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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Love stories / Romance
- Subject: Novels
- Published: 07/07/2024
The Saga of Kevin and Katie
1) Done and done
2) As you wish
3) Tragedy
4) The hospital scene
5) Moving day
6) Did you know her?
7) Hope.
Chapter 1: "Done and done."
“Is this the Bus stop for St. Michael’s?”
Everyone ignored the kid. He wasn’t that tall. He had unruly hair that just curled where it wanted to, and other places laid flat like red cornsilk. He obviously did not have a lot of money.
Green corduroy pants with a patch on the right knee. A flannel shirt with a tartan pattern of red and blue did not quite clash with his pants…but almost.
His eyes were also a dark green. Not quite emerald but surely some lighter gemstone would match them. And those eyes were wide open with lashes every girl in Eighth grade would kill for.
He had a smattering of freckles that seemed to spill off his nose to wander aimlessly around his cheeks. His smile was wry with disappointment. No one had answered him. He was used to being ignored. He came from a huge family and was dead in the middle of his ten siblings. Five were older. Five were younger.
Nobody pays attention to the middle child. The younger ones are babies, the older ones grew up in the crucible of young parents without a clue. So he was left to forge his own path.
He asked again louder:
“I know there is a Public School Bus Stop…and one for St. Michael’s. Which one is this? Or do they both stop here?”
Nobody spoke. He sighed silently. It is never fun being the "New Kid". And this is the fourth time in five years that he was the "New Kid”. So he just stood slightly apart from everyone and waited.
A girl just a little taller than he was started running towards the Bus Stop. He watched as her hair bounced to the rhythm of her racing legs. A backpack tightly clinched to her back hardly moved at all. In one hand she had a bagged lunch. (That made him smile, as his own brown bag lunch was safely tucked in his own backpack). In the other was a flower. A bright yellow posy.
He wondered where the heck she found that this late in the Fall. Her face was lightly flushed. Kids around him started cheering.
“Come on Katie! You’ll miss the bus!”
Everyone was smiling and cheering her on. He could tell that everyone there liked Katie. It was good natured ribbing, the kind that kids reserve for the truly nice people in their Class. He found himself cheering as he caught sight of the bus coming from the other side of the intersection.
The Bus, and the girl, got to the corner at the exact same time. She was out of breath having run almost a quarter mile from her home to the Bus Stop.
She caught her breath as the kids lined up to get on the bus. He had forgotten her momentarily. He read the big black block letters on the side of the Bus: “St. Michael’s Parochial School.” He was at the right bus stop.
He held back to let everyone get on before him. Wondering if he was going to have to endure everyone claiming their own seats. The bullies always seemed to want to start right from the first time you got on the bus. He smiled to himself. They would be in for a surprise.
He didn’t like bullies. He didn’t let them get established. So what if he got thrown off the bus, or sent home the first day of class. Bullies learned right away there were softer easier targets.
He smiled a determined smile. He was ready. But not for what actually happened.
The taller girl with the bouncy hair and the flower in her hand was the next to last person to get on the bus. He was last. But at the last moment she turned and looked at him just before she went to step on the bus.
She looked him up and down. It didn’t make him nervous or feel bad. She was looking at him like she was deciding something. He cocked his head to one side.
Gallantly holding eye contact, he bowed slowly and pointed to the bus door:
“You first, my Grace.”
She giggled. He liked the sound of that giggle.
“Thank you my Knight in Corduroy.”
It made him smile. This girl had a sense of humor. She played it off with a straight face. And popped up the steps with the same energy she had shown running to the Bus. He admired her spirit. She seemed to bubble over with a love of life that sort of floated near her. It made everyone smile and offer a greeting as she hurried toward an empty bench seat.
Turning quickly she looked at the New kid and waved him to sit next to her. She patted the empty place next to her with one hand, waving the flower so he would notice with the other hand.
He laughed out loud. She didn’t need a flower to get his attention. She just glowed with her own inner light. He had never met a person so open, honest, and just full of the energy of youth. She sparkled in his mind.
He sat next to her. She handed the flower to him. He didn’t get a chance to say anything before she burst out with:
“Well, my Knight in Corduroy, Princesses are supposed to give you something to show you are their Champion. I give you my posey.”
He smiled again. From ear to ear. School, especially the bus ride to and from, was going to be wonderful this time.
“Yes, your Grace. I will protect you from all Evil…except Algebra. I am not good at Math.“
She laughed and slugged his shoulder with a gentle love tap.
“Done and done. I will help you with your Algebra. I am going to become an Astrophysicist. Don’t worry. It will be fun.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed again. This girl knew what she wanted to be. He already admired her. Stunned by the amount of energy she was channeling while just sitting on the bus.
Then she reached over and took his hand in hers. Leaning in like a co-conspirator in some old time Spy movie she whispered so only he could hear:
“My name is Katie, but you, and only you, can call me : "Your Grace.”
He knew (somehow) she meant it. Her face was looking down at his with a fierce intensity that made him think he was committing to something bigger than both of them if he answered. So he answered with the same quiet intensity.
“Yes, Your Grace. My name is Kevin. But you and only you, can call me:
“Your Knight in Corduroy.”
She bent slightly, giving him a gentle soft kiss on the side of his cheek. He closed his eyes without thinking, his hand closing on hers without his command.
She leaned back and looked at him. He leaned back and looked at her.
“Done and Done. “ She said.
“Done and done. “ He replied.
Chapter 2: As you wish.
“Hey my Knight in green corduroy, I need you to come over tonight. We have to talk.”
“Yes, your Grace. As you wish.”
She couldn’t help it. She let a big smile blossom on her face. Ever since they watched that old movie: “The Princess Bride,” they had used that phrase to say: “I love you.” It still made her heart tingle with the amount of care and concern her Knight in green corduroy put into saying it.
“Don’t be late!”
“As you wish, your Grace.”
And so it came to be. Two teenagers sitting on a single bed with the lights down low. One fidgeting with concern, the other patiently waiting for whatever was on her mind. He had no fear. There were no trust issues between them, and no secrets either. So he assumed whatever had made her this nervous - would be something he could handle.
He was wrong.
She started, as she always did- with a simple direct statement. Bereft of any emotion, hints, or interpretations.
“I am going to MIT. It is the best choice for my career in Astrophysics. They have accepted me. I start this summer. I can’t wait for the Fall semester. I start the summer Session in just three days. I am leaving right from Graduation.”
Only then did she look into his eyes. She should have warned him. She should have told him her plans. She should have let him down gently. She saw the pain in his eyes.
“Oh. I thought we were agreed to go to State, together. You would study Math and Physics…and I would go into the Humanities and study History. I thought it was a good plan.”
She reached across the small bed and patted the back of his hand. The touch still grounded her, making her soul feel safe and loved.
“It was a good plan. This one is better.”
He shook his head.
“For you, your Grace.”
There it was. Out in the open. Until she got the acceptance letter from MIT, she would have gone to State with him, like the original plan. But MIT…well, that carries a lot of weight in her chosen field. She wanted to be the best…and the best went to MIT.
She knew she was being selfish. She also knew they were just kids. They would get over their puppy love. Maybe even someday smile at how lucky they had been with a first love.
Ending that love… was the hard part. The part that might only manage bitter sweet smiles later in life. She stuck to her plan.
“Yes. For me. I love you. I probably always will. But even with my help, your Math skills are basic. I know you like History. You will do well with that Major. I imagine you will be the most popular teacher in any High School you teach at after you get your Degree.
I will be too busy to have any Social life…way too busy. You will be at State more than five hundred miles from my School. That is too much pressure to put on either of us. It would make us bitter, hanging onto a relationship that would try to be kept healthy with one or two visits a year. It won’t work. It never does. I don’t want you to hate me. So…we break up now. While we both still care. “
There was a long silence. Her hand still resting on the back of his palm. He didn’t jerk away. She knew he was thinking. He had a way to work through things and sort them out that would have made him a wonderful Mathematician…or husband.
She choked back a tear with that last thought.
He stood up. She stared up at him. Hoping he would yell, scream, beg, blame or curse. Anything so she could feel the hurt she caused. He did none of those things.
“Well, don’t let those eggheads plant any seeds of doubt in your brain. You are going to make a difference in your Field. I know it. You made a difference in my life. Don’t show them any false modesty, or hold back. You lead the pack!”
And with that, he turned without another word . He closed the door behind him with a soft solid click.
He didn’t show up at Graduation the next day. She texted him, but it bounced. She cried…a little. Then she remembered his last words. She would go to MIT and kick their asses. An hour after graduation she was headed to Boston in her old beat up Prius.
He had bought it for them both. Then he gave it to her for her Graduation. She swore someday she would give him a gift car too.
She sent one last text. It bounced too.
“As you wish.”
She whispered to the wind struggling against the car.
*****
He didn’t remember coming home from her Grace’s house. He stumbled up the steps without turning on any lights. Light was the enemy of his thoughts. His world had turned dark. The light was gone.
