AN: Without CH's many years of dedicated effort, slaving away without complaint over a hot keyboard, what would we do at 2AM on a weeknight? Sleep?

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Santa Cruz c. 1979 Part IV

P1

It was another overcast January day in Santa Cruz. Selah had taken Eric to pick-up his Volvo at the bar in Redwood City, neither of them speaking. She pulled up alongside the car and waited for him to get out before driving off. She had headed home, hoping he would follow her. It was time to talk about it all. She could not take working with him any longer if this was all she had to look forward to; his disdain, no, his actual dislike of her, in spite of his readiness to continue sleeping with her, was destroying her. She did not wish to end it. She just could not continue like this anymore.

On the drive down the coast along the hills, temporarily lost in the distraction of the beauty of the waves rolling in off the Pacific, she suddenly remembered Sven was now married. And to a gorgeous, younger girl. Where had he found her and why didn't any of them know about her?

The moms would have a fit when they found out. She also knew Ander would not be pleased. He was all about consolidating his family's position in the West Coast pantheon. He was a creepy bastard, just like Grandpa Alrick. Marriage to a nobody, even by Sven after his screw-up with her and flaunted relationship with Max, would serve to drive a deeper wedge between him and Ander.

She felt a small flash of regret. A lot had changed over the intervening years since the incident that had forced her to drop her pursuit of Sven. Today his male hooker patronage would not even make the back pages of a local daily, let alone the San Jose Merc. If things had been different, she would have been allowed to keep him, like she'd wanted to do. Heck, she had begged him to have Eric in bed with them. She snorted. She'd even had thoughts about Sven and Max once they had started up. She wasn't a prude. How could anyone in that family have any inhibitions considering the plural marriage arrangements of Mia and Celia with Ander? Just unthinkable.

Pulling onto West Cliff Drive to make the short run to their house, which she liked very much, she caught sight of a motorcycle in the drive. It had to be Joran standing there, his long ponytail and tall figure marking him as distinct from the students that occasionally dropped in. What did he want now? He'd be the first to know, outside of her and Eric that Sven had finally married. Ah, she'd be the first to tell another member of Eric's family the news. She'd also call Mia so she could spread the word. It was certain to cause a big ripple through their little world. She'd get to watch. She wondered if the marriage would survive the fallout.

As she stopped, turned the key to kill the engine and set the brake, Joran waited for her. He was usually more the eager little puppy around her. Maybe he already knew something of the events this morning and was waiting to learn what she knew? She'd just ask him.

"So, have you heard the news?" Her smile was genuine; she actually did like him. He was not as complicated as either her husband or Sven. It was a relief to have him around, sometimes.

"Where's Eric? He was going to bring his bike back down here to meet me." His eyes were not friendly, she noticed. .

"He's following me in the car, I guess. Where did you see him this morning?"

He looked more carefully at her, an unusual guarded expression on his face. He wasn't the sort to have secrets. Did he know about Sven and Sookie already? Or, was he hiding something else?

"I drove down early to see Sven and avoid lunch with Grandpa and Mimi. Didn't know if he'd be back. I missed him."

Missed him? So he'd seen Eric. Where had Sven been when Joran arrived at his house? Was there something here?

"But you saw Eric, right? He spent the night at Sven's."

"Yes."

A one word answer bitten off by a man was a dead giveaway. Selah was too smart in the ways of men not to catch that Joran did not wish to talk about the topic any further because there were some sexual overtones he did not want to discuss.

"Did you meet the new wife, Sookie?"

"Saw her, yes." He immediately realized his error and scowled at Selah.

"What did you think about her? She's a regulation issue pretty, young, blonde girl, I think. Off the mark for Sven, though. Must be rebound from Max."

Asking the average man what he thought about such things was much like searching for gold in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Back-breaking work and you rarely, if ever, were rewarded with a strike.

"How much longer 'til Eric arrives?" Was he starting to sweat a little?

Selah was persistent. "Did you speak with her?"

"Can we go inside? I need a beer. Eric won't mind." He wasn't going to answer as he walked up to the front, refusing to look back at her. So much for her career as a 'forty-niner'.

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P2

Beer in hand, Joran was ready to make his escape to the backyard if Selah continued her questioning. Eric and Sven's new wife were definitely going at it on the couch. So many things were wrong with what he'd disturbed with his arrival; he couldn't sort it all out. Not to mention, what'd he felt when he'd walked in, unawares. Hottest naked chick he'd seen in a long while. Great boobs. Trust Sven to pick out a good one. Why was Mr. Straight-and-Narrow screwing his wife, though? It didn't add up. He just mentally filed away the information not to leave any new wife he might have unguarded around either of his big brothers. They'd told him a few stories about their sharing and all-nighters pulled with hookers when they were his age. Made him wish he'd had a twin.

Both Selah and Joran heard Eric's car and headed back to greet him at the door, agendas ready. Selah planned to quiz him about Sookie; Joran was feeling the weight of the information he was carrying around. Selah hadn't had an opportunity yet to call Mia and Celia. They might still be at lunch with Ander and the others.

