Escaping the Past

by Tammy Falkner

  “See. I told you that you had some good memories,” he said quietly.

  A grin tugged at her lips. “Yeah. I guess I do,” Lou smiled as she stole a French fry from his plate and dipped it in his ketchup. The ketchup smeared the corner of her mouth so he reached over to wipe it with his napkin. Her eyes met his, and electricity moved between them just as his pocket started to buzz. He retrieved the pager from his pocket.

  “Looks like they’re ready for us. Let’s go.” The rest of the food was left uneaten as they rose from their seats. Lou dumped the contents of their tray in the trash on the way out the door.

  They entered the elevator and Lou looked over at Brody. He wasn’t at all what she’d expected. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For giving some of my mother back to me,” Lou replied quietly. She hated the quiver in her voice.

  But he just heaved a sigh and looked directly into her eyes. His slate grey gaze was slightly disconcerting in its intensity. “You did the same for me when you called and told me to come home.”

  Lou jerked her gaze from his and raised a fingernail to nibble on it. It would be nice to find out the prognosis for Mrs. Wester. The floors dinged by slowly on the display until the doors opened and they stepped out. The doctor was hunched over the nurses’ station with a pen in hand. He looked up and scowled as they approached.

  “Your mother, Dr. Wester, is suffering from congestive heart failure.” Brody’s indrawn breath and swear were all Lou needed to realize the seriousness of the situation. “I need to ask you some questions.” The ER doc motioned to a chair and indicated they both should sit.

  “How long has your mother had a cough?”

  Brody looked toward Lou and she replied, “About two months. It has gotten worse in the past week. She coughs more when she is lying down.”

  “And her shortness of breath?”

  “She hasn’tt been very active in the past few months. She just said she was extra tired.”

  “I can see why. Her x-ray showed there is fluid in the lungs and her heart is enlarged.”

  “Can I see it?” Brody asked.

  “Sure.” The ER doc moved over to the lighted x-ray viewer and switched it on. He hung the x-ray on the viewer and pointed with a pencil to the right side of the heart. “You can see here that blood has engorged the right side of the heart.”

  Brody nodded. “You can see the blood backed up in the veins. Damn it.” He swore.

  “Your mother’s fingertips and toes were blue when she arrived…”

  Brody cut him off mid-sentence. “Indicating a loss of blood flow to the extremities.” Brody sighed again. “What’s your recommendation?”

  “I would suggest using a combination of diuretics like Lasix, vasodilators, ACE inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers,” the doctor replied.

  Brody nodded. His jaw tight enough that it was ticking.

  “I know it’s not easy for you, son, being a surgeon and not being able to help someone so close to you.” The ER doctor squeezed Brody’s shoulder gently.

  “You have no idea,” Brody responded as he extended a hand to shake.

  “Let me know if you need anything. You can go in and see her briefly in the ICU, but she needs to rest.”

  Brody wiped his hand over his face as though he could wipe away the frown lines that now marred his features as the other doctor walked away. Lou reached out her hand to touch his shoulder.

  “What did all that mean?” she asked gently.

  “It means my mother is dying,” he breathed in response.

  Lou’s hand fell from his shoulder as her world narrowed to black.

  ****

  Lou felt a tickling breath on her cheek as her name was spoken softly.

  “Lou…wake up, sleeping beauty.”

  Lou stretched her body only to find she was reclining in Brody’s lap in a chair in the waiting room. One of his arms was behind her back, supporting her and his other hand was holding her wrist, checking her pulse as he counted the seconds.

  “What happened?” Lou sat forward in his lap.

  “You fainted.” Brody mouth quirked like he was holding back a grin.

  “I do not faint.” Lou laid a hand on her chest. Of all the ideas!

  “Then how else did you get in my lap? You didn’t crawl there, as pleasant as that may sound.”

  “Oh, you!” Lou growled as she sat forward and quickly remembered the events that had just transpired. “Your mom…”

  “Is waiting to see us, I’m sure. Feel up to it?” he asked gently. His voice was soft and his gaze wary.

  “Absolutely. Can I go, too? Or do you want some time alone with her?” She lifted herself from his lap and stood in front of him. She brushed her hair from her face. His only response was to take her by the hand and go through the double doors leading to the elevator and then the ICU. The nurse pointed to a curtained area and they both poked their heads around the corner.

  Brody walked to the right side of the bed while Lou walked to the left. Mrs. Wester was huddled amid the covers, her face as white as the sheets around her. Some of the blue tint had receded since the scare in the ambulance, so she looked more like herself. She woke briefly when Lou took one hand and Brody took the other. Her eyes opened slowly.

  “Hey. My two favorite people,” Mrs. Wester said softly.

  “How are you feeling?” Lou asked quietly, still holding her hand.

  “With my fingers. How about you?”

  Brody chuckled softly. “I see you’re feeling better.”