He went to his desk. Her picture blown up to 8 X10 on one side, off to the other, his favorite picture. A bit blurry because it was taken with a Brownie camera on a moving buss. But it was the first day he met her, and her friend Britney had taken that picture to tease her with. Instead it was treasured by them both. He had the original …and her Grace had a copy that was indistinguishable from the original. She kept it on her desk too.
He laughed in the darkness.
“Fifteen minutes ago, I was in love. Fifteen minutes ago I was looking forward to a summer together, and then leaving for State in our Prius. And now…I have nothing.”
He cried. Long and hard. Then he cried some more. He had given her the title to the Car for Christmas. She loved that little thing. He was glad she was taking it. He had heard that parking was out of the question in Boston. But she loved it, and it got her where she was going. So he smiled about that.
He took out his phone and deleted her as a contact. Deleted her from his email and DM accounts. Then he emptied his cache of old photos. He blocked all texts from her phone. In the dark, he moved through his room removing everything of hers he could find.
In the end… he only kept the picture of them on the bus.
In the morning he burned all the hard copies of their time together. Both Prom Pictures, the oh so happy beaming pictures of her in Huntsville Alabama at the Space Center…you could see her future even then. Space called her name…and she was answering.
As he burned through those pictures, and the little golden heart with a diamond on it, that dangled like an amulet of safety on his chest, he ripped it off and threw it into the fire too.
Then he took her huge 8 X 10 picture. He held it over the fire for a second, or maybe a lifetime. He was never sure later which it was. What he was sure of, was what he said when he finally put it to flame:
“As you wish.”
Chapter 3: Tragedy
4:52 PM,Cern Switzerland:
"We interrupt this Newscast for a Special Broadcast:
Thirty one year old famous Astrophysicist- Katie Mulligan- was severally injured in a freak accident at the CERN accelerator. She is not expected to survive.
She and two other Scientists were caught in an explosion- which is still under investigation. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, along with her Colleagues. One victim was declared dead while in transport. Name withheld until Family can be notified.
This is a breaking story. More details will be announced as we get more information. “
*****
It was just about time for Lunch. Kevin had let his 11:00 Class out a little early today. They had all done so well on the Mid-Term, that after passing out the graded tests, discussing the results, and the usual quick banter this students always engaged with him - he had simply said:
“Only once in my career have I had an entire Class average 95%…or better." (Tremendous applause, hooting and hollering erupted from the Class.)
A smile appeared on Kevin’s face…a usual occurrence in his Classes. This one was a bit more cheeky.
So I thought we should celebrate by not only dismissing you early, but Friday’s Class is cancelled. Enjoy your long weekend. “
Well if you thought the earlier clapping, hooting, hollering and cheering was enthusiastic- it paled in comparison to a hundred and fifty undergrads launching themselves out of their desks to freedom.
Kevin soaked in all the quick comments: “Your the best, Teach!” “The best Class I have ever taken.” One girl yelled out: “Who knew learning could be fun? Thank you, Professor!”
He smiled at all the accolades. He even heard some comments echoing down the hallway as the Class faded out of hearing distance. He packed up his briefcase.
It wasn’t an affectation - the brief case. It was a gift from her Grace. She had sent it to him when his dissertation was accepted and he was granted his Doctorate in History. He had the small note that was attached …framed. It hung on the wall of his Office. It made him smile when he read what was on it:
“To my Knight in Green Corduroy. History, like my Field, has Gravity. You can’t keep using a backpack like a mere kid. You are the Professor now. Professors use brief cases. Preferably from London. That is where I got this. Notice it has your initials on the handle. Teach well!”
He had noticed the initials, they weren’t his simple: K. W. H. (Kevin William Hardy- his given name). They were instead: K. i. G. C. (Knight in Green Corduroy) She remembered. So did he. His heart took a few moments to skip to the beat of long ago. That briefcase and note, were his most treasured item. They were also the only contact he had with Her Grace in the last decade and some change. It was enough.
And so it was that he packed up the briefcase with his few notes and headed to lunch early. It was ten minutes to twelve when he walked into the Professors Lounge. The large TV that dominated one entire wall was, as usual, on a News Channel. He paid it little attention. Two minutes later, the TV blared a Breaking News story.
The only thing louder in the room was the breaking of his heart. He stood stock still as the tragedy unfolded on the screen. He dropped the briefcase, tears spilled from his eyes, he never heard any of his colleagues as they surrounded him to see if he was okay.
His mind held only one thought:
“Oh, your Grace, please don’t die.”
*****
She hurt. Everywhere. Two kinds of pain: burning and broken. What had happened? Where was she? Why couldn’t she move? She heard monitors, alarms, and flashes of blinking lights invaded her consciousness…only to fade out as she felt someone place a needle in her arm.
“She needs to stay asleep until we put her in a Medical Coma.”
Another Doctor smiled grimly.
"If we put her down one more time, she may skip the coma and just die.”
The Chief Surgeon gave her Resident a hard glare. He lowered his eyes. There was a line that gallows humor should never cross…and he had just crossed it.
“She’s a tough one. Two months and 13 surgeries and she is still fighting. We will help her fight. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Sorry, Doctor.”
The hard glare softened on her face.
“It’s okay, Tom - I have never had a Patient suffer this much trauma…and live. So don’t write her off…help her.”
He nodded. She was right. Anyone who clings to life in such dire straits- deserves every ounce of care they can give.
He looked down at the broken and burnt body clinging to life. Wondering what kind of will it took to fight back against death like she was.
He would do everything modern medicine had in its arsenal to assist her fight. They all would.
*****
His plane landed in Switzerland. The woman holding his name up on a placard looked familiar. It was the Nurse from the Hospital that had handled all his call over the last seven months.
He broke out in a smile when he saw her. He waved. She waved back with a quick smile of her own.
“You must be the famous Knight in Green Corduroy.”
Kevin almost fell over. Nobody ever called him that. Nobody even knew what his initials on the briefcase he carried to Class (and now to Switzerland) meant. Only Her Grace knew.
The Nurse knew she had done something wrong. The Professional in her already recognized the psychic shock her comment had provoked. Her smile dropped from its friendly personal parabola into a concerned straight line in less time than a person could blink.
“Oh, my God. I am such an Idiot. You wouldn’t have know. I am so sorry. It’s just that Katie has been talking and mumbling in Recovery after her surgeries. Especially now that she has been out of her Coma for three months.
People say weird things when they awaken from anesthesia. But Katie’s ramblings were always about how her Knight in Green Corduroy would come and help her. “
Kevin relaxed. It was obvious they didn’t know that to him, she wasn’t Katie, but Her Grace. They just thought she was rambling. He knew better.
She expected her Knight in Green Corduroy to come to her side.
Kevin straightened his shoulders. His grip on the briefcase, the one she gave him, tightened. Determination beamed out of him in waves.
“Does she know I am here?”
“No. She was just released from Intensive care this morning. She still has a few more surgeries, and some skin grafts to endure. She won’t be leaving the Hospital for a long while.
But the Chief Surgeon said that if you were willing to come, it could aide in her recovery. After all, you did call a hundred times a day for months…so we knew you cared for her a great deal. Right now, she needs someone who knew her…for support. She has a long road ahead of her. “
He nodded. He knew that. He started to think about what he would say when he saw Her Grace. His heart raced thinking that for the first time in twelve years, he would actually see her again.
He was more excited that he had been in a very long time. The Nurse saw the light in his eyes. She hoped that some day, that someone’s face and eyes would look like that when thinking of her. It was love at its most pure and innocent.
She hated what she had to say next.
“Kevin, she was badly injured. The Explosion not only ruptured practically every organ in her body, breaking dozens of bones in the process, but she was…well…badly burned too.
So far she has had nineteen surgeries, and seven skin grafts. We are all amazed she is even alive…let alone talking. She can move her arms and head…but not much more.
You need to know that she isn’t…eh…umm…(stumbling for the right words, she just told the truth) …very pretty.
Kevin heard the words, but the smile never left his face. He looked the Nurse right in the eyes. He held that look for a moment or two. Then he spoke.
“She will always be pretty to me. Take me to her.”
The woman inside the Professional Nurse quivered with the power of that look. This man was in Love.
He just might help her pull through. Her smile back on her face she took the American by his Arm.
"Then let’s go! She will be waiting to see her Knight in Green Corduroy. "
This time, the Nurse felt the power of that Knighthood.
She felt like whistling.
Kevin felt like loving.
Chapter 4: The hospital scene
Kevin’s gait accelerated as he propelled his body towards the isolation ward. He just wanted to see her. That’s all. He knew there was a protocol in place - that it would take him more than an hour to prep enough to be allowed in the same room with her Grace. But he had to see her first.
The Nurses had done all they could to prepare him for her current status. She was still wrapped in pressure bandages…so most of the scarring and disfigurement would be hidden under that. Unfortunately they couldn’t do anything about the “halo” unit keeping her fractured skull reconstruction in place. The metal plate, complete with screws- was totally visible. As was the small patch of hair that survived the explosion. It too was kept short and encased in a clear Gell to keep the risk of infection down.
