A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting the third chapter. I went on vacation to Salem and Boston last week and then I ended up getting sick the day I returned, so I've been dealing with a cold since Sunday (thankfully it doesn't seem to be Covid).
In just four short years, Rick's life had completely changed from what it was that fateful night he sat alone at a bar. He had a wife who he loved more than anything who gave him a second daughter to adore and a third on the way. His older daughter was a kind and bright young woman with a future he was proud that he could provide for her.
"Rick, can you grab Evie's cat ears? I think she had them in her bed earlier." Kate shouted up the stairs to her husband.
"Yeah, I'll get them!" Rick called back.
"I a cat, Mommy, and a pwincess" Evie, who was seated on one of the last steps to the second floor, thrust her purple wand out to Kate who was kneeling in front of the little girl.
"I know, Baby. You're a very adorable kitty princess, but we need to get your shoes on if we are going to go trick or treating." Kate held out the sparkly, purple Mary Janes and wrestled Evie's feet into them. The promise of candy made the process of putting on footwear easier than usual, but still not as easy as Kate would have preferred.
Rick appeared at the top of the stairs, decked out in a red button-down shirt, dark khakis, suspenders and a low-slung gun holster, and announced that he had found the final piece to complete his daughter's Halloween costume. "Are you ready my Kitty, Kitty Princess?"
"Yah Daddy!" Evie jumped up from the stairs. Thankfully Kate had finished getting the shoes on, otherwise it would have been at least another fifteen minutes of coercion for an already very excited little girl.
Rick reached the bottom floor and placed the headband that had two black cat ears decked out in sequins atop Evie's wavy mop of dark brown hair. No matter how hard Kate tried, Evie's hair was never neat and always looked like she got trapped in a tornado. It was fitting for the spirited two-year-old.
Kate let a whoosh of air out of her lungs as she prepared to stand up from the floor. She was eight months pregnant and had reached the point in her pregnancy that any movement required a ten-step emergency plan in case she got stuck in a position where she needed assistance.
Rick reached down and grabbed his wife's forearms and helped her to her feet.
"Thank you, my space cowboy" Kate said, blowing a stray hair out of her face and leaning over to give Rick a quick kiss on the lips.
After returning home from their quick candy tour around their building, Kate dropped into the couch from exhaustion. They were only out for, at most, thirty minutes, but the baby was running out of room with every centimeter she grew inside her mother and Kate could feel the pressure against her lungs at all times. She got winded easily and was grateful that they lived in a building that only had about two dozen units.
Rick helped Evie get her shoes off and once free from her sparkly foot prison, she sprinted full speed, with her pumpkin bucket half full with candy, to where Kate sat, only letting the seat of the couch against her abdomen stop her momentum.
"Hi Mommy," Evie smiled with remnants of a chocolate bar ringing her lips.
"Hi Baby," Kate reached over and swiped several locks of hair from Evie's face. "You want to sit up here with me?"
Evie nodded and did her best in trying to climb up, but Kate ended up having to lean over and help her. With her candy bucket on her lap and nestled into Kate's side, Evie rummaged through the treats she had collected and pulled out one of the many fun-sized Snickers bars.
"Here Mommy, is your favorite!"
"Thank you, sweetie," Kate said taking the candy bar, "which one do you want before bedtime?"
"Dis one!" Evie held out a Tootsie Pop and Kate unwrapped it before giving it back.
Rick, who had been putting Evie's shoes away, passed by Kate and Evie and said, "I'm going to change out of my costume. I'll be right back."
He wasn't gone more than five minutes but he returned to see his daughter and wife passed out cold. Kate's head was resting against the back of the couch and she had arm around Evie whose forehead was pressed into Kate's side, her little mouth hanging open just a smidge and drool dripping onto the couch. Evie had the orange lollipop, barely eaten, gripped in her hand and against Kate's leg. He held back his laugh as he pried the candy from Evie's hand and wrapped it back up with the discarded wrapper. He tried to not jostle the little girl too much as he removed her from his wife's side. Kate stirred, but didn't wake. He brought Evie to her bedroom, removed her costume and stealthily dressed her in her Blue's Clues pajamas, never waking her as she was placed under the covers of her bed.
Rick descended the stairs and made a beeline for the kitchen to get a glass of water. He guzzled down some water before setting the glass on the counter. Out of the corner of his eye, an object caught his attention. It had been in their loft ever since Kate officially moved in, so it shouldn't have been so intriguing, but there was something about the parade of elephants sitting on a shelf in the living room that didn't feel right.
He side-eyed the ivory-colored statue as he drained his glass of water and kept the object in his sightline as he placed the glass in the sink to wash later. He moved closer to the elephants and took a seat on the couch next to Kate which was right in front of the statue.
Rick felt Kate snuffle awake. She spoke but the sounds were muted and dull like they had bounced around a padded room before arriving at his ears in a distant roar. The only thing Rick could sense were the elephants. The parade was illuminated as it sat on the shelf like it were a museum piece, but the lighting had never been there before.
