Bridge to Fruition

by Laurie Larsen

“Looks fine, sweetie.”

  He went into the corner of the cubicle and came back with fresh gauze and tape, and before she knew it, he’d finished wrapping her up.

  “Can you spare a hello hug and kiss now? Geesh.”

  He smiled and leaned his torso over her bed and pulled her into a warm hug. She closed her eyes and then a short clearing of the throat sounded from the corner.

  Dax. He was still here. He’d been about to leave when Dad showed up.

  “Oh!” She pulled out of the hug and smiled at Dax. “Daddy, I want to introduce you to my savior. The man who called the ambulance and made sure I got here safely. Dax … um, I’m sorry, I don’t know your last name, do I?”

  “Murphy. Dax Murphy. Nice to meet you.” He held a hand out to her dad, who accepted the handshake.

  “Thank you, thank you very much.” Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. His go-to reward for anyone doing him a service. Hand over a couple twenties and another verbal expression of gratitude. “We appreciate your help, we really do.”

  Dax gave the bills in Dad’s hand a quizzical gaze. “No, no, I don’t need …”

  “Just a token of our appreciation. Please, take it.”

  Dax gave his head a firm shake and met eyes with her dad. “No. Thank you, though.”

  Her dad directed his confused gaze at her.

  “That’s okay, Daddy. He’s a … friend.” Was he? She’d known him all of about four hours, one of which she was paying him to massage her. And yet, he’d felt compelled to not only call the ambulance, but to jump into the back of it with her, missing the remainder of his shift, and most likely, blowing off several appointments, to come to the hospital with her and make sure she was all right. Was that the act of a friend? Or just a concerned service provider?

  Or, was it something more?

  Her dad was still looking at her. “He called the ambulance for me and waited for me while I was getting treated.”

  “Yes.” He turned back to Dax and tried again, holding the bills out in his direction. “I’d just feel better about compensating you for your time. Pay for your cab back to work. Reimburse you for any missed work time.”

  “It’s not necessary.”

  Jasmine was just feeling sorry for him — her dad could be awfully persuasive, and obviously he didn’t feel comfortable taking the compensation — when just then, her mom ducked into the cubicle under the hanging curtain. She directed her gaze on Jasmine in the bed and covered the short distance in a few steps, pulling her into arms Jasmine knew from a thousand lifetime hugs. No, a million, at least. Her mom was one of the most loving and affectionate people she’d ever known, and Jasmine’d never stopped giving thanks that she was lucky enough to have her for a mom.

  “Mom!” she managed into her mom’s shoulder. The embrace went long and when her mom finally pulled away, Jasmine saw tears in her eyes. “Ahh, Mom, don’t worry. I’m fine.”

  Leslie pulled in a ragged breath and let it out. “Look at you! Hit by a bike! Knocked unconscious! Oh, child!”

  “I’m just glad it wasn’t a car,” Jasmine joked.

  Her dad cleared his throat. “I did a quick examination, Leslie, and I’m convinced that they’ve treated her appropriately.”

  Jasmine could feel her mom’s tensing, as well as see it. Her shoulders went tight, her face froze in the expression it was sporting when her dad had spoken up. Which was sort of a Joker from Batman-style grimace.

  Then, her mom recovered nicely, intentionally. She looked over at him as if she’d just noticed that he stood there and said with a practiced air of calm, “Oh, hello, Tim.”

  The exchange marked the first time since her parents’ divorce last summer that either of them had spoken to the other. Sort of a moment for the family annals, Jasmine guessed.

  Her dad tensed then. Poor guy, Jasmine could tell he was out of his element and wasn’t quite sure what to do, a dilemma that hardly ever smudged her confident, in-charge father. Did he go over to her and give her a hug? A handshake? Did he stay where he was and not deign to touch this woman he’d been married to almost twenty years, the woman he shared a daughter with? The relationship he’d broken apart a year ago, because he’d ventured into another one that he thought was better suited to him, at that time of his life?

