{"id":858,"date":"2012-01-17T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2012-01-17T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=858"},"modified":"2013-10-01T12:25:29","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T19:25:29","slug":"season-5-episode-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=858","title":{"rendered":"Season 5: Episode 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong>Willow stood outside the doorway of the Robert\u2019s hospital room, peering in through the glass pane. She smiled to herself as she imagined him seeing her, that familiar grin spreading over his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey you,\u201d he\u2019d say, his eyes twinkling with promise. \u201cCome here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d pull her close and kiss her, softly at first, but them with more ferocity, running his hands over her body and moaning from somewhere deep in the back of his throat.<\/p>\n

Willow shook her head imperceptibly, bringing herself back to reality. She took a deep breath and pushed the door to his room open. Robert lay peacefully in the crisp white bed. He didn\u2019t open his eyes or smile at her. There were no kisses or hugs. He was exactly the same as he had been for the last 35 days; perfectly still, the machines next to him keeping him alive.<\/p>\n

Marian looked up expectantly from where she was sitting by the window. Her expression turned to disdain. \u201cOh. It\u2019s just you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She rubbed her eyes briefly, as if the simple action would somehow erase the dark circles that had formed under them. Silver flecks of hair kissed her temples at exactly the same place as they did on Robert. Jill was curled up in the armchair in the corner, staring at the ceiling. She made no indication that she had noticed Willow at all. Her knees were pulled up and she rested her chin on them, her fingers clasped tightly in front of her.<\/p>\n

Willow was always struck by the uncanny resemblance between Robert and his sisters. She\u2019d only ever seen them previously in the photos that were dotted around Robert\u2019s apartment; the two sisters, laughing, staring adoringly at their \u2018baby\u2019 brother. They were a close knit family as far as Willow could tell and he\u2019d spoken fondly and often of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait for you to meet them,\u201d he\u2019d said to Willow on so many occasions. \u201cThey\u2019re going to love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She suspected that Robert might rethink that sentiment if he woke up.<\/p>\n

When<\/em>, Willow corrected herself. When he wakes up<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought you something to eat,\u201d Willow said, putting the homemade ginger cake with coconut whipped cream on the table. Marian raised an eyebrow but made no move to thank her.<\/p>\n

Every day Willow bought in something for Robert\u2019s sisters – cakes of all sizes, shapes and colours; creamy, mouthwatering quiches; sweet and savoury pies: You name it, she\u2019d baked it – and every day, Marian and Jill would refuse to even taste them. Willow had been on a baking bender over the last few weeks. It was partly a gesture of goodwill because she knew that Jill and Marian refused to leave Robert\u2019s side, but mostly because baking generally helped her alleviate stress. Although this time, nothing she made even loosened the knot that had firmly planted itself in the pit of her stomach.<\/p>\n

The only person who seemed grateful for the food was Samuel, Robert\u2019s son, and although Willow hadn\u2019t seem much of her former pupil since she\u2019d started dating his father, he was the only one from the family that had uttered a civil word to her in a month. In fact, it was on his insistence that Willow should be allowed to visit every day, even though it was restricted to family only. His aunts had made it perfectly clear that Willow was nothing but a nuisance and had tried to stop her coming, but Sam – thank goodness – had fought in her corner.<\/p>\n

They had got off to a shaky start, Willow and Robert\u2019s sisters. Willow had rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard. Jill and Marian were already there, doing all they could to hold themselves together as a support for Samuel. When Willow finally arrived – many hours after the accident had occurred – they raised an eyebrow at each other. So, this was the girl that Robert had been sleeping with<\/em>. In their minds, Willow was nothing but a poor teacher who had used their nephew to latch onto his extremely wealthy father in the hopes that she could gain access to the family riches. It didn\u2019t help that she was significantly younger than Robert and didn\u2019t have two cents to rub together (Yes, they had checked. They were that<\/em> type of family. They called it protective; others called it snobbish). It was all terribly Austen-esque and in any other circumstances, Willow would have probably found the whole situation hilarious.<\/p>\n

