The Second Chance Ch. 08

"At first, I welcomed her companionship when I left my wife, but it all changed so quickly. It seems like a blur. One day I was in her apartment, and she said she wanted to take me out to help me forget about Anne and get out of my slump. She took me to a fancy restaurant. She told me that I should have no guilt for moving on. Anne had made me a cuckold and had made a joke of my marriage. She told me that I deserved a faithful wife who would be able to make me happy."

"After sharing a bottle of wine and a satisfying meal, I thanked her and wanted to go home. On the way, Stacy said why don't we go dancing. We walked over to a nightclub she knew and suddenly I was drinking vodka tonics and we were dancing to fast songs and then slow songs. Stacy leaning into me said how much she enjoyed my company, and she wanted me to know how much she liked me."

"Afterwards, I was tipsy, and she took me to her place for coffee. Then when she brought me the coffee, she was wearing yoga pants which showed off her sexy ass and a sports bra which compressed and emphasized her heavy breasts. After the coffee, I must have been drunk because the next thing I knew I awakened in bed with her the next morning, with a memory gap. Her arms were about me and she was kissing me, grateful for our lovemaking. I had made love with her, and I had surrendered to her determination to make me forget my wife forever."

I ignored the obvious implication that Robert had been drugged by Stacy and then she told him he had screwed her when he hadn't. I needed to be patient and empathetic. I had to maintain focus on what was important which was to get him to give me a second chance, not be furious at Stacy. So, I gently suggested, "It sounds to me like Stacy took advantage of your vulnerability, "I said trying not to get upset at how easily my husband was seduced into an affair with Stacy.

"Yes well, Stacy says she loves me."

"But do you love her?" I interjected.

"Jean, the truth is that while I appreciate everything, she's done for me, I still am very confused and deeply hurt. I miss my old life. I hate my soon-to-be ex-wife for destroying my happiness and making me feel inadequate and insecure. Stacy is offering me a new life with another woman who will be devoted to me and exclusively mine."

"You didn't answer my question, Robert. Do you think that Stacy is going to be the answer for the gap in your heart that Anne left behind?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, Stacy and I have been together for a while now, and she has expressed her love and commitment to me. She says she wants to build a life together and that she can see a future with me. She has been very understanding about my past and has been supportive throughout. I do care about her, but I cannot deny that I still have strong feelings for my ex-wife, despite what happened between us."

"Why is that, Robert? "I said empathetically.

We were inseparable. I never had a hint about her double life that she led while we were married. I thought Anne was the most wonderful caring wife a man could have. I cannot believe even now despite how much disrespect she has for me that I miss her so much."

"Robert, I understand that you still have feelings for Anne. After all, you shared a significant part of your life together. However, do you think that Stacy will be the same for you? A new relationship will not resolve the doubts you have about Anne's behavior. You need to resolve the reasons behind your failed marriage before you begin another one unprepared. You should prioritize your own well-being and emotional healing first.

"Jean, I appreciate your suggestion, but I am not sure if contacting my ex-wife is the best course of action for me right now. While part of me wants closure and perhaps some clarity on certain aspects of our past, I also worry about stirring up old emotions and potentially reopening wounds. It has been some time since our separation, and I've been working on moving forward. Reconnecting with her could complicate things further and potentially derail my progress."

In that moment, I felt overwhelming sadness for our relationship. I thought our chances for reconciliation were slim and slipping away. He was not ready. I needed irrefutable proof of Stacy's sting operation that set me up, if not to reconcile with Robert, at least to get him to see Stacy was not the loving wonderful woman that he thought she was. I grabbed his hand to comfort him.

"I am sorry Robert about your ruined marriage, I really am. However, I still think you need more time before getting engaged with another woman. Perhaps, at some point, when you are ready and more stable emotionally, talking with your wife will help you get past it and then you can forge a new relationship?"

"Jean, maybe you are right. The way I feel now is that I am still in shock even after all these months. How could Anne have completely fooled me? I trusted her, her love for me and I would have given my life for her. I really thought I knew her."

