Hey, hey! So, this update took a little longer than usual, so sorry about that, I hope this makes up for it. And fear not! I've already started writing the following chapter so next time, the wait should definitely not be as long.
Part. 6
Roman isn't waking up.
Their mother has insisted that they take him home, or the place she likes to call home but which feels foreign to Shelley now. She's the one who carried him up the stairs. It's like last time only worst; Shelley can tell his health is degrading, quickly. No one knows what's wrong with him, not even Johann who's really upset about the whole thing. Not about Roman being on the verge of death of course; he's upset about not being able to figure out what's wrong with him. Shelley can tell. It's not like he ever cared about her brother. It usually doesn't bother her that much. Her mother's always preferred Roman so it feels nice to have someone looking out for her, only her.
But right now she cannot stand Pryce's carelessness; she hates him for being so indifferent towards Roman's fate. She'd give anything to have her brother back. She sits by his side most of the time, each day hoping he'll wake, only for a little while. But he never does.
The little Nadia can't really tell what's happening of course, she's too young. But Shelley finds her more agitated than usual. She doesn't sleep well, she cries much more than she used to. She clearly doesn't like it when Shelley is away for too long; she's the only person who can comfort her in this new home that Nadia doesn't know.
Shelley's brought her to Roman's room today. They are both by his side, with Nadia sitting on her lap. The little girl looks at him expectantly but Roman doesn't stir. He sleeps on, untouched by all the sadness that surrounds him. It comforts Shelley a little, to know that, at least, he can't feel any pain, unlike her or Nadia.
She wishes Peter was here; somehow she feels like he'd know what to do. But she just doesn't know where he could be. Roman said that he'd left and that he was never coming back. At the time she had thought he was just being dramatic but now she's starting to believe him. Peter should be here more than ever and he isn't. So maybe Roman was right. Maybe he isn't coming back.
"There: this is my daughter Shelley with my granddaughter Nadia. And of course, Roman."
The bedroom door, which Shelley had closed behind her upon walking in, has been reopened to introduce her mother's form. Behind her is a large man who appears to be in his fifties, with piercing eyes that remind her of Olivia's.
"Darling," Her mother says to Shelley, "This is my father Erik. You're grandfather!"
Shelley instinctively holds onto Nadia a little closer. This man has an eerie air about him, something akin to mystery. She thinks what she is feeling now, looking at this stranger standing close, must be what others feel when they encounter her mother or Roman; a mix of uneasiness and awe. If her grandfather's anything like Olivia… this won't be good. The man's eyes go back and forth between her and Roman for a few quick seconds. But out of nowhere, a huge, completely unsettling smile spreads upon his features and he exclaims:
"Finally!"
And then he's rushing over to them excitedly, scaring Shelley who jumps out of her seat but making Nadia laugh.
"My grandchildren!" the man says proudly, taking Shelley's face between his palms. "You're all so beautiful. Look at this little one!" He adds, tickling Nadia's nose with his finger.
Shelley's is extremely shocked and she doesn't know what to say. Where are the sarcasm and the disdain she's been so accustomed to?
"Father, please!" Olivia scorns from behind. "Do you really have to be so sentimental?"
Well, that's more like the family she knows! Thank you mother! Shelley thinks.
Erik laughs.
"Ha! Your mother!" He tells Shelley confidentially. "Such a spoil sport!"
His gaze falls onto Roman and he frowns.
"Well for once you haven't exaggerated Olivia, he does look bloody awful!"
She frowns at the remark.
"Yes, well I haven't seen you in over 50 years. Do you really think I would have called if this wasn't an emergency?"
Shelley's grandfather moves his gaze way from Roman back to Olivia.
"I'm appalled that one of my grandchildren has to fall terribly ill before you let me meet any of them!" He looks back to Shelley and whispers, affronted. "She wouldn't even let me come over when he was born!"
Olivia rolls her eyes.
"Well I'm sorry but I think my husband would have been a little scared realizing the man who's supposed to be my father looks what, about ten years older than I do?"
Erika waves her off laughingly.
"You flatter me sweetheart!"
He looks back to Roman and begins rolling back one of his sleeves.
"Well whatever's wrong, there's nothing a little family blood won't heal!"
Shelley frowns in confusion but says nothing. She has no idea how her grandfather's particular … blood is supposed to help when Roman clearly hasn't been able to… drink anything lately. Her mother senses her confusion. She walks over and places what she probably think is comforting hand on Shelley's shoulder.
