When Samuel had taken him away to be examined, he had asked the doctor if there was a cure. “Of course, there’s always a cure for something like this.” But Aiden had shook his head and declined. “Don’t give me the medicine, it makes me…feel all weird and I can’t stare at him for long amounts of time like I used to. I get drowsy.” He paused staring up at the nearing white light. “So...I don’t want the medicine.”
“But, Aiden…”
“I’ll let him heal me.”
Aiden holds tightly onto Kael inhaling his scent, remembering his touch and smiling to himself and thinking that he would be perfectly fine as long as Kael was by his side.
~*~
The air was cold and Aiden shivered in his thin nightgown. Kael glances back at him and hurries over to drape an arm around his shoulders. The shivers die down and Aiden turns to look at him, their eyes meet and Kael smiles. The others were standing at the other end of the garden, their figures hidden behind the fountain. Aiden leans up to kiss Kael on the corner of his mouth, the younger giggles reaching down to clasp Aiden’s hand in his. “It kind of reminds me of the garden back home.”
“Home?” Aiden questions and Kael nods. “Yes, it’s no longer the ‘castle’ but home…I think—it feels as though a weight has been lifted.” Aiden watches as Kael speaks. “A bit cliché, but my father…” Kael didn’t have to say the rest, Aiden just understood. “What about the funeral?”
“Ah, it’s set for Tuesday next week.” Aiden nods, his gaze drifting up towards the sky. Kael’s palm felt warm in his, so very warm. “Kael,”
“Yes?”
“Don’t be sad.” Kael blinks. “Huh?”
“Don’t ever forget okay?” Kael blinks again and Aiden chuckles as he clutches his hand just a little bit tighter. “Your father, I’m talking about your father.”
“Oh, r-right.” Kael nods slipping his hand out of Aiden’s and spinning around in the middle of the garden. There weren’t many people out, maybe because it was cold. Kael laughs as he spins and Aiden watches him with sparkling eyes. He feels the tickle in his throat and turns away as he coughs into the palm of his hand. It hurt his throat and his stomach, but he quickly gathers his strength and turns to look back where Kael was standing. But he was no longer standing there, instead he was hiding behind a bush of purple flowers. Aiden wondered what they were and if Kael knew. “Do you know the name of that flower?” he calls out to Kael pointing at the dark flowers and Kael’s eyes glitter with knowledge as he nods. “They’re called buddleia davidii.”
“Buddleia Davidii…” Aiden echoes. “What does that translate into?”
“Butterfly bush.” Kael calls back walking around the bush and up to Aiden. “Which makes me think of Skye.”
“My sister?” Aiden questions and Kael gets this nostalgic look in his eyes. “Yes, we played a game.”
“Butterfly?” Aiden asks and Kael snaps his fingers. “Bingo!” Aiden beams. “How did you play?”
“Well, it was a childish game, but I enjoyed it very much.” A sad look flashes across Kael’s features and Aiden takes his hand again. “I want to play it with you.” Kael’s gaze meets his and he smiles slowly. “Okay, lets play.” He pulls Aiden close and leans down to whisper in his ear the simple rules. “It’s where we’re both butterflies, free, beautiful butterflies.” Skye spoke wistfully. “You have to collect as many flowers as possible so you—the butterfly—can grow into an even more beautiful butterfly.”
Aiden blinks several times and nods as though he understood when in actuality he had somewhat of a decent picture. He would just let Kael lead the way. He only wanted to watch him—to burn Kael’s face into his retinas, his touch into his skin and his love into his heart. Aiden feels like vomiting but he no longer feels as cold, quite the opposite actually.
“Just be honest.” He says looking up at Samuel as he lay across the surgical bed. “Can I really come back from this? If I don’t take the medicine what chance is there…?” his question catches the doctor off guard and Aiden knows it by the way Samuel’s lips twitch at the corners. “I have to know.”
“Well, things would become a bit uncertain if you didn’t take the medicine.”
