Skin Deep II - Chapter 13 free porn video

Chapter 13 House Lights Randy flew the family home. He insisted that he was probably the most rested of the bunch although he had only gotten as much sleep as anyone else of the group except for Shelly who was by default not qualified to fly. He had been by Beth's side constantly for almost a week non-stop; was there to make sure meals from the hospital lounge were in place when Erin or Beth or Michelle were awake to eat them even though Michelle never ate anything he brought. He made sure that he slept only after the girls had what they needed so they could be at Gary's side. Now it was over. Let the healing begin! But Randy didn't believe there would be healing for a long time. When Gary died, they all seemed to lose their resolve. They had been through so much to save Mr. Shipley and it had all driven right to one specific point in time; to one event. Michelle was right about her sister. She wasn't done yet. So he flew in silence. Occasionally someone would cough or sigh or moan in grief. Mostly though, they were silent. Over the years he had truly adopted this family as his own, even more so now. He was inescapably and forever a member of this family unit. Randy wouldn't have had it any other way. Even if he could escape at this point he would not. It was not that he had any disdain or feelings of separation from his natural family; he loved his mother and father. These people were the people he chose to be with. He had always been drawn to them since his earliest days by their warm and welcoming ways. As he piloted the family that he now considered himself a part of, his thoughts turned to his natural parents. It occurred to him that he had not spoken to his parents at all in several days and he planned to call and let them know where he was and how he was. He asked for permission to use the HOVVid system. "I haven't spoken to them in...." He stopped to think about the last time he had spoken to them. Then he looked to Beth for the answer. "Five days. It was five days ago when you took me to the lake house," she answered. "Five days?" Michelle was aghast. "Randy, yes... of course you can use the system. I insist. They're probably worried sick about you." "Thank you Ma'am," he said. "I thought we talked about that Ma'am stuff?" Michelle said. "Did we?" Randy replied. "I don't remember any conversation about anything like that." He cracked a toothy grin. Michelle shook her head with as much of a smile as she could muster and punched up the address for Randy and activated the drivers-side camera for privacy. Sam Benton answered: "Hello?" Then seeing it was his son he exploded: "Randy! Where the hell have you been young man?" Randy blushed but kept a steady tone. "Mom didn't tell you?" "Your mother said you disappeared with some young lady several nights ago. She's worried sick about what you've been doing. We've called the police son! You haven't gotten that girl pregnant have you?" Sam demanded. Randy bristled at that statement and fired back over his father's bow. "The young lady you mentioned is the niece of the Shipleys, Dad!" Michelle heard an embarrassed "Oh." come from the VID. Unabashed by his father's shame, he continued (unwilling to let his father off the hook.) "I've been with the Shipleys for the last five days trying to help. In case you haven't heard already..." He measured his next statement for Shelly's sake, "William is gone, Dad! Mr. Shipley too.? "Yes, Jesus, I've heard. I... I didn't know you were with them." "Where else would I have been, Dad? The family and I are on the way back. We've just left the hospital. The whole family..." "Oh Jesus! I'm sorry Randy. I... Why didn't you say something?" He was deeply embarrassed now. Everyone could hear the shame in the man's voice. "Please let them all know how sorry I am." There was a moment of dead air between them. Randy was struggling with himself to remain controlled. Michelle saw how this teen had been attacked at a time of stress and wanted to attack back. At the same time she saw, a man of great maturity exercising the understanding that this was not the time or place to fight this battle. This was not about him but his family. The ones he chose to call his own. Michelle, who was in the front passenger seat, touched Randy's arm and the struggle ceased. He closed his eyes for just a second, took a breath and then said to his father: "I'm sorry Dad. I'm upset." "Yes, yes that's understandable. I am very sorry I laid into you like that. Had I known... well, I guess I should have known shouldn't I?" "It's all right Dad. It's been a very hectic five days," he said and then added, "And very sad." "May I?" Michelle asked quietly, gently touching the back of his hand. Randy nodded and Michelle activated the passenger-side camera. "Sam? Hi..." She tried on a forced smile, found it didn't feel good there and allowed it to falter. "Please accept my apologies." "Oh no! No, no, no! Please! I should have known he would have been with you and your family at such a time. His mother and I were simply worried. I know you understand how that is. Please, I'm the one who should apologize. I let my mouth get out of control. Sometime all sorts of things run through a parent's mind when their child is missing. Please, if your niece - Beth is her name?" Michelle nodded. "If Beth is there please also I hope that you accept my apologies. That was a crass and rude thing of me to say." "I can safely say that we all completely understand your worry Sam. Apology accepted but only if you accept mine as well. I was thinking only of myself. I never even thought to have Randy call and explain where he was." Sam nodded. There was only one more thing to say and both dreaded the moment. "Michelle, it?s all over the news." Sam stopped there. She understood what he was getting at. Michelle nodded starting to cry again. She didn't want to. She fought to control it, but the pain was so fresh, so overwhelming that she was powerless to stop it. "I'm sorry for your losses. Please, if there's something that we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask. I mean anything." Michelle sniffled trying to compose herself and said: "You've already done more than you know by lending Randy to us for such a long time. He has really been a dear and a lifesaver. I don't think there is much else anyone could have done. Randy was there when we needed him, if you saw the news the other night, when the MediHOV arrived..." She stopped short. She could not continue that sentence. "I saw that. But I'm not sure what you're driving at." Michelle dried her eyes again and then started with her explanation. "The reporters... That was Randy who made way for Gary and I to get into the hospital." "Randy? My Randy?" Sam said with astonishment. "Yes, he's been our own personal super hero for the last several weeks in fact. So you have helped. I just wanted an opportunity to thank you for letting us have him. I... We wouldn't have made it through this without him. I mean that Sam. He has literally helped keep me alive through this." Sam seemed to stop and think for a moment. Then he looked back his VID, which was displaying a split-screen of Michelle and Randy simultaneously and said, "I'm very proud of you Son, and I'm sorry about jumping all over you. I should have know that you would be doing something good for someone and I'm very ashamed of the way I behaved." "It's OK Dad. Listen; tell Mom I'll be home in a little while. I'm going to get them settled in and then I'll come home." "No hurry," Sam said softly. "I need to change Dad. I think Beth is thinking I'm starting to stink." From the back of the HOV, out of Sam's line of sight came a bray of laughter and a loud admonished "Randy?" "She sounds like a wonderful girl, I hope I get the chance to apologize in person." "Thanks