"Your grandfather is very old and the first of our line. His blood is special of sorts. It can heal." She explains.
"Heal ones of our kind." Erik says lightly. "It probably wouldn't do you any good, Shelley. A darn shame you're not one of us!"
He is now kneeled beside Roman. He bites savagely into his own skin, not even wincing for a second when his flesh tears open, and lets his blood spill from his veins into a cup. Unlike him, Shelley makes a grimace of discomfort. Then, he elevates Roman's head and brings the cup to his lips, making him drink its content.
"There!" He declares when there's no liquid left. "He should be as good as new."
"How… long before…?" Shelley can't help but ask, daring to hope this crazy blood ritual will actually work.
Her grandfather checks his watch.
"Not too long. He should wake up anytime now!"
Right on schedule, Roman opens his eyes and gasps for air. Shelley squeals happily.
"Well hello there! How are you feeling son?" Erik chirps, his head bended over Roman who is looking up at him suspiciously.
"Like I'm about to barf thank you!" He ends up replying, his tone lacking its usual bite and sounding more confused than anything else.
"It's alright darling!" Olivia cut ins. "You'll feel much better soon."
Roman sits up a little to send her a disgusted look.
"I'm sure I will, once you leave my sight!" He replies, giving a fake, sweet smile.
Then he groans like the entire conversation has already exhausted him and he lets his head sink back into his pillow
"Hum!" Erik says, scratching his chin in confusion. "This is surprising!"
"What is?" Olivia asks. "It's working, isn't it?"
Her father shrugs.
"Not really." He says, unfazed. "If it was working he'd be up and about by now. But instead he still looks like he's about to keel over! No offense kid!" He adds to Roman.
"None taken!" Roman groans, shutting his eyes.
"So what's wrong?" Olivia asks, sounding surprisingly worried. "Why isn't he better?"
Erik continues to scratch his chin as he thinks.
"I don't know. I mean… perhaps. No! Couldn't be." He says to himself.
"What?" Olivia inquires, grabbing his forearm.
"Well… what about a bounding sickness?" He tells her.
And right there something incredible happens and her mother's jaw actually drops in shock. This is the weirdest day in Shelley's entire life.
"Are you out of your mind?" Olivia finally manages to say, in an offended tone. "Of course not!"
"Are you certain? Because of he's anything like his mother I'm sure he's a romantic at heart!" Erik mocks.
Olivia is stunned silent. It's a glorious sight. Meanwhile, Erik turns back towards Roman and shakes him awake.
" Hey you! Got any girlfriend? Or boyfriend, you know whatever floats your boat?" He asks.
Roman rolls his eyes at him.
"No! Now go fuck yourself!"
"In a minute!" Erik replies happily. "You didn't by any chance happen to do something as incredibly stupid as biting someone you may have… feelings for?" He grimaces upon the word feelings and adds: "You know as foreplay and all?"
Shelley kind of wishes she wasn't present in the room to hear her brother's answer but luckily for her, he just sends a bewildered look towards Erik and asks:
"What?"
The older man looks back over his shoulder to where Olivia is standing.
"You didn't explain the birds and the bees to him?" He asks her accusingly.
She goes white, like she's just had an awful realization.
"He hasn't spoken to me since he's turned. I didn't get a chance to explain anything!" She confesses in a small voice.
Erik sighs dramatically, and Shelley finally notices a family resemblance between him and her mother.
"Well, at least tell me the lucky chap was one of us? Because humans don't survive a mating bite… All the hormones end up killing them!" Erik announces to Roman with a laugh, like he thinks the whole thing is extremely funny. Which he probably do.
Roman sends him a horrified look that says it all.
"Oh! How inconvenient! That human must be long dead by now … which is a shame because you are supposed to drink his blood only for… a couple of decades. Upir biology you know, it's full of surprises!"
"So… he's going to die?" Olivia asks, sitting down in Shelley's chair like her legs can't carry her anymore.
"There's still hope! He might be in pain during the next decade or two but my blood should keep him alive… and once the bond's broken he'll probably be alright!" He gives Roman a little wink. "This is why you should never, ever mate with a human! It was worth it I hope?" He adds, wriggling his eyebrows.
Roman squeezes his eyes shut like he is in pain.
"You did proceed with the…?" Erik makes a suggestive sexual gesture with his hands. "After you bit him right?"
Olivia twitches uncomfortably in her seat and Shelley holds her breath, staring at her brother expectantly.
"Sorry to disappoint gramps." He replies. "But no."
"Oh." Erik says simply.
He shrugs a little.
