by Linnea Hall
As Jewell slept, she dreamt of beautiful beaches, stained glass windows, interesting doors on beautiful cottages, and a valley in the most beautiful mountains she had ever seen, dotted with thousands of white daffodils.
Chapter 30
On Saturday, Collin took Jewell to work, even though Ashley offered to drive. He dropped her off, and went home. He needed some sleep. He thought about Jewell having to work all night and sighed. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for him to stay awake all night just because she was.
When Collin arrived home, he went into the house to let his uncle know that he was home. His uncle didn’t approve of his relationship with Jewell, but seemed to be tolerating it. When he walked into the parlor, everyone stopped talking. They sat, staring at him with somber looks on their faces.
“What? Did someone die?” Collin laughed. No one laughed with him.
“Collin, we’re leaving.” His uncle said with little emotion. Collin knew that when his uncle said it this way, it meant they were leaving soon. He looked around and noticed for the first time the boxes stacked in the corner.
“When?”
“Tonight.” Collin looked at his uncle, and then glanced around the room at the rest of the sober group. A few of them nodded, Gladys was the only one who looked like she cared about what this news would mean to Collin.
“Fine. Have a safe trip.” Collin turned and started walking toward the door. His uncle caught up with him and gently grabbed him by the arm.
“Collin, you need to leave too.” His tone was gentle, but the authority in his tone was unmistakable.
“Why?”
“It’s…complicated.”
Collin moved to a chair and sat down, with his arms crossed over his chest defiantly. “Fine, explain it then.”
Collin’s uncle glanced at the others in the room. Why does he always do that? Collin thought. Every time he asks his uncle to explain what’s going on, he looks at everyone else. Apparently, everyone was in on the secret but Collin.
“I can’t.” His uncle replied, defeated.
“Well it’s settled then. I’m staying. If I can’t stay in the house, I’ll find an apartment. I’ll get a job, I’ll keep in touch.” He stood, waiting for his uncle to try to stop him.
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” His uncle sighed. “Your aunt Gladys made spaghetti and her huge meatballs. We were just getting ready to eat. At least sit down and have dinner with us.”
Collin looked at his uncle, suspicious. He knew that this was just going to be one more attempt to convince him to leave with them, but as he started to tell his uncle that he didn’t want dinner, Collin felt his stomach rumble. He could smell the garlic and spices drifting down the hall. “Fine. But I want you to know now; I’m not leaving with you.”
“I understand.”
They all moved into the dining room and sat down. Gladys and Percy went into the kitchen to fix plates for everyone. Percy brought in Collin’s plate last, with his own, and sat down next to him. Collin glared at him before taking a bite of his food. His uncle sat and watched him eat. All of a sudden, Collin started to feel lightheaded. As he looked across the table toward his aunt the room started to spin and he fell sideways in his chair. Kendryck, on his other side, caught him and laid him gently on the floor.
He heard his aunt Gladys moving around the table. “What’s wrong with him?” Her voice was filled with fear and worry.
His Uncle Percy’s voice seemed to come from far away. “He’ll be fine.”
As he slipped into unconsciousness, he heard Gladys’ voice, “You drugged him?” It was more an accusation than a question.
*
“You know, you’re going to have to tell him,” Gladys called to Percy who was in the back of the van monitoring Collin who had been switched to an inhaled anesthesia for the duration of the trip. “You should have told him years ago when you first figured it out.”
“I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to tell him something like that and then have it turn out wrong.”
“Oh baloney. There’ve been plenty of signs. You just didn’t want to admit it was true. After the accident though. You should have told him then. There was no doubt after that.”
“Well, he was…fragile. I didn’t want to upset him.” Percy replied from the back.
“That’s crazy and you know it. I don’t know why you don’t want to tell the boy.”
“Because if I don’t tell him, maybe it won’t be true.” Percy mumbled under his breath.
