Take the Long Way Home – Chapter 4
Angela woke up two days later fully conscious. She had been drifting in and out and knew that not only her husband was there but her sister-in-law whom she had never known about until she introduced herself. Heck, she did not even know Devin had a brother until he mentioned it before he took their girls and left their home. Angela was not going to be placated by her very pregnant sister-in-law, Catherine Wells, no matter what she and her husband had thought. When asked, Angela did a very good job of being speechless. She really was disappointed that she was still alive because the pain never went away. Her little baby boy was gone and it had been her fault so she thought.
Catherine sat on the chair next to the window in the hospital cafeteria. They had spent a comfortable two nights at Devin's little home, but Catherine was despaired of how to help. She was not a psychiatrist or a psychology. She knew she could be a good listener. She knew that especially when she worked the suicide hotline all those years ago and convinced a young woman to not do herself in but to find refuge in the Tunnels for her and her baby. Leyna, the young girl who had found refuge in the Tunnels had a 10 year old daughter, Catherine, who at only a year older than Jacob was a good friend. Little Catherine had also made friends with Devin's oldest Angelica who was more than happy to know there were girls old enough to be her friends. Catherine had tried tell Angela this but she would just turn over and be silent.
"Penny for your thoughts," Devin said as he sat across from Catherine. Devin looked at Catherine to see if she was weary and tired from the situation they found two days ago. She looked a little weary to Devin, so took her back to his house and set her up in one of the girls' rooms so she could rest. Vincent would have his head if anything happened to his wife or the babies she carried.
"Sure. Here you go," Catherine joked as she handed Devin a penny which he left on the table between them.
Devin chuckled. "Very funny."
After a moment of silence where Devin just sat there nursing a cup of coffee, he decided he needed to apologize for the situation.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be this bad," Devin apologized. "Have you spoken with Vincent yet?"
"Yes, I spoke to him on Mr. Wong's phone. He said everything back at home is good. He's praying like we all are that Angela will snap out of this depression.
"That's great. I have learned that prayer does really help. It just doesn't always do it in the time frame we want."
Catherine snickered and said, "You got that right. However, God does have us all in his hands." Catherine reached out to Devin and clasped his arm which was bent on the top of the table.
"Do you want anything?" Catherine asked.
"Just my wife to come back to me. That's all," Devin answered lowering his head trying to hide his sad face from Catherine.
"I understand."
"You're eating at least," Devin said looking at the dirtied plate with eaten eggs and a half consumed piece of toast with jelly.
"Well, if I don't, I'm sure I'll hear it from you. You already lectured me four times for skipping a couple of meals yesterday," Catherine smiled back at Devin.
"Vincent will literally kill me if anything happens to you or your babies," Devin said. "Catherine, I have an idea that might help Angela. I need to get it approved by Greg, her shrink, but I think we could persuade him."
"What's that?"
"I just want you to go into room and start talking about what you went through when you were kidnapped and how you had to give birth and thought you were going to die when it was all over. Mainly I want to get to the part where you became hopeful again. Vincent said it was your tale to tell and I think it may just help Angela know that if you can surmount an obstacle like that with love and understanding she can as well."
"I don't know. Parts of the story, I still have a difficult time telling…." Catherine hesitated biting her lip.
Devin clasped her hand.
"Please. I know down deep Angela's sympathy and desire to help others is still there. I need, though, for her to focus on herself and know that I am here…we are all here to help her."
Catherine thought about it a little longer and then said. "Of course. If you think it will help, I can do it."
Dr. Greg Filiipo approved the treatment that Devin thought may work. However, Greg did warn that some parts of Catherine's story, if as gruesome as he thinks, may make Angela feel even worse. Devin, who felt he knew his wife better than her doctor, suspected and hoped the opposite would take effect.
It was the next afternoon after lunch that Catherine and Devin decided to spring this story on Angela. She was still restricted to that floor only as she was still considered a suicide threat. Not that Angela really minded. She was just as happy lying there in bed not thinking. Her mind did not dwell on her lost baby, her husband, her three little girls, nor her sister-in-law who was eager to help her out of this funk. Angela had decided after the latest fouled suicide attempt that she would wait until another opportunity to try again. First, she had to fake getting better before she would be released from watchful custody.
"Hi, Angela," Catherine said. "I hope you don't mind if I take a seat. You know how cumbersome this far along can be."
Catherine sat in her chair carefully and then Devin was good enough to put her feet up on another chair.
"Make yourself at home, of course, Catherine," Angela said sarcastically. She sat in bed with her arms crossed and slightly soured expression to her husband who stood on the other side of the bed.
"Angela…" Devin warned.
"No, I'm sorry. I know you're only trying to help me. Please don't mind me," Angela said a little more friendly.
"No worries," Catherine said and adjusted her feet and seat a little more comfortably.
"Please tell me your tale," Angela said sarcastically not expecting anything tumultuous from the tale itself.
Catherine swallowed hard at that remark but was determined to tell it. If this weren't for the agony on Devin's face, she would have given up and state emphatically she was returning home to wait the few days until her babies were to come.
"Ok, Angela, what I am going to tell you would probably be more understandable if you knew who my husband was and what he looked like, but that has to be left for another time."
