A Fluffy Tale Read online

  “Exactly.”

  There was a lot to do, surprisingly. Cleaning out Zachary’s fridge and making sure that the apartment and the utilities were set up for a long absence took the rest of the morning and after another lunch in town, Leo had some essential shopping to do. Hiring a car was briefly considered and rejected because of the problem of parking. And then Leo insisted that he needed to walk and so did Julian. Their kems appreciated the fresh air, but returning to the park brought back bittersweet memories.

  “It’s going to be ages before he can jog again. Maybe he never will,” Julian said, almost to himself.

  “He will. He’s a very determined person. So are you. But you owe it to him and to Pyon not to slip back into bad habits.”

  For the next week, the visits at the hospital remained brief, even after Zachary was moved to a private ward. He spent most of his time asleep, drugged on pain medication and just worn out with the effort of healing. Julian’s role was to act as emotional support to Leo, who was otherwise frighteningly well-organised, and took charge of Julian’s life rather efficiently. He insisted on arranging a cleaner, and found a company who would do all the grocery shopping and deliver it. He wanted Julian not to wear himself out looking after him, and however much Julian insisted he could manage, Leo had his way.

  He didn’t really mind. All the ferrying back and forth to the hospital, at least twice, if not three times a day, the minor administrative details to do with sorting out Zachary’s affairs, and Leo’s back home, kept him busy, and he was all too aware that active and bright though Leo was, he was still seventy-eight and under a lot more stress than someone that age should be.

  Zachary was also aware of this and as he grew stronger, spent more time awake, he began to try and make his great-uncle go home. Leo, easily as stubborn as he was, simply refused.

  “My dear boy,” he finally said in exasperation when Zachary had been more than usually insistent. “What do I have to do that’s more pressing than visiting you?”

  “I'm fine now,” Zachary said—and this just two days out of surgery to have his femur pinned. “They’re looking after me and I don’t need visitors to get well. Julian, tell him.”

  “I won’t. You’re being an idiot, Zachary Ledbetter. Shut up and let him fuss. He won’t be told any more than you would.”

  That had made them—great-uncle and nephew both—look at each other with identical raised eyebrows, and then Leo grinned. “He’s got the measure of you, my boy.”

  “And you, Uncle Leo.” Zachary lay back on his pillows. Linis, always mindful of the many sore and injured parts of his host, took up a careful position by his cheek. “Will you go back when I get out of here?”

  “Perhaps. I rather like this city. I was thinking of buying my own apartment, in fact.”

  “You were?” Zachary said, blinking.

  “You are?” Julian asked, equally surprised.

  “Perhaps,” Leo said, smiling to himself. “Now, don’t concern yourself with me, Zachary.” He held his back and groaned. “Oh dear. I think I’ll just go on a little stroll. I'm all stiff from sitting. Amuse him, will you, Julian? I won’t be long.”

  Could you be more obvious, Leo? Julian thought, smiling at the old bastard as he faked a hobble out of the room.

  Zachary wouldn’t look at him, instead petting Linis slowly, his lips thin and annoyed—or perhaps he was in pain. The thigh surgery had been pretty agonising, he’d admitted.

  “You’ll only upset him if you keep this up, Zachary. He needs to do this.”

  “I don’t need him—or you. That’s what the doctors are for.”

  “Oh, so kems need affection and care but humans don’t? You just want to lie here on your back for a month or more on your own?”

  “I have a laptop and phone. I have things to amuse me.”

  “Things, yes. I don’t understand why you want to hurt Leo. What did he ever do to you?”

  Zachary’s eyes widened. “Nothing. I just think a man of his age shouldn’t be wasting time sitting around in hospitals—”

  “Looking after a nephew he adores and is worried sick about? Yes, it would be so much better for him to fly home and worry himself sick there, without even being able to see you and reassure himself. Look—even Linis wants him here. Stop being an arse.”

  “One of these days you’ll be one of my subordinates again, Julian.”

  “Okay, then you can put a complaint in about me then. And Leo can tell Mr Clarke you’re an arse too.” Julian folded his arms and delivered his best glare. “You finished? This is getting boring, Zachary.”

