A Simple Act of Kindness

"Of course," I earnestly said, with no hesitation whatsoever, "That's what you do for the people you love."

"You're not supposed to be here for a very, very long while yet," he wisely said, "And I want you to go back now."

"Okay," I told him, "But will I see you again?"

"Yes, you will," he gently and ever so warmly smiled, "But now it's time for you to return to her, a whole man, and not just the shell that you once were..."

~~~~~~

I awoke to find myself in a solitary room, not my own, and covered in a sheet up to the neck, while M.J., who I somehow knew that the initials stood for Melia Juliana, with her head laying on my chest, bitterly weeping and calling my name.

"Kyle, my love," she wept, "Oh, please don't leave me here all alone. I've loved you for so long and now that we've found each other again, you can't just leave me...you can't...oh, God, please don't let him die like this...please," as she bitterly continued to weep.

"I'm not dead," I told her, placing my hands on her head to pull her toward my face, "What're you talking about?"

She suddenly gasped and stepped back away from me looking at me like she'd seen a ghost; and as she realized that I was really alive, she leaned down and softly kissed my lips, crying, "Thank you, God, oh thank you so much, Father, for giving my Kyle back to me, Lord."

"What happened to me?" I asked M.J., "The last thing I remember was belching right before my stomach began to hurt so bad that I passed out."

"You don't remember anything do you?" she sweetly smiled, placing the palm of her hand to the side of my face, "You died, Kyle. You were clinically dead for thirty minutes, and I wanted to stay in here with your body before the people from the funeral home came to take you away," and then she began to cry again...

~~~~~~

Chapter Nine

"Shh," I soothed her, sitting up and placing my arms around her, "I'm not going anywhere, never."

"Oh, my God, Kyle," M.J. wept, a look of astonishment on her face, "You're sitting up...you're actually sitting up."

"Holy shit," I chuckled, realizing that she was right. Then I had an idea, and with that thought in mind, "I looked at M.J. and said, "You don't think that...no, there's no way."

"Give it a try, baby," she excitedly smiled, reading my mind, "Go ahead, you know that I'll be here to catch you if you fall."

So, I reached down and felt my legs, which, to me, felt as if nothing had ever happened to me, and in doing so, I swung my legs off of the gurney I was on until I felt my feet touching the floor. M.J. stood right beside me with my right arm around her shoulder, while she placed her left arm around my waist, holding my right hand with her right hand as it was draped around her shoulder.

"Okay, baby, on the count of three," she hopefully grinned, "One, two, three..." and then the next thing I knew, I was standing straight and tall; and last but most certainly not least, I was standing unassisted.

"Oh, my God," M.J gasped in amazement, as I easily took three steps away from her, "You're walking, Kyle; you're really walking."

"I know," I excitedly grinned, "I think we'd better call Doctor Lerner immediately."

