A Change In The Status Quo Revisit

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Chuck get's a lot of time to think things out.
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After reading A Change In The Status Quo by OccamsPileDriver I thought it was a really good story, a sign of the present times but Chuck the main character had left a lot of questions unanswered in the mind of the reader. I know that the author is wrestling with a second part, but with his permission I'm going to try to continue the story of Chuck and Rebecca. To me the original story didn't give Rebecca any chance to put her side of the situation, but the two participants seemed basically pretty good people who had just got off track and needed a big shock to get them back on.

The original story should be read first as it sets out a lot of the underlying issues. This story is classed as non erotic as there is no sex per se. so if that is all the reader is interested in then reading further would be a waste of their time. I just hope that Occamspiledriver isn't too upset by this treatment. As always, the use of any of the material in this story may only be done with the permission of the author.

Hi, I'm Charles Alexander, most times known as Chuck. After that fight with Rebecca on my oh so Happy Birthday I went to bed and started to drop off to sleep. Dimly I felt her sliding into bed beside me as I dropped off, she stayed on her own side of the bed with her back to me, instead of cuddling in as she usually did. My sleep was a little disturbed; my stomach seemed off with gas pushing up into my chest just like it had been so often over the last year, my consumption of Maalox had gone up a tremendous amount. I fully woke and felt Rebecca's shoulders shaking as if she was sobbing. I got up and went to the bathroom thinking that when I got back if Rebecca was still awake, we were going to have that talk about her conduct that night and over the last few months, and get it over with for good or ill, I wanted to know what was going on.

Looking into the mirror I thought not for the first time how much like my Pop I was, both facially and mentally. Now there was a man. He didn't give a damn for anyone other than his family, He lived his life his way, hunting and fishing, doing a damn good job of his work right up until he retired, didn't take days off except his holidays, didn't go to bars or parties, just the occasional movie or show with Mom. I always thought they were the perfect couple until the day Mom packed her and my sisters clothes and moved them out without ever telling Dad or me why. Dad said he thought it was another guy from the hospital that she was involved with, but she moved in with her sister and never dated to my knowledge. As far as I know she didn't see Pop again till the day she buried him. Still I was just like Pop, tough, able to stand on my own two feet, a trail runner, hunter and fisherman and that was all that I needed, I didn't need anybody. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the worst pain I had ever felt crashed into my chest and I blacked out. They tell me that was when I died.

I felt the lightest touch of lips on my forehead and a hand on mine I heard Rebecca's voice quietly as if from a long way away saying "Chuck come back to me, I need you". It felt like a couple of drops of rain on my face, I heard creaking sounds as if someone was settling into a chair. I tried to open my eyes but couldn't seem to, nor could I move my fingers when I tried. All I could hear was the hiss of oxygen and the beeping of a monitor so I took it that I was in a hospital. My god, what happened, the last thing I knew was that I was looking at myself congratulating myself on being just like Pop then that agonizing pain that came up from nowhere into my chest.

I heard a woman's voice I didn't recognize, "Mrs. Alexander your five minutes is up for this hour, why don't you go get something from the cafeteria? You haven't eaten a thing since you got here, try and get some sleep in the bed chair in the waiting room. We'll come and get you if there is any change. Doctor James wants us to keep your husband asleep for at least another day to give his chest time to start healing." I tried to shout, "Rebecca stay with me," but the mouth stayed closed and I just yelled it in my mind. I had heard of cases where patients under anesthesia had still felt the surgery or heard every word mentioned around them. Now I was experiencing it.

There was another female voice. "Hi Julie, how is Mr. Alexander doing?" The other female said, "Hi Doctor James, the monitors are good, and his oxygen levels are staying pretty high." The doctor replied. "Well the next 24 hours will tell the story. This time tomorrow we will remove the ventilator and see how he does on his own. He is a very lucky man, his wife was right there, she knew exactly what to do, got the EMTs on the way, told 911 the front door was unlocked, then got going with CPR and kept the flow of oxygen going to his brain until the EMTs could shock him. She bust a couple of ribs but If she hadn't our Mr. Alexander would have been laying on a slab in the basement with a tag on his toe, waiting for the pathologist, he isn't completely out of the woods yet it will take another couple of days before we can be reasonably sure."

