brotherly love

"What's she done to him?" All Ian could do was scowl when he saw Oliver at the dinner with his parents. Eric, Syd and the kids were there. Even Derrick was invited to Kayla and Oliver's homecoming.

"Please," Eric hushed him. "This is no place to discuss it. He's fine."

"No, he isn't." Ian had noticed a change. Oliver looked ill. "We should get him to the emergency."

"Well, that's sort of, up to him. If he drops on us, that might be our only hope." Eric shrugged. He pulled him back into the family dinner room which was quite cramped with all of them. Still his Dad hadn't really looked very hard for them a place to move. It was their attitude that Ian would be gone before they knew it. Then what? Just the two of them. But it seriously was not a place for entertaining.

Ian fumed about the prospect of Oliver having a wipe out of some sort before he'd go to the hospital. But they ate. It was a large roast with all the trimmings. Everyone chattered about how they were glad they were home. Questions about their trip. It sounded like an exciting honeymoon, but no real ills to speak of.

Ian kept staring at Oliver, wondering if he'd picked up some exotic bug by chance. Maybe he'd eaten the local food on some island, that was the culprit in all this.

"So what's next?" Ian smiled trying to make the best of it.

"Dunno." Oliver sounded awful depressed. It wasn't suppose to be that way. It seemed to Ian, Oliver had made it to the top and was now ready to say it was done so he could just fall apart.

"The place looks really sad now on Main street. Its like a ghost town down there, since you left." Ian mentioned.

Oliver looked miserable.

"Well, there's not a lot I can do about that, now is there?" Oliver shrugged.

"Maybe, you could find another location, for a bakery, you know." Ian suggested.

"Folks love their donuts, right? You can find them at the local grocery." Oliver reminded him as he played with his mash potatoes and gravy.

"Yeah, but, its just not the same." Ian promised. Finally, when the meal was over, he helped clean up, but what he really wanted to do was to get Oliver, alone. Just to talk some sense into him. He really wanted Oliver to take care of himself. Before it was too late.