Luckily the whole entire wall of the Isolation room was made of clear glass. Usually the curtains were drawn to keep some semblance of privacy for the patient. Not today. Everyone knew that her Knight in Green Corduroy would be along any minute.
The Nurses, Surgeons, and Burn Therapists were all on hand. They had no idea how she would react, or him either. They stood nervously pretending to attend to dials, monitors, assorted tubes and bags. It didn’t fool the patient at all.
Katie knew something was up. But what? Why are all these people here at the same time? A part of her clenched in fear, wondering if yet another crisis was going to unfold. Perhaps another few days, or even weeks- would be taken from her memory. Forcing her to awaken, once again, in abject pain to find out the date has changed.
She tamped that thought down. She was getting used to tamping down negative thoughts. Stopping worry from simmering in a pool of the unknown until it burst out in some horrible stew of self pity and anxiety.
She could hear the monitors as they settled back into their normal rhythms. A few of the more astute Nurses had noticed the spike in vital signs, and they nodded in awe at the self control it took to lower those signals back down.
Then, there as a tap on the Glass. They turned her bed so she could look out the window. Since turning her own head was currently beyond her capacity to self will
The Monitors went wild. She sat straight up in bed - ignoring the tiny rips and tears in both skin and sutures. Her mind went numb. It couldn’t be!
A flurry of activity around her did not block her view. For the first time in months she lifted her hands to wave away the concerned health care team.
She spoke through swollen lips:
“I am okay, just let me see him!”
The Medical Team Chief waved them to the side. They could treat the minor bleeding and oozing fluids later. Right now, a miracle was happening. She had sat up…on her own! She had moved her arms with atrophied muscle, surgical screws, and fresh grafts…a sign of more healing in that single moment than seven months of agonizing recovery. No way was she going to interfere with the present moment. Just silently witnessing the power of love. Tears formed and were quickly absorbed by her mask. As were the masks of everyone else in the room.
The only dry eyes in the room, were Katies. And that was only because she no longer had tear ducts. A minor problem because her eyes themselves poured out enough emotion to make the presence of tears…redundant.
She continued to stare, the wall of glass, no longer a barrier, but a window.
Her heart continued to pound. She wasn’t going to try and tamp down these feelings.
*****
There were two Nurses in Isolation gear standing near a huge glass wall. They waved Kevin over to the spot where he could look directly into…and at…her Grace. His Grace.
His heart raced, then almost stopped. She was alive! He ignored the scene of all the tubes, vials, machines, Doctors, Nurses, bandages, casts, whatever. All he noticed (at first) were her eyes.
They were wide with surprised delight. They opened the window to both his heart and soul- and hers. Tiny gasps, barely registering as background noise erupted from almost all the Medical personnel inside the room and beside him. They felt humbled to witness such a blatant intimacy on display. It was a moment none of them would forget.
For Kevin - well, the look was for him, and him alone. He knew it. She knew it. A love that had been dormant for a decade spewed like magma from deep within two souls. It erased an entire dozen years or so of separation. It forced the need for achievement that caused that separation to evaporate into a past that no longer mattered.
What mattered was simple. She loved him. He loved her. He finally spoke.
“Your Grace, I am coming in there as soon as they dress me!”
She couldn’t smile. Her mouth was caught in a scaffold of pressure bandages. But she could talk. The words flew straight and true…like an arrow of certainty into her Knight in Green Corduroy:
“As you wish.”
Chapter 5: Moving day
“Almost two years. Can you believe it?”
The Surgeon looked over at the Chief of Burn recovery with a soft smile.
“Actually, I can’t believe she is even alive, let alone walking out of here on her own two legs.”
“Yeah, we all are with you on that. I don’t believe in miracles, but damned if I didn’t witness one.”
The Surgeon flashed an even bigger smile:
“Amen, Sister. Amen.”
They continued watching - heck, everyone who had ever worked with Katie and her Knight in Green Corduroy was present. More than thirty professional Medical Staff, a small heard of Orderlies and CNA’s, and even four of the Cleaning Crew were lined up to watch Katie being discharged from the Hospital.
When the elevator doors opened onto the lobby, the applause was spontaneous - and loud. Cheers were heard as far away as X-Ray, and down the other hallway to Physical Therapy.
Out of several doorways, cubicles, and even some patients rooms, came an echoing round of cheers:
“You go Katie! Take your Knight in Green Corduroy with you!”
Laughter followed cheers, which followed more laughter, and then…more cheers. It was a cycle that fed on itself. A Positive feedback loop, fed with positive feedback. A testimony to the Human Spirit to overcome... anything. Will…and Love…coupled with intense therapy, hard work, grit and determination - and extraordinary amounts of pain…was all it took.
Katie leaned heavily on the arm of her Knight in Green Corduroy. Her Kevin. She was walking…on her own…but without Kevin, well, she might have made it several steps before she needed a chair. With Kevin…well, everything was easier. She would walk the entire way to the car, with his constant support she could do anything.
Kevin, meanwhile, held his arm out to anchor her hand to it. He could feel her drawing both stability and support from the touch. A small frown flittered across his consciousness when he felt her lean a bit more on his arm.
She was so light…way too light in his estimation. Not frail. Anyone who saw her fight through her therapy, the surgeries, the grafts, the hours upon hours of changing dressings, scraping off slough, taking sponge baths administered by strangers, and all the basic bodily functions done in the presence of yet more strangers - she suffered all these indignities, with one goal: Get out of the Hospital.
No, she wasn’t frail. She was the strongest person he had ever know. She drew on his conviction to keep that strength up.
Kevin moved along at the pace that his Grace dictated. She smiled shyly at the lines of Staff cheering them as they left the elevator. For one of the few times in her life, she let other people call her the name she was given so long ago by her Knight in Green Corduroy.
“Your Grace! We love you. We will miss you.”
She had promised Kevin, that he, and only he, could call her that. But everyone knew their story now. They had watched her heal, grow, and overcome every challenge once her Knight in Green Corduroy had shown up over a year ago. They not only knew their story, they witnessed it. And so, in a weird way, they too, had earned the right to call her…her Grace.
It was spoken in love. She heard it in the same way. She still blushed at the sound of admiration, caring, and hope that peppered every “your Grace.”
Kevin merely beamed.
Flowers, balloons, gifts of all kinds were piled up near the door. They would be loaded into the car by people rushing to help. Everyone wanted to contribute - at least something to her goodbye’s. Tears were plentiful, as were gentle hugs.
And then, she gave a small speech to the crowd around her. It wasn’t long. It was filled with honest emotion. The people who heard it found themselves with a renewed Faith in Healing. Someone should have recorded it. Everyone who was there, remembered it anyway. And then…
“Well, I hope you like our new home.”
The word “our” hung in her heart like the sun. She was still not pain free, refusing any drugs for fear of having addiction added to the other insults she had to contend with after being blown up and burned.
But when Kevin said : “…our new home.” Well, the sun burned away the clouds of pain. All that it left behind was the future.
“I am sure I will.”
He laughed.
“I hope so. But you know I am a Man, and have been living alone for a decade and a half. It took me weeks to find a towel to match the only one I had.”
She laughed. (He loved that laugh, and he almost cried at the strength it took to laugh at all after her ordeal).
“Well, as long as they are clean.”
He laughed again.
“Oh, Yeah, I wash them every month or so.”
The Driver smiled in the rear view mirror as the lady still wrapped in pressure bandages gave a light punch to the fellow she was riding with. He remembered his wife doing the same to him, with the same bonding emotion behind the soft tap. He had to swallow the lump forming. He hoped the Burned lady and the guy next to her…well, he hoped they built what his wife and he had. A part of him already knew.
They chatted comfortably in the back seat of the Limo provided by the Hospital - Gratis.
“The least we could do for the most famous patient we ever had. And the best.”
She accepted with the same grace her nickname implied. Kevin just let tiny pools of tears fall. He knew the price she had paid to earn that Limo.
“Here we are! You help the Lady out, I will start unloading your luggage, the flowers, and the other gifts. I will give you a few minutes as you explore your new house. Then you can come out and tell me where to put all this stuff.
I don’t want you or your husband to lift a finger.”
She couldn’t help it. She leaned up and gave the Driver a peck on the cheek. It caught him by surprise. He reached his hand up to touch the spot she kissed, with the same awe and pleasant feeling aroused by any first kiss of that magnitude. It made him blush.
She merely said:
“Thank you.” And meant it.
“No, thank you, your Grace.”
Kevin and Katie shared a look. Nobody had told the Driver their story. They nodded in appreciation. He was given an exception. Just this once, someone other than her Knight in Green Corduroy could use that appellation. It was sincere.
She turned, reaching for Kevin’s strong arm, without any real conscious thought. It was just what she did. Kevin already had his arm out, like her, without thinking. It is just what he did.
“Shall we go in, my Grace?”
