Ayla & Aiden

*NOTE* If you find any errors, please tell me.  I also just recently changed the point of view in the story so if it say 'me' or 'my' instead if 'him' or' he', could you tell me that too? Thanks and enjoy!

        I know you.  I've learned a lot about you from quite a few people.  I want to meet you soon, but I don't think it's a good idea for either of us.  I see you all the time in the hall and I know you see me too.  I'm even in one of your classes.  I need to at least know you before it is my time to leave.  I'm not going to stalk you.  I would rather meet face to face, but I'll come to your apartment if I have to.  You know me better than anyone else in this world, and yet, you have no idea who I am.  It's very frustrating.  If you would like to meet me too, come to The Café, I know you know which café I'm talking about.  I really hope you'll come.
         Meet me there at 10:00 tomorrow.
                   -A Friend
         Aiden couldn't get the note out of his head as he tried to fall asleep.  It had been freaking him out since he found it in his backpack this afternoon.    Was someone really dying and they wanted to let him know about it? Was he supposed to help? I'm just a seventeen year old that has no future mapped out ahead of him.  No girlfriend to keep me grounded, parents no help at all, and a sister dead before I even knew her.  Not only that, but she was my twin. 
         He found it in his bag when he was looking for his English assignment.  I'm no psychiatrist, but whoever wrote that has issues.  They're either mental, or they just want to scare me.  Plus it was kind of sending a few mixed messages.
         He heard the front door slam shut.  Crap, mom's home he thought, quickly trying to fall asleep, but he knew it was no use.  Aiden heard heavy footsteps coming towards his room.  C'mon, fall asleep, fall asleep. The door flew open with a bang.
         "Baby boy, are you still awake?" his mom crooned.
         "Yes mom," Aiden replied, automatically tensing up.  The stench of booze and smoke was so overpowering that his eyes started watering.
         "Good, because I need to-" she stopped.
         He turned around and saw her swaying.  "Mom, are you okay?" he asked.
         "Ayla, is that you?" she asked into the air.
         "Mom, are you ok?" he repeated.
         She shushed him and went back to staring into the empty air.
         I hate it when this happens, she goes on talking to some girl named Ayla, but she won't tell me who Ayla is.  Who is Ayla?
         His mom dropped down to her knees with her face in her hands.  "I'm so sorry Ayla.  I couldn't help.  I always wanted..." She broke down completely, sobbing into her hands.
         He climbed out of bed and walked over to her.  He touched her shoulder and she slapped his hand away.
         "It's all your fault," she screeched, glaring up at him.  "If it wasn't for you and your god damn father she wouldn't be gone.  I'd still have my baby girl."
         "Mom, what are you talking about? She's dead, that's hardly my fault."
         "No she's not, she's far from it.  Last time I saw her she was in an orphanage in Philadelphia."
         "What?" he asked, completely in shock.
         His mom stood up, mascara and whatever other make up she had on was running down her face with her tears.  She looked like something out of a horror movie.  Then her expression changed to a demonic smile and she came towards him with her hands outstretched.
         "Come here baby boy," she said, slurring her words together.
         Aiden backed up and hit the wall.  He tried inching his way to the door, but his mom kicked it shut.  It was pitch black, but all of a sudden she turned the light on, temporarily blinding him.
         "I wanna see you squirm, and beg for mercy."
         She lunged at him, but he managed to ducked out of the way.  "Your fucking daddy wanted a son, so I gave him one.  I also gave him a girl, but can we afford a girl?  No, we can't afford anything I want."
         "Mom, calm down," he pleaded. 
         Aiden's mom was a little bit shorter than him and she was pretty small in general.  He didn't want to use self defense, but with her, it was better to use self defense than to get the shit beaten out of you.  He realized what she was trying to do when she came at him again.  This crazy bitch is trying to strangle me.  She lunged again and this time when he ducked out of the way, she crashed into the wall.  She turned and slid down the wall.  There wasn't any blood, but I could already see a nasty bump forming.  Then he did one of the stupidest things had ever done.  He walked over to see if she was okay.  Aiden leaned over her and saw her eyes were closed.  He got closer and her eyes shot open.  She grinned and her hands grabbed his neck.  He tried hitting at her arms, but she was completely numb to anything he was doing to her.  She squeezed harder and he began gasping for air.  All of a sudden, her grip loosened and she slumped down onto the floor.