When Eric came in, he went straight to Joran and slung an arm around his shoulder. "Beer would taste good about now. Let's go into the yard and burn a few." He had not bothered to acknowledge Selah.

Selah spoke up. "Have either of you had anything to eat yet? I'm going to make a Cobb salad, so some extra's no problem. Joran?"

Eric mumbled "Not hungry", but Joran looked interested. Good. She would prep the ingredients then carry it out the yard to find out what they were up to. Being permanently cast in the caregiver role didn't have many upsides. This situation would be a happy exception.

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P3

Eric had missed dinner last night and had failed to snare anything from either of the two breakfasts Sookie had prepared. His stomach was aching again. It was a gnawing pain. He'd ignored the blood he been vomiting on occasion, telling himself it would go away. Like most men, he wasn't eager to reveal any physical weakness. This morning, though, had been the worse episode-to-date.

He'd drink a beer to relax and try to talk with Joran. Maybe he'd eat some salad if Selah made extra. They both grabbed beers from the kitchen before leaving Selah to fix them all some food.

Eric seated himself on the lawn chaise before popping the tab on the first brew. He began cautiously. "Thought any more about what I said?"

"Which 'what'?" Not helping, that was Joran these days. He'd gone from the overly eager-to-please younger brother to a sometimes querulous young man who questioned everything Eric said. He didn't seem to display that attitude around Sven, he'd noticed, hiding another grimace as he experienced a second stomach spasm.

Joran wasn't trying to be difficult. He was confused. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to speak about what he'd seen with Selah sniffing around? He tried to make amends.

"Selah was quizzing me about meeting the new wife, Sookie, right?"

"And you said….?" Eric's stomach was doing more than knotting just now. Where was Selah with the salad? The day was chilly, but Eric was feeling a little queasy now. "Selah? Can you bring me salad as well? Maybe a glass of water and some aspirin." Did she hear him calling to her? The beer was beginning to taste a little off to him. He might need to get up to hit the can if she didn't appear soon.

"I said I hadn't met her, technically correct." The younger brother grinned at the sudden memory of her rapt expression the few seconds before he had spoken. He thought they might never have noticed them if he hadn't interrupted. "I did get an introduction of sorts." She was so enticing; just how had Eric managed to get her clothes off if she was married to Sven?

"How do you know her, Eric? I know chicks find you hot, but you haven't done anything since you have been married, right?" He actually was pretty sure, but might as well ask. Eric might just tell him.

Eric's grimace this time wasn't one he could hide. His hand tightened on the arm of the chaise. "Joran, could you go inside to check on Selah's progress with the food? Bring me back a glass of water?"

Joran was up and on his feet; he was hungry as well. When he closed the sliding glass door behind him on Eric, he traced the sound of Selah's voice to the bedroom. She wasn't in the kitchen after all.

"Celia, she looked several years younger, probably Joran's age. Something weird about it, or more weird than normal whenever Sven is at the center of it." Selah had not noticed him eavesdropping on her call. It seemed to be the day for him to bear silent witness to family secrets. Didn't they have enough already?

"Have Mia call the house and quiz Sven. He'll speak to her. He threw both of us out. Why? I may have been a little abrupt when I greeted her; I was shocked when he said she was his wife. But, you know he and Eric have always been close. They must have had a fight. Could it have been about her? Maybe Mia can find out."

She nodded, listening to Celia's response which Joran could not hear.

"Yes, I'd call as soon as possible. I'd better go. I'm fixing lunch for the boys. Call me when you learn the particulars. Love you."

She turned, but Joran had already slunk into the hall bath to avoid her. He took a few minutes and then popped into the kitchen to watch her chopping carrots.

"Eric wants some water and aspirin; some salad, too. Were you just on the phone?" He wanted to know what his mom thought about the situation. She was a trained nurse and seemed to have some special sense about human nature.

Joran wasn't disappointed. "Celia thought maybe it was an impulsive act by Sven. He was upset for a long time about the break-up with Max, you know. He could have taken her to the islands and then out of some misguided impulse; he proposed. She is going to sic his mom on him. We'll probably all go back today to sort it out. I'm to wait for their call. Help me with the salad?"

They spent a few amiable minutes prepping the various ingredients, her earlier probing abandoned as they thought about Celia's assessment. When they carried the bowl and plates to the sliding glass door, both looked out at the same time to see Eric sprawled on the grass, an apparent small pool of vomit and blood by the side of the chair in which he'd been sitting when Joran left earlier.

A frantic few minutes followed; Joran eventually called an ambulance when they could not get him to open his eyes. He felt cool and wasn't coherent. Both held him in a sitting position, waiting for the now muted-by-local law wail of the siren announcing the arrival of the van. Selah had placed a wet towel filled with ice on his forehead; his hair was soaked and he had begun shivering. She hoped it was a result of the cooling wind that had sprung up and not the onset of shock. Joran hated to leave him alone with Selah, but at her insistence he had sprinted inside to pull a blanket from the bed, so he was able to lead the arriving EMT to the backyard. They darted back to the van for the stretcher, using a walkie-talkie to call in the symptoms to the dispatcher. Watching closely as his mom had taught him, Joran mentally catalogued what they were giving to Eric as they tried to get him to stay awake.

