A Christmas With My Brother's Best Friend

8

HAILEY

"The excessive smoke caused his inability to breathe." The doctor's voice brought me out of my deep thoughts from where I had been sitting. I stood up immediately from my seat towards her, my eyes wide opened, and my ears itching to hear what more she had to say, hoping it wouldn't be more of a bad news.

"However, we were able to stabilize him. All he needs is premium rest." She continued saying, and I bet that was all she had to say, so I let out a sigh of relief.

We all nodded, and my eyes rested on my son, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Thankfully, I could see through the transparent glass that had been used as walls. My heart broke at the sight of how helpless and in pain he looked, and I couldn't control the tears, which began to trickle down my cheeks.

"Also," the doctor, whom I thought had left, walked back after some time of silence. I turned towards her immediately, sniffing and wiping my tears. “I think a situation like this with a boy his age should be avoided. It's a miracle that he survived this.”

Probably a Christmas miracle… the thoughts played in my head

"You need to be careful next time, especially on such a day.” She finalized,and that was the last of her words before she walked out.

Truthfully,her words stung me. It's more like I had not been careful enough. I let unnecessary emotions push me down.

"Hailey." I suddenly heard amidst my thoughts. And then, I turned to check out who it was.

It was quite hard to decipher the stares Adrian gave me.

Was it that of worry, concern, anger, and pain? I wondered.

"What is it?" I finally asked after some time of silence. My voice was dry and cold, unable to cast out my real emotions.

"Stop staring long and hard at him. Give him some space and time to heal." He said, looking away from me this time,down to Aiden.

"What?" Disbelief finally flashed through my words.

"He is my son. How would you expect me not to look out for him?" My voice broke as I spoke,while the words felt like needles pierced in every corner of my skin painfully. Even while I tried to swallow down the words, it hurt,it burned.

"Of course It would hurt." He spoke up. “But you had put him in that same position." His words came unexpectedly, but I was forced to believe he meant every one of it based on the sincerity which sparked in his eyes.

So,I stared at him in confusion, dying to understand where he was driving at with his words. He might have every right to reprimand me for being careless,but now wasn't the time,and especially not while we were in the hospital.

"What are you saying, Adrian?" I summoned enough courage to ask him.

"You know what I'm talking about, so don't act like you don't. " I watched how much he tried to restrain himself from bursting out the anger he probably felt.

“Come on, man. Let's take a walk. You shouldn't be doing this,at least not here." Jaxon,who I had completely forgotten, he was still present with us, suddenly butt in. I watched as he continuously patted Adrian as a means of consolation.

"Yes. You really don't have to do this here. You can see you're not the only one who is in pain. And besides,he is my son,not yours. " I blurted, folding my hands against each other.

"What?" Adrian scoffed, attempting to move closer towards me, but I watched Jaxon hold him back.

"Are you really going to say this?" Jaxon moved to stand right in front of me instead as he spoke.

"Nobody is trying to take away the fact that you are his mother. But what good of a mother are you if you couldn't even protect your son?" He questioned, irritation and a possible anger blazing through his eyes. A part of me felt ashamed of myself for trying to justify my actions. But then,what business does a total stranger have with my family? Even if he happened to be the best friend of my brother,he definitely didn't have the right to lecture me again on how to take care of my brother's house or even my son.

"Watch how you speak to me, Jaxon." I finally spoke, passing him the dirtiest stare I could think of.

"You have no right whatsoever to speak to me in that manner. You're just a visitor,so know your place.” I made sure to add.

"Hmph!" He scoffed,and I could see the demon he was trying to subdue.

"Hailey,the least you could do was keep shut." Adrian jumped,still standing behind Jaxon. My eyes quickly rested on me.

"And the least you could do was not talk about this in front of a stranger until we got home." I half yelled, my hands falling down to my thighs.

"Well, just in case you must have forgotten,this stranger happens to be my best friend,and he is also the one who saved your son's life." He didn't back down.

"I am aware of what he did. However,that still doesn't give him the right to lecture me." I fired back.

“If you don't need a lecture, then you should learn how to be a mother and not just a woman. There's a difference.” Jaxon fired immediately before Adrian could speak. This time, my eyes lingered on him.

While we locked gazes,I couldn't think of the right words to make use of as a response back to him. Those charming blue eyes were suddenly filled with fury and an urgent need to hurt me with more words, but I could still see how much he was holding back. And then I was forced to question inwardly, just how much could he hold back?