Lying Young Ch. 02

"...I died. For a very short time, my life technically ended. It all happened so suddenly, I wouldn't have even known. Except..."

"Except what?"

"Well...the doctors didn't even believe me when I told them. But for a few seconds...I was brought somewhere else. Now that I think about it, I guess you can't believe it unless it happens to you. But for me, Dori..." She shook her head. "Nothing's ever been clearer."

Dori sat up a bit, more intrigued. "Did you go to heaven?"

Debbie thought hard, trying to recall. "I dunno. But I don't think so. I...it-it didn't seem like heaven or hell as I'd ever envisioned it. There...wasn't any bright light, or...omniscient voice or anything, I was just...there."

"Well...well, did you like it?" Dori asked, growing very curious all of a sudden. "What'd it feel like? What'd you see? What'd you hear?"

"To be honest with you, Dori..." Debbie idly traced a fingertip along the sheet lining her bed, drawing an unidentifiable picture.

"No. I didn't like it very much. I really don't think I could see or hear a thing. It was a void. Just...black nothingness. It didn't feel like anything at all. It just felt...numb."

This answer seemed to let Dori down a little. She made one paw into a fist and placed her chin on it.

"Geez, I can't wait to die now."

Debbie gave a small chuckle. "I'm sorry, Dori. I certainly don't mean to discourage you."

Dori couldn't help but chuckle a bit too. Deb stood and reached into the pocket of her jeans.

"I was just trying to make a point." She removed a coin to show her. "See this nickel? This nickel saved my life."

Dori wasn't sure how to reply. So Debbie smiled and went on.

"The night I found out, I said to myself, this is it. I knew I was looking at a needle-in-a-haystack situation. So I flipped it, and I said, 'Heads, I go to heaven, tails...I...go somewhere else.' And it bounced...and it spun...and spun...and just kept spinning."

Finally, she placed the nickel on the nightstand beside Dori's bed, on its side. Dori couldn't help but be a little charmed by it.

"Wow. No way, huh?"

Debbie picked it back up and flipped it a few times.

"Okay, so it wasn't really what saved my life. But we've gotta hold on to those little things, just to believe there is magic out there. I carry this nickel with me wherever I go. Right along with my purse, my keys and my phone. It's never left my side for eight years."

"Wow," Dori repeated. "Bet you were really scared, though, huh?"

"You're one of the few who could know just how scared."

"Well, that's...great, Deb. Y'know, congratulations. I mean, it worked out pretty terrific for you. Unfortunately, eh..."

She smiled ironically. "It doesn't look too fabulous right now for your new favorite patient."

"Hey, c'mon now. You never know until you know. Lemme ask you something, Dori...do you believe in magic?"

"Ummm...guess that depends what kinda magic you're talking about."

"Well, yeah, I don't mean big ol' stagey Copperfield-y production stuff with crews, wires, beautiful assistants and all that. I mean...the strange cosmic forces, events, coincidences we can't explain. Supernatural stuff that's just normal enough to actually happen."

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess I kinda have to."

"Well, you don't have to. I suppose what I'm trying to get at is, I know we can't live forever. But I'm very good at finding a silver lining in sad situations. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Dori, I really am. But I'd like to believe that after our time in this life, anything is possible. I know how awful you feel, my friend. I do. But...who knows what awaits you beyond this? Your next life could be fantastic. You could come back as a beautiful animal, some other wonder of nature, or something in a totally alternate dimension we can't even imagine. Personally, I'm curious. I never found out what my next life looked like."

Dori looked down and gave a nod. She had to admit, Deb made some good points. And she was right; she was good at seeing the silver lining. But Dori was still scared and sad. She just wasn't ready to say goodbye. She told Debbie so, not even feeling the need to lie first.

"It's okay, Dori," she consoled, taking Dori's hand in one of hers and patting it with the other. "It's all right to feel however you feel. As long as you're true to those feelings. Please believe me, I understand this feels like the ultimate injustice. I agree with you. It's not fair. But please try not to worry too much. You're a nice girl. You have a good heart. And that's one of the most important things in this world, however long we're in it. And sometimes we just don't have any control over what's happening to us. So just go with the flow."

Dori looked back up. "Hey, that's what my Dad always says too."

"Is it? Well, great minds apparently think alike."

