Until the End of Time

by Schuster, Melanie

He adored all these little quirks because they were familiar and uniquely her. But even after knowing her for so longs, there were still aspects of Renee that were new and surprising. One day he was finishing his rounds at the Children’s Hospital when he looked down the hall and thought he saw Renee. Couldn’t have been her, he thought, but he was moved to check it out. He sprinted down the corridor just in time to see a tall, shapely form round a corner and head purposefully for the nursery. Before he could catch her, she was inside and a colleague waylaid him. Breaking away as soon as possible, he went into the nursery and looked around. His eyes widened in shock and he stood completely still to observe.

  Renee was sitting in a large rocking chair cuddling a tiny infant. Oblivious to everything around her except her tiny charge, Renee was rocking the fretful infant and humming a soft lullaby to calm the baby’s nerves. How long he stood there, Andrew did not know, but one of the pediatric nurses spotted him and inquired if he needed any help.

  “Hmm? Oh, no,” Andrew said distractedly. “I just saw a friend of mine and I was kind of surprised, is all.” The nurse followed his line of vision to Renee and smiled broadly.

  “So you know Miss Kemp? Such a nice lady! She’s been one of our rockers for about two years now. And she’s one of our very best, too,” the nurse added as she left Andrew standing there, still in shock.

  Andrew knew that the problem of abandoned babies was growing, as was the influx of babies born with chemical addictions and other problems like low birth weight that would cause them to be detained in the hospital for extended periods. He also knew that there were volunteers that came in just to rock the babies and handle them so that they would have some semblance of normality in their lives. Touch therapy was crucial in the development of these infants and the volunteers were Godsends. Andrew had no idea, though, that Renee was one of them. She had never mentioned the fact that she did volunteer work of any kind. He was totally touched by the sight of her, rocking away.

  He was tactful enough to leave, but canny enough to just happen by the area when it was time for her to leave. He looked down at her with his best poker face and said something trite about how funny it was to run into her. Before she could put two and two together he hastened to ask her to have dinner with him.

  “I’ll even let you pay,” he joked lamely. Luckily, Renee was in a good mood.

  “Okay, that would be a novelty at that. So what’ll it be? White Castle? Mickey D? You name it and it’s yours,” she grinned.

  “Damn, Renee, that’s cold. But it’s okay. I could go for some sliders,” he said, using the local endearment for the horrid little square gut bombs from White Castle. “Just let me check on one patient and we’re off.”

  Taking her arm with no self-consciousness at all, Andrew led her up to the surgical floor so that he could check on his favorite patient, a little boy named Harry. Harry was on his sixth operation to repair the results of second-and third-degree burns as the result of an arson fire in which his father and brother had perished. Harry’s mother had two other children at home and to say that life was difficult for them was to be a master of understatement. Andrew checked on Harry often because he was such a sweet, brave little boy who never complained. That evening Harry had a bit of a fever, though.

  “Dr. Andy, could I have a Pepsi, please?” he asked plaintively. His little face was swathed in gauze, as were his hands and arms. Harry had bravely endured the surgeries des[ite the fact that he would have years more of the same.

  “Sure, you can have a Pepsi, kiddo,” said Andrew. He turned to the nurse and requested that she bring the child one. Andrew could not help noticing that the woman turned beet red at the request. “Is there a problem, nurse?”

  “Well, no, not exactly. It’s just that we don’t stock Pepsi on the floors anymore. His family would have to get it from the vending machine because…we have fruit juice, though, I can get him some of that,” she said quickly.

  “That’s what they said before,” Harry sighed. “It’s okay.”

  Andrew looked down at the boy’s tiny figure lying in the antiseptic room and then at the nurse who was wringing her hands in anxiety. Without changing his expression, he handed the nurse a dollar bill. “You’ll have your Pepsi in a couple of minutes, kiddo. Now, you hang in there and Dr. Andy will be back tomorrow. And if you need anything else, you let the nurse know, okay?” Harry nodded happily and Andrew gave him a wink before leaving the room.

