Dark as Daylight Ch. 14

I screamed in joy, and went to hug her, but she ran away from me, because she knew I was going to crush her. We ran around the house giggling like idiots, until she finally let me catch her.

When I received a scholarship to Northwestern, for my M.D. training, she applied for and received a nursing position there.

When I decided to return home to Texas, and open my own Family Practice Medical Office, instead of moving on for a specialty, my friends told me I was an idiot. I didn't want a specialty, I wanted to practice medicine, and Hannah was my nurse.

I had so much money in the bank, from my parents' accident, I had an easy time opening the office. While I was applying to hospitals in the area for credentials, Hannah furnished the office, from the play room for the kids, the separate sick area for the children running temperatures, or with obvious diseases, to the x-ray equipment.

I had to stop her before she bought a used MRI. I would have had to go back to school to learn how to read it properly, and I had no desire to do so. She volunteered to go, and I said no, "I need you as my nurse."

When you pulled me away from her, and she told me she was going on the spacecraft, I thought I was going to die. My heart was being torn out of my chest. How was I supposed to exist without my Hannah? I was ready to get on that spacecraft with her, until this tiny redheaded girl told me things about us I could not believe, but I had to. There was something about her that made me do it. She told me I had a tumor behind my left eye, a few months after I had a complete physical. I find out on Christmas Day that I have an appointment the next day, at the M. D. Anderson Hospital, with the chief of radiology, and the best radiologist on staff. It cost a mere $5 million donation to prove Teddy was correct. On December 30, for a mere $1 million donation, the tumor was removed. It was diagnosed as cancerous.

I can't tell Hannah I'm fine, because that damn spaceship was so far away, and moving into the universe so fast, radio waves will take years to get to them, if they ever can.

You tell me not to worry about it, because Teddy will tell her.

Hannah used to tell me I would never meet an eligible young man, and get married, if I always had an old woman hanging on to my arm.

I told her I was Gay.

She said Bullshit.

"Which one of you two were smarter?"

"What do you mean, Will?"

"Was she right, or where you right?"

"About what?"

"Well, are you gay or not?"

Gwen's legs wrapped around William's head, but she couldn't kill him, his arms blocked the way.

"You are a real smart ass, husband."

"I thought it was a legitimate question. Some gay men marry to avoid the stigma of their proclivity. Why not women?"

"This smart gay woman would have looked for a handsome husband, rather than listen to a stupid man that tried to rape her in public."

"You tripped me, because you knew I was rich."

"I was rich; I didn't need any more money. I would've married for handsome."

"That's going on my list, and you are going to be very red, when I'm finished with you."

"Have you ever heard of spousal abuse?"

"Yes I have, and I have the wounds to prove it."

"You are such a wuss."

"Excuse me for one second, I have to do something."

He dropped his head between her thighs, spread the lips of her vagina, and bit her clit.

Gwen screamed at the top of her lungs. "That hurt you no good son of a bitch."

"It did, I'm so sorry. Let me see if it's bruised?"

He returned to the scene of the crime, and bit her clit once more.

"Ooowww! William take a good long look, because today is the last time you are going to see that. Move before I kill you. No change that, I'm going to kill you, you'd better move."

Gwen tried to move her pregnant body into a sitting position, but William used his superior position, strength, and weight to keep her where she was.

"William let me go, I want to wring your neck."

"If I don't let you go, you can't hurt me."

"Let me try this."

Gwen reached for the base of the handheld phone. She grabbed it with her left hand, and swung it with all her might. It connected with Williams right ear, causing him to scream, and roll to his left in severe pain.

This gave Gwen all the opportunity she needed to get up. She moved off the bed, looking for the next item to hit him with. She found a small brass sculpture, picked it up, turned, and prepared to throw it. She froze instead.

"William, your bleeding."

"It's nothing; my wife just tried to kill me."

"I know that, and it was justified. I didn't want you to bleed to death. It will ruin the carpeting. Come here and let me see it."

"Do you really believe I'm going to get within 10 feet of you after what you just did to me?"

"I'm going over to Patrick's; he's turned out to be more of a man than you are."

"At least put some clothes on."

