Mark had been dealin' with a lot. Mostly cause Mac left a lotta stuff in a right mess fer him aftah things was said and done. So many people were a mess dat he hardly knew where tah begin with it. On top of that, one o' the community pillars, Aunt Rally, had taken a turn for the worse. As much as he hated that Levi was the one tah be there fer her, he didn't know o' anyone she trusted as much tah do it
Couple days had passed and it were plenty of time fer things tah be unpacked and calls tah be settled. He picked up the phone and dialed.
Once Levi had arrived at Loiuse City General he had taken up residency in the chair near her bed. He had hated leaving Quinn and Mark behind to pick up the pieces alone after the whole MacIntosh debacle, but he knew that the camp was in good hands. So he concentrated on Rally, his mom. He held her hand and talked to her.
The doctor and nurses said that he should talk to her, that she might be able to hear. She was on a respirator, but her heart was beating just fine on its own. Nobody knew, at this point, if she would ever come off of the respirator and just two days after her stroke, they were already talking about withdrawing care. Levi knew that Rally would fight, would want them to fight. So he did. Her living will said to take all extraordinary measures possible. So that was that.
He was sitting in that chair, his arms cradling his head on the edge of her bed. The adrenaline had worn off and his body was crashing. His phone woke him from his doze and he slid his thumb across the screen to answer.
"Hey, Mark," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.
"How's it going?" He could hear that Levi was whispering so he didn't know if that meant that he had been asleep or iffin he were in unpleasant company. Mark was standing, facing the mirror-face of the glen water which rippled when a fish broke tha surface tah eat a bug. His otha hand was holding a beer loosely, bringing it up to his mouth for a swallow as he listened.
"She's alive," he sighed and then sat up to stretch his back. He groaned with the movement and then sighed with relief when his back popped into alignment. "They say it was a blood clot. The neurologist removed it and they're 50/50 on whether she'll wake up." He rubbed his face and then reached for Rally's hand to give it a squeeze before he continued.
"How're things there? I'm sorry I just ran out on you guys like that."
"You doin' okay? Thin's here have calmed down a whole lot. I was thinking about coming up and paying Aunt Rally a visit." She was, after all, *the* Aunt Rally. There wasn't a gypsy alive tha didn't owe her in either tha small or big ways.
Fifty-fifty on her waking up, tho. Mark let out a long, broken exhale that had tha nearly indistinguishable sound of fuck in it. At Levi's apology he cleared his throat, "You couldn't have planned for it and you was there when it mattered. The whole Mac thing is messed up and everyone is sorta divided on how they feel about it... even me." Grace had dated Mac, after all. That left some razor blades in his mouth.
"I'm alright," he lied. Truth be known Levi wasn't as strong as he thought he'd be in this situation. The POA and living will had been a smart move on Rally's part but Levi didn't know if he could handle watching as his mother lay there with a machine breathing for her. Add to it that he hadn't heard from Quinn and he was a mess.
Talking about camp was a nice distraction. "Yeah, come up and we can figure it out. I don't know all of the incidentals at this point only that watching them say good bye to a burning piece of shit was kind of surreal."
"I'll talk tah Grace about it. Do yah mind if she comes along or would you rather it jist be you and me?" Truthfully, he was fine with either. If Grace was there he had her with him, and that was desired. If she stayed behind then he felt like he had someone else representing him in camp. Quinn was good for that, and trustworthy, but fact of the matter was that some personal shit had gone down and alleviating some of that public pressure was the thing to do.
Levi rubbed his face and closed his eyes. "No, I don't mind," he sighed. With Levi already gone, and Mark coming up, that meant Quinn had to stay behind. There were just too many responsibilities at camp, and though Levi wanted him to be there with him more than anything? He knew that the camp had to come before his own personal needs.
"What's going on down there? You sound stressed."
"It's jist tha everything is recollecting, Grace is upset and sah is Ian. I don't even know really how tah help tha kid, but Saila's spending time with him. I didn't really see tha' coming." He knew Levi couldn't see him shrug, but he were shrugging anyway, "Should I bring anything fer Aunt Rally while I'm on tha way?" He wasn't sure what he could bring her that she didn't already have or tha means to conjure fer herself. Everyone owed her, would only take a wave of her hand to call up on it.
Levi sat back in his chair and ran his hand over his face, stopping to scratch his nose. Once his free hand fell back into his lap, he opened his eyes and considered his mother's prone figure. Two orderlies came into the room and Levi stood up with a grunt. "Give me a second, they've come in to turn her."
There were indistinct voices in the background that faded as Levi walked out of the room and took a lean on the wall. "I can't think of anything that she needs," he admitted when the phone was back to his ear. "I called some people on her list; George from the Martin camp, Slim from the O'Dooles. Her room's like a damn jungle from flowers and plants. I tried to start making payments and was told that the account is paid in full already. So, no, I can't think of anything. It'll be good to see family." He bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling tiles. "Mark? Is Quinn ok?"
