Where Nothing is Clear Ch 6

By Ginny

Reviews are greatly appreciated

By the middle of the afternoon Jed felt marginally better, although he was still tired. Cabin fever had also set in. "Sweetie, what can I do?" Abbey asked as Jed as she sat down on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. He just shrugged his shoulders as Abbey leaned over and kissed the top of his head. Jed stretched his legs out in front of him, kicking them a little to try and get rid of the restless feeling. "Do you want to sit on the front steps for a little while?"

"No."

"Walk around the block?"

"I don't know," Jed whined as he crossed his arms over his chest doing his best imitation of a petulant child. Abbey wasn't about to let him wallow in self pity.

"Come on, how about a drive around the island?" Abbey asked, quickly running out of ideas.

"OK," Jed sighed, his voice about as unenthusiastic as possible.

"Put your shoes and jacket on. I'll be back in a minute," Abbey said as she pulled on her coat and headed to the cottage to let the security team know they were going out, alone.

Jed slipped his feet into his sneakers but found that leaning over to tie them wasn't the best idea so he waited until Abbey got back and asked her to tie them for him. He grabbed a bottle of Gatorade out of the fridge and they headed for the car.

Abbey backed the car out of the driveway and headed towards town. "If you want to stop anywhere just say so," she told Jed as she patted his hand. He gave her a weak smile and a little nod before resting his head against the window. The rode around in silence for a little while, Jed did manage to keep his eyes opened and look at the scenery. It did feel good to get out of the house but he just wished he had the energy to do more than sit in the passenger's seat while his wife drove around the island of Nantucket.

"Jed....Jed," Abbey said, bringing him out of the fog he was in.

"Huh. Sorry, zoned out a little there," he muttered as he scrubbed his hand over his face.

"Do you want to stop at a beach, look around for a few minutes, get some fresh air?"

"Sure."

Ten minutes later Abbey pulled the car into the parking lot. Abbey gave Jed a hand out of the car and they headed towards the beach. They didn't actually walk on the beach though. The sand wasn't the easiest place for Jed to walk on a good day and being as unsteady as he was he knew he wouldn't be able to do it at all. But there were plenty of benches to sit on. There were a few boats out on the water and some kids running on the beach while others played on the swings. All were wrapped up in heavy sweatshirts as they enjoyed what would probably be one of the last fall weekends the weather would be warm enough to venture out to the beach.

"Are you going to call Leo tonight? Or wait until we get back home?" Abbey asked.

"Hadn't really thought about it. I guess I'm just enjoying being cut off from the rest of the world for a few days, even if I do feel like crap. I'll probably just wait until we get home. Although I'm pretty sure he'll be calling me before then," Jed chuckled, knowing Leo would anxiously be waiting for his final decision.

"Jed, we need to talk about something," Abbey said rather vaguely as she tucked her leg under her and turned to face Jed on the bench. He felt his stomach drop even though he had no idea what she was about to say.

"OK," he whispered as he took his gaze away from Abbey and looked out towards the horizon. "What?"

"You know I will support you in the campaign but there has to be...there has to be..." Abbey stumbled over her words. She knew what she wanted to say but was unsure of how to exactly say it.

"Has to be what Abigail?" asked Jed as he turned sideways to face her. He draped his right arm over the back of the bench, his fingers brushing against the soft fleece of Abbey's jacket.

"Has to be a point at which I can say, or more specifically Tom and I can say, you're endangering your health and enough is enough." Jed just nodded a little but sat in silence. "But I don't know what that point is," Abbey explained. "I mean, is it if you go through what you've gone through in the last few days?"

"No. It has to be worse. I guess....I guess if I need to be admitted to the hospital to deal with an episode. I honestly don't know. I don't know if it's one of those things that we can even pinpoint. Nothing is clear cut. We just have to play it by ear I guess."

"Not exactly the easiest way to handle it Jed," sighed Abbey as she reached for his hand.

"I know. But I don't think there's any other solution. What happens when I have to take a physical?"

"Unless you're in the middle of an episode it's unlikely anything is going to show up in a routine exam," Abbey said. "Rest assured I will be keeping a close eye on you. Closer than I have been," she warned with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Oh, I'm sure you will be," smirked Jed. He turned back towards the water to watch the boats. Abbey kept one eye on him and one eye on the scenery as she watched him blink and squint as he tried to clear his vision.

"Not getting any better?" she asked as she hooked her finger under Jed's chin so she could look at his eye. She ran her thumb over his cheek. His eye was red and slightly swollen from rubbing at it.

"Not really and it's starting to hurt a little," he admitted as he stretched his legs out in front of him to work out the stiffness that had taken hold. Abbey just nodded. There wasn't much they could do about it so there was really little use in talking about it.

"Feel like walking a little?" Abbey asked as she motioned towards the path.

"Sure."

They walked hand in hand along the path for about ten minutes until Jed decided they'd better head about. Much to his annoyance his stamina was quickly waning. "How about we go out to eat," suggested Jed.

"You sure you're up to it?" Abbey asked, surprised that he even made the offer.

"Yeah. I think I'm hungry. Nothing fancy," he said, motioning towards the jeans and sneakers he was wearing.

"OK, we can just drive around until we see something that looks interesting," offered Abbey as they reached the rental car. She hit the unlock button on the remote and opened Jed's door for him. He accepted the help without the usual snort and roll of his eyes.

They ended up at a little cafe situated about halfway between the harbor and the house. Jed's appetite had returned, much to Abbey relief. He managed to eat most of a lobster salad sandwich while Abbey had Caesar salad and a bowl of clam chowder.

By the time they got back to the house it was a little before 7 and Jed was exhausted. "Why don't you go upstairs and take a bath. Do you want some tea?"

"No, I'll just take a can of ginger ale."

"You ok?" asked Abbey knowing that ginger ale was his drink of choice when he was feeling queasy.

"I'm fine Abbey, don't fuss," Jed assured her as he turned to head upstairs.

TBC