“WALK SLOWLY. Maybe you should wait here. I can get a wheelchair.”
“From where?” Stacey asked. “I’m fine, really.”
Charlie frowned and reached out for her anyway. He slid his arm around her waist to help her walk into the lobby of their apartment complex. Stacey knew that she could walk fine without his help but didn’t want to shrug him off.
She had spent the night in the hospital. There were those terrifying moments that Stacey had been utterly convinced something dreadful had happened to the baby. She felt sore all over as if a train hit her.
But the doctor said the baby was okay. She was a high-risk pregnancy and would have to take things slowly. He told her to cut back on work and stress. Stacey couldn’t help but think of Charlie and his family, her new job with William, and Charlie’s own investment firm starting up. Cut back on stress. How in the world was she going to do that?
There was no time to talk to Charlie about what his brother, Eric, had told her. Eric warned her that their father, Terry, was going to move against Charlie. At the time, Stacey decided not to tell Charlie because she didn’t want to upset him. Now that Eric had drunkenly blathered about it, she saw it in a new light. Charlie perceived it as Stacey keeping a secret from him, something she only shared with Eric, his brother, of all people.
As they made their way up to the penthouse, she wondered how she should apologize and try to make what happened clear to him. Charlie, who became incredibly drunk last night, was now extremely hungover. His skin was sick looking, with a slight yellow tinge to it. His hair was messy and he still wore the same clothes from the other night. He was now drinking water and coffee non-stop. Both of them needed a nap.
At home, Charlie led her directly to bed. Stacey sunk into the massive bed gratefully, pulling the sheets over her. She knew that she needed to talk to him about Eric and what he had said, but she suddenly felt more exhausted than ever. Everything that had happened seemed to sweep over her all at once and she felt as if she had emotional whiplash.
“Charlie…” she mumbled as he crawled into bed next to her.
“It’s okay,” he whispered back and brought her close against him.
Stacey could hear the steady beat of his heart. Her eyelids closed without effort. All her limbs felt as if they each weighed a thousand pounds. Before she could utter another word, she fell fast asleep.
<<<>>>
In her dream, there was a baby crying in the distance. Stacey knew that this was hers. She was in Tina’s old house, at the dining room table. She felt rooted to the chair as if she couldn’t move. Next to her was Allison. She was ignoring her homework again, covering her page in doodles.
Stacey could hear the TV playing in the living room. Some part of her realized this was the night she found out about her parents’ deaths. The baby cried louder in the distance.
Fighting against the pull that was keeping her to her chair, she managed to stand up. Allison didn’t glance at her – it was as if Stacey wasn’t even there. Stacey felt hot all over, as though she suddenly came down with a fever.
The phone rang. She knew what the news was going to be. Quickly, she darted out of the dining room. If she kept running, she wouldn’t have to hear the news. She just had to keep moving.
She ran to the front door and yanked it open. Behind her, Tina was letting out a wailing cry. Stacey stepped outside and slammed the door shut. The front yard was covered in a thick layer of snow. The moon was covered by clouds and almost everything was dark.
She cut across the yard. The crying got louder now. She could see a cradle in the distance. She hurried, anxious to get to it.
But as Stacey approached the cradle, a sharp pain shot through her body. It felt like she was getting stabbed. Her knees weakened and she hit the ground. The snow around her turned red. She let out a gasp.
<<<>>>
“You’re okay! You’re okay, Stacey. It was just a dream.”
Stacey’s eyes opened and she found herself staring up at Charlie. His arms were wrapped firmly around her, and he was clutching her close to his chest. Her breathing was coming hard and fast as if she just ran a mile. She could still see the snow around her, turning dark with her own blood as her baby in the cradle cried.
She shivered and said, “I’m okay. Sorry. Did I wake you up?”
“Yeah. You were making a whimpering noise.” He pushed back a strand of hair that fell in front of her eyes. “You sounded terrified.”
Stacey’s mouth felt dry, as if it was stuffed full of cotton. The room was dark except for the hallway light shining through the crack in the door. They must have forgotten to shut it off when they got home.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Little after three in the morning.”
“And I woke you up. I’m sorry,” she said again.
“Hey, it’s okay. Really. Do you want to talk about the dream?”
Stacey thought about Tina answering that phone call that changed everything. The thought of her parents and Tina, now all gone, made her heart ache. She silently shook her head. Charlie nodded and then got out of bed.
“Need some water. Want some?”
“Yes, please.”
She watched him go and tried to calm down her racing heart. She told herself it was just a dream. She had weird dreams all the time. This one was no different. How could she not have crazy dreams after what she just went through?
Stacey sat up and brought the blanket around her. It was slightly chilly in the room. She reached over to check her phone. There were two missed calls from Allison, who left shortly before Stacey was discharged from the hospital. She left only because Jacob’s father recently fell and had been sent to a hospital out of state. Stacey ordered her sister to leave, telling her over and over again that she was fine and so was the baby. Stacey felt it was important for Allison to be with Jacob.
She made a mental note to call Allison first thing to try to calm her nerves. She could picture her sister right now, nervously pacing the hotel room, torn between her and Jacob.
Charlie came back with two glasses of water and handed one to her. Then he sat down next to her and took a swig from his glass. Stacey mumbled a thank you and drank half of her water in one gulp. She was incredibly thirsty for some reason.
“I shouldn’t have stormed out of the party like that,” he finally said.
Out of everything for him to say, Stacey was surprised by this. She wasn’t even thinking about how he hadn’t been there right at the start of things. She was too busy trying to form an apology in her head.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” she replied.
