Recall Bound by Scott J. Holliday

Author:Scott J. Holliday [Holliday, Scott J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn River Publishing

37

From where he sat on the edge of his bed, Daniel King could distinctly hear three different clocks ticking in the silence of Vernor Hall. One in his room, one down the hall, and a third he had yet to identify. Every time he got up and searched for the clock his own movements masked the sound until he lost it along the way. He'd searched every corner of the old place, but couldn't seem to correctly identify the third tick-tock that plagued his sleep as well as the silence of his waking moments. With dozens of clocks to choose from, it seemed he may end up dead before he ever pinpointed the correct one.

A bell rang. Lee in his bedroom, requiring something. Odd; the old man already had his lunch and his sheets had been turned down. Daniel had bathed him and changed his clothes and supplied him with a newspaper and a book, should he desire to read. He should be well into his afternoon nap by now.

Daniel rose and came down the hall to Lee's room. He knocked gently before entering to find Mr. Cotswald sitting in his wheelchair, facing the window.

"Sir?"

"Come in, Daniel," Lee said. "Come over here and sit." He gestured aimlessly toward the office chair at the desk along the wall.

Daniel rolled the chair over to Lee's side. As he moved it along, it occurred to him that it was a wheelchair, too, in its own way. The people who sat in chairs like these, day in and day out, were just as disabled as Lee, weren't they? Sitting all day instead of standing and walking. By choice no less. It gave Daniel the shivers. He was proud to not have chosen that sort of vocation. He could have taken any kind of job, really. Could have been an accountant, a lawyer, an astronaut. No. He was happy here with Lee, happy to be looking after such a great man as he passed his waning years.

Daniel set the office chair apart from Lee, positioning it so he could both see Lee and turn his head to see outside. It was a nice day.

Lee cleared his throat. "What am I to you?"

"You are my benefactor."

"That is all?"

"No. You are my charge, and I dare say you are my friend."

"You consider us friends?"

"If you wish."

"It doesn't matter what I wish. Tell me your honest thoughts."

"I take you as a friend, sir."

Lee turned to stare angrily at Daniel. "How many of your friends wipe your ass for you, Daniel King?"

Daniel dropped his head to examine his hands. "It is true that I help you, but I'm able to separate the duties of my job from friendship." He took a beat and then looked up, checking for Lee's response.

Lee had gone back to staring through the window. There was nothing out there but a gnarled old maple tree and the decimated remains of what was once a nice garden. Daniel had attempted to revitalize the yard when he first arrived, but Lee morbidly insisted it match the man inside the home.

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