Heroes Never Die (29 page)

“I didn’t mean to come across that way,” she apologized.  “I was just surprised when I saw you.  I wasn’t expecting Dad to be with anyone.”

“But I know Robert wrote you about me?”

“That’s just it,” she explained.  “I never received any letters from Brian or Dad.  Then someone told me Brian was sleeping with every nurse he winked at.  So when I saw you with Dad, it just reinforced the lie, and I was upset, that’s all.”

“Let me guess,” Jamie ventured.  “This someone wanted you to sleep with him, right?”

“How did you know?”  She was amazed by her perception.

“Call it women’s intuition.  Brian loves you, Stephanie.  You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Stephanie was pleased.  It felt good to hear it from someone who had worked with Brian, especially when it was coming from such a perceptive woman.  “I know he loves me.  I just needed to hear him say it.  And if I offended you the other day, I’m sorry.”

“I wasn’t offended.  I was concerned.  I know you have a great relationship with your dad, and I was afraid that you saw me as a threat.  I don’t want to take him away from you, but I do want to be with him.  I was hoping you wouldn’t mind sharing.”

“That’s a welcome twist,” she said.  “You really care for Dad, don’t you?”

“I’ve waited a long time for someone like Robert.  Unfortunately, he’s been brutally honest with me.  He has no intention of letting himself fall in love again.”

“Brian once told me, ‘never say never.’  There’s also something Brian does that just might help.”

“I’m listening.”

“Brian knows that Dad and I have an unbreakable bond, so he doesn’t try to fight the current.  He knows he can have whatever he wants by just riding the wave.”

“Are you talking about your mother?”

Stephanie nodded.  “Don’t fight the current by trying to erase her memory.  Her memory is all that Dad has left.  Cherish her memory with him.  Once he stops struggling, he’ll open his heart and let you ride the wave.”

“That makes sense, I suppose.  Thanks for being a friend, Stephanie.”

“I’m glad I could help.”  Stephanie suddenly felt a cool breeze.  “If you are as chilly as I am, then let’s go back inside.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

As soon as Stephanie opened the door, she heard laughter and soft music again.  She searched the room for Brian.  As soon as he had her attention, he motioned his head to invite her to join him.

“Brian just motioned for me to come and see him,” Stephanie said.  “I enjoyed our visit, Jamie.”

“Me, too.  I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow.”

“Do you have a dress, or would you like to borrow something of mine?”

“I have a cocktail number I’d like to try.”

“Jamie!” she scolded with an impish grin.  “I don’t want Dad to have a heart attack.”

Jamie laughed.  “Now I know why your dad loves you so much.”

Stephanie felt the beginning of a warm friendship.  She reached for Jamie’s hand.  “I don’t want Dad to be alone.  I hope you’re the one.”  Jamie returned her genuine smile, and then Stephanie joined Brian.

“I’m ready to go,” Brian said out of the corner of his mouth.

“Are you sure?  You are the guest of honor.”

Brian bent down and whispered in her ear, “I need to be with you.”

Stephanie felt his hot breath gently blowing in her ear
and it sent tingles down her spine.  She looked into his eyes, wanting him, too.  “Let’s go say our goodbyes.”

Chapter Thirty:

Stephanie returned home from an errand.  She noticed how the leaves were beginning to bud on the giant maple trees in her yard.  Pink and violet tulips were popping up along the sidewalk.  She stopped for a moment and felt the sun on her face,
happy that winter was finally over.  She had never been this happy in her life, and she wondered whether she was actually glowing, or was it the warm sun permeating her skin?  She stepped inside the house just in time to hear the phone ringing.  She hurried to the kitchen to answer it.

“Hi, honey, it’s Brian.  I just wanted to hear your voice before I go into surgery.”

“I’m glad you called,” she happily responded.  “It’s getting late.  It must have been an emergency.”

“Yes, but I think I can wrap things up and still be home at a reasonable time.”