  The answer became clear when Hank Harrison, Leslie’s new husband, emerged through the curtains and entered the cubicle. His entrance was like a deep breath during a yoga class — a cleansing, relaxing, healthy pull of air into a body starving for it. Hank was one of the best men in the world. Jasmine had known this since the first day she’d met him, and obviously her mom knew it, too. They were newlyweds, married a short time after Leslie’s divorce from Tim. But sometimes love was just meant to be. Sure, they could’ve waited a “reasonable” amount of time after the divorce, and after their first date. But why? Hank and Leslie made each other happy. They were two souls who needed the other. And it didn’t take much convincing for them to commit to each other.

  “Hi, doll,” Hank said as he focused on Jasmine, a slight smile on his face mixed with pity evident in his creased forehead.

  “Hi, Hank.”

  “Sorry about your accident. The doc says you’re doing fine though, huh?”

  That’s why he hadn’t come in right away. He was tracking down a doctor. He was such a good dad. He couldn’t help but exude love and support for the children in his life — three of his own, and now, Jasmine too.

  “Yeah, I guess I just wanted to stand out at graduation tomorrow.”

  “Well, darlin’, you didn’t have to go to this trouble. You were already gonna be the most beautiful girl in the place. Well, beside your mother.”

  His southern drawl washed over her, making her miss the low country of South Carolina and the sandy white beaches and waves where he and her mom lived together in a beachfront old house on stilts.

  Her dad stepped forward then, and the difference between the two men — the two fathers in her life — became ultimately clear. Her dad — the successful, educated, intelligent doctor, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit. Handsome, clean-shaven and groomed. Very capable, very accomplished.

  And Hank — dressed in khaki cargo shorts and a golf shirt, untucked, and an old baseball cap over his grown out hair. A lookalike of the actor who played Indiana Jones, he was casually handsome, but didn’t put a bit of effort into making himself that way. Never afraid to show his affection for those he loved. His heart out on his sleeve, willing to go any lengths.

  Just as Jasmine was wondering about introducing the two men, her mom stepped up. “Tim, this is my husband.” She paused a long moment, letting that reality float out into the room. “Hank Harrison.”

  Her dad took that punch to the gut in stride, his widening eyes and tightly drawn lips the only evidence of the pain the introduction had caused him. Then he held up a hand and offered it to Hank. “Nice to meet you, Hank.”

  Leslie continued with the joint introduction. “Hank, this is Tim … Jasmine’s father.”

  Again, Jasmine recognized the slice caused by her mother’s words. Her dad’s shoulders jolted momentarily, almost invisibly, but she knew him better than anyone and understood that her mother’s words, whether they were intentional or not, hurt him. Like all he was left to Leslie was the father of her one treasured child. After twenty years together, wasn’t there anything else?

  But despite Jasmine’s discomfort for her dad in this awkward moment, she didn’t pity him, due to the role he’d played in tearing his own marriage apart. Actions have consequences. Oh yeah, Rule #1, Dad. You have an affair with a woman half your age, and you don’t get to keep your devoted wife of 20 years. Welcome to the real world.

  Hank took a comfortable step forward and gripped Tim’s hand. No discomfort there.

  “Pleased to meet you, Tim.” And Jasmine held back a smile at what else he could’ve said, but was way too much of a southern gentleman to attempt.

  “Yes,” her
dad said in a clipped voice, his forehead creased due to the frown on his face. “Did you have a good drive up here?”

  Ithaca, New York was a long way from Pawleys Island, SC, but knowing her mom and Hank, they probably filled the trip with conversation, music and laughter and enjoyed every moment together. Whereas Dad’s solo trip from Pittsburgh, although shorter, was spent listening to the New York Times and some medical journal on audio book. Bore, snore.

  Jasmine suddenly felt an overwhelming need to take control so her parents’ first meeting was smooth, no chance for awkwardness. And no wonder — she’d been obsessed with it for the last two weeks, barely able to concentrate on her finals because her mind kept slipping back to this very moment. She didn’t want to allow the two of them the time or the privacy to get into a heated discussion. Would they? Or did they want calm and civil as much as she did?

