Dark as Daylight Ch. 23

Prologue: My dear friends and readers, thank-you for your kind words and for remembering me after these past two years of silence. It was great hearing from you, and for as long as I can, I will do my utmost to do you and this story justice. As always, you are the folks that keep a smile on my face. Bob

Misprint: Atwater Luck is 70.6 Light Years from Earth, not 7.6 Light Years

80. Arguments, Hospitals, Weddings

As Patrick's 747 was secured and everyone deplaned, Lucius finally had the courage to call William and advise him of his plan for Jemma. When William responded, Lucius didn't need his satellite phone to hear the answer. William screamed so loud he woke up his wife, who was only 8 feet away from him. He had the entire medical staff run into the room to find out what had happened to her. He told them to get out and he would settle this situation by himself, in just a few moments.

He was not so lucky with his answer to Jemma. She would not settle for, "It's only Lucius dear. He told me something I was not happy with. I will take care of it presently."

She replied, "When was the last time you lied to me and got away with it, you old fart?"

He replied, "I was hoping this would be the 1^st time, my dear."

"Well, asshole, you failed. Put the phone by my ear and let me talk to my next husband. If you don't, I'm kicking you out of this room."

"You can't lift your head up off your pillow, my dear. How are you going to kick me out of this room?"

"I will make your life so miserable, you will walk out of here thinking it was your idea, and you know I can do it."

"Yes dear, I have been the victim of your acid tongue for many decades. The only reason we are still married is because we love each other fiercely. When you hear what this idiot has in mind, you yell at him and tell him how stupid he is for even thinking about it."

"Put the phone by my ear, blabbermouth. This call is probably costing him a fortune."

"Hello Lucius, what did you say to my asshole of a husband that made him blow his top?"

"Jemma, I am not going to make the mistake of lying to you, as he did, because your radar always picks up an untruth. I am dying. I have a disease called, "Multiple Myeloma." I have had it for a very long time, but that idiot that takes care of my affairs never bothered to tell me about it, until 7 months ago. We were out for a run by my home on Vancouver Island, where I slipped on a moss-covered rock and broke the lower part of my right leg. Needless to say, Paul never let me hear the end of it.

For the next few months after the operation to fix my leg, and a vein that was crushed by a bone during the fall, that bastard put me through hell. During my recovery period Paul was even more abusive than that as he put me through physical therapy, so I would be able to walk properly, again. He was smart enough to remove the firing pins from every gun in the house, because he knew I was going to kill him if I ever had the chance.

Paul flew me to the mainland and brought me to a hospital, which I now own. However, that is a different story.

The doctors did extensive blood work on me, because of my age, and when it came back, he looked at me and asked if I knew how sick I was.

I asked the nurse to get Paul into the room so he could hear what was said, and I could throw something solid at him for keeping it a secret from me.

The doctor told me that I was in stage IV of this malignant disease. I looked at Paul for an explanation of his actions.

Paul explained, "There is only one blood borne disease that is more virulent than Multiple Myeloma, and that is "Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma." Both are lethal, and neither disease is curable or treatable at this time. Physicians throw everything they have in their arsenals at these 2 diseases to try to slow down their spread through the victim's bodies, but that's all they can do at this time. Drug companies are looking for candidates to try their new medicines on, as guinea pigs. I was not going to allow you to be a guinea pig for some drug manufacturer attempting to make billions of dollars if 1 of its drugs worked 10 years in the future. I wanted you to live the remainder of your life as you lived it in the past: irascible, inscrutable, meticulous, and most of all demanding. I would not allow you to live in a hospital like setting, and walk around attached to bags of drugs that were doing nothing for you, except wasting your time.

I do have your eulogy printed up, as well as the guest list for those I intend to invite to your burial. I still have one more item to take care of, either before or after your life terminates. You may go to your rest knowing that the General, who voted against your promotion to full Colonel, will die while mowing his lawn."

"What does all this have to do with me, Lucius?"

"My love, I want to give you my heart, and I want you to give me yours."