Dad." Randy said. And then he paused before switching off the VID. "Dad?" "Yeah Randy?" "I love you." Randy said. "I love you too Son." Before Sam was able to hide it by turning off his VID, everyone saw a tear leak from the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry about that everyone," Randy apologized after his father signed off. Erin, Michelle and especially Beth were all very sympathetic and they assured him there was nothing to apologize about. Randy had been upset by the remark about Beth. It didn't help that he was now part of the lie being lived out (that William was dead and gone.) He was just now finding out that his life was a lot more complicated than it had been before Beth revealed herself to him. Perhaps naively, he felt that Beth, as his friend, now needed his protection much the way she felt he needed the protection when Beth was William. Things were going to get more complicated now. He had been William's best friend. Not once had he considered how it might have been if William were not to have come home. He wanted Beth to stay of course. He was, after all, in love with her, hopelessly. He was quiet as he drove and the girls occasionally tried to reassure him that he had nothing to be sorry for. He acted as if he was listening to them. Actually it was the only time he was not attentive to them. His thoughts were occupied. He was thinking of Gary at that moment. He felt he could understand exactly how Gary must have felt that weekend so very long ago before either he or William had even been born. Randy began to circle about to pick up the ILS and had the HOV in an attitude to come about and land that prevented anyone from seeing Roth Park directly below them at that moment. When Randy leveled the vehicle without warning, Erin exclaimed: "Oh my God!" "Erin? What is it Hon?" Michelle asked while turning to face her daughter, when Beth said: "Jesus! Look at that!" Michelle followed their gaze out the window and gasped. "Oh my." Below them were small points of lights that appeared to flow upstream from every street leading to Roth Park. They flickered below like yellow stars in an asphalt sky. The sentiment of the moment caught in Michelle's throat and caused her eyes to water. They were everywhere she noted. From further away they were moving up the street, melding into a larger body of light at the core of the square. Randy said under his breath: "Wow!" On the streets below were thousands of people. As the HOV came about again Michelle could see their faces, made nondescript by elevation and distance, in the shine of the candles they held. The roadways, sidewalks and alleys were choked with them. Michelle looked on and the mass of people stretched as far as the landscape would allow her to see. They crowd scared her. The people filled the large square of Roth Park that was the center of Old Town. Many of them had candles and signs. The crowds snaked down the neighboring streets and eventually diminished there. The people that could not get with in view of the Shipley building did not want to stay. That at least was a blessing but the park area was large and open and capable of hosting thousands of people. Police Services was there in force. They were keeping a low profile, opting not to get involved in this gathering unless needed. Michelle guessed that decision had probably been made because their involvement had inspired this little love-in. They were, after all, the founders of feast, so to speak. "I've never seen anything like this." Erin whispered. There was not reverence or awe in her voice but fear. The VID chimed once making all the girls except Shelly jump and squeak with surprise. "God! I hate it when it does that!" Michelle groused. Randy couldn't help but chuckle and Beth slapped him on the shoulder from the back seat. "That was not funny Randy!" she scolded. "You didn't have the benefit of the perspective I had." Randy said chuckling. Michelle smirked at Randy's statement and manually activated the VID and answered it. It was Kit. Michelle's demeanor softened and she greeted him. "Hi." "Hi sweetheart. How ya doin'?" There was pity in his face. She really didn't want anyone's pity right now, but it was going to be there no matter how she felt about it. She felt she was going to have to learn to accept it for the time being. "Minute by minute you know? Has anyone told Frank and Amanda yet, Flip, the staff?" she asked. "I've tried to reach Frank, but I can't seem to find them. You know how they are on their days off. I'm surprised they didn't hang around considering how bad Gary was." Michelle nodded. "I told them not to change their plans, Kit. They're going to be so mad at me. I sent them off and then this happened." She looked into the VID with eyes begging for forgiveness, "I honestly felt Gary would recover. That's what I was told anyway. I felt given that, there would be enough for them to help with when Gary really needed them. I guess I was thinking that there wouldn't be much time for short vacations after he began to recover, so I told them to go and relax a bit. I really thought they were going to need it." Michelle's deep green eyes glazed over. She struggled to keep her on an even keel with her emotions. Somehow it seemed a bit easier when she was with people that loved her. "I didn't do a very good job of dealing with this did I?" Kit was surprised and was about to respond when Michelle continued to talk. "Well, they'll hear soon enough I suppose. Frank's going to be devastated by this Kit." Kit shook his head at the statement. "What are you shaking your head at?" Michelle asked. "You're always thinking of others, never about yourself," he said. Michelle dropped her gaze. "You have to make sure your family is OK. Let everyone else worry about him or herself, Michelle. Frank would tell you the same. You know that don't you?" Michelle nodded. "I stopped by your place and closed all the shades and drapes. That way you don't have to be seen at the window by having to do it yourself. So far they're quiet," Kit said referring to the crowd. "I hope that will at least offer you a bit of privacy. I also left some prepared food for you, a meat loaf, and a couple of casseroles. You know, stuff you can warm up or save for later. I also told everyone that we were closing the restaurants for the next couple of days until you figure out what you want to do." "Yes, thank you Kit." "Get something in the kids' stomachs and then get some rest. I'll be by tomorrow morning to help out with... well, with anything you need." Michelle smiled. "Yes Sir. I'll do just that." Kit chuckled. "OK, I'll lighten up. I'm going to go and make sure the four local stores are buttoned up. Then I'll check the other national stores and let them all know what's happened and that we're closing for a while. The Miami Key store will probably already be serving so when they close tonight I'll just tell everyone to stay at home starting tomorrow." "Kit, make sure everyone knows they're still going to get paid." Michelle said. Kit nodded. "Thanks again Kit." "I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest." He shook his finger at her, then smiled and signed off. "All right then. Let's get you girls into the house, fed and in bed," Randy said. He acquired the ILS from the garage and using the signal, the HOV guided itself down the tube in the roof of the building and gently into the parking basement. The HOV landed in its spot and Randy deactivated the neutron flow engines. No one, however, made a move to get out or say anything. Until that is, Shelly got restless and began jabbing Erin in the side. "Unh Unh," she grunted with each jab. "Mommy, tell Erin to get out, I have to pee!" That sent everyone into gales of laughter as Shelly cried, "Get ooooout Erin! Erin opened her door and took Shelly by the hand