Angels, Mortality and Future Plans.
Meanwhile at the hospital, Seth had moved to his usual headspace as he allowed Ollie and his team of junior doctors to carry out the tests that they had to do. He had become used to being the centre of attention for the earnest team of young medics, all dressed in their still more or less pristine scrubs, their stethoscopes new and shiny as they kept them in their pocket or around their neck. The faces had not altered at all as time had gone on, the same team following him as his condition progressed. He accepted it as it was a small price to pay to avoid the medical bills that even with the recent changes in the health insurance regime might easily have left him bankrupt. He was not stupid though, and he knew that it could not all be free as Ollie maintained; behind the scenes, his better off friends would be paying for certain things behind his back. The very idea of that would have angered him once, but now he was able to let things slide…
His quiet thoughts were interrupted as he felt a spasm coming on; he raised a hand to warn Ollie as he had requested months ago, and no-one was touching him when his right arm suddenly began to shake. The students watched as the shaking increased in intensity, the convulsions coming thick and fast. He hoped that it would be a mild attack, and it was in relative terms. At the same time, he realised that Ollie had yet to witness first hand a full blown attack, and the medical students might well benefit from seeing one of those first hand too…
He was so caught up in those thoughts, which he realised were ridiculous, that it came as a total surprise to look round and see that he was now alone with Ollie. He looked at the bemused look on Seth's face, and with a smile said, "I sent them away. There is no reason for us to do anymore tests today, and well, I think that we need to have a talk."
"If you mean that we need to discuss the prognosis, and how long you think I have, then please don't bother. If I have 5 days left, or 5 years, it makes no real difference to me; I will die, and that is that. There is no miracle cure on the horizon, and even if there was a new wonder drug fresh on the market, it would be too late to save me now."
Ollie was silent for a moment, admiring the acceptance of his state from the young man in front of him. He had seen other people, much older than he was, screaming for a second opinion when they were given the news that they had a serious, but curable, condition, unwilling or unable to accept the hand that life had dealt to them. Here in front of him was a young man in what should be the prime of his life, his late 20s, who in the face of certain death was just shrugging his shoulders as if to say, 'Do your worst!' Seth had dealt with all of this so well…
"Actually, that was not what I wanted to talk about with you today; had it been, we would still have had our audience. It is a conversation that we will have to have some point soon for their benefit. I would also like to talk about the possibility of organ donation, should you have an accident in the time prior to your death, and whether you would consider donating tissue to the medical research laboratories after you pass away."
"I can answer that last one for you right away; I would be happy to donate tissue, but not my entire body. This will be bad enough for Skylar and the rest of them as it is, without them not having a body to bury…" replied Seth. He paused, then said, "Okay, so what do you want to talk about if not that?"
Ollie looked around, which raised Seth's interest at once, then leant in closer and in a voice a little above a whisper said, "This is going to sound really strange, but do you believe in angels and the afterlife?"
Seth looked startled for a moment, then said, "That is indeed a strange question from a medical man, and I can see why you sent the students away now. My answer is, yes, I do. I think that most of the Warblers do, and we all have a vision that one day we will find ourselves assembled once more in the Senior Commons at Dalton, all in our teens, but with wings coming through the back of our blazers. I also firmly believe that Wes and the others that have passed before me are keeping an eye on me; on all of us, and that when our time comes… Out of curiosity, why are you asking this? Has Thad said something?"
"No, my brother hasn't said at word, although I know that he believes as you do from Michelle… Look, this is going to sound really silly, but lately at home, ever since my son was born, the apartment has been filled with strange, sudden, unexplainable draughts…"
Seth looked at Ollie for a moment, doing his best to appear bemused, then said quietly in response, "Draughts? Well, that is strange, and honestly, sometimes I feel them too. In fact, strictly between us, I think that most of us that knew Wes have had the same sensation…"
"Really?" said Ollie, a look of relief on his face. "So I am not just going mad, because it certainly felt like I was when I thought about them. I didn't want to say anything to Michelle either, because she has so much on her plate already with little Thad… So you feel draughts, sometimes just little ones, but at other times…"
"They are so strong they stir your hair? It's only to be expected, given the size of their wings, assuming that Jeff imagined it correctly… We have discussed it amongst ourselves, and we all agree it has to be the downdraught from an angel's wings. David and your brother were the first to feel the sensation, as you might expect, but soon enough we had all felt the same thing. To me it is a comfort; to think that one day I will be joining Wes. I know that Thad thinks the same way…"
Ollie nodded, then sighed. "The fact is that I do not know if my mind will allow me to believe in them as easily as you all clearly do. I was raised, as was Thad for that matter, to see all religion as superstitious nonsense, although not in front of certain guests. My father is one of life's great hypocrites. He makes certain that he is the on call surgeon every Christmas and Easter, which means that he is unable to make an appearance at church as some of the board at the hospital would expect. He professes to have the very faith that he lacks just to get a few extra souls into the hospital. I would like to believe in it all, because Michelle clearly does, but it is so hard to overcome the upbringing that told you that all that believed were fools."
