The Return of the Prodigal: Part II

The footsteps of the two friends took them back first almost in the same direction they had come only a couple of hours before, but they forked right instead of left as they neared the station once more. They walked past the massive edifice that was the V & A Museum. Ethan saw it, but did not; he had been inside the building a few times with Drew all those years ago now, but had never actually seen this part of the exterior then, having arrived by tube at South Kensington like most visitors, and then approaching along the tunnel from the station concourse. Still, the very name filled his head with memories…

"Okay, so tell me what you are thinking," said Nick suddenly, disrupting his reverie.

"I am thinking about one summer day that Drew and I spent inside that building, nearly a decade ago now… So much treasure inside one building, and that is what the contents of that museum are; an eclectic mix of everyday items with sculpture, gold and jewels… That was the summer before you and the guys came over, the summer before you and Jeff married; the summer before he had even heard of someone called Lucy George. It was good then, at least for us. If I could turn back the clock, ensure that they never met, then I would, even if it meant that everything else in the world went wrong…."

Nick did not reply, but Ethan knew that he understood. They kept walking, and before long they reached the start of Launceston Place , which was numbered in a quite bizarre fashion; sequentially from north to south on the west side, then south to north on the east. They were early, and Nick instinctively slowed his pace, and Ethan followed suit.

"This is a very nice street," Nick remarked. "The frightening thing is that I recognise these houses now; in fact, if I recall, there was actually a house to let on this street that I liked the look of, but Jeff preferred the one in Thurloe Square; he said it reminded him of our own house back in New York…" They had kept walking as he talked, and now he paused. "Yes, this was the one. Number 26, which would have meant…"

"You would have ended up living right across the street, more or less," said Ethan quietly, as he glanced over the road and saw Number 12 right across from the spot where they now stood. Nick shivered slightly at that, knowing that such a situation would have been a nightmare. They moved on a few steps, both of them doing their best not to stare at the white stucco house that was Number 10, with the expensive sports car parked outside, and the woman stepping out of the front door…

On seeing her, Ethan grabbed Nick, and almost pulled him right into the hedge outside the property they were in front of. "That is her…" he hissed. "She's just come out… That is why Drew was so time specific! Please don't let her have seen us… Actually, no, this is a bad idea, we should go…" Ethan was barely able to get the words out now, his breath coming in gasps. If she had seen them, had realised who he was, then she would turn round and head back in, to hit his best friend again, and again, and again… He closed his eyes, and felt his legs grow weak; if Nick had not been there, he would have collapsed into the hedge…

Then as he wobbled there, he heard the sound of a car engine, then the screech of tyres on the road as a car moved off and screamed down the street. Then there was silence once more. She had obviously not seen them, or if she had, had not recognised them. It had however been a very close thing, and now he could not help but think that it might be an omen…

As Ethan's breathing returned to normal, Nick let go of him, and seeing that he was able to stand on his own once more, began to walk forward again. After a few steps though he stopped, as he realised that Ethan was not following him, but was still rooted to the same spot on the pavement. Feeling his friend's eyes upon him, Ethan said in a low voice, "Maybe this is a bad idea, Nick…"

"A bad idea? I am sorry, but how can you stand there and say that?" replied Nick. "For the last few years you have been desperate for this moment, and now it is here. Drew is literally just a few yards away…"

"What if Jeff was right, and he doesn't want to see me? Don't say that he will, because people change. He didn't want me when he sent me that letter, and if he is still of the same mindset then this could well be the final nail in the coffin for our friendship. No Jeff is right. This is a bad idea. That's what he thinks, and you can't deny that. So you go, see Drew. He is expecting you after all, not me…"

"And say what? Hey, how are you? By the way, Ethan is in town, but he decided to chicken out of coming at the last minute?"

"Yes! Nick, I thought I could handle this, but now… I just couldn't bear it if he slammed the door in my face. It broke my heart when he rejected me by letter, and if he did the same in person, it would be the end of me."