  He walked right by Renee who was patiently sitting in the visitor’s area and went behind the nurse’s station to speak with the charge nurse. In clipped tones without no words wasted he let her know exactly what time it was.

  “This is a fifty dollar bill. You are to purchase as much Pepsi as this will buy. You are to keep it available for that child and whenever he wants one he can have it, do you understand me? Do not ever let me hear that one of my patients was denied something because it had to come out of a vending machine, or because some family member did not bring it. You have my pager, you have my cellular phone number, my answering service and my home telephone number as well as several office numbers. Unless I am in surgery I am always reachable. Always. Since the only kind of humanity that seems to be understood here is that which is on the chart I am officially making it a part of my standing orders for this child. Do I make myself clear?”

  Andrew had not raised his voice but he was so cold and unyielding that the nurse feared for her life if she answered him. Dr. Cochran was always so easy to get along with; she had no idea how she was supposed to react. Luckily, he did not linger. Making a few notations on the chart he carefully laid it down on the counter as if he could not trust himself not to throw it across the room. Abruptly he turned and left the area heading for the bank of elevators without looking back, not even for Renee.

  When she realized that Andrew had forgotten her Renee scrambled to her feet and took off after him. Ordinarily she would have been madder than a wet hen, but she could see that something had affected Andrew deeply. In all the years she had known him, she had never seen Andrew so angry and it was clear that he was furious. She caught up to him at the elevators and touched his arm.

  “Hey. Going my way?” was all she said. Andrew looked down at her with a look of complete befuddlement on his face, as if to say “what are you doing here?” Then he remembered that they were supposed to be having dinner together.

  “Renee, I’m sorry. Tonight might not be such a good night after all,” he began.

  Renee put her arm through his and shook her head. “Oh, no you don’t. Tonight is a perfect night for this.” They got on the elevator and rode down to his office and collected his sport coat and briefcase, leaving his white coat behind. They did all this without saying a word, Renee because she had no idea what to say and Andrew because he was utterly spent. When they reached the parking lot, however, Renee’s pragmatic good sense had kicked in. She took charge of the situation in her usual fashion.

  “Okay, here’s the deal. You go home and take a shower and get comfortable. By the time you get out of the shower I will be there with dinner. You will relax and have a glass of wine while I set the table and then you will have a very relaxing evening with a first-rate companion.” Without giving him a chance to answer she pulled him down to her eye level and kissed him sweetly. “Thirty minutes, I’m walking in the door, so please let’s not have a repeat of Memorial Day, okay?” She finally got a smile out of him.

  Andrew looked down at Renee with affection and thanks. He was terribly glad for her presence but he still tried a lame joke. “Yeah, but suppose I’m not dressed when you get there? Are you going to hide in a closet again or take advantage of me?” he drawled.

  “Don’t go there, Andy. You couldn’t handle me tonight, trust me,” Renee said dryly.

  Andrew laughed, not realizing the wealth of truth in Renee’s statement. Already feeling better, he got into his car and took off for home.

  ***

  It was amazing what a difference a
few hours could make. Now Andrew was relaxed, well fed and completely happy. Renee was true to her word and in about a half an hour she had appeared at his duplex with a large carton which gave off an extremely enticing aroma. She had gone to a restaurant that specialized in home cooking for hapless yuppies and gotten a carry out meal of some of his favorite foods; roast chicken, mashed potatoes with a hint of garlic, fresh mixed vegetables and a green salad. Plus a nice blueberry pie for dessert. She and Andrew both had a weakness for blueberries. She had even stopped off to get Breyer’s vanilla ice cream, the only commercially prepared ice cream that Andrew would consume. Andrew was overcome at her thoughtfulness. This was yet another surprising side of Renee.

  Once she was able to get his blood sugar back to normal with a good meal and get his disposition back to its normal temperate range, she was ready to find out what had him so angry at the hospital. A favorite Michael Franks CD was playing softly in the background and Andrew was lying on his massive sofa with his head in Renee’s lap. She was softly stroking his temples and massaging his scalp. He was practically purring with contentment when Renee started probing.