She squeezed his arm with her claw like hand. A hand bent and twisted by to many surgeries. She didn’t care. She could move her fingers a bit, and her thumb worked just fine. Kevin often held that hand, and that was all the comfort she needed. So who cares what it looks like.
“As you wish.”
Chapter 6: Did you know her?
He stared at the screen. The Presenter was listing the tremendous number of accolades and achievements of a woman he knew well. He was glued to the screen as the woman he called: “Your Grace” was presented with the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He raised his glass to the screen:
“You go, Your Grace.”
Just then his wife of four years walked into the room. Saw him toasting the horribly burned and disfigured woman on the Telly. He turned and saw his wife looking at him like he was nuts.
“Why are you talking to the Telly? Did you know her?”
He smiled a wry smile. One she had never seen on his face before. It held all the secrets of his life before meeting her. She had never probed. She thought she was the luckiest woman she had ever met. After all, Kevin was still single, never married and thirty years old when they met.
How someone as gentle, kind, and caring as him, managed to avoid being locked into a marriage was beyond her. She felt that to many women must have been completely blind to not see what a good man he was. A man who wore the word “decent” the way most men wore a shirt. Casually.
She sat down on the arm of the couch and slid her arm around his shoulders.
“Well, did you?”
“Did I what?”
She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“Don’t play dumb with me Mister. (laughing gently) Did you know her? Who is she? One of your former students?”
This time it was Kevin who laughed gently.
“Student? No. More like Teacher.”
“What!”
“We went to school together. Same Class. She was already smarter than me. Well…than anyone really. She tutored me in Math.”
Another gentle laugh from his wife.
“You can’t do Math.”
He blushed.
“Yeah, she said that too.”
A shared laugh. Couples learn how to do that, if they care about each other.
“Well, what happened…did you Graduate together?”
A wisp of a sad smile crossed his face. Most people would have missed it. People who care…would not.
“I’m sorry. Did I hit a nerve?”
He shook his head. Then he squeezed her against his body to anchor himself so he wouldn’t drift too far into his past.
“No. It’s just that she skipped Graduation.”
A look of surprise crossed her face.
“Skipped Graduation, why?”
He smiled. Again she recognized some kind of pride in that smile, and his next words.
“She had to get to M.I.T. for the Summer Session. They gave her a full Academic Scholarship.”
His wife whistled.
“Oh, my. That school doesn’t give out many of them. She must have been one smart cookie.”
He laughed again.
“Oh, yeah. She went on to become a World Renowned Astrophysicist. They even named a building after her. And you know all the buildings at M.I.T are numbered…except hers.”
Another long slow whistle from his Bride of four years. And then a confused look crossed her face.
“But…but …(pointing to the News Show still talking about the poor disfigured woman) they are calling her Doctor - and the Nobel Prize was for Medicine.”
“That’s her second career. She was a Doctor of Astrophysics before…before…before, um... she got hurt. She got her Medical Degree a few years after she got out of the Hospital.”
His Bride of four years let her female intuition rise to the front of her mind. The words flew out before she could edit or correct them.
“How do you know all that? Did she show up at your High School Reunions, or are you on some FACEBOOK link I know nothing about?”
He could sense the worry in his Bride’s words. She had nothing to worry about. He was a one woman man. But not a one love man. So he spoke carefully.
“I knew her in High School. Didn’t see her for almost a decade afterwords. Then she got…hurt. I went over to help out for a while. Just until she got back on her feet. Then I left. She could stand on her own two feet again. Then the most wonderful thing happened.”
Her eyes wide. She whispered out loud:
“What wonderful thing happened?”
“I met you!”
He meant it. She knew he meant it.
In the background the segment featuring the horribly disfigured woman who had won a Nobel Prize, droned on.
He toasted the TV one more time with the remote, as he turned it off. The couch wasn’t really big enough for two people. But it was big enough for him and his Bride.
She asked him to turn off the lights, as she pulled her blouse off.
“As you wish.”
The Past went as dark as the TV.
Chapter 7: Hope.
Her Nobel Prize Medal, still with its lovely ribbon and gilded box, was settled in on the top of a dresser. She didn’t exactly throw it there, more like that was most convenient place to put the damn thing.
She didn’t think much of it. The part of her that needed validation died in the explosion at CERN. What didn’t die was her need to work, to know more, to …to… (her face turned a dark pale- which sounds like a contradiction, but when two thirds of your body is just layer after layer of roped celluloid scars…achievable)
A thought interrupted her rationalization.
“Who am I kidding? I need achievement. I need to be the best. I want to be remembered.”
But the “Victory” was hollow. Not a pyrrhic Victory (she shuddered at the memories that word prodded) although she did give up a lot for it. She gave up her Knight In Green Corduroy…and was just now realizing the real cost of that.
And so it was a surprise when the doorbell rang. She had only been home from Sweden for a few hours. She hadn’t even gone through her email, texts, or the slew of telegrams, cards, and gifts... yet.
It was a DHL Delivery. A small box. With air holes. Something living was inside. If she had eyebrows…one of them would have arched up. She ignored the pity in the Delivery Woman’s eyes. She had none for herself, and sure didn’t need anyone else’s. But she knew what she looked like…so she accepted the look with grace.
The word “Grace” brought back a flood of memories she had tried to bury, brush off, and banish. For a while…she was successful. She took the box, it didn’t weigh much at all.
The Delivery woman smiled after Katie signed for whatever was in the box.
“Enjoy!”
And with that, she was alone with a box with air holes, and a card stapled to the box. Her heart almost stopped when she saw the handwriting and opening line on the card”
“Your Grace, Congratulations!”
A small whimper came out of the box. She would have to read the card later. She put the box on the table. Her hands were not fit for pulling anything apart, so off to the Kitchen for scissors and pliers.
A few minutes later, and her scarred face was being licked with unrestrained joy by the tiny pink tongue of what she could only think of as a cotton ball with black eyes. It turned out to be a Bichon Frise. She had never heard of one. She had never had a pet. She wondered who in the world would send her such a thing. Only to remember how the Card was addressed.
Her breathing stopped for a moment. A long moment. She got some water for the dog, and opened the small bag of dry dog food that someone (she suspected it was her Knight in Green Corduroy) had thoughtfully included in the gift.
A moment later, while the puppy devoured the pouch of puppy food, and lapped up almost as much water as it spilled…she sat down to read the Card. It was difficult reading. Her emotions tried to scatter in every direction as each sentence pounded its way to the Truth. She started over again:
“Your Grace,
Congratulations on the Nobel Prize. But even greater congratulations on what won that prize for you. You have given hope to thousands, perhaps millions- of suffering patients because of your brilliant research and invention. Hope is a wonderful gift to give anyone.
And I hope you are doing fine.
I am married now. Kathleen and I, were married a bit over four years ago. I am not her Knight in Green Corduroy…but I am her Prince Charming.
She loves me…and I…love her. It isn’t a complicated relationship. She told me once that her and I were like peanut butter and jelly. I asked her what she meant. This is what she told me:
“Kevin, I am like jelly, you are like peanut butter. Some folks like jelly sandwiches, some folks like peanut butter sandwiches. But put them both together and everyone likes them. And, no matter how much jelly you mix with how much peanut butter, you an always tell them apart.”
You would like her. She isn’t as smart as you, but then again, who is? But she is wise. I don’t call her “Your Grace”. That is only for you. I do call her a pet name. But it is only for her. And me.
I didn’t invite you to our Wedding. You were busy. I knew that. Kathleen knows little about you. She never asked. As far as she is concerned, life started when we met. The past means nothing to Kathleen, except for the years with me. And that…moves me to tears.
(For one of the few times since she recovered and was released from the hospital, she hated the fact that her tear ducts worked…again.)
I saw you getting the Nobel Prize, and you should know that our old High School has already built damn near a shrine to you! I am pretty certain they will invite you to the unveiling.
Well, anyways, I don’t think you know how much you need someone, or somebody to love. It can’t be me. You made that clear.
(The anger that comment aroused in her was directly proportional to its absolute truth.)
So I am sending along this puppy. Kathleen is a Veterinarian. So I asked her what was the most loving, caring, cuddly puppy... that also happened to be non allergenic. I told her I was sending it to you as a gift for winning the Nobel Prize.
I think she knew it was more than that. But she helped me find the perfect puppy. It is called a Bichon Frise. They are super affectionate, will not judge you, and are fiercely loyal. You will be loved.
You will have to name the puppy. As you wish.
With fond memories, your Knight in Green Corduroy. “
She set the card down. For a while, the world slipped away without effort. The same way she had let love slip through her fingers, not once, but twice.
She heard a whimper. She looked down surprised to see the small puppy looking worried on her lap. It looked up at her with those black teddy bear eyes with a look that asked in plain language: “Are you okay? You can pet me if that helps.”
She found herself doing just that. The puppy rolled onto its back as she caressed the soft white fur on its belly. A few moment later and the puppy was snoring in the most captivating and cute way she had ever seen…or heard.
A smile broke the surface of her face. She had a name now.
“I shall call you Hope!”
Her Knight in Green Corduroy would approve.