I never knew that Rebecca knew how to do CPR or knew First Aid, it must have been another one of those things from work that I half heard when she told me.

They say that people listening in on a conversation about them don't hear anything good about themselves and that held true. Julie asked the Doctor, "How on earth does a young man of 38 end up with a heart attack, especially one who seems as fit as this one?"

"Easy, I had the chance to talk to Rebecca for a while earlier, and I guess Mr. Alexander is pretty much a hardass and dogmatic about his meals. Apparently he is a real meat guy, double hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pork chops, steaks particularly with all the fixings so what looks good on the outside isn't necessarily good on the inside, his cholesterol reading were through the roof, and the arteries in the heart were in sad shape, that why we had to do four by passes. It is a wonder that he hadn't been feeling it long before now."

"Is there any family history?"

"Well apparently his father died of a heart attack in his late fifties a few years ago. From what I heard from Rebecca it couldn't have been a pleasant death. He wasn't found for around four days, he was flat out on the kitchen floor reaching for the phone. The mailman called police after he noticed the mail piling up, looked through the kitchen window and saw him on the floor. It was enough to get Mrs. Alexander worried and start her trying to get Chuck to eat at restaurants where the food was less fatty and rich but I guess they weren't his style."

Obviously Mom had talked to Rebecca. Mom was still Pops next of kin so the police had contacted her and she looked after the funeral arrangements. I had left it to her and my sister, I had to work, Mon could get time off and my sister could too. I just went to the funeral. Mom had tried to tell me about it at the lunch after the service, but Jeff Pops fishing buddy had started to talk about a great spot for steelheads that they had found so I didn't pay much attention to her, I'm always a sucker for a good fishing story.

I guess that was why Rebecca had tried to change the restaurants that we went to, just maybe I had been barking up the wrong tree a little, just then I heard Julie say," time for his meds" and in a bit everything started to go hazy and I guess I passed out.

I woke feeling a little pressure around my mouth and nose. The noise of the machines was constant and I could hear the hissing of oxygen as it was being pumped. Most reassuring was the absence of any warnings. This time I noticed the band of pressure on my arm as a blood pressure cuff inflated. I tried wiggling my fingers but I couldn't yet. I just seemed to be suspended in space. I could hear murmuring some distance away but couldn't distinguish what it was, and then I heard another female voice say. 'Go right on in Mrs. Alexander, there is no change in your husband's condition at all but Dr James has had us cut back on the anesthetic just slightly. Every hour that goes by is a good sign." I heard a scraping noise and felt a kiss; at least I thought it was a kiss, just like the touch of a feather on my forehead.

I heard Rebecca's voice. "I love you Chuck, come back to me, I need you'"

I struggled, but I could only form the words in my mind. "Rebecca I need you, more than I have ever believed, stay with me."

I heard footsteps and another voice cut in, "Ms Alexander, Doctor James has said its ok for you to stay with your husband any time; she thinks the worst has passed and we are going to be gradually bringing him round. He will hopefully be fully conscious around ten tomorrow morning.

"That's good; I like to be here beside him, it makes me feel that we are together for a time, that big bed of ours feels awfully empty and cold without him beside me."

"Look, why don't you go home for a while? You've been here since 3am Saturday, sleeping in the waiting room and existing on junk out of the machines and that stuff they call food in the cafeteria. Go home, shower and change and get some rest, it isn't going to do Chuck any good to get out of here and you be too ill to help him."

"Lee-Ann, I almost lost him, in fact even before this happened I think I was on the path to losing him. I'll stay until noon; his Mom is coming in then, I talked to her this morning. I have to call Chuck's company then my own boss to tell him I won't be in till further notice."

Oh no, that's all I need, my Mom weeping all over me, she didn't shed a tear over Pop, she needn't over me either.

