Shaking off his hypochondria, he decided he was just overtired.
Heading to the kitchen, David made himself a pot of coffee. He drank slowly and appreciatively as the liquid energy perforated his system.
As the caffeine coursed through his body, he realized the coffee might have been a bad idea.
Considering he didn’t have to work the night shift for another week, he could go back to a normal sleep routine. Acknowledging that he’d slept all afternoon and caffeine made him jittery; it all added up to a sleepless night.
“Idiot!” David cursed out loud. “Wonder if I have time to run to the pharmacy for some sleeping pills.” He muttered as he dumped the remainder of his coffee down the sink.
Snapping his fingers, he remembered he’d recently prescribed Ellen with some sedatives. He went upstairs to her room to see if she had any left.
His hand on the doorknob to his wife’s room, he felt strangely guilty. Rarely had he set foot in her room in the last twelve years, he felt like he was entering enemy territory.
Opening the door, he switched on the light and was greeted by what resembled a luxurious catalog advertisement. A king sized bed with a gold cover and countless pillows. Ivory curtains hung with gold tiebacks from the bed’s huge canopy.
An extravagant mahogany dresser decorated with etched mirrors loomed at him from the left. Her make-up desk, with its rows of fluorescent bulbs, sat to the right of him with a half dozen expensive perfume bottles.
Rolling his eyes, he walked quickly to her bathroom to see if the sedatives were there.
Searching her medicine cabinet, he came up empty handed. Stopping to think, his brow furrowed, trying to imagine where Ellen would keep her pills.
Duh! He thought, shaking his head. Obviously the night table.
Opening the night table, he carefully looked through the drawer. Pushing aside some neatly piled letters, he discovered the pill bottle. He checked the contents and confirmed that it was indeed the sedatives he’d prescribed her.
Tucking the bottle into his shirt pocket, he glanced curiously at the piles of letters. Feelings of guilt washed over him as he realized she could indeed accuse him of snooping at this point.
It couldn’t hurt to have a peek, could it? He reached into the drawer and grabbed one of the letters.
Taking the paper carefully out of the envelope, he glanced at the bedroom door; paranoid. Laughing at himself, he unfolded the letter and began to read.
Instantly he felt his mouth go dry and his stomach drop.
My dearest Ellen,
I miss you.
I want to be with you every day…not just once a week. Life is too short for us to be apart like this.
Please tell David the truth? I know he’ll understand. Your parents will forgive you…some day.
I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please Ellen, ten years of waiting is long enough, isn’t it?
Love forever,
Alex
David sat in stunned silence, shaking with fury and his heart hardening with resentment. How could she do this to him? What right did she have to keep, not one, but two men hanging in the balance.
Your parents will forgive you? He thought, dumbfounded, What the hell does that mean? She’ll be forgiven for being with someone who‘s not a doctor or makes less money? Or for getting a divorce and shaming the family? He shook his head in disgust.
How dare this, Alex, even mention David’s name, like he knew him or something? David thought hard, searching his memory banks for any recollection of meeting a guy named Alex. He couldn’t recall one, but ten years is a really long time.
David’s body tingled with pins and needles from the shock, his hand white from clutching the note so tightly.
All these years, every weekend, she was off with some other man! His thoughts reeled. She never wanted sex from me! Why, why, why on earth would she stay married to me?!
Was money and prestige so important that she would give up true love for it? Did this other man simply not make enough money to satisfy her disgusting hunger for materialism? Why did she have to ruin David’s life, his dreams, and his desire for a happy family? He deserved that much didn’t he?
He didn’t know how long he’d sat there, his mind whirling so fast he couldn’t see straight.
Ten years! They’d been seeing each other for ten years! How could Ellen ever look him in the face? How could she stand to lie to Tiffany, her only daughter, for ten long years?!
He suddenly felt incredibly stupid. Used and stupid. Well of course there was someone else. Where else would she be going every weekend?
I have to calm down. He thought as an anxiety attack crept its way through his system. Starting to hyperventilate, he reached to his pocket for the sedatives. He slipped two tiny pills under his tongue, enduring the grainy texture and chemical taste. After a couple of seconds, a flood of sedation spread throughout his system.
As his mind calmed, his thoughts moved slower.
He realized he and Ellen hadn’t had sex more than a handful of times over the last twelve years. Tiffany was practically a miracle when you consider the statistical odds of conception with so few sexual encounters! If Tiffany didn’t resemble David so much, he’d wonder if she was his at all!
Ellen told him an assortment of ruses to get out of having intercourse with David. Anything from headaches to yeast infections, you name it, she’d found a way out of it. After a while, David simply gave up and thought she might eventually come to him…she never did.
His head spun while his heart pounded erratically, nauseating him slightly. He had to get out of here; he needed fresh air, time to think.
“Dammit!” He yelled aloud as he remembered his promise to the hospital golf tournament. Maybe it would be a good thing; it would help him get his mind off of this for a little while.
Angrily, he threw the letter back and slammed the night table drawer shut.
“Alex.” He said with a growl, “Well, buddy, you can have her!”