For the first time in hours and even days, Dori felt like smiling a little. She blinked through some more tears.

"You really are my friend, aren't you?"

Still holding on to her paw, Debbie turned Dori's palm up, and placed in it the very same nickel she'd produced earlier. And she then gently closed Dori's hand around it. Their eyes met, and Dr. Deborah Morelli gave her a smile.

"Or may God strike me dead."

*****

Unconscious/Subconscious: Dream Or Reality?

date and time unknown

The key clicked in the lock. Dori and Lesley entered single-file, each carrying groceries. They toted them into the kitchen.

"If anyone told me things would turn out like this," Dori said, "I never would've believed them."

Lesley smirked flirtatiously. "Fibber."

"You're right. I knew it all along. Why don't you get comfy while I put these away? Go ahead, make yourself at home."

Lesley did as told, flopping down onto Dori's sofa with her purse and big, full backpack. She unzipped the former, surreptitiously looking down, and a coy smile crept up beneath her nose. She heard the repetitive sounds of bags emptying, and things opened and shut. Making sure she had what she needed, Lesley stood, and began to sneak off to the bathroom.

"Ow!" Dori abruptly groaned. "Dang it!"

"Dori? What's the matter?"

Not wanting to worry her, Dori was a bit hasty with her answer.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing. Just a, um...some-something fell on my foot."

"Aw! Want me to kiss it better?"

She thought she heard a new sound. Something that almost sounded like...pills being shaken from a bottle. While curious, Lesley didn't want to pry. She heard Dori answer.

"Uh...maybe a little later," she giggled. "But it's okay. I'm fine now, really."

Satisfied, Lesley slipped into the john. She stood before the mirror, popped open her lipstick first and began applying.

"Hey, Les?" came Dori's voice from the kitchen.

Concentrating hard on her lipstick, Lesley answered while still putting it on. "Ehhr?"

There was a pause, as the sounds from the kitchen momentarily stopped.

"...Lesley, are you in the bathroom?"

Lesley paused herself, remembering she was trying to surprise Dori. She stopped to coherently answer.

"Uh, yeah, be right out!"

"Oh. Okay. Well, uh..." Dori put away more items as Lesley hurriedly but thoroughly finished her lipstick. The next "weapon" to come out of her arsenal was powder. Dori called out to her again.

"...I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the Blue Turtle with me Friday night for dinner."

Lesley halted with her makeup for just a second as her eyes widened.

"...Really? I mean...honestly?"

"Yes. Absolutely. You wanna?"

Lesley was confused why these answers weren't preceded by compulsive lies. But with such a proposal, she wasn't about to complain.

"YES!! Oh, Dori, yes! Yes, yes, yes, oh, my goodness gracious, yes!!"

"...Should I take that as a yes?"

A jazzed Lesley began really going at herself with the powder now, topping with cool blush for good measure. Next came eyeshadow.

"Oh my God, I would only positively love to! Oh, Dori, that is the finest restaurant in town!"

"Well, second-finest when my kitchen's open," Lesley heard her quip.

Makeup done, Lesley discreetly removed her glasses, and replaced them with contact lenses. She next took the scrunchie out of her hair, tossed and flipped it all over. Finally, she reviewed in the mirror and grinned, blowing herself a smooch. All set to visually rock Dori's world, she peeked back out to hear the same sounds still coming from the kitchen.

My goodness, thought Lesley. How many groceries did we buy??

Lesley didn't want to spring her surprise on Dori in the kitchen, while she was still putting things away. She wanted Dori's full and undivided attention for this. To compound things, she was so excited, she couldn't wait. Lesley didn't feel beautiful very often. And one reason was that she seldom had incentive to put on makeup and let her locks loose. She felt hot. And if she knew Dori like she thought she did, Dori'd share her opinion. Unfortunately, her hostess didn't seem to be in a huge hurry to get the heck back out here. She now appeared to be mixing batter in a bowl.

Lesley didn't want to just ask Dori point-blank to come out and see her. So it would appear she needed some sort of subterfuge. She looked around the living room. Then her shadowed eyes lit up.

"Ooh! Ooh, Dori!" she called. "Come in here! Something just came on TV! You gotta see this!"

Subterfuge in effect, Lesley proceeded to strike a seductive pose: hand on hip with a sexy, smoky grin.

"I don't even hear the TV."

