Tim Shuts One Door

"I need another glass of wine. Tim will you get me another glass honey," she asked giving me now her empty glass.

We had an opened bottle in the refrigerator so I filled it to the brim and handed it back to her.

"Thanks sweetheart," she said and then covered her mouth. "Oh I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't be saying that after what I've done. I'm sorry Tim I'll never call you that again, just don't get mad at me for fifty-five minutes. Ok?" she said trying to focus on her watch and almost falling over.

"Shannon, what did you take?" I asked.

"Nothing, only that expensive bottle of wine we were saving for someday special," she said looking at me. "I figured that this was my last special day with my family and I might as well enjoy it, so I did. Sorry I didn't save you any Tim, it went down so smooth," she said now leaning up against the counter spilling some of her wine.

"Kim go up stairs and see if you can find what she took," I told her grabbing Shannon and putting her in a chair and taking her glass away.

"I know you'll never be able to forgive me for what I did, but you have to remember I did this for you," she said while she tried to focus on me.

"Dad, there were four empty bottle of stuff on the floor in the bathroom floor," she said holding them in her hand.

"Shit," I said pulling out my cell phone hitting 911. "My wife has taken a lot of pills and I think she's trying to kill herself," I shouted into the phone. I need an ambulance at 222 South 4th Street immediately."

"Do you know what she took and how much?" the operator asked.

"I don't have a clue how much," I said as I read off the labels of the four bottles Kim had found. "Please hurry!"

Shannon's head was now resting on the table and she was almost comatose.

"Get your ass up Shannon, you're not going to die on me in our kitchen before I have a chance to divorce your ass," I said standing her up and forcing her to walk around. "Kim get me some ice water," I yelled to her.

A cold glass of ice water in the face and down her back got a little reaction out of her. All she said was that she wanted to lie down and sleep.

"No way Shannon," I said dragging her around the kitchen and now living room. "Kim turn on the outside light and watch for them," I barked at her.

Less than forty five seconds later I heard the siren and Kim let two uniformed men into the house.

I gave them the empty bottles showing them what she took.

"She also drank a full bottle of wine," I added.

"Sir please step back we know what she took and what we have to do," as they went to work. "Can you tell me approximately how long ago she took the pills?"

"At least an hour and a half ago," I replied.

Within five minutes she was on the gurney, in the ambulance and on the way to the hospital as Kim and I followed in my car. Kim cried and I drove like a mad man before pulling into the parking lot. Then the wait started.

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

The only thing we were told was that she that she'd had her stomach pumped as soon as they arrived. That was all. Hour after hour we sat, paced up and down the waiting room and hit the rest room after a ton of coffee. Seven friggin hours we waited.

I filled out all the insurance papers, signed a ton of release forms and was told the police had been notified because it had been a suicide attempt.

"It was an attempt? Right?" I asked the nurse.

"Yes Mr. Thomas it was only an attempt and yes she will recover. We're just now ascertaining how much damage physically and mentally was done."

"Can I see her?"

"Not yet. Why don't you take your daughter home, get some sleep. You can't do anything here. We'll call you if her condition changes," she told me.

"What condition? No one has told me anything."

"Shannon is stable, that's all I can tell you at this time. Go home, get some sleep and come back tomorrow. There's no use your getting sick over something you can't do anything about right now," she told me.

She was right. Kim looked drained and I knew I was.

It was a quiet ride home.

"I should have called you as soon as I got home," Kim sobbed. "She was drunk and gity just looking at all our old pictures. I should have known something was wrong, I should have called."

"Kim you couldn't have known, and your mother had already taken the pills. It wasn't your fault," I told her squeezing her hand.

"What if she dies?"

"She's not going to die. You heard the nurse, your mom's stable. We'll get some sleep and go back tomorrow morning," I told her.

Sleep hell. It was 8:00 in the morning before we got home. Our next-door neighbors were over as soon as I pulled in the driveway.

"How's Shannon?" Hank and Pam asked.

"She's stable," is all I said.

"I thought we were going to have to call the police earlier in the day when your wife got into it with another couple on the driveway. I'd never seen Shannon so upset at anyone like that before. They were just screaming at each other. I was about to come over when the couple got in their car and left. Your wife just stood there for a couple of minutes before she went back inside."

I thank them and told them I'd keep them updated about Shannon's condition.

"I can only guess who that was," I thought to myself as I went inside.

I looked at the pictures and everything else in the kitchen. "Honey you hungry?" I asked Kim.

"No dad, I'm just going to take a shower and get some sleep. What time are we going back?"

"When we get up and after we've had something to eat," I replied. "It'll be alright," I told her. But I knew it probably wouldn't be.

I didn't even change or undress, I just lay on the bed and fell asleep. What woke me up was noise in the kitchen. Kim had made eggs, toast and was just sitting down as I came down the stairs.

"You want some eggs?"

"No hon, just coffee for now."

We ate in silence.

"What did mom do?" Kim asked not looking at me.

"Hon it's not the time or place to discuss this," I said.

