Bloom

46. mouthful of responsibilities

Haven

"You can't ask her that, Zayn. The responsibility may be too big.." I glanced through the window, seeing Zephaniah's parents discussing something inside their kitchen. I was seated outside on their garden bench, an ochre yellow cushion underneath me. Zephaniah slept on the bench that stood across mine, he hadn't gone to University today.

Apparently something had happened at night and he had to go to the hospital for it. I was confused, but Hannah had asked me to come over, so I did. Plucking my nails, I didn't really know what else to do. I stared at Zephaniah, his untamed hair was stuffed underneath a beanie, but the breeze would sometimes hit his fringe softly, the hairs gently stroking his forehead.

He seemed tired, even when he slept. I wondered what had happened. It wasn't a seizure, his mum had explained briefly at Uni. The bell rang before she could explain more- she needed to head back to the library. My mind hadn't been anywhere else but the news since then.

"Then who else is going to do it, Hannah?" His father sighed, his hands in his hair. "Tara isn't in his group, he said. William is aware of the situation but he isn't going to be around him all the time either. Haven sleeps in the same house, she would know."

Frowning lightly when I heard my name, I secretly glanced through the window, watching Hannah as she poured some hot water in a cup. "You can ask, but.. I can understand if she doesn't want to do it. It is kind of.. intimate."

Another deep sigh was heard, the exchange of soft kisses soon after that. She mumbled something to him, I couldn't really hear what. Perhaps, that wasn't my business, anyway. Even when I had heard my name.

"Haven, it's good to see you." His father smiled at me once he stepped outside, into their backyard, but the tiredness on his face said more about how he felt at the moment.

"Thanks for inviting me over! I was really worried when I didn't see him at Uni today. Tara didn't know anything about it either. Luckily I bumped into Hannah." Smiling at his mother, she warmly returned it, placing my cup of tea in front of me.

Thanking her, I dipped the tea bag into the cup and waited until it was the colour of my liking. The cup was still too warm to hold, so I left it on the table to cool off a little. "So, uhm, it wasn't a seizure?"

"No," his father shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee. "Gastrointestinal problems. A mouth full, that word." He chuckled, glancing at his wife who simply gave him a warm smile. "He had an extreme stomach ache last night. I don't think I've ever seen it that bad before. Apparently it had to do with his autism as well. Autism affects the mind, but the body too. Autistic kids have more issues with those than the other kids. Some report the doctor gave me explained it all." He shrugged, swallowing down more coffee.

"Gastrointestinal problems, the most known ones are constipation, diarrhea or gastroesophageal reflux. We didn't really know he's had that before. He had been constipated when he was little but I had simply sat him down on the toilet with a dog comic book. Never knew it could be something like that, you know?" Zayn glanced at me, his eyes resting on his son after that.

Hannah cleared her throat, nodding. "The doctor said it could be triggered by a lot of factors. The stress he may have, the way he experiences pain. Zeph is oversensitive at times, with certain things. The doctor thought he could've experienced it way more extreme than we would do, know what I mean? Not as in, excluding his pain, because pain is pain, but his brain might tell him it hurts that much.." Hannah gestured with her hands. ".. while for us it would hurt this much."

Zayn agreed with her, slowly nodding his head. He looked thoughtful, almost sad as he was still staring at Zephaniah, who was oblivious to the conversation as he slept.