When it became clear that Eric wasn't going to die anytime soon, Selah made arrangements to ride in the van and have Joran follow in her car. He would first call Celia and get them started to the hospital before he took off. The call to his mom was hurried; she and Mia would be in Santa Cruz as quickly as possible and bring Ander if they could find him as he had gone out for a run. He could join them later if he didn't turn up in the next few minutes. Who was going to call Sven and his new wife? Joran suggested Celia call him; he needed to get to the hospital, he said hastily. Celia noticed his apparent reluctance and filed it away for later examination.

The Nordmons and Theriots began to trickle into Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital as word spread about Eric being admitted. Selah had called her family when she arrived at the hospital. Her sisters had driven down to sit with her. Had Eric been aware, he would have recognized it as an outpouring of love for him from the two families. Missing from the families' drama were Sven and Sookie. No one had been able to raise them by phone. Mia alone had left several messages throughout the day on his answering machine, both at home and his office downtown. It was a mystery, but Eric had the spotlight. The two of them would surface eventually.

After a few hours of general shuffling around by the waiting crew, the physicians met with Selah and Celia. It was serious, but it could be controlled. They diagnosed duodenal ulcers that he had been ignoring, but they wanted results from additional tests to rule out other possibilities. It explained the blood in his vomit. The healing process would restrict his activities until he began to respond to some medications and fully recovered. Henceforth, it would affect his diet choices. Other than that, he appeared to have elevated blood pressure; puzzling because borderline hypertension wasn't common in one so young and relatively healthy. He needed to make a change in his lifestyle and throw off some of the pressure.

Since he was dehydrated and had some other minor issues, he would be kept in the hospital for a few days. The Nordmons had quickly made plans to have him transported to Stanford Medical Center if they'd had any doubts about his care. Learning the cause of his collapse, it was decided he would stay the few days in Santa Cruz. Mia and Celia then would take him back with them to Salt Lake so they could oversee his recovery. Neither of them trusted Selah to really care for him. They were not blind to his wretchedness during the years of his marriage; careful attempts by the two to hide the bleakness of their pairing during previous visits with the families didn't take into account parent radar. Sven wasn't the only one who was waiting for the cataclysmic event. Both Mia and Celia thought this illness might be the final curtain call. They liked Selah well enough but wanted her out of Eric's life. The surprising turn of events with Sven's secret marriage could be dealt with later by the two sisters. One son at a time, they'd decided without needing to consult with one another.

The crisis now under control, everyone began drifting back to from whence they had come. Only Mia and Celia elected to stay on at Selah's house to remain close to Eric. At the last minute, Joran agreed to collect their items from the hotel along with his in case he could stay over at Sven's, if he could stand it. He didn't want to be stuck at the Ranch with Grandpa and Mimi for any period of time. Ander was disappointed at least one wife wasn't coming back with him; he'd see if Celia would change her mind tomorrow. He knew if he insisted, she would give in, so he was content at present. He could handle one night alone.

Selah would spend the night in the hospital to be there in the morning when Eric would awaken from the powerful drugs he'd been given to ease the pain. They'd all reconvene at breakfast. Her sisters, finding her satisfied with the arrangements, made their excuses and returned to their lives in Hillsdale and Burlingame. She was glad when everyone had finally departed. She settled down on the rollaway they squeezed into the room to watch her beleaguered husband. He was always so stoical. Never argued or raised his voice to her. Had evidently been experiencing severe pain for some time and never said a word about it to anyone. On the flip side, she admitted to herself that he found so little joy in anything these days besides his research. Other than sex, they didn't seem to have much of a connection. Nothing she had done-to-date seemed to reach him, to snap him out of his misery, not even the anger he should have felt about her flaunting her infidelity.

Selah did not sleep easily that night. She kept seeing his face when he was watching her and Sven's new wife. Sookie was her name; she'd almost forgotten it after the day's events. She couldn't decide if he was angry or something else. Sven had been angry; could he and Eric have been fighting about Sookie? She'd also seen Eric watch Sookie being almost carried by Sven back into the house. Definitely a forlorn look on his face when the front door had closed behind the two of them. Could he have known Sookie prior to today? She sounded like she might have grown up in the Midwest, although her voice had been polished clean of most of that influence. Could he have met her that summer when he and Sven spent time at Mia's parent's home somewhere on a Midwestern Lake? Would it have been after their first break-up? He'd been noticeably miserable and monosyllabic that following school year. She'd attributed it to their breakup; the knowledge had spurred her on in her efforts to win him back. Maybe she'd never been the cause of his gloom. Her guilt may have been entirely misplaced.

Now tired of all the questions to which she had no answers, she resolved to start her investigations in earnest tomorrow. She'd get some answers from Sven or Eric, or even Sookie, although she loathed being at her mercy for information. Popping a valium and thanking the gods for Benzodiazepines, she eventually drifted off in the early morning hours.

AN: Thank you for reading.

Squeezes to Mariaterese for her snaring of my snafus. LY. All errors are mine.