A Beauteous Flower Ch. 15

"It kills me to know I did that to you, Daniel! I haven't been good to you or good for you and it kills me to admit that! You deserve so much better!"

Madison gently placed her palms on Daniel's thigh as she stared into his eyes.

"But I want to fix that, Daniel! Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it! I'm so sorry! If I have to say it every day for the rest of my life, I'll say it to you every day for the rest of my life! Just don't leave me now! Give me one chance to prove it can be different!"

Madison wrapped her hands around Daniel's leg and pulled herself to him. He was warm and sinewy strong. The rain intensified and Madison shivered against Daniel's leg. Gently, she pressed her lips to his thigh and then held her cheek to it. Daniel trembled and Madison's voice turned into a choked sob.

"Daniel, you've got to believe me! I love you! Just know that no matter what, I'm yours, Daniel! All yours! I need you! I need your love and I'll do whatever it takes to get it back!"

Daniel stood ramrod straight while the rain poured down. Madison tentatively kissed Daniel's thigh again and looked into his eyes.

"Please, Daniel! Give me a chance! Give us a chance! I promise you won't regret it!"

Daniel cleared his throat.

"A second chance, you mean," he said huskily.

Madison gave a small request of a nod.

"I don't believe in second chances," Daniel said.

Madison shook her head and unleashed a spray of rain droplets.

"Yes, you do!" She protested. "Yes, you do, Daniel! I know, deep down, that you do! Otherwise, there is no hope for any of us, Daniel! No hope at all!"

Daniel looked dubious.

"You're right! You're right! Maybe I don't deserve it, but you do! Please, please, please, for your own sake, give me that second chance and I promise that whatever hurts I'll love it away!"

Daniel glanced to the right again and then back into Madison's eyes. He seemed like he was about to shake his head, but he hesitated.

"Oh, please!" Madison whimpered. "Please, Daniel! I'll do anything!"

Daniel looked back at Madison and when his eyes stayed steady, and she feared the worst. With nothing left to lose, she played her final card in a voice tight with emotion.

"I wrote you a story, Daniel! I wrote a story, and I want you to read it! I need you to read it! Please!"

Another deep sigh issued from Daniel's nose and his shoulders slumped. Madison clung to him and squeezed her eyes shut in a wish with her whole heart.

"Please!"

Daniel's trembled warm tension against her, and he turned his eyes up to the sky. After a few long seconds of equipoise, Daniel turned his head to the moving men.

"Please put the boxes back in the cabin."

Madison sobbed with relief. The release of the accumulated tension and stress sapped all strength from her tense limbs. She wobbled and grabbed at Daniel's legs to steady herself, but she missed and collapsed back to her seat in the puddle like a puppet with its strings cut. She was so relieved and grateful that she couldn't stand or speak, and any control Madison had over her emotions dissolved into exhausted tears. Unable to will her limbs to move, Madison simply sat in that puddle and shivered and wept into the rain.

"Madison," Daniel said to her.

She tried to answer him, but she only managed a few words through her sobs.

"Daniel... don't leave... me!"

"Madison, c'mon. Go on in the house and dry off before you catch pneumonia. I have to pay these gentlemen for their time."

Madison could manage no answer except to shake her head. She had to be near him because otherwise he might leave, so she simply sat in that puddle and shivered and cried. She didn't care if she was cold and wet. She didn't care if the other men saw her breasts through her wet T-shirt. Daniel had given her a chance and she was so undone and exhausted that nothing else mattered. She couldn't even find the breath to tell him how much she loved him, which made her cry even harder.

Daniel encouraged her to go inside again, but all Madison would do in response was cry in protest and shiver and sit in that puddle. After a final try to get her to go inside, Daniel gave up and paid the moving men while she bawled abject exhaustion. The men murmured their thanks as they got in the cab of the truck, then the moving van growled to life and ambled down the driveway while Madison sat in that puddle and shivered and cried. Suddenly it was just Madison and Daniel alone in the rain outside their home.

"Madison."

At the sound of his voice, Madison sniffled gamely before another bout of wild "boo-hoo" sobs burst out of her throat. In her previous hopeful visions of this moment, she had thought she would be elated and would jump and dance with joy, but now Madison could only cry so hard that she felt like she was going to faint. So many days and nights of frenetic tension, deep emotion and sleepless nights had left Madison, mentally, physically, and emotionally stretched like a rubber band that quivered taut at its breaking point, but somehow, against the odds, she had done it. Somehow, she had reached Daniel in time to stop this madness. She should have been thrilled, but all she could do was cry and shiver and sit in that puddle. Addled as she was, the only thing Madison knew for certain was that she didn't deserve a life of warmth and love with Daniel. What she deserved was that liquid cold life with Steve the Oaf.

