Chapter 41 - The Empty Place Beneath the Table
The crash upstairs had been a photograph.
Charlie had caught the small table with his shoulder while turning in the hallway. By the time I reached the landing, Noah was holding him by the collar and Nico was staring at the broken frame.
“Nobody stepped on it,” Noah said.
“Good. Stay where you are.”
I moved Charlie away, checked the boys’ feet, and fetched a broom.
The photograph was one of Isabel as a baby, asleep against Lena’s shoulder. The glass had broken. The picture itself was untouched.
“See?” I said. “We can replace the frame.”
Nico looked relieved.
Charlie lowered himself onto the rug and closed his eyes.
I thought he was tired.
The next morning, he did not come downstairs for breakfast.
That was unusual enough to make all five of us notice.
Isabel stood beside his bowl.
“Charlie?”
No answering footsteps.
No excited collision with the kitchen doorway.
No attempt to convince us that nobody had fed him in several years.
I found him outside the twins’ room.
His tail moved when he saw me, but he did not stand.
I crouched beside him.
“Come on, old man.”
He tried.
Then stopped.
Behind me, Lena took a slow breath.
We called the veterinary practice and arranged to bring him in.
The boys wanted to come.
We let them.
In the waiting room, Noah kept one hand on Charlie’s back while Nico studied a poster about teeth with fierce concentration.
The examination took longer than I expected.
The veterinarian asked questions.
How long had he been slowing down?
Had his appetite changed?
Was he resting more?
Separately, each change had seemed ordinary.
Together, they became a story I wished I had read sooner.
There would be tests.
We agreed.
When Charlie was taken into another room, Isabel began crying.
Lena lifted her onto her lap.
“He’s staying with the people who can help him.”
“Are they keeping him?”
“We’re waiting to hear what he needs.”
I walked to the reception desk and asked whether there was a faster way to get the results.
The woman behind the desk looked at me kindly.
“They’re working on them now.”
“I understand. I meant—”
I stopped.
I had meant money.
Influence.
Some door I could open because waiting frightened me.
Behind me, Noah asked Lena whether Charlie would come home.
I turned before she had to answer alone.
“We hope so,” I said.
Nico finally looked away from the poster.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
He stared at me for a moment.
Then moved his chair closer to his brother’s.
May you like
I sat beside them.
For once, there was nothing useful to do with my hands.
