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And now we were here, with a mountain of things left unsaid between us. And no place and time to start going through them all.
“Oh, Kip! There you are!”
We both turned to find Imogene entering the office with the grace of a tree nymph, tall and willowy in a sage green jumpsuit and pearl necklace. She passed me as if I weren’t there, easily breaching the invisible barrier I’d constructed between Xavier and me so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders and pull him into a tight embrace.
“We came as soon as we heard,” she told him, rubbing his arms. “Mummy and Papa are downstairs comforting Georgina, but you poor thing. How are you? You always were a brick.”
She pulled back, keeping her hands resting on his forearms. His hands remained at her waist until he caught my expression. Only then did they drop, like he was touching a hot coal.
“We’re all right,” he said stiffly. “Just…waiting.”
Imogene nodded as if she understood completely. Then she glanced at his desk and sighed. “Well, I see you already saw the papers.”
I looked where she was pointing and realized Xavier hadn’t been wrestling with business documents at all, but with piles of newspapers, all bearing photos of him and Adam at the polo match. And another of Adam trying to kiss me. I craned my neck to see it better and was relieved to find that my expression was obviouslynotinterested in said kiss. Small mercies.
But no wonder Xavier had looked so upset when I walked in.
“Absolute nightmare, I imagine. Adam is always getting himself into trouble, of course.”
I frowned. How did Imogene know Adam? Was he that frequent a visitor to these sorts of events?
“Seems that way,” Xavier mumbled, reaching behind him to shove the papers out of sight.
“And the press is brutal,” Imogene rattled on. “Completely unfair.” She looked sharply at me. “We really can’t be too careful,Ithink.”
I said nothing. Honestly, I didn’t think it was any of her business.
“You know theMirrornever gets their facts straight,” Xavier said, clearly not in the mood.
I waited for him to say more. I waited for him to tell her none of the papers knew what they were talking about, that they had had it out for Sofia and me from the beginning and had wanted to stir up trouble from the start.
But he didn’t, and as Imogene babbled on about this piece of gossip and that, Xavier remained silent, barely noticing me where I stood.
Just as he barely noticed when I left.
* * *
Henry Parker’sroom was quiet when I entered but for the occasional beeping of the monitors next to the bed. It was an odd mix of modern and traditional, these ugly, life-saving machines in the middle of such old grandeur.
The man in it, however, looked completely different.
He was still thin, of course, though the long limbs beneath the thin blankets spoke to the fact that he had once been a much larger man. One side of his face, however, had fallen completely slack, his eyes were shut, and it was obvious that his chest was only moving because of the tube that had been inserted through his mouth.
I wasn’t sure if there was a person alive in there. But Xavier had said the doctors didn’t think he was brain dead. Yet.
So perhaps a visit didn’t mean nothing.
“Hello,” I said, despite knowing he would not respond at all. “I’m—it’s Frankie. Francesca. Er, Xavier’s friend. Sofia’s mother.” I sighed. “I don’t really know what to call myself, if you want to know the truth. Girlfriend never sounded right—like we’re in high school and just starting out, despite the fact that we already have a four-year-old. But what’s the next step from there, you know? Fiancée? Partner? Wife?” I shook my head. “Whatever. Just Frankie is fine.”
I patted the hand that lay still on the bed. It didn’t move, but I was surprised to find it was still warm.
“Don’t exert yourself,” I joked. “Really, not on my behalf.” Then I sighed again. The jokes were done. “Sorry. I’m just uncomfortable. I’ve never talked to a comatose man before. And definitely not one who is uncle to the man I love, and I’m pretty sure the only person in the world he cares about besides his own kid.”
In response, the machine beside him beeped. Outside, the birds were chirping, and a finch hopped along the windowsill. I hoped he could hear them. I hoped Henry Parker could take every sweet thing shining through the glass with him, wherever he was.
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but things between Xavier and me are kind of weird right now,” I said. “So this might be the last time you see me. Er, well, you know what I mean. I’m sure Sofia will come back. After all, she’s your grand-niece, right? Or something like that. And she’ll want to visit the sheep again. She likes sheep a lot.”
I paused again, stroking the man’s hand, unsure of what else to say. I didn’t even know how I felt either. I was so confused.