At that thought Madison's thin control snapped like a taut rubber band, and a green tidal wave of emotions broke over her sanity. Overawed and exhausted, Madison was momentarily unable to distinguish reality from her nightmare and the puddle deepened around her, and she began to sink into the icy-cold waters of the well. Madison's hands went to her temples, and she emitted a shattered crystal shriek of horror. Disgust churned in her stomach at the thought of that cold, cursed life with Steve the Oaf while she struggled to tear off the water-logged T-shirt that dragged her down like a pair of icy hands into that frigid nightmare of a life.

"No!" Madison shrieked as she flopped in the puddle and struggled against the wet cloth.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Madison," a concerned and strained voice called to her. "Madison!"

Madison shut her eyes and thrashed against the pair of hands that grasped at her. She didn't want those hands to grab hold of her! She didn't want to sink down in the well! She didn't want to join the writhing mass of mermen and mermaids that awaited her there! Her terror gave her a slippery strength and the pair of gasping hands could not hold her. All the pent-up tension and worry and fear roared out of her, unchecked and unstoppable. She screamed skyward with clenched eyes as she seized the collar of the T-shirt in both hands and ripped it at it with maniacal force.

"No! No! Nooooooooooooo!"

Finally, the two warm hands captured her wrists and Madison slumped with her energy spent. She tugged weakly, but she was physically exhausted and could not fight anymore.

"No!" she sniffled in miserable protest. "No!"

"Madison!"

"No!" Madison begged breathlessly. "Please, no!"

"Madison! Madison, it's me, Daniel! Open your eyes! You're all right!"

Madison opened her eyes and Daniel's concerned face hovered before her. She gave a wretched sob of thankful recognition and then another thought possessed her, and she gave a pathetic little pull against his grasp.

"I'm an awful person, Daniel!" Madison whimpered to him.

Daniel gaped at her and said her name again. She felt the warmth of his hands, which she knew she didn't deserve and at that she felt another surge of guilt and shame.

"I'm selfish and careless and I'm scared I'll hurt you again."

"Madison! MADISON!"

The sound of his voice, so loud and commanding, briefly capped the gusher of emotion from Madison's heart. She froze with her eyes locked onto his steady, concerned gaze.

"Madison, calm down. Calm down. You're not an awful person. Listen to me. You're not an awful person. Do you understand?"

"I am!" Madison wailed.

"No, you're not!" Daniel insisted as he anchored her against the tide of madness with a firm grip on her shoulders. "If you were, I couldn't love you! And I do love you. Do you hear me? I love you!"

Madison sniffled in disbelief. She was practically naked in the cold rain, but her heart suddenly glowed with warmth.

"You love me? You still love me after what I did?"

"Yes, I love you. Do you understand?"

Madison's lips quivered.

"Daniel?" she whimpered like a small child. "Daniel, please tell me this isn't a dream!"

Madison held her breath until Daniel shook his head.

"It's not a dream."

"Oh, thank God!" wailed Madison in relief. "I love you! I love you so much, Daniel!"

Daniel kept Madison steady with his grip on her shoulders, or she would have collapsed like a cardboard cutout in the rain.

"Madison, we're both going to catch our death out here. Come on. Let's go inside. Can you stand up?"

Madison shook her head.

"No."

Madison tried to touch Daniel's face to make sure he was real, but her hands were numb and would not move no matter how hard she tried. She had given all of herself to that moment and now she sagged like a broken toy someone had cast off into the gutter. She could not even muster the strength to stand up out of that puddle. Daniel gently brushed a strand of her wet hair from Madison's face. That tender kindness sent Madison into a swoon, so Daniel gathered her cold remains into his arms. He felt warm and strong, and she could smell him. Utterly depleted, Madison slumped against the warm thump of his heartbeat and "boo hooed" a raw and ugly cry, like a lost child.

"There we go," Daniel reassured her. "Let's get you inside so you can get warm. Then we'll see about this story you wrote."

