Love is a Finite Experience

by B Anders

  The man looked stunned at Harper’s sudden and dramatic change of tone, before shaking his head and waving the Captain over. As Brady pushed her way through the crowd assembled around the spectacle. It was clear to Harper that the cell phones were still rolling. Things could still work to her advantage.

  "What happened here, ma’am? Are you okay?"

  "Captain Brady," Harper greeted her with a breathless urgency missing seconds before. “I need your help.”

  Chase rolled his eyes knowing he'd been had.

  "I was assaulted out of the blue by the witch in the hideous skirt. The hostess saw what happened, and if you need it, I’m sure there are more than a few people here with video evidence of the attack." Harper explained. "My partner, Courtney Denis, attempted to defend me. She’s hurt. Please, I need you to get her to the hospital!"

  Brady turned around to assess the women kneeling behind her. "Davis, you release Ms. Denis’ cuffs and let her sit on the floor, and have dispatch call the paramedics. Tell them we had an incident resulting in moderately severe facial lacerations and a possible concussion. Arroyo, you bring our friend there over to the office. I think she’s needs a time-out."

  "Of course, good Christians like me are persecuted for our beliefs while abominations like her are molly-coddled. Discrimination against good, honest, God-fearing people. The Angel said to me you shall see the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth!” The woman screamed as she struggled violently against her restraints, white flecks of foam spraying out from her open mouth.

  Captain Brady stepped within inches of the woman’s face and stared her down. "You shut the fuck up. You’re drunk to high heaven. What you need is a couple hours in the tank to sleep off all that bootleg moonshine you’ve been swilling, and after that you’re gonna see what the wrath of Corporate America looks like, lady. You are going to feel some brimstone smoking you right here on earth." The woman was silenced by the statement. "God-fearing my ass. You smell like a run-away beer cart. Get her out of here, Arroyo, before I lose my patience."

  Leaving park security to escort the spitting woman away, Harper hurried to Courtney's side and held her close, gently stroking her hair back from her brow. "It's going to be okay. Honest, I'm going to make sure it's okay. I can't lose you too."

  "Never," Courtney mumbled from her stupor. “Can’t believe I got knocked out. Fuck.”

  Harper felt hands guiding her out of the way when the paramedics arrived. Everything was moving in slow motion. Harper knew she was speaking to the paramedics, but she could make out what she was saying. Her eyes were fixed on Courtney lying so still on the ground.

  "Ma'am, Ma'am, did you hear me?" Captain Brady asked.

  Harper shook her head and wanted to believe she said no, but couldn't be sure.

  "They’re going to put your partner in the ambulance. She needs a scan to rule out any internal bleeding, and you're going with them. You need to see a doctor too about those nasty cuts on your face. Joe Rizzo will meet you at the hospital. He’ll take care of both of you there. Whatever you need, he’ll get it for you."

  "I only need her to be okay," Harper finally tore her gaze from the men bundling Courtney onto the stretcher in order to fix her sights on Brady. "Please, is she okay?"

  "The doctors need to make sure your friend’s okay," Brady said in an official voice before adding in an almost conspiracy tone, "I think she really just got her bell rung good. She went for the other woman like a prizefighter, my guys tell me. Tackled the assailant and popped her a couple of good ones. Would have knocked the woman out cold too if it wasn’t for a lucky left that got her right on the button. Happens when you have a glass jaw."

  Harper looked anxiously at the ambulance crew taking Courtney away on a stretcher. Then noticed that one of the paramedics was coming back to get her. She gave him a nod and met him half way. The paramedic led her out the restaurant and into the ambulance waiting outside. The sunlight was so bright she could barely see. Meekly she allowed him to help her into the passenger seat and buckle her up. Courtney was in the back, behind her out of her line of sight, but she could at least listen to the crew bark instructions to the hospital and vice versa. The stream of words didn’t seem urgent, ‘stable’ and ‘normal’ were used several times. Harper thought ‘concussion’ didn't sound so good, but strong vitals sort of made up for that. When the conversation switched to her, facial lacerations were mentioned. For the first time, Harper thought about her face. She flipped the ambulance visor down and looked at the damage reflected in the mirror.

