Her Eyes

Chapter 72: WE WERE BORN SICK

Her gaze never faltered from his. She seemed to be stunned by his words, battling her own thoughts and feelings until she could decipher which move to make. A sigh left her lips as she pulled a seat next to his hospital bed, hesitantly gazing back at him. "I'm sorry," she muttered, more to herself than him. "I just can't lose him. He's all I ever had."

Alex nodded, swallowing down the lump forming in his throat. "I know."

The blonde lowered herself onto the chair, settling into the corner of it. "I'm sorry he hurt you," she whispered shakily. "I just don't know what to do with him anymore."

He watched her for a while—she didn't seem to mind or notice. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts he was almost nonexistent. She reminded him of his mother in a lot of ways. The sadness of her soul illuminated through him. The image of his mother in her last few days came back to him. He shook the thought away, pushing the demons back into the darkness. "There's a sanitarium just outside of Portland. It's about an hour from here." His voice seemed to startle her, jolting her out of her daze. "We can take Norman to get evaluated. They can help him."

She stared back at him, exhaustion playing on her face. "How can you be so sure? I mean, look at what happened at Pine View."

A pain formed inside him. Part him was starting to say 'just trust me' but he stopped himself before it came out, a sad laugh taking its place. His eyes fell to the hands that lay in his lap. "My mom was admitted there when I was a kid. She was in and out of those places all the time."

She tried to disguise the surprise on her face, not wanting to offend him when he finally opened up to her. "Alex," she breathed gently.

"It's fine," he assured her. His mother's death was over twenty years ago. He wasn't going to let the past control his life...not anymore. "We all have our problems. Some of us are just more misfortunate than others. Doesn't make them any different from us."

She stared at him in disbelief, a smile creeping across her face. "Why are you so wonderful?"

He smiled back at her, reaching out the grasp her hand. "I try."

When Alex was let out of the hospital a few days later, Norma insisted on picking him up and taking him back to the motel to care for him. He sighed as she pulled up and got out of the car to help him inside. "You didn't have to do this," he told her, cherishing the warmth of her touch as he stepped into the car.

"Of course I did," she uttered before closing the door and making her way to the driver's side. "You need looking after. I'm not gonna leave you all by yourself. Not with those frozen dinners still in your fridge."

He rolled his eyes at her knowing that she probably felt it without looking at him. "Norma, I'm a grown man."

She sent him a scolding look, turning her gaze back to the road. She stewed in silence for a while before finally realizing he wasn't going to cave that easily. "I just want you to be taken care of. Is that such a crime?"

Alex sighed, casting his eyes to the growing line of trees. "Yes."

She scoffed, clearly amused at his childishness. "What are you gonna do? Arrest me?"

He turned to her, keeping his gaze hard. "I might."

A smile formed on her face as she stared back at him, but she caught herself before she let it go too far. "You're supposed to be taking it easy. You can't be running around town catching bad guys. I want you at home in bed."