Madison's mind reeled as Daniel carried her through the rain. It was all too much to grasp. Somehow, despite all the odds and all that had happened, Daniel was still with her, and she would get another chance! Her emotions ebbed as he carried her, comfortable and childlike, towards the warmth of their home, but when he carried her across the threshold as he had done the day they had married and she heard the door close behind them to shut out the rest of the world, yet another wave of emotion overwhelmed Madison. A grateful wail welled out of her mouth and then her head lolled back. The ceiling spun wildly above her, her vision collapsed to black, and she fainted dead away...

... safe in Daniel's warm embrace.

*****

Madison didn't remember too much of the next couple of days. As Daniel had predicted the combination of stress and cold gave Madison a wicked flu and for the next few days she reeled in and out of a stupor of fever. Most of her memories were snapshots.

Daniel carried her to a hot bath to soak and the hot water warmed her enough that she could wiggle her fingers and toes. However, it did nothing to staunch the flow of raw emotion that poured out of the exhausted Madison. While he sat on the edge of the tub and gently washed her body and hair, Madison fitfully burst out in sobs and apologies. Daniel didn't say much, but each time she got upset, he would give her a gentle kiss on the forehead and that would help her calm down for a while.

When she was warm enough to stand, Daniel helped her out of the tub and dried her body with a thick warm towel. As he dried her hair, Madison tried to kiss Daniel, but Daniel would only hug her and kiss her forehead. Madison wheedled and whined, but Daniel finally told her that she wasn't in any kind of shape for that. That caused Madison to blubber again because as raw as her emotions were, that refusal, while very logical, felt like a bitter rejection.

While she alternately bawled and apologized, Daniel wrapped her in a big warm towel and gently "shushed" her back to some semblance of calm. Then he scooped her up and gently settled her in their bed. While he tucked her in and stacked extra blankets on her, Madison plead for him to lie down with her, but he told her he had to go feed Gandalf and make a few phone calls. Then he built a large fire in the fireplace and left the room. Madison tried to stay awake until he came back, but her exhausted body betrayed her, and she fell fast asleep.

Sometime later, she awoke with a sinister flu complete with fever and chills while her head throbbed, and her body ached. The sun streamed from the east over the lake, so she must have slept through to the next day. Achingly, she turned her eyes towards Daniel's side of the bed and hoped to see him there next to her, but Daniel wasn't there. Madison's flu fogged mind immediately settled on the conclusion that she had dreamed the whole apology to Daniel while she had carelessly overslept and missed her last chance. Now she would never be able to fix her marriage and soon they would be divorced, and she would be stuck with Steve the Oaf or someone equally as undesirable for the rest of her life. In her weakened condition, this thought devastated Madison. She tried to get up, but the flu left her too weak to move. All she could do was cry violently in a hoarse, nasal voice and flap her arms against the restraint of the bed clothes.

Then in the midst of her misery, Madison heard someone run up the stairs and the bedroom door came open. There stood Daniel in a T-Shirt and jeans and Madison had never been so glad to see anyone in her entire life.

"I love you!" she blubbered as Daniel came to the bedside. She held out her arms to him, and Daniel cradled her into a hug.

"Don't leave me!" Madison wheedled.

"I can't. You're a mess."

Daniel kissed her forehead.

"Jesus, you're on fire!"

Daniel retrieved a thermometer from the nightstand and scanned it over Madison's forehead.

"100 right on the nose," he clucked in concern. "If your fever gets any higher, I'll have to take you to the hospital."

"I don't want to go to the hospital!" Madison wailed miserably. "Don't send me away! Please! Let me stay here with you!"

Daniel stroked Madison's cheek and "shushed" her calm. Fever chills gripped her, and Madison clutched the blankets up under her chin.

"I'm freezing," whispered Madison.

"OK, let me stoke up the fire."

Daniel crossed to the hearth and banked the fire until it roared. The room warmed quickly, and decreased Madison's shivers. Daniel also stacked another thick blanket on Madison and rubbed her arms and shoulders to warm her with friction. Finally, Madison's shivers subsided, and Daniel stood up.

"Stay with me!" Madison whined. "Stay with me!"

Madison scooched in the bed to make room for Daniel to lie down next to her, but Daniel shook his head. The room spun as sleep closed in on her vision.

"Is this a dream?" she asked drowsily.

"It's real, Madison. Now you need to sleep this off."

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I love you."

"I know, Madison. We'll talk about it all later, OK? Right now, you need to get better."

"Please! Please stay."

Daniel leaned down, brushed back Madison's hair and gently kissed her forehead.

