Victoria Hill

Nobody could call Ed Hutchings stupid.

He had not worked his way up to the Chief of Staff position at Victoria Hill Memorial by standing around, or kissing anyone’s back cheeks. So, when he awoke suddenly in the early hours of Monday morning, and saw that Missy was not by his side, he was sure something was wrong.

Sometimes, Missy would wake up in the night hungry, but that wasn’t the case this time. He couldn’t smell anything cooking, and besides, Missy had a habit of humming or singing to herself when cooking. There was no sound from the TV, so she wasn’t watching infomercials to ease a bout of insomnia, and there was no sound of running water which would indicate she was in the shower. Ed supposed his wife could be asleep in her favourite chair, but something inside told him that wasn’t the answer, either.

He rose slowly, absently making the bed, went to the half-open door, and was about to call his wife’s name when he saw it.

(something went funny with the night/day settings there for a while, but it seems to have come right now. That’s why it looks like Missy is having an early dinner, when it was, in fact, almost midnight.)

She had obviously been in the process of preparing herself some late-night lobster when Bobby called another of his daughters home. Ed had been a doctor, and knew his wife was gone, but something inside made him check, just in case there was something, anything, he could do, even though he knew it was hopeless.

There was nothing he could do now, except phone the family. They would all know what was up, a phone call after midnight in the Hill meant that someone had died. Ed knew he had to make those calls, but he couldn’t help but gaze at his wife one more time. they had so many years together, and now there was only the memories left.

(That was a shock, I mean, I thought Ed would go first! I must remember to update the family tree. Also, I’m a little worried about what Sasha will do when Ed goes, because I’ve just discovered she has a mega-crush on him.)