and helped her out. The two ran to the elevator hand in hand giggling the whole way. Beth and Randy watched as they got in the elevator and Erin started to tickle Shelly. "Noooooooo, Don't I'll peeeeeeeee!" Shelly cried. Beth giggled at that and then turned to Randy. "You coming in?" she asked. Randy shook his head. "No, you guys need your rest and I need to check in at home." Beth grabbed onto his windbreaker with both hands and pulled him closer to her. "Then come in and at least have something to eat. I've been watching you. You've hardly eaten anything since this started." "Honestly, I haven't really been hungry. You need to get some real sleep." He allowed his arms to wind around her. "I worry about you." Even in the depths of her sadness, she allowed herself to smile. She looked away for a moment then looked back at him. "When are you coming back? When will I have you here again?" "First thing in the morning, bright and early. I promise." She seemed about to say something and then paused, uncertain. "What is it?" She looked deep into his eyes and gave in to the need. "I need you Randy," she whispered. "I hope you can need me too." Randy bent his head and for the first time since she admitted to him that she was in truth William, he kissed her deeply. It was to Beth more than an affirmation of her question to him; it was a statement of commitment to her. At that moment, that one act meant more to her than almost anything else he might have chosen to do. She opened her mouth to him and he plunged himself into it and she to his. There is often passion in times of sadness and grief. It is the great distraction from that grief we seek. In times of great fear men and women will quite often engage selfishly in intercourse or give way to lust to shed the veil of a world that has turned seemingly against them. Michelle understood this. When she came around from the passenger side of the HOV her fear was not that the two would fall in love but that they wouldn't and make a mistake. Michelle cleared her throat to let them know she was there. The two broke their embrace. "Oh... uh. Hi Mom," Beth said as she blushed. Beth licked her lips to get the last of the taste of him and asked: "In the morning right?" Randy bent and kissed her again. This time an innocent tender kiss. "Yes," he said, "In the morning. I love you." She smiled. She mouthed the words I love you too, kissed him again and turned to leave. When she was in the elevator, she turned and blew him a kiss as the doors closed. Michelle and Randy stood alone in the parking garage of the Shipley building before he took the Michelle's HOV and headed home to check in. "Are you OK?" she asked him. "You're asking me?" he asked in astonishment. "I'm fine. It's you and Beth and Erin and Shelly I'm worried about. The question is: Are you OK?" Michelle noticed how solidly and confidently he spoke and it rattled her. He had no idea of what had happened, none. If he did, she felt he might not be so certain in his manner that his assistance, although appreciated by Michelle, would offer anything positive to this rather intriguing dynamic of lies. Kit didn't know that for a brief time, Mike Vello had once again walked the earth, that William Shipley was still very much alive and living his mother's fate, or that Gary had not died but had probably been killed by one of these awful SKINs and that Michelle had been its willing accomplice. She was rattled by idea that Beth's identity had been not only quickly established, much as her own hand been, but also accepted. The reverse of this condition would be so much harder to achieve now. In fact, it might be impossible. She would first have to convince Beth to return then draw more attention to the family by either returning Beth to the FSZ which was illegal or allowing her to die. She needed now to put on a great show to hide even more. The depths of this deception were becoming unfathomable and more than a little difficult to balance. Michelle forced a false smile and said: "All things are made right by the passage of time." The statement just came out and she shuddered as if a goose had crossed her grave. She didn't want to think about time. She understood that the time would come when she would say goodbye to Randy and all those she knew just like she had said goodbye to Gary. Everyone but Beth, remember; you do have some company now. The vision wasn't completely accurate. No, she guessed that was right. Poor Beth didn't even know yet. Her fate was the same as her mother's. Michelle guessed that Erin's vision in the hospital shower had been an explanation of why the course of fate had been set in this direction. It was a vision of inevitability. Those events that would have taken place had no action been taken; no course set. Beth's accident put in motion the events that would have given Michelle the chance to save her beautiful husband. A sort of distorted version of It?s a Wonderful Life only in reverse. Erin's plan had failed however, Gary was dead and Beth was doomed. I wonder if she'll change her mind about wanting to be with Randy when she finds she's going to lose him and anyone else she loves to good old Father Time? Yes, Michelle thought, it might just be the tool to convince her to go back to being William if they could talk Michales into releasing her. "I suppose you're right Michelle," Randy admitted, responding to her remark about time. Michelle almost missed that Randy had called her by her first name. "Michelle eh? I thought you didn't remember?" she said smiling a genuine smile for the first time in days. She marveled at how good it felt. "That was just for you and I. I know you want me to be informal. Truth be known? I would rather call you Mom." Michelle was taken so off guard by the statement she didn't have time to keep the tears back. "Oh, don't cry. I meant it as a compliment." "Oh!" Michelle squeaked. "I'm sorry," she said waving her hand in front of her face. "I just... I... You really mean that?" "Of course I do." Randy said surprised. "I've always considered you like a Mother to me. Always!" "You don't know how much that means to me, Randy." She was crying openly now, completely overcome with emotion. Randy moved to her and held her. She took the embrace gratefully. There would be few caring embraces like this for a very long time. She would have to start hoarding them greedily. "I wish my children felt the way you do," she said. It was a pitiful moment but just then Michelle was feeling rather pitiful. "Oh Michelle, they do. They just haven't had anything to compare it to until very recently. That's not their fault," Randy said. "Or yours for that matter." Michelle lingered in Randy's arms for a bit. She wanted the feeling of comfort to go on and on. It was such a powerful need; such an overwhelming and terrible emptiness in side that she could not seem to fill. When she was held she seemed to fly far away from her troubles. She didn't want to keep him from going home but she needed to be held at just that moment and he seemed to know it. As Randy held her, she allowed her mind to drift. This, more than anything else, is what she had grown to love about being a woman. The time of weakness and the support of a loving man. She reasoned that even men must have there moments of great stress from fear or sadness. She could remember those turbulent moments she had endured both before and after her own "accident" They had been stormy times for her. They had hardened her as Mike and helped to make him cold and unfeeling. So unlike Gary and now Randy, when she thought of them she understood that they were the definition of what it was to be a man. That Gary and Randy understood strength and kindness together and how to manage those two states. She had not deserved to be a man. Through Mike's childish and selfish behavior, she