Watch Your Back

Chapter 26

"What?" Aaron whispered in disbelief. His mom nodded and gave him a small, sympathetic smile. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." His mom's voice was breaking. The blood rushed from Aaron's face, leaving him pale and cold. His mom soon frowned. "Aaron, what did you do with that knife you had?" She asked. Aaron's hands slowly went up to cover his mouth. He could feel his heart shattering into small pieces and his mind quickly falling apart, disappearing as every second went by. His mom's eyes widened. "Aaron, you didn't..." She stood up to embrace him, but he pushed her away and ran quickly to his room, loudly slamming the door behind him with a BANG! When Aaron got to his room, he tripped over the backpack on his floor and collapsed onto the floor, crying. He didn't care of his parents heard him. He didn't care if they were mad at him. He had murdered Doctor Harrison. The man who had invited Aaron to stay with him. The man who smelled like lilacs and rain. The man who had laughed along with Aaron about his extravagant green eyes and his crazy, purple hair. Aaron's face was turning bright red and he was starting to choke on his tears, so he quickly inhaled and let out a heart-breaking sob, one he was certain his parents could hear. There was a steady stream of tears running down his hand and onto his cheeks. If Aaron had known sooner, then Doctor Harrison wouldn't have died. He would still be alive, and Aaron could still live with him, regardless if Harrison had murdered his sister. Aaron curled up into a cold, shaking ball and cried until he fell asleep on his carpet.

                                                                                                   ~~~~~

Dr. Harrison opened his eyes to see the concrete ceiling of the asylum. He could feel his blood pooling around his back and hands. What had happened? He tried to stand up, then felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down at his stomach to see a large knife implanted in his skin. Then he remembered. Aaron had stabbed him. But not in the stomach. Harrison put his hand to the right side of his chest and felt a heartbeat. 

"It's a condition...all my organs are backwards..."

The knife hadn't penetrated where Aaron thought it had. In reality, it had struck empty tissue. Harrison slowly crawled away from the pooling puddle of blood. He looked down at the knife to see where it was stuck. Harrison inhaled, grabbed the knife, and pulled. Hard. 

"Aah!" Harrison winced and almost passed out from the pain. Blood spewed from the wound as Harrison crawled to the bathroom and pulled out a box full of needles and stitches. He took off his shirt and began to sew the wound close. Each time the needle pierced his skin, Harrison winced less and less. Soon he had been all patched up. So Harrison stood up, popped a few painkillers, and started to walk around. He hadn't heard from Aaron, but when Harrison recollected his thoughts, he immediately forgave Aaron. Sure, he had killed Aaron's sister, and anger was just a natural response of the human mind. Where was Aaron? Harrison thought.

                                                                                               ~~~~~

Aaron was used to sneaking around the house by now. But this would be his last time. He creaked open his parents' bedroom door and tip-toed into their bathroom. The light illuminated the room like a hospital. Too much like a hospital. Aaron opened the medicine drawer, making sure no one was watching him. Painkillers...allergy pills...cough medicine...Aaron's eyes fell on his dad's--wait--STEP dad's prescription pills. They "relieved" his depression. Aaron's fingers closed around the orange bottle. The label said on the side: Warning: Overdose or overuse may be fatal. Aaron shut the cabinet door, turned off the light, and snuck back to his room. His parents were still downstairs. Aaron could hear then quietly talking. So they weren't going to call the police. Aaron gently closed the door to his room. He sat down on his bed and read the side of the pill bottle again. Aaron had kept a bottle of water near his bed. He popped open the lid, remembering the first time he asked about the asylum. A lone tear trickled down his face as he took out six--no, seven of the small, pastel, plasticity pills in the bottle. Aaron grabbed the bottle of water, remembering how much Doctor Harrison had cared for him. Aaron ate one, and drank. 

Ate, drank.

Ate, drank.

Ate, drank.

Ate, drank.

Ate, drank.

The last pill sat in Aaron's shaking hand. He looked up at the ceiling, for no particular reason, and swallowed the last pill. Now he had to wait. For good measure, he took another one. Aaron smiled, crawled under the blanket, and closed his eyes, thinking about Dr. Harrison. He eventually fell asleep.

Aaron didn't wake up.