*****
The Saga of Kevin and Katie(Kevin Hughes)
The Saga of Kevin and Katie
1) Done and done
2) As you wish
3) Tragedy
4) The hospital scene
5) Moving day
6) Did you know her?
7) Hope.
Chapter 1: "Done and done."
“Is this the Bus stop for St. Michael’s?”
Everyone ignored the kid. He wasn’t that tall. He had unruly hair that just curled where it wanted to, and other places laid flat like red cornsilk. He obviously did not have a lot of money.
Green corduroy pants with a patch on the right knee. A flannel shirt with a tartan pattern of red and blue did not quite clash with his pants…but almost.
His eyes were also a dark green. Not quite emerald but surely some lighter gemstone would match them. And those eyes were wide open with lashes every girl in Eighth grade would kill for.
He had a smattering of freckles that seemed to spill off his nose to wander aimlessly around his cheeks. His smile was wry with disappointment. No one had answered him. He was used to being ignored. He came from a huge family and was dead in the middle of his ten siblings. Five were older. Five were younger.
Nobody pays attention to the middle child. The younger ones are babies, the older ones grew up in the crucible of young parents without a clue. So he was left to forge his own path.
He asked again louder:
“I know there is a Public School Bus Stop…and one for St. Michael’s. Which one is this? Or do they both stop here?”
Nobody spoke. He sighed silently. It is never fun being the "New Kid". And this is the fourth time in five years that he was the "New Kid”. So he just stood slightly apart from everyone and waited.
A girl just a little taller than he was started running towards the Bus Stop. He watched as her hair bounced to the rhythm of her racing legs. A backpack tightly clinched to her back hardly moved at all. In one hand she had a bagged lunch. (That made him smile, as his own brown bag lunch was safely tucked in his own backpack). In the other was a flower. A bright yellow posy.
He wondered where the heck she found that this late in the Fall. Her face was lightly flushed. Kids around him started cheering.
“Come on Katie! You’ll miss the bus!”
Everyone was smiling and cheering her on. He could tell that everyone there liked Katie. It was good natured ribbing, the kind that kids reserve for the truly nice people in their Class. He found himself cheering as he caught sight of the bus coming from the other side of the intersection.
The Bus, and the girl, got to the corner at the exact same time. She was out of breath having run almost a quarter mile from her home to the Bus Stop.
She caught her breath as the kids lined up to get on the bus. He had forgotten her momentarily. He read the big black block letters on the side of the Bus: “St. Michael’s Parochial School.” He was at the right bus stop.
He held back to let everyone get on before him. Wondering if he was going to have to endure everyone claiming their own seats. The bullies always seemed to want to start right from the first time you got on the bus. He smiled to himself. They would be in for a surprise.
He didn’t like bullies. He didn’t let them get established. So what if he got thrown off the bus, or sent home the first day of class. Bullies learned right away there were softer easier targets.
He smiled a determined smile. He was ready. But not for what actually happened.
The taller girl with the bouncy hair and the flower in her hand was the next to last person to get on the bus. He was last. But at the last moment she turned and looked at him just before she went to step on the bus.
She looked him up and down. It didn’t make him nervous or feel bad. She was looking at him like she was deciding something. He cocked his head to one side.
Gallantly holding eye contact, he bowed slowly and pointed to the bus door:
“You first, my Grace.”
She giggled. He liked the sound of that giggle.
“Thank you my Knight in Corduroy.”
It made him smile. This girl had a sense of humor. She played it off with a straight face. And popped up the steps with the same energy she had shown running to the Bus. He admired her spirit. She seemed to bubble over with a love of life that sort of floated near her. It made everyone smile and offer a greeting as she hurried toward an empty bench seat.
Turning quickly she looked at the New kid and waved him to sit next to her. She patted the empty place next to her with one hand, waving the flower so he would notice with the other hand.
He laughed out loud. She didn’t need a flower to get his attention. She just glowed with her own inner light. He had never met a person so open, honest, and just full of the energy of youth. She sparkled in his mind.
He sat next to her. She handed the flower to him. He didn’t get a chance to say anything before she burst out with:
“Well, my Knight in Corduroy, Princesses are supposed to give you something to show you are their Champion. I give you my posey.”
He smiled again. From ear to ear. School, especially the bus ride to and from, was going to be wonderful this time.
“Yes, your Grace. I will protect you from all Evil…except Algebra. I am not good at Math.“
She laughed and slugged his shoulder with a gentle love tap.
“Done and done. I will help you with your Algebra. I am going to become an Astrophysicist. Don’t worry. It will be fun.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed again. This girl knew what she wanted to be. He already admired her. Stunned by the amount of energy she was channeling while just sitting on the bus.
Then she reached over and took his hand in hers. Leaning in like a co-conspirator in some old time Spy movie she whispered so only he could hear:
“My name is Katie, but you, and only you, can call me : "Your Grace.”
He knew (somehow) she meant it. Her face was looking down at his with a fierce intensity that made him think he was committing to something bigger than both of them if he answered. So he answered with the same quiet intensity.
“Yes, Your Grace. My name is Kevin. But you and only you, can call me:
“Your Knight in Corduroy.”
She bent slightly, giving him a gentle soft kiss on the side of his cheek. He closed his eyes without thinking, his hand closing on hers without his command.
She leaned back and looked at him. He leaned back and looked at her.
“Done and Done. “ She said.
“Done and done. “ He replied.
Chapter 2: As you wish.
“Hey my Knight in green corduroy, I need you to come over tonight. We have to talk.”
“Yes, your Grace. As you wish.”
She couldn’t help it. She let a big smile blossom on her face. Ever since they watched that old movie: “The Princess Bride,” they had used that phrase to say: “I love you.” It still made her heart tingle with the amount of care and concern her Knight in green corduroy put into saying it.
“Don’t be late!”
“As you wish, your Grace.”
And so it came to be. Two teenagers sitting on a single bed with the lights down low. One fidgeting with concern, the other patiently waiting for whatever was on her mind. He had no fear. There were no trust issues between them, and no secrets either. So he assumed whatever had made her this nervous - would be something he could handle.
He was wrong.
She started, as she always did- with a simple direct statement. Bereft of any emotion, hints, or interpretations.
“I am going to MIT. It is the best choice for my career in Astrophysics. They have accepted me. I start this summer. I can’t wait for the Fall semester. I start the summer Session in just three days. I am leaving right from Graduation.”
Only then did she look into his eyes. She should have warned him. She should have told him her plans. She should have let him down gently. She saw the pain in his eyes.
“Oh. I thought we were agreed to go to State, together. You would study Math and Physics…and I would go into the Humanities and study History. I thought it was a good plan.”
She reached across the small bed and patted the back of his hand. The touch still grounded her, making her soul feel safe and loved.
“It was a good plan. This one is better.”
He shook his head.
“For you, your Grace.”
There it was. Out in the open. Until she got the acceptance letter from MIT, she would have gone to State with him, like the original plan. But MIT…well, that carries a lot of weight in her chosen field. She wanted to be the best…and the best went to MIT.
She knew she was being selfish. She also knew they were just kids. They would get over their puppy love. Maybe even someday smile at how lucky they had been with a first love.
Ending that love… was the hard part. The part that might only manage bitter sweet smiles later in life. She stuck to her plan.
“Yes. For me. I love you. I probably always will. But even with my help, your Math skills are basic. I know you like History. You will do well with that Major. I imagine you will be the most popular teacher in any High School you teach at after you get your Degree.
I will be too busy to have any Social life…way too busy. You will be at State more than five hundred miles from my School. That is too much pressure to put on either of us. It would make us bitter, hanging onto a relationship that would try to be kept healthy with one or two visits a year. It won’t work. It never does. I don’t want you to hate me. So…we break up now. While we both still care. “
There was a long silence. Her hand still resting on the back of his palm. He didn’t jerk away. She knew he was thinking. He had a way to work through things and sort them out that would have made him a wonderful Mathematician…or husband.
She choked back a tear with that last thought.
He stood up. She stared up at him. Hoping he would yell, scream, beg, blame or curse. Anything so she could feel the hurt she caused. He did none of those things.
“Well, don’t let those eggheads plant any seeds of doubt in your brain. You are going to make a difference in your Field. I know it. You made a difference in my life. Don’t show them any false modesty, or hold back. You lead the pack!”
And with that, he turned without another word . He closed the door behind him with a soft solid click.
He didn’t show up at Graduation the next day. She texted him, but it bounced. She cried…a little. Then she remembered his last words. She would go to MIT and kick their asses. An hour after graduation she was headed to Boston in her old beat up Prius.
He had bought it for them both. Then he gave it to her for her Graduation. She swore someday she would give him a gift car too.
She sent one last text. It bounced too.
“As you wish.”
She whispered to the wind struggling against the car.
*****
He didn’t remember coming home from her Grace’s house. He stumbled up the steps without turning on any lights. Light was the enemy of his thoughts. His world had turned dark. The light was gone.
