This is Part II! Yay! Oh wait…sad…

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Jim’s eyes opened slowly, and with some slight pain, he took in the small white room around him. There were flowers in a vase next to him, and the stale smell of hospitals wafted to his nose. Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to will his mind to take him back to wherever he had been, for there, it had been bliss. A shrill voice, falsely cheerful, broke into his conscious, however, and he was forced to open his eyes once again.

‘Ah, I see you’re awake, Mr.’ –she checked her clipboard- ‘Elledon. Well, I’m glad that you’re doing so well. Now, how about getting up and out of this bed so we can do some stretches before you eat? Lying around in bed all the time isn’t good for your muscles, you know.’

Jim tried to block out the sound of her painfully high voice, but to no avail. She only sighed and put on a fake smile while taking his hands and pulling. ‘Come on, no one likes a party pooper. Just a few stretches, please? Doctor’s orders, you know!’ Her grin grew, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

‘Just one question first.’

The nurse faltered, but nodded at his question.

‘How long have I been out for?’

‘Not more than a few hours. It’s only ten o’clock PM.’

Jim sighed, closing his eyes and retracting his hands. ‘Listen, Miss. I don’t know who put you up to this job, but let me tell you now, it is futile. Now, would you be so kind as to retrieve my jacket for me?’

The nurse’s face was slightly troubled, but she did as she was asked.

‘Thank you.’ Jim reached into his right pocket, extracted his wallet, and pulled out a fifty-dollar-bill. ‘I want you to take this and not come back until the doctors come for a personal check up. Understood? And that meds that you give a person to make them sleep, could you give me some?’

The nurse stared at the money before nodding and saying, ‘I’ll be right back.’ Within minutes, she returned with a small plastic cup with two pills in it and a glass of water. ‘Here, sir,’ she said. ‘If you need anything, just press that button.’ She waved to a red button next to the bed. ‘I’ll be just down the hall. Sleep well.’

Jim sighed as she left, closing his eyes and dry swallowing the pills. Within moments he could feel the effects, and let himself drift off into sweet sleep.

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The music was loud and throbbing, the temperature was rising as more people jammed into the club, and Laura slapped her hand on the counter top.

‘One more, pleesh,’ she slurred. The bartender, a well-muscled man with his right ear peirced in very single area possible, shook his blue-haired head. He tossed his towel to a co-worker behind the huge bar and walked out and around. As Laura turned around in her swivel bar seat, he took her hand and her purse, pulling her away from the bar.

‘Come on, Laura, you’ve had enough for tonight.’ He gently tried to pull her farther way and towards the exit, but she wouldn’t let him.

‘No, pleesh, Bart, I jush want one mo’ drink,’ she said, grinning toothily.

‘No way, babe. You’ve had far more than enough. And the name’s not Bart, it’s Brent. Not that you’ll remember,’ he added quietly. She tried to pull her hands away, but Brent’s hold was firm. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘If you’re good, I’ll drive you home tonight.’

Laura swayed on the spot before nodding drunkenly. She trusted Brent. He had been a good friend of hers for years, and promised to keep her secret when she started coming regularly to this bar. ‘Can I go home now? My shtomach hurtsh, and thish muzic’s making me dizzzzzy,’ she said. To Brent, she sounded just like a sleepy child.

‘Of course, we can go back now, if that’s what you want. Just stay here and I’ll be right back.’ He disappeared into the mass of sweaty bodies and blaring lights before returning with a jacket and keys. He grabbed Laura’s hand and led her out to the parking lot. The cool air did wonders to the drunken woman as she stumbled across the street to Brent’s Jeep.

As she was about to get in, her cell phone went off, playing Mozart. The blinking letters flashed ‘Unavailable,’ so she left it and climbed into the car. Brent held back any comments that he’d had and started the drive to Laura’s home. Ever since five months ago, when she had become a regular at the bar, Brent had known this drive almost as well as his own. He didn’t know what Laura had done to get in this state, but as an old friend from college, he’d promised not to betray her secret.

Halfway to her house her phone rang again, and this time she didn’t bother seeing who it was, she just turned it off.

‘What if it was someone important?’ Brent asked, his calm voice a pleasant reality check.