"Lee-Ann are you married."

"Yes I've been married for 17 years now, got three children too."

"What comes first, your husband and family or this hospital?"

"Well I figure this hospitals always gonna be here whether I am or not. My nursing is important to me, but the choice isn't even close, my husband and family come way above all else."

"Ever since I finished school, the opposite can be said for me, I've been all business, pushing as high as I could get. This last year I could have taken things a little easier, but what did I do, I started pushing my sales staff harder, calling them in on Saturdays, training, pushing. I know what my name is among the staff, the Icy Bitch. Somewhere along the way I forgot that Chuck needs some attention too. He really supported me when I was on the road, doing sales and had to be away from home. I would come back home absolutely bushed, and find that all had been taken care of at home. Then when I finally get to a position where I can help him, I just work harder to make more money and ensure I keep my job. Even Sam my boss keeps on at me to cut back saying that I put too much time in."

"Do you have any kids?"

"No, I guess I was pretty selfish, I didn't want kids because they would interfere with my career. For a long time that didn't bother me but when the company had social gatherings and I would sit and chat with the wives, they would talk about their children; I realized I was getting jealous of what they had. Then Chuck collapsed and suddenly I realized that if the worst happened if he didn't survive, life would be pretty bleak and empty for me, I would have nothing left of Chuck at all other than a headstone. "

"You know it isn't too late, how old are you now?"

"I'm 34 so I have some time yet, but I honestly don't know if my attitude towards my job has pushed Chuck and me apart. It struck me a couple of months ago that what I've been looking for is someone who needs me. I've been wanting at least one child for some time, now it could be too late; Chuck has been so uptight for the last few months that I'm almost scared to ask him."

"Rebecca it looks pretty good for Chuck now. Even if the worst happens, what sperm he has can be harvested and they can do in vitro fertilization."

"No I couldn't do that, not without Chuck knowing that he was a Dad or going to be, or him being there to help raise the child."

Hey, that's a switcheroo, why didn't she say something before? That kind of interferes with my idea that she was distancing herself from me, not if she wants my child. What the hell else was going on that I didn't see? Come to think of it why did Sam tell me that he wanted to see me Tuesday after the company weekend? Probably something to do with fishing, that was the biggest reason that he and I got along, really he was the only one in the company that I had any time for, and I really hadn't made any effort to hide it at their functions.

"Why not mention it to Chuck, all he could do is say no?"

"That was my biggest fear that he would. Somehow ever since I got the promotion that I wanted I have been a little afraid that he would leave me. That he didn't need me anymore and he thought I didn't need him. He has always been a pretty independent sort of guy, probably too independent. I know that when he went to company functions with me, he wasn't shy about showing how he felt about my co workers, that somehow he was better than them because they didn't share his interests. The only reason he talked to my boss was that they were both fishing crazy. In a way it really caused problems for me at work because my co workers tended to shut me out. After the promotion it got worse it was as if he didn't have to help me anymore that it was wasting his time to go to the company events. In the end it was easier for me in the office if I told Chuck he didn't need to go, and then tell the company that he had to work. I just went alone or with Chuck's Mom as I pretty well had to be there, but mostly I chatted with the other women and went home.

He even missed me getting a big presentation, I had found some problems with an order and I saved the company big money. I didn't know it was going to happen so I didn't say anything to him, the company bought me a lovely necklace, but I felt really bad that Chuck wasn't there to see me get it. I heard a couple of other women talking about Chuck not being there, that not only didn't he care about them he didn't seem to care about me either. All I wanted to do was go home and cry and I kept it hidden away for a while. When I finally wore it the other night Chuck commented on it, so I just told him I bought it. That may have been when our spat started."

"Rebecca, It seems to me that what you two should be doing is having a week away and doing nothing but talking. You have to make Chuck see that it's fine to be independent, but there is a point that you have to consider others, that they are entitled to their points of view."

"That's easier said than done, Chuck is pretty obstinate in his beliefs, he got them from his father who was just the same."

