Frozen Heart - 17. Chapter 17 - The Wait

Five long minutes later, Aaron's car skidded to a stop in front of Max. Aaron wasn't even out of his car yet that a pair of desperate arms clung to him tightly. He could feel every sob that shook the smaller body that was pressed against his.

"I'm here, it's OK," Aaron stroked the soft black curls on top of Max's head, and he tried his best to soothe him. "What's wrong babe, talk to me."

"It's-it's my aunt, she-she's off to the hospital."

"What happened?"

"After you left she came in the kitchen and collapsed. I don't know anything else!"

Aaron took a few seconds to take it in, but he kept hugging Max tight. He passed on a sense of calm that his boyfriend desperately needed.

"Do you know where they took her?"

Max nodded before passing him a piece of paper with the name of the hospital on it. It was the closest one their was in the area, and it had a pretty good reputation. Unfortunately for Aaron, it brought back some very bad memories, though Max only learned of that a few days later...

Aaron picked Max up and carried him over to the passenger seat. He gently set him down and buckled him up. He gave him a last kiss full of love on the forehead before going around and getting back in behind the wheel.

In the ride to hospital Maximilian prepared for the worst, he quietly asked his emotions to go down to his heart where he could keep them in check if needed, though he felt no need to raise any icy walls. For some reason even anger went with the others, it even hid itself deep, covering the last barrier. Love was the one on top of every other, ready to jump in if it felt Maximilian needed some external support. A strange feeling of peace invaded his body, unlike the previous years he felt calm and unwavering, his thoughts were clear and not misguided by stray, negative troublemakers. He started thinking on a purely logical level, completely ignoring any emotive factors. This wasn't the time to be overwhelmed, he knew anything could go wrong at any time. He walked a very thin line between normality and madness, but when hadn't he? Then he realized that he had a safety net, a clarity in the darkness: Aaron. He would be there, Maximilian was sure of that now. He relaxed further, he let all his troubles go, forgetting for a few brief minutes Elizabeth, his parents, and the fear of losing all that he had come to love. His mind went blank.

Aaron shook him out of his trance when they got to the hospital. The worries came back, but they seemed distant, and the feeling of peace remained. They walked in with Aaron an arm over Maximilian's shoulders.

"Hello, how can I help you?" asked a nurse behind the welcome desk.

"Hi, my aunt was taken here by ambulance not too long ago, Elizabeth Campbell," his voice was calm and firm.

"Yes, she is still in care, I'll ask the doctor to come see you as soon as he can, and if I learn anything I'll come tell you right away. Please take a seat."

And so they did. Not one second did Aaron let go of Maximilian. Once they were seated, Maximilian let his head fall on Aaron's shoulder. The room was quiet, there was at most 5 other people waiting, some were crying some were sleeping. Maximilian started dozing off, he was tired for some reason. Soon his eyes fell shut and sleep claimed him.

He dreamed of being on top of a lone mountain. He should have been freezing, but the wind did not seem cold against his skin. He was looking at the stars above, those bright spots of light filling him with wonder. His eyes however were drawn to the ground, around him shadows swirled. They dared not get close to him, but made attempts once in a while. Tired of this little game, they gathered in a bigger shadow, and it took shape. Slowly it rose in the air, gaining substance, soon Maximilian had his alter ego in front him. A dark copy of himself. The thing lunged at him but hit itself against an invisible wall that seemed to protect Maximilian. The stars shone brighter in the sky above, rays of light streamed down from the heavens and came swirling around the mountain. Faster and faster they went. Maximilian rose his hand and opened it, the lights flew to it and gathered in a ball of light, a miniature sun. He then extended his hand towards the abyss, the ball sent sparks flying at the thing. Wherever the light touched the shadow, the shadow would crumble to dust. The thing gave Maximilian a last look of pure hate before exploding.

Maximilian woke with a jump, what a strange dream... He sat up straight and looked around him.

"Glad you're awake sleeping beauty, the nurse came to tell me that your aunt was still being taken care of. But that notified that you were here, the doctor told her to tell you that she was going to make it."

Max let out a huge sigh of relief, and he took Aaron's hand in his. He was about to speak when Alice came in running.

"Aaron! Max! Oh my God, are you two alright?"

Max nodded, and Aaron gave her a tight little smile.

"What's wrong, your text wasn't very clear Aaron..."

"I'll let Maximilian explain it to you, I need to go to the bathroom..."

Aaron got up, kissed Max and went on a quest for the men's room.

"Maxi are you OK?"

Max looked at Alice stunned, no one had ever called him Maxi before.

"Maybe not Maxi then..." Alice sighed.

"No it's fine, I kinda like it, but you're going to be the only one that will be able to call me that!" he smiled.

"It's good to see you smile..." she paused then asked the hard question. "So what happened?"

'Maxi' told her everything that had happened, though she did interrupt him towards the beginning.

"Did Aaron spend the night with you?"

"Yes..." Max answered sheepishly, looking at his very interesting shoes.

Alice grinned then told him to continue. And so he did though he was blushing a bit now. That disappeared fast as he went into the morning he had had.

"Just before you got here, Aaron told me that they had told him that she was going to make it."

"Must be such a relief for you Maxi!"

"It is," he paused. "Even though I don't really know here that well, she is the only family I have left..."

"Why don't you know her very well?"

"Well, her work made her travel a lot, and when she was home we never talked, guess we both had trouble... you know... with what happened..." the words were hard for Max.

"Maxi, I probably shouldn't ask this, but what happened? You never told me, or anyone as a matter of fact... You don't have to if it's too painful though."

"My parents died when I was 3," he answered simply, not wishing to go into further detail.

Alice, probably feeling that this was very, very sensitive (and probably more than she could imagine), didn't push him and took his hand in hers, sympathy in her eyes. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, nothing more than a friendly remainder that she was... well... his friend!

Aaron came back soon after, he grinned when he saw them close and holding hands. He knew not to think anything of it. He took the other seat next to Max, and the three of them waited.

"Mr. Campbell? Dr. Howen would like to see you now," announced the nurse from the front desk.

Thank you for reading as always, please leave a review if you have the time
I'd like to improve my writing skills so any and all feedback is appreciated!
 
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