"That would include your wife, your brother, and of course, me?" replied Seth pointedly.
"Well, no, of course not, and that makes me a kind of hypocrite too. It isn't an easy thing to overcome."
"My advice, if you want it, is to try and let the ideas in. It might not manage to dislodge the engrained thoughts this year or next; it might not happen for decades. It might be that you need a big catalyst, like losing someone that you love very much, like a cousin, or a close friend, or as with your brother, the man that you wished to spend the rest of your life with."
"That could definitely be a trigger," said Ollie with sadness. Then he smiled, and said, "So I think that we can send you off home. I need you to monitor all of the times that you suffer from the dry mouth, make a note of it. Then we can assess between us just how much of an issue it is going to be for you. It could be a one off; it isn't unknown."
"It could be, I guess, but we both know that it isn't very likely, is it?" replied Seth. "Look, I am going to be frank; the way I feel right now, I do not personally imagine that I will see my 30th birthday…"
Later that day, Ollie found himself talking to his brother in the lounge of his apartment. Michelle had headed off to bed, and little Thad was sound asleep in his own. He sat and told him all about the latest developments in Seth's condition, but he made no mention of the final words that Seth had said to him. The fact that his patient did not expect to reach the age of 30 was devastating, all the more so when he was currently 28. There had also been such a certainty in the tone in which they had been delivered…
Thad had listened intently, his heart growing sore at each word. He too did not disclose everything; he did not tell his brother just how much he wished that he could exchange places with Seth. Part of that was the fear that Ollie would question his sanity, but moreover it was the fact that had it been the case, then he would not have been able to make the donation that had given his brother the child he wanted. He could see that being a father had made his elder brother's life complete; when he arrived home, he had greeted his wife and Thad quickly, then headed off to check up on his boy. Ollie was going to be a much better father than their own…
When little Thad woke up a short while later, Ollie had immediately jumped to his feet to attend to him. He had needed a change, and with that done, he had brought him back into the lounge with him, to rock him gently in his arms as he carried on talking to Thad. Then, once he had dozed off, Ollie carried him back to his crib, setting him down gently. Seeing all of that made Thad happier with what he had done; he knew that the boy he had helped bring into the world was loved and cherished, and would be best off here with two parents that loved and adored him…
Back in the lounge once more, he turned to Ollie, and said, "Look, I can tell by the look on your face that Seth is on a downward slope, and whilst there might be the occasional drop in speed, the decline in him will be inexorable from now on?"
"Yes. I didn't spell it out to him, but the scans showed me that the damage to his left leg is growing, and as for his right… I cannot be dishonest with you, little brother, although I decided that it was best not to tell him, as it would not help and it would be the last thing he needed to hear… In my professional opinion…"
"…this was his last Christmas?" said Thad, quietly finishing his brother's sentence.
"Yes, in all likelihood it was. His birthday in August I can see him making, but I do not want to say what kind of state he will be in by then. To that end, I have started to search for a good doctor to take over his care in Ohio; someone that I can prepare with all of the knowledge I have, a specialist in the field that most importantly of all does not work for dad."
"In an ideal world, the doctor in question would despise dad," said Thad with a chuckle.
"Well, if that is to be a major part of the required criteria, then I might actually have found someone," replied Ollie with a smile. "You might not recall that dear Junior had a friend call Hayden?"
"I do recall him, as it goes. They were friends from elementary school right the way through to med school…"
"And then daddy dearest told Marcus Junior that he had to chose between his friend or a job with him, and our brother chose the job. That as it happens is exactly how Hayden ended up across town at the other hospital, where he was able to focus his studies on neuroscience. As a result, Hayden McLeod is the best doctor in Columbus to take on the care of Seth."
