Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:52 pm
Here's the next update right on time. 
Sternbetrachter- I’m sorry about the cliffhangers, but you know I just have to. I do it with love.
KarenEvans- Wow, I’m happy you don’t think Tess is that horrible.
ShadowLight- “But Tess will work.” I love it!
RhondaAnn- Hmmm…Secret evidence? That’s pretty smart but I’m not sure Tess would have thought things through like that. We’ll see. As always, thanks for all you have to say, RhondaAnn.
teuathisy- Aw, I’m sad you think that Thomas is a brat, but you do make a valid point.
anais- Nicholas does seem like a better candidate, but maybe the boys have something else in mind for Nicky. And no, Liz does not know about Max’s mother.
Icequeen- Oh goodness. I absolutely love that you love fencing Max. And I love that you love threatening Max too.
Stargazer’s Delight- I’m so thrilled you took a chance on my story. I really love Jim when he became the gang’s ally on the show, but I was intrigued by the rough Sheriff we were originally introduced to in the beginning of the first season. So I kinda flipped things a bit. I think you may be the only one who likes the bad Alex. That’s ok though, a bad Alex is very appealing.
candycane14- It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you’ve read, as long as you come back and continue reading. I’m happy you’re back. Those are some very interesting thoughts you have there.
Let’s see how the story develops.
Thank you all as always.
Accompanying music HERE. (Don't forget to push play.)
<center>Chapter 35- Grief
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
–C.S. Louis</center>
Michael quickly heaved all the baggage into the storage compartment located under the plane. Meanwhile, Kass stood at the hatch, leaning out and offering a hand to Isabel as she climbed the few steps into the private jet.
“Sorry for the delay, Isabel,” the pilot apologized.
The tall blonde ducked before entering the plane and smirked appreciatively toward Kass. “That’s all right,” she said.
Max followed up the stairs without assistance. “Go ahead and get things ready for take off,” he ordered. “We need to leave as soon as possible, Kass.”
The young pilot nodded and went straight to the cockpit where his co-pilot was looking over charts and readings. Michael then entered the plane, locking the hatch behind him. He took a seat next to Max and buckled his seatbelt.
Max, Michael and Isabel left the safe house quickly after the phone call. The two boys didn’t even settle the poker game. Michael was willing to hand over the dough but Max left the table without saying a word. He just gathered up everyone’s things and tossed them into the car. He sat at the wheel, patiently waiting for Michael and Isabel. Max obviously wasn’t in the mood to speak. So no one spoke until now.
Michael leaned toward his best friend, briefly looking at Isabel sitting behind them. “Max, you need to talk to us.”
But Max just stared through the window beside him. Soon, they were speeding down the runway and eventually lifting off the ground. Max wasn’t fazed by the rockiness synonymous with a plane taking off. There was nothing inside of him at the moment. His soul had taken a vacation, but it was more like a sabbatical.
Michael couldn’t understand his best friend’s sudden vow of silence. Max would shut off once in a while and that was nothing new to Michael, but this time, it was different, and Isabel was no better, except she was showing a little emotion. Ok, a lot of emotion. Worry and fear were slapped across her forehead as she began whimpering silently to herself. She tried to keep her posture and she tried to remain calm but she just wasn’t very successful. It was tearing Michael up. He couldn’t stand to watch any longer. He wished that there was something he could do to ease her pain but the only thing that would do would be answers, and he didn’t have any and he couldn’t get any. Max had all the answers, but he wasn’t saying a word.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Max finally looked away from the window and at his best friend. Michael sat still with great posture, staring straight ahead as if he had said nothing at all, and as if he didn’t even need an answer, because he didn’t, Michael knew all along that whatever it was was bad.
<center>*~*</center>
Valenti casually jogged down the stairs and strolled through his restaurant while his oldest son followed closely behind him. Alex watched his father move with determination as he followed him not knowing where they were heading. Soon enough, the two men were outside, huddling under a large umbrella held by Sebastian, the driver. The rain came pounding down. Alex didn’t even know it was supposed to rain. They soon entered into the limousine and apparently the driver knew where to go because he started driving without orders. Finally, Alex got the courage to ask some questions.
“Where are we going?” he wondered.
Valenti poured two glasses of scotch and handed one to Alex. “We’re going to your sister’s. I’d advise you to drink up.”
Considering his options, Alex grabbed the glass and downed it all in a single gulp. “Thanks,” he replied.
Alex let the drink take affect and stared at the empty glass in his hand. Things had changed in an instant. The day started off with Alex and Valenti working as colleagues and now, Alex just didn’t want to be anymore. He didn’t want to deal with Basil Deo and have to work with his father. You know damn well that that’s the last thing Alex wanted to do. Except, now he had this obligation to his father, and he did, after all, need to uncover the enigma that was Basil Deo.
“Mind topping me off?” Alex wondered.
Yeah, I’d say the same thing too.
Valenti grabbed the decanter of scotch and refilled his son’s drink. “What do you have to say about your sister?”
Alex’s eyebrows frowned. “What do you mean? She didn’t do anything wrong.” Alex despised the fact that that’s how Valenti was making that seem.
“Alex, she married Max Evans,” his father scoffed.
After downing another glass, Alex shook his head. “I’m not going to get into it with you, and honestly, you shouldn’t get into it at all.” It might have been the alcohol, but Alex was feeling liberated. “Sebastian,” he called. “Sorry for the trouble, but drive us back to the mansion.”
“Sebastian,” Valenti urged. “Disregard that and continue to Liz’s.”
With great irritation, Alex shook his head. “Fine, then drop me off here.”
“And what? Take a cab home?”
Alex scoffed. “Why? Is taking a cab below me, the favored Valenti child?”
Valenti clenched his jaw shut, nearly pursing his lips in anger. “Alex, you’re pissing me off. We’re almost there.”
As he rolled his eyes, Alex extended his index finger and stuck his hand into his glass, trying to get the last bit of scotch out. When he believed he got as much as possible, he withdrew his hand and took his finger into his mouth and playfully popped it out. He’d ask for a refill, but that would mean speaking to his father. He would reach over and just grab the decanter himself, but that would mean reaching over his father. So Alex stuck his finger back into his nearly empty glass.
The limousine came to a stop next to an old and rusting red brick building. Alex couldn’t count how many times he had been to his sister’s loft because he just didn’t go there that often. I think it may only have been once. Maybe twice.
Alex opened the door before Sebastian could and quickly stepped out of the way so that his father could depart the vehicle. Sebastian selflessly held out the umbrella for Valenti and son, exposing himself to the rain and letting the water soak him.
“We’ll only be a moment or two,” Valenti told the driver and Sebastian walked to the driver’s side and got back inside the car. Valenti looked up at the building and sighed heavily. “Well…” he said to his son. “Let’s go.”
Alex shoved his hands into his pockets and carelessly strolled over to the building entrance. He stood aside as his father rang his sister’s apartment and waited for a reply.
“Hello?” Liz skeptically answered.
I’d answer the same way, Alex thought to himself.
