This is a short story that I wrote which won an honorable mention in The Joyous Publishing Fiction Contest.

 

     "Bev! Oh, my God, Bev!" He ran down the stairs as quickly as he possibly could to where her body lay lifelessly on the entryway floor. As he reached her, he carefully turned her over, and noticed that her neck appeared to be broken. There was also a large gash on her forehead from where she had hit it on the entryway table when she had fallen. "Oh Bev," he sobbed as he cradled her in his arms. He gently laid her back onto the floor, and after taking his jacket from the coat rack, he rolled it into a ball and placed it under her head. As much as he hated to leave her lying there by herself, he knew that he had to call an ambulance. "I'll be right back, sweetheart," he said softly, even though he was fairly certain she was unable to hear him.

     He went into the kitchen, reached for the phone and quickly called 911. "This is Henry Fallon. I live on 246 Peach Tree Lane," he stammered into the phone.

     "I'm sorry sir, but if you can, please try to compose yourself. I'm having difficulty trying to understand you," replied the police officer on the other end of the phone.

     Henry took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry, officer but it's my wife. She fell down the stairs and now she's just lying there..." his voice broke off as he began to sob.

     "It's okay, sir. Try to remain calm. We'll have someone there as quickly as possible, but just be careful not to move her."

     "You don't understand. I can't feel a pulse and she has a large cut on her forehead. I think she might be..." and he stopped. He was unable to bring himself to say the words.

     "Okay, sir. I understand. We'll be there as soon as we possibly can."  Henry stood there motionless for a few seconds before hanging up the phone.

     As he walked back to the entryway, he stood over his wife, looking for some sign of life. If it weren't for the gash on her forehead, she almost looked as though she was sleeping. He slowly lowered himself to the ground and placed a thumb on each of her eyelids, gently prying them open. "Bev?" He whispered, but as he looked at her eyes, he was certain she was dead. "Don't worry, Bev. I'll stay here with you until the ambulance comes," and he watched as her face became wet with his tears.

     They had known one another since they were just kids and had attended school together. He had loved her even then. He was two years older than she was and he had waited until her sixteenth birthday to ask her out on a date. One date had turned into several, and before they knew it, they were an item. While she had been in her last year of high school, he had enlisted in the service, and before leaving for Korea, he had asked her to marry him when he returned. She had said yes and promised to wait for him, but six months before he returned home, she had sent him a letter, telling him she was marrying somebody else. It had nearly killed him at first, but in time, he adjusted, and he returned home a town hero, having been decorated with a Purple Heart.

     He had never married, although he came close a few times, and ten years after he returned from Korea, he had learned from his sister that Bev had been divorced for well over a year. He took it as a sign and called her, asking her out to dinner. When he saw her after all the years that had gone by, he thought she was even more beautiful than he had remembered, and in a short time, they had become very close. She had two little girls that he simply adored, and it was obvious how they felt about him. Less than a year later, he had asked her to marry him, and she had said yes. Although he had been head over heels in love with her, he had known clearly the reason for her acceptance, and it had had nothing to do with love. She had liked what he had been able to offer her and her girls. Henry had always been level headed, a hard worker and a good provider. But he was crazy about her, had lost her once and wasn't about to let it happen again.

     Life with Bev had been extremely difficult almost right from the very beginning. She had controlled every instance of their life together and was always the final decision maker. Henry had worked hard six days a week before semi retiring and sometimes twelve-hour days. Sunday had customarily been his day off, but Bev had always made certain Henry kept himself busy. Henry had been a carpenter and a good one, too. When he wasn't at work, or fixing their own house, Bev had him doing side jobs for other people. It had saddened him to never be at home in the beginning, especially when the girls were growing. He had wanted to be real father to them, but he was grateful knowing that they loved him and treated him as though he was their real father, so he rarely complained.

     There were many things about Henry's life that upset him. He had been a man with many interests. He had skied, fished, hunted and enjoyed boating and scuba diving, but Bev had made sure that there was no time for hobbies or leisure activities. They had never taken a vacation together, unless it was over a Labor Day weekend, and it had always been some place that Bev had chosen.

