The roads were vacant, quiet, almost deserted as I drove back into Fort Lauderdale. The dash clock was glowing, the white digital numbers read 3:45am. The street lights over head would illuminate the car with a dark orange glow, in and out of the shadows as I sped down the highway.

My knuckles were white as I gripped the steering wheel and focused. After a four hour drive, extended by needing gas and an accident two hours after I left Tampa which blocked the roads for half n hour or so, I was finally back and I was that much closer to the hospital.

Being patient enough to not drive like a lunatic was almost impossible. The one thing that kept me going was the fact that Maddie told me he was still alive and the last update from the surgeon was that the bullet retrieval and repair was going well. She told me that he was in good hands. She said that he had every chance of making it out of this with little permanent damage.

That was hours ago. She hadn't called again but when I picked up my cellphone from the centre console, its screen remained black and I cursed, throwing it over my shoulder in frustration. There was an obvious fatigue that was blanketing over me. I could feel the ache in my limbs. I could feel how dry my eyes were whenever I blinked. But the adrenaline had allowed me to continue on. It kept me as alert as I needed to be.

The hospital sign was a glowing beacon that had my heart rate increasing for the thousandth time when it came into view. It stood tall, almost as tall as the actual hospital and I exhaled an anxious breath as I drove past it and pulled into the parking lot. I was still dressed in a white blouse and black slacks. Ones that I'd worn while I helped Lana with the kitchen. She'd tried to insist on coming along. She wanted to drive. But I needed to drive. There was no chance that I could have sat in the passenger seat and let someone else be in charge of getting me home. I just couldn't. So I told her that she should stay at home and let me call her when I got back.

My phone was dead though. Ugh. That word. It wasn't something that I even wanted to murmur right at the moment. The chilled night air whipped as I ran across the lot, straight for the entrance doors. Visiting hours were over but the ER waiting room was bustling with patients who all seemed to stare for a minute after I burst through. There were babies with coughs. Men with batted faces who must have been in a fight. Woman crouched over, holding their abdomens.

A name was called as I moved through the room and I felt a brief moment of relief for whoever was getting seen. Waiting in the ER was long, it was uncomfortable and it was often rather depressing. I didn't hang around though. I took the corridor which connected the ER to the main large foyer of the hospital. It was quiet and dark apart from a few lights beside the gift shop, which was closed. I took the staircase. Once again, I couldn't wait for the elevator. It might have been slower than I was.

My heart continued to pound, loud and obtrusive as I landed on the third floor. That could have something to do with the fact that I just ran up three flights of stairs. But it was definitely a small part to do with finding out how Aiden was. It was so loud and I was so focused on finding him that I almost didn't hear the doctor who reached out and gently gripped my elbow when I ran past him. The sudden contact gave me a fright and I spun around to find an older man with black and silver hair, fine lines around his otherwise preserved skin and a confused expression aimed at me.

"Are you alright?" He said, tucking his clipboard under his arm. "Visiting hours aren't until the sun is out at the least."

That might have been amusing, if I wasn't trying to find the man that I love. "My b-boy— Yeah my boyfriend. He was shot tonight. He's here. Somewhere. He's around. I'm sure. He was in surgery. But that was hours ago. He must be out. He—"

The Doctor held up his palm to pause the incoherent rambling that was starting to leave me breathless. "Does he have a name?"

I nodded. "Aiden Emerson."

Recognition became apparent in his features and the fact that he didn't give me that, sorry-that-person-is-dead expression, was a relief. I was too familiar with that expression. I couldn't ever forget it. Instead he smiled and pointed at the ceiling. "Fourth floor. Room eighteen—"

"Thank you," I interrupted. There was no time to be polite but I did feel a little bit rude for running off and giving him a distracted thanks over my shoulder. It wasn't worth dwelling on though. He would have understood that I was in a rush.

Once again, instead of running for the elevator, I ran up the staircase, taking them two at a time, sometimes three. When I was still married to him, I hadn't been allowed to join a gym. There was something said about the fact that I would just be there to stare at fit men and cheat. How ironic. However, I'd gone on a health kick after he made some comment about looking a little too round to wear pencil skirts. So instead of joining a gym, I'd started running up and down the apartment stair case a few times each morning after I woke up. It was effective, I ended up losing more weight than I intended to and after only losing my footing three times and ending up with bruised shins, I mastered taking the stairs at a fast pace. Sometimes skipping three steps all together.