"It must have been something pretty bad to make her want to kill herself."

"It was bad, but not that bad," I replied. "Our main job now is to make sure she gets better. I don't know how she's going to feel or act when we see her today. We just need to be there for her right now."

"I still love her dad no matter what she's done," Kim said starting to sob and grabbing for me.

"I do too, but I don't know if that's enough," I said as I held her trying to make it all better.

'********************

"Shannon is coherent but still a little groggy. She will be fine physically in a day or two but mentally we're not too sure. She was pretty upset that she didn't succeed and doesn't want to see either of you right now. I can tell her you're here and see what she says but that's all I can do for now," the nurse told us.

"What if we can get her certified that she's incapable of making good decisions for herself? I'm just afraid she's going to try it again and succeed this time," I told her.

"The doctor will be talking to you after he's done examining Shannon but in the mean time there are two police officers waiting on you," she said pointing to them. "They need a statement from you on what happened. There are no charges pending, it's something that's always done in cases like these."

I told them everything I knew. We were having some personal problems and that we came home to find her in this condition. I kept it short and simple. They wanted to know if anyone else was involved and I told them no.

The doctor's prognosis wasn't as rosy.

"Physically, she will be well enough to be discharge by Wednesday. We pumped her stomach and flushed her system but we're just keeping her for observation right now. You do know she's going to try it again don't you?"

"The nurse told us that she was upset that she didn't succeed."

"Let me be blunt Mr. Thomas. She ripped the shunts out of her arms and tried to stab herself with them. She's now secured to the bed and is on a suicide watch. She refuses to eat so we're feeding her through a tube right now. I've scheduled her with our resident psychologist for this afternoon to see where her mind is at this point. I'm sorry I can't give you any more information at this time."

"Can we see her?"

"Not right now, maybe tomorrow. We'll just have to see how it goes this afternoon. I'll schedule you for an appointment with the psychologist for mid-day tomorrow then we can proceed from there," he told me.

"Mom's nuts?" Kim asked.

"No not really. It's just she can't come to grips with what she did and was looking for a way out. Not a good way, but a way out."

"Dad, are you still going to divorce her?"

"Hon, I don't know what I'm going to do. We just need to stay focused on getting mom well and we'll worry about the rest of it later."

So the long process started.

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

After our meeting the next day, I had Shannon certified incapable of making her own decisions and I was now her primary caregiver. I had her transferred to a facility that the psychologist had suggested so she could get the help she needed. We were not allowed any contact with her until he deemed it was safe. However, Shannon only wanted to see Kim, not me.

Kim met with her about six times over the next eight weeks. The only thing she did was cry in their first meeting as she hugged Kim and didn't want to let her go. It got better and better with each subsequent visit and she finally started to come around. We were, however, told not to bring up anything but to let Shannon take charge on the direction of her meetings.

"Dad asks about you," Kim told her mother. "He wants to come and see you. Will you at least talk to him?" she asked.

"No. No point. He hates me almost as much as I hate myself. Tell him I died that day and let it go at that," she said getting agitated.

"He loves you mom!"

"No he doesn't. There's no way he could love the tramp I became. I don't know how or why it all happened, but it did. Tell him to just divorce me and get on with his life, he deserves better."

And that's how their last meeting ended.

"I want to see her," I demanded. "I want to see my wife."

"I don't think that would be a good idea right now. We're making progress and seeing you might undo everything we've accomplished," everyone told me.

"Did I give a rats ass? Not really. I wanted to see her. I take that back. I needed to see her. I needed to talk to her. I needed to touch her. I needed to see that she was still real so my head could get around what had been going on all these months."

Against their better judgment they allowed it.

"Just so we're all on the same page and there are no misunderstandings. If she becomes hostile or agitated we're going to stop it right then and there. Is that clear?"

I nodded yes.

"Good then tomorrow morning at 9:00 we'll see what happens."

I slept for shit that night. How would she react? Would she cry, scream or just sit there. I didn't have a clue. How would I react to her? I hadn't fully digested what happened before all this went down and I was an unknown commodity myself. A few of her supposed friends called once in a while but my conversations with them were short and not too sweet.

"Haven't you done enough to us? Please never call again." After a while they stopped.

Shannon was already in the room looking out the window when I walked in.

"Kim is looks so nice out there, is it as warm out as it looks?"

"The weathers starting to turn and it's starting to get a little cool in the mornings," I told her.

"You always liked it cooler than I did," she replied still looking out the window not facing me.

"I told Kim I didn't want to see you. That you should move on and find someone else."

"She told me that," I replied.

"Then why are you here?"

"Haven't a clue I said sitting down at the table in the room and putting my feet up on it. You want to talk?" I asked.

"Not really. Actions speak louder than words and you already saw me in action," she said still looking out the window but Shannon was also watching my reflection in the glass waiting for my reaction.

"Guess I did. You want to talk about it?"

