For Ezekiel, the night seemed very short. He didn't realize how exhausted he really was, until he woke up the next morning with his head resting in Josephine's lap. Gently lifting her hand off the back of his head, he quietly sat up just as the door opened and the doctor stepped inside.
"Well, good morning. . ." he said, walking to Josie's bedside.
"Mornin doc. . ." Ezekiel muttered, as he began to take her blood pressure.
"And how are you feeling this mornin, young lady?" he asked, as she began to stir out of her sleep. "Ohh. . .my ankle is throbbin, and head is killin me. . ." she whispered, weakly rubbing a hand over her face..
"You can expect that." He replied, unfastening the cuff. "With the impact of your fall, you're darned lucky you hit the sand, instead of a rock, otherwise it could have been a lot worse. . ."
"Fall? What in the world happened to me?" Rather surprised, Ezekiel leaned a little closer in his chair and replied.
"We were on the bridge, and we almost got swiped by that train? You hit the ground,hard. Remember?"
Suddenly, it all came flooding back with everything from the train, to their heated argument afterwards. But what stuck in her mind the most, was the sight of the Samurai's sword coming down, chopping off the heal of her boot. He had saved her life. By the troubled look that crept over her face, Ezekiel knew it had all come back to her.
"Yeah. . ." she whispered, in a cracked voice. "Now I do. . ."
Becoming overwrought with guilt, Josephine shook her head with grief. "Oh, Zeke. . . I'm so sorry I put you through this. . ."
Now for Ezekiel, the one thing he never could stand was to see Josephine cry. As he watched her, he could feel his guard start to slip right through his fingers. Fighting with all he had to be strong, he said, "Oh, come on, Josie. Don't do this. Just forget about it, alright?"
"How can I?" she asked, beginning to sob. "I got greedy and messed everything up!" Seeing how emotional she was getting, Ezekiel gruffly barked,
"Now don't go gettin yourself all worked up, woman!"
"That's right. . ." the doctor firmly interrupted. "You don't want to put more stress on your baby than it already has. . ." In that instant her tears dried up, and her eyes widened with disbelief.
"Baby?!" she stammered out. "What baby?!"As Ezekiel marveled at her, the doctor calmly replied,
"The one you've been carrying for nearly two months. And now we have to monitor it to make sure-"
"It's not hurt. . ." Josephine cut off, with a horrified expression on her face. "Oh no. . .What have I done?"
"Now calm down. . ." The doctor gently chided. "So far the fetus is showing no real signs of trauma. So for now, let's try to be optimistic. Ok?" In a devastated stupor, Josephine could only nod. Staring into space. Knowing there was really nothing more he could say to comfort her, the doctor gently replied,
"I'll be back to check up on you shortly. . ." Thereafter he silently turned and walked out the door, leaving the two of them alone.
Through her whirlwind of thoughts, Josephine could feel Ezekiels troubled gaze burning into her out the corner of her eye. This caused her to look up, barely able to face him. Getting very uncomfortable, she whispered, "I know what you're thinkin. But I had no idea. . .There were no symptoms. None. . ."
Growing more and more agitated, Ezekiel sighed and muttered,
"I- I just. . .Don't get it, is all. How cn this be, Josie? I mean, the only time we ever saw each other was-"
"When I went to the house to get the last of my things and-"
"Wound up stayin more than fifteen minutes. . ." Ezekiel cut off, now beginning to nod. "Oh, yeah. I remember now. Thatwas a good night. . ."
"Yeah. . .With a horrible endin. . ." Josie implied, as he looked away with some contrition. "But. . .if I'm two months gone, then apparently. . .that was all it took."
Slowly shaking her head, she said, "If I'd had known I was pregnant, I neverwould've gone out there in the first place! But now, it may be too late." As Ezekiel looked away from her, Josephine found herself growing very resentful. Sighing heavily, she rubbed the bottom of her stomach and replied,
"But maybe. . .it's for the best. . ."
Actually thrown off by the coldness of her remark, Ezekiel barked,
"Dang it, woman! Why in tarnation would you say that?!"His question caused her eyes to tearfully narrow, glaring at him full of contempt.
"Come on, Zeke! Let's be real about this! The only thing you ever cared about was makin money, and gamblin it away! You never took care of me. So the last thing you'd ever want is to care for your own baby!"
Her cruel, cold allegation had Ezekiel's head slowly lifting, until his stare burned into to hers. As he silently glared at her, Josie actually read the pained expression on his face. "So's I guess I'm just wastin my time then, right?!" As Josie tearfully looked away, Ezekiel jumped up, kicking his chair up against the wall. "I'm outta here?!"