"I know that your head tells you that she betrayed you and that she was cheating on you, but what does your heart say?" I asked.

"Jean in my heart of hearts I still believe that she would never betray me, that she would never hurt me and that she loves me completely and faithfully. I think that is why I cannot bring myself to talk with her. I do not want to discover her love for me was not genuine." Robert said despondently.

I looked at him lovingly and asked," so why don't you find the strength ro talk with Anne? Don't you need to know at least the why? I cannot reconcile how you talk about Anne and what Stacy described the other night at Roosevelt's. They sound like totally different people. I do not think you understand the full story and that is vital to moving passed it."

"I do not know why she did it. There must be some explanation. I just think she must have psychological issues, hypersexual or histrionic. I ask myself that question every night. Wasn't I a good husband? Wasn't I always there for her?"

"Shouldn't you be asking her those questions?" I said gently.

Robert gave me a bitter frown before speaking,"I had such a warm and trusting relationship with her. Now, I do not think I could touch her again without remembering that scene with all those men around her. I could never trust her again. I had trusted her so much and she lied and slept with any willing random man behind my back. I do not know what she could say to excuse all her cheating. I feel so betrayed," he lamented.

"Robert, there are two sides to every story. It is unlikely that histronic personality traits or hypersexuality could be hidden from a husband and only be turned on in secret. She worked in this hospital. Don't you think word of her behavior would have reached your ears? Was she ever rumored to be too close to a colleague? She would have had to go outside her job and when did she have the time for that? Did she ever get home at an unexpected hour?"

"Jean, I saw her with my own eyes in bed with three men!"

Robert had tears forming in the corner of his eyes. I was not getting anywhere with this line of conversation. I realized he was still terribly upset. He could only remember the hurt and betrayal seeing his wife having sex with three men. It was so traumatic he could not remember anything else. But I needed to get him to see things more objectively. I needed to show Robert what really happened that night. I decided to try a different tactic.

"I'm so sorry Robert," I squeezed his hand in mine.

"Robert, it must have been a very big shock for you to see her like that. How did you get separated from your wife that night anyway?"

"I must have passed out in one of the spare bedrooms. I really cannot remember exactly." He answered.

"Do you always drink so much as to pass out!" I asked inquisitively.

"Actually, that never happened to me before that time and I thought that I only had a few drinks," he said now thinking how odd it was that he had lost control.

"It sounds like someone slipped something in your drink like chloral hydrate, "knock out drops" or a barbiturate, maybe secobarbital? It would not leave much of a hangover as it is short acting." I said.

Robert looked at me pensively like he had never thought of the possibility before.

"I do not know but I remember Stacy using smelling salts to awaken me. And I had a huge headache."

"That's odd," I said, "Why didn't she just let you sleep it off. I am sure you were in no condition to drive!"

"Actually, I felt groggy, but it wore off quickly. But I did not remember being incapacitated and I felt ok to drive myself home." He said now realizing as a doctor that his body was not drunk, and he was thinking that he had been drugged.

Robert was a smart doctor who had never realized that he could have been drugged because he trusted people too readily. His good nature always made him a bit vulnerable to deception. I had fallen into the same trap when Stacy gave me ecstasy for the first time.

But now Robert had a serious expression on his face, and I could tell that he had some serious doubts about the events that led to his separation from his wife.

"Wow, then if you were drugged, do you think someone might have drugged your wife?" I asked him.

Robert stared into my eyes. His tears had dried and now had the look of enlightenment. It dawned on him that maybe he had been too hasty and had made erroneous assumptions about that night.

"It never occurred to me that I could have been drugged but now that I think about it, the idea makes sense. It is possible that Anne had been drugged as well?"

"Robert, maybe they gave her a date rape drug like ecstasy? That would not be so farfetched at a swinger party?"

Robert looked a bit agitated. The pain of Anne's betrayal had stung him so badly he had blocked his mind from it entirely, let alone consider the possibility that foul play was involved. But it all seemed so obvious that she was unfaithful, and his pain was so tremendous that his mind could not comprehend otherwise. Yet now hearing another woman, especially a woman very beautiful and enchanting in his eyes, voicing these doubts made him push past the pain to revisit that evening."