had forfeited her birthright to be man. She understood that now. Nature had made that correction. She was happy that nature had made her something she was more suited for. She would never have been a good man. After a time she dried her eyes as best she could. "You should go. See your folks." "They'll be fine. If you need me to stay, this is where my commitment is." Randy assured. "You go. We can use your help later, tomorrow. The girls need some sleep. So do I." She tried that smile again but it was now an alien thing on her face again. She let it fade from her face. Michelle held him at arms length and considered the boy for just a moment. "You really are so much like Gary. You're quite different too, but your strength is very much the same as his is, was." Randy pulled Michelle to him and kissed her on the cheek. "You're going to be fine Michelle." Randy told her. "Yes, I know. That's what I'm afraid of." She replied, her voice was steeped with dread -*- The dream, if that's what it was, had a much different quality to it than the last time. The tables were the same. The lighting, the stage, the bar, the stool there for the performer, even Marcus was behind the bar serving waterale to the regulars. As Gary surveyed the bar area, Marcus raised one hand, grinned a toothy grin. Gary waved back with an uncertain smile pasted on his face. Gary turned back to face the stage, the smile fading from his face with wide eyes and a fearful expression. This felt too real to him. He explored his body with his hands and found he was dressed in the same hospital jonnie as before. Suddenly self-conscious, he felt around back and discovered he was embarrassingly exposed. Blushing, Gary grabbed the two halves of the gown and drew then together with one hand down low muttering: "Crap, crap, crap!" "No one here cares Gary." He knew the voice. Now however it was clearer than it had been in years. It was like she was really in the same room with him. Gary shifted; his hand still clutched behind his back and looked up at the stage. "Erin!" Erin smiled. "I'm sorry Gary. I didn't know all this would happen." "It's all right. At least this dream is a little better than the last dream. This time I don't have a huge lance poking out of my chest." he said but his confidence was very low and he could hear that fact in his voice. Erin said nothing. She only looked at him with big sad eyes. "Erin? I don't like the way you're looking at me. Stop it!" "What's the last thing you remember Gary?" she asked. Gone was her guitar. She had been sitting on the stool on stage and then suddenly that was gone too. Gary blinked and there before him she was seated at the same table with him. The tables were small and round. One small Neutron Lamp sat mounted to the tabletop cast a dim and gloomy light on her hands as they rested one on top of the other. "I remember Michelle. Oh shit... she came back! She was Mike. That son-of-a-bitch changed my beautiful Michelle back into Mike." He began to cry painful tears of loss and grief. Then hope flood back in and he looked wildly at her. "But she came back. God! Thank God I don't know how she did that. Her SKIN, do you know what happened?" he babbled. "Her SKIN is permanent Gary. It wasn't burned off. It's hard to explain but Mike was kind of set up for all this. He was never meant to get out, Gary," she said sympathetically. She waved her hand and the surface of the table clouded over like a Hollywood crystal ball. Gary watched the magic trick unfold, impressed. There was Mike, older but not much from when he had been in college. He was singing before a very large crowd of people in an amphitheater someplace. The band behind him was not Tidewater. He didn't recognize any of the members but it was clear they were famous and Mike seemed to be happy. It made Gary sad to think that his selfishness had cost Mike this chance. Then Gary's face became confused. "I thought everyone would have died when the roof came in on this place," Gary said referring to the College Knights club. "Not everyone. Seven would have lived. Mike would have been one of the seven. But it would have left him bitter. Lets talk as if this really happened OK?" she said. "Sure. Why not?" "OK then. You died in that accident Gary. You, Kit, Frank and Norman," she said, "And better that 200 others. It was one of the greatest disasters Rouston has ever seen. Worse than the Widow's Walk." The Widow's Walk was a tourist cruise ship that took people past the old Victorian part of the waterfront and showed of the famous homes of people no one had ever heard of or cared about. Named for the long narrow porches on the houses it was supposed to be touring, it was usually empty. But one afternoon a group of thirty school kids and six chaperones perished on a field trip when an outgoing freighter struck the boat. All souls were lost and six children were never found. "I... I died?" he said swallowing a large lump that had collected in a lump there in his throat. "Well it didn't happen though." "We're talking as if it did, remember?" Erin reminded him. "Oh yeah... I'm dead." Gary said glumly. "Good," Erin said and prepared to go on. Gary looked at her with surprise. "Work with me Gary," she asked and he nodded. The table clouded over again. When it cleared it showed Mike and a woman. They were in what looked to be a very expensive hotel room. The woman seemed to be asleep in Mike's arms. Then Gary realized that she was not asleep but unconscious. There was anger in Mike's eyes as he slapped her face seemingly to try to bring her around. "What the fuck did I tell you about that shit?" Mike was shouting. His face was nose to nose with the lifeless face of this pretty young girl. The anger in his face was clear. As he screamed, the cords on his neck stood out and his face became an angry deep purple. "Only do a little. You stupid cunt!" On the bed next to him was a blast syringe and a package of something that looked like the drug Heat. It was something that had come out of Asia and was packaged in bamboo leaves to keep it fresh. It was a deadly drug; a synthetic CNS drug that caused hallucinations when used in very light doses but carelessness could easily spell death. It took days to shut down the body and the user was completely aware of what was going on around them until they died or recovered. There was no counter agent for the drug. It either killed you or let you go. "This one died," she said. Gary was repulsed by the sight of his friend dancing this dance of death with a corpse. Mike's anger was selfish. He was mad at her for doing this to him. "She was only 24. Mike's entourage took care of the body. She met Mike back stage and no one ever reported that he had killed her or at least given her the drug that killed her." Gary was horrified. "That's not Mike." "Yes it is," she insisted. "No. Mike was a good man." "Bullshit Gary! He was a man who was just beginning to discover that if you wanted anything in life then you had to beat the shit out of the person that already had it and take it. Remember the Klingon?" Gary nodded. "Mike twisted that story a bit. Mike hinted at marring her to get in her pants several times. She was devastated when Mike vanished. She never married." "No! That's not how Mike was." Gary seemed upset. Erin waived her hand again and again there was another hotel room. This one was dark. Gary now stood in the brief hallway at the door. He could feel the door closed at his back. Out in the room he could see the sliding glass door of the balcony. It stood open and a cool breeze wafted in, blowing the sheers about in gauzalin grace. The city night outside was punctuated by thousands of tiny points of light from the surrounding building. In the foreground however there was a dark spot. It blocked out the points of light and sheers from sight. Whatever