Room eighteen was on a corner. The door was opposite the nurses station and I saw a few women watching from behind their desk as I ran up the corridor, twisting my torso to miss a middle aged man dressed in scrubs who was pushing an observations cart on wheels. The nurses appeared as though they might have asked what on earth I was doing, running through the hospital in the early hours of the morning. One stood, her brows furrowed, the other one remained in her seat, tapping her keyboard but she arched a puzzled brow. I didn't wait for them to stop me, I just pushed the door open and ran inside.

There he was. Torso bare, wrapped in white bandage. Tubes ran from his arms, his nose and his chest. Small pads were stuck to his skin, wires which would have connected the monitor. It beeped. His heartbeat. I revelled in the sound but I still felt as if I couldn't breathe when I saw that his green gaze was hidden behind closed lids. The door clicked shut when I let it go. The room was dim apart from a small light above the bed. It was keeping the room bright enough for Maddie to scrawl on her notepad.

She gave me a sad smile after she'd finished scribbling her notes and then I was aware that Imani was sitting in a wide La - Z - Boy beside Aiden's bed. Her long raven dreaded hair was in a simple knot on the top of her head. She wasn't in an elegant summer outfit like she had been when we met. She was wearing a pair of jeans, flip flops and a snug hoodie. She looked exhausted. The fatigue was coming through in the droop of her lids and the slouch in her shoulders.

"Arian," she said with a smile so small that it almost wasn't a smile at all. She was welcoming in her tone, but she didn't move, she remained where she was, her focus fixed on her Son.

I gave her a small wave and reluctantly moved my attention to Maddie who strolled towards me. She didn't seem as tired. She was dressed in scrubs with her name tag on and I realised that she was on a legit shift. She wasn't just here as a friend. She pulled me into a tight hug when she stopped in front of me, her hand rubbed my back for a moment. Just as she had whenever she'd comforted me before.

"What h-happened," I stammered when she stepped back.

Maddie smoothed her expression before she answered. Her brow raised for a split second, her stare pierced me. Whatever she was going to tell me, it wouldn't be the truth. "He was mugged. At home. Thief slipped in and someone had given him the codes to the elevator."

I wondered who.

"Imani found him. Not long after it happened," Maddie continued and we both glanced at the woman who couldn't hide the raw emotion of the entire experience.

Imani mumbled, in a small voice, "I needed to check on him after I'd heard about the break up. Zoerina told me that he wasn't doing well."

That was a bit awkward. I swallowed and tried not to blush. It wasn't hard. What happened was more complicated than she would have known. It wasn't a break up though. It made me wonder what Zoerina had taken from the whole situation. Did she just assume that I'd left and wanted nothing to do with them? I pushed the thoughts aside and decided that it wasn't the right time to think about the logistics of each relationship that I had within the family. I was here for Aiden.

"Is he alright?" I let my focus fall back on him.  I slowly walked around to the other side of the bed and picked up his hand. It was soft, warm and I held it while I watched his chest rise and fall. "Is he going to be alright?"

Maddie stood beside me and rested her hand on my shoulder, her thumb stroked back and forth. "He'll be fine. It'll take time and a lot of rest. But the surgeon was working on him for hours. He's only just come back from surgery. He was awake for a little bit in recovery but he drifted off while he was being wheeled back. The surgeon was able to repair the damage in his abdomen. So now it'll be a matter of letting his organs heal. He was lucky. Really lucky that it wasn't worse."

Imani stood up. She gave his arm a gentle rub before she began heading for the door. "Thank you for coming Arian," she said, not glancing back at us. "I need to go and get a coffee. Would you like something?"

"Oh," I shook my head even though she wasn't watching. "No thanks, Imani."

She left and we stood there. Just watching Aiden for a few quiet minutes. My heart was only just holding on. Tears wanted to flow. The fact that I hadn't turned into a blubbering mess was a miracle. The fact that Aiden was alive was a miracle. Being grateful was an understatement. If the last conversation that we ever had, had been that argument, I wouldn't ever get over it. All that I wanted now, was for him to wake up so that I could tell him that I still loved him. Despite being broken over what had happened with Hunapo, I did still love him.

