Aquata Cove Ch. 93

Alright, new chapter is up. Once again, haters on this website, if you want this story to stop, then move along, I can post whatever I want here.

For those of you who like this story, I hope you enjoy - I'm a little uncertain with the structure of this chapter, it's kind of... Dodgy to me.

Let me know what you think.

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Chapter 93: Fleeting Distance

Donna takes a deep breath as the pause between her and Adam linger for about a minute after Jessica and the pastor and his priests have left. Adam stares at her while she avoids eye contact from him.

What she just did... What she just said... What?

"So... I think it is a safe assumption that... This Jessica woman was the one sneaking you out after dark?" Donna asked. Adam doesn't answer as he continues to give her a stunned gaze.

"I um... I suppose I should ask the others about... You know, her, and see if they know anything..." She takes another breath, and takes a few steps around her chair, "You'd like to sit back down, we can contin..."

Adam takes a step or two back after she moved. Donna's chest feels a strange pang of guilt as she looks at her son. He looks so shocked, intimidated. Like just before an outcry comes after telling a child there is no such thing as the Tooth Fairy.

"... Adam, please don't look at me like that..." Donna finally said, "Please... You can be mad, y-you can yell at me if you need to, I just... Oh gosh, I don't even know what advice to give now..." She says as she feels her forehead.

"... Is it true?" Adam finally asked, his own chest pounding solidly, "Are you my m... My Mom?" Donna wipes her eyes from this awkward discovery, "This whole time?"

"Hhh... Yes, it's true, Adam, I am your mother."

"All this time?" Adam paraphrased, "After all these days, you asking me all those questions? I told you all my thoughts, what I dreamed about, what." Adam shook his head as he took a couple of steps back, "I... I honestly don't know what to feel right now..." He says, his breathing becoming quicker.

"Adam... I need you to keep calm..."

"Just!" Adam raises his arms, his hands clawing a bit on either side of his head. "Just, tell me why." He said, almost pleadingly, "And can I get a straight answer this time??"

"... The day you were released from the hospital, you were supposed to come home." She starts. "That was also supposed to be the day you were to meet me... Then, before you can even get to the front door, you have this... Severe migraine that practically blinded you with for the better half of an hour. Now as someone who works with the human mind and emotions thereof, tell me that shouldn't show a few red flags to anyone."

"I felt alone, Doctor..." Adam huffed as he shakes his head, "I don't even know what to call you now."

"Well... I could tell you what to call me, but... I think you want to hear more, don't you?"

"Yes. Yes, just, please, just tell me." Adam nods.

"As you can imagine, that's exactly why I've had you put on such a short leash." Donna says as she paces. "Limiting your trips, arranging your class and rehab schedule for you, overseeing all of your sessions."

"So that's why I can't even know about my own life?" Adam says as he glares at her with sad eyes, "Doctor, I felt alone, isolated, even when I have visitors, I feel like... It's like everyday, I'd have a few minutes of company, and then when they had to leave, I felt trapped." His chest feels a little tighter, "And I keep asking everyone these questions, but for the most part, they just give me a few answers, before just telling me that YOU won't let them. Doctor, if I don't get the answers I need, I don't know who to trust!"

"That's, that's a very good point, I will admit that..." Donna nods, "I see just how that can affect you..." She sniffs as she keeps avoiding to looking at him, "I just... After you collapsed at the house, I panicked... Ideally, I wanted you to stay in the hospital a little longer, but you were too healthy to have it, and another patient needed it... So I thought about having you stay here, but the rooms here are a bit pricy if the insurance doesn't match the criteria."

"I don't -- What do you mean?" Adam says. His emotions are easing down, seeing this woman get slightly emotional, trying to keep herself together.

"I... After what happened, I needed you to stay here... And as it is, your father and me can barely afford to live in the apartment we're living in now, let alone have you stay here. So while your Luther is able to keep up with the rent in our apartment, my salary here was just enough to pay for your stay in the ward and as well as the bills."

Adam silently gasped, as a tinge of guilt and affection both ripples in his stomach.

"It's been tough, but..." Donna nods as her eyes rims with moisture, "But at the very least, I could keep a close watch on you, and oversee your emotional progress... And Adam, I know it was hard on you. It's barely excusable to turn you into a stranger to your own livelihood. And I can't tell you how heart-wrenching it's been to sit here, day after day, pretending that you're not my son." She huffs a small whimper as she dabs her eyes again.

