Live in the Moment - Lashton

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

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Luke was careless when heading to the hospital. He rushed across roads and handed the money to the taxi driver not caring for the change. His foot continuously tapped as he waited in the slow-moving queue at the reception desk, his chest rising and falling with haste.

When he reached the front of the queue he blurted out his son's name, educating them that he was his father and that he needed to be there with him. The receptionist directed him in the direction, mentioning a few signposted names that he would need to follow.

As he reached the room his son was in he let out a small sob, seeing his son with his eyes resting and many tubes connected to his body. Ashton looked up from beside the bed where he sat, leant forward, his own leg bouncing up and down.

He stood up when he saw the blonde, opening his arms to invite the crying father into his arms. Luke rested his head on Ashton's shoulder, calming at the scent of his aftershave., Ashton let his arms hang loosely from his waist before pulling away and taking both of Luke's hands in his own.

"I need you to be honest with me," he said quietly, his voice gentle in order to calm the younger man, letting go of one of Luke's hand for a mere second to wipe away one of his tears. "When did you last feed Theo, Luke?"

The blonde let his eyes drift over to his son who looked peaceful in his slumbers. "I let him have dinner yesterday. I let him have dinner everyday Ashton I promise. I do feed him, I am a good dad."

"You are a great dad Luke," Ashton reassured him. "You're a great dad in every way but not in the way you nourish him. Giving him what nothing more than one-hundred calories of plain food for dinner is not enough for a growing young boy Luke. You need to give him ten times as more energy than this Luke. If you got yourself together and confessed to your problems you could help him and yourself. If you continue starving him you will lose him, either to death or child services."

Luke shook his head in denial. "I give him enough food!" he told Ashton sternly raising his voice slightly, letting go of his hands and going to take his sons instead, planting small kisses on it attempting to avoid the tube.

"Luke why do you think your son is here, lying in a hospital bed unconscious?"

Luke screamed frustratedly. "I don't know Ashton the doctor has not told me anything! Stop making assumptions!"

Ashton groaned, giving up. He leant against the door staring at the father and son. He couldn't believe that such a loving and caring father would be so oblivious to what he was doing to his son. Ashton knew Luke was a great father but there was something misting his common sense.

"You must be Theo's father?" a man asked when entering through the door spotting the blonde smoothing down his son's hair. Luke turned and wiped his eyes before looking at the doctor. "We've done a few little tests whilst Theo has been sleeping and we will have to do a couple more when he awakens, but we have a pretty clear idea of why your son collapsed."

Ashton watched Luke's face carefully, surprised by the lack of reaction to what the doctor had said. He was intrigued to know what was going on in his head.

"I'm going to be discussing information with Theo's father, therefore only relations are allowed in for the time being," the man started looking at the curly-haired man.

"I'm his partner," Ashton blurred out. "I'm practically like family." It came out of nowhere and he needed to be here to hear what the doctor had to say because he felt it would leave the blondes head like flour to a sieve. Ashton had time to catch Luke's eyes widen in shock and his hand tighten on Theo's causing the young boy to stir and awaken.

The doctor walked over to Theo and handed him a cup of water. The six-year-old happily took it and sipped it slowly, Luke's mouth opens ready to question what type of water it is and where it is from.

"Luke don't!" Ashton whispered causing him to earn a weird look from the doctor. Ashton quickly walked over and took the seat next to the blonde, taking his free hand in his own.

Luke looked at him and nodded respectfully. He understood that Ashton was only trying to help him. Him staying here and claiming they were together was the older man's attempt to keep him with his son and prevent him from saying something that would put that at risk. He was grateful for Ashton.

"How are you feeling Theo?" the Doctor asked Theo was squirming and attempting to sit up. Theo smiled and the man and told him he was good. The man then turned back to the older pair. "Theo had a very low level of nutrients and other essential aspects to his diet missing from his body, and I can tell from first glance that he is extremely malnourished. I can tell that Theo has not been getting much food." Ashton sighed slightly knowing where the conversation was going. "Therefore either Theo is refusing to eat or you are not providing him with enough food. So which one is it?"

Luke looked over at Ashton in hopes for the correct answer, neither of which were better than the other. Ashton remained silent, Luke looked over at his son and then took a quick glimpse at the man his legs shaking anxiously.

When the blonde failed to answer the man turned to Theo, asking, "Do you eat Theo?" The small brunette stared up wide-eyed at the man confused, before nodding a little. "How much do you eat?" he asked pulling a chair closer to the bed in attempts to seem less intimidating to the six-year-old.

"When daddy lets me," he muttered feeling Luke squeeze on his hand tighter. The blonde shook his head anxiously.

"How often does your dad let you eat?"

"Usually at dinner, he used to let me have lunch and one time Mr Irwin gave me chocolate which was really nice but daddy gets scared."

"Scared?" the man questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "What is your dad scared of Theo?" He looked over at the blonde man who seemed to be panicking.

"I don't know," the small boy shrugged. "He gets really sad when I eat and then angry and cries. Daddy never eats."

The man nodded simply. "I'm going to go and get a nurse Theo and she's going to go take you to the cafe and you can choose whatever you like, okay?" Theo nodded happily, before looking over at his father for confirmation that he was allowed to eat something that he had not been told to. Luke had his eyes tightly closed, however. "Don't worry about what your dad thinks Theo. He doesn't have control over your food anymore."

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