As he angrily stormed down the hallway, Ezekiel was too mad to even notice Jack, who was sitting in the café, finishing off a soft-boiled egg for breakfast. At the table Jack watched as Ezekiel's eyes suddenly fixed on him and widened, as though not believing what he was seeing. "Boy. . .I can't believe you're still here."
"There will be other trains. . ." He implied, as Ezekiel cracked a smile.
Artfully raising an eyebrow Jack asked, "And I take it. . .there's trouble?"
"Trouble?" Ezekiel scoffed. "Hah! That's an understatement! I'll never understand that woman!" Artfully looking out him out the corner of his eye, Jack set his cup of tea down.
"Really? I thought you knew her rather well." A bit thrown off by his bold comment, Ezekiel's eyebrow raised with intrigue.
"Oh yeah? And what gives you that notion?"
"From my brief observation, the two of you are like the Yin and Yang. Although you seem opposite, you flow well together." Actually thrown off by his eastern philosophy, Ezekiel couldn't help but snicker under his breath.
"Huh. . .yeah. On the job we do. But it's the home life that was tough." He muttered, shaking his head with frustration.
"Would you mind if I inquired. . .how you met her?" Thinking it over, Ezekiel pulled up a chair and sat across from him.
"Well. . . a couple of years ago I was chasin an hombre who was high-tailin it through a mall, and she was in the crowd. When the thug ran past her, she threw out a leg and tripped him. . .and he fell right on his face. When he tried ta get up, she actually pinned him down until I got there!" Smiling Jack replied,
"Impressive. . ."
"Yeah. . .Josie may look petite and sweet, but she's a feisty little wildcat. That's what I liked about her. . .so much that. . .I taught her ta shoot, and made her a partner in my work." Putting his head down, Ezekiel replied, "But. . .when we teamed up as a couple and got hitched, it all changed. We started buttin heads all the time. . ." Seeing the soft side emerge out of this big brute, Jack gave him a very sincere gaze.
"Perhaps. . .If you look at your true self first, then maybe you'll begin to understand her a lot more."
"Me knowin her ain't the issue. . .It's her knowin me. Too well! That's the problem!"
Grinning, Jack nodded with satisfaction. "So why fight it?"
With this in mind, Ezekiel left the hospital and went home to get cleaned up and grab a bite to eat. Once finished, he was just about to walk out the door when he caught sight of his metal strong box sitting on the top shelf of his bookcase. Hesitating, he reached up and grabbed it, flipping the lid upright to reveal wads of folded up money. Although it seemed like a grand little nest egg, none of that mattered to him. Instead, he began to fumble inside, until he felt was he was looking for. Slowly his hand emerged, holding a diamond ring in his fingers. Josephine's wedding ring. Gazing straight ahead, Ezekiel was overtaken with a flashback of how he got the ring back in the first place. Briefly, he recalled the time when she did spend the night after they were separated several months prior, because of his terrible gambling habits. Although she did in fact come to pick up the last of her things, somehow, he'd managed to sweep her off her feet.
They both needed each other so mutually, giving in to this one romantic compromise. And what started off as a very good night, wound up turning sour at the spur of the moment. Being the final end to their marriage. And it was entirely his fault.
Shaking his head, Ezekiel recalled how he got up before Josephine, dug through her purse, and grabbed a wad of bills out of her wallet. It wasn't planned. . .but an impulsive act on his part. He was broke, and desperate to try and win back everything he'd lost the night before. Although somewhat nagged by his conscience, he never told her anything. But instead patiently waited for her to leave, before heading to the casino for yet another shot at the blackjack table. He must've driven halfway across the state out to the furthest casino he could think of, determined that Josephine would never find him. And as the day went on, it seemed that he in fact eluded her. That is, until nightfall.
With his funds already depleted, Ezekiel was betting the last of her money when he heard glass shattering outside, and a shout that some crazy broad was going ballistic on someone's car. Eyes widening, he tensely muttered out,
"It can't be her. . ."
Jumping from the table, he roughly pushed his way through the gathering crowd,
horrified to see that it was Josephine armed with a crowbar! Having already busted both of his headlights! Suddenly the fury of her eyes met his widening ones!
"What's the matter?! You thought I wouldn't find you? Huh, you doggoned thief!
Where's my money?!"
"What money?!" He barked, playing dumb. "Woman I don't know what you're talkin about!"
Outraged, Josephine shrieked, "Liar!" And madly swung, busting through the windshield of his car. Through the "Ooohs," and "Aaaahs," of the crowd Ezekiel ran over to her as she held the bar up in front of her in a threatening manner.
"You crazy female! Have you lost your mind?!"
