Chapter 41: Happy Returns

Friday, November 8, 1985

Many of my fellow students made a point of checking on me and wishing me well. My professors, meanwhile, were happy I’d done my homework but also much happier with me back in class.

Sensei Nelson told me she would give me a failing grade if I even tried to spar with anyone, which amused me. I could watch, and practice some moves by myself, but that was it. Next semester I’d be back to work as a tackling dummy, however.

Really, it was a good day. No one could blame me for missing so many days, but they certainly wanted me to catch up as quickly as possible. I wanted that, too, so it all worked well for everyone.

We went to the Hullabaloo Cafe for dinner, surprising Amy. I further surprised her by proposing a date tomorrow. After some hemming and hawing, she decided that this weekend wasn’t good, largely because of exams next week. We set a date for next Friday instead.

I didn’t want to short-change Darla, but I didn’t want to short-change Amy, either, and she was here. One or the other would likely have been my date on Friday. Saturday might be better for Darla anyway, since we could go from the game to whatever date we planned.

That is, assuming Darla wanted to go out on a date. I didn’t know that she did. She could always end the chase at any time.

Angie and Jas had undoubtedly talked about it, because no one seemed at all surprised when it was Angie who headed to our bedroom with me. I just shrugged and smiled. It made total sense, really. Jas had needed last night, but Angie probably needed tonight almost as much.

Paige tomorrow night? That would make sense. It would certainly not be a very athletic night, unlike our usual nights together, but that wasn’t the only reason for the two of us to go to bed together.

Angie hugged me tightly once we were alone and said, “You really gave me a scare, big brother.”

“I’m sorry, Sis,” I said, holding her close.

She looked up and blinked.

“In a way, I wasn’t worried, really, even with what I just said. I just ... also ... was. We kinda all felt that way. Jas knew it would be fine, but she was freaking out a little, too. Paige was pretty much the same, but she let me calm her down more than Jas did. It’s ... we’re all strong and independent and all of that, but...”

“But that doesn’t mean any of us wouldn’t leave a huge hole,” I said.

“Exactly! It’s not that yours would be bigger, though I think it might because of the whole Reality Distortion Field and how much you’ve influenced everything.”

“You haven’t exactly been restrained at influencing everything, Sis,” I said, chuckling.

“Oh, I know! And nothing would be the same without Jas. Paige, either, though one could argue she’s had the least overall influence, simply because she’s been part of the inner circle for less time.”

I nodded, not saying anything.

Angie continued, saying, “But ... yeah. I think yours might be bigger, but even if we assume we’re all equal, it would be traumatic as hell if any of us were out of the picture. We know who we are in our rectangle, or whatever it is, but turn that into a triangle and ... God knows what happens, really. Heck, maybe the three of us would be a triangle! The good kind, not the kind where two people are fighting over the third, but still.”

She shook her head and said, “Anyway! Obviously, you’re not to blame at all, but ... I need the universe to stop putting you in the hospital. The truck was scarier, but that was sudden and once we didn’t think you were dead, you were fine pretty quickly. For this one, it was slow and we could envision some weird thing going wrong and you suddenly dying from runaway internal bleeding or a massive infection or whatever for days, even though those were wildly unlikely.”

“I’ll do whatever I can, of course,” I said, squeezing her. “Maybe this was the universe catching up to me. I’ve got no more after it. No hospital stays as an adult in my first life at all. Of course, I only had the one, then, and I’m at ... what, five hospital trips so far in this one? So something is off. We can write the first one off as being necessary to my being here at all, and maybe this one as the universe catching up, but the other three are ... not concerning, but just ... eh. Maybe it’s a reminder that this extra life is precious and not to be taken for granted.”

“I would have killed Laura if that truck had gotten you!” she said. “Max, too, probably. And that drunk guy — we would have crucified him! So, yeah ... no one better kill you, or I’ll wind up back in prison! Or Paige will!”

We both chuckled at that. True or not — and it might well have been true — it was still funny.

We separated and started getting ready for sleep. Shortly thereafter, we climbed into bed.

Angie stopped me, shifted my PJs, and brushed her fingers over my incision.

“Makes me think of Laura,” she said, chuckling.

“Jess mentioned that. Laura’s well aware and finds it amusing.”

“I really like her, and she’s entirely forgiven for the truck, really,” Angie said, grinning. “But that’s because you survived! Only!”

“Understandable!”

“Mom and Dad were almost beside themselves when I called them,” she said. “I got them calmed down more easily than I expected, at least.”

“I hate worrying them.”

“Yeah. Me, too,” she said, then paused. It was a longer pause than I’d expected. After a bit, a few tears appeared in her eyes and she sniffled, several times.

“Sis? I’m sorry...”