Okay, so this didn't work like she'd hoped right away. Lesley dropped her pose and pranced over to grab the remote.

"Uh, well, it-it's on mute!" she announced, turning the set on. "There, see, the sound's on now! C'mon out and look at this!"

She resumed her spot by the doorway and struck her pose for the second time. But ostensibly very into whatever she was making at the moment, Dori still didn't come out.

"What's on?" she asked.

Lesley grew a bit exasperated. She let down the pose, also for the second time, and turned back to the TV.

"Um...it's, uh..." She finally found the button to tell her what program was on.

"...Courage The Cowardly Dog?"

"Aw, cool!" exclaimed Dori, the cartoon connoisseur. "I love that show!"

Lesley turned back around.

"Really?" She put the remote down and took her spot one more time. "Well, why don't you just come, on, IN, HERE, and watch it with me?" Cue the pose.

"Oh, that's cool," Dori assured her. "I can have the DVR get it."

This was becoming increasingly frustrating for Lesley. Her subterfuge had proven a bust. She saw that if she wanted this to happen, she'd likely just have to go for the direct approach. She sighed, and almost shouted her next paragraph.

"Dori, would you please just come out here? There stands a matter of some import I should like brought to your attention, preferably face-to-face, and my efforts shall be inexorably futile if you insist on STAYing, in, the KITCHen!"

"I love it when you talk like a book, college," Dori declared. "Okay, hang on, honey, I just gotta toss this in the oven."

Lesley enunciated each of her words, trying to keep her smiling teeth from clenching.

"Well, do so and come hither!"

Another few moments passed, until Lesley's pose almost started to ache, but she finally got Dori out of the kitchen. She emerged, holding the mixing spoon she'd been stirring with.

"All right, all right. So what's the big d—"

She at long last looked at Lesley's face, in all her glory, and dropped the spoon to the floor. She was so wowed, she had to put out a hand to steady herself on the doorway. Lesley's grin spread, feeling her ego nicely flattered. She provocatively flipped her eyebrows.

"What thinkest thou?" the beautiful bookworm wished to know.

Dori melted at her exquisite new pulchritude. She found herself literally at a loss for words. She did all she could do in the moment to answer her question. She uttered some nonsensical syllables. Lesley raised her eyebrows curiously, then chuckled.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she teased.

Dori finally regained her powers of speech. Her first words were luckily appropriate.

"Oh my God, you are so gorgeous."

Lesley looked away in mock shyness, turning a bit blushier in her blushy cheeks. She crouched in front of Dori to pick up the spoon.

"Y'know what, cupcake? Let me wash this spoon off. You go ahead, have a seat. Enjoy your spectacle of Courage The Cowardly Dog."

Lesley headed into the kitchen to do as she said. Dori let go of the wall, then grabbed it again after another moment.

"You know, Dori," a very pleased and proud Lesley called. "I was thinking, maybe following our repast Friday night, perhaps we could trip some light fantastic at the Crystal Room. How's that sound?"

What neither girl realized, however, was that Lesley's surprise proved too overwhelming for Dori's neurological system. The wild throbbing in her head returned, with a vengeance. It built and built, until finally reaching the breaking point. Dori lost her grip on the wall. Her consciousness gave out. She fainted, collapsing on the floor.

Lesley, who couldn't hear Dori fall with the water running, was waiting for an answer to her suggestion. But she knew how Dori could suddenly turn shy at such moments, especially with a lie on its way out of her mouth.

"Uh, well, y'know, we don't have to go dancing, of course. It was just an idea."

She turned off the water, hearing still no response.

"...Okay, okay, no strap off my backpack. But I'd still like to seize the opportunity to show you my own fancy footwork sometime. I took tap and ballet when I was seven. Did I ever tell you that, Dori?"

There was no answer.

Only a silence, which began to feel eerie.

"Dori...?

"...Dori?"

*****

Conscious: Conquering Miracle

Monday, April 30th, 2012, 11:09 p.m.

"Dori?...

"Dori?..."

For several seconds she couldn't remember anything. She felt nothing emotionally, mentally or physically. Her vision was fuzzy, as were her powers of cognizant thinking. She thought she detected a light-bathed figure, as her unfocused eyes finally opened.

"...God?"

"No, Dori...it's not God."

Something terrifying dawned upon the part of her brain that could think.