"She just needs me over there tah be a pain in her ass like when I were a kid," he laughed into the receiver and then paused at the question. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure what the situation was between Levi and Quinn. They had a handful o' fights in their relationship and he had kinda felt like something was up, jist no one said anything about it tah him until jist then, "He's walkin' and talkin' still. He been outta camp a few times like there's something he's gotta take care of but I'm naht real sure whut tha is." Quinn was not leaving him post-its that told him about Amare and whutever situations were going on there.
"Damn right she does," he huffed a laugh into the phone. Leave it to Mark to bring a smile to his face, no matter how wan it was. But the response about Quinn removed any traces of humor in his expression and left only a sadness that was nearly audible in the tones of his soft baritone. "Yeah, he's probably busy." Too busy to text or call? He didn't speak the words but they were there.
"You're going to have to explain all of the twists and turns and connections from the whole MacIntosh thing, man. It's kind of hard to figure out. So, when are you coming?"
It reminded him of the time Levi and Quinn were at odds and they were all in the inn. Even then, he had no idea what to say to the situation. What could he do, really? He hardly knew what the matter was and he figured, bit by bit, folks was gonna let him know jist what they thought about all of it.
"I'll be der in about two weeks and figure I'll stay up with you mehbe two, three weeks dependin' on how much yah need me." He yawned and then cleared his throat, "I need tah get goin' tah check up on some things. Want me to hit you back up in a few hours?"
In that, Levi and Mark were in the same boat. Levi couldn't think of anything that had caused Quinn to turn a cold shoulder. Time would tell, he supposed. Still, it stung more than just a little bit. He wanted a shoulder to lean on. He squared his own, knowing he was in this pretty much alone.
"You're welcome to stay as long as you like. I know she'll enjoy the company. I still have the condo up here so you can sleep in a real bed," he joked but without the laughter. "I can't wait to see you."
"I don't do real beds. They make me feel domesticated." Mark's smile could be heard in his voice. It sounded like Levi needed him there, if anything tah feel like he weren't stuck on an island, away from tha whole world back at camp. He rolled his shoulders back, "I'll catch yah later, din. Have a good one."
"Call me when you're on your way. Or, you know, anytime." He saw the men leaving his mother's room and then slipped back inside. "And thanks, Mark. I really need my family right now." His voice cracked as he sat back down into the chair. He took up his usual lean, with his hand upon his mother's side to gauge whether she was breathing or not.
Couple days had passed and it were plenty of time fer things tah be unpacked and calls tah be settled. He picked up the phone and dialed.
Once Levi had arrived at Loiuse City General he had taken up residency in the chair near her bed. He had hated leaving Quinn and Mark behind to pick up the pieces alone after the whole MacIntosh debacle, but he knew that the camp was in good hands. So he concentrated on Rally, his mom. He held her hand and talked to her.
The doctor and nurses said that he should talk to her, that she might be able to hear. She was on a respirator, but her heart was beating just fine on its own. Nobody knew, at this point, if she would ever come off of the respirator and just two days after her stroke, they were already talking about withdrawing care. Levi knew that Rally would fight, would want them to fight. So he did. Her living will said to take all extraordinary measures possible. So that was that.
He was sitting in that chair, his arms cradling his head on the edge of her bed. The adrenaline had worn off and his body was crashing. His phone woke him from his doze and he slid his thumb across the screen to answer.
"Hey, Mark," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.
"How's it going?" He could hear that Levi was whispering so he didn't know if that meant that he had been asleep or iffin he were in unpleasant company. Mark was standing, facing the mirror-face of the glen water which rippled when a fish broke tha surface tah eat a bug. His otha hand was holding a beer loosely, bringing it up to his mouth for a swallow as he listened.
"She's alive," he sighed and then sat up to stretch his back. He groaned with the movement and then sighed with relief when his back popped into alignment. "They say it was a blood clot. The neurologist removed it and they're 50/50 on whether she'll wake up." He rubbed his face and then reached for Rally's hand to give it a squeeze before he continued.
"How're things there? I'm sorry I just ran out on you guys like that."
"You doin' okay? Thin's here have calmed down a whole lot. I was thinking about coming up and paying Aunt Rally a visit." She was, after all, *the* Aunt Rally. There wasn't a gypsy alive tha didn't owe her in either tha small or big ways.
Fifty-fifty on her waking up, tho. Mark let out a long, broken exhale that had tha nearly indistinguishable sound of fuck in it. At Levi's apology he cleared his throat, "You couldn't have planned for it and you was there when it mattered. The whole Mac thing is messed up and everyone is sorta divided on how they feel about it... even me." Grace had dated Mac, after all. That left some razor blades in his mouth.
