Chapter Two: Leaving Home

"Okay, okay," Zack said brushing his had through his hair. "Do you have any milk? You must have milk." Zack made his way to the refrigerator, but tripped over Aldrea's fallen chair.

"Ow, ow, ow!" said Zack, as three more hops took him across the tiny kitchen. He sighed with relief when he opened the fridge and saw that the gallon carton of milk was half full. Zack poured some in a sippy cup and gave it to Eloise.

"Here baby," Eloise urged her daughter. "Just drink some." Milk dribbled down Aldrea's chin and onto her cotton nightie.

"This won't completely work," said Zack. "Her seizures are bad, and there's not enough Tryptophan in milk." Eloise looked at him pleading, her eyes becoming watery. Zack made a quick decision, which worked in his favor anyway. "You'll have to relocate. To somewhere where you have easier access to Tryptophan. We can keep Aldrea from going into a coma with milk until you can get pills."

Eloise sighed. She really liked it here. It was safe and quiet, and she didn't want to move. She could feel Aldrea's shaking slow down in her arms, and she knew that it would start up again soon. Zack was right; she had to be in a location where Tryptophan was readily available.

"All right," said Eloise, her voice not betraying a single emotion. "Looks like you've finally convinced me to move."

---

Eloise packed everything she could fit into her car. Aldrea slept the entire time Eloise was packing up, as she was tired from her seizure. Zack had just watched as Eloise carelessly tossed almost everything she owned into her trunk. He had a few things to say about her lack of organization, but his sister was stressed enough already. Eloise's loud rock music continued to blare from the car stereo, as she sat on the roof of the trunk to try and get it to close. Zack managed to hold back laughing at her and she yelled, "Hey, come help me here!"

Finally the car was packed, Aldrea was sleeping in the back seat, and Zack had siphoned most of his gas from his motorcycle into his sister's car, so she had a full tank. They were ready to go.

Zack leaned into Eloise's car to kiss his niece on the forehead, and in the process he reached around and left an envelope in the front passenger seat. Eloise didn't notice him leaving the present.

"You're a such a sentimental fool Zack," she said.

"And you're a hard headed mental case."

With that they peeled off in opposite directions.

---

After a long ride, Eloise and Aldrea arrived at their destination. Aldrea had woken up a few times, and Eloise had given her the remainder of the milk. When they stopped for food, Eloise ordered Aldrea a turkey sandwich. Aldrea seemed to have plenty of Tryptophan in her system, and they made it to San Francisco without incident.

Eloise had noticed the envelope sitting on the passenger seat after about an hour on the road. She had opened it to find money, which didn't surprise her. That's so like Zack, she thought. What did surprise her was how much of it there was. There had to be at least five thousand dollars. Wow, Zack usually only drops about five hundred on me.

Eloise had plans for her new found wealth. She needed an apartment. Oh, exciting plans! She thought sarcastically to herself.

She pulled up to an apartment complex that looked pretty nice. She could maybe live here, and it wouldn't even be illegal. Looking around, Eloise could see the Golden Gate from where she was standing. Glancing in the back seat, she noticed that Aldrea was just waking up.

"How are you doing Aldrea?"

"Hmm."

"C'mon kid, let's see if we can't find new digs." Eloise grabbed Aldrea out to the backseat and carried her over to a man that was weed whacking around the edge of the building.

"'Scuse me, do you know if any apartments are available here?"

"Yeah," the man said over the drone of the weed whacker. "Family moved out last week. Left two vacancies!" The man turned off his weed whacker. "Names Denis. I'm the landlord."

"Great! I'm Eloise, this is Aldrea."

"You have a job?"

"I will, but my brother gave me some cash, and that should cover rent until I'm employed…"

"Eh, stuff seems to be going pretty cheap these days. So don't worry," Denis continued on, "So a family moved out last week, and left two apartments, because they had a billion kids. There's 310, that's got two bedrooms, a bath, and a kitchen with a couch in it. 311 is right across the hall. It's got a bathroom, bedroom and a separate kitchen and living space."

Aldrea started to quiver in Eloise's arms. "310 sounds great," Eloise told Denis, liking the sound of Aldrea getting her own room.

"I'll show you there,"

Aldrea began to tremble some more. "Mommy?" she whispered her words hoarse and shaky.

"Hey," Eloise stopped Denis, just as he was unlocking the door to 310. "Do you have any milk? My daughter could use some."

Denis stared at her. "Nope. No milk," he said, and shoved open the door.

The apartment was already sparsely furnished. "I dunno what furniture you guys got, but the last people left some of theirs. The couch and table in here. A bed in each bedroom."

Denis tried to ignore Aldrea, who was having a full-blown seizure now. Eloise plopped her on the couch, and stroked her hair.

Denis glanced at her. "Um, well. That's it then. Um, I collect rent on the first of the month…. Is she all right?"

"Yeah, fine. I just need to give her some medicine."

Denis nodded. "Good luck," he said, and left.

Eloise didn't know what to do. She had to get to a pharmacy of some kind, but she couldn't very well haul a seizing three-year-old around while she searched for one. She had to leave Aldrea alone while she went out, even though that risked Aldrea going into a coma with no one there.

Eloise rushed down the stairs, trying not to blur in case someone would see her. "Ow!" She ran into a wall, or… a wall that wasn't there before.

"Sorry," said the wall. "These boxes take up the whole stairwell!"

TBC…