“I heard that. Percy, admit it. If you had just told him from the beginning, maybe he wouldn’t be in this position. It’s not your duty to live his life. He has a right to make his own decisions, right or wrong. But it’s not fair to let him make those decisions without having all of the facts. Haven’t you noticed that ever since the accident he knows you’re keeping something from him? Do you think that prolonging the inevitable will make it any easier for him to understand, or to accept? The longer you wait, the worse it gets. He knows and he’s going to find out, one way or another. It would be better if he heard it from you. If he has to figure it out by himself, he’ll just resent you when he finds out you’ve known all along.” Impassioned, Gladys didn’t realize that she was going faster. The van hit a bump.
“Hey! Slow down, will you! It’s bad enough that I need to do this while we’re moving, I don’t need you making it worse!”
Gladys eased up on the accelerator, “Well, maybe if you’d told him the truth, both of you could be sitting in seats like normal people, rather than drugging and kidnapping your own nephew!”
“I did not kidnap him. It was for his own good and whether he knows it or not, it’s better for Jewell this way. When those people find out we’re gone, they’ll leave Jewell alone and go back to being lunatics! Besides, I haven’t known all along. You know as well as I do that he should have been a skip.” Percy laid his hand lovingly on Collin’s arm. “He should have been a skip.” He mumbled, wishing for something he knew would never be true.
“Shoulda, woulda, coulda!” She retorted. “Have you tested him for telepathy?”
“No.” Percy replied like a child being scolded for forgetting his homework.
“If you had tested him, you could have had Kendryck help him to develop it. Now it’ll take years longer, and he’ll never be as talented.”
“I know. I just wanted to do what was best for him. I don’t want him to end up like his parents. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life. I don’t know how I could have lived this long and still be so ignorant! I just couldn’t hurt him like that,” Percy was nearly frustrated to tears. Gladys let the matter drop, nothing more could be done about it until they reached the House.
The drive was long. Kendryck drove Collin’s car, Dot and Carl were in Percy’s SUV with John and Ann. Percy was in the back of a rented van with Collin and what medical equipment he could squeeze into the van comfortably, while Gladys drove. Every four hours or so, they stopped for gas, stretched, and swapped drivers. The only two that never took a turn at driving were Collin, who was in an induced coma, and Percy, who was the only one qualified to monitor Collin’s condition while under anesthesia.
When they finally reached the House, nearly twenty four hours later, everyone was tired. The House hadn’t been opened in several years and the air inside was thick with time. While Ann and Dot went around the house opening windows, Kendryck and John carried Collin upstairs to one of the bedrooms. Gladys ran ahead, carrying a set of clean linens and pulling protective covers off of furniture, trying not to stir up too much dust. In Collin’s room, she made the bed quickly so that John and Kendryck could lay Collin in the bed.
Carl and Percy followed behind, carrying a portable pulse oximeter so that Percy could keep an eye on Collin’s pulse rate and oxygen levels. Percy pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down.
“You can’t stay up with him. You’ve already been up for almost twenty four hours. How much longer do you think you can keep this u
p?” Gladys looked at him with weary eyes.
“I have to. I did this to him; I need to make sure he’s okay before I leave him alone.”
“Can I bring you a cup of coffee?” Gladys understood what Percy felt. She was worried about Collin too. Not only about his condition now, but what he would face when he woke up. Already Collin was beginning to stir, showing signs that the anesthesia was wearing off.
“Please.” Percy said, rubbing his face with his hands. He took up one of Collins hands, measuring the pulse rate with his fingers. Then he touched his own cheek with the back of Collin’s hand. “I wish that things were different, boy. I really do.” He carefully ran a hand over Collins peach fuzz hair, shaved to reveal the cut from the accident. The scar, which should still be an angry red, was nearly impossible to see, looking as if the injury were years old.
By the time Gladys returned, Collin was moaning and starting to move his head from side to side. She had two cups of coffee, one she handed to Percy, the other she set on the dresser while she pulled a chair up to the other side of Collin’s bed. She took her cup of coffee, and sat down.
