“Take my boy,” the mother sobs when I approach her.
“We’re taking you both, ma’am,” I assure her. The ladder hits the ledge, and Dan grabs the boy and climbs on. I watch them descend. I pull off my helmet.
“I’m going to need you to do the same, ma’am. There are people down there waiting for you both. You’re going to be okay.” She nods, and for the first time, I see it — her swollen belly. My head hurts, and I feel dizzy. I help her onto the ladder. “See you down there.”
I’m about to step out onto the ladder when I feel the windowpane give. I have to hurry. Going back is no option. I’m on the ledge ready to climb on when I feel the surface behind me give way. The floor is caving.
9
Aidan
I have given a lot of thought to dying, how it will feel. I imagine that I’ll finally see my mother, hold her hand and hug her again. And it is just the way I envisioned it. She stands in a clearing, a forest behind her, like the one behind my apartment building. Her smile is warm, and her eyes convey the love I have missed all these years.
“My son.” She smiles and stretches out her hand for me. I walk toward her and take it. She’s wearing those denim overalls she used to love to wear while gardening. Flowers in her wild brown hair. Mom is just the way I remember her.
“Mom.” The word I have not spoken for all these years sounds natural again.
“I’d like you to meet someone.” I look behind her, and there he is.
I would know him anywhere. My soul knows him. “Ashton.” It was the name my mama gave him before he was born. Ashton for a boy, and Lily for a girl.
“Hello, brother.” He greets, his dark hair matches mine and hers, and stormy grey eyes sparkle when he looks at me.
“I have missed you.” My voice cracks, and I can’t hold back the tears as I embrace a man I love more than myself. “How— how is this possible?”
“We never left you. We’ve been right here.” He motions to my chest, just above my heart.
“Am I . . . dead?”
“No one is truly dead, baby.” Mama holds my hand in hers. “But no, you’re just between here and there, this life and the one to come.”
Aidan, stay with me. Come on, baby. Stay with me.
I look around me. Where did that sound come from?
“She’s waiting for you.” My mom beams. “She’s a special one.”
I look down at the ground. “How can I leave you, Ashton, how?”
“By letting go of the unnecessary guilt you’ve been carrying. Until you let go, forgive your father, me, what happened, you cannot live completely. That night is over, Aidan. It took enough from you. Don’t let it take any more.” A tear falls from her eyes.
“I am always, always with you. I will love you, always. But I want you to live. I want you to love.”
My shoulders tremble, and I fall to my knees. “I can’t.” I sob. “I should have done something more. I should have saved you. I should have saved you both.”
“Oh, but you did. You saved us every day by living.” Ashton places a hand on my shoulder.
I look up at the two people I never thought I’d see again. I stand and hold them in my arms. “I’ll see you again.”
But not today, my heart responds.
A beeping sound awakens me. My eyes open, and I squint against the harsh fluorescent lights. There’s a tube in my mouth, and I want to tug it out so I can breathe.
“Aidan.” Ocea’s frantic voice reaches me. She blocks out the light, which now surrounds her like a halo.
“Water,” I croak. And she reaches for a glass. She removes the tube from my mouth and places a few small droplets at a time. My throat feels parched; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. The water is like heaven, second best to her face, which is tired but still beautiful. “I missed you.” My voice is wheezy.
“I thought . . . I thought I’d lost you.” The admission has her looking anywhere but in my eyes. I want to tell her that I’m here that I’m not going anywhere, but my eyes are heavy, and I need to sleep. She holds my hand as I drift off.
After a week in the hospital, I am finally settled in Kyle's house. The fact that I have no broken bones and got off with smoke inhalation and a severe concussion that had me in a coma for two days is something that pisses Kyle off. Mrs. Wills refused to let me go to my apartment. She has chicken soup and all kinds of home remedies I had to have.
“Thank you, man. For not giving up on me when I was a right asshole to you.” I tell him.
“That’s what friends are for, bro. We got each other’s back. It’s the bro code.”
“Uncle Aidan, are you going to marry the pretty lady that comes to visit you here?”
I laugh and pull Gaby into my arms, and proceed to tickle her. “You’re a sneaky little thing, aren’t you?”
“Stop it!” She giggles, and I kiss the top of her head. She runs off, almost knocking over Moira, who walks in with coffee.
“Sorry, Aunt Mo,” she says sheepishly.
“That’s okay, pumpkin.” Moira smiles down at the little girl affectionately.
“This is for you two. Lunch is almost ready.”
She places the cups on the coffee table and earns herself a smack on the ass from Kyle. “Domestic Goddess,” he teases. She flips him off and saunters out of the room. Mrs. Wills adores Moira, and her being a doctor impressed Kyle’s mom even more.
“So you two are a thing now, huh? How’d Megalodon take it?”
“How do you think she took it? Like a flesh-eating monster,” he says in a low voice. “I haven’t told Moira everything, but I have a protection order against Meghan.”
“What? When did that happen?”
He sighs. “Moira had an accident; someone bumper-bashed her good and proper. Let’s just say I have my suspicions.”
“You can’t keep that shit from her. Meghan is a loose cannon. She could be dangerous, man.”
“She’s just acting out. She’ll simmer down.”
I wasn’t too sure about that, but I trusted Kyle to handle the situation.
“So, how are things with you and the Nightingale?”
I let out a growl. “I don’t know. She comes to visit, you guys know that, but she’s distant, and I don’t know how to approach this thing. I’m not used to any of it. I’m giving her space. I think that’s what she wants.”
“Aidan, women want a lot of things, but avoiding the elephant in the room ain’t one of them. You guys have some shit to talk about.”
He is right. “I’ll swing by her place tonight, if she isn’t working.”
“Now that, my friend, sounds like a plan.”
“What the hell does she like to eat?”
“Beats me. Trial and error. It’s worked for me.”
10
Ocea
“He’s an asshole. I shouldn’t be losing sleep over him, but I am.”
“That’s ’cause you’re falling for him, hun,” Tamara tells me. We’re relaxing on my couch, halfway through a bottle of wine.