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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 10
Ashe, New York
"Hungry, Jarod?" Helen’s voice asked.
Jarod turned from his examination of the world that he could see through the window to see her in the doorway, holding a tray.
"Ravenous."
"I thought you might be." Placing the tray on the table, she took a few pillows out of the cupboard and tucked them behind his head. When he was settled, she placed the tray across his knees. "A small amount of a lot of things - and, because I'm such a nice person, half a pop tart as well."
"Who got the other half?"
"Debbie. And her dad got the other whole one in the package."
"You don't eat them?"
"I prefer pancakes." She sat in the chair she had occupied the previous night and smiled. "So did Eddie."
"Did you...?"
"They were his first meal, or part of them. I made them for him that first morning, after we came back here."
"Why did you… was it just chance that you drove by?"
"No, Jarod." Helen grinned. "I'd been planning to get you out of the Centre by myself, but you beat me to it although I still think my plan was better."
"You were planning to help me escape?"
"I had it all arranged. On the day Kenny was killed, I'd organized with Angelo to be introduced to you so you'd know to trust me. I knew, after I learnt about it, that you weren't going to. Then he told me that you'd made your own plan and so I let that go ahead and made sure that I was in the right place at the right time. If you'd run in the same direction, I probably would have been able to pick both of you up." She smiled at him. "Now that would have been a coup."
"If we'd known you were there, I promise we would have."
"I thought about mentioning it to Angelo, but again, I couldn't see how I could make you trust me."
"Maybe you're right." He nodded slowly, eating the last bit of the pop tart, before looking up again. "What else did Eddie like?"
"Anything that had enough sugar to rot his teeth. Particularly the way I make hot cocoa."
"Will you make me some?"
"I only make it when it snows, Jarod."
He looked towards the window and grinned. "So I can look forward to trying some of it soon then, huh?"
She looked at the snowflakes that were drifting lazily past the window and then at the man again before a teasing light came into her eyes. "Well, I'm not sure. I usually only give it to people when they're sitting in front of a blazing fire, playing games with me, and I don't count the kind of game we were playing last night."
Looking at her sharply, Jarod saw the look in her eyes and decided not to comment. Instead, he drained the glass of orange juice and started to eat the serve of scrambled eggs. Helen watched him for a moment before rolling her eyes.
"Are you trying to prove a point or give yourself indigestion?"
"I'm hoping that if I look healthy enough, you'll let me come downstairs."
"What did I say last night?"
He put his head on one side and gave her a look of mock-innocence. "I'll be very well behaved, if you let me."
"Hmm, we'll see."
"Well, it's better than a flat refusal." Jarod ate the last bite of toast on which the eggs had sat and then pushed the tray further down the bed. "Thanks. That was really good."
"I'm glad to hear it." She glanced at her watch and then stood up. "I should have done this before but better late than never." Reaching into the bag that stood on the floor beside the bed, Helen produced a thermometer and took his temperature before timing his pulse. When that was done, he rearranged the pillows and then nestled down against them.
"Who says I'm going to let you stay sitting up?" the doctor demanded.
"Who says I'm going to stay awake long enough for you to move them away?" He yawned and turned suddenly drowsy eyes up to her face. "I'm warm, comfortable and well-fed. What else do I need to fall sleep?"
"Probably some peace and quiet." Helen picked up the tray. "So I'll leave you to it and come up later to check on you."
"Mmm hmm." Jarod's eyes closed and he curled his legs up under him as Helen shut the door.
"How was your breakfast, Debbie?"
"Yummy." She smiled at the woman in the doorway. "Can I get up yet?"
"We-ell," Helen exchanged amused glances with Broots, who sat in a chair in the corner of the room. "I don't know..."
"Please, Mommy!" Debbie bounced on the bed. "You said I could get up if I went to sleep last night, and I did, and I didn't wake up until really late!"
"Since when is seven o'clock 'really late'? Eleven o'clock. Now that's I what I call really late."
"Eleven?" Debbie looked at Helen as if she had just suggested that the world was flat. "Don't be silly, Mommy. Nobody gets up that late!"
