(Author's notes: Welcome back to Act Two of Laurie's Wonderful Life. Well, that didn't take long did it? Not even a week between parts by my count, even with the extensive rewriting I've been doing. Don't expect the final act to be up that quick though as I do know I need to do a heavey duty rewrite on parts of it, not to mention that it is longer than parts one and two combined I believe and a whole lot of photographs. I will have to say that unlike Laurie and Dag, I've had to do very little photo editing.
If you are new, you may want to give some thought to reading this three part trilogy at the beginning. The beginning is The Kid & Me. You can find all the links necessary to get to it in the right hand column over there. Don't try to read it all in one sitting, so plan on bookmarking it or add it to your google reader. Of course, you can start by reading Laurie's Wonderful Life but I'll tell you right now that when I finally do get Act Three up, you may enjoy it, but there are numerous incidents that connect to the previous stories and you'll certainly not be able to grasp that connection, nor will you even know who some of the characters are and how they relate to Laurie's life.
At any rate, whatever you decide to do, thanks for stopping by thanks for reading, and tell your friends about it if you enjoy it. And honestly, when I get to the end of my story, I promise I won't cut to black.)
As had become the norm, Laurie awakened late the next morning, groggy and with her head pounding after another sleepless night. Angela, Suzie and Bettie would have awakened hours earlier. Laurie managed to find her way into the bathroom, and to the sink where she surveyed her disheveled appearance in the mirror above it. She decided that she looked like total crap which was appropriate considering she felt exactly the same way.
She opened the medicine cabinet and stood there surveying the contents. Besides the usual toiletries, there was Acetaminophen, Children’s Tylenol liquid, Children’s Cough syrup, ibuprofen, Naproxen, Midol, and in the midst of all of that a prescription bottle of Zolpidem. The Zolpidem had been prescribed for Laurie by an associate to help her get through Joe’s Funeral, and to help her sleep through the nights that followed. Laurie had taken the Zolpidem for about a week, and had just as abruptly quit. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t work; it was that they worked too well. She would sleep, and when she slept she would dream but when Gayhart fired the bullet that had killed her father, Laurie did not wake up. She would not only relive the
night in its entirety, but the days leading up to Joe’s funeral afterwards. She decided on the ibuprofen, tapped out four tablets into her hand then swallowed them aided by a glass of water; she quickly let her nightgown fall to the floor and climbed into the shower.
Angela had left the shower spray on full force, and the pelting water only served to amplify the pounding in Laurie’s head. She quickly adjusted the spray to gentle, closed her eyes and simply let the water cascade down her body. After about five minutes, the grogginess began to dissipate though the headache remained. She quickly finished showering and headed down the stairs, hoping she could get out of the house without too much of a hassle from either her mom or Angela.
Breakfast had been over long ago, and Bettie was already preparing lunch. By the time Laurie had reached the bottom of the stairs her headache had begun to subside. Suzie wasted no time in rushing to greet her and wrapping her tiny arms around Laurie’s waist. Laurie lifted Suzie into the air, giving her a long hug and kiss on the cheek before returning her to the floor. Laurie had finally decided to at least put on the appearance of being in a good mood for everyone.
“Mommy, mommy, guess what?” Suzie asked excitedly after Laurie had returned her to the floor.
“What Sweetie?” Laurie asked. “Should I guess? Is it bigger than a breadbox?”
“No mommy, it’s not like bread in a box. It’s about Santa Claus.”
“What about Santa, Suzie?” Suzie looked as if she might burst with the information she had obviously been waiting to impart to Laurie since the day before.
“We went and saw Santa Claus yesterday and I asked him for a really cool present but I can’t tell you because it’s a secret.”
Laurie frowned and she was quickly reminded of what Angela had told her the night before about Suzie wishing for her grandfather to return home. She could feel her attempt at being in a good mood begin to evaporate.
“That’s nice, sweetie. Just don’t expect any miracles. Sometimes Santa can’t do everything.”
“I know that, mommy,” she replied. “But I can hope can’t I? Santa said he will try!”
“Sure, baby. You can hope, but I just don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“I won’t mommy,” Suzie told her before racing out back to where her swing set await. But the excitement in Suzie’s voice told Laurie that Suzie was certain she would be seeing her grandfather on Christmas Day.
During the exchange with Suzie, Angela had entered the room, and Laurie shot her a look as if to say, “I told you so.” Angela ignored it, but gave Laurie a hug instead.
“I’m sorry if I was a bit harsh last night,” Angela whispered to her. “I know this is difficult for you.”
“It’s okay,” Laurie said returning the hug with a light kiss on the lips. They broke apart, and Laurie went into the kitchen where Bettie was already preparing lunch.
“Oh hi, honey!” her mom greeted her, but not looking up from what she was doing. “Did you sleep well?”
“Sure, I slept fine,” she lied. “I just need a cup of coffee to get me going. When are Dag and Glenn supposed to be here?”
“In just a few minutes. Dag tells me Ronnie will
be home for Christmas also. He and Jeanine are flying in tomorrow. They just found out that Jeanine is pregnant, and Dag is having trouble coping with the idea of becoming a grandmother.”
Laurie managed a slight chuckle at the thought of that. It wasn’t often she found anything humorous. She remembered how Dag had taken it when Ronnie had announced his engagement to Jeanine.
“Oh my God,” She had exclaimed to Laurie. “I suddenly feel very old. He better not be planning
on having any kids right away. I’m not ready to be a grandmother.” That had been two years ago.
“And here Dag is wanting to have another child herself,” Bettie continued. She and Glenn have been arguing about it. Dag wants to adopt and Glenn wants her to get pregnant again because her biological clock is ticking.”
“I can tell you right now who’s going to win that argument,” Laurie said. “As if there were any doubt.”
This time it was Bettie’s turn to chuckle. “Yep, looks like they’ll be adopting. Speaking of babies Gail’s baby is due in just two months.”
Angela entered the kitchen and sat down next to Laurie.
“She had an ultra sound and they say it’s going to be a girl. Gail couldn’t be happier about that,” Angela added. “She’s always wanted a girl.”
Laurie took a sip of her coffee. “Frankly, I don’t know why anybody would want to keep having babies,” Laurie interjected. “Why bring kids into this world just so that they have to live with nothing but heartache and heartbreak?”
“Laurie!” Bettie said sternly. “Surely you don’t
mean that?”
“I most certainly do. Take Suzie for example. Here you and Angela are filling her head with these fantastic and insane notions of Santa Claus. Now how do you think she’s going to feel Christmas morning when she finds out her Grandfather isn’t going to be coming home from heaven? At the very least we owe it to our kids to be honest and straight forward with them.”
“That’s enough, Laurie,” Angela said sternly. “I’ve talked to her and explained that no matter how hard Santa may try, he probably won’t be able to do that. But I’m not going to let you destroy what little childhood she has left.”
“Laurie, you didn’t quit believing in Santa until you were seven or eight,” Bettie told her. “And it certainly didn’t destroy you to find out otherwise. I agree with, Angela.”
Laurie quickly stood up, threw her coffee mug into the dishwasher, and then turned to face Bettie and Angela.
“Fine, have it your way. The two of you can deal with Suzie's broken heart on Christmas Day, I want no part of it and I’d just as soon the holidays were over with. I don't see how everybody can just go on celebrating as if nothing has happened. Well something has happened, my father is dead, and you can decorate the halls as much as you want and it isn’t going to change one damn thing.”
She stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the front door with Angela and Bettie following right behind her.
“Where are you going, Laurie?” Angela yelled after her. “You don’t have to be at the hospital today.”
“I’m going to check on my patient I operated on yesterday and get some air. I’ll be back later.” Angela was about to tell Laurie that she could use the phone to check on her patient when Bettie grabbed her by the arm.
“It might be better to let her go somewhere and cool off,” Bettie whispered. “Anything we say is
just going to make it worse and I don’t want any fighting today.”
Glenn and Dag were crossing the street with their teenage son Eddie and daughter Veronica.
"Laurie! Where do you think you're going?" Dag called to her. "We've got a lot of work to do and you aren't getting out of it that easy."
"I'll be back soon. I have to check on a patient," Laurie called back to her without turning around.
"You'd better be or we'll come looking for you,"
Dag hollered back.
Laurie still didn't bother to turn around but quickly climbed into her car, fastened the seat belt and started the engine.
When Dag had reached the sidewalk, they turned and watched as Laurie roared down the street.
"She should know better than to drive like that," Dag said disgustedly. "I take it she's not doing any better than the last time we were here?"
"If anything she's getting worse," Angela sighed.
"I always thought Laurie was stronger than any of us," Dag continued. "She has overcome so many obstacles in her life that I never thought she'd fall completely apart"
"I think there are times when each of us reaches a breaking point, and maybe Laurie has reached hers. Frankly Dag, mom and I have tried everything to snap her out of it," Angela frowned. She was worried. Very worried. She was beginning to think Laurie would never return to being the person she had been.
"What about Abby Madison? She helped Laurie out years ago," Dag asked. "If anybody could get through to Laurie she could."
Angela shook her head. "Abby and her family are in Europe and they won't be back for another six months or so. And she absolutely refuses to talk to anybody else."
They were interrupted by the sound of another car approaching and they watched as a red striped Van quickly parked. Laurie's life long friends Gail and Kurt Miller climbed out along with their son, Marcus.
"Was that Laurie we just saw zooming down the road," Gail asked as she crossed the street.
"Sure was," Dag called after her. "Now get over here I have something to ask you."
"How in the world do you do you manage to keep your weight under control? Here you are over six months pregnant, and you look like you're in your second month, if that?"
