Chapter 8

Don found him there, shivering, two hours later. Barefoot, curled up on the floor under his blackboards, asleep. At first his focus was just on Charlie, and he started over to wake him up, when he saw the board, the single "P". That one letter alone made him stop. He came to himself again when he heard a soft sound escape his brother. He looked down and saw that he was talking in his sleep, but Don couldn't quite make it out. He stepped closer. Charlie curled a little tighter. "Mom," he whispered. "Mama?"

Shit.

Don knelt down next to Charlie, started shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, Buddy. Come on, it's cold out here."

He shook a little harder, talked a little louder. "Charlie."

His brother opened his eyes. "Sam?"

Don waited for Charlie to wake up a little more. "It's Don. Come on, I'll help you sit up."

Charlie leaned heavily on him as Don managed to get him as far as the old couch. He blinked up at Don. "I fell asleep."

Don knew he should get him into the house, but he had to know, first. "Charlie, what's this?"

Charlie followed his finger to the blackboard. He stared at the single "P", then looked at Don. "I didn't do it," he said, his voice small. "Anymore of it, I mean. I wanted to, but, but I remembered that I promised." He was afraid that Don would be angry. He began to plead, his voice breaking into a sob at the end. "Please. I didn't do it."

Double shit.

Don joined Charlie on the couch, sat close enough so that their shoulders touched and he could feel his brother's shivers. He spoke gently, trying not to frighten him anymore. "I can see that, Charlie. It's okay. Thank you, for keeping your promise."

Charlie smiled a little. "It was hard."

"I can see that, too." Don allowed the silence to continue for a while, then stood again. He reached out a hand to Charlie. "Come on, come inside, have something warm to eat — some soup? Go to bed. It's really cold out here."

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Once Charlie started sleeping, he couldn't seem to stop. After Don had gotten him up to bed on Friday night, he stayed almost 24 hours, only rising then for a sleepwalk to the bathroom. It was Sunday afternoon before he joined his father downstairs again.

"I'm glad you got some sleep." His Dad handed him a bottle of water. "Can I interest you in something to go with this?"

Charlie knew he would have to try. He followed Alan into the kitchen, sat down at the table. "Whatever you were going to make, Dad."

Alan opened the refrigerator. "I know it's not time for breakfast, but I was going to scramble some eggs anyway. I was in the mood."

The eggs went down more easily than he expected, actually making Charlie hungry for more, but his head was sagging almost in his plate.

"I'd push my luck," Alan said, "but I think you'd better go back to bed. Are you going to work tomorrow?"

Charlie blinked. "Tomorrow's Monday?"

Alan nodded. "You slept through the entire weekend, my boy."

"I should go, then." Charlie didn't sound very excited, but Alan figured it was the tiredness.

"Back to bed with you, then. You'd better set the alarm, the way you've been sleeping."

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Charlie was sore. Still sore. He didn't remember not being sore. And he had a headache, again. But he tried to smile at Larry and Amita. "I appreciate your helping Don while I was gone."

"It was all Amita, Charles, she was brilliant. We're both so relieved that you've returned to work."

"You look tired," Amita noted. "Maybe you should ease into it a little."

Charlie's hand went to his pounding head. "I'm sure I can manage my class load, Amita." His voice sounded more irritated than he had intended, and he tried to soften the words with another smile.

"Of course," she said, smiling back. "And I'm sure your students will he happy to see you again."

As is to prove her point, there was a timid knock on the open door and one of Charlie's lower classmen was there. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Professors, I just wanted to sign up for a place during office hours?"

"I'm sorry, I haven't had time to post the schedule yet," Charlie answered. "I need to get one copied…" he dug through his desk, finding the master.

"I'll do it, Dr. Eppes, I can run down to the copy center and bring it right back — if I can sign up for the first opening?"

Charlie tried to rub his head and sigh without anyone noticing. He held the paper out to the student. "Sure," he said. "Whatever."

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After the garage incident, Don had a fairly restful weekend himself, which was good, because Monday morning brought a new case, and the flurry was on again. He called his father once to check on Charlie, and was relieved to hear he had gone to work. He was going to call Charlie, but he had been interrupted by Colby, who had some information he had been waiting for.

Wednesday evening, although it was after 8 when he left work, Don drove by the house.

Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table, lap top open, stacks of paper around him.

"Hey," Don said. "I see you're back at it." He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and joined his brother at the table.

"Sort-of. I have a few papers to grade. Lesson plans to devise. That's just the bare bones, but I can't even seem to get that done. I can't concentrate."

"Maybe you're pushing it. Went back to work too soon."

Charlie abruptly pushed back his chair and stood, slammed the lap top shut and started grabbing papers. "I'm fine. I sleep. I eat. I work. I wish everyone would just leave me alone." He leaned across the table for a stray paper and winced.

Don was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing. It's my shoulder. And nothing. Maybe I slept on it wrong. It just hurts."

"Look, I didn't mean to upset you…"

He watched his brother deflate. Like a balloon loosing its air. "I know. I'm still tired." Charlie looked down at his arms, filled with papers. "I have to do this."

Don took in his brother's slump, the lines of fatigue on his face. "Can you get up early and do it? You really look beat."

Charlie laid everything back on the table, picked up his backpack from the floor and began shoving it all in. "I'll do it during my free class tomorrow. " He added the lap top to the pack and started for the stairs. "I don't know. Sometime."