"I'm taking care of that right now," M.J. grinned, as she picked up the phone and began dialing. He's going to be tickled shitless, I just know it."

~~~~~~

"I'll be damned," Dr. Lerner happily grinned, wiping the happy tears from his eyes when he saw me standing beside M.J., looking out the window of my hospital room, "I can't believe what I'm seeing. It's so good to see you alive and well, Kyle."

"Thanks Doc," I grinned, walking over to shake his hand, "I still don't know what happened or why it happened; but here I am."

"I need you to sit on the bed so that I can examine you, and then I want you to tell me everything that happened right before you went out," he told me, "And please, don't leave out a single thing."

I explained everything that went on with me until I passed out, and when I was finished, Dr. Lerner looked and me and suspiciously said, "You said that you tasted almonds before the stomach cramps began?"

"That's right," I replied, "What does that mean, Doc?"

"It's been my experience in the past, that when a patient can taste almonds, or if the patient is examined post mortem, and the coroner smells almonds once the body cavity is opened, that usually means that a certain kind of poison has been introduced into the body," Dr. Lerner explained, "And there's only one poison that explains those particular indications that I just told you about...and it's Cyanide."

"Cyanide," I asked, "How in the hell could that have happened?"

"It was purposefully put into your food, Kyle," he said, becoming angry, "And that means that someone is trying to kill you."

"But who would do that?" I asked him, "Better yet, why?"

Suddenly a chill ran down my spine as it occurred to me who, I knew in my heart, was responsible, and I don't know how, well, actually I do, but Dr. Lerner and I both said at the same time, "Lawrence Niles."

"So, what're we going to do?" I angrily asked, "I want to nail that son of a bitch to wall for what he did."

"It's not going to be easy," M.J. told me, "We're going to have to get proof first."

"You leave that to me," Dr. Lerner said, then looked at me, "In the mean time, and only if you feel like it, we need to get you somewhere safe."

"I can take care of that," M.J. said, "He'll be staying at my place from here on out," and then she looked at me and sweetly added, "Well, at least for as long as we wants to, that is."

"What would you say if I wanted to stay there forever?" I asked smiling, placing my arms around her waist and gently pulling her against me, "I promise not to hog all the covers."

"You're so silly," she giggled, gently kissing my lips, "I have a king sized bed so; there's plenty of covers."

"That sounds like a great idea to me," Dr. Lerner knowingly smiled, "But this time I'm going to personally escort you down the P.T. room where we can evaluate your condition before I release you."

"I'm telling you, Doc," I said, "I feel great and I can walk perfectly fine; and I can't really explain how it happened, but I feel stronger than I've ever felt, even before I ever got hurt to begin with."

"I can explain it, although most Doctors don't feel the way I do," Dr. Lerner smiled, "But I believe that God spared your life, because it wasn't your time to die, Kyle."

"I don't just believe it," I sincerely replied, "I know it," and then I shared my experience with them that had occurred before I'd been declared legally dead by the attending physician who'd accompanied the response team that tried to revive me.

~~~~~~

Suddenly my family rushed into my room, all three of them wearing the most awful look on their faces. And then when they discovered that I was alright, Mom and Laura, as well as Dad, all three hugged me while I was sitting on my bed

"Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, I can tell you," I smiled, standing up and walking over to where he stood. Then I hugged him and said, "You owe me fifty bucks, sucker."

I had never seen my father cry until that day, and in doing so, he put his arms firmly around me and wept like a newborn while I simply held onto him and let him get it out.

"I thought we'd lost you, son," Dad wept, "I couldn't live with myself if that had happened; because parents aren't supposed to bury their children."

And it was then that Dr. Lerner told them what had occurred, making my father look at him and growled, "I want Lawrence Niles' head on a silver fucking platter."

"Where is he?" Mom, too, growled, "I'll cut that cocksucker's heart out with a spoon."

"I'm with you, Mom," Laura suddenly and angrily cried, "I want that fucker's balls."

"And I promise all of you that, that will happen," Dr. Lerner gently and unquestionably assured them, "But we're going to have to get proof, and I'm the only one who can do that without raising suspicion. In the mean time, we've made arrangements to keep him somewhere safe until all of this is over with."

"Where are you going to be, honey?" Mom asked me, "Are you sure it's safe."

"I can't tell you, because that way if you get questioned by the authorities, or anyone else for that matter; you can honestly tell them that you don't know," I explained, "But I promise you with all of my heart that I'll be as safe as can be, okay?"

"If you tell me you're safe, then I believe you," she sniffled, hugging me, "But please be careful, baby, okay?"

"I will, Mom," I smiled, returning her hug, "I promise you I will."

"Please watch out for yourself, little brother," my sister, Laura, began to cry, as she hugged me, "I love you so much and I don't want to see anything else happen to you."

"I love you, too, pretty girl," I smiled, tenderly kissing her cheek, "And when this is over, we're all going to go on a long vacation, okay?"

"Okay," Laura cried, her voice muffled from having her face buried in my chest, "I'll see you soon then."

You be careful, son," Dad told me, handing me a fat roll of one hundred dollar bills, "And take this money so that you don't want for anything."