"Will power. I haven't had a cheeseburger since I got pregnant. I eat lots of salads, protein shakes, and take lots of vitamins. In the end it'll be worth it instead of having to work myself to the bone to take it all back off."
"I wish I had that kind of will power. When I was pregnant with Eddie and Veronica, I was as big as a house. I thought I'd never get my figure back and now Glenn wants to have another one. I want to adopt. What about you and Laurie?" Dag asked turning towards Angela. "I thought you two wanted to have three kids and Laurie was supposed to have the next one?"
Angela sighed. It seemed these days she was either sighing, explaining Laurie’s behavior or doing both at the same time. "I think it's been put on hold. Laurie's not too keen on the idea anymore," she said without going into details about what had happened in the kitchen minutes earlier.
"I know what you're going through, Angela," Gail offered. "Just hang in there. When Laurie decided to stay here after Dad’s funeral, I thought we would get to see more of each other. Now I see and talk to her less than when you were in L.A. I'm so frustrated. She's stood by me so often and helped me through some rough times. Now I don't know how to begin to get through to her."
"Are you ladies going to stand there and gossip all day or can we get to work," Glenn interrupted. "I want to eat lunch sometime today."
"Yeah," Eddie chimed in. "I'd like to finish before it gets dark. Heck of a way to spend a Saturday."
"Eddie, you have two weeks that you can horse around and do what you want now that school is on break for the Holidays!" Dag chastised him.
Bettie laughed. "As a matter of fact, you won't have to wait until you're finished to have lunch. We'll eat lunch first and then we'll all get to work. Maybe Laurie will be back by then."
"Don't count on it," Angela whispered to Dag.
"I knew you were my favorite mother-in-law for a reason," Glenn told Bettie while giving her a quick hug.
“Will Ronnie and his wife be joining all of us for Christmas?" Gail asked.
"He'd better," Dag replied. "Jeanine thinks she's going to snowball him into spending the entire holiday at her parents, but I guarantee you that isn't happening."
The group headed into the house, Angela stayed behind until she was the last one to enter the house. When she did she took one last hopeful look down the street to see if Laurie had a change of heart. She hadn’t. There was nothing Angela could do but join the others
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After quickly checking on her patients at the hospital and seeing that all of them were doing as well as could be expected, Laurie returned to her car. She still was not ready to return home, as the thought of decorating the house made her feel physically ill. Instead she drove aimlessly around town feeling that the longer she could put off her return home the better it would be for everyone. She always knew she could make up some excuse and besides a little white lie would hurt no one.
There was a downside to her aimless driving. Every house, every building, every street corner shouted Christmas at her. It only made Laurie wallow in her own misery that much more, and she could only think of how much her father would have enjoyed the holiday if he hadn't been taken away from his family.
Eventually she decided to stop at a fifties type diner for a bite to eat. She was sure everybody at home would have already finished lunch. Besides, she could probably kill another half hour to an hour delaying her return home even longer.
When she got out of the car Laurie almost changed her mind about going inside. The outside of the building was decked out in gaudy Christmas decorations, including two large decorated trees, and the usual Christmas wreaths on the entrance. She sighed and decided to go in after all because more than likely, there wasn't a restaurant in Devonshire that wasn't dripping with Christmas misery.
Inside her worse fears were realized. If the outside had suggested Christmas, the interior literally screamed it at her. The place was wall to wall Holiday Cheer. Worse yet, there was an electronic snowman sitting at the end of the counter happily singing Frosty the Snow Man to her. Her morning headache was beginning to return and when ever Laurie would steal a glance at the snow man, he seemed to be mocking her.
There was a young blonde headed man who had taken her order.
"Any chance you could shut the snowman up?" she asked him.
"Do you have something against singing snowmen?" he asked. "The other customers seem to like it just fine."
"No, I don't have anything at all against Snowmen," she said. "But we are in Devonshire, and a snow man does seem out of place. It's not like we'll ever see a real one."
"Actually," the man replied, "we have had snow here before. Three times in the past forty years as a matter of fact, so it is possible"
"But I guarantee you it was never in December, and it never stayed on the ground long enough to make a snowman," Laurie replied.
“Well then, what do you have against Christmas?” Blonde hair guy asked.
Laurie sighed. "I have nothing at all against Christmas. The truth is I have a headache, and the snowman isn't helping it at all. So if you don't mind, could you please flip the off switch?”
"Sure, Lady. Whatever you say," the young man replied, walked over switched off the snow man, who immediately turned into a lifeless and blessedly silent statue.
"That'll fix you," Laurie muttered.
When her food was served she barely picked at it. The talk of snow and snowmen had reminded Laurie once again of her father. Every Christmas Eve he would go outside, look up into the sky, stand for five minutes with his arms spread out, then return to the house.
"Well, it looks like we won't have a White Christmas this year," he would always say.
Everybody would laugh each year as if the joke were brand new. Yet, there were times when she thought her father had actually thought such a thing might happen. Of course it never did. She had only seen snow in Devonshire once when she was very young, but that had been in February and it had melted within a matter of minutes.
After about forty five minutes, somebody put some money in the jukebox, the Christmas dogs began barking out Jingle Bells, and Laurie knew it was time to leave. She walked over to the hostess to pay her bill.
"Was everything okay, miss?" the woman asked her.
"The food was fine," Laurie answered, "but don't you think you went overboard on the Christmas decorations."
"Do you have something against Christmas?" the woman asked as she handed Laurie back her change.
Laurie didn't reply, but took her change and turned to leave the restaurant, just as the Snowman began once again to blare, "Frosty the Snowman was a jolly happy soul."
As she pulled away from the diner Laurie looked down at the gold and diamond watch Joe had given to her when she had completed her internship. Everybody at home would still be putting up decorations. Laurie hoped she could delay her return at least until the project was just about finished. This time, instead of driving around aimlessly, she headed towards Westwood Cemetery, where she had often visited when she wanted to find some peace and solitude away from the hassles of daily life. But that had been long ago, and things had been different then.
She walked over to where the tombstone of her father was embedded next to that of her sister, Emily. There were two poinsettia plants that hadn't been there on her last visit. Obviously Angela had brought her mom out to place the flowers. Nearby also was the tombstone of Arcadia, her grandmother who had died several years earlier. There was a poinsettia there also.
“I wish you were here with me, Dad,” she said softly. Laurie often spoke aloud as if he were right there with her. “You should be here and I should be the one lying in the ground. Mom and everybody miss you, and I miss you. If I had just let you stay at the house that night like you wanted, then you would be here with mom, Dag, and the other kids.”
Tears began to fall from her face. She had cried often since Joe’s death, but always alone, and always away from everybody else.
Laurie walked over to sit on a nearby bench with tears still staining her face.
She hadn’t heard the footsteps come up behind her.
“Are you okay?” the voice asked gently. She instantly recognized the voice as Kurt’s and quickly wiped the tears away so that he wouldn’t see them.
“I’m fine, Kurt. I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said. He sat down next to her, not waiting to be invited.
“Gail and I came over to the house to help get it ready for Christmas. We were hoping you would be there. When you didn’t return, I made an excuse to get out and came here. I just had a feeling this is where I’d find you.”
“I guess after all these years you know me as well as anybody, Kurt.”
Kurt looked over at Joe’s grave. “You know Laurie, your Dad wouldn’t want you to be here doing this.”
“How do you know what my father would have wanted? How does anybody know? I know he shouldn’t be lying in the ground.”
“I understand how difficult this has been for you, Laurie. It’s affected all of us, especially your mom. But she knows Joe would have wanted all of you to go on with your lives. Come on, Laurie. Let’s go home, and at least try to get in the Christmas spirit. If not for yourself then do it for your mom, Suzie, Angela, Dag and the rest of the family.”
Laurie stood up and as she did the tears began flowing once again.
"There’s some things you, mom, Angela and Dag just don’t understand, Kurt. I know I'm messing things up for everybody. But you weren't there. Mom wasn't there. They don't understand. How could anybody understand?"
Kurt put his arm around Laurie, doing his best to comfort her.
"They do understand, Laurie. But they know
that Joe would have wanted them to go on living, just as he would want you to do so. I know it's going to take some time to heal, and nobody expects you to have to be Wonder Woman all of the time. You've always been like a rock your entire life. It's okay not to be. You can talk to me, or even your mom and Angela. Don't try to hold it inside."
She turned to hug Kurt.
"I know, Kurt. It's just that there's something that you or nobody else knows. Something I've been keeping from everyone. I don't think they
would feel the same way if they knew the truth."
"What is it Laurie? There's nothing on this earth that could change the way we feel about you."
"That night....the night that dad was killed...." she began. She was on the verge of telling him, of finally letting it all out, when her cell phone rang.
"Don't answer that," Kurt said. He knew that if she answered it, she would not finish what she had been about to tell him.
"I have to Kurt, it’s the hospital ring tone," Laurie said taking her cell phone out of a pocket and answering it.
“Hello, this is Laurie,” she said to the person calling. It was Jeremy Rolf, an associate and another surgeon at Devonshire Memorial Hospital.
“Laurie, I hate to bother you but we have an emergency here at the hospital,” he told her over the phone. “It’s a young boy. He fell and hit his head about four days ago and now has an acute subdural hematoba"
“Can’t you handle it, Jeremy? I promised my family and friends I would spend the evening with them.”
“Laurie, you know you're the only one in Devonshire qualified to do this. If I have to send him to L.A. he won’t survive the trip. I could try doing it myself, but my skills are no where near what I know you are capable of. Please, Laurie. You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t absolutely necessary. You’re the best there is, and I promised this boy’s parents I’d do everything I could to save him.”