"Yes and from what I read in the case files died alone and unloved on his kitchen floor."

"Alone yes but not unloved, Chucks mother told me that she loved him still, she just couldn't live with him knowing the damage he was doing to himself."

Well it's right, you don't hear anything good about yourself when you eavesdrop, and I can't turn it off. Looking at myself it isn't hard to see why people didn't think much of me, because I couldn't spend a little time to get to know them. The nurse is right, Pop died alone and unloved and remembering the small turnout for the funeral he was unmourned too, I guess what he taught me wasn't really what I needed. Just then things started getting hazy again and I passed out again.

I began hearing the noises of the machines again, and this time I could definitely feel the pressure of a hand on mine. I could also feel pressure down my back as if I was in bed on my back, with my body bent and head up, not only could I feel the pressure around my mouth, but I could feel the machine breathing for me. I still couldn't move my fingers or open my eyes. And with the hose down my throat I couldn't even try to talk.

I heard footsteps coming closer, and heard my Mom say, "My god, he looks just like his dad did when he had his attack."

What do you mean his attack? My Pop never had a weak moment in his life, that's what he taught me, to be tough and not weak and not accept weakness in others. To be a man at all times.

"Hi Mom, what attack are you talking about, Chuck and I never heard of anything?"

"Let me just sit down and I'll tell you, I've kept Ken's secrets way too long as it is and I'm afraid he did just what I begged him not to, turned Chuck into a carbon copy of him."

"How could he be in hospital without us knowing?"

"It was when you were on that holiday in the Caribbean, he was starting a four day weekend from the plant, I was still nursing at the time on nights and when I got home on the Friday morning, he was sitting on the couch sweating, pale and complaining about pains in his shoulders and arms. It was obvious that he was having heart trouble so much against his wishes I called 911. He was taken to County Hospital, they did an Angiogram and Angioplasty cleared a couple of blockages and he was allowed home on the Monday morning. He was given a diet sheet, told to lose weight, stay off work for two weeks and take it easy with no strenuous exercise. I told him I would call Angela who was in Uni at the time and I would call the plant to tell them he wouldn't be in. he told me that I was not to call anybody and he was going back to work the next day. Nobody was to be told that he had been ill. I couldn't believe it; I was in tears all the way home thinking I would lose him.

"If you felt like that, why did you leave him?"

"While I may be the one who packed and walked out the door, he actually left me the day I took him home. I told him that I had no intention of sitting at home watching him kill himself and that I would give him three months to get on a diet and eat better food or I would leave."

"What did he say?"

"He didn't say, he just picked the truck keys up from the table, got in his truck, drove down to the Burger Barn and ordered and ate two double hamburgers and fries. I stood outside the window and watched him."

"Did he do anything to help himself?"

"No he just kept right on, working all the hours he could eating whatever he wanted so three months after I brought him home from the hospital, I did exactly what I said I would. I packed mine and Angela's clothes, went to my sisters and cried for probably the next month. I loved that man so much but I couldn't sit by and watch him slowly kill himself. After a couple of weeks he met me as I left the hospital, he asked if my temper tantrum was over and when I was coming back. I asked if he had changed his diet he said no and he wasn't going to. I told him I wasn't going home until he did. He just said, "Fuck you then, I don't need you or anybody." The next time I saw him was when I had to identify him after he was found dead."

"Oh my god, we had no idea."

"No, he put it around that he didn't know why I left, that maybe I was having an affair with a guy at work. I wasn't and anyone who knew me knew that but I guess it gave him the opportunity to look like he was the injured party. I've just right now started to date a little, a nice guy, a Vietnam vet who doesn't hesitate to make it clear that he needs me."

"Oh, who is he?"

"Steve Richards, I met him years ago when I was still working and he was in the hospital for surgery. I was looking after him and met him and his wife Betty; they were a really nice couple. I hadn't seen Steve since, until a few weeks ago when I was walking along the River trail and found him sitting on one of the seats. I sat with him, we chatted and he told me that Betty had passed away six months previously with breast cancer."