"So what really happened?" I asked Maddie after a moment, giving Aiden's hand a soft squeeze when his brows furrowed. He wasn't waking. He was just restless. No doubt in pain. It made my stomach churn.

Before Maddie could answer, the door flew open and Zoerina stepped in, swiftly closing it again. Her hair was in a state. Her eyes were wide with anticipation and her shirt, hands and pants were covered in blood. She immediately began to take her clothes off and Maddie and I watched her with bewilderment.

"Best to ask her," Maddie said as she began to leave. She stopped at the door and faced Zoerina who was down to her bra and began pulling down her pants. Maddie opened her mouth, as if she was going to ask a question and then she held up her hands in surrender. "The less I know."

Zoerina nodded and stood there in her bra and underwear. She pulled a duffle bag out from under the bed and started pulling out a fresh pair of clothes before she glanced down at her hands and thought better of it. She moved over to the small basin in the corner of the room and started washing her hands. "Grab that gown for me Ari," she said, gesturing with her head at the hospital issue item that was crumpled at the end of Aiden's feet.

"Uh, what's going on?" I said as I handed it to her. She used it to dry her hands and then began rolling her bloodied clothes up with it.

"They don't even wash these gowns," she said, still in her maroon pair of lace bra and undies. She threw the lot into the rubbish bin and then skipped back to her duffle, crouching down. "They go in the furnace with a bunch of other trash. Guard the door for a sec."

Sure, now you tell me, I thought.

She stood up and threw on her t shirt and jeans. She pulled out her hair tie and re did her braid and then she sighed, resting her hands on her hips as if she'd completed her mission. Which I was still desperate to find out about. I leaned off the door and wandered back to where I'd been standing with Aiden. "What's going on?" I questioned as she fell into the seat that Imani had been in.

She glanced around with a raised brow. "Where's my Mom?"

"Coffee," I replied, stroking Aiden's hand.

She nodded but didn't proceed to explain what the hell was happening. "Zoerina?" I prompted with a gentle tone. "Please can you just tell me what happened? With Aiden. With you? What's going on?"

She sighed and watched her brother with a warring expression. "I don't know how much Aiden would want you to know."

"Please," I pleaded with her.

She rocked the arm chair and contemplated for another moment before she finally nodded. "Yeah. You deserve to know. I'm sure he would tell you himself."

Then she delved into the story. She barely took a breath. No doubt wanting to get it all out before her Mom returned. Imani was obviously under the impression that this was just a common home invasion. She told me about how her Mom called her, panicking over the fact that she was in an ambulance en route the hospital because Aiden had been shot. Zoerina explained that she went straight back to the apartment and watched the CTV footage and saw Ritz, Tammy's step brother. He'd been given the codes by Tammy. That was the only explanation that anyone could come up with.

She told me that Aiden and her had known for a while that he might have been coming after Aiden for what happened to his father. But Aiden didn't want to scare me. Obviously it seemed that Tammy was part of some sort of plan. She just didn't know what that plan was. She knew that it was her fault that he'd pinpointed Aiden as the one who killed his father. Zoerina had once been high as a kite and considered him a close friend. She trusted him and in a haze of heroin and sex, she told him what her brother did on the side.

So then she packed a duffle with clean clothes. She came to the hospital and waited with her Mom for a while before she said that she needed to go and chat with the police who had called to let her know they were at her house. They weren't. The police had been and talked to Imani and let her know that an investigation would be launched. But Zoerina had tampered with the apartment footage to slow them down. For a plan that she'd made herself. She left the hospital and went and found Ritz.

"He was hanging out in his underground drug bunker," she scoffed. "Low life Mother fucker."

I swallowed, the trepidation and nausea must have been evident in my features because she sat up with amusement. "I didn't kill him," she assured me. "He just won't be using his legs ever again. Or his penis. His jaw might not work for a while either. He won't be able to rat me out when the police catch up with him."

"That's um—"

"He tried to kill my brother," she said with a pointed stare. "He had it coming."

There was no judgement coming from me. It was clear from the beginning that this sibling relationship was a ride or die sort of situation. I also noted that Zoerina had managed to get through her entire retelling of events without bringing up Hunapo once. I assumed that he must have been about somewhere. It occurred to me that he could show up and I wasn't sure that I was prepared to be in the same room as him. But I wouldn't be leaving Aiden again.

"I feel like this is my fault," I murmured, glancing down at Aiden. "I was the one that invited Tammy into our lives."

