"He's done what?!" I shriek.
"I can smell alcohol on his breath, silly boy, doesn't he realise that alcohol is contraindicated with most of the meds he is on" Grace says in frustration.
"What do we do now?" I ask worriedly.
"I will monitor his blood pressure, respiration rate, heart rate, capillary refill time and level of consciousness for now but if things change be ready to call the EMT'S"
I pace the floor in the bedroom, stopping every so often to look and softly scold Christian for being so stupid.
"Ana, will you go and make us a cup of tea please, it's going to be a little while before I can leave him again" Grace calmly asks.
"Sure, of course" I hurry out of the room and knock straight into Carrick in the corridor.
"Oh so sorry Carrick" I say vaguely
"Ana, what's happened?" he asks with much concern in his voice
"Christian drank alcohol this evening and it has reacted with the medication he is taking, he collapsed about 20 minutes ago so Grace is monitoring him in our bedroom, I need to make tea" I add on the end.
"Silly boy; and Ana…"
"Yes" I say distractedly
"He is in the best hands" I nod and force a smile before continuing on to the kitchen. Gail and Taylor are waiting anxiously for news.
"Kettles boiled Ana, tea?" Gail asks; I nod before the tears start.
"He drank alcohol and it has reacted with his medication" I manage to say through sobs.
"Oh dear" Gail continues to hug me "Grace is fantastic, she will make sure he is alright"
I dry my eyes and blow my nose before making up a tray of mugs, sugar and milk. Gail adds a plate of biscuits in case we feel peckish, I don't like to say food is the furthest thing from my mind right now but I know she is trying to help.
"Gail, the twins?" I stutter
"Don't worry, I will take care of them" she smiles, I mouth thank you before heading back to the bedroom with the tray.
Grace gratefully receives the tea and biscuits.
"How is he?" I am afraid to ask
"Stable Ana, no changes at the moment but I am going to put him on fluids to help protect his kidneys and liver and to flush his system, it's purely a precaution"
Grace works quietly and quickly putting the cannula in his arm and fluids are soon flowing.
"The interaction has caused respiratory depression and a heart arrhythmia and I will have to take some bloods to the hospital tomorrow to check his liver function" she brushes his forehead like only a mother does.
"Thank you Grace"
I walk out of the room to shed a few tears again; I walk to the office and see on the desk the bottle of scotch and glass sitting in front of the computer. It was a new bottle and only a small amount has been taken out so at least he only drank a small amount, I must tell Grace.
The computer is still on and the screen shows documents relating to a business deal that by reading the text has not been the easiest of deals, I am guessing he read through it, got stressed and frustrated at not being able to do much still, popped open the bottle without thinking and had a drink.
Back in the bedroom, Grace has just finished another round of obs
"He is doing a little better Ana" Grace says with a slight smile
"He only had a small amount of scotch, the bottle was new and only a small amount was taken out" I tell her.
"That's good to know, thank goodness it wasn't more" Grace seems relieved.
I go and sit in the comfy chair the other side of the bed, I yawn twice before falling asleep.
"Mom? Ana?" a crackly voice breaks the silence.
"Christian!" I exclaim loudly but he recoils at the volume.
"What happened?" he asks
"You drank alcohol and it reacted with the pain relief you are taking" Grace explains as she takes his blood pressure again.
"I did? Everything is a bit foggy" Christian says "I'm sorry baby" he looks over at me.
"Its ok honey, just rest" I lean over and kiss his cheek as he drifts off to sleep again.
"Ana, why don't you get some sleep? you have some interviews tomorrow and you need to be focussed" Grace reminds me.
"Will you please come and get me if anything changes?" I almost beg.
"Of course dear, now go and rest"
I scoop up a spare pillow and blanket from the closet and curl myself up on the sofa and sleep takes me again.
The morning light floods in through the window, I wake and wonder for a moment what I am doing on the sofa before I remember and hurry to the bedroom. It's very quiet as I open the door and see Carrick watching over Christian while Grace sleeps.
"Morning Carrick" I whisper "How is he doing?"
"Are you talking about me again Ana?" Christian's voice pipes up.
"Hey, how are you?" I climb on the bed next to him and kiss his lips.
"Hmm that's a nice way to wake up" he yawns and stretches and notices Grace and Carrick in the room "What are you doing in here?"
Grace upon hearing his voice, wakes and immediately takes his vitals again.
"You don't remember son?" Carrick asks.
"What did I do?" Christian looks confused.
"You drank some alcohol last night, it reacted with your medication and you passed out" Grace tells him.
"It did?" and we all nod.
