79

Henry could see the determination she had so he stopped the words. He knew she was a bit muddled from how quickly her life had flip flopped in less than a day. It worried him to see her like this.

She could see the worry so she stared at him intensely. Her eyes had a haunted expanded look, like a ghost begging from the grave. It reminded him eerily of his mother. "Henry, please. I know my limits better than anyone. If I need your help, I will ask you or Michael. But, I need to get this over with. It's been too long."

He considered her words. He always favored his mother when she got like this. The doctor would always remind him that every person was deserving of their own dignity, even in a mental hospital. Ellie would never be alone, he mused, he would just have people around her all the time. "Okay," he said finally. "Have it your way. But . . . don't try to do more than you can handle and end up worse than when you started. I don't want to have to call an ambulance for you."

"You won't." Ellie said with a shaky breath. "It is ok if you leave? Not that I have a problem with you seeing me. But I don't like being shaky like this around other people. I know from the hospital that withdrawal isn't going to be a pretty sight on me. You're not planning on having me around for much longer so I don't want you to see this when I'm begging for it."

Henry knew he could soothe her with the knowledge he already had seen his mother in severe drug withdrawal. But he kept his demons to himself. If he was in her position, he wouldn't want her around either. So he conceded the fight before it began. She could choose who she wanted to fight with her -- it didn't bother him that he wasn't on her team. But he would give her the best team members. "That's perfectly reasonable." He gestured to Michael who bowed as he neared.

"Sir?"

"Give me reports on Miss Ellie's progress and her condition if you would like to call an ambulance. Keep everything quiet and make sure that no one makes a fuss. Neither of us would like this to turn into a circus. It's just a bit for her to recover."

"Of course, sir." The old Brit's eyes were steadfast and true as he straightened his shoulders. Henry was a bit surprised, the only other person that Michael would do that for was for himself. Michael had only known Ellie for such a short amount of time and Henry had never known that the old butler had a hidden depth of affection for her. Ellie seemed to have that effect on a lot of people, he mused darkly. Not that it would harm anyone if such affection existed, the more attention Michael would pay towards her the better.