Avery couldn’t believe the nerve of Tristan Driscoll. He was exceedingly rude. Actually, he was withdrawn, moody, arrogant, and sometimes a little crass, but today, he was downright rude. He had been like that last night right before they’d both turned in. Today, however, he went too far. She wasn’t a helpless female, a damsel in distress, and she didn’t need him. This wasn’t the dark ages. She could take care of herself. She had value and worth.
So, the first thing she did was make a light lunch for the kids, ham and cheese roll-ups in tortilla shells, with carrot sticks on the side. See? Value. She could take care of others, too.
“Come in with us, Avery!” Finn implored from the edge of the pool as she set the tray of food and juice boxes on the table of the outdoor dining set.
“I have some things I need to get done around here, sweetie. Maybe later.”
It was really nice out today, the temperature hovering at a balmy, eighty-two degrees. The chlorine from the pool water being splashed permeated the air with an ultra-clean sanitary scent, which made her glad the kids were swimming in it in case they touched something in the house she hadn’t yet scrubbed down. And they couldn’t ask for nicer weather. She did like skiing, probably from her Swedish genes, but Avery certainly appreciated a nice long Indian summer, too. Next week, the weather channel predicted a big shift when the temps would fall to the forties and fifties and call for rain, too.
She waved to the kids, thinking about the preparation it took to close down the pool. For quite a few years, she’d helped her father and Abraham close it down for the winter season, but if he didn’t come home next week to do it, she’d have to figure it out with Abraham’s help. Her mother was never any help with things like that.
After cleaning up the mess she’d made in the kitchen from lunch, Avery collected laundry from the children’s rooms and threw in a load. There were two more waiting in the wings. It was always like this, laundry being the biggest chore around the house other than cooking.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she answered, half expecting it to be Tristan with an apology. No such luck. It was Renee.
“I can’t believe that happened last night,” Renee said. “How are you holding up?”
“Fine,” she told her friend and then explained the situation they came home to. Renee was devastated.
“Have you heard anything yet?”
“No, I sent Abraham a text this morning, but I haven’t heard back from him.”
“Oh, Ave,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I hope they’re feeling better today. Geesh. You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m sure my mother is handling it. She has friends at the hospital. They’ll do what they can to make sure the children are well taken care of.”
They spoke a few more minutes about the kids before Renee asked, “So, I heard Tristan stayed the night over there, huh? Things getting pretty serious? Has he kissed you yet?”
“What?” Avery asked with a blush on her cheeks as she folded the last load of clothing from the dryer that someone forgot. “No, of course not. And I don’t want him to, either. He’s annoying and rude and…and a chauvinist pig, actually. And, as a matter of fact, I just asked him to leave a few hours ago.”
“Why? Did he get too handsy? You know, that dude’s got some serious muscles on him, Ave. Ya’ don’t have to live like a nun, my girl. You should ride that cowboy. Make him take you to bone town.”
“Oh, my God. Remind me again how we’re friends?” Avery teased and got a bawdy laugh from her best friend. “Bone town is not a real town.”
“Oh, yes, it is. You just haven’t been there yet.”
Avery chuckled, knowing full well what her friend meant. Renee could and did so often make her blush. “It doesn’t matter. He’s rude and has bad manners and insulted me. More than once, actually. I don’t need someone to talk to me like that.”
“What’d he say?”
“Basically, that I’m nothing more than a child, that I can’t take care of myself, and that I get myself into so much trouble that he has to keep coming to my rescue.”
Renee just laughed, which irritated Avery. “That’s kinda’ true, Ave. I mean, lately. Of course, none of this weird stuff was going on in our lives before two or three weeks ago.”
“That’s no excuse,” Avery said. “I’m not going to be talked to like that, even if you think he does have nice muscles and stuff.”
Her friend snorted and laughed once. “So do you, stupid. I’ve seen you looking.”
“Haven’t even.”
“Uh-huh. Oh well, you can stick the memory of him in your spank bank for later.”
“Again! How are we actually friends?” she joked.
