FULL CIRCLE
Chapter 44
Stephen awakened about 6:30 and decided that he might as well go check on Miles. Pushing open the door he looked in at what bore some resemblance to a slumber party. Frank and Miles were asleep in their respective beds and Natalie was asleep in the chair beside
Miles' bed. Moving quietly as not to disturb anyone, Stephen made his way over to the chair and gently put a hand on Natalie's shoulder.
She slowly came awake, blinking her tired eyes. "Oh, hi, Connor. What time is it?" she asked in a not quite wide awake voice.
"About 6:30," Stephen answered quietly. "How is he?"
"Asleep. Hopefully he'll sleep for a few more hours yet. Frank and I finally got him back to bed about 2:00 and I think I fell asleep a couple of hours later," Natalie told him.
"Did Miles say anything about his visit?" Stephen asked, picking up the photo from the nightstand.
"Some. Although I don't know if he was talking to me or just talking," she replied. "It seems that he found out his father had remarried without his knowledge."
"Ouch. That had to have hurt. Being excluded like that," Stephen commented. He showed her the picture. "Kid sure looks a lot like Miles."
Natalie smiled wryly and said, "She does, doesn't she? She's his little sister. Not only did he find out he has a step mother but also a little sister. I guess that was just one shock, surprise or whatever too many."
"So he decides to go get drunk?" Stephen asked.
"Apparently. I talked to the bartender and he said that Miles didn't have that much to drink. And he started feeling bad pretty fast. Now I've had at least that many before and I haven't felt near as bad as Miles did," she answered.
"Go to bed. You've probably been up half the night."
"No, I'm all right," Natalie said although her sudden yawn told otherwise.
"Go to bed. Miles will be okay. Like you said he'll probably sleep for a few more hours yet," Stephen told her.
"You're probably right. I'll check on him in a while later," Natalie decided and got to her feet.
Outside in the hall, Stephen said, "I meant to ask what did you did with Miles' car. I'm assuming you left it at that bar."
"It's there. We'll go get it later. At least he didn't try to drive back to the hotel because he probably wouldn't have gotten very far without getting into an accident," Natalie replied and pushed open
the door to her room. "I'll get those autopsy results written up later today."