The Sanctuary II: Lost and Found

by Larry Richardson

  “You aren’t sure?” Steve asked. Charlie looked to Diane for confirmation. She turned to Steve.

  “Diane is my first name. Gayle is my middle name and Stoddard is my married name.”

  “Steve, this is the first girl I ever called sweetheart. Diane, this is my son, Steve.” Diane reached out to shake Steve’s hand.

  “Oh my. You look just like your father did when he was young.”

  “Really? You knew him when he was young? Dad, you are just full of surprises today, aren’t you?”

  Inside Elpie’s office, Phil checked his watch.

  “You think we left them alone long enough?” Phil said.

  “I don’t think I can stand to wait any longer,” Elpie said.

  “Let’s go!” Jessica said. They quietly opened the door and Phil peered out to see Charlie and Diane entwined in each other’s arms, sharing with Steve the precious memories of their whirlwind romance 50 years earlier. Dillie sat beside them as if she were part of the family.

  “And, Dad, you left her to fly another mission before you tied the knot?”

  “Son, your mother was a wonderful lady and we had 42 good years together. She raised you well and filled our home with love. I will always hold her dear to my heart. I just have to believe that before God brought Diane and me back together today, he got your mother’s permission first. I believe she’s up there in heaven smiling down at us right now.” Charlie reached over and gave his son a hug.

  “I love you, Steve. You’re my arrow shot into the future, going where I can’t follow.” Steve checked his watch, a life-long habit that had become a reflex.

  “Dad, are you staying or leaving?” Stave said.

  “You gotta be crazy if you think I’m going to leave this girl now. I already made that mistake once. You go on ahead, son, I’m staying put.”

  Phil cleared his throat to announce the presence of himself and his two fellow voyeurs. Elpie could no longer restrain herself.

  “Good Lord almighty, look at you two! Happy as turtle doves in a nest made of roses.” Diane laughed.

  “This has to be the most amazing reunion ever,” Phil said.

  “I’m so happy for both of you,” Jessica said.

  “Well, I’m going to hit the road,” Stave said. He stood to say good-bye when Diane suddenly went limp and began gasping for air.

  “Diane – what’s wrong? Diane?” He flashed a desperate look at the two nurses. “Something’s wrong!” he said in a panic. Phil got to Gayle first and lifted her up.

  “What’s the matter, Gayle?” he said. Elpie rushed to her side as well.

  “I need to lie down. I’m just so… so light-headed.”

  “Here, let’s get you to your bed,” Elpie said. Phil put her arm around Gayle’s waist and walked her to her room, while Elpie grabbed a medical kit and followed. Jessica reached out to Charlie and took his hand.

  “What happened, Charlie?” Jessica said.

  “I don’t know. She just kind of fainted all of a sudden.”

  “Well, maybe she just needs to rest. This has been a lot for her to handle,” Jessica said. Phil popped his head out of Gayle’s room.

  “Jessica, bring me Gayle’s chart.” Jessica let go of Charlie’s hand.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go,” she said.

  “Please let me go with you,” Charlie said. Jessica pulled open a drawer and flipped through the files.

  “No, I can’t let you in there right now. I’m so sorry,” Jessica said. She found the chart and ran it into Gayle’s room. Charlie buried his face in his hands. Steve put his arm around his father’s shoulder. Dillie noticed the fear on the faces of her new family, and joined them by putting her arm around Steve’s waist and leaned against him. Steve was not quite sure what to do about Dillie. He finally accepted her and put his arm around Dillie, drawing her next to him. The three stood huddled together.

  Elpie suddenly rushed from Gayle’s room back to the nurses’ station to look in the medicine cart.

  “What’s wrong?! What’s going on?” Charlie said.

  “Gayle’s not feeling well.”

  “How serious is it?”

  “I don’t know. It could be just one of her spells. We’re checking her now.” With medicine in hand, Elpie raced back to Gayle’s room.

  “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Dad,” Steve offered for lack of knowing what else to say.

  “I just wish they’d tell me what’s happening,” Charlie said. Dillie decided to take charge.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get to the bottom of this! They can’t keep me out!” she announced. Without hesitation, she barged into Gayle’s room. Charlie and Steve watched in stunned silence as the door closed behind her.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing serious, and she’s surrounded by nurses,” Steve said.