it was it hung from the ceiling by a cord. Whatever it was the shape was frighteningly familiar. Gary whispered "Erin!" but there was no answer. "ERIN!" he said a bit louder but trying hard to keep the sharp edge of panic out of his voice. If he heard panic in his own voice he would go insane, he knew he would, just as sure as he knew what that dark spot truly was. He couldn't say it out loud however. He couldn't go look and that was exactly what Erin wanted when she sent him to this place. "Help me!" he whined. Behind him, Gary tried to turn the handle of the door his back was pressed against. He didn't dare turn his back on the black thing hanging from the ceiling. If he did he was sure its eyes would pop open and it would call out to him. Gary? Gaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy? Come on over and let me sing you a lullaby. "No!" Gary whispered; the door's knob would not turn. "Please!" he begged. Then there was a voice and Gary wet himself when it spoke it scared him so. It was only after his bladder had released that he realized who it was. "Gary! I want you to look out there and see what would have happened to Mike." Gary turned now and attacked the door with a full frontal attack. The image of the body that was swinging light in the breeze burned into his brain like sun spots when you look up at the sun and then away very quickly. When you close your eyes you can still see it in the field of your eyelids. "God-damn it Erin! It's always been about what you want! I want you to leave my fucking family alone, how about that?" He had turned now and was fighting with the door handle. "Why the fuck are you messing with us? If your goal was to keep Mike from harming himself and others then you succeeded, it was stopped. It was prevented a long damn time ago. He's alive and the girl is probably alive too. Leave us alone and open this God damned door and let me the hell out of here!" He screamed now nearly frantic with fear. The door swung open unexpectedly and Gary, arms pin-wheeling, stumbled back into the familiar environment of the College Knights club. As he regained control over his forward momentum, he looked about trying to ascertain how much dignity he had lost and realized that no one seemed to have noticed his state of mind, his panic or the hospital gown he was wearing. At the table where he had been sitting before the nightmarish vision he had been thrown into Erin sat, waving cheerfully. Gary did not smile. He made his way over to the table and hovered over Erin in an imposing manner. Erin laughed at him however and that seemed to shrink his domineering posture to a large extent. But his anger at her was still very evident. "Why did you do that to me?" he demanded. "Because I wanted you to see what we saved him from, you, me everyone that helped him transition to who he is today Gary. If we hadn't taken our opportunities when we did, Mike would be dead already and so would a lot of other good people," Erin said smiling. "Fine, I'm convinced. I never had a problem with it. So why am I having this dream?" "That's the next thing I need to tell you Gary. The last thing that happened to you was this..." Erin said. Gary recoiled from the table expecting to be sent back in the room with the rotting Mike sausage hanging from the hotel room ceiling like a rancid bologna in an abandoned butcher shop. This time, however, all that happened was the tabletop once again clouded over and he could see himself 20 feet from the barrel of a gun. They were standing in the lobby of the Rouston police station where Michelle had returned to save him this time. The hand that held the weapon was unsteady and the man who owned the arm was weeping. Suddenly the gun discharged and both Garys, the Gary of the vision and the one watching, flinched in unison. He could see himself look first at Michelle; he smiled, then looked at his shoulder. The amount of blood that poured out of his sleeve and the hem of his jacket was staggering. Then his skin went pale and he fell face first on the floor. Again Gary flinched with the impact. "God!" he shouted as his counterpart's face hit the floor and the blood spray radiated out from it. "Oh God!" "Gary." Erin said softly. She took his hand as he grimaced. "God damn," he said again. "Gary," she said again. Gary looked at down at Erin who now seemed quite small and meek. "God Damn!" "You didn't survive the injury," she said in a small voice. He blinked at her. "What?" he said again. "You were killed," she said in a sorrowful tone. "What are you talking about Erin, I was killed..." Even as he said the words he understood. "Oh no." and Erin was nodding to him. "No!" "I'm sorry Gary." "Michelle! She'll need me," Gary said anguished. "She does." Gary lunged at Erin surprising her. She squealed and tried to get away but her chair slipped and she tumbled backward, heels overhead and landed on the floor on her back. "Wait!" she cried. "Wait for what? What are ya going to do to me, kill me?" "Wait!" Erin cried again. "There was a good reason." "I don't give a crap Erin. She needs me and I'm not going to leave her." Gary took Erin by the hands and hoisted her up to her feet. He paused and then asked: "What reason?" "The SKIN she's bound to will never let her go." Erin dropped her eyes then continued speaking. "She can't die Gary, not as you and I understand dying. The SKIN that was given to her was made for someone else but meant for her. Rather, meant for Mike. The SKIN had to be lost and re-found. And it was. It was found by you and your friends in the warehouse that night." She looked back up at Gary with eyes that begged for sympathy. "The things that were done moved things around. Kind of like when you move things in your kitchen. If you move your plates to where your pans are then you have to move other things to make room. That's kind of what happened here. It shifted things in her life and in all the world. For her, the correction for that was to make you immortal too, but there were lots of things that had to be in place to make that happen." "You're not making much sense Erin. Sounds like to me you set up my son to do your work for you?" Gary shot back angrily "It's not like that. William was on a worse road than Mike. You have to believe me that none of this was supposed to turn out the way it did," Erin said miserably. Erin paused a moment and Gary felt there was more so he prompted her. "What? What else Erin?" "You'll never see them again," Erin hung her head, shamed by the outcome of this debacle. "WHAT?" Gary shouted. "If you're here and I'm here then it stands to reason that she'll be here sooner or later..." Gary trailed off thinking about Michelle's obvious lack of aging. It was the first time he'd thought of it in sometime, but now all of it made sense to him. "It's the SKIN." "Both Michelle and Beth, Gary I'm sorry." "You're telling me they can't die?" He asked in shock. "No, I'm telling you they won't die naturally. It would take an incredible trauma to do it. Their bodies would have to be completely destroyed and it wouldn't happen quickly. They would suffer greatly. Their last hope of being free of the SKINs they're in died with your friend Michales. He died with his SKIN off' if you will. That sealed their fate." Gary started toward the door without a word. "Where are you going?" she called after him. "To be with my wife and daughter. To save them from the fucking curse you've consigned them to." "You can't see her Gary. You're dead." "Yeah? Watch me!" he called out to her as he stormed across the room. "No, you don't understand, you're really dead for God's sake, you're body's about to be autopsied. Just how do you think you can escape this fate? I'm very sorry Gary, if that helps any then I'm sorry." "Well Erin I'm sure comforted by that thought and I know Michelle should