Laurie sighed. “Okay Jeremy, flattery will get you everywhere. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Have everything I need ready, all his x-rays, catscan, brain scan, and whatever else. I don’t want to go into this blind."
“Everything’s ready for you Laurie, I knew you’d come through.”
She clicked off her cell phone.
“I have to go, Kurt. It’s an emergency. I’ll be back at the house as soon as I can. Please explain it to everybody so they’ll know I just wasn’t trying to stay away.”
“Okay, they’ll understand Laurie.” Laurie turned to go to her car then suddenly turned back to Kurt.
“You’ve always been so understanding,” she told him. “Thanks for being my friend.” And without saying another word she practically ran toward her car. After Kurt watched her drive away, he paused for a moment at Joe’s grave.
“Well Joe, I don’t know where you are at this moment but I would have to think it’s someplace special,” he said quietly. “And if you are where I think you are your daughter is hurting in the worst way. She needs help, and there’s nobody here that can give it to her. So you know, this is a long shot, but if you and any of your friends up there can give her a helping hand it would be greatly appreciated.”
Kurt stood quietly for a moment, then walked slowly back to his own car. And for no reason in particular, he suddenly remembered the pool game from the previous Christmas when Laurie had taken Joe for fifty dollars. “I got fifty bucks that says you missed that shot on purpose, Joe,” Kurt said to himself, chuckled, and then started his engine.
At the hospital, the surgery had indeed been difficult. As Laurie walked out of the operating room and removed her mask, she breathed a sigh of relief. The young boy’s name was Mason Washington, and at one point she had thought she would lose him. Time would tell if there would be any extensive brain damage, or how much rehabilitation if any young Mr. Washington would need, but he would live and he would be okay.
A few seconds later, Jeremy Rolf exited the operating room also.
“That was nothing short of miraculous what you did in there, Laurie. I can’t help but marvel at your skills. How you found that hematoba let alone be able to remove it is something I know I could never have done.”
“Thanks,” she said. “But it was nothing special.”
Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh. “Nothing special? Don’t be so damn modest. There isn’t a surgeon in this hospital that could have worked that miracle. I know you only signed a one year contract with the hospital, but I hope you’re at least considering making your stay permanent.”
Laurie simply nodded. "Tell me, Laurie. Why did you decide to come here from L.A? It's quite an unusual move, especially considering how well you were doing there. You can’t be making anywhere near the money you were getting there"
"Personal reasons," was all Laurie answered.
"Well, like I said, I hope you stick around. We don't have very many high quality surgeons here in Devonshire, and we're very lucky to have you, even if it is for only a while.”
“Do you want to talk to the boy’s parents? I know they’ll want to thank you,” Jeremy asked her.
There once was a time when Laurie achieved a great thrill whenever she had saved someone’s life. Now it seemed so unfair to her. She could save other people’s lives, but hadn’t been able to do a thing to help her own father.
“No, that’s okay. You can do it. I have to hurry home. They’ll be waiting on me.” She glanced at her watch. It said ten p.m. She had been in surgery for hours. The chances are Dag, Glenn, Kurt and Gail would have gone home, unless of course Dag and Glenn had decided to spend the night.
“Okay, sure,” Jeremy said as he walked away. “But I won’t take any of the credit.”
Laurie walked over to her locker and silently began changing out of her scrubs. For the first time during the day she began to hurry. Angela would not be happy that she was coming home late once again, especially on a day when she wasn't even supposed to be at the hospital.
After she had dressed, Laurie walked out past the waiting room where Mason's parents were. She could see Jeremy talking to them. The woman she assumed to be Mason's mother seemed extremely worried, but Laurie knew that would vanish as soon as Jeremy finished telling them how the operation had gone. When
she saw Mrs. Washington grab Dr. Rolf and hug him, she knew he had finished telling her the good news.
"Thank, you doctor, Thank you," she heard her say, tears of joy streaming down her face.
There once was a time when moments such as these had been the best part of being a surgeon. But now all it did was remind Laurie that despite all of her skills they were sometimes no more useful than using a can opener to open a jar of peanut butter.
When Jeremy quickly began telling them that it wasn't him, but Dr. Baker who had saved their sons life, she walked quickly out of the waiting room before she could be seen.
Laurie quickly walked outside to the parking lot and quickly found out that the night had become quite chilly, especially by Devonshire standards. She shivered as she practically ran to get into her car.
Laurie's car was still over a block away when she
saw the twinkling of the Christmas lights on their front lawn. She gave a quick thought to making a U-Turn and heading in the other direction, but she knew there was no place to go. Like it or not she would have to face the music. As she appro
ached the driveway, Laurie shook her head in disgust. Normally, she could have parked her car blindfolded if it was absolutely necessary but now both sides of the driveway were lined with lighted artificial Christmas Candles. She braked the car and carefully made the turn into the car port.
She parked her car behind that of Glenn and Dag's. Obviously they had decided to spend the night. It was not what she would have preferred. With so many sleepless nights, and a difficult evening at work, she wanted nothing more than to climb into her bed, regardless of the nightmare she would once again have to confront.
The first thought that entered her mind as she walked around to the front of the house was that it looked like somebody had puked Christmas on the entire home. She had hoped they wouldn't have gone to such extreme decorating measure and would have toned it down somewhat, instead they had gone overboard, and even putting up more decorations than her father would have. And that was not an easy thing to do. She opened the front door than paused for a moment to look around.
As she looked at the reindeer sitting in the front lawn she couldn't help but think that they were on the wrong side of the house. Dad had always put them on the other side of the doorway, so that he could see them as he drove up to the house. Yet, another reminder that Laurie didn't need.
As she walked into the already opened door, the nutcracker standing guard seemed to be mocking her just as the snowman had mocked her at the restaurant. There was nobody in the living room. She could hear voices and the TV blasting away in the recreation room. The living room was decorated to the extreme, just as the outside of the house was. She walked quickly through the living room, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the decorations. Her head was throbbing again, worse than it had all day.
Laurie had no sooner entered the recreation room then she froze. She immediately recognized the film they were watching on TV. It was "It's A Wonderful Life," a film she had seen many times over the years. Worse than that though, was the fact that Joe's beloved movie poster collection was no longer hanging on the walls, replaced randomly by one Christmas decoration after another. She began to feel sick to her stomach. "How could they be so disrespectful?" she thought. And then she saw the snowman sitting on the table. It was the same snowman who had mocked her at the restaurant and now it was sitting in their recreation room with a look of someone who had the upper hand and was ready to declare victory over her.
It was Suzie who finally saw her standing in the doorway.
“Susie!” she said sharply. “What are you still doing up? It’s way past your bedtime.” It wasn’t until Laurie spoke that Bettie and Angela noticed her presence.
“Mommy !” Suzie yelled, jumping up from the sofa and running to hug her. “Grandma and Mama said I could finish watching this movie. It’s really really good. There was this angel, and he was funny, and mommy, did you know that every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings?”
Laurie decided it was time to set Suzie straight,
Clarence or no Clarence, Santa or no Santa. She didn’t need to grow up believing in a bunch of gobbledygook. “That’s just a movie, Suzie. Those things don’t happen in real life. It’s only make believe. There aren’t really any angels like Clarence running around”
Suzie looked crushed, but only for a moment. She was ready to argue the point.
“Uh, huh. There are so angels! Grandma says so and Mama Angela says so! And Grandma says that Grandpa is an angel too!” She looked at Laurie defiantly, as if she was ready to declare
victory along with the snowman.
“There are no Angels, Suzie.” Laurie said it loudly and sternly to make sure her point was getting across. “You’re getting too old to believe in such nonsense. And this business of Santa Claus bringing your grandfather back is just ridiculous. Grandpa Joe is dead, and he won't be coming back. Not on Christmas, not on New Years and not on Easter even if you ask the Easter Bunny.”
This time Suzie, didn’t argue. Tears started
flowing from her eyes. In her young years, she had never been as hurt as she was at that moment. It wasn’t just what Laurie had said, it was the harshness in her voice that had stung her.
“It’s not ricolous!” she hollered at Laurie. “Santa said he would try. And Grandpa is an angel up in heaven. I hate you! I hate you!” She cried running out of the room.
If looks could kill than at that moment Laurie would have been dead. The look on Angela’s face was one she had never seen before, one of anger and pure disgust. “Laurie!” she yelled at her. “That
was the meanest thing you could possibly have done! How dare you! I don’t care what you’re going through, there’s no reason on earth for you to hurt Suzie like that!”
“Okay, you’ve made your point,” Laurie yelled back at her. “I’m a heel and I’m a louse. But it’s better that she starts finding out about the real world now, and suffering a little hurt than finding out later how rotten the world really is and suffering even more pain!"
"So instead of Dr. Baker, Neurosurgeon, you're now Frasier Crane, psychiatrist?" Angela told her
heatedly.
"I don't need your sarcasm right now, Angela. And while I'm at it, what right do any of you have to take down dad's movie posters and replace them with all of this holiday foolishness when you know how much he cherished that collection?”
"Is that's what's bothering you, Laurie? The damn posters? You know as well as I do that Dad took them down every Christmas and then put them back up after the Holidays. Why should this be any different?"
"Because it is different. Because he's not here any more and both of you should have more respect than that for his memory."
“The only person disrespecting Dad and his memory is you, and the sooner you realize that the better. I have nothing more to say to you, Laurie! I’m going to take care of my daughter!”
“Our daughter,” she reminded Angela pointedly.
“If she’s your daughter than start acting like a parent which is something you haven't been doing for some time now,” Angela screamed at her as she left the room.
Bettie stood across the room from Laurie staring at her.