As loud as she could, Jemma croaked, "Are you out of your fucking mind, Lucius? My heart barely keeps me alive. You would have to lie down for the rest of your life, pee into a bag, and shit into a diaper."

"That's my point, Jemma. My life is ending, and quickly, according to multiple doctors. Your body was in wonderful condition, prior to your heart attack. My heart is in excellent condition. Why don't you use it and keep my best friend happy, until his 130^th birthday? I would be honored to know that I saved your life and gave William the woman he loves so fiercely for another 30 years of his life."

"It is such a lovely thought, Lucius, and only a man as great as you are could come up with it. I really am at a loss for words. I love you so much. I hope you're not aging like the man across from me. He's got wrinkles, inside his wrinkles, inside those wrinkles. If he doesn't stop worrying about me, I'm going to divorce him."

"If you take my heart, you can do what you used to do to him, Jemma."

"What's that?"

"You can beat the shit out of him, and then take him to bed and fuck him to death."

"No one is allowed to use that word around me, Lucius. I am so horny; I'm going to use one of these medical devices to get myself off."

"Williams is of no help to you now?"

"The bastard won't touch me, because he thinks it will hurt my heart. He doesn't realize if I got off, my heart would sing."

William interrupted, "You are not supposed to talk to my best friend about our sex life dear."

"What sex life, you moron?"

"That's it, I'm taking the phone away from you."

When he did, he heard about it from her immediately.

"You bastard, you are never getting between my thighs ever again. You can beg, you can try to buy your way in, but you're never getting in there again."

"Jemma, go to sleep. Your overwrought because of the conversation you had with Lucius. Did you accept his offer or decline it?"

"You didn't offer me your heart, you bastard. Your best friend offered me his."

"Well, did you accept or decline his offer? He is dying, and as his last bequest that is what he wants to do for you. I want to kill him for even thinking about it. What do you want to do Jemma? He loves you almost as much as I do, and you know it."

"William, you have to help me with this decision. He is our friend. I would do anything for him, and now he wants to do this for me. How long could he possibly live with my heart in his chest? He would have to live like I am living now, and if you're wondering about it, it's not a lot of fun. I am bored out of my mind, and I have bedsores on my ass. With Lucius's heart, I would be up and around in 3 to 4 months. With my heart in his chest, I don't know if he would ever heal. What do I do, William, please say something?"

"Lucius, where are you now?"

"The Langone Heart Center at NYU. They're getting ready to do tests on me to see how my heart is doing. This wasn't a quick decision on my part, my friend. I've thought about it for months, and had to convince Paul that this was the right thing to do. When we found out that Jemma was due to come into the hospital for her exams today, I scheduled mine before hers.

If everything comes out the way I hope it does, the surgeries could happen as early as Monday. Matti Williams has been bribed to be here, just in case. I will meet her later in the day to explain the circumstances of what might happen next week. For the amount of money, I am paying her, I don't expect any problems to arise. I asked her to arrange for the same operating staff that took care of Jemma the first time. They saved her life, and I want them to save it once more."

"Lucius, my friend, what am I going to do with you? We have been together for more than 40 years, and you have never have put me in a position like I am in now. I want the love of my life to live forever. However, how can I condemn you to death? It is not something I ever dreamed of doing. I would have willingly spent my fortune protecting you. I would've put an army around you to protect you, because you are my best friend. You have proven your friendship, and given me great counsel over these years. You saved my daughter's life, and I can never repay you for that. Now you want to save my wife's life. How, my friend, can I allow you to do that by giving up your own life in return. I know you are 82 years old, and I know you are ill. It does not mean that I have the right to kill you by accepting your offer. Why can't we put this off until you die naturally, and the doctors can take your heart and transplant it into my beloved Jemma. I can move you into the house next door to us and build you a room like Jemma and I sleep in every day. It is like being in a hospital, but much more comfortable. I can even walk through the backyard and into your new residence to aggravate you for what you did to me today. What do you think Lucius? How do you think we should proceed? I like my way much better than yours."