"And I know, just from talking to you, how alone and deprived you must feel... But honestly, I hardly know just what's safe for you to know anymore. I don't know just what might make your head explode all over again."

"You're really her. You're really my Mom...?" Adam asks her.

"Just one step... Just one wrong move... Anything Jamal, your Dad, Yuri... Any of your close friends might say that would make your head hurt to a blinding degree... I felt like I had to hide you from the rest of the world... After your incident..."

"What happened to me?" Adam asked her, "How and why did I get into the hospital in the first place?"

Donna sniffs and holds back a sob as she looks at him, "You were bashed, Adam. You had experienced blood poisoning, massive head trauma, so many broken bones..." She says, shaking and bowing her head, "And the reason is so heartbreakingly simple, it just drives me mad with sorrow..."

"A-And then, you couldn't remember me." She goes on, "You couldn't remember anyone... Not me, not your father, not Yuri, Jamal, Merrick, any of your coworkers or friends..." Donna huffs and sniffs a little.

"But you need to know that you are never alone." She shook her head, "You have so many people waiting for you to get better. All of them are waiting for you to come back. People you love, people who love you."

"And also, I need you to understand, Adam." Donna finally glances at his face with wet eyes, "For a parent to almost lose their child, and then having no grasp of what stability they can handle... It's hard... Especially when they look you in the eyes, and asks you, 'Who are you?'. As a parent, I can't begin to describe how much it destroyed me and your father when you woke up, and didn't have a clue of who we are..."

Adam is overwhelmed as he looks at her, feeling himself a little restless and emotional himself. She wipes her eyes with a small cloth as she glances at him once or twice. Now she seems almost too afraid to look at him now... He doesn't like this.

"... Adam, please say something..." She tells him, "I can't take it, please... Just, if you feel angry at me, or anything, just go ahead and... Just say something, please..."

Adam holds his arms in an angle as his hands twitch at little, hesitantly gesturing, "... I-I wanna hug you... Mo-Mom."

Donna scoffs in emotion as he really does seem like a sad, lost little boy. "I-I-Is that ok?" His voice shakes a little, "I-I don't know to do, and... A-Am I allowed?"

"Yes, yes, you can Adam, come here. It's ok." She walks around the end of his bed, and comes to him. Adam steps up, and puts his arms around her. He sniffles as he squeezes her tight, as well as hearing her sob quietly.

"I wanted to meet you for so long..." Adam muttered quietly, "I had no idea who anyone is, Mom..." He whined quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry, Adam..."

They hold each other for about a minute, rocking back forth while keeping their emotions on the level.

"... Does this mean I can know more about my life now?" Adam asked, "Can I... Can I at least go home?"

"Ghhh... I suppose..." Donna parts and smiles with tears still in her eyes, "Within reason..." Adam smiles as he hugs her again.

"Hello? Adam?" Comes a knock at the door as Luther came in through the threshold. "Everything alright? I heard a few people came in here and caused an argument."

"Dad." Adam turns to Luther, huffing and sniffing as he leaves Donna and goes to him, "Dad..." He comes over to him and hugs him.

"Hey, hey, are you ok, Adam?" Luther hugs back, and then looks to see Donna approaching them, also looking like she's been crying, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Luther, we're fine." Donna wipes her eyes as she comes to them to hug them too.

"Oh..." Luther holds Adam close as he processes his emotion, his other arm going to hug his wife in too.

~~~

Jessica stares at the end of the hall where Father Eustace exited the psychiatric ward. He asked her not to attend his sermon... He told her to stay away, go somewhere else... She can't come to church anymore? The one place she sought truth from? Why would they just deny her like this?

"Don't feel good, don'it?" Jamal says next to her, giving that stone cold glare, "How many times we gotta tell you that you're not wanted." Jessica pants in shock as she looks at the doors, "I ain't playin wit'chu, Jessica. I don't wanna see you again round here."

"You..." Jessica turns to him with eyes full of hurt, "You monster!" She raises her arms to hit him. He stands there and looks down as she punches his chest weakly.

"Uh... You serious?" Jamal asked as he can barely feel her assaults, hearing her cry while she strikes. "If you gonna keep doin this, may wanna layer up wit knuckles or something-"

"This isn't a JOKE!!" She throws a slap to his face, which he easily dodges.

"Whoa, man-" Jamal shoves her back. "You broke rules, aight? You the one who screwed HIM up! You the one did that weird shit, and we gotta clean up yo mess, bitch." She comes at him again, but he just roughly pushes her shoulders back, "Hey! Back off already!"

"He does NOT deserve this!!" Jessica shouted, "YOU ARE SENDING HIM TO-"

"HEY! Heeey!" Says a security guard of the building, "Is there a problem here?"

"Yeah uh, this lady is suffering from some kinda anger thing; I just walked in and she started yelling at me. I think she need a room here."

"Alright, lets go." Says the guard.

"No! Wait! He's lying to you! He's lying about everything! He's trying to get rid of me! STOP!" She rants out as the guard takes her away, kicking and screaming all the way.