"Angela, my son Jacob who is 9 was born while I was being held in a skyscraper. They were sure to not let me anywhere near windows or any way with which to communicate to the outside. When I was first pregnant, my captors had not realized it. They fed me morphine in gobs until I vomited it. I was tied up and smacked asking where the book was and if I knew anything. I learned a lot of what was going on but I refused to say anything. They tied me up daily and pumped me daily. Then they learned I was pregnant. Through my drug infected haze, I tried to pipespeak my location to Vincent who had been ill and could not locate where I was. Has Devin mentioned Vincent and our connection?"
"He did." Angela said and thought it was bunch of junk. However, the more Catherine told the more Angela was becoming intrigued.
"Then a couple of months later I tried to get a message outside by giving it to my nurse only to be betrayed by her because she gave it to the man who held me captive. By this point I did have a plain white hospital room and I was fed enough for me and the baby because I was pretty huge with Jacob. They did give me a small window but it was up so high that no one would have spotted a hugely pregnant woman dressed in only a white hospital gown. They had given up questioning me about what I knew and was more concerned about my baby. They knew that Vincent was the father and the head captor, Gabriel, was his name I later discovered wanted my child for himself because he thought it would make him powerful or have a powerful heir-some horrible nonsense. Well, since I knew what everyone looked like I knew they would kill me after the baby was born. I was nothing more than a vessel kept alive only to give birth to a child that I loved and wanted but to give to a sick, psychotic man as a prize."
Catherine shivered as she retold that part and Devin could see that Angela was becoming sympathetic as she had reached out a hand to Catherine to comfort her.
Angela wiped away a tear from her eyes and Devin did, too. He also put a hand on Catherine's shoulder and said she did not have to continue if she did not want to.
"I had not realized how painful the story really was," he said feeling insensitive to his sister-in-law.
"No, it's ok. I've made my peace with what happened to me and out of it came the most joy I have ever had in my life," Catherine said holding Devin's hand and smiling through her tears.
"Well, about a month later, I'm assuming, I went into labor. I tried to hide from the camera they had installed in my room so they could keep a watchful eye on me. The nurse came in to give me a meal and I tried to stand up tall, but my water broke then and my hiding was all over. She came and a couple of orderlies came and took me up to the cold, clinical delivery room." Catherine shivered again remembering the horrific pain and knowledge that the end was near and that Vincent would never know they had made a beautiful child together in that cave that once long ago lost night of the soul. I was not given any pain medication and Jacob was very stubborn in coming into the world. Also there were alarms blaring and I heard Vincent coming for me. He had found me! I thought now everything would be all right. Jacob still was not coming fast enough so they ordered a C-Section. Well, my son must have known something was wrong because then he was born fast and furiously."
Angela held the sheet to her mouth and tried to stem tears of sympathy falling from her eyes and she listened to Catherine's tale.
"I am so sorry for you, Cathy," Angela said in true sympathy. "Can I call you Cathy?"
"Sure. I'd love it if you would," Catherine said reaching out with her own hand to grasp Angela's.
"I hope you don't mind telling me what happens next," Angela said.
"No, because the good surprising part comes next. Although it did take me a long time before I felt it had been good. You'll see what I mean."
"I begged to see my son because I knew I would never get to hold him. I just wanted to see who he looked like. So the doctor held him out for inspection. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. He had just a little tuft of strawberry blonde hair on his head and the biggest bluest eyes. Then the doctor handed the nurse my baby and I could hear through my haze a helicopter, so I could feel that the next step was to get rid of me and let me die there."
Catherine wiped some of her own tears away and took a grateful sip of water that Devin had magically handed her.
"Then the first real surprise hit me. It was the doctor. He looked behind him and he said, 'I'm supposed to give you a fatal shot of morphine so you die peacefully. However, I can't do that. I refuse to do this even if my life ends for you. I will try to get a message to you concerning the whereabouts of your child as soon as I know. Now, I am warning you. Get to a doctor as soon as possible because you have not delivered the placenta yet. If that stays in you, you will get very, very sick. I am giving you a shot of antibiotic which should help prevent any real infection. Remain here until you think it is safe. There are working phones on the bottom floor if you can get there.'
'"I can trust you? You're not just telling me that so I'm not scared?" I asked him.
"No, you can trust me. Now I have to go. Gabriel will wonder why it's taking so long. Good Luck and May God be with you."' He finished."
"So I waited a good few minutes. I knew Vincent was near because I could feel him even if he could no longer feel me. I went to the roof despite what the doctor had ordered. There was the second surprise: Vincent. On the roof. I called to him and he caught me before I fell to the ground. I told him what happened and what the doctor said to me about the placenta. That's when I knew I was safe and I could rest, so I think I passed out and Vincent carried me all the way back to my apartment and called Peter my Obgyn and good friend. I had learned many months previously that Peter and Father attended medical school together. Anyway, once Peter got there, he delivered the placenta and gave me another dose of antibiotic and then had Vincent watch me for a couple of days. That's when I shut off. I became afraid again and distrustful of anyone. I did not want to see my friends to let them know I was home. Vincent even said Peter would be happy to call Joe and Jenny. You see, my only living relative, my father died the year before Jacob's birth. So I did not have relatives looking for me."
Angela was now making no secret of the tears that fell from her eyes. All she could do was look to Devin for guidance.
"Oh….boy," Catherine said as she took a deep breath. "Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh, what?" asked Devin hoping she was not going to say what he thought she was going to say.
"Uh…I think I just had a contraction," Catherine said.
"Oh, boy," was all Devin could respond.