SHIPS CompanionSHIP, FriendSHIP, RelationSHIP

by K'Anne Meinel

  Moving on to other topics Tracey asks when they are going to Fiji. Having completely forgot to file her passport paperwork and photo, Grace has to do so now. It should take weeks. The post office said at least six. This may put them into the busy tourist season that they had wanted to avoid. At least the weather should be good. They begin discussing the pros and cons of traveling. Tracey works in a travel agency and is quite knowledgeable. The evening turns out to be a pleasant one for all.

  Driving back in the Mercedes Joan and Grace have the top down. It’s late and the Indian summer weather is just what one expects of Southern California. They’ve enjoyed their evening. Their lives are fairly normal for them. It’s just oh so pleasant. Joan notices though in her rear view mirror that a car seems to be following them. Not to alarm Grace she watches it follow them from the restaurant onto the freeways and then through the canyon. Too much of a coincidence that route. Finally she mentions it to Grace. Looking in the side mirror she watches it for awhile. What can they see but the lights. Discussing it Joan decides to stop at the Malibu police department. As soon as they pull into the police driveway the car speeds away. Both of them watch it and try to get the license plate. Only partial is readable. Going inside Joan makes out a report. The officer who had taken Graces report the night of the accident comes by to see what is up. Asking him if there is anything new about that case he shakes his head. It’s a cold case now. Weeks have gone by since the incident and there are no clues. Curious as to why they are there Joan explains about the car following them. They got a partial of the plate and the make of the car but it’s not much to go on. Probably someone saw two woman alone and thought he could do something. The way they shrug all this off makes Joan pissed. Angrily she drives them home. Grace is a bit put out as well. It’s like they are imagining things and the cops just don’t care.

  That weekend they go up into the mountains. There has been an early snowfall and they stop to have cocoa and eat. It’s beautiful up here in the mountains. Talking, Joan suggests they get a cabin for the weekend and then surprises Grace that she already has. Joan had snuck a suitcase of winter clothes into the trunk. They have a beautiful weekend, walking in the snow and the brisk air, building a snowman, having a snow ball fight, making love in front of the roaring fire. All too soon they have to go back to the beauty of Malibu. It’s rained that morning and by afternoon the skies are all clear. The waves on the beach are still beating out a tattoo but the air is so clear. It brings home the reason they live there and they are content.

  Monday Grace goes back to work. It’s a crazy day for the psychiatric department. Tensions are high due to media coverage of some gang disturbances in the downtown area. Several people have been admitted through the ER for fighting and shooting. A couple end up in their area of the hospital for holds. A thoroughly full day for the staff. Grace ends up doing some major overtime. After her wonderful weekend the contrast is disappointing. She hasn’t been happy at her job in awhile. It’s just exhausting trying to help people who don’t want it. She doesn’t like working down here anymore. It isn’t challenging anymore. It’s frightening somedays. She is always glad to get in her Jaguar and drive away now to go home. Home was where Joan would be. Happy to see her.

  Joan was working on several projects that she had thought of while in the hospital. Allan had contacted her again about doing a world tour. She had gone to several different conventions around the country under Allan’s tutelage over the last months. Those weekends away had been easier than the ones that she had planned and promoted. The ease in which he handled things made his fees worth every penny. She wasn’t away for more than a few days. A week at most. Coming home to Grace was always great though. A few weekends Grace had actually gotten away with her. She was amazed to fly first class, something Joan insisted on whenever she could. She felt that was one of the perks she HAD earned over the years.

  Joan picked up a canvas that she had started weeks and weeks ago or so she thought. It was odd she remembered starting to work on it but there wasn’t anything on it. Remembering the can of paint she had gotten free months ago she looked for it. With all the chaos over the last weeks and straightening up of her studio it took her awhile to find it. It was pushed to the back of the credenza. Of course it was the last can in there. Why would she continue to look if she had found it sooner, she laughed at her own jest. Pulling the can out she neatly put everything else away the way she liked it. The can looked like it had been opened but she didn’t remember having ever opened it. Wanting to start the new canvas she stood up and opened it with a screwdriver, placing it on the top of the credenza. A noxious fume escaped and she backed away. She put the cover quickly back on but didn’t tap it down. She reached the ceiling fan which she turned on and whipped the fumes around the room. She couldn’t get the window to open. She had trouble focusing on the panel. She could feel herself losing consciousness. She reached for the phone and dialed 911. She could hear it connect but could not answer as she fell to the floor.

