Katherine's Prophecy

by Scott Wittenburg

  “You don’t understand,” she insisted. “I was rushing him. I was in a hurry . . .”

  “Everyone in New York City is in a hurry, Emily. It goes with the turf. And cabbies are forever running red lights. It’s another given that goes right along with the rest of the madness in this city. So you will never, ever, be able to convince me that you had the slightest little thing to do with that cab hitting me that night. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like very much to drop the whole subject right now. Case dismissed.”

  “But . . .”

  “No buts,” Lenny objected, surprised at his own brashness.

  Emily sighed audibly. “Okay, not another word about it. But I’m going to make it up to you, somehow . . . Whether you like it or not.”

  For the first time during the conversation, her voice sounded strong, in control. Lenny liked what he heard.

  In fact, at the moment, he was absolutely speechless.

  “Lenny?”

  “Uh, yeah?”

  “Did you hear what I just said?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry. Yes, I heard. My mind just sort of went blank there for a second.” he sputtered.

  That’s all right. My mind’s been doing the same thing this whole conversation.”

  “You sound much better now. For awhile there, I was a little worried about you,” he confessed.

  “I feel better now. And it’s all because of you.”

  Lenny laughed nervously. “I haven’t done a thing.”

  “Oh yes you have. More than you’ll probably ever know,” she said, almost in a whisper. “Thank you, Lenny. For talking to me. I’m very grateful.”

  He could tell that she was getting ready to hang up. Before he could think of anything to say, she said, “I’d better go.”

  “Wait!” Lenny exclaimed, his mouth suddenly feeling as dry as cotton. “A minute ago, you said that you couldn’t ‘bother me’ with something. What were you referring to?”

  Emily hesitated and then said, “I can’t tell you—not now, anyway. Maybe some other time.”

  Her tone of voice told him not to push her. “Do you have any idea when that might be?” he asked, knowing it was a gamble.

  “No, Lenny, I don’t. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be aloof; it’s just something that I’m trying to deal with right now and it’s sort of a delicate matter. It’s something that I have to work out for myself, anyway. No one else can do it for me . . .” she added, her voice trailing off.

  Lenny’s cerebral wheels were turning at breakneck speed now, trying to imagine what Emily’s problem might be. One possibility stuck out like a sore thumb: man troubles. Probably trying to get over an old boyfriend, he thought to himself with some discontent.

  He said, “I want to apologize for prying, Emily. I realize now that it’s probably none of my business anyway. It’s just that, well, I’m concerned. That’s all. You sounded so . . . upset when you first called. I just thought that maybe I could help you out in some way.”

  “You’ve already done that, by cheering me up. And I really do appreciate it,” she said earnestly. “This must seem so strange to you. Here I am, a perfect stranger, calling you up and carrying on so. You probably think I’m some kind of nut. Maybe I am nuts! I just don’t know anymore . . .”

  She started crying softly, catching Lenny totally off-guard.

  “What’s wrong, Emily?”

  She sniffled and then replied, “Nothing. I’m just a little emotional now, I guess.”

  Lenny took the big plunge. “But I thought you just said I was cheering you up. If my cheeriness does this to you and then don’t ever let me get you down!”

  Emily managed a weak laugh. “I’m sorry, Lenny. I really do feel better now—much better than I did before I called you. You’ve been very patient with me. If I were you, I would’ve hung up a long time ago.”

  “No way! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed talking to you. In fact, I’m going to hate getting off.”

  “Do you really mean that?” she asked.

  “I sure do.”

  “Then maybe we’ll just have to do this again some time. If you want to.”

  “I definitely want to.”

  “It may be sooner than you think, I have to warn you. Are you sure you don’t want to back-out now, while you still have the chance?”

  “The sooner, the better.”

  “Okay, then. But you don’t know what you might be getting yourself into.”

  I wish I did, Lenny thought to himself. “I’ll take my chances,” he said.

