Cole and I are sitting at a table in the chalet, slightly away from the others, sipping cocktails and chatting between ourselves. I put on a simple, black dress and a pair of heels, to socialize—although I haven’t done much socializing yet. Helen has gone off to get prepared for the surprise wedding, with the new wedding dress that Carmen brought, and the makeup artist her father hired. There is even a wedding photographer, and a priest on the premises.
The Winters family really thought of everything.
“Aren’t you happy you came?” Cole asks me.
“Not as happy as you are about the architecture,” I tease him.
“I’m just glad to see you connect with a family member,” he responds. “After what happened in New York.”
“I guess it is a little nice being in a Swiss chalet,” I muse, looking around at the mountains. “I mean, there was a restaurant called ‘Swiss Chalet’ in Canada that Zack’s sister ordered a few rotisserie chicken dinners from—but I think I prefer the real deal.”
Liam chooses that moment to approach us. “Hello, Sister Sophie!”
“Well, that makes me sound like a nun.”
“This is your boyfriend?” Liam asks. “I didn’t realize he came with you!”
“Yes, this is Cole. My fiancé, I guess,” I say, showing off my ring. “Cole, meet Brother Liam.”
“Whoa, look at that rock! Sorry we didn’t get a chance to be introduced earlier, man. I’m Dr. Liam Larson.”
“Good to meet you,” Cole says. “Congratulations on getting your girl back.”
“Thanks, man. Everything that’s happened lately—not my proudest moment.” Liam seems genuinely embarrassed. He tries to switch the topic. “So, has Cole been good to you, Sophie? Or do I need to roll up my sleeves and fight to defend your honor? And if I do need to do that—can I wait until after the wedding photos? Maybe after the wedding night, if you don’t mind. Cole looks pretty tough, and I don’t think Helen would appreciate marrying a guy with a black eye.”
“See? He knows he would lose,” Cole whispers to me, and I glare at him.
“Cole has been really good to me,” I assure Liam. “No need to kick his ass today.”
“What about the other boyfriends?” Liam asks. “Didn’t you say you had more than one?”
“She sure does!” Cole volunteers. “You see, she has multiple personalities, and a different lover for each one.”
“Cole,” I complain, kicking him lightly under the table. When he flinches, I remember I am wearing high heeled shoes. I smile at him sweetly, hoping I drew blood.
But Liam is laughing. “That’s a really interesting illness. But you shouldn’t joke about it like that—I know it’s sensationalized in movies and whatever, but it’s actually pretty common, and there are millions of people living with it undiagnosed. And there’s this crazy stigma that it’s supernatural, or dangerous—a lot of doctors don’t even know how to treat it, or don’t ‘believe’ it exists. Isn’t that a weird word for doctors to use? It’s in the DSM-5, it’s not a mythical creature like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause. You don’t have to believe in DID, you can just fucking study it and actually help people…”
When Liam realizes that we are staring at him, his face reddens and he clears his throat. “Sorry, that’s a little bit of a doctor rant, for you guys. I just get so disillusioned with the American healthcare system sometimes.”
“So you know a lot about mental illness?” I ask him. “PTSD? What about neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, dementia, …”
“I don’t know enough. I specialize in treating eyes, and I usually turn to my colleagues for help on those subjects.”
“Liam, there’s something I need to tell you,” I blurt out. This time, Cole kicks me under the table. I glare at him.
“What is it?” Liam asks, with concern.
“Well, I’m not sure I should mention this right now, because you’re about to get married and all. Last time I showed up for your wedding, you changed your mind and walked out on Helen. I don’t want that to happen again.”
“I’m stronger now, Sophie. I won’t be so weak again.”
Looking to Cole for permission to share some of the things he suggested I not share, Cole nods slightly.
“I visited your parents,” I tell Liam simply.
The large man instantly flinches. “Well,” he says quietly, looking down at the table in embarrassment. “They are your parents, too, I suppose. I’m sorry you had to meet those people.”
“Do you want to know what happened when I met them? Or save it for later?”
“No, no. I can handle it,” he says, taking a deep breath. “Did you go by their apartment? I know it’s terrible, but I try to avoid that place as much as humanly possible. If you saw it, you’d understand why—but you can’t imagine what it was like growing up there.”
“Actually, I can imagine,” I tell him quietly.
“If it weren’t for Helen, I might have never gone back to that place. I hadn’t visited them in years. Every time I see my father, I’m afraid I’m going to kill him.”
Cole and I share looks.
“Well, I nearly did kill him,” I tell Liam softly. “Cole had to physically restrain me.”
Liam’s eyes go wide. “What did he do? That fucking bastard! Did he touch you?”
“No. But every time he opened his mouth, I wanted to knock his ugly teeth out,” I say, closing my eyes in memory. “He was boasting about how he impregnated women overseas, while on tour, and then left them to starve with their kids. He laughed about the fact that we probably have other half-siblings who might not have survived the war and poverty he left them in.”
“God,” Liam says. “I’m so sorry. As soon as I get home, I’m going to pay him a visit and send him back to the hospital.”
“Um, Liam.” My eyes grow narrowed. “Your dad never left the hospital.”
“What?”
“You don’t know?” I ask him, uncomfortably.
“No. I was so sick and tired of those people… after I realized what happened with you, I haven’t been able to visit, or even talk to them.”
