Staying Grounded [BXB]

Nothing To Lose

SEBASTIAN:

"Sit down with me a moment, Sebastian," Aunt Judy urges me as soon as I've stepped through the back door into the kitchen. She pulls out the chair beside hers at the table and pats the seat. 

Despite her warm smile, the weary lines of her face betray an unnerving solemnity. "Please."

I frown at her while kicking off my mud-caked wellies and shutting the door behind Dobby, who immediately bounds over to his water bowl. Judy's worked a twelve-hour shift today, and it's well past time she should have retired for the night. The two steaming mugs of tea set out on the table indicate she has been explicitly awaiting my return from the farm. She holds her silence, however, until I'm settled next to her. Angling around so that we're facing each other, I rest my elbow on the table and give a prompting nod.

"Before I tell you this," she says, fixing me with a stern stare, plump lips pressing tight. "I need for you to promise me you won't lose your head, Sebastian, thinking there's anything you can and need to do. Okay?"

Dobby pads over to me and lays his head on my lap, compassionate brown eyes looking up at me as if he knows where this is going. I have the awful feeling that I know it, too. And should my suspicion be proven correct, there's no way I can promise what she's asking.

"Okay?"

"Just tell me."

A flicker to her expression suggests she's all of a sudden doubting the wisdom of continuing this conversation. Then, "I'm not comfortable keeping this from you, but no good will come of you getting yourself involved. You can't—"

"It's Mum," I cut her off. "Right?"

The lack of denial is all the answer I need.

My gaze drops to Judy's rumpled blue scrubs. "At the hospital?"

"Yes," she relents after a pause, furrowing her brow. She reaches for my hand, and I let her take it. Her tension seems to ease a tiny fraction, reassured that I'm willing to at least hear her out before bolting into some rash action. "Your mum came into A&E the early hours of this evening, a little before the end of my shift."

"And Clark? Was he with her?"

"Never left her side."

I need a minute to work the next question past the ever-growing lump in my throat. It's been only two days since I last spoke to Mum, and she swore to me all was calm. "What was the story this time?"

"That, I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I hate that word.

A heavy sigh has my whole body bracing, and in response, she tightens her hold on me. "Theresa made sure I was given no opportunity to talk with her. But I stayed while she had X-rays done. She was discharged a few hours later with a cast on her arm."

"She just left?"

"Yes."

"Without a word?"

"Yes."

"Clark slinking at her heel with his slimy tail between his legs, huh?" I'm out of my seat before Judy sees the move coming, like a tightly coiled spring released. Dobby's startled yelp berates me.

"She won't press charges, Sebastian, you know that." The sense she's speaking hits a wall. "By all means, try again to get through to her, but—"

"My stepdad belongs in hell, rotting!" I wrench against the grip still anchoring me to the table, vibrating with an energy I have no outlet for. "He can't get away with this again. I won't let him."