Page 15 of Words Unspoken

“There is a waiting room right down the hall,” she pointed to it. It had become her home while she waited during the surgery. She had read every single magazine, cover to cover. Not that she had absorbed much of what she had read. “I will be there.”

Noah followed her to the waiting room and they both sat in silence for a few minutes before he said, “I am sorry, Ann. I should not have taken my anger out on you.”

Ann sighed. “He didn’t tell me about the surgery either. I literally got into the car as it was leaving the company yesterday morning and refused to budge. I found out when we arrived at the hospital.”

Noah stared at her for a moment. “He was going to go through this whole thing alone?”

“I guess so,” she shrugged. “I talked to the doctor. It was unlikely that he was going to survive the surgery. Maybe he thought he would just spare us all the worry.”

“They thought he was going to die?” Noah was shocked.

Ann nodded. “The odds were not good. It was brain surgery.”

“Have you been here the whole time?” asked Noah.

“Yes.” All twenty-seven excruciating hours. She felt incredibly fatigued. Even the naps she had taken in the chair beside the bed were not really enough.

“You should go home.”

“No,” Ann opened her eyes which had been drooping.

“Max and I can see to things here,” insisted Noah. “We will look after him. He is our brother.”

“No. He is my…” Ann trailed off. What was he? Her boss? Her friend? She had been about to say her Michael, but he was not. Yet instinctively she knew that Michael would never have cried on Noah or Max’s shoulder. He was hers even if he would never admit it. “I am staying. He asked me to stay.”

She neglected to mention that Michael had been asking her to stay when she was quitting the company, not at the hospital. But today he had held her hand like he did not want her to go. That was enough.

“Can I get Elle to bring you some clothes and whatever else you need?” questioned Noah.

“Please,” said Ann. “I would appreciate that.”

Max came into the room and slumped into a chair. He rubbed his face. “Your turn.”

Noah left, and Ann watched Max as he struggled with what he wanted to say with some sympathy. “It is difficult.”

Max gave bitter laugh. “You have no idea. I haven’t seen Michael for six years except at Noah is wedding and the twins’ baptism. He barely spoke to me. Then he turns up with an apology and angling for a vote which I thought made no sense but hey, it is what he wanted and who am I to judge? Then he disappears and has brain surgery. He looks like death warmed over.”

Ann nodded and that was all Max needed to continue. “He is my big brother. He is twelve years older than me and other than migraines, I don’t remember him ever being sick a day in his life. He used to give me advice. He taught me how to swim. I have looked up to him for years. Did you know Dad was going to sue me over the medical fund for those kids?”

“No,” Ann was surprised. Michael had never said anything.

“He was,” Max moved his hands expressively as he talked. “Gains told me this morning. Michael convinced Dad not to. Michael also bought out my shares.”

“That I knew about,” she had helped to set up the dummy company. It had been quite the operation. It was one of the many things she admired about Michael. He did so many things for other people and never sought any credit.

“Really?” Max ran a hand through his hair making Ann smile. Both Noah and Max had the habit which Michael never did. Michael never seemed to be openly frustrated over anything. Perhaps that would change now, she reflected. “He needs a shave.”

“What?” Ann drew her brain away from her musings to try to listen.

“He needs a shave,” repeated Max. “I have never seen him not shaved.”

Ann had not either. She personally thought if he didn’t look like death half warmed over as Max put it, Michael might make the five o’clock shadow look very sexy.

“Max, he is going to be okay,” Ann hoped desperately that was true.

“You didn’t sound so sure of that on the phone earlier,” Max pointed out.

She took a deep breath. “There has been some residual brain damage from the surgery.”