It was exceedingly difficult not to hate the way things were in Vallo now and then. Most of the time Ambrose was happy and enjoyed himself there. He missed Prudence and the Aunties, but he had Sabrina and he was content with that. Which is why it felt personal when Nick disappeared. Logically he knew people came and went all the time, but Vallo was supposed to be Sabrina and Nick’s chance to make things right. They were happy. They had literally just been chasing around their future daughter together. The timing of it all made him angry.
For however angry he was, he was certain that his cousin’s must be a hundred times that. He’d heeded Roz’s concerns and kept an eye on Sabrina. It was a delicate thing, keeping tabs on her while still trying to give her the space he knew she needed. Some space was good, but too much space and Sabrina...well, she might be Sabrina.
Ambrose gave the door a short knock and called out to her. “Sabrina? I have food.” They were Hilda’s recipes. He could live a thousand years and never get things to turn out as well as she did, but he managed a decentish enough recreation of her dishes. He knocked again. “I’m not going away, so you might as well open up.”
Thankfully or maybe not, Sabrina’s grief had pushed down her anger so far. She was too lost in an ever cascading wave of sadness and numbing to be running off and trying to bring Nick back. That time would no doubt come, but for now, it was buried beneath the surface, her limbs too heavy to even move from the bed in their apartment for too long. She was exhausted but didn’t sleep for long, all of her dreams turning into nightmares of Nick being alone in the Sweet Hereafter, aimlessly looking for her and unable to find her. Or turning into Ripley Scratch disappearing in front of her again and again.
Maybe that was the part that hurt the most. They’d been shown what their future was supposed to look like, that they actually had a chance at a future again, and it had been so casually ripped from her fingers once again. It was beyond cruel and Sabrina hated Vallo for it.
She briefly looked up at the sound of Ambrose’s voice and sent Salem to go let him inside the apartment, but she stayed curled up in the bed. Shadow remained at her side while the hellhounds had all taken up floor space to watch over her as well.
The warlock wasn’t too surprised to see Sabrina’s familiar at the door. He greeted Salem and entered the apartment. Everything inside felt too still. Almost as if time had stopped there. Ambrose sighed heavily and nudged the front door closed with his foot.
He’d loaded up a box with various containers of food prior to his arrival, and he moved to set it down on the kitchen countertop. With his hands once more free, he took a quick glance over at the sofa. Finding it empty, Ambrose looked over to Salem, who lead the way toward the bedroom.
The room was dim, but he could easily make out Sabrina huddled in bed. The hounds and Shadow huddled protectively around her. It was a truly heartbreaking scene. “Mind if I come in?”
“You can come in.”
She might not talk much but Sabrina did appreciate the company. Roz had been coming by a lot before school and during lunchtimes and after her internship. Sabrina didn’t really say anything at all when she was there, but she did like her friend being around. And Lucifer had done the same, checking in on her and getting her to eat something when he could. Plus Dan had sat with her a few times. There just wasn’t anything to say to anyone.
Sabrina wasn’t ready yet to talk about the good memories or the life they’d had or how he might come back. None of it negated the fact that Nick wasn’t there now and that he was dead back home. None of it fixed anything or helped ease the chasm of grief that cut deep inside. But she did prefer them being around to being alone. Even if she wasn’t truly alone with her horde of animals at her side.
Salem hopped back up on the bed beside her, letting her cuddle him close to her again.
Ambrose smiled softly as he watched Salem leap gracefully onto the bed and settle back down with Sabrina. While he loved his own familiar dearly, owls weren’t nearly so cuddly. He entered the room and leaned against the wall, not wanting to disturb any of the animals.
“I brought some food with me. Auntie Hilda’s recipes. Made a right disaster of the kitchen, but I think they turned out alright. Do you want to try eating something?”
She wasn’t all that hungry, but Sabrina also knew that if she didn’t eat anything then her cousin would probably worry. Roz, Dan and Lucifer had and so far she’d managed to get away with eating a little here and there to satisfy everyone. If nothing else she could give the leftovers to the hounds later on. They did need to eat.
“Sure.” Sabrina pushed herself up into a sitting position. “What did you make?”
Ambrose moved further into the room as Sabrina sat herself up. He could tell by her tone and expression that she was agreeing to eat more for his benefit than anything else. Not that he’d argue with that. She needed to eat, even if she didn’t want to. “I’ve got roasted chicken and potatoes for when you’re feeling particularly hungry. Chicken noodle soup if you want something lighter, and a cheese and onion pie.”
He sat down lightly on the corner of the bed and reached over to hold one of her hands gently. “I can bring you whichever you’d like and tuck the rest away for you to have later on.”