“Gladys, you can go to bed. I can handle this.” Percy said as he watched Gladys settle in next to Collin.
“I don’t trust you.” She responded succinctly. Percy shrugged. If Gladys wanted to stay, so be it.
*
Collin tried to open his eyes. His eyelids felt like they were made of lead. His head hurt. He felt like the battle of Thermopylae had been fought in his head, and his brain was King Leonidas. He moaned, moving his hands. He tried to think about what had happened. He thought back to his car accident. Was he still in the hospital? Had anything over the last three weeks actually happened? He carefully moved both arms, and then flexed his knees. No, not the accident. His thoughts were a fog. He searched for the last clear memory he had. Jewell. He had driven Jewell to work and dropped her off. What had happened after that? Suddenly, he remembered dinner. Maybe he got sick, it could be food poisoning. His stomach was upset, and felt empty. His mouth was also dry and felt like he had been sucking on cotton balls. He licked his lips and felt a glass of water touch them. He tried to gulp the water, but it just trickled in slowly. He wanted to grab the glass from whoever was holding it and pour it down his parched throat, but he couldn’t lift his hands. Too soon, the glass was taken from his mouth.
“Collin? Can you hear me boy?” Percy cautiously asked. Collin tried to speak. He could move his lips, but the only sound that escaped them was a slight moan.
“Collin? If you can hear me, squeeze my hand.” His uncle gave a slight squeeze to the hand he was holding. Collin realized then that the reason he couldn’t raise his hand was because his uncle was holding it. Collin gave his uncle’s hand a light squeeze.
“Can he hear you?” Collin heard Gladys’ voice on his other side.
“He’s coming around. Sevoflurane wears off relatively quickly. He should be okay before too long.”
Sevoflurane. Collin searched his memories. He had heard his uncle speak of this before. What was it? It was…the memory escaped him, just like all of the memories following dinner. His uncle brought the glass to his lips again. This time, his uncle allowed Collin to drink a bit more. When his uncle pulled the glass away again, Collin relaxed back into the pillow, trying to find sleep.
Jewell! The thought suddenly hit him. He could almost feel Jewell turning to face him, stopping as she rushed through her day at the hospital. His uncle had wanted him to leave Louisiana, but Collin didn’t want to go. His uncle hadn’t argued. Collin winced. He should have known. His uncle didn’t put up a fight because he knew that Collin was leaving, one way or another. Collin forced his eyes open and worked to focus them so he could see the room surrounding him. He could sense the air was different; no longer the humid Louisiana heat, but a dry desert heat. His eyes focused enough for him to see the color of the room. It was a sage green. There were no rooms this color in the Louisiana plantation home.
“Where…” Collin’s voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
“Shhhhh.” His uncle answered him. “Just rest.”
“Jewell.” He choked out.
“We’ll talk about that later, when you’re feeling better.” His uncle’s voice was irritatingly soothing. Collin wanted to jump up and scream, but thanks to his uncle’s drugs, he could barely think, let alone move.
“Feel…fine.”
“You just get some rest. I’ll come back and check on you later.” His uncle stood, brushing Collin’s head before bending down to kiss Collin’s forehead. “I love you. This is for the best.” Collin didn’t hear him walking out. Carpet, he thought; not the hardwood he had grown used to in the past couple of years. He heard the latch on the door snick as it closed.
Chapter 31
Jewell walked out of the hospital and glanced to the spot where Collin always waited for her. She was dumbfounded that he wasn’t there, leaning across the wall, looking like the romantic lead in an old film noir. Ashley noticed too.
“Didn’t he say he would be here to pick you up?”
“Yeah. Even when he doesn’t take me home, he’s here. Especially with everything that’s going on, I know he should be here.” Jewell’s voice was worried.
“Well, maybe he ran into traffic,” Ashley joked. Jewell didn’t laugh. “C’mon. Maybe he saw the car and decided to meet us there.”
