Author's Note: this is what I imagined the events surrounding Indigo's illness before book two would be like.
The day it started was a wet windy November day. Saffy was yelling at Caddy for using all the hot water (Caddy apologising quickly before running off back to University), Rose had wrapped herself up with several jumpers and her dressing gown while complaining bitterly about the cold and Eve was once again attempting to make porridge.
Indigo managed to stumble into the kitchen after avoiding the many umbrellas that lay on the floor and the many odd shoes. Shivering, he accepted Saffy's offer of hot tea before suddenly coughing.
"You ok Indy?" Rose asked looking up from her lumpy concrete porridge.
"Fine" he said before sneezing.
"Bless you" Saffy said with a raised eyebrow. "You don't look fine. You're rather pale actually and you haven't stopped shivering at all. It's not that cold"
"Speak for yourself" Rose said, "I'm frozen here and I think my porridge has an iceberg in it"
"I'm fine" Indigo repeated before another coughing fit took over.
"Oh yes I totally believe you" Saffy said rolling her eyes. "Eve, Indigo is ill"
"Is he now, dear?" Eve left the bubbling remains of the porridge to check Indigo's temperature. Her hand was cool against his forehead and he couldn't help but sigh a little. "Oh darling, darling" Eve cooed. "You have a fever, go back to bed. No school. No school at all today"
"Can I not go to school too?" Rose asked eagerly.
"Fraid not Rosie Pose. Only Indigo since he is ill and don't try faking it darling, I may be a hippy in a shed but I know all the tricks. After all I am your mother" Eve said as she ushered Indigo back up the stairs. "Bed, Indigo Darling and lots of sleep"
As Indigo slowly trod up the stairs he felt a soothing feeling of relief taking over his twisted stomach. No school. No school today. That meant no Tony and his gang. No toilets to be dunked in and a peaceful restful day to look forwards to.
"Rose stop pouting, it's no fun to be ill and you should be paying attention to school if you want Bill to get off your back about your school reports" Saffy snapped.
Well peaceful and restful after his sisters go to school.
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The next few days had been a little too quiet for Indigo's liking. When Saffron and Rose went to school and Eve drifted off to her shed there was only him and he was never the noisy type. Indigo enjoyed the sounds from his family, the shouting and banging and general chaos that was just them. It was too strange for him when it was this quiet.
He managed to pass most of the time sleeping or doing a little bit of homework but for some reason he was always so tired, so exhausted, so drained. As if someone has been feeding off of his energy or something. It could be just because he hasn't been eating. Eve has come in with chicken soup ("From tins dear, don't worry") and dry toast but neither had been very appetising.
Even Sarah's Mum's good cooking didn't make him hungry.
He was also getting sick of just looking at his bedroom walls. Apart from the bathroom (which was immediately (and uncharacteristically) disinfected by Eve after he's been) Indigo was not allowed to leave his bedroom. It was an old and very annoying rule imposed by both parents. When one was ill they must be confined to their rooms till they're well again. It was (at the time the rule was made) to keep illness away from Rose who was still weak.
Even though Rose was now strong the rule still remained and Indigo was becoming a little stir crazy.
So when he heard the lock downstairs click open, he struggled to get out of bed and greet the home comer. Hopefully he'll be able to convince them to spend some time with him and keep him company. He was getting rather lonely as well as stir crazy.
The world around him spun as he slowly made it across his room and out of the door. He clung tightly to the banister as he shifted across the hallway and to the stairs. Down by the door Rose was throwing her school bag onto the floor and yanking off her coat.
"Ro-"
He clung tighter to the banister as the walls around him swam. His body got heavier and his legs weaker and before he knew it, his legs collapsed beneath him.
Everything went dark and the last thing he heard for a long time was Rose's scream.
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Samantha was preparing a surprise romantic dinner at Bill's flat when the phone rang. She moved to answer it without really thinking. She had been used to answering Bill's phone and it was always a business associate that she would take a message for. She knew Bill had a family, ex-wife and children, but they had yet to call.
"Hello, this is Samantha, whom am I speaking to?" she asked politely.
There was a quiet sniffle on the phone. "H-hello" a woman's voice quavered. "Is B-Bill there?"
"I'm afraid not Miss...?"
"M-Mrs Casson b-b-but call me E-E-Eve p-p-please, darling"
Samantha's heart stopped for one moment. Bill's ex-wife...she never met or heard from the woman. She knew, from Bill's vague descriptions (he never spoke much about her just about the children), that Eve was a local artist with little prestige.
"Would you like me to leave a message?" she asked finally finding her voice.
"P-please" Eve sniffled. "Get it to him q-quickly. Indy...our Indy...poor Indy..."