  "Shit, no wonder Courtney flipped out," Harper gasped. “I looked like I got my face mangled in a shredding machine.”

  There was a small bruise and cut at the left corner of her mouth. But, the right cheek had a long livid cut and an ugly bruise was forming.

  "That lady must have caught you on the cheek with her diamond," the driver observed. “Nasty cut.”

  Harper shook her head. "People like that don't have diamonds. They barely have lives. I've probably been scarred for life by a cubic zirconia." She thought about it for a moment and then corrected her statement. "No, she hit me with a glass. She picked up a wine glass from the table. That bitch hit me in the face with a glass."

  "What the fuck," the driver chuckled. "Well, at least you weren't cut up by some fake diamond. That would be as bad as dying wearing flats. Now, that my friend would be tragic."

  Harper deadpanned. "For you and the rest of the world, yes, for me it's an expectation. God, why are we even talking about this?"

  "It helps distract you during the ride." The driver paused then asked, "Your friend is going to be fine, you do know that, right? She probably won't even need to stay overnight. They'll probably just run a few tests, give her an aspirin for the headache, and push her out the door."

  "Really? Are you sure?" Harper felt close to tears. “I don’t want anything to happen to her. She’s my best friend. No, she my only friend.”

  "That close huh. Well don’t you worry. Your friend took a hard crack to the jaw. She's going to have a horrible headache, the skin on her chin is split, but nothing’s broken. We would have seen some changes in her condition by now if this was a crisis." The man paused as if he had second thoughts about what he said and quickly added, "But, the docs are best making that call after a CT or an MRI. You let them do their business of taking care of her."

  "I hear what you're really saying," Harper replied. "And, thanks."

  "Hey," the man smiled and winked as they pulled into the ambulance bay of the hospital. "Anything for family. I'd even slip a nice pair of red stilettos on you if I found you in a ditch somewhere."

  Harper actually laughed. "Now that's something to look forward to."

  ***

  Harper left the emergency room under the care of a nurse, who carefully guided her out into the corridor by her elbow. On her cheek, there was a fresh white bandage. It had taken four stitches to close the gash on her face. Harper wanted to pull away from the nurse, but found she didn't have the energy to do anything after the shot they gave her. Harper was only marginally aware that, since the shot, she had been lingering in a half-waking, half-sleeping world. That suddenly changed when she saw Courtney in the waiting area propped up in an oversized wheelchair. She was speaking to a middle-aged man with a protruding belly. He was well dressed sporting an expensive silk suit complete with gold Graeme cuff links.

  "That man talking to Courtney. He’s Rizzo, that guy's name is Rizzo, but I don't know how I know that," Harper said to the nurse. “But, I do.”

  "Yes," she answered patiently. "That’s Joe Rizzo from Guest Relations. He’s here to assist you and your friend in any way he can."

  "Okay, that sounds good, I guess," Harper stumbled over he
r words. “I want to get to Courtney. Have to make sure she's okay."

  “Easy. Let me help you there, and then I’ll let your friend take over.” The nurse said kindly.

  Rizzo stood as Harper approached. He helped the nurse guide Harper to the seat next to him. Harper was sitting across from Courtney who looked remarkably clear-eyed in spite of the bruising on her face.

  "You okay?" Harper asked. “Did she hurt you bad? I was so afraid. You didn’t have to defend me. I'm a grown up. I won’t have held it against you, honest. But, I'm kind of glad you did. It was sweet, but you could have been hurt. You shouldn't have, but I'm glad you cared..."

  "It's okay. Relax."

  Courtney reached over to take Harper's hand. Harper met her halfway, cautious at first as if uncertain of the other woman’s intentions, her grip soon firm when she felt Courtney softly squeeze her hand in return. They continued holding hands oblivious to the smiles of the people around them.

