Infinite

Reentry: Part 2

Houston, Texas, in Dr. Wilson's Office, Thursday, September 12th, 2030 at 2:57 pm

Lucas

Rachel and I hop out of the car and head towards the office building in the middle of downtown. The roads are busy so we had to park a few blocks away. The air is filled with smells of garlic and some sort of barbecue. There's restaurants and small shops that line each side of the road. We are walking side by side in a comfortable silence. I think about grabbing her hand to hold protectively as we walk. It feels so second nature, but I hesitate and I put my hands in my pockets instead.

As we get inside, I notice that it's busier than it was last week. Groups of people are scattered around the waiting room. Some people are sitting alone, some are in couples, others are here with adolescent children. No one is talking to each other and no one is touching.

"Go ahead and sit down and I'll check us in," I say quietly to Rachel. She nods and heads over to a set of chairs by the fish tank. I walk up to the counter.

"Hi there, what's the last name?" a woman asks from behind the counter. Her name tag says Chloe.

"Clarke," I reply. She starts typing something into her computer and smiles.

"Yes, I have you right here. Dr. Wilson should be with you shortly."

I nod at her and turn to look back at the waiting room.

Rachel already has a magazine that she's flipping through. I walk over and sit down next to her. She's close enough to me now that I can smell her perfume. It has hints of lilacs and strawberries. Her smell is so calming that I feel my muscles relaxing as I sink into my chair. I want to bury my face against her neck; that's always been my happy place.

I glance over at her lap. Her delicate hands are skimming a jewelry magazine resting on her scarlet dress. Rachel doesn't wear much jewelry, she never has. She has one ring on her right middle finger. It's gold with a small ruby. It was her mother's ring, and she has worn it every day since she died. Her left ring finger holds our wedding band. It's a simple, thin, silver band. I asked Rachel to marry me after our college graduation ceremony. I didn't have any money, so I didn't even have an engagement ring for her then.

She still said yes. Her wedding band is something I made out of titanium at work because I still didn't have enough for a ring when we got married, but I wanted her to have something. She has never complained once about her ring, but I know that she deserves so much more. We have plenty of money now, but she hardly ever asks for anything.

I see her lingering on a page with some white opals amongst a rose gold setting. That has always been one of her favorite stones. I also like them because they come in all different colors, and some look like star clusters.

Before I can say something to her, Chloe calls out from the front desk, "Mr. and Mrs. Clarke, Dr. Wilson will see you now."

Rachel closes her magazine and puts it back in the rack. She rubs her hands against the skirt of her dress before she stands up, wiping them off. We walked together down the hall towards Dr. Wilson's office. The urge to hold her hand comes back, but it's as if the desire I have to touch her isn't being communicated to the rest of my body.

Most of the chairs along the wall are empty, but there are some people sitting alone outside of the rooms.

I wonder why they are by themselves.

"Hello, Rachel, hello Lucas. It's nice to see you both again," Dr. Wilson says as he opens the door to his office. He smiles warmly, as if he has known us for longer than an hour. For some reason, it does seem like we're closer to him now. "Come on in and take a seat." He moves to the side so we can enter the room.