  She couldn’t think of any other way to take control of the room, than to re-live the moment of her accident. That topic was of interest to both her mother and her father. She could launch into a detailed story of everything she remembered, pre-collision and post-arrival at the ER, and that could easily burn ten, fifteen minutes of averted uncomfortableness.

  “Hello.”

  Or, oh yeah, Dax was still in the corner over there by one of the machines. What kind of terrible hostess was she anyway? “Oh, my gosh, Dax. I’m so sorry. I haven’t introduced you yet. Mom, Hank, this is Dax Murphy. He was the one who called the ambulance for me and got me safely here, then waited till I woke up and spoke to the doctors. He’s a gem.”

  Dax smiled at the description, looking pleasantly surprised at her choice of words and he maneuvered around the cramped surroundings to offer a hand to both her mom and Hank, who welcomed him warmly. Amidst the “thank you’s” and “thank God you were here’s” being delivered by Leslie and Hank, her dad sort of faded into the background, observing. Dax smiled and darn if he didn’t look so handsome, so happy and so like he fit in… to this side of the family. Leslie was giving him a hug to emphasize her thanks and he was patting her back like he didn’t mind at all.

  “Seems like we need to thank you properly for all your help. We need to take you out to dinner, Dax.”

  Dax shook his head, looked down at his feet and chuckled a little. “It was my pleasure, …”

  But then Hank interrupted with, “No, now. We want to thank you and get to know you a little better. We need to eat dinner anyway, and you do too. So why not eat together? Besides, it’ll be good to get acquainted before the graduation ceremony tomorrow evening.”

  Dax’s eyes darted to hers. Hank thought Dax was a special person in her life. He must, or why would he assume Dax was invited to graduation? Or even interested in attending? If Hank thought Dax and Jasmine were together — a couple — there’s a good chance that Mom thought it too.

  She winked at Dax, about to let him off the hook. She opened her mouth, ready to explain to all the parents in the room, when he said, “In that case, yes, thank you. I’d love to go out to dinner with you tonight. And go to graduation with you tomorrow night.”

  Jasmine wasn’t sure whether to call a halt to the charade or break out laughing. She actually felt more like the latter.

  The ER nurse chose that precise moment to breeze in, a clipboard in hand. “I have your release papers. Here’s the instructions from the doctor …” and she started reading them from the papers that would be sent home with her. Jasmine’s mind was too distracted to actually follow what the woman was saying. She was thinking about Dax and the gag he was playing on her family.

  Why would he do this? Did he like her? Like, in that way? Why else would he give up practically an entire afternoon of work, and now an evening to go out to dinner with her family, in addition to her graduation ceremony tomorrow evening? He couldn’t be serious. If she weren’t the one in the cap and gown, she’d definitely skip tomorrow’s ceremony. Those things were boring …

  Fortunately, her mom was looking over her shoulder at the instructions, so Jasmine let her mind continue to explore this strange turn of events. If he did like her, and that’s a huge if, how would she feel about it? Happy? Giddy? Resistant? Sure, he was breathtakingly handsome with his long, wavy hair, his intense brown stare and his tall, slim body that resembled those of the models who walked the runway in Paris during her internship last summer. She’d be absolutely insane not to notice, and be interested in dating him.

  But where could it lead? A big fat nowhere, that’s where. She had two more days in New York, and then she was moving back to … where? Pittsburgh? Pawleys Island? She hadn’t thought that far ahead. But wherever she ended up, she couldn’t imagine Dax coming with her.

  The instructions done, Jasmine signed her name and the nurse handed her a bag containing her clothes. Everyone except her mom shuffled out of the cubicle so she could dress. Mom helped pull her stuff out and laid it all on the cot.

  “So …,” Mom said meaningfully. “Dax?” She looked directly at Jasmine and raised her eyebrows.

  Jasmine giggled. “Yeah, Dax. Cute, huh?” She concentrated on pulling one piece of clothing after another onto her body. Unfortunately, all that was there was a pair of shorts, a tee shirt and a pair of flip flops so she couldn’t evade Mom for long.

  “Very cute. I’m just wondering why I’ve never heard of him before.”