  “I’ll be back up and about in no time, I’m sure.” Her determined statement didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You two should go home and get some rest.”

  “We will. We just wanted to say goodnight, Mom.”

  “Goodnight, son. ‘Night, Lou,” she muttered, her eyes closing as she spoke.

  Brody released her hand and checked the IV bag that was pumping into his mother’s frail arm. “What’s that?”

  Lou asked.

  “This one is a Lasix drip to help with fluid buildup and allow the heart to pump more normally. The other one is dextrose, saline, and potassium. The Lasix depletes potassium in the body so you have to add it back in.” Lou looked at him with what must have been a blank look on her face. He groaned and said, “So, this one is sugar, water, and something like bananas. Make sense?”

  “Clear as mud, Doc,” she mumbled. “Will she improve with this?”

  “She’ll improve for a while.” His voice was soft as he bent over the bed and brushed the hair from his mother’s forehead and then kissed her gently. “But not forever.”

  Lou raised Mrs. Wester’s hand to her lips and kissed it, then placed the hand back on the covers.

  “Ready to go home?” Brody asked.

  “Whenever you are,” Lou replied.

  Lou and Brody walked through the sliding doors and toward the parking lot. The pavement was blackened and damp with rain. Lou’s shoes made slapping sounds as she walked toward the car.

  “Mary? Mary Smith? Is that you, child?” Ssomeone called from across the parking lot and Lou heard quick footfalls approaching. A hand with skinny fingers clutched her arm. Lou turned and looked into a face that had been roughened by the hands of time. Her heartbeat quickened.

  “I’m sorry. Do I know you?” Lou’s tongue nearly refused to work.

  “Mary Lou, it’s me, Mrs. Downy. I lived next door to your family when you lived on Broad Street. That must have been about eight years ago.”

  Lou raised her nose a few inches and she assumed a rigid pose. “I’m sorry but you must be thinking of someone else.” She removed the older woman’s hand from her arm and turned to walk away.

  Mrs. Downy said softly, “I’m sorry. I had you mistaken for someone I used to know.” She said something more, but Lou didn’t hear the words, because she was already in the Jeep with the door closed, sweat beading her forehead.

  Brody walked over to the driver’s si
de door and motioned for Lou to move over. She hesitated briefly and then slid across to the passenger’s seat.

  Brody slid into the driver’s seat and held out his hand for the keys. “Are you okay? You’re not going to faint on me again, are you?” he asked, backing out of the parking space.

  “No! Of course not. Once in a lifetime is plenty.” She’d never live it down if she did it more than once.

  Brody raised a hand in mock surrender. “Hey, I’ll take any excuse I can get to have a woman sprawled across my lap.” His attempt at levity eased some of the tension that hung in the air like a wet blanket.

  Lou bit back a grin. “You probably have women sprawled across your lap all the time.” Why did she say that?

  He grinned at her. “Actually, my lap is usually too busy to have anyone sprawled across it.” His eyes cut in her direction as they narrowed. “I stay pretty busy at the hospital.”

  “When do you have to go back home to go to work? Soon?” she asked, realizing it would be better to change the subject.

  “I’m going to take a short leave of absence. I have a month of vacation time to burn and I am not leaving until something happens with my mother. You do know it’s just a matter of time, right?” He put on his best doctor’s face despite the fear that must be gnawing at his gut.

  “I understand.” Tears filled her eyes, yet refused to spill. “Is there any chance she can come home?”

  “Maybe. It’s something we have to discuss with the doctors. We have to let her come out of the ICU before they’ll even consider it.”

  “I can help take care of her when she does come home. We all will.” Her innocent comment had him raising his eyebrows.

  Brody’s eyes met Lou’s. “That’s what you do, isn’t it? You take care of people?” His voice softened. “Does anyone ever take care of you, Lou?”

  “I don’t need-”

  Brody cut her off. “We all need to be taken care of, Lou… Even you.” He reached across the seat and took her hand gently in his. Her next comment was as lost as the breeze coming through the open window. His strong hand enveloped hers and held it gently between them on the console.“Thanks for sitting with me today, Lou. You made the hours seem bearable.”

  “You’re welcome. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.” The sentiment was cut short as her stomach betrayed her again with a loud growl. She removed her hand from his and pressed it to her belly. “Good grief,” she mumbled.

  He chuckled lightly. “Feel like some ice cream?” he asked as they passed the Dairy Barn.

  “I always feel like ice cream,” she responded, a grin stealing across her lips. “Sarah convinces Sadie and Jeb to hook up the hay wagon all the time, and we all pile in the back and come here for ice cream. She would be jealous if she knew where we are.”

  Brody circled the building and pulled into a parking space. “We’ll bring her next time. Come on,” he said, shutting off the car and opening his door.

  They walked up to the counter together. Lou ordered a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of sherbet on the same cone. Brody ordered plain vanilla in a cup. “I thought you had an adventurous spirit,” she commented playfully.

