Chapter Text
“Robert!” Victoria yelled down the stairs. “Robert! Will you get that?” she yelled a second time, but to no avail.
A few moments later, after getting no response from her older brother, an exasperated Victoria came rushing down the stairs, a spiderman backpack ready for Harry to take out for the day hastily shoved full of a five-year old’s essential items.
“Robert! Are you deaf? There’s someone at the door!” She said, shouting from the foot of the stairs to her older brother who lay strewn on the sofa, eyes seemingly fixed on a repeat of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled the throw up closer to his chin – the one Victoria had draped over him in the night – as she went to unlock the front door.
“Hiya!” Victoria said breathless and brisk, hurriedly stepping aside to let her visitors in. “Thanks so much for agreeing to look after him,” she began, before lowering her voice. “He’s just not up to it today,” she whispered to Aaron and John, gesturing to Robert, who was lying on the sofa.
Aaron nodded silently, his eyes flicking to Robert – barely moving, half-swallowed by the sofa cushions, the TV light flickering across his face like something out of a hospital ward. The sight twisted something low in Aaron’s stomach. He dropped his gaze.
Behind him, John scoffed. Loud and deliberate. Aaron winced before he even turned – knowing exactly what kind of entrance John was about to make. Heavy footed, loud opinions, and not a scrap of tact.
“Has he been like this all night?” John judged loudly as he stomped into the living room.
“John!” Aaron grunted through gritted teeth, nodding towards Harry who’d just made it to the bottom of the stairs. Victoria just nodded. Didn’t say a word. Her hand was tight around the backpack strap. John stepped around to stand in front of Robert.
“You’re a disgrace,” John muttered, yanking the remote from Robert’s limp grip – but there was a flicker of hesitation in his voice, as if part of him knew he’d crossed a line. “You’re not in prison anymore, Robert. If Victoria’s letting you stay under her roof, the least you could do is… show you care.”
“John, that’s enough!” Victoria said, walking over to where he was stood over an unmoving Robert, her son peering around from behind Aaron. Victoria took the remote from John, placing it onto the coffee table behind her.
He turned to Victoria, his voice hard but not entirely steady. “I’m just trying to protect you and Harry. He doesn’t need to grow up watching someone rot on the sofa. It’s not right.”
There was something sharper than anger in his tone now – almost fear – but John pressed on, clinging to the conviction like armour. “He should be doing something. Getting help. Getting a job. Anything.”
“John, come on,” Victoria started, pointing once more to Harry who had shifted to clinging to Aaron, an uncertainty in his eyes that she had grown used to since Robert had been released from prison. It was Robert who shifted towards Harry, a haunted look in his eyes. He said nothing. Slowly, he sat up and ran a hand through his matted hair.
“Don’t tell me to calm down, Vic! What sort of example is this to set to Harry?” John said before turning to point towards the young boy who Aaron was trying to console. “He’s terrified of him!”
Harry sniffled before letting go of Aaron to run to stand next to his uncle Robert.
“Mummy why is uncle John shouting at Uncle Robert when he is poorly?” the young boy said, looking up to his mum.
“It’s just a misunderstanding darling.” She said, forcing a smile onto her face for her son. “Why don’t you go with Uncle Aaron and he can take you over the road?”
Aaron smiled softly towards the young boy who vigorously shook his head and instead jumped onto the sofa to rest his head on a startled Robert’s shoulder.
“I want to stay with Uncle Robert!” Harry shouted, clinging to Robert’s arm. Robert, who had sat silently on the sofa started pulling in short, shallow breaths.
“Uncle Robert?” Harry said, turning his head to the side like a confused puppy.
“Oh here we go!” John sighed, throwing his hands up into the air and turning to Aaron who glared at him and walked over towards where Robert was desperately trying to slow his breathing, the sight of his young nephew rubbing soft circles on Robert’s back a heartbreaking sight.
“Come on buddy,” Aaron said kindly, offering a hand to the young boy.
“But what about Uncle Robert?” Harry said, biting his lip before looking back to Robert. “Is he going to die?”
The words punched straight through Aaron’s chest. Don’t be silly, he wanted to say – but how do you explain that kind of fear to a five-year-old when even the adults could barely understand it?
“No,” he managed. He took a slow, deep breath – to calm Harry down he told himself – and looked properly at Robert for the first time in days. Robert was gaunt, slimmer than he once was, with deep black circles under his tired eyes. His hair was sticking out at odd angles, the sweat dripping from his brow an addition to the distinct smell of someone who had not washed for several days. “Uncle Robert is just poorly. Sometimes when grown-ups are poorly we need to give them space to get better. Do you think you can be a big boy and come with me so mummy and Uncle John can help Robert?”
Harry looked reluctantly at Robert who had his palms pressed into his eyes, then back at Aaron.
“Okay,” he nodded, jumping off the sofa. “Bye-bye.” He said, grasping a relieved Aaron’s hand. “I love you Uncle Robert,” he said softly before being led away by Aaron.
Harry’s hand was warm in Aaron’s, his steps small and dragging.
“Will Uncle Robert be okay?” he asked quietly, his voice tight, eyes searching Aaron’s face.
Aaron gave his hand a gentle squeeze and forced and encouraging smile. But didn’t answer. He couldn’t. And he couldn’t look back. Because if he did – if he saw Robert still trembling on the sofa, Victoria’s arms around him, John standing over them like a shadow – then he might never have walked out the door.
That was the thing. This man looked like Robert, sounded like Robert – but he wasn’t. Not really. He was just a shadow of the Robert Aaron had known. And it was haunting.