"Then you're doomed! I give you about a week." Their grandfather shudders in horror. "I really wouldn't like to be you right now, the whole thing's going to be horribly painful!"
He turns back to Olivia.
"You've done a terrible job with that son of yours! Thankfully he had time to produce an heir… Let's all hope she turns out better than he has. Now! Should we go have tea?"
He smiles brightly and stands up, ready to walk out of the room. Shelley feels tears running across her cheeks. Nadia puts her arms around her neck.
"Wait…" Olivia calls after him in a weak voice. "What if the person he bit wasn't … completely human?"
"Oh!" Erik clasps his hands together in excitement. "You mean like a succubus or a banshee? That could work! They'd probably survive the bite!" He declares, gleefully.
"What about a werewolf?" Her mother asks, twisting her hands anxiously.
Shelley snaps her head up towards her. Of course, she's right! It must have been Peter! He's the only person Roman cares for, apart from Nadia and herself, so it has to be him. She feels a little better. Surely, Peter can help fix things. He just has to come back.
Meanwhile, Erik is hitting his own face with his palm.
"A werewolf? They're the worst!" He complains, his face twisted in disgust. "So territorial! There is no fun with them!"
"It wasn't him!" Roman intervenes from his bed, eyes still closed.
Olivia kneels by his side and grabs onto his arm.
"Now's not the time to be difficult Roman! You heard what your grandfather said, you'll be dead soon if we don't do something!"
Roman let's out a tired sigh but he remains still.
"It wasn't Peter." He states, sounding numb. "And it's too late now. So, if you could have the courtesy to let me die in peace, I'd be oh so grateful."
Olivia stands up abruptly like she can no longer bare the sight of her dying son and walks straight towards the exit, head hanging low.
"Right! Tea then!" She tells her father, her voice strained.
"Wonderful! Also, we should throw a little party. Celebrate! This is a family reunion after all! How about it?" Erik asks, tranquilly trailing after her.
Shelley remains perfectly still until they're gone. Like she can read her mind, Nadia doesn't move an inch either until their two family members are out of their earring range. When they are, the baby moves around, holding her arms out towards Roman unmoving form. Shelley walks to him and sits back in her chair, by his side. She sees him smile a little before actually opening his eyes.
"Hey sis!"
When he sees Nadia, he immediately attempts to sit up.
"You should rest!" Shelley scolds nicely.
"I'll rest when I'm dead. Give her to me." Roman replies, taking Nadia in his arms and sitting her across his lap.
"This isn't funny. You can't die Roman, we need you."
Her brother sends her a defeated look.
"Well what do you want me to do about it Shel'? You heard what they said!"
"You know what you have to do! Call Peter and tell him to come back!"
Roman opens his mouth, ready to deny everything but Shelley doesn't let him:
"Don't even try!" She firmly interjects. "I know it was him."
That shuts Roman up. He frowns but it soon turns into a little smile as his gaze falls unto Nadia, and he ignores her accusations.
"Do you have to like this?!" Shelley exclaims, frustrated by her brother's stubbornness.
"Look!" Roman finally exclaims, sounding more agitated than he has in a long while. "Peter's gone! He's not coming back and even if he did, I can't force him to stay here with me so I can drink his blood forever! He's a gypsy. He likes to… move around!"
Shelley rolls her eyes. She wants to protest and tell Roman that's he's just being stubborn and insecure and that if he knew what was going on, Peter would be back by his side in a second. He would never abandon them. But then doubt fills her mind.
It is true that Roman knows Peter better than she does. And, if she understands correctly, this isn't the first time Peter leaves without saying when or if he'll be back. She knows Peter cares but… he is independent and free spirited, to the point of being aloof and a little selfish at times. The prospect of having to stay by Roman's side, or anyone's side, forever could scare him off. Which is understandable, it would probably scare anyone of. But still he wouldn't just let her brother die would he? She just doesn't know what to do: She certainly doesn't want to inflict another rejection upon Roman, especially if he is close to… but she can't let him go without having tried everything that could save him first! As she is gathering the courage to try and change Roman's mind some more, she notices his eyelids are starting to drop and his grip on Nadia is loosing up. She takes the baby and helps Roman back down. Then, making a quick decision, she picks up his phone, scrolls through his contacts and, spotting the right one, memorizes Peter's number. If Roman's not going to call Peter, she'll just have to do it herself!
-HG-
Peter opens up a beer, his fifth one of the evening.