         She smiled sweetly up at him.  "Momma's tired, I need to-" she ended, eyes closing again.
         He stared at her for a few minutes until he dared to get close again.  He leaned over her once more.  Aiden was alarmed when he saw her chest wasn't rising up and down.  He put his ear next to her mouth and heard nothing.  He grabbed her shoulders and tried shaking her awake.  Her head shook limply back and forth.  He had no clue what to do with her, so he did what any other sensible seventeen year old kid would do when their parent is unconscious.  He called 9-1-1.  He told them his situation and they said someone would be there as soon as possible.  Aiden sat as far away from his mom as possible.  There was a lot to think about.  One, he needed to find a way out of this place.  Two, was his sister really alive? And if so, would he ever get to see her? And three, should he go and meet whoever left the note in his bag?
         He was jerked awake by the sound of loud pounding on the door.  He walked over and saw the paramedics waiting to come inside.  Aiden opened the door.
         "Kid, I thought there was an emergency," one of the paramedics said impatiently.
         "Well there is, but I fell asleep waiting for you to come and get my drunk, unconscious mom."
         The paramedics looked at each other knowingly.  They stepped inside and he led them to the bedroom.  They put his mom on a stretcher and carried her outside.  He walked with them and got in the back of the ambulance.  The impatient paramedic didn't seem too worried as he was checking her vitals.
         "Is she going to be alright?" Aiden asked worriedly.
         "She may have a slight concussion, but she'll be out of the hospital in no time."
         "So she won't die?" he asked.
         He laughed.  "She'll die, but not any time soon."
         Aiden glared at him.  When they arrived at the hospital it was about one in the morning and he was starting to get very irritated.  As he was wondering how the driver got a driver's license in the first place, they came to an abrupt halt.  They unloaded his mom and he jumped out the back of the ambulance.  They carried her inside, asked where an empty room was, and walked down the hall.  He followed them silently, still amazed they weren't freaking out.  His mom obviously wasn't ok, but they could care less.  They entered one of the rooms where a doctor, was waiting.  His mom's limp form got placed on the bed and the paramedics exited.  Aiden wanted to flip them off, but he didn't know how the doctor would take that.  He turned back to his mom's bed and looked at her nervously.
         "Does she have a concussion?" he asked, worriedly.
         "No, she'll be fine, but we do want to run a few checks on her before we can allow her to leave.  We'll definitely keep her here until she wakes up.  Do you know how she passed out?"
         He nodded and looked the doctor in the eye.  "I know why she passed out, but you can't tell anyone.  I'm the only thing she has left.  She can't live by herself.  She'll freak out and kill somebody.  Please, promise you won't tell anyone why she passed out," he pleaded to her.
         "I can't make any promises.  If it's in your best interest I'll tell whoever I need to tell, but if you want your... mom, right?"
         He nodded.
         "If you want your mom to get better, you need to tell me what happened."
         "She got drunk and passed out."
         Her eyes widened.  Then she lowered them and saw the bruises forming on his neck.  He winced as she gently pushed his hair away from the bruises.
         "How'd you get these?" she asked quietly.
         "My friends and I got a little rowdy," he lied.
         She laughed quietly and shook her head.  "Don't cover for her.  It'll only get worse.  Believe me, I know," she said, rolling up her sleeve.
         He glanced at her, puzzled.  It wasn't hot in the room, so why was she rolling up her sleeve?
         She looked up at him and back at her arm.  So he looked at her arm too.  What he saw wasn't pretty.  There was a long, twisting scar running from her elbow to her wrist.
         "What happened?" he asked, shocked.
         "My mom went out binge drinking and came at me with a kitchen knife.  You guess the rest.  After that, I was glad social services got me out."
         Aiden sighed.  "I can't leave her though.  Even though she's not a good mom, she's still my mom.  My dad walked out on us eight years ago.  I'm the only thing she has left," he repeated.
         "I know how you feel and I know I won't be able to sway your decision.  I hope you get out of that house before you get seriously injured."  As an afterthought she added, "Or killed."
         He nodded.  "Please, don't tell anyone about this."