  “Andrew. What got you so upset today, honey? I don’t think it was just the incident with the Pepsi,” she stated quietly. Andrew sighed deeply. With his eyes still closed, he began to speak.

  “You’re right, it wasn’t just the thing about the Pepsi, although God knows I wish people would use common sense sometimes. Earlier today, I had a consultation with a young couple about their son. They have been waiting months for this appointment, because you know how backed up I am for new patients. And they wanted elective surgery, which I do not do. This couple--young, well off--has a beautiful son, 4 years old. Absolutely beautiful child, perfectly healthy. The child has Down’s syndrome, and he has the facial characteristics of a Down’s child. These people wanted me to surgically alter this child’s face so that he wouldn’t look like a retard anymore,” Andrew finished sadly.

  Renee was horrified. “Andy! Did they really say retard?”

  Andrew admitted that they had not. “But they may as well have said it. I was as calm as I could be given the circumstances. I didn’t cuss them out or throw them out of my office. I didn’t even show them pictures of some of my most difficult cases and tell them to get their sorry asses to a church to pray for forgiveness for being so damned shallow and empty-headed. I explained that this was not the kind of work I did and suggested that they get another consultation from their original doctor.

  “They admitted that their doctor had referred them to someone else but they wanted me because I’m the best. I told them that I didn’t think that this kind of surgery was in the best interest of the child and urged them to consider their options very carefully before doing anything rash. Then they left. And the sad thing, Renee, is that I think they genuinely do love their child. They weren’t deliberately being cruel and stupid; they’ve just bought into the whole idea of beauty like everyone else has. They really think that their child will be better off in life if he looks like something other than what he is which is a sweet, healthy child with challenges.” Andrew sighed again, and it seemed to come from the depths of his soul.

  He sat up then, and swung his legs around so that he was sitting next to Renee. He looked at her with a bleak expression and went on: “It was just bad timing that made me have to check on Harry after they left. When I saw that sweet little kid, and thought about how much pain he’s in and how even after 12 surgeries he is going to look like a jigsaw puzzle, I just kind of lost it. These people want to buy a new face for their kid just because they can, and poor Harry couldn’t even get a damned Pepsi. I snapped,” he admitted. “I just hope those nurses can forgive me,” he mused. “You think flowers will do it, or should I treat them all to lunch?”

  Renee was so flooded with emotion she could barely speak. “I think they’d like lunch a lot, Andy,” she whispered. She locked her arms around his neck and just held on tight.

  Renee was amazed at the feelings she was experiencing. She had such affection for Andrew at that moment that she could hardly breathe. All she wanted was to take all of his pain away, just absorb it into her body so that he wouldn’t feel it any more. They sat with their arms wrapped around each other for a long time, saying nothing. Gradually, the warm and loving feelings turned into something else. It’s hard to say who moved first, but their arms were no longer locked around each other, they were stroking each other with growing passion.

  Renee’s face was no longer buried in Andrew’s neck; she was rubbing against his cheek. She loved the way his beard felt against her skin; she moaned softly and then sighed as he stroked it down her neck. Somehow she found herself in his lap and they were kissing with abandon. Renee’s fingers were buried in his hair as their lips and tongues were dancing over each other in a wet swirl of sensation that was simply amazing. She pulled away from his lips just long enough to sink her teeth gently into his lower lip and pull it into her mouth.

  “You have the sweetest mouth in the world,” she sighed before kissing him again. Renee was absolutely lost. She couldn’t ever remember feeling so much passion; she simply didn’t think she was capable. And yet, in Andrew’s arms she was on fire. Andrew seemed to know just how to hold her, just how to kiss her to make everything wonderful. Even when his long, clever hands slid from her waist and traveled up past her ribcage to her breasts, she didn’t panic. Her breath came out in a soft burst of air and she sighed his name, “Andy…”

  Even after her blouse was undone and he had his hands on the clasp of her bra, Renee didn’t react except to move closer to his warm hands and his hot body. But when the clasp was undone and Andrew lowered his head to her breast, Renee started trembling all over. Oh my God, what am I doing? she thought. Andrew felt the change in her immediately and raised his head with a look of concern on his face.