~~~

The next day, Adam walks down the hall, just finished another job training class. Today is his last day here... Dr Donna... Or rather, his Mom has decided Adam is mentally fit to attempt to return to his house. He doesn't feel so trapped anymore, even though he still has no clue about his past life... And now that he's no longer a captive in the ward, he doesn't feel so determined to milk information from anyone, like the answers are right there for him to discover on his own.

He stops, and sees someone walk out of the art room, a dab of grey and yellow paint on his cheek. Adam freezes as he sees Merrick stroll out, talking to someone else as they go, walking...

Absent-mindedly following him, Adam walks forward, but took a chance to glance into the art room, where he stops again, and looks at one of the paintings.

A painting shows a dark-grey void, with an upside down humanoid figure in the upper middle of the portrait. On the lower side of the canvas, there is a figure on either side -- the one on the left is a lighter dark grey color, and the other one on the right is a much lighter color. And originating from the middle, is a neat array of white rectangles, laid out before the grey-scale surrounding.

"That... That looks a lot like one of my dreams..."

~~~

Merrick groans as he stretches outside, feeling the breeze waft over his belly as his shirt was shifted up, before he relaxes back down.

"H-Hey." Comes a very familiar voice. Merrick whips around, and quirked his eyebrows up as he sees Adam approach him.

"Hi..." Merrick says back.

"I... I haven't seen you in a while. You were in the art class again?"

"Oh yeah, about that." Merrick said, "I'm sorry for what I did."

"It's ok,"

"No, it's not." Merrick continues, "I was acting on some bad advice, and I put you in an unhelpful situation. I shouldn't have taken my clothes off and seduced you like that, it was wrong."

"I-It's fine, really..." Adam says as he comes over while Merrick leaned on the railing, feeling an awkward pause coming. He glances, and sees Merrick turning and fiddling with a sparkling ring around his finger on his left hand. "Um... Uh..." Adam stammered, trying to find something to say, "That's... That's a pretty ring you have there." He commented.

"Thank you." Merrick nodded, his smile fading, "The love of my life gave it to me."

"O-Oh, the love of your life... Huh..." Adam says, feeling a purge of disappointment. Why does he feel disappointed?

"Yes... I miss him everyday."

"You miss him? Is he gone somewhere?"

"You could say that..." Merrick says sadly, "I lost him a long time ago..."

"Ohhh..." Adam coos softly, "I'm so sorry. Can... Can he ever come back?"

"No..." Merrick shook his head, "The man I knew is gone... Forever..." He sighs, "Heh, I'm sorry... It's not like we were married, we were just together... I shouldn't be telling you this, really. This is my burden..."

"Oh..." Adam bows his head down. Why does he feel sad? Maybe this is what sympathy feels like? But at the same time, Adam feels slightly guilty about being here... Why does he feel guilty? He can still cheer this man up. "You know... This is my last day here at the psychiatric ward."

"It is?" Merrick looks up.

"Y-Yeah. I'm going to moving back to my house... Or at least try to." Adam tells him, "Would you... Want to come visit me sometime? Y-You know, like, anytime you're feeling sad or... Something?" Merrick smiles from the offer. Something about those adorable lips curling up, makes Adam feels an urge to smile back, like it's infectious.

"I'd love to." Merrick nods.

The both turn, and look at the sea in the mid-noon light. It's a beautiful view from the ward.

"Hey Merrick? I want to ask you something." Adam says, "Why DID you kiss me when we first met? And why did you really go through with stripping and... Getting that close?"

"Heh... Well, because you're handsome. Just makes me want to go for it, really." He replies, "You remind me a lot of the man I was with before he disappeared. Everything about you makes me feel like I'm right next to him..." Merrick chuckles and shakes his head, "It's almost driving me crazy, you know?"

"N-No, I get it..." Adam nods, his chest pounding with a foreign anticipation. Is he waiting for something? "Now that I think about it... I don't think it was actually that bad, it was just really unexpected." Now that he thinks about it... The more he glances at Merrick, the more he wants to see Merrick's body again... Thinking about his physique... Adam's legs shift as he can feel a firming start to form in his pants.

"And I'm sorry if you didn't like me kissing you... I've just been feeling a little alone for a long while... And I just like kissing, hehe."

"O-Oh no, it's ok, I've... Yeah, I've been feeling that way too..." Adam huffs as he looks down at his stomach, frowning as he sees he still has a round-ish mound on his stomach, "Agh... I need to lose some weight."

"... Why?" Merrick asked with a quirked brow.

"Cause... You know... Kinda fat here... You know?" Adam says as he paws at his own stomach. Merrick tilts his head, and chuckles.

"You're not fat. Who made you think that?"

"Just... Someone mentioned it once or twice, really..."

"Ghh. Well, whoever they are, they have no damn clue about what they're thinking." Merrick smirks, "You're perfect just the way you are, you don't need to go on a diet."

Adam blushes as he raises his eyebrows, "Wh- R-Really?"

"Yeah. Besides, it's good to have a lil chub there sometimes." He reaches over, and nudges Adam's slightly plush tummy, making him blush harder, "I find that pudgy guys give the best hugs anyway. They're very cuddly."

"O-Oh, really..." Adam says, very flustered and pink in the face.

"Anyway, do you need help packing up?" Merrick asked, "I've got some time before I need to go to my job."

"S-Sure!" Adam nods, "Please, yes, come."

"Ok." Merrick grins as he gets off the railing, and then comes too close to Adam. Adam freezes as Merrick kisses his cheek, and pats his shoulder, "Lets go."

"Kay..." Adam staggers slightly, looking at the back of that blonde head as it goes. His face feels light and hot... Whenever Jessica kissed him, he felt repulsed and heavy...

It's almost like he wants more of it...

He snaps out of it, and trots forward to follow him.