"No! I lost my money! My rent money, cause you took it!" She hollered, whacking the hood so hard that it made a dent. As Ezekiel tried to keep it together, Josephine tearfully glared at him full of bitter ire. "How could you?! How could you stoop so low?! That was all I had! And after using me last night, you stole it!"
Now she attempted to swing again, but this time Ezekiel lunged forward, grabbing the crowbar in mid swing with just one hand. Now Josephine didn't have a chance against his brute strength. In one mad pull he yanked the bar out of her hand and tossed it to the side. "That's enough! Stop it now! Stop it!" he growled, roughly pushing her away. Holding a hand out in front of him, he snapped. "I'm warnin ya woman, you better back off or I'll-"
"What Zeke?! What are you gonna do? Huh? Haul me ta jail?!" She yelled, beginning to cry. "You just as well! Because I have nothing thanks to you! Nothing!" Now roughly she began pulling the ring off her finger.
"So ya might as well take this!" She snapped, throwing it at him in a rage. In a flash it bounced off his massive chest and fell to his feet.
"Dang burn it, woman! What do ya want me ta to with that?"
"You can pawn it for all I care, so you'll have gamblin money!" She hissed, as his angry eyes widened with surprise. "As of today, it's over, because you've proven to me that this is all you'll ever love! So this ring means nothin ta me, and neither do you!"
Closing his eyes, Ezekiel realized the true extent of his damage. And began to wonder it truly was too late. . .
By then having plenty enough time to cool down, Ezekiel knew he needed to make amends with Josephine. Not to mention, set a few things straight. But when he got to the doorway of her room, he was shocked to find her bed empty.
Freezing from a wave of terrible thoughts that went through his mind, he quickly spun around and went straight to the desk. Roughly he banged his fist on the counter, getting the nurses attention. Nonchalantly she looked up from her monitor. "Can I help you?"
"Where is she?" he barked out.
"Who, sir? You have to be more specific. . ."
"My wife, Josephine. . ." Ezekiel suddenly found himself blurting out.
Looking through her chart the nurse replied, "Oh, 202? They took her to the back to run some tests on the baby. . .Oh, look. . .there they are now. . ."
"Zeke?" Whirling around to the familiar sound of that voice, Ezekiel was relieved to the sight of Josephine being rolled to her room in a wheelchair. Letting out a sigh of relief, Ezekiel followed them inside, silently watching as the nurse carefully put her back into bed. Barely able to look him in the face, Josephine softly muttered,
"I honestly didn't think you were coming back." As he sadly glanced at her, the doctor opened his chart and turned to Ezekiel. "We've been able to pick up the babies heartbeat. And so far it's doing fine. . .But we can't take any chances. She's still at risk for the time being. So between that, and her injuries, she needs to stay off her feet for at least a month, and be looked after. . ."
Putting her head down, Josephine whispered.
"Well. . .I suppose I could go to mommas. . ."
"Don't be a fool, woman. . ." Ezekiel barked rather affectionately. "You're comin home with me. . ." As she gaped at him with surprise, a nurse popped her head inside the door.
"Doctor, you're needed in the next room. . ." Looking at the couple, he nodded,
"Excuse me. . ." and quickly left out the room. This had Josephine slowly turning to Ezekiel, her eyes tearing up from a mixture of shock and disbelief.
"Oh, Zeke. I appreciate the offer. . .But I can't take the chance of things bein the way they were before. . .Especially now. . ."
Looking away from her, Ezekiel sighed heavily, then muttered out,
"I figured you say that. So's I guess I'm gonna have ta make a point. . ." With that, he reached under his poncho until he pulled out the metallic box. Immediately recognizing it, Josephine watched as he cautiously looked toward the door. Thereafter he put it down on the bed and opened it up, to reveal the wads of folded up cash! Mouth falling open, Josephine whispered,
"Land sakes, Ezekiel! Where did you get all this money?" Now secretively she asked, "Did you finally win at blackjack?"
Eyes rolling upward, he chuckled under his breath. "No woman! I earned this money!" Hesitating for a minute, he added, "And. . .I want you to take it. . ."
For a minute, Josephine wasn't sure she heard him correctly. Gaping at him she asked, "What?"
"I said it's yours. . ." he repeated, as her eyes widened with disbelief. "It's. . .my way of makin up fer everything I took." He finally admitted, as her eyes gleamed with shocked tears. "And um. . . while you're at it. . .You cn take this too-"
Mouth falling open, Josephine let out a shocked gasp.
"My ring?! I thought you would've. . ."
"Pawned it?" Lightly snickering, Ezekiel nodded. "Not a chance. I know ya thought it meant nothin, but you were wrong. The day you threw it in my face, I knew I went too far. So. . . I quit the tables altogether, and started savin off my jobs, like I should've done in the first place!"
