Chapter 14
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Instead of the usual wake up call that Gary was used to, a meow and a plop of the future at his front door, he was greeted by a swift knock at the door. Shaken from his sleep, he slapped his hand down on his end table thinking it was his nightstand. Opening his eyes suddenly, Gary searched for his clock.
There was another knock at the door. Gary sat up, finally realizing where he was and looked across the room to the nearest clock. "9:48!" He groaned loudly, shaking Chuck awake.
Gary stumbled to the door and opened it. Erica's parents stood in the hallway. "Anika! Jake! I'm so happy to see you," Gary said groggily, rubbing his eyes and pulling Anika and Jake into him for a double hug.
"We got here as soon as we heard," Anika said, crying. "Oh Gary, she was our only daughter!" She told Gary as he held her tightly. Chuck stumbled to the door, disoriented.
"Ahh... Anika, Jake, this is Chuck, a close friend of mine."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Chuck informed, shaking their hands.
They silently nodded as Gary poked his head out the door and started searching (you could also use "peered" or "glanced") around the hall with his eyes. "Umm, by any chance have you, uhh, seen my cat?"
"Um, no actually, but I'm sure it will come back. I mean, they always do." Jake reassured.
Gary peered over his back. "Chuck! Where's my cat?"
"I swear I didn't take it!" He paused. "Come on Gar, would I lie to you?"
"Don't answer that" Chuck interrupted as Gary came to speak.
Gary led his guests out of his apartment. "Let's let them sleep, okay? We can all get some waffles or something downstairs."
"So how's Henry?" Jake asked with concern.
"He's doing okay. It'll take some time." Gary informed. He opened the door to the bar and led his guests over to a table where Marissa was seated. "Morning Marissa."
"Good morning, Gary. Did Anika and Jake make it up to your room okay?"
"Yes we did. Thank you, Marissa." Jake told her.
"Would you guys like some breakfast? I can go prepare it before we open." Chuck questioned.
"I'll just take some coffee." Anika said.
"Yea me too." Jake piped in.
"Gar?" Chuck regaurded.
"No no… I'm fine." He replied.
"Gary, you haven't eaten since yesterdays coffee!" Marissa said in her mother-like tone.
"I'm not hungry." he said, tired.
"But Gary!" She protested.
He ignored her. "Chuck, I'll take a coffee too."
"Three coffees coming right up!" Chuck said getting up and making his way to the kitchen.
Anika reached across the table and grabbed Gary's hands, holding them as she spoke. "It was so hard, Gary, believe me it was. I mean, to have your daughter's life in your hands and have the control over if she dies or lives is hard. But Jake and I decided it's best for Henry not to see her like that." She broke down crying harder.
"See her like what? What do you mean 'having her life in your hands' ?" He gave them both an odd look.
"Um, Gary, can I see you in the office for a minute?" Marissa inquired.
"Uh, sure thing, Marissa. Excuse me." He told Jake and Anika, getting up and following Marissa into the office.
She waited till he was in then shut the door behind them. "Gary, take a seat." She instructed.
He went to sit down on the couch. "Hey, Marissa, have you seen my paper or the cat?"
"They didn't come today?"
"No they didn't and I-."
She cut him off. "Gary, never mind the paper right now. Last night... I... I left out a few details about Erica. But Gary, I only had you in mind when doing it. You were processing a lot at that time and I didn't want to force the subject on you all at once."
"Okay, so..." He tried to edge her on.
Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over and ran down her face. "Gary... Erica didn't die in that fire." She blurted out wishing she had reworded it. She grabbed another issue and wiped her tears.
"What?" He asked softly in disbelief.
"Erica... didn't die in the-"
He cut her off impationtly. "I know what you said but what do you mean she didn't die in the fire? The paper said..."
She cut him off. "Well Gary, the paper was wrong!" She yelled. "Gary, when she got to the hospital she was still alive. But her brain had gone without air for a while. Because of that she-" She stopped to grab another tissue. "She would have had the mentality of a 5 year old and be wheel chair bound." She stopped and tucked her head in her hands crying.
Gary sat in silence.
She raised her head able to continue. "The doctors called Erica's parents and gave them two choices. She could live and be dependent on someone her whole life. Or she could..." Her voice trailed off and she waited for him to react. "Gary..?"
He stood up and went for the door but stopped. "Why didn't you tell me?" He said angrily.
"Gary, you-"
"You know what, save it! I'm going to go talk to her parents. Maybe they have a reasonable explanation!" He yelled as he got up making his way over to the door but stopped. "Damn it Marissa were best friends I can't believe you would keep something like this from me!" He shook his head disapointed.
"Gary!" She shouted after him as he slammed the door.
"Gar, here's you coffee." Chuck said walking towards him.
Marissa opened the door and stopped behind Chuck. Gary strode up to Jake and Anika. "You had NO right to do that!" He screamed furiously.