  “Remember, you’ve been forewarned. Well, I’d better go now, Lenny. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I actually feel like I might be able to get to sleep now. Do you have any idea when you’ll be released?”

  “It’s hard to say. I’m in physical therapy now, which you’ve probably already assumed, and my therapist told me today that if I keep improving as I have, that I could possibly be out of here inside a week. Believe me, I have my fingers crossed.”

  “I’ll have mine crossed, too,” she said. “I have to go now—I can barely keep my eyes open. I’ll get in touch with you soon and I promise that I’ll be more pleasant. Thanks, Lenny, for putting up with me. You’ve been very kind.”

  Lenny felt a sinking feeling. “It’s been a pleasure, Emily. Get yourself some sleep, and feel free to call me anytime, okay? Please don’t hesitate for a second—I’ll be right here, night or day.” He hoped he didn’t sound as desperate as he felt at the moment.

  “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Goodbye, Lenny.”

  “Bye . . .”

  Lenny continued staring pensively at page 314 of Crime And Punishment. It had been nearly a week since Emily Hoffman had called him. He’d spent the last few days trying to figure out why she hadn’t called back. The most likely possibility was that she’d changed her mind for one reason or another. Maybe he’d scared her off—gotten a little too close to her. Maybe she’d gotten back with her old boyfriend and she was no longer interested in chatting with some miserable cynic laid up in the hospital. Hell, for all he knew she was married and her husband had caught her and tightened up the reins—forced her to decide which was more important: keeping her marriage intact, or befriending some convalescing stranger.

  But for some reason, Lenny had an odd feeling about this mysterious woman and couldn’t fully convince himself that any of these options were the case. Emily Hoffman came off as a loner of sorts—an insecure yet very independent type of woman. He had no idea why he perceived her this way, and had to admit he hardly knew her enough to make any kind of personality judgment. One thing was certain, though. He could kick himself for not asking her more questions about herself. At least gotten her phone number, for chrissakes! But he hadn’t felt it was a good idea to pump her with frivolous questions at the time. He’d been more concerned with trying to get to the bottom of what was wrong with her and trying to settle her down instead.

  Another possibility came to mind, but Lenny hadn’t wanted to dwell on it for too long . . .

  Maybe Emily Hoffman had gone off the deep end and had harmed herself in some way.

  He couldn’t rule it out. She had admitted to having a problem and it was apparently a serious one—she’d clearly been overwrought and despondent over something that night. And she had admitted to being under psychiatric care at some time or another. Plus, she had been doped-up to a degree when she’d called, and although she claimed to have taken only one sleeping pill, he couldn’t be sure that she was telling the truth. And even if she had been telling the truth, what was to keep her from swallowing several more later on that night? Or the next night, or the night after that?

  Once this alarming thought had hit him, Lenny had immediately called directory assistance for Ashland Falls, New York on a lark and requested the phone number for Emily Hoffman. The operator had told him that there was no listing under that name. Then he’d called information for New York City and there had been two listings for E. Hoffman. He’d tried them
both, only to find that neither numbers were Emily’s.

  Lenny had tried convincing himself that he was just being paranoid about Emily Hoffman in an attempt to put his mind at ease. But the long, drawn-out days in the hospital with so much time on his hands hadn’t helped matters any, and he eventually found himself obsessed with her—wondering where she was and what she was doing. Wondering if he’d ever meet her. Wondering if she was even alive.

  Finally, he had decided it best to try and put the whole Emily Hoffman thing to rest before it drove him crazy. She hadn’t called, and she wasn’t going to call, he resolved. Case dismissed. It was time to start focusing on reality again. He was getting out of the hospital soon and needed to get back on track. And figure out what he was going to do about his future.

