The next morning, Gwen arrived at the Pendragon home, ready and determined to do her best. She opened the door to the annex and caught sight of Arthur in his media room, staring out the window. "Good morning!" she announced, closing the door behind her.
Arthur turned his chair around to stare at her. He definitely looked irritated about something, but didn't say anything. He watched her as she put her bag down on the dining table and smiled. Then he rolled his eyes and turned his chair around to face the window again. Gwen didn't let that deter her. She walked right over to stand next to him. "What would you like to do today?"
Arthur stared up at her, a frown on his handsome face. But he said nothing.
"You have a car, adapted for your chair. We could go for a drive in the country."
Arthur blinked up at her for a moment. "Let me guess. You think it would be good for me. A breath of fresh air." He had a sickly sweet smile on his face for a second before he dropped it. "I don't want to go anywhere."
Gwen thought for a moment. "Well, what do you normally do?"
"I sit."
Gwen raised her eyebrow at this. "Well fine. Shall I make us some tea then?"
She bustled over to the kitchenette and began preparing the tea. Arthur did not follow her; he was back to looking out the window. There must be something really interesting out there, she thought as she prepared the tea.
When she finished, she carried the two cups into the room and offered one to Arthur. "Set it there," he indicated a little table next to the sofa. She opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly spoke up. "Miss Smith, my mother tells me you are very 'chatty.' Can we strike a deal whereby you are very 'un-chatty' around me?"
Gwen closed her mouth and nodded. She had no idea how on earth she was to cheer up a man who was determined to stay grumpy. So she walked out of the room and sat at the small bar. After a minute, she got up and took the binder out of the cabinet. She studied it while she sipped her tea.
The rest of the morning passed slowly. Every once in a while she'd get up and check on Arthur, who did not move from his position in front of the window. As far a she could tell, it looked out over the mansion's garden, which was faded now that it was winter. It was nothing special now and she didn't see what could fascinate such a man as Arthur, but she left him to it.
She was reading the binder when Merlin returned at noon to "take care of a few things." But she was able to go outside and eat her lunch. The change of scenery was welcome.
Once back inside, she watched Merlin work with Arthur for a while before he had to go to another patient. The rest of the workday was spent much as the morning, with Gwen alternately reading and acquainting herself with the annex and checking on Arthur. She went home, a bit dejected.
xxxXxxx
The next few days were spent much like the first. Gwen would come in the door, say "Good Morning" and ask him if he wanted to do anything in particular. He always refused and never looked the slightest bit cheered.
One morning, for a change, she brought a large bunch of flowers. The look he gave her reminded her of a particularly irritable teacher she'd had. Another day it rained, so soup was prepared for lunch. Of course she had to feed Arthur. Except one time she slipped and dumped the spoonful of hot soup in his lap. Naturally she had to clean him up and dry him off, which he didn't comment on but looked at her as if she was the stupidest person he'd ever known. She knew enough about his background that she probably was the stupidest person he knew.
One of those nights, she found herself in her room, complaining to Elyan. "I don't think I can take it anymore, Elyan."
"Why not?" he replied.
"He looks at me like he thinks I'm stupid." She put a pillow over her face.
Elyan removed the pillow. "Well, it's probably the truth."
"Thanks a lot!" She threw the pillow at his face.
"Seriously, Gwen, you can't quit."
"And why not?"
"Because the family really needs the money."
"I know." She looked down and started playing with a loose thread on her quilt.
"But Gwen," he reached out and lifted up her head. "Most of all because you're not a quitter. You can do this. It's only six months."
"Right. You don't have to deal with him."
"True. But I can support you and help you through your tough days. Don't forget what you're doing. It might not look like you're making a difference now, but who knows? You may see a difference in a month or two."
Gwen smiled then. "Thanks Elyan. You're right—I can do it. I need to grow a thicker skin."
"That's my Gwen."