  "I'm fine, Harper. Hard head. Harder jaw. I boxed a little growing up. They thought it was a good way for me to express myself. I can’t believe I let myself get knocked out by a middle-aged Teabagger in a horrendous skirt. Maybe that’s why I gave it up and took up track instead. You don't look so good, though.”

  The nurse chimed in, "She was a little anxious when they took you to the exam room..."

  "I got hysterical," Harper clarified. “I didn’t know where you were. They just took you away on the stretcher talking shit about hippos.”

  "HIPPA," the nurse corrected. "So anyway, the doctor gave Harper a little something to take the edge off."

  "Massive dose of Xanax. They doped me to the gills and gave me four stitches. I feel much calmer now."

  Courtney gave Harper’s hand another gentle squeeze. "I’m so sorry, Harper. I didn’t use my head. I should have let security handle her and taken care of you instead.”

  “It’s okay. I have you back now.”

  “God, I hope it’s not going to scar. I’m going to arrange for you to get that looked at when you get back to Boston by my mother’s plastic surgeon. That man can fix anything.”

  “You ruined your Armani suit.”

  Courtney gave a short glance at the tattered remains of a thousand dollar suit. “I can buy another damn suit, I can’t buy another you. Who would think we would get rolled at a medieval castle. Harper, you and I are just not having any kind of luck at this park. Maybe we should call it quits and go do something safe like swim with the manatees. Those things don’t bite do they?"

  "I think this is where I come in," Rizzo spoke in a rumbling baritone. "While there was no way management could have foreseen such an attack..."

  Harper gave a stage whisper, "He's covering the lawsuit angle by disclaiming responsibility."

  Rizzo choose to ignore the remark. "We will, of course, cover the medical expenses incurred from this unfortunate experience. As guests, your well-being is of paramount importance to us, and we are very sorry that something unpleasant has occurred to mar your stay with us.”

  "Wow, that's good because I don't think I have health insurance since you fired me, Courtney," Harper babbled away. “Oh wait, didn’t you say I was covered for another thirty days? Corduroy…No Cobra. Yep, snake like insurance. Yes, you did. I’m glad you tell me things.”

  "Shh, try to listen to all the words, okay?" Courtney's calm tone coaxed Harper into nodding agreement.

  Rizzo gave a kind smile. "We would also like to extend our hospitality beyond the medical expenses. We would like the both of you to be our guests in the exclusive Royal Suite at the Castle. Usually, it's reserved as a one-night prize given at random to a lucky park goer or a visiting VIP. However, we would very much like you two to return there today to rest. Then tomorrow you can enjoy the park, have dinner at the Castle, and enjoy a second night in the suite."

  "What's the catch?" Harper’s words were slurred. "You want us to sign a legal release? Not press charges or something like that?"

  "Harper..." Courtney was going to hiss a warning, but Rizzo stopped her with a hardy laugh.

  "No, catch. Honest. Swear to it on my squirrel tail." His features sobered a bit when he realized both women were not convinced. "We have very few acts of violence on our campus. Guest on guest assault is very rare. I want to assure you that the reason for the assault this afternoon is the antithesis of our mission, company policy, and American values. We feel terrible about what happened. This is a small gesture on our part to try to make up for this unpleasant experience.”

  "Have you spoken to my company's legal representative, Eddie Lopez?" Courtney asked her eyes narrowing into slits.

  "Yes, I spoke to Eddie, and I also personally explained the situation to your boss, Bill Walden. Bill’s an old friend of mine. We went to the same frat at college. Courtney, Bill said, he’ll check in with you in the morning, and he wanted me to tell you that you are on medical leave as of right now. Look, I promised him I would take care of the both of you and I intend to keep that promise." Rizzo added with a hint of fatherly warning. "I intend to keep that promise even if it means bringing you both back to my place."

  Harper crinkled her nose, "Pumpkin, let's stay at the Castle. He probably lives in the Everglades, and I don’t like gators very much. Too many teeth."

  Rizzo choked back a chuckle forcing a tight smile from Courtney. "Okay, the Castle it is."

  ***

  It was a smooth ride in the town car to their destination. Along the route, Rizzo made a couple of calls to arrange for Courtney's and Harper's bags to be brought over from the hotel.