Nick sighed, and stepped back over to his friend. "Ethan, if I go in there, then the chances are he stays here, with her. The only person that will ever be able to talk him round, to get him to see sense is you. I get it; a rejection would be soul destroying, but what if I have to call you up again in a few months time to say that she has gone too far this time, and he is seriously injured, or even…"

"Don't say it! Please, don't!" Ethan virtually screamed at Nick. He had tears in his eyes now, and he desperately swiped at them, before saying in a quieter voice, "It's a Catch 22 situation, isn't it? Whatever I do, I could end up losing…"

"You know as well as I do that one of the two options gives you better odds of a win… So, shall we go? It is now just after 11am, and the curtains in the house behind us are twitching now; they probably think that we are casing the joint…"

Ethan couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that, and then he sighed deeply. "Okay, you win - however, I think it might be best if I go it alone. Then, if he does slam the door in my face, you can give it a try…" Nick nodded, and although he personally thought that if the door was slammed in Ethan's face the chances of him being let in would be slim to nil, he pulled his friend into a hug. Then they pulled apart, and as Ethan headed across the road, he walked up the street a little, so he could be close by when fate brought whatever response it would…

Ethan's palms began to sweat as he approached the front door of No. 10, resplendent with brass door furniture, including a knocker in the shape of a lion's head. On the threshold he stood for a moment, frozen as thoughts ran through his head. Right on the other side of that stout piece of wood was his best friend's home; he was so close now to the man that had been there for him for so long, and whose absence had been so keenly felt by him for so long. There was no vase in the window, so the signs were good. As he stood there, he could almost feel Nick's eyes burning into him, and so, with a deep breath, he raised his hand, lifted the knocker, and rapped twice, producing a sound so redolent of Mr Bangy that he was transported almost instantly back to the day in the Senior Commons at Dalton when he had first sat there with Drew at his side… Connor had been the Head Warbler then, wielding the gavel… Dalton had put him and Drew together, and as if the school had had access to Hogwart's sorting hat they had gelled almost at once, becoming the firmest of friends; brothers almost…

He heard then the sound of steps on the other side of the door, the noise making him feel that there was probably a wooden floor inside, and not carpet. He heard the sound of a security chain being taken off, and then of a key turning in a lock. Then the door was opened wide, and the man inside, looking down at the floor and not at the person in front of him spoke. "This wasn't such a good idea Nick. I should never have agreed to it. She was late in leaving and she almost…"

As the voice faltered and stopped, Ethan looked up himself, straight into the eyes of the man that was no longer looking at the floor, but now staring straight at him as if he had seen a ghost.

"Eth…Eth… Ethan…"

"Hello Drew," was all Ethan could reply before his own words failed him as he took in the bruise on his friend's face… Then, to his utmost horror, he saw his friend's face crumple, tears springing from his eyes. Then he fell forward, his legs giving way under him, falling down towards the polished woodblock floor. He began to not just sob, but wail, then gasped out the words, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…"

Ethan was swiftly down on his knees too, catching Drew before he hit the floor hard. He pushed his friend backward as he did so, getting him back inside the house, so that he could close the door and not have the moment witnessed by any random passer-by, or worse still a nosy neighbour, who might pass on the news of this moment to Lucy in all good intention… As he closed the door, he briefly caught sight of Nick, who nodded at him, and then walked away…

Nick did not matter now. All of Ethan's attention was now focused on the man that was sobbing heavily into his chest, still apologising at times, but at other's just making a keening noise that made his heart break. He felt his own eyes grow wet as he held his friend tightly to him, a hand gently stroking through his hair; the last time this had happened had been back in Ohio, when they had been told that Wes had died…. He could almost feel his presence in the room now; not in sight, but watching him nonetheless… As Drew's sobs began to diminish, Ethan said quietly, "You have nothing to be sorry for…"

"I've been such a fool; such an idiot," Drew said, then began to sob again. Ethan held him close again, humming that tune that Wes had always used, unable to trust himself to sing it in case he choked on the words as his emotions ran riot. That seemed to have a calming effect, as it had always done; he could feel his friend getting less tense, could hear the sobbing diminish. He was about to speak again when something unexpected happened; something that posed a new set of questions…

"Don't cry, daddy…"

Outside, Nick's feet were taking him back down Launceston Place, heading back towards the house that he currently called home. As he walked, he kept his eyes cast down, as he could feel the tears welling up in them. To see the way that Drew had reacted to seeing Ethan had torn at his heartstrings, and had Ethan not closed the door, he would have rushed over to help out in whatever way that he could. However, he knew that he would only have ended up as an extra in a show that was made for two players; a bromance that needed to be repaired, a pair of friends that had found each other again. Something told him that when Ethan flew back to New York, whenever that was, he would not be doing so alone.