"I always told you that you never thought proactively, William. The longer Jemma has to deal with a defective heart, the more her body will wear down. She was an athlete, which gave her a chance to live. Now she is barely holding on to life because of her heart. Dammit, William give her a chance at life as it was before the disease hit her, and started her down this road toward death. I won't die because of a defective heart. I will rest and let my disease kill me. It's going to, my doctors have told me so, in no uncertain terms. There is no turning back from stage IV cancer. There is no miracle cure from my disease. There is no cure at all. Let's do this thing before it damages my heart, and it's no use to your beloved Jemma, or anyone else."

"Lucius have I ever told you that you were a pain in the ass?"

"William that is one of the nicer things you have told me about my character. Would you like to hear some of the others?"

"No, I think I will pass on that for now. The ambulance just pulled up in front of our house. I have to get big mouth ready for transport to the hospital."

"BIG MOUTH, AM I! You really want to die before I do, don't you, William?"

"Lucius, it's Jemma, if you can hear me, you can't die yet. You have one more job to do, like you did to the vice president. You have to kill my husband. I will testify on your behalf that it was self-defense, and I will make sure the rest of the staff does also."

"Jemma, I had nothing to do with the death of the vice president. Although it was a marvelously performed action, I was in Temple, at the building site, and I have over 1000 witnesses to prove it."

"Lucius, you are a lying sack of shit. I'll talk to you later, because you can't lie to me when we are face-to-face."

William said, "My friend, I think I should keep you 2 apart. She will know what happened immediately, even though you protest your innocence."

"I'll make sure Paul doesn't open his mouth."

"They have to get Jemma into her bubble so she is ready to be moved. I have to leave, because the screaming and yelling is about to begin."

"Have fun, William, and give Jemma a big kiss for me."

William bent over his wife, and kissed her.

"You finally figured out that we're still married and I deserved some affection."

"I kissed you when you 1^st woke up this morning, my dear."

"That was 2 ½ hours ago. Are you rationing your kisses?"

"Actually, that kiss was from Lucius; he asked me to give it to you."

"That man loves me, and has from the 1^st time he saw me. You should be lucky I didn't leave you and marry him."

"Lucius is a man of honor. He would never steal another man's wife."

"He wouldn't have stolen me from you, I would have left you willingly. By the way, husband, I would've taken your balls with me."

"I hope your mood gets better by the time we reached the hospital, otherwise the technicians are going to run for the hills."

"I am always very pleasant with the technicians and aides that are helping me. It's the hangers on, like husbands, and children, that annoy me every day that I take my vengeance out upon. Help me change this gown, William. It must smell as badly as I do."

"My dear, you smell like, "Lilies of the Valley." I did not want you to smell like an antiseptic. I told Manolo I wanted to put a perfume on you daily. He said absolutely not because it could cause a negative reaction to your system. I told him I had one that would not. I told him it was 'Lilies of the Valley', and he approved it. You can barely smell the delicate floral sent, but it is truly magnificent."

"Why can't I smell it?"

"Because you are a cantankerous old woman."

"Did you just call me old, you ancient old man?"

"Since I know you can't hit me, I did call you old. That's the 2^nd time I did it. You can put it in your logbook for later. I can't wait to see what you do with it when you get better."

"I am going to beat the shit out of you whenever I can. I owe you for the ice cream store, and the McDonald's insult. There are several more insults over these past few months then I'm going to get even for. Now you have called me old, twice in the last 2 sentences. I'm going to think about your punishment while I'm on my way to the hospital. I may use a defibrillator on your testicles to see how they react to electrical stimulation. I may put one up your ass and one on your penis to see how they react to each other. I will have such fun thinking about how to get even with you, William. If I am able to live to your 130^th birthday, you are going to be black and blue, when they sing the birthday song to you. I am going to stick your head into the cake they make for you and make sure you can't breathe. You will have reached your age goal, and I will kill you in front of your guests."