He went to his desk. Her picture blown up to 8 X10 on one side, off to the other, his favorite picture. A bit blurry because it was taken with a Brownie camera on a moving buss. But it was the first day he met her, and her friend Britney had taken that picture to tease her with. Instead it was treasured by them both. He had the original …and her Grace had a copy that was indistinguishable from the original. She kept it on her desk too.
He laughed in the darkness.
“Fifteen minutes ago, I was in love. Fifteen minutes ago I was looking forward to a summer together, and then leaving for State in our Prius. And now…I have nothing.”
He cried. Long and hard. Then he cried some more. He had given her the title to the Car for Christmas. She loved that little thing. He was glad she was taking it. He had heard that parking was out of the question in Boston. But she loved it, and it got her where she was going. So he smiled about that.
He took out his phone and deleted her as a contact. Deleted her from his email and DM accounts. Then he emptied his cache of old photos. He blocked all texts from her phone. In the dark, he moved through his room removing everything of hers he could find.
In the end… he only kept the picture of them on the bus.
In the morning he burned all the hard copies of their time together. Both Prom Pictures, the oh so happy beaming pictures of her in Huntsville Alabama at the Space Center…you could see her future even then. Space called her name…and she was answering.
As he burned through those pictures, and the little golden heart with a diamond on it, that dangled like an amulet of safety on his chest, he ripped it off and threw it into the fire too.
Then he took her huge 8 X 10 picture. He held it over the fire for a second, or maybe a lifetime. He was never sure later which it was. What he was sure of, was what he said when he finally put it to flame:
“As you wish.”
Chapter 3: Tragedy
4:52 PM,Cern Switzerland:
"We interrupt this Newscast for a Special Broadcast:
Thirty one year old famous Astrophysicist- Katie Mulligan- was severally injured in a freak accident at the CERN accelerator. She is not expected to survive.
She and two other Scientists were caught in an explosion- which is still under investigation. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, along with her Colleagues. One victim was declared dead while in transport. Name withheld until Family can be notified.
This is a breaking story. More details will be announced as we get more information. “
*****
It was just about time for Lunch. Kevin had let his 11:00 Class out a little early today. They had all done so well on the Mid-Term, that after passing out the graded tests, discussing the results, and the usual quick banter this students always engaged with him - he had simply said:
“Only once in my career have I had an entire Class average 95%…or better." (Tremendous applause, hooting and hollering erupted from the Class.)
A smile appeared on Kevin’s face…a usual occurrence in his Classes. This one was a bit more cheeky.
So I thought we should celebrate by not only dismissing you early, but Friday’s Class is cancelled. Enjoy your long weekend. “
Well if you thought the earlier clapping, hooting, hollering and cheering was enthusiastic- it paled in comparison to a hundred and fifty undergrads launching themselves out of their desks to freedom.
Kevin soaked in all the quick comments: “Your the best, Teach!” “The best Class I have ever taken.” One girl yelled out: “Who knew learning could be fun? Thank you, Professor!”
He smiled at all the accolades. He even heard some comments echoing down the hallway as the Class faded out of hearing distance. He packed up his briefcase.
It wasn’t an affectation - the brief case. It was a gift from her Grace. She had sent it to him when his dissertation was accepted and he was granted his Doctorate in History. He had the small note that was attached …framed. It hung on the wall of his Office. It made him smile when he read what was on it:
“To my Knight in Green Corduroy. History, like my Field, has Gravity. You can’t keep using a backpack like a mere kid. You are the Professor now. Professors use brief cases. Preferably from London. That is where I got this. Notice it has your initials on the handle. Teach well!”
He had noticed the initials, they weren’t his simple: K. W. H. (Kevin William Hardy- his given name). They were instead: K. i. G. C. (Knight in Green Corduroy) She remembered. So did he. His heart took a few moments to skip to the beat of long ago. That briefcase and note, were his most treasured item. They were also the only contact he had with Her Grace in the last decade and some change. It was enough.
And so it was that he packed up the briefcase with his few notes and headed to lunch early. It was ten minutes to twelve when he walked into the Professors Lounge. The large TV that dominated one entire wall was, as usual, on a News Channel. He paid it little attention. Two minutes later, the TV blared a Breaking News story.
The only thing louder in the room was the breaking of his heart. He stood stock still as the tragedy unfolded on the screen. He dropped the briefcase, tears spilled from his eyes, he never heard any of his colleagues as they surrounded him to see if he was okay.
His mind held only one thought:
“Oh, your Grace, please don’t die.”
*****
She hurt. Everywhere. Two kinds of pain: burning and broken. What had happened? Where was she? Why couldn’t she move? She heard monitors, alarms, and flashes of blinking lights invaded her consciousness…only to fade out as she felt someone place a needle in her arm.
“She needs to stay asleep until we put her in a Medical Coma.”
Another Doctor smiled grimly.
"If we put her down one more time, she may skip the coma and just die.”
The Chief Surgeon gave her Resident a hard glare. He lowered his eyes. There was a line that gallows humor should never cross…and he had just crossed it.
“She’s a tough one. Two months and 13 surgeries and she is still fighting. We will help her fight. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Sorry, Doctor.”
The hard glare softened on her face.
“It’s okay, Tom - I have never had a Patient suffer this much trauma…and live. So don’t write her off…help her.”
He nodded. She was right. Anyone who clings to life in such dire straits- deserves every ounce of care they can give.
He looked down at the broken and burnt body clinging to life. Wondering what kind of will it took to fight back against death like she was.
He would do everything modern medicine had in its arsenal to assist her fight. They all would.
*****
His plane landed in Switzerland. The woman holding his name up on a placard looked familiar. It was the Nurse from the Hospital that had handled all his call over the last seven months.
He broke out in a smile when he saw her. He waved. She waved back with a quick smile of her own.
“You must be the famous Knight in Green Corduroy.”
Kevin almost fell over. Nobody ever called him that. Nobody even knew what his initials on the briefcase he carried to Class (and now to Switzerland) meant. Only Her Grace knew.
The Nurse knew she had done something wrong. The Professional in her already recognized the psychic shock her comment had provoked. Her smile dropped from its friendly personal parabola into a concerned straight line in less time than a person could blink.
“Oh, my God. I am such an Idiot. You wouldn’t have know. I am so sorry. It’s just that Katie has been talking and mumbling in Recovery after her surgeries. Especially now that she has been out of her Coma for three months.
People say weird things when they awaken from anesthesia. But Katie’s ramblings were always about how her Knight in Green Corduroy would come and help her. “
Kevin relaxed. It was obvious they didn’t know that to him, she wasn’t Katie, but Her Grace. They just thought she was rambling. He knew better.
She expected her Knight in Green Corduroy to come to her side.
Kevin straightened his shoulders. His grip on the briefcase, the one she gave him, tightened. Determination beamed out of him in waves.
“Does she know I am here?”
“No. She was just released from Intensive care this morning. She still has a few more surgeries, and some skin grafts to endure. She won’t be leaving the Hospital for a long while.
But the Chief Surgeon said that if you were willing to come, it could aide in her recovery. After all, you did call a hundred times a day for months…so we knew you cared for her a great deal. Right now, she needs someone who knew her…for support. She has a long road ahead of her. “
He nodded. He knew that. He started to think about what he would say when he saw Her Grace. His heart raced thinking that for the first time in twelve years, he would actually see her again.
He was more excited that he had been in a very long time. The Nurse saw the light in his eyes. She hoped that some day, that someone’s face and eyes would look like that when thinking of her. It was love at its most pure and innocent.
She hated what she had to say next.
“Kevin, she was badly injured. The Explosion not only ruptured practically every organ in her body, breaking dozens of bones in the process, but she was…well…badly burned too.
So far she has had nineteen surgeries, and seven skin grafts. We are all amazed she is even alive…let alone talking. She can move her arms and head…but not much more.
You need to know that she isn’t…eh…umm…(stumbling for the right words, she just told the truth) …very pretty.
Kevin heard the words, but the smile never left his face. He looked the Nurse right in the eyes. He held that look for a moment or two. Then he spoke.
“She will always be pretty to me. Take me to her.”
The woman inside the Professional Nurse quivered with the power of that look. This man was in Love.
He just might help her pull through. Her smile back on her face she took the American by his Arm.
"Then let’s go! She will be waiting to see her Knight in Green Corduroy. "
This time, the Nurse felt the power of that Knighthood.
She felt like whistling.
Kevin felt like loving.
Chapter 4: The hospital scene
Kevin’s gait accelerated as he propelled his body towards the isolation ward. He just wanted to see her. That’s all. He knew there was a protocol in place - that it would take him more than an hour to prep enough to be allowed in the same room with her Grace. But he had to see her first.
The Nurses had done all they could to prepare him for her current status. She was still wrapped in pressure bandages…so most of the scarring and disfigurement would be hidden under that. Unfortunately they couldn’t do anything about the “halo” unit keeping her fractured skull reconstruction in place. The metal plate, complete with screws- was totally visible. As was the small patch of hair that survived the explosion. It too was kept short and encased in a clear Gell to keep the risk of infection down.