"Gary, we did what's best for Henry!" Anika assured him.
"Taking his mother away from him, at his age, isn't the best thing for him! Now he's an orphan."
"What kind of mother could she have been for him?" Jake stepped in.
"No matter how she turned out, she would have been the best damn mother she could have! Now he's an orphan!" Gary yelled, furious.
Patrick walked in the door but froze in his tracks.
"Gary, we couldn't have taken care of her and Henry, we can barely take care of ourselves at our age. And what kind of life is it if your stuck in a wheel chair unable to move, talk, or remember anyone?!" Jake yelled back.
"What if *I*," he pointed at himself, "wanted to make the life time commitment to take care of her? What if *I * wanted to spend the rest of my life with her regardless of her condition! Why wasn't my opinion asked?" He inquired.
"Well, last time I checked you were lying in a hospital bed," his voice grew louder, "after taking my only daughter to a burning house and leaving her in there for dead!" Jake said slamming his fists down on the table and stood up. His eyes met Gary's in a cold stare.
Gary leaned closer to him. "You know something, Jake, I think its time for you to leave." Gary said softly pointing to the door but not taking his eyes off Jake.
"Anika, grab your coat." Jake said, keeping his eyes fixed on Gary. "We will see you at the funeral today. After reading of the will, we'll be back for Henry." He jerked away from the table and made his way to the door with Anika.
Patrick moved aside, still shocked from what he just witnessed. "Ouch!" Patrick broke the silence.
Gary dropped his head but raised it as soon as he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh, Gary, honey why didn't you call and tell us!" Was how his mother and father, Lois and Bernie Hobson, greeted him.
"Mom... Dad." Gary said, forcing a smile. They both wrapped their arms around him then moved on to Marissa and Chuck.
"Nice to see you Marissa," Lois said hugging her.
"Nice to see you two too!"
"Chucko!" Bernie said grabbing Chuck.
"All of you in my office NOW!" Gary shouted. Turning to Patrick he said, "Patrick go stock the bar."
"Uh... sure Mr. H." He said scratching his head not sure of what was going on.
Once everyone was in the office Gary shut the door. "Mom...Dad what are you doing here!?"
"Well I'm so glad to see you too!" Lois said licking her finger and wiping a smudge on Gary's face. He swatted her away. "Actually, son, your furry friend gave us a little visit this morning." Bernie said pulling out the paper. "Anything interesting?"
Snatching it, Gary said, "Yea turn to the obits." He turned and saw a section on Erica and her funeral.
"Gary why didn't you tell us this happened?" Lois asked.
"Actually he was one of the last to know. Sleeping beauty here passed out from -"
Lois finished his sentence. "Smoke initiation, yes I know."
Gary crinkled the paper and let it slip from his hands.
"Did you even read the middle, son?" Bernie asked.
Gary shook his head.
"Then let me sum it up for you, Erica's mom's dying of cancer."
"What?!" Gary said, shocked.
"She has about 6 months to live." His Mom added.
"So that's why they made the choice they did with Erica." Chuck said, thinking aloud.
Gary turned his back to them all. Lois stepped up and laid a hand on his back.
"Gary, honey, do you wanna talk?"
Gary shrugged her off.
"Gary, not talking about a major change in your life like this isn't going to make it go away or make it better at any rate." Marissa informed.
He signed knowing she was right, Marissa was always right and that was the most sensible thing he'd heard since yesterday morning. "So Lucius has this phrase he keeps proposing to me "live your life". And finally I was at a place in my life where everything was perfect. McGinty's was doing great, the paper wasn't throwing to many curve balls at me and I finally met someone that I really enjoy spending time with and see a possibility for a serious relationship to develop. And... and.. Just like that," he snapped his fingers, "she's gone! And it's not only my fault but it's the paper's fault! I'm so sick of this. *I* want my life back! Because this," he tosses the rest of the paper up in the air. It scattered (all around them as it floated to the ground, "isn't a life! This is a nightmare !"
"Gary, you can't possibly think that! Look how many lives you've effected."
"Funny you should mention lives effected, Marissa, because right now I have an 8 year old boy asleep on my couch who has NO parents and soon, only a grandfather left in his life."
"Henry's here? Lois questioned.
"He's sleeping upstairs with Jade."
"You mean "was"..." Chuck informed.
Jade stood in the door way with Henry by her side.
"Lois, Bernie, this is my beautiful wife Jade. Jade, Lois and Bernie Hobson, Gary's parents."
"Nice to meet you." She said with a smile.
"Oh Chuck, she's so pretty!" Lois said going over and feeling Jade's stomach.
"How far along are you dear?"
" Eight and a half months"
"Oh how exciting! And Henry, you're getting so big." She said couching down to his size. He didn't speak, he just kept his eyes on Gary.
Gary walked over to him and took his hand. "Let's get you some breakfast, okay buddy?" He said leading him out of the office.