She was crying properly now. Full on sobbing that choked up her breathing and murmured words that Samantha could barely decipher. "Take a deep breath Eve and calm down" Samantha said soothingly. She could hear Eve following her advice, the sniffling following each breath. "Now tell me what happened to Indigo, calmly"
A sniffle. "I-I-Indigo had the flu b-b-but it's gotten worse. H-h-he passed out on the stairs and gave p-p-poor Rose such a fright. H-h-he's in hospital now, Caddy and Michael are with him. Get B-Bill, p-p-please, I need Bill"
"Don't worry Eve, I will as soon as he comes back"
"T-t-thank you, darling, oh thank you, I just don't know what do!" Samantha was unable to keep a smile of her face as a rather comical sound echoed down the phone. Eve was probably blowing her nose. "I'm so sorry darling, but I don't think I ever met you, who are you darling? Bill's colleague?"
It was that moment when Samantha realised that Bill had probably never told his ex-wife about his new girlfriend. Who is very likely not as ex as he made her out to be.
"Just a friend" Samantha lied. She wasn't going to inform Eve that her husband had been cheating on her the day her son had been rushed into hospital. "I have to go now, I'll give the message to Bill immediately, don't worry"
"Thank you, goodbye darling"
"Goodbye Eve"
Just then the door unlocked and Bill entered. "Oh hello Samantha darling, what a gorgeous surprise, what are you doing here?"
She turned and looked at him icily. "Eve just phoned. Never heard of me before"
"Ah..."
She shook her head. "You need to go back" she said. "We'll talk about this later but right now your son has just been rushed into hospital an-"
She didn't even get to finish her sentence when Bill suddenly ran into his room for his overnight bag.
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Rose was cuddled into Eve crying. Saffron and Sarah were in the canteen getting drinks and Caddy and Michael were sitting opposite talking in whispers. Eve was trying her best to calm Rose down but whenever a nurse ran past with a tray of medical things – including B.L.O.O.D – she felt herself literally pale and lose her words and beginning to feel rather faint herself.
It was very late and no one seemed quite ready to go home and leave Indigo. Rose had yet to stop crying, Saffy was back now with warm drinks and Sarah had taken over trying to calm Rose down.
Then Bill, darling, wonderful, Bill came like a knight in shining armour. She was ready to fling her arms round him and cry herself. Instead Rose did and Bill held her in his arms while glaring at Eve in such a terrifying way that her breath caught up in her throat.
"Why is Rose still here?" he asked. "She should be at home resting. She's too yo-AH! ROSE STOP THAT!"
Rose had started to hit Bill repeatedly on the shoulder. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she chanted. "Indigo is sick! We need to be here for when he wakes up. We need to say get better just like he did when I was a baby"
"Rose, be sensible" Bill said tiredly. "You need your rest just as much. You'd be useless to Indigo if you got ill too. Besides, I'm here now I can say get better to him"
Caddy swooped down and took Rose out of his arms before Rose said something rude or hit Bill again. "Come on Rosie Pose" she cooed. "We'll pick up some chips on the way home and I'll make us some lovely hot chocolate with those pink and white marshmallows you like"
Rose looked like she was about to argue but one look at Eve (who was pale and rather withdrawn) she nodded and allowed herself to be passed on to Michael as Caddy rounded up Saffy and Sarah to leave. Once they had left Bill pushed his way into Indigo's room where the boy laid there looking smaller and paler than ever.
"Good god" Bill muttered falling into the chair besides the bed. "What happened?"
"Doctor said it's glandular fever" Eve said quietly. "It'll take a very long time for him to recover and it'll effect him for the rest of his life"
Bill whipped round to face her. "What do you mean it'll effect him for the rest of his life?"
"He'll just be tired a lot, darling" Eve said softly sitting beside Bill. "Nothing else"
"Where were you when this happened?" Bill said harshly. "In your shed, I suppose?"
Eve bristled. "I was there. I looked after him" she whispered. "I was just in my shed for an hour or two when he passed out"
Neither of them noticed the movement in Indigo's hand or the flutter of his eyelashes as he blinked.
Bill snorted. "An hour or two? You mean the whole day. Honestly Eve, you're not exactly the most sensible or responsible mother around are you" he inwardly winced as Eve flinched and her deep blue eyes watered. "I'm sorry" he muttered. "I'm just..."
"I know" Eve said gently. "It's difficult being back in this position after Rosie Pose"
Bill sighed. "Oh darling, forgive me but I have to do this now or I'll never do it"
"Bill?"
She looked so innocent and confused. Almost like Caddy without her make up. A sweeter version of Saffy. A kinder one of Linda.
He swallowed. "You spoke to Samantha on the phone today"
"Oh yes, she's a lovely darling, helped me ever so much. A very good friend of yours, I suppose"
"Friend isn't...Eve...technically the correct label for Samantha is mistress"
Eve shut her eyes and took a deep breath before smiling. A sad bittersweet smile, one he had seen throughout the months after Rose's birth. The one when Saffy started calling her Eve instead of Mum...the one she uses when she's upset but won't show it.