“Good, because I have a surprise for you.”

“Don’t do this to me,” he playfully warned.  “I need a clear head to operate.”

Stephanie let out a kittenish laugh.  “Sorry, but it’s not that kind of surprise.  I’m making a special dessert for dinner.”  She could hear the disappointment in his voice.  “C’mon, she coaxed.  “You’re going to love it.”

“If you say so.  I have to go, honey.  See you tonight.”

“I love you, Brian.  I miss you dreadfully.”

“I love you too, Stephanie.  Be good until I get there.”

***

Stephanie set the table for dinner and covered the plates with foil.  She heard Brian’s car pull up in the driveway
, and she hurried and lit the candles.  Everything looks perfect.  Then she went to the door and greeted Brian with a kiss.

“Sorry I’m late,” Brian said as he embraced her.  “Traffic was awful.”

“I’m just glad you’re home.  I kept our dinner warm.”

“Great, because I’m starving.”  They walked to the dining room together and sat down at the table.  “Candles, too?” he complimented as he loosened the foil from around his dinner plate.  He crumpled the foil into a ball and tossed it aside.  Then he reared back and stared at his plate that was heaped with candy.  “Candy, Stephanie?  I’m supposed to eat candy for dinner?  I
f you’re angry because I’m late…”

“Look again,” she giggled.  “What does the candy say?”

He let out a puff of strangled air.  “Baby Ruth – Sugar Babies – Sugar Daddy.”

Brian looked up at her, still unsure.  S
tephanie nodded to confirm the news.  “You’re going to be a wonderful father to our baby.”

“You’re absolutely certain?”

I saw Dr. Isaiah today,” she confirmed.  “Everything checked out fine.  The baby is due around the middle of December.”

“A baby?” he questioned as though it would take some getting used to.  “We’re going to have a baby!”

Chapter Thirty-
One:

Stephanie was comfortable in a chair reading a how-to book on painless childbirth.  Brian was on the phone with his parents telling them the good news. 
When he finished the call, he joined his wife in the living room.

“Were your parents excited?” Stephanie asked, glancing up from her book.

“Ecstatic,” he replied, dryly.

She wondered what was wrong.  “You don’t sound very happy.”

“That’s because I’m not.  Why didn’t you tell me you broke your arm?”

Stephanie felt cornered.  His parents must have told him everything.  “When you came home from the war,” she said to downplay his concern, “it was the last thing on my mind.  After that, it just didn’t seem important.”

“Maybe not to you, but it is to me.  I want to know what happened.”

“I had a bad fall,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“That’s it?” Brian asked.  “You had a bad fall?  I’d like more details.”

She never dreamed Brian would be so inquisitive.  “I was with some friends in Michigan, and I fell and broke my arm – end of story.  Now if you don’t mind,” she said in a miffed tone, “I was reading.”  She buried her head in her book, hoping he would drop the subject.

Brian pulled the book from her hands and noticed the title.  “Forget it, Stephanie,” he said as he tossed the book aside.  “Childbirth hurts.”

“Well, thanks a whole heck of a lot,” she fumed.  “I’m scared enough as it is.”

He rested his weight on the arms of her chair and leaned over her.  “What was the name of the doctor who treated you?”

Stephanie’s face burned with nervous heat.  “Why?” she questioned, stalling for time.

“Because I want to send for your medical report so I can read it.”

“My arm is fine now, so what makes the difference?  It’s ancient history.”

“I’m a doctor.  You’re my wife.  And I want to know how your injury was treated.  It’s a simple request.  Give me your doctor’s name.”

“I don’t remember his name,” she said, wringing her hands.

“A doctor treated you for a broken arm and you don’t remember his name?  Try pulling my other leg, Stephanie.”

Stephanie’s
mind raced to come up with a reasonable answer.  “I was seen in an emergency room, and the on-call doctor treated me.  He never introduced himself.  I was treated and released.”

“Then what was the name of the hospital?”