  "I really thought you had just the one bag, the hard case." Courtney questioned, "Where did the duffle come from?"

  "I got it today. You know, for souvenirs," Harper muttered the lie easily despite being drunk on Xanax and on the verge of tears.

  "What's wrong? Are you feeling ill?" Rizzo asked.

  Harper did cry then. "Boston, I was supposed to go back and tell her a bedtime story. She'll be so sad I never showed up. I promised her."

  "Harp, she won't know the difference if you show up tomorrow and tell her one then," Courtney reassured. “She’s a dog. She’ll be glad to see you whenever.”

  "It’s not the same," Harper was inconsolable. "And, she’s not just a dog. She’s my baby, and it's not just the meds talking...Crying here. I'm really sad."

  "No," Courtney put her arm around Harper's shoulders. "No, it is the meds screwing you up and Boston’s fine where she is, so stop worrying. We need to get you cleaned up and into bed."

  Harper sobbed. "I don't think you're right about that. My heart is breaking thinking about Boston all alone waiting for me to come see her. She probably won’t even recognize me tomorrow."

  Rizzo checked his watch then rubbed his chin before checking his watch again. With a loud sigh, he pulled out his cell phone and began to dial.

  "A seizure dog, you say. Your dog is a trained seizure dog?"

  Harper was shaking her head when Courtney answered, "No not seizure. Anxiety attack. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She helps Harper keep calm when she’s upset, like now. We just don't, you know, have the paperwork with us."

  "No problem," Rizzo replied before speaking directly to someone at the other end of the phone. "Yes, our guests will have their service dog with them. See to the arrangements. Our ETA is twenty minutes." He disconnected the call before speaking to the driver. "Make a detour to the kennels. We have another passenger to pick up."

  "Yes, sir," Noah said.

  "Hey, I recognize that voice. It's him, the nice kid from the other night! What was that, a week ago?" Harper perked up to ask.

  Noah held back any humor as he replied, "It was last night, ma'am."

  "Time flies when you're getting beaten up by a drunken redneck bible thumper," Courtney grumbled as she nursed her sore jaw. “Fuckin’ Red States. This is the last time I’m travelling south of the Dixie Line, off-site or no off-site.”

  Rizzo was on the phone with the kennel obli
vious to the conversation swirling around him. “It’s Joe Rizzo. Yes, I'm fine thank you. I need you to get a dog ready for an immediate pick up...Under the name of…"

  “Courtney Denis.” Courtney answered, “Boston’s a small pit bull mix with black and white cow like markings. For the love of God, make sure you get the right dog and not some cute ass cocker spaniel.”

  Harper was so focused on Noah’s presence that she missed Courtney's ill humor and Rizzo’s show of corporate muscle. "Noah, right? You're Noah. How are you? What the heck are you doing here?"

  Noah recognized Harper's fragile mental state and was kind in his reply. "Why I'm doing the most important job there is. I'm driving you around the world, Harper. So sit back and relax. Leave the driving to me because the next stop is dogtown."

  ***

  "Whoa!" Harper staggered a bit at the doorway before Rizzo reached out a hand to steady her on one arm and Courtney took hold of the other. Easing her away from the door, they made space for the entourage of staff to enter. Men dressed as footmen hurried in with several pieces of luggage. The world's most beautifully dressed chambermaid followed pushing a cart filled with covered dishes and carafes of both clear and colorful beverages. Bringing up the rear was Noah leading Boston by a brand new iconically decorated leash.

  Harper stood staring with her mouth wide open.

  "You okay, Harper?" Despite her obvious exhaustion, Courtney's voice was filled with concern.

  Harper nodded before she could manage a reply. "Wow, it's just so pretty. It's like a fairy tale. It’s perfect."

  "Well, we are in the fairy tale business," Rizzo noted. "However, today we're going to hold off on having you meet the Fairy Queen. I think it's best if you both have something to eat and maybe a quiet evening watching any of our hundreds of movies on HDTV. How does that sound?"