     And then there had been the other men in Bev's life. At one point, she was even seeing her ex-husband. It had hurt him to know that people were laughing at him behind his back. He had left her a few times, but had always come back because of his love for her, and eventually had decided to look the other way. They had argued a great deal of the time, and once he had had more than he could take and had given her a beating, which had landed her in the emergency room for a few hours. After that, he had vowed to never touch her again, no matter how angry she made him.

     As far as their intimate life, there was none. They had now been married for over forty years, and he couldn't remember the last time they had made love or even held one another, but he knew that it had been more than fifteen years. Fifteen years ago, they had retired to South Carolina and not once since they had been living there had they even so much as slept in the same bed. They had separate bedrooms right from the very beginning.

     After moving to South Carolina, Bev had mellowed somewhat, and Henry had assumed it was because of the milder weather. Although they fought less, there was still no real closeness between them. Bev had her own life and her own friends, most of whom were widowed. They would often go shopping together and stop for lunch, and every few months or so, she would go away for a few days on some trip they had planned, which was usually a gambling excursion. It had upset Henry at first, as Bev never wanted to spend her free time with him, but as the years passed, he adjusted, just as he had adjusted to everything else Bev tossed his way.

     Although he was seventy-two years old, he had worked until a little over a month ago, doing maintenance at an animal theme park, but it had been something he had enjoyed, and it had seemed like a vacation compared to the work he had done when they had lived in Pennsylvania. Up until four weeks ago, he had worked from eight o'clock until four, Monday through Friday, and had punched out every day at noon for an hour to have lunch. He enjoyed the work, he liked the people and although the pay wasn't much, they offered a health insurance plan, which had become extremely important, especially in recent months. Reporting to work every day had given him a sense of purpose and made him feel needed. And for once, he was able to enjoy himself again, even if it had been without Bev. He had bought a small boat and fished on the lake, and had been on a bowling team with some of his friends from work. He had a dog, and although Sam didn't make up for what Bev didn't give him, when Henry returned home from work each afternoon, Sam would run to the gate, wagging his tail to greet him. Henry would go into the house and say hello to Bev, grab a cold beer and a few dog biscuits for Sam, and he and his dog would sit outside together in the backyard, where Henry would listen to the radio.

     Dinner was always at six oclock, and twenty minutes before dinner, Henry would go in to the house to shower. Once dinner was finished, he'd go back outside with another cold beer and sit with Sam, or do some work in the backyard until it got dark. At about nine o'clock, he would retire to his room and sit in a chair to watch some TV, and when he began to nod off, he'd climb into bed, but not before saying goodnight to Bev, who sat in the den watching television. Every evening was the same, except for Wednesdays, as that had been Henry's regular bowling night. The following morning, he'd be up early and pretty much do the same thing all over again, although he never complained. But the weekends were sometimes a bit different, as that was when Henry would go to the lake and think while he spent his mornings fishing. Although he had asked Bev several times in the past to come with him, she always refused, so he eventually stopped asking. In recent months, the lake had become even more important to Henry, as it gave him the time he needed to be alone to think and make plans for the future.

     You see, in recent months, Henry had been diagnosed with cancer. Although initially the doctors had been optimistic, they had never given him any guarantees, and now, eight months later, the cancer had spread. He had done everything the doctors had suggested, including chemotherapy, but to no avail. He was dying. But the amazing thing was he continued to work because he knew how important the insurance was, and when he was gone, he didn't want to leave Bev with a pile of bills. He tried to carry on as though everything in his life was normal, but he silently watched himself waste away, as did those around him. Although Henry was seventy-two years old, prior to the cancer no one would have guessed it. He was in excellent shape, and was a handsome man, but in recent months, the cancer had eaten away at him, and he had become extremely thin. When he looked at himself in the mirror, what he saw were two huge brown eyes staring back that seemed too large for his face, and the once muscular body was far too thin. His clothes now seemed several sizes too large, and it reminded Henry of a boy trying on an older brother's hand me downs that he hadn't quite yet grown into. Bev had told him on several occasions to go out and buy new clothes, but Henry had never bothered, because he quite simply saw no point to it. Finally, one day Bev had taken matters into her own hands. She had returned home from a shopping trip with her friends, and had thrust a bag at him. When Henry had looked inside, he had been surprised to find four pairs of new pants along with several t-shirts. He had smiled and thanked Bev, but it hadn't taken him long to understand why she had bought them. It had been to save her from embarrassment on the rare occasions that they should happen to be seen together. Even now, Henry tried to be upbeat, but inside he knew that he couldn't run from the truth. He was declining rapidly and there wasn't much he could do about it.

