The Watch – Part 133:

I sat down on the sofa with my head in my hands. ‘What have I done?’ I asked, exhausted. I felt the weight of the situation on my shoulders, pushing me down. Amy sat down beside me, put her arm around my shoulder, and said softly.

‘You did what you had to do,’ she said. ‘. You saw how he had us in that box. Things could have been a lot worse. You saved Tom, Alex and me today and that’s something no one can ask for.’

‘But in doing so, I have put a massive dent in our relationship,’ I said referring to Tom and I. I wonder if there is anything that I can do to make it right. Maybe I can change… No, that might make things worse. The last thing I want is another visit from some crazy person.

‘He just needs time to adjust. That’s all,’ she said calmly. ‘Look, he is your best friend, your life-long friend. You did what you thought was right. He said that you have not jeopardised your friendship, and that means something. That means he is willing to accept it, but he needs time to let his mind do just that.’

‘You think so,’ I said.

‘I know so,’ she said. ‘Nothing will ever push you two apart.’

‘But what do I do now?’ I asked. ‘I can’t do nothing. I have to try and do something. Maybe he’ll let me explain some things,’ I said in hope that Amy would agree with me, but she had that look about her that told me that was the worst thing to do at this time.

‘You’re right, I can’t do anything.’

‘No, I never said you can’t do anything. I’m saying that the only thing you can do is give him space. If you try and push further explanations, he’s only going to want even more space to think about things, and that can have repercussions, possibly ruining the friendship. Giving him space is the best thing you can do.’

‘But what do I do whilst doing that? I can’t wait. That’s going to eat me up from the inside out. How long is he going to take to come round? Is he expecting me to contact him after a few days? Living my life as I normally do is going to be hard. He has always been there, always made my days normal, you know. I can’t do nothing.’ Tears started to fall down my cheeks.

‘I know,’ she said, letting me fall onto her shoulder. She stroked my head, softly. ‘I know,’ she repeated. I felt a little better knowing that I don’t have to go through this alone.

‘The funny thing was,’ I said after a minute of silence whilst I gathered my thoughts and myself together, ‘I didn’t want to tell him to prevent something like this from happening. I should have told him right from the off.’ I continued. ‘Another funny thing is that he doesn’t know what I did to save his parents.’

‘No, you can’t think like that. You’re going to make this situation worse. If you had told him, he would need more time to think. Maybe worse.’

‘But it’s another secret that I’m keeping from him.’

‘Thinking about what might happen and what is happening right now are two very different mind sets. You need to think about what is happening. If you try and guess what is going to happen, you will go insane. Understand,’ she said sharply. ‘Right now, over thinking it is the worst thing to do.

‘I understand,’ I said after a couple of seconds.

‘Good,’ she said, letting me go. I sat up straight. ‘Now, the best thing to do right now, even though I understand that it’s going to be hard for you, but you have to keep moving forward. He will come around. OK.’

I wiped my eyes and breathed in deeply to calm myself down a bit, ‘OK.’ I couldn’t tell whether I said that whilst being optimistic or negative; it was plain, expressionless. Amy knew that was the best she’s going to get out of me so she accepted my tone and move on.

‘Now, from the looks of things, you need something to eat, and then sleep. So, I’m going to order pizza, then after that you’re going upstairs, have a shower, and get some sleep. You’ll have a much clearer head when you wake up.’ She didn’t wait for me to respond. She knew that I would’ve taken a long time to do anything, or that I would have responded wrongly.

Amy stood up and walked out of the room where the home phone was. I heard her dial the number and speak to the person on the other end, but I couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying. Her words were muffled as so many thoughts rushed through my head. The moment they entered, they left, then returned, disallowing my mind to focus properly and settle down.

Amy returned and sat back down where she was before. ‘So, the pizza is ordered. We’ve got one twelve-inch meat feast for each of us, a side order of garlic bread and the biggest bottle of Coke they do coming, which should be here in about half an hour. That should quench your hunger and make you tired enough to get a decent night’s sleep, and along with a shower, you should drop off as soon as your head hits the pillow.

As she was talking, I watched, and I saw just how supportive she really was, and how grateful I really am. The longer we sat here, the more weight she lifted off my shoulders and placed upon hers, sharing the load that was meant only for me. I feel guilty, weak, but I don’t feel abandoned, or defenceless.

Amy caught me staring and she asked what the matter was. I just broke out into a comfortable smile.

‘You’re the best, you know that,’ I said simply.

Amy allowed for a second or two to drink in the moment before smiling, too and she kissed me on the cheek.

‘I know.’

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)