"Vicodin and alcohol are strictly contraindicated, you are very lucky that you only drank a small amount otherwise you would be in a much worse condition than you are in now son" Grace scolds him in that motherly way "I need to draw some blood to check your liver and kidney function"
She pulls his arm out, ties a tourniquet around his arm just above the elbow and gets the sample before he has time to object.
"What's this for?" Christian holds up the other arm with the drip line in
"Supportive therapy, flush your system out but promise me you will not drink anything again until you are off your medication" I plead.
"I promise" he says sincerely "Is there any breakfast going?"
I jump up and rush out to the kitchen, Gail is there and it hits me that I haven't even thought about the twins, I have this overwhelming anger at myself for neglecting them for the last 16 hours.
"How are the twins Gail? I am sorry I forgot to come and see you again last night but Christian is sitting up and asking for breakfast so is feeling brighter"
"They are absolutely fine Ana, very peaceful night, I am so glad Christian is feeling better and I have prepared a tray for you all" she puts a tea tray on the counter with tea, coffee and juice and she lifts another with croissants, butter, jam, toast and scrambled eggs.
"This is wonderful Gail, thank you so much" I owe her so much for everything she does.
"My pleasure Ana" she smiles warmly before walking to the bedroom with me.
"Breakfast is served" I say as I walk in, Christian is sitting up looking much better than before.
"Good morning Mr Grey, Mr Grey, Mrs Trevelyan-Grey" Gail warmly smiles again.
"Thank you Mrs Jones" Christian replies as he tucks into some scrambled egg on toast.
Grace picks at a croissant and has eaten half when she stands; informing us she is taking the blood sample to the hospital now and will wait for the results before returning home in case any further action is needed.
"Thanks Mom, I'm sorry" his eyes lower.
"Just don't move out of that bed until I get back" Grace orders him
"I won't" and Grace is gone.
"I need to use the bathroom though" he smiles a slightly desperate smile.
"I can help you" I support him to the bathroom "Just take it easy"
"But I want to kiss you and feel you, feel your skin next to mine" that horny look spreads across his face.
"Horny or not, firstly your Dad is in the next room, secondly, Grace will have my guts for garters if she finds out you have exerted yourself in any way and thirdly, you have been lucky so let's not jinx that especially as we are going to Aspen on Monday"
"Ok Ok I get the message, let's go back then" we walk back together and I tuck him back into bed.
I check my watch and see I have 1 hour before the first interview so I am hoping Grace will be back soon.
Twenty minutes later Grace comes in with good news, no liver damage has shown up and all else looks to be normal. Christian is asleep so we will tell him the good news when he wakes but there is a general all around sigh of relief from us all.
"Mrs Grey, the first interviewee is here" Taylor's voice sounds from the kitchen.
Hmm, a little early but I suppose that is a good thing.
"Please ask Gail to join me in the office and in 10 minutes send the first applicant in"
"Yes Ma'am"
In the office I have a prepared list of questions that I use at SIP but it can be used for any interview for any position. I have tweaked a few questions but I am also grateful for Gail's input in this. Gail comes in; we sit and wait for the first woman to be shown in.
A knock at the door brings in a young blonde haired, slim girl into the room. She comes up to the desk offering her hand and introducing herself as Niamh Carter.
I ask her to take a seat and we begin at the top of the list, she has an impressive resume, housekeeper for two families both lasting 3 years each employment, glowing references from both families too. She is able to start immediately, agreeable to the salary, holiday entitlement and willing to sign a NDA.
Ok so far so good, the second applicant is a definite no-no, no one turns up to an interview in jeans, chewing gum and I am surprised because her resume was excellent too.
The other 3 were alright but didn't really shine in my opinion. We tell them all we will let them know a week Monday when we are back from Aspen.
"What did you think of Niamh?" I ask Gail.
"She ticks all the boxes but would you like me to phone the previous employers for a verbal discussion about her?" Gail asks.
"That would be great, let me know what you think" I say but I feel she is the right one.
I leave Gail to phone while I check on Christian who, I think could sleep forever. Grace comes out of the nursery with Max.
"How did it go Ana?" she asks.
"Good, think we have found the right lady, she is young but experienced, Gail is just checking her references now"
"Wonderful, that will be one problem off your mind when it is sorted"
"Oh it will, Christian is still asleep, is that ok?" I ask.
"It's absolutely fine, I think he should rest up until we leave on Monday but I haven't told him that yet" we both laugh as we know what the reaction will be.
Gail comes out from the office and tells me she is satisfied with the references and we agree she is to be offered the job. A weight has been lifted and at least now Gail knows where she stands too.
Right, now that is done I think I should start packing some things for Aspen.
A/N: Couldn't leave ya'll with a cliffhanger for too long. The good news I have found the muse again for this story, so I will see if time allows for more frequent updates.