Luckily the whole entire wall of the Isolation room was made of clear glass. Usually the curtains were drawn to keep some semblance of privacy for the patient. Not today. Everyone knew that her Knight in Green Corduroy would be along any minute.
The Nurses, Surgeons, and Burn Therapists were all on hand. They had no idea how she would react, or him either. They stood nervously pretending to attend to dials, monitors, assorted tubes and bags. It didn’t fool the patient at all.
Katie knew something was up. But what? Why are all these people here at the same time? A part of her clenched in fear, wondering if yet another crisis was going to unfold. Perhaps another few days, or even weeks- would be taken from her memory. Forcing her to awaken, once again, in abject pain to find out the date has changed.
She tamped that thought down. She was getting used to tamping down negative thoughts. Stopping worry from simmering in a pool of the unknown until it burst out in some horrible stew of self pity and anxiety.
She could hear the monitors as they settled back into their normal rhythms. A few of the more astute Nurses had noticed the spike in vital signs, and they nodded in awe at the self control it took to lower those signals back down.
Then, there as a tap on the Glass. They turned her bed so she could look out the window. Since turning her own head was currently beyond her capacity to self will
The Monitors went wild. She sat straight up in bed - ignoring the tiny rips and tears in both skin and sutures. Her mind went numb. It couldn’t be!
A flurry of activity around her did not block her view. For the first time in months she lifted her hands to wave away the concerned health care team.
She spoke through swollen lips:
“I am okay, just let me see him!”
The Medical Team Chief waved them to the side. They could treat the minor bleeding and oozing fluids later. Right now, a miracle was happening. She had sat up…on her own! She had moved her arms with atrophied muscle, surgical screws, and fresh grafts…a sign of more healing in that single moment than seven months of agonizing recovery. No way was she going to interfere with the present moment. Just silently witnessing the power of love. Tears formed and were quickly absorbed by her mask. As were the masks of everyone else in the room.
The only dry eyes in the room, were Katies. And that was only because she no longer had tear ducts. A minor problem because her eyes themselves poured out enough emotion to make the presence of tears…redundant.
She continued to stare, the wall of glass, no longer a barrier, but a window.
Her heart continued to pound. She wasn’t going to try and tamp down these feelings.
*****
There were two Nurses in Isolation gear standing near a huge glass wall. They waved Kevin over to the spot where he could look directly into…and at…her Grace. His Grace.
His heart raced, then almost stopped. She was alive! He ignored the scene of all the tubes, vials, machines, Doctors, Nurses, bandages, casts, whatever. All he noticed (at first) were her eyes.
They were wide with surprised delight. They opened the window to both his heart and soul- and hers. Tiny gasps, barely registering as background noise erupted from almost all the Medical personnel inside the room and beside him. They felt humbled to witness such a blatant intimacy on display. It was a moment none of them would forget.
For Kevin - well, the look was for him, and him alone. He knew it. She knew it. A love that had been dormant for a decade spewed like magma from deep within two souls. It erased an entire dozen years or so of separation. It forced the need for achievement that caused that separation to evaporate into a past that no longer mattered.
What mattered was simple. She loved him. He loved her. He finally spoke.
“Your Grace, I am coming in there as soon as they dress me!”
She couldn’t smile. Her mouth was caught in a scaffold of pressure bandages. But she could talk. The words flew straight and true…like an arrow of certainty into her Knight in Green Corduroy:
“As you wish.”
Chapter 5: Moving day
“Almost two years. Can you believe it?”
The Surgeon looked over at the Chief of Burn recovery with a soft smile.
“Actually, I can’t believe she is even alive, let alone walking out of here on her own two legs.”
“Yeah, we all are with you on that. I don’t believe in miracles, but damned if I didn’t witness one.”
The Surgeon flashed an even bigger smile:
“Amen, Sister. Amen.”
They continued watching - heck, everyone who had ever worked with Katie and her Knight in Green Corduroy was present. More than thirty professional Medical Staff, a small heard of Orderlies and CNA’s, and even four of the Cleaning Crew were lined up to watch Katie being discharged from the Hospital.
When the elevator doors opened onto the lobby, the applause was spontaneous - and loud. Cheers were heard as far away as X-Ray, and down the other hallway to Physical Therapy.
Out of several doorways, cubicles, and even some patients rooms, came an echoing round of cheers:
“You go Katie! Take your Knight in Green Corduroy with you!”
Laughter followed cheers, which followed more laughter, and then…more cheers. It was a cycle that fed on itself. A Positive feedback loop, fed with positive feedback. A testimony to the Human Spirit to overcome... anything. Will…and Love…coupled with intense therapy, hard work, grit and determination - and extraordinary amounts of pain…was all it took.
Katie leaned heavily on the arm of her Knight in Green Corduroy. Her Kevin. She was walking…on her own…but without Kevin, well, she might have made it several steps before she needed a chair. With Kevin…well, everything was easier. She would walk the entire way to the car, with his constant support she could do anything.
Kevin, meanwhile, held his arm out to anchor her hand to it. He could feel her drawing both stability and support from the touch. A small frown flittered across his consciousness when he felt her lean a bit more on his arm.
She was so light…way too light in his estimation. Not frail. Anyone who saw her fight through her therapy, the surgeries, the grafts, the hours upon hours of changing dressings, scraping off slough, taking sponge baths administered by strangers, and all the basic bodily functions done in the presence of yet more strangers - she suffered all these indignities, with one goal: Get out of the Hospital.
No, she wasn’t frail. She was the strongest person he had ever know. She drew on his conviction to keep that strength up.
Kevin moved along at the pace that his Grace dictated. She smiled shyly at the lines of Staff cheering them as they left the elevator. For one of the few times in her life, she let other people call her the name she was given so long ago by her Knight in Green Corduroy.
“Your Grace! We love you. We will miss you.”
She had promised Kevin, that he, and only he, could call her that. But everyone knew their story now. They had watched her heal, grow, and overcome every challenge once her Knight in Green Corduroy had shown up over a year ago. They not only knew their story, they witnessed it. And so, in a weird way, they too, had earned the right to call her…her Grace.
It was spoken in love. She heard it in the same way. She still blushed at the sound of admiration, caring, and hope that peppered every “your Grace.”
Kevin merely beamed.
Flowers, balloons, gifts of all kinds were piled up near the door. They would be loaded into the car by people rushing to help. Everyone wanted to contribute - at least something to her goodbye’s. Tears were plentiful, as were gentle hugs.
And then, she gave a small speech to the crowd around her. It wasn’t long. It was filled with honest emotion. The people who heard it found themselves with a renewed Faith in Healing. Someone should have recorded it. Everyone who was there, remembered it anyway. And then…
“Well, I hope you like our new home.”
The word “our” hung in her heart like the sun. She was still not pain free, refusing any drugs for fear of having addiction added to the other insults she had to contend with after being blown up and burned.
But when Kevin said : “…our new home.” Well, the sun burned away the clouds of pain. All that it left behind was the future.
“I am sure I will.”
He laughed.
“I hope so. But you know I am a Man, and have been living alone for a decade and a half. It took me weeks to find a towel to match the only one I had.”
She laughed. (He loved that laugh, and he almost cried at the strength it took to laugh at all after her ordeal).
“Well, as long as they are clean.”
He laughed again.
“Oh, Yeah, I wash them every month or so.”
The Driver smiled in the rear view mirror as the lady still wrapped in pressure bandages gave a light punch to the fellow she was riding with. He remembered his wife doing the same to him, with the same bonding emotion behind the soft tap. He had to swallow the lump forming. He hoped the Burned lady and the guy next to her…well, he hoped they built what his wife and he had. A part of him already knew.
They chatted comfortably in the back seat of the Limo provided by the Hospital - Gratis.
“The least we could do for the most famous patient we ever had. And the best.”
She accepted with the same grace her nickname implied. Kevin just let tiny pools of tears fall. He knew the price she had paid to earn that Limo.
“Here we are! You help the Lady out, I will start unloading your luggage, the flowers, and the other gifts. I will give you a few minutes as you explore your new house. Then you can come out and tell me where to put all this stuff.
I don’t want you or your husband to lift a finger.”
She couldn’t help it. She leaned up and gave the Driver a peck on the cheek. It caught him by surprise. He reached his hand up to touch the spot she kissed, with the same awe and pleasant feeling aroused by any first kiss of that magnitude. It made him blush.
She merely said:
“Thank you.” And meant it.
“No, thank you, your Grace.”
Kevin and Katie shared a look. Nobody had told the Driver their story. They nodded in appreciation. He was given an exception. Just this once, someone other than her Knight in Green Corduroy could use that appellation. It was sincere.
She turned, reaching for Kevin’s strong arm, without any real conscious thought. It was just what she did. Kevin already had his arm out, like her, without thinking. It is just what he did.
“Shall we go in, my Grace?”