‘They’d have been in my phone book if it were that important. Don’t worry about it,’ she smiled halfheartedly.

Brent reached into the backseat and pulled out a body spray, a water bottle, mouth rinse, and a hairbrush. It was Laura’s stash, something that had stayed in his car ever since he realized that she’d be needing it more than once after she left it in there by accident.

Gratefully, Laura took the items and straightened herself out; washing her face and hands, rinsing out her mouth, brushing back her hair and making her clothes and purse, as well as hair, smell fresh, as if she’d never been to the bar at all.

‘Thanks so much, Brent,’ she said quietly as they pulled into her street. He always dropped her off down the street from her house so that her kids wouldn’t see a foreign car if they were still awake.

‘Laura, you know what I said before…’ he replied as she got out.

She paused before she closed the door. ‘”I’ll be there for you, when you need me.” I know, Brent, thank you. I’ll see you later,’ she called after she closed the door. Brent watched her make her way down the street, slowly making her steps calmer and more controlled so that she wouldn't appear to be drunk. "Man, she knows how to act, all right," Brent thought as he made his way back to the bar. "I just wish I could do more to help her..."

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Jim walked out of the hospital feeling better than he had in a long time. Ever since this depression had set in, he hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep in about five months. Even if it was drug-induced, last night’s sleep was the best he’d had in a long time.

He waited at the bus stop for the next arrival, and tried to think of what to tell his family about why he had been gone all night. He didn’t want them to know that he’d been at the hospital, because then Laura would ask to look at his health records and talk to his doctors.

“No,” he thought frantically. No, he couldn’t have them doing that. Even his therapist couldn’t do anything for him. Oh, he knew what the problem was, all right. But there was nothing that he could do… Nothing that anyone could do.

He felt a pang of guilt, but brushed it off as the bus arrived. He was silent the whole ride to the next bus station, which was right across from his subdivision. The walk home would do him some good, he reasoned. The breeze through the night air was nice, and he got lost in his own thoughts. Before he knew it, he was in front of his own house.

‘Had to face the music sometime,’ he muttered under his breath as he made his way up the drive. He opened the front door and walked lazily in the house. It was quiet with the stillness of abandonment.

‘Hello?’ he called into the darkness. His voice sounded harsh and loud in the silence. It was as if he was shouting through a cemetery. His only answer was the wind ruffling the windchimes on the front porch. He walked in and closed the door behind him, flipping on the lights as he made his way to the kitchen.

Once there, he laid his jacket on a chair and took off his shoes. A note was sitting on the countertop.

Dad,

Mel is sleeping at a Jan’s house for the night and I’m out at Parker’s for our study night. Be back tomorrow, there’s hot dogs in the fridge.

-David.

Jim sighed and pulled out a Saran-wrapped plate, then put a few hot dogs in the microwave. He heard a noise and jumped. He sighed, laughing slightly as he realized that it was just an envelope. It fell out of his jacket pocket. Curious, he walked over to the paper, opened it, and proceeded to read. It was from the hospital…

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Laura made her way into her house, surprised to see the lights on. She called out when she opened the door, but there was no answer.

‘Hello?’ she called again. “But the kitchen light’s on, that must mean that someone’s home. Where’s Jim’s car?” she thought as she checked the garage. She walked, still slightly fuzzyheaded, into the kitchen. On the floor, passed out, was Jim, clutching a crumpled piece of paper in his right hand.

Laura paid no attention to the note, but hurried to his side and gathered him in her arms. ‘Jim!’ she called his name frantically. She shook his shoulders, whispered to him, and slapped his cheek a few times. Finally, as she was about to call the hospital, he opened his eyes. Mumbling incoherently, he stretched his arms and blinked a few times.

‘Laura?’ he whispered.

Tears brimming, she smiled and nodded. With a stifled cry, she buried her head in his shoulder and sighed, holding him as tightly as he now was holding her.

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‘Jim?’ Laura asked the next morning while making breakfast. Jim looked up from the table, looking rested and for the first time in months, content.

‘I’ve been thinking… You know, our family seems to be…growing distant. I was thinking—what about a family vacation? I understand that the kids have school, but don’t bad family problems tend to affect kids’ lives more than just a few days off? I’m sure that it would be okay, and I think that our family really needs it.’ “I won’t let my family fall apart. I can’t. I’ll stop whatever is pulling us apart. I have to.”

