A Change In The Status Quo Revisit

"Sam, that explains more than you know, what happened to Tom?"

"That Sunday was one of the ones that Lila and I went to check the videos. Once I saw that I called Tom in and laid down the law. Let's say that now Tom is getting a cooling off period, and you have probably heard what Chicago is like in winter. I haven't had any more complaints about him."

He went on, "That isn't all, I have another video I want you to see. You know that your present company is a customer of ours, we buy stuff from them that we sell, but isn't worth setting up our own lines to produce and they do the same with us. Well just over a week ago, your boss Jake Engels was in my office for a talk. I won't bore you with the entire chat, but I thought this part would be of interest to you. He started up another video.

Sam was telling Jake that his manager for physical equipment was retiring in 6 months and he was going to have to start looking for a replacement. Jake started boasting that he didn't need a manager, "I have a guy who knows every machine in the shop, and the beauty is that he has no idea of his value to me. I pay him what I would pay a mechanic, and he does the work of a manager. If he were to quit I would have to hire at least two guys to replace him, there is no way I could ever find someone else to work the lousy hours that he does and the less I have to pay out the better. In fact I heard that he was married to one of your execs, He is Chuck Alexander."

I turned the laptop away, It hurt that he thought so little of me that he would even talk about it to in some ways a rival of his and someone that I counted at least an acquaintance, if not a friend of the family.

Sam smiled, "I think that will be useful if you have to go to court against him, but I bet it hurts as well."

"It does, I thought I was better thought of than that."

"Well you are, the reason I asked you to come see me, was that I thought you would be just the man to replace Dick when he retires. You know your job, I'm, sure of that and while you are a bit rough around the edges, you don't hesitate to go right to the point. That speech of Jake's convinced me that you are the best man for the job. If you can work for that cheap SOB you can sure work for me."

"I'm not too good at handling people Sam, my manner sucks sometimes."

"That can be learned; in fact you are married to one of the finest human rights instructors that I have ever met."

"I don't know that I will be that fit in 6 months."

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it shall we? You won't be doing a lot of the physical work anyway; the job is a managerial position. Let's see how your rehab goes."

"Well after that video, I will never again work for Jake, so if you want me I'll be glad to give it a try, as long as there is no obligation on either of us. If I don't suit you, you can me, and if I don't like the work, I can walk without any problems."

"Sounds like we have a deal, of course the fishing holes are included." His face broke into a smile.

Just then Dr James walked in. "Well Sam are you all done?"

"Yes Etta, we have just about finished for now."

"Well I need to examine Charles so I'll be grateful if you would leave for now, and take that computer with you, the last thing we need is for him is to be roving the Internet looking for porn in the shape he is in." She laughed at us, "Not for a while buddy."

He left, and Lila started looking at my dressings and the drains. "So you know Sam do you?"

"Yes he's my wife's boss and he wants to give me a job."

"Well you could do worse; he does some pretty good things."

"How do you know him?"

"it's part of my job to know our major donors, His and Lila's foundation provide a lot of funds and they have helped build our cardiac program and our neo natal suite. When they realized that they were not going to have children of their own, they decided to help us as much as they could."

She put a small plastic object on the bedside table, It was like a plastic tube and I had to suck on the one end and get a ball to come up to the top.

"I want you doing that every hour to get your lungs going again, then we are going to get you moving under your own steam, I'll see you again tomorrow."

Just as she was leaving, Rebecca and my Mom came in. Seeing me sitting up, Becca just beamed. "Wow, maybe I should stay away more often, you seem to be coming along pretty good, you have great color. Sam must have been good for you, what did he have to say"?

"To watch out for your right hand."

She looked at me for a minute, a grin stole over her face. "Did he show you that video?"

"Apparently if he didn't do it, your buddy Lila was going to do the same to him."

Mom looked at both of us as if we were crazy. "Mom I'll let Rebecca explain later."

"Also after showing me a video of that asshole I work for now he offered me a job, as Physical Plant manager."

"Wow. he hadn't said anything to me about it."

"Apparently he was going to sound me out about it on the trip, but when he heard I wasn't going, he called to make an appointment to see me this week, that's how I knew it was a couple's trip."

Rebecca turned to Mom, "Mom, can I ask for a few minutes alone with Charles, I think it's time we had a little chat."

Mom said, "About time too, Charles, remember what I said."

"Okay Mom."

Rebecca sat beside the bed and took my hand."Charles, I've been so scared over this last year, I thought I was losing you, that you thought I didn't need you any more, you became more of a loner, going out running and fishing, working most of the time that I wasn't. It seemed I couldn't reach you, and when we were together I didn't know what to say that I could say without upsetting you."