“Liz, it’s Dad,” Valenti said into the intercom.
There was a moment of hesitation until the buzz sounded and the front door became unlocked. They don’t want us here, Alex continued speaking to himself, but the two men were climbing up the many steps that led to Liz’s loft. It was a difficult feat, but Valenti walked up the nearly dozen sets of staircases with ease while Alex was cursing each step.
When they reached Liz’s floor, Liz was standing in the doorway, having been patiently waiting for her brother and father. “What do you guys want?” she wondered.
Alex nervously stood behind their father and peered into the apartment where he could see Maria and Natalie standing not too far behind their sister. He wanted to offer a smile and wave, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull his hand out of his pocket. He felt like his sisters were sending him death stares.
“I need to have a word with you,” Valenti said.
“So say it,” Liz insisted.
Valenti cleared his throat. “Can we come in?”
Alex tensely lifted up his shoulders wondering if they would serve as some sort of shield. Liz nodded and stopped blocking the doorway so that her father and brother may enter. They walked past her and apprehensively stood to the side, waiting for Liz to close the door and show them inside.
Liz slid the heavy door shut and walked into the apartment, showing her father and brother to a couch where they could sit. Meanwhile, Maria and Natalie sat across the room from them. Natalie offered a welcoming smile but quickly made it disappear while Maria just watched every move their father and brother made.
“So what did we do to deserve this rare appearance?” Liz smugly asked.
Valenti was pursing his lips again. “Don’t be like this, Liz. I just want to talk to you.”
Maria jutted her chin in Alex’s direction. “And what are you doing here?”
“Uh…” Alex nervously sounded. “I was just along for the ride and that ride took me here.”
“And why was that ride headed here in the first place?” Liz wondered.
Valenti looked to Liz’s left hand, saw the rings and pointed. “Because of that,” he said simply.
Liz looked down and repositioned her hand to clearly show off her engagement and wedding rings. “So now you know,” she said.
“I do,” Valenti nodded. “And your brothers and I don’t appreciate not knowing about it.”
“If you were more accepting of my relationship with Max, then maybe I would have considered inviting you. It’s a stupid restaurant rivalry!” Liz laughed, because essentially, that’s all it was. That was the only reason Valenti despised Max.
“You’re right,” Valenti nodded. “That’s how it started out, but over the years, things stupidly escalated and right now, with Max’s friend dead, things are messy.”
Liz stared at her father. “Was it you?” she wondered.
Valenti looked back at his daughter with the most bewildered look on his face. “Was it me who killed Larek?” he said, spelling out his daughter’s subtext. “No. It wasn’t.” Valenti exhaled sharply.
And Liz shook her head in confusion. “Why did you come here?”
Honestly, Valenti didn’t know. “I guess I just wanted to see for myself.”
“See what?”
“See how happy you were,” Valenti sighed. “And I see that you are.”
Maria cleared her throat. “We all are,” she announced.
Valenti started bobbing his head in understanding.
“Maybe you guys should leave,” Liz suggested.
Valenti started to stand, but Alex remained seated, shaking his head.
“Don’t treat us like this,” he told his younger sister. “Why can’t you just get over yourself?”
“What?” Liz asked, taken aback.
Alex took a deep breath. “You can’t keep treating us like dirt, like we’re not your family.”
“You lied to us,” Maria stepped in. “Both of you lied to us.”
“That is such a bullshit excuse,” Alex laughed. “All of you came to me, even you, Liz, to get Dad out of prison.”
“Don’t blame—”
“No,” Alex said firmly, interrupting Maria. “You can’t keep saying that! It doesn’t apply anymore. ‘Don’t blame us’?” he mocked. “Well, I’m not!” Alex paused for a deep breath. “I’m not blaming you,” he sternly went on. “There’s no one to blame! So stop playing the victim and just own up to the fact that you asked me to get Dad out, because you guys did. I’m not saying that you guys were the one who made the deal, because I did that. I put my ass on the line and it’s still on the line.” Alex took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “I was the one who was always there for you guys, who would always follow through for you. And I’m getting all this shit? I don’t deserve that! I don’t need it.”
All of Alex’s sisters were a shocked by their big brother’s rant.
“I did what you guys told me to do,” he went on more calmly. “Honestly, this was the only way to go. I can’t see why you guys are mad. It hurts and it pisses me off. I don’t feel like your brother anymore.”
Liz, Maria and Natalie were slapped with the cruel reality. They were bitches. The whole family was so screwed up that the only knew how to hate each other. In addition to that, they were spiteful people. They wanted to punish their father for mistakes made in the past and the only way to do that was to be angry at him. That’s all they knew how to do and feel.
Alex exhaled sharply and got to his feet. “If that’s how you guys want it to be, then fine.” He shook his head and held up his hands in surrender. “I just want it to be known that I did my part. I did my part to fix this family by getting Dad out. It may have fucked us up even more but at least I did something. That’s more than you can say, Liz.” He looked down at her in disappointment. “I never thought that you would ever turn against me.”
“Alex…” Liz pleaded.
“No,” he shook his head. “I don’t want to talk to any of you right now.” Alex started for the doorway. “Congratulations, by the way. I’m happy for you, Liz.”
All three of the girls hung their heads low and stared at the ground in disappointment. Meanwhile, Valenti had spent this whole time, silently standing to the side. He took a deep breath.
“And I thought I was going to be the one to do some yelling,” he said. “I thought that I was going to blow up over this marriage, but that would have achieved nothing. If you love Max, there’s nothing I can do.” He gave one shake of the head and started to leave, but he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Liz, just please consider this, coming from a father worried about his daughter: With how things are right now, with this death, can you stay away from him until things are ok?”
Valenti had no idea that all the girls were connected with Evans boys. So they looked to each other and actually contemplated it as their father left, closing the door behind him.
“We’ve dished it all out before,” Maria said. “This is how it feels to take it.”
Natalie bobbed her head. “It sucks.”
“I guess Dad isn’t the only one who needs to change,” Liz sighed. She was shaking her head to herself, stunned by the magnitude of the mess their family was in. “How do we fix this?” she wondered.
“I don’t know,” Natalie said, shaking her head. “I stuck by Dad’s side, but truth is, I was angry at him like you guys were. We need to fix this before we regret it for the rest of our lives.”
But Liz was uncertain. Like I said, the only way she knew how to feel toward their father was hate—Ok, so “hate” is a strong word—angry. That was the only way Liz knew how to feel when it came to Dad. “I can say sorry to Alex and mean it,” she told her sisters, “but I don’t know about Dad. I don’t know with him.”
“Should we call a therapist?” Maria wondered with an innocent smile.
Natalie gave a sad little chuckle but then turned to her oldest sister. “Liz, do you think Dad knows Max isn’t exactly a law abiding citizen?”
Valenti’s last warning did raise a flag about it, but he would have just said to stay away because Max was Basil Deo, but Valenti didn’t.
“Maybe he has an idea,” Liz guessed.
“Do you think we should listen to him?” Maria asked. “Do we stay away?”
