Chapter 11

Liam jumped out of his chair as Paddy came back.

"Paddy, what's going on?"

"He's in a bad way, Liam, He's lost a lot of blood."

"I'm sorry!" Liam sobbed again

"It's ok. He's going to be ok, Aaron's got through worse than this."

"I promised him Paddy, I promised him I'd look out for him!"

Chas burst through the hospital doors, closely followed by Cain, tears flowing down her face, the mascara leaving thick black lines. She approached Paddy and sat down beside him "Paddy what's happening to him?"

"All they've said is that he's critical. He's lost a lot of blood. They may need to operate on him."

"Operate? Why?"

"They said from the angle the knife went in, its likely his spleen will be damaged. If that's the case they'll have to remove it."

"Oh god…" Chas sobbed

Cain, ever the straight talker, was standing, staring at Liam "And who the hell are you?"

"I'm Liam…"

"And I suppose you saw this happen?" Cain asked

Liam nodded slightly.

"Ok, Tell me."

"Aaron and me had plans to go to Bar West. These guys started shouting things at us, Aaron told me to ignore them and they started chasing us, they grabbed me and threatened me with the knife. Aaron tried getting me away from him, and he…they stabbed him."

"Did you get a good look at who did it Liam?" Paddy asked

"No. It was too dark. I couldn't really see their faces."

"So they've attacked my boy and they are still out there?" Chas raged

"I'm sorry…"

"Liam, It's not your fault. It's ok."

"It's not okay Paddy! If they didn't grab me then Aaron wouldn't be here. If we didn't get that meal Aaron wouldn't be here! I can't lose him Paddy. I promised him I'd be there for him, and look what I've done!"

"What do you mean you promised you would be there for him?" Chas asked

Paddy sighed, and saw Liam was in no fit state to do it, he took charge. "He's Aaron's boyfriend."

"Aaron didn't tell me he had a new boyfriend!"

"They agreed not to say anything. In case it didn't work out. But you might aswell know."

Chas nodded and smiled at Liam "I'm Aaron's mum, Chas. Good to meet you Liam."

"You too." Liam smiled "Just wish we'd met in better circumstances. I'm Sorry, Chas, We've only been together three days and look what I did to him!"

Chas stood up, she crouched down to Liam's level and hugged him. "It's ok Liam. Aaron will get through this. None of this is your fault."

A nurse approached the four, "Are you here with Mr. Livesy?"

"Yeah, we are." Cain replied

"I assume you are all family, yes?"

Liam lied at that point, desperate to find out what was happening to Aaron, he nodded his head.

"We've had to take Mr. Livesy into theatre. His spleen was torn in the incident and it's caused internal bleeding. We also found an identical wound on his back, it seems he was stabbed twice."

"Twice? Oh my god…"

"The knife wound on his back was quite low, and I'm sorry to say it may have affected his kidneys. Now we won't know that until we operate, but if it has, we may have to place Mr. Livesy on the transplant list."

"No….People can survive with one kidney though, cant they?"

"They can, but it would cause serious medical problems for him in the future. We can only hope that the blade bypassed them."

"So, you won't know until he comes out of theatre whether he's going to be ok?"

"He's in a very critical condition regardless I'm afraid. We'll know more in 24 hours." The nurse smiled apologetically and walked away.

"24 hours? that's their answer for everything!" Cain yelled "Why can't the just give us a straight answer?"

"They're doing all they can, Cain. I can't believe he's back here. This is the one place I never wanted to see Aaron return to." Chas sobbed

"What do you mean? What do you mean by "back here"? what happened to him Chas?" Liam asked

"It's hard to explain Liam…Maybe it's best Aaron tells you himself."

"Please tell me. I need to know…"

"Last year, Aaron…Basically he couldn't deal with the fact he was gay. He thought he was going to get rejected, He'd lashed out at his ex, with fear of being found out. Everyone started asking him questions as to why he hit him, I didn't even know why he did it. Paddy told me why a few weeks later. Aaron found out that I knew and he couldn't take it, couldn't accept himself. He….He tried to kill himself, Liam."

"Oh god….Now I know what he means. He told me that last year was probably one of the worst years of his life."

"Aye. He's been through a lot, our Aaron. He'll tell you all of this Liam when he feels ready." Cain sighed. "Just…Don't push him, His ex, Jackson, pushed him, and…"

"He ended off paralysed. I know. Aaron told me about the accident."

"He did?"

"He woke up screaming, last night, I asked him what was wrong and he got all distant and moody with me. I figured it was best I went home. He called me later on in the night, begging me to meet up so he could explain. He told me everything about that night. Then, stupidly, I told him I was taking him out, to make him feel better, to apologise for being mardy with him. Now look what I've done. If you want me to go, I'll understand."

"Don't be soft lad" Cain replied "That's the last thing our Aaron wants. So I guess he wasn't lying about you then. I own the garage he works at, I'm his uncle. I heard his description of you and even I didn't believe him. Aaron's gonna be asking for you when he wakes up, so you're staying right here, lad. No excuses."

TBC