The Drive to Willow Hill was Quiet, Jonathan was exhausted and knew that he was taking out his frustration out on Jennifer, who'd taken on the patience of a saint in dealing with him. He never wanted to seem like a burden to her, but in this moment, he felt helpless and angry with the world and himself.
Jennifer took his hand and squeezed, there was nothing she could say that would make him feel better.
They drove through the gates and up to the side of the house, putting the car into park, she ran around to the other side of the car to open the door, but he'd beaten her to the punch, he opened the door and climbed out of the car.
"Let me help you, please," She said taking his hand guiding him to the door.
As soon as their feet hit the welcome mat, Max threw open the door, "Welcome Home, Mr. H!" he was so excited, he was like a kid in a candy store and Freeway barked at their feet.
"Hey Max," Jonathan said quietly, Max took his hand and shook before letting them into the house.
"Darling, let's get you settled into your office, we've put a bed there," Jennifer took his good arm, but he pulled away.
"I'd rather be up in our bedroom," He was adamant, he didn't want to be treated like an invalid.
"But the stairs," Max stammered, He'd spent all morning setting up a makeshift bed because both he and Mrs. H agreed that If Jonathan got up in the middle of the night and couldn't feel for the banister, he might hurt himself.
"We'll figure out something, Darling, I'm sure you want to take a shower and get comfortable," Jennifer interrupted. Max understood and went back into the kitchen.
Jonathan moved around the house, he had a floor plan in his head, but some things were different.
"Where's the chair that used to be near the bar?" He asked feeling it and noticing that the room seemed to have more room.
"We need some extra space, so I told Max to put the chair in the guest house," She put down his travel bag, for only a few days in the hospital, Max had packed enough for six months.
"Oh," He continued to walk around the room, trying to remember where everything was. "I'm thirsty,"
"Oh, let me get you some juice," she said but he held up his hand.
"I can do it," He used the cane he'd been given to the hospital to follow his way into the kitchen.
She gave up and went upstairs to take a shower, his stubbornness would be the most difficult part.
Jonathan stumbled around the kitchen until he figured out where the juice was, he was determined to live as normally as possible, despite his lack of vision.
Jennifer finished showering and after getting dressed, she came downstairs to look for him, "Jonathan?", wondering through the house but he wasn't in the kitchen and she saw the puddle of orange juice on the ground next to a smashed glass.
"Oh no," She mumbled and ran around the house, he wasn't in his office or in the library, Max must have taken Freeway for a walk.
Jennifer ran out of the house and was about to ask the Gardner to get her the golf cart when she spotted Jonathan in the garden.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Jennifer walked to the garden and saw him sitting on a bench, "Darling?"
He stiffened up at her voice, "I'm here,"
She sat beside him, "Are you okay? I saw the juice on the floor,"
"I can't do this, I don't want to be here, I feel like a stranger in my own home, so I think what's best for us, is if I move into a center for the blind and you divorce me," He said quietly, his heart shattering.
"No," She swallowed hard, "I'm never doing that, we promised we'd be together until the end," She couldn't breath and felt the tears pour down her face.
"You deserve someone who isn't feeling the walls and can tell you how beautiful you are all the time, who can make love to you with their eyes open." He tried to face her but the bandages on his face made it hard.
"Is that all you think our relationship is based on? I've never once thought of us as being that narcissistic. I thought we simply loved each other, and if that's not the case, then what have we been doing all these years?" She was torn between being furious and being sad, taking his hands and putting them on her face, "What do you feel?"
Jonathan paused, "Powder, lots of powder," He smiled
She shook her head, "I love you, your big jerk and I'll never stop loving you. I don't care if I have told you every minute of every day, I didn't marry you because of your vision, I married you because I love your heart."
"And my 68 Jag," He said leaning forward to kiss her face.
"Actually, 67 Jaguar," She kissed him back, he pulled her forward and she practically fell in his lap.
"I'm sorry I've been acting so childish," He confessed, "I'm just. frustrated,"
"Darling, you are dealing with something horrible, and if you need to yell and scream to cope, then that's okay, just remember I'm not going anywhere." She kissed him.
"Let's go upstairs," He suggested raising his eye brow through the bandages.
"Nice try," She laughed, "Come on, you need a shower and to eat a decent meal," She climbed off his lap and took his arm, leading him back into the house, Max had come back and looked worried but relaxed when he saw that Mrs. H was in control.
Upstairs, she drew him a bath in the large tub he'd insisted they buy, she would have been happy with a smaller tub but he convinced her that they could have fun in a larger tub, except she would repeatedly tell him to "Move his foot" because his legs were longer than the tub and would often hit the side of her legs.
He felt like a little kid when she had to undress him and help him into the tub but when she saw the bruises on his body and was cautious of his broken arm.
She wanted to cry, his beautiful body was maimed, and she wondered how long before he'd be healed, his stitches had come out previously but there were still bruises all over his face.
Because he'd only been in the hospital for a few days, he hadn't lost much weight but compared to her small 105lbs, he was heavy and when Jonathan leaned on her, she nearly tipped over, for a moment she considered calling Max, but knew that Jonathan would be humiliated.
