The next few days feel like a week and by Sunday night, it’s clear his father isn’t stable enough for him to come home. When my phone goes off Monday morning, I answer quickly. It’s Alex’s phone but it’s Marley.
“Grace, I’m sorry to bother you and I know it’s asking a lot but can you come down to be here for Alex? He won’t ask you but he’s not getting any sleep. Once again, everyone is depending on him to make everything better. If you came, it would help him so much, I just know it. I feel horrible, I know you’re the one who talked him into coming down. I really think you being here would help him.”
I don’t even hesitate, she’s still talking but I’m not listening. “Of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can catch a flight out.”
“Oh, I would never ask you to fly out on economy. Daddy’s jet should arrive within the next hour. It’ll be at a commuter airport just outside of Chicago. I’ll have a car pick you up at Alex’s in an hour and it’ll take you there. Thank you so much, Grace.”
I’m flying out on a jet? I’m being driven there by a car? The thoughts are barely out, I push them back. It doesn’t matter how I’m getting to Alex, if Marley thinks he needs me then all that matters is I’m getting to him.
I call in to work. I tell Edward that I’m going out to join Alex and send the work I’ve finished. Anxiety pushed me to finish not just my work for the next two weeks, but also Alex’s. I email in the presentation to Edward, and everything on my calendar. I leave it to Edward to decide which meetings to cancel and which ones to have someone else cover.
An hour later, I’ve packed enough for at least a week and then some and am pacing the living room. When the front desk calls to tell me the car is here, I run for the door.
A little over three hours later, a chauffeur delivers me to the house that looks like a castle on the water. Before the door has even closed behind me, Marley is pulling me into a hug.
“Thank goodness, you’re here. Thank you for coming. He’s upstairs trying to sleep, he was up all night with Dad. Then he comes home and Michael, Mary and Martin are all over him.”
Marley has me by the arm and is guiding me up the stairs, the house is large and echoing. I’m a little surprised that the house looks empty considering all the people that are supposed to be here. Marley drags my suitcase behind us. The halls are just as large as the foyer. We’re almost to the end before she knocks gently then practically pushes me into the room. My suitcase is pushed in after me and I hear a sigh of frustration a moment before Alex’s eyes meet mine.
His sigh is cut off when he smiles at the sight of me. “Please, tell me I’m not dreaming.”
He’s in the center of a large bed and he looks horrible. I want to cry at how bad he looks. I swallow back the tears as I practically run across the room and throw myself at him. “No dream, I’m here.”
That’s the only talking that happens for several hours.
In the dying light, I’m watching Alex sleep. My chest is tight, it’s not a deep reassuring sleep. It’s the sleep of the dead, deep and almost punishing. A soft knock comes from the door. I’m up fast and wrapping a shirt around me.
I open the door to find a woman who looks like Marley and a man who looks sort of like Alex. Anger flashes hot and bright. I’ve only been here for three hours. That’s it, that’s all these people were going to allow him for sleep? Hell no.
“What the fuck is the matter with you? Alex has gotten almost no sleep in the last few days. Get the fuck away from this door and leave him alone for fuck’s sake. Anyone knocks on this door and I’ll break your damned hand.” Without another word, I go back into the room. It isn’t until I close the door I wonder if I should have introduced myself. My eyes go to Alex and I’m relieved to see he’s still asleep, that’s all that matters.
Climbing back into bed, Alex sighs when I hug him close. I shouldn’t have left him alone so long. Thank goodness Marley called me. In the last few months, Marley and I have grown close. She was often a guest on the weekends and managed to talk me into joining her and Alex for lunch several times a week. Often she moaned about her roommate, and other times she called the young girl from a tiny town in Minnesota, her best friend. While the first few weeks I was sure Marley was keeping an eye on how I treated Alex, gradually, she became more welcoming and warm towards me.
It’s a long eight hours before Alex wakes up on his own. As my phone is about to run out of power I’m glad also extremely relieved to see him looking well rested, and happy.
“Every night I dreamed you were here. Then I’d wake up and you weren’t. Damn, I’m happy to hold you close. Love you.”
Turning into his hold I squeeze back. “Love you, too. You look so mu
ch better now that you’ve rested.”
“I’m just surprised I was able to sleep so long. For the past few days I’ve had one after another family member knocking on my door.” I blush, brightly. “Grace, my love. Did you have something to do with that?”
“I love you.” I start and rub his chest, hoping he’ll forgive me. “I might have threatened to break the hand of the next person who knocked on the door. Please don’t be mad. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t believe they were knocking on the door after only a few hours.”
Alex’s laughter tells me that he won’t hold it against me. “I would have loved to see the looks on their faces. Who was it?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t ask questions, just told them to beat it. I was angrier with them than I was caring about whether I introduced myself.”
“Hmm... they have been a little twitchy. With Dad being so bad and the terms of his will so unknown, everyone is freaking out.”
“That seems a little...vulturish.”
“Normally, I would agree. The thing is, it’s almost like Dad’s attempting to fuck with their heads. One minute he’s talking about how there’s no money, then the next minute he’s saying all of the money should go to charities. It’s making them paranoid and cranky. They aren’t always like this. The situation is bringing out the worst in them and it isn’t pretty.”
“I guess, I couldn’t imagine knowing there’s a huge amount of money I could get but wouldn’t. Probably it would flip a switch, look what it did to Larry. Still, it doesn’t mean they get to turn you into a zombie. There’s only so much you can do, and you’re worthless if you can’t string a sentence together because you’re so tired.”
“Was I that bad?”