ODDS OF LOVE - SEASON THIRTEEN

Episode 163

Alfred felt more tired than usual. He hadn't been sleeping well with his sister's trial and other issues plus Andrew being missing. He had very nearly fallen twice already that day. Once at the graveyard which scared Gerald more than himself actually and then back at the house coming out of the bathroom upstairs. Luckily nobody had seen that one. Once they got back from the funeral he had promptly taken a nap upstairs while his mother telephoned the sheriff in Manassas for more news on his stepfather and Gerald lectured the boys over not considering his valuable antiques to be toys. Apparently they had been caught playing catch with a priceless Faberge egg that had been in the HighTower family for generations which had horrified both him and his mother. In fact his mother was even considering taking the boys to the UUC church to benefit from some of the after school activities Jas and Joy had going there. She thought maybe they could learn some discipline and make friends there. Alfred figured it was worth a shot but he wasn't particularly hopeful.

When he woke up he was still feeling exhausted and his weaker arm was even more floppy than ever. He thought it was just stress. Stress tended to make his physical issues worse as did fatigue. He sat up in bed and yawned while easing his feet into his slippers. Then he grabbed hold of his trusty walker and slowly stood up. He was tired but hungry too. They hadn't gone back to the Volkouv estate where Nicholas had had a reception planned for the funeral guests because Gerald wanted him to rest. He figured food might help him too so he set off along the room and into the upstairs hallway towards the elevator. Then he remembered that it had been acting up lately and the repairman was not due until Monday morning. So he decides to gingerly make his way down the long winding staircase.

That was mistake number one.

Mistake number two was in his tiredness and increased weakness he accidentally missed a step with his walker even as he held Stan the walker with one hand and the handrail with the other. Before he knew it he was falling down the steps and rolling over and over until he hit the floor at the bottom with a hard thud that knocked him unconscious.

He never heard his nephew Franco yell out in surprise as he watched him falling in horror, never saw him running over to him , never heard him screaming for Gerald and his mother.