Renee laughed. “I’ll put him in my list then. Oh, hey! I forgot to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“Spencer went over to the neighbor’s place today, you know, Mr. and Mrs. Quincy? The cops were there. We could see their lights going. Anyway, I guess two of their cows were killed last night and one of their dogs. You know they breed Pointers.”
“That’s terrible!” Avery gasped, holding a hand over her mouth. “What did it? Did they say?”
“No, cops were mum. Said it was probably a bobcat. Like, seriously? We’re country kids. Duh! Bobcats can’t kill a dog unless it’s like a three-pound Yorkie or something. Plus, we rarely see those over here. Maybe out by you but not here. There’s too many people around. And a cow? Forget it. It’s rare that a pack of coyotes can do that, let alone a bobcat. I don’t know what’s going on with these cops. It’s weird. Spence said he thinks it was one of those things, not a wild animal, that did it.”
Avery frowned at that. She didn’t want to think about one of those crazy people ever again, but she felt obligated to tell her friend some of the information she and Tristan scoured from the internet. “Yeah, hey, Renee? I’m gonna send you some stuff through…”
“Don’t bother. Spencer and Tristan have been sharing links all afternoon. I’ve seen it all, too. Tristan said he’s on his way to one of the hospitals right now. He wants to see it for himself. Spence said he’d go with him, but Tristan said he works better alone.”
“Oh,” she said softly, somehow hurt that he shared everything they found together. Her emotions didn’t make sense once she thought about it for a second as her friend kept talking about the links, the videos, and the stories that kept disappearing off the internet. He had every right to share anything he wanted. She had no say in what he did. Plus, he was a jerk. It was no surprise that he wanted to go to the hospital alone. Of course, he did. What better way to not have to be around people?
“I don’t know what to make of any of this, Avery. I’ve never seen anything like that guy last night. What the heck was wrong with him? Do you think it’s this flu people are talking about?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Yes. Definitely.
“I’m freaking out over here. My parents are in Utah. I called them and couldn’t get ahold of them. I left them a message about this. I told them they should come home. Did you get ahold of your dad yet?”
“Yes, he’s trying to get a flight home.” She hoped. He should’ve known something by now.
Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it away from her face. “Oh, hey, Abraham’s calling. Let me call you back,” she said, didn’t wait for an answer, and selected her brother’s call. “Hey, Abraham, what’s going on?”
There was a long pause, then she heard her brother breathing hard.
“Abraham? Can you hear me?”
He sniffed. “Yeah, I hear you. Gimme a sec.”
She waited a few seconds, her stomach clenching into knots. He sounded odd, upset.
“Sorry, just stressed out,” he apologized.
“Why? What’s wrong?” she blurted quickly, clenching her phone so hard she was afraid it would crack from the pressure.
Her brother paused another half minute. “The girls are in comas.”
“What?” she whisper-croaked.
“Yeah,” he said, and she could almost see him nodding. “The docs said it wasn’t a bad thing. Said that sometimes the body does that to protect itself. I don’t know. I kinda’ feel like they’re making shit up to make Mom feel better. She’s losing her shit up here.”
Her brother never swore. None of them did. Their parents didn’t tolerate it. He was clearly overwrought to speak that way.
“And Cyrus?” she hesitated to ask.
“He’s not great, either. Still puking. Fevers are so high they can’t bring them down even with medicines.”
“Why don’t you come home? Let me come up and relieve you?” She wanted to be there. For some reason, Avery felt like if she were there, it would be better, that things would get better with the kids. It was stupid and was based in absolutely zero factual evidence other than her own need to feel more in control of the situation.
“No!” he said adamantly. “No, Ave. Stay there with the kids. You’re better at that than me anyways. I-I don’t think you should come here. There’s so many sick people. I’m wearing a mask and rubber gloves. This place is a cesspool of sickness right now. Every room is packed. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Then all the more reason for you to come home and me to come up. You need a break from the germs. To get a shower and eat a hot meal.”
“The Red Cross is serving meals outside twenty-four hours around the clock. It’s mostly hot soup, but it’s good.”
“Really? They’ve set up something like that?”
“Yeah,” he answered and sniffed. “There’s so many freaking people here with visitors and the sick that the hospital closed its cafeteria to make food only for the sick and the staff.”
