Lilies for a Lifetime

Chapter 11 // Tears and Tension

The summer before sophomore year of college / Age 19...

By the time Vincent gets home from work, he is utterly exhausted. He practically drags his feet as he walks through his apartment, loosening his tie in the process. He lazily puts some water in a pot to boil as he heads inside his bedroom to undress from the long work day.

Although Vincent is studying under an education major in college, every free moment that he has in his hometown is spent working as a data entry clerk. Vincent is living paycheck to paycheck just to keep up with his apartment and all his food expenses.

Hayden has begged Vincent to come live with him and keeps telling him that he doesn't have to do everything alone, but he just doesn't get it. The two have had multiple fights about this because Hayden doesn't realize that Vincent is at peace with the independence. All of last summer, Vincent relied on Scott and Hayden after his parents kicked him out, but he physically couldn't live like that anymore. He needed to grow up and do things by himself because that's how he was raised, even if he is barely getting by.

By the time he is walking into the kitchen with a fresh pair of clothes, Vincent laughs to himself when he finds that Hayden has already been blowing up his phone, dying to either see him or hear his voice.

Vincent nearly jumps when a particularly loud rumble of thunder shakes his house. It has been pouring rain all day, and that definitely wasn't doing anything to help anyone's mood at the office.

After pouring pasta into the boiling water and heating up some Alfredo sauce on the side, Vincent sits on a barstool, prepared to shoot Hayden a couple of texts—one including whether or not he has eaten yet.

————————————————————————
Hey, you hungry?

Are you making something good?

Yeah, it's your favorite

Is it that really good Pad Thai?

Sorry, I meant your favorite American dish

Silly Vinny, pasta is from Italy

Close enough

Are you going to be here soon?
——————————————————————

Before Vincent gets a chance to respond to Hayden, a mysterious phone call from an unknown number pops up on his screen. Rolling his eyes at the notion of talking to someone new, he answers and puts the phone up to his ear.

"Um, hello?"

"Yes, is this Vincent Russell?" the unknown voice says.

"Yeah..."

"I'm calling on behalf of Eden General Hospital."

"Okay..."

"You are listed here as one of Kane Russell's emergency contacts, so I'm sorry to inform you that he has suffered a serious cerebrovascular accident. His vitals are currently unstable, but we are trying our best to get it under control. I would start heading this way in case anything happens."

"Oh, um...okay. Thank you for letting me know," Vincent answers, bunching up his eyebrows at the onslaught of information.

The phone call goes dead, and for a second, all Vincent can do is watch the water boil over in his pot as equal parts of panic and indifference seize his mind and body.

Why should he care?

Kane was the one who stood by and watched Vincent get kicked out of his own house. Kane was the one who was also hounding him every second of his youth to be better, to be someone better than what he is now as if he was never good enough.