Completely stunned, Josephine slowly shook her head.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Cause I was mad at ya for one thing. And after what happened at the casino. . .I thought it wouldn't have mattered. . ." He replied, as a torn expression crept over her face. Hesitating after some time, he cleared his throat then gruffly mumbled, "But. . .when we were pinned on them tracks, I had my mind made up that, we'd go together." Now when he looked back up at her, Josephine was shocked to see tears welling up in his eyes. "Bein apart from you is one thing. But. . .without you in my life there'd be a big hole, and it would never be the same." Overwhelmed by the sincerity of his sweet words, Josephine's head slowly shook. "Oh, Zeke. . ." she whispered in a cracked voice.
Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he gruffly muttered,
"For us to make it, is one thing. But ta know that there's a baby that survived in spite of it all. " He stressed as she weakly smiled. "Well. . .I would be a fool to throw it all away. But there's only so much I can do." he added in a cracked voice. "Josie. . .If you leave now, it will all be for nothin."
By then Josephine was beside herself, knowing deep down inside what she had to do. This caused her to timidly reach out, until her hand was grasping his.
Her gentle touch had Ezekiel looking up to witness the tender, forgiving expression on her face. By then, Ezekiel was so relieved that could bear it no longer. Before she knew what was happening, he stood up and leaned across the bed until he was gently hugging her. Feeling his strong arms around her, broke Josephine down. As she began to cry, Ezekiel choked out, "I'm sorry, darlin. . ."
Sniffling, Josephine gently caressed the back of his neck. "Me too. . ."
Closing his eyes, Ezekiel softly whispered, "Things'll be different. . .I mean that. . ."
"I know ya do . ." Josephine replied. This caused him to pull away, until he was giving her a warm, yet playful leer. "I love you, spitfire. . ." He affectionately replied. Having not heard that petname in a while, Josephine began chuckling through her tears.
"I love you too. . ." She whispered, as he gently caressed the side of her cheek.
Now he gave her that loving look that she remembered all too well. And the next thing she knew, Ezekiel gently began to kiss her with as much love and affection, as they had when they were courting. Thereafter he pulled her close, and held onto her. . .not wanting to let go. And for Josephine it was more than mutual. Deep down inside, she knew things really would be different. . .
By the following afternoon, Josephine had been released and both were both anxious to be getting home. Waiting in the hospital lobby, Jack began walking with them to the parking lot. From her wheelchair, Josie asked, "Are you sure you don't want to stay with us before headin out? You can get an early start in the morning."
Smiling down at her, Jack nodded.
"No. I'm sorry. But I do have a long journey ahead. And I really need to get going."
"Well. . .before you go, can you come down here for a minute?"
"Certainly. . ." Jack shyly replied, kneeling on the side of her. Full of gratitude, Josephine looked up at him and smiled. "With everything goin on, I didn't get the chance to do this last night. But, I'm going to do it now." Gently she reached out, pulling down on Jacks arm until he was leaning toward her. Before he knew what was happening, Josephine softly kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered, looking into his eyes. "Thank you for saving my life."
Through the initial shock and surprise, Jack could feel the blood rushing to his face. Clearing his throat, he chuckled, giving her a sheepish grin. "Oh, ma'am. No thanks are required. I'm just glad I was there to help. And. . .Congratulations. . ."
"Oh. . .Why thank you. . ." she replied, deeply touched.
"Well," Ezekiel said, taking something from his pocket. "If you insist on headin out, then I want you to take this." Before Jack knew what was happening, Ezekiel grabbed his hand and placed a wad of folded up money on the inside. Stunned, Jack gaped from it to him and shook his head. "Oh no. I couldn't. . ."
"Ohhh. . .yes you can." Ezekiel mimed, raising an eyebrow. "It's the least we can do to say thanks, and to make up for the way we treated ya. So you'd better take it!" Knowing better than to argue with him, Jack bowed to him with gratitude.
"Ok. . .Thank you, very much." From her wheelchair, Josie reached out taking Jack by the hand.
"Goodbye Jack. . ." Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, he smiled and whispered,
"Goodbye. . ." Letting go, he gave them another bow, then turned walked away.
He wasn't far when Ezekiel hollered, "Oh. . .and while you're at it, give Aku a
good swift kick for me, will ya?" Snickering under his breath, Jack nodded and replied,"Believe me, friend. I plan to do morethan that. . ."
Though somewhat saddened by the loss of his new friend, Ezekiel knew that like Jack, he and Jospehine now had a journey ahead of him. One that was going to be long, and very unpredictable.
Within the next few days, Josephine had completely moved back in with Ezekiel. And after a few months of mending, things were better between the couplel, than when they first got married. By the fall of that year, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Adeline Marie Clench. Or Adel for short.
