IF EVERYTHING HAD BEEN DIFFERENT – Chapter 10
A very special thanks to Cris (our very kind translator) and to Doc Maria Celia for her help in providing research information related to medical terms, remedies and treatments cited in this fic
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Also in Portuguese: "Se Tudo Fosse Diferente"
"For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday."
Khalil Gibran – "The Prophet"
Against all the prognostics, Veronica resisted day after day, night after night.
And the routine of the Treehouse changed radically. Marguerite was a determined and strong woman, this was no surprise for anybody. With the same courage she administered her life she applied herself to the tasks and became a kind of governess of the house. Nobody imagined that Veronica was so much necessary until then. Her tasks had to be redistributed. But it was much more than this.
It was usually Roxton and Malone's assignment to search for something that Challenger and Summerllee could need. Banana, lemon, pumpkin, mud, turnip, whatever they asked the hunter and the journalist tried to get. Marguerite had made two holes in the bottom of Ned's backpack, where he could accommodate Tommy comfortably. And then they went into the forest to return almost at nightfall always exhausted and angst-ridden waiting for some bad news.
Malone didn't stop. Malone didn't want to and could not stop. Anything that was needed there he was always ready, always with the boy in the backpack or on his lap. Tommy became irritated, indocile and sad. Only Ned took care of him, and the boy accepted only the journalist. He cried even with him, and it still could get worse when he was with any other person. This attitude of the child with the other ones would be more difficult if it was not for the patience of them all, especially Ned's patience. At night he and Tommy were so tired that they bathed, ate and slept without any difficulty.
But when Tommy woke up in the middle of the night and he lifted his head seeking for Veronica and started to cry quietly, Ned gave him the lion Edward and he consoled him until the boy slept again. Then Ned sat down by the bed with a sad glance and that was the worst hour of the day. It was the hour when he felt completely alone, without Tommy's laughers, the little happiness that remained to him on those days. Someone had liked the man Ned Malone as he was, with all his insecurities and hesitations, and now he was losing her.
Summerllee spent his time researching alternatives, collecting plants, preparing medicines, helping at the kitchen and eventually staying with Veronica so that Challenger could bath and take a little care of himself. Arthur was ready for anything. But late in the afternoon Marguerite closed his books and ordered him to bath, had dinner and sleep. He obeyed without questioning. He was wise enough to know that if he wanted to be useful he needed to be in good conditions.
Summerllee had been always the second to wake up, and now he missed when he arrived to the kitchen not to find Veronica close to the stove. Then she would hear his steps and turn with a smile greeting him and already bringing him a cup of coffee: "Good morning, professor."
And Challenger, if it wasn't also for Marguerite and her scolding, wouldn't eat. He didn't want to leave Veronica's bedroom, and in these occasions Marguerite would take the food forcing him to eat before it cooled. It was her who ordered him to go for a small walk around the Treehouse to stretch out his legs. He returned few minutes later and she doubted that he had really done what she had said, but at least he had left to take some fresh air.
In the few hours in which he enjoyed some peacefulness, Challenger recalled when Veronica followed him in the laboratory or when she guided him through the tracks of the plateau. Her curiosity was insatiable and George adored the way she paid attention to everything that he taught her.
Marguerite also entered the bedroom to know news about Veronica. Whenever she left, she returned to her chores with a sad glance, stunned. And if at this time Roxton was at home, he would take her hand worriedly. - "Marguerite, are you alright?" - and she would barely nod her head affirmatively. Then John would drive her to the kitchen to take a coffee or to the balcony where they stayed in silence.
No matter how much Marguerite hated to admit, she had found in Veronica one of the few women that could dare to speak to her from equal to equal, and she discovered that she missed that, someone who was not intimidated by her imposing presence. She also noticed that she actually adored provoking the girl always expecting a reaction. And she laughed when noticed finally that Veronica also liked to provoke her.
Since Marguerite had assumed the control of the house, Roxton became her faithful squire.
"Roxton, give back those weapons near the elevator, it is not the time for having one of those masculine attacks of messing the things around..." - John didn't question any of her orders. It seemed that he was always available.
When in the middle of the night he noticed Ned awake and sad seated in the bed he seated by his side. - "Do you need company, my friend?" - Asked the hunter without waiting for an answer. And the two sleepless stayed there until dawn.
For Summerllee he always brought new things that he found in his trips in the jungle hoping that Arthur could use them.
And when Marguerite appeared in the kitchen early in the morning he was already waiting for her with a really fresh cup of coffee for her and another of George's favorite tea for him.
One night Summerllee listened to a noise in the base of the Treehouse and he went down to look what was happening. He was surprised when he saw Roxton kicking the firewood pile that fell down violently. Arthur sat down observing the hunter without being noticed, until John became tired.