“Samuel.” Aiden says seriously. “Tell me the truth, how much longer?” Samuel shifts on the soles of his feet and he shakes his head slowly. Aiden knew what he was saying without any words. “But why? Why do you want to leave your family behind—leave him behind?” the doctor asks and Aiden smiles weakly. “I’m not leaving them behind…but I am…tired…”
“You should fight, you should—“
“I’m tired of fighting; I’ve been fighting for all those years…fighting for Skye, for my parents, for Kael and now I’m fighting for myself…” his words hang in the air and he closes his eyes. “I’m just…tired.” Samuel stares at him and he wore a twisted expression of confusion. “I say you should ask them.”
“This is my decision.”
“So you’re fine with just leaving him alone!?” Samuel shouts and Aiden opens his eyes to glare at the doctor. “No! I’m not fine with leaving him, I want to stay with him for as long as possible! I want to go places with him, love him forever, marry him! I don’t want to leave!” there’s a pause, a stretch of silence as his words echoed around the room, the beeping of the heart rate monitor going on forever. “So, why?” Samuel asks again, his voice softer. Aiden turns away from his gaze and mutters. “I want to give him another chance.”
“To what?” Aiden clutches the blankets in his hand. “To fall in love with someone other than me, I don’t want him to forget me, but I don’t want to keep giving him all this pain.”
“There is no more pain, Aiden.” Samuel urges, but he shakes his head. “There is. Every time we see each other we think of her and when we think of her we think of our mistakes and all those wasted years.”
“You can make up for it by living.”
“But what if I want to see her…then what?” Samuel is quiet and Aiden chuckles bitterly to himself. “I’m a bad person.”
“No…” Samuel says resting a hand to Aiden’s shoulder. “You’re just a lost child.”
He feels warm, down to the core of his heart—he feels warm. Butterflies actually is what he feels; soft, coaxing butterflies that lead him towards Kael. Kael who is laughing about the garden as he races to pluck flower after flower, a pastel bouquet growing in his hands. Kael who is turning to look back at him and show him the bouquet. Kael who is just Kael and is the only thing Aiden will ever need in life. Kael who is pointing at the sky and mouthing at how “gorgeous it looks” and Kael who is free.
Beautiful, inspiring, free spirited Kael—soar.
Aiden doesn’t realize it, doesn’t even notice that his jaw is trembling uncontrollably as he tries to keep the tears from falling, as he tries to keep himself under control. As he tries and tries. “Aiden!” Kael calls out to him, his entire face aglow. “Where are your flowers?” Aiden sniffs, biting his bottom lip hard and then pointing. “Right there,” his finger lands on Kael. “That’s all the flowers in the world packed into one.” His finger wavers. “That’s…you’re the only flower I’ll ever need.” He tilts his head with a smile. “Just you…Kael.” And the world begins to shift and the last thing he sees before falling to the ground is Kael running towards him, the flowers in his hands fluttering to the ground. Aiden stares at the flowers, his eyes slowly closing as they drift away, taken by the wind.
The next day…
The beeping is annoying, it’s daunting and Kael doesn’t want to hear it anymore, but he knows that the beeping signifies that Aiden is still alive, that he’s holding on. The beeping…
“Oh my god…” Micah had rushed into the room only moments ago, temporarily leaving his post to see the state his friend was in and what he saw nearly knocked him to his knees. Aiden was sleeping, that’s what Samuel said—sleeping and that any moment he would wake up. Jenna didn’t want to stay in the room—couldn’t—everyone could tell th
at the last of her strength was dying away. She had taken Francis with her and now it was just Janus, Kael and Micah in the room. “This dumbass.” Micah mumbles, but his words were to cover for the sadness. Kael sat with his hands in his lap, he didn’t dare to move from Aiden’s side unless the older awoke. “We all sensed that something was wrong, but we didn’t want to say anything out of fear that it would come true.” Janus explains and Micah nods stepping over to rest his head on Janus’s shoulder, he had to hunch down slightly, but Janus’s shoulder was comforting. They all sat together quietly in the room. An hour passed and then another, the heart rate monitor kept beeping. One hour turned into two and the darkness outside grew. Micah left first because he couldn’t take it anymore, his emotions getting the best of him and leaving him bare to their lashes. And so that left Kael and Janus. “Kael,” Janus calls to him and even though the younger gave no sign of having heard, Janus continues on. “Aiden and I talked the other day, before you came here we had a brief conversation.” Kael still says nothing. “He told me that he had no intention of hurting you…”
“Janus, I uhm, when you go to my parents house…in the drawer beside my bed there’s a notebook.” Janus turns his head perplexedly. “Notebook?” Aiden nods. “It belonged to Skye. It was another one she kept with her.”