  “We just found each other today after all these years. And now – I can’t lose her again,” Charlie said. “There’s so much I should have told you, Steve. And I will. I owe you that.”

  “We’ll work it out, Dad,” Steve said. Suddenly Elpie burst from Gayle’s room and grabbed the house phone at the nursing station and dialed.

  “Yes, this is The Sanctuary… We have a mid-seventies female in full cardiac… barely responsive… No warning, just collapsed… We need an ambulance immediately. We’re wheeling her out to the front door right now… Yes, good idea. Just hurry.” Elpie hung up the phone.

  “Where are you going? Where are you taking her?” Charlie said.

  “We gotta get her to the emergency rom. The hospital’s waiting for her,” Elpie said.

  “Oh my God. Is she dying? I have to be with her!” Charlie said. Elpie tried to stop Charlie just as the door to Gayle’s room swung open with Phil pushing a narrow hospital bed through the doorway and into the hall. A woman lay stretched out on it, covered up to her neck with a bed sheet. An oxygen mask covered her face. Charlie rushed to her side.

  “Diane, I’m right here,” he said, as he removed the mask to give her a kiss. He suddenly recoiled.

  “Wait a minute – this isn’t Diane. It’s Dillie,” Phil continued pushing the bed from the rear.

  “Charlie, please move! We’ve got to get Dillie to emergency,” Phil said. Dillie grabbed at her mask, desperate to speak. Phil gently wrestled with her to keep her oxygen mask in place. Before he could get the mask over her mouth, Dillie raised her arm into the air and cried out.

  “My son! I need my son!” she moaned as she reached out for Steve.

  “Your son? Oh, honey, he’s not…” Phil started to say, when Steve stopped him in mid-sentence.

  “Wait!” Steve called out. “I’m here, Mother. I’m right here.” He leaned over Dillie and took her hand. “I am not leaving you.” Phil repositioned her oxygen mask and with Steve and Jessica, they rolled Dillie down the hallway to meet the ambulance.

  After the chaos subsided, the nursing station suddenly turned silent. Charlie stood alone, not quite sure what just happened. “So, where is Diane?” he suddenly thought to himself. He looked to the left and right, then his eyes fixed on the doorway to Diane’s room. There she was, standing in the doorway looking back at Charlie.

  “Diane? I thought you were—I thought I was losing you again. What happened? What just happened here?!”

  “Oh, you dear, dear man. My blood pressure was acting up, so they were just making sure I was okay when Dillie barged in and just… she just collapsed on the floor. Dillie’s on the way to E.R., not me. I’m fine now.” Charlie walked over to Diane and swept her into his arms. Elpie eased herself around the two lovebirds and returned to the nursing station to fill out the incident report.

  “I once asked a beautiful young nurse if she believed that Fate brought us together. And she answered in the affirmative—in quite a remarkable way as I recall,” Charlie said. Diane blushed.

  “Yes, she certainly did,” Diane said.

  “Then it seems to me Fate is trying one more time to put us together. Do you believe that once l
ove is lost it can be found again?” Charlie said.

  “Yes, I do. Now, I just have one question for you, Charlie.”

  “What’s that?” Charlie said.

  “Do you still have that Sinatra record?” Charlie grinned.

  “Would you like to hear it?”

  “I would love to.”

  “I want to show you something,” Charlie said. He walked over to the box filled with his nightstand nick knacks. From the bottom of the box he pulled out a book – the biography of Billy Mitchell. He handed it to Diane.

  “I remember this book. You had it with you in Honolulu,” Diane said.

  “Look inside,” Charlie said. She opened the book and it naturally opened where something inside acted as a book mark. It was a perfectly flattened yellow hibiscus flower, the very flower she had worn at the luau they attended 50 years earlier. She suddenly took a breath.

  “You kept this flower all these years,” she whispered. “How?”

  “When the Navy classified me as dead, they shipped all my belongings to my parents here in Billings, including my Billy Michell novel. When I came home, the first thing I asked for was the box with my personal effects. And there it was, right where I put it. I’ve kept it ever since.”

