Chương 14: Grumbling Best Friends

Boston watched until the doctor and nurse disappeared from the corridor before returning his attention to the others standing with him.

The three men then shared a glance which assured that they had the same thought in mind before collectively walking into the hospital room outside which they had been waiting until now.

As they stepped inside, they found their fourth friend, the one whom they had brought to this hospital for treatment, lying motionless on the bed.

However, the IV drips attached to his hands and the pale look on his face did not invoke any signs of pity or compassion in them.

Instead, they snorted, harrumphed, and sneered before each took a seat somewhere in this room while waiting for him to wake up.

The tall man dressed in a black suit chose the couch so Lance occupied the chair next to the patient's bed.

This left no place for Boston who first glared at his two best friends and only after he alleviated his anger did he walk towards a wall, leaning against it.

Silence overtook the four friends who now occupied this private hospital room on the third floor, in the middle of the night.

As the ticking of the clock grew louder due to the intense stillness around them, the three friends were lost in thought as they stared at the one unconscious on the bed.

They had now grown accustomed to watching his pale countenance as he recuperated in the hospital after what he had done to himself.

It had been over six years yet around this time of the year, they always found themselves watching over him in the hospital.

"How long will he keep tormenting himself this way?" Lance spoke up as he leered at his friend who wasn't even awake to hear his complaints.

Getting hospitalized around this time of the year had now become a pattern for their friend, Aaron Song, who even now lay unconscious on the bed.

Boston sighed as he had no reply to what Lance had inquired but he had something else to say.

"Isn't she living her life well?" He muttered with a look of distaste flashing across his eyes when he thought of the one who had caused their friend to end up this way.

The reason for their friend's current miserable condition was the grief that he had suppressed within him for over six years now.

The once playful and jovial young master they were used to seeing had changed after a certain incident had taken place in his life.

He no longer was the same person he once was but around this time of the year, he often reverted to his old self.

However, this wasn't a good thing per se as Aaron drowned himself in alcohol to forget about that part of his life but as always, failed to do so.

Others might think that he was just the same as he was in the past but only they knew how much he had changed.

He could pretend to be alright before everyone else but he wasn't fooling them, especially during this time of the year.

He was dealing with issues and failing to overcome them, he took the support of alcohol which was also how he had ended up in a hospital today.

As they did in the past, today too they had to figure out where he had holed himself up before proceeding to bring him to the hospital as he most certainly was in a pitiful state when they managed to find him.

The three friends had been busy but dropped everything they were doing after they received a phone call from Aaron's family, informing them of his disappearance.

Boston had been at an important dinner event, Lance was watching a movie at home, and their third friend was in the middle of a business conference when they had received this call.

However, they had not hesitated even for a second before putting an end to whatever they were doing in order to look for Aaron whom they knew would be drowning himself in alcohol somewhere.

They were a group of five best friends who had been together since childhood so it was not difficult for them to know where Aaron would have hidden himself.

Their fifth friend wasn't in the city right now due to some work-related matters so he could not join them but had been keeping in touch to stay in the loop about their progress.

Therefore, it was just the three of them who went out to look for Aaron and soon found him in a deserted bar, drunk and unconscious.

The three of them then rushed him to the hospital and were glad to have made it in time as their friend had emptied quite a few bottles of the strongest liquor the bar had.

For the last three hours, they had been waiting outside while the doctors and nurses pumped his stomach to drain him of the alcohol he had consumed in a very short amount of time which had led to him getting alcohol poisoning.

Only now had they gotten the chance to enter the room and check on the patient who was finally declared to be out of any immediate danger.

They each had different thoughts in their minds regarding Aaron and his current state but chose to remain silent about it right now.

This was especially so as their third friend had shot them a reproachful glance when Boston and Lance were grumbling and mumbling to themselves.

They surely disliked what Aaron was doing to himself but now was not the time to discuss such matters.

Realizing their mistakes, the two friends put an end to whatever they were about to say and swallowed their statements which were full of displeasure.

As the three of them sat in silence once again, the sounds of subtle vibrations attracted their attention, making them turn in its direction in no time.

Excluding Aaron who was still unconscious, the other two men fixed their eyes on Boston who was pulling the phone out of his pocket right now.

They had all been busy tonight yet had rushed over so it was understandable that they were receiving calls even this late in the night.

"It's Will," Boston explained that it wasn't work but their fifth friend who had been unable to join them this evening.

He then went ahead and answered the call before disclosing the exact words which the doctor had stated earlier.

Will, another one of their friends, wasn't here but was worried about Aaron and hence had called to know how he was doing.

"Yea, we'll be here for the night." He added in reply to a query that had come from the other side.

Lance nodded to himself after hearing Boston's words as that was what they needed to do for their unconscious friend.

The conversation between the two was brief and it ended within a minute but that was expected after recalling that in their group, there wasn't just one but two men who spoke only when it was absolutely necessary.

One was Will, their friend who wasn't in the city right now while the other was the man who was seated on the couch, not uttering a single word from the moment they had entered this room.

Thinking of his silent friend, Lance recalled that they had not been able to complete their conversation earlier and hence turned in his direction to resume the topic that had been interrupted by the doctor when they were in the corridor.

"Jake, about that file!" He blurted out in an invigorated tone, forgetting all about where he was right at this moment.