He stopped briefly at the same French bakery that his husband had stopped at the day before to buy cake, something that was rare for a confirmed baker like himself; then again, he needed a new challenge, and maybe perfecting cramique was it… He was aware of course that back in Thurloe Square, Jeff would be anxiously awaiting news. That hastened his steps back to the house, and soon he was putting his key into the lock and opening the door. He was not in the least surprised to find Jeff waiting for him in the hallway as he closed the door behind him. "He broke down," said Nick. "Ethan is with him now, and hopefully this will be the moment when he gives up on his futile attempt to change his wife, and heads back to the bosom of his true family, The Warblers…" Jeff nodded, then stepped forward to pull his husband into a hug. It had been quite the 24 hours for them after all…

At No. 10 Launceston Place, those words uttered by that small voice had given Ethan quite a start at first, but then he found himself frozen in place. This was a completely unexpected complication to his entire plan. Drew had obviously sensed his shock, and he pulled away at once, and drying the tears from his eyes, he turned to face the little girl that was standing at the foot of the stairs.

"It's okay Evie; daddy is crying happy tears this time, not sad ones," he said, and the little girl cautiously stepped forward and made her way to his side. "Now, I need you to keep a big secret from you know who… Remember that story that I told you about the man and his daughter that were being held captive by the wicked witch, until they were rescued one day by a handsome prince?" Evie nodded, whilst still looking at the strange man at her father's side with apprehension. "Can you remember the name of the prince?" Drew asked.

"Prince Ethan," she replied quietly, which brought an instant lump to Ethan's throat.

"That's right," said Drew, with a hint of a smile. "Well, this is Ethan…"

With a squeal, and a huge smile blossoming on her face, Evie threw herself at Ethan. "You came! You really came! Will you save us from the wicked witch?"

"I will, if that is what your daddy wants… To be taken away from here to a better place…"

"It is, and honestly, it is all I have wanted for a long time," responded Drew. Then he turned to his daughter again, and said, "So I need to talk to Ethan now, and what we are going to talk about is very boring, so I need you to go back upstairs and play with your toys for a little while."

"Okay daddy. I should go and chose what toys I want to take when we leave anyway. I love you so much, Prince Ethan…"

"I love you too," Ethan replied with a smile.

"And don't worry, I won't tell the witch anything…" she added, before she headed back up to her bedroom.

Drew got up then, and walked down the hallway, Ethan following right behind him. "I'm afraid I don't have any coffee to offer you; Lucy disapproves of it, so we are not allowed to keep any in the house. Sometimes, when I am feeling brave, I head to Starbucks… I can make us tea…"

"That will be fine," replied Ethan, watching as Drew pulled out a teapot, and switched on the kettle. He ignored the wince that his friend gave as he reached up into a high cupboard to get cups, and instead said, "Nick sends his apologies, as does Jeff. They weren't sure if you would ever forgive them for calling me, although Nick did send a peace offering with me…" He placed the bag that he had kept in his hand until that time on the table, and Drew came over to inspect it. When he saw what was inside it, his face lit up.

"Lemon Drizzle cake; he remembered my favourite… Of course I forgive them; in fact, maybe there was a little bit of me hoping that after Nick had seen me, he would call you. However, he was smart enough to make the call first."

Drew sat there with a smile, and Ethan got up instead to make the tea when the kettle boiled. He knew that he had to ask one question, and it was the hard one. "So, Evie; she is beautiful. How old is she?"

"She is nearly four, and no, she isn't Lucy's child. She is mine, and there is a whole story there, but that is for another day. At the time, she seemed like a small victory for me, but now…" Drew stopped, and Ethan knew at once what he was thinking; he was worried that Lucy might start to turn her anger onto his daughter. In some ways, having a child had been a silly move for his friend; maybe he had imagined that having a child in the house might soften her, but obviously… He watched now as his friend took a bite out of the cake Nick had sent, his eyes closing in bliss. "I had almost forgotten just how good Nick is at baking. You'll have to tell him that for me…"

"You can tell him yourself, once I get you out of here."

"Well, that is a lovely idea…"

"We can go tomorrow; back to the States…"

"We can't, Ethan. There is a problem. Quite a major one as it happens."