<center>*~*</center>
“It’ll be a bit of a bumpy landing,” Kass said loud enough for them to hear.
But if Kass looked behind him, he’d see that the only person who might have heard him was Max. Michael and Isabel were fast asleep and the reason I say that Max might have heard was because he was staring out his window with a catatonic stare and so it was almost certain that he wasn’t paying much attention to anything aside from what was on the other side of the window. He watched the rain smack the window and every so often, he glanced at the wing, watching the red light on the end blink every two seconds.
The plane hit some turbulence as it made its decent. It shook and things rattled. Michael stirred and eventually, woke up. He began rubbing his eyes as he looked around the cabin. He looked over his shoulder expecting to see Isabel crying maybe, but she was knocked out. Her eyes were already pink and swollen. Beside him, Michael noticed the same image he saw before falling asleep. He rolled his eyes, growled and kicked out his feet and raised his hands above his head to stretch.
“Are we almost there yet, Kass?” he wondered.
Not bothering to look over his shoulder, Kass nodded. “We’re making our decent right now. Sorry for the turbulence.”
Michael tilted his neck, causing a few cracks. He looked to his side and didn’t receive any sort of response from Max. Michael looked over his shoulder and then unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way to the back. He lifted Isabel up and let her use himself as a pillow. He buckled himself in and then started to ease her awake by gently rubbing her arm.
“Iz…” he soothingly said. “Isabel? Wake up…”
She gave a little moan after stirring a bit. Then in an instant, she woke and quickly sat up. “Where’s Thomas?” she demanded to know.
Michael glared angrily in Max’s direction, but then looked at Isabel comfortingly. “I don’t know,” he told her, “but we’ll find out soon. We’re almost home.”
Isabel sniffled and started to tear. “Michael, I’m scared.”
“I know,” Michael nodded. “I am too.”
He eased her toward himself and let her rest her head on his shoulder. Thunder was louder in the air and the lightning was brighter. As the cabin shook, Michael closed his eyes tight and took deep breaths. He felt Isabel squeeze him tighter. He opened his eyes and glanced over at Max who was still staring out his window as calm as could be.
“All right,” Kass started, “I hope you guys are buckled in tight.”
The plane’s nose dove a little steeper. Michael could see out the window that they were reaching the ground quickly. The plane lined up with the runway and pulled up, letting the back wheels touch down first and then the front wheels. Michael and Isabel braced each other for the landing and they loosened their grip on each other as the jet began to coast down the tarmac.
The jet was as close to the private terminal as possible. Michael unbuckled his belt and reached the hatch, opening it up and letting the stairs down, but he nearly jumped out of the plane and waited for Isabel to head down the steps. Nicholai came running up behind Michael with an umbrella already open.
“When was the last time you saw rain like this, huh?” the driver wondered.
Michael smiled appreciatively and took the umbrella from the man’s hands. “Grab the bags, will ya? I’ll take Isabel to the car.”
Nicholai nodded and headed for the storage compartment while Michael held out his hand for Isabel to come down the steps.
“Be careful,” he warned, noticing the high heels she wore.
Isabel walked down the steps, crouching under the umbrella, trying her best to keep dry. Once she touched onto the ground, Michael handed her the umbrella and told her to go ahead to the car. So Isabel followed orders and scurried over to the limousine.
Michael looked up at the hatch, patiently waiting for Max to climb out. It took him a moment, but eventually, Max did. Nicholai was already running back to the limo with all the bags in his hands, under his arms and on his shoulders.
“Max, come on!” Michael shouted.
Carefully, Max jogged down the stairs and hurried toward the car with Michael by his side.
“Max, you gotta talk to me now!” Michael shouted over the rain and thunder. “Where is he? Where is Thomas?”
Their clothes weighed them down with water and with every step they took they were squishing water in their shoes. It was then that Max decided to break his silence.
“At the hospital!” he shouted at the same volume as Michael. “Will was in a car accident!”
Michael froze and pulled on Max’s arm to stop him as well. “What did you say?”
Max leaned in toward his best friend, looking him straight in the eyes. “Will is in the hospital!”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
Max looked down for a moment and stared down at a puddle as rain fell into it. There were no ripples as drop after drop disrupted the ripple effect. As he stared down, the rain dropped onto the back of his head heavily. He could hear the drops hit his shoulders. His clothes were soaked through and though. It was about fifty degrees out. It was almost midnight. It was cold. It was freezing, but Max felt none of that.
“I don’t know!” Max shouted. “I didn’t want to scare Isabel!”
Michael laughed. “A little too late for that! She’s scared out of her mind! She’s thought about every worst-case scenario twice! So really, why didn’t you say anything?!”
“Because I didn’t want to believe it!” Max finally admitted. He marched away and eventually jogged to the car. He climbed inside and received a scolding from his big sister.
“What the hell took you so long?” she demanded to know. “You’re going to get pneumonia! Where’s Thomas? Is he hurt?”
The limo started to speed off as Michael reached for the bar and pour himself and Max a glass of brandy. “This’ll warm us up,” he said, handing Max a glass. “Isabel?” he asked.
A dry and content, for now, Isabel shook her head. “No. Thank you.” She turned back to her brother. “Max, tell me what’s going on? Where are we going and what’s happened to Thomas?”
Max shivered. His teeth chattered against the glass when he brought it up to mouth. “T—To the hospital.”
Isabel brought her hand up to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. “Oh my God…” she whispered. “What happened?”
Max couldn’t look in his sister’s eyes. Instead, he remained huddled around his glass of brandy and glanced out of the corner of his eyes. “He was in a car accident,” he mumbled.
But Isabel heard him loud and clear. “Oh my God…” she repeated.
This time, the tears came on stronger and Max wasn’t cold anymore. He set his glass down and wrapped his arms around his sister. He wanted so much to tell her that it was going to be ok but it wasn’t.
<center>*~*</center>
Liz glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantel and then the one on the microwave and finally the one around her wrist. They all said the same thing. It was five ‘til midnight and they hadn’t heard from Max or Thomas. Liz looked down at her lap where Natalie rested her head. Listening to Natalie’s breathing and watching the rise and fall of her sister’s chest, Liz knew that her sister was asleep but Liz could hear and feel Natalie wince and grimace. Hoping to calm her sleeping sister, Liz lightly ran her hand through her sister’s hair. Liz loved it when their mother did that to her. It always made her sleep easier.
“Here you go,” Maria whispered. She held a cup of coffee in front of Liz’s face and sipped on her own.
“Thanks,” Liz whispered back. She carefully took a drink and went back to comforting her baby sister.
Maria took a seat at the other end of the couch, lifting Natalie’s legs and then letting them rest across her lap. “She’s beat,” Maria observed.
“You don’t think anything’s happened do you?” Liz wondered. “We haven’t heard from them in a long time.”’
Maria realized that long time had passed since the last phone conversation. “Let’s just hope nothing’s happened,” she sighed. She warmed herself up with another sip of coffee. “Have you been thinking about what Dad said?”