Well. At least the hounds would probably enjoy the chicken later on since it seemed like they were sticking around and not heading back out into the forest anytime soon. She squeezed his hand, knowing her cousin meant well and was only trying to look out for her. Sabrina also had a feeling that Salem would snitch on her if she didn’t eat something.
“I’ll take the soup.” It seemed like the easiest to try to get down. Though she probably shouldn’t eat it in bed. “Guess we should go to the living room for that though.”
Ambrose nodded. “I’ll head in there and get it read for you. Take your time getting up if you need.” He gave her hand one last squeeze before he stood and exited the bedroom.
He made his way over to the box of food on the kitchen counter and began unpacking it. The containers of chicken and pie went into the fridge, and he began ladling some soup into a bowl for her. Belatedly, he located a kettle and put some water on the stove to boil. A cup of tea certainly wouldn’t hurt either of them.
Ambrose set her soup down at the table and busied himself with tidying up a bit.
Sabrina really didn’t want to leave the safety of her bedroom, half convinced that if she just stayed in bed then the rest of it wasn’t real. But staying there didn’t change the fact that Nick wouldn’t be walking back into the apartment no matter how much she wanted that to be the case. She didn’t bother changing out of the pajamas she’d managed to get on at some point earlier--one of Nick’s old sweaters and a pair of leggings. His sweater nearly engulfed her, but she liked that about it. That, and that she still thought she could smell him with it on.
The animals all followed her out of the bedroom and plopped down onto various places in the living area while she sat down at the table. Sabrina poked at the soup for a bit before finally taking a bite. “Is...is Dorian’s still here?”
She wasn’t sure if it would have disappeared now or not. It had been there before Nick had arrived but Sabrina wasn’t sure how Vallo worked anymore.
By the time Sabrina appeared and settled herself down, the kettle had begun to boil. “It is, yes.” Ambrose located two mugs for them and set them on the counter. “I spoke with the employees and let them know that we’d figure things out.” He opened another cupboard and found some tea. He placed a bag in each mug and filled them with water. Taking one mug in each hand, Ambrose made his way over to the table to join Sabrina.
“It’s okay if you’re not ready to think about this yet, but…would you like to keep it open?” He thought that was what Nick would want, seeing as he’d worked so hard on it. He wasn’t going to push Sabrina into anything she didn’t want, however. “We can oversee it together. Just like with Dr Cee’s.”
She took the mug from him but didn’t try drinking from it yet, simply set it down in front of her. “It needs to stay open.” She couldn’t stand the thought of letting it falter after all the hard work Nick had put into making it succeed. Sabrina had no idea how to oversee a club but between her and Ambrose and she was pretty sure she could get some advice from Lucifer on it as well, it should be viable.
“I need to contact my professors too.” Because she hadn’t been to school in days. She thought someone from the coven might have already done it after they had come to check in on her. At least the musical had an understudy for her who could perform. Maybe she could take any exams in a couple of weeks because she still wasn’t quite ready to walk around the apartment, let alone leave it.
Ambrose responded with the smallest ghost of a smile at her conviction over Dorian’s staying open. He’d hoped that was how she would feel. He nodded to let her know that he agreed with her, then took a small sip of his tea. It did little to soothe his currently raw emotions, but he appreciated it all the same.
“How can I help?” He assumed it would be better for her to speak to her professors directly, but he still wanted to be useful to her. “Anything else need doing that you can think of?”
Sabrina shook her head. “I don’t think so? At least not that I can think of right now.” Not for school at least. “I know Nick had hired a new manager so that he could…” Take more nights off, so that he could do more outside of Dorian’s again and spend some more time with her on the weekends every so often. Not that it mattered much anymore. But the manager would still be good to keep on. “They were working out well, but we might want to look into hiring some others too.”
She wanted Dorian’s to stay open but she didn’t want to devote her life to it like Nick had decided to do. Sabrina might not be able to see much of a future for herself in Vallo any longer, but she did know that running Dorian’s wasn’t going to be it.
Ambrose nodded. “Yes, I can work with the manager and see about hiring additional staff for both Dorian’s and Cerberus.” If he was going to be looking into running both simultaneously, along with still teaching at the University, he’d need additional help everywhere. “In the meantime, do you mind if I still pop in to keep you company now and then?”
“You can stay.” She didn’t want to be alone, not really, and while there were plenty of animals in the apartment to keep her company, Sabrina had always welcomed her cousin’s presence in her life. Especially when she was hurting.
She nodded toward tv. “We can watch this old show that dad started with me. It’s called Bones.”
He smiled again. “I’d like that.” If his presence could provide Sabrina with even a modicum of distraction or comfort, he’d stay for as long as she’d let him.