At daybreak, the kitchen phone rang with a sharp brring-brring, stirring Elise from a restless sleep. She sat up, feeling more exhausted than she did before she laid down and crawled out of bed. It was no surprise to her that the space beside her was empty; she even doubted that Ace had come home. He normally crashed at the Emporium, much to his uncle's dismay when they had an intense disagreement.
After he left yesterday, Elise sat for hours thinking about their argument. She pushed him, she knew, but her fear got the best of her. It was hard enough for her to balance the majority of the bills on her own; the house was in such disrepair that she couldn't keep up with the payments. All the money Ace earned went to making sure the utilities stayed on. When he told her he quit, she felt overwhelmed, like she was the glue holding their relationship together, a relationship he wasn't all there for.
The idea that she was overthinking things crossed her mind, but perhaps she wasn't. Perhaps Ace did think she was a nag, a thought Elise put aside as she reached for the phone, lifting the pale blue receiver to her ear. Whoever was on the other line was persistent.
"Hello," Elise uttered, horsely. She stifled a yawn and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Hey, doll. It's Pop."
At least she knew where Ace was now. But why was he calling her? A rolling pain turned her stomach.
"Mornin'. Is Ace sleeping off a hangover?" Elise asked. She honestly hoped.
"Now listen." Her heart began to race. Oh goodness. What happened to Ace? "I don't want you to panic or hear it from someone else but John had a seizure last night and was taken to Stephens Memorial in Norway."
A seizure. Elise slid her hand over her mouth and leaned her arm against the wall in sadness. There were so many questions running through her mind. Was he alone? Or behind the wheel? Her thoughts were so jumbled that Pop's voice almost didn't reach her.
"...you there…doll."
"D-did they say anything?"
Pop hummed.
"A business partner of mine called. They wouldn't tell him anything on account he isn't family."
Of course, they wouldn't. For fucks sake.
No. It isn't their fault.
The hospital was only doing its job.
"All right…um, I'm gonna go up to the hospital and check on him. Thank you, Pop," Elise uttered.
"Catch me up," Pop insisted.
Ace was the last thing on his mind, but Elise agreed. She ended the call and raced up the stairs to the bedroom, changing her lavender nightie out with a pair of jeans and a button-down. In her haste, she forgot her keys and cussed as she had to go back into the house to get them.
Norway was northeast of Castle Rock, a thirty-minute drive, give or take. Being so early, there was not much traffic to deter her, so Elise sped on the backroads. She reached the hospital in record time and parked like someone she would consider an asshole, then rushed through the emergency room doors.
By the time she reached Ace, she learned that his seizure had ceased before he reached the hospital; and that Pop's contact left him shortly before his EEG. At the current time, he was asleep, attached to a computer via sensors connected to his head and body. In a sleep study, a nurse named Thurber told her to monitor his brain waves.
There was not much she could tell her without the EEG results, but so far, Ace was fine, other than some bruising on his chest from the seatbelt. Or so he appeared to be. He honestly looked like he was part machine lying there, an image that turned Elise's stomach. Something wasn't right; she could feel it.
For the next few hours, she rested uncomfortably in the waiting area, relying on snacks and bottled water to keep her going. Her nerves were shot, but she asked to use a phone and made two important calls, one more than the other. The first was to Pop, as she promised, but there was not much she could tell him.
"Does he have a history of seizures?" Elise asked him. One of the nurses had asked her, but honestly, she didn't know.
Pop snorted. "How the hell should I know, I ain't his momma."
After that, she didn't bother to catch him up again.
The second call she made was to her supervisor to inform her that she was not coming in. She explained the situation and was given the OK; all those days she could not afford to use stacked up. It was fine, but she had a list of bills to go over when she got home, considering Ace was now unemployed unless Pop took sympathy for him. Elise doubted it.
Once she returned to the waiting room, she felt emotionally drained. Elise curled up the best she could on one of the chairs and tried to get some rest. It was hard, but she managed to get at least an hour before a nurse woke her.
"Mr. Merrill is awake if you want to see him."
Elise eagerly agreed. She followed Nurse Thurber back into the behavioral and mental health corridor and to Ace's room. When she saw him resting on the bed, her stomach twisted. He looked especially exhausted with red puffy bags beneath his eyes, and for the first time since she knew him, Ace Merrill looked weak.
His jaw tightened as Elise reached the bed, and then he averted his attention, pulling at the adhesive patch on his hand, an action Elise understood.
"When can he leave?" She asked.
"There are a few papers you need to fill out, then once the doctor OKs him, he can go home," Thurber answered. "Let me get you those to fill out while you wait."
She sauntered out, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Elise sat in an uncomfortable chair beside the bed and watched Ace for a moment, peeling the patch from his skin with a soft rip. She frowned and then stood, gently untangling a patch from his hair.
"You have a Westworld look going on." She tried to make herself sound sanguine, but her voice was hoarse and heartbroken.
Even so, Ace snorted.
"Chill out, nerd. It isn't November yet."
Elise grinned. Regardless of their money issues, Ace always saved back a little money to take her to the drive-in. Sci-fi and horror movies appealed to her more than jewelry and makeup, a notion he teased her for but was no less grateful for.