With that, David suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the man who had stolen his wife.
~
Driving haphazardly, David sped with a vengeance toward the golf clubhouse. Normally a very cautious driver, he was filled with bitterness and was in a mood bent on destruction. Trees colored by autumn flew past his vision, creating a blurred mirage of green and gold.
Screeching to halt in the parking lot adjacent to the prestigious country club, he hopped out of his car and walked to the outdoor bar. Not usually a big drinker, David decided today was a perfect day to test his limits.
“Three rye and coke please, no ice, oh what the hell, make them doubles.” David grinned and winked at the cute barmaid. She blushed crimson, smiled and began pouring his drinks. Handing the drinks to David, she purposefully brushed her hand alongside his. She smiled bashfully at him and continued on with her duties.
See, I still got it! He thought with a cocky grin, Ellen is missing out!
One of the golf course employees asked David for his name, checked the attendance sheet, and confirmed his name on the list. The man produced a sticker with his first name scrawled in capital letters, DAVID. Slapping it onto his chest, he chugged his first drink, then picked up his two remaining drinks and wandered towards the large group of hospital staff gathered near the first hole.
As he approached his peers, he’d already polished off another drink. Feeling the effects hitting him, he giggled as he tripped slightly; spilling a bit of booze on the ground.
David recognized a few familiar faces, including Nurse Henderson and Dr. Maddox. They stared at him with looks of disbelief. The crowd of peers seemed shocked that the Dr. Blake they knew would have one drink, let alone enough to get him inebriated.
“Hey there!” David hollered to everyone. “Are we ready for some fun or what?!”
The whole group glanced warily at one another as they picked up their golf bags and started down the fairway. Nurse Henderson, whose name tag s
houted her name as SARA, began whispering to another nurse.
As the group continued ahead, Dr. Maddox held back to walk with David.
The sun dipped behind a mass of gray clouds, creating a brief chill in the air. Dr. Maddox drew her white knit sweater tightly around herself, hugging her sides in attempts to retain heat. Her name tag, hidden beneath the thick sweater, crinkled noisily.
“How are doing Dr. Blake, you don’t seem yourself today.” She said cautiously, watching the sloshing drink in his hand.
“Oh, I’m just peachy keen.” He stated bitterly, a stony look on his face as his memory flashed back to the letter.
Slamming back the last of his drink, David felt his heart beat quicken. His vision blurred as his head started to swim. With a sickening feeling, he realized he’d made a crucial error in taking sedatives and mixing them with alcohol.
Not enough to hurt me though, I took such a small dose, he thought, reasoning his actions, I shouldn’t be feeling this rough.
“Are you alright, David?” Dr. Maddox probed. “Do you need to talk?”
Rolling his eyes, thinking about the situation, he responded sadly, “Thanks, but it’s not something I feel like discussing right now.”
She sighed deeply, as though searching for words. David glanced at her, she seemed sad.
Fighting to walk straight, his head felt heavy, like it was full of water. Dropping his glass, David put both hands on his head.
“David? Are you alright?”
“Fine…fine” he slurred, “Just a little dizzy…” and with that, he fell to his knees.
“David!” Dr. Maddox yelled as she checked the pulse on his wrist.
On his knees, his whole torso suddenly locked like a vice had slammed shut, crushing his ability to take in air. David clutched at his chest and struggled to take a breath.
Falling to the ground, he felt many hands flip him onto his back. Several of the hospital staff had noticed him fall and rushed back to assist.
His eyes rolled in their sockets as he looked up at the clouds whirling around in the summer sky.
Okay buddy, he told himself, this might be it. Dirt nap time. Another wave of pain convulsed through his chest. He moaned in agony. Unconsciousness taunted him as he struggled for air.
His heart felt as though it was beating in slow motion. He could almost feel the blood slowing within his system.
A blur of faces swarmed around him. He couldn’t focus on any one voice to understand what they were saying to him. Occasionally, he heard words coming from the crowd as he laid spread eagle on the fairway. He comprehended words like ‘cardiac arrest’ and ‘ambulance’.
His mind cleared briefly and he opened his eyes to see Dr. Maddox hovering over him. She had removed her sweater and was checking his vitals.
She’s very pretty. He thought.
Anxious voices from the crowd meshed together as he struggled to remain conscious. In the midst of the chaos, he heard Dr. Maddox say something very strange.
“I have to call Ellen.”
Focusing very hard, David fought against his failing body and opened his watering eyes. As she grabbed her cell phone from her pocket, she pushed one button and then waited for the person to answer.
Speed dial? David thought questioningly.
“Hey, it’s me.” She declared to the person at the other end. Continuing in a hushed tone, David couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Confused, he wrestled against the constrictive agony in his chest and pushed himself onto his side, perching onto one elbow. Several people tried to press him down to a laying position but he pushed them away with a clumsy arm.
Leaning over, he squinted to read Dr. Maddox’s name tag, previously covered by her sweater. Opening his eyes wide, he could see her name written in bold capital letters.
ALEX.
