Indelible

Barb looked at Mark trying to determine how he was. He certainly looked better than he did the last time she saw him. She took a seat and waited for Mark to say something.

Mark was assessing Barb at the same time and was reminded how beautiful she was. She had comforted him in his worst moments and it dawned on him that he never thanked her for being so kind. So, he decided now was as good as any time and said, "Barb, I feel like a horrible person because I never thanked you for comforting me on our flight home. You made an intolerable situation bearable. Thank you for being my friend."

Barb smiled and said, "That's what friends do for each other. So, how are you doing now? You look much better than the last time I saw you. I have to admit that I've been disappointed that you never called me."

Mark smiled at Barb's directness and replied, "I'm sorry I never called. I was busy trying to get my life back together and was trying to separate myself from Justin's world. It wasn't anything personal because I really like you. It's just, well, kind of, hard to explain."

Barb smiled and said, "I understand. You've been through an awful emotional upheaval. That's why I waited until now to contact you. I really think you owe me a dinner. What do you think?"

Mark smiled and said, "I think that's a great idea."

Three months later, Mark and Barb were married and living in his abode above his office. Two months later Barb was pregnant expecting their first child. The two were very much in love and Mark's world and returned to one of bliss instead of sorrow.

When Barb was 8 months pregnant, Mark's secretary buzzed and said that there was an Anne Wright to see him. The mention of Anne's name threw him for a loop for a moment. He then said, "Alice, is the Anne Wright in my office my ex-wife?" Alice indicated that she was, so Mark said, "Alice, get ahold of Barb and tell her to get down here immediately!"

Barb came huffing and puffing through Mark's back entrance and asked, "What's going on?"

"Anne's here!"

"Your Anne?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, well, have her shown in and we will see what she wants."

"Betsy, please show her in."

When Anne walked through the door, he hardly recognized her. She was extremely thin and her skin had a yellow pallor to it. It was obvious that she was very ill. Mark stood and walked to her and took her into my arms and kissed her cheek and then guided her to a chair. When he had returned to his chair and Barb had taken a seat, he asked, "How can I help you Anne?"

Anne smiled at the two of them and said, "There is nothing you can do to help me at this point other than to hear me through, okay?" Barb and Mark nodded and then Anne continued. "As you can see I am very ill. I didn't know what exactly was wrong until I arrived in San Francisco 2 weeks ago. The medical services on Sainte Marie aren't very sophisticated and they were convinced I had hepatitis. When I got here I discovered I have pancreatic cancer and there's nothing that can be done about it. I've been told I have, maybe a month to live."

Barb gasped and said, "They can't do anything to help you?"

"Not a thing. The cancer is so advanced; all they can do is give me pain medication to ease my pain a bit. So, I'm sure you are both wondering what I'm doing here like a ghost out of the past. Well, the truth is I want to atone for my worst sin. I need to apologize to Mark for treating him so abysmally on Sainte Marie. Will you allow me to do that?"

Mark smiled and said, "Of course."

"Thank you. Well, I want to tell you the whole story to help you understand everything. When we were first introduced to Jean on the day we arrived, I experienced something I had never experienced before. I thought at the time it was love at first sight. I couldn't get him out of my mind and I know I treated you terribly. When I was able to talk to him on Christmas, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Believe me Mark, it had nothing to do with being dissatisfied with you. You were nothing but wonderful and caring to me the whole time we were together. You let me explore my sexuality without judgement and were, really the perfect husband.

"It was all me. I was infatuated by Jean and was not going to let anything deny me what I wanted. When you caught us having sex in our bed, I was hopeful that you would dump me like yesterday's garbage, but on the day you left I could see you were still holding out hope.

When I moved out of the cabin, Jean took me to his village and we just had sex constantly. Even after you were gone we did nothing but fuck. It was good for a while, but it never changed. He would just pound into me over and over and about three weeks after you had left, I really missed our sweet and passionate lovemaking. Sweetness wasn't part of Jean.

"After a while our cultural differences began to manifest themselves. He wanted me to be a submissive island girl and I wasn't that, so about a month after you left I left Jean. I cried myself to sleep every night as I chastised myself over what I had done to you over a momentary crush. I had a hard time staying safe from Jean, because he didn't want me to go. At one point, he cornered me and beat me very badly and I was put into the hospital. The police arrested him for assault and he was thrown into prison.

"I managed to get a job at a bar with the aim of making enough money to fly back home and, hopefully, fix the mess I created by abandoning you. But, with rent and food I couldn't save money nearly fast enough and when I got notice that we were divorced I thought that that was the end of my dream.

