The Webs We Weave 2 Danielle Oberman
You need to read "The Webs We Weave" by Sarah Jaune before reading this story. It is available on Amazon and other sites, for about $3.00. Sarah is writing one of the best Harry Potter fan fiction series, on .net, under the name yellowitchgrl. Start with her story "Bound." "Bound" has one of the best chapters I have ever read in any book of any type in my over 70 years. Highly recommended.
This is the second of my stories about the Grayson family. It would be better to read the other story first.
Everything was going wrong. Daniele Oberman had a terrible pit in her stomach. She and her boss and ex-lover, she guessed it was ex, were flying back to Baltimore, and it would be an awful, tense, miserable trip. The client was in Hawaii, so it would be a long trip. She hoped there were not any brats in the cabin.
G.. Damn kids. Every man she had lived with wanted G.. damn kids. Wanted her body twisted out of shape by a G.. damn kid inside her, and then sucking on her. She wouldn't have a nice tight athletic body. She'd be tied up taking care of a brat.
It was bad enough that the week had been a business disaster. They thought they were going to lose the account, but losing the account just magnified the conflicts between her boss and her about her future.
She had two months to find another place to live, and find another job. She had spent too much going on vacations with Bill, each paying for their own way. She had helped with the rent on the apartment.
Maybe she should have had Jack's kid. Jack Grayson would have paid for everything, and she could have had her tubes tied, and maybe send the damn brat to a boarding school. She could have saved her own money, and maybe live a partly independent life.
She and Bill had fought, and were late to the gate. At least they had bulkhead seats, but behind their seats were two rows of brats. Damn. Damn. Oh, hell, damn. Seated right next to them was a chubby little nursing mother, and the brat was not on her exposed breast. It wasn't like she was bothered by exposed breasts; she had been to topless beaches before. There was just something so plebian and uncomfortable about seeing that fat little mother-f….. feeding that big kid.
"Doesn't she look like a Madonna," Bill proclaimed. "Excuse me, I should not be looking," he told the woman as he looked away.
"It's part of nature," Caro replied, as she fastened her bra and put her clothes back together. "I don't mind an accidental look. Let me put McKenna in her car-seat until we are in the air."
"My wife, before she and our little children died in a car crash, nursed both of our babies," Bill told Caro. "I always loved watching her nurse."
"My husband does as well," Caro beamed. "I am Carolina Grayson."
Damn, damn, damn. This is that fat little thing Jack married. "Get around the prenup yet?" Dani sneered.
"Oh, hello Danni," Carolina told her. "Jack and I never had a prenup. Katherine Grayson and I have a very special relationship. She loves our children, her grandchildren, and I feel her love for me every time we talk.
"I'm embarrassed by all the money. I'm grateful for it, and it has allowed me to be a full time mother, but sometimes it just seems like we have so much more than we need."
I could spend Jack's money, Danielle thought. This simmering simpleton just has no appreciation for the finer things in life.
"I'm Bill Collins," Bill introduced himself. "I see you and Danni know each other."
"We don't actually know each other," Carolina explained. "Danni knew my husband before he and I met, and Danni and I met once, shortly after we were married. Jack adopted my son Owen, and we started having children together. Owen stayed home for this trip. He is working with his grandfather. Owen's father died in the service before Owen was born, but Jack and I are very lucky that Owen's grandparents have become grandparents to all our children. Peter and Katherine Grayson, Jack's parents, and his sisters, adopted Owen as well. Everybody has the same three sets of grandparents. It is just such a great family."
"I didn't find Senator Katherine Grayson at all nice," Danni complained. She waited for this Carolina woman to say something, but Carolina just composed herself and sat there. No spirit, no fight. Jack married a stupid simpleton.
"Is your family with you?" Bill finally asked.
Family, family, family, Danni thought. I should not have wasted time with Bill, with all his talk about family. I need to find a rich man who hates children as much as I do.
"Owen is seventeen," Carolina answered. "Jack and I have three girls, Fiona, eleven, Evelyn, nine, Kiara, seven, before the boys came along. We have two boys, Ryan John, five, and Connor, three. Our youngest is McKenna.