She reached out and gave him a hug. She realized that she may not be the smartest person around, but she could be the most determined. She'd show Arthur how much his attitude didn't affect her.
xxxXxxx
One day, about ten days into work, Igraine stopped Gwen on her walk through the house. "Gwen, hold on a minute."
"Yes?" Gwen replied.
"Some friends of Arthur's are coming for a visit. They should be here soon. I believe you'd . . ."
"Oh. I know. I'll prepare coffee and make myself scarce."
Igraine nodded. "Thank you. That would be perfect."
"Of course." Gwen continued her way to the annex. To her surprise, she found Arthur waiting in the living area of the great room, tapping the fingers of one hand.
"You're moving them!" she exclaimed.
Arthur's frown deepened. "Don't get too excited—it does happen sometimes."
The statement dampened Gwen's enthusiasm and she set her bag on the table with a thump. "I hear you have friends coming to visit."
"Friends, hmph."
Gwen was puzzled. "Aren't you even a little excited to see your friends?"
"Not particularly."
"Okay, fine. Whatever." She went to the kitchenette to prepare the coffee.
A few minutes after the coffee was prepared, Igraine stepped through the door with a man and woman in tow. Gwen took that as her cue to leave and slipped out the annex's back door with the wood basket. She took a good, long time collecting wood, hoping that she'd miss most of the conversation.
She had no such luck. When she gently pushed the door open, she could hear voices. She entered as quietly as she could and set the basket down. The other man was speaking. "Look, I'm sorry it had to come out this way. We didn't mean for it to happen but it did. I love Vivian, Arthur, and we're going to be married."
The woman took a few steps toward Arthur. "What Leon's trying to say is we became close after the accident. I mean, you weren't really talking to either of us so we talked to each other. And it just sort of happened."
"Please, Arthur, say something."
"Congratulations," Arthur said with no emotion.
The man threw up his hands and looked at the woman. "I think it's time to go." He turned back to Arthur. "Arthur, I really hope things improve. We'll come and see you again soon, all right?"
"If you like," Arthur replied.
Gwen hurried forward to help the woman with her coat. Arthur had gone back to his media room. "That man!" the woman said to her. "I tried to be there for him after the accident, we all did. But he pushed us away. He won't accept help unless he wants to." And with that, she and the man left.
Gwen then went to clean up the coffee things, but stopped when she heard the sound of breaking glass. She rushed off to find Arthur in his bedroom, his dresser cleared of the pictures she'd noticed there before. They now littered the floor, the glass broken in front of Arthur's chair.
She looked into his defiant face. No, not this time, she thought. "Don't move. If you pop your tires you'll be stuck there until Merlin comes." Then she ran to the cupboard for the broom so she could clean up the mess.
xxxXxxx
The next day was, luckily, her day off. She bought glue to fix the picture frames, then went to the pub with Lance, who seemed to be in good spirits. "Listen, I've had an idea for our holiday. What do you think about Norway?"
"Norway?"
"Yeah! There's an Ironman triathlon there in a few months." Gwen's face fell. "But we'd do other touristy stuff after I've done it. You know, to make it a proper holiday."
"Wow, Lance, that's . . . that's . . ."
"'Fantastic' is the word you're looking for. Gwen, I'm in the best shape of my life and this is perfect timing. Say yes."
"All right. Yes."
"Great!" he leaned in to kiss her.
Gwen's mind was spinning. How had she gotten herself talked into this? She smiled as Lance's friends surrounded them and they began eagerly talking among themselves. She walked home later, trying to wrap her mind around the idea.
The next day at work, Gwen sat gluing one of the broken picture frames back together. As far as she knew, Arthur was in his media room doing his usual staring out the window. She was surprised to hear his motorized chair moving towards her. He eventually stopped in front of her and looked over at what she was doing.
"What are you doing?" he asked, incredulous.
"I thought I'd try to fix the picture frames. Can't do much for the glass but the frames can be repaired. Unless you want me to get new ones? Or we can go get new ones together . . ." She stopped when she saw the furious look on his face.
