Chapter 47
hey guys! Here's another chapter. Enjoy and drop a review. Cheers.
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"Well, Steve, your x-rays are in the lab and my best technician has started on your caps. They'll be
ready by the time we're ready to put them in. Now, I'm going to realign your lower jaw. Dr. Charity did
excellent work putting your jaw back together, but teeth are a game of millimeters. I want to correct
your bite. I want you to eat without wearing down your teeth in an irregular pattern." Dr. Lionel
explained. "You'll have a great smile on your wedding day. You have my word."
Steve looked at Catherine with a closed mouth smile. "Sounds good. When do we start?"
"Today. I want to align your lower jaw before your stitches come out. I can open that area up; do the
alignment and close you back up. Microsurgery, two millimeters, piece of cake. I can start this
afternoon, right after lunch. Sorry Steve, no food, ice chips if you get thirsty."
"I know the drill." Steve sighed.
"Look at it this way: I go in, shave two millimeters off your jaw and your teeth are perfectly aligned. No
risk of grinding your new teeth and spoiling your natural balanced, perfect smile. I'll do it while you
enjoy a nap. Tonight, you can have a smoothie or two, a day to get ready and let the lab do the magic.
Day after tomorrow, you can smile all you want."
"No more closed lip or hand in front of your mouth when you are smiling." Catherine added.
"I just wonder what the hell he hit me with." Steve smirked.
Dr. Lionel consulted his medical chart. "I can answer that. Dr. Charity made a note: according to Sgt.
Williams, you were hit with a heavy lead crystal coffee table ash tray. This could have been much, much
worse."
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After lunch – shared ice chips – Steve was back in the treatment chair.
"Just breathe normally. Nurse Sandy, my nurse anesthesiologist, will monitor your vitals. Catherine is
here, we're all ready. Are you? How you are doing?" Dr. Lionel spoke in soft, even tones.
Steve gave her the thumbs up sign as Nurse Sandy placed the anesthetic mask over Steve's mouth and
nose. He felt extreme relaxation after several breaths. He maintained eye contact with Catherine until
the anesthetic did its job. His brain drifted off into the fog on the wings of Catherine's smiling face.
"He's under, Dr. Lionel. All vitals are steady and strong." Sandy reported.
"Okay." Dr. Lionel put her mask and goggles on. "Let's get started."
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Steve was home, sitting on the pale beach with the Pacific trade winds blowing through his wavy hair.
He took a deep breath of the salty sea misted air. He laid back on one elbow and enjoyed the sun's
reflection on the water. Wearing a dark t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts, he was comfortably warm and
relaxed. This spot on the beach had been 'his' since he could go to the beach alone. It was his thinking
spot, his reflection spot, his private place for solitude.
After a few minutes, he put his sunglasses on and laid back with his hands behind his head. He crossed
his bare legs at his ankles. He watched the white, puffy clouds go by, no doubt carrying rain destined for
the mainland.
A heavy object was carried to the shore by the surf. The splash caught his attention. He sat up and took
of his sunglasses. A small treasure chest, he closed his eyes and reopened them. The small treasure
chest was still there.
He got up and stretched as he walked the short distance to the shoreline. A big wave came ashore and
the cool water enveloped him to his thighs. He put his hands in the swirling water and picked up the
little treasure chest.
It was surprising light. He tucked it under his arm and returned to his spot on the beach. He drank from
the bottle of water he had brought with him as he studied the little chest. He considered the situation.
The chest moved.
Steve stopped drinking and stared at it. It moved again. He recapped his water and picked up the little
chest. Again, it moved. He looked it up and down, looking for a way to open it. In frustration, he
knocked on the top. "Hello in there." To his surprise, it opened.
There was a sleeping toddler inside. She had an angelic face with lots of dark hair in loose curls.
Steve shook his head, closed his eyes again and reopened them.
The child was still there, smiling at him with big, expressive eyes. "Hello daddy."
"I'm sorry little one, but I'm not your daddy. I have no children. What's your name sweetheart?"
"I don't have a name yet. Daddy, I haven't been born yet."
Steve looked up, startled. "I don't understand."
"At this moment, we are between worlds. Past, present, future; all here." She looked beyond him and
Steve followed her gaze.
Steve saw himself as a pre-teen, surf fishing with his father. He had snagged a big fish and his father
drove his own fishing rod down into the sand. "I'm coming, Stevie, hold on to it!"
Together, they landed the big fish. Father and son were hugging joyously celebrating Steve's first 'big'
fish. His father beamed with pride as young Stevie admired his catch.
