Page 80 of Psychotic Obsession

Aria

‘American bedlamite kills two while being held in custody’

The headline glares at me from my hospital room. As if stuck in a bad dream, I turn off the screen and fight the tears that have been falling all day. I pace the room, wiping my cheeks, waiting impatiently to be discharged.

Ewan leans forward on the small sofa. “You good?”

I stop pacing. "Yeah. We're safe. That’s all that matters." I smile at him, the fakest ever. "If I think about it, I cry, and I’m so fed up with crying.”

He nods, and I look at the staples and stitches on his head and a little on his face before I sit on the edge of the hospital bed. “I’m really sorry he did that to you. He thought you were trying to break us up.”

He snorts. “I guess I was, in a way. I wanted you away from him the second I found out you were dating him.”

My head turns to the door opening, Gabriella trailing in with Jason. He grins when he sees me, carrying a Get Well Soon balloon and a single red rose.

“Are they for me?” I ask excitedly.

He grins and hands them to me, hugging me so hard, you wouldn’t think he was only ten years old–although he does act a lot younger.

He takes the couch next to his dad and asks me if I’m sore, to which I reply with a shake of my head. “I’m just tired and need a load of sleep.”

“You could sleep at home,” he suggests. “Dad can make you a cup of tea.”

Ewan messes up Jason's hair while he slaps his hand away. "Stop it, Dad!" he whines, shifting along the couch to put some distance between them. “You said you miss making Aria tea!”

He narrows his eyes at his son.

Gabriella settles beside me on the bed, dropping a sandwich on my lap. “The food here sucks. Thank me later.”

"Hey, did you not say you had a video call with Ivy's mom today?" she asks.

"Yeah." My eyes flicker from them to the window, the sun already starting to vanish behind the trees. "She's bringing up a lot of fluids, but they said that's a good sign. Her energy levels have risen too."

"And what about the baby?" Ewan adds in, screwing his eyes shut when Jason’s face lights up. But before he can ask questions, Gabriella tells him to come with her to get candy from the vending machine.

“Sorry,” Ewan says.

I'm thrown off guard, fighting back the emotional fear of loss, making me stare at him in silence for a beat too long before finally answering him. "I have a scan tomorrow."

"That's good. Gabriella going with you?"

"No, she's been called into work all night and doesn't get off her shift until ten minutes before my appointment," I reply, walking over and sitting down next to him on the sofa, my knee bumping his.

When Gabriella returns, we chat for the next hour, mostly about Jason's school, his friends, and how much he beats Ewan in his computer game. I always feel so relaxed when I'm with them. I almost forget the last few months of us not being together, enjoying the peace and quiet in my head.

Gabriella goes to start her shift when a nurse comes in with my discharge letter and informs me when my follow ups are. She reminds me of my appointment tomorrow and tells me to come straight back if I still don’t feel one hundred percent.

"Time to go, buddy," Ewan says, patting Jason's shoulder as he stands. "We can grab food on the way home."

Groaning, Jason turns off his game and runs to put on his sneakers.

“I think you should come home tonight. I don’t like the thought of you in that apartment by yourself.”

“I’m actually excited to lie in my own bed, but could you drive me?”

Jason puts his two hands together. “Please come home. Pleaseeeeee.”

Giving him false hope isn’t right, so I mess his hair and grab my purse while Ewan picks up my bags.