"I'll ask you that question again in a few years, Debbie. I bet your answer will be different then." She laughed. "Let me go down and start a nice, warm fire for you to sit in front of, sweetie, and then your Daddy can bring you down, okay?"
"Uh huh."
As the woman bent to kiss her forehead, Debbie threw both her arms around the doctor's neck and hugged her. After returning the hug, Helen picked up the tray and walked over to the door.
"How's Jarod?"
She glanced at Broots as he spoke. "Fine, but he's asleep again right now. If he's better later, though, I might let him get up too."
"Did you tell him that?"
"Of course not. It would be the fastest way to get him overexcited."
"And are you still mad with him, Mommy?"
"Not now, Debbie. I'm still disappointed in him, but I'm not mad."
"Was his mom angry, too?"
"No, she wasn't. She might be later, though. We'll see."
To avoid further questions, Helen left the room, taking the tray downstairs.
"Hi Debbie."
The girl looked up as her father carried her down the stairs to see Miss Parker sitting on the sofa, several books on the table in front of her. The girl grinned.
"Hi, Miss Parker."
"Want me to read to you?"
"Uh huh." Broots put her down on the sofa beside the woman and Debbie curled up in delight, leaning against the arm that Miss Parker put around her. From the doorway, Helen smiled faintly as Broots walked over to her.
"Now I know how you feel. I think I've been supplanted too."
The technician stared at her as they went into the kitchen. "Is that a joke or are you serious?"
"A bit of both."
"Oh, come on, Helen. You can't really believe that, can you?"
"Believe what?"
The two turned to see the psychiatrist standing at the head of the cellar stairs, a look of curiosity in his eyes, and Helen smiled as he came over to sit at the table.
"How did you sleep?"
"With my eyes closed."
She groaned. "That's terrible, Sydney. I haven't heard that pun since I was fifteen years old."
"In serious answer to your question your drug helped me sleep very well, thank you, Helen. How's Jarod?"
"He's fine, Sydney. I told you he would be." She stood up. "I'll go up and see if he's awake. If he is then you can go up and see him."
Gently tapping on the door, she heard a voice call out and opened it to see Jarod looking up from the pillow.
"Did I wake you?"
"No, I was just thinking."
"I'm glad to hear it. Sydney just asked about you, so I thought I'd come up to see how you were."
"Is everybody downstairs?"
"Well, you and I are up here." She smiled. "I’m guessing that your mother's still asleep next door, but she should be waking up soon."
"Actually, she's awake now." The quiet voice from behind her made Helen turn, a smile on her face.
"I was just beginning to think that it was time we saw you."
The older woman smiled at her briefly before turning to her son. "Are you all right, Jarod?"
"I'm fine, Mom." He hugged her, eyeing Helen before looking back at the woman who was sitting next to him. "But there's something I need to tell you..."
Helen exchanged amused glances with the woman on the sofa, the girl curled up with her head resting against Miss Parker's shoulder and her eyes closed.
"Asleep?"
"Well, she hasn't moved for almost twenty minutes now, so I think so."
"You could take a nap as well."
The woman nodded drowsily. "I'd been entertaining the same thought."
"If it had been that entertaining, it would’ve woken you up." Helen smiled. "You both sleep well."
"Mmm hmm." Miss Parker rested her head down against Debbie's and closed her eyes, leaning back against the sofa in a motion so reminiscent of Broots in the car that Helen had to swallow her laughter in case it woke them up.
"...and you should have heard her telling him off."
Hearing the amusement of the technician, Helen went into the kitchen and firmly closed the door behind her before glaring at him.
"Why not just tell him everything, Broots?"
"Well, I..." The man looked up at her and visibly wilted. "I didn't know it was such a big secret."
Helen rolled her eyes and sat down, looking over to see the startled expression on the face of the psychiatrist.
"You…?"
"Sydney, let me explain." She glared at Broots again. "I was intending to let Jarod do it, but he's probably telling his mother about it now and it could be a while before he's in a fit state to tell you anything."
"Why?"