“I suppose that you want to add your two cents worth, mother” Laurie said pointedly.
“Do I really need to? You know in your heart that what you just did was wrong. I’ve been making excuses for you and your behavior, but I can’t excuse this. Not for any reason. Joe is dead. My husband is dead. And all the wallowing in self pity that you’re doing will not bring him back. And most of all, if your father was here right now, he’d be as ashamed of you as I am.”
And without saying another word, Bettie stormed past her and headed towards her bedroom, hoping she would make it there before her tears began falling. But it was no use. She had not taken but two steps when they came. As she ran into the bedroom, she didn't see Laurie standing behind her, watching her.
Laurie stood there stunned for a moment. Her mother was right. She was making everybody’s life miserable, and there was no excuse for what she had just done. She could hear Angela still trying to comfort the sobbing Suzie upstairs. Laurie walked over to the bar, quickly mixed herself a scotch and water then downed it. Just as quickly she poured another, downing it as well then slammed the bottle down on the counter. And it was at that point that the snow man began singing.
“Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul, With a corn cop pipe and a button nose, And two eyes made out of coal” And Laurie could take no more. She walked over, picked the snowman up off of the table and threw it against the wall where it shattered into three pieces.
“Happy soul, happy soul, happy soul, happy soul,” it began repeating over and over. Laurie went over, picked up the pieces, took them to the kitchen, threw them into the trash compactor, closed it and flipped the switch. “Happy Soul, Happy Soul, Happy……” and then she heard no more.
Laurie should have felt triumphant but she didn’t. She walked dejectedly up to their room and sat forlornly at the desk. A few seconds later, Angela came into the room.
“I’m sorry,” Laurie said almost whispering it.
“Are you, Laurie?” Angela replied. She was still quite angry. “I’m not so sure. I’ll spend the night in Suzie’s room. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Maybe you should spend the night thinking about getting some help. We can’t go on like this. I don’t want to go on like this and I won’t subject Suzie to it any longer. Either you come to terms with what happened to dad, or I’m taking Suzie back to L.A. after the holidays. I mean it.” And with that she left the room, leaving Laurie in the darkness.
She wasn’t sure why she had said the things she had to Suzie. Maybe she just wanted to hurt someone, anyone. She didn’t know anything for certain anymore except the one thought that had haunted her for so many months. Her father was dead, and he was dead because she had forced him into going to the Back Alley Lounge that night, and he had died saving her life.
She wanted to be alone. Away from everybody. Her head was throbbing so she went into the bathroom to the medicine cabinet. This time she decided on the acetaminophen, and took four before placing the bottle back on the shelf. Then she reached up for the Zolpidem that had for the most part remained unused. One thing Laurie knew for certain, and it was that just like any drug you were not suppose to mix Zolpidem with any alcoholic beverage and she had already had two strong scotch and sodas. But Laurie no longer cared. All she wanted to do was sleep and she wanted to fall into a deep enough sleep that she wouldn’t dream. The normal dosage for the strength of Zolpidem that she took was one tablet. One had been useless before, this time she took two, returned the lid to the container and placed it in her skirt pocket.
She walked out back to the upstairs patio and was grateful the lights weren't on. She sat on the bench for a moment staring out into the yard. It was the yard she had played in as a child, the yard her dad had taken such pride in. The old swing set their father had bought for Dag's first Christmas was still there. It had been painted several times so it was almost like new. Joe's sentimentality had kept him from ever replacing it.
She looked at the fountain in the yard, where there had once been a pond. Laurie and Joe had spent many hours sitting at the pond and then the fountain that replaced it.
When she was troubled, she could often just pour her heart out to Joe. It wasn't that he always had a solution, but just having him there to listen helped her work things out.
It was then that the tears began to fall unabated.
“God, help me,” she cried lying across the bench. “Please help me!” she cried burying her face once again in her hands.
“God, help me,” she cried over and over. “Please help me!” She laid down on the bench trying to stifle her sobs in her hands.
“I wish I was dead,” she said to herself. “I should be dead, and my father should be alive. I’m the one who deserved to die."
She sat up and reached into her skirt pocket for the rest of the Zolpidem. She sat looking at it for several seconds. Laurie was miserable, and she was making all of those around her as miserable as well, even her own daughter. She removed the cap from the container, tilted the bottle and was about to pour the contents into her hand when she felt a sudden sharp, painful, stinging sensation in her hand, as if it had just been slapped. The bottle fell to the ground spilling a good portion of its contents.
Laurie grabbed her hand, but just as suddenly as she had felt the sensation, it had disappeared. She reached over to pick up the Zolpidem bottle but as she did a strong guest of wind blew across the patio, scattering the pills across the cement and blowing the container over the edge of the patio. The night was bitterly colder than usual, and Laurie began to shiver though she wasn’t sure that it had anything to do with the weather.
“That will be quite enough of that, young lady,” a woman’s voice said to her sternly. It startled her so much she jumped off of the bench. She turned around expecting to see either Angela or her mother, but neither was anywhere around.
“This is ridiculous,” Laurie said aloud. “Now I’m hearing voices. On top of everything else, I’m either going crazy or I’m dreaming.”
This time there was laughter, and it was the same voice Laurie had heard a second ago. “You’re not going crazy, Laurie.”
Suddenly, the lights around the patio came on, illuminating the entire back yard.
Obviously there had to be somebody in the yard or somewhere nearby. Laurie crept over to the railing and looked over but there was no one there. Obviously whoever had spoken to her was hiding.
"Okay, Angela," Laurie said again. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny. Yes, I deserve it but the game is over. So wherever you're hiding you can come out now."
There was laughter again. "Okay," Laurie said aloud. "I'm dreaming. I'm still over there on the bench and I fell asleep, freezing my ass off. I'll wake myself up and everything will be back to normal."
Laurie pinched herself on the arm till she felt a coarse sharp pain. But she still stood alone on the patio. Then the same voice she had heard before began to laugh again.
"I told you, Laurie. You're not dreaming. I wouldn't lie. Angela is in bed where she should be, and as cold as it is out here if you had any
sense at all you would be also."
This time the voice seemed to be coming directly from behind her.
“Wh…who…who are you?” she said. Now she was scared. Voices were coming out of the walls. “Or should I say where are you?
"I'm right here, daughter. Turn around," the voice said. Laurie gulped and slowly turned to face the mysterious voice. Her heart was beating five million beats per second."
There standing before her was the likeness of her long deceased mother. Although of course, Laurie had never seen her while she was alive, her father had given her a portrait of her and there had also been many photographs from which she had memorized every feature of Susan's face.
"Now I know I'm dreaming," Laurie said. "But it's the best dream I've ever had in my whole life."
Susan laughed again. "I told you Laurie, you're not dreaming. There is a certain feel to dreams. Does this really feel like a dream? Reach out and touch me. I'm as real as you are."
Laurie was hesitant, and Susan seemed to sense it.
"Don't be afraid, Laurie. I'm here to help you."
There was something in Susan's voice that was calm and soothing to Laurie. It was as if she was suddenly at peace.
Cautiously she reached her hand out to touch Susan. Laurie half expected her hand to go through her, as one would have expected it to do with a ghostly apparition. At least that's the way it was done in the movies.
"You watch way too many movies, Laurie." Susan told her as if she had just read Laurie's thoughts which she probably had.
Laurie's hand came softly to rest on Susan. It felt as real as if she were touching Angela, Suzie or Bettie.
Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around Susan and hugged her as tightly as she had ever hugged anyone.
"I don't care if I am dreaming," she told Susan, "It's real enough right now. Oh mother!" Laurie began to cry.
"Don’t' cry Laurie. It's Christmas, you should be happy," Susan said doing her best to momentarily comfort her. She waited for Laurie's tears to subside before confronting her.
"Now, what exactly did you think you were going to do with those pills? I won’t have you even thinking about that nonsense, let alone actually doing it. I let you get by with thinking that stuff once before but not any more. Believe me as far as I’m concerned, you’re not too old for me to bend you over my knee and paddle your rump.”
“What do you mean you let me get by with it once before?” Laurie asked.
“That night during the storm in the cemetery years ago, you wished yourself dead just because you had a little problem. Now, I’ll not have you thinking those thoughts.”
"You were there?" Laurie asked
"I get around. Who do you think prodded that gardener who rescued you to get to the cemetery three hours earlier than normal. I was also here that time Bettie was in a coma and didn't want to come out of it....but I'm not supposed to talk about that."
“Yeah, well maybe you ought to ask Angela and your granddaughter if they wouldn’t be better off without me.”
A look of anger came over Susan’s face. She pointed her finger at Laurie and in that split second there was a loud clap of thunder, and a bolt of lightning from beyond the horizon, causing Laurie to jump.
“Now, say it again daughter, and I’ll show you what I can really do! Life is a gift, and very precious. You should cherish every minute of it and not want to throw it away as if it meant nothing.”
Dream or no dream, Laurie decided it was best not to test her Susan’s patience. “Okay, okay! You win! You’re right. Perhaps it would be better if I had never been born at all!”
Susan let out a huge sigh. “I can see that I have my work cut out for me. Now why would you wish something like that, Laurie?”
“Well for one thing, you’d be alive right now instead of being a part of this very weird dream and so would dad. I wouldn’t be here making Angela, Suzie and Mom miserable. Everybody would be a lot happier and better off if I’d just never been born.”
“Oh, I see,” Susan said. “So you think that would make everything perfect? Well, we’ll just have to see about that. What do you think, Michael?” Susan said looking skyward. “Do you think that will do the trick? Yes, so do I, but I may need a little help with this one.”