"Oh, I'm sure that we can sort out a passport for Evie in no time, when we explain the circumstances."

"I'm sure that we could, but that would leave us with the small matter of mine…"

Ethan looked at his friend with a degree of confusion. "What do you mean? I know that you have one, otherwise you would never have been able to come here in the first place. If it is out of date, then it is simple enough to renew it; we just take along the old one."

"I know, but…"

"But?"

"I had an argument with Lucy, and I told her that I had had enough, that I was going to leave her, that I was going home. I had made up my mind, and had started to pack my bags, and had a flight booked and everything, but unfortunately, she came home early and caught me unawares. We got into a huge row, I might have called her a pyscho, and well, a few moments later, I 'slipped' and fell down the stairs. There might have been a few punches and kicks after I fell too; I don't really remember as I passed out. We were still living in Oxford then, and when I did eventually come round, it was at the hospital there, the one where she worked at the time. Lucy had spread some story about coming home to find the front door open and me lying at the foot of the stairs; told the police that there were some items missing from the house, that I must have disturbed an intruder… However, one of the senior nurses at the hospital wasn't buying the story at all, and had her suspicions; she had seen me coming in with injuries too frequently I guess. All she could do though was look at me sadly, because she couldn't say anything. No-one would have believed that a doctor like Lucy would be doing something like that…"

Drew paused, and Ethan just shook his head sadly, before his friend carried on. "On my second day in the hospital, Lucy appeared; she was showing all the appropriate levels of concern, going on about the intruder, and how accident prone I was to boot… I had a private room, however, and the moment that she was able to get the door shut so it was just the two of us… She told me that I was to go with the intruder story or I would pay for it. I told her that I was still leaving her. She just laughed, and then showed me a video on her mobile phone. She had taken my Dalton blazer and tie, and placed my passport, drivers licence, graduation papers, all my ID on them out in the back garden. I watched as she doused them in petrol, and…"

"…set fire to them all," whispered Ethan, shock and horror on his face.

Drew nodded, blinking away a tear, and then went on. "She made me watch as my life so to speak was turned to ashes. Then she told me that I was now nothing without her say so; the only identity I had now was as her husband. She then made me sign a letter to my boss, resigning from my job with immediate effect. She sat there and calmly told me that I had to leave as she had just found out she had been given the job at a better hospital, and we would be moving to London. It all happened so quickly that I never even got a chance to see any of my colleagues again. When I left the hospital I was driven straight to London… Of course, during the move my cellphone had been 'mislaid' and as I had no documentation, I couldn't get a replacement with all the old information on it, my old photos… She called it a fresh start. However, she soon found out that sometimes things follow you, and just for once, I ended up with the upper hand…"

"She had of course started her new job straight away; told me that as she now earned a lot more that I didn't need to work any longer; could concentrate on keeping our home the way she liked it. Two days later though she came home mid morning; on her arrival, she had been called straight to the medical director's office. There had been an allegation made by a nurse in Oxford. I don't know for sure, but I am guessing that the nurse I mentioned earlier had decided that now she was gone, she could risk speaking up; Lucy could no longer touch her. She had been suspended until the police had spoken to me about the history of accidents I had built up in the hospital records. That day she pleaded and begged, and I was so tempted to speak out…"

"Why didn't you? Why didn't you tell the truth?"

"Because it was my word against hers in the end. If they chose not to believe me, to take her side that I was just accident prone, then the consequences for me in the aftermath would have been unimaginable. Also, whilst she is a psycho as a wife, she is still a very gifted paediatric surgeon. She would have been out of a job, and there would have been kids that might have suffered as a result. Plus, don't forget, I had no papers; I would still have been reliant on her for everything. So I chose to lie, to go along with her version, but I told her that I would only do that on one condition; that we had a child. Of course, I knew even as I said it that there was no way she would ever let me get her pregnant, but for once, I had all the cards, and so she agreed to let me use a surrogate. I lied, and a little under a year later, along came Evie… I guess that I hoped that she would fall in love with her as much as I did, that it would be the catalyst to change her into a more normal human being, but the day that I brought her home, she said to me, and I quote, Enjoy your new toy; it is your responsibility. By the way, if it makes too much noise, there might be a terrible mishap…"

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Ethan, horrified that anyone could even say such a thing.

