Chapter 3 - Arrival at the Alfieri Estate
The Alfieri estate stood near the lake behind iron gates and enough trees to make the road disappear before the house appeared. Edna Hollis, the sixty-three-year-old housekeeper, met Adeline at the service entrance and led her through a kitchen larger than Adeline’s apartment. “You’ll learn the rules,” Edna said. “Written down somewhere?” Edna gave her a tired look. “No.” That should have been warning enough.
Her introduction to Nico Alfieri lasted less than a minute. He sat beside a library window in a custom wheelchair, broad-shouldered despite eight months of rehabilitation, dark hair pushed back from a face sharper from pain than photographs had suggested. He looked at Adeline as if evaluating a business offer. “You’re the fourth nurse.” “So I’ve heard.” “Don’t try to make me like you.” “I wasn’t planning to.” His eyebrows rose slightly. Adeline continued. “I’ll manage your medication, coordinate with physical therapy, monitor your symptoms, assist when necessary, and stay out of whatever is none of my business.” For the first time, the corner of his mouth moved. Barely. “Good.”
Their arrangement began there. Nico hated assistance. He hated the transfer board. He hated the shower chair. He hated anybody standing behind his wheelchair without asking permission first. Most of all, he hated the silence that fell over rooms when he entered. Before the accident, silence had meant respect. Afterward, it meant people were checking how much of him remained. Adeline learned quickly that pity irritated him more than pain. So she gave him none.
