What Remains (27 page)

Chapter Twenty One

Opening his eyes for the first time in weeks, Seth blinked away the discomfort of having sunlight in them after such a long period of complete darkness.  He could actually move them from side to side, which encouraged him to reopen them, despite the pain it caused.

Could he turn his head as well?

Yes, he could, though it made him dizzy, whether it was from the movement after lying there for so long, or from the excitement, he couldn’t discern.  With cautious hope, he willed his fingers to move, and then his hand.  His toes and his feet could also be moved, though they felt as heavy as lead.  But it didn’t matter; they were able to respond to his command.

Searching the room, he found that he was alone.  Someone needed to know he was conscious, he had so many questions, but something in his throat prevented him from calling out.  Peering down at his hands resting atop the sheet, he saw that a call light was mounted on the bed railing to his right, just inches away.  Fumbling at first, he was able to raise his hand enough to press his fingers against the red button that had a symbol of a nurse’s cap on it.  It took only a matter of seconds for someone to rush into his room.

“Mr. Richards, did you press that light?” the young nurse’s voice was high pitched, denoting the fact that she couldn’t believe what just happened.

Seth nodded his head slowly, it was all he could manage being tied down with all the tubes and wires attached to his body.

“Oh my God!
  Sherry, come here, quick!” she screamed out with a huge smile now present on her face.

“What is it,” Sherry asked, alarmed.

“He’s awake!”

“What?”

“Mr. Richards is back!”

“Page Dr. Thomas, STAT!”

While the younger nurse ran to do as she was told, Sherry stood over him, appearing older, more tired than her co-worker, but also smiling from ear to ear.  If Seth remembered the conversation she had with the younger nurse earlier that morning, she was beginning the second half of her double shift.

He did his best to offer her a smile his own.

“I’m glad I was here for this,” she told him.  “We’ve all been waiting a long time to see those sexy brown eyes of yours.”

Forgetting about the tube in his throat, he tried to respond, but ended up coughing instead.

“I bet you’d like to get rid of all this hardware.  Well, just be patient, it will be gone before you know it.”

Seth brought his hand up enough to give her
a thumbs up.  She laughed and began taking a set of vitals.

Even though his throat was still raw from the respirator that had been inserted while he was in a medically induced coma until the swelling in his brain subsided, Seth tried to ask the nurse on midnight shift, the only question on his mind.

“Tessa?”

“I’m sorry, who?

“Tess.”

“I don’t know anyone by that name?”

Seth shook his head. 

Sensing that her reply had upset him, she tried to console him.  “No one but immediate family has been allowed to visit, and even then, only two guests at a time.  So I’m sure she’ll be here as soon as you’re moved to step down tomorrow.”

“So my family has been here?”

“Oh, they’ve been here alright…” she stated with some derisiveness.  “Your first day back they were all here with their attorneys and papers they wanted you to sign.  But Dr. Thomas told them it would have to wait until you were stronger.”

He nodded, thankful that the staff had kept them at bay. 

Before she left the room, Seth asked if she would mind calling his home phone number for him.  But after ten rings, it was obvious that Tessa wasn’t there.  With a look of sympathy, the nurse took the receiver from him and hung it up.

“Are you okay, Mr. Richards?”

“I’m fine.  Thank you.”

Ten days later, Seth was out of ICU, and starting to feel stronger.  As of yet, he had had no visitors since waking.  A fact he was thankful for.  There were only two people he wanted to see at this point; one had vanished, and the other was Douglas Whitmore, who was entering his room with a smile.

“Seth, it’s good to see you again!”

“Thanks for coming, Douglas.”

“My pleasure,” he grinned as he shook Seth’s hand and sat down in the seat next to him.  “As much as I would like to think I’d been asked here for a friendly visit, I have a suspicion that you already want to talk business.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to know whether the Mems’ estate has been settled yet?  I know I requested that it be handled as soon as possible, but after everything that’s happened…”

Throwing up his hand to stop him, Whitmore reassured him that his request had been followed to the letter.