"Not too long after that I began feeling sick. I was in and out of doctors' offices constantly and nobody could tell me what was wrong. The jaundice never went away, so hepatitis was ruled out. Little did I know that the court had awarded me money from our divorce and that the letter with the check in it had been floating around trying to find me. I, finally, got it about two months ago and had to work with the bank and the court to get the check reissued because it had expired. When I got the money, I bought a ticket here and arrived, as I said, 2 weeks ago. The hospital did a bunch of tests and then I was diagnosed with an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer.

"So, to make a long story short, please believe me Mark when I say I never wanted to hurt you. I just got caught up in a stupid fantasy that was doomed from the beginning. I let my pussy do my thinking instead of my head. I'm so sorry for all of the pain I have caused you. I know 'sorry' does nothing to mitigate your pain and suffering, but that's all I have."

Mark let out a big sigh and tried to decide what he wanted to say in response. Finally, he said, "Thank you for apologizing. You're right, 'sorry' doesn't begin to ease the pain I suffered when you left me, but it's is good to know that you feel bad about what you did. I'm sorry you had to suffer at the hands of Jean and that you have been dealt such an unfair hand with your illness."

They all sat silent for a while until Barb said, "So, where are you staying and how are you taking care of yourself?"

Anne replied, "I have a cheap room at a motel on Lombard St. and am just riding out my days."

Barb looked at me and said, "She can't live this way, Mark. I know you still love her and I still love her in my own way. I think we need to bring her here and let her live the rest of her life in the comfort of our home with people who love her."

Mark stood up, took Barb in my arms, hugged and kissed her and said, "That's why I love you. You always think of others in their time of need." He turned to Anne and said, "Let's collect your stuff and move you into our home." As they left his office he told Betsy that he would be unavailable for the rest of the day.

It took some doing getting a terminally ill woman and a very pregnant one situated into the car, but they managed. They made the short drive to Lombard St. and pulled into the lot of Anne's motel. They grabbed the few possessions Anne had, packed them up and put them in the trunk of the car. Mark then went into the office and told the lady in there that Anne was checking out and gave her the key.

When they got home they had to help Anne up the stairs and by the time they got to the living room, she was exhausted. So, they let her rest while Barb and Mark got a room ready for her. Luckily there was a bedroom on the living room level, so they didn't have to manage anymore stairs. When the room was ready, they showed it to Anne and she thanked them profusely.

While eating dinner, Anne asked, "How long did it take the two of you to get together. After I left you Mark, I had hoped you and Beth would figure things out."

Mark replied, "It wasn't as quick as you may think. I had a lot of issues to get through and Barb, wisely, gave me a lot of time to come to grips with things. However, she is a lifesaver for me."

The three lived happily for a while until Anne's health took a turn for the worse.

They hired a nurse to help take care of Anne and it was apparent, she was going to die very soon which had Mark and Barb upset. Finally, everything came to a head. Barb's water broke signifying that their baby was about to arrive. Mark was getting ready to go to the hospital with Barb, but Barb said, "We can't leave Anne alone! I honestly don't think she will make it through the night."

The two were fretting about what to do until the nurse said, "You can have your baby here. I worked in the maternity ward for many years, so I have a lot of experience with child birth."

Barb looked at Mark with bright eyes and said, "Yes! Let's do that. Bring that roll away into Anne's room, so we can all be together."

Mark brought a roll away bed into Anne's room and made the bed. Barb lay down on it while Mark sat between the two women he loved the most in his life. He held both of their hands as Anne's breathing got more difficult by the moment and Barb's contractions came quicker and quicker.

Finally, Anne whispered, "Mark?" Mark turned his attention to his ex-wife and she looked into his eyes and said, "I never stopped loving you." She closed her eyes, let out a deep breath and passed away. At that same moment, the room was filled with the sound of Mark and Barb's baby daughter crying. Mark couldn't help himself and began crying as well. His emotions were stretched to the breaking point. He let go of Barb's hand and then crossed Anne's hands across her chest and kissed her forehead. He then turned to his wife and kissed her and said, "I love you, Barb and always will."

Barb looked at her husband and asked, "Is she gone?" Mark nodded and began crying again.

The next morning, Mark went to his wife in the nursery where she was nursing their daughter. They had had quite a night and were trying to deal with the fact that their daughter had been born at the exact same moment that their friend had died. The nurse was a model of efficiency as she recorded all of the vital statistics for the baby and recorded the vital statistics surrounding Anne's death. The morgue arrived at their house at around 2am to remove the corpse and after that they all managed to get some sleep.

"Mark, honey? I think you should call Justin and tell him about Anne. He loved her too in his own way. She was something, she left her indelible mark on everyone she touched. Too bad her life ended the way it did, but I'm very happy that the two of you were able to be together in the end."

"Me too, honey. Me too!"