Chapter 73

Ken was tired and Sally was exhausted. The fight had been long and hard, but they'd won.

Sally had been correct: Antonia's body had been filled with darkness. It was slowly and agonizingly shutting down all of her bodily functions. There had also been some brain damage, but nothing they couldn't fix after their experience with Jane's attack.

The darkness had been pernicious though. At times it had almost seemed to be intelligent. In spite of the drugs in her system, they all knew Antonia had been in great pain. Giving her relief from that had been one of the first things they'd done. From the pattern of the shadow, it seemed almost as if it had been purposely making her death as slow and painful as it could.

Fortunately, it hadn't been a protracted fight like healing Fionna had been; Ken didn't think they would have been able to win that. They might not have been able to win anyway, but once the pain was gone, Antonia's will to live had come roaring back, helping them heal her. It had taken almost nine hours, but finally Antonia was sleeping peacefully. He wondered how they were going to explain the fact that the cuts and scrapes over her body were gone, and that even her bones were healed. One they were finished, Ken had Levy come in and remove the ventilator, but couldn't get him to remove the IVs or the monitoring equipment. Even though he'd been the one to call them, Levy hadn't quite believed they'd saved her.

"I don't know how..."

"And you don't need to," cut in Ken. "Just make sure to clean up for her the way you did for Jane."

Levy nodded and went over to read the instruments again to make sure he hadn't been hallucinating.

Ari was asleep on the couch. Tina and Cindy were curled in a little pile on the floor. Sally was asleep, her husband and wife on either side of her. Gary, Annette, Genie and Bill had left to go home a short while ago, and had taken Sandy and Karen with them. Little Christine was sleeping in her car chair, being watched by Ellen and Kim. Even Sensei was there, having shown up without anyone calling him. He was in the room, but hadn't joined with the Circle.

Angelo was holding tight to his wife's hand, unable to believe she'd been snatched back from death's door. Ken walked over to him.

"She's gonna be fine Angelo," he said.

Costa looked up, his face still pale and his eyes blood shot.

"She's my life, you know," he said. "I don't know what I would do without her."

"I hope you never have to find out," said Ken.

"I owe you a debt I will never be able to repay," said Costa.

Ken shook his head.

"You don't owe us, Angelo," he said. "Just as long as no one ever finds out what happened here, I'll be happy."

Costa shook his head.

"Anything," he said. "Anything you ever need, you call, I'm there."

Ken smiled and held out his hand.

"Get some rest," he said. "She'll need you when she wakes up."

Costa stood and shook Ken's hand, then pulled him into a brief hug. Then he sat back down by his wife, waiting for her to wake. Ken gathered up the Circle and they left.

It was later that day that Ken discovered that Sensei had returned with them and slept at the mansion. While he'd stayed many a late night, to Ken's knowledge, staying over was something Sensei had never done. He wasn't bothered by it in the least, but he was curious. For once, when Ken went to the kitchen that afternoon looking for some food Sally was absent. He grabbed some fruit, then headed to the Garden where he knew Sensei was sitting.

Sensei stood and turned towards Ken the instant he stepped into the Garden. Ken tossed him an apple, which the man caught with a grin.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," replied Ken.

The two sat and ate, the sounds of their crunching mingling with bird song. The Garden slowly got warmer, the bird song changed, and Ken knew that Lea had opened a path to Her ... dimension, for lack of a better word. Sensei looked around, a slight smile on his face, then tossed the apple core deep into the woods.

"I would like to meet Her," he said.

"That isn't up to me," replied Ken. "She can be ... unpredictable."

Sensei's smile grew.

"Indeed," he said, "how unsurprising." More silence, then, "This place is beautiful."

"I've never been able to figure out where this is," said Ken.

"Perhaps it's not a matter of 'where' but 'when'."

"Perhaps," said Lea, appearing from behind a tree, "it is a matter of both."

Ken felt the impact of Her presence, and knew that Sensei did as well.

"Or neither," she continued with a secretive smile.

She walked right up to Sensei and Ken could see the man trembling. It wasn't as if he was fighting something, more like he was trying to maintain something.

"Try this," She said, touching his face.

Sensei stood stock still, frozen for a moment, before shaking his head.

"That was most ... unexpected."

"Hi praise from a Zen Master," She replied. "So, have you decided?"

Turcotte looked down for a moment, and Ken wondered what was going on. Well, he knew Lea had just offered Scott a place in the Circle, but there was more going on here.

"It is ... difficult ... to leave the Path," Scott finally replied.