“It was taken care of weeks ago.  There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Carlos and his family?”

“Yes, I took a trip to Amherst to handle it personally.  He was overcome with gratitude.  I was honored to be the one to let him know how much his years of service meant to Maggie.”

“Ms. Maguire?”

Whitmore grinned to himself and shook his head.  “Now, she was a different story entirely.  She didn’t want anything to do with it at first.  In fact, the cashier’s check wasn’t even deposited until last week.  I was beginning to think she left it setting there on the table.”

“How did she look?  I mean, did she seem okay?”

Whitmore shrugged, “She looked tired, worried…heart-broken.”

“Did she say anything to you about leaving the estate?”

“The only thing she asked about was who was looking after your interests while you were…well, you know.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it, Seth, I’m sorry.  Although, Mr. Martinez did mention that your father had made a house call several days after the accident.”

Feeling anger whelming up inside of him, Seth cursed under his breath.  “Why?”

Whitmore shrugged his shoulders, reluctant to answer.  “It doesn’t matter, now.  All you should be concentrating on is your recovery.”

“No, I think you better tell me.”

“It seems your family was given the option of removing you from life support if you failed to respond after every medical effort had been exhausted, being that they were given medical power of attorney by you over twenty years ago.  Apparently, William chose to assume the worse, and told Carlos that his services would no longer be needed once the estate was sold.  Ms. Maguire, on the other hand, was given a week to find other living arrangements.  She was packing the day I spoke to her.”

Seth closed his eyes in frustration.  What had Tessa been forced to endure these past
month?  On top of her fear and concern over him, she had had to leave her home and means of support.  Knowing her as well as he did, it must have been hard for her to swallow her pride and accept the inheritance out of necessity.

Where was she?

Her cell phone was no longer in service; he had tried it several times a day for the past week.  Seth’s only option was to call one of her children—no—one of their children when he returned home to where he had access to their numbers.

Although there had been an unfortunate delay in plans, nothing had changed in the way he felt about her or them, and it never would.  It took the trauma of his accident and near death for Seth to finally realize how precious time was, how precious life was, that they were commodities never to be taken for granted, yet, they meant nothing without his family. 

It was time to take care of all the loose ends that kept him tied to the joyless existence he had been living so that he could start anew with no regrets and no reason to ever look back.  It could take months, but it had to be done.

“Thank you for
telling me.  I appreciate your loyalty and friendship, Douglas.  You’re a good man,” Seth opened his eyes and told the elderly attorney who was preparing leave.

“So are you, Seth.  You always have been,” he muttered, becoming a little misty-eyed.

“I have some important things I need to address when I get out of here, so I’ll call you in a few weeks.  I promise.”

“Alright, you take care of yourself until then.”

“I always do, you should know that by now.”

“Actually, you never have.  That’s why I worry about you.”

“Well, I’m changing some things.”

“I hope so, Seth.  I really do, for your sake.”

Chapter Twenty Two

Seth sat stoically in his father’s study, relieved this day had finally come.  Whitmore would be arriving at any minute, as would his father’s attorney, but for now, it was only him and William Richards.  Man to man.

It was nearing the end of the nightmare.  Soon the necessary formalities would be over and he would be able to leave his parents’ home for the very last time.  Their attempts to take control of the fortune through the desperate means of allowing him to die without giving him a fighting chance proved to Seth once and for all, that these people were not his family.  They never had been.

It was made obvious by the fact that his father sat glaring across the desk at him as if he regretted the fact that Seth had pulled through.  He would be
lying to himself if he said it didn’t bother him, but it was something he had learned to live with over the years.

“It’s nice to see you, Dad.”

“Why, so you can gloat?”

“No, it’s just good to see you,” Seth told him honestly, wanting to at least try and reach out to him one last time.

“Must be looking forward to sticking it the old man one last time?”  By the mocking tone in his father’s voice, he realized it was pointless.  The two of them never stood a chance of bridging the differences between them, for the simple fact that William Richards would never be willing to let go of the resentment he felt toward his son who stood as a permanent reminder of his own failures.