"Why are you so interested in my ex-wife?" he said suspiciously.

I did not know how to answer that exactly, but I was determined to continue.

"Why? I think it is because you are hurting so badly, and you have questions that you are afraid to ask. It is because It does not seem possible that an intelligent man like you Robert could be so mistaken about someone so important to you, a woman who you wanted to have children with, a woman who means the world to you and who you knew intimately for years. She was a devoted nurse and Jake says a kind one. How could you have misjudged her?"

"I do not know what to believe, Jean. I saw her like that, intimate with three men. I saw a video of her enjoying a stripper. That girl is not the same woman I married."

"Robert, you might find this hard to imagine, but bear with me a minute. Let us suppose that she did not betray you. Then, how could what you witnessed make sense? Just play the devil's advocate and think that if Anne were drugged then it would not be so hard to imagine how those men could have violated her."

"Drugged twice Jean? Really? I could understand once but a second time? Could Anne be drugged twice without her saying anything to me?"

I wanted to say that he had been drugged twice without his realizing it, but I held my tongue and merely said, "That is why you must talk with your wife. She might just have the explanation that you are looking for." I replied.

Robert raised his eyes and looked into mine. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You know Jean, you remind me of Anne. Yes, you think like she does, outside the box. Now that you mention it Dave, Anne's brother-in-law tried to tell me that Anne had been drugged, but I had angrily dismissed him thinking they were making excuses for her."

"Did you ever try to find out the truth about what happened that night? Maybe you should talk with Dave again and listen to him this time. There were other people who saw what went on other than Stacy and Jake? If you think David is bias, why don't you talk to some of the other people present at the party who you know? Did you ever ask yourself why were there swingers there at all? Would you have ever agreed to go to a party where swingers were invited?

Robert looked at me dumbfounded," Ah, well I didn't think about it."

"Well Robert, before you throw away and bury your marriage for good without listening to Anne's version of events, don't you think you should make some more inquiries?"

Just at that moment, Robert's phone rang. I only heard one end of the conversation, but as the conversation continued, Rob's expression changed to a look of concern. When he hung up he said, "That was Sam Johnson, the doctor covering me today. Apparently, Rose didn't awaken from anesthesia. She is in a coma."

"My God, that is horrible. Do you think she might have had a stroke?"

"I don't know, they are sending her intubated to CT scan now. Apparently, her blood sugar is fine, and her vital signs are stable. Her pupils are equal and there are no focal deficits or paralysis. I am going to CT scan to see her."

"I want to go with you Robert, please let me come." I said to him concerned and wanting to help.

We got to the department and Mr. Garcia was there in the waiting room, hoping to hear some news.

"Doctor Savino," he said desperately, half in tears. "You must do something for her. She is everything to me, we have no children. She is my whole world please, please she can't die," he said pleading to Robert desperately.

"Mr. Garcia, I am doing everything I can for her. I did not anticipate this, and I am not sure yet what happened to her. But do not give up hope, give me a chance to figure out what is happening." He said trying to calm Mr. Garcia.

We left Mr. Garcia in the waiting room while Rob and I walked over to Mrs. Garcia lying in the stretcher. Wendy and the redheaded nurse were there, in attendance as well as Doctor Manson.

"What happened Billy?" Robert asked.

"I don't know, Robert. The IV metoprolol and hydralazine were controlling her blood pressure well, but she didn't awaken. We put her back on the ventilator. All her labs were OK, and a nerve stimulator ruled out persistent neuromuscular blockade. Maybe she had a stroke."

Robert looked examined her and then went into the control room with Billy to see the results of the CT scan. While they were gone, I noticed Rose lay still, but it looked like her eyes were fluttering.

"Do you see that, Wendy?" I pointed to their patient's eyes.

"Excuse me, Miss, do I know you?" Wendy said.

"Uh, well no, I am Jean Sutton, I am a friend of Dr. Savino, and I am applying to be a nurse here."

"Are you related to Mr. Garcia?" She asked.

"No," I replied.