There were loads of people over at Irene, most of which he did not know. Lynda had insisted on throwing a little friendly gathering and their host had went along with it, won over by the mention of free booze.
Officially, it was a welcome party for him; it had been more than a month and the occasion to meet with all the gypsies that Lynda had gotten to know was long overdue.
Officiously, he knew she was trying to get his mind off things.
Ever since he had woken up from that terrible nightmare, the one in which Roman proclaimed he was dying, Peter hadn't been able to shake the bad feelings he felt in his balls. Something bad was going to happen, something really bad. It made him anxious and on edge; he had been fidgety for days now.
Oh sure, he had tried to hide it from Lynda. But there was no deceiving that woman! She knew him like she'd made him. Which she had. Shit! He was probably getting a little drunk…
The thing was, Peter had decided that he was done moping around. He was turning over a new leaf. Yep! He was a changed man! Or more like, changed back to his old, happy-go-lucky self! That's right! So what if Roman had said that he needed him just so that he, Peter, could tell him to fuck off? So what if Roman had said he didn't want to see "his stupid face" ever again? Whatever! Life was short! It had a lot to offer and he was in Europe dammit! There were things to see… and stuff! Yeah! Fuck Hemlock Grove and the entire Godfrey family! They could all go to hell, see if he cared!
From afar, he makes out Deidre's frame standing by a campfire with some of her friends. And for the first time, in a long time, Peter feels like he wants to walk over there and actually have a good time! He just needs a sixth beer first.
"Hey there!" Irene sneaks up by his side, driving him away from his thoughts. "How are we doing?"
She leans in close so Peter gets a good smell of the alcohol fragrance in her breath. He scratches his throat.
"I'm alright! You?"
Irene places a firm hand on his shoulder. Maybe to be friendly, maybe to keep her balance, Peter can't be sure.
"I'm glad to hear you say that Peter! You know your mother's been worrying sick about you!"
"She has?"
Irene nods emphatically.
"Well yeah I mean who can blame her! You've been moping around since you got here! It's a sorry sight, watching you sitting around all day!" She declares.
Peter winces. That bad, huh?
"But, thanks to that pretty little blond, you seem to be doing better am I right?"
Peter gives a firm little nod of the head. There might be no fooling Lynda but he can certainly fool Irene, and everyone else for that matter, if he just puts his mind to it. Maybe, on some level, he can even fool himself too?
"No worries Irene!" He says, sending her little smile. "I'm all better!"
"I can tell!" Irene slurs, gripping his second shoulder with her other hand. "Which is why I feel like I can tell you, since you're over her and all, that this girl's been calling you for the past few days—"
Peter frowns.
"Girl? What girl? And calling me where?"
"On your phone! The one Lynda confiscated for your own good! " Irene says, like Peter's a total idiot.
"Oh… ok!" Peter replies, confused. He can't think of any girl who would try contacting him. Apart from Destiny but it's not like she doesn't have his new number.
"Yeah! She gave it to me for safe-keeping." Irene adds, probably noticing through her inebriated brain that Peter doesn't look like he has any idea what she's talking about.
He really doesn't.
"So… the girl? What did she want?" He asks.
His mother's friend shrugs.
"I don't know, I only picked up like once and couldn't really hear her… she seemed a little upset. I think she needed to talk, get things of her chest, that sort of thing you know? But screw her Peter! You're over the bitch right?"
Peter rubs his face with his hand. It must have been a wrong number… it had to be.
"Yeah Irene! Screw the bitch!" He says, looking around for his next beer.
He isn't going to obsess about this unknown caller who is a girl and so ultimately not… who he wants to hear from.
"That's the spirit!" Irene exclaims joyfully. "Follow my lead!" She throws her empty beer bottle onto the nearest tree and yells. "Fuck you Shelley!"
Peter starts raising his bottle, willing to humour her, but then his brain catches on with what she has said and, feeling his heart sink into his stomach, he drops his bottle.
"What?" He whispers.
"I said fuck you—"
In seconds, he is grabbing Irene by the collar of her jacket with shaky hands.
"She said her name was Shelley?"
Something in his expression must be clearly indicating to Irene that this is no longer the time to joke around because her face visibly pales and her eyes suddenly look a little more focused… Probably a result from the fear!
"Yeah… yeah I'm pretty sure! I just assumed that was your ex-girlfriend?"
Peter tightens his grip on her collar.
"What did she want?" He demands, with a dangerous edge to his voice that is completely out of his control.
Irene tries to say something but her words get stuck in her throat. Peter, still holding onto her collar, drags her against her trailer's side, trapping her against it with his arm.