“Ah.”
“It includes pictures she took of flowers and of the castle.” Janus nods his head as he listens, trying to follow where Aiden was going with this. “I want you to get it and give it to Kael.”
“His majesty?”
“Yes…” Aiden looks out of the window. “Yes, give it to him.”
“You don’t want to keep it?” Aiden shakes his head. “It’s not that…I just promised him that I would…give it to him.”
“Aiden…” Janus’s expression molds with sorrow and Aiden sighs, a grin quirking his lips. “I just don’t want him to hurt anymore.” The comment seemed somewhat abrupt, but Janus understood what he was trying to say. “And there’s another one, back at the castle, but I want Kael to get that one for himself.”
“Where is it?” Janus asks. “In the room where he shot his father. I want him to find the courage in himself to face the pain and shock and to be able to live with it.”
“I’m going to go get it later…did you want to come with me?” Janus asks and Kael shakes his head. “I’ll just wait until he wakes up.”
“But, Kael—“
“I said I’ll wait.”
So that’s what he does, he waits and he waits and waiting felt like an eternity. Sunlight became sunset and sunset became night and the beeping continued. Kael dozed off a couple of times, his chin resting in the palm of his hand and then his head resting on the arm of his chair. Every position he tried was uncomfortable, so like he had done before, he crawls into bed with Aiden. He lies beside his stiff body, his gaze raking up and down Aiden’s still frame. His eyelashes were fluttering as though he were dreaming—this was all just one very long dream. His lips were still—no words, no sound—but Kael could see his chest rising and falling, falling and rising and that calmed him…but only a little.
“Aiden…” Kael says his name uneasily, like a baby calling for their mother for the first time. “You have to wake up…there’s still…” he couldn’t finish his sentence—the words wouldn’t come out—he had choked on his own thoughts. “Oh god.” He runs his hands down his face, they felt clammy against his skin. “I…I want to thank you, that’s all, wake up so I can thank you and kiss you over and over and just touch me. Tell me to breathe, tell me that you’re here.” Kael places his hand to Aiden’s chest. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“And you aren’t.” the voice came softly and Kael nearly fell out of the bed as his eyes widened. He jerks upward, his heart racing as Aiden’s hand fell over his. “Aiden!”
“You aren’t alone anymore, Kael.” His voice sounded dry and Kael wanted to quench his thirst with his own blood if that’s what it took. Aiden smiles. “Janus, Jenna, Francis, Micah, Gene, that new guard of yours, the entirety of Melia.”
“What are you…”
“You aren’t alone.” Aiden touches the side of his face. “I wouldn’t let you be alone, now would I, my Prince?” Aiden uses his thumb to stroke Kael’s cheek. “I wouldn’t let you be alone.” Kael wants to say something, but once again he knows that words wouldn’t be able to properly convey his feelings, so instead he places his forehead to Aiden’s and he hastily kisses him. Aiden laughs behind the kiss, his joy mixing with his sorrow.
Kael blinks, his eyes opening and he yawns stretching across the bed as his body began to unwind. He could hear the beeping again and it reminded him of where he was and that Aiden was beside him. He looks to his left and there he was. But he wasn’t awake, he was still sleeping. “So…” a tear falls from his eyes. “It was all a dream.” His bottom lip trembles and he curls against Aiden’s side. He hadn’t woken up and the beeping was still going. How long would it beep? How long would he sleep? How long would he leave me like this?