"I was wondering how you would open your heart." - Summerllee said calmly.
"What are you doing here, Summerllee?" - Asked a breathless Roxton.
"I was just waiting to check if you would like to talk to someone."
"It seems that I do need to…" - the hunter said smiling and sitting down besides the professor.
Roxton missed hunting with Veronica, when they both would always be laughing and talking about the best way for capturing a raptor. John insisted on his modern techniques while Veronica had fun when he lost a shot. - "Next time, Roxton, we will try my way." - And when she wandered was his time to spend all day laughing and spreading the news. None of them admitted to lose for the other.
Marguerite woke up irritated.
"Summerllee, give those things to Challenger, I will take care of the other things. Roxton, today you clean the dishes of the dinner. Kid, remove this spoon of your mouth!"
Marguerite stopped closer to Tommy and picked the spoon from him a little abruptly.
"How many times I already told you that this is not a banana? We use this as an instrument to eat and it is not one of your toys...."
Malone stopped what he was doing to approach them. Tommy looked at her, breathing accelerated, wanting to cry. Roxton intervened.
"Marguerite, he is too little yet…"
"That's how you cut the evil by the root, Roxton..."
Tommy's lips started trembling and the tears danced in his eyelids, but without rolling.
"He's just a baby!" - Malone took the boy and faced Marguerite.
"Listen to me." - She got closer to him - "He has to be educated if he wants to grow in a civilized way here. Despite it doesn't look like that, I just do that for his own good. And you, instead of being offended, at least assume the attitude of a..."
Marguerite just stopped lowering the addressed finger to Malone. - "Which attitude, Marguerite?"
She looked around and shook her head. She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes, breathing heavily as a relief. - "Nothing, Malone... Continue what you would do, just leave me here with my tasks... And you stop looking at me Roxton!"
Roxton signaled for Malone that took Tommy and left the kitchen. Roxton got closer to her and gently removed the knife and the vegetable that she was cutting from her hands, and he forced her to turn to him looking into her eyes. She hugged him strongly and cried quietly leaning against his chest. Marguerite could handle very well her task of maintaining everything working, but as any of the other ones she also needed to open up her heart, eventually.
Despite of the severity of the illness, Summerllee and Challenger assured that Veronica's disease was not contagious. Malone wanted to see her but Summerllee asked to him to stay away for some time assuring him that as soon as it was convenient he would call him. Even contradicted the journalist agreed.
In one of the rainy days Roxton and Malone were helping Marguerite in the kitchen. Tommy finally was distracted seating in the ground with some toys made of rags. But he always looked for Ned to check if he was close enough. Somebody intoned a song and Tommy lifted his head seeking everywhere for the origin of the sound. When he saw Marguerite leaving the pantry, he was confused until he understood that it was she who hummed and not Veronica. He put the hands in the ground, lied down hiding his face, and began to sob quietly. Malone went to him sitting down in the ground by his side and caressing his head but it was not enough.
Roxton saw Marguerite stop to hum and leave the kitchen. "For sure she didn't want to tolerate one more crying scene of that child."
After a few minutes once again they heard the song. And again Tommy, now with his face wet of tears, lifted his head seeking. And there was Marguerite, this time dressed with the robe that Veronica used when leaving the bath. She stopped down and took him in her lap carefully, always making sure he kept his face close to the fabric. Then, always humming by his ear she carried the boy already calmer for the balcony, followed by the skeptics' looks from Roxton and Malone.
One night, Challenger had a nightmare. He dreamt that Veronica threw herself of the balcony. He woke up a little stunned and decided to sit down close to her. - "It was only a dream, a horrible dream, but only a dream" – he repeated for himself.
Challenger observed the young woman lost in fever, with the eyes lightly open. He commiserated with that when he noticed that she was in pain when breathing and so she panted. An inexplicable emotion took over George, something he identified as a feeling of mercy. Slowly, he saw himself with his hands joined together in front of his tilted down face.
"Whoever you are, however it is, I will save her... This is my first step. If there is somebody or something, an extraordinary being living above us, please, I will kneel down before anything in order to save Veronica. Give me some sign; make me have some idea, a fire lit inside of my mind that will never cease. I am sure that my calculations are right, but I don't get to see an upturn in her condition. Does anybody there hear me?... Now I know that it is not enough only to close your eyes... Whoever can have listened to this... confession… thank you."
Challenger leaned his head when he sensed Veronica's hand holding his strongly. He comforted her.
"I'm here, my dear."
Suddenly the scientist was alarmed when he felt Veronica's hand relax and when he noticed that she slowly had closed her eyes.
"No, no, no, no. You are not gonna do it to me."
He screamed as loud as he could.
"I NEED HELP, NOW!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
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