“I don’t remember,” she yelled.  “It was just some hospital in the middle of nowhere in Michigan.  I was in a lot of pain and I just wanted it to stop.  I’m so sorry I neglected to ask all of these stupid questions before I accepted treatment.  Now will you lay off of me?”

“Show me the canceled check you wrote to pay the hospital.”

Stephanie’s stomach began to churn with queasiness.  “I didn’t write a check.”

“Then the hospital directed the bill to Tricare for payment?”

“Yes,” she lied to get him off her back.  “Tricare paid.”

“Good,” Brian said, finally easing up on her.  “Tricare will have a copy of your medical report.  I’ll give them a call tomorrow and ask them to fax it to me.”

Stephanie could feel the color draining from her skin.  Her medical report didn’t exist, at least not in this country.  He was going to catch her in a lie, or worse, discover the truth.  She jumped to her feet, squeezing the pain in her stomach.  “I hope you’re satisfied!” she yelled as she ran to the bathroom with dry heaves.  She soaked a cloth with cold water and dabbed it to her face.  She desperately wanted to tell Brian the truth, but then she remembered all of the threats Kyle had made.  The truth was as deadly as the lie she had been living.

When Brian returned home from work the next day, Stephanie met him at the door just as she always had, wanting everything to appear normal.  Brian didn’t respond to her kiss.  He scowled at her, wanting answers instead.  “Tricare has no record of your injury.”

“So?” she said, instantly becoming defensive.  “It’s not my fault some screwball lost my records.  Why are you blaming me?”

“Tricare never received your claim.  It doesn’t exist.”

“It does exist,” she insisted.  “The hospital just hasn’t billed it yet.  Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”

“A hospital five months behind in their billing?  Come on, Stephanie.  I want the truth.”

“So they’re slow,” she fumed.  “That’s not my fault, either.”

“I’m up to my ears in your bullshit, Stephanie.  And I’ve just about had it.  Why can’t you be honest with me?”

Stephanie forced herself to calm down.  She had to convince Brian that she was telling the truth even when she wasn’t, and Brian was nobody’s fool.  “I have been honest.  You just won’t believe me.  And I’m sorry for not telling you that I broke my arm, but I broke it while I was doing something really stupid, and I was afraid you’d be angry with me.”

“Tell me what happened.”

It was difficult to look into his eyes and lie.  It made her feel cheap and dirty.  “My friends in Michigan took me ice skating.  I don’t skate very well, and I never should have gone, but I let them talk me into it.  We played crack the whip, and I was on the tail.  I went flying across the ice and broke my arm.  I was also knocked unconscious.  That’s why I don’t remember where I was treated.  I was out cold when my friends drove me to the hospital.  They filled out most of the paperwork.  They must have made a mistake, and that’s probably why it’s taking so long to bill the claim.  I don’t really know what happened, and I don’t really care.  I just want to stop fighting.”

“I thought you said you were released from the emergency room?”

“Then maybe I was admitted.  I don’t remember.  The doctor gave me something strong for pain.  It knocked me out, and it’s all just a big haze right now.”

“Nice try, Stephanie,” he steamed.  “But no doctor in his right mind would ever administer a narcotic with a head injury present.”

Stephanie’s face filled with resentment.  Brian had deliberately set a trap for her, and she blindly stepped into it.  “Dinner is in the oven,” she huffed.  “Serve yourself.”

“I think I’ll drink my dinner.”  Stephanie watched as he went to the kitchen.  She could hear the refrigerator door bang open, and then the cracking snap of a beer bottle being uncapped.  He walked out of the kitchen and brushed
past her as though she were invisible, and headed toward the living room.

S
tephanie felt the pangs of rejection.  She covered her head with both hands, and tried not to cry.  Why does love have to hurt so much?  She went to the kitchen and removed dinner from the oven.  It smelled putrid, like rotting fish, and she covered her mouth and convulsed with dry heaves.  Tuna casserole.  What was I thinking?  When her stomach finally relaxed, she reached into the cupboard for a saltine and hoped she could hold it down.  I never want to get pregnant again, she thought.  But that was the least of her worries right now.