"Because I suspect that he's about to see his mother cry for the first time and I'm not sure that it will be a fun experience for either of them." She hesitated briefly. "There was nothing wrong with Jarod last night."
He looked at her skeptically. "Helen, at the very least..."
"Sydney, trust me. There was nothing physically wrong with Jarod to have cause what we saw. At some point he started to think that his mother, sister and you were all going to disappear into thin air as soon as he was better. Instead of finding out if that was likely or just a wild guess, he faked his little 'episode' last night to keep you all here."
"He what?!"
"You heard me."
"I heard you, yes. I just don't believe it. Jarod wouldn't do that. He wouldn't be so selfish..."
"Not only would he, but he did. I said the same thing to him last night."
"Actually Helen, you yelled the same thing at him. There's a difference."
She grinned at Broots faintly. "Yes, I'll give you that. He certainly thought there was a difference."
"So all of that...?"
"...was a very carefully staged pretend, yes. That's also why he hasn't seemed to be improving over the last few days as quickly as he should have. But he's better this morning, if the breakfast he ate was anything to go by."
"He must have had a good reason..."
"Don’t make excuses for him, Sydney." Helen spoke firmly. "He acted like a two-year-old having a tantrum when he couldn't have what he wanted. He doesn't need you to defend his behaviour. He's already very ashamed of it, trust me. He's having some very unpleasant minutes with his mother right now and he certainly got thoroughly told off by me last night."
"Was that why you sent all three of us to bed?"
"One of the reasons. It gave him an even better chance to realize just what he did. Anything you say about it today will only add to it, and I think it would be good if you can manage to be severe." Reaching over, she put her hand on his. "I know it's not easy, considering how scared you were last night but, if you show him that, he'll really understand what you three went through."
Sydney nodded slowly. "I can see how that's important, but..."
"But you're still concerned about him, I know. Look, once his mother's finished up there, telling him off, why don't you go in for your turn? Trust me, the moment you see him, you'll know that he's fine. He looks almost painfully healthy." Helen gave her watch a quick look. "In fact, I'd say she'd be getting close to finishing now, so why don't we go up and wait?"
"You know...?"
The doctor grinned at Broots. "You've forgotten how often I heard her telling off people. I've got a pretty good idea of both what she'll say and how long it'll take her to say it."
Helen stood outside the closed door for a moment with a wide smile on her face, listening to the familiar voice inside. After a few seconds of silence, she pushed open the door and walked in.
"Margaret, I left Broots making coffee in the kitchen. I'm sure you'll need some to get you over that, so why not head down and think about what you want to have for breakfast?"
Nodding, the woman left the room, casting a final glance over her shoulder at the man, who was studying the blanket with intensity. When the door was shut, Helen looked at him. "I told you she could be severe."
"She said that she was disappointed in me." The words were almost a wail and seemed to come from the child whom she had accused him of behaving like on the previous night.
"And I think she has good reason to be." Helen sat on the bed. "But getting angry now is a natural reaction to the fear she had last night. The fear she felt before is transforming itself into the anger she showed you. But in among that anger is the love she has for you, and that, not wanting to see you sick, or as she feared most die, was what led to her being so afraid last night. You see?"
He nodded slowly before looking at her. "Is anyone else up?"
"Sydney is, but he already knows what you did."
"You told him?"
"I wasn't going to, but Broots told him that I was yelling at you last night and I had to explain my reasons for it."
"And… is he angry as well?"
"Yes, I think so, but for the same reasons, Jarod." She stood up and looked down at him. "Just remember that you can't blame anybody but yourself for this. As the law of physics states, every action has as equal and opposite reaction. If you’d frightened them less last night, they wouldn't be so angry at you this morning."
"I know." He studied the blanket for another minute before looking up at her. "Will you ask Sydney to come in, please?"
"Sure."
Opening the door, she waved the psychiatrist into the room, seeing the cool look in the older man’s brown eyes that betrayed both anger and concern, before she shut the door and left them to it.
"How could he do that?"
"How or why?" Helen grinned as she entered the kitchen. "I’d have thought the 'how' was easy."
