I went back up when my shift was done and found them both in the private room that he'd been moved to. They were sitting in the chairs by his bed, just watching him as he floated in and out of consciousness. I guessed, correctly as it turned out, that he'd been heavily medicated.
"How's he doing?" I asked the two women in his life.
Before they could answer, Jack himself spoke up. "Like shit." He said thickly, his eyes turning to me.
"Not good huh?" I asked him, stepping closer.
"It feels like someone chopped my goddam chest open with an axe." He said.
"Jack." Mary admonished automatically. "Your language."
He gave her a look, a look that only people that have been married for thirty-three years can pass.
I stayed with them until visiting hours were over. They seemed to have no problem with my presence there. Nina and I held hands as the conversation went back and forth and as Jack went in and out. He tried explaining the finer points of the Mariner's strategy to me but the Demerol or whatever they were giving him made him continually forget what he was saying.
When we finally left him for the evening I rode the elevator down with Mary and Nina and we walked out to the parking lot. Their car was parked in the visitor lot while mine was parked in the employee lot. I walked them to their car and it was time for me to make my leave.
Mary walked around to the driver's side of her car while Nina and I stood at the passenger door, looking awkwardly at each other.
"Well," I said, "I'll see you tomorrow. Are you going to be here?"
"Only in the late afternoon." She said. "Since Daddy's doing fine I'm going back to school and ROP."
"Oh." I nodded, casting an eye at Mary, who was watching us, refusing to get into the car. "Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow then and I'll probably stop by here after work."
"Good." She smiled hesitantly. "Well…"
"Well…" I repeated. We continued to stare at each other, casting nervous glances at her mother.
"Oh for Christ's sakes." Mary suddenly announced. "If you want to kiss each other go ahead and do it. I've seen you do it enough through the curtains."
With that she huffily got into the car.
Nina and I looked at her and then at each other, astonishment and embarrassment on our faces.
"You heard Mom." Nina told me, smiling.
"Yep." I said, leaning in and kissing her.
The next day Nina went back to school, as she'd said. She would not be able to visit her father in the hospital until at least four o'clock. Jack was continuing his recovery and was reported to be doing well. Mary Blackmore was holding vigil at the hospital.
I reported to work as usual, not stopping upstairs. At my first break I stood hesitantly outside the central supply department. Finally I pushed the elevator call. When it arrived I rode upstairs.
When I entered the room Mary and Jack were talking softly about something. They both looked at me strangely as I entered. We stared at each other, nobody wanting to talk, neither of them wanting to ask me what I was doing there without Nina.
Finally I stepped in. "Jack?" I asked. "How are you doing?"
He hesitated for a moment, continuing to look at me. At last he said. "A little better. Not much, but a little."
"Good." I replied, going over and grabbing a seat.
Jack stayed in the hospital for two weeks. He suffered no post-op infections and in fact made what was termed by his cardiologist a "remarkable recovery". During this time I made it a habit to head upstairs on breaks and check on him, to pass a few words with the elder Blackmores. It was only two days before they stopped looking at me strangely and started greeting me with something approaching warmth. And of course I visited after work when Nina was there.
Understandably Nina and I had little time or place or mood for physical affections. Our brief kiss as we parted at night as Nina climbed into her Dad's car, Mary climbed in her car, and I climbed in mine became an accepted ritual with her mother but there were no rendezvous at the empty house, no making out, no dates.
When Jack was released he was still in pain, particularly when we moved his chest or took a deep breath, but he was much better. He was instructed to get up every day and walk or perform some other form of exercise. He was instructed to change his diet, to avoid alcohol, and to avoid everything else that was the least amount of fun. He would be off work for at least another month before he would be allowed back on light duty for another two months. If all went well he would be able to resume his route about the time that Nina and I left for college.
Two days after Jack went home, I went to work as usual. The first thing that happened was Mindy greeting me at the locker room door as I emerged dressed in my scrubs and sterile cap.
"Hi Mindy." I said, somewhat surprised to see her there. "What's up?"
"Hi Bill." She greeted, smiling. "I got a question for you."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Since you're my favorite employee," She said. "I thought I'd ask you first.
My husband and I bought tickets for "Fiddler On The Roof" on Saturday night down at the theater. But the asshole went and got himself a promotion at work and has to go to Seattle for a training session over the weekend."
"Really?" I asked, immediately interested.
"Yeah." She said sourly. "Anyway, I'm trying to get rid of the tickets now.
I paid twenty apiece for them but if you're interested I'd be willing to let them go for ten apiece." She smiled a little. "Of course they won't let you have the complimentary glass of wine, but hey? So what do you say?"
"I say, will you take a check?" I asked.
Nina was delighted to go to the theater with me. She'd never been to such a thing before, had never even seen the movie version of Fiddler On The Roof. She was a little nervous about having to dress nice for the occasion, rarely did we go someplace where a dress code was in place, but she was excited about it whenever I talked to her.
She called me up Saturday afternoon about one o'clock.
"Mom and Dad want to know if you'd like to come over for dinner with us before we go?" She asked me.
"You're kidding." I said, feeling a little nervous myself at the prospect. Though the Blackmores had warmed to me during Jack's stay in the hospital I still had not been inside their house since the day of his heart attack. To me it didn't seem we were quite ready for that step despite the invitations from them.
"Not at all." Nina replied. "She's making her roast chicken."
I had enjoyed Mary's roast chicken once before, in the days before our break-up, back when they'd still thought I was a suitable companion for their daughter. It was truly a work of art.
"Well," I said doubtfully. "What do you think?"
"I think you should come." She said softly. "They're trying Bill, they're trying to accept you. I think you might do some damage to that if you refuse."
I sighed. "What time then?"
"Four-thirty."
"Tell your Mom and Dad I'd be honored to accept their invitation."
I had just hung up the phone and was heading for the bathroom when it rang again.
"You got that?" I heard Dad yell from the other room where he was watching a nature program on PBS.
"Yeah." I called back. "It's probably Nina again."
He grunted something in reply and I picked up the phone. "Hello?"
It was not Nina. "Bill Stevens please?" A gruff voice demanded more than asked. I was immediately on guard just hearing it.
"This is Bill." I said slowly. "And who is this?"
"Mr. Stevens." Said the voice. "Sergeant Matt Cable, U.S. Marines. How are you today?"
U.S. Marines? What the hell? A part of me wondered if this had anything to do with the Beirut bombing that I'd tried to stop. Was Sergeant Cable from intelligence? If so, he wouldn't have called on the phone, would he? "I'm just fine, uh, Sergeant. What can I help you with?"