be as well. I'll tell her for you the next time I see her." "I'm leaving Erin." He looked toward the door. "If I walk out that door and wind up back in that hotel room with rotting corpse of your brother, I'll come back here and find you. You know that." Erin nodded. "I wish you would not go out there Gary. There nothing out there for you." "I'm going to find her. You can't keep me from doing that." Gary marched to the door of the club. "I never liked this fucking place anyway," Gary said gesturing to the bar around him. He opened the door to the club and stepped out into a vast white nothingness. He turned and looked back into the club. Marcus waved good-bye to Gary and Gary gave Marcus a look of disgust and flipped him the bird as he walked out slamming the door. Marcus looked at Erin who only looked back with a sad expression on her face of pity for her brother-in-law. Marcus shrugged and continued to swab down the bar. -*- Once inside and back to an environment somewhat familiar, the girls expelled a collective breath and settled in. Michelle was vaguely aware through the cloud of her grief that Shelly was strangely unaffected by the events that had transpired at the hospital, either by her father's death or her mother's irrational behavior. She had hummed on the way home, cheerful songs Michelle remembered singing from another life and time. Everyone was silently grateful that Shelly seemed blissfully unaware of the devastating events the family endured in the last 24 hours. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the rest of the outside world. When propped up next to and compared to any of the hard times she had faced in her life this was clearly the hardest time she had seen. Her husband had literally brought her kicking and screaming into this life and had shown her how to enjoy it as she had enjoyed or loved nothing else before. He had given her so much; wealth, family and an abundance of love in which she had found the resolve and the will to come back for him for him twice, once to beg him to let her back in and the next to try to save his life. But she failed. He had, without warning, simply checked out. It had been very quick, shockingly quick and she could not shake the feeling that she had shortened what time he may have had left. Or worse, what if he had recovered by some miracle? Michelle squinted her eyes against the painful idea. If that was the case she had a long time to think about it. I'm sorry Gary. I tried! I love you so much I had to try something. If I killed you then I could never be more sorry. If I ever find out that's what I did, how will I live with myself? The thought was more than she could bear; so painful was the idea that she felt she would strangle on it. The task of facing the truth for the adults was now at hand however, and after a few minutes rest she said. "I have to call the restaurant and some of our friends and make sure everyone knows what's happened. I'll be in the bedroom but I would like some privacy for a few minutes if that's OK?" she asked her older daughters, "Can you please watch Shelly for me sweet heart?" Both of the older girls nodded while Shelly was transfixed in front of the VID. Michelle touched each of them on their heads as she passed them on her way to the bedroom. Michelle felt the length of the room extending on her, as it might in one of those old... movies, Yeah, they used to be called; movies. Her mind was a whirl of thoughts, a defensive mechanism to avoid the truth. Think about anything except that one thing. You'll be safe. Just a minute more and then you can deal with the next. She rounded the corner of the hall to go the bedroom and the hall lengthened. She was moving in slow motion. Michelle didn't want to enter that room anymore. This was the room where she had loved Gary so hard; where Jessie, that beloved first Christmas gift from Gary, bounded on the their Christmas bed. This was the bed where she had conceived two of their three children. Grief began to overwhelm her, but still she plodded on. She turned the corner of the bedroom there was the bed they had shared, the indentation of her body still visible in the fitted sheet from her doctor imposed exile from the hospital just 36 hours ago. There's only going to be one impression there from now on. Oh Gary, what am I going to do without you? She allowed herself the luxury of crying just a little, of indulging just the smallest bit of private grief for her best friend before facing their friends and the co-workers. Soon now she would be expected to share that grief with others. Her dance with Gary was over. The music had suddenly stopped and he had been asked to leave the room. Now a new dance had begun, The Dance of the Funeral Dirge. It was a sullen and morbid dance, sung to the music of bitter tears and pain-filled hearts. She walked into the room as flashes of her life, the one true life she had enjoyed ripped through her mind, the joy of that Christmas night when she had been proposed to and the time with Gary as they lay in bed Christmas-night together. Gary had been on his knee in the middle of the restaurant full of people, the spot light on the two of them alone. The way he had held her that night when they got home from the club, as if she was where she had always meant to be, right there tightly in his arms. She had been staring at the huge diamond on her finger. She had never really seen a real diamond before and for a stone that compared to other rocks of the world, this one seemed so small and so large all at the same time. If flashed with fiery brilliance and a spectrum of impossible colors. It hypnotized her when she flashed it back and forth on her hand. The band had been tight and she had been unable to remove it to wash her hands later that night. Just as well, she had thought. It's not like I really want to take it off. "You're not upset that I'm pregnant?" She turned on her side, and held her left hand out before her. Even in the darkness of their room the stone picked up transient light and sparkled like a star in the distance. All her emotions were an amazement to her. She was a woman only one year and here she was pregnant, engaged and more deeply loved that she would have ever hoped to be. How was it that she had fought so hard to be free of this? She finally laid that hand on Gary's chest and put her head on his shoulder. Gary had laughed. "You have honored me like no one else could, you would want to carry my child." "Our child." she said with a smile running the flat of her hand down the side of his face as she lay next to him. "Yes, our child. Yours and mine." "I love you Mr. Shipley." "I love you too Mrs. Shipley." She smiled at the sound of it. She had only been engaged a couple of hours at that point but it seemed like her life could get no better than it was at that moment and that it had far exceeded anything it could have ever been without him. "Oh God that sounds nice." She paused, concern crossing her face. "Gary?" "Yes?" "Is this... I don't know." "I know what you want to say, and the answer is yes. It's completely and totally natural. What have I been telling you?" "I am what and who my body tells me I am." "That's not what I asked," Gary said disappointedly. "I... you..." She was confused. She wasn't sure what he was asking. "I've been telling you that I love you. You are the most beautiful woman in the world and I love you." With those words she attached her face to his with the force of suction that threatened to pull Gary's eyeballs down into his throat. When at last she broke her suction grip, she said: "I'm not all the way there yet Gary, and I didn't think I'd ever get used to this, but since I am stuck like this, I'm glad it's with my best friend." She had slipped off her panties and wrapped her leg around her husband's. But Gary seemed