  “That’s just unbelievable,” Diane said. Charlie turned to Elpie.

  “Would you call us a taxi, please?”

  “I’d be happy to,” said Elpie. Charlie turned to Diane.

  “It’s just about lunch time. Are you hungry?” Charlie said.

  “I could eat. What did you have in mind.”

  “I’ve got hot dogs and relish in my fridge. What do you say?”

  “I haven’t had a hot dog in years. I’d love to,” Diane said. Charlie took her by the hand and turned to leave.

  “And make sure she’s back before midnight,” Elpie said.

  At the front entrance to The Sanctuary, an ambulance sat idling, waiting for the patient to arrive. The double doors of the facility opened and both Phil and Jessica pushed the hospital bed out under the canopy, with Dillie still clutching Steve’s hand. One of the EMTs jumped out of the rig and helped load Dillie onboard.

  “You can let go of her hand now,” the EMT told Steve.

  “No, I’m going with her,” Steve said.

  “Are you a relative?” Steve thought for a moment.

  “Yeah – I’m her son,” Steve said.

  “Climb aboard,” the EMT nodded. Then he closed the back doors and the ambulance sped taway.

  Charlie and Diane were halfway down the hallway, when they passed Phil and Jessica wheeling back Diane’s empty hospital bed. Charlie stopped and turned to Phil.

  “Where’s Steve?”

  “He went with Dillie in the ambulance. He’s going to see her all the way through,” Phil said.

  “Good boy,” Charlie whispered to himself. Then he turned to Diane.

  “Would you excuse me just one minute?”

  “You’re not leaving me again, are you?” Diane said.

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’m just going to say good bye to the post commander,” Charlie said.

  “All right. Don’t be long,” she said. Charlie let her hand go and led Phil out of earshot of anyone, then put his arm on Phil’s shoulder.

  “I got mine, at last,” Charlie said. “It took me 50 years. Now, what about you?”

  “What about me?” Phil echoed.

  “Where’s your woman?” Charlie said. Phil sighed.

  “She’s out of reach. I’m afraid I lost her,” Charlie said. Phil glanced over at Diane, then looked back at Phil in full military attitude.

  “Mister, you go find her. Whatever it takes. Whatever mountain you gotta climb, whatever ocean you gotta swim.”

  “I’m afraid it’s just not there anymore,” Phil said. “Not like you and Diane.”

  “Do you love her?” Charlie asked.

  “More than oxygen,” Phil said.

  “I’d give anything to get those lost 50 years back. But you don’t have to wait 50 years. Go get her now and make her yours for all time,” Charlie said.

  “I don’t know how,” Phil said.

  “Sure you do – the same way you put me and Diane back together. Now, just go do it.” He gave Phil a wink, then turned to Diane, and the two love birds excused themselves for a long overdue reunion.

  “Hey, Charlie,” Phil called out. “Don’t break anything!”

  “Roger that!” Charlie said. Then the two disappeared down the hallway.

  Jessica sat down with Elpie at the nurses’ station to make chart notes. Elpie looked up at Phil.

  “Mr. Branson, don’t you have a plane to catch?” Phil suddenly gasped and checked his watch - 11:45 a.m.

  “I gotta go,” he said. Then he turned on his heels and raced to the front door.

  Chapter 27

  Phil ran to the front desk of The Sanctuary, where Tina sat talking on the phone.

  “No, Annie, I haven’t seen him all morning,” she said. “Yes, I’ll try to track him down.” She hung up just as Phil came into view.

  “There you are,” Tina said. “That was Annie on the line. She wants to know if you’re coming.”

  “Call her back – tell her I’m going to break some laws getting there, but I’m on my way,” Phil said. “Good bye.” He ran out the front door and into his car, where his travel bag sat ready in the back seat. Tina dialed Annie’s number.

  “Annie? This is Tina. I just spoke to Phil as he was running out the door…that’s right, he’s on his way,” Tina said. “Good luck, girl. We’re all pulling for you tonight.”

  Ordinarily, the drive from The Sanctuary to the airport took a half hour. Phil did it in 20 minutes. He parked in the long-term lot, grabbed his bag, and ran to check-in. He decided to carry his bag on the flight rather than check it through, to save time at this end and the other end. When he got his boarding pass, he made an urgent request to the ticket agent.

