To Whom I Belong To

3

It hadn't been the first time it had happened, but it was truly rare that it did. Raina rested her shoulder against one of the four bed posts of her father's king sized bed. Thick feather stuffed duvets were drawn back and rolled to the bottom of the bed while a thin blue cotton cover was drawn over her father just up to his neck. Beside her was her mother, Valory and Hail followed in front of them, Hail being right at their father's bedside in a wooden chair and their sister right beside him. She'd been worried earlier, but as Hera explained to the family Landon's current condition, her worry eased somewhat.

"He should be waking up here soon. I don't believe he has a concussion." Hera paused, feeling the back of her long time friend's head for any lumps; there were none. Looking around the room, she locked eyes with everyone for a split moment before continuing. "It's just like before."

"Before?" Valory asked testily. Her arms were crossed and she'd had a worried expression on her face since the moment she entered the room. "That was years ago."

"There's no expiration date on something like this, dear. It's too unpredictable." Hera spoke softly.

"What happened this time?" Valory asked, her eyes scanning her father's body. "He was just fine this morning and now..."

"I couldn't say." Hera spared a glance at Landon before continuing. "He was talking with our late night visiter and then he suddenly fainted." She had her brows scrunched together as she stared down at the bed sheets, deep in the replay of earlier that day. She had watched him drop, his body fall limp behind his sturdy oak desk just before it collapsed against the surface; his speech halt in his mouth as he went to use his words. She'd seen it with her own eyes yet there was no sign, not a single thing that tattled on his current state before it was to happen, till it happened.

"He just fainted? Nothing else? No words or signs? Anything?" Valory persisted.

"No."

"Are you sure?" Hail adjusted himself in the stiff wooden chair as he spoke. He sat back, exposing his plain button up shirt as the flaps of his suit jacket now receded to sag at his sides.  For him to come forward during times like these, when the family would gather and share any space of words longer than trivial chat, was rare. He was usually a man who chose to have his thoughts remain his thoughts. But as his eyes settled over to the older woman opposite of him, everyone knew that today was different day.

"Yes, I'm sure." Hera responded, eyeing the two eldest children suspiciously. "Are you trying to imply something?"

The question seemed to cause a beat of pause. Everyone gathered their eyes and darted them about the room to follow the flow of answers they were internally seeking. It was almost as if it was a game, to find who could reveal the most in their expression and tell on themselves. Mary's curiosity had been peaked and she searched each face for understanding, holding her breath for the next words to flow. Valory, having started the array of questions that led them to this point, seemed more concerned with gauging the reactions of those around her. Hera, like Mary, held onto her breath as well, as she awaited for the next words to fall through the air, but for a very different reason. Raina watched, eyes darting the most frantically within the room to attempt to gain a handle on what exactly was unfolding before her. Hail was the only one who's eyes remained true, and as he stared straight ahead, he spoke with a quiet intent that stretched to every corner of the room.

"You were the last person to see him awake, as you are every time.. conveniently."

"Hail—" Mary started, but with no intention of saying anything more, counting on being cut off before she had to finish her next breath.

"Young man if your going to be making accusations I'd advise you to be clear about it, and use some common sense while your at it."

Mary watched on as Hera had instinctively fell into her no nonsense tone at being all but outright accused of being the cause of something terrible befalling her husband. Her children were seeming as if they were gearing up for a guilty verdict, Hail being the spearhead. Her youngest who had been silently watching the scene play out, stood by with a slight frown steady on her features. Mary could understand her children being worried and unsettled enough to throw around wild accusations, but to accuse a woman who'd been with them all their life, more expectedly that naught, seemed to interest her. There was fact in her son's words, even if it was slightest bit so. Hera did have a conveniency for being in Landon's presence during the moments his illness would surface, at every moment to be exact. Today just adding to the times.