"Why, they're probably naked, I'll fit right in."

She walked towards the bedroom door, and William knew she would stop. It didn't happen. She opened the door, walked out into the hallway, towards the staircase.

William was absolutely certain she would stop now. She would not dare expose herself to all the men stationed down there. Strike 2; he was wrong again.

Gracefully, Gwen started down the stairwell, and William finally gave in. He ran through the hallway yelling for her to stop. She was nearly to the bottom of the stairs when she turned and asked him, "Stop what William?"

"My ear is bleeding, would you fix it for me, please?"

"Weren't you the one that said I could not get within 10 feet of you?"

"Yes that was me. I've changed my mind. Would you please take care of my ear? It is really hurting."

"I will have to think about that, because you are the one that hurt me twice."

"Gwen, the last time I checked you were Doctor. Are doctors supposed to help the injured? If not, I'll go to the hospital. I'm not joking about my ear hurting me."

"Go to our room, I'll be right there."

"Where do you think you're going dressed like that?"

"I'm going to get my...oh I see what you mean."

Gwen shouted, "Sally would you bring my medical bag up to my room please. I played too rough with my husband, and now he's bleeding."

"Way to go Gwenny."

"You do know I'm going to get you for that, don't you?"

"You do know you have another ear, don't you?"

"Maybe Hannah was right, and you are a dike."

"You are a dead man."

"Wasn't that your original intention?"

"I was going to leave just enough life left in you to bring you back. I wanted you to be able to see your next daughter, and possibly your son."

"You are such a bitch."

"Is that a step up or down, from a dike?"

"I don't know, I will have to Google it, to be sure."

Sally walked into the room with the medical kit.

"Oh good, naked fighting; it's the best kind. You can screw, and screw someone up at the same time. Is that what happened, Gwen?"

"That damn thing of his wouldn't go down, and I was tired. I had to hit him with something to get that message across."

"How long was he up?"

"Since we got home."

"He was hard for 3 ½ hours?"

"Why the hell do you think I was tired? I'm pregnant you know."

"You are either pregnant, or you're carrying a medicine ball in your abdomen."

"I sure as hell hope it's a baby. Delivering a medicine ball, would be excruciatingly painful."

"Ladies, excuse me, I know this chick chat is important to you two, but would someone take care of my ear please?"

"Okay, you sissy, turn towards the light and let's see what's going on in there."

"Doctor that's the wrong ear."

"I know; I'm using it as a baseline."

"I will attempt to keep my mouth closed, until you're finished."

"Sally, a long swab please."

************************

"When was the last time you cleaned your ears Mr. Zabo?"

"Before we left for West Virginia, Doctor."

"Do it more often, it will help your hearing, especially when your wife is talking to you."

"Sometimes a man just doesn't want to listen."

"Sometimes a man misses out on the best invitations."

"You two are getting me horny; can we finish with this please?"

"Let me see what damage I did to your right ear, dear."

"How long ago did you break your eardrum?"

"I was 7-years old. My father was not pleased with me."

"Now he's not going to be pleased with me. I believe I just broke it again. Get dressed we are going to the hospital."

"A phone call has to be made first, Gwen"

"Are you going to wake up your father or am I?"

"I think I'd better do it. He might kill anybody else."

******************************

Young William knocked on his father's door, very lightly, waiting to see if he got an answer; miraculously he did.

"Who is it?"

"It's me dad, I need a moment of your time."

"Come in son."

"Your bleeding, what happened?"

"I sneezed. Do you remember when I burst my eardrum?"

"Of course."

"I just did it again. Gwen just looked at it, and said it was bad enough that we had to go to the hospital. Do we know anyone?"

"Call Shelley Jacobson, his number is on my phone. I believe he lives on Park and 74^th. If he gives you any problem, let me speak to him. He may want to stop here, instead of going to the hospital. We are only a few blocks apart."

*******************

"Dr. Jacobson please, William Zabo calling."

"Dr. Jacobson doesn't take calls at home. Call his service and they will call him if it's an emergency."

"Madam, I don't know who you are, and I applaud you for trying to keep Dr. Jacobson from getting any spurious phone calls at home. However, if you would like to have your job tomorrow, I suggest you tell the doctor that William Zabo is on the phone."