hesitant. "What's wrong?" "Um... Will this hurt the baby?" he had asked shyly. She smiled a loving smile. "No Gary, He's not exactly awake yet. I think we have a few months yet before we have to stop." "Oh, good then... Come here to me." She flashed to Erin's birth. "GARY!" she shouted. "Make it stop!" Gary could only shake his head. "Can't you give her anything?" he had asked the nurse. "It's too late. If you had gotten her here earlier." "BULLSHIT!" Michelle bellowed as sweat trickled down her forehead. Gary leaned in and whispered in her ear. "The NEOMed said it's too... " "I heard her! I heard her! Did you hear me? I said BULL..... OOOOOOWWWWWWWW!" she had wailed as another powerful contraction hit her. The doctor was stationed between her legs. "Just one or two more Mrs. Shipley. We're almost home. OK, when I tell you... push!" "Why don't you try shoving a tennis ball through your urethra, if it's so damned easy" she snapped back. Gary tried to comfort her, "Please baby, one or two more pushes. "And YOU!" she said pointing her finger at Gary and sitting up just slightly to emphasize her point, "YOU and I are NEVER having sex again, Ooooooooooooo!" she declared angrily at him, causing Gary to blush deeply. She gave one final push; there was a brief moment of intense pain and then relief. The pain was still there but it was rapidly dulling to an ache. "A daughter! You both have a beautiful little girl." There was a cry from someplace down around her feet and the idea occurred to her. I did it. I had a baby. Wow! Who would have thunk? "Can I see her? Please? Gary, I want to see her." Gary said: "The baby is on her way baby," and snickered at his own joke. "Hurry. I want to see!" she said fluttering with the urgency of her need. Then Gary was at her side with a bundle in his arms. It seemed impossibly small to be a living person. "See what you did?" he said and knelt down and removed the blanket so she could see the baby's face. The baby scanned her mother's face with her eyes but remained still. "What I did?" Michelle whispered. "Yes baby, what you did. And she's as beautiful as you are." "What we did," Michelle corrected. "Not this time Michelle. You did this. I was only here in a supporting role." Gary handed the baby to Michelle. "She'll be hungry, you'll have to feed her." Michelle looked up with bright eyes wet and full of wonder and said: "I'm really a mother." Gary nodded. Michelle looked back down at her daughter and whispered, "It's all real." She looked back up at Gary, "Thank you." "For what?" "For choosing me," she said with surprise in her voice. "That's funny," Gary admitted chuckling. "What is?" "I thing the same thing every single day when I wake up next to you. I thank you for choosing ME." Erin started crying softly and Michelle exposed a breast and guided Erin's mouth to it. She had fears of something, a child chewing there but her Erin's touch was gentle and soon there was milk flowing. She was nourishing her own baby. God, and to think I wanted to miss this! I wanted to go back to being Mike. I must have been crazy. Gary continued, "You don't realize that I'm the lucky one here. You don't get it do you?" Michelle shyly shook her head, "No, I don't." "I don't see any other women, there is just you. If you hadn't come along then I would never have known love, NEVER! The attending nurse was wiping at her eyes. "That is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard a husband tell his wife." Gary then stopped and asked Michelle, "Did you hear something?" The entire room broke out in laughter. Then she flashed to a night about five years ago in Paris. "Gary, I think it's closed!" she had been so disappointed. "Nonsense, they don't close the Eiffel Tower," Gary insisted. She stood at the elevator with her hands on her hips, in her heels and a sleek tight black knee length dress. "The lights are off and the trams are silent and the park is empty, well almost empty. That speaks volumes to me Gary." They were standing at the base of one of the huge footings of the tower after spending the day touring the Seine River basin area by boat. At the base were stations where people could board and ride to the various levels of the tower. Large trams lifted you up the steep grade of the footings to the restaurant level; from there smaller elevators took you to the observation platform of the tower at the top. There were no operators to control the lower tram at any of the stations. "You're not holding your mouth right," he said moving up to push the button. "I've never understood what that was supposed to mean," Michelle groused, now pouty and childlike. "Really?" Gary asked. "OK watch this." He punched the buttons on a digital closed circuit VID once or twice and nothing happened. He looked at Michelle, raised his eyebrows, twisted his mouth in a screwed up fashion. Michelle burst out laughing as Gary pushed the button again. Without warning the machinery of the elevator had cranked into life causing her to jump and squeal in surprise. She had been able to see that satisfied look of 'See? I told you so' on his face by the smile there. "How did you do that?" She asked slowly, skeptically. Without a word he screwed up his mouth again and Michelle burst out laughing again. He put his arm around her waist but kept his mouth twisted. "Gary, stop that." she said through the laughing. "Nop whan?" he said, his voice and speech sounded different from the way his was holding his lips. The doors to the elevator opened and he said: "Afer nue my near." "We can't, it's closed I'm telling you. Not to mention, it's..." She checked the time, "God Gary, its 2:00 am." So Gary did the only thing left for him to do, he stepped on the elevator. "Get out of there!" Michelle insisted, stomping one foot on the paved surface that was the base of the tower. "I'm going up." "No you're not." "Hush. Yeah I am." He reached over pressed the 'close door' button. "GARY!" Michelle shouted as she dashed though the closing doors as fast as her heels would allow. The doors closed behind her and she stood there starting at Gary, whose mouth was twisted disfigured again. "We are going to go to a Turkish prison for this." "Dear, this is France not Turkey" Michelle punched him weakly in the arm and Gary erupted in laughter "OK. OK. I'll stop," he said holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm serious Gary. Make this thing stop and go back down. We're going to get in trouble." "I don't think we will. But, after it gets to the top if you want to go back down we will." "I do, thank you," she said gratefully. "You're going to miss a good time," he added in a sly and knowing voice. The two transferred to the elevator to the top, Michelle, although concerned, wanted to see what Gary had up his sleeve. For this it was going to have to be good. "You just can't do things like normal people would can you?" "Oh, now where would the fun be in that?" Gary said and smiled. "You're going to drive me crazy." Gary moved closer to his wife. "If you insist." She resisted for just a second, "That's not what I said." She mumbled around a mouth full of lips. She relaxed though after that. Maybe this had been a good idea after all. He pressed her gently into the corner of the lift and applied pressure to her lips. