Chapter 24

Mark sat at the kitchen table working on his computer. Lilith hadn’t gone for her usual morning run and hadn’t yet come out for coffee. He checked the time — 8:30. Puzzled, he walked over to the bedroom and peered around the door. Lilith was still in bed, lying on her side looking at her cell phone.

“Hey, want some coffee?”

Lilith shook her head without looking up.

“Everything okay?” Mark said.

Lilith looked at him, her eyes distant, and nodded.

Mark wasn’t convinced. He returned to his work, but his concern for Lilith lingered. When she didn’t emerge from the bedroom until after 10:00, he knew something was wrong. Every time he’d checked on her, he’d found her either sleeping or staring vacantly at her phone.

She came out in her bathrobe and sat on the couch. Mark went over and sat beside her.

He put his arm around her. “How are you feeling, babe?”

“Okay,” she said.

“You seem a little down.”

“I need to go get Ellie,” Lilith said.

“Who?”

“My cat.”

“Your cat? Where is she?”

“At a neighbor’s.”

“Well, why don’t I go get her?”

“No, they’ll see you.”

“Who?”

“The Elysians. It has to be somewhere else.” She looked around her on the couch. “Can you see if my phone’s still on the bed?”

Mark found her phone under her pillow and brought it to her. She scrolled for a moment and then typed something. She waited, looking at the screen and then typed something else. This went on for a few minutes and then she turned to him.

“She’ll meet you in the parking lot outside Ralph’s. Here’s the address.” She handed him the phone.

He looked at the screen. It was a message from Lilith’s neighbor.

“I’ll be in the parking lot of Ralph’s at 11:30 in my black Camry with Ellie in her carrier in the back seat strapped in.”

“You can let her out of her carrier in the car,” Lilith said.

“She’s okay in the car?”

“She likes to look out the back window.”

Margie was a plump woman in her 50s with vibrant red hair. She pressed Mark for details about Lilith. Where was she? Why had she left so abruptly? What exactly was happening that they had to exchange a cat in a parking lot? Mark feigned ignorance, telling her he was just a friend and Lilith had called him to ask if he could take care of her cat for a couple of weeks while she was out of town.

He managed to extricate himself from Margie and get Ellie into the back seat of the car. He got in the driver’s seat and, with some trepidation, reached back and opened the door of the cat carrier. Ellie stepped out and hopped up onto the rear window shelf. She remained there during the drive home — a beautiful, gray tabby with emerald-green eyes, looking like a lavish ornament.

When they arrived at the apartment, Lilith wasn’t in the living room or kitchen. Mark walked to the bedroom, carrying Ellie in the carrier, and looked in. Lilith was in bed, lying on her side, her eyes closed. Mark looked at his watch — a little after 1 p.m.

He carried Ellie to the couch and sat down with the carrier next to him. He opened the door. Ellie came out and sniffed his hand. Then she hopped off the couch and strolled into the bedroom. Mark waited a few minutes and then went to check on them. Lilith was still asleep, Ellie perched on her hip.

The next day was worse. Lilith didn’t get out of bed at all. She occasionally looked at her cell phone but mostly lay in bed with her eyes either closed or open, staring dully at nothing. She hadn’t eaten the previous day and had taken only a few sips of water at Mark’s insistence. The glass of water, fruit tand chocolates Mark had left next to her on the bedside table lay untouched.

Mark sat on the side of the bed and stroked Lilith’s shoulder.

“Babe, what’s the matter?”

“I don’t know,” Lilith said. Her voice broke and Mark saw tears in her eyes.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “We’re going to find out what it is, okay? We’ll figure it out and get you well again.”

Mark retrieved Lilith’s medical bag from the trunk of the car. He took her temperature with the digital thermometer — 98.2 — and felt her pulse: 52. She was breathing normally and had no obvious symptoms of any medical condition.

At noon, Mark said, “I’m going to get a doctor in to take a look at you.”

Lilith shook her head.

“Yes, Lilith. I’m worried about you. I’ve never seen you like this. There’s something seriously wrong and I’m not going to just let it go.”

Lilith shook her head again.

“Okay, I’m going to call Roxanne. What’s her last name?”

Lilith shook her head and mumbled something.

Mark leaned in closer. “What was that?”

“Anne Martin,” he heard her say.

“That’s the name she’s registered under?”

Lilith nodded.

Mark called the hospital. After some runaround, they put him through to Roxanne. Mark explained the situation. “Have you ever seen her like this?”

“No,” Roxanne said. “This isn’t like her at all. Something’s the matter. Where are you?”

“We’re about 45 minutes out of town — near Ridgway.”

“I’ll come,” Roxanne said.

“You can’t!” Mark said. “You’re in the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” Roxanne said. “They said they were going to discharge me on Monday. One day earlier won’t make any difference.”

“Can you get them to discharge you early?” Mark asked.

“I’ll ask for forgiveness,” Roxanne said.

Mark laughed. “I’ll come and pick you up.”

“No, I’ll just take Uber. You need to stay with her. What’s the address?”

Mark gave it to her.

Less than 90 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Mark opened it to see Roxanne, looking very much as she did the first time he’d met her, hair pulled back and under a cap, her eyes alert. They embraced and she kissed him on the cheek.

“How is she?” Roxanne said.

“Same,” Mark said, leading her to the bedroom.

Lilith was on her side, her eyes closed.

Roxanne sat on the bed next to her and put her hand on her shoulder. “Lilith?”

Lilith’s eyes opened and she smiled. Roxanne leaned down and kissed her.

“We’re a little worried about you,” she said. “What’s up?”

Lilith closed her eyes and shrugged.