Okay, Laurie. Have it your way. I’ll give you your wish. You’ve never been born!” And the words were no sooner out of Susan’s mouth than she waved her arms and there was a bright blinding flash of light and a long continuous roar of thunder.
TO BE CONTINUED
Click here to continue reading Act Three of Laurie's Wonderful Life.
If you are new, you may want to give some thought to reading this three part trilogy at the beginning. The beginning is The Kid & Me. You can find all the links necessary to get to it in the right hand column over there. Don't try to read it all in one sitting, so plan on bookmarking it or add it to your google reader. Of course, you can start by reading Laurie's Wonderful Life but I'll tell you right now that when I finally do get Act Three up, you may enjoy it, but there are numerous incidents that connect to the previous stories and you'll certainly not be able to grasp that connection, nor will you even know who some of the characters are and how they relate to Laurie's life.
At any rate, whatever you decide to do, thanks for stopping by thanks for reading, and tell your friends about it if you enjoy it. And honestly, when I get to the end of my story, I promise I won't cut to black.)
As had become the norm, Laurie awakened late the next morning, groggy and with her head pounding after another sleepless night. Angela, Suzie and Bettie would have awakened hours earlier. Laurie managed to find her way into the bathroom, and to the sink where she surveyed her disheveled appearance in the mirror above it. She decided that she looked like total crap which was appropriate considering she felt exactly the same way.
She opened the medicine cabinet and stood there surveying the contents. Besides the usual toiletries, there was Acetaminophen, Children’s Tylenol liquid, Children’s Cough syrup, ibuprofen, Naproxen, Midol, and in the midst of all of that a prescription bottle of Zolpidem. The Zolpidem had been prescribed for Laurie by an associate to help her get through Joe’s Funeral, and to help her sleep through the nights that followed. Laurie had taken the Zolpidem for about a week, and had just as abruptly quit. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t work; it was that they worked too well. She would sleep, and when she slept she would dream but when Gayhart fired the bullet that had killed her father, Laurie did not wake up. She would not only relive the
night in its entirety, but the days leading up to Joe’s funeral afterwards. She decided on the ibuprofen, tapped out four tablets into her hand then swallowed them aided by a glass of water; she quickly let her nightgown fall to the floor and climbed into the shower.Angela had left the shower spray on full force, and the pelting water only served to amplify the pounding in Laurie’s head. She quickly adjusted the spray to gentle, closed her eyes and simply let the water cascade down her body. After about five minutes, the grogginess began to dissipate though the headache remained. She quickly finished showering and headed down the stairs, hoping she could get out of the house without too much of a hassle from either her mom or Angela.
Breakfast had been over long ago, and Bettie was already preparing lunch. By the time Laurie had reached the bottom of the stairs her headache had begun to subside. Suzie wasted no time in rushing to greet her and wrapping her tiny arms around Laurie’s waist. Laurie lifted Suzie into the air, giving her a long hug and kiss on the cheek before returning her to the floor. Laurie had finally decided to at least put on the appearance of being in a good mood for everyone.“Mommy, mommy, guess what?” Suzie asked excitedly after Laurie had returned her to the floor.
“What Sweetie?” Laurie asked. “Should I guess? Is it bigger than a breadbox?”
“No mommy, it’s not like bread in a box. It’s about Santa Claus.”
“What about Santa, Suzie?” Suzie looked as if she might burst with the information she had obviously been waiting to impart to Laurie since the day before.
“We went and saw Santa Claus yesterday and I asked him for a really cool present but I can’t tell you because it’s a secret.”
Laurie frowned and she was quickly reminded of what Angela had told her the night before about Suzie wishing for her grandfather to return home. She could feel her attempt at being in a good mood begin to evaporate.
“That’s nice, sweetie. Just don’t expect any miracles. Sometimes Santa can’t do everything.”
“I know that, mommy,” she replied. “But I can hope can’t I? Santa said he will try!”
“Sure, baby. You can hope, but I just don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“I won’t mommy,” Suzie told her before racing out back to where her swing set await. But the excitement in Suzie’s voice told Laurie that Suzie was certain she would be seeing her grandfather on Christmas Day.During the exchange with Suzie, Angela had entered the room, and Laurie shot her a look as if to say, “I told you so.” Angela ignored it, but gave Laurie a hug instead.
“I’m sorry if I was a bit harsh last night,” Angela whispered to her. “I know this is difficult for you.”
“It’s okay,” Laurie said returning the hug with a light kiss on the lips. They broke apart, and Laurie went into the kitchen where Bettie was already preparing lunch.“Oh hi, honey!” her mom greeted her, but not looking up from what she was doing. “Did you sleep well?”
“Sure, I slept fine,” she lied. “I just need a cup of coffee to get me going. When are Dag and Glenn supposed to be here?”
“In just a few minutes. Dag tells me Ronnie will
be home for Christmas also. He and Jeanine are flying in tomorrow. They just found out that Jeanine is pregnant, and Dag is having trouble coping with the idea of becoming a grandmother.”Laurie managed a slight chuckle at the thought of that. It wasn’t often she found anything humorous. She remembered how Dag had taken it when Ronnie had announced his engagement to Jeanine.
“Oh my God,” She had exclaimed to Laurie. “I suddenly feel very old. He better not be planning
on having any kids right away. I’m not ready to be a grandmother.” That had been two years ago.“And here Dag is wanting to have another child herself,” Bettie continued. She and Glenn have been arguing about it. Dag wants to adopt and Glenn wants her to get pregnant again because her biological clock is ticking.”
“I can tell you right now who’s going to win that argument,” Laurie said. “As if there were any doubt.”
This time it was Bettie’s turn to chuckle. “Yep, looks like they’ll be adopting. Speaking of babies Gail’s baby is due in just two months.”
Angela entered the kitchen and sat down next to Laurie.“She had an ultra sound and they say it’s going to be a girl. Gail couldn’t be happier about that,” Angela added. “She’s always wanted a girl.”
Laurie took a sip of her coffee. “Frankly, I don’t know why anybody would want to keep having babies,” Laurie interjected. “Why bring kids into this world just so that they have to live with nothing but heartache and heartbreak?”
“Laurie!” Bettie said sternly. “Surely you don’t
mean that?”“I most certainly do. Take Suzie for example. Here you and Angela are filling her head with these fantastic and insane notions of Santa Claus. Now how do you think she’s going to feel Christmas morning when she finds out her Grandfather isn’t going to be coming home from heaven? At the very least we owe it to our kids to be honest and straight forward with them.”
“That’s enough, Laurie,” Angela said sternly. “I’ve talked to her and explained that no matter how hard Santa may try, he probably won’t be able to do that. But I’m not going to let you destroy what little childhood she has left.”
“Laurie, you didn’t quit believing in Santa until you were seven or eight,” Bettie told her. “And it certainly didn’t destroy you to find out otherwise. I agree with, Angela.”
Laurie quickly stood up, threw her coffee mug into the dishwasher, and then turned to face Bettie and Angela.“Fine, have it your way. The two of you can deal with Suzie's broken heart on Christmas Day, I want no part of it and I’d just as soon the holidays were over with. I don't see how everybody can just go on celebrating as if nothing has happened. Well something has happened, my father is dead, and you can decorate the halls as much as you want and it isn’t going to change one damn thing.”
She stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the front door with Angela and Bettie following right behind her.“Where are you going, Laurie?” Angela yelled after her. “You don’t have to be at the hospital today.”
“I’m going to check on my patient I operated on yesterday and get some air. I’ll be back later.” Angela was about to tell Laurie that she could use the phone to check on her patient when Bettie grabbed her by the arm.
“It might be better to let her go somewhere and cool off,” Bettie whispered. “Anything we say is
just going to make it worse and I don’t want any fighting today.”Glenn and Dag were crossing the street with their teenage son Eddie and daughter Veronica.
"Laurie! Where do you think you're going?" Dag called to her. "We've got a lot of work to do and you aren't getting out of it that easy."
"I'll be back soon. I have to check on a patient," Laurie called back to her without turning around.
"You'd better be or we'll come looking for you,"
Dag hollered back.Laurie still didn't bother to turn around but quickly climbed into her car, fastened the seat belt and started the engine.
When Dag had reached the sidewalk, they turned and watched as Laurie roared down the street.
"She should know better than to drive like that," Dag said disgustedly. "I take it she's not doing any better than the last time we were here?"
"If anything she's getting worse," Angela sighed."I always thought Laurie was stronger than any of us," Dag continued. "She has overcome so many obstacles in her life that I never thought she'd fall completely apart"
"I think there are times when each of us reaches a breaking point, and maybe Laurie has reached hers. Frankly Dag, mom and I have tried everything to snap her out of it," Angela frowned. She was worried. Very worried. She was beginning to think Laurie would never return to being the person she had been.
"What about Abby Madison? She helped Laurie out years ago," Dag asked. "If anybody could get through to Laurie she could."Angela shook her head. "Abby and her family are in Europe and they won't be back for another six months or so. And she absolutely refuses to talk to anybody else."
They were interrupted by the sound of another car approaching and they watched as a red striped Van quickly parked. Laurie's life long friends Gail and Kurt Miller climbed out along with their son, Marcus.
"Was that Laurie we just saw zooming down the road," Gail asked as she crossed the street."Sure was," Dag called after her. "Now get over here I have something to ask you."
"How in the world do you do you manage to keep your weight under control? Here you are over six months pregnant, and you look like you're in your second month, if that?"
"Will power. I haven't had a cheeseburger since I got pregnant. I eat lots of salads, protein shakes, and take lots of vitamins. In the end it'll be worth it instead of having to work myself to the bone to take it all back off."
