Chapter 2: The Boy Upstairs
The cry came again from the second floor, thin and high and ragged at the edge, and it cut straight through the chandelier music and the champagne chatter. I felt it in my chest before I heard it properly. Vanessa didn't flinch. She held my stare like she could win by holding it longer, her mouth still tight, her necklace catching the light every time she breathed.
I broke first. Not because she won, but because Leo needed me more than that standoff did.
I turned and went for the stairs. My sneakers squeaked on the marble. That sound felt wrong in that room full of heels and polished loafers. A woman in a black dress near the railing actually stepped back to let me pass, her hand on her chest, and I heard someone behind me whisper, "Is that the nanny?"
Vanessa's voice followed me, low and sharp enough that only I could hear it at first. "Sarah. Get back here."
I didn't. I took the stairs two at a time, my scrubs suddenly too light and too blue against all that gold and cream. The railing was polished oak and cold under my palm. Upstairs the hallway was darker, quieter, the thick carpet swallowing my steps. Leo's door was at the end, the one we'd covered with the felt panels to muffle the ballroom downstairs. It was cracked open two inches, spilling soft white noise from his machine.
I could hear Daniel's voice down in the foyer as I reached the top. He was saying something like "Excuse us, folks, just a moment," that apologetic host voice he used when he didn't know what else to do. He didn't follow. I glanced back over the railing and saw him still standing there between the staircase and the painting, his hands empty at his sides, his bow tie straight and his eyes down. Guests were looking at him, waiting for him to explain.
Vanessa did follow. I heard her heels on the marble behind me, quick and hard. She wasn't running, because Vanessa didn't run at her own gala, but she was moving fast enough that her gown rustled and that diamond necklace swung and caught the chandelier light from below, throwing a bright flicker up the wall.
Leo's room was dim the way he liked it. We'd put blackout curtains over the windows, a low amber lamp in the corner, his weighted blanket folded on the bed. The white noise machine hummed and there was the faint smell of lavender and clean laundry. He was on the floor by his bookshelf, curled on his side in his soft gray pajamas, his hands over his ears, his little body rocking. Six years old and so small in that big estate bedroom. He wasn't screaming now, just making that hurt whimper that meant the noise downstairs had been too much for too long.
I dropped to my knees next to him. The carpet was thick and I didn't care about my scrubs anymore.
"Hey, buddy," I said, quiet. "I'm here. I'm right here."
He didn't look at me, but his shoulder leaned into my leg. That's how he told me he knew I was there. I put one hand lightly on his back, not holding, just resting there so he could feel the pressure, and started the slow count we did. In, two, three. Out, two, three. My breathing evened out and his started to follow, just a little.
The door pushed open wider and Vanessa filled it. Up here, without the crowd, her face changed. The polite mask slipped. She didn't look at Leo right away. She looked at me on the floor.
"Do you have any idea what you just did down there?" she hissed. Her voice stayed low, but every word had an edge. "The entire board is downstairs. The mayor is downstairs. You shouted at me like I was some —" She stopped herself, her jaw tight, then glanced at Leo for half a second. "You embarrassed me in my own house. In front of everyone who funds this foundation."
Her necklace caught the amber lamplight as she shifted, all those teardrops glittering. It was the kind of thing people stared at in photos. I kept my hand on Leo's back. He'd pressed his forehead harder against his knees.
"He had a meltdown," I said. I kept my voice low too, for him. "The music, the crowd. I told you earlier he needed the suite to stay quiet. You took him down there for the photos."
"I took him down for five minutes," she said. "He needs to be seen. People want to see him. That's what this night is for."
Leo whimpered again and I leaned closer, rocking just slightly with him. I could feel Vanessa watching us and I could feel how much she wanted me to get up, to stand at attention, to make this easier for her.
Downstairs, I heard Daniel's voice again, fainter now, smoothing things over. A laugh that didn't sound real. Glasses clinking. No footsteps on the stairs.
Vanessa took a step into the room, then stopped herself. Her hands were clenched at her gown where the beadwork was heaviest.
"Get him calm and keep him up here," she said. "And stay up here. I mean it. Don't come back down in those scrubs and make this worse."
May you like
She turned before I could answer. Her heels sank into the thick hallway carpet and then were gone. The door eased mostly shut, leaving that two-inch crack and the hum of the machine.
Leo's breathing had slowed. He moved one hand off his ear and found the edge of my scrub top, pinching the fabric the way he always did when he was coming back. I stayed on the floor with him and listened to the faint string quartet starting up again down below, and to Daniel still not coming upstairs.