She shook her head firmly, sniffled again, and said, “This isn’t you, it’s me. I thought ... I mean, then, during the call ... now, too ... about them getting the call telling them I ... died ... in that prison. It’s not like I was in their best graces, but we’d mostly gotten back to a good place. Getting my degree really mattered. They could see that I’d cleaned up my act. And ... then ... I go and die. And I know Iceberg Steve would have been no use. He would have been fine, but he couldn’t have helped them through it. He didn’t have the emotional depth.”

I sighed and nodded.

“In a way, I got lucky. They were gone when I died.”

“I think of them out there and I wish ... I wish so much! ... that I could tell them I’m fine, that I’m thriving, that I have a life filled with love and happiness and wonderful people,” she said, more tears rolling down her face. “I know ... you’re right there with me. Your kids, and ... knowing you, even your ex-wife.”

I nodded, sniffling a bit myself.

“Yeah, I do, but I think you have it worse. Things were sometimes rocky between the kids and their mother, but they all have each other. Mom and Dad — your Mom and Dad, I mean — have each other, but that’s not the same.”

“We can’t do a damn thing about it, anyway, and it’s a problem no one else has. Jane helps — she helps a lot — but this is unique. Well ... Laura gets it. She had parents, too, but a skydiving accident isn’t a prison beating. As sucky as it was, they would have seen it as her dying while doing something she loved. Which ... is because that’s actually what happened, really. Anyway, I really am fine. And you’re fine. Just ... sometimes...”

“Both of us say we wouldn’t have kept much from our first lives,” I said, “And that’s true. But we still have some things that touch us, even in these much better new lives.”

“Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it in ... heck, probably a year,” she said. “Brushes with mortality do that, though. Things you never think about. Now, you think about them.”

“On a more positive note, maybe, though I guess it’s also negative, it pointed out that we need wills.”

“Oh, hell, yes!” she said. “We’re in better shape than we might have been, but we need that. Marriages will help — or the contracts Paige and I will make since we don’t get all of those legal marriage things — but it’s not just the couples, it’s everything. So much of this is handshakes and agreements and people we trust with our lives. That’s great, but if we die without wills, the courts will simply probate everything and follow their rules, which are not what we want.”

“Exactly. And Mom and Dad don’t — can’t — know what we want. I’d trust them to give our assets to the right people if they knew, but they don’t know and can’t know.”

“We’ll have to have wordy wills, with a section explaining where all this stuff they don’t know about came from.”

“Probably we’ll have the will point to a letter or something,” I said. “Kyle can either do it or point us to someone who’ll do it right for us.”

“Thank God for confidentiality!” Angie said, chuckling.

I stretched and yawned a bit.

“We should sleep,” she said.

“We should,” I agreed.

Our lips found each other’s, softly, and then we rubbed noses.

“I love you, Steve, and I always will,” she said. “And ... you’d better not wind up where I can’t say that to you!”

I gave her a squeeze.

“I love you, Angie. Forever,” I said. “And the same, though we would never do that intentionally, anyway. But ... I still see us where I’ve always seen us, old and gray, our wives by our sides, following the adventures of our grandchildren together. One of us is going to go first unless a meteor smashes into the retirement home or whatever...”

She giggled a bit at that.

“But we’ll have lived a long, happy, successful life and that’s what happens. Dad lost Mom and he had several good years left, ones he enjoyed. I think he was ready to go find her every day of those years, but he wasn’t in a rush. That’s where we’ll be, and ... I think ... I think we’ll find each other, because ... now we know there’s something more, or at least there can be.”

We were both sniffling again by the time I’d said that, with her nodding vigorously.

“Me, too. That’s what I want, and ... it feels right! We’ll get there. One day. Just ... not soon!”

“Not soon at all!”

We kissed again, snuggling up and letting ourselves drift off into sleep.

Saturday, November 9, 1985

I slept about as late as I ever slept on a Saturday. It was, after all, the first night I’d had without either hospital noises or morning classes to get me up. Tomorrow would be church, but I had likely needed a night like this one.

I’d spent much of two weeks on my back in bed, and taken lots of naps, but much of that wasn’t really all that restful. It was good to fix that.

Angie was gone by the time I was fully awake. That didn’t surprise me. I got up, dressed, and headed out to find the house full of activity, Angie and Paige eating breakfast while Jas, Cammie, and Mel studied and talked in the living room.

We each had some of our study group friends over during the day. Exams were next week, and I for one was behind. Not badly behind, and these classes were largely either familiar enough or easy enough that a hospital interruption wasn’t a serious threat to my grades, but I needed to study.

This weekend was NovaCon, a gaming convention. Angie, Paige, and Mel wound up going and kicking some ass at Ogre, but that was it. Had things been different, we would probably have had fun messing around in the AD&D tournament, but it wasn’t in the cards this year given the way our lives had been disrupted.

After checking earlier with Jas and Angie, I pulled Paige aside around nine in the evening and asked, “Any interest in spending the night together?”

She blushed, and said, “With you sidelined? Hell...”

Then she winked, grinned, and hugged me, finishing, “ ... yes. I’d love to!”

I hugged her right back.