"I wish I had that kind of will power. When I was pregnant with Eddie and Veronica, I was as big as a house. I thought I'd never get my figure back and now Glenn wants to have another one. I want to adopt. What about you and Laurie?" Dag asked turning towards Angela. "I thought you two wanted to have three kids and Laurie was supposed to have the next one?"
Angela sighed. It seemed these days she was either sighing, explaining Laurie’s behavior or doing both at the same time. "I think it's been put on hold. Laurie's not too keen on the idea anymore," she said without going into details about what had happened in the kitchen minutes earlier."I know what you're going through, Angela," Gail offered. "Just hang in there. When Laurie decided to stay here after Dad’s funeral, I thought we would get to see more of each other. Now I see and talk to her less than when you were in L.A. I'm so frustrated. She's stood by me so often and helped me through some rough times. Now I don't know how to begin to get through to her."
"Are you ladies going to stand there and gossip all day or can we get to work," Glenn interrupted. "I want to eat lunch sometime today.""Yeah," Eddie chimed in. "I'd like to finish before it gets dark. Heck of a way to spend a Saturday."
"Eddie, you have two weeks that you can horse around and do what you want now that school is on break for the Holidays!" Dag chastised him.
Bettie laughed. "As a matter of fact, you won't have to wait until you're finished to have lunch. We'll eat lunch first and then we'll all get to work. Maybe Laurie will be back by then."
"Don't count on it," Angela whispered to Dag.
"I knew you were my favorite mother-in-law for a reason," Glenn told Bettie while giving her a quick hug.“Will Ronnie and his wife be joining all of us for Christmas?" Gail asked.
"He'd better," Dag replied. "Jeanine thinks she's going to snowball him into spending the entire holiday at her parents, but I guarantee you that isn't happening."
The group headed into the house, Angela stayed behind until she was the last one to enter the house. When she did she took one last hopeful look down the street to see if Laurie had a change of heart. She hadn’t. There was nothing Angela could do but join the others
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After quickly checking on her patients at the hospital and seeing that all of them were doing as well as could be expected, Laurie returned to her car. She still was not ready to return home, as the thought of decorating the house made her feel physically ill. Instead she drove aimlessly around town feeling that the longer she could put off her return home the better it would be for everyone. She always knew she could make up some excuse and besides a little white lie would hurt no one.There was a downside to her aimless driving. Every house, every building, every street corner shouted Christmas at her. It only made Laurie wallow in her own misery that much more, and she could only think of how much her father would have enjoyed the holiday if he hadn't been taken away from his family.
Eventually she decided to stop at a fifties type diner for a bite to eat. She was sure everybody at home would have already finished lunch. Besides, she could probably kill another half hour to an hour delaying her return home even longer.When she got out of the car Laurie almost changed her mind about going inside. The outside of the building was decked out in gaudy Christmas decorations, including two large decorated trees, and the usual Christmas wreaths on the entrance. She sighed and decided to go in after all because more than likely, there wasn't a restaurant in Devonshire that wasn't dripping with Christmas misery.
Inside her worse fears were realized. If the outside had suggested Christmas, the interior literally screamed it at her. The place was wall to wall Holiday Cheer. Worse yet, there was an electronic snowman sitting at the end of the counter happily singing Frosty the Snow Man to her. Her morning headache was beginning to return and when ever Laurie would steal a glance at the snow man, he seemed to be mocking her.
There was a young blonde headed man who had taken her order.
"Any chance you could shut the snowman up?" she asked him.
"Do you have something against singing snowmen?" he asked. "The other customers seem to like it just fine."
"No, I don't have anything at all against Snowmen," she said. "But we are in Devonshire, and a snow man does seem out of place. It's not like we'll ever see a real one."
"Actually," the man replied, "we have had snow here before. Three times in the past forty years as a matter of fact, so it is possible"
"But I guarantee you it was never in December, and it never stayed on the ground long enough to make a snowman," Laurie replied.
“Well then, what do you have against Christmas?” Blonde hair guy asked.
Laurie sighed. "I have nothing at all against Christmas. The truth is I have a headache, and the snowman isn't helping it at all. So if you don't mind, could you please flip the off switch?”
"Sure, Lady. Whatever you say," the young man replied, walked over switched off the snow man, who immediately turned into a lifeless and blessedly silent statue.
"That'll fix you," Laurie muttered.
When her food was served she barely picked at it. The talk of snow and snowmen had reminded Laurie once again of her father. Every Christmas Eve he would go outside, look up into the sky, stand for five minutes with his arms spread out, then return to the house.
"Well, it looks like we won't have a White Christmas this year," he would always say.
Everybody would laugh each year as if the joke were brand new. Yet, there were times when she thought her father had actually thought such a thing might happen. Of course it never did. She had only seen snow in Devonshire once when she was very young, but that had been in February and it had melted within a matter of minutes.
After about forty five minutes, somebody put some money in the jukebox, the Christmas dogs began barking out Jingle Bells, and Laurie knew it was time to leave. She walked over to the hostess to pay her bill."Was everything okay, miss?" the woman asked her.
"The food was fine," Laurie answered, "but don't you think you went overboard on the Christmas decorations."
"Do you have something against Christmas?" the woman asked as she handed Laurie back her change.
Laurie didn't reply, but took her change and turned to leave the restaurant, just as the Snowman began once again to blare, "Frosty the Snowman was a jolly happy soul."
As she pulled away from the diner Laurie looked down at the gold and diamond watch Joe had given to her when she had completed her internship. Everybody at home would still be putting up decorations. Laurie hoped she could delay her return at least until the project was just about finished. This time, instead of driving around aimlessly, she headed towards Westwood Cemetery, where she had often visited when she wanted to find some peace and solitude away from the hassles of daily life. But that had been long ago, and things had been different then.
She walked over to where the tombstone of her father was embedded next to that of her sister, Emily. There were two poinsettia plants that hadn't been there on her last visit. Obviously Angela had brought her mom out to place the flowers. Nearby also was the tombstone of Arcadia, her grandmother who had died several years earlier. There was a poinsettia there also.“I wish you were here with me, Dad,” she said softly. Laurie often spoke aloud as if he were right there with her. “You should be here and I should be the one lying in the ground. Mom and everybody miss you, and I miss you. If I had just let you stay at the house that night like you wanted, then you would be here with mom, Dag, and the other kids.”
Tears began to fall from her face. She had cried often since Joe’s death, but always alone, and always away from everybody else.
Laurie walked over to sit on a nearby bench with tears still staining her face.
She hadn’t heard the footsteps come up behind her.“Are you okay?” the voice asked gently. She instantly recognized the voice as Kurt’s and quickly wiped the tears away so that he wouldn’t see them.
“I’m fine, Kurt. I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said. He sat down next to her, not waiting to be invited.
“Gail and I came over to the house to help get it ready for Christmas. We were hoping you would be there. When you didn’t return, I made an excuse to get out and came here. I just had a feeling this is where I’d find you.”
“I guess after all these years you know me as well as anybody, Kurt.”
Kurt looked over at Joe’s grave. “You know Laurie, your Dad wouldn’t want you to be here doing this.”
“How do you know what my father would have wanted? How does anybody know? I know he shouldn’t be lying in the ground.”
“I understand how difficult this has been for you, Laurie. It’s affected all of us, especially your mom. But she knows Joe would have wanted all of you to go on with your lives. Come on, Laurie. Let’s go home, and at least try to get in the Christmas spirit. If not for yourself then do it for your mom, Suzie, Angela, Dag and the rest of the family.”
Laurie stood up and as she did the tears began flowing once again.
"There’s some things you, mom, Angela and Dag just don’t understand, Kurt. I know I'm messing things up for everybody. But you weren't there. Mom wasn't there. They don't understand. How could anybody understand?"
Kurt put his arm around Laurie, doing his best to comfort her.
"They do understand, Laurie. But they know
that Joe would have wanted them to go on living, just as he would want you to do so. I know it's going to take some time to heal, and nobody expects you to have to be Wonder Woman all of the time. You've always been like a rock your entire life. It's okay not to be. You can talk to me, or even your mom and Angela. Don't try to hold it inside."She turned to hug Kurt.
"I know, Kurt. It's just that there's something that you or nobody else knows. Something I've been keeping from everyone. I don't think they
would feel the same way if they knew the truth.""What is it Laurie? There's nothing on this earth that could change the way we feel about you."
"That night....the night that dad was killed...." she began. She was on the verge of telling him, of finally letting it all out, when her cell phone rang.
"Don't answer that," Kurt said. He knew that if she answered it, she would not finish what she had been about to tell him.
"I have to Kurt, it’s the hospital ring tone," Laurie said taking her cell phone out of a pocket and answering it.
“Hello, this is Laurie,” she said to the person calling. It was Jeremy Rolf, an associate and another surgeon at Devonshire Memorial Hospital.
“Laurie, I hate to bother you but we have an emergency here at the hospital,” he told her over the phone. “It’s a young boy. He fell and hit his head about four days ago and now has an acute subdural hematoba"“Can’t you handle it, Jeremy? I promised my family and friends I would spend the evening with them.”
“Laurie, you know you're the only one in Devonshire qualified to do this. If I have to send him to L.A. he won’t survive the trip. I could try doing it myself, but my skills are no where near what I know you are capable of. Please, Laurie. You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t absolutely necessary. You’re the best there is, and I promised this boy’s parents I’d do everything I could to save him.”
Laurie sighed. “Okay Jeremy, flattery will get you everywhere. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Have everything I need ready, all his x-rays, catscan, brain scan, and whatever else. I don’t want to go into this blind."