"Yes sir."

*******************

"Dad, I think you'd better handle this."

"Yes, give me the phone."

"This is Dr. Jacobson, and if you are anyone but William Zabo, I will call him, and he will have your balls for breakfast."

"I don't like balls for breakfast Shelley, I normally have them with dinner."

"Hello William, how are you."

"I am good and yourself?"

"Would you believe those idiots made me Chief of Staff?"

"They know talent when they see it."

"I couldn't negotiate myself out of a box of Cheerios."

"If you need any help I can send one of my people over to give you a hand."

"Do you mean that William? Don't send an anchor to a drowning man."

"I will make you a deal. You come over to my home for coffee, take a look at my son's ear, and fix it if it's necessary. I will have one of my best negotiators at your side by Monday. How does that sound?"

"Are you still in that townhouse east of Fifth Avenue?"

"Since Patty convinced a doctor, from Sloan, to pay for it, why would I move?"

"You can tell me that story over coffee. I'm on my way out the door. I'll be there in 15 minutes. Goodbye William."

"I think we better get dressed. Shelley said he will be here in 15 minutes, which means he'll be here in 12. He hates being late."

***********************

Young William slammed the door to their bedroom. Get dressed, Gwen. Dr. Shelley Jacobson will be here in 12 minutes to look at my ear. I sneezed and broke my eardrum. Wasn't that unfortunate."

"Yes it's very unfortunate, especially when he sees the rectangular mark on your head from the base of the phone."

"I will introduce you to him as Dr. Gwendolyn Zabo. I think that will give him a hint that the information has to be kept under wraps."

"Let's hope so."

***********************

William Senior left a note on the bedroom door, on the bathroom mirror, on the bedroom dresser, and on the night table, advising Jemma there was company downstairs, and make sure she was appropriately dressed. He didn't believe she would see any of them. After a morning, and afternoon like they had, she would normally sleep for 4 to 6 hours. He loved the smile on her face. He wanted to kiss it. He wanted to take it with him wherever he went, but only certain things were possible. That was not one of them. He left the bedroom silently, closed the door, descended the stairs, and went to the study to wait for his guest.

Several moments later three of his agents escorted Dr. Jacobson in.

William asked, "Why all the security?"

Brian responded, "We inspected the doctor's bag, but he would not allow us to touch anything that was in there. He said everything was sterile. He could have a gun, or a knife underneath all that, and we would not know it. We do know he has a lot of metal in there, because the detectors picked it up as soon as he passed the first gate. We would not allow him to get close to you, without us near him."

"Shelley sit down. Would you like some coffee?"

"I would prefer tea if you have it."

"Brian, you can stay here with me, because you made an excellent case for your precautions. Al, you can return to your duties. Deke, if you would go to the kitchen, and ask Flora to make some tea for my guest and bring in some refreshments."

"Yes Mr. Zabo."

***************************

"What are you in the process of negotiating, Shelley?"

"I have no idea why I am doing this in the first place. This is the CEO's business. This is hospital business. I'm supposed to be in charge of Doctor business. They have me negotiating with contractors that are going to be knocking down walls, rewiring rooms, changing conduit lines, things I know absolutely nothing about William. They are telling me it's my job. Nowhere, in my job description, does it say that I am a general contractor. I am supposed to keep track of what my doctors are doing, and make sure they're doing a damn good job at it. That's what a Chief of Staff is supposed to do."

"How many enemies do you have in the hospital?"

"After 35 years, I would say I have several."

"How did you wind up getting the Chief of Staff's job?"

"There were only two of us running, and I got more than 80% of the vote. It was a paper ballot, done in the hospital auditorium, and the ballots were counted by five New York City police sergeants; one from each borough. It was the fairest way anyone could think of to do it. The ballots were sealed after the vote, and are now kept in a safe deposit box at Citibank. Anyone who wishes to recheck the results can."

"It sure sounds like a fair election to me."

"Everyone in the auditorium thought so. There was no animosity, or anger displayed by anyone. It was the best election I can remember having."

"Here's your tea, Doctor. The scones will be out of the oven in seven minutes, if you don't mind waiting."

