Ace had been disturbed from his sleep by the door slamming and the two voices. He crawled out of the bed and started banging on the door again.
"Laura! Unlock the door!" he yelled.
"You locked him in?" Caroline asked over the racket he was making.
"He would have gotten them otherwise," Laura said sadly.
"Yes it was probably a good idea," Caroline agreed. She walked over to the bedroom and unlocked the door.
"What the hell is going on?" Ace said, still on the floor.
Caroline was shocked at his appearance, he had always been thin but now his bones stuck out. His skin looked pale and slightly yellowed and he couldn't even manage to stand up.
"You listen to me," she said summoning up her strongest voice, "you aren't having any more of those pills. If you try to leave this room to find them I will tie you down to the bed. And," she said her tone getting slightly aggressive now, "if I find out that you have taken one I will make sure you never see my daughter again. I don't care if I have to move her to a different country. Do we understand each other?"
Ace glared at her not saying anything but he did crawl back into the bed.
"What are you doing?" Laura asked as her mother went back to the kitchen and started pulling things out of the cupboard.
"That boy needs to eat something," she sighed, "Honey he's really bad."
"I know," she said softly, "he's not going to die is he?"
Caroline laughed a little despite herself, "Oh Laura he may be really sick right now but he's not going to die, I promise you that. Go get a cloth for his head, he looks like he's got a fever."
Laura went and did what she was told and walked slowly back to her room. She knocked on the door before entering so he knew she was there.
"Hey babe," he said, moving over so she could sit down next to him. "Why did you lock me in here," he asked pulling her down to lay next to him.
"You scared me," she said putting the cloth over his head. "You need to get better okay?"
"Why do you keep acting so scared of me?" he asked suddenly angry.
"What do you mean?" she asked sitting back up again.
"At your house before and then at your school and when I seen you in the street. Now you're looking at me the same way again, why do you think I'm going to hurt you?"
"Because you already did," she said softly. Could he really not remember?
"What?" he said disbelievingly, "How?"
"Well at my house you threw me onto the floor but I guess I could understand that because I got in your way but you threw a chair at Mrs Morris and it was really scary. And then at my school you grabbed my face and you wouldn't let go. It hurt."
Ace looked at her with the same angry expression, he couldn't deny that he had done these things.
"You're being too sensitive," he snarled at her, "no reason to start avoiding me."
She looked him sadly and walked out of the room.
"Hey, where are you going now?" he called out after her, "Laura!"
"What's the matter now?" Caroline asked as she seen Laura back in the kitchen.
"Nothing," Laura said quietly.
"Do you want to take this in?" Caroline asked holding a bowl of what appeared to be vegetable soup.
"How did you make that so fast?" Laura asked a little taken aback.
"Well it's tinned, but it'll still do him wonders," Caroline assured her, "I'll make him something better in a moment but he really needs something now."
"You give it to him," Laura said, "he's mad at me."
"He's not mad at you," she said, "not really, his brain is just trying to cope with all the things his been putting into his body and so his moods are going to be a little haywire for awhile okay."
"Yeah I guess so," she said quietly, "do you mind if you take care of him for a while I want to take a nap."
"No problem," Caroline said, no use Laura making herself sick with worry.
"Where did she go?" Ace demanded when Caroline bought him his soup.
"She's having a nap," she replied shortly not liking his tone but knowing he couldn't really help it.
He rolled away to face the wall and Caroline left, when she came to check on him half an hour later he was asleep and the bowl was empty.
"Is he alright?" Laura asked tentatively as she watched her mother come through the door.
"He's asleep for now, but he's probably going to get a little worse before he gets any better.
For the rest of the weekend Laura's bedroom door remained locked. Caroline came in with six meals on both days and collected the bowls an hour later. changing the washcloth on his head whilst she was there. Other than this Ace was left to himself.
His tremors had gotten worse and at times he felt like he'd never be able to stop shaking and sometimes his throat was so dry that he thought all the water in the world wouldn't be able to help him. Laura hadn't come to see him again. He hoped he hadn't spooked her away again.
The next day Caroline used her neighbour, Mrs Stevenson's telephone to call into work to tell them there was an emergency at home and she wouldn't be able to come in.
"Where's Laura?" Ace asked Caroline later that afternoon.
"She's at school right now, she'll be home in about an hour."
"Why is she avoiding me?" he asked to nobody in particular.
"Just give her some time, this has been hard on her too," Caroline said her voice softening.
"I'm out of cigarettes," he said hastily changing topics.
"Well I'm afraid I don't smoke," she said, "but I can pick some up for you if you'd like."
"There's money in my pocket," he said not wanting to put her out.
He got up out of bed and pulled it out for her, he wasn't feeling shaky on his legs anymore. Caroline was surprised by how much money he had but didn't say anything.
"I'll go get them now," she said, "do you want anything else?"
"No," he said, "are you going to lock me in again?" he asked her a little spitefully.
"I think you can be trusted," she said rolling her eyes a little, "why don't you sit on the couch, I'll put the radio on and I'll make you a sandwich."
"Deal," he said and walked out into the living room. Caroline left soon afterward. Ace sat down and ate his sandwich. It was crazy what he had been reduced to. He felt weak and it wasn't sitting with him very well.
"Hello," Laura said when she walked through the door a little while later, "where's mom?"
"She went to get me some cigarettes," he said standing up. He crooked his fingers so she would come over and put his arm around her. "You have fun at school?"
"No," she said putting her arms around him.
"You know I didn't mean to hurt you," he said suddenly, "both times."
Laura thought for a second before answering, "I knew that you weren't acting like yourself," she replied, "I wasn't sure what you would do. But that's over now anyway, right?"
He sat back down and she sat down beside him. He took her hand and put it on his lap.
"I do love you Laura," he said, he was feeling like she needed him to say it and he wanted to make sure she knew it.
"I know," she said resting her head on his shoulder again, "and I love you too."