“Everything’s ready for you Laurie, I knew you’d come through.”
She clicked off her cell phone.“I have to go, Kurt. It’s an emergency. I’ll be back at the house as soon as I can. Please explain it to everybody so they’ll know I just wasn’t trying to stay away.”
“Okay, they’ll understand Laurie.” Laurie turned to go to her car then suddenly turned back to Kurt.
“You’ve always been so understanding,” she told him. “Thanks for being my friend.” And without saying another word she practically ran toward her car. After Kurt watched her drive away, he paused for a moment at Joe’s grave.
“Well Joe, I don’t know where you are at this moment but I would have to think it’s someplace special,” he said quietly. “And if you are where I think you are your daughter is hurting in the worst way. She needs help, and there’s nobody here that can give it to her. So you know, this is a long shot, but if you and any of your friends up there can give her a helping hand it would be greatly appreciated.”
Kurt stood quietly for a moment, then walked slowly back to his own car. And for no reason in particular, he suddenly remembered the pool game from the previous Christmas when Laurie had taken Joe for fifty dollars. “I got fifty bucks that says you missed that shot on purpose, Joe,” Kurt said to himself, chuckled, and then started his engine.
At the hospital, the surgery had indeed been difficult. As Laurie walked out of the operating room and removed her mask, she breathed a sigh of relief. The young boy’s name was Mason Washington, and at one point she had thought she would lose him. Time would tell if there would be any extensive brain damage, or how much rehabilitation if any young Mr. Washington would need, but he would live and he would be okay.
A few seconds later, Jeremy Rolf exited the operating room also.
“That was nothing short of miraculous what you did in there, Laurie. I can’t help but marvel at your skills. How you found that hematoba let alone be able to remove it is something I know I could never have done.”“Thanks,” she said. “But it was nothing special.”
Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh. “Nothing special? Don’t be so damn modest. There isn’t a surgeon in this hospital that could have worked that miracle. I know you only signed a one year contract with the hospital, but I hope you’re at least considering making your stay permanent.”
Laurie simply nodded. "Tell me, Laurie. Why did you decide to come here from L.A? It's quite an unusual move, especially considering how well you were doing there. You can’t be making anywhere near the money you were getting there"
"Personal reasons," was all Laurie answered.
"Well, like I said, I hope you stick around. We don't have very many high quality surgeons here in Devonshire, and we're very lucky to have you, even if it is for only a while.”
“Do you want to talk to the boy’s parents? I know they’ll want to thank you,” Jeremy asked her.
There once was a time when Laurie achieved a great thrill whenever she had saved someone’s life. Now it seemed so unfair to her. She could save other people’s lives, but hadn’t been able to do a thing to help her own father.
“No, that’s okay. You can do it. I have to hurry home. They’ll be waiting on me.” She glanced at her watch. It said ten p.m. She had been in surgery for hours. The chances are Dag, Glenn, Kurt and Gail would have gone home, unless of course Dag and Glenn had decided to spend the night.
“Okay, sure,” Jeremy said as he walked away. “But I won’t take any of the credit.”
Laurie walked over to her locker and silently began changing out of her scrubs. For the first time during the day she began to hurry. Angela would not be happy that she was coming home late once again, especially on a day when she wasn't even supposed to be at the hospital.After she had dressed, Laurie walked out past the waiting room where Mason's parents were. She could see Jeremy talking to them. The woman she assumed to be Mason's mother seemed extremely worried, but Laurie knew that would vanish as soon as Jeremy finished telling them how the operation had gone. When
she saw Mrs. Washington grab Dr. Rolf and hug him, she knew he had finished telling her the good news."Thank, you doctor, Thank you," she heard her say, tears of joy streaming down her face.
There once was a time when moments such as these had been the best part of being a surgeon. But now all it did was remind Laurie that despite all of her skills they were sometimes no more useful than using a can opener to open a jar of peanut butter.
When Jeremy quickly began telling them that it wasn't him, but Dr. Baker who had saved their sons life, she walked quickly out of the waiting room before she could be seen.Laurie quickly walked outside to the parking lot and quickly found out that the night had become quite chilly, especially by Devonshire standards. She shivered as she practically ran to get into her car.
Laurie's car was still over a block away when she
saw the twinkling of the Christmas lights on their front lawn. She gave a quick thought to making a U-Turn and heading in the other direction, but she knew there was no place to go. Like it or not she would have to face the music. As she appro
ached the driveway, Laurie shook her head in disgust. Normally, she could have parked her car blindfolded if it was absolutely necessary but now both sides of the driveway were lined with lighted artificial Christmas Candles. She braked the car and carefully made the turn into the car port.She parked her car behind that of Glenn and Dag's. Obviously they had decided to spend the night. It was not what she would have preferred. With so many sleepless nights, and a difficult evening at work, she wanted nothing more than to climb into her bed, regardless of the nightmare she would once again have to confront.
The first thought that entered her mind as she walked around to the front of the house was that it looked like somebody had puked Christmas on the entire home. She had hoped they wouldn't have gone to such extreme decorating measure and would have toned it down somewhat, instead they had gone overboard, and even putting up more decorations than her father would have. And that was not an easy thing to do. She opened the front door than paused for a moment to look around.
As she looked at the reindeer sitting in the front lawn she couldn't help but think that they were on the wrong side of the house. Dad had always put them on the other side of the doorway, so that he could see them as he drove up to the house. Yet, another reminder that Laurie didn't need.
As she walked into the already opened door, the nutcracker standing guard seemed to be mocking her just as the snowman had mocked her at the restaurant. There was nobody in the living room. She could hear voices and the TV blasting away in the recreation room. The living room was decorated to the extreme, just as the outside of the house was. She walked quickly through the living room, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the decorations. Her head was throbbing again, worse than it had all day.
Laurie had no sooner entered the recreation room then she froze. She immediately recognized the film they were watching on TV. It was "It's A Wonderful Life," a film she had seen many times over the years. Worse than that though, was the fact that Joe's beloved movie poster collection was no longer hanging on the walls, replaced randomly by one Christmas decoration after another. She began to feel sick to her stomach. "How could they be so disrespectful?" she thought. And then she saw the snowman sitting on the table. It was the same snowman who had mocked her at the restaurant and now it was sitting in their recreation room with a look of someone who had the upper hand and was ready to declare victory over her.It was Suzie who finally saw her standing in the doorway.
“Susie!” she said sharply. “What are you still doing up? It’s way past your bedtime.” It wasn’t until Laurie spoke that Bettie and Angela noticed her presence.“Mommy !” Suzie yelled, jumping up from the sofa and running to hug her. “Grandma and Mama said I could finish watching this movie. It’s really really good. There was this angel, and he was funny, and mommy, did you know that every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings?”
Laurie decided it was time to set Suzie straight,
Clarence or no Clarence, Santa or no Santa. She didn’t need to grow up believing in a bunch of gobbledygook. “That’s just a movie, Suzie. Those things don’t happen in real life. It’s only make believe. There aren’t really any angels like Clarence running around”Suzie looked crushed, but only for a moment. She was ready to argue the point.
“Uh, huh. There are so angels! Grandma says so and Mama Angela says so! And Grandma says that Grandpa is an angel too!” She looked at Laurie defiantly, as if she was ready to declare
victory along with the snowman.“There are no Angels, Suzie.” Laurie said it loudly and sternly to make sure her point was getting across. “You’re getting too old to believe in such nonsense. And this business of Santa Claus bringing your grandfather back is just ridiculous. Grandpa Joe is dead, and he won't be coming back. Not on Christmas, not on New Years and not on Easter even if you ask the Easter Bunny.”
This time Suzie, didn’t argue. Tears started
flowing from her eyes. In her young years, she had never been as hurt as she was at that moment. It wasn’t just what Laurie had said, it was the harshness in her voice that had stung her.“It’s not ricolous!” she hollered at Laurie. “Santa said he would try. And Grandpa is an angel up in heaven. I hate you! I hate you!” She cried running out of the room.
If looks could kill than at that moment Laurie would have been dead. The look on Angela’s face was one she had never seen before, one of anger and pure disgust. “Laurie!” she yelled at her. “That
was the meanest thing you could possibly have done! How dare you! I don’t care what you’re going through, there’s no reason on earth for you to hurt Suzie like that!”“Okay, you’ve made your point,” Laurie yelled back at her. “I’m a heel and I’m a louse. But it’s better that she starts finding out about the real world now, and suffering a little hurt than finding out later how rotten the world really is and suffering even more pain!"
"So instead of Dr. Baker, Neurosurgeon, you're now Frasier Crane, psychiatrist?" Angela told her
heatedly."I don't need your sarcasm right now, Angela. And while I'm at it, what right do any of you have to take down dad's movie posters and replace them with all of this holiday foolishness when you know how much he cherished that collection?”
"Is that's what's bothering you, Laurie? The damn posters? You know as well as I do that Dad took them down every Christmas and then put them back up after the Holidays. Why should this be any different?"
"Because it is different. Because he's not here any more and both of you should have more respect than that for his memory."“The only person disrespecting Dad and his memory is you, and the sooner you realize that the better. I have nothing more to say to you, Laurie! I’m going to take care of my daughter!”
“Our daughter,” she reminded Angela pointedly.
“If she’s your daughter than start acting like a parent which is something you haven't been doing for some time now,” Angela screamed at her as she left the room.
Bettie stood across the room from Laurie staring at her.“I suppose that you want to add your two cents worth, mother” Laurie said pointedly.
“Do I really need to? You know in your heart that what you just did was wrong. I’ve been making excuses for you and your behavior, but I can’t excuse this. Not for any reason. Joe is dead. My husband is dead. And all the wallowing in self pity that you’re doing will not bring him back. And most of all, if your father was here right now, he’d be as ashamed of you as I am.”
