Chapter 134 - About the past

It was close to midnight; Sarah could not sleep. The bed in VIP room of Franciscan Medical Center is spacious, but she is not able to get comfortable enough to sleep off.

"Can you stop squirming so much?", Aiden asked her.

"But I can't sleep after a whole day in bed. I'm not tired.", Sarah complained.

"That is fine. You need to rest, even if you don't sleep."

Sarah shifted her body again, and Aiden moved to the side. As she moved around her bottom rubbed against him, and his body reacted. He reminded himself repeatedly that Sarah is in the hospital for observation, and he should keep his hands to himself.

Sarah looked at Aiden suspiciously, "Did you just move away from me?"

He cleared his throat, "Be good... How about we talk... tell me something I don't know."

Sarah was confused with his sudden change in topic but decided to go along with it. "About?"

"Something about yourself that I don't know."

"OK...", Sarah thought for a minute. "My Uncle Owen is not my uncle."

Aiden's face showed confusion.

Sarah explained. "When my mom came to US, he helped her out. It was before she met my dad. I never found out the details, but my mom feels indebted to him... they call each other brother and sister, while we call him Uncle. You can say he is adopted.", Sarah laughed.

"Doesn't he have his family?"

Sarah shook her head, "None that he speaks of."

"What do Stella's parents say about him?"

"My grandparents..." Sarah paused before continuing, "they are in Eastern Europe. How much I know; they never came to US. My mom said that we visited them when I was small, but I don't remember. We are out of touch. It's safe to say that they don't know about my 'Uncle'."

"You don't want to visit them?"

Sarah sighed, "Earlier, we brought the topic with mom, more than once, but she made it clear that we should not look for them. She didn't give us the reason, but I trust my mom. If she says we should not go, then it's better that we don't. I don't remember how they look like; they were never part of my life. I don't miss seeing them... As much as my immediate family is tight, the rest are almost strangers. Even with my other grandparents, I'm not close. Every few years they move to a different country. At this time, they live in India. Decades ago, they decided to experience different cultures by immersing themselves in them, and somewhere down the way, they drifted apart from their son and his family. We call each other for birthdays and that is about it."

Sarah turned and looked at Aiden. "I spoke a lot... it's your turn to share something."

Aiden tapped his forehead while thinking what to talk about. "I have one grandfather and one grandmother; they are on East Coast. Ever since my teen years I spent most of my holidays and vacations with them."

"This does not count. I knew this!", Sarah complained.

Aiden put his finger on her lips, indicating to Sarah to be quiet and continued, "Before my teens, I used to spend a lot of time with various teachers and in different camps. Each camp was geared to teach me some skill. Their idea of parenthood was to send me away to different teachers and they will handle me until school resumes... if a program conflicts with the school schedule, I would stay in the camp, and make up for missed classes later. I remember my last camp, it was more than half a year long, in Russia. I was about eleven, and it was intense. We didn't sleep much, if we slacked with practice we would be punished with reduced meals and sometimes physically... After that, something happened and my parents never sent me out of country, or to another camp. Various tutors would come to our home, but I never went anywhere."

"Maybe they thought that camp was too extreme, and they didn't want you to go through that again.", Sarah guessed.

Aiden shrugged, "I don't know the reason, but my parents don't seem like the type to take a pity on me because someone was strict. Anyway, I never liked going to those camps, so I didn't ask for the reason. I was content that I don't need to go anymore."

Sarah thought some time before asking, "Hmm... you said that each camp taught you something... what did you learn at that camp in Russia?"

"Surviving, hand to hand combat."

Sarah raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Oh? That is an interesting choice... I'm sure it does not come in regular brochures with boy scouts and knitting", Sarah laughed.

He was happy to see her laugh. Aiden remembered that Sarah also has skills to stand up for herself, and could not help himself but to ask, "Where did you learn?"

"To fight?" Sarah saw Aiden nodding. "From my mom."

"Stella?", Aiden was surprised.

Sarah nodded, "Yes. Stella looks peaceful on the outside, but she can still wipe off the floor with me." Sarah laughed bitterly. "She taught all three of us... but Sophia and JoAnna didn't show much interest and took every chance to avoid her. I think that my mom vented that frustration by focusing on me. I had days when I was all bruised up, and it was difficult to get out the bed next day, and at the end, after all that suffering... training I went through didn't help me at all against someone who came behind me in a bar..." Sarah's mood dropped.

Aiden hugged her tightly. "I promise that going forward, I will always be with you, and watch your back."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "For next girls' night out, you will dress up as a girl and accompany me."

Aiden frowned, "Not a chance... Do you really want to see me in a dress?"

"Who said it needs to be a dress?" Sarah tilted her head lightly.

"Then what do you mean by dressing me as a girl?", Aiden was confused. For him, dress up as a girl means: hair, makeup, dress and high heels.

Sarah looked at him... "Forget it, even if I put makeup on you, it will not work. I don't think you can pass as a girl. You are too handsome."

He approved and could not hide his grin. "Hmm... that is better. Don't get crazy ideas."

Sarah laughed how little he needs to be happy. And he was happy that she is laughing. They fed each other positive energy and any negative thoughts dispersed.

They chatted until early morning when they slept off.