“Wow, that’s crazy. I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Where’s Mom?”
“She’s with Cyrus. They won’t let us in with the girls now. Moved them to an ICU ward. The nurse told me that the ICU used to just take up one wing of the hospital. Now it’s two floors. She said it’s common for the flu patients to fall into this comatose state. I don’t know. It’s so much bullshit mumbo-jumbo medical jargon getting thrown at us right now.”
“Yes, I understand,” she said, now pacing up and down the hall while chewing her thumbnail.
“So, they’re admitting this is the weird strain of flu going around?” she asked. There was no way she wanted him to know what she’d found out on the internet. She just hoped her mother was too busy taking care of and watching over Cyrus to do research of her own on the internet. She was like that. She’d find an alternative cure to common sicknesses, more holistic and homeopathic. She loved research. Avery hoped she kept busy or her phone battery went dead.
“Yes, they said it’s the flu but not a common one,” he said. “That’s about all. Why? Do you know more?”
She didn’t want to lie to him, but she also didn’t want to scare them more. It didn’t matter. The doctors had more information than she did and were in charge of her siblings’ care now anyway.
“Um, just that it’s a new strain of the flu. They were talking about it on the news. Try to keep Mom off the internet. You know how she is. We don’t want her to get even more worried by stuff that’s mostly rumors and conspiracy theories.”
“Oh, right. Yes, I guess that’s what it is. Mom asked them a bunch of times if a vaccine was out there for it, but they said there isn’t. She sent me last night to get some of the fever-reducing tea from the health food store. We’ve been having Cyrus drink it, but he doesn’t usually keep it down. It doesn’t seem to be working, either.”
“Have they said anything about the kids having a second strain?” she tentatively asked.
“No, what do you mean?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Just curious.”
He paused as if uncertain of her answer. “Have you heard from Dad? We’ve had a hard time getting cell service in the room. I’m standing outside right now to talk to you.”
“Yes, he’s a little run down, but he’s trying to get a flight home.”
“Oh, good,” Abraham said, sounding relieved. They’d all be glad when their father came home. He was the one who took care of them in bad situations. “I’m really worried about Mom. She didn’t sleep at all last night. I know because I didn’t either. But Mom doesn’t look so good. She won’t eat. Her eyes are bloodshot. She’s exhausted.”
Avery tried not to focus on her mother having bloodshot eyes. It was just from lack of sleep.
“Is she… sick?” she asked, not even wanting to say the word.
“No, I don’t think so,” he answered immediately. “Just tired.”
Avery released her held breath. “Are you sure you don’t want to swap out for the day?”
“No, Mom said not to. She said she wanted you to keep the kids’ minds off this, take them outside to play or go for a walk.”
“They’re swimming right now,” Avery said.
“Good, good. That’s good. Keep them busy,” her ‘little’ brother said, sounding more mature than he should have to right now. “I’ll call later if anything changes.”
“Okay, love you, Abraham. Give mother our love, too.”
“I will. And we love you, too. Try not to worry.”
They said goodbye and disconnected. Avery slumped down the wall of the hallway and sat on the hardwood floor hugging her knees. Her little sisters were both in a coma. How could this be happening?
She sat there feeling sad for a few minutes, stood and dabbed at the dampness under her eyes. She wasn’t going to have a meltdown. She had to keep it under control. After going downstairs to the basement to throw in another load for the boys and fold the bed linens from last night, she joined the kids in the pool. She even engaged them in a game of Marco Polo, which they always enjoyed.
After pool time for another few hours, Ephraim suggested they play airsoft wars in the woods, which she hesitated in answering. Her hesitation came from the fact that the sun would set in an hour and a half. She didn’t want to be in the woods after dark. The night she was followed down the road by one of those things, or what she figured was one of those things, came flooding back into her mind. The attack in Renee’s woods was also after dark. It set her on edge, so she suggested a board game instead. She told the kids to get their showers, bring any additional dirty clothes and towels they found in their rooms to the laundry room, and get ready to settle in for the night.