Margaret glared at her for a moment. "I wasn't expecting you to make a joke out of this, Helen."
"Oh, come on, Margaret. It was a slight aberration, that's all. Don't let it affect the whole way you think of him. I know you're angry but enough's enough." Hiding a smile, she looked up. "Besides, I didn't do it, so why are you mad at me?"
Sinking into a chair, the older woman was forced to hide a smile in her turn. "He deserves me to put him over my knee..."
"That's the same thing I threatened to do last night." She laughed. "See how well you taught me?"
After a moment of struggling against her laughter, Margaret looked up. "He does realize how bad it wasn't, doesn't he?"
"Margaret, he's forty-two! I’ll admit his behaviour last night would have disgraced a five-year-old, but, as I said before, that was a one-time thing and after the scolding you gave him, the one he's getting from Sydney right now and the lecture he got from me, he certainly won't be playing a game like that one again."
Getting up, Helen filled a mug and placed it in front of the older woman, sitting down again with a full mug in her hands. "Tell Emily. By the time she's said everything she wants to I don't think he'll ever want to hear about it again. Then you can spend the afternoon bemoaning the naughtiness of your son with Emily and Sydney while he sits in the living room in front of a roaring fire, before all of you forgive him for the fright he gave you in that momentary lapse of his genius powers and act the way you did before."
Finally allowing herself to laugh, Margaret nodded. "Okay, Helen. You win. It probably is enough, with all three of us lecturing him."
"He's upset that you're disappointed in him."
"Did he say that?"
Helen swallowed her coffee and nodded. "Uh huh. If you'd heard him say it, even your hard heart would have melted."
"Well… maybe…"
Grinning as she changed the subject somewhat, Helen glanced up at her former teacher. "Do you remember Marina Walters?"
Margaret thought for a moment. "Didn't I have to tell her off once in front of all of you because she was eating in class?"
"That's right." The doctor smiled. "She was the person who married Eddie."
The older woman choked. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. They met at a reunion dinner for our class. She took one look at him and I could see her heart fluttering."
"And they had kids?"
"Yes. I'm godmother for their oldest daughter and I was bridesmaid, the day they got married."
Thoughtfully Margaret looked at her former student. "You were in love with Eddie, weren't you?"
Helen raised an eyebrow. "Is that a guess?"
"No. Call it - motherly instinct."
"I would if you were my mother." Helen got up. "Have you decided what you want for breakfast?"
"Are you deliberately changing the subject?"
"Now why would I do that?" The doctor turned, her eyes wide. "I sent you down to have breakfast, remember?"
"I was always amused by that look of mock-innocence, Helen, because I can see through it more easily than the window you're standing in front of." She stood and walked over to stand in front of her former student. "You were in love with Eddie, weren't you?"
"For a while, yes." Helen looked up. "He asked me to marry him."
"But you said no."
"He wasn't in love with me. He thought he was, but I'd seen people in love before and he wasn't like them."
"Who had you seen?"
"You." Helen smiled. "I saw how you looked every time you talked about Charles and that told me everything I needed to know."
Supporting the tray with a raised knee, Helen tapped gently on the bedroom door before turning the handle.
"Jarod, are you awake?"
"Uh huh." He sniffed and wiped his nose with a tissue before looking at her. "Are you coming to tell me off, too?"
"I did that last night, remember? No, I came to bring you some lunch."
"I'm not hungry."
"If you don't eat, you don't get to join Debbie downstairs this afternoon."
He raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that was planned."
"And what would you have done if I'd told you? Apart from getting yourself just so excited about it that your temperature soared, of course. "
Nodding, he grinned faintly. "Well, maybe..."
"Em made some soup for you and Debbie for lunch."
His voice was sulky. "Did she do that before or after...?"
"I said earlier, Jarod, this is your own fault. I know you don't like people telling you what they think of you when it isn't complimentary but you deserved it. When you get what you deserve, the only person you can be angry at is you." Helen sat down on the end of the bed after putting the tray on his knees. "I know Em, your mother and Sydney, and I’m sure they wouldn't have said any more than what you deserved to hear. In fact, I was probably harsher last night. It's just that three of them one after the other is harder to take, particularly so when, to you, their opinions matter so much more than mine." Her eyes twinkled. "Come to think of it, that could have been the reason I arranged it that way."