"What's the point? I got in with the wrong group and was talked into doing things I hadn't ever even fantasized about. At first I thought I was doing it for you. I thought I was doing it to improve our sex life, then I found out I was doing it for myself. Do I regret it? Hell Yes! Could have I stopped on my own? Probably not. I was dragged in hook, line and sinker. I'm one sick puppy. So now you know as much as I'm going to tell you. Just leave me alone. You can't make me feel any worse than I already do. I'll sign any papers you want me to and I'll go quietly away and never bother you again."

"Well thanks for seeing me. I don't want to upset you more than I already have," I told her as I walked behind her and kissed her on the neck.

In her reflection in the window I saw her eyes close, a tear trickle down her face and her lip quiver. But she said nothing. As I walked across the room I heard her whisper.

"Tim, I'll always love you."

It was so soft I could barely hear it above my footsteps. I heard something I wasn't supposed to hear. I stopped for a second and without turning around I replied.

"And I you."

It was Kim's idea to sell the house. It was almost paid off but it was bigger than we now needed. We donated most of the furniture to Goodwill because it reminded us of days gone by. Kim said we should get a condo but I didn't want neighbors that close. We agreed on an English tutor style home that had two bedrooms downstairs and a huge master suite upstairs. Still more home than we needed, but the price was right.

The divorce went through and true to her word; Shannon signed the papers. We split everything up fifty fifty even though she thought I deserved more.

It's been about nine months and I'm dating again. It took me a while but Kim was the one who insisted. Currently I'm dating a cute blonde that isn't a hard body but in great shape over all. She's the perfect height for kissing at 5'7" and has the most luscious lips I've seen in a long time.

After two dates I tried to get her into the sack but she turned me down flat.

"What kind of girl do you think I am?" she replied. "Until I get some type of commitment from you, this is as far as we go."

Damn, I was hoping anyway.

You see, I'd had sex with a few women in the last couple of months and really wanted to bed this one. She was playing hard to get but I wasn't giving up, just yet anyway.

I took her to dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in town. I wined and dined her and even took her to romantic lounge where we spent the night holding each other as we kissed and barely moved our feet as we shuffled around the dance floor. I took her back to my place and asked if she'd like a glass of wine by the fire. When she said yes I led her upstairs to my bedroom that conveniently had a gas fireplace.

All right, I set her up but she was so hot and I'd never done it with a blonde bombshell. It took me the better part of an hour to undress her and get her into bed.

"I assume you have protection?" she asked. "Because I'm not on the pill or anything."

I nodded yes as I pulled her to me. We kissed and traded spit until I moved to her pussy and full bush. I munched through the hair and did everything I could to get her off. She screamed as she let loose holding my head against her bush.

I was hoping to get a little oral action from her, but I guess that wasn't on the table as she rolled the condom over my dick.

"Let's see if you know what to do with this thing," she kind of mocked me as she laid back on my bed.

"I'll show her," I said to myself as we screwed for the next twenty minutes. I found wearing a condom I could last a lot longer but missed the bare back sex of old.

I didn't slam her into the headboard or anything like that but made love to her the best I could. Like I said, I lasted twenty minutes and filled my rubber. I then headed to the bathroom to dispose of it and to get us a warm towel.

After cleaning up I reached for her.

"Spend the night with me and I'll even throw in breakfast," I said smiling.

"What kind of girl do you think I am? And how do I know I can trust you?"

"Look, my daughters sleeping down stairs. Do you really think I'd do something stupid with her here?"

It looked like I'd convinced her but she came back with a condition of her own.

"If I do this, we're exclusive right?" she said looking at me. "Look Tim, I don't need a ring tonight, but we need to agree that neither one of us does anything with anyone else from this night forward. Agreed?"

"Agreed," I told her. Now bring that hot body over here and keep me warm tonight. And she did.

I was fixing waffles when Kim came into the kitchen and sat down. I waited for a reaction from her as she sat down at the table looking at the two of us.

"So? "What do you want me to say? It's about time you two finally did it. I thought for a while I'd have to spike your drinks and drag you upstairs myself," she said consuming everything on her plate as she grabbed the ones off our plates.

"Hey, what are you doing?" my bed partner shouted.

"I'm still hungry and mom you know you could stand to lose a few pounds," she said patting Shannon's belly. "But I do like the new color of your hair. It makes you look a lot younger. Dad how does it feel robbing the cradle?" Kim said with a laugh.

"You really like the blonde color?" she asked me.

"Love it, never been with a blonde until last night," I said with a smile on my face.

"Maybe I should get back to the gym and lose a few pounds?"

"Tell me what you need for exercise equipment and I'll buy it for you," I replied.

"Well since we're exclusive now, maybe I'll leave a few things here so I don't have to go home every night," she smiled at me.

"You know, you could move in."

"Not until there's a ring on this finger," she said showing me her left hand.

Well it happened, again. We're pretty damn happy but not as wild and crazy as we were a couple of years ago. Every once in a while I get a burr under my saddle and tell her we need to have sex more often. She just stares me down.

"What do you want, quantity or quality? You can't have both. Made up your mind."

"I choose you. All the rest is Mickey Mouse bullshit."