After a few weeks, Valerie had finally gotten used to being around the Torrances. They were more like friends that acquaintances now.
"Hey, Wendy. Do you want to take a walk through that maze outside?" Valerie asked. "I heard it was going to snow tonight, so I guess this is our last chance." Wendy nodded, flipping the last switch on the boiler.
"Do you want to ask Jack if he wants to come?"
"Yeah, sure!" Valerie went upstairs, almost giddy to go outside. She'd been spending so much time figuring out the machinery of the hotel that she had no time to get out.
She found Jack writing. "Hey, Jack." He looked up, turning around when he heard Valerie's voice. "How's the play going?"
"It's going well." Jack stood up, tearing a paper out of the typewriter.
"That's good. I can't wait to read it." Valerie brushed her hair behind her ear. "I was wondering... Do you want to go on a walk with me and Wendy?"
"Of course!" Jack answered, pushing his chair in. However, after a moment, Jack's expression fell a bit. "Oh, but we can't leave Danny alone in here, can we?"
Valerie shook her head. "No, we can't, you're right. I'll stay with him if you - "
"Actually, now that I think about it, he felt a little warm, like a fever. I think he needs his mother." Jack had a worried look on his face.
Valerie shrugged. "Really, I can take care of him - "
"No!" Valerie jumped when Jack shouted, slamming his hand down on the top of his chair. He corrected himself immediately, bringing his hand in close to his chest. "Wendy should do it. She knows all about his health issues."
Valerie nodded, nervously picking at her nails. "Well, alright. Can you tell her, please?"
Jack nodded, and Valerie could tell that he wanted to apologize for raising his voice. "Yes. Yes, I'll... I'll meet you outside." Valerie walked away briskly, taking a deep breath. Her heart was pounding still after hearing Jack raise his voice at her.
Valerie paced outside, waiting anxiously. After about ten minutes, Jack walked towards her. "She said Danny did have a fever. So... Shall we?" Valerie nodded, starting into the maze.
She and Jack were silent for a while, until Jack cleared his throat. "So... Phantom of the Opera. Have you ever been in it?"
"Yes, once. I was Christine, the main character. It was just a local thing, but it was a lot of fun." Valerie smiled as she remembered how exciting it was to play the lead.
"Well, I had my own experience with stardom a while back," Jack said, laughing a bit.
"What?" Valerie asked, smiling.
"Well... I had a book of about twenty short stories. It took an unbelievably long time to publish it, but I did. It had been out for a few weeks, then completely out of the blue – " Jack spread his arms out in front of him grandly – "I get a letter from John Updike!"
Valerie gasped, grinning widely. "Well what did it say?"
"It said 'This is an impressive collection, kid.'" Jack put extra emphasis on the word 'kid', making Valerie laugh. "'Nice job.' And that was my short encounter with the limelight." Valerie almost snorted, she was laughing so hard.
"That's really great, Jack." Valerie rolled her short sleeves up. "Really, really cool." She looked over at Jack, and he was smiling, probably reminiscing on the joy of receiving that letter.
"Looks like we've reached the center." Valerie was torn from her thoughts when Jack spoke. There were three benches in the middle of the hedges. "Wanna head back?"
"Yeah, sure." Valerie turned around and started walking back, chatting with Jack. As they walked, Valerie started to get a headache, but she thought nothing of it.
When they reached the exit, Valerie gazed at Jack. He turned to face her. "You're really fun to talk to, Valerie. Wendy's usually too interested in Danny to talk about anything of value." Valerie frowned a bit. "I do love having her with me, though, even if she doesn't provide good conversation." Valerie nodded. "But really, what's the point of being with someone if they can't keep up with you?"`Jack took a step towards Valerie, and she just watched him.
"Shit!" she yelled suddenly, grabbing her head with both hands. Her head was splitting; it was like someone had smashed her over the head with a baseball bat. She could hear something, almost like a voice in the back of her head, through the haze of pain. It was something like a child's voice. She crouched down. "Goddamn, this hurts!" she groaned.
Jack crouched down next to her. "Here, let me help you up." He let her grab his arm and pull herself up. She walked inside slowly, with Jack's arm around her for support.
By the time she got inside, her headache had subsided majorly. She sighed in relief, sinking into a chair in the lobby. "Thank you, Jack," she said, sighing. "That was crazy. I thought I was gonna pass out."
"I'm just glad you're alright." Jack turned back to look at her one more time. "I'm going to do some writing."
"Alright." Valerie waved at him. "And make sure you let me read it sometime, alright?" Jack nodded, smiling.
Valerie stood up and headed to her room. All she wanted was a hot shower and a nap, then she would make some dinner. She got to her room and was about to enter when Wendy walked out of her own room.
"Hey, Valerie!" she said, smiling. "How was it outside?"
"It was nice," she replied. "I got the worst headache I've ever had while I was out there. God, it was awful."
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you alright now?" Wendy asked hurriedly.
"No, no, I'm alright now," Valerie responded, cutting Wendy off with a wave. "Other than that, it was pretty warm out there. Jack and I talked about his play for the most part."
"Well, I'm glad the two of you had fun." Valerie could see that Wendy was bitter, and she had every right to be. If their places were switched, Valerie would have strangled Wendy by now. "Danny really had quite the fever. I'm glad I stayed in with him." Valerie nodded.
"Well, I'm going to take a shower, then take a quick nap. I'll be up in a couple hours to make some dinner!" Wendy said goodbye and was about to leave when Valerie stopped her. "Can I see how Danny's holding up?"
Wendy let Valerie in, stepping aside in the doorway. Valerie knelt down next to Danny's bed, smiling at him.
"How are you, Danny?" she asked, holding his hand and giving it a little squeeze. "Hanging in there?"
Danny nodded. "Yes." He paused for a moment. "Tony saw you and Daddy. I'm sorry if he hurt you."
Valerie felt her heart skip a beat. She stared at Danny for a long time, until she finally managed to stammer out a response. "Oh. Okay." She gave Danny a little hug and stood up abruptly, nearly knocking down the lamp next to Danny's bed. She hurried to her room without saying goodbye to Wendy.
She sat on her bed, in shock. Had Danny – Tony – really given her that splitting headache? She could barely believe it. She walked to her bathroom, trying to figure out how a human could possibly cause pain like that. She stepped in the shower, after not coming up with any answers. She closed her eyes, listening to the pattering of the water as it hit the floor.
A/N: hey everyone! thanks so much for reading! the next chapter might take a little longer to be posted than the others have.