Are We Out of The Woods Yet?

Part 6

Aaron woke the next morning feeling, to be frank, dreadful. He plodded into the sitting room and squinted as the bright sunlight shone irritably through the blinds. He approached the kitchen area, pulling on the cord to close the blinds so at least some of the light could be shut out. He groaned, swiping his eyes with a finger and thumb which departed off the bridge of his nose. He ended up leaning his back against the kitchen counter, going over the thoughts that daunted him. Robert's face flashed up a couple of times, he shook his head as though that would stop them. Although it's a well known fact, as soon as you have something on your mind it's incredibly difficult to 'get it off' so to speak. There was also a much larger problem weaving its way back into his thoughts this morning. Aaron breathed out an excessive amount of air, shifting from resting to go to the kettle. Picking it up from the base he popped open the top and held it under the cold tap, which he turned on by twisting the knob. He viewed the water filling the kettle, watched it form the shape of the inside. He was focused on it as though it were new to him or as thought it was a surprise to see that the substance that was coming out was water. To be perfectly honest, if he thought about it, Aaron knew he was only focusing on it to try and shut out the nagging part of his brain that wanted so very desperately to inhabit his mood today. Unfortunately it didn't take long to fill a kettle so he was about to pour out the contents and start filling it again when he decided this wasn't enough to put off the thoughts. They were approaching, marching up the hill. He closed his eyes... No that made it worse. Shutting out his surroundings meant he was less likely to be inspired by something to spark a new thought. His eyes snapped open. He blinked rapidly rubbing at his eyes once more. He then put the kettle back on its base and flicked the switch down. The machine fired up, beginning to apply heat to his soon to be, cup of tea. Aaron opened a draw he thought was full of cutlery, oops wrong draw, mm well he had just woken up. To most people it wouldn't have been a big deal they would have just shrugged and maybe chuckled at themselves before opening the correct draw. But Aaron on the other hand, instantly grew angry, slamming the draw shut. He leant forwards on the shelf taking heavy breath's all sorts of cruel names he had for himself taunted him. He let it mostly wear off before opening the draw right next to it where the cutlery could then be seen. His hand went for a teaspoon but his eyes went for the knives. They were blunt ones, for spreading butter. His eyes darted for the knife block, where carving knives and bread knives were put away. He realised what he was doing and scolded himself. He picked out a teaspoon and shut the draw, keeping his distance from the knife block and grabbing a mug instead. He gripped the handle of the mug far firmer than was necessary, even when it became uncomfortable Aaron kept holding it like that. It left a mark where it had pressed into his palm as he finally placed it down. Grimacing at his urges he grabbed the box of teabags and got one out, dropping it into the mug. The kettle hadn't finished yet, what was he to do now? He scratched the back of his head, the temptations becoming stronger. His head rose to stare down the knife block. As though the kettle were a friend, it made a 'pop' sound to signal it had done its job, just in case he hadn't heard that, smoke rose from the spout alerting him. Aaron had heard the popping noise though as he'd been trying to convince himself over and over that he didn't need to do that to his skin, he didn't need their help and he'd gone over to pick up the kettle. The kettle made the best effort to bubble and steam but no noise was louder than the screaming of the knives where light reflected off them in the daylight. He hadn't heard Diane come in. She entered the room and was going to ask for a brew to be made for her too. That was until she caught sight of Aaron. He was holding the kettle but not looking at it, he was either deep in thought or just looking elsewhere around the room, anyhow the clearly boiled kettle was tilted so water was dripping out in small spurts onto Aaron's free hand directly beneath and scalding it. "Aaron! Watch what you're doing!" she didn't shout to alarm him but spoke loud enough. Aaron came back from where his mind had been. He felt a harsh burning sensation on his hand. He realised he was still holding the kettle and it was emptying all over him. He put the appliance down and lifted his throbbing hand. He had barely felt the pain, it had been like a warm hand on his... Diane rushed over. "My word pet are you alright? Here, hurry put it under the cold water." She turned the tap on and took Aaron's elbow, leading his hands towards the holy element. The stinging was horrendous. Aaron was unaffected though. He felt numb. "You're lucky I came in here when I did." Diane said. She glanced up at Aaron. He was staring down into the sink. "Are you alright?" Nope no questions, not now.