chapter 05: Seeking help

Kaino's POV

Things have been better from the past two months. It's not believable but it's already been two months since the incident with Zayn has happened. It's not a small thing for us to forget but slowly we're coping up. Mainly Parker, he has been getting better as the time passes.

I've finally settled myself at a job. I need not had to search for long as my resume is clean and adding to that my experience in foreign country gave more weightage. So, when I applied at ten prestigious and well known hospitals in the city, almost all the hospitals accepted me. And I choose the one which I thought best depending on my circumstances and requirements.

It's been one and half month since I started working and everything at work is going well.

As per Parker, for now he's staying at home and taking the time to get back to normal. Staying at home doesn't mean he stays quite all the time, he keeps himself busy almost all day with one thing or the other. He starting learning cooking. He said he doesn't know how to cook and Zayn was the who used to cook for them. As I'm not good at it, his cooking is helping us. If not we would have to depend on delivers and takeaways. And being a doctor, I'm not in favor of that.

Apart from cooking, the other thing he spends his time is gardening. This house has a huge backyard. Parker said previously there was a gardener appointed to take care of it but now Parker is looking after it. He plants a new plant every week, cleans the area everyday, cuts the weeds and waters the plants everyday. He spends almost four hours in there, if it's not taking care of plants he just sits there and spends the time in nature.

I sigh as I stop the car in the garage and climb down before getting into the house. My shift today has ended an hour late as there was an emergency just before I was leaving. So, I had to stay back and tend the patient before finally leaving.

"Why did you come home so late today?" My steps halt before I could even step into the house when I hear Parker's voice.

I look up and see him talking to me with nervousness evident in his eyes. I don't know why but he gets worried when I come home late. It happened once before when I joined the job, the first day. I got busy with keeping up with everything as it was my first day and forgot about time. When I was done with things, I realised I was late. That day when I got home, he was almost having panic attack and he calmed down after seeing me. Maybe because of what happened to Zayn, he feels scared and worried. He might think I would end up like Zayn.

"There was an emergency case I had to attend." I reply and walk into the house. Maybe I need to message him from next time.

Going to my bedroom, I walk directly to the bathroom and discard my clothes before taking a fresh shower. Working as a doctor, I have to deal with patients and alcoholic medicines all day. So, the first thing I do when I reach home is clean myself.

After getting freshen, I get out and get dressed in nightwear before going to the living room. Parker brings the food and sets everything on the dining table. I head to him as it's time to eat. I settle myself in the chair while Parker fills the plates with food before sitting in his seat. We eat in comfortable silence until Parker opens his mouth.

"Kaino, can I sleep in your room?" He asks surprising me that I stop eating for a minute.

Though we live together in the same house, we have our own bedrooms. While Parker stays in their old bedroom, I have my own. In this past two months Parker never said something like this, so it's surprising me as why now he suddenly asked me if he could sleep in my room.

"Sure," I agree instantly but ask him my doubt, "is something wrong?"

"Umm..I keep having bad dreams almost everyday. It's all blood everywhere and the worst thing is I see Zayn in there, with blood and all. Maybe because I'm staying in the room that we shared, I feel I'm having those dreams. Also, it would be good to have someone beside me when I have those dreams instead of me being alone." He explains while staring down at his plate.

"I understand, Parker. You sleep where you're comfortable and I'll be more than willing to help you in any situation." I assure him and he nods at me.

Knowing that he's having nightmares about Zayn's accident and that he needs someone by his side during those situation, I agree to him. He opened up to me by himself and seeking my help, how can I say no? And also, I don't mind sharing the room with him. All he needs is someone who can help him when he have nightmares.

After our small conversation, we finish our meal in silence and I watch TV for sometime while Parker washes the dishes and cleans the kitchen. I offered my help but he send me away saying he would take care of it. I had no choice but to obey him. And I decided to watch some show as I wait for him. When he finishes his work, we head to my room and lay on the bed, each on one side. Being busy with work, I feel tired and exhausted and drift of to sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

In the middle of the night, though I'm asleep, I hear whispers sounding in the room. At first I didn't pay any attention as I didn't want to disturb my sleep and thought the noises would stop. But when I realised Parker is sleeping with me and it's him having his nightmares, I immediately sober up and turn to him. He whithers as sweat glisten on his face. Even in the dim lit room, I can still see his face constricted with fear and worry. Sitting up, I move towards him and wake him up as I shake his shoulders.