  Grace was driving down Pacific Coast Highway when she saw lights and sirens about the gallery. Wondering what in the world she pulled up into the driveway. A police officer immediately told her she would have to move. An ambulance was pulling out and she moved her car to the side. Getting out of the car she was again approached by the officer and he demanded to know who she was and what she was doing here. She explained that she lived upstairs in the apartment and she had just gotten home from work. The guy called her Miss and she corrected him with Doctor. She wanted to know what was going on. She saw Madge talking to the police. Suddenly she realized that she didn’t see Joan. Alarmed she demanded to know what had happened. The police office wasn’t very forthcoming but she was becoming hysterical and he told he just wasn’t sure. Running up to Madge, Grace asked her. Madge told her she didn’t know either but that Joan had called 911 for some reason. They had found her on the floor of the studio. Just then a Hazardous Materials Unit pulled up and guys in yellow protective suits rushed up the stairs. The police had the door wide and the alarm was apparently off. Grace made as if to follow and an officer stopped her. It was the one who had taken their report initially. He explained that they had found Joan on the floor. Her breathing was very shallow and the studio had been filled with toxic fumes. They had pulled her out into the driveway and Haz Mat would take care of the apartment. Frantically Grace asked about Joan. He explained that the ambulance had taken her. Turning she ran to her car to pull away. She had to maneuver around the Haz Mat truck. The cop tried to stop her but she screeched for him to get out of her way or she’d run him down. Her car squealed onto Pacific Coast Highway narrowly missing another cop car and she sped off down to the medical center.

  Leaving her car parked in the ER bay she ran inside. Frantically she asked at the desk about the status of Joan. A doctor came out into the hallway. He recognized her from the last time. He explained that this time was more serious. That Joan had inhaled more of the toxins and as her system had been bombarded once before her immunity was lessened. Since they had a better idea this time of what happened they were able to treat her differently. Better, more efficiently. Joan was intibated. She was on complete oxygen. Her lungs had totally shut down. Her convulsions this time had been horrific and they would be worried about brain damage later. Right now it was a waiting game. Grace asked to see her, to sit with her. He led her to the bed. Joan looked more fragile this time. The circles under her eyes looked as though someone had beat her. The doctor explained that the toxins inhaled had attacked her thoroughly, more intensely this time. The oxygen in her blood was causing these signs. Seeing the machines, knowing that this was the only thing keeping her alive made Grace weak. She fainted.

  Coming to she immediately remembered where she was and why. Trying to sit up suddenly she was assailed by light headedness. She remembered she hadn’t eaten since breakfast that day either. She had to get to Joan. A nurse came in the room just then and she bombarded her with questions she could not answe
r. Finally the doctor came in and told her Joan’s status. It sounded eerily familiar. Since they now had the guys phone numbers on hand they had already phoned them and apprised them of the situation. Grace felt strangely as though through fainting she had let Joan and the boys down. Dismissing this feeling as being irrational she followed the doctor to the ICU. Sitting down in the chair it gave her another eery familiarity. Only Joan looked worse this time. Perhaps it had struck her harder. Perhaps her immunities were weaker. She looked horrible.

  Awhile later two officers asked to speak to her. Leaving Joan was hard but there was nothing for her to do but wait. The officers explained that the Haz Mat was investigating the toxins found in a paint can in the studio. They asked about the paints that Joan used and where she bought them. Grace gave them the name of the Ventura art store that Joan used as well as the one in LA she sometimes traveled to. They informed her that it appeared to have come from the one can but to be safe Haz Mat had confiscated all of the paint. Joan would be angry at that, thought Grace. Asking if it was safe at the apartment now they told her they would let her know when Haz Mat had cleared it. That since it had become airborne they needed to make sure that it was safe.

