Chapter 3

The sofa was long and wide enough that I could lie on my back. That made sleeping possible, if not totally pleasant. For several hours I slept deeply without dreams, and then my mind took a left turn.

I was floating in warm water. It swirled around me, giving my sore muscles blessed relief. The heated water soothed me in ways I hadn’t expected, and I gave in to it, allowing the water level to rise to my face, warming me from top to bottom.

At some point in the dream I became aware that I had company in the spa. Another body, much softer than mine, floated nearby, occasionally bumping against me. Each bump reminded me that my companion was soft in all the right ways. As I lolled around in the spa I started to wonder who had joined me in the tub. My first thought was of Beth Ann and that thought gave me a jolt of pleasure I had forgotten about after so many broken lives.

After several more intimate collisions, it became apparent that my companion wasn’t as small as Beth Ann, which made me think Colleen had finally rejoined me. The thought of bedding Colleen after we soaked to our heart’s content gave me goosebumps of anticipation. I could really feel, taste and smell her scent in my head, and I wanted to wake up so we could finish what got me started.

The body in my dream snuggled closer in the dark, and I knew she – whoever she was – was not angular enough to be Colleen. I wondered if Rebecca had come back to comfort me, but when I thought of Rebecca I remembered her suicide, and thinking of that made me so very sad.

Jennifer?

Could my dream girl be Jen? Something told me that she didn’t make the trip this time.

As I struggled to identify the woman of my dream, I suddenly felt extremely overheated. The water was too hot to be pleasant, and I tried to climb free of the spa, but some force held me back. As my body temperature soared I struggled for freedom but felt restrained to the point of helplessness. Eventually the dream ebbed way and my body adjusted to the high temperature. From a great distance I worked to find consciousness. It took a very long time, but I finally managed to capture enough body control to open my eyes.

When I did I discovered that Abby had moved to the sofa while slept and her body, squeezed in to find purchase on the cushions, was pinning me down. No wonder I dreamed about being restrained and hot.

I was only awake for a few seconds when Abby opened her eyes and found me looking at her. “Oh ... I had a bad dream and when I woke up I was so scared. Please don’t be angry with me. The last months have taken everything from me, including my courage. You looked so peaceful sleeping over here that I just had to be near ... someone ... I’ve been so alone ... for so long ... so ... very ... long...”

Her sadness was so intense that I couldn’t possibly reject her. So I pulled her into a hug, and said, “Then let’s move to the bed where we can both stretch out. I’m going to cramp up if I stay like this very much longer.”

Abby leaped from the sofa, wanting to please me. When she jumped up, the hem of my big T-shirt flipped out, exposing her from the belly button down. In light cast from the bathroom, I saw the thing that all heterosexual men love to look at.

Abby glanced down, saw where I was looking, and blushed as she covered up. “I am so sorry, Abby. After all you’ve been through you don’t deserve to be gawked at by strange men. Please forgive me...”

That simple apology stopped Abby in her tracks. The confusion on her face was palpable as she considered my words. If she hadn’t answered so quickly, I would have started apologizing all over again ... but she did ... speak, that is. What she said captured my attention.

“Mark ... you saved me this afternoon. I knew I was going to die out there. Between the cold and no money, it was going to be a contest between exposure and starvation, to see which one would kill me.

“ ... but then you got bumped in the head by that bus and I recognized you from school. I never imagined someone just scooping me off that awful street and taking me in. It hadn’t occurred to me that someone like you even existed.

“Never, ever apologize ... Mark...

“You saved me ... Thank you ... for saving me ... Thank you ... for cleaning me up even though I was disgusting. You didn’t reject me even when you saw how dirty I was ... Mark, you didn’t get disgusted and throw me back out in the weather.

“How could I ever be angry at you?

“I can’t ... It would be impossible.

“Thank you...”

And she cried herself to sleep in my arms.

When I knew that she was out for the count, I gently moved her to the bed and arranged her under the covers. She didn’t so much as twitch when I lifted her head and slid the pillow under her.

With the place to myself now that Abby was sleeping, I rummaged through Mark’s things until I found his laptop. It was not up to my standards and would be replaced very soon. The laptop and hotel wifi did give me access to the internet. I checked in to my old email accounts, looked for word from Angela and generally tried to see what reaction there was to my death.

After reading what little media coverage there was, I gave up and got busy accessing my emergency accounts. Instead of fifteen million dollars, I purposely stashed one-hundred and fifty million in number accounts, accessible from anywhere. Once I logged in, checked the status of the monies and changed the passwords, I ordered debit cards for me and using her drivers’ license which I found in her soaked slacks, I created a separate account in Abby’s name, ordered her debit cards and had everything mailed to the address on Mark’s license.