  “Am I hurting you, Renee? Is this too soon, too rough, too anything?” he asked, baffled by the look on her face. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t speaking and he had no idea what was wrong. She wasn’t fighting him, but she wasn’t exactly participating, either. Just then, a beeper sounded. Renee was off his lap like a frog on a hot plate. Grabbing her Coach bag, she looked at the pager clipped to the strap. With every indication of relief she announced that it was her pager. “It’s the alarm company. Something is wrong at Urban Oasis,” she said hastily as she made a quick job of buttoning everything up. “I have to go meet the police, so I’ll be going now, I’ll talk to you later,” she said as she made for the door.

  Andrew’s long arm braced the door shut and he looked at her as if she had lost all her reason. “Renee, it’s late and you’re not going down there alone. Are you crazy? I’m coming with you,” he said in a tone that suggested she not argue.

  Feebly she countered, “But Andy, I do it all the time. Bennie and I both do, it’s no big deal.”

  Andrew’s brows lowered in a knot. “Well it’s a big damned deal now. And I will deal with Benita later. Come on,” he said roughly as he took her arm and led her out of the duplex.

  ***

  It was a false alarm, as it always was. Someone hadn’t turned off a panel of lights, which triggered a sensor in the overly alert alarm system. It knew that something was not as it should be and did its little job of alerting the alarm company, which alerted Renee as the first name on the call list. The nice young officer who met them at the door walked the premises with Renee to make sure nothing else was amiss, while Andrew made his own inspection. After the officer left, Renee turned to Andrew.

  “See? I told you it was nothing. It happens fairly infrequently, but I can handle it when it does. It was strictly a non-event,” she said breezily.

  “I don’t care what you say, Renee. It’s dangerous for you to be coming down here alone at night to meet a policeman. From now on, either I come or one of the other boys comes. Or you get yourself a security guard. If something happened to you I would lose my damned mind, and that’s a fact. Not to mention
what Benita and the rest of the family would do, or your family. Don’t even think about attempting something like this again, do you hear me?”

  Andrew looked so forbidding and serious, yet so utterly sweet and loveable that all Renee could do was say “Yes, Andy.” He was really concerned about her! They stood in the middle of the reception area staring at each other, but Andrew was still basically glowering. Renee knew just what would put him in a better frame of mind. She took his hand and offered him a tour of the spa. “I don’t think you’ve seen everything around here,” she began. “Let me show you the works.”

  She walked him through the various rooms in the spa, skipping the salon, which he had already seen. She showed him the various facial rooms, the areas for waxing and body wraps and the room just for manicures and pedicures. Then she took him into the massage room. “This is everybody’s favorite room,” she said in a low, sultry voice.

  Andrew looked disinterestedly at the room--it looked like no big whoop to him. It was in the same soothing green as the other rooms, but it was hardly furnished at all. It just had three rather high tables that looked too tall for anything really useful. He was still pissed by the idea that Renee thought it sensible to come traipsing in here at all odd hours of the night. And his sister did the same. These women had no idea of personal safety, none at all. Gruffly he said, “So what’s the big deal? What kind of abuse goes on in here?” He didn’t mean to sound so crabby, but this day was wearing on him.

  Renee seemed to understand perfectly, though. She simply drew him into the room with a sweet smile on her face. “This is the massage room, honey. This is where you get all the knots and kinks and stress rubbed right out of you.” Before Andrew could react to that statement, Renee had made him an offer he couldn’t possibly refuse. “How about you take off that shirt and get up on that table and I give you a massage? And how about a Jacuzzi to follow?” she asked seductively.

  Andrew was undressed almost before she finished speaking. True to her word, Renee gave a great massage. Andrew had no idea how tensed he was until Renee’s fingers started to release all the stiffness and tension from his knotted muscles. She had strong, capable hands which seemed to know exactly how to find the source of the strain and get rid of it. He was in a state of complete bliss, thanks to her loving ministrations. He moaned his pleasure as her warm hands rubbed and stroked and massaged every inch of his strongly muscled back.