Liz copied her sister’s actions by taking a sip from her cup as well. “I want to say that he has no idea what he’s talking about, but Jesus Christ, you know he does. So I don’t know. I hate that I’m away from Max now. Who knows how long whatever this is will last? I mean, can you stand being away from Michael for that long?”
“No,” Maria quickly answered. She tightened her grip around her mug. “Michael and I haven’t even started yet but I’m so anxious to see where things go with him.”
“So what do we do?” Liz sighed. “Do we stick by our men or by our family?”
Maria watched in confusion as Liz hurried to carefully put her cup on the coffee table. When Liz started reaching for her phone, Maria’s confusion disappeared. She, too, put her coffee down and then anxiously watched her sister answer the call.
“Hello? Max?” Liz whispered, glancing down at Natalie for a moment.
“Um, no, it’s Michael,” said the voice on the other end.
Liz looked at Maria for a moment. “Michael?” she said curiously. “Why are you on Max’s phone?”
Michael looked down at the other end of the limo, witnessing Max try to comfort a nearly hysterical Isabel. Michael nervously cleared his throat. “He’s unavailable at the moment,” he said, “but he wanted to let you know that we got here safely.”
“You got ‘here’?” Liz questioned. “Where’s here?”
“We’re back in L.A. Something’s happened and we had to come back.”
Liz brought a worried hand up to her mouth. “It’s not Thomas, is it?”
Natalie quickly woke up and looked up at her sister.
“He was in a car accident. He’s at Cedars-Sinai. We’ll see you there.”
And then Liz was left staring at her phone in disbelief while her sisters were eagerly waiting for news. Slowly, Liz closed her phone and put it away.
“What?” Natalie questioned. “What is it?”
“We need to go to the hospital right now.”
<center>*~*</center>
The limousine pulled up into the hospital’s emergency room entrance where Nicholai raced to the end of the vehicle to open the door. Max climbed out first and then helped his sister. As they walked toward the hospital, he wrapped one arm around her waist and assisted her all the way inside. Michael followed close behind them after giving orders for Nic to go home.
It was late at night but there quite a few people in the ER. A man sat in the waiting room with a bag of ice on his eye while a woman held a bunch of gauze firmly onto her son’s leg as the little boy cried. There were other patients as well, but they didn’t look too bad, probably nothing more than allergies or a cold.
Max, Isabel and Michael walked on through the shining white emergency room and headed for a large desk under a sign that said “Nurses’ Station.” The man behind the desk was startled by the sudden appearance of the three people before him. They were rather well dressed people but haggard beyond belief. The two men standing on either side of the woman were terribly soaked while the woman looked as though something terrible had happened and the man behind the desk realized that maybe something terrible did happen.
“Hi,” the man offered with a gentle smile. “What can I do for you?”
Max cleared his throat. “I got a call…My brother was in a car accident. His name is William Thomas Evans.”
The smile on the man’s face disappeared, replaced with a sympathetic frown. “Ah, yes,” he said softly. “Just go down this little hallway. It’s the last door. Trauma Three.”
“Thank you,” Max said with a nod. He grabbed hold of his sister once more and walked with her toward a hallway the man pointed to.
You can never brace yourself for what these three were about to see.
Slowly they walked. Eventually, Isabel didn’t need to lean into her brother to walk. Instead, she grabbed his hand and then Michael’s and headed toward Trauma Three with both men right by her side. They passed Trauma One where a man held a tube to his mouth to help him breath while his family sat beside him. Nothing was in Trauma Two, just a gurney waiting to be used. Obviously, next was Trauma Three. Isabel stopped as Max and Michael looked back at her and watched as she took a deep breath. Max gave his sister’s hand a squeeze and a wiggle after turning his head to hide his tears.
Max, Isabel and Michael approached the last set of double doors and through its windows they saw their brother lying frightfully still on the gurney. Isabel turned away and buried herself into Max’s chest, crying hysterically once again. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on her head as he stared into the room. Meanwhile, Michael leaned his arm across the door frame and slammed his head against his forearm.
“Mr. Evans?”
All three of them looked to the doctor that approached them. Michael quickly wiped his eyes and watched Isabel do the same. Max, who still held onto his tears, held out his hand for the doctor.
“Max,” he corrected. “This is my sister Isabel and my brother Michael.”
The woman smiled appreciatively and shook Max’s hand. “Max, I’m Dr. Price. I was the attending physician on your brother’s case.”
“Why aren’t you guys doing anything to help him?” Isabel demanded to know.
Dr. Price nervously fidgeted with her metallic clipboard. “Ms. Evans—”
“It’s Isabel.”
The middle-age woman nodded. “Isabel…Your brother was brought in by EMTs around 7pm. He was in a car crash that left him with a broken jaw, both legs broken, a spinal injury and collapsed lungs.”
Isabel struggled extremely hard to keep herself from crying while Michael turned back to the wall and hid his face in his arm, and Max? He found himself having trouble breathing. His jaw fell open and he breathed heavily through his mouth all while the tears began to blur his vision.
“There has to be something you can do!” Isabel cried. She was on the verge of getting on her hands and knees and begging.
Before that could happen, Dr. Price, with her own eyes welling with tears, sadly lowered her head. “William died tonight; about four hours ago.”
“NOOOOO!” Isabel wailed.
She collapsed into Max’s arms so suddenly that he didn’t react soon enough to catch her. Isabel fell to the floor and hugged Max’s legs, sobbing into his pants. Michael slammed a fist into the wall and then slid to the floor, crying with his knees pulled up to his chest and his face still hidden. And Max. Max clasped his hands and let his palms rest atop his head an action done after a strenuous run or when one tries to catch his breath. Max stared into the trauma room where his dead brother lay and fought his tears.
Liz would never forget the sight. She, Maria and Natalie just arrived to the hospital. She quickly asked Jerry where Thomas was and when they reached the beginning of the hallway, they saw. They saw Michael and Isabel on the floor weeping and they saw Max stand unsteady, ready to fall and break down.
“No!” Natalie shouted. Thomas was ok. They weren’t supposed to be crying, but Natalie was wrong. It didn’t take her long to realize that. “No…” she began to cry softly.
Maria and Liz brought their attention to Natalie and both of them wrapped their arms around their sister as she began to weep and sob at the same volume as their family down the hall. Maria soon began to cry with her sister. She tried to be strong. She rested her forehead on Natalie’s.
“It’s ok,” Maria offered. “Go ahead and cry.”
“Noooo…” Natalie bawled.
Liz closed her eyes as she also rested her forehead on Natalie’s. Her tears came quietly but they came quickly. She turned back to Max and took deep breaths in and out through her mouth as she watched her husband.
Max still stood with his hands atop his head and he continued looking into the trauma room as he struggled with all his might to fight his tears. He took a deep breath and held on tight. Not able to keep the air in any longer, Max blew it out sharply. Then he took another breath, held onto it tight, and soon he quickly released it. He continued the process in order to keep from crying. But slowly, his hands slid to the back of his head and then continued down to his neck and simultaneously with the descent of his hands, Max’s tears fell. He cried as he pointed his face to the heavens. Max broke down and cried.