Rick's intense concentration was snapped when Kate stood between him and the statue. All of Rick's other senses were sucked back into him like he had been drowning and finally broke the surface of the water taking in as much as air as possible. He shook his head, thinking a screw would rattle around his skull to explain the last five minutes.
"Rick? Rick? Can you hear me?" Kate said, trying to make eye contact with her husband. She could see the storm in his eyes clear and his confusion seem to dissipate as he became Rick again. "Rick, what just happened? Are you okay?"
"What?"
"I think we should get you to bed," Kate decided, grabbing him by his elbows to drag him to their bedroom.
"Th…the…the elephants…" Rick mumbled, trying to turn to point at the statue while he was being pulled into the other room.
Kate brought him to their bed and forced him to lie down. She sat on his side of the bed, hovering over him like a concerned mother for a sick child.
"Are you okay? What's going on?"
"I don't know. I…I…I feel weird. I feel weird, like it doesn't make sense. The elephants, Kate. The elephants."
"Rick, what are you talking about? What doesn't make sense?"
"I don't know. It just doesn't make sense."
Kate leaned over him and brushed her lips to his forehead. "You don't have a fever," she concluded. "I'll lie down next to you and maybe some sleep will help you feel better."
"Yeah…yeah…maybe," Rick muttered.
Rick turned to face his night stand while Kate exited to the bathroom to remove her makeup and put her nightgown on. She returned and got in bed beside Rick. She snuggled up to him despite his back being to her.
"How are you feeling?" she whispered.
Rick startled slightly and turned to face Kate. "What did you say?"
"I was just wondering if you were feeling better. I think you should make an appointment with the doctor in the morning."
"I'm fine. I'm just tired. I'll be fine."
Kate hummed, not really believing him, but she knew there wasn't much she could do. Rick reached over and shut off his bedside lamp and drew the covers up to his neck. Kate flopped back against her pillow before turning and shutting off her light as well.
The blare of a horn next to his ear had Rick shooting into a sitting position in bed. His breath was ragged and labored and he had sweat running in rivulets down his face. He made an attempt to wipe it away but more sweat replaced what he removed. He tried gulping in air to slow his racing heart but it was doing nothing. His bedroom was dark as it was just after midnight, but a glow emanated through the bookshelves that separated his bedroom from the office and the office from the living room. He threw off the covers and tried to keep from waking Kate as he stood up from the bed. The glow from the living room was calling to him and he didn't know why. He shuffled out of his bedroom and through his office while the glow grew brighter and more enticing. He stood at the entrance to the living room while his heartbeat slowed from flittering hummingbird to alert rabbit. He held his breath like he was trying to keep whatever was glowing from hearing him. With his back against the door frame, he leaned over and peered around one the bookshelves. His eyes landed on the object that pulled him from his bed. It was the elephant statue.
He is transfixed by the statue. He somehow finds himself sitting on the couch in front of the elephants again. Did he float there? He doesn't remember walking to take a seat. The elephants are the only thing that his mind can focus on and yet it doesn't make sense. He knows they are elephants, but one elephant has a tail for a trunk and ears for legs, another has the face of basset hound and only two legs. His mind was telling him they were still elephants even though they looked nothing like elephants anymore.
Rick's blinking slowed so much that his eyes stung, begging for moisture. Every time he blinked some aspect of the statue changed and confused him more. Sometimes it was subtle changes like they were a darker shade of ivory but other times they no longer resembled elephants. They were piano keys fanned out like suns rising over the horizon. They were an arched spine, each vertebra prominent and bright white. Every change unsettled him. If he couldn't recognize an elephant statue as an elephant statue, would he be able to recognize his wife? His children? Was he even alive?
The sun rose and the pinkish orange rays crawled across the floor of the loft and Rick never noticed. He still sat on the couch, imprisoned by the glowing elephants. The ambience of New York City swept by his senses and held his attention for milliseconds before he was again held captive by the statue. He couldn't move. He couldn't break free. He was trapped and confused. Someone yelled, he saw shadows out of the corner of his eye, his head ached.
Rick heard the echo of his wife's voice. She was calling for him. His attention on the elephants started to slip. The tendrils holding him in place were being snipped a few at a time. Kate's voice was stronger and louder with each shackle that was broken. The elephants were still there, but they'd get sucked out of his field of vision for longer periods of time until he was no longer looking at a statue, but the perfect face of his wife. Her hazel eyes were wide with worry. Her belly prominent and his reminder of the life they created together.
"Kate," he mumbled.
"Rick, are you okay? Can you hear me? You've been here for three days. We're worried and scared."
The pain in Rick's head intensified and spread throughout his body. He could feel his heart beating in his eardrums. Something wet was on his forehead. Everything was loud. He heard voices and cars. His ears started to ring and there was heat tingeing every nerve ending making it feel like he was buzzing with electricity. His eyelids fluttered open, catching glimpses of tall buildings, traffic lights, and people milling around before everything went black.