“That could be partly true, I guess.”

“You’re an arrogant son of a bitch, just like your grandfather.”

“I’d say more like my old man.”

“I suppose,” was his father’s response, surprising Seth with his admission.

“I’m glad we have a chance to talk before our attorneys arrive.”

“I have nothing to say to you in private that can’t be said in front of our attorneys or anyone else.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I doubt if I’ll answer, but knock yourself out.”

“Why do you hate me so much?”

William Richards seemed taken aback by his son’s inquiry, or maybe his honesty.  By the time it took for him to decide to answer, Seth assumed it would remain a rhetorical question.

“I don’t hate you, Seth.”

“You could have fooled me.”

“I saw how you looked at me your whole life.  Your grandparents had you convinced I was a worthless piece of shit, and you still believe it.”

“I tried hard not to let their opinion sway me in one way or the other.  I think it was the constant neglect and womanizing that pushed me in that direction.”

“So is that what this is, a pity party for
yourself?”

“I’m just trying to figure out how a man could despise his only son enough that he would try and screw him over when he was fighting just to stay alive.”

“The doctors told me and your mother that if you did survive, there would be a good chance you would have permanent paralysis.  I knew you didn’t want to live like a vegetable the rest of your life.  If wanting to spare you from that is a crime, then I’m guilty.”

“I understand that.  But you were ready to pull the plug long before they knew anything definite.  You couldn’t wait to get your hands on the money when you realized I had never changed my will.”  Seth grinned when he saw a hint of remorse cross his father’s face, although it was only briefly.  “And just for the record, Dad, you’re not losing anything today that’s rightfully yours.  Pops gave you an opportunity to make a good living when no one else would.  If you squandered it away on frivolous pursuits and whores, that’s your problem.”

“Now it’s going to be your mother’s problem once you rob her of an inheritance that should have been hers in the first place.”

This made Seth laugh out loud.  “What do you care about my mother?”

“She deserves more than what she’s gotten, that’s for damn sure.”

“From Pops or you?”

“You have no idea what I’ve had to live through, being in the shadow of Edward Collins all these years.  No matter what I did, it never was never enough, for her parents, for her, and sure as hell not for you.”

Seth sat back and stared at his father.  It was a poor excuse for what he had put them through, but at least it was something, and it was probably the closest any of them would ever get to an apology.

“I can’t say that I understand, or that it makes up for everything, but I appreciate you trying to explain it to me.”

“I don’t expect you to understand, you grew up with a silver spoon shoved up your ass.”

“That may be, but I’ve never shirked my responsibilities to Mom or the girls.  Don’t you think I wanted to know what it was like to be young and irresponsible, to enjoy living it up and whoring around like my father?  But I couldn’t, Dad, I was too busy keeping this family together.”

“If you’re waiting for me to say thank you, it will be a cold day in hell before that happens.”

“I don’t want anything from you.  I gave up hope of that ever happening a long time ago.”

“You can sit there and judge me all you want.  At least I lived life on my own terms.  It’s a lot more than I can say for you. ”

“Not everyone can be as selfish as you, but you’re right.”

“I know I’m right.  And when you walk out that door today, I don’t want to see your face again.  None of us do.”

“Is that really what you want?”

“It’s what we all want.”

Seth nodded his head and grinned.  Very soon, William Richards would get his wish.

“Then there’s no need for me to be here.  Whitmore can fill you in on everything.”

Rising to his feet, Seth made his way to the door of the study and opened it to find his mother and Megan standing on the other side listening.

“I suppose you agree with him?” he asked.

“You’ve left us no other choice,” his mother replied, wringing her hands nervously, letting him know that as much as she hated to, she would stand by her husband one last time, against her son.

“Megan?”

“You’ve showed us all exactly how much you care about us, so yes, I agree with Dad.”