"Rebecca, I have a confession to make, apparently I'm one of those people who can hear what is going on around them even when unconscious, and so I have heard a lot of what you talked about with Mom, the nurses and Doctor James. Not only that I had a lot of time to think about what I was hearing, about how wrong Dad's outlook on life was. I don't want to die alone and unloved but I'm going to need your help to get out of the shell I made for myself. Sam made me realize just how ridiculous my suspicions were, and I'm sorry that I was not there to see you awarded that necklace, if you'll let me in future, I'll be there for you always, but I need you to be there for me too. This whole thing started at that party, you know the one where you gave me hell for making you look a fool."

"I know, trouble is that I darn soon realized that the one who made me look a fool was me, I was mad at myself, but I took it out on you, I had no right to say what I did about you, and do what I did. Liquor can make me do stupid things, probably because I have so little of it, I know that now and you will be surprised to know that the first liquor I have had for a while was last Friday at your birthday dinner."

"Friday night was just like that party all over again when that woman came over, you didn't say who she was, you just went off with her and after I waited about ten minutes I walked through, you were sitting with the gang of them and one of them was giving you a drink so I left and had a hamburger at the place across the street."

"And while you were having the hamburger, I was back at our table. I didn't drink more than a sip of the drink, left the women and when I got back I thought you had gone to the john, so I sat there for a while until the maitre D came over and told me you had left. I had no idea what to do; you didn't answer my calls so I got a cab home and had a couple of drinks while I waited for you."

"Sweetheart, for the last year I haven't known how things stood between us, and like you I could never find the words to ask you and once it came to mind that you might leave me for someone else, the snake inside got bigger and bigger. You were working Saturdays though you didn't need to, and I was scared that you were doing something other than working."

"Charles, let's be serious for a minute, did you ever take Saturday off to stay home with me?"

"No I didn't."

"And Sundays, what were you usually doing?"

"Either trail running or fishing."

"Those two days were the only times in the week I got off, I needed you just as much as you needed me, did you stop to think of that?"

"No I can't say I did, but I can tell you now as long as I have your help that me is gone, he might come back once in a while, after all I've been like that a long time, but I swear to do better."

"We both made mistakes, let's bury them here and now and start over. I made the mistake of putting my career first, you made the mistake of trying to be your Pop, Let's try putting each other first."

The tears were streaming down her face as she put her arms around my neck and sat on the bed beside me.

"Did you hear what I said about children?"

"Yes, I did, and I'd be really proud to be the daddy of any children we might have."

With that Rebecca began to cry, she reached for her purse and took out her birth control pill container. "I brought these with me because I was here overnight, should I get rid of them?"

"Rebecca, if that is what you want, I'm all for it. It may take a little while till we can do anything about it, but by then the chemicals should be well washed away

She turned to Mom as she came into the room and handed her the pills, "Mom would you ask Betty Jean to destroy these for me please?" Then she sat on the side of my bed and threw her arms around my neck again, kissing me full on the lips with the kind of kiss I hadn't felt for a long time.

"Hey lady, this is getting dangerous again."

"Just you wait till that catheter is out buddy."

At that Mom came back and after sitting for a while, they decided to leave for home and come back the next day, funny though, there was a smile on Rebecca's face and a spring to her step that I hadn't seen for a long time. Mom was going to pick up a few clothes and stay over with her until I was home again just to keep her company. As the worst was over, they were switching to regular visiting hours, which didn't start until noon, so I wouldn't see them until the next day.

Next day was the start of the road back. The catheter went, though they were still measuring fluids, I was allowed to walk to the bathroom, under supervision of course. I was actually allowed some solid food, if you can call cream of wheat that, and a slice of soggy toast, Dr James came in to see me along with the nutritionist to tell me what kind of a diet I should follow. Part way through the morning, I met Pat, she was my physiotherapist. The first thing she did was took a folded sheet and gave it to me. "Here this is going to be your closest friend for the next few days, when you get up and walk your chest is going to feel that there is no strength there. You hold the sheet against your chest as if you are hugging someone. I or someone else will hold your IV pole while you walk, until we put a heparin lock in and you can be free of the pole.

After five days of walking increasing distances hugging my sheet, with Pat, Mom and Rebecca taking turns to keep me company and walking up and down two flights of stairs, Doctor James pronounced me ready to face the world and as she, Rebecca and Mom pushed me out of the main door of St Bart's, in a wheelchair the sun and wind on my face was amazing. Thanks to the painkillers I wasn't feeling much pain as I got into the taxi. The Beemer had been deemed too tight to get into, and Becca said there was no way I was climbing into the truck, not on her watch anyway and finally to the congratulations of the neighbors I arrived home, ten days after that fateful birthday. The first thing I noticed was a big balloon tied to the table, Happy Birthday Charles and Welcome Home.

