I open the trunk of the car as the employee comes out with my bag. “Thank you,” I say and hand him twenty dollars.
Placing my phone in the holder, I pull out of the parking lot.
“Is she giving you a hard time?” he asks.
“Not much. She tried to get me to take my flight tomorrow, but I told her no. She also didn’t want to bring Billie, but I managed to get her to grab her before we left her apartment. Which, by the way, was a mess. She hasn’t done laundry in probably a month,” I explain.
Aiden sighs. “I didn’t know it was this bad.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
I glance over at her sleeping form before focusing on the road. I’m talking at my normal volume and she hasn’t stirred a bit. How exhausted was she?
“Five years ago I flew to see her and everything seemed fine. She had food in her fridge, which I thought was weird, but her apartment was clean. Nothing was wrong,” he says. “She’s never been good at taking care of herself. I call her at least once a week to check in on her, and we FaceTime so I can see her apartment.”
“You never noticed all the clothes on the ground when she showed you around?” I ask.
How did he miss that? They were everywhere, and some of them didn’t smell good at all.
“There weren’t any on the ground, or at least where she showed me. Everything was clean, and each time it was a different place. I didn’t think she would lie to me,” Aiden says in an exasperated voice. “How could I be so dumb?”
“Does she not know anyone in town who could help her?”
“No, she kept to herself. She told me she didn’t even talk to her coworkers because she didn’t want to bother them with anything or get on their nerves,” he replies.
“I’ll keep an eye on that,” I mutter to myself.
“What was that?” Aiden asks.
“I was talking to myself. I’ll keep an eye on her not wanting to bother me while we are on this trip. Don’t want her to suffer when she needs something and doesn’t ask for it.”
“Good.” He sighs. “I’m hoping I can get her to quit her job and live here with everyone. She doesn’t need the stress of her job. She doesn’t need to?—”
“Doesn’t need to what?” I ask when he doesn’t finish his sentence.
“It’s not my place to share, but let’s say something happened, and that’s why she’s getting time off. Mila needs the rest and to be away from the stress,” Aiden replies. “She needs to relax for the next three weeks at least. Honestly, if she could relax for the rest of her life it would be amazing. She needs a lifestyle change. That’s what the doctor recommended anyway.”
My eyebrows bunch together. “Doctor?”
“Don’t tell her I said anything about it. She would be pissed off at me if I gave away information,” Aiden groans. “I don’t need her mad at me, not with everything going on.”
“I won’t mention anything,” I promise. “I know you don’t want to say anything, but is there anything that I should look out for while we are traveling?”
Worry rushes through me as I look over at her still sleeping peacefully. What happened to make him worry about her this much?
“Is she sick?” I ask. “Does she need any medication or need to go to the hospital?”
Every protective instinct inside me roars to life. The need to make sure that she is alright threatens to come out.
“She isn’t sick and doesn’t need to go to the hospital or take medication. The doctor just told her to try to live a stress-free life right now or get it down a lot. It’s not good for her health, and if she continues to allow it, then things are going to get bad,” heexplains. “I would just look out for how tired she is. Make sure she is eating, snacking, and drinking enough fluids regularly.”
“I can do that,” I reply. “I already bought snacks and some water.”
“Good luck with getting her to drink water. She only likes soda and tea.” Aiden chuckles.
“I already found that out,” I grumble.
She will be drinking water, or else there will be consequences.