  Lenny closed the book and set it down on the table and then reached for the folder containing the material he’d been researching: a map of the eastern United States, an AAA tour book for New England and the Atlantic seaboard, and the classified sections from yesterday’s Boston Globe and Buffalo Times. For the next hour or so he poured over the material, taking notes and referring to the map from time to time. By sheer coincidence he spotted Ashland Falls, New York and studied it. The tiny dot was located near the Hudson River in the Catskill Mountains, not far from Woodstock, and was about a hundred miles from the city. The nearest town of any real size was Poughkeepsie, and Lenny wondered if perhaps Emily Hoffman lived there. Then, shaking his head in exasperation, he threw the map aside and returned to the Boston Globe classifieds.

  When he was finished trying to plot his future for that day, Lenny stood up and commenced to take what had to have been his hundredth stroll through the hospital halls. He went out to the courtyard and lit up a cigarette, wondering what Emily Hoffman was doing at that very moment in time. As he stared up at the dark leaden sky, he realized that he should be elated now at the prospect of getting out of the hospital tomorrow. But instead, he felt more than a little despondent.

  His release from the hospital marked his return to reality in its purest form. Back to the rat race, back to the throngs of faceless people walking the streets, and back to that familiar empty feeling of having accomplished very little if anything in this melting pot of fools. And, he reminded himself with a disgruntled sigh, it was back to that ages-old, worn-out concept of having to make money to pay the bills, or else . . .

  But Lenny knew what was really bringing him down now. His release from the hospital marked the end of his only tie to Emily Hoffman. After tomorrow, he would no longer be accessible to this mysterious woman he had never laid eyes on, and in all reality, never would. A woman who, for some weird reason, he felt compelled to get to know. Tomorrow, Emily Hoffman would become nothing more than a strange and intriguing memory of his hospital stay. Nothing more and nothing less . . .

  This bothered him. Much more than it should bother him.

  Why?

  He stubbed out his cigarette and headed for the door. Once inside, Lenny sauntered back to his room and undressed and then went back to bed. The thought of an ice cold beer crossed his mind, and soon became an obsession. Suddenly, the hospital room became a prison and he wanted nothing more than to escape from it.

  Tomorrow, he thought, he’d be out of here.

  He smiled to himself and all of a sudden felt much better.

  Nothing, he decided, could be worse than prison.

  Later that night, Lenny had a dream. It was the only dream he could recall having in all the time he’d been in the hospital. It hadn’t lasted long; but then, none of the dreams about his Dream Lady ever lasted more than a few minutes or so.

  The dream had taken place in a forest somewhere, high on a mountaintop. It was night, with a full moon looming high in the crystal-clear sky. He and his Dream Lady were walking hand-in-hand along a wooded path. They were both naked; like Adam and Eve strolling through the Garden of Eden. The air was cool, quite chilly in fact, but neither seemed to mind.

  He looked over at his Dream Lady in awe. The wind blew back her long chestnut hair, revealing the flawless beauty of her face. He couldn’t take his eyes off her for fear that she might suddenly disappear. She glanced over at him with a reassuring smile and gave him a quick squeeze of the hand—just to reassure him that she’d never leave his side. He squeezed her hand in return, sealing the pact. They would always be together; forever in love.

  Neither spoke—there was no need for words. They walked along in silence with the howling wind and the rustling of the fallen leaves the only sounds. They were at one with the world. This was the way it was meant to be—the way God had intended it to be. Man, woman, and soon . . . a child. All at one with the world.

  Not far ahead on the horizon, they saw their destination. It was a house, plain and simple. Soon they would arrive, and their long journey would be over. And from then on, for the remainder of their lives, they would grow together in each another’s company in this simple world with its simple way of life, watching their little baby grow, too . . .

  CHAPTER 15

  “Is anybody meeting you?” the nursing assistant asked Lenny as she wheeled him into the elevator.

  Lenny looked up at her and shook his head. “Nope.” Feigning a frown, he added, “I guess nobody loves me.”

  “I can get you a cab,” she offered.