And without saying another word, Bettie stormed past her and headed towards her bedroom, hoping she would make it there before her tears began falling. But it was no use. She had not taken but two steps when they came. As she ran into the bedroom, she didn't see Laurie standing behind her, watching her.Laurie stood there stunned for a moment. Her mother was right. She was making everybody’s life miserable, and there was no excuse for what she had just done. She could hear Angela still trying to comfort the sobbing Suzie upstairs. Laurie walked over to the bar, quickly mixed herself a scotch and water then downed it. Just as quickly she poured another, downing it as well then slammed the bottle down on the counter. And it was at that point that the snow man began singing.
“Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul, With a corn cop pipe and a button nose, And two eyes made out of coal” And Laurie could take no more. She walked over, picked the snowman up off of the table and threw it against the wall where it shattered into three pieces.
“Happy soul, happy soul, happy soul, happy soul,” it began repeating over and over. Laurie went over, picked up the pieces, took them to the kitchen, threw them into the trash compactor, closed it and flipped the switch. “Happy Soul, Happy Soul, Happy……” and then she heard no more.
Laurie should have felt triumphant but she didn’t. She walked dejectedly up to their room and sat forlornly at the desk. A few seconds later, Angela came into the room.
“I’m sorry,” Laurie said almost whispering it.“Are you, Laurie?” Angela replied. She was still quite angry. “I’m not so sure. I’ll spend the night in Suzie’s room. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Maybe you should spend the night thinking about getting some help. We can’t go on like this. I don’t want to go on like this and I won’t subject Suzie to it any longer. Either you come to terms with what happened to dad, or I’m taking Suzie back to L.A. after the holidays. I mean it.” And with that she left the room, leaving Laurie in the darkness.
She wasn’t sure why she had said the things she had to Suzie. Maybe she just wanted to hurt someone, anyone. She didn’t know anything for certain anymore except the one thought that had haunted her for so many months. Her father was dead, and he was dead because she had forced him into going to the Back Alley Lounge that night, and he had died saving her life.
She wanted to be alone. Away from everybody. Her head was throbbing so she went into the bathroom to the medicine cabinet. This time she decided on the acetaminophen, and took four before placing the bottle back on the shelf. Then she reached up for the Zolpidem that had for the most part remained unused. One thing Laurie knew for certain, and it was that just like any drug you were not suppose to mix Zolpidem with any alcoholic beverage and she had already had two strong scotch and sodas. But Laurie no longer cared. All she wanted to do was sleep and she wanted to fall into a deep enough sleep that she wouldn’t dream. The normal dosage for the strength of Zolpidem that she took was one tablet. One had been useless before, this time she took two, returned the lid to the container and placed it in her skirt pocket.
She walked out back to the upstairs patio and was grateful the lights weren't on. She sat on the bench for a moment staring out into the yard. It was the yard she had played in as a child, the yard her dad had taken such pride in. The old swing set their father had bought for Dag's first Christmas was still there. It had been painted several times so it was almost like new. Joe's sentimentality had kept him from ever replacing it.She looked at the fountain in the yard, where there had once been a pond. Laurie and Joe had spent many hours sitting at the pond and then the fountain that replaced it.
When she was troubled, she could often just pour her heart out to Joe. It wasn't that he always had a solution, but just having him there to listen helped her work things out.
It was then that the tears began to fall unabated.“God, help me,” she cried lying across the bench. “Please help me!” she cried burying her face once again in her hands.
“God, help me,” she cried over and over. “Please help me!” She laid down on the bench trying to stifle her sobs in her hands.
“I wish I was dead,” she said to herself. “I should be dead, and my father should be alive. I’m the one who deserved to die."
She sat up and reached into her skirt pocket for the rest of the Zolpidem. She sat looking at it for several seconds. Laurie was miserable, and she was making all of those around her as miserable as well, even her own daughter. She removed the cap from the container, tilted the bottle and was about to pour the contents into her hand when she felt a sudden sharp, painful, stinging sensation in her hand, as if it had just been slapped. The bottle fell to the ground spilling a good portion of its contents.
Laurie grabbed her hand, but just as suddenly as she had felt the sensation, it had disappeared. She reached over to pick up the Zolpidem bottle but as she did a strong guest of wind blew across the patio, scattering the pills across the cement and blowing the container over the edge of the patio. The night was bitterly colder than usual, and Laurie began to shiver though she wasn’t sure that it had anything to do with the weather.
“That will be quite enough of that, young lady,” a woman’s voice said to her sternly. It startled her so much she jumped off of the bench. She turned around expecting to see either Angela or her mother, but neither was anywhere around.“This is ridiculous,” Laurie said aloud. “Now I’m hearing voices. On top of everything else, I’m either going crazy or I’m dreaming.”
This time there was laughter, and it was the same voice Laurie had heard a second ago. “You’re not going crazy, Laurie.”
Suddenly, the lights around the patio came on, illuminating the entire back yard.Obviously there had to be somebody in the yard or somewhere nearby. Laurie crept over to the railing and looked over but there was no one there. Obviously whoever had spoken to her was hiding.
"Okay, Angela," Laurie said again. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny. Yes, I deserve it but the game is over. So wherever you're hiding you can come out now."
There was laughter again. "Okay," Laurie said aloud. "I'm dreaming. I'm still over there on the bench and I fell asleep, freezing my ass off. I'll wake myself up and everything will be back to normal."Laurie pinched herself on the arm till she felt a coarse sharp pain. But she still stood alone on the patio. Then the same voice she had heard before began to laugh again.
"I told you, Laurie. You're not dreaming. I wouldn't lie. Angela is in bed where she should be, and as cold as it is out here if you had any
sense at all you would be also."This time the voice seemed to be coming directly from behind her.
“Wh…who…who are you?” she said. Now she was scared. Voices were coming out of the walls. “Or should I say where are you?
"I'm right here, daughter. Turn around," the voice said. Laurie gulped and slowly turned to face the mysterious voice. Her heart was beating five million beats per second."
There standing before her was the likeness of her long deceased mother. Although of course, Laurie had never seen her while she was alive, her father had given her a portrait of her and there had also been many photographs from which she had memorized every feature of Susan's face.
"Now I know I'm dreaming," Laurie said. "But it's the best dream I've ever had in my whole life."
Susan laughed again. "I told you Laurie, you're not dreaming. There is a certain feel to dreams. Does this really feel like a dream? Reach out and touch me. I'm as real as you are."
Laurie was hesitant, and Susan seemed to sense it.
"Don't be afraid, Laurie. I'm here to help you."
There was something in Susan's voice that was calm and soothing to Laurie. It was as if she was suddenly at peace.
Cautiously she reached her hand out to touch Susan. Laurie half expected her hand to go through her, as one would have expected it to do with a ghostly apparition. At least that's the way it was done in the movies.
"You watch way too many movies, Laurie." Susan told her as if she had just read Laurie's thoughts which she probably had.
Laurie's hand came softly to rest on Susan. It felt as real as if she were touching Angela, Suzie or Bettie.
Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around Susan and hugged her as tightly as she had ever hugged anyone.
"I don't care if I am dreaming," she told Susan, "It's real enough right now. Oh mother!" Laurie began to cry."Don’t' cry Laurie. It's Christmas, you should be happy," Susan said doing her best to momentarily comfort her. She waited for Laurie's tears to subside before confronting her.
"Now, what exactly did you think you were going to do with those pills? I won’t have you even thinking about that nonsense, let alone actually doing it. I let you get by with thinking that stuff once before but not any more. Believe me as far as I’m concerned, you’re not too old for me to bend you over my knee and paddle your rump.”
“What do you mean you let me get by with it once before?” Laurie asked.
“That night during the storm in the cemetery years ago, you wished yourself dead just because you had a little problem. Now, I’ll not have you thinking those thoughts.”
"You were there?" Laurie asked
"I get around. Who do you think prodded that gardener who rescued you to get to the cemetery three hours earlier than normal. I was also here that time Bettie was in a coma and didn't want to come out of it....but I'm not supposed to talk about that."
“Yeah, well maybe you ought to ask Angela and your granddaughter if they wouldn’t be better off without me.”
A look of anger came over Susan’s face. She pointed her finger at Laurie and in that split second there was a loud clap of thunder, and a bolt of lightning from beyond the horizon, causing Laurie to jump.
“Now, say it again daughter, and I’ll show you what I can really do! Life is a gift, and very precious. You should cherish every minute of it and not want to throw it away as if it meant nothing.”
Dream or no dream, Laurie decided it was best not to test her Susan’s patience. “Okay, okay! You win! You’re right. Perhaps it would be better if I had never been born at all!”
Susan let out a huge sigh. “I can see that I have my work cut out for me. Now why would you wish something like that, Laurie?”
“Well for one thing, you’d be alive right now instead of being a part of this very weird dream and so would dad. I wouldn’t be here making Angela, Suzie and Mom miserable. Everybody would be a lot happier and better off if I’d just never been born.”
“Oh, I see,” Susan said. “So you think that would make everything perfect? Well, we’ll just have to see about that. What do you think, Michael?” Susan said looking skyward. “Do you think that will do the trick? Yes, so do I, but I may need a little help with this one.”
Okay, Laurie. Have it your way. I’ll give you your wish. You’ve never been born!” And the words were no sooner out of Susan’s mouth than she waved her arms and there was a bright blinding flash of light and a long continuous roar of thunder.TO BE CONTINUED
Click here to continue reading Act Three of Laurie's Wonderful Life.
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