The fact that his brother was so far ahead in organising a new specialist for Seth was a shock to Thad's system, but when he thought about it, not surprising given how much his brother had come to care for his patient. All the facts of course were there for him to see with his own eyes. This time last year, Seth had been laughing and joking with Skylar in the West Village, the picture of health to anyone unaware of his underlying condition. Now he was confined to a chair, more or less, and the smile that had always played on his lips was largely gone. His expression these days was far more serious, and that was down to the fact that he new exactly how the course of his life was now playing out. He could only imagine what it must feel like to have lost so much control over your body, to feel it rotting away and be unable to do anything about it. He was confronted daily with signs of his own mortality, having to take all of those pills…
That was when a thought struck Thad. "Ollie, if this problem that Seth has with dry mouth gets worse, his throat becomes all the more constricted, then how is he going to be able to take his medication? That's all that keeps him going, probably all that stops him from going insane."
"Most of the stuff he is on can be administered intravenously, if necessary, or can be obtained as a liquid. I am sure that we will only have to worry about things like that right at the very end. By then, you might not even be seeing him on a regular basis. There are a lot of people in his situation who chose to go into a hospice or hospital, so that they can receive the care that they need, but their family and friends do not have to stand by and watch them suffer."
"Skylar will never let Seth do that, and yes, I know that it is not his choice to make, but the relationship between the two of them is complex…"
"Seth told me all about that… They are pretty tightly bonded as a result of all that they suffered together. He brought it up, as it happens, because he wondered if the steroids could have been a trigger for his condition…"
"And could they have been?" asked Thad, wondering if Hunter had another sin to add to his catalogue.
"It is highly unlikely, given that the condition is genetic. They might have speeded up the onset, I suppose, but only if he had still been taking them regularly. Anyway, I have made plans to have a private nurse take care of him once he is at Skylar's place on a permanent basis. It is something that our current funding model would be able to cover."
"Charming as that idea is, and practical, I again doubt if Skylar would be willing to have a stranger around all the time."
"I know, but the nurse that I have chosen comes highly recommended, and she is willing to be there full-time for our payments. Did I mention her name? It is Julia Willetts…"
Thad would wake up the following morning with a smile. The fact that his brother had spoken to Julia, and her employer, and had arranged for her to be his primary carer once he was in Ohio again, was actually not a surprise. They had been working together before Julia had come into Skylar's life, and she had all of the necessary experience and qualifications to deal with someone that was coming to the end of their life. The fact that she now worked at the same hospital as Dr Hayden McLeod was an added bonus, and it was thanks to him largely that Julia would be able to return to her previous job once Seth had passed away.
There was also no reason why either of the two former Warblers involved in the situation could disagree or object to it either. Of course, neither of them would be aware of the full details of the plan until it was too late for them to intervene in any case; it would be a fait accompli. He got up and had breakfast, then headed down to the apartment below to check in with Seth. He found him up and about, and making plans for his work in the new semester at the college.
"I like to get things planned out, detailed notes written up for what requires to be done at each stage of the demonstration process." He was of course also recording his own thoughts and observations in his notes, things he was scribbling down at speed, but in a hand that remained as clear and legible as ever. As Thad watched, he knew exactly what was behind all of the activity he was witnessing. Seth was not certain that he would still be able to work right up to the end of the academic year, and so he was creating his own legacy, a series of instructions to the person that might well have to step in and replace him. This time last year, had he caught him doing something of this nature, Thad would have given him a pep talk, telling him off for his pessimism. Now he said nothing, because he knew the truth…
Before any of them knew it, another New Year's Eve had arrived. The newest arrivals in the West Village street headed off to Times Square, to enjoy the spectacle and soak up the atmosphere as the ball dropped. The rest of the street stayed where they were, although some of them did assemble in Nick and Jeff's drawing room where the spectacle would play out on the television screen. Wes had fully intended to stay awake to see midnight, and his fathers had decided to allow it, but sleep claimed him in the end an hour before, and Nick had been forced to carry him upstairs to bed. As he did so, he realised with a start just how heavy his son was nowadays…
Thad and Seth were in the group, the former having carried the latter up the stairs as his legs were feeling tired. Caleb too had sauntered in, and jumped up on Jeff's lap, promptly falling asleep. Beats would join them just before the midnight hour. Elliott had been called out to deal with a crisis at the Spotlight, and he had been persuaded by Dante and the visiting Lachlan that they were quite capable of taking care of Ty, and that he could go out and enjoy the company of people his own age…
"They will no doubt be making out on the sofa right now, and certainly will be on the stroke of midnight," he said sagely. "Well, who am I to deny them that pleasure? I might however have set an alarm for 12.30am, as that is the time that I intend to return home. I will have inflicted myself on you for long enough by then."