She shrugged.

"Why would you have to?"

"You are moving in a different direction," he said, his voice heavy with sadness.

Lea giggled, startling both Ken and Turcotte. She held up one hand and a bright green ring appeared floating above it.

"Show me the beginning," She said, humor in her eyes.

Sensei returned Her grin, and held up his own hand. To Ken's astonishment, a faint ring of pure silver appeared over it, but unlike Lea's which was vertical, his was horizontal.

"I see," said Lea. "Well, perhaps this will give you something to think on."

Her ring changed to a sphere. Colors flashed over the surface, predominantly shades of green and copper, but also threads of silver.

Sensei's ring disappeared and his eyebrows rose.

"Is that even possible?" he asked.

Lea shrugged and the sphere disappeared.

"That is up to you."

With that, both Lea and the Forest disappeared.

"Interesting," said Sensei, his voice filled with a child-like joy.

A week went by before they heard from Costa. The Circle had known before they left that Antonia would be okay, but there had still been a shock to her system which would cause her to be out of it for a while. Not to mention the fact that they all had to deal with the fact that she'd almost died. Friday morning, Bill found Ken sitting in his study and set a small laptop down on his desk, pointing to an article he had up.

"What's this?" asked Ken.

"Take a look," replied Bill.

Ken read the short article and turned to Bill.

"No way that's a coincidence," said Bill.

"No, I'm afraid not," agreed Ken.

Bill shrugged. "Kinda can't blame him. The guy put some kid in a wheelchair for life. The only reason why he was out and walking was because he had some quote, 'Highly placed friends'."

Ken wanted to feel that what had happened was wrong, but he really couldn't, not after what had happened to the Tankers that had invaded his property. Besides, this guy had been a menace. Been caught drunk driving at least five times, and, in spite of the laws, was still out driving because he had highly placed friends. A previous incident had, as Bill noted, ruined a kid's life and this last one, well...

But Ken didn't buy for a second that the guy had offed himself after being overcome with regret.

Later that afternoon, Ken got a phone call from Costa.

"Ken," he said, "I just wanted to touch base and let you know how things are going. Sorry I didn't call earlier."

"Not to worry," said Ken. "We figured you'd be busy."

"Well Antonia's home and we were wondering if you'd like to come over for a quick visit this afternoon," he said. "You should bring Jane and your other wife."

Ken smiled at the tone in the man's voice, although he was still nervous that Costa knew about the relationship between the three of them.

"Sure, we can do that," said Ken. "What time?"

"Well, Antonia still tires easily, but say about three? Maybe we can have an early dinner, if she's up to it."

"That'd be nice," said Ken. "See you then."

Ken, Jane and Ari arrived at the Costa's place. To Ken's surprise, he was greeted not only with a firm handshake, but pulled hard into a brief hug. The hugs for Ari and Jane were longer, but there was nothing sexual about them.

"Come in," he said. "Antonia is anxious to see you."

They ended up in the family room where Antonia was sitting in a chair wrapped in a blanket. She rose out of the chair when they entered and Angelo immediately started fussing.

"Honey," she said, "I'm fine. Just a little tired. Now why don't you go ask Margret to get us all some coffee or tea while I say hello."

Antonia held out her hands to Jane as she was saying this. Her eyes were shining and while she did look weak and very tired, she also looked quite happy.

"I owe you my life," she said, pulling Jane into a hug. "All of you."

She hugged each of them in turn, then walked over to the couch, pulling Jane down next to her. She didn't seem to want to let go of her.

Ken could see that she was weak. Being that close to death, then healed and not in danger of dying was a shock to her system and, unlike someone from the Circle, she didn't have their ability to heal. There wasn't any physical damage left, but there was still trauma to her, well, spirit, for lack of a better word. Ken could see Jane easing energy into that battered part of her, helping that heal as well. He could even see some color returning to Antonia's cheeks. Seeing what she was doing, Ari moved over to them and took Antonia's other hand. By the time Angelo returned, it was clear Antonia was feeling much better.

They made small talk for a while, the women making plans for another shopping expedition, and eventually Costa nodded his head, motioning Ken out of the room. They walked to a small study and Angelo closed the door and waved at a wing back leather chair. Ken sat down while Angelo poured them each a shot of scotch. He handed one to Ken and sat in the opposite chair.

"I don't know what you did," he said, "or how you did it."

Ken started to say something, and Costa raised his hand.