Suddenly everything became clear. Lying back onto the green, he let go. His body felt lighter, like he was floating down a warm river. Drifting, drifting…
The crowd of people surrounding him started to vanish from his sight. A tunnel vision blocked out his peripheral leaving him to stare aimlessly into the sky.
That’s when he noticed the light...
Lost and Found
Looking out the window of the tree house, Lily watched with anxiety as the billowing white clouds shaded to a dusty gray. In the distance, she could see a veil of rain on the horizon, edging its way toward the tree house.
Sighing, she rolled her eyes and cursed her bad luck. Of all the things that could happen while she was out here, a thunderstorm was the worst. She’d always been frozen with fear from lightning storms. It bordered on a phobia, truth be told.
Lighting a tall red candle, she shuddered and wrapped a flannel blanket around herself. Wondering what Gabe was doing at that moment, she watched anxiously as the darkness began swallowing the light, leaving only a tiny circle of illumination.
~
As he sped away from the horrible scenes he’d witnessed, raindrops pelting his body, Gabe suddenly realized he didn’t have a destination. His tiny apartment in the back of the church didn’t appeal to him right now. He was too confused about his profession to be placed face to face with it. All things considered, he didn’t feel like he was doing a very good job being a priest.
According to the Catholic rules, he was probably well on his way to Hell.
Sighing heavily, he felt like a failure.
How could he have messed things up so badly? If it was truly his calling, shouldn’t his dream come easy?
Was it even my dream to begin with? He thought as resentment towards his father crept into his heart.
Why am I living a dead man’s dream? Why do I feel responsible for my father’s secret sins? Gabe wondered as he looked up to the sky. Maybe his father did something so horrible that he isn’t looking down at Gabe from Heaven, but up from somewhere very hot.
Shaking his head with regret, Gabe slowed to a stop on the side of the road. Turning off his bike and taking off his helmet, he raised his bronzed face to the sky, letting the tiny droplets of rain cascade onto his face. His blue eyes watered with the tears of a lost boy, one who desperately wanted to find his way home...only, he didn’t have one.
Home. He thought pensively, Where is my home? At the church? With my mother? In Greece? Nowhere ever felt like home. Just a drifting star searching for its own galaxy.
Lily.
Whenever Lily was near him…that’s when Gabe felt he was home. It wasn’t a town or a profession he sought, not an apartment or a bungalow with a picket fence on a crowded street...it was her. She and Gabe were destined to be together, he always knew it deep down, but was too stubborn to admit it.
He had to find her.
Lily…where are you? Gabe wondered, his heart full of worry.
Sarah mentioned Lily told her she was going ‘to the only place where no one would find her’.
“Think, Gabe, think!”
Overhead, a rumbling of thunder reverberated through the impending twilight sky. Gabe cringed as he thought of Lily, alone somewhere listening to the same storm, frightened. She’d always been terribly afraid of thunder and lightning. He recalled an evening where he and Lily sat huddled in the old tree house waiting for a storm to pass over.
They’d been out fishing in the pond when a storm rolled in very quickly. The grape-sized hail pelted their skin as they ran for shelter. Even though her father had forbidden the children to play in the tree house, Lily ran straight for it, instructing Gabe to follow her.
It seemed like hours they waited for the storm to blow over. Every time the sky lit up with electricity and the thunder growled, she shivered with fear. Gabe held her as close as he could, her head buried in his chest. She whimpered with each crash in the sky. Cuddling together to stay warm, they ate old raisins Lily had stashed there.
When he asked her why she kept food hidden there, she confessed shyly, “I come here sometimes, when I want to be alone…”
; The words echoed clearly through Gabe’s mind as he remembered that night.
“Hah!!” He yelled exuberantly, realizing where Lily was. He hollered so loudly, he startled an elderly couple walking their dog down the wet sidewalk. They looked at him, concern clouded their expressions.
Looking down at himself, he realized he was still wearing his ceremonial robes, white collar and all. He had run from the exorcism so fast, he’d forgotten to change. It must have been quite the sight for the old couple. A priest sitting on a motorbike in the rain.
Gabe laughed as he quickly put on his helmet, fired up his bike and hit the gas so hard his bike took off sideways.
Elated, he set his sights on the acreage.
Renewed Vows
Shivering in a corner of the tree house, the storm raging overhead, Lily wished she were anywhere but here. Her stubborn nature, however, would not let her surrender herself to her parent’s home only minutes away.
The rain beat down on the roof like millions of tiny drums. Wind pushed the old oak tree so hard, the tree house rocked; making Lily imagine all sorts of terrible predicaments.
Sure, with my luck, the whole tree will fall over, taking the tree house with it!
Lily stared into the flickering flame, her only source of light. The red candle had withered away to half its length. Wax pooled at the base of the holder making it look like a tiny volcano had erupted. The hardened red wax resembled lava that had cooled itself into wavy puddles.
Sighing, Lily laid down, curling herself into a little ball. She was exhausted from the day and desired sleep. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard a noise from outside the trap door.
She swore she heard someone coming up the ladder, but after listening for a moment; she shook off her paranoia and closed her eyes again.
Dimensions of Genesis Page 8