"I'm alright," he lied. Truth be known Levi wasn't as strong as he thought he'd be in this situation. The POA and living will had been a smart move on Rally's part but Levi didn't know if he could handle watching as his mother lay there with a machine breathing for her. Add to it that he hadn't heard from Quinn and he was a mess.
Talking about camp was a nice distraction. "Yeah, come up and we can figure it out. I don't know all of the incidentals at this point only that watching them say good bye to a burning piece of shit was kind of surreal."
"I'll talk tah Grace about it. Do yah mind if she comes along or would you rather it jist be you and me?" Truthfully, he was fine with either. If Grace was there he had her with him, and that was desired. If she stayed behind then he felt like he had someone else representing him in camp. Quinn was good for that, and trustworthy, but fact of the matter was that some personal shit had gone down and alleviating some of that public pressure was the thing to do.
Levi rubbed his face and closed his eyes. "No, I don't mind," he sighed. With Levi already gone, and Mark coming up, that meant Quinn had to stay behind. There were just too many responsibilities at camp, and though Levi wanted him to be there with him more than anything? He knew that the camp had to come before his own personal needs.
"What's going on down there? You sound stressed."
"It's jist tha everything is recollecting, Grace is upset and sah is Ian. I don't even know really how tah help tha kid, but Saila's spending time with him. I didn't really see tha' coming." He knew Levi couldn't see him shrug, but he were shrugging anyway, "Should I bring anything fer Aunt Rally while I'm on tha way?" He wasn't sure what he could bring her that she didn't already have or tha means to conjure fer herself. Everyone owed her, would only take a wave of her hand to call up on it.
Levi sat back in his chair and ran his hand over his face, stopping to scratch his nose. Once his free hand fell back into his lap, he opened his eyes and considered his mother's prone figure. Two orderlies came into the room and Levi stood up with a grunt. "Give me a second, they've come in to turn her."
There were indistinct voices in the background that faded as Levi walked out of the room and took a lean on the wall. "I can't think of anything that she needs," he admitted when the phone was back to his ear. "I called some people on her list; George from the Martin camp, Slim from the O'Dooles. Her room's like a damn jungle from flowers and plants. I tried to start making payments and was told that the account is paid in full already. So, no, I can't think of anything. It'll be good to see family." He bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling tiles. "Mark? Is Quinn ok?"
"She just needs me over there tah be a pain in her ass like when I were a kid," he laughed into the receiver and then paused at the question. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure what the situation was between Levi and Quinn. They had a handful o' fights in their relationship and he had kinda felt like something was up, jist no one said anything about it tah him until jist then, "He's walkin' and talkin' still. He been outta camp a few times like there's something he's gotta take care of but I'm naht real sure whut tha is." Quinn was not leaving him post-its that told him about Amare and whutever situations were going on there.
"Damn right she does," he huffed a laugh into the phone. Leave it to Mark to bring a smile to his face, no matter how wan it was. But the response about Quinn removed any traces of humor in his expression and left only a sadness that was nearly audible in the tones of his soft baritone. "Yeah, he's probably busy." Too busy to text or call? He didn't speak the words but they were there.
"You're going to have to explain all of the twists and turns and connections from the whole MacIntosh thing, man. It's kind of hard to figure out. So, when are you coming?"
It reminded him of the time Levi and Quinn were at odds and they were all in the inn. Even then, he had no idea what to say to the situation. What could he do, really? He hardly knew what the matter was and he figured, bit by bit, folks was gonna let him know jist what they thought about all of it.
"I'll be der in about two weeks and figure I'll stay up with you mehbe two, three weeks dependin' on how much yah need me." He yawned and then cleared his throat, "I need tah get goin' tah check up on some things. Want me to hit you back up in a few hours?"
In that, Levi and Mark were in the same boat. Levi couldn't think of anything that had caused Quinn to turn a cold shoulder. Time would tell, he supposed. Still, it stung more than just a little bit. He wanted a shoulder to lean on. He squared his own, knowing he was in this pretty much alone.
"You're welcome to stay as long as you like. I know she'll enjoy the company. I still have the condo up here so you can sleep in a real bed," he joked but without the laughter. "I can't wait to see you."
"I don't do real beds. They make me feel domesticated." Mark's smile could be heard in his voice. It sounded like Levi needed him there, if anything tah feel like he weren't stuck on an island, away from tha whole world back at camp. He rolled his shoulders back, "I'll catch yah later, din. Have a good one."
"Call me when you're on your way. Or, you know, anytime." He saw the men leaving his mother's room and then slipped back inside. "And thanks, Mark. I really need my family right now." His voice cracked as he sat back down into the chair. He took up his usual lean, with his hand upon his mother's side to gauge whether she was breathing or not.