"Parker, wake up! Can you hear me?" I ask him while I continue to wake him up.

A minute passes by and he wakes up as he gasps for air. His face, neck and hands glimmering with sweat. He have tears flowing down his cheeks and his lips trembling. After helping him to sit up, I grab the glass from the night table which I prepared beforehand and remove the lid. I help him to drink the water and pat his back which is wet because of the sweat. When he finally calms down, I place the glass back on the table and get down. Walking into the bathroom, I grab a towel and some water before going back to the room.

Drenching the towel in the water, I help him clean his face and body off of tears and sweat. He stays stoic still in daze because of his nightmare and I finish my task of cleaning him. I head to the bathroom and put the towel back before getting into the room. By that time, Zayn is already laying back and his eyes are closed. I get on the bed and find him sleeping again. To make him feel better, I reduce the temperature making the room cool but cover him with the blankets so that he won't feel cold. Heaving a sigh, I finally lie on the bed and get back into my sleep.

I wake up to the strong smell of coffee and the first thing I find after opening my eyes is Parker standing beside the bed with a cup in his hands.

"Good morning." He greets me with a small smile.

"Morning, Parker." I respond and sit up before accepting the cup that he's offering to me.

Inhaling the rich favour of the brewed drink, I take a sip and groan internally at the best feeling it gives. One after the another gulp, I almost finish my coffee but stop when I see Parker still standing in front of me. I raise a brow in questioning manner and he keeps his head low while fidgeting with his hands before he talks.

"I-I.. thank you for the last night, Kaino." He says and I return the cup to him before standing up and facing him.

"I already told you I'm here for you, Parker. I'll do anything in my reach to help you. You don't have to thank me." I tell him and wait for him to say something.

He stays silent and anxious feeling creeps under my skin making me think if I spoke anything that I shouldn't. But all my worry vanishes when he looks up at me with a smile and nods his head to which I couldn't help but smile in return.

"What do you want to eat for breakfast?" He questions.

"Anything is fine." I answer him honestly. I'm not a picky eater, I eat everything.

"Okay, then. I'll make something of my choice. Fresh up and come to the table." He says and leaves the room.

Like he said, I take a warm shower and dress up in casual clothes before going out. Today is day off for me. My shift will be taken care of by some other doctor. I don't normally use my day offs instead I go to the hospital. But there are sometimes when I feel I need a break. From the time I started working here, I haven't used any of my day offs until today. I thought today I stay at home and spend some time with Parker. Though I know what he does everyday, being by his side and watching him will be different. And he's alone everyday, so I thought this would benefit both of us.

"What?" I ask when Parker scans at me from head to toe after I reach the dining table.

"Are you not going to hospital today?" He queries confused.

"Today is my day off, I'm not going." I reply and pull the chair before taking my seat.

"Okay." He says and serves us the food.

As usual silence engulfs us as we eat and the only sound we could hear is the spoons and forks hitting the plates. But that doesn't bother me, I do enjoy eating in silence because then I can solely concentrate on the food I'm eating. Our morning meal comes to an end when we finish eating and this time, unlike yesterday's night, I wash the dishes sending Parker away. He insisted saying we should clean together but I didn't listen. Unwillingly, he goes to take a bath and I wash the dishes before cleaning the table.

Heading into the living room, I just go to sit when suddenly mother and father walks into the house. I frown as I didn't expect their visit. They didn't inform me that they're going to visit us. Did Parker know? But then he also didn't say a word to me. That's fine though, now that they're here. Maybe they just wanted to see Parker.

"Hello, mother, father, how are you?" I greet them and direct them to take a seat.

"Hello, Kaino. We're fine." Mother says after taking a seat and her eyes roam around the house in search for Parker.

I open my mouth to tell them he'll be here in sometime and that right now he's taking a bathe but I don't get a chance as Parker walks to us with confused stare. Well, he also didn't know they're going to come. Let's see what's this surprise visit is all about.