"Since then I have chastised myself for asking for a child; I have dreaded the day when Evie does something that annoys her too much. I wouldn't be without my daughter now, but I castigate myself for my selfishness and stupidity, which has put the life of a child at risk…"

"The one good thing I guess is that with an attitude like that, there is no mention of her on Evie's paperwork?"

"I asked, but she made it quite plain in her usual way that she wanted nothing to do with her, even on paper."

"That is good. She can't stop us taking her out of the country. We should also be able to get her a passport, and a US one at that."

"All rather a moot subject given my lack of documentation though. I can't prove who I am Ethan, and I don't think that anyone would accept that photo of the two of us you used to carry about in your wallet as adequate evidence. We can still have today though; Lucy will be at work until at least 10pm… That is the best thing about the move to London; back in Oxford, she worked much shorter hours, and she had more time to deal with me as she would put it. Here I can sometimes be in bed before she gets in, and usually she doesn't bother me. Other nights though she expects me to have dinner ready for her, and woe betide me if it isn't perfect."

"I can't imagine how hard it must be to live like that," said Ethan, taking his friend's hand across the table.

"You get used to it, like you get used to any form of torture," said Drew with a sigh. "Most of the time it is just a slap, a Chinese burn. The really bad stuff doesn't happen as often these days; the last time she really laid into me was in February. Something had upset her routine at work, and she laid into me. I ended up having to take myself to the ER at the local hospital once she was asleep, because the pain was just too much. So I woke up Evie, bundled her up and headed down. She'd broken my left wrist, all because an American disrupted her day… She is mad, and I have always known if I am honest…"

"She certainly is! She broke your wrist because there was an American patient at her hospital?"

"No, that she could have dealt with; I recall her coming in and screaming her complaints about the fact that there was a Yank with a cheque that she had managed to avoid having to be nice to by bringing forward a surgery, claiming that it was an emergency, but that her boss had not been happy with her as a result, and she went for her usual American whipping boy…"

As Drew had spoken, Ethan's blood had suddenly began to run cold. Now he had no option but to ask. "Drew, please tell me that she doesn't work at Great Ormond Street…"

"No, that's where she works - how did you…"

"My family runs a big company, and for philanthropic reasons, they also have a charitable trust. Normally my mom does it all, but my dad was ill, and she asked me, and so I took over. I had to choose a recipient for a big donation, and… Drew, the Yank was me. I was here, in February, handing over a cheque at Great Ormond Street," said Ethan in shock.

Drew suddenly paled, knowing what was going through Ethan's mind. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known…"

"But it is! If I hadn't been in London, hadn't authorised that donation, then she… I got you hurt, Drew. I got you hurt!" Ethan burst into tears, his heart broken at the thought that this time he had been responsible for his best friend's pain and injury.

Drew got up, walked round the table, and pulled Ethan into a hug. "I will not say this again. It is not your fault. Anything could have set her off. That money will do so much for the sick kids, and if to get it I had to suffer, then that's that. I am glad that she reacted to your visit the way that she did. I am glad she lied and pulled forward a surgery, claiming it was an emergency."

"How can you even say that!" sobbed Ethan.

"Because imagine if the two of you had met then. Who knows what she might have done…" There was silence then as the two of them imagined exactly how they knew it would have gone; how she would have reacted to Ethan's presence once more in her world…

Ethan knew that Drew was right. It didn't stop him blaming himself for his injury that night, and nothing he could say ever would. However, there was no point in crying over it now, and ruining the time they had. He sighed under his breath, knowing that this weekend was his only chance to get his friend and his daughter out, and away from a source of danger, but the lack of any form of ID was going to prevent that; no airline would accept them these days without it, and he could not even send for the company jet and fly them back on it without some. The other option, taking them back with him to Nick and Jeff's home and hiding them out there until he could get something sorted, would only potentially place them and little Wes at risk. He knew that the two of them would not mind if he did, as they were good friends after all, like all of…

And then it hit him. Amongst all else it had done, Dalton Academy had been obsessed with keeping records of all of their students; detailed ones. There would be enough in there to help, copies of certain important papers. Plus there was also one even more important fact; they had a mutual friend that might well be able to help them expedite the processes necessary to get Drew new papers; a friend that would only be too willing to help out a fellow Warbler…