"I don't want to know, either," he said. There was more silence. "My faith tells me that whatever you did was probably evil. That this is a gift from the devil or some such, but I'm not buyin' it. My wife is alive. She's here for our children and she's here for me, and I have a hard time believing that's evil.

"Antonia wanted to go to church the other night," he continued. "She wanted to thank God for his mercy. The second she tried to go inside, she started getting sick and I had to rush her out. That upset her a lot. She's been involved in the church her whole life. So have I, I suppose, but I never had the amount of faith that Antonia has."

He paused and took a sip of his scotch.

"Do you think she'll ever be able to go back?"

"I don't know," said Ken. "Hell, I don't really even know why she felt sick when she went. Maybe it was a coincidence."

Angelo shook his head.

"She tried every day for the last few days," he replied. "Same thing happens every time. She starts to feel really sick if she tries to go inside."

Ken leaned back and closed his eyes. He wasn't much of a drinker, but the scotch was excellent and he rolled it over his tongue as he thought. How could he possibly explain to a hard-core Catholic what had happened?

"How much of a problem will that be?"

"Antonia has never thought she needed a building to express her faith, but I think it's scaring her, to some degree."

"What do you think?" asked Ken.

"Honestly? I don't know what to think," he said. "I know I've done some things that God wouldn't approve of. But hey, they say confession is good for the soul."

"And do you have cause to confess often?" smiled Ken.

Costa laughed.

"Not as much as I used to," he replied. "Until recently, anyway."

Ken nodded.

"I read that there was a recent death," said Ken. "It seems that some guy's drinking finally caught up to him. There was even some talk that he'd been in a recent accident, put a woman into the hospital."

Costa's face turned grim.

"I protect what's mine," he said.

"Seems that was more vengeance than protection," replied Ken.

Costa's face turned neutral.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Ken thought for a moment, taking another sip of the drink.

"There was a time when I would have had a problem with it," he said. "There was a time when I thought the world was much more ... orderly ... than it is. That we here in America were more civilized. But I'm afraid the world is turning out to be much more complicated than I'd imagined. So no, I don't have a problem with it. I have a situation that's somewhat similar. I'm not looking forward to the day when I have to take care of that situation, but I know it's coming and I know I'll do what I have to."

The two were silent for a few minutes.

"I owe you and yours a debt that I don't think I can repay," said Costa. "If I can help with your problem, you let me know and I will. Hell, if you need help with anything, you say the word and I'm there. I would be lost without Antonia and you gave her back. Anyone -- or anything -- that has a problem with that can just fuck right the hell off."

They stood and shook hands.

"Thanks Angelo," replied Ken. "The problem I'm speaking of is a matter that, I'm afraid, I must attend to ... personally. But if I ever do need anything, I'll let you know."

They did stay for dinner, but left quite early. Antonia was feeling much better by the time they left than she had when they arrived. Probably the fact that Ari and Jane had been pouring energy into her almost the whole time helped.

"Now don't forget," said Jane as she kissed Antonia's cheek. "Tomorrow for brunch. I know Sally wants to see you and make sure you're doing well."

"What time should we be there?" asked Costa.

"We?" asked Jane smiling at him. "There is no we Mister Angelo Costa. This is for girls only."

"But..."

"Don't bother," laughed Ken. "The ladies have made up their mind. But you shouldn't drive, Antonia."

"I'll come pick her up," said Jane. "See you tomorrow!"

"What do you think?" asked Ken on the drive back.

"I think," replied Jane, "that Antonia needs to stay away from churches. Her God is still trying to call her home, and until she's fully healed, he's got a good chance of doing it."

"How long before she's healed?"

"I dunno," shrugged Jane. "Sally's the healer, not me."

The following day turned out to be a very nice day indeed, even for southern California in March. Bright sunshine, with low humidity and the temperature close to eighty degrees. The ladies did a little shopping, with Jane and Sally feeding Antonia energy as needed. Sally's abilities deftly guided it where it was needed most, allowing the woman to enjoy the day, but also ensuring that those areas of her soul, for lack of a better word, were soothed.

Joan had decided to take the day off of work so she could join them. They had eventually headed for a small park to have a bit of a picnic, and now she and Sally walked hand in hand in front of Antonia and Jane.

"So," whispered Antonia leaning close to Jane, "I thought that Sally was married to the big guy, Eric."

"She is," smiled Jane. "Well, they both are, actually."

"Both?" asked Antonia, with surprise. Then she giggled. "He certainly looks to be man enough to take care of both of them."

"Oh he is," smiled Jane.

Antonia did a double take.

"You've slept with him too?" she asked, her eyes wide.