  She had a point. She and Mom were tight. They talked, not daily, but definitely weekly, more than once. She kept Mom up to speed on her life, and Mom did the same for her. Which was why she knew that Mom was looking forward to summer break from her class of sixth graders, even though she’d had a fantastic school year. And she knew that Mom and Hank were madly in love, living in The Old Gray Barn. She knew all about Hank’s daughter Marianne’s new dinner theater in the Seaside Inn that she and her husband Tom owned, and how gangbusters it was going. And she knew all about her stepbrother Jeremy and his new wife Emma Jean, and their custom furniture business they just opened.

  And Mom knew all about each of her classes this year, the fact that she’d struggled this semester keeping her grade point average above a 3.0, so she’d sworn off nearly all social activities, including dating. Mom knew she hadn’t even started a job search, so focused was she on school, a point that Mom had even encouraged. First things first. Start the job search after graduation — no big deal.

  Which was why Mom was so surprised about the unexpected presence of Dax.

  “Relax, Mom. I just met him today. I went to get my last massage and Susan wasn’t there, so Dax stepped in for her. Little did I know he was Mr. Tall, Dark and Gorgeous. I almost didn’t let him do it. But eventually I did. It was the best massage I ever had.”

  Leslie smiled.

  “I was leaving the salon when the bike delivery rider slammed into me, and Dax took care of everything. He hasn’t left my side since.”

  She was ready to jump off the high cot, but Mom grabbed her arm and helped guide her off, slowly. Turns out, it was a good thing she did because her head started to pound, just from that motion.

  “Sweetie, be careful. You heard the nurse. No sudden movement, especially changing heights.” Mom helped her gather her purse and papers. “Sounds to me like he’s interested in you.”

  Jasmine shrugged. “I haven’t figured it out. But he lives here, and I’m moving in two days, so what’s the point?”

  Leslie considered that. “Can’t hurt to let him come to graduation. Maybe he’ll be a buffer between me and your dad.”

  Jasmine turned to her mom. “Yeah. Must be so awkward for you. You haven’t seen him at all in almost a year. You doing okay with it?”

  Mom raised and lowered one shoulder. “No way around it. Of course we both want to be here. We’ll have to get used to it over the years. Family events that impact us both.” They were about ready to exit the cubicle and Leslie lowered her voice and said in a stage whisper, “I’ll tell you, it’s a lot easier to face him with my dream husband around.”

  J
ust then, the curtain flew back and Dad pushed his way through. “Leslie, could I have a moment? Please?”

  Chapter Four

  Mom didn’t take her hand off Jasmine’s arm. If anything, she tightened her grasp. Leading her daughter to safety was Mom’s top priority and nothing, not even a curt summons from her ex-husband was going to change that. Which made Jasmine a little torn.

  Sure, Leslie would rather avoid confrontation with Tim. To her, Tim was now a person who was an important part of her past, but held absolutely no role in her present or her future. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt.

  But she supposed her dad needed some kind of closure. Even if he didn’t admit to that kind of pop psychology. He was a strong, smart, in charge guy. He was a surgeon! How much smarter can you get than that? But he’d made the biggest mistake of his life when he’d forsaken his devotion to his marriage, and he strayed and was unfaithful. People didn’t find love like theirs every day. And although he was the one who’d taken up with another woman, it wasn’t of the lasting variety. His temporary dalliance had dumped him, and now he’d ripped apart the marriage that he’d savored for twenty years. And now, that woman was gone too.

  He was alone.

  And not dealing with it well. Jasmine knew that, more from what he didn’t say when she talked to him — occasionally — than what he did say. He had no idea how to talk about his mistakes and the consequences they caused in his life. Despite being super-intelligent, he was a guy, after all. A guy who never had talked about his feelings, even when his personal life was going well.

  So the fact that he wanted to reach out to his ex-wife and start some sort of conversation, was a good thing. For him. Maybe not for her.

  They were both her parents, and Jasmine loved them both. Who should she support in this dilemma?

  “Mom,” she said, patting her hand, “I’m fine to ride my wheelchair-steed out to the waiting room by myself. I’ll hook up with Hank and Dax. When you’re done talking to Dad, I need a ride back to the salon to get my car.”