Willow had tried desperately to be their friend. Given the circumstances, it would have been nice to pull together and offer support for each other as they waited for Robert to wake up. But they had already decided that she was no good for him and even though they never said it, she could tell they blamed her: If Robert hadn\u2019t been spoiling her; if Robert hadn\u2019t been rushing; if Robert had never even met her\u2026 if, if, if.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a gold digging whore,\u201d Willow had heard Jill hiss to her sister one day, soon after the accident. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for this\u2026 this woman,\u2019 she spat the word as though it were a bad taste, \u201che wouldn\u2019t be here. She probably expects a cut of the will or something, that\u2019s why she comes in every day. To make everyone think that she was really in love with him when all she was after was his money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worse than that,\u201d Marian had said in a low voice. \u201cThe doctors found this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willow didn\u2019t know what Marian showed her sister, but it was followed by a list of expletives delivered with such velocity that Willow didn\u2019t even catch them all. \u201cStrumpet\u201d, \u201chussy\u201d and \u201cconniving, greedy bitch\u201d featured strongly though.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The doctor walked in as soon as Willow had sat down and taken Robert\u2019s hand. It still felt warm, although his fingers were thinner than before and the rough callouses at the base of each finger were no longer there. The doctor acknowledged Willow with a perfunctory nod and turned to Marian.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve bought the papers for you to sign,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Willow\u2019s mouth dropped open. They couldn\u2019t be those papers, could they? She\u2019d overheard Marian fighting with the doctor a few days prior. It turned out that Robert had a clause in his will, which stated that should he be declared brain dead, he didn\u2019t want to be kept alive for more than one month. Why that amount of time, no one knew. Marian was his next of kin, and she had pleaded with the doctors to keep him on life support for longer in the hopes that he would start to show signs of responsiveness. The doctors had humoured her for nearly a week (Willow suspected because the family had contributed a significant amount of money to the hospital) but they were now being firm: they did not want the legal ramifications should this come back on them.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Robert had specific clauses in his will for just about every horrible situation that could have happened to him: from kidnapping to organ failure, he had it covered. Some may have thought it paranoid, but Willow suspected it was because he wanted everyone to be able to get on with their lives with a minimum of fuss over him. Contrary to her original opinion of him, she had learnt that Robert didn\u2019t like taking up people\u2019s precious time when it wasn\u2019t necessary. And she loved him for it.<\/p>\n

Marian scrawled her signature on the bottom of the form, without even reading it. A tear ran down her cheek and she hurriedly brushed it away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you like a few minutes to say goodbye?\u201d the doctor said gently.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait,\u201d Willow interrupted. \u201cThis is happening now? As in, this second?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is forcing you to stay and watch,\u201d Jill said nastily.<\/p>\n

Willow clenched her jaw, dangerously close to tears. Now was not the time to get into a fight. \u201cYou could have told me,\u201d she said as evenly as she could. \u201cGiven me some warning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jill swung around and faced her. Her eyes were flashing. \u201cWhy? So you could turn up the drama a few more notches and make people think you were in this for something more than the money?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Jill cut her off. \u201cI know your kind. All innocence and smiles but then you get your claws in. If it wasn\u2019t for you then none of this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJill.\u201d Marian\u2019s voice was low and calm.<\/p>\n

She nodded towards the door. Samuel was standing there, looking wide eyed from Jill to Willow. No one spoke for quite some time. Sam was the one who finally broke the silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not her fault,\u201d he said in a small voice. \u201cThey do love each other, you know. She makes him happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

When the doctor eventually came back, no one asked Willow to leave. Jill was twisting her skirt between her fingers, her knuckles white. Marian held onto Samuel tightly as though she would never let him go. Sam could barely even look at his father. Willow\u2019s heart ached for the boy. Having to live through this all again barely two years after his mother had passed away.<\/p>\n

Without any fuss, the doctor turned off the life support machine.<\/p>\n

Willow stared at Robert\u2019s face. There were tears running down her cheeks, but she didn\u2019t even notice. She was looking for some kind of movement; a fluttering of lashes; an involuntary spasm. Her sleepless nights – when not spent baking – had been dedicated to googling various derivatives of \u2018chances of waking up from a coma\u2019. She knew it was a long shot, but it had happened to other people. And if anyone she knew could pull through, it was Robert. Please<\/em>, she thought to herself. Please<\/em>.
\nA few mortifying seconds of silence passed, not a sound emanating from the EKG machine next to him. But then, suddenly\u2026a staccato beep. Followed by another. And another.<\/p>\n

There was a collective intake of breath in the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear that?\u201d Jill said. \u201cIt means he\u2019s going to be OK?\u201d She turned to the doctor, her eyes desperate. \u201cThat\u2019s what it means, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the doctor had time to answer, a single, long mechanical scream pierced the air. The sound seemed to go on forever. No one moved. Willow knew she would never forget that noise; not for as long as she lived.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the doctor switched the EKG machine off and the room was silent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d the doctor said softly.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Willow quietly left the hospital room for the last time. The others were still standing around Robert\u2019s bed, motionless. She didn\u2019t think they would miss her. She took a deep, shaky breath and focussed on getting one foot to step in front of the other down the long corridor to the exit of the hospital. She paused as the sliding doors opened and stepped out into the bright sunlight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Willow stood outside the doorway of the Robert\u2019s hospital room, peering in through the glass pane. She smiled to herself as she imagined him seeing her, that familiar grin spreading over his face. \u201cHey you,\u201d he\u2019d say, his eyes twinkling with promise. \u201cCome here.\u201d He\u2019d pull her close and kiss her, softly at first, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[202],"tags":[203,204],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=858"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1284,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions\/1284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}