Zoerina scoffed as she stood up. "Don't be ridiculous," she folded her arms and the dim light above the bed illuminated the side of her face. "No one would blame you for something that you didn't intend to happen."

She emphasised the last part, her brows raised as she nodded and it became clear that her statement was about more than just our current situation.

"He's sorry, you know," she added. "He never meant to hurt your parents. It was a total accident. Drugs can change a person. Trust me. I know. We do things that we normally wouldn't do."

Sweat beads started to form on my head. The more she spoke, the harder it was to breathe. There was enough going on without having this conversation. And it also made it clear where she stood. She was defending him. I understood that. But I wondered how deep that defence would go.

"The shots that he fired weren't even meant to hit them. It was to scare them. Ya know? He doesn't deserve to go to jail. I told him that you would never turn him in. That's just not you. Ya know? It'll just take some time. He's felt bad for so lon—"

"Please," I murmured with a quiet voice. It wasn't quiet because I didn't want to wake Aiden. It was quiet because I was struggling for air. "Please can we not."

Zoerina pursed her lips, but it didn't seem like she was done. This was what I had been expecting. She didn't tip toe around subjects. She just charged on in and said what she wanted. That was the whole reason that I'd been surprised when she hadn't brought him up during her explanation. She kept quiet though and we stood there for a moment until Aiden began to stir.

My shoulders lifted and I watched him move his head around. His face contorted as if he was in pain and it seemed like forever before he opened his eyes and I had to hold back a sob when I met that gorgeous green gaze.

He seemed confused for a moment. His attention moved between the two of us for a while before he settled on me and his hand squeezed mine as his lips lifted into a tired smile. Then he puckered them and I leaned down and kissed him. It was such a relief to feel his warm lips again. Those moments when you're not sure if the person that you love will make it, they're the worst moments. It's helpless. It's frustrating. It's such a desperate sort of need-to-know that builds an impossibly heavy weight on your chest.

Kissing him again, hearing his raspy voice tell me that he loves me, it lifted that weight.

"I'm glad you're here," he almost whispered. His voice was hoarse. "Thank you for coming."

"Aiden," my heart hurt at the fact that would doubt it. My arm leaned on the pillow above his head and I ran my fingers through his hair. "I'll always be here."

Part of me wanted to apologise for leaving in the first place. The part of me that had shouldered the blame for everything in the past. The part of me that feared if I didn't apologise, I'd be punished. But I knew, I knew that Aiden wasn't like that. It was my right to leave after what had happened. To get some space and breathe. I didn't have to apologise. And while I still didn't know what the near future held, whether I would have to move out, or Hunapo would or how this would change things, I knew that I didn't want to give Aiden up. So somehow, we'd make it work.

"Hello," Zoerina drawled with sarcasm. "Good to see you too brother."

He turned his head and gave her a small glare. She returned it. Something had gone down while I was in Tampa. "Hey," he responded. "I hope no one rang the police."

"Mom found you," she shrugged her shoulders when he appeared alarmed. But then he winced. The deep inhale must have hurt. Zoerina continued. "She called the police. But I took care of Ritz. He won't be able to give much up. I broke his jaw and cut his tongue in half."

"You didn't tell me about that part," I paled.

"The less you know," she shrugged.

"But now I know!"

Aiden squeezed my hand and stared up at the ceiling. "We'll talk about it later," he replied as his mother walked in. She assessed the situation in front of her and gasped with relief.

She ran towards the bed and scooted Zoerina out of the way. "My Son," she said with a slight tremor in her voice. She wrapped her arms around his head in an awkward looking hug. Aiden couldn't keep the shock out of his expression. Even Zoerina watched with disbelief as Imani closed her eyes and thanked the Lord for his second chance at life. Aiden mentioned that she wasn't much for affection but he had almost died. It didn't seem right that he would be so surprised to receive a hug from his Mother.

I stepped back and let them have their moment, taking note of how hurt Zoerina seemed at that moment. It wasn't outright obvious. It wasn't a tantrum. It was just a subtle flicker of envious upset that she soon cleared from her face. I had a feeling that even after all that she'd been through, her mother had never regarded her with the same sort of love. It made sense that she was so desperate to hold on to Hunapo. To have me forgive him. She didn't want to lose someone that loved her unconditionally.