"Thanks, Dad," I quietly said, hugging him, "I love you."

"I know you do," he replied, returning the hug, "And I love you, too, son, so; come back to us as soon as you can."

"I will," I told my family, "I'll be back before you know it."

~~~~~~

After I'd gone into hiding, my family held a mock ceremony, pretending that I'd been cremated. Dr. Lerner got a long time friend of his who just happened to own a funeral home/crematorium to write a fake death certificate in order to draw out Lawrence Niles and/or anyone else that he might've hired to kill me, in order to put them at ease.

Dr. Lerner kept in touch with me through the use of a courier service, to whom, as far as they were concerned, were delivering mail to the assumed name I'd been given. What I didn't know was that Dr. Lerner had a cousin who was not only an F.B.I. agent, but this particular individual's specialty was working under cover.

~~~~~~

I'd gone to M.J.'s to live, and she couldn't have been happier. Our first night together was spent sitting on her couch, simply holding one another and talking until the wee hours of the morning.

"I hope you feel comfortable here," she tenderly replied, "I've dreamed of this moment since the very first time I ever laid eyes on you."

"I'm sorry for not talking to you more when we were younger," I shamefully told her, "I'll bet we would've been great friends."

"We already are great friends, baby," M.J. softly smiled, "That's why we're even better lovers, and I do love you, I hope you know that."

"I do know that," I grinned, "I only hope that nothing happens to jeopardize what we have before all of this shit with Lawrence Niles is over."

"Fuck Lawrence Niles," she disgustedly spat, "If I have my way about it, I'll see that fuck go to prison for trying to kill you...twice now."

Suddenly her phone rang, making her rise from beside me on the couch to answer it.

"Hello?" she answered...Then she looked at me and blankly said, "They hung up the phone."

"Get down," I said, grabbing her, and dragging her to the floor.

It was just in time, too, because the moment we hit the floor, her window by the phone exploded with the sound of suppressed gunfire, as it passed through the glass.

"Someone is out there," I whispered, "Where is your electric service panel."

"It's over there," M.J. fearfully whispered, "In the utility room by the back door on the left hand side."

"Okay," I quietly told her, "I want you to crawl into your bathroom, and then get into the tub and stay there. I've got an idea."

"What're you going to do?" she whispered, sniffling in fear, "I almost lost you once, Kyle, and I won't risk losing you again."

"Please do as I ask," I told her, "You're just going to have to trust me, that's all; and you need to do it quickly, before whoever is out there comes into the house."

~~~~~~

Once M.J. was safely in the tub, I made my way, while still crawling on the floor, into the utility room where I pulled the main switch on the service panel, throwing the entire house into total darkness.

Like a ghost, I silently waited in the kitchen beneath the table, bringing the house to a dark and quiet standstill. And with no movement whatsoever around me, it was so hushed, that the only thing I heard was the sound of my heart beat, coursing the life giving blood through my veins.

All at once I heard movement in the front of the house, indicating that someone was trying to gain entrance through the front door. The first thought that crossed my mind was that whoever the assailant was, they were either very brave or very stupid; I hadn't decided which.

I quietly crawled from beneath the table, and then quickly retrieved a large knife from the custom made, wooden Butcher's Block, sitting atop M.J.'s kitchen counter. It was designed for holding a different assortments and sizes of knives, every last one of them extremely sharp, and every last one of them extremely deadly in the proper hands...especially mine, due to the intense martial arts training I'd received as a teen.

~~~~~~

Once I'd armed myself, I crept as silently as the fog, positioning my body between the sounds of someone entering the house, and the master bedroom where my beautiful M.J. lay in her bathroom tub, in what I was more than certain, a state of fear which would paralyze even the bravest and strongest of men.

After the noises of whoever was entering the house became silent, I then heard footsteps drawing ever nearer, slowly but surely coming closer. Within the time it would take for a bolt of lightning to reach from the heavens to the earth, I saw him, large and menacing, and before he had the chance to see me, I sprung on him from behind; burying the blade of butcher knife in my right hand, into the man's throat, all the way to the hilt.