"Don't bother," he snapped. "Put them in the drawer and be done with them."
He'd already started to roll away when she stated, "You don't have to be an ass."
He rolled backwards. "Excuse me?"
"It would be nice if you treated me nicely. You have no idea how it makes me feel when you dismiss me like that."
"And what if I don't want you here?"
"I'm not employed by you. I'm employed by your mother. And until she doesn't want me here, I'm staying. I need the money. I really need the money." She crossed her arms.
He looked at her, surprised, but didn't reply. Instead he powered his chair back to his media room and closed the doors. Edgy classical music began playing on the sound system. Gwen shrugged and went back to repairing the frames. It may not be what he wanted her to do, but she wasn't going to let him win this time. Those frames would go in the drawer but they'd be fixed.
xxxXxxx
One morning a few days later, it was raining fiercely. Gwen came into the annex dripping wet and found Arthur watching her. "Good morning," she said, not expecting a reply.
She was surprised when he nodded then turned his chair around and went into his media room. Encouraged, she hung her raincoat and umbrella on the coat rack then took off her wellies. She followed him into his room and asked, "Is there something you needed?"
"DVD weather, I think," he replied, catching her by surprise.
"All right. Which one?"
He named a foreign film she'd heard of but hadn't seen. She didn't like going to see foreign films—it was too hard to watch the action and read the subtitles at the same time. Opening the DVD cabinet, she looked through the boxes until she found the right one. "Something about men?" she asked when she saw the French title.
"It's French gay porn." She gave him an incredulous look but he grinned. "What's the matter, don't you like sarcasm?"
Gwen turned to put the movie in the DVD player. "I don't mind sarcasm. It's superiority I don't like."
"You must hate me then."
"I've never hated anyone," she replied, closing the cabinet door.
"Have you ever seen this movie?"
"No, I don't like foreign films. All those subtitles."
"What, didn't you learn to read in school?"
She gave him her best "drop dead" look and made to leave the room. "Can I get you anything—"
"Stay."
"What?"
"Stay and watch the film with me. That's an order," he stated, halting the argument.
She decided she'd let him win this one. It's not like she had anything better to do anyway.
Two hours later, she sat up on the sofa. Arthur looked over at her and asked, "Well, what did you think of it?"
"I loved it," she replied.
He gave her a smug grin. "I thought you might."
She pretended to chuck the throw pillow at him. "You would say that."
Arthur looked up and out the window. "Looks like the rain's stopped. Shall we go outside for a bit?"
Gwen was once again taken aback. Since when did Arthur want to go outside? And with her? She thought he detested her presence. When she recovered from her surprise, she said, "Sure."
She helped Arthur into his jacket and they motored out the annex's front door to the garden gate. She though Arthur might have trouble on the wet grass, but his chair did fine and he kept up with her as she walked across the lawn.
At first they talked about their favorite movies. She didn't believe him when he said his was E.T. Soon they branched out to her clothing choices, and she explained about her love of fashion. He questioned her taste but she defended it well until he couldn't argue anymore. Soon they moved on to Lance, whom Arthur dubbed "Running Man" because of his fondness for fitness.
They stayed outside until almost dinnertime, when it was Gwen's time to leave.
xxxXxxx
Two days later, Gwen drove Arthur's wheelchair-adapted van for the first time. Arthur had a doctor appointment. Gwen refrained from asking Merlin questions until Arthur was safely ensconced in the exam room with the doctor.
She sat in a chair next to Merlin. "So why is he here?"
"He has these regular checkups every six months," he replied. "But he's not getting better."
"Why not? You do all these exercises with him."
"Those are to keep his muscles for atrophying."
Gwen frowned. "Oh. But there are medical advances all the time. Maybe something in the future . . ."
"That's true. But no one's worked out how to fix a spinal cord yet."
Gwen fell silent, because what could she say to that? As far as she knew, it was true. Arthur may recover a tiny bit of motion in his hands or arms, but he'd never be whole like before.