“Then I guess there’s nothing left to do but say good bye.  Tell my nieces and nephews that if they need anything to call Whitmore and submit the proper pare work.  If I deem it necessary, I’ll help them out all I can.”  With that said, Seth Richards left his parents’ home to finally return to Amherst
after three months of recuperating in rehab and getting all of his legal and financial loose ends taken care of.  Now he was free to make those very important phone calls.

Epilogue

Standing over the heat of the wood cook stove as she occupied herself canning apple butter, Tessa wiped away the perspiration on her brow and looked out the window at the trees that were just starting to come out of their winter hibernation.  The sun was shining brightly this morning, though late March still carried a chill in the air this deep in the mountains of Appalachia.  

The children would be arriving before long, to spend their spring break with their mother.  She could hardly wait to see them, even though Ann, who was only three and a half hours away, had left just last week after spending a weekend with her.  One by one, they had made it a point to visit over the past
few months.  It was sweet of them to worry, but they were stretching themselves too thin, trying to work and go to school and look after her.  She was fine; at least that was what she tried to convince them of.  Some days were better than others, and the better ones were coming around more often now.  For that, Tessa was truly grateful.

Her eyes automatically drifted to the phone that hung on the wall by the pantry door.  How many times a day did she catch herself doing that, still?  Waiting for it to ring with some word of him, wondering if it ever would?  Logically, she knew good and well that no one but her family had the number here since her old cell phone was rendered useless this far down in the hollow, giving her no other option but to toss it in the creek after the first two weeks.  Yet, she couldn’t help but hang on to that last remaining shred of hope.   It was fading fast, however, with every day that passed.

Up until Ann’s last visit, Tessa had continued to call the number at Collins’ Estate and the hospital in Boston with no luck.  No one ever answered at the mansion, and the medical staff refused to give her any information since she wasn’t part of the family and didn’t have access to the security code that would allow them to speak to her.  For all she knew Seth Richards had never come out of his coma, or worse, his family had removed him from life support.  The not knowing had driven her nearly insane; to the point where she knew she had to get away from everything and allow herself time to grieve.  The inheritance money had given her that opportunity, and never a day went by that she didn’t thank Margaret Collins for her gift.

Living here on the old farmstead where she had spent her childhood, gave her the chance to finish out her lifetime away from the world if she chose to.  The soil was good and would provide her with food, and there was enough land to support a few milk cows and a handful of assorted livestock, as well as a hen house full of chickens and a very contrary rooster that had it out with Rex and Hank almost on a daily basis. Even after purchasing the property, which cost very little, and making the necessary repairs and renovations, there was still plenty of money left to give the kids a nice start to whatever futures they chose to pursue, for she never the wanted the money to start with.  And now, with the sale of her first novel, she would be more than capable of taking care of her basic needs. 

Pulling her eyes back to the task at hand, Tessa couldn’t help but think back on the past four months with not only sadness, but also in amazement at how quickly everything had changed.   In fact, in many ways, she was still reeling from it.

After Seth’s accident, and the regrettable visit from his father, she knew without a doubt she could not remain in Amherst, even if it meant giving up her notion of a PHD.  The shock of possibly losing Seth, combined with the anger
over how his family practically had him dead and buried before they knew anything definite, was more than she could bear.

In all honesty, for several weeks, Tessa didn’t care what happened to her.  It wasn’t until she finally broke down and told Gregory everything that she was able to pull herself together enough to start to think rationally.  She admitted to her love for Seth Richards, to the night they shared before he left for Boston, and how she couldn’t imagine a life without him now.

Rather than be hurt or angry by her admission, Gregory simply held her for hours and gave her a supportive shoulder to cry on all night.  Once all her tears were shed, he cradled her in his arms and revealed that he had known from very early on that there was something between the two of them, even before Tessa admitted to herself.  He knew from the way her face lit up whenever she talked about him.  At first he feared that she would hurt by him, but after seeing them together the night he spent at the estate, he realized Seth was crazy about her as well.