Jewell knew that Collin wouldn’t be there. She could feel it. She suddenly realized that she felt an empty spot inside her chest. It was the same empty feeling she had felt when Collin had disappeared from the hospital. Collin was gone. He wasn’t coming back. She fought to hold the tears back. Jewell scanned the cars in the garage, looking for Collin’s familiar silver corvette knowing she wouldn’t find it. When they reached the car, Collin wasn’t there.
“I’m sure he’s on his way. Do you want me to wait with you?”
“No, he’s not coming. Will you drive me home?” Jewell’s voice was dead, devoid of all emotion. Ashley recognized the voice.
“Hang on…I…I forgot something. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Ashley turned and started walking swiftly toward the hospital. Once she had disappeared behind the door, she pulled out her cell phone. “Tommy? Hey. We’ve got a problem. Collin’s gone again.” She listened for a minute. “I don’t know, but he wasn’t here this morning like he usually is. I just wanted to let you know. I’ll keep her at my place until you get home.”
She hung up the phone. She walked quickly back to the car, not wanting to leave Jewell alone for too long. Jewell was standing in the same place she had left her, her tote on the ground next to her feet. Ashley couldn’t tell if Jewell had set it down, or it had simply slipped off her arm. She stood next to her bag in front of the car staring at nothing.
“Not good, not good, not good.” Ashley muttered to herself as she walked back to the car. “Okay, are you ready?” Ashley asked in a cheerful voice. Jewell didn’t say anything. Ashley walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for Jewell. She watched Jewell get in the car, without retrieving her bag. Jewell sat in the car, staring forward. Ashley bent down and picked up Jewell’s bag. She walked around to the driver’s side of the car and got in, throwing both bags in the back seat. When she looked at Jewell, she was sitting in the same position staring out the window at emptiness. Jewell hadn’t fastened her seatbelt so, sighing, Ashley reached over Jewell and grabbed the seatbelt. Jewell didn’t move. Ashley started the car, and they drove silently home. When Ashley pulled up to her apartment, Jewell didn’t ask why Ashley didn’t take her home. She just walked in, following Ashley into the living room.
Ashley went into the kitchen to grab two Cokes from the fridge. She opened Jewell’s and set it down on the table in front of her. “I’m sure he’ll be back. Something must have happened; he probably had a flat tire or something.” Ashley tried to sound cheerful.
“No, he won’t.” Suddenly Jewell sighed and reached for the Coke that Ashley h
ad brought her. Her stomach hurt, but the Coke tasted good. “No, he won’t be back. “
“Why don’t you call him?” Ashley handed Jewell her cell phone.
“Can’t.” The answer was short, pronounced as a resolute fact.
“Why?”
“I don’t know his number. I don’t even know where he lives. Well…lived. He’s not there anymore. He’s left.”
“You mean you dated this guy for like a month and you don’t know his phone number or where he lives?” Ashley was incredulous. Getting a guy’s phone number was always the first thing she did when she was dating someone.
“Never needed it. He was always there when I wanted him to be there. It’s like he always knew what I needed. I thought…” Her voice trailed off.
“You thought what?”
“It’s stupid. You know how you always tell me that you can’t change a guy, you need to accept him for who he is, and if you can’t, then he’s not the right guy for you?” Jewell’s voice was starting to show a little emotion.
“Yeah…” Ashley answered, unsure of where Jewell was going with this. She couldn’t imagine what needed to be changed about Collin. As far as she could tell, he was the perfect guy.
“Well, I guess I never told you this, but he never stays in one place. He lives someplace for a couple of years, and then he moves on. He used to tell me that his uncle didn’t approve of our relationship because he thought Collin was growing too attached…I guess Collin finally agreed with him and decided it was time to move on.”
“But without saying anything? Without at least talking to you? Oh, that is so rude!” Ashley was starting to see some faults with Collin.
When Tommy called, Ashley drove Jewell home. Jewell sat quietly, looking out the window. She didn’t say anything for the whole ten minutes they were in the car. When they arrived at the house Tommy walked down the path towards the car. Ashley rolled down the window as he approached.