Circles

Chapter VIII

The days passed slowly for Noah. He could barely keep track of the hours that went by, and not having his cellphone made it even more unbearable. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night, with silence tightening his chest and listening to the endless ticking of the clock on his bedside table, and other times with the warm evening sun filtering into the dark room. Often, he felt like he wasn't fully present in that place, in that room, as if he had left his body behind, and for the same reason, he preferred to sleep; at least being sick made things easier.

The day after Dr. Hawks' visit, Alister's employee had entered his room to ask how he was and to leave food. She had helped him sit up in bed and get up to go to the bathroom, but nothing more. Noah hadn't paid much attention to her because, due to the fever and medication, he could barely be conscious of what was happening around him.

On the second day, when the fever had subsided and his mood improved, boredom began to creep in, and that was a bad sign for him. He needed to keep himself busy somehow, or he knew he would do something foolish. As soon as the woman entered the room, he asked for her name and tried to strike up a conversation with her, insisting that she didn't call him "sir." The girl seemed quite serious, but she still smiled while responding. A fake and awkward smile.

"At least she's trying," he thought amusingly, later that day.

As the days went by, Noah started asking her more and more things; he had a natural charm that was hard to resist, so the girl had started visiting him just to talk; the conversations were no more than 5 minutes, trivial things like the weather and what would be for dinner, but Noah felt grateful. This way, he learned some details about Alister's life, but what surprised him the most was that Lizzie had been working for him devotedly for seven years. Noah was sure that her devotion stemmed from something else, and that made his stomach churn and feel uncomfortable.

Alister had visited him too. Without fail, every day. 

Before going to work, he would come to bid farewell, and when he returned, he would come to greet him and try to talk to him. Sometimes he brought some sweets to cheer him up, but Noah usually turned them down. He didn't want to owe him anything, although he knew well that it was already too late for that.

A week later, Noah was almost fully recovered. When Alister came home from work that day, Lizzie approached him with a small smile.

"Sir, your brother is much better now. He's eating well, too, so I think he can get up."

Alister looked at her coldly.

"I didn't ask you; I can go see him for myself."

The girl lowered her gaze.

"I'm sorry," he said, bringing her left hand to her forehead. "I had a bad day at work, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. So, is he better?"

"Yes, sir. I... if you allow me to speak freely, I just wanted to say that I think he feels somewhat lonely."

"Very well."

"He stares into space sometimes, as if he's thinking about something important... and he's absent. I'm a bit worried about that."

"I'll take care of it. You just need to make sure he eats well and nothing else. I don't want to burden you with more tasks and give you more work; after all, you are important to me, Lizzie."

"Understood, sir," she replied, blushing slightly. 

"Noah has already had dinner, right? If so, after serving my dinner, you can go home."