(( Takes place shortly after the events in
Hana's post ))
Thank the programmers that Aunt Lisa had taken a strong hand in getting things situated. After Aunt Nika's insistence that Hana stay in her room, Aiden's twin eventually told those gathered what had happened to her in Alex's bathroom. Aiden himself went through several shades of white as he listened. There was still an enormous amount of anger inside of him, but it was blanketed under fear and sadness. His sister and best friend had been attacked like that. He held Hana until she finally fell asleep.
Then Aunt Lisa stepped in. She and Nika would alternate between the recliner in the front room and the chair at Hana's bedside. Aiden got the couch. Angel was given Lisa's bed to sleep in. The teen Mojoworlder would have protested, but he was too drained after listening to what Hana said to try. He kissed Angel on the cheek and settled on the couch. He couldn't relax. His mind kept going over how he must have missed chances to help Hana. She was supposed to look after him, and he her. Dad had told him as much when they first started school at Xavier's.
Aiden kept tossing and turning, never quite falling asleep. After Nika had finished her turn for vigil at Hana's bedside, he watched through half-lidded eyes as she went right past the recliner to the front closet. She seemed to dig some things out and go out the front door. He had never been very good at time-telling, but it was still dark out.
It was lonely and cold in the front room without somebody over there in the recliner. He sat up with a soft sigh. His stomach roiled at the change in position. He puffed out a breath to try to keep dinner down. Every time he'd close his eyes, he'd see his sister backed into a corner and scared out of her mind. When he felt his stomach heave again, he decided a bathroom might be in order. He avoided the main one in case Hana or Lisa needed it.
He quietly crept into Lisa's room. Aiden paused to look at the dark shape on his aunt's bed. He longed to lay beside Angel and just hold her. She was warm and rock steady. Everything he needed right at the moment. Except if he did that, he might get sick all over her. His stomach was letting him know in no uncertain terms that he had never been this worried and it did not like it one bit. So, instead of climbing onto the bed with Angel, he quietly padded into the master bathroom.
Aiden did his best to close the door as silently as he could. If he did hurl, he hoped the mighty wood of the door would protect his girlfriend's ears. He slowly groped his way through the darkness to find the toilet. He might have knocked over Lisa's toothbrush cup and toothpaste and...
Za's Vid, he didn't want to know what his aunt kept in here. Why couldn't he just find the... ah. There it was.
The tile felt a little cool as he slowly sank down. He swallowed and stared at the dark spot that was probably the toilet. He felt terrible. He could probably feel better if he threw up. Or at least drained enough to try to fall into a numb sleep. Except his body was not cooperating. After a few minutes of kneeling in front of the porcelain bowl, he shifted and sat down with his back against the bathtub. He willed himself to puke. Anything. Release of something.
Nothing.
Instead, he drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Why Hana? Of the two of them, why her? He was supposed to protect her. He thought he had been doing okay. Except in the span of months, he had been given two outstanding examples that he couldn't. He wondered if this was part of growing up. Being shown that you were a complete failure on the most important things. With the Hand, he couldn't have done much. He knew that much. But with Alex, he should have seen something. Stopped it somehow.
It had been too much of a relief then. Had to be it. He had been seeing Hana smile again after Misha left with Becky. He thought maybe she had listened to him. Now, he was thinking he knew nothing. That he had somehow stopped paying attention and thinking everything was fine when it wasn't. He bit his lower lip and put his forehead down on his knees.
He wanted to shrink. Disappear down to a size where he could hide in one of Hana's pockets and pop out to punch noses before things got out of hand. Instead, he got hot tears sliding down his cheeks and his shoulders shaking. He tried to choke down the sounds that wanted to come out.
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