I lay in the back of his warm car, my head spinning and pain running through my body. I’m aware of his stopping and running into our building. He left the car running to keep me warm. I was expecting him to help me inside and to my bed, but he ran in on his own. I waited for what seemed like hours until he came back out and threw his suitcases and a few extra bags into the trunk. He got back in the driver’s side and started heading somewhere else.
I looked out the window and saw that we were at the airport. Two men met Will and carried the bags and suitcases away. Will opened the back door and lifted me out and up into his arms again. “You doing okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but why are we at the airport? I’m not going with you.”
“I think you should come with me. You have no other plans and you certainly aren’t in any condition to be left alone. You will be my guest. Mother and Father won’t mind.”
He carried me a few hundred feet and up into a small jet. To my surprise it was rather nice inside. There was a couch, which he laid me down on. There was a nice rug, and a small TV and VCR. There was also a nice stereo system. It was very nice, and it occurred to me, I didn’t know much about Will’s background. I would soon find out. “Go to sleep now. You need to rest,” he said. He kissed my forehead and lay down on the floor and closed his eyes.
I tried to sleep but I was in so much pain. I was also very nervous about flying. Finally sleep did come and I had very strange dreams.
A few hours later I opened my eyes. We had just landed in Brussels, Belgium. It was very dark outside. I didn’t see a clock anywhere so I didn’t know what time it was. It never occurred to me to look at my watch.
“How do you feel?” I heard Will ask me.
“I feel some better,” I said. My little nap did make me feel some better, but I was still in a lot of pain. “Come, it's time to go home. “Do you think you can walk now?”
“Yes, I can walk.” I was getting annoyed at being carried around like some baby. I stood up a bit unsteadily and followed him down to the ground. He headed towards a big fancy car with a middle-aged man standing beside it holding the back door open. Will motioned for me to get in first so I crawled into the big back seat. He crawled in after me and the door was shut behind him. I was starting to wonder if maybe he was a prince or something.
We both sat in silence during the ride. I guess we were both too tired to talk. I finally remembered that I had a watch and I looked down at it. It said it was 12:30. No wonder I was tired. I sat back and watched all the buildings go by. We passed many factories and after a while the landscape turned to open fields. I was almost asleep again when we turned off the road and onto his driveway. I expected that we were there but it turned out to be a long driveway. Finally we pulled up to a three-story mansion. It almost looked like a castle! The car stopped and the driver popped the trunk and two more men came out to get our bags. Will got out and I followed after him. The big white front door was opened and two huge monsters bounded out. They jumped on Will and knocked him to the ground. Then they came over and sniffed at me. Up close I saw they were Great Danes. “James, I’d like you to meet Jack and Jill,” Will laughed.
Will got to his feet and headed for the door. I looked down at my watch again; it was 1:30 am. Another middle-aged man thick around the middle and thinning grayish hair greeted us at the door. “Welcome home Master Will,” he said.
“Its good to be back Pierre,” he said as he hugged the man.
“And who is this you have with you?”
Will put his arm around me and said, “This is my friend James. I wasn’t planning to bring him but he’s had a rough night and I didn’t think it a good idea to leave him alone for two whole weeks.”
Pierre smiled and motioned us in. We stood in a hall that had a white tile floor, a neatly woven rug, and a wooden bench. There was also a wooden desk with a few knickknacks and some Christmas decorations.