Epilogue

Well all that was three years ago, my recovery was normal, I enjoyed the Cardio Rehab, and continued the classes outside the hospital, the instructor is an ordained minister who is also a fitness instructor working with Dr James and the classes are in the basement of his church. Not only is he a great instructor, but a great counselor, easy to talk to, well up to date, probably the last man you would take as a minister, which is likely why Rebecca and I have become members of his church. As any heart attack victim knows, not only do you have to handle the physical aspects of the attack, but tremendous mental issues as well which Dave really helped with.

My other mentor in the class is Tony; he had a heart attack in his mid forties and after surgery was told that if he was lucky he might make 65. Well this year he is 75, and while he is slowing down a little he is still one of the liveliest persons that I know.

I was well enough to take the job that Sam had offered me, and did I mention that I started at more than twice what Jake had been paying me. I had no problem with any of the people that worked with me, Dave, Tony and Rebecca worked marvels with me as far as people skills went.

Rebecca and I, well we learned a graphic lesson, that we had become You and I not We. For the first six weeks that we were home, we pretty well talked each other's ears off, (Well we had lots of time, and the furthest we went was to stores for food and drink) We spent lots of time in front of a fire that I never thought I would see again, and spent lots of time in close contact. Not as close as I would have liked, but hey you can't have everything. The big thing was that we talked, more than we ever had in our lives. We found out what was important to each of us singly and to both of us as a whole. I began to look at the heart attack as one of the most important things that had ever happened to us.

Health wise things have been pretty good, we have had the occasional scare, all indigestion so far but as Dr James says, don't take a chance and don't drive in to the hospital, call 911. The first stress test was good, as were two annual ones in checkups, and while I'm not allowed to run in Marathons yet, I've done up to 5 miles with no bad results.

On the family front, Rebecca didn't go back on the pill and within six weeks of us first making love again, that little stick turned blue. First to go was the Beemer, Rebecca's reason was that she couldn't see herself driving it with a baby bump, and it would be a hell of a thing to put a baby seat in so we wound up with a Grand Caravan. Next went the truck, no need for a truck with the Caravan and anyway you couldn't put a baby seat in it properly. I offered to try but I saw that right hand and decided not to chance it, anyway Sam was getting me an SUV as a company car anyway. He made sure it took baby seats. Rebecca still goes in to the office once a week but she does most of her work from home, after all she can read all the sales reports on her computer.

Now I'm dictating this little story with a voice recognition program, it makes it much easier for me; it's kind of hard to type with two year old Julietta Patricia Alexander fast asleep with her arms around Daddy's chest. I wouldn't trade the feeling for anything in the world, especially when I look over to the other side of the fireplace and see Rebecca nursing two month old David Samuel Alexander. As Rebecca says, it seems that al she has to do to get pregnant is take her pants off anymore and who am I to argue. It took us a while, but we eventually got our priorities straight.

We make sure we get out once in a while and I usually let Rebecca pick the restaurant. no more double burgers for this guy and the only steak has to be extra lean and then not a lot at that. We have three great babysitters, Mom and Steve, now Mr. and Mrs. Richards, Steve is making a great grandfather, and knows a hell of a lot of good fishing spots to boot. The other sitter who surprised me the most is Lila, Sam's wife and Rebecca's buddy who just loves the kids to distraction. Sam says her shopping trips now are more likely to be Toys R Us than Sachs.

Oh, and about Jake. Sam's lawyer took a deposition from the cooks at the plant as to what they were told to cook and supply, and by the time Jake and his lawyer were shown the depositions and the video of the conference with Sam, and Sam's lawyer suggesting that a copy of the video might just find its way on to YouTube. Jake was advised that the publicity would kill his business if nothing else so we got an offer from the insurance company of $200.000.00 to cover the rehab.

What life has in store for me I don't know, it could be a few years, or a lot but I can face it a whole lot easier when Rebecca and I face it together hand in hand. I don't care what anyone says, that power that passes between us then is as real as can be. Also I've found that no matter whom you talk to, they all have something to offer, and that those I would have described as little people a few years ago can do great things when the need arises.

Oh before I forget; that necklace that helped cause all the trouble. On the day Julietta was born, Rebecca got the matching earrings, and on the day David was born she got a matching bracelet. They were not paid for by the company either, though Lila did help me find them.

Do I miss the old Chuck? once in a while I guess I do, but when I look at the life I am leading now compared to before the attack, I sure as hell prefer the new Rebecca and as the old adage says, it takes two to tango, and the sum of two of us together is much bigger that two separate going in different directions.

The End