     Although Bev had always been cold toward Henry, she had now become even worse. She snapped at him constantly, and when he was unable to do things that he had previously done, he often saw a look of disgust on her face. One day after lunch, Henry had caught her adding bleach to the water in the sink before washing his dishes. Another time he had watched as Bev wiped off the telephone after he had finished talking on it. Henry had laughed, and asked if she thought what he had was contagious, but Bev hadnt bothered to answer. She just continued with what she had been doing, as though Henry hadn't spoken a word.

     In recent months, work had been kind to Henry. He was well liked, and it had hurt his co-workers to see him deteriorate before their eyes, so they had made sure that they had given him less strenuous things to do, but they had continued to treat him in the same way. They had known that Henry had a lot of pride, and they hadn't wanted to do anything to injure it. Last month, Henry had had an accident. He had been leaving work and had driven his car into a tree on company property. Henry had said he didn't know what had happened, but the truth was he had blacked out for a few seconds. His supervisor had called Bev and had asked her to come and pick Henry up. It was just a short drive and months back Henry could have easily walked home but not on that day. He had hated that Bev had to come drive him home, but he had had no other choice. She had come into the office and had talked politely to Henry's boss, but once in the car she had treated Henry scornfully, belittling him and had demanded that he give her his keys. He had started to offer an excuse, but had quickly backed down, as he hadn't the strength to fight back, especially with Bev.

     A few days later, he had returned to work, but Henry's doctor had advised him to stop working altogether after he had become dizzy and fallen. Although Bev hadn't said much, Henry knew she was angry, and she now treated him as though he was a stranger in his own home, so he spent most of his days outside, with Sam tagging along for company. He couldn't stand to listen to Bev as she talked on the phone, complaining to friends about this bill and that, and wondering what they were going to do with no insurance, now that Henry was no longer working. He especially hated it when the mail was delivered, as he would have to listen to Bev as she ripped open the bills and wondered aloud, how she was going to pay what Medicare wouldn't cover. It made Henry angry to hear Bev talk like that. They had a beautiful home, and several insurance policies, and money in the bank. He had made sure years ago that she would be well taken care of in the event of his death, but it never seemed enough for Bev.

     Last weekend, he knew it would be his last time at the lake. He had become too weak in recent days to continue to go alone, and he knew asking Bev to take him was out of the question. He had thought about killing himself that day but he knew if they discovered he had taken his own life, Bev wouldn't be able to collect the money from the policies they had. So, he came up with another plan.

     As he bent down to hold Bev for one last time, he heard the ambulance off in the distance. "They're almost here now, sweetheart. You dont have to worry anymore. I've taken care of everything."  Gently, he touched the cut on her forehead. "I hope that you didn't have too much pain from your fall, and I'm sorry if I pushed you too hard. I just had to be sure that everything went as I planned."  Henry turned at the sound of the doorbell, and looking back at Bev, lowered his head and softly kissed her cheek. "They're here now. I love you Bev and you'll see. It won't be long before were together again. I think the police officers will understand when I tell them why I had to do what I did. Surely they'll be able to see how much I love you. I just couldn't let you live, worrying the way that you have."

     Henry slowly got up from the floor, and before opening the door, he looked back at Bev, and smiled a sad yet grateful smile. Finally, he had been able to show Bev how much he loved her. Yes surely the police officers would understand -- he was certain.

 

Copyright 2007 by Dawn Wilson