Sternbetrachter- I’m sorry about the cliffhangers, but you know I just have to. I do it with love.
KarenEvans- Wow, I’m happy you don’t think Tess is that horrible.
ShadowLight- “But Tess will work.”
I love it!RhondaAnn- Hmmm…Secret evidence? That’s pretty smart but I’m not sure Tess would have thought things through like that. We’ll see. As always, thanks for all you have to say, RhondaAnn.
teuathisy- Aw, I’m sad you think that Thomas is a brat, but you do make a valid point.
anais- Nicholas does seem like a better candidate, but maybe the boys have something else in mind for Nicky. And no, Liz does not know about Max’s mother.
Icequeen- Oh goodness. I absolutely love that you love fencing Max.
And I love that you love threatening Max too. Stargazer’s Delight- I’m so thrilled you took a chance on my story.
I really love Jim when he became the gang’s ally on the show, but I was intrigued by the rough Sheriff we were originally introduced to in the beginning of the first season. So I kinda flipped things a bit. I think you may be the only one who likes the bad Alex. That’s ok though, a bad Alex is very appealing.candycane14- It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you’ve read, as long as you come back and continue reading.
I’m happy you’re back. Those are some very interesting thoughts you have there.Let’s see how the story develops.
Thank you all as always.
Accompanying music HERE. (Don't forget to push play.)
<center>Chapter 35- Grief
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
–C.S. Louis</center>
Michael quickly heaved all the baggage into the storage compartment located under the plane. Meanwhile, Kass stood at the hatch, leaning out and offering a hand to Isabel as she climbed the few steps into the private jet.
“Sorry for the delay, Isabel,” the pilot apologized.
The tall blonde ducked before entering the plane and smirked appreciatively toward Kass. “That’s all right,” she said.
Max followed up the stairs without assistance. “Go ahead and get things ready for take off,” he ordered. “We need to leave as soon as possible, Kass.”
The young pilot nodded and went straight to the cockpit where his co-pilot was looking over charts and readings. Michael then entered the plane, locking the hatch behind him. He took a seat next to Max and buckled his seatbelt.
Max, Michael and Isabel left the safe house quickly after the phone call. The two boys didn’t even settle the poker game. Michael was willing to hand over the dough but Max left the table without saying a word. He just gathered up everyone’s things and tossed them into the car. He sat at the wheel, patiently waiting for Michael and Isabel. Max obviously wasn’t in the mood to speak. So no one spoke until now.
Michael leaned toward his best friend, briefly looking at Isabel sitting behind them. “Max, you need to talk to us.”
But Max just stared through the window beside him. Soon, they were speeding down the runway and eventually lifting off the ground. Max wasn’t fazed by the rockiness synonymous with a plane taking off. There was nothing inside of him at the moment. His soul had taken a vacation, but it was more like a sabbatical.
Michael couldn’t understand his best friend’s sudden vow of silence. Max would shut off once in a while and that was nothing new to Michael, but this time, it was different, and Isabel was no better, except she was showing a little emotion. Ok, a lot of emotion. Worry and fear were slapped across her forehead as she began whimpering silently to herself. She tried to keep her posture and she tried to remain calm but she just wasn’t very successful. It was tearing Michael up. He couldn’t stand to watch any longer. He wished that there was something he could do to ease her pain but the only thing that would do would be answers, and he didn’t have any and he couldn’t get any. Max had all the answers, but he wasn’t saying a word.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Max finally looked away from the window and at his best friend. Michael sat still with great posture, staring straight ahead as if he had said nothing at all, and as if he didn’t even need an answer, because he didn’t, Michael knew all along that whatever it was was bad.
<center>*~*</center>
Valenti casually jogged down the stairs and strolled through his restaurant while his oldest son followed closely behind him. Alex watched his father move with determination as he followed him not knowing where they were heading. Soon enough, the two men were outside, huddling under a large umbrella held by Sebastian, the driver. The rain came pounding down. Alex didn’t even know it was supposed to rain. They soon entered into the limousine and apparently the driver knew where to go because he started driving without orders. Finally, Alex got the courage to ask some questions.
“Where are we going?” he wondered.
Valenti poured two glasses of scotch and handed one to Alex. “We’re going to your sister’s. I’d advise you to drink up.”
Considering his options, Alex grabbed the glass and downed it all in a single gulp. “Thanks,” he replied.
Alex let the drink take affect and stared at the empty glass in his hand. Things had changed in an instant. The day started off with Alex and Valenti working as colleagues and now, Alex just didn’t want to be anymore. He didn’t want to deal with Basil Deo and have to work with his father. You know damn well that that’s the last thing Alex wanted to do. Except, now he had this obligation to his father, and he did, after all, need to uncover the enigma that was Basil Deo.
“Mind topping me off?” Alex wondered.
Yeah, I’d say the same thing too.
Valenti grabbed the decanter of scotch and refilled his son’s drink. “What do you have to say about your sister?”
Alex’s eyebrows frowned. “What do you mean? She didn’t do anything wrong.” Alex despised the fact that that’s how Valenti was making that seem.
“Alex, she married Max Evans,” his father scoffed.
After downing another glass, Alex shook his head. “I’m not going to get into it with you, and honestly, you shouldn’t get into it at all.” It might have been the alcohol, but Alex was feeling liberated. “Sebastian,” he called. “Sorry for the trouble, but drive us back to the mansion.”
“Sebastian,” Valenti urged. “Disregard that and continue to Liz’s.”
With great irritation, Alex shook his head. “Fine, then drop me off here.”
“And what? Take a cab home?”
Alex scoffed. “Why? Is taking a cab below me, the favored Valenti child?”
Valenti clenched his jaw shut, nearly pursing his lips in anger. “Alex, you’re pissing me off. We’re almost there.”
As he rolled his eyes, Alex extended his index finger and stuck his hand into his glass, trying to get the last bit of scotch out. When he believed he got as much as possible, he withdrew his hand and took his finger into his mouth and playfully popped it out. He’d ask for a refill, but that would mean speaking to his father. He would reach over and just grab the decanter himself, but that would mean reaching over his father. So Alex stuck his finger back into his nearly empty glass.
The limousine came to a stop next to an old and rusting red brick building. Alex couldn’t count how many times he had been to his sister’s loft because he just didn’t go there that often. I think it may only have been once. Maybe twice.
Alex opened the door before Sebastian could and quickly stepped out of the way so that his father could depart the vehicle. Sebastian selflessly held out the umbrella for Valenti and son, exposing himself to the rain and letting the water soak him.
“We’ll only be a moment or two,” Valenti told the driver and Sebastian walked to the driver’s side and got back inside the car. Valenti looked up at the building and sighed heavily. “Well…” he said to his son. “Let’s go.”
Alex shoved his hands into his pockets and carelessly strolled over to the building entrance. He stood aside as his father rang his sister’s apartment and waited for a reply.
“Hello?” Liz skeptically answered.
I’d answer the same way, Alex thought to himself.
“Liz, it’s Dad,” Valenti said into the intercom.