  “Don’t talk to me about boredom.”

  “And you want to get rid of the little entertainment visitors can give you? You’re nuts.”

  Zachary shifted a little, winced as if he was in pain again, which he almost certainly was, despite the medication. “I don’t like depending on people.”

  “Because people aren’t dependable, I know. Unless they’re you or they’re Leo.”

  “Or you,” Zachary said quietly, turning his head so he could look at Julian again. “I don’t know why you’re doing this. We’re not friends. You don’t even like me.”

  Julian shrugged. “You’ve got a thing about sick kems. Maybe I’ve got a thing about sick people. I'm doing this for Leo, mostly, so don’t get all guilty and rude about it. He worries about you, I worry about him. You just need to get well so we can all move on with our lives.”

  He was being mean but he was seriously annoyed. ‘Not friends’? Enemies didn’t visit every day for two weeks or look after someone’s elderly great uncle.

  “Then I will,” Zachary said, chin tilted haughtily. ‘As soon as I'm back in my apartment, your obligation—whatever you conceive that to be—is over.”

  “If you say so, Mr Ledbetter. I'm going to find Leo and take him to lunch. You sit there and amuse yourself. We’ll be back later.”

  “No need.”

  “Zachary, just shut up, will you? Pyon, come on.”

  Pyon yawned, gave Linis a quick lick, then got up from where he’d been lounging on Linis and Zachary both. Julian fancied Zachary would miss Pyon a lot more than he’d miss Pyon’s host, if Julian stopped coming.

  He scooped Pyon up and walked out, irritated at Zachary and himself. The man was just such a prickly sod but Julian should be more patient. He knew Zachary was having a tough time but he just never gave up on this crap.

  He found Leo chatting to one of the patients in the dayroom.

  “Stiff, my left foot,” Julian muttered as he sat on the arm of one of the sofas. He waited for the patient to wander off and leave them in privacy. “He doesn’t want to talk to me, you know.”

  “Are you so sure about that, Julian?”

  “Yes. And I don’t want to talk to him. He’s a stubborn, irritating, irritable, impolite, ungrateful arse.”

  “What he is, my dear boy, is a very good actor, and does far too good a job at hiding his real feelings.”

  Julian brushed this explanation away. “Maybe but digging down under the act just hurts him and me both. He doesn’t want me around. He even pulled the ‘I’m a solicitor and you’re just a lowly assistant’ crap on me and seriously, when you’ve seen someone’s backside, they shouldn’t be able to do that anymore.”

  Leo chuckled and shook his head. “No, they really shouldn’t. Very well—let’s give him a break for a week or so. You could do with it too. I’ve got a little job I need you to do and you can deal with that while I smile and smile and wear him down to the point where he’s begging you to return.”

  “It’ll never happen.”

  “Perhaps not, but my nephew isn’t as stubborn as me. I'm sorry he’s upset you, though.”

  “I upset him, so we’re even. Why does he have to be like that?”

  “Because it’s all he knows, and it’s worked well enough until now. He hasn’t figured out yet he can’t do this on his own.”

  “Well, he’s technically right. He can h
ire people to help, and the medical staff do all he needs here.”

  “Not ‘all’, Julian.” Leo offered his arm to him. “Let’s go eat lunch, take a walk, clear our heads. He needs time to think as well.”

  The ‘little job’ turned out to be researching what was needed to make Zachary’s apartment suitable for a wheelchair-bound man with a broken arm, leg and ribs, and finding out which nursing agency offered the best service. It made a welcome change from the hospital visits, but prowling around Zachary’s home without his presence (or knowledge, Julian was damn sure), poking into his secrets, or watching workmen do that for estimation purposes, was just a little bit creepy. There were no boxes waiting to be unpacked—the spare sterility was just how Zachary chose to live. Julian couldn’t understand how anyone could live like that—not and be a heartless, soulless bastard. Zachary was certainly a bastard—but he had emotions, he cared about kems if not people, and he appreciated beauty. So why did he live like this?