He began to thrash, banging into the wall as he tried, in vain, to get me off of him, but I was hanging onto him like death...his death. And by that time I'd locked my legs and ankles, all the way around him, feeling something warm and wet, which I automatically knew was his blood, as it began to squirt out of his throat and into my face, running down onto the front of my shirt. Finally, after much commotion, he dropped onto the floor, lifeless and still, not moving a muscle...dead!

After I disentangled myself from around him, I noiselessly moved through the house, making certain that he had come alone before I brought M.J. from her hiding place in the bathtub. And after discovering that we was by himself, I went back to the electrical service panel and turned the main switch back on, illuminating the house once more.

~~~~~~

"You can come out now," I told M.J., walking into the master bedroom and turning on the lights, "It's safe, baby."

"Is he gone?" she meekly asked me, crawling from out of the bathroom, still afraid, but safe none the less.

"He's dead," I told her, "He's lying on the kitchen floor with a butcher knife in his throat."

"Oh, my God, Kyle," she shrieked, at the sight of the would-be assassin's blood all over me, "Are you alright, baby?"

"I'm okay," I assured her, "This is not my blood."

~~~~~~

We called the police, and after searching a strange vehicle that had been parked down the road from M.J.'s house, the bullet slugs that the C.S.I.'s had dug out of the walls inside of the house were the same caliber of the sniper's rifle that had been confiscated from the vehicle. And once the police had concluded their investigation, every piece of evidence they found, which, including the dead man's body, were all taken away when they left the house.

They also took our statements, which included the reasons why we thought the man had come to M.J.'s house in the first place. At first they had a hard time believing that Dr. Lawrence Niles was capable of such a thing; but when the police had contacted Dr. Lerner, he confirmed our suspicions with certain pieces of evidence which had "supposedly" been found in Dr. Lawrence Niles' office earlier that day.

An A.P.B. (All Points Bulletin) was immediately issued for Dr. Lawrence Niles the moment he was discovered absent from his home. In the mean time, Dr. Lerner saw to it that M.J. was given a much needed vacation, and so; she and I took off for Key West, Florida. Besides, the police told us that with us being gone, things might cool down there at home.

~~~~~~

We left under the cover of darkness three days following the incident at her house, and as opposed to flying, we decided to take her car. She had a small, and what was then, brand new Ford Mustang Convertible. It took us roughly twenty-eight hours to drive from Nashville, all the way down to Key West, only because we took our time. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, Beachside; and not only because we paid in cash, but because Dad arranged for us to have fake I.D.'s before we left Nashville, we were able to stay under an alias in order to protect our true identities.

It was around nine in the evening when we finally got checked into our room, and the very first thing we did was to take a shower...together. We were too tired for sex, but I still enjoyed, as did M.J., being able to hold the person I loved more than anything in the world in my arms beneath the flow of the warm water.

We leisurely washed one another's bodies, and using the soapy suds while slowly and gently rubbing against each other made taking a shower together as erotic as it was pleasurable. And when we were finished, she and I dried our bodies to lay naked together beneath the cool, crisp, clean white sheets.

That night, as I lay wrapped in the arms of my beautiful M. J., I dreamed that she and I were together on a deserted island, the two of us being its only inhabitants. We ran naked in the sun, made love in the afternoon, and then caressed and loved one another by night. I also dreamed that she bore me a child...a beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed beauty just like her mother. We named her Jessica Juliana, after her mother, and called her J.J. for short.

However, as the days grew more, and J.J. grew older, the sands of time slipped slowly by, making it obvious that one day our beautiful daughter would leave our island paradise in search of someone with whom to start her own family. But still, and even though it was just a dream and nothing more, I woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed and alive than I'd ever felt in my whole life....

The Beginning or The End? Please let me know if you want me to go further....MoogPlayer