There was a moment of hesitation until the buzz sounded and the front door became unlocked. They don’t want us here, Alex continued speaking to himself, but the two men were climbing up the many steps that led to Liz’s loft. It was a difficult feat, but Valenti walked up the nearly dozen sets of staircases with ease while Alex was cursing each step.
When they reached Liz’s floor, Liz was standing in the doorway, having been patiently waiting for her brother and father. “What do you guys want?” she wondered.
Alex nervously stood behind their father and peered into the apartment where he could see Maria and Natalie standing not too far behind their sister. He wanted to offer a smile and wave, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull his hand out of his pocket. He felt like his sisters were sending him death stares.
“I need to have a word with you,” Valenti said.
“So say it,” Liz insisted.
Valenti cleared his throat. “Can we come in?”
Alex tensely lifted up his shoulders wondering if they would serve as some sort of shield. Liz nodded and stopped blocking the doorway so that her father and brother may enter. They walked past her and apprehensively stood to the side, waiting for Liz to close the door and show them inside.
Liz slid the heavy door shut and walked into the apartment, showing her father and brother to a couch where they could sit. Meanwhile, Maria and Natalie sat across the room from them. Natalie offered a welcoming smile but quickly made it disappear while Maria just watched every move their father and brother made.
“So what did we do to deserve this rare appearance?” Liz smugly asked.
Valenti was pursing his lips again. “Don’t be like this, Liz. I just want to talk to you.”
Maria jutted her chin in Alex’s direction. “And what are you doing here?”
“Uh…” Alex nervously sounded. “I was just along for the ride and that ride took me here.”
“And why was that ride headed here in the first place?” Liz wondered.
Valenti looked to Liz’s left hand, saw the rings and pointed. “Because of that,” he said simply.
Liz looked down and repositioned her hand to clearly show off her engagement and wedding rings. “So now you know,” she said.
“I do,” Valenti nodded. “And your brothers and I don’t appreciate not knowing about it.”
“If you were more accepting of my relationship with Max, then maybe I would have considered inviting you. It’s a stupid restaurant rivalry!” Liz laughed, because essentially, that’s all it was. That was the only reason Valenti despised Max.
“You’re right,” Valenti nodded. “That’s how it started out, but over the years, things stupidly escalated and right now, with Max’s friend dead, things are messy.”
Liz stared at her father. “Was it you?” she wondered.
Valenti looked back at his daughter with the most bewildered look on his face. “Was it me who killed Larek?” he said, spelling out his daughter’s subtext. “No. It wasn’t.” Valenti exhaled sharply.
And Liz shook her head in confusion. “Why did you come here?”
Honestly, Valenti didn’t know. “I guess I just wanted to see for myself.”
“See what?”
“See how happy you were,” Valenti sighed. “And I see that you are.”
Maria cleared her throat. “We all are,” she announced.
Valenti started bobbing his head in understanding.
“Maybe you guys should leave,” Liz suggested.
Valenti started to stand, but Alex remained seated, shaking his head.
“Don’t treat us like this,” he told his younger sister. “Why can’t you just get over yourself?”
“What?” Liz asked, taken aback.
Alex took a deep breath. “You can’t keep treating us like dirt, like we’re not your family.”
“You lied to us,” Maria stepped in. “Both of you lied to us.”
“That is such a bullshit excuse,” Alex laughed. “All of you came to me, even you, Liz, to get Dad out of prison.”
“Don’t blame—”
“No,” Alex said firmly, interrupting Maria. “You can’t keep saying that! It doesn’t apply anymore. ‘Don’t blame us’?” he mocked. “Well, I’m not!” Alex paused for a deep breath. “I’m not blaming you,” he sternly went on. “There’s no one to blame! So stop playing the victim and just own up to the fact that you asked me to get Dad out, because you guys did. I’m not saying that you guys were the one who made the deal, because I did that. I put my ass on the line and it’s still on the line.” Alex took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “I was the one who was always there for you guys, who would always follow through for you. And I’m getting all this shit? I don’t deserve that! I don’t need it.”
All of Alex’s sisters were a shocked by their big brother’s rant.
“I did what you guys told me to do,” he went on more calmly. “Honestly, this was the only way to go. I can’t see why you guys are mad. It hurts and it pisses me off. I don’t feel like your brother anymore.”
Liz, Maria and Natalie were slapped with the cruel reality. They were bitches. The whole family was so screwed up that the only knew how to hate each other. In addition to that, they were spiteful people. They wanted to punish their father for mistakes made in the past and the only way to do that was to be angry at him. That’s all they knew how to do and feel.
Alex exhaled sharply and got to his feet. “If that’s how you guys want it to be, then fine.” He shook his head and held up his hands in surrender. “I just want it to be known that I did my part. I did my part to fix this family by getting Dad out. It may have fucked us up even more but at least I did something. That’s more than you can say, Liz.” He looked down at her in disappointment. “I never thought that you would ever turn against me.”
“Alex…” Liz pleaded.
“No,” he shook his head. “I don’t want to talk to any of you right now.” Alex started for the doorway. “Congratulations, by the way. I’m happy for you, Liz.”
All three of the girls hung their heads low and stared at the ground in disappointment. Meanwhile, Valenti had spent this whole time, silently standing to the side. He took a deep breath.
“And I thought I was going to be the one to do some yelling,” he said. “I thought that I was going to blow up over this marriage, but that would have achieved nothing. If you love Max, there’s nothing I can do.” He gave one shake of the head and started to leave, but he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Liz, just please consider this, coming from a father worried about his daughter: With how things are right now, with this death, can you stay away from him until things are ok?”
Valenti had no idea that all the girls were connected with Evans boys. So they looked to each other and actually contemplated it as their father left, closing the door behind him.
“We’ve dished it all out before,” Maria said. “This is how it feels to take it.”
Natalie bobbed her head. “It sucks.”
“I guess Dad isn’t the only one who needs to change,” Liz sighed. She was shaking her head to herself, stunned by the magnitude of the mess their family was in. “How do we fix this?” she wondered.
“I don’t know,” Natalie said, shaking her head. “I stuck by Dad’s side, but truth is, I was angry at him like you guys were. We need to fix this before we regret it for the rest of our lives.”
But Liz was uncertain. Like I said, the only way she knew how to feel toward their father was hate—Ok, so “hate” is a strong word—angry. That was the only way Liz knew how to feel when it came to Dad. “I can say sorry to Alex and mean it,” she told her sisters, “but I don’t know about Dad. I don’t know with him.”
“Should we call a therapist?” Maria wondered with an innocent smile.
Natalie gave a sad little chuckle but then turned to her oldest sister. “Liz, do you think Dad knows Max isn’t exactly a law abiding citizen?”
Valenti’s last warning did raise a flag about it, but he would have just said to stay away because Max was Basil Deo, but Valenti didn’t.
“Maybe he has an idea,” Liz guessed.
“Do you think we should listen to him?” Maria asked. “Do we stay away?”
<center>*~*</center>
“It’ll be a bit of a bumpy landing,” Kass said loud enough for them to hear.