They had all chuckled at the thought, then Jeff had turned to his husband and said, "Just think Nicky; we have all of that to look forward to!" That had set them all giggling again, and they were still laughing at the look on Nick's face when the midnight hour came, and it was time to welcome in 2024...
The following morning, in a large house in Ohio, Ethan headed purposefully towards his father's study. He had told Drew what he intended to do that morning whilst they had still been at the Symons' house, the first stop on their holiday trip; Evie had been out with her grandparents, so it had been easy to have their private chat. Drew had a few objections to his plan at first, but once he was satisfied that Ethan was doing it because he wanted to, he agreed to what he suggested. Now he and Evie were headed out again, escorted to the nearest town by Mrs Hargreaves. She had also happily consented to play her own small part in things, but like Drew, had only done so when she was satisfied Ethan was doing it for the right reasons…
He walked into the ante-room to the study, and found that it was also deserted, his father's PA playing her part, aware of the events that were about to take place. Checking his watch, Ethan waited the few seconds until the grandfather clock that stood in the hallway just outside began to whirr as it prepared to strike the hour, before he knocked on the inner door. He did not wait for his father to speak, but headed straight in, to find his parents sitting there side by side, waiting for him. He had a suspicion that they had an inkling as to what he was about to say to them, the reason why they had been asked to come to this private meeting.
"Good morning, and a Happy New Year to you both," Ethan began. "I know that neither of you is keen on prevarication, so I will come right out with what I am going to say. Adopting Evie has made me examine all aspects of my life, and the time is now right for me to start accepting my responsibilities in respect of the family business. I wish to take my seat in the boardroom, although not initially in an official capacity, and without voting rights. If I am to run Mackenzie Inc in the future, then I need to see first hand how it functions and works. I have been given a knowledge of the theory by your right hand women, but now I need to see the practice. For now, I intend to carry on working for my current employer in New York, but in no longer than five years time, I will take my leave of that position, and come to Mackenzie Inc full time. There is however one caveat to that; I will be staying in New York, and I will work out of the offices there. The city is where Drew and Evie are, and they love it there. I will not uproot them and head back to Ohio, at least not until my daughter turns 18 and can make her own decisions."
Ethan was a little surprised when he finished speaking and there was no immediate reaction from his parents. Then his father groaned, and shook his head. "Much as I am glad to finally see this moment, son, I do wish that you could have waited until tomorrow to make your speech. Your mother informed me that you would probably do exactly what you have done back at Thanksgiving, and she was right, as she always is…"
"You only have yourself to blame, dear," Mrs Mackenzie interjected. "I said that he would tell us he wished to take his seat on the board by the end of the year, and you just laughed and said that he would wait until after the holiday season; your words alone added today to the mix…"
"Wait, am I right in thinking that the two of you had a wager over this?" exclaimed Ethan, a little shocked.
"Not for money, or anything of that nature, but yes," replied his mother. "I always suspected that once you had an heir to consider, the way that the business was run would start to concern you more. I also surmised that for such an important step, a simple e-mail or phone call would not suffice. As by then you had stated that you were coming for the end of the holidays, my suggestion was a pretty safe bet. Your father shortened his own odds though…"
"I did; I made the very stupid mistake of giving you an extra 24 hours, my love," her husband replied.
"Well, dad, if it is any consolation, it was barely enough time. I only came to my decision on Christmas morning," said Ethan with a smile. "It is also my hope that the two of you can teach me some of the skills I will need in the business world over the next few years, and perhaps the best place to start would be with intuition…"
"I am afraid, my boy, that you and I are at a disadvantage there, simply by the fact that we are men. Intuition has always been a woman's game, or so they tell me. That daughter of yours will probably have it in spades when she is older."
"That would not surprise me in the least, and if she doesn't develop it naturally, then I am sure that her natural talents can be developed and honed by her grandmothers," responded Ethan, which made his parents laugh.