  Every day, twice a day, Leo visited his nephew on his own, while Julian ran around getting quotes and measurements and booking workmen. Every evening, the two of them went over Julian’s notes to make sure nothing was being done that couldn’t be undone, or that Zachary wouldn’t consider a liberty too far. Then Leo had the thankless task of conveying the decisions to Zachary, conversations which he tried to have in the morning, so he said, so that lunch with Julian could take the taste out of his mouth. For two cents, Julian would have charged up to the hospital and given Zachary a damn hard shake—or possibly a slap—every time Leo showed up looking tired and drawn and clearly worn out from arguing.

  “Does he really think he can organise this stuff himself when he gets out?”

  “He doesn’t think he needs any of it.”

  They’d been discussing the inevitability of live-in attendants, an idea raised with Zachary and immediately vetoed—as had the suggestion of Julian staying with him to help. Leo was too frail to consider the idea, and, he said, he’d probably murder his nephew in under a week.

  “I think we hire the people and if he complains, you get an order of incompetency slapped on him,” Julian said, stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and imagining it was one of Zachary’s fingers.

  “Now there’s an idea. We still have a week or more before he can leave the hospital. I haven’t given up hope of persuading him. Now—I have two other things I need your help with.”

  “Anything, you know that.” Julian rather liked being Leo’s personal assistant and would be sorry when the old man left. Clerical work seemed rather dull in comparison, even if Zachary was the most annoying invalid on the planet.

  “Excellent. I think now would be a good time to reconsider the car issue—Zachary has garage space and it will save a lot of time. He’ll be going back and forth for physiotherapy and other appointments and wheelchair taxis take such a long time to arrange.”

  “I uh…already started looking into it, actually.”

  “Of course you did. Julian, you’re very good at this, you know.”

  Julian shrugged. “It’s a lot more fun than the office. It’ll be hard, going back.”

  Leo smiled. “I hope you’re in no hurry to because I really do need your help at least until Zachary’s mobile again. So, I’ll let you sort out the car—you’ll be the driver so you have to be happy. The other matter is an apartment.”

  “I thought that was a joke to wind him up.”

  “It was—but now I think I would like a place here. There’s an apartment for sale in his building, in fact, and several others in the neighbourhood. I’d like you to arrange viewings for us both.”

  “You haven’t mentioned this to him, have you?”

  “No, I thought I’d surprise him.” Julian pulled a face and Leo laughed. “Oh, come on, it won’t be that bad.”

  “He’s going to throw a tantrum to end all tantrums.”

  “Well, then, we should make sure it’s worth it. Are you ready for dessert? I think I deserve chocolate today. Definitely chocolate.”

  It only took a day to locate and purchase a suitable second-hand vehicle, since Julian had already done all the research into the dealers. The following day, Leo and he viewed the vacant apartment in Zachary’s building, and two others nearby. Julian was privy to Leo driving a hard bargain with the agent and the sellers over the first place, and learned it was no secret how his family had hung onto their fortune over several generations. The agent, thinking he was dealing with an amiable, elderly gentleman who wouldn’t stoop to haggling, found out very quickly that Leo was no fool and had no intention of paying a penny more than the property was worth.

  The offer was accepted that afternoon, to Leo’s delight. “I’d have offered ten thousand more, if they’d pushed it. I really wanted that apartment.”

  Julian’s mouth fell open in shock. “But you got it for thirty thousand less than asking.”

  “Well yes, because it wasn’t worth more to anyone else. It was overpriced, but I’d have paid it.” He winked at Julian. “Remember that when you come to invest in property yourself.”

  “Hah. Me, own an apartment? Maybe when I'm your age.”

  Leo patted his arm. “You’re only a lad now. Plenty of time. Now—let’s go to the park for a walk and then I want to take you out to the theatre. We both need a treat, I think.”

  Now they had transport of their own, Julian’s days got even busier, ferrying Leo to the law firm to deal with the conveyancing (and Julian getting a lot of curious questions from his work colleagues when he dropped in to say hello. Pyon was beyond excited, rushing around and greeting all his friends—it was the first time Julian had seen a downside to his unexpected vacation. Not that Pyon had exactly been suffering, but still.)

