by Alexa Davis
Olivia shot me a glare, one that reminded me a little of Justine actually. Maybe my daughter was rubbing off on her. I kept thinking that she seemed very quiet, but she did tell the therapist where to stick it. I did get a glimpse of that fire during the interview which intrigued me. I couldn’t hate her for it now.
“We got everything done. Trust me on that one. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“So, what was all the laughing about?” I demanded, not done with her yet. I wasn’t sure why, but I needed someone else to feel how I was and there wasn’t anyone else around. “Hmm? Why did that stop? Why did it suddenly come to a moment of silence when I walked in the room?”
I folded my arms across my chest and shot daggers at her, but Olivia didn’t even flinch. She simply gave me a look like that was something I should have expected. Her words about me being away on a business trip instead of at home rose and dragged the anger right out of me once more.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered while shaking my head. “Fucking, fucking hell.”
I couldn’t stand and be judged anymore. Even if I felt far too wired to sleep all of a sudden, I needed to be in my room where I could think things through properly. Olivia might think that she knew things, but she’d only scratched the surface. Before she could even think of telling me what to do, she needed to know it all. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her! I turned away and walked towards my own room, emulating my daughter’s actions. I even slammed the bedroom door hard behind me, making the walls shake. I didn’t quite mean to do that but I suppose it did make a point. Olivia needed to keep the fuck out of my business and just do her job.
Chapter Ten
Olivia
Monday
“Okay, you ready to go?” I smiled down at Justine. I hadn’t seen much of her smiling, but I missed it already. I’d somehow, with the help of Mrs. Stedman, I’d managed to cheer her up just a little bit, and now she was back to her usual sullen self. The only thing that had changed was Mark coming home. That wasn’t a coincidence.
I didn’t get how he couldn’t see the effect that his behavior was having on her. Every single damn time I tried to broach the subject of him cooling it with the work a little bit for the sake of his daughter, he got mad at me. I didn’t want to lose this job; I just wanted him to see what he was doing wrong. It was a nightmare.
“Yeah,” she murmured quietly. I noticed her eyes dart towards her father’s room. It broke my heart to see her so ignored. It was almost as if he didn’t care about her at all. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
As we rode down in the elevator I scanned my brain desperately for the words to make it okay again, but I couldn’t find them. Justine had well and truly gone back into her shell. She felt unreachable again, just as she was starting to become a little bit more open. Damn, it was a shame. It made me want to shake Mark.
“Good morning,” Lincoln announced with sheer happiness, just like he always did when he saw us. “I have to say, you two are the brightest sparks of my morning. How are you feeling today?”
“I’m good.” I wanted to speak first because I wasn’t sure that Justine would say anything. “And you?”
“Oh, I’m wonderful too.” He stared down at Justine making it obvious that he wanted her to speak.
“It’s okay.” She shrugged, unhappily, but at least she was talking. “Off to school. The usual.”
At that moment, the car pulled up, which meant I couldn’t say anything about school. I still had a funny feeling that it was a problem for Justine and I wanted to dig deeper, but I couldn’t find the right time to bring it up. I hoped that it would come up in therapy once we went, but I would just have to wait and see.
I said my goodbye to Justine, waving her off with very little response back, then I turned to give Lincoln a weak smile. This man saw everything that happened in this building; he had to have his opinions, but he never let them show. This was a man who was always professional. I could stand to learn a thing or two from him.
“Well, I suppose I shall see you later on, Lincoln; you have a good day.”
“Don’t forget, I am always here when you need something.” He tipped his hat at me. “That’s my job.”
I gave him another smile then stepped into the elevator, wondering if he could get me some sort of miracle cure to make all of this okay. Right now, I was at the bottom of the mountain, just trying to climb it.
Once inside the apartment, right by the elevator, I tripped over something left by it. Something that I didn’t notice before. A black briefcase that definitely belonged to Mark. One that I knew he wouldn’t go to work without. This confused me; I assumed that he’d gone to the office hours earlier since I was a little later waking up today.
“Hello?” I called out loudly while peering around the apartment cautiously. “Mark? Are you here?”
I didn’t get anything back but I felt like he had to be here. I hadn’t seen Mark go anywhere except for work so I couldn’t imagine he would be anywhere else on a Monday morning. He had to be here. I tiptoed carefully towards his bedroom door and I pressed my ear against it. This felt like the forbidden zone, there was a real sense that I was being naughty, but I needed to know. At first, I assumed I was going crazy because I didn’t hear anything, but then, just as I was about to give up, a moaning and groaning came from the other side. I yanked my ear back, trying to work out what I was listening to. It sounded like he was in a lot of pain.
“Mark?” I called out once more. “Are you in there? Do you… need anything?”
“Water,” he rasped back. Yep, he was definitely struggling with something.
In a panic, I raced into the kitchen, and I poured him an ice-cold glass. He was in a mood yesterday; at the time I thought that his bad temper was all to do with me, but now I was thinking that maybe he was just sick and I’d given him a hard time. Well, Justine gave him a hard time, I just didn’t help matters because he deserved it.
