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began
to eat, Billy made the mistake of looking at Marian. Silent tears
were running down her cheeks, making a mess of her heavily applied
make-up.
    “ Good grief, what’s wrong Marian?”
Billy asked as he grabbed Marian’s hand.
    That simple question broke the dam as Marian’s ample
chest heaved with gut wrenching sobs. Billy dropped his napkin and
knelt beside Marian, trying his best to comfort her and wishing he
had finished breakfast before he looked over.
    Finally, the sobbing slowed and Marian spoke.
    “ I’m sorry, Billy. I’m just really
sad. I don’t think this is going to work out between us and I
really love you, you know?”
    “ Why don’t you think this is going
to work out?” Billy asked.
    “ I think your daughter hates me.
I’m trying as hard as I can to make her like me. I don’t want to
come between you and your only child. I think it’s better if we
just end it now. I don’t want to get hurt any worse than I have
been.”
    “ She doesn’t hate you,” Billy said
as the sobbing increased again. “It was mostly her friend Kitty who
got out of hand. I don’t want to stop seeing you.”
    “ I don’t think we can go on the
way we have been.”
    “ What do you mean?” Billy asked as
Marian fled the kitchen and ended up standing by the overstuffed
sofa in the living room with Billy lagging behind.
    “ I’m too old to just have flings.
I need to know that you really love me Billy.”
    “ What will it take to convince
you, Marian?” Billy asked.
    “ I want to get married, Billy,”
Marian said as she smiled through her tears and began to undo
Billy’s belt, unzip his pants, and put her hands inside Billy’s
underwear. Billy tried to think but Marian continued to undress
him, unbuttoning each button of his shirt and kissing his chest as
she continued to stroke him. The time for thinking had passed as
Billy began tearing Marian’s clothes off and pushed her down on the
couch.
     

Chapter Nine
    Brad Henry woke with a start as he had every morning
since his ill-fated accident. Unsure where he was, Brad had to
focus to realize it was Monday morning and he was a patient at
Barnes Hospital. A 26 year old ironworker, Brad had recently
celebrated becoming the father of a baby girl and now had to deal
with life as a paraplegic after a 15 foot tumble off a downtown
building under construction.
    Brad looked out the window at Forest Park, a local
point of interest first developed for the 1904 World’s Fair. Muted
purple light poked through the massive trees, recalling images of
druid statues from some old movie. When he was awake during this
twilight, Brad usually felt hope he could make the new day a good
one, but hope must have tumbled off that building with him because
he hadn’t felt anything close to it since he fell.
    His first act of the morning had always been jumping
out of bed. Of course, now when that thought entered his mind, he
realized those messages were no longer able to reach his legs and
never would again.
    In the past his wife, Jennifer, repeatedly told him
he was hot. He felt his dark wavy hair and naturally tanned
complexion complemented her long blond hair and pale skin. His
expressive blue eyes, usually brimming with barely concealed joy,
now oozed fear and trepidation in a tearful mix that gently rolled
down his cheeks.
    Brad desperately wanted to believe his injury
wouldn’t destroy his life, but his pain felt too fresh, so he
allowed his extreme sense of loss to dominate his thoughts. Denial,
bargaining, and anger swirled around him, drowning out the voices
urging him to believe he could overcome any obstacle.
    Brad tried to go back to sleep, an easy escape from
his unpleasant thoughts. He wanted to dream he was whole again,
walking near the small lake behind his house. Unable to fall
asleep, he decided to return to that secret place in his mind he
had created to avoid reality. He looked at the huge trees in Forest
Park again and decided to fly to one of the upper