Surviving the Dreams

Chapter 22 - Michael

It was another week before anything more was said about what it would take in order for both Greg and Susan to be ready to leave. Then one morning over breakfast, Greg brought the subject up again.

“Have you heard anything from Michael?” he asked.

“No, not a word. I’ve even gotten Lois to let me check for emails on my computer. He hasn’t been in touch,” Susan reported.

“That is disappointing,” Greg said with a frown. “Do you have his phone number?”

“I’m not sure. I have a number, but I’m not sure it’s the right one,” Susan told him.

“You won’t know until you try,” Greg suggested.

“Do you want me to call him, Greg?” Susan asked.

“Is there some reason you think you shouldn’t?”

Susan shrugged. “You seemed so against it last time I tried to talk to him on the phone. I thought perhaps it upset you somehow.”

“That was during the storm. I didn’t think it was safe for you to be out,” Greg reminded her. “I have nothing per say against you talking to him on the phone.”
            Susan nodded as though to accept what he was saying, but still she hesitated.

“What is it?” Greg asked. “Is there some reason you’d prefer not to call?”

“It just that … I know he’s married again … but at the same time, the last time we spoke … I don’t know. It sounded like he thought our marriage was still valid,” Susan explained. “I guess I just haven’t been able to figure out what to say. I mean I need him to come to give witness that I’m me, but at the same time … we need to talk about our marriage … or our lack of marriage or whatever this is. And then eventually, I’m going to need to ask him for a divorce … even though we did briefly touch on it briefly last time, we didn’t really discuss it.”

“What was the context of your comments on the subject?” Greg asked curiously.

“I made a remark about it in the context of the fact he now has two wives,” Susan told him. “But we didn’t say anything more specifically about it than that. We didn’t even get to who it was he might divorce, me or Rachelle … But we really do need to thoroughly discuss it, and what to do about the kids. I suppose it’s not a conversation I’m particularly looking forward to.”

“Understandable,” Greg said sympathetically, “but eventually it is a conversation you need to have … unless of course you’ve changed your mind.”

“Changed my mind? About what?”

“About leaving here, getting an ID, or eventually marrying me.”

“You know I haven’t,” Susan said as she bit her lip. “But on the other hand … I didn’t have a chance to tell him last time he called about you, other than the fact I know you. That’s something I need to do too.”

“Susan, you have written him letters. What exactly did you say if you didn’t mention any of this to him in any way?”

“Only that I was alive, that I’d survived the crash, but that now I was stuck here in a third world country without a way home and that I needed his help. I asked about the kids … told him I’d been in touch with Mom … about the photos I’d posted on the internet. I was just trying to assure him I’m alive, and why I’d been trying to contact them … that sort of thing.”

“Didn’t you say anything about your life here?” Greg asked.

“Not really. Michael is rarely interested in what is happening to me. I’ve tried to keep my letters focused on him, on how I knew this must have been a hardship on him and the boys …”