"I thought I got punished last night." He picked up the spoon and tasted the soup before looking at her. "Didn't I?"
"To a certain extent, yes, but they do have the right to show you how they feel. And next time you think about doing something so stupid, the words will creep in to your mind and stop you. Believe me, if the Centre hadn't gotten involved, I know you’d have got plenty of lectures like those." Helen laughed. "And from what I know of you, you'd have deserved every one."
"Oh, really?" He looked up, annoyance replaced by curiosity. "In what way?"
"Well, let's just say it wasn't Eddie who caused the Centre so many problems by sneaking out to see snow, trying to explore the sublevels, not completing a SIM until he got to meet somebody, sneaking off to the lab to show rabbits to the Chairman's daughter - have I said enough?"
"I think so." He tried to hide a grin. "And how is that 'Chairman's daughter'?"
"Still very healthy. I think she's going to avoid the measles which piece of news should make you, your mom and Em just as happy as it does her."
"Why?" His eyes were wide.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course."
Helen looked over her shoulder at the door and lowered her voice. "If she's okay tomorrow, I'm going to call your dad and get him to come here, too."
Jarod's eyes shone as he smiled. "And will he come?"
"I don't see why not. Of course, I'm not going to tell him your mom's here, but the fact that you've been sick should be enough."
"He doesn't know?"
"No. He knows you and Em got here okay and that we've been busy, but I wasn't going to tell him when he couldn't come and see you."
He nodded, finishing the last of the soup. "Who else have you told?"
"Just Em, so that she didn't let it slip. But we'll keep it a surprise for them both. It's more fun that way."
Grinning, he put the spoon on the tray beside the empty bowl and leaned against the pillows, looking up at her. "When, exactly, can I go downstairs?"
"After you've had another brief nap. Considering the excitement of this morning, I think you'll need it. But after that, we'll come up and bring you down."
"That makes it sounds like you're going to carry me."
"Well, you never know." She grinned. "I'm pretty strong."
"Not that strong."
"I half-carried you up here. With your fever being so high, you couldn't do a lot to help. And falling asleep on my shoulder as soon as we put you down on the bed didn't help either."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Sydney and I." Helen reached forward, picking up the tray. "He's done an awful lot for you since you got sick, Jarod."
"As have you, Helen." His expression was serious. "Sydney told me so."
Helen arranged the cushions in the armchair on one side of the fireplace in the living room, and then draped a blanket over them, making sure that another was within easy reach.
"Who's that for, Mommy?"
"Jarod, sweetie." Helen smiled at Debbie. "He's coming down this afternoon too. I told you that this morning, remember?"
"Yup." She scraped the last of the ice cream out of the bowl and reached forward to put it on the table, curling up in her chair again. "And are you going to sit here with us as well?"
"There's a few things to do first, baby, but later I will."
"Goody." Debbie bounced in her seat and Broots laughed as he walked in.
"You didn't want the springs in that anyway, did you Helen?"
"Well, I'd better say no, just in case." She smiled. "Where's everybody else?"
"Sydney's catching up on the Triumvirate discussions from the last few days that he’s missed out on, Miss Parker's reading in her bedroom and I think Margaret and Emily are discussing the other troublesome member of their family."
"Again?" She rolled her eyes. "That topic's going to get old very fast."
Broots grinned. "Shall we go up and get the invalid?"
"If he's ready, I think we can bring him down now." She tossed some more wood onto the fire and then led the way up the stairs, glancing back over her shoulder at the girl. "Behave yourself while we're gone, Debbie."
"Uh huh." The girl looked up only briefly from her book before she was lost in it again and Helen grinned.
"She reminds me of what I was like, reading those."
Broots looked at her, his expression serious. "If Debbie grows up to become only half as good as you are, I'll be satisfied."
"Thank you," Helen responded softly. "I value that."