"I would give my left nut for a hot scone with butter."

"Your left nut will not be necessary, Shelley, just take care of my son's ear."

"I can't do it if he's in that spacecraft of yours."

"He's probably helping Gwen. She's eight months pregnant, and it takes her a little time to move around. She's very thin everywhere, except for her abdomen. I don't know how she's carrying that extra 28 pounds in front of her."

"William, who ever said that women were the weaker sex lied. The things they do during a normal lifetime, no man, regardless of how strong he looks, can match. The pain of childbirth would kill any man. If a man survived it, that family would only have one child."

"I agree with you, Shelley. I watched them open Jemma's belly, because our twins decided to turn sideways at the last moment. It must have been fate that stepped in, because as they were cleaning her out Dr. Stephanopoulos saw something he didn't like. He sent a frozen section to the lab, and called for the best oncologist in the building. As soon as Dr. Heightman took one look at it, he knew what it was. He called the lab for verification, and it was cancer. He removed the area, plus a few extra millimeters for safety reasons. He inspected the entire area. It was the only area, which was affected.

They called a plastic surgeon to close her up, and you can't see where she was cut. She can still wear a bikini, and I still can take it off her at the beach."

"William, you are still a dirty old man."

Jemma said, "I don't ever want him to change. He keeps me thin."

William stood up, walked over to Jemma and kissed her.

"How are you feeling dear?"

"I think I got all the ice cream out, if that's what you mean."

"You must admit, it was fun."

"I'm going to buy chocolate ice cream, and shove your pride and joy into it. I want to see how much you enjoy it."

"Dear, we have company. You are telling tales out of school, again."

"Husband, you started this by asking me how I was, and all I did was answer you."

"William, if you would like, I could step in to another room."

"No Shelley, I haven't introduced you to the love of my life. What we are doing now is foreplay. We are just setting the tone for what we are going to do later."

"I take it you can't hit a target at 6 feet with a pistol?"

"I get close at 4 feet."

"No one can miss at 4 feet."

"I watched him Doctor, and he can. His instructors take the gun always from him, and order him to wear his bullet resistant suit every time he leaves the house. Thankfully, all his suits are now bullet resistant, as are his shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes."

After Shelley stopped laughing, William said, "My shoes are not bullet resistant. They are Italian leather."

"Everything else I said is true, isn't it?"

"You forgot my jockstrap."

Shelley almost dropped his tea, and Jemma was wrapped around William in a passionate kiss.

"I don't know why I love you so much, but you better never change, because I do."

"Would you like to go for another airplane ride?"

"Patrick's 747 is due soon, and we have our own private suite. We have to christen it, don't we?"

"Do you know how long that airplane can stay in the air?"

"Do you know how much I care?"

"I think we should wait until after Gwen gives birth. We will give her a month to get used to the baby, and then convince her that she needs a vacation after all she's gone through. I don't think it will be too hard to sell her on that."

"No mom, wherever you're going, we will tag along. There is only one problem, we have to make sure Will's ear can take the pressure. We also have to make sure he doesn't sneeze again."

Young William said, "Doctor Jacobson, this is my wife, Doctor Gwen Zabo."

"You landed a doctor?"

"She tripped me on Christmas Day."

"That's crap and you know it. You pushed me down, and tried to rape me in public."

"These two do the same thing as you two?"

"Shelley would you like to stay for dinner? Explaining what happened between those two will take a long time."

"I would not miss that story if I had to take the last place in the standing room only section. It sounds like a doozy."

"Trust me, you will love it."

"Dad, it's a very short story. William tried to rape me in public."

"That's a lie and you know it. You tripped me."

"If I tripped you, how did I wind up on the bottom, with you between my thighs?"

"Children, this discussion ends now. Shelley, if you would look at William's ear please."

"Is that the reason I came here? I thought it was for tea, scones, and scintillating conversation. Let's go in to another room, where I can keep you quiet."

"He doesn't know the meaning of the word quiet."

"Gwen, leave your husband alone. You can hit his left ear, with the phone, later."

"He was a bad boy, and I punished him."

"Did you have to break his eardrum?"