"Well, you shouldn't be here," she said regarding me with envy.

"Please return to the waiting room, she said using a stern voice that I was all too familiar with having worked with her many times in the past. By that time the fluttering had stopped.

I reluctantly returned to the waiting room with Mr. Garcia, and I tried to reassure him that the doctors were top notch and that they would find out what was wrong. Fifteen minutes later Robert came in to talk with Mr. Garcia.

"Mr. Garcia, the CT scan did not show any bleeding in the brain. There was nothing new on the scan. There was evidence of an old stroke in her brain, but we knew about that when we had scanned her head before looking for evidence of metastasis, remember when we first discovered the tumor?"

"I remember doctor. So, we still don't have any explanation for what happened to my wife."

"No, I am afraid not. However, the CT scan will not show a fresh, uncomplicated stroke for a few days. I called a neurologist for a consultation and he asked that we get an MRI which is more sensitive than the CT to detect strokes. We will put her in the unit tonight to keep a close eye on her. We will do everything possible to get her better and back to normal." He said assuring the disappointed man looking haggard and like he had aged ten years.

We left the radiology department, and we continued the tour of the facilities, but I could tell that Robert was distracted, upset about his patient's sudden turn for the worse.

"Robert, we can continue the tour another time. I know you are worried about Mrs. Garcia."

"Don't worry about me Jean, there is nothing further I can do."

"Robert, I know I am not on the treatment team, but I saw something that could be important. When you were discussing the results of the CT scan with the radiologist, I saw Mrs. Garcia's eyelids fluttering. I wasn't sure, but when I went to take a closer look, the nurses chased me away. Then, it was gone. Do you think she could be trying to open up her eyes? I have read about patients who have a brain stem stroke and they are unable to move anything but their eyes. They look like they are in coma but they are "locked in" their own bodies." I said fearing the worst.

"Jean, did she flutter both eyes?" Robert asked me.

"Come to think of it, I think it might have only been the left eye closest to me." I answered confused as to why that was important.

"Jean I don't think it is "Locked in Syndrome" but it could be seizure activity. She could be having non-convulsive seizures. Jean you're a genius!"

Then, Robert went to a nearby computer station and logged in to the hospital network.

"I am ordering a stat electroencephalograph which will tell us brain electrical activity and should distinguish between seizures and normal brain activity if she is locked in." He said.

Then, he called Billy to expedite the process."Billy, she had a prior stroke and a substrate for a seizure focus. She has no focal signs of a new stroke and her blood work is all good, we don't have to wait for the MRI Billy, just get them to do that E.E.G. pronto."

Then, he turned to me, "Good observation nurse. You know Jean, you are an amazing woman. You are not only knock down gorgeous, but you are a hell of a preceptive woman and smart. You remind me of my wife Anne. If I were not still married, I would be on my knee asking for your hand," he said jokingly.

But the joke caught me off guard emotionally and I felt tears in my eyes. I turned my head away to compose myself.

"Please Robert you should not joke about that! She is still out there suffering. Why don't you call her?" I said.

Robert's smile vanished and a confused expression filled his face. He was visibly embarrassed by my defense of my former self and surprised by my reaction. I could tell he was still unsure about why I was so interested in his marriage.

"I am sorry for saying that, Jean. Thank you for being concerned about my welfare. I will call Anne, I need to speak with her. However, I don't want to question her over the phone about something like this. But I owe her a discussion about our marriage." He said.

I was elated. I had succeeded in getting my husband to want to talk with me again.

His tour was fun but too short. The informal interview went well and Arnold was so impressed with me that he couldn't wait for me to sign the dotted line.

I felt so happy that It was all I could do not to knock down Robert and kiss him in the hallways. But it was a short-lived interlude. I could tell Robert really relaxed with me and he forgot about everything else including the bitch.

At lunch outside in a pleasant outdoor French café Robert got another phone call.

"Hello Billy. Oh really, that is great news. Give her intravenous lorazepam 2 mg and phenytoin 1000 mg. Let me know if she responds. Check with the neurologist if he concurs with my suggestion."