When the two people entered the bedroom, Jarod was already sitting against the pile of pillows, watching the snow falling past the window. The face he turned to the door was bright and almost glowing with health. Helen grinned as she glanced at the technician.
"Gee, Broots, does he look well enough to come downstairs to you?"
"We-ell," the man replied slowly, a teasing look in his eye, "you're the doctor of course, but I don't know whether I'd be bringing him down, looking like that."
"Oh, come on!" Jarod's voice revealed his exasperation. "What else does a poor sick person have to do? I ate lunch, I slept and they were the only conditions, at least as far as I know, under which I could come down."
"If you're that poor and sick, we'll leave you up here for another afternoon."
Groaning, Jarod sank his head into his hands. "Me and my big mouth."
"Don't worry, Jarod, one day you'll learn when to open it and when not to." Helen went over to the cupboard and produced a warm dressing gown, her voice full of laughter. "Now, if sir would care to attire himself, we may be able to provide assistance for sir to descend."
"Now that's something I've been waiting to hear for days." Jarod eagerly put both his arms in the sleeves, at the same time swinging his legs off the bed and onto the floor. He was about to stand when Helen stepped forward.
"Slowly, Jarod. You aren't going to be able to run around at your usual, rapid pace. Not yet, anyway." Slipping an arm under his, she nodded. "Okay, stand up for me."
"I'd rather do it for me." Jarod got to his feet, his eyes widening slightly as he felt himself swaying. "I… I thought I was better."
Understanding his concern Helen spoke soothingly. "You're improving, Jarod, but you're still not 'better' yet. There are some vestiges of illness hanging around that only time and taking things slowly will cure."
She nodded at Broots, who came over and supported Jarod's other arm. Slowly the group left the room.
"Hi, Jarod."
The man grinned as he sat in the armchair and the blankets were firmly wrapped around him.
"How's life, Debbie?"
"Better now."
Jarod looked around the room, a smile on his face. "I know what you mean."
Stepping back, Helen looked from one patient to another. "Can I trust the two of you in here on your own?"
"Where will you be, Mommy?"
"I told you, sweetie, I have some things to do, and your Daddy does as well." She leaned over and kissed the girl. "I'm putting you in charge. If Jarod does anything bad, you call out at once and tell your dad, okay?"
She giggled. "I don't think he likes that."
"He doesn't have any choice. If I hear he’s done anything at all bad, he doesn't get to come down tomorrow."
"Bully." Jarod folded his arms, pretending to sulk. "All I wanted to do was a jog around the block."
"In the middle of a snowstorm?" Helen pulled the thick, dark green curtains shut, making the room cozier. "Save it until you're not under my care any more. If your mother will let you, then you can consider it." She looked at him as her lips twitched. "Bad temper is just as bad as bad behaviour, Jarod."
"Okay, okay." He looked around. "Do I get something to do this afternoon or do I have to just sit here, staring?"
Laughing, Helen walked over to the bookcase and took down a thick volume that she handed to him. "Eddie always enjoyed this book and I think you will too. But take it slowly, Jarod. You've got a few days of this sort of thing."
Taking the book, he nodded. "He liked this, huh?"
Her face became sad. "By the last time I saw him, he could quote any page to me. Yes, Jarod, he liked it very much." Turning, she went upstairs, leaving the two people sitting in the room below.
"Helen?"
"The bedroom, Sydney." She looked up from the bed she was making to see him standing in the doorway. "What's up?"
"Did you hear what the Triumvirate said about us not being there in a week?"
"Uh huh." With the pillow tucked firmly under her chin as she put the clean cover on, this was all she could say for a moment. When it was done, she turned to him. "Why, what's the problem? You'll all be back in Blue Cove by then."
"Sure?"
"Have you seen those two downstairs? Two more rapidly recovering patients, I've never had the privilege to be treating. The only way that you might still be here is if Miss Parker got sick and so far she's showing no sign. But, if that happens, you can call them."
He nodded slowly. "Well, as long as you're sure."
