She laughed bitterly at him. “There isn't a single real piece or part left on my sister's face or body, and if what you wanted is that piece of plastic nothing, then be my guest.” She raged at him, but she was hurt by his comment. She had spent three weeks at Allie's bedside, and she knew she looked a mess, but she didn't have the time, or the energy, or the heart, to look any different. She didn't care how she looked right now. All she wanted was for Allie to wake up from her coma.
In the end, Brad agreed to go to dinner with them on Saturday, and they went into the city, and had dinner at the Fairmont, at Mason's. Page had pulled her thick blond hair straight back, in a ponytail, and worn a plain black dress, and no makeup. She looked the way she felt, bleak, unhappy, and Alexis, on the other hand, was wearing a white silk Givenchy dress which showed off her rail-thin figure, and the deep décolletage showed off her implants nicely.
“You look terrific,” Brad said pleasantly, and she smiled at him. But there was no seduction there, no interest on her part. She was interested in how she looked, and what she wore, and very little else. And her husband understood that. There was no woman there, just a form and a beautifully made-up face with perfect features.
Alexis and her mother were talking about staying another week, and at the mere mention of it, Page looked frantic. She had already waited on them for seven days, and brought them camomile, mint tea, Evian, cold packs, hot packs, breakfast, lunch, dinner, fresh sheets, more pillows, and she had had to go out and buy an electric blanket for her mother. They did not answer the phone, pour themselves so much as a glass of water, they couldn't figure out how to work the TV's in their rooms, and neither of them was comfortable with Andy. As usual, they were totally useless.
They had seen Allyson a total of three times in a week, all told for probably less than fifteen minutes. It was exactly as Page had predicted it would be to Trygve.
“I think you should go home after the weekend,” Page said firmly, and her mother looked horrified at the suggestion.
“We couldn't possibly leave you alone with Allyson,” she insisted, and for once, Page was speechless.
Brad was pleasant to both of them, and particularly Alexis, who said very little to any of them.
And once they were back at home again, and the sitter had left, Brad told Page quietly that he was going out for the rest of the evening.
“At eleven o'clock?” She looked startled, but she shouldn't have. He hadn't been there all week, and this seemed to be his style now. In the past three weeks, the entire fabric of their marriage had unraveled. She just looked at him and nodded.
“I'm sorry, Page,” he tried to explain. “I'm caught between a rock and a hard place.”
“Yeah,” she nodded again, and unzipped her dress, “I know. So is Allie.”
“That has nothing to do with this.” But they both knew it had everything to do with it. It had blown them apart, and it was more and more obvious that they weren't likely to recover.
She walked into the bathroom then, and when she came out, he was gone. She went to bed, and lay awake for a long time. Lately, she had more and more trouble sleeping. She thought of calling Trygve, but that didn't seem fair. She didn't want to bounce from one to the other.
And in the morning, over breakfast, her mother told her how lucky she was to have Brad. Page said nothing, and drank her coffee. She said he had turned out to be a fine man, and a very good husband.
Page went to see Allyson alone, and left Andy with them, despite their protests that they wouldn't know what to do if he had a problem.
“What if he has to go to the bathroom?” her mother said, panicking. It was hard to believe she'd had two children, and been a physician's wife, and been so completely helpless.
“He's seven years old, Mother. He can take himself. He can even make you lunch, if you want it.” She was amused to think that her seven-year-old son was more capable than they were, but he was, by a long shot.
She talked to Trygve for a long time that afternoon and admitted to him how tired she was, and how discouraged. It was hard for her, having her mother there, it was demoralizing her, and he could sense it.
“What is it about her that upsets you so much?” he asked, she was so funny about them sometimes, and so deeply depressed about them at others.
“Everything. Who they are, who they aren't, what they do, what they don't do. They're rotten people, both of them, and I hate being around them, or even having them around my children.”
“They can't be that bad.” He was surprised at the force with which she talked about them, and it was obvious that something about her family had upset her deeply.
“They're why I came out here. Actually, I came out for Brad. But I would have left New York anyway. I didn't want to be anywhere near them. And this was perfect for me.” It was definitely part of why she had married Brad, and it had seemed fine at the time, although now things had turned out to be different. “He's being pretty outrageous right now too, and I'm getting tired of it. It's hard on me, it's upsetting Andy. It's just not fair.”