  “Is the flight on schedule?” Phil asked.

  “Yes, sir. But I don’t know if you’re going to make it. They’re closing the door in about ten minutes.” Phil pointed his finger at the agent.

  “Tell them to hold that flight,” he said, then bolted. The agent picked up the phone.

  “Try to hold Flight 325 – we’ve got a runner heading your way.”

  The security check-in seemed insufferably long. The man in front of him kept setting off the metal detector. Phil tried to remain calm, but felt the final grains of the hour glass about to fall. Once through security, he ran down the concourse to his gate. The agent spotted him and waved him on.

  “Hurry up – they’re getting ready to close the door.”

  Nearly winded, Phil pleaded for mercy.

  “You’ve gotta open this door – I have to be on this flight.” The agent punched in the pass code and opened the jetway door. Phil jogged down the jetway as the flight attendant waved him on. He stepped into the jet and saw the cockpit door still open. He turned to the flight crew inside the cockpit and fell to his knees, bowing in gratitude. Before he rose to his feet, the cabin door closed and the stewardess urged him to take a seat. The captain got on the loud speaker.

  “Now that we are all here, we are ready to taxi to the runway. Our flight today from Billings to Denver is an hour and a half, and we are next in line for take-off.”

  Phil found his seat, stowed his bag, and plunked himself down in a pool of sweat. He turned to his seatmate.

  “Don’t even ask.”

  The flight gave Phil a chance to compose himself and make a few calculations. He would arrive in Denver at 2:30. His connecting flight to L.A. left at 3:10. That gave him 40 minutes to change planes – easy enough. The L.A. flight took two and a half hours, arriving in LA at 4:40 pacific time. That would give him an hour and twenty minutes to get off the plane, out of the terminal, into a taxi, and over to the Beverly Hilton Hotel at the worst time of day for freeway traffic.

  “I’ll never make it
,” he thought.

  The flight attendant passed through the aisle offering drinks and snacks. Phil took a bottle of water and rehydrated. He pulled out the in-flight magazine to distract him from his anxiety, and aimlessly flipped through the pages. Unable to focus on any article in particular, he closed it and slipped it back into the seat pocket. The emergency safety card caught his eye. He pulled it out and studied the location of each emergency exit.

  “Good to know,” he thought, then he scanned the nearest exit and imagined who he would have to step over to get out. He looked out his window at the vast arid expanse below and wondered why nobody ever built a town in the middle of Wyoming. The minutes ticked by excruciatingly slow.

  “We are preparing to land in Denver. We need everyone to put their seatbacks and tray tables in their upright and locked position,” declared the flight attendant. Phil envisioned his journey to Annie as divided into three segments: two flight segments and one ground segment.

  “One down – two to go,” he whispered.

  The 737 touched down and taxied to the C concourse in Denver. Phil disembarked and searched for the nearest gate agent.

  “The 3:10 L.A. flight – what gate is it at?” Phil asked. The agent checked his schedule sheet.

  “Gate A-45.” The worst news. It meant he had to take the plane train to switch concourses, burning valuable time. He descended to the train station, waited for the next run, and schlepped his travel bag to his gate just as gate agent made the final call. He took his seat and settled in for a long flight. He closed his eyes, hoping for a nap, but only managed to silence his travel demons to make room for more pressing romantic distress.

  “Will she want me at this point, or has she already lined up my replacement? A castmate? A producer maybe? Or even the stunt coordinator? He looked pretty brawny when I saw him on the set,” he thought. Phil kicked himself for hesitating, doubting, expecting the worst, instead of diving head first into the arms of love. If she would only have him, he vowed to be worthy.

  “We are making our final approach into Los Angeles,” the loud speaker declared, waking Phil from the short nap he drifted into. He buckled up and braced himself for the final leg of his journey to Annie. Wheels down – “Welcome to Los Angeles” – rolling up to the gate – the final stop – and as one, the passengers all stood to file out. From concourse to curbside, Phil checked his watch – 4:55 p.m. One hour to go. He raised his hand.