"Westworld" didn't come out until November but Elise was already excited. It was a nice distraction at the moment, but it was fleeting. She sat back down with a sigh.
"Pop is the one who called me."
"Did he say anything about the job?" Ace asked.
Of course, he was more concerned about the job than his health. Elise wondered if it was because of their argument; because she put it in his head that he needed to find work.
"I don't think he would discuss that with me."
Ace grunted in annoyance. No, he wouldn't. He was certain that Pop was going to cut him out of the business because he did not make it through the entire trip. All because he had a damn seizure. His luck was shit after he broke that statue…or bone. A sharp pain turned his stomach. What was it about that damn thing that made him physically ill when he thought about it?
"Ace," Elise uttered in concern. Her ring felt cold against his heated skin as she gripped his hand.
"It's nothing," he dismissed.
She wasn't assured, and she remained apprehensive even when the doctor gave his OK for Ace to leave. Elise filled out his paperwork and even suggested that she would drive, much to his dismay.
"Keep it below 80," he ordered as he begrudgingly crawled into the passenger side seat - luckily he didn't comment about her quick parking.
Elise opted not to mention that she had sped the majority of the way to Norway and started the Chevelle, leaving the hospital for what she hoped was the last time. The results for the EEG and the sleep test would take about a week to come in, give or take, but she gave the nurses the house number so they could call her.
By the time they reached Castle Rock, it was close to noon. The sun was bright and the sky was clear. Despite the incident, it was a nice day. Elise darted her eyes over to Ace for a moment to see him rummaging around in the glove box.
"Are you hungry? We can stop in at Nans or Patsy's."
Ace merely shook his head. Food was the last thing on his mind; his body was sore and he felt a bit sick. The nurse told him to drink lots of fluids but he had that at the house. No beer though, but he was certain Elise would tell him no if he suggested getting some at Brownies.
"Go home."
He slammed the glove box shut in annoyance, earning a curious look from his wife. The sun was irritating his eyes; he felt disoriented.
"Where are your sunglasses?"
"Must have slid beneath the seat," Elise answered. "You wouldn't have worn them anyway; they're purple."
Ace grunted. No, he wouldn't have, but it was tempting, given how sensitive his eyes were. He opted to lean back and shut them, not opening them until Elise announced that they were home. The blonde tightened his jaw as he noticed the vacant space beside them.
"I left my car at the Emporium."
"We can bring it back tomorrow. I'm sure Pop will take care of it another day," Elise suggested.
He would but he would certainly let him know that he wasn't a damn babysitter. Ace took an uneasy breath and rose stiffly from the car. He felt a little better being home - hospitals were lame - but not much.
Once he was inside, he kicked off his boots not caring where he left them, and padded up the stairs toward the bedroom. Elise followed soon after, bringing up a glass of water from the kitchen that he chugged down.
"I'm fucking exhausted," he stated.
Elise was sure. The nurse informed her that Ace would most likely sleep until he felt better. As she watched him sprawl out on the bed, she realized just how sleep-deprived she felt.
"Can I join you?"
"Don't you have to work?" Ace asked.
Elise sat down beside him and undid the button on his jeans. If he wasn't so tired and sore he would have taken her action as a sign that she wanted to have sex. He didn't think he could get it up anyway in the state he was in. Instead, he helped her remove them, leaving him in a pair of black boxer briefs, and watched keenly as she stripped down to her panties.
"I took off," Elise answered.
She ignored the stern look Ace gave her as if calling her a hypocrite and then crawled into bed beside him.
"We'll figure it out later."
Ace tightened his jaw but silently agreed. He was not in the mood to argue. Turning onto his back, he shut his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
It didn't take his sick mind long to conjure up a nightmare. In it, he saw himself walking through the house in the dead of night, as though he were a character in a movie. But something was not right about him. His eyes were pitch black like that of a barn owl, soulless and wicked. He could hear himself whispering, but he could not understand the words, though from his mouth, an oily substance oozed, darker than any black he had ever seen.
He crept like a shadow into the basement to an old wooden bench his father, Junior Merrill used to sit at for hours when he wanted to be alone and retrieved a hammer that was covered in a thin layer of rust and cobwebs. Lifelessly, as though he were sleepwalking, Ace watched himself ascend the stairs and enter his room. Elise lay asleep on the bed, facing the wall and unaware that he was looming over her.
An intense fear swallowed him. What did he intend to do? Ace felt his stomach roll in dread but he continued to watch. What else could he do? He couldn't stop his nightmare. The dream version of him loomed over Elise, watching her as she slept, whispering that same inaudible sentence over and over, and then like the snap of a finger, the whispering ceased.
He leaned down and pulled the floral print comforter that his wife was wearing completely over her, then raised the hammer high into the air before bringing it down onto her head.
Ace let out a terrified shout, then came to reality. To his horror, he was standing at the edge of the bed, looming over Elise. In his hand was a rusted hammer. He dropped it to the floor with a loud clatter and watched as his wife jerked awake and turned to look at him in confusion.
"Ace?"
There was nothing he could say, his body was frozen in fear, the kind that squeezed his blood vessels shut and chilled him to the bone. He was suffocating.