"I shouldn't really be surprise, darling," she said her voice breaking slightly, "you've been distant before Rose was even born. I never was responsible or sensible enough for you and I suppose that would drive you away. You haven't touched me since Saffy found out she was adopted. You got less tolerant every weekend...and recently you just haven't come home"
"Eve, I'm so-"
"Don't Bill, please don't" Eve pleaded. Tears were now running down her face.
"I do love you" Bill continued, skipping his apology. "I care for you deeply. You are a wonderful person darling but i...I'm not in love with you"
Eve cried and Bill wrapped an arm round her. She leaned into him, allowing him to offer this bit of comfort before he continued on to break her heart.
Indigo rolled over and looked out of the window. To his surprise he found tears clinging to his eyelashes and the stars blurred.
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The next few weeks blurred into constant hospital visits and worrying at home (or school). Indigo had been violently sick, had high fevers and lost more weight than he could actually afford to lose. It wasn't until a few days before Christmas when the hospital finally released him. Only Bill and Eve came to pick him up. The others were apparently preparing a welcome home party which he knew immediately would be tiring.
He stood there outside of the hospital doors breathing his first bit of fresh air in over a month. It was rather overwhelming. He was wrapped up in several layers and stood there allowing both his mother and father to hug him fiercely. Eve kept planting kisses on his cheeks and stroking his hair and murmuring endearments. Bill took out his camera and Indigo stood there, barely able to make a twitch of the lips for the camera.
Back at home he spent most of it in bed. Saffy brought regular cups of teas and checked his temperature before giving his medication. Rose would come in with stories and pictures she did for him while Bill tried to keep her out in case she got sick too. Caddy appeared with stories of her new Uni friends and Michael promised him rock climbing in the gym the moment he got better. Sarah visited often too and left him little gifts such as wordsearches to keep him amused.
Christmas was a quiet affair. Indigo hadn't been able to stomach much of the Christmas dinner, it was too rich and well big. He had been napping while the others were watching the Christmas specials on TV when he heard Eve struggling to get up to the attic.
Indigo slowly made it out of his room (carefully in case of anymore fainting incidences) and stood there as Eve struggled to haul up a large painting. "Mum?" he said quietly.
Eve jumped and almost drop the painting. "Oh Indigo Darling!" she exclaimed. "Why are you out of bed? The doctors said lots of bed rest"
"Can I see?" he asked nodding to the painting. He knew it would be one of him or his sisters. Eve often did one in a crisis and saves them for something. No one knew what just that they stayed hidden in the attic and only Eve knew what they looked like. "I won't tell"
Eve smiled. "Oh, I guess so, it is you after all" she stumbled down the ladder and turned the painting round for him to look.
It was mostly water paints. A pale version of him stood there in white looking rather ethereal and out of this world. Angelic he guessed. He was surrounded by pale yellows and pink, probably a watered down colour of Cadmium Gold and Permanent Rose (and Saffron). The only deep dark and bright, rich colour was a few tears running down one cheek and flying out into the sky.
Deep indigo coloured tears.
"I don't think I look like that" Indigo murmured with a blush.
"You do to me" Eve said softly, "my little angel. Always helping in the kitchen and looking after Rose without me ever asking"
"Mum...are you ok?"
"Of course I am darling. Why shouldn't I be? My baby boy is at home and safe and sound. Rose, Caddy and Saffy are all safe and your father is home for Christmas"
"Mum..." he took a deep breath. "I heard you and Dad in the hospital room that night"
Eve's smile fell and she deflated a little bit. Her bouncy natural happy aura gone in seconds. "Oh...Oh poor darling. You didn't need to hear that at all" she said sitting down at the ladder. "Don't tell Rose" she said quietly. "Saffy and Caddy already know. They had very strong words with your father. Well Saffy did, we all know what Saffron is like" Indigo nodded. Saffy had a temper that only Rose rivalled. "We decided not to tell Rose yet. Just ease her in with the idea that Bill won't be home often as usual. To suggest the idea of me seeing other people. That sort of thing. She'll probably catch on quick enough, she's very observant for her age...it's just...she's so delicate"
Indigo suppressed a snort. There was nothing delicate about Rose apart from in looks. And it wasn't really her fault that she looked so small and fragile.
"Are you ok with this darling?" Eve whispered.
"I think so...just need to get used to it I suppose" Indigo murmured.
"Such a good boy" Eve said pulling him into a hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you or your sisters. You're all very precious to me, you do know that don't you?"
Indigo nodded and decided to change the topic before either of them started to cry. "What have you decided to call the painting, Mum?"
"Oh, I thought Pale Indigo would be rather nice title"
They looked at each other before laughing.