"...Devil??"

"No, no, kiddo.

"It's me. Bix."

Dori tried to think. Though she couldn't do so very well, and though she neither realized it, her head didn't hurt.

"I don' un'erstan'..." she stated helplessly, less than able to pronounce some of the letters.

"Aren'...aren' I dead?"

"Dori," Dr. Bixby told her—

"This...is one of the moments doctors live for."

This only confused Dori more. "Huh?"

She thought she saw him perch on the bed with her. And that was tangibly his hand she felt holding her own.

"Believe me, Dori, when I tell you that I can't even believe it myself.

"But I did tell you there was a chance."

Dori's brows rose and eyes opened wide as she began to register what he was saying.

"Oh my G—..." she whispered. "You mea—..."

Bix nodded. "You did phenomenally, Dori. And so did our neurosurgeons. You all made a miracle happen these last few weeks."

The next few short sentences seemed to echo around Dori's dizzy—but not painful—head indefinitely.

"You made it. You're okay. You pulled through.

"...You survived."

The look that eventually melted over Dori's face had yet to be described in words. She began to euphorically whimper and squeak.

"Oh my God..." she proclaimed, in a hybrid of a murmur and a shriek. "You...you...

"...You gave me my life back."

Dr. Patrick Bixby let go of her hand. "Well, technically, I didn't do so much as my colleagues," he modestly admitted. "But I did take the liberty of contacting your parents and your therapist. They're all on their way over to see you. I hope that's all right."

Dori shook her head, unable to get over it.

"Are you kidding me?" she sobbed, unable to even try to resist the tears. "Of course it's all right! I'm...I'm alive!"

She turned her misty gaze to the ceiling and cried out with all the joy she could summon.

"I'm alive!"

She was still weeping with elation by the time her folks arrived. Dr. Deborah Morelli popped up a few moments later. After both Dori and Bix were showered in as much affection as they could take, Bix gave them all some time together to settle down and visit. But before he left, Dori wanted to say one more thing.

"I can't even begin to thank you, doc."

"All in a few weeks' work, kiddo. I think there is something you could do for your friends and family, though."

Dori looked around to her Dad Simon, her Mom Viola, and her psychiatrist Debbie, as they all turned her way.

"I...think so too. Okay, guys..." She took a breath.

"No more lying. For once, I don't feel like I need the rush anymore. I think I'm gonna be feeling a big rush now from just...being alive."

Simon gave her a hug. "Thank you, sweetie. That's so great."

Dori inhaled good and deep again, blinking multiple times. "Wow. That was...easier than I thought," she remarked.

"Hey, Dr. Bix? Did they, like, take that part of me outta my brain? Like, lobotomize me or something?"

"They did not," Bix told her truthfully. "That was all you, kiddo. Welcome back."

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Dori said, "And now that I actually can, I wanna tell you guys how much you mean to me." She took one more nice deep breath and turned to her folks.

"Mom...Dad...you've brought an incredible little girl into this world, who's grown up to be a bright, successful, all-around fantastic person. Great job, guys." She paused as she, Simon and Debbie shared a laugh. Dori then turned to Viola.

"And Mom...I forgive you."

The sober Viola couldn't laugh. She began to do just the opposite.

"Mom?...Are you crying?"

Viola retrieved some tissues from her purse, dabbed at her eyes and nodded.

"Why?"

"Well, Dori, it seems evident enough to me," offered Deborah. "If you'll allow me to jump in here. I'm certain she's crying tears of joy because her daughter survived this awful trauma. To be frank, I'm surprised we all aren't shedding tears right now."

Viola shook her head. "No...no," she sniffled. "That's...not it. Of course I'm happy Dori survived. Because...I just couldn't bear to have my last words to her spoken in such drunken anger and stupidity."

"But they weren't your last words, Viola," Simon reminded her. "We came and visited her when she was brought here, remember?"

"I know, but even so," Viola lamented. "Simon, if we'd lost her, you don't know how it would've killed me inside. I'd have felt like I helped do her in. Even if realistically I had nothing to do with it. Dori...you may have forgiven me, but I just don't know if I can forgive myself. I feel like such a terrible mother. Not just for that one night. For all of them. All the abuse and agony I put you and your father through...I'm just glad you're here today so I can tell you that I'm sorry. Just so sorry."