Cole clears his throat. “Maybe we should save this one for after the wedding, Sophie. Don’t stress Liam out a few hours before he has to tie the knot.”
“I’m a doctor,” Liam points out. “Stress is my life. And hospital-related stress is one of the easiest kinds for me to manage.”
“Okay,” I say softly. “Your father is probably never going to leave the hospital. He’s dying of cancer.”
Liam lets out the breath he has been holding in a whoosh. “Oh, thank god. That is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”
“See?” I say to Cole. “He’s a big boy. He can handle it.”
“Maybe if he’s gone, I can visit the house more, and help out my mother,” Liam says.
Cole clears his throat. “Actually, you can’t…”
“What? Why not?” Liam asks.
“Your mother was starving and unable to even feed herself or take a shower. She was seriously ill, and we put her in an Alzheimer’s long-term care facility, just so that she can get some nursing care and medical attention.”
“You did what?” Liam asks, incredulous.
“We couldn’t just leave her there,” Cole explains. “She’s covered in bruises that aren’t healing, black and blue all over from when your father beat her. When we visited the house, she served us invisible tea, and all the food in the fridge was old and rotten. She needed psychiatric care immediately, or she wouldn’t survive much longer.”
“And even if she was able to keep herself barely alive,” I add. “She’s not really okay. She seems to spend a lot of time staring into space and rocking back and forth, repeating the same phrases over and over—obviously dealing with a lot of issues. That’s why I asked if you knew anything about mental illness, or degenerative diseases. They are trying to diagnose her now, to figure out how to get her proper treatment.”
Liam seems to take a minute to process this, and then he nods. “You guys were right to do that. I feel terrible. I should have done something much sooner, but I was ignoring what was wrong. I was just so scared of my father, and resentful of him, that I couldn’t really even think about doing anything to help her. I just couldn’t go near that place.” He takes a deep breath. “When I get home, I’ll check up on her and make sure she’s being taken care of properly. Maybe I can even have her put in a facility closer to my work, so that I can visit her more often. Do you have any idea what’s wrong with her?”
“Not yet,” Cole says, “but they are running tests, and we should have an answer soon.”
“You’re the doctor,” I tell Liam, “but from my understanding, if it’s psychological or trauma-related, there is still hope she can recover cognitive function and improve her quality of life. Especially since her abuser is gone, or nearly gone. If it’s neurodegenerative, it’s a death sentence, and not much can be done.”
“Yes,” Liam says quietly. “Even the most promising drugs in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s haven’t shown real results. We can barely do anything to slow the progression. With the current state of medicine, there is no real treatment.”
“So let’s just hope it’s not that,” Cole responds. “I lost both of my parents when I was nine, so I know how difficult it is, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
“Actually,” Liam says hoarsely, “if I’m being honest, I lost both of my parents a long time ago. I was already pretending they were dead. So if anything can be done to help her—maybe this could bring her back to me.”
“She seems like she was a good person,” I say softly. “She seems like she did the best she could, given the circumstances.”
“She always tried,” Liam says. He reaches out to put a hand on both of our shoulders, and his face is contorted with grief. “Thank you both, for doing what I couldn’t do. For helping me, and possibly saving my mother’s life. If it weren’t for you two—well, maybe now, that baby Helen’s carrying will actually get a chance to meet his or her grandma.”
I smile at him sadly. I reach up and squeeze the hand he has placed on my shoulder.
Liam is shaking his head. “I don’t know why I was incapable. As a medical professional, you would think I could see there’s something wrong with her. This kind of neglect is almost criminal. But my vision was just so cloudy—I’ve been fucking blinder than my patients.”
“It’s okay,” Cole says, reassuring him. “Sometimes it’s easier to see clearly from the outside.”
“But she actually did take care of me,” Liam says, and his voice breaks. “She fed me and bathed me, and helped me put my clothes on when I was a kid—and she never did any of those things for you, Sophie. It should have been me. I should have been there for her, and fear of my father isn’t a worthwhile excuse.”
I don’t know how to respond, so I just nod. I find my eyes falling to the floor.
“Man,” Liam says. “I’ve made a real shitty first impression here, with you two. I hope I can redeem myself someday. But for now—Cole? You’re already being a pretty awesome brother-in-law. I didn’t know I really needed one of those.”
Cole’s face softens a little. “No problem, man. Just being a decent human being.”
Liam reaches out and gives Cole a little hug, and it just melts my heart. I can see the surprise on Cole’s face, and his awkwardness as he hugs back. I have to struggle to hold back my tears.
This is what he came all this way for.
Not the sublime architecture, or the mountain views. Not the free romantic vacation.
He came all this way for family. To help take cake care of the family we didn’t even know I had.
Because that’s the kind of person he is.
And that’s the kind of father he would be.
Cole would move hell and high water to protect his child from harm, and make him or her happy. He would never have walked away from me, the way Liam walked away from Helen and his parents. He lives his life with a certain kind of responsibility to the people he loves.
He has always tried to be strong enough to be everyone’s rock.
He has always been my rock.
When Liam pulls away from Cole, I reach out and touch his hand. I try to smile at him, and tell him how much I love him silently, with just my eyes. And that I’m sorry for being a coward and running away, like Liam did.
I never will be, again.