Meanwhile, people around them are starting to notice the commotion and are looking their way, curiously. He doesn't care.
"What. did. she. say?" Peter barks, his patience growing thin.
"I… that she really needed to talk to you… " Irene gulps. "She… she was worried… something about her brother being sick or something?"
Peter lets go of her in shock. He feels nauseous and his ears are starting to buzz. He knew it! He knew something bad was happening! Shit!
Forgetting all about Irene, he runs inside the trailer, pushing guests out of the way and barges into her bedroom, looking around for his phone. Only seconds later, Lynda comes in after him.
"What's going on?" She asks, astonished.
"Shelley called! She says… Roman is sick! And I can't find my phone!" Peter responds, panicked, before angrily kicking a chair in front of him in frustration.
"Calm down!" Lynda says in a soothing tone. "Roman's an upir. He can't be sick!"
"Exactly!" Peter exclaims desperately, throwing his hands up in the air. "Something must really wrong!"
He should have paid attention to his dreams! He should never have let Lynda grab his phone! He should never have gotten on that stupid plane! He should never have- That's when, he notices Irene advancing cautiously behind his mother.
"Where's the phone?" He yells, making her wince in discomfort.
"I'm sorry but… it started ringing during the night and it woke me up and well…"
"Well what?" Peter asks lowly, sensing a sudden urge to crack his neck.
"I kind of threw it across the room and it broke in pieces." Irene confesses in small voice.
Peter's about to jump across to where she is standing, eager to strangle her, but Lynda anticipates the motion and shields Irene's body with hers before putting her hands in front of her in appeasement.
"Please baby! Calm down! Your eyes are glowing yellow and you turning certainly won't approve the situation!"
Peter, feeling himself shaking all over, takes a deep breath through his nose and tries to think of something comforting.
"Leave us!" Lynda tells Irene, who is happy to oblige.
His mother shuts the bedroom door behind her and walks over slowly towards Peter.
"It's ok Peter! Everything's going to be fine, just calm down! Can you do that for me?"
Peter sits on the bed and puts his face between his hands, inhaling deep breaths. After a couple of minutes, Lynda sits by his side.
"Look at me!" She orders. She searches Peter eyes and says: "Well then, here we go! You're all better!"
Peter lets out a nervous little laugh. They sit side by side in silence, until Peter's certain he won't go off again. When he is, he says:
"I'm going back."
"I know." Lynda replies. But then she adds, still willing to give it a try: "You don't have to."
"I know."
Peter looks down, then back up and down again. He sighs.
"It's just… I think about him all the time!" He confesses in a small voice.
He thinks saying this out loud is so much harder than it had been with Letha. Letha had been easy to talk about, she was all safety and comfort. Roman is nothing like that.
"Oh! Baby!" Her mother says, putting her arm around his neck.
"I thought going away would help with the… the whole wolf thing. But it doesn't. Actually, I think the only times it feels like its getting better are… well, when Roman's around!"
Lynda starts running a soothing hand on his back.
"And yeah. I never had any friends, I could make new ones here—"
His mother bursts into laughter, which makes Peter smile a little. But when she continues laughing he ends up giving her an inquiring look.
"Oh sorry kiddo! It's just I remember the way that boy used to look at you." She giggles. "Friends, my ass!"
This evokes something in Peter and an image of Roman pops into his mind; he's leaning against the trailer's door, waiting for Peter to invite him in and harbouring that provocative little smirk of his. And so Peter smiles in return, even though it's much too late for that now.
"I don't have any money!" He declares. "How the hell am I gonna pay for the plane?"
"We'll figure something out! I think I can cash in a few favours. And you can get the upir to pay me back when you see him."
Peter grimaces. The last time he had asked Roman for money it had not gone well.
"I'm not even sure he's gonna want to see me." He whispers in a defeated tone.
This is what scares him the most. What if he travels all the way back home just to have Roman slam a door in his face? Which is a strong possibility considering their last exchange. Lynda just rolls her eyes at him.
"I have no idea what's going on between you two, but I'm pretty confident that he won't stay angry forever."
Peter raises his eyebrows in doubt.
"Maybe not but if he decides to get over it after I'm dead it won't do me much good!"
"You're right kid. You should just stay here, give up and forget about him. It isn't worth all the trouble."
Peter nods.
He's on a plane the very next day.
-HG-
He has just enough cash to pay for a cab when he finally arrives back in the country. He hesitates for a couple of seconds, thinking maybe he should stop by Destiny's first but then decides against it. He'll deal with her and her disappointment in him later.