  Then to the hospital, back to Zachary’s apartment to inspect the outfitting or to other appointments to do with Leo’s personal affairs. There was also an incredible amount of furniture and other goods to locate and order for the new apartment. Spending other people’s money was fun, but Julian was heartily sick of refrigerators by the end of it.

  All of it made easier by Leo’s genial humour and wise approach to the world. Julian felt like he was earning another education, just being with him. He wondered if Zachary appreciated his uncle the way Julian was coming to do.

  Their irritable invalid was progressing well and after four weeks, his internal injuries had healed. The broken bones would take longer, and he’d require more surgery on them, but the doctors had set a release date target for a week’s time. By then, the modifications to the apartment would be ready, the nursing agency had been lined up to supply attendants, and all Zachary had to do was cope with a wheelchair until his broken arm and ribs healed enough for him to use crutches. It could have been very much worse for him—something else Julian wondered if Zachary appreciated.

  The plan for today was looking for sofas and armchairs—something they had been doing on and off for a week, but which hadn’t turned up anything Leo liked. Julian would drive him to the hospital for a quick drop in on Zachary, and then out of the city to a designer workshop since it looked like the pieces Leo wanted, might have to be made especially.

  He was up before Leo, unusually, but as he put the kettle on, Pyon on his shoulders and yawning in his ear, he heard a thin, anxious wailing. He turned, his blood running cold—the last time he’d heard that sound, it had been Linis, panicking over Zachary. Only it wasn’t Linis—it was Nuji, in distress, running back and forth between the kitchen and the bedroom door, and crying. Julian bolted to the bedroom, and found Leo half out of the bed, clearly weak and confused. Asking him what was wrong only got slurred gibberish.

  Stroke, Julian realised, his heart thudding with fear.

  He helped Leo lie back on the bed. “Wait, I'm calling an ambulance. Lie still. Nuji, stay with him. Pyon, look after Nuji.”

  He dialled the emergency number from the bedroom phone. Leo’s eyes were shut, but one hand moved restlessly on the covers. Julian knelt to feel
his pulse—it felt too fast to him, but he didn’t know what that meant. He gave the information to the controller who assured him help would be with him soon.

  “Hold on, Leo. Everything will be fine.” Please let it be fine.

  He had time to dress before the paramedics arrived. He gave them a quick history while they checked Leo over, put him on oxygen and then they placed him on a gurney to transport him. Nuji disappeared with a quiet squeak, which scared the hell out of Julian until he realised Leo hadn’t suddenly died.

  “You can ride in the ambulance,” one of the paramedics said. “If you need a lift.”

  “I’ve got a vehicle and I know the way. I’ll meet you up there.”

  He ran all the way to Zachary’s building and the car, and then drove as fast as he legally could up to the hospital. When he arrived, Leo was already being seen by a doctor.

  “I'm Mr Underwood’s PA,” he told the receptionist. “His only close relative is a patient in this hospital—I'm assistant to both of them,” he lied—well, sort of.

  “Then perhaps you can fill out the paperwork while we wait for the assessment,” she told him. “Take a seat.”

  Pyon appeared, making worried little squeaks as Julian tucked him into the crook of his arm, and started on the form. A few seconds later, Nuji ran in, wailing, his tail drooping and sad. Pyon jumped down and began to lick and groom the distressed kem until Julian picked them both up for a cuddle.

  “What is it with this family?” he asked, not expecting an answer. Zachary had been bad enough—but Leo too? And how would he tell Zachary if Leo…if something bad happened to Leo?

  He just couldn’t bear the thought. He forced himself to concentrate on the forms, glad he’d taken over enough of Leo’s affairs to be able to help to this degree, but aware that he didn’t actually have the authority to make decisions for him. Zachary would have to, if it came to it. He hoped it wouldn’t.

  It was more than two hours before a nurse came to find him, and took him to meet the doctor. “We’re admitting Mr Underwood for observation,” the doctor told him. “We think he’s had a mild stroke—what we call a transient ischaemic attack. It’s fortunate you summoned help so fast—it’s made a difference.”