I pushed the door open to his room tentatively, my heart hammering in my chest as I did. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting inside, maybe some sort of clue as to what he was really like as a person… but what I got was nothing more than another minimalistic room that really didn’t need to be hidden from anyone.
Mark lay across his bed, tucked under the covers, but I could sheen a sheen of sweat across him, which wasn’t a good look. In fact, with the smatterings of intense red patches over his body, he didn’t look good at all.
“Here we are,” I whispered as I handed him the drink in case he had a headache. “Are you okay?”
He groaned loudly in response before taking a big swig of the drink. The color of his eyes had paled dramatically; he looked even rougher the closer I got. This fever had swept through him quickly and had claimed him.
“Do you need a doctor?” I asked him cautiously. “Can I get anyone to help you?”
Mark shook his head slowly, looking like the action pained him. “No doctor, just work.”
Work? He wanted to go to work? Or maybe he wanted me to contact his work to let them know that he was sick. I could recall a selection of phone numbers on the contract that he gave me. I still had my copy in my room.
“Okay, I’ll be right back. I’ll just go and sort it, okay?”
But I waited until he placed his glass on the side, lay himself back onto the pillow, and he slid his eyes closed again. Once he looked rested, I raced into my room with my heart pumping powerfully.
“Holden?” I muttered to myself as I saw the name listed as an emergency contact. “Okay, Holden it is.”
I paced the room as I dialed the number and I waited for it to ring through. This Holden, who I presumed was a business partner or something, was certainly taking his time to answer. I needed to speak to him now.
“Holden Smith,” he answered the phone in a professional tone of voice. “How can I help you?”
“Erm, hello.” I felt awkward as I talked. “My name is Olivia. I work for Mark.”
“Oh, right?” He didn’t sound too interested in what I had to say right now. “Is he stuck somewhere again?”
“Oh, no, nothing like that. He’s sick. Really sick. I think he might have the flu or something.”
Holden was silent for a couple of moments before answering. “Does he need anything? I can come over.” When he spoke this time, he sounded much more animated. “I know that he can be a stubborn bastard when it comes to seeing a doctor or anything, so do you want me to come and sort him out?”
“Erm…” I wasn’t sure this was the best idea. “You better not. He might be contagious. I’ll sort him out.”
I wasn’t convinced that I could, but I didn’t want Holden to doubt me. If I invited him here and Mark didn’t want to have him here, I would end up being blamed. I needed to keep him away and see what I could do.
“Right, okay, well, I’ll have my cell phone on me all day, so if you need me, I’m here.”
That made me feel better. At least I had options. “Thank you very much, Mr. Smith.”
“Please, Olivia, call me Holden. I shall speak to you later on. Goodbye.”
Well, he’d turned out to be quite nice in the end, surprisingly. “Bye, Holden.”
As I hung up the phone with Holden, I also fired off a quick text to Rosa. Much as I would’ve preferred to have her with me, I didn’t want anyone else to be contaminated with what this was. It was already too late for me. There was no point in Rosa getting sick too; she had children to take care of. It would only spread.
Once I’d done that, I grabbed a washcloth from my bathroom, and I covered it in cold water. I took it into the bedroom where Mark was still writhing and groaning in agony. As I put it on his forehead to cool him down, I knew that if I wasn’t going to be able to get him to see a doctor, then I at least needed to get him some pills.
“Where is all your medicine?” I asked him. “I need to get something to sort you out.”
“Bathroom,” he grunted without even bothering to look at me. It was almost as if the light was too bright for him and sounds too loud. I made a concerted effort not to be too noisy as I walked off.
I made my way into his bathroom and looked through the cabinets, but there wasn’t anything of any use. He really wasn’t well equipped to get sick at all. Maybe it was something that didn’t happen very often, which was why his business partner seemed to freak out about the idea. I needed something more, but I really didn’t want to go out. This certainly didn’t feel like something I could contact Holden about… so, who could I?
All of sudden, in a flash of inspiration, I thought of Lincoln. He was always offering his help and I knew that he meant it as well; he didn’t seem like the sort of person to just say something that he didn’t mean. With a surge of determination, I grabbed the phone on the hallway wall and I called down to ask him for help. I rattled off a list of things that I thought Mark might need and Lincoln was more than happy to help. I wasn’t sure how he would achieve it, but that part was okay. It was in somebody else’s hands now. For now, all I could do was watch over Mark to check that things didn’t get worse. I would respect his wishes to not get a doctor involved for the moment, but if he showed any signs of going downhill, I wouldn’t have a choice. I couldn’t let him get too sick because he was stubborn. That wouldn’t help anyone.
I moved into his room and sat at the end of his bed staring down at him. Usually he looked so tall and strong, but today he looked weak. He needed taking care of. I wondered if this illness was a sign that he was pushing himself too hard. He needed to take a break. All this being a workaholic was well and good until you ended up sick. This was his body’s way of telling him to calm down. I just hoped that he listened to it and he took a step back, hopefully noticing Justine at the same time. She needed that.
Either way, it seemed like I had a long ass day ahead of me, one where I would have to be a nurse!