She went to the living room to find Brian.  He was sitting in a chair gulping down a beer.  He looked completely detached from her.  I don’t know if I can get through to you, Brian, but I’m sure going to try.
  She sat down on the floor beside his chair and rested her head on his knees.  She looked up at him, her face full of pain.  “I don’t want to fight anymore, Brian.  It’s tearing me apart inside.  I want to get along with you, please.”

“Are you ready to tell me the truth?”

“But I already told you everything I can remember.”

“Forget it, Stephanie.  I don’t talk to liars.”

Crushed, she just stared at him, her eyes filling with tears.  She stood to her feet, wondering why she had ever bothered to make things right.  “I never dreamed we’d let a broken arm come between us.  I thought our marriage was stronger than that, but I guess I was wrong.  I’m going to go soak in a hot bubble bath.  I have a lot of things to think about.”  His eyes jumped up at her.  Then she went upstairs and drew her bath.

Stephanie lowered herself into the water and let the fragrant bubbles caress her skin, but she was too agitated to relax.  She wondered
if their marriage was coming to an end.  It was the last thing she wanted.  The thought terrified her.  But fighting with the man she loved was even less appealing.  She stayed in the tub, soaking, and tried to think of a solution, until her fingers looked like wrinkled prunes.  She pulled the plug, climbed out of the tub, and wrapped herself in a soft towel.  She stood in front of the mirror and brushed her hair, and then she put on her fluffy white bathrobe.

Stephanie pulled down the covers to get ready for bed.  Brian walked in and approached her.  She was too angry to look at him, and she thought about grabbing her pillow and going to the guest room to sleep.

“I don’t want you to leave me,” Brian said with an uneasy look in his eyes.  “You know I can’t live without you.”

It was the last thing she had expected him to say.  “You haven’t been able to live with me lately, either.”

Brian embraced her shoulders.  “I pushed you too far, Stephanie, and I’m sorry.  I won’t ask any more questions, and we’ll just leave it at that.  You’re safe now, and that’s all that matters.”

“Are you sure, Brian?  Because I don’t want to go through this again.”

“I’m sure.”  He slowly untied the knot in her robe and pushed the robe off of her shoulders.  Her robe gently slid to the floor.  He laid her across the bed and kissed her.  He paused for a moment and looked deeply into her eyes, “Are we good?”

Stephanie embraced his face, wanting him with all
of her might.  “We’re better than good.”

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Stephanie dressed for a baby shower that was being given in her honor.  She put on a maternity dress and looked at her reflection in the mirror.  She rubbed her hands over her enormous belly.  I couldn’t look pretty if I tried.  I’m tired of being pregnant.  I can’t wait to get this over with.
  She carefully waddled down the stairs to find Brian.  He stood to his feet when she approached him, partly out of respect, but mostly because she was too uncomfortable to lean over his chair to give him a kiss goodbye.

“All ready?”  Brian put his arms around her.

“I guess so,” she said, trying not to complain but doing so anyway.  “I feel so fat and ugly.”

“Hey, hey,” he quickly corrected, his eyes warm and sincere.  “You’re not fat
, you’re pregnant.  And you’re far from ugly.  You’re the most beautiful pregnant woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, brother,” she groaned, knowing he was just trying to make her feel better.  “I’m just anxious to get this over with.  I’m tired of being pregnant.”

“Three more weeks,” he encouraged.  “And when we see our baby for the first time, it will have been worth it.  You’ll see.”

His enthusiasm was encouraging, and Stephanie’s eyes began to sparkle again.  “You’re going to be such a wonderful daddy.”  She reached for his mouth and gave him a kiss.  “I’m just glad you’re going to be with me through labor.  I couldn’t go through it without you.”