Control

viii | aidan

"DAD. I'M FINE. I'm not the one you have to worry about," I tell my father as I slowly get out of the bed. "I'm not the one bleeding to death."

"You're my son, I have to worry about you," He said in response. "Now get back in that bed."

I look down at my legs, that were only half covered with my shorts on. Beneath them was a bandage wrapped around my left thigh. Fresh from after the removal of the bullet.

"I can walk fine," I said, even as I limped towards the door. "I can heal myself, Dad. I don't really need the bandage. Or the stitches."

"Aidan-"

With one hand on the bare wall, I leaned back into the extra chair in the hospital room. Kicking my feet onto the footrest, I started undoing the bandage. One strand after another.

The bullet went deep into my leg, nearly hitting the bone. It actually came to a shock when I found out it didn't; the impact of it really was strong. Blood still dripped lightly from the wound, but most was blocked by the stitches. Surrounding them, I was already able to see that some of my skin was growing back.

"See Dad." I motioned him to some forward. "I heal quicker than the average human. I'm fine. You should know that."

"Heal the rest of it, then go... where are you going?" Dad asked.

My fingers were wrapped around the string holding my skin together, slowly pulling each one away. "To check on Alyssa. She didn't look to good when I last saw her." Unconscious and cold, with a bullet wound in her chest. "Still can't believe she did that," I muttered to myself.

"She'll be okay, I'm sure," Dad assured. Of course he'd say that, he wouldn't want to lower my hopes. Alyssa lost a lot of blood; too much for a regular person. She wasn't dragged into the whole Evolutians mess, but she'd be more likely to survive if she was like me or Lauren.

Or, maybe not Lauren. I didn't need another evil girl in my life.

I looked down at my leg, which had all of the stitches removed. The skin affected healed, only leaving a thin line that patched my skin together. It probably wasn't going to leave any time soon, like the scars on my shoulder.

I got up and started heading out the door, stopping before I exited the doorway. "Do you want to come? I'm sure Aunt Grace would need someone to comfort her right now."

Just as I finished the sentence, the sound of sobs filled the hallway outside. It seemed to be bouncing off the walls, echoing into other rooms. The other patients in this wing of the hospital probably didn't enjoy it. I was pretty sure I knew who it was, and I was probably right about her needing Dad right now.

Aunt Grace came stumbling into the room, her face wet with tears. She ran straight into Dad's arms, crying into his shoulder. I could already see the wet spot from her tears on his navy sweater.

"Grace... Grace, what's wrong?"

"Is Alyssa okay?" I asked.

"How do you define "okay"?" She asked between sniffles.

I bit my lip. "Not... dead..."

She pulled away from my father, wiping the tears away with the end of her sleeve. "For now, she's better than she was before. They don't think she's going to make it, though. She lost so much blood."

I gulped. I saw how much blood she lost when she was at the Institute. She could only lose more since then, right? Guilt settled in my stomach. I could've done something to help her, instead I just stood and watched the entire thing. Heck, even if I took that bullet instead of her, I'd probably have a chance of surviving. Slim, but probably greater than Alyssa.