Chapter Eleven
Mark
I was irritable, no doubt about it. Every inch of me felt pissed off. I hated being sick anyway; that was guaranteed to put me in a bad mood because of all the stuff that I would miss at work, but this time it was so much worse. Something about Olivia and the super pushy way that she wanted to help me wound me up. It was almost as if she didn’t think that I was a grown-ass man, capable of looking after myself.
“Here, I have water for you,” she almost snapped as she brought me my fifth glass. “You better drink it now.”
I sat up from the bed that she’d made me on the couch when I refused to be in my room any longer, shooting her a glare that she made the annoying choice to ignore, and she tilted the glass into my mouth. “I can drink it myself,” I gurgled as she pulled the glass away, deciding I’d had enough. “I’m not a freaking baby.”
“Are you watching this?” She turned towards the television set and pointed towards the old Western that I had only half been paying attention to. “Because if not, can I turn it off? The gunshots are annoying.”
I gritted my teeth, trying my hardest not to take the bait. I was the sick one here, and this was my God damn house. Surely, it was up to me whatever I wanted to watch? “Do whatever,” I growled, “I don’t care.”
She grabbed onto the remote control and flicked through the channels rapidly, causing odd colored lights to flicker through the room in a headache-inducing manner. I gripped onto the pillow to stop myself from screaming.
Justine swanned in from her bedroom and gave me a withering glare. It chilled me to the bone. I still couldn’t understand why she only wanted to target me with her hate these days, but I was too weak and emotionally fragile to do anything about it. Right now, it took everything that I had not to lie down and give up.
I wasn’t the best sick person; it turned me into a freaking weakling. That was why I hated it so much.
“Hi, Olivia,” Justine says happily, changing her attitude completely. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t recall the last time that she’d asked anyone that. Even during her one moment of vulnerability at my mother’s funeral, she wasn’t this thoughtful. What the hell had happened while I was away? It was good. I wanted to see my daughter happy, I just couldn’t figure it out for the life of me.
“Yes, I’m good. How are you?” Olivia genuinely seemed to care as she asked this. “How was school?”
“Oh, you know.” Justine shrugged and shut down a little. “School is school.”
While they talked to one another and completely ignored me, I decided to make a stand. If they wanted to be pointed with their behavior, well then, I could do the same. I had this idea in my head that I would stand up, give them both a look, then storm from the room. Yes, I was weak and it would be more of a wobble than a storm out, but I hoped it would prove a point. I wasn’t sure what the message was, but I had to give it a go.
Only, when I pushed myself into a standing position, an intense wave of fatigue claimed me. It seemed to come from nowhere and it knocked me down. I didn’t so much make a stand as I gave myself a powerful dizzying head rush which made my knees buckle. No sooner than I’d risen, I could see the ground coming for me once more. I was tumbling at the speed of light and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about it. I’d lost control.
“Dad!” Justine shrieked, sounding terrified. Well, I’d succeeded in getting her attention. “Oh no!”
I tried to brace myself before I hit the ground, but I didn’t have any power over my body to do so. I knew that I was about to hit the ground hard and have a lot of pain, and all I could do was wait. But… it didn’t happen. Instead, a soft pair of arms circled me and I found myself being embraced. By Olivia nonetheless.
“Nurgh,” I gurgled while trying to make a sound of some kind. “Urgnh.”
“Shh, shh, sit back down,” Olive replied in a calm and soothing tone. “Don’t push yourself too hard.”
I hated doing what I was told, it sucked when I felt so defiant inside, but I couldn’t do anything but obey. This fucking sickness was
trying its hardest to crush my spirit before it killed me dead.
“Justine,” I said wearily, deciding to take a different tactic. “Why don’t you come and sit with me?”
I didn’t even look up to see the unimpressed look on my daughter’s face; I didn’t have to, I knew it would be there. Instead, I waited until the couch sagged beside me. I sucked in a deep breath, trying to think of anything to say to start up some form of conversation, but all I succeeded in doing was creating another coughing fit.
“I’ll go and get you something,” Olivia murmured. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
I wasn’t sure if she was being tactful or not, but I appreciated her going. Her presence in the room wasn’t helping me to speak to Justine, and it was embarrassing how much she clearly didn’t want to.
“So, Justine,” I said as casually as I could manage. “What’s going on with school? You never talk about it.”
She clammed up; I could see her shoulders rising up to her ears. “It’s fine. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But why not?” I was like a dog with a bone. Now that I knew there was something there, I couldn’t let it go. My nose wouldn’t stop sniffing the dirt, searching for what I wanted. “Is there something wrong?”
“No.” She looked glum though, and her head hung low. I could see that she wouldn’t tell me, even if there was. I wasn’t her person when it came to issues, which made sense. “Nothing wrong.”
Well, I tried. I had paid for her to have therapy anyway, where she could talk things through. If she had any issues, a medical professional would be so much better at dealing with it than me. What could I do?
“Okay, whatever,” I muttered, just as another coughing fit exploded like a volcano erupting.
“Here we are.” Soon, Olivia handed me a bowl of something warm. It smelled like chicken soup. “That should help you a bit. Justine, would you like some soup yourself? I can do you chicken as well?”
“Yeah, sure.” Justine paused for a moment. “Would it be okay for me to eat it here?”