An Unforeseen Turn of Events

Chapter Forty-One

Christine had no idea how long she was staring at her reflection in the mirror. She felt as if she were in a time warp—real-time had ceased as she relived that night and the morning after she had been with Ryan alone at her parent's house.

She shook her head—she had been so naive back then.

Christine's shoulders sagged at the memory.

She had failed to live up to her own standards but realized it had been an accident. Neither she nor Ryan had intentionally planned to make love that night.

She lowered her head and stared into the white ceramic sink, reminding herself that Tim and Trudy were conceived that night and after all the turmoil that followed, had ended up being two of the greatest blessings of her life. She loved and adored them more than life itself—indeed, life would lose all meaning if she didn't have them. She considered raising and seeing them turn out so well as the greatest accomplishment of her life.

At that moment her boss stuck her head in the ladies' room.

"Christine—where are you? Are you all right? Christine, what's wrong?" Sophie said, rushing to her side.

Christine snapped out of her out of time warp, as if in an out-of-body trance. "Oh, I'm sorry. I-I just have a headache. Don't worry about me! Oh my God! I'm not holding up the whole meeting, am I?"

Her boss said slowly, "Christine, I know you've been having problems. . ."

Christine started to protest but Sophie raised her hand. "But we are a business and we realize our employees have lives of their own."

The tears flowed down Christine's face. "Sophie, my husband has leukemia. My twins are getting ready to go to college." She sobbed and fought the tears. "I'm sure they'll understand they're going to have to put it off. But it's going to be a rough road ahead for all of us," she said, wiping away tears; they kept flowing down and she finally gave up trying to stem the tide.

"Christine," Sophie, who always kept up a professional demeanor, melted upon hearing the news. The tall brunette came closer and put her hand on her shoulder, "perhaps we can work something out. . ."

Christine finally stemmed the tide of tears down by squeezing her eyes shut and breathing in deeply. She put her shoulders back and said, "Thank you, Sophie. I just appreciate you lending your support. I'm a strong person and I have to stay strong for my family."

She returned her boss's concerned stare by adding, "I'll keep you posted. I promise."

Sophie tried to smile. "OK. You know, my husband had prostate cancer two years ago. If you remember, I had to take a leave of absence. I've been there, Christine, if you need to talk."

Christine turned her head sideways, touched and gratified that her boss was so sympathetic. She nodded, "Oh, yes, I remember when you went through that. I'm sure it's a time you'd rather forget. She paused. I'm ready to go back to the conference room. I feel better but wait. . .let me just freshen up a bit."

Sophie gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Sure. I'll see you in there."

Christine stood still, watching the ladies' room door slowly close.

Here I am thinking about the unexpected pregnancy when my dear husband is fighting for his life, she reprimanded herself. Christine, why are you dwelling on the past at a time like this?

Because then you won't admit how scared you are about possibly losing Daniel, a small voice inside her gave Christine the underlying answer.

Turning to the mirror, she saw her mascara streaked down to her cheeks and her eyes swollen. An expert at makeup, she washed her face and retouched her makeup. After a quick comb-through, she stared in the mirror.

Almost as good as new, she thought.

Years ago a therapist always told her she was a survivor.

And a survivor I'm still going to be, she told herself upon exiting the ladies' room.