~~~

"Aight, we good to go?" Jamal says as he puts the last box into his car.

"There wasn't that much stuff to get in, actually." Adam says as he goes to the passenger's seat.

"Cool. Lets get goin." Jamal then swings his rump behind the wheel, and drove out of the ward. Adam looks at the building as he moves around it, seeing from the outside as he bids it a silent goodbye, probably like how a bird would feel if it were set free from its cage.

"Hey, Jamal... Thanks for being there for me." Adam says "And thanks for finding me the other night."

"No problem, man." Jamal said with a smile, "I'm always there for you, bud."

"... You're just... Amazing, you know that?" Adam said with a smile, "You've practically been to see me everyday, you take me out to all kinds of places, and when I really needed you, there you were..." Adam tells him, "Why are you so good to me?"

"Long story." Jamal smirked.

"... Are we married or something?" Adam asked, "Seriously, I'm getting SOME kind of vibe there."

"Hahaha, naw man. You ain't my type." He says as he rushes his hand on Adam's clothed chest, "Too hairy, man."

"Ahaha, hey."

"Naw, but... I lived wit you for a long time too." Jamal said, "Not just Yuri."

"What... Oh, you're a roommate too? You live with me?"

"Yep. Me'n Yuri. Well, she lived with you 10 years, I got 8."

"Oh ok." Adam smiled, "That's kind of reassuring, actually."

"Yeah, we been tight for ages. And I owe that much for taking me in."

"Taking you in?"

"Yeah... See, I kinda had a... Weird life, and I got into a lotta trouble before I moved here." Jamal tells him, "Eventually, I got to pick who I wanted to try and live wit, and you and Yuri had a spare room and needed more money."

"Sooo... That's why you go out of your way for me?"

"Gheh, kinda. In a nutshell." Jamal answered, "I was a real asshole back then though. I was pissed off outta my mind for weeks even after I moved in. Yuri kinda thrashed me once or twice if I got pissy with her, but you were a lot more level-headed and nice to me."

"Heh..." Adam looks out at the sunny day outside the car window, "I really wish I can remember what you're telling me..."

"Yeah, you was a freakin goodie-boy. For a while, I thought you were trying to suck my dick or something, and I wadn't havin none of that shit at the time."

"Ach -- What??"

"Ahahahaha, yeah, or somethin like that, I thought you were comin on to me. And this was before I started trying fucking wit guys. But eventually, I stopped being an asshole, and let you help me out wit finding a job at the Dream Waltz -- it's a nightclub now, but back then, it was a magic show place."