But if Kass looked behind him, he’d see that the only person who might have heard him was Max. Michael and Isabel were fast asleep and the reason I say that Max might have heard was because he was staring out his window with a catatonic stare and so it was almost certain that he wasn’t paying much attention to anything aside from what was on the other side of the window. He watched the rain smack the window and every so often, he glanced at the wing, watching the red light on the end blink every two seconds.
The plane hit some turbulence as it made its decent. It shook and things rattled. Michael stirred and eventually, woke up. He began rubbing his eyes as he looked around the cabin. He looked over his shoulder expecting to see Isabel crying maybe, but she was knocked out. Her eyes were already pink and swollen. Beside him, Michael noticed the same image he saw before falling asleep. He rolled his eyes, growled and kicked out his feet and raised his hands above his head to stretch.
“Are we almost there yet, Kass?” he wondered.
Not bothering to look over his shoulder, Kass nodded. “We’re making our decent right now. Sorry for the turbulence.”
Michael tilted his neck, causing a few cracks. He looked to his side and didn’t receive any sort of response from Max. Michael looked over his shoulder and then unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way to the back. He lifted Isabel up and let her use himself as a pillow. He buckled himself in and then started to ease her awake by gently rubbing her arm.
“Iz…” he soothingly said. “Isabel? Wake up…”
She gave a little moan after stirring a bit. Then in an instant, she woke and quickly sat up. “Where’s Thomas?” she demanded to know.
Michael glared angrily in Max’s direction, but then looked at Isabel comfortingly. “I don’t know,” he told her, “but we’ll find out soon. We’re almost home.”
Isabel sniffled and started to tear. “Michael, I’m scared.”
“I know,” Michael nodded. “I am too.”
He eased her toward himself and let her rest her head on his shoulder. Thunder was louder in the air and the lightning was brighter. As the cabin shook, Michael closed his eyes tight and took deep breaths. He felt Isabel squeeze him tighter. He opened his eyes and glanced over at Max who was still staring out his window as calm as could be.
“All right,” Kass started, “I hope you guys are buckled in tight.”
The plane’s nose dove a little steeper. Michael could see out the window that they were reaching the ground quickly. The plane lined up with the runway and pulled up, letting the back wheels touch down first and then the front wheels. Michael and Isabel braced each other for the landing and they loosened their grip on each other as the jet began to coast down the tarmac.
The jet was as close to the private terminal as possible. Michael unbuckled his belt and reached the hatch, opening it up and letting the stairs down, but he nearly jumped out of the plane and waited for Isabel to head down the steps. Nicholai came running up behind Michael with an umbrella already open.
“When was the last time you saw rain like this, huh?” the driver wondered.
Michael smiled appreciatively and took the umbrella from the man’s hands. “Grab the bags, will ya? I’ll take Isabel to the car.”
Nicholai nodded and headed for the storage compartment while Michael held out his hand for Isabel to come down the steps.
“Be careful,” he warned, noticing the high heels she wore.
Isabel walked down the steps, crouching under the umbrella, trying her best to keep dry. Once she touched onto the ground, Michael handed her the umbrella and told her to go ahead to the car. So Isabel followed orders and scurried over to the limousine.
Michael looked up at the hatch, patiently waiting for Max to climb out. It took him a moment, but eventually, Max did. Nicholai was already running back to the limo with all the bags in his hands, under his arms and on his shoulders.
“Max, come on!” Michael shouted.
Carefully, Max jogged down the stairs and hurried toward the car with Michael by his side.
“Max, you gotta talk to me now!” Michael shouted over the rain and thunder. “Where is he? Where is Thomas?”
Their clothes weighed them down with water and with every step they took they were squishing water in their shoes. It was then that Max decided to break his silence.
“At the hospital!” he shouted at the same volume as Michael. “Will was in a car accident!”
Michael froze and pulled on Max’s arm to stop him as well. “What did you say?”
Max leaned in toward his best friend, looking him straight in the eyes. “Will is in the hospital!”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
Max looked down for a moment and stared down at a puddle as rain fell into it. There were no ripples as drop after drop disrupted the ripple effect. As he stared down, the rain dropped onto the back of his head heavily. He could hear the drops hit his shoulders. His clothes were soaked through and though. It was about fifty degrees out. It was almost midnight. It was cold. It was freezing, but Max felt none of that.
“I don’t know!” Max shouted. “I didn’t want to scare Isabel!”
Michael laughed. “A little too late for that! She’s scared out of her mind! She’s thought about every worst-case scenario twice! So really, why didn’t you say anything?!”
“Because I didn’t want to believe it!” Max finally admitted. He marched away and eventually jogged to the car. He climbed inside and received a scolding from his big sister.
“What the hell took you so long?” she demanded to know. “You’re going to get pneumonia! Where’s Thomas? Is he hurt?”
The limo started to speed off as Michael reached for the bar and pour himself and Max a glass of brandy. “This’ll warm us up,” he said, handing Max a glass. “Isabel?” he asked.
A dry and content, for now, Isabel shook her head. “No. Thank you.” She turned back to her brother. “Max, tell me what’s going on? Where are we going and what’s happened to Thomas?”
Max shivered. His teeth chattered against the glass when he brought it up to mouth. “T—To the hospital.”
Isabel brought her hand up to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. “Oh my God…” she whispered. “What happened?”
Max couldn’t look in his sister’s eyes. Instead, he remained huddled around his glass of brandy and glanced out of the corner of his eyes. “He was in a car accident,” he mumbled.
But Isabel heard him loud and clear. “Oh my God…” she repeated.
This time, the tears came on stronger and Max wasn’t cold anymore. He set his glass down and wrapped his arms around his sister. He wanted so much to tell her that it was going to be ok but it wasn’t.
<center>*~*</center>
Liz glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantel and then the one on the microwave and finally the one around her wrist. They all said the same thing. It was five ‘til midnight and they hadn’t heard from Max or Thomas. Liz looked down at her lap where Natalie rested her head. Listening to Natalie’s breathing and watching the rise and fall of her sister’s chest, Liz knew that her sister was asleep but Liz could hear and feel Natalie wince and grimace. Hoping to calm her sleeping sister, Liz lightly ran her hand through her sister’s hair. Liz loved it when their mother did that to her. It always made her sleep easier.
“Here you go,” Maria whispered. She held a cup of coffee in front of Liz’s face and sipped on her own.
“Thanks,” Liz whispered back. She carefully took a drink and went back to comforting her baby sister.
Maria took a seat at the other end of the couch, lifting Natalie’s legs and then letting them rest across her lap. “She’s beat,” Maria observed.
“You don’t think anything’s happened do you?” Liz wondered. “We haven’t heard from them in a long time.”’
Maria realized that long time had passed since the last phone conversation. “Let’s just hope nothing’s happened,” she sighed. She warmed herself up with another sip of coffee. “Have you been thinking about what Dad said?”