"It's OK, Madison. I'll be just downstairs; OK?"

"Don't leave!"

"Don't worry. You just feel better."

"Daniel, I don't want a divorce!"

"Relax, Madison. Don't get too worked up."

Madison tried to push herself up, but Daniel gently pinned her to the mattress, so she started to weep again.

"I'm scared!" she sniffled at him. "What if you leave?"

"Won't happen. Call me and I'll come," Daniel reassured her.

A small weight jumped up on the bed near her feet. Gandalf's gray face studied Madison and his lullaby of purrs vibrated in her tired ears.

"Hi, Gandalf," Daniel greeted him. "Look, Madison is awake."

Daniel turned to Madison.

"Gandalf has been worried about you. For the last two days he paws at the door until I let him in so he can check on you. He only leaves to eat and go to the bathroom."

Gandalf approached and gently "nosed" her, and that friendly gesture helped soothe Madison's aches and fever.

"Gandalf will stay with you. You know I'd never leave Gandalf behind. Now you relax and get some rest, OK?"

Madison nodded like Daniel had just told her she was a good little girl. Another gentle kiss on the forehead helped Madison to drift towards sleep.

"I'll be back later with some soup and some crackers. I've left a bottle of water on your nightstand in case you get thirsty." Daniel smirked gently. "If you need anything else, just call me. OK?"

Madison nodded again and Daniel brushed his hand on her cheek.

"I love you," Madison pleaded.

Daniel paused a moment and then relented with a small nod.

"I love you too. Rest please, OK?"

By the time he reached the door, Madison, guarded by Gandalf, slept soundly.

For the next few days, Madison recuperated while Daniel nursed her. Mostly she slept, but from time to time he would wake her and give her soup and crackers and water. One time he read her a strange story about a little man who lived in a hole in the ground and loved his food and comfort. After the story she fell asleep and dreamed that a bunch of short men with long beards came to the lake house for dinner, broke all the plates and took Daniel when they left. She woke up and called miserably for Daniel to come back, and after that Daniel only read her poetry.

*****

Finally, a few nights later the flu released Madison from its grip. It was near midnight and the house was still. With her fever broken, Madison felt well enough to sit up and take stock of the situation. Gandalf dozed complacently and she was careful not to disturb him. Daniel was not in bed with her, and that disturbed Madison. After those horrid days of uncertainty, she wanted and needed him close. Just as she was about to call for him, she glanced over at the chairs by the fireplace.

Daniel slept in one of the chairs. His feet extended toward the fire and his head drooped to one side. An open book rested in his lap, and he snored his gentlemanly snore. Something about his posture was attractively different to Madison. Normally Daniel appeared calm and strong, even when he slept, but tonight he slumped, exhausted. He looked vulnerable. It was an image of Daniel that Madison had not seen before and it stirred a predatory lust in her. Days of tension and loneliness caused visceral desire to flare in Madison's chest and she yearned to put her hands on Daniel's naked body, to draw him to her and possess him, inside and out.

As she stood, the night chill touched her bare skin, so she swathed herself against it with the red flannel sheet knotted at her chest. Daniel was here, with her and she wanted him, needed him. She needed to clutch him to her, to feel his skin, to feel his lips, to feel his breath, to feel him deep inside her. Madison drank in the sight of the unconscious Daniel, not six feet from her. All she needed was one passionate night with Daniel and she could leave this sordid mess of the party and Steve the Oaf behind and, hopefully, get pregnant with the first of their four perfect children to fit into her perfect life. Daniel couldn't possibly stay angry with her if she became the mother of his first child. Madison wet her lips in anticipation.

The fire crackled and sensual shadows writhed and danced on the floor. Madison crept towards him like a famished wraith evidenced only by the whisper swish of the sheet on the floor behind her. A few quiet steps later, Madison hovered near Daniel's sleeping form with a soft slickness between her thighs. Daniel murmured in his sleep, as if he sensed the approach of some vague danger. With a tired moan, his head rolled away from Madison and exposed his neck. Madison's desires flared, and she leaned towards him to place a gentle kiss on his neck just below his ear. All she needed was just one simple touch to ignite a magic night of love and this would all be over. She and Daniel would simply make love until it all went away deep into the past and she would never again have to bend a thought on the party or Steve the Oaf again and her perfect life could get back on track. Madison's lips pillowed into a sensual pucker as she leaned closer to Daniel's exposed neck.