Isobel's day with Rodney wasn't over. Not by a long shot. As soon as she climbed into her car at the end of the school day, and pulled out into the street, he followed her. Rodney drove a car that was a little less douchey than Evan's, but not by much. It was blue, which Isobel thought was actually rather poetic.

She was halfway to the freeway to get to the hospital when she realized who it was. He drove within mere inches of her bumper, his irritating muscle car roaring behind her. She wasn't sure whether to be terrified or horribly annoyed, so she decided that both was probably the correct reaction. Panic welled up in her, and she started to wonder what she should do. Her car wouldn't survive a bumpy backroad route.

The hospital was ten minutes of freeway traffic away. Once they got there, there were some pretty sharp, sudden turns, and Isobel was worried that Rodney would keep driving like that.

Her heart pounding, she entered the freeway on-ramp and sped up, steadily, with Rodney still on her tail, although not as close behind as he was before, which was something of a relief. But he stayed close, muscling his way onto the freeway right behind her and almost clipping a minivan. Isobel sped up to avoid the chaos he caused.

He was close behind, nearly on her heels. Isobel's hands shook as she drove. She was careful to the point of excess, looking everywhere before she changed lanes and watching out for speeders.

She wanted to call Evan, or the police, but refused to touch her phone. Her old driving anxiety came back in force. Her breathing became erratic.

The hospital exit came up fast, and Isobel was relieved to see it. She changed lanes, and pulled off the freeway. Once she stopped, she looked into her rear view mirror. He wasn't there.

She turned around and looked again. No, he wasn't. He must not have gotten off the freeway with her. He must have kept going.

Coward.

When the stoplight turned green, Isobel took the right, and then the next immediate right, and drove around the parking lot for a while under the guise of trying to find a parking space. Really, she was just trying not to panic anymore.

She parked, climbed out of the car, and shivered. It was cold—bone-chillingly so. She hustled across the lot, into the hospital lobby, and took the elevator up to Glory's floor.

That four of cups was still bothering her. In the back of her mind, she had never forgotten it. She normally ignored reversals, even though Glory didn't. But it was specifically because Glory didn't ignore reversals that Isobel felt so concerned.

Evan didn't seem to be getting by well. Isobel was worried about him. He seemed so fragile.

In Glory's room were two strangers—at least they were strangers to Isobel.

When she walked in, they looked up at her. Was she in the wrong room? But then she looked to the right to see Evan in the same chair he was usually in. He smiled at her.

"Hey, Isobel. You alright?" he asked. She smiled at him, walking over and leaning down. He took her hand. Her heart was all a-flutter, and she was suddenly glad that things weren't so awkward anymore.

"I'm fine," she said, but she didn't look him in the eye, and he knew enough about her to know that that meant something was wrong. "We can talk about it later," she added in an undertone.

Evan had the good sense to accept it. He nodded, and looked back towards the family.

He gestured to the man, and said, "This is my Uncle Craig, and this is my Aunt Maura."

Craig gave Isobel a glance and a bit of a wave, a shake of the hand that indicated he didn't actually really care that she was there. Maura gave her about as much consideration. They were both on their cell phones. Craig and Maura didn't really look anything like Evan, and neither looked anything like the other, so she wondered what the relationship there was. Were they married? Did only one of Glory's blood relatives come to see her?

Glory was asleep. Isobel looked to Evan. "Is she—"

"They gave her an Ambien so she could sleep. She couldn't sleep all night."

"Is she restless?" Isobel asked.

"Yeah. She's been fiddling with her tarot cards almost nonstop."

Craig scoffed, but quietly. When Isobel looked at him, he glanced up at her. He was a heavyset man with graying stubble on his chin and the look of a thug. He wore a brown coat and a red beanie.

She looked away. It wasn't her place to say anything.

"What has the doctor said?"

"Nothing. I think they are giving us our space."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Isobel looked to Evan. "Does she have insurance?"

"Yeah."

Maura looked up. She had a severe haircut that made her look professional, and wore athletic gear. "Who exactly are you?" she asked. "What business of yours is it whether she has insurance or not?"

Isobel looked at her. Evan said, "Isobel is Gran's caretaker. She's been a part of the family for months now, she's been around Glory more than anyone."

"Well, I just think it's suspicious that she's asking about that. Like she's asking about your money."

"Isobel knows we've got money."

"Obviously."

"Maura, if you're going to be rude to Isobel, you can leave. Isobel has more of a right to be here anyway. Why did you come?"

"We came to make sure that you were handling everything alright. We also wanted to pay our respects—"

"And make sure the will was in order, I'm sure."

Maura and Craig sat upright. "Now just wait a minute," said Craig.

"It's true, isn't it? You aren't going to give a damn about her after she's gone. I'm happy to report that she has no money. It's all my money that you are waiting on, so you had better get on that murder plan."

"Evan," scolded Isobel. Evan looked up at her angrily, but she met his stare with one of her own. "They are allowed to come and pay their respects. They don't have to get along with her well to miss her when she's gone."

Evan raised his eyebrow at her. He was mad, but she was equal to the challenge of smoothing this whole mess over. When she looked over to Maura and Craig, she said, "So, how are you all related?"