  Grace was sitting for hours. Her stomach cramped and she forced some food into it from the vending machines. She called Jo to cancel plans that they had for lunch and to explain what was going on. Craig walked into the ICU waiting room the next day to see Grace surrounded by Joanne, Addie, Tracey, Tina, and Ken. He had just come from his mothers room. He too felt the weird coincidence of it. Going to Grace he enveloped her in a bear hug. Thrilled to see him she sat him down and introduced their friends. Jack even came by, and the waitress Marie. It seemed their small knit community had heard it all within a few hours this time. Joan was well known and popular. Madge came by, her part time assistant Amy came by. Only Grace and Craig could go in to sit with her but neither could do anything and talking with others helped. Adam and Bryan had stayed home this time but Craig called them every few hours to apprise them of the situation. Adam was at his new job and Bryan was at school.

  Days went by with the same sameness as before. Friends trickled in and out. Joans status was upgraded until finally they removed the tube and she breathed on her own. Haz Mat took two days to clear the apartment for occupancy and Grace didn’t care as she was staying at the hospital anyway.

  Joan was unconscious for a total of 10 days this time. Craig had towards the end talked about putting her in a long term care facility. The hospital didn’t want to keep her but fortunately she woke up. Grace was angry at both the hospital and Craig this time. She wanted Joan near, she knew how Joan felt about care facilities where a lot of the time they couldn’t keep decent people and the care suffered as a result. With Joan’s previous illness they had talked about a lot of those things. With Graces insight to the medical profession she wasn’t too happy about it either.

  Joan woke up on a stormy afternoon. Grace had been sitting there daydreaming with her head on the edge of the bed when she felt a hand caressing her hair. Looking up quickly she was thrilled to see Joans green eyes bright and cheerily looking back at her. She quickly stood over her to kiss her on the cheek. “Hello there.”

  A raspy voice responded “Hi.”

  Grace sat on the edge of the bed and just looked at Joan. Reaching out with her right hand she held Joans left. Her braids needed attention. The hospital had kept her clean but her hair looked oily. Her face had lost it’s summer tan and she was very pale against her red brown hair. With the illness she was pasty. Grace caressed the side of her face in loving gestures as Craig walked into the room.

  Catching them in what he considered an intimate moment he almost turned to walk out then he realized his mother was awake. “MOM” he boomed heartily to cover finding them in this awkward moment.

  Grace stood up but didn’t let go of Joans hand. She smiled at Craig.

  Joan smiled dreamily at Craig and rasped “Hey.”

  “How you feeling?”

  “Tired” came the raspy answer.

  “Well you’ve been sleeping for 10 days, how can you be tired?” Craig was trying to amuse her.

  With alarm Joan looked at Grace who nodded to confirm how long Joan had been out.

  Trying to sit up a little she could see Joan was stuck, Grace reached for the bed control and raised her. “I don’t remember.” She rasped.

  Grace hurried to reassure her, telling her it would probably come to her later. The doctor walked in just then on his rounds with a group of interns trailing behind him. Seeing his patient finally awake he asked Grace and Craig to leave so he could examine her. Joan shot daggers with her eyes at him for this but Grace and Craig knowing the routine left the room.

  Craig asked Grace how long his mother had been awake and she told him only a few minutes. She had just woken up. He was relieved. He too knew his mothers views on extended care. Over the months since her last episode she had learned everything from Grace and the boys about what had gone on regarding her care. In some carefully worded emails she had blasted all of the boys and let her wishes be known in no uncertain terms.

  Two days later Craig went home. Joan had him taking care of the California properties now too. With her illnesses and work she hadn’t time to tend to it all and his office was set up for this very thing. Adam and Bryan both sent her flowers and called daily. They wanted to know is she wanted them to come out but she didn’t see the point.