She lowered him into the tub and washed him, he was so quiet, she wondered what he was thinking when she went to wash his chest, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the tub, fully clothed, "Jonathan!"
"I'm a bad little boy," He laughed as she struggled to get out of the tub, her favorite angora sweater ruined and her hair, that she'd had styled perfectly was ruined but as long as he was being his usually playful self, she didn't care.
After finishing getting him cleaned and dried off, she helped into dry pajamas and put him into bed, she could see their time in the garden and his bath had taken a lot out of him.
"I'm not tired," He protested weakly as she wrestled him into bed
"I know but for now, just a little nap," like she was his mother and he needed to be convinced.
He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
She kissed his head before going into the closet and changing her clothes.
Downstairs, Max was fixing a tray for Jonathan.
"Oh Max, that's wonderful, but he's asleep," Jennifer swept through the kitchen, desperate for anything strong, she went to the table and put her head down on it, Max silently moved around the kitchen table and poured her a shot, but not before Freeway barked for a treat, Max bent down and whispered in Freeway's ear, "Go see your Mom, she needs some hugs"
Freeway jumped on the side of her chair and she picked him up, burying her face in his fur, she began to cry, "What are we going to do, Max? there's a million decisions that have to be made and I'm not sure where to start,"
Max sat down across from here, "We'll start with the small decisions and work our way up, what's first?"
"The Insurance company, I guess, and we'll have to replace the car, I guess then we'll have to figure out about Hart Industries, maybe Marcus can take over for a while," She said wiping her face.
Max sat back and stared for a minute, "Why don't you take over? You know more about Hart Industries than anyone," He suggested raising his eye brow.
"I'm not sure," She hadn't really thought about that, could she leave a successful writing career that essentially put her into the same field as T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and thanks to her marriage, a racy Jacqueline Susann, she could never imagine herself as a Corporate CEO, having to make decisions that could affect other people's livelihoods, she'd always been in awe of how Jonathan was able to make unbiased decisions and always seemed to be the right one.
Jonathan had the golden touch and she never wanted to ruin that.
Max studied her face, "But you know, it's not definite, I'm sure one of Mr. H's execs could do just as good as job,"
"Maybe," She was thinking, Maybe Max was right, Jonathan could help her run the company, she could be his eyes.
She put Freeway down and crossed the table, kissing Max's head, she said, "You are one in a million, Max,"
Max let out a giggle and went back to his tray, he knew that Mr. H would be starving when he woke up.
Jennifer swept through the kitchen and into the living room, it would be hours before Jonathan was awake and she was feeling restless, she supposed she could curl up with a good book, but she couldn't turn her mind off.
She wondered through the living room, filled with antiques from all over the world and she wondered over to the piano to where her favorite pictures were.
Jennifer picked up a picture and sat down on the window seat by the piano, it was taken moments after they'd become engaged and after she had threatened to never speak to him again.
She had to laugh at the fact, he was willing to get her arrested in order to prevent her from leaving for New York and when he asked her to get out of the limo, she refused, he'd practically had to pull her out and when Jennifer began to chew him out, with all the patience of the saint, he smiled and said, "Turn around,"
She refused and he practically had to spin her around, suddenly across the Tower Bridge and when the sign dropped, she was so surprised, she couldn't find her tongue.
"I can't marry you! We barely know each other!" She protested weakly.
"We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other," He sounded so confident, she couldn't help but trust him.
"What'll I tell my father," That was her last-ditch protest.
"Tell him somebody loves you and you are getting married," He pulled her forward and kissed her, just then a flash went off and Max giggled, capturing that moment forever.
She sighed, kissed the photo and put it back on the piano, wondering if they would ever be those people again.
She decided that she would go upstairs and try to rest, her body was exhausted, but she knew that if she laid down beside her husband, she'd want to curl up and cry.
Instead, she went back into the library and put on music, laying back in Jonathan's favorite chair, she relaxed and leaned back, closing her eyes, she fell asleep.
It was during a deep dream that she and Jonathan were making love at the cabin, because their house was set in the middle of nowhere, they were able to make love in the hammock without worrying about being seen by the neighbors and she was working her way into screaming at the top of her lungs when suddenly, the skies darkened and a clap of thunder frightened her, she clutched Jonathan harder but when the thunder struck again and the house shook, she woke up from her nap.
Realizing she was alone in the library, she sighed and got up, going into their bedroom closet, Jennifer changed into her pajamas and when she came out of the closet, she saw Jonathan was still asleep and kissed him on the forehead.
Jennifer decided she wanted some milk and cookies before she went to sleep but the thunder outside rang louder and louder.
Just as she was deciding to go back into the library, she heard a crash from downstairs, "Max?" She called.
But He wouldn't be able to hear her from his room, so she decided to find out what that noise was, maybe Freeway knocked something over but just as she was stepping down the stairs, lightening hit the house and shook it again except this time she mis-stepped and fell down the stairs.
Her scream brought Jonathan out of their bedroom but without his eyes, he couldn't tell where it had come from, "Jennifer?!" He called.
Max heard the scream and rushed out to the living room where Jennifer was at the bottom of the stairs.
"Mrs. H!" He yelled.