Craig grudgingly grumbled out something about being her nephew. Maura was prim as she answered that she was Glory's younger sister. Isobel nodded and smiled. She was cute and earnest, and it worked in her favor sometimes.

* * *

Isobel was reading her textbook by the time Craig and Maura decided it was time to leave. They said their goodbyes, and Isobel smiled and waved at them. She had taken a card from Maura, who was some kind of MLM salesperson. Isobel still wasn't sure exactly what she sold, but the card was fancy.

Once they were gone, Evan turned and looked at Isobel. "Okay, so spill, what's the matter?"

"I ran into that blonde guy from your job again. He scared the crap out of me."

"Yeah, he should. He's a freak."

"He's annoying and crazy."

Evan stood up and paced the room. He'd removed his jacket at some point, and his shirt was terribly flattering. Isobel's arms ached to hold him, but she kept her distance. She knew he was mad, and didn't want to make him madder.

"Where did you run into him?"

"The college."

"Did he say anything to you?"

Isobel decided to downplay the situation.

"Yeah, he followed me to the office. And then on the freeway."

"Where to?"

"Here."

"He's here?!"

"Shh," Isobel hissed. "No, he's not," she said, glancing at Glory. The old lady still slept, but Isobel noticed she seemed a little less unconscious. Isobel was going to kill the old bat herself if she was pretending to be asleep. "No, but he did make things pretty dicey on the freeway."

Evan sighed. "But were you hurt?"

"Oh, no. Just annoyed. And a little scared."

"Yeah, I would think so. He's a special kind of prick. Did you call security?"

"No. He convinced the office lady that he was a student named Timothy Wellington."

Evan's eyebrows furrowed, and then he lowered his head and raised one brow. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes. Timothy Wellington happened to look exactly like him, too."

"You're kidding."

"Dead serious."

Evan sighed, and put his face in his hands. "Why do I have to have people like this in my life? Why couldn't I have just stayed an architect?"

"Because you were young and dumb and felt an obligation to your grandma."

"Yeah, I guess."

Isobel looked back down at her textbook. Unless she was properly focused on it, the words were nearly incomprehensible and she had a hard time dissecting what it was she was trying to read. She often forgot what she was even supposed to be reading about.

Evan rested his face against his fist. His knuckles were white. His shoulders shook ever so slightly.

"I'm so sick of that prick. He's trying to steal my spot. He's trying to show me up. He's got some weird . . . thing about me."

"Like, a gay thing?"

"I don't know, maybe! He stalks me, I swear. He just shows up. Right now, it's so unhelpful. It's bad any other time, but right now, it makes me want to just—" he said, pausing as he clawed his hands and strangled the air. His teeth were gritted. The muscle in his cheek twitched as his jaw clenched. Isobel began to get alarmed.

Evan took a deep breath. His shoulders rose, and he straightened out. He closed his eyes. And then, he let the breath out in a long, aggravated sigh. He sat on the footrest beside Isobel. She reached out and touched his arm.

"Sorry," he said quietly. He looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. She tried to summon a smile, and while it was weak, it seemed to make Evan feel better. Rubbing this face with the flat of his hand, he said, "I haven't slept in a while. I feel like it's been a year, but I know that that's not true."

"Evan, it really might have been a year. You work all night."

"Yeah, maybe."

"When did you eat last?"

"I don't know. Forever ago."

There was something lean about him—it wasn't that he'd lost weight, but he was looking a little long in the tooth.

"Can I buy you dinner?"

"I would love it if you bought me dinner," he said. He was heavy and tired, and his shoulders sagged with a burden.

Isobel wrapped her arm around his waist, and he slid his arm over her shoulder, resting it there as if it had always belonged there. She walked him down to the cafeteria. The halls were empty and quiet, because it was late. The lights were dim and made the both of them look exhausted.

When she looked at the red cuff of her sweater, she saw that it was fraying a bit, but she tucked her hand into her pocket and ignored it.

In the cafeteria, Evan piled a plate high with food, and took it to be weighed. He let Isobel pay for it, and they sat down. She looked at her phone and scrolled through her social media apps while he ate.

"Hey, Isobel?"

"Yes, Evan?"

He had his fork stabbed into a slab of fried chicken. She looked him in the eye. His green eyes were bloodshot. He looked a little yellow. He said, "Be honest with me?"

"Sure."

"Do you think Glory is going to die?"

Isobel sighed.

"When I drew the four of cups, that is a good card, but it was upside down. I don't actually know if anything will happen, maybe we are putting too much faith into some paper. But a reversed four of cups isn't great."

Evan sighed.

"No one lives nearby except for Craig and Maura."

"Evan, are you afraid of being alone?"

"It's not that I'm afraid of it, it's that I hate it. I hate being alone. I have siblings, but they all ran off to do whatever. I have parents, but I haven't spoken to them in years, and they don't care about anything going on with Gran. I'm the only one here, doing anything and making sure she's taken care of. I hate it. And I'm going to hate it when she's gone."

"What will you do?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, probably sell the big house. Leave. Get an apartment."

"Near the college?" she asked.

He looked at her, and smiled ever so slightly. "Maybe, yeah. Isn't there an apartment building not too far away?"

"Yeah. On Green street. Would you quit fighting?"

Evan shrugged and nodded. "Probably."