She dashed up to her apartment to check her emails and grab a change of clothes. As she was walking back down the hill, she heard a dog in the distance. It reminded her of their neighbors’ dog, Charlie. She should drive over there. They never did get ahold of Mr. or Mrs. Campbell the next day or the one after. She’d called the sheriff again to do a well-visit on them but never heard back. The shrill violin ring tone of her phone caused her to jump.
“Avery, dear,” her father’s voice came over the line. “I finally caught a flight. The airports were packed with travelers. I’ve never seen it so busy.” He paused to cough. Then there was static for a moment. “I’m leaving in an hour. I should land at JFK around four in the morning your time. I’ll be home as soon as I catch a flight to Cleveland or Akron, whichever I can, my love.”
“Thank God,” she said with her hand over her heart, pausing in the driveway to listen to his calming voice, his tender and loving voice. She missed him so much she was tearing up. “Dad, have you spoken to Mom?”
“Yes, dearest,” he said. “I must go, Avery. They are calling for my flight to begin boarding. Send the children my love. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Goodbye.”
“I will. Safe travels. I love you.”
His phone cut off. She wasn’t sure he heard her. Sometimes connections here out in the middle of nowhere got a little crazy. He being halfway around the world didn’t help. They often lost calls with him. She just hoped he heard her say that she loved him. That was important. It always was in her family. She’d tell him tomorrow for sure. Words left unspoken was not an acceptable thing in her family. They always sat down and resolved their disagreements and issues, told each other goodnight and good morning, and ended their calls and goodbyes with affection. That all came from her mother and not just because she was a therapist.
A strange sense of peace came over Avery when she heard that her father was coming home. With everything that was going on in her life lately, she needed him home. Their lives were falling apart, but with him home with them, it would just feel better. Her father always took care of the big things in their lives, in her mother’s life, and handled situations so calmly. Avery was a wreck. The only reason she was even barely holding it together was that she knew he was coming home now and because she had to be the mature caretaker of her younger siblings. Not anymore. Once her father arrived home, he’d take care of everything.
“Can we have spaghetti tonight?” Ephraim asked. “I’m hungry for Italian.”
“Hm, how ‘bout we go out for pizza?” she suggested a short time later. They didn’t go out like that very often. It was cost prohibitive with ten of them, and her mother liked them to eat organic and healthy. She was a great cook. Avery hoped to cook for her own children someday the same, healthy, nutritious meals. But tonight, the kids deserved to have pizza, go to town, and take their minds off the current situation. They’d all drilled her throughout the day about the others, but she hadn’t had the heart to tell them about Faith and Joy. She hoped by morning they girls would be a lot better and she wouldn’t have missed telling the other kids anything. Finn jumped up and down with joy. Ephraim hooted, but Kaia still seemed worried about the others. “Let’s go out and have some fun. Sitting around here worrying isn’t going to help anything, right?”
They piled into her car, and Avery made sure to shut the gate after they pulled through it. She’d also made sure to set the whole house security system. She didn’t need Tristan Driscoll to tell her how to keep her family safe. She wasn’t an idiot.
She even put some peppy tunes on the radio and sang along as she drove the fifteen-minute drive to town. It seemed to do the trick because they went to a local pizza joint, ate, and even laughed and joked a little. It was a good night.
When she got back to the house, she drove through the gate, pressed the button to shut it again, and parked down in front of her parents’ house. Then she tucked Finn in, told her brother and sister to both get some rest and bade them a goodnight, as well. With the kids tucked in, she folded three loads of laundry and still felt restless. Her father practiced tai chi and taught all the kids to do it, too, even little Finn. So, she went to the living room and performed tai chi for an hour. By the time she was done, Avery had worked up a gentle sweat. She went to the fridge and reached for a pitcher of purified water but spotted the bottle of open white wine her mother must’ve started.
“Why not?” she said, hoping it would help her relax. She knew it was supposed to have a calming effect, and she needed that tonight, badly. Even tai chi hadn’t helped. So, she poured a wine goblet about half full and went to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room. It was a quiet night with a full moon and a cloudless sky, every star visible. An idea occurred to her, and she downed the wine and checked on the children. They were all asleep thankfully.
Avery changed in the bathroom back into her suit, took the whole bottle of wine with her, and went outside.