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him hard. It was hard for her not to get lost in the moment. She felt a hand slide slowly down her back over the curve of her generous and voluptuous, sculptured derriere and down the side of her stocking clad leg. "What are you starting?" she whispered in Gary's ear, and then gently bit the lobe of his ear leaving lipstick all over it. "If you don't know by now then I think that little conversation about the birds and bees you will be giving to Erin one day will have to wait until I have one with you first." His one hand that had no job found her blouse. He did not undo it nor slip his hand inside. Instead his left hand found her right breast and cupped it gently. Michelle took a deep breath as small bolts of electricity found their way to her groin and brain. Her areolas hardened as he slipped the tips of his fingers under her breasts. He opened his eyes just in time to watch hers flutter closed. He smiled and closed his eyes and pressed into her mouth deeper and more passionately. The bell on the elevator went off and Gary stopped playing instantly. He smoothed out his suit and took his wife's hand. Michelle was left rumpled, breathing hard and confused. She looked at Gary with the frustrated, twisted look of a woman taken to a boil and left standing only to stew in her own juices. She loved/hated it when he brought her up and stopped only to take her a little higher later on and then a little higher even later, but never really finishing her off until much later at night. But it was 2:00 am now! What was she going to be like by breakfast? Besides there would be no one up here at this hour, why stop now... "Gary?" she said weakly an out of breath. "I thought..." He smiled and kissed her. "Just warming up." Her legs went weak and she moaned softly with the idea. She had become warm and damp along her tender bits. "First however, I think I want something to drink. "Drink?" she said confused. The door opened and there was music playing from out there somewhere. She smoothed her outfit out and flounced her hair about trying desperately to see her reflection in the shiny steel of the lift to see if she looked OK. The music sounded as if it were being played live. "Still want to go back down?" "I'll stay a bit longer," she looked away from the door and to her husband. "If that's OK?" "Glad you said that." He let go of her hand and offered her his arm. "Shall we?" She looped her arm through his and he led her out on the upper deck of the tower. Below, The City of Light was laid out beneath her feet. She felt he had bought her the entire city and laid it there just for her. It was a bit chilly up here and to her surprise there was a man in a formal tux. Over his arm was a mink cape. "For the lady," he said. Michelle looked at Gary and he nodded. She turned and allowed the man to slip it on over her shoulders. "Engineered?" she asked. "Not on my wife." "Gary, this is too expensive." "What have I made all this money for if I can't enjoy it? Besides, you look so pretty in it." The music was clearer and much louder and there on one corner of the room was a small orchestra, a table with candles and covered plates. Next to this were three bottles of Dom Perignon chilling in a rather large champagne bucket. She turned back to him and to her surprise he was holding a bracelet box out to her. "Happy anniversary." Michelle looked at him startled. "Not today, No..." the distress in her voice was clear. "I didn't miss it." She checked her timepiece again. And it dawned on her. She didn't reset it when the entered the country. It was a day behind. "Gary, I'm sorry." "I'm not. You owe me nothing." He opened the box and there lay the most beautiful diamond bracelet she had ever seen. "I, however, owe you every ounce of who I am and what I own." Not far away, the man that had presented the mink was working on the cork in the bottle of champagne. POP! The cork deflected off of Gary's forehead. Gary didn't make a move. He held the moment of indignity with the grace of a royal prince. Michelle bit her lower lip hard to suppress an attack of the giggles that were bubbling up in her. Soon however, both were laughing hysterically and in each other's arms. When the laughter died Michelle had whispered in his ear: "You said you would tease me all night." Gary leveled his eyes at her and she said: "These people will understand, they're French. They invented romance." "I thought that was invented in Italy?" smirked Gary "That was pasta," Michelle said. "I thought that was invented in China," he countered. "That was catsup." "College girls!" Gary exclaimed with mock disdain. He had taken his wife and danced to the soft sounds of the hired orchestra. He slipped his hands inside the mink coat and pulled her close, he had gently rubbed his hands over her hips sending tingles of excitement through not only her but him as well, feeling the way her clothes slid over her satiny undergarments caused an immediate erection. Gary pulled her close to him, she could feel an engorgement in his pants making her wish they had a place to retreat to right now. They didn't speak; instead they held each other Gary's face buried in Michelle's neck. The bracelet had nearly gone forgotten, He placed it on Michelle's wrist and took her in his arms and pulled her tight to him again. And, oh how he had teased her as he danced with his wife. The meal he ordered was never eaten. The two had danced in each other's arms and they watched as the sun rose over Paris. Below them, the thongs of tourists that assail Paris everyday began to gather for the tram rides to the top. After dawn, Gary and Michelle both found their way down to the restaurant and ordered cheese and fruit and bread and a bottle of champagne and went to the observation deck and allowed their feet to dangle in space as they nibbled and watched Paris come to life in the morning sun. They did not speak. Their touch had been enough to fill the volumes of a million love letters. They had something that no one else would have. They had each other. No matter what the future would bring them at that point Michelle could remember thinking that it would be OK, she had had her moment in the sun and she had greedily drank up all its warmth. "Do you have any idea what you do to me? How you make me feel?" Michelle had asked Gary as the sun came up over Paris. "Yes, in fact I do. And that I can do that to you is the greatest gift you could ever bring me." She smiled; His thoughts and love for her warmed her in spite of the chilly French morning. Was there another man that would tell his wife that, tell her that the way he fulfilled her desires was the greatest gift she could give to him? Was there another so selfless? She stared deep into his eye and then around at the Paris dawn. "How did you manage all this?" "Well, I'm not going to tell you all my secrets, but you wouldn't believe what it costs to rent the Eiffel Tower for a night." Michelle gasped! "You didn't!" Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh yes I did, I have the receipt to prove it... Be thankful. You should have seen what they wanted for the Louve." Later at the hotel she made love to him, attacked him really, for hours at a time. She was relentless and would not allow Gary to rest until he was completely spent. She would let him rest for a while, to rebuild his strength. Michelle could not sleep however and she would patiently watch him waiting for signs of his stirring. When he did, she would pounce on him. Michelle finally collapsed after about 17 hours and slept hard in Gary's arms while he watched her this time. They were not seen back on the streets of Paris for another 48 hours. Nine months later Shelly had been born. These were the thoughts that flashed through her mind as she crossed the distance from the door to the foot of the bed in which she had shared so many loving and wonderful nights with Gary. Her knees went week as she approached the bed and she dropped to them. She remained there on all fours, her head hung low. She crawled off and finally lay down on the floor next to the bed on Gary's side. She would occasionally reach up to see if by some miracle she might find him there, but each time she was disappointed. She was empty and numb. She felt as if she were dying an inch at a time. All she wanted was Gary. Just that one thing and all thi