggshells until the precise moment the doctor said that we could go inside to see her.

I didn't really know what to expect when I accompanied Hazel, but nothing could've prepared me for the sight of Hazel's grandmother lying weak and frail on a hospital bed.

It had me switching back and forth between the image of when I saw her back in Miami a few months ago and it left a sick feeling in my stomach because if that's what I felt and it wasn't my own relative God knows what Hazel felt.

...which is probably why I had put up with the distance she had created between us during the week we had already stayed.

I sighed at the thought, knowing that she didn't mean it in a sense that was offensive but that it was a coping mechanism I just had to get used to.

I wasn't one to judge her, especially in a situation like this so I was adjusting myself around her which would be why I was downstairs at one in the morning replying to countless emails.

"I think my grandma is coming out of hospital in a week's time," I heard Theo say from behind me, my neck turning back to see him again as he threw the bottle of water in between his hands.

"She is?" I asked and he nodded, a small smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah," He said slowly, his chest rising as he took in a deep breath. "I think from there the doctors will probably keep an eye on her until she..." He paused, struggling to find his words, "....um..." He said and I frowned silently, noticing on the way his smile vanished as quickly as it came.

It was a trait both him and Hazel had perfected within the past few days.

"You know if you need someone to talk to you can talk to me right?" I asked him and he looked up from gazing at the water bottle in his hands and up to me.

"You have enough on your plate," He stated, my mouth opening to protest but he kept speaking, "You're dealing with my sister in full depression mode and work on top of that," He said, chuckling half-heartedly.

"Doesn't mean I'm not here for you any less," I said and he pressed his lips together, "Mariana is your grandmother too and I doubt you want to talk to your parents about anything, but if Tatiana isn't around and you want someone to talk to I'm here," I paused watching as he nodded. "I know we might not always be on the best terms but I'm here nonetheless," I watched as he cracked an appreciative smile, my words picking up again before he could speak, "But warn me if you're going to cry because I don't do well around crying men," I joked lightly, ignoring the middle finger Theo sent me and chuckling as he left the room in the space of a few seconds.