Steve smiled at the memory of his father. He turned back to the sea child. "I remember that day." He
looked at the sea child. She was watching the other side of the beach now. Steve followed her gaze to a
slightly older version of himself with a woman and a small girl, a family beach outing.
"Is this you?" Steve asked in a hashed voice. He turned to the child sitting with him. "Is this my
future?"
The sea child smiled again. "It is a possibility of what is to come. It will be me, if you choose me the
right mommy."
"How … is it my Cat, is it Catherine?"
"You know. You've always known, since you two met." The child's eyes shined like sunlight on the sea.
She looked back down the beach with an oh so familiar smile. "I've been waiting so long."
He followed her azure gaze down the beach. He saw himself, slightly older, sporting some random bits
of grey in his hair, splashing in surf with Catherine. She too was a bit older but still so lovely, complete
with her vibrant smile. Her laughter filled the air as she picked up a small girl, about four. The child had
long, dark hair, her mother's smile. Catherine put her lips to the girl's ear, they giggled. Together, they
nodded as she put the child down and together, they ran, hand in hand, and tackled Steve, who was
bent over picking something out of the retreating surf.
More laughter filled the air as the trio fell into the next oncoming wave. The three splashed and
laughed as Steve lost sight them. "Please, just a bit more. What's your name sweetheart?"
The surf rose again, and the vision was lost to mists of the sea.
"Please…"
He looked back to the sea child. She too had vanished, along with the chest. He looked up and down
the beach to no avail. She was gone without trace. His mouth was so dry, so he decided to finish his
water. Still thirsty, he decided to go back to the house for some serious hydration.
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"Are you back with us, Steve?" Dr. Lionel asked.
"Hmmm, yeah. Please, tell me your name."
"It's Dr. Lionel. Open your eyes. There you are, hi Steve. Okay, rinse for me."
He did so. He resettled in the treatment chair and caught Catherine's eye and broke out in a huge
unabashed grin.
She grinned back. "Hi Mustang."
"Hey Cat."
Dr. Lionel smiled at their exchange. "Okay Steve." She took the paper bib off his chest. "That's all for
today. Microsurgery went textbook smooth. I doubt you'll be in much pain but if you are just ask your
nurse. I'll leave orders with her just in case. I'm am sure aspirin will cover you. You'll feel sleepy until
you go through your sleep cycle tonight. If you eat, follow Dr. Charity's guidelines. For the next two to
three hours, stick with liquids. You have a tiny incision, but we don't want to irritate that area."
"Agreed."
"Well then, I'll see you day after tomorrow. Plan on a couple of hours minimum. You can have
breakfast as you can tolerate." She smiled. "In forty-eight hours, you'll be 'you' again."
"Thank you. Thank you so much." He got up and Catherine was right there with the wheelchair. He sat
down gratefully; the anesthetic and its affects left him a bit lightheaded.
"Let's go get some calories in you." Catherine said as she pushed him out to the hallway where Chin was
waiting.
Kelley put the two-year-old magazine he was reading aside.
"Where are we going? To Steve's room?" Chin asked.
"No, the cafeteria. Steve needs nutrition. Let's go get him a couple of smoothies.
'That's it!' Steve's muddled mind thought as Catherine talked, pushing him toward the cafeteria. 'I
haven't eaten yet today, no doubt my blood glucose is low and the anesthetic played havoc with my
mind.' But he couldn't shake the beautiful face and haunting smile of his 'daughter.'
He was so distracted he didn't realize they were at the cafeteria.
"What flavor would you like, my love?"
Steve found himself tongue tied. "Suprise me please, Catty Cat."
"Two?"
"Please."
Catherine went to the counter.
"Chin, if you're hungry, please go get something."
Chin brightened. "You sure, Commander?"
Steve smiled and nodded.
Chin departed, joining Catherine at the counter.
Steve settled back in the stiff wheelchair, putting his elbows on the armrests, his folded hands to his
chin. He was so lost in deep thought when Catherine returned with his protein drinks and her lunch, he
was startled. "Hey Cat."
"Hey sailor. You okay? She was concerned about her lover.
"I'm alright, just 'foggy'. I don't care for that 'Twilight Sleep'. Messes with your head."
"I had it once. I didn't like the feeling of 'lost time.'"
"Did you dream?"
"Oh no. Just blackness, no concept of time passing at all."
Steve nodded absently, his mind on the sea child. She had looked and felt so real. He met Catherine's
concerned eyes. He smiled. "What?"
Catherine searched his eyes. "I guess you'll tell me, when you're ready."
Steve nodded, she knew him so well. "I will, when I figure it out." He was floored when she smiled the
sea child's smile.