Liz copied her sister’s actions by taking a sip from her cup as well. “I want to say that he has no idea what he’s talking about, but Jesus Christ, you know he does. So I don’t know. I hate that I’m away from Max now. Who knows how long whatever this is will last? I mean, can you stand being away from Michael for that long?”
“No,” Maria quickly answered. She tightened her grip around her mug. “Michael and I haven’t even started yet but I’m so anxious to see where things go with him.”
“So what do we do?” Liz sighed. “Do we stick by our men or by our family?”
Maria watched in confusion as Liz hurried to carefully put her cup on the coffee table. When Liz started reaching for her phone, Maria’s confusion disappeared. She, too, put her coffee down and then anxiously watched her sister answer the call.
“Hello? Max?” Liz whispered, glancing down at Natalie for a moment.
“Um, no, it’s Michael,” said the voice on the other end.
Liz looked at Maria for a moment. “Michael?” she said curiously. “Why are you on Max’s phone?”
Michael looked down at the other end of the limo, witnessing Max try to comfort a nearly hysterical Isabel. Michael nervously cleared his throat. “He’s unavailable at the moment,” he said, “but he wanted to let you know that we got here safely.”
“You got ‘here’?” Liz questioned. “Where’s here?”
“We’re back in L.A. Something’s happened and we had to come back.”
Liz brought a worried hand up to her mouth. “It’s not Thomas, is it?”
Natalie quickly woke up and looked up at her sister.
“He was in a car accident. He’s at Cedars-Sinai. We’ll see you there.”
And then Liz was left staring at her phone in disbelief while her sisters were eagerly waiting for news. Slowly, Liz closed her phone and put it away.
“What?” Natalie questioned. “What is it?”
“We need to go to the hospital right now.”
<center>*~*</center>
The limousine pulled up into the hospital’s emergency room entrance where Nicholai raced to the end of the vehicle to open the door. Max climbed out first and then helped his sister. As they walked toward the hospital, he wrapped one arm around her waist and assisted her all the way inside. Michael followed close behind them after giving orders for Nic to go home.
It was late at night but there quite a few people in the ER. A man sat in the waiting room with a bag of ice on his eye while a woman held a bunch of gauze firmly onto her son’s leg as the little boy cried. There were other patients as well, but they didn’t look too bad, probably nothing more than allergies or a cold.
Max, Isabel and Michael walked on through the shining white emergency room and headed for a large desk under a sign that said “Nurses’ Station.” The man behind the desk was startled by the sudden appearance of the three people before him. They were rather well dressed people but haggard beyond belief. The two men standing on either side of the woman were terribly soaked while the woman looked as though something terrible had happened and the man behind the desk realized that maybe something terrible did happen.
“Hi,” the man offered with a gentle smile. “What can I do for you?”
Max cleared his throat. “I got a call…My brother was in a car accident. His name is William Thomas Evans.”
The smile on the man’s face disappeared, replaced with a sympathetic frown. “Ah, yes,” he said softly. “Just go down this little hallway. It’s the last door. Trauma Three.”
“Thank you,” Max said with a nod. He grabbed hold of his sister once more and walked with her toward a hallway the man pointed to.
You can never brace yourself for what these three were about to see.
Slowly they walked. Eventually, Isabel didn’t need to lean into her brother to walk. Instead, she grabbed his hand and then Michael’s and headed toward Trauma Three with both men right by her side. They passed Trauma One where a man held a tube to his mouth to help him breath while his family sat beside him. Nothing was in Trauma Two, just a gurney waiting to be used. Obviously, next was Trauma Three. Isabel stopped as Max and Michael looked back at her and watched as she took a deep breath. Max gave his sister’s hand a squeeze and a wiggle after turning his head to hide his tears.
Max, Isabel and Michael approached the last set of double doors and through its windows they saw their brother lying frightfully still on the gurney. Isabel turned away and buried herself into Max’s chest, crying hysterically once again. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on her head as he stared into the room. Meanwhile, Michael leaned his arm across the door frame and slammed his head against his forearm.
“Mr. Evans?”
All three of them looked to the doctor that approached them. Michael quickly wiped his eyes and watched Isabel do the same. Max, who still held onto his tears, held out his hand for the doctor.
“Max,” he corrected. “This is my sister Isabel and my brother Michael.”
The woman smiled appreciatively and shook Max’s hand. “Max, I’m Dr. Price. I was the attending physician on your brother’s case.”
“Why aren’t you guys doing anything to help him?” Isabel demanded to know.
Dr. Price nervously fidgeted with her metallic clipboard. “Ms. Evans—”
“It’s Isabel.”
The middle-age woman nodded. “Isabel…Your brother was brought in by EMTs around 7pm. He was in a car crash that left him with a broken jaw, both legs broken, a spinal injury and collapsed lungs.”
Isabel struggled extremely hard to keep herself from crying while Michael turned back to the wall and hid his face in his arm, and Max? He found himself having trouble breathing. His jaw fell open and he breathed heavily through his mouth all while the tears began to blur his vision.
“There has to be something you can do!” Isabel cried. She was on the verge of getting on her hands and knees and begging.
Before that could happen, Dr. Price, with her own eyes welling with tears, sadly lowered her head. “William died tonight; about four hours ago.”
“NOOOOO!” Isabel wailed.
She collapsed into Max’s arms so suddenly that he didn’t react soon enough to catch her. Isabel fell to the floor and hugged Max’s legs, sobbing into his pants. Michael slammed a fist into the wall and then slid to the floor, crying with his knees pulled up to his chest and his face still hidden. And Max. Max clasped his hands and let his palms rest atop his head an action done after a strenuous run or when one tries to catch his breath. Max stared into the trauma room where his dead brother lay and fought his tears.
Liz would never forget the sight. She, Maria and Natalie just arrived to the hospital. She quickly asked Jerry where Thomas was and when they reached the beginning of the hallway, they saw. They saw Michael and Isabel on the floor weeping and they saw Max stand unsteady, ready to fall and break down.
“No!” Natalie shouted. Thomas was ok. They weren’t supposed to be crying, but Natalie was wrong. It didn’t take her long to realize that. “No…” she began to cry softly.
Maria and Liz brought their attention to Natalie and both of them wrapped their arms around their sister as she began to weep and sob at the same volume as their family down the hall. Maria soon began to cry with her sister. She tried to be strong. She rested her forehead on Natalie’s.
“It’s ok,” Maria offered. “Go ahead and cry.”
“Noooo…” Natalie bawled.
Liz closed her eyes as she also rested her forehead on Natalie’s. Her tears came quietly but they came quickly. She turned back to Max and took deep breaths in and out through her mouth as she watched her husband.
Max still stood with his hands atop his head and he continued looking into the trauma room as he struggled with all his might to fight his tears. He took a deep breath and held on tight. Not able to keep the air in any longer, Max blew it out sharply. Then he took another breath, held onto it tight, and soon he quickly released it. He continued the process in order to keep from crying. But slowly, his hands slid to the back of his head and then continued down to his neck and simultaneously with the descent of his hands, Max’s tears fell. He cried as he pointed his face to the heavens. Max broke down and cried.
