Chapter 2: Up to Something
The next evening,
Jeanette, not having seen Simon all day at the hospital, went to the Seville home and found her boyfriend in his lab taking notes from a book
"Simon?" she asked stunned to find him in his lab studying when his brother was dying
"Jeanette! Good. You're here" he said ripping out a page from his notebook "Now I won't have to stop what I'm doing to deliver this to Dave"
"What are you doing?" she asked
"I'm…uh…doing research on the disease Alvin has." Simon said telling half the truth as he handed her the paper. "These are the symptoms to look for when it's getting near his time. I didn't bother with the ones he already had.
She took it and sure enough, saw a list of symptoms
Raspy voice
Double vision
Sharp pains
Difficulty breathing
Erratic heartbeat
Dizziness (will feel like room is spinning)
"Are you going to go visit him soon?" she asked
"I will" he promised like he wanted to add something, but didn't dare. "But…come get me if his dizziness hits"
She hugged him sympathetically before leaving with the list. As soon as she left the Seville home, he locked his lab door so nobody could bother him
A few minutes later,
Jeanette walked into the hospital to find Dave sitting by Alvin's bed and Brittany was sound asleep in an armchair in the corner
"Dave?"
"Yes Jeanette?"
"Simon sent this with me" she explained. "It's a list of what to look for before Alvin… you know"
"Thanks Jeanette" Dave said "Did he say what he was doing?"
"Just research on the disease." She said having a suspicion of what he was doing but figured he was keeping quiet for a reason so she was going to keep quiet too
Just then, the door opened to reveal Theodore, Eleanor, and Vinny.
"How's Alvin doing?" Vinny asked
"Not too good" Dave answered sadly as he allowed his boys' mother to take his seat
She took the seat and gently caressed Alvin's face with tears forming in her eyes
"It started with a cough, didn't it?" she asked
"yeah." Dave said stunned how she knew that
"How'd you know Mom?" Theodore asked
She bit her lower lip as if thinking about it hurt.
"Y-Your…" she started before covering her mouth as she tried to keep her emotions in check.
Dave suddenly realized what she was trying to say.
"The boys' biological father died of this, didn't he?" he asked gently
She nodded
"He didn't even know I was pregnant" she added sadly
Eleanor gave Theodore a sympathetic look as tears threatened to fall at the knowledge of what had become of his biological father.
Suddenly, Alvin stirred and opened his eyes.
"Mom?" he whispered in a raspy voice
Jeanette took the list from Dave and put a check next to the first symptom.
"Try to relax Honey" she whispered
Alvin looked around and saw his girlfriend sleeping in the corner with Miss. Miller keeping watch over her, Theodore and Eleanor standing by the door, Jeanette and Dave standing next to Vinny…
Someone was missing
"Where's Simon?" Alvin asked
"Good question" Vinny said looking around noticing she was missing a kid
"Simon's doing research on the disease. He'll come as soon as he finishes" Jeanette explained
Alvin closed his eyes not surprised. Leave it to Simon to do science when a beloved family member was dying
TBC