The Trials of Loving Her

A Tough Pill to Swallow Chapter 2

  As the weeks went by slowly and painfully, I started seeing real progress. I wasn’t skinny anymore and I didn’t need anyone to hold my hand to make it to the toilet. After three months had passed, I was beginning to feel like my old self again. I tried a few times calling my mom, but the numbers I once remembered weren’t working anymore. I tried my wife’s cell and even her parent’s, but nothing worked. I was lost and confused. Lucy took me to one of our shops in the city. Bike world was its name and it was the largest bike shop in the country. My dad had this passion for bikes that I inherited from young. He left the business to Lucy and her mom, as well as my older sister Jessie and I. Jessie hated my dad so much that she refused to accept anything from him. She gave me her share of things which I didn’t refuse. My dad was never there for me or Jessie when growing up. He fell in love with someone that wasn’t my mom and had Lucy. I wanted to hate him the way Jessie did but I couldn’t, even though we never talked towards his death a few years ago. He introduced me to bikes and that is something I will always treasure. Jessie never rode a day in her life so she couldn’t understand the thrill and the freedom a rider feels when he’s out there. His bike becomes his world. After the accident I couldn’t stand to look at any bikes without feeling sick. I’d rather go for a run and forget everything around me. One evening came; I was so tired of all the secrets. I decided to confront my sister in the middle of dinner. 

   “I think I’m ready to know what’s been going on with my family in Claymon Hill. If you say I’m not ready, I’ll leave and I’ll go there and find out for myself.”

 She dropped her fork along with her lasagne as she heard what I said. Her mom stared at me with silence, getting up with her plate as she grabbed hold of the bottle of wine.

   “I think it’s best if you two speak alone,” she said, leaving the room.

   “Are you going to tell me?” I asked, “I just wanna see my family and hold my wife again.”

   “You’re right, you deserve to know,” she told me, drinking down her wine. “We should get another bottle. You’re gonna need it,” she said as I looked on. So she grabbed another and filled my glass and hers to the tipping point. She stretched her right hand across the table, holding onto mine as gently as she knew.

   “After the accident,” she began speaking slowly, “our family was devastated. Your wife, Sera, she was granted a divorce after a year when she realised you’d have a minimum chance of recovery.”

   “I don’t believe that,” I said, pulling away my hand. “Sera would never do that. She loves me and she’d fight for me.”

   “I would never lie to you, not after everything that’s happened. Your mom and our sister wanted to pull the plug. They believe they would be giving you peace.”

   “No,” I said, crying as I got up with both hands upon my head, “they would never do something like that.”

   “I had my mother convince them that we would take care of all your medical expenses if they agreed to let you into our care. They gave up on you Jace, all of them did, and I know it’s a tough pill to swallow but it’s the truth.”

   “Why?” I asked, crying. 

   “It’s not your fault,” she said comforting me with a hug. “I prayed every day to have my big brother. It wasn’t your time to live eight years ago, but your time begins now.”

   “What about Sera, how is she?”

   “How about I show you?” she asked, taking me into the living room. She opened her laptop and from it she played a video to the T.V which I first thought was incredible. She fast forwarded the beginning until I saw Sera wearing this long and beautiful white dress. Her hair was long and curled up. She stood before a tall, broad guy with short black hair.

   “You may say your vows to one another,” an old priest told them as she smiled, looking into the man’s eyes. 

   “Arthur,” she said with a smile as she held both of his hands, “you have taught me so many valuable things that I’ll never be able to forget. You taught me how to love myself and how to stay strong in who I am. I have been waiting for you to show up and save me for so long and now you have. Every moment I’ve spent with you, I’ll hold very dear in my heart for the rest of my life. You’re my soulmate; I have no doubt about that. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, and I can’t imagine spending my days with anyone else. I love you, babe.”

   Lucy paused the clip when she saw that I broke down crying. I wished right then and there that I did die all those years ago. Hearing her say those words to another person made me feel like I was nothing. Lucy hugged me as I leaned on her shoulders. 

   “It will get easier, I promise.” 

   Lucy’s words meant everything to me. She was the only true family I had. I spent the rest of the days moping alone in my room until Lucy grew tired of seeing me this way. She hired a therapist named Frank to come by every day to help me resolve my feelings. He was an elderly gentleman, half bald and grey. He would sit in my room on the couch with a pen and paper while I laid in my bed. He wrote down almost every question I never bothered answering.

   “Why don’t you tell me about Sera?” he asked one day, “She seems to be the reason for all your unhappiness.”

   He never asked me about her before nor did I care to talk about anything else. “What do you want to know?” I asked. It was the first time I’ve responded to him in the three weeks we started seeing each other.

   “Tell me everything,” he replied. “If I know your story better, I could really help you.”

   “Alright, I’ll give you a shot, but if you can’t help me you’ll be giving me back a full refund for every session we’ve had.”

   “It seems like a steep price to pay but I’ll indulge in your offer.”

   “You better listen carefully, Mr Frank, I won’t repeat myself.”

   “You won’t have to,” he swore. “Let’s begin, shall we?”