"Okay, but just as long as it's not oatmeal!"
"Sure pal, no oat meal." Lois stood up and walked over to Bernie who put his arm around her. "Oh Marissa he's worse than we thought," she stated, "I mean we knew he'd be bad, but not this bad."
Marissa bent down and stuck out her hand searching for pages of the scattered paper then picking it up when finding one. She then tried to neatly piece it together, though they were out of order.
Chuck noticed a huge article on the page facing him. "Adison devastates Madison!" Chuck said reading the headline then grabbing for the bundle of pages.
"Chuck, that's not funny! Give me back the sports… or is it stocks?" She yelled putting her hands on her hips.
"No. No, Marissa… its…" he paused, "it's a great article. Um, Jade hon, why don't you go have Patrick grab you a cup of coffee. I'll be out in a sec, okay?"
"Um, sure." She walked out of the office and Chuck quickly shut the door behind her. "It's Adison!" he finally said, holding the paper to the side of him and pointing out the article. "Someone is going to steal some documents and files from his office some say just might have helped his trial."
"But he told us Anatonia had supposedly ransacked his apartment and got everything." Marissa informed.
"Adison? Anatonia? What are you kids talking about?" Lois asked, confused.
"Gary made some pretty interesting saves yesterday." Marissa informed.
"And now *the* Anatonia Giovani is following him around Chicago!" Chuck finished.
"You mean the Italian reporter with that long gorgeous hair and those perfect red lips and legs like…" Bernie stopped at the look from Lois. "Legs like a chicken! Horrible skinny chicken legs!" He concluded.
"That would be the one." Chuck informed.
Marissa laughed. "You guys are pathetic!" She told them.
"I admit I'm a lot of things. But pathetic isn't one of them!" Chuck said in defense. Forgetting the insult, Chuck studied the article once more. "It says that the break in occurs around 3 PM. That's right after Erica's funeral. Gary can pop over and still have time for the will reading." Chuck informed.
"So I'm guessing sensitivity is on the list of things you aren't also, huh?"
Chuck rolled his eyes. "And don't roll your eyes at me!" His eyes grew big, astonished at how she knew without being able to see.
"Chuck, were you even in the room when Gary just made his 'this paper is a nightmare' speech?" Lois asked him.
"Well yea, but he has no choice. He's already in too deep with this situation to just cut it off." Chuck said, leaving the office with the paper.
Bernie, Lois and Marissa just stood in the office waiting. All of the sudden they saw Chuck duck in cover as the paper whizzed by, just missing his head. "Hey! Watch where you're aiming that thing! Come on Gar what ever happened to getting back on the horse after falling off?"
"What part of NO don't you understand?" Gary yelled.
"Well if you don't want the paper, then I'll take it!" Chuck replied.
"NO!" Gary yelled.
Jade came over to the door. "Wow! I've never seen so much of a fuss over a Sun Times before." She said.
"Oh, well, you know Chuck and Gary." Lois looked past her and out into the bar where Gary was chasing Chuck around. "Give me back my paper, will ya?!"
"No, you said you didn't want it anymore, so it's mine now." Chuck said as he faced a perturbed Gary, a mere table stood in-between them.
"It doesn't work that way, Chuck, and you know it!"
"Do I? For years I've sat aside and watched you waste this…this gift from God!" He took off into the kitchen. "And I'm not going to let it happen anymore!" He ran past Jade.
"Charles honey, I have fifty cents for a Sun-Times if you need it so bad! You don't have to steal Gary's!" She yelled after him.
Chuck ran into Gary and Marissa's office from the kitchen entrance and locked the door behind him. When he turned around Gary stood in front of him.
Gary snatched the paper and held it up. "I waste this, huh? Helping save innocent people's lives is wasting it?"
The room was silent.
"Well I dunno, Gary, you're ready to throw it all away… so is it a waste of time?" Marissa asked. Gary sunk down on the couch and put his head in his hands.
"I don't know anymore!" He answered. "When I was younger I pictured my life different. I thought I'd have a family and a good job. Not be out saving the world. And looking back at it all I really can honestly say that I don't know if it was all worth it! And I don't know anymore I really truely don't know anymore!"
"Of course you do, Gary. Unlike some people," she turned to Chuck, "you know what the rigth thing to do is. And I know you'll choose the right path, you always do." Marisa informed.
Lois, Bernie and Chuck stood silently as Gary sighed and slowly opened up the page.
At the sound of the paper crinkling Marissa smiled. "See, I told ya so." She said continuing to smile.
"Adison's trial's in three day's." Gary said softly after a few seconds of reading. And it looks as though the deck is stacked against him."
Henry entered the office.
"You done with breakfast?"
"Yep."
"Well, then lets get you showered and dressed. Today's going to be a long day." Gary said picking him up and walking through the door to his loft.