Behind These Wings

Desperate Lies

Izzy twirled her fork around the spaghetti knowing that she could not put off the evitable much longer. She could feel the impatient eyes of Drew and Ian upon her as the suspense levels rose within the silent room. Her hands clammed up as she lifted the fork to her mouth and attempted to swallow, fighting off the nausea that threatened to overcome her.

How many minutes would she have to spend running for just that one mouthful?

"How was your day Izzy?" Drew asked her, cautiously stealing glances at her tense form between the forkfuls of spaghetti that he was shovelling into his eager mouth.

"Fine thank you Andrew, how was yours?" Izzy replied, looking up from her plate, grateful for any distraction that would take the focus away from food.

"Alright, Ian and I got in some training earlier and then I was with dad for most of the rest of it. We had a fair amount of paperwork to get through."

"I'm sure you were grateful of his help." Izzy replied her tone was drenched with dishonesty as her gaze tightened.

"Are you feeling alright Izzy? You look a little pale and you haven't eaten much." Ian asked, his stare calculating as he analysed every aspect of her response. Her shoulders were set slightly towards the door indicating her wish for a quick escape. One hand steadied her as it rested upon the table, a slip up of her impeccable manners, and the only sign that all was not right within whilst her other hand held the fork which had spent more time on the plate than in her mouth. Her eyes looked tired and strained as if she had been awake half the night.

"Fine thank you m'lord." She replied briskly, only glancing at him for a second before turning back to her husband. She hated lying, hated the guilt that gnawed within her each time she had to be dishonest. She was an angel; it simply wasn't within her nature to deceive, although Izzy did know of a select few who made lying their hobby. "Although I am a little tired so, if you don't mind, may I be excused Drew?"

He nodded slightly, worried at her unusual request as she rose from the table and turned to walk out from the dining hall. The old Izzy would never have left the table early. No matter what time they had gone to bed or had to get up the next morning, dinner was the one time of the day that was be allocated to Drew and Izzy's normal life opposed to the constant business talk that consumed every other spare minute they possessed.

Unfortunately the dining table was long and the door was inconveniently placed behind Drew's chair at the opposite end to her. Izzy stood and subtly took a breath attempting to stop her vision from clouding as hunger invaded her senses. This was the fourth meal in a row that she had skipped and her body was starting to take matters into its own hands. Cautiously she stepped alongside the table and started to walk towards the door but she wasn't able to hold onto the table for support knowing that both Ian and Drew would be carefully watching her despite appearing to be deep in conversation.

The sickness that had plagued her the week before had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, little to Izzy's surprise and Dr Hallum had confirmed that she was physically fit. Despite this both Drew and Ian were on edge, each making sure to be within catching distance whenever she was around. It was as if they were waiting for her to break.

As determined as she was to prove them wrong there was nothing Izzy could do when a second wave of nauseating dizziness struck her and rendered her vision useless. Knees buckling beneath her, Izzy felt her ankle snap but before she could make contact with the ground arms encased her and quickly supported her weight.

"Izzy can you hear me?" Drew questioned desperately, gently shaking his beloved but she did not respond. She tried to, she tried to tell him not to worry that there was nothing wrong. She tried to avoid making a scene but she was helpless as she fell into unconsciousness.