"Darling, you are the meanest woman on this planet."

"That's it? That's the best you could come up with? You are getting old, William. I was expecting much more from you."

"I couldn't say anything else, Jemma. The paramedics are here to take you to the hospital. If I said anything more demeaning to you, they could testify to it in court, and I could get into trouble."

"You pussy!"

"No dear, you have the pussy, and I've seen it many times."

"Keep that memory intact, husband, because you're never going to see it again."

"How much do you want to bet?"

"My Newspaper."

"Oh Shit! You are serious about that, aren't you?"

"I am as serious as a heart attack."

"Don't say that, you've had a heart attack, and I almost lost you."

"Well, you didn't lose me, and you're fighting with me over trivial stuff. Isn't it fun, William?"

"You're doing all of this to have fun with me?"

"I haven't had this much fun since before the heart surgery."

"You are not going to make it to NYU. I'm going to take your heart out, and auction it off at Columbus Circle."

Junior said, "Dad, she's got you right where she wants you. Leave her alone or you will have a heart attack. The best thing to do right now is be quiet."

"Where have you been all this time?"

"When I heard you 2 arguing, I stayed out by the nurses' station. I kept everyone else out there with me. As long as nothing was being thrown, and moms life signs remained stable, I wasn't coming in here. I was not going to get between you 2 simply because I was not getting in the middle of an argument. I had been in that position too many times before, and I was not leaving with bruises on my arms, or another broken nose. I had to step in now because everyone is ready to leave, except mom. We have appointments starting at 11:30 AM, and we have to put a move on it to get there in time."

"I'm still in my pajamas."

"Your suit, shirt, and other accoutrements are in the library. Your shaving equipment is in the bathroom, and anything else you need will be given to you by the staff. It will take us at least 45 minutes to get mom ready to go, so please don't rush, and do something foolish like fall and break your leg, as the Colonel did."

"How did you know the Colonel fell?"

"Dad, we have radio intercept equipment in the house, and at work. We don't listen to all your calls, but when Colonel Canyon called, we knew it was going to be interesting."

"William, you are almost as efficient as your brother, Patrick."

"I would certainly hope so."

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

Holden said, "Deb, I believe Mr. Constantine is correct. I believe a marriage between us would be a disaster, maybe not at the very beginning, but shortly thereafter. I don't want that to happen to you or to me. I want to fall in love like Richard has. I want a marriage like my dad and my mom. I want a marriage that will last a lifetime, not one that is doomed to failure as ours would be. Please don't be angry with me."

"Holden, I didn't think you had the balls to say that to me, but I'm very happy you did. It takes the onus off my back. I won't have to say it to you, and watch you fall apart. I want you to continue working as best you can on Teddy's transmission invention, and I will help in any way I can. I want us to remain friends. I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us. I know I can do it, can you?"

"Deb's, I was afraid you were going to kick my ass all over the hotel, because of what I said, but I'm very glad you didn't. Yes, I can be your friend. I can also be your collaborator, while working on this new device. I can't understand how she did it, with the limited amount of supplies she had to work with. How did she manage to shrink light waves?

My dad was able to shrink radio waves by using a heat coefficient that made them hotter. Protons are by definition heat. They start at the core of the star, where hydrogen atoms are stripped of their electrons, and the immense pressure of the internal gravity of the star produces an infinitely tiny proton. This proton takes a circuitous route around the sun many times, while attempting to find a way to reach its surface. When it finally reaches the seething cauldron of the surface, and we see it as light and feel it's heat, it is millions of years old..."

Debbie said, "Holden, you are not talking to 6th grader. I know all this stuff. Can we go to the building site and try to work on a way to build this new invention?"

"We can do that, if you want, or I can take you to lunch, while your sister is getting spanked for her obnoxious behavior. The choice is yours."

"Let's do lunch, because my sister will call me while she's crying after your brother tans her hide good. She deserves it for the way she's been behaving. I can't believe that used to be me."

"Let's move, and I will tell you how you behaved before."