"The girls are just behind us, along with Juanita Garcia, a woman who lives with us and helps with the house and children. Jack is in the row behind with the boys, and with Arthur, Juanita's son, who also lives with us."
"What does your husband do, that you can afford all those children?" Bill asked.
"He comes from a wealthy family," Carolina answered. "We do not live on what he makes as a High School history teacher. The first two years I was always embarrassed by all the will and trust things, all the legal ramifications of marrying into this big, wealthy family.
"When we were in Las Vegas, just after our wedding, Jack asked if I wanted a car. I'd never owned a car, and thought it was stupid. I did end up with a car, the first of our minivans, but it never occurred to me that he would buy a new one. I did let him pay for my phone bill, and I've gotten better at spending money, but I still watch our budget. It doesn't make sense to waste money, no matter how much you have."
"Do you have a school bus to transport all these children around?" Bill kidded.
"We each have a mini-van," Carolina explained, "but McKenna and the Garcia family meant that we would have to take two cars too often, so we purchased this big fifteen passenger van. I know longer feel embarrassed driving a new Toyota minivan, although neither is that new right now. The big van is a Mercedes. Jack sometimes kids me that I drive a Mercedes, which I find rather embarrassing. We could have purchased a Dodge, but it would not have been as nice, so I'm stuck driving a Mercedes."
Bill and Carolina spent the next twenty minutes talking about family, mostly Carolina's family, as Danni stewed. Dani thought that she would not find it at all embarrassing to drive a Mercedes, especially a little Mercedes sport car.
The seat belt sign was finally turned off, and Jack came up the aisle on Carolina's side and peered in. "How is my beautiful bride and our youngest?" he beamed, as he bent over the car seat to kiss Carolina.
"I nursed her just before we took off, and she's been sleeping ever since," Caro answered. "I've been having a delightful conversation with Bill Collins over Danni, who hasn't said much."
Jack looked at Danni, and then at Jack. Danni was sure, from Carolina's tone of voice, and the gestures, that Carolina told Jack far more than the few words she said.
"I guess you had to marry Carolina, if you married without a big ceremony, and with no prenup," Danni snapped. It didn't make any sense to be polite. Her future with Bill was ruined, and she was in an especially bitchy mood.
"We didn't have intercourse until after we were married," Jack said. "We've been busy since then, though. I love my life. How are you? Are you and Bill …?"
Ruined, that's what she felt like. Jack would have to ask that, and just after she and Bill had an unpleasant breakup. There was no good way to answer that question. "I'm fine, independent as always," she replied.
"How do you know Danni?" Bill asked.
"Dad, I'm bored," a little boy said, pulling on his father's leg. "Can we see the rest of the airplane?"
"You are going to have to go back to your seat and read," Jack said. "Read to Arthur and Connor. And fasten your seat belt!"
"Connor is already reading, sort of, and sometimes he interrupts," Ryan complained.
"Ryan!" Jack commanded.
"All right, I'm going," Ryan grumbled, as he sulked off, Jack following.
Carolina cheerily informed Bill, "Jack said that he and Danni lived together for a little while. Apparently they broke up because she became pregnant, and then, without telling Jack, she had an abortion. Jack has always wanted a family.
"Have you changed your mind about having a family, Danni?"
"Damn you! Mind your own business," Danni complained. "Just because you want to be a brood mare doesn't mean that I have to want that. I've been perfectly happy being independent and having all sorts of freedom that you gave up when you became pregnant with Jack's brats."
"Jack has given me the freedom to raise my son Owen, and all our children, in a loving and happy family," Carolina retorted. "We've been going to church, even though we may not agree with all the theology, and have a wide circle of friends and family. I love my life. Jack is the best thing that ever happened to me."
I'm perfectly happy, Danni thought. Except I'm not. I have to start all over, again.
Damn Jack Grayson. Damn everyone and everything that wants me to give and not take. I want my own happiness, not some sucker loving family that doesn't exist. They cannot be that happy. Jack is tied up with that Ryan, and Carolina and Jack are not even sitting together.