“Yeah, I do. If I’d stayed – if I’d stayed even a minute longer…” he trailed off.
Stacey grabbed his hand, shaking her head. “No, Charlie. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”
“If I hadn’t gotten angry with you over what Eric said. Being drunk isn’t an excuse. I should have stopped myself and discussed it with you. Instead, I got angry and you ended up in the hospital.”
“One has nothing to do with the other,” she said firmly.
But Charlie shrugged and looked morosely at his glass before saying, “Maybe not.”
“They don’t. And even if you were there, nothing would have changed. Eric found you a minute later, didn’t he?”
“I know. I know it’s pointless to beat myself up over it. I was terrified that you were hurt or something happened to the baby.”
“Well, I’m okay. I just need to relax.”
“You’re so good at that,” he joked and smiled at her.
“Well, just keep me in check.” She poked his abs playfully and smiled back.
Charlie leaned over and kissed her gently before saying, “I’m sorry that I got angry. I’m basically sorry for the entire night. Made me remember why I don’t drink like that.”
“No, I’m sorry for not telling you about what Eric warned me about.”
She hesitated for a moment and then decided to tell him the entire thing. She told him of how Eric had warned her about Terry not being pleased back in the hallway at the manor. She admitted to slapping him and feeling ashamed at having done so. Stacey then finished with Eric telling her that his becoming president was bullshit and wouldn’t happen.
Charlie leaned back in bed. “I knew there must have been a reason why Eric wasn’t taking things seriously. I mean, don’t get me wrong. He never takes things seriously. But this was different. This was something he had been saying for years he deserved. It lands in his lap yet he doesn’t want it? It didn’t make sense.”
“What are you going to do about your father?”
He shrugged. “Ignore him.”
“No, Charlie, I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Stacey shook her head. “Eric seems to be taking this really seriously. When he mentioned it in the hallway, I just assumed he was trying to start things and that you knew already what Terry was up to. But you don’t. You could lose this entire business before it even gets off the ground.”
“Stacey, do not worry about it. Please. It isn’t going to help you at all to fret about it. Eric warned you, but I know now. I’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t get why he didn’t just go to you in the first place.”
Charlie laughed at that. “Really? I do. He wanted to help me out but didn’t want to come to me directly. Easier to go through you.”
“I just thought…”
“Thought what?”
“Well, sometimes you seemed upset that Eric was speaking to me. So, I thought he told me this just to piss you off. As if he and I were close,” she said this all quickly, as if she was yanking off a bandage that had been on for too long.
There was a small intake of breath from Charlie. For a second, Stacey was worried that she pissed him off. He was touchy when it came to Eric, who seemed to know every nerve to press against his older brother.
“Jealous. Maybe a little,” he admitted.
“Why in the world? No offense but your brother is maddening, to say the least.”
He chuckled. “Tell me about it. I don’t know. I guess it’s because I knew what he was doing. He was buddy-buddy with you. I’ve had it happen before where –” He cut himself off as if he was saying too much.
But Stacey pressed, “What? Had what happen before?”
As if remembering their last fight about him keeping things close to his chest, Charlie said quickly, “Him flirting with past girlfriends before. And I’ve had them… go for it.”
Stacey was aghast, “What? How?”
“He’s funny and charming. You’ve seen him. He enters a room like he owns it.”
“So do you,” she countered.
But Charlie shook his head. “No, Eric is different. He’s cocky. He’s got this sort of swagger to him that some women just eat up. Including some ex-girlfriends.”
“So, what, exactly? You thought I’d be tempted?” Stacey asked, aghast.
“No! No, no, this is coming out wrong. There was no way I thought you’d ever make a move on Eric. But I didn’t trust him with you. I could just picture him, feeding you all these little secrets or stupid notions. Suggesting I wasn’t on your side. I didn’t think he’d swoop in and kiss you or anything. No, I thought he’d just keep stirring the pot. Making you think I wasn’t on your side when it came to my dad.”
“So… when he told you that he warned me about Terry…”
“Drunken me just sort of panicked. I took that as a sign you two were getting close. That whatever Eric was scheming was working.” He looked at her seriously. “I’m sober now though. I know that isn’t the case. I know that I overreacted. I just…”
“What?”
“I just don’t trust Eric with you.”
“I know he’s a cocky bastard, but I saw you two drunk together. You were laughing and having fun. Surely, somewhere deep down you two want to be like that all the time.”
Charlie didn’t reply. He shrugged a little and avoided looking at her.
But Stacey didn’t want to drop it just yet. “You two are still brothers. There is still a connection there, somewhere. It’s just gotten mangled up with everything going on.”
“Stacey, I know what you’re trying to do. And I appreciate it. Really, I do. But Eric and I aren’t going to be like you and Allison. There isn’t any understanding to be found between us. There’s too much bad blood. And frankly, being around him this much lately has reminded me why we don’t just casually hang out.”
“I guess,” she mumbled although she still wasn’t convinced.
Charlie leaned over to her and kissed the top of her head, “Don’t worry about me and Eric. I’m used to how we are. It’s just how it has to be. We should try to sleep now.”
She nodded and Charlie tucked her into bed. He curled up next to her. Stacey could feel the warmth from his body. Before she could say anything else, he was already snoring.
Yet Stacey couldn’t fall asleep right off the bat. Her mind was swirling with all sorts of different things. She was worried about the baby. She was worried about work and Charlie. And even though he said there was no reconciliation with Eric, she wasn’t yet convinced.
She focused on her breathing. It took a little while but eventually Stacey drifted back to sleep.