Chapter 3

"Richard stared at the keyboard for a few moments. "Maybe we belong to a pool of soul mates," he said pensively. "There are a small number of people on this earth that we are intertwined with, not just one other.""

Taylor looked up from the book, eyes once again going to the sleeping Violet. Sleeping ... it helped to keep thinking of her like that. She was just sleeping. A sleep that would never end...

No! Taylor would NOT let herself think like that! It had only been a couple days. Only ... four. Was that right? She was losing track. Let's see. It was Tuesday, so, yes, it was their fourth day, third since she left the ICU and got her own room.

The doctors weren't optimistic. Something about Violet getting weaker for no reason they could find. The possibility that even if she woke, she'd be paralyzed. Taylor didn't want to hear it. This was her baby. She was strong. She'd come back to them.

So ... Taylor read to her. They had said that her mind probably heard everything around her, and that the family should keep her "entertained" even as she slept. Rachel thought the doctors were just saying that to give the family something to do, to keep them out of their hair. Perhaps. But, there was always the chance it was true, so whoever was with her brought a book. Violet had been reading this one, Opus One, and hadn't gotten very far so Taylor decided to start it from the beginning. The subject matter amused her, given where life had taken her, and the occasional pause to think of Fred kept throwing off her reading schedule. Violet hadn't complained, so far.

Looking back down at the book, Taylor sighed and put the bookmark back in. There was so much to do, so little time. The memorial service was set for Friday. Just a small one, an open casket viewing, mostly for family and coworkers. One last goodbye. Rachel's parents were coming in Wednesday to help out, and to fuss over the kids. Despite five adults in the marriage, Ruth and Howard were the only grandparents the kids knew (Taylor certainly wasn't going to let HER Mom anywhere near them). Fred's cousin Debbie was also coming, although she hadn't been sure if her husband or kids would be able to make it. Maybe an uncle or aunt as well.

She honestly hadn't noticed how much Fred had made their family his entire life. He had interests, naturally, and some friends, but ... mostly, it was the four of them he had turned to for everything. They had been his world.

It had been agreed that the four wives would pair up and marry, helping with little things like health care and the like. Financially things were set up so there should be no problem, but they didn't want to take chances. She and Rachel would be first, probably once the funeral was over and things settled one way or another with Violet. Anita and Mei would have to wait, to make it seem more likely it was a "real" marriage. Doing it soon after the death of Anita's husband wouldn't look good.

A slight creak signaled the entrance of someone into the room.

"Just you today?"

Taylor looked at the young nurse coming towards her. She was familiar, but then it was getting to the point where they were getting to know the various staff on this floor. Never a good thing, as Fred had once said.

"Yeah, for now. Anita should be here after work. I have to go pick up my littlest at some point. I left her with another mother who also has a two year old."

"Can't say I like leaving my little one with mom," the nurse said, shaking her head. "But, what can you do." Taylor stood and moved out of the way, letting her do her job. Various hanging bags of things were changed. The white one was food, Taylor thought. Her eyes closed. She couldn't watch.

"I often wonder what they dream of."

"What?" Taylor opened her eyes and looked at the young nurse. She was looking down at Violet, expression sad.

"I said, I always wonder what they're thinking of, when they're like this. Do they dream?"

Taylor looked at their first child. She had no answer.

Red ... Red is coming...

There is nothing worse than bad school pizza.

Mind you, "good" school pizza is no great shakes either. It's better than many of the other options, but you mostly get it because it LOOKS like pizza even if it doesn't taste like it, and you can fool yourself into believing you're somehow gaming the system by eating such a treat instead of something healthy.

Today, it barely even looked like pizza.

"How the hell do you fuck this up?" Cindy held up the offending rectangle of dough and brownish cheese by one corner, as if it was roadkill. Hell, maybe it was. Some delivery guy from Pizza Supreme was run over, and this was salvaged from his burning car.

"Why did you even GET it?" Her best friend Karen just shook her head in disgust, stirring diet creamy Italian dressing into her homemade salad. "You could SEE it was bad!"

Cindy dropped the offending food product onto her tray with a "plop".

"I don't know ... I mean, pizza is one of my comfort foods! I wanted pizza! There was also the chance it would look better once on my plate."

"Which one of us is the blonde here?" Karen reached a fork across the table, spearing one of the pepperoni and bringing it back for a closer examination. "Hmm, doesn't look too bad."

"Hey! That's my horrible lunch! Get your own!"

"You didn't want it!"

"I didn't say that!"

Cindy gave a mean growl, but her inner self was grinning like an idiot. There was nothing, and she meant nothing, like a stupid kindergarten fight to make you forget more serious matters. Probably the real reason she had bought the stupid pizza: she wanted something pointless to bitch about. It was either this, or go online.

"Let me have a date with Greg and you can have it back."

"Uh, no! If that's all you think he's worth, you don't deserve him!"

"Your brother then!"

Cindy shot a serious look at her friend. Karen's smirk slowly faded, as she sensed the game changing. Putting the fork, with the stolen quasi pepperoni, down, her expression slowly became uneasy. She wasn't used to her friend being serious.

"Um, what?"

"Do you want Freddy?"

"WHAT!?!" Suddenly realizing what that sounded like, Cindy closed her eyes and shook her head, hands going to her temples.

"Gah, no, sorry, not like that, I mean ... well, kinda like that, but..."

"Did you take a bite of that pizza or something?" Karen couldn't believe she was having this conversation. Her friend could be a bit flakey, and was going through a lot, but still!

Cindy grabbed her water and took a swig. Better. She looked at her friend again.

"What I mean is ... do you like Freddy?"

Karen blushed a bit, luckily not too evident on her tanned face. Biting her lower lip, she tried to think of an answer that wouldn't embarrass her. Cindy took that as an answer.

"That's what I thought. Look, my brother ... isn't doing well." Karen's eyes shot open. Cindy nodded. "None of us are, to be sure, but ... well, I have Greg, but he ... Freddy doesn't have anyone." Her eyes met Karen's. "He NEEDS someone. Just to hold, if nothing else. I know he thinks you're cute."

The buxom blonde Junior was beside herself. Hunky Freddy needed comforting? Well, send him her way! She'd been lusting after him since middle school! But...

"You're serious," she whispered. Cindy nodded. Looking around, Karen leaned closer. "You're asking me to ... SLEEP with your brother!" Her voice lowered as she finished the sentence. Cindy shook her head, knowing she was going about this all wrong.

"No! Well, if you two do eventually, that's OK, but I didn't mean that! It's just, you like him and he's lonely. I just want to help him!"

There was a moment's silence. Karen slowly digested all of this, then sat back. Her breasts bounced at the impact.

"Well, at least it's not Jaxom you're trying to pimp me to."

Freddy was kneeling next to his father. The snow was high, up to his waist, and Dad was slowly sinking into it. Freddy leaned forward. He had to keep both hands on Dad's chest. If he could keep them there, the bleeding would stop. Dad sank a bit farther, his hands moved ... and a squirt of blood shot out. Shit! He leaned forward more, cutting off the flow. He couldn't do this. He knew he couldn't do this. Dad was going to die.

"Help!"

There was no one to help. His family surrounded him, but they were frozen. Everything about them was frozen ... except those eyes. Eyes that look at him. Eyes that knew he would fail ... Dad dropped farther into the snow. He was now below Freddy's knees. How deep WAS this stupid snow?!? He leaned forward even more, keeping his hands over the wound. More blood started to leak out.