It's been literally six years... I was 15 when I started this story, so I can't remember where I was going with it, but I have always loved this story and this style of writing. I had to do at least another chapter. Hope you guys are still around lol. Here's to a new year, more writing, and more editing :)
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11:24 P.M.
Mariah sleeps in her bed. They don't share one anymore. Anthony misses sharing a bed. The bed is lonely. Anthony is lonely. But he made a vow. To love and to hold. In sickness. In health.
In sickness. Is Mariah sick? Her mind is. Her body isn't. Anthony watches her chest rise and fall. Rise and fall. So peaceful. But Mariah is not there. Mariah has been gone.
Anthony moves closer to the side of the bed and rests in the rocking chair Mariah's mother gave them years ago. He swipes hair from her face. Angelic as ever. Peaceful. Beautiful. Mariah, oh Mariah.
Anthony wonders what they would be doing today if Mariah was there. Would they have a child? Mariah wanted children. She picked out their names. Eleanor and Eric. She hoped for twins.
Anthony grasped Mariah's hand in his. "Please tell me what I should do." Hi voice cracked. Desperation. A broken man held his broken wife. "Please Mariah, I can't keep going on not knowing how my life is going to unfold. I love you Mariah..."
Mariah opened her eyes. Mariah was not in those elegant hazel eyes. Her body was empty. So empty. Anthony closed his eyes in frustration. He couldn't bear to look at her when she wasn't even looking back. Never letting go of her hand, Anthony stood up and pulled Mariah into his chest. Mariah's dark brown hair smelled fresh and felt as soft as she used to keep it herself. The embrace was familiar, the warmth was inviting, the love was real.
"Mariah—" Anthony choked on his own tears. He let go. Mariah did not flinch. Her body stayed still.
"Mister Anthony?" Doris appeared. She was Mariah's in-home nurse. She came for a few hours every day. Since it was Saturday and Anthony usually has off, Doris comes between 9 and midnight. Anthony has freedom when she's here.
Anthony sniffed. "Hello Doris, do you need your check?" He was crying, it was obvious.
"No sir, you paid me already. I want to let you know something. Missus Mariah had an episode today," Doris shuffled. "She just started to do a muffled scream."
Anthony looks at Mariah, she was laying down again. Sleeping.
"I tried to call you sir, but I could not get a hold of you. I called her mother and she rushed over." Doris walks closer to the bed. Anthony stands awkwardly on the other side. The lights make Doris seem taller than her five foot stature. "Missus Gilda thinks Mariah is gaining brain function." She smiles. Anthony was unchanged. Doris reaches the side of Mariah's bed, she reaches for Anthony's hand. "Isn't that great news. It is what we have been hoping would happen for so long." She smiles. Anthony does not. His stomach turns with anxiety.
"Mister Anthony?" Doris drops his hand "this is good news."
"Yes" Anthony shakes his head "Yes, it is, I'm sorry I'm just a little shocked." He musters a smile. He does not feel it. "That is wonderful news." Fake excitement. "I'm sure you would like to get home to your family, and I need to process this some more." Anthony guides Doris to the door in a hurry. "Thank you for all that you do."
Doris picks up on the excitement. "Goodnight Mister Anthony, see you tomorrow." Door shut.
Anthony falls. His knees hit the ground hard. This is good news. This is great news. This is wonderful news.
He doesn't feel it.
She has been gone so long, he has not allowed himself to hope. He stopped hoping long ago. In the beginning she screamed out in the night. Anthony had hoped then. She stopped screaming, Anthony still hoped. Mariah never showed a stich of emotion or familiarity again.
It's a fluke. Anthony cannot hope. What would he do if she came back?
Anthony slumped to his room. Lights out. Tomorrow it begins again.
Sunday, July 11, 1999 10:41 A.M.
Val couldn't wake up. Her head ached too much. It felt like a hangover, but there was no alcohol the night before. She thanked herself for hanging blackout curtains. The sun peaked from the side. Val knew it was killer bright.
Val pulled herself up and cracked her bones on the way there. Crack left. Crack right. Her neck was stiff. She rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to remove tension.
Her vision blackened. Flash of bright light. Anthony rubbed her shoulders, Val laughed. Her hands warmed from a cup of tea. Her feet and ankles chilled from the surrounding air. The roof top. Anthony leaned over Val's shoulder and snuck a kiss. His hair was shorter, darker. His skin was paler. Val looked down with such happiness. Her belly twice the size of her normal waist. She was pregnant.
A rush of air into Val's lungs brought her out of her moment. She gasped as if her lungs weren't working until now. What did she just see?
11:23 A.M.
Val checked her phone again. Nothing. She longed for a call from Anthony. At the same time, not. Her most recent vision frightened her. The weather was cold, that put it between December and February. Val could not get pregnant. She was only 18. So much to do. No time for a child. With Anthony. She just reconnected with him. This was all too fast for her. She started to panic. The air to her lungs was coming harder. She had so much to do. She liked Anthony, but she practically just met him. They haven't even had sex. Did she even want to?
Who does she tell? Val couldn't tell Jess, it would be a sudden burden to tell her about her visions let alone a vision of her pregnant with her sister's husband. She couldn't tell Anthony. That would be a whole different type of shock.
Val was alone.
She hadn't felt alone in a while.
2:15 P.M.
Mariah lays in her bed. Tubes hooked up to her. Anthony wipes her arms with a wet rag. He cleans her up every other day. Mariah's mother was coming today. With the small kids. Not Jess. They were excited. Anthony was not. He felt almost scared she would wake up. He knew nothing else. Or maybe he was just nervous and excited but didn't know how to convey it.
Gilda walks in. She does not knock. She has a key.
"Anthony baby, how are you?" She embraces Anthony. Anthony puts no effort. Chime, Carry and Harold walk in tow. They were quiet for seven year-olds. Gilda let go. "How is she?" She mean Mariah. Anthony wants to give a sarcastic response. Why is he so angry today?
"Good, she's in the living room. I roller her out in front of the TV." They all make way into the living room. Mariah is leaning up in the hospital bed facing the TV. She is still. A news station was on.
Gilda takes over. Anthony leaves for work.
3:40 P.M.
Five minutes before clocking in. Anthony was early. He gets to work. Another day. Another day without purpose.
4:56 P.M.
Val had been sleeping off and on all day. Between TV and sleep. Sleep and TV. Val feels a sickness in her stomach. Hunger. She can't eat.
The vision. Val has never had another vision until the last one played out. In a way she was happy to think she wouldn't have vision for a while. In another, she was sick with the content of her vision.
Food.
She can't eat.
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So I'm digging this shit again. Come back soon, I'll probably finish this story for real this time.