"Debbie will certainly be well enough in a few days for me to drive you home, and you don't have to stay here until Jarod is back to normal. He might not like it, but he's also not selfish enough to make you stay here if it’ll endanger either your lives or those of his family. Oh, I've been meaning to suggest that you three get together and discuss, in great detail, what 'happened' over the last two weeks so that, when anyone questions you, they hear the same story."
"There's that deviousness again," the psychiatrist laughed as he headed for the door. "But it's a good idea." He turned. "I hate to have to ask this but do you mind being the 'bad guy'?"
"Hey," she grinned, "I kidnapped the three of you, didn't I? Just stick to the basic truth and leave out the parts about Jarod and Debbie being sick. Or mention that she was sick and that was why you had to stay away for so long. If I hadn't been here, you would have had to treat her, so they shouldn't have any problems with swallowing that little tale."
Smiling, Sydney nodded and left the room, leaving Helen to strip the other beds before remaking them and then collecting all the dirty sheets to be washed. As she went through the kitchen, she saw Miss Parker sitting at the kitchen table with the two men and grinned.
"Feel like a nap?"
The woman laughed. "I don't need a lot of encouragement. That was wonderfully comfortable."
"Well, if you want them, they'll be in the machine."
"Hmm," Miss Parker leaned back thoughtfully. "Cold, hard and wet as opposed to dry, soft and warm - I'll weigh up my options."
Debbie drowsily raised her arms as Helen came back into the living room, and the doctor, a smile on her face, picked her up, feeling as the girl snuggled against her neck and fell asleep. Helen sat down in the chair opposite Jarod and saw him watching her.
"You weren't kidding when you said that she missed you, were you?"
"No I wasn't, but was it only that that made you realize it?"
"Not exactly. Each time we heard noises from overhead she'd look at the stairs to see if you were coming down."
"Kids always want mothers when they're sick, Jarod." She looked meaningfully at him. "Even big kids."
"And what are you going to do when they go back to Blue Cove?"
Helen was about to shrug, but the weight on her shoulder prevented it, so she let the expression show on her face instead. "Go back to the way life was before. I'll be in Blue Cove every few days anyway, so I can see her then."
"How was it after Eddie left?"
"Quiet." She smiled a little sadly. "It took a while to get used to, but I managed to do it then and I'll do it this time as well."
"You'll be lonely."
"You sound like Debbie." She paused. "As I said to you last night, Jarod, I'll cope. I've coped ever since he got married and I'll just have to get used to it again."
"I doubt you want it to happen, any more than I did."
"Well, I'm not going to fake an illness to keep you all here." Helen watched his cheeks glow and a resentful look appear in his eyes as she grinned. "I said I wasn't going to mention it again, Jarod, but you can't lead me there or I'll have to."
"Okay, okay." He picked up the book again and Helen looked at the fire. When he looked up once more, there was a faint smile on her face and a tear slowly making its way down her cheek.
"Helen? What is it?"
"Nothing," she responded softly as Debbie raised her head. The girl wiped away the one tear and threw her arms around Helen's neck, hugging her and kissing her on one cheek, before sitting in her lap.
"Were you thinking about him again, Mommy?"
"Yes, sweetie." Helen returned the kiss. "But I won't anymore." Glancing down at her watch, she smiled. "Anyone feel like something hot and disgustingly sweet to drink?"
"Yes, please!" Debbie's face was pleading and Jarod's, as Helen looked at him, wasn't much better. Laughing, she got to her feet.
"Fine, hot chocolate for two kids and one adult."
After she left the room, Debbie looked at Jarod, a look of avid curiosity evident on her face, and he smiled.
"What's up?"
"Who's the person Mommy thinks about?"
"A man we both knew." His face became sad. "He died a few months ago."
"Did she like him?"
"Yes, Debbie." Jarod paused. "I think she liked him a lot."
She nodded and then glanced up at him again. "She's disappointed in you."
"I know." He looked at the fire. "Most people are."
"Did you do something dumb?"
"It was pretty dumb," he admitted before looking up at her, his face curious. "What happens when you do something dumb?"
"The last time I did, Daddy got really mad with me." Her face became sad. "I don't like it when that happens."