She squeezed his arm with her claw like hand. A hand bent and twisted by to many surgeries. She didn’t care. She could move her fingers a bit, and her thumb worked just fine. Kevin often held that hand, and that was all the comfort she needed. So who cares what it looks like.
“As you wish.”
Chapter 6: Did you know her?
He stared at the screen. The Presenter was listing the tremendous number of accolades and achievements of a woman he knew well. He was glued to the screen as the woman he called: “Your Grace” was presented with the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He raised his glass to the screen:
“You go, Your Grace.”
Just then his wife of four years walked into the room. Saw him toasting the horribly burned and disfigured woman on the Telly. He turned and saw his wife looking at him like he was nuts.
“Why are you talking to the Telly? Did you know her?”
He smiled a wry smile. One she had never seen on his face before. It held all the secrets of his life before meeting her. She had never probed. She thought she was the luckiest woman she had ever met. After all, Kevin was still single, never married and thirty years old when they met.
How someone as gentle, kind, and caring as him, managed to avoid being locked into a marriage was beyond her. She felt that to many women must have been completely blind to not see what a good man he was. A man who wore the word “decent” the way most men wore a shirt. Casually.
She sat down on the arm of the couch and slid her arm around his shoulders.
“Well, did you?”
“Did I what?”
She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“Don’t play dumb with me Mister. (laughing gently) Did you know her? Who is she? One of your former students?”
This time it was Kevin who laughed gently.
“Student? No. More like Teacher.”
“What!”
“We went to school together. Same Class. She was already smarter than me. Well…than anyone really. She tutored me in Math.”
Another gentle laugh from his wife.
“You can’t do Math.”
He blushed.
“Yeah, she said that too.”
A shared laugh. Couples learn how to do that, if they care about each other.
“Well, what happened…did you Graduate together?”
A wisp of a sad smile crossed his face. Most people would have missed it. People who care…would not.
“I’m sorry. Did I hit a nerve?”
He shook his head. Then he squeezed her against his body to anchor himself so he wouldn’t drift too far into his past.
“No. It’s just that she skipped Graduation.”
A look of surprise crossed her face.
“Skipped Graduation, why?”
He smiled. Again she recognized some kind of pride in that smile, and his next words.
“She had to get to M.I.T. for the Summer Session. They gave her a full Academic Scholarship.”
His wife whistled.
“Oh, my. That school doesn’t give out many of them. She must have been one smart cookie.”
He laughed again.
“Oh, yeah. She went on to become a World Renowned Astrophysicist. They even named a building after her. And you know all the buildings at M.I.T are numbered…except hers.”
Another long slow whistle from his Bride of four years. And then a confused look crossed her face.
“But…but …(pointing to the News Show still talking about the poor disfigured woman) they are calling her Doctor - and the Nobel Prize was for Medicine.”
“That’s her second career. She was a Doctor of Astrophysics before…before…before, um... she got hurt. She got her Medical Degree a few years after she got out of the Hospital.”
His Bride of four years let her female intuition rise to the front of her mind. The words flew out before she could edit or correct them.
“How do you know all that? Did she show up at your High School Reunions, or are you on some FACEBOOK link I know nothing about?”
He could sense the worry in his Bride’s words. She had nothing to worry about. He was a one woman man. But not a one love man. So he spoke carefully.
“I knew her in High School. Didn’t see her for almost a decade afterwords. Then she got…hurt. I went over to help out for a while. Just until she got back on her feet. Then I left. She could stand on her own two feet again. Then the most wonderful thing happened.”
Her eyes wide. She whispered out loud:
“What wonderful thing happened?”
“I met you!”
He meant it. She knew he meant it.
In the background the segment featuring the horribly disfigured woman who had won a Nobel Prize, droned on.
He toasted the TV one more time with the remote, as he turned it off. The couch wasn’t really big enough for two people. But it was big enough for him and his Bride.
She asked him to turn off the lights, as she pulled her blouse off.
“As you wish.”
The Past went as dark as the TV.
Chapter 7: Hope.
Her Nobel Prize Medal, still with its lovely ribbon and gilded box, was settled in on the top of a dresser. She didn’t exactly throw it there, more like that was most convenient place to put the damn thing.
She didn’t think much of it. The part of her that needed validation died in the explosion at CERN. What didn’t die was her need to work, to know more, to …to… (her face turned a dark pale- which sounds like a contradiction, but when two thirds of your body is just layer after layer of roped celluloid scars…achievable)
A thought interrupted her rationalization.
“Who am I kidding? I need achievement. I need to be the best. I want to be remembered.”
But the “Victory” was hollow. Not a pyrrhic Victory (she shuddered at the memories that word prodded) although she did give up a lot for it. She gave up her Knight In Green Corduroy…and was just now realizing the real cost of that.
And so it was a surprise when the doorbell rang. She had only been home from Sweden for a few hours. She hadn’t even gone through her email, texts, or the slew of telegrams, cards, and gifts... yet.
It was a DHL Delivery. A small box. With air holes. Something living was inside. If she had eyebrows…one of them would have arched up. She ignored the pity in the Delivery Woman’s eyes. She had none for herself, and sure didn’t need anyone else’s. But she knew what she looked like…so she accepted the look with grace.
The word “Grace” brought back a flood of memories she had tried to bury, brush off, and banish. For a while…she was successful. She took the box, it didn’t weigh much at all.
The Delivery woman smiled after Katie signed for whatever was in the box.
“Enjoy!”
And with that, she was alone with a box with air holes, and a card stapled to the box. Her heart almost stopped when she saw the handwriting and opening line on the card”
“Your Grace, Congratulations!”
A small whimper came out of the box. She would have to read the card later. She put the box on the table. Her hands were not fit for pulling anything apart, so off to the Kitchen for scissors and pliers.
A few minutes later, and her scarred face was being licked with unrestrained joy by the tiny pink tongue of what she could only think of as a cotton ball with black eyes. It turned out to be a Bichon Frise. She had never heard of one. She had never had a pet. She wondered who in the world would send her such a thing. Only to remember how the Card was addressed.
Her breathing stopped for a moment. A long moment. She got some water for the dog, and opened the small bag of dry dog food that someone (she suspected it was her Knight in Green Corduroy) had thoughtfully included in the gift.
A moment later, while the puppy devoured the pouch of puppy food, and lapped up almost as much water as it spilled…she sat down to read the Card. It was difficult reading. Her emotions tried to scatter in every direction as each sentence pounded its way to the Truth. She started over again:
“Your Grace,
Congratulations on the Nobel Prize. But even greater congratulations on what won that prize for you. You have given hope to thousands, perhaps millions- of suffering patients because of your brilliant research and invention. Hope is a wonderful gift to give anyone.
And I hope you are doing fine.
I am married now. Kathleen and I, were married a bit over four years ago. I am not her Knight in Green Corduroy…but I am her Prince Charming.
She loves me…and I…love her. It isn’t a complicated relationship. She told me once that her and I were like peanut butter and jelly. I asked her what she meant. This is what she told me:
“Kevin, I am like jelly, you are like peanut butter. Some folks like jelly sandwiches, some folks like peanut butter sandwiches. But put them both together and everyone likes them. And, no matter how much jelly you mix with how much peanut butter, you an always tell them apart.”
You would like her. She isn’t as smart as you, but then again, who is? But she is wise. I don’t call her “Your Grace”. That is only for you. I do call her a pet name. But it is only for her. And me.
I didn’t invite you to our Wedding. You were busy. I knew that. Kathleen knows little about you. She never asked. As far as she is concerned, life started when we met. The past means nothing to Kathleen, except for the years with me. And that…moves me to tears.
(For one of the few times since she recovered and was released from the hospital, she hated the fact that her tear ducts worked…again.)
I saw you getting the Nobel Prize, and you should know that our old High School has already built damn near a shrine to you! I am pretty certain they will invite you to the unveiling.
Well, anyways, I don’t think you know how much you need someone, or somebody to love. It can’t be me. You made that clear.
(The anger that comment aroused in her was directly proportional to its absolute truth.)
So I am sending along this puppy. Kathleen is a Veterinarian. So I asked her what was the most loving, caring, cuddly puppy... that also happened to be non allergenic. I told her I was sending it to you as a gift for winning the Nobel Prize.
I think she knew it was more than that. But she helped me find the perfect puppy. It is called a Bichon Frise. They are super affectionate, will not judge you, and are fiercely loyal. You will be loved.
You will have to name the puppy. As you wish.
With fond memories, your Knight in Green Corduroy. “
She set the card down. For a while, the world slipped away without effort. The same way she had let love slip through her fingers, not once, but twice.
She heard a whimper. She looked down surprised to see the small puppy looking worried on her lap. It looked up at her with those black teddy bear eyes with a look that asked in plain language: “Are you okay? You can pet me if that helps.”
She found herself doing just that. The puppy rolled onto its back as she caressed the soft white fur on its belly. A few moment later and the puppy was snoring in the most captivating and cute way she had ever seen…or heard.
A smile broke the surface of her face. She had a name now.
“I shall call you Hope!”
Her Knight in Green Corduroy would approve.
*****
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