Secrets and Lies | ✔️

Chapter 36 - Talia

Ch.36 - Talia

"Talia, if you don't slow down you're going to make yourself sick."

Talia wiped away the sweat from her eyebrow then swiped the paint brush along the tin pan, coating the bristles with color. She glanced at Betsy, covered in tiny splashes of Silky Tangerine, before returning to the half-painted wall. "I can't, I have to keep busy. If I don't keep busy all I'll do is think. And if I think too much I'll start to cry. And I'm so tired of crying." She felt her eyes grow moist and silently cursed herself. "It's all I've been doing for the past two days," she whispered.

Betsy's voice was soft. "How is Enid today? Any word yet?"

Talia sucked in a breath and swallowed her tears. "Charlie called before you arrived and said her temperature's back to normal, but when the doctor tried to take the tube out of her mouth she wouldn't breathe on her own." She slid the brush along the door jam, careful not to get paint on the taped frame. "They said it could take awhile before they're able to wean her off."

"Is she awake?"

She shook her head. "They're keeping her sedated." Talia immersed the bristles into the tin once again, dripping paint down the front of her blue t-shirt in the process. "Damn it! I've got too much on the brush." She tossed the brush into the pan and started to cry. Before she knew it, Betsy's arms were around her.

"It's okay, Talia. She'll be okay. Enid's a strong woman."

Talia wrapped her arms around her friend's neck and buried her face in her brown hair. "I just hope she's strong enough. I don't know what we'll do if we lose her."

"Don't think that way." Betsy's hand slid down the center of her back with long, comforting strokes. "You have to stay positive."

"But it's so hard." The knot in her belly tightened. "Charlie's a wreck and I don't know what to do."

"Right now he probably doesn't even know what he wants. The only thing you can do is be there for him."

"I will be. And that's exactly why I need to keep busy. I need to take care of The Ivy House so Charlie doesn't have to. I want everything to be perfect for when Enid comes home." Talia stepped back and let out a small gasp. "I'm so sorry, Betsy! I've gotten paint all over you."

Betsy looked down at the over-sized top and giggled. "It's alright. It's only a shirt. I have more." She gave Talia a wink. "Besides, it's Ryan's."

Talia forced a small smile. She turned and looked at the wall they'd just finished painting and sighed. "It's just...Charlie's so quiet," she said. "I've never seen him like this before. And Carter's been especially cranky. It's like she knows something's wrong."

"Baby's are intuitive. They can feel when things aren't right. I remember when Ryan was overseas, Lulu wouldn't sleep for weeks," Betsy said, plopping down on the carpet. She folded her legs to the side. "It was horrible. I think she could feel my fear."

"It's amazing what they can pick up on. They're not as clueless as we think they are." Talia sat down next to Betsy and crossed her ankles in front of her. "I'd like to go see Enid, but Charlie doesn't want Carter at the hospital every day. He thinks she'll be afraid of the tubes and strange noises." She scrunched her eyebrows together. "He said he doesn't want her to remember her grandmother that way."

"Charlie doesn't think she's going to make it, does he?"

Talia shrugged one shoulder. "He won't say. But I can see it on his face. He's not sure." She swallowed hard. "Our neighbor came over the morning after it happened and I overheard Charlie tell him it didn't look good. Jackson didn't seem surprised. If anything, he seemed surprised she was still alive."