  Lenny considered this a moment and then said. “No thanks. I think I’ll just take the subway home. I appreciate the offer, though.”

  The young woman shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself.” She waited until the patient escort was inside then pressed the button for the main floor.

  Lenny glanced at his watch and noted the time—it was 3:45. He then began planning the remainder of the day.

  The first thing he was going to do when he got home was eat a decent meal. He’d either go to the market and pick out the biggest porterhouse steak he could find and take it home to broil, or save himself the bother and eat out at a restaurant instead. Either way, he was going to enjoy some real food for a change, and do it pretty damn soon—he was absolutely famished.

  After eating, he would unpack his stuff then proceed to take care of any unfinished business he had yet to do. He wanted to get Heather Thompson squared away, so his first priority would be to process the black-and-white film from her session and print the contact sheets. Then he’d stick them in an envelope along with the color proofs that Willie had gotten processed for him and take it over to the post office.

  Lenny glanced down at the camera bag lying on his lap and again marveled at his good fortune. Not only had the film he’d shot of Heather survived the accident, but so had his camera and lenses.

  Yup, he thought with a grin, things could certainly have been much worse . . .

  Then finally, the pièce de résistance. He would put on some decent music, stretch out on the sofa then commence to drink himself into oblivion. This would be his just reward for having survived near-death and a two-week long coma then enduring yet another two weeks of sheer torture in physical therapy.

  The mere thought of an ice cold Rolling Rock made his mouth water.

  The elevator arrived at the main floor and Lenny was wheeled over to the patient pickup area. The wheelchair came to a halt and Lenny stood up, slinging the camera bag over his shoulder. The patient escort handed him his suitcase and overnight bag then Lenny thanked both hospital employees and was given the obligatory “Have a nice day.” With a broad grin on his face, he turned to take one final look before making his departure from prison . . .

  That was when he spotted her.

  She was standing in the lobby, midway between the main entrance and the reception desk. She was looking around expectantly as she fidgeted nervously with her keys. She was short, only about 5’2, and wore a navy blue wool coat and faded jeans. Her hair was long and brown, framing a flawlessly sculpted face with beautiful blue eyes that were fiercely expressive.

  It was his Dream Lady!

  Lenny’s heart raced in his ches
t and he quickly looked away, thinking he was having another hallucination. But when he looked back, she was still there.

  Dumbfounded, he hurriedly made his way back up the vestibule to the doorway and headed toward the main entrance, never taking his eyes off of her. There were two banks of elevators located on either side of the reception desk and she was now staring toward the one furthest from him. As he moved toward her, Lenny suddenly realized that he had no idea what he was going to do or say once he reached her, if anything at all.

  All of a sudden, she turned and stared directly at him. To his surprise, she cast him a look of recognition and smiled and then started walking toward him. It was then he realized that this petite beauty was in fact the elusive Emily Hoffman, and that she and his Dream Lady were one in the same person.

  “Lenny!” she called, picking up her pace.

  “Emily?” he called back, unable to hide his shock.

  She caught up with him, and for one awkward moment merely stood and stared nervously into his eyes without saying a word. Then she offered her hand to him and said, “Yes, Lenny, I’m Emily Hoffman.”

  Lenny took her hand and shook it timidly, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded. He was overwhelmed by her; so much in fact, that his normally cool exterior was, for the moment, napalmed to cinders.

  “Well, uh, hi! Nice to meet you,” he stammered.

  Had it not been for her own apparent nervousness, Emily might have appeared to notice Lenny’s awkwardness. But she didn’t. “Are you surprised to see me?” she asked.

  Lenny still had Emily’s hand in his own as he replied, “’Surprised’ is an understatement!”

  Emily flushed a little. “I’m sorry. I planned on getting here sooner, but I had car trouble. I just tried calling your room to let you know I was here, but the floor nurse told me that you’d just left a few moments ago. So all I could do was wait here and hope I hadn’t already missed you.”