It had been a month since Edward had "died". He was back living in the mansion, but he was lonely. Sure, he had lived alone for a while after the inventor died, but after living with the Boggs, he had become accustomed to company. So now he was lonely. He would spend hours looking out of the attic windows, watching the children that played in the street. Sometimes one of the ladies would walk by, with a dog, or another woman, or a child. But not often.
On sunny days, when the children were at school, and no one was in the street, pointing at the house where the monster had lived, he would go outside, and trim his topiaries, or create new ones. But he didn't create ice statues. They reminded him of that night with Kim, when she danced in the snow. He didn't want to think of her. He knew he would never see her again.
He spent the moth in solitude, wishing he could go back. But he knew he couldn't. Not after what happened.
After a while, Edward stopped eating. He would simply wake up, and place himself in front of the window, and stay there till darkness fell. And then he stopped going to bed. He would sit in his chair, in front of the open attic window, drifting in and out of reality, and shivering, drawing his legs close to his body for warmth.
He would have stayed in that position forever, not eating, and freezing, but a visitor came.
Peg was worried about the young man she had come to think of as a son. He was all alone in the large house. There was no one to care for him, or to keep him company.
She had decided to drop in, to make sure he was alright. She was just in time. It had been three days since he had last eaten, and he had been sitting in front of the open window for two.
He was asleep when she got there, and she let herself in. She searched the house, looking all over for Edward, before she found him.
His skin was paler then she had ever seen it, so pale that his scars stood out more then ever, pale enough to reveal how blue, and cold his lips were. He was cold, and when she touched his skin, lightly coated with snowflakes, she shuddered.
Peg knew he couldn't stay in front of that window. She had to move him somewhere warm. If she didn't, she knew he would freeze. She pulled his chair away from the window, grateful for the exercise classes she had once taken, before heading downwards to find him a bed, the nearest one possible. It didn't take her long, but she would still have to drag Edward down a flight of stairs, and she knew she wasn't strong enough. But she would have to try.
Surprisingly, she managed to get him downstairs, and into bed with in the space of a few minutes. She could have woken him up, but it seemed to her that he needed the sleep.
Peg spent the rest of the afternoon tidying the mansion. Having nothing better to do, Edward had kept the place relatively clean, but it still had needed work. The kitchen worked, but it was empty, devoid of anything other than Ramen noodles, and crackers. He must be starving! The poor boy!
Finally, she noticed it was getting late. It was almost 4:30. Kevin would be getting home, then Kim, and lastly, her husband. She still had to make dinner, and do the laundry.
She scribbled a note, telling him she had to go home, but that she was going to bring all of the blankets he wasn't using home and wash them. After dinner, she would return, with hot food, and the clean laundry.