Then Mrs Mackenzie went back to serious things, and said, "The next board meeting is scheduled for a fortnight today, and as it is midweek, I am certain that we can have it in New York. I will book the hotel, and possibly a show for that night. We will both be there, and can have tea with yourself, Drew and Evie. In fact, a show would be good; it has been several years since your father and I went to the theatre together."
Ethan smiled, and said, "Well, I can see what I can arrange for you on the latter score; I would guess though that you would favour Noel Coward over Mel Brooks."
"Both would be acceptable, but I do prefer a play to a musical, and the former is not one of the latter," his father replied.
"I can have a word with Cooper then, and see what he can arrange. The show is always busy, but on a midweek night, for the parents of a friend, things can be organised."
"That would be good of you son," his mother said. "Well, it has been a while in coming, but welcome on board, son. I for one will relish your presence at the table…"
With his first board meeting now scheduled, the first task for him on his return to work in New York was to inform his boss of the new development in his life. He had no real concerns about breaking the news, and as he had anticipated, his employer told him that as long as he let them know when he would be out of the office, there would be no real issue. "I will admit that I was rather startled on the day that you told me about the Mackenzie Trust," his boss had said, "I would never have imagined that you were a member of such an illustrious family, and such a massive concern. From then on I have always known that we had you here on borrowed time, and that one day you would hand in your notice, as you had decided to move on to the job that has been waiting for you for the whole of your life."
"That will not happen for a while yet; my mother is a force to be reckoned with, and I don't see her giving up her day job for quite some time yet. I will always be grateful for the time that I have spent here, and the fact that it has given me a degree of independence that waltzing straight into a role at Mackenzie would not have done."
"And we will always be glad to have had you as part of our team here."
"Whilst I am here, I also need to appraise you of a slight alteration to my personal circumstances. My roommate, Drew Symons, had asked me if I would be a guardian to his daughter, given that he is a single father, but after some discussion we decided that we should go further, and I have adopted her as a co-parent. I would like that to be entered into my personnel file, to ensure that should something happen to me, she will be recognised officially as my child. That way, all the benefits that would be paid out from my company insurance would be paid to her."
His boss nodded, and said, "No problem at all. Can I just say that I am very pleased for you; from the way that you always talk about her, you have seen her as your daughter for some time now, and making it formal is good for you both. After all, family is the most important thing in the world…"
Ethan decided not to share his decision to join the board widely amongst his fellow former Warblers. After all, nothing would really change in his life for a very long time. He did briefly wonder if he should move out of the street though, to allow a more deserving member of the band of brothers to take advantage of the very low rent that Jeff insisted they all pay. He dismissed it as he realised that he had Drew and Evie to consider too, and they both like their little home. In any case, if Jeff felt his status meant he should move out, he would have said something; though perhaps he would consider asking him to make Drew the tenant instead of himself…
The one person that he did have an urge to inform was, naturally enough, Thad. He did so the same evening that he had spoken to his boss. The Head Warbler had listened, then replied, "I guessed that you would take the plunge now that you have Evie's future in the firm to consider as well as your own. I have seen that happen in each and every one of the others as they brought a child into the world; it changes all of our priorities when we have a family to worry about. Nick would do anything for little Wes; Trent works hard and for long hours, but everything that he is striving for as part of that is so that he can create a better world for his children, and everyone else's. Sebastian's son is the apple of his eye, and his daughter is the light of his life; and as for my brother, he has just cut his hours at work as he needs to be the hands on dad that our own father never was. All I will say is that in your case, destiny is a funny thing. You have always known that one day you would be the person in charge of such a huge conglomerate; that is why the prospect of that does not faze you at all. That prospect would scare me half to death!"
"Honestly Thad, if I did not know that the people that run the business under my parents on a day to day basis were completely competent, I would also be worried to death. Things will be different I think on the day that I actually have to take charge though; I will be a nervous wreck!"
"I do not blame you for feeling that! Have you considered being joint chairman with your mother at first? After all, that is what Ms Wintour did with Isabelle at Vogue. It would ease you in gently, and I doubt that your mother would have any issue with the idea…"
Ethan started to laugh, and shook his head. "No, she would have no issue with that at all, and honestly, I can't believe that I never thought about that concept until now. You are definitely getting wiser as you get older, Thad…"
"I shall take that as a compliment, I think. Actually, I am pretty sure that Wes comes and whispers his wisdom in my ear as I sleep, and I absorb it all subliminally…"