"I didn't like it when my mom was angry either, or when Sydney and Emily told me how mad they were."
"Wow!" Her eyes were wide. "You really did make most people mad, didn't you?"
"Yes," he agreed, trying not to laugh. "Everybody except you, your dad and Miss Parker."
"I can be mad if you want me to be."
"That's very obliging of you, but I'd rather have some people who weren't mad at me too."
The girl scrambled out of the chair, climbing in his lap and hugging him. "I don't think my Mommy's mad at you anymore. Shall I ask her not to be?"
"You won't need to, Debbie. She's not mad anymore."
The girl looked up to see Emily come into the room carrying a tray. "Are you?"
"No, I'm not mad." She put down the tray and waited for Debbie get down to go back to her chair before Emily handed one mug to the girl and the other to her brother, kissing him on the top of his head. He clung to her hand for a minute and she smiled as she sat down on the sofa.
"Helen will be here in a moment. She's just helping the others with the finer details of their 'kidnapping'."
Jarod glanced over. "And when will all that be necessary?"
"In a few days." Seeing the sad look in Debbie's eyes, they changed the subject, Emily reaching out for a pack of cards and setting up the small table between the chair and the sofa. By the time that Helen appeared in the doorway, Jarod was watching the game with interest. Laughing, the doctor went over to the cupboard and took out a board game before looking at him.
"Now this is something I've wanted to do for a while. Eddie and I played this quite a lot, and now I want to test myself against another Centre-trained genius."
He took the rulebook as she put the box on the coffee table and settled herself in front of the fire, beginning to set up the board.
"Trivial Pursuit?"
"Uh huh."
Emily glanced up with a grin. "Can I place a bet on the outcome?"
"Go for it."
"Helen by one question."
Jarod raised an eyebrow, speaking sarcastically. "It's wonderful to see how much confidence my sister has in me."
"Believe me, Jarod, I've played that with her and she wiped the floor with me. My bet was very generous. I think she'll win by a lot more."
"Well," he looked over at his opponent and narrowed his eyes. "We'll see."
"1964."
"1963." Helen provided the answer and turned the card around to prove it to him, laughing. "For some reason, I'd have expected you to remember that year."
He groaned and looked at his sister. "You weren't kidding when you said she was good at this, were you?"
"Nope." Emily grinned, glancing Debbie, who was sitting in Helen's lap, her eyes on the board. She looked up in time to see Sydney enter the room, laughing as he saw the game.
"Who's winning?"
"Helen."
The psychiatrist stared. "You're kidding, right?"
"Thank you, Sydney." Helen laughed as she rolled the die. "I appreciate that kind commentary on my mental abilities."
Margaret laughed at the remark, as she entered, before rolling her eyes. "Jarod, that’s very brave of you. I don't think there's sufficient money in the world to make me play that with Helen ever again."
"Why?" He looked up, curiosity in his eyes.
"We played almost every day that she stayed with me and she always won by a lot. I suspect that after so long, that she knows every answer to the questions in those boxes."
"Well," Helen tried to sound modest as she moved the piece. "Not every answer but I'd have to be getting close." She smiled. "Still it's been a few years since I've played it against somebody of this caliber. I'm a little rusty."
"And that is presumably the reason why Jarod actually gets a chance to answer a question every so often," Emily put in.
"Well, when he does, he usually gets a run of them. Then he gets one wrong..."
"And I have to sit for ages until she forgets something before I get another turn."
Margaret smiled. "Helen, are you forgetting or being nice?"
"My memory isn't that good."
"So you are being nice." The woman sat down on the arm of the chair where her son was sitting. "If you weren't, you'd have given a straight answer."
"Margaret, can you not give away all my secrets? Jarod found out quite a lot about me when he had to create a profile a few years ago. I'm sure he doesn't need all the gaps filled in now."
"Are you just being nice?" Jarod narrowed his eyes as she hesitated. "Well?"
"Well, you are still sick and I'd hate for you to be bored having to ask me all the questions and not getting to answer any yourself." She eventually stopped at the category and groaned, hiding a grin. "Oh no, not philosophy. My worst subject."