  Strangely she was subdued this time and let the therapy people work with her on her recovery. Perhaps it was the police report that showed the Haz Mat report. She’d read it thoroughly and added what she could remember, again it wasn’t much. She did remember the can and where she had gotten it though. It was the freebie that she had been given at the other art supply house she had tried near Port Hueneme. Turned out that this guy was the one following her and Grace that night and his partial plate as well as the vehicle matched their descriptions. He had also given cans such as hers to two other well known artists who hadn’t survived. Their works were immediately going up in value and he hoped to capitalize on some of her work as well. They had him in custody. Joan was feeling ill at the thought of how close she had come to dying from this man’s plans.

  Grace was very upset when it all became clear. She wanted to protect Joan but how do you do that with a famous person. The papers sensationalized things and Joan’s galleries both picked up a lot of business. A lot of people came in the Malibu gallery to look around too. Not buyers, just the morbidly curious.

  An undercover cop was placed outside Joan’s door for the duration of her stay at the hospital. After a week of therapy though she started to get antsy and they let her go home. Grace and Joan made sure the alarm system was on at all times.

  Grace had missed a lot of work and she put in overtime to make up for it. The hospital was understanding but it wasn’t like it had been for herself, her child, or a spouse. They didn’t consider Joan anything other than a friend. There came a point when it became almost impossible to work. Between the gossip and the politics Grace was hating the place more and more. It wasn’t a family place in any sense of the word and they turned out numbers as though the people had no souls. She was sick of the place.

  Her passport arrived and she and Joan discussed taking the vacation. Joan was still weak but wanted to get away. Grace was due the two weeks for vacation. She had taken sick days and leave for her time off with Joan. They decided to go at Christmas. Two weeks, just the two of them and they began to plan accordingly. Grace called the number and things were activated. Grace put in for her two weeks of vacation and they were granted. They pulled Joans luggage out of storage and Grace got to use her new birthday presents.

  ~ CHAPTER 18 ~

  The two weeks were fabulous. Never having traveled other than the few weekends around the country with Joan, Grace was enthralled. They were treated almost royally she felt with their first class accommodations. All the best seating, all the best hote
l rooms, all the best food. It was exactly what the doctor had ordered. The beaches were gorgeous and Joan worked on getting her tan back. She even dared Grace into going to a nude beach or two. Grace loved looking at Joan from behind her sunglasses. Her nude body stretched out on the sand lapping up the sun. Oiling each other led to other more pleasant things which they took inside to their rooms. They saw fabulous sites and drank exotic drinks. It was a lovers paradise. So open. No one cared that they were two woman. No one cared that they were openly gay here. They still practiced discretion but there was a barrier let down here. She saw it continually around her. Not just gays but people in general were freer here. The nude beaches, the wild partying, the dancing. Everyone was out to enjoy themselves and did. Joan was tanned again with no tan lines and Grace looked wonderful as well. She had been ashamed to realize how old her body had become and sagging but Joan made her feel so loved and so beautiful it just didn’t matter. Grace couldn’t seem to keep her hands to herself either. After two weeks neither wanted to go home.

  They arrived home and both had a hard time falling back into their routines. Joan had a series of pictures taken of herself for the next catalog. She wouldn’t agree to a world tour yet but Allan insisted on the pictures especially after taking a meeting with her and seeing her after the trip. The tan had made her look so healthy and alive. Her eyes sparkled. The sun had reddened her hair. She had gone to a salon and had them rebraid her hair. It looked wonderful. She felt wonderful and agreed to the pictures. It was amazing to her how they made her look. At 42 she looked better than she had in her life. Allan got her plenty of publicity too for the catalog and business boomed. It had helped the notoriety of her stalker and the news reports of that but she brushed that under the carpet. The trial would be in about six months, so much for speedy process. Then much to everyone’s amazement the guy plead guilty and got three life sentences. Two for the murders and one for her attempted murder. With California’s over-populated prison’s though he might be out in 15 years, who knew. She was relieved to know that chapter in her life was over.