He gives the driver's Roman's address and soon enough he is back in front of the glass house he knows oh so well. Just the sight of it makes him nervous. He hopes Shelley will get the door, but that's dumb because Shelley never get's the door for obvious reasons. So then he hopes a housekeeper will get the door but what if Roman specifically told them to never let him in again? So, in the end, he really hopes Roman opens the door. Surely he can't be that sick? Better yet, Irene's probably got it wrong and Roman isn't sick at all…
"That'll be 45 bucks!" The taxi driver says, pulling him away from his anxious thoughts.
He gives him his money, walks to the door and after taking a deep, calming breath, rings the doorbell. He winces in advance at the probable pain that he is about to face.
But nothing happens. The door remains decidedly closed. Hesitantly, Peter gives it another shot. No success. Annoyed, he ends up pushing the button multiple times, and finally, someone opens up.
It's a young woman that Peter quickly identifies as Marina, one the cleaners 'daughter who comes over to help once in a while.
"Mr Peter!" She exclaims.
Clearly she wasn't expecting to see him.
"Hey Marina. Can I come in?" He asks, trying to sound friendly and casual.
But the girl seems a little hesitant despite his best efforts.
"Please…" Peter tries again. "I really need to see Roman!"
"Oh!" Marina eyes grow wide in surprise. "I'm sorry but Mr Godfrey isn't here."
"Right." Peter drops his gaze, already feeling like this is going to be difficult. "That's fine. I can wait. Can you tell Shelley I'm here?"
"Mr Peter…" Marina looks around nervously like she's expecting someone to burst out of nowhere and scold her. "Miss Shelley isn't here either. No one's been home in while."
Peter drops his bag. Shelley would never get out of the house… And what about Nadia? Has Shelley taken her with her? And if Roman was sick shouldn't he be resting at home? This wasn't good, not one bit!
"What do you mean? Where are they?" He asks, starting to sound as worried as he is.
"I'm sorry Mr. Peter but I think you should go…"
She tries to close the door on him but Peter blocks it with his foot.
"No wait! Please, you must know something! Please!" He insists when he still sees hesitation in Marina's eyes.
An idea suddenly forms in his mind. The girl's scared of something. That must mean…
"It was Olivia wasn't it? Roman and Shelley's mother?" Peter pleads. "Just nod if I'm right!"
Marina stares at him wearily for a few seconds; then she nods.
"Shit!" Peter curses. He runs his hands through his hair, clearing it out of his eyes. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? If Olivia was behind all of this, he definitely wasn't going to be allowed to see Roman just by asking politely!
He thanks Maria and starts walking away from the house, almost forgetting his bag in the process. But then a voice calls after him.
"Wait Mr Peter!"
He turns around to see Marina standing by the front door with her mother, Polly, whom she must have gone to get. Curious, Peter walks back up to them.
"It's common knowledge around this house that Mr Godfrey's mother is… bad news. So when that car pulled up one day to take Miss Shelley and the baby to her house, I knew something was wrong!" Polly declares, when he's reached them.
Peter can only agree, a world where Shelley not only accepts to go to her mother's but actually brings Nadia along with her isn't right.
"Shelley just went along with it?" He asks, dubious. "What about Roman?"
"Mr Godfrey hadn't been home in weeks at that point. He was being held at the hospital."
That big weight is back to sinking inside Peter's stomach, full force.
"He's at the hospital?" He gasps.
Polly looks at him with pity, like she knows what he is feeling somehow. Maybe it's written all over his face.
"Not anymore. Mrs Godfrey has arranged for him to stay at her residence."
Peter holds onto to his bag tightly, to the point where his knuckles turn white. Well fuck it, he's just going to have to go to Olivia's. Yes, it isn't the smartest thing to do, and yes, he is certainly provoking his own demise by doing it but he just doesn't have any other choice.
He starts walking away when Polly calls after him again.
"Mr Peter." She hesitates, but then looks like she is gathering her courage and finally she explains: "Mrs. Godfrey is hosting a party tonight for the company. Some of the staff here is actually going to be helping, upon Miss Shelley's request. You could… join them as one of the caterers?"
And then there was light.
Peter could have kissed the woman.
End of Part 6
So, the big reunion was actually supposed to happen in this chapter, but it was becoming SO long that you'll actually have to wait until the next one! Hehe
Let me know what you think?
Also, thanks again to all of those who actually took the time to leave a review, it's such an encouragement, you guys are awesome!