         "I won't, but if you ever come in here again with bruises or cuts or anything, even if it really was just from your friends, I'm calling social services.  What's your mother's name?"
         "Alisa Breckinridge and I'm Aiden," he replied.
         She smiled warmly.  "I'm Dr. McNeil, but you can call me Heather.  Do you have any relatives that could come and get you?"
         "My dad, but I haven't spoken to him or seen him since the day he left.  He's sent me a few letters, one with his number and address, but I really don't want to call him.  Can I just stay here with my mom?"
         "Yeah, I'll send in a cot.  She'll be out for a while so you should just sleep here.  Remember, I've had experience with this.  She'll probably be able to leave tomorrow around noon."
         He remembered his meeting with his friend/stalker.  "I have someone I need to meet at ten, but I'll come back and get her at noon."
         "Ok, will she cause problems?"
         "Only if her hangover is really bad, and I think it probably will be.  She's a bitch when she has a headache."
         "Yeah, been there, done that.  I'll just recheck her vitals and make sure she doesn't have a concussion."
         She did just that, and then turned back to him.  "Your mom's going to be fine.  There's a ninety nine percent chance she doesn't have a concussion."
         "What about the one percent?"
         "As a doctor, you learn never to say one hundred percent in case something ends up happening.  It's a real mess and sometimes people end up getting sued for mistakes like that.  I'll go get you a cot.  Are you going to be able to get a ride to wherever you and your friend are going?"
         "I didn't think about that.  Our car is at home and unless my mom has money with her, I don't have any money for a cab.  I'll just walk home and hope the car has gas," he said, walking towards the door.
         Heather grabbed his arm.  "Oh no you don't, one of my interns gets off work soon.  He can drive you home and you can drive back here.  DO you think you can stay awake?"
         "I've been up for longer.  When does he get off?"
         She checked her watch.  "Five minutes, speak of the devil," she trailed off, running out the door.
         She came back into the room, dragging a man along with her.  "Aiden, this is Ryan.  Ryan, this is Aiden.  Aiden needs a ride home so he can get his car.  Could you do that for me?"
         "Yeah, I guess so, it's not like I need to get home or anything," he grumbled.
         "Don't talk to me like that.  And your girlfriend better not be there when I get home," she said after them as they exited the room.
         Aiden was confused.  "Are you two related?" he asked.
         "Yeah, not that it's any of your business," Ryan said unlocking his car.
         "Is she your sister?"
         He snorted.  "As if.  She's my mom."
         Now Aiden was seriously confused.  "She doesn't look that old."
         His gaze softened.  "She's thirty six and I'm twenty.  She had me when she was sixteen.  I'm lucky she kept me.  My grandma kicked her out when she found out about me.  I'm sorry.  I shouldn't be dumping this all on you.  No one really cares about my life story so I don't tell it.  Do I turn here?'
         Aiden nodded.  "I'm a good listener and it's an interesting story.  What happened with your dad? Did he leave when he found out your mom was pregnant?"
         "No, he married my mom as soon as I was born.  They stayed together until he died ten years ago.  My mom was really depressed, but she never touched alcohol.  She said it was a drink for the devil.  I think my grandma was a heavy drinker, but my mom doesn't like to talk about her.  She won't tell me anything, no matter how much I pry.  Are we getting close to your house?"
         "Yeah, you take a right up here and we're there.  Thanks for telling the story.  It's nice to be reminded that other people have dysfunctional families, not just me."
         Aiden got out of the car and ran back into the apartment to get the keys to his car.  It was his car, because he was the one that ended up having to work and make the payments.  His mom took his hard earned money and spent it on drinks, male strippers, and who knows what else.  He found the keys in his bedroom and walked back out to his car.  Ryan's car was gone so he didn't have to worry about making extra small talk.  Aiden drove back to the hospital as quickly as he could.  As much as he didn't want to admit, he was tired.  And all this driving wasn't helping.  The good news was he didn't fall asleep behind the wheel.  When he got back to his mom's room she was still out cold, but a cot was waiting for him with a note asking if he needed any help.  He went back to the front desk and asked of it would be possible for someone to wake him up at eight.  The lady behind the desk said yes and he went back to the room.  He collapsed on the cot and fell asleep instantly.