Chapter 2: Version Alpha

This is the first story I have written in over a year. I have been busy editing for some authors you might know: StangStar06, Pars 001, Red Tempest, Dead Writer, and some others. Due to that, I haven't written in some time, but the real reason is that I just haven't the need or inclination to write. I guess I lost my muse or drive to write. I'm not even sure I'm back for good now either. I will take it a little at a time. I have about twenty unfinished stories started, but I will have to see if any of them stir me up again.

Now I have three endings for this story. I really didn't know which one I wanted for the final version, so I have decided that I will leave it up to you, the reader. You read all three and let me know which you liked best. That way, you can have the ending you want.

I met Jennifer again at Gino's to hear what the news was about my wife of just over thirteen years. I saw Jen in the same table, but there was a beer bottle, I could tell already that the news wasn't that bad.

"Okay, give me the good news first, I think I may need that to fall back on once I hear the worst," I croaked out.

Jen started, "Well; she is physically in pretty good shape. The doctor could not find anything in all the tests they did. However, the other doctor said that there seemed to be something bothering her and said that she would have to have several sessions with Mel to find out exactly, what is bothering her. But there is definitely something she is hiding. We won't know for some time to come, so we have to be patient."

"So you're saying, or the doctor is saying that Mel has something on her mind that she can't talk to me about, and that is what is causing this forced celibacy on us."

"Yeah, that is pretty much it."

"Well I hope it is nothing I did to cause this. I guess we just wait and see what transpires. I only hope that Mel will talk to the psychologist about it."

"Exactly, the psychologist said that she needed probably ten to fifteen sessions in order to determine the deep-seated problem that Mel has. She said that Mel might be able to tell her sooner, but not to count on it."

"That figures, so now we just wait to see what or if Melody decides to tell this shrink. So no more sex for the foreseeable future or if ever ... Great, what do I do now for release? I guess I go back to visiting Rosie and her sisters."

"No, Bill it can't be as bad as all that, surely you two still have some intimacy in the bedroom."

"Not one bit since that day, I approached her about the role-play game of 'daddy, please'. I barely get a kiss anymore. We have a king-size bed, and she sleeps all the way over on her side and when I get close, she just gets out of bed and sleeps in the living room on the couch. It seems like I live with a bratty sister. Around the kids, she is tolerable but when they are gone or asleep, it's like I have leprosy or something."

"You poor man, I wish there was something I could say or do that would make this all better, but I can't think of anything. All you can do is bare with it and hope for a quick resolution to Mel's mental turmoil. What about Melody, she must be going through hell from her side of this, we both know she loves you, but she is torn due to what is bothering her."

"I'm sorry Jen; I didn't realize what Mel was going through. I'll try harder to be a good husband and stand behind her in this time of trouble.

The situation dragged on for at least seven months before things started to get better. It ended up taking hypnosis to find the deep-seated problems of Melody's. It seems that her father James was molesting her for almost two years when she stopped growing and she told him he had to stop. He said he was going to start on her sister next, but she threatened him that she would tell if he didn't stop. This coincided with the last doctor who told her parents that Mel would never grow again. Mel gave James an ultimatum either to leave, or she would tell all. We now know he left rather than face prosecution. Now came the time to see if we could work out something like what we had after this whole business came to light.

For about the next six months, Mel and I had sessions with the doctor to work out how we could live a normal life together.

It took almost two years of therapy for us to get back to some semblance of our former life. We were still not as sexually active as we were before all this happened, but I thanked my lucky stars that we made love once a week. At first, I almost had to beg for sex but as time went on it got better and once in a while Mel would initiate lovemaking.

That's my story, I hoped that someday things would get better, but then we all wish that for our lives.

Part II: Version Bravo

I met Jennifer again at Gino's to hear what the good and bad news was about my wife of just over thirteen years. I saw Jen in the same table, but instead of a beer bottle, there was a mixed drink. I could tell already that the news wasn't that good.

I sat and took a sip of my drink before anything was said. Ahh, I tasted a seven & seven; that told me although the news was bad, it wasn't that bad. If it had been really bad, it would have been straight tequila, not a smooth drink like seven & seven. It seems that my mother-in-law knew me very well.

"Bill, I heard from Doctor Jenson. They have to run some more tests, but they think that Melody has a brain tumor. There was something in her blood tests that they didn't like so they have to schedule a CT scan to be sure. From the information they got during the examination and what I told them that you told me, they think it is somewhere between the frontal and temporal lobes of her brain. She is having some trouble with memory and emotions, so that is what they think. Mel is going to have the CT scan today, and they should know more, later today."

"Wow, I never knew. Is she going to be alright?"

"The doctors think they have found it soon enough that it can be operated on and taken out. It all depends on where exactly, and if it has any tendrils going into her brain or it is laying outside. They should know soon. I also talked Mel into allowing you to know about this, and she has now added you to her consent form."

"I guess I have a lot to make up for in how I have treated Mel lately. I think that when she blew up on me, I got a little belligerent with her sometimes. She would act fine one minute and then the next she would either go off again or just turn around and mope. I am so glad and relieved that this is something they can fix. I surely don't want to lose my precious Mel. Losing her would just about kill me; let alone what it would do to the kids. Each of them has come to me and asked what is going on with their mother. I had no answers for them, now I do. Thank you so much mom."

"Bill, I have to admit that when you first came home with my little girl, I wondered about your intentions, but once I got to know you; I knew that you were the perfect mate for my precious daughter. I knew that you would always protect her and love her forever. You have me so proud to call you my son-in-law. We will get through this together as a family."

"Yes, I need to let my mom and Uncle Bob know what is going on. They will be praying for us will want to comfort Mel as well. Yes, we will get through this with our whole family. Thank you again for being who you are to us all."

The next three months were pure hell for all of us. Mel finally told us what was happening to her and why she had been acting like she had. Then the operation itself was a touch and go for five hours. I think that by the time Melody came out into the recovery room I had about six ulcers or maybe just one large one. My stomach hurt really badly. I couldn't keep anything down; I would drink a cup of coffee and then have to run to the bathroom and throw it all back up along with a bunch of bile. I almost took up smoking; well, I did bum a cigarette from one of the guys waiting for his wife to get out of surgery. After two puffs, I was coughing so much I had to go back to the restroom again and throw up some more bile, and I think what might have been last night's supper. Needless to say I was a basket case by the time Mel was in recovery. My Mom, Uncle Bob, and Jen were all at the hospital with me and tried to keep me talking and calm, but it didn't help a lot. Thank God the kids were in school. I surely didn't want them to see me like this.

Finely five hours and thirty-five minutes later, the brain surgeon came out and said the magic words, "We got it all." I think I almost fainted then.

"It was a little tricky, but we run another CAT scan, and we are sure we got everything. Melody will be in the recovery room soon. There may be some memory loss but not much, we were able to pry the tumor away from the brain and there were very few tendrils actually going into her brain matter. This one was mostly clinging to the side of both lobes. There were a couple that burrowed between the lobes, but we got all of those. The other thing we have to watch for now is a recurrence because the tumor was malignant. Melody's GP will be monitoring her blood every six to nine months for any irregularities to ensure that nothing else occurs in the future. However, overall everything went well, and she should be back to normal in a couple of months. Do you have any questions?"