Her Eyes

Chapter 72: WE WERE BORN SICK

Her gaze never faltered from his. She seemed to be stunned by his words, battling her own thoughts and feelings until she could decipher which move to make. A sigh left her lips as she pulled a seat next to his hospital bed, hesitantly gazing back at him. "I'm sorry," she muttered, more to herself than him. "I just can't lose him. He's all I ever had."

Alex nodded, swallowing down the lump forming in his throat. "I know."

The blonde lowered herself onto the chair, settling into the corner of it. "I'm sorry he hurt you," she whispered shakily. "I just don't know what to do with him anymore."

He watched her for a while—she didn't seem to mind or notice. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts he was almost nonexistent. She reminded him of his mother in a lot of ways. The sadness of her soul illuminated through him. The image of his mother in her last few days came back to him. He shook the thought away, pushing the demons back into the darkness. "There's a sanitarium just outside of Portland. It's about an hour from here." His voice seemed to startle her, jolting her out of her daze. "We can take Norman to get evaluated. They can help him."

She stared back at him, exhaustion playing on her face. "How can you be so sure? I mean, look at what happened at Pine View."

A pain formed inside him. Part him was starting to say 'just trust me' but he stopped himself before it came out, a sad laugh taking its place. His eyes fell to the hands that lay in his lap. "My mom was admitted there when I was a kid. She was in and out of those places all the time."

She tried to disguise the surprise on her face, not wanting to offend him when he finally opened up to her. "Alex," she breathed gently.

"It's fine," he assured her. His mother's death was over twenty years ago. He wasn't going to let the past control his life…not anymore. "We all have our problems. Some of us are just more misfortunate than others. Doesn't make them any different from us."

She stared at him in disbelief, a smile creeping across her face. "Why are you so wonderful?"

He smiled back at her, reaching out the grasp her hand. "I try."

When Alex was let out of the hospital a few days later, Norma insisted on picking him up and taking him back to the motel to care for him. He sighed as she pulled up and got out of the car to help him inside. "You didn't have to do this," he told her, cherishing the warmth of her touch as he stepped into the car.

"Of course I did," she uttered before closing the door and making her way to the driver's side. "You need looking after. I'm not gonna leave you all by yourself. Not with those frozen dinners still in your fridge."

He rolled his eyes at her knowing that she probably felt it without looking at him. "Norma, I'm a grown man."

She sent him a scolding look, turning her gaze back to the road. She stewed in silence for a while before finally realizing he wasn't going to cave that easily. "I just want you to be taken care of. Is that such a crime?"

Alex sighed, casting his eyes to the growing line of trees. "Yes."

She scoffed, clearly amused at his childishness. "What are you gonna do? Arrest me?"

He turned to her, keeping his gaze hard. "I might."

A smile formed on her face as she stared back at him, but she caught herself before she let it go too far. "You're supposed to be taking it easy. You can't be running around town catching bad guys. I want you at home in bed."

Alex grinned at her. "I can do that."

"Alex," she warned, the motel appearing in the distance. "Just promise me you won't do anything too strenuous."

An eerie feeling burrowed inside him as he glanced at the house. He didn't want to make a promise he knew he couldn't keep, but he couldn't find it in himself to deny her the security she needed. "I promise."

"Stay here with me tonight," he whispered as she tucked him in.

She sighed, exhaustion pouring into her features. "Alex, you know I can't."

They stared at each other. Each fighting for control…both knowing they'd never win. Alex let go first, his eyes falling from her sea of blue. "I don't want to leave you alone with him."

She scoffed, standing up from the bed and pacing over to the window in annoyance. "He's my son." He'd hit a nerve.

It was times like these he wasn't sure how to handle her. She was a loose cannon. One wrong step and everything would fall apart. "Please," he let out. The desperation in his voice surprised her.

She was caught between a rock and hard place. He didn't want her to have to choose between them. She shouldn't have to. But every situation seemed to come to that. "He'll get suspicious," she explained. It her usual excuse.

Alex knew they were close, but he couldn't understand why Norman didn't want his mother to be with someone—to be happy. Maybe he just didn't want him to be with his mother. Maybe he wasn't good enough. Or maybe Norman had other plans for his mother. Alex shook his head, trying to be as sympathetic as possible. "Well I'm not supposed to be rushing up those steps."

"You won't have to." The saddest part was that he knew she believed that. She still believed that Norman wasn't dangerous…even after everything.

The battle between them began again, their eyes daring each other on. Alex loved her so much he couldn't stand the thought of losing her. "Look me in the eye and tell me you're not scared."

Her mouth fell open, her mind working to come up with a proper response. "I—"

"A few weeks ago you were at my doorstep fearing for your life." The thought of anything happening to her would send him spiraling down. He could return to the darkness. He would fight till his last breath.

She stared back at him. He expected to see tears in her eyes, but they didn't come. She stood before him unbreakable. "Yes. I am afraid. But I am more afraid of what will happen if I don't protect him." She left after that. She didn't mutter a word of goodbye or a promise to return…she just left.

It was somewhere around midnight when he found her slipping under the sheets to lay beside him. He glanced up at her in confusion, the look of sleep still ridden in his face. "I couldn't sleep," she told him, settling into her side of the bed. "I didn't mean to wake you."

Alex turned his back to her. He was too tired to consider her motives. He'd had a long day and the medication the doctor prescribed him made him more sluggish than usual. He heard her muttering something as he began to nod off, but couldn't bring himself to listen.

"We'll take him there tomorrow," she continued on, ignoring the fact that he wasn't listening. "It feels like this is our last chance. What if it's already too late?" She leaned over noticing he falling asleep and nudged him.

He groaned in mock annoyance. "What?"

"You're not falling asleep, are you?"

Alex sighed, pushing his face further into his pillow. "Norma, what does it look like?"

But she ignored him of course. If she was wide awake…he had to be wide awake. He could feel a long conversation coming. She was fidgeting beneath the sheets. "What was wrong with her?" She asked cautiously,

"Who?"

"Alex." He hated when she got like this. All he wanted was to sleep, but he knew that that would never happen with her lying next to him.

She gazed back at him as he turned to face her. He breathed deeply, preparing himself for the journey…her eyes lighting the way. "She wasn't ever a very happy person. It came in waves. She had anxiety and depression. We took her to an institution because we kept finding her passed out in odd places. She was suicidal. She tried to drown herself in the tub. That sanitarium was the last place we took her to. It helped for a little while. She came home within a few months. They gave her medication for her anxiety and for her depression. She would have been fine. She was fine until he beat the shit out of her for leaving the garage down open one night. She wasn't the same after that. Her face was so screwed up I could barely recognize her. She was angry…with everything. I can't blame her. I can't blame her for leaving the way she did. She didn't have a choice. He drove her to it." Alex sighed, shutting his eyes as the emotions of the fateful afternoon flooded through him. "He drove her to it."

It's been a while since I've updated this story mainly because I'm kind of stuck. This story isn't over yet. I have a general idea of where I'm going…but it's looking like the end is near. Suggestions are welcome if you have any :)