  “I have an adventurous spirit. I just don’t have a cast-iron stomach. How can you eat those flavors together?” He shivered dramatically.

  “You don’t eat them together. You eat them separately. If you are lucky, they mix a little as they melt.” They took a seat outside the Dairy Barn at a picnic table. Rather than sit on the bench, she climbed on top of the table and sat down. He eyed her skeptically for a moment and then joined her. They sat in companionable silence for a short time. The lights flickered off at the Dairy Barn. It was obviously after the ten o’clock closing time. The area was devoid of other cars and people. “We had better go,” she said, her half-eaten ice cream in one hand.

  He waved impatiently at her. “We have plenty of time. I want to finish my boring old cup of vanilla,” his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm.

  She sank back down on the tabletop, her feet on the bench below. Her elbows rested on top of her knees. “Mine is much better than yours.” Her attempt at a singsong voice and a teasing tone were muffled by her tongue swirling the cone.

  “I don’t know how it could be. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you fainted?” He reached over and placed the back of his hand on her forehead as though checking for a fever.

  “Positive. Here.” She held her cone out to him. “Try it.”

  “Nuh-uh. It’s much more fun watching you. I’ll stick with vanilla.”

  “Sure?” she asked pleasantly, extending her cone toward him again.

  “Oh, all right,” he finally acquiesced with a big smile. He grabbed her hand to steady the cone and took a bite of the sherbet. “Not bad,” he said, nodding his head.

  She extended the cone again. “Now you have to try it with the chocolate.”

  “That’s disgusting.” He chuckled.

  She extended the cone again and he once more took her hand. He bit a section of the chocolate scoop at the bottom of the cone. “You’re not going to get me to try them combined no matter how cute you look doing that.”

  “You think I look cute?” she asked as her tongue swirled around the section where the two flavors met.

  “You know you look cute,” he mumbled under his breath as he watched her swirl the two flavors with her tongue again. “Would you stop that?” he asked more loudly.

  “Stop what?” Her tongue stopped in mid-swirl.

  “Never mind,” he snapped, standing up quickly.

  “Are you mad at me?” He rolled his eyes and groaned heavily. “I offered to share my cone.”

  “You can’t be as innocent as you seem,” he mumbled. He took a deep breath. “I want to try the two flavors mixed.” His voice deepened as he moved to stand before her. Chocolate and sherbet glistened on her lips. She extended the cone again but he caught her wrist and deflected it. Instead, he moved closer to her knees and met her lips with his. His tongue gently and tenderly flicked against her closed lips, tasting the flavors of her cone. “Mmm…” he growled. “I think I like it.”

  Her breath caught in her throat at the simple assault on her senses. “What-” Her words were smothered by his lips as they closed more fully over hers.

  “Can I have some more?” he asked playfully against her mouth. He stepped back slightly and she unwittingly raised her cone back to her mouth, her wrist clasped in his large hand as he guided the cone back to her lips. She swirled her tongue around the cone again. His mouth once again descended and met hers. He groaned again.

  “Mmm…that is good.” He dropped his own cup of ice cream on the sidewalk as his hand cupped her face, his fingers splayed toward her ear. His thumb touched her chin lightly, pressing insistently until her mouth opened under the pressure. She gasped softly, her indrawn breath bringing his tongue further into her mouth. He retreated slightly but did not remove his lips from hers. “You taste sweet,” he said against her mouth.

  Her only answer was a small whimper, as his tongue touched her lips again and traced a circle from lower to upper lips. His hands touched her calves and ran up behind her jean-clad knees. He very slowly spread her knees so he could stand between them. He reached around to the back of her jeans and pulled her bottom toward him so that she sat on the edge of the table.

  His mouth continued the slow assault on her senses. His tongue probed gently and moved around her teeth. “Kiss me back,” he whispered against her mouth. Her tongue rose to meet his and he made a rumbling little noise that skittered across her skin. He pulled her tighter against him. Her hand rose to touch his chest, the other still holding the ice cream cone.

  Lou jumped when their kiss was cut short by the two-second peal of a siren. Brody broke the kiss, opened his eyes and noticed a police car parked ten feet from their perch on the table. Lou tucked her face against his neck in embarrassment.

  “You kids want to move on out? It’s getting late,” t
he officer said through the open window. Lou smiled, trying to contain a giggle against his neck. A quick glance up showed her Brody was grinning too.

  “Yes, sir. We’ll be moving on out,” he replied with a quick wave.

  Brody lifted Lou’s free hand from his chest and held it as she climbed off the table. She was a little unsteady on her feet. “You okay?” he asked gently, pressing the back of her hand against his lips.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” Her legs felt like water but she would never admit it. He opened the passenger side door of the Jeep and she slid in, still clutching the melting ice cream cone. She started to lick the dripping streams of ice cream from the cone.