Jim stayed quiet for a few moments, mulling over her suggestion, before nodding. ‘Sounds like a good idea, and besides, I’d like to get away for a while. I’m overdue for a break from work, anyway, and the kids have done wonderfully in their schoolwork. We can spare it, surely. Where did you have in mind?’

‘Actually,’ Laura said as she dished out the eggs and bacon, ‘I’ve always wanted to visit the Rocky Mountains, and I’m sure that Mel could do an extra-credit report on it for school. I’ve already checked, and they have a family package for a one-way flight out there. Whatcha think, dear?’

Jim stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her as she picked up the dishes. He buried his face in her hair and said, ‘I think that it’s a wonderful idea.’ For a few minutes, they stayed just like that, still as statues. Finally, they proceeded to eat breakfast without a word, just enjoying the company that they had been without.

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A week later, their plans had been set and they were on a plane to the Rocky Mountains, Colorado.

After a few hours, they arrived at the Comfort Inn and checked in.

‘Rooms 237 and 238, on the fourth floor, down the hallway to your right. Please enjoy your stay and feel free to call with any request or question. Have a good day!’ The receptionist at the desk was young, wearing a deep red suit that gave her auburn hair a glorious shine, and had a friendly smile. Laura smiled back and led her children to the elevator with their suitcases while Jim stayed at the front desk to ask the woman a question.

‘If you’d be so kind, where can I find Internet access and a fax machine?’ he asked her after his family as out of earshot.

‘I believe that there is in the office supply room. If you really need, sir, I’m sure that we can allow you to use them. Just inform the desk of when you wish access and someone will accompany you and show you how to use them.’

Jim visibly relaxed and thanked the woman before taking the same route as his wife.

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Laura drew back the curtains and sighed at the sight before her. ‘Jim, just look. Isn’t it beautiful? God has given us so much more than we could ever deserve.’

Jim nodded and stood beside her. Before them, just beyond the balcony, lay the city, and visible to the Inn were the Rocky Mountains. Huge, looming over the Inn and throwing a shadow off in the setting sun; Laura sighed again and leaned on Jim. ‘Let’s just enjoy this for a bit, okay?’

He nodded again, casting his eyes over the landscape once more. The sun played tricks through the mountain peaks and cracks and threw dancing beams of light into their bedroom. ‘It is surely beautiful,’ he murmured before moving back to their sitting room. They hadn’t felt the need to go out for dinner, so Jim agreed to order a dinner up to their rooms for them. Now, as he sat down for dinner, he was quite glad that he had decided on that course of action, because waiting for cheap food in a noisy restaurant was not what he was in the mood for.

He took the lid off of the dish in front of him and inhaled the delicious scent of roast beef and gravy, with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and asparagus, and a small dish of tapioca pudding, his favorite. He closed his eyes, prayed his traditional pre-dinner prayer, and opened his eyes, catching site of just how good is food looked. But for some reason, his appetite had suddenly left him, just after he finished praying, and instead, he picked up his utensils, inspecting them and putting them back down. But on the knife, he examined it longer, testing the blade. He ran the edge over his finger lightly, but it was sharper than it looked, and he gave a hiss as the cool metal sliced through his tender flesh.

Laura looked over from the window to see her husband examining the silverware. She smiled softly, and then almost froze when he picked up the knife for a moment longer. For a fleeting second, she feared the worst, but it quickly passed and she noticed as he turned it over in his hands before testing the blade. Her breath caught in her throat as he accidentally cut his finger, and a knot twisted in her stomach as his eyes turned just a shade darker as he stared at the forming droplets of blood.

So? What do you guys think so far? What do you think was in that letter? I told you before, this is a tragedy typa story. Hope for the best, but expect the (almost) worst. I’m dead tired, school is exhausting, so I’m going to drink some tea with hazelnut cream and then probably read Queen of Glass. It’s an amazing story, so if you get the chance, you should read it. Love you all, PLEASE REVIEW! This story has almost no reviews, and it’s not that long. I’ll cya all later, ok? Bye!

-Abby