“Here, take your medicines.” He came out of the kitchen with an apron around his waist. “Oh,” He stopped right in front of her chair. “She slept again?” He put his hands to his sides. Her mouth was slightly opened and she had her eyes closed. He waved his hand in front of her face. “Hey!” He poked her arm. “Penelope!” He tried again but there was no response. He sighed and put medicines in his apron’s pocket. “How is she always sleepy?” He shook his head and sighed again. The clouds had covered up the sky. He chose not to wake her up and sat on the chair beside her. He wiped his hands on the apron and leaned back. “I don’t want you to suffer.” He said in a hushed tone. Almost inaudible. “I know you don’t want me to help you. Still, you are stuck with me here.” He smiled sadly and looked at her. He slowly put a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He kept looking at her. Sadly. “I’m sorry you broke your foot because of me.” He said and leaned back in his chair

“I was just thinking about coming home today.” She said on the phone. “You sure? Is there any problem?” Hailey said on the other side of the line. “No, I mean… I just— you know. How long can I stay here? And I miss you.” “I miss you too, love. Okay. Should I ask him to take you back here?” “No, no. I’ll just talk to him.” “Okay, hon. I love you.” “I love you too.” She smiled. She took support from the crutch and walked out of the room. She lightly knocked at the door to the study room and creaked it open. He was standing in front of the window, looking outside. She entered the room and looked around. The room had a dark ambiance just like the rest of the house. The whole room was carpeted. There were bookshelves on the front wall from top to bottom. A wooden ladder in the corner. The west wall was an accent wall with nothing but one gigantic painting of the back of a woman in a white dress. The details were incredible.