~*~
Janus stood outside of Aiden’s home, his hands stuffed in his coat pocket as he decided whether or not to ring the doorbell. He came here for Aiden, but after so long and after so many tragedies he didn’t know how to face them, what to say. “Hello, I came to get your daughter’s notebook and tell you that your son is possibly stuck in a coma.” There was no starting point on how to explain such a case. He takes a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. He rocks on the heels of his shoes and looks to the gray sky as he waits. A shuffling could be heard from behind the door and then a heavy clunk before it was opened. “Ah,” Janus begins smiling at Mrs. Kim, she blinks up at him. “Janus?”
“Hello, there are a few things I must tell you.” She blinks again before stepping aside and letting him in. The door closes behind them and a warm glow from the candles fills his vision. “We’re trying to save electricity.” She explains, but Janus knew better than that—this was all for Skye. “I see.” He slips out of his coat and she takes it from him with a smile. “What brings you here, Janus?” she asks hanging his coat up on a rack beside the front door. He swallows. “It’s about Aiden.” Her movements come to a still and Janus stares at her frozen back. “Mrs. Kim yesterday he fainted and hasn’t woken since.” She’s quiet and slowly her shoulders begin to droop. “Before that he asked me to come by and retrieve one of Skye’s notebooks.” He continues on and she finally faces him. “His sister’s notebook?”
“Yes.” Her arms flop to her side and her expression falls drastically. His eyes widen as her body begins to lean forward and he rushes to catch her. “Mrs. Kim!” she falls against his chest, her body completely limp in his arms. “Who was it?” a hoarse voice calls from the hall—Mr. Kim. He steps into the living room looking between his wife and Janus. “Flora, what’s going on?” he calls her softly and Janus helps her to her feet. “Sir, it was only a temporary dizzy spell, she—“
“I asked her, not you.” He snaps and Mrs. Kim holds up her hand. “I’m alright.” She assures him as she dusts her hands against her skirt. “He was just telling me about Aiden.”
“What happened? Is he alright?” he asks rushing to his wife, she takes his hand and shakes her head. “I don’t know…I don’t know, honey.” Janus looks between them and he felt like a bystander looking from the outside. He clasps his hands together and clears his throat. “Ah, sorry, h-her notebook?” Mrs. Kim questions and he nods. “Yes, he wanted me to take it so that he could give it to Kael…”
“Did he think about how that would make us feel?” Mr. Kim asks and she looks to her husband apologetically before breaking away from him. “I’ll go get it; he thought he was hiding it from us,” she laughs lightly. “Of course I knew he stayed up late to look through those pictures.” She begins to say as she walks down the hallway. “Skye took pictures of flowers and butterflies and of the scenery and she wrote little notes on them.” Janus listens to the sound of her distancing voice. “It’s been y
ears since her death and Aiden’s been holding onto that notebook for so long.” She disappears around the corner and reappears a moment later, a little green book in her hand. “Here.” She hands it to Janus. “Take care of it.” He takes it in his hands, the front cover was worn; the leather and binding, stitching away and the indention of her name was also fading. “I promise to take care of it.” He assures clutching the book to his chest. Mrs. Kim smiles, but her husband looks on doubtfully. “Thank you.” He takes her hand in his and she shakes her head. “No, no need to thank me.” She smiles slipping her hand out of his and turning to her husband. “Honey,”
“Yes?”
“We need to talk.” Janus takes a step towards the door as Mrs. Kim confronts her husband. “You may not have come to say hi, but thanks for stopping by.” She bows and Janus profusely waves his hands. “Please, don’t.” she lifts her head and looks sadly into his eyes. “We’ll stop by tonight to pay him a visit.” She says and Janus nods. “Okay…”
“Stay warm out there Janus.” She scolds him as she opens the door, his eyes flicker appreciatively as he steps out into the cold. He wanted to stay longer after seeing them like that—he wanted to comfort them. Mrs. Kim smiles shooing him away with a gentle smile. “Go on, we’ll be fine.”
“Mrs. Ki—”
“Please,” she looks steadily into his eyes. “Just leave.” Janus clutches the notebook tighter in his hand before bowing and turning away.
That day Aiden didn’t wake up, nor did he wake the next day. Eventually Kael had to leave his side so that he could take part in his father’s funeral. But the parting was a hard one.
Butterfly Prince Page 55