I just cannot see the anger. He has to be using her. She is a nothing he has under his thumb. She doesn't know enough to get her own money. He'll leave her for some pretty girl at some point. Her nail were painted, but the nail polish is wearing off. The hair is rather spectacular, except for a little gray, and she doesn't bother to color it. No makeup. The dress is a mother's dress, not fashionable like mine.
She's a short, chubby little mother, for God's sake. She has no right to be that happy, that content. She's probably never worked a day in her life, damn her. How come she gets Jack Grayson and all his money? It is not fair.
"If you are uncomfortable sitting next to Carolina we can switch," Bill suggested.
"Fine," Danni sulked.
"I think the last two years have been an act," Bill whispered to Carolina,
"I thought you ought to know how Danni feels about having children," Carolina replied, loud enough for Danielle to hear. "Jack really did rescue me from a bad situation, but I gave Jack something to live for after Danni did a number on him. I hate being bitchy, but sometimes you have to be."
End Game
"It is stage four cancer, and it is in multiple organs, Danielle. There is nothing we can do to cure you. We need to plan for the next stage.
"Massive chemotherapy and radiation to try and save your life will probably shorten it, and make you miserable in the process. We can treat some of the cancers, to help with the pain, and modest treatment could prolong your life some, and make you more comfortable. For this to work, you need to be in a supportive environment, though.
"The other option is just to treat the pain, but do nothing to prevent a quick end."
"I have to get back to work, or I will lose my apartment," Danielle replied.
"You are weak enough that you cannot go back to work, and you will never regain enough strength," the doctor responded. "Do you have family or friends that will take you in for the next days to months?"
"I don't have any family," Danni replied. "My mother is dead, and I do not know any of my more distant relatives." I don't want them to steal any of my possessions, either, Danielle thought.
"Friends, then?" the doctor asked. "The only alternative is a nursing home. You do need to clear out your apartment and make final plans, and you are weak enough that you should not do that for yourself, or drive."
Damn, thought Danni. Who is dumb enough to be nice to me now? I have so called friends, but none of them would give me a dime if I needed it. I do not really trust any of them. When they knew I was sick no one offered to help. They would steal my things and money.
"I need to think about this," Danni told the doctor.
"I will be back in later, and we can talk more about moving you," he replied.
I need somebody stupidly nice, Danni thought. Who? Jack Grayson and that dumb little fat wife of his? They might be suckers enough to take me in. Better than a nursing home.
"Can you get in touch with Jack Grayson?" Danni asked the doctor when he came back in. "He is the son of Dr. Peter Grayson, the former chief of staff of this hospital. I have not seen him in years, but he and his wife are the only people I can think of."
"I will try," the doctor replied.
The next afternoon Jack and Carolina Grayson walked into Danielle Oberman's hospital room.
"Hello, Danni," Jack whispered. "It has been a long time."
"I think the last time we met was on a flight back from Hawaii," Danni responded, "I sat next to Carolina and a baby."
"The baby is a teen-ager now, so it has been a long time," Carolina beamed.
"Did the doctors tell you my prognosis," Danni asked.
"A little," Jack said. "If we are going to help you we need several things. I am not trying to be rude or demanding, but realistic. We need your medical power of attorney, with full powers to make medical decisions for you. We will take your wishes into account, but I don't want any legal loopholes that could expose us to liability. We need the same type of power attorney for your financial matters, so we can pay your bills and take care of financial matters when you are incapacitated. If you have someone else who you want to handle those matters, we can talk to them, but we need to protect ourselves if you are living under our roof or in our care.
"Who do you want to leave your possessions to?"
"I want to take them with me. I've never really planned to die," Danni admitted. "They are going to kick me out of my apartment in a couple of days, and all my paperwork and possessions are there, except for my car. I drove it here a few days ago because I felt just terrible, and it has been here ever since."
"I have the medical power of attorney forms here," Jack said. "Sign them, and we will talk to your doctors."
I guess I cannot blame Jack for being careful, Danni thought. He is nice, but not dumb. I don't know what to make of that little fat wife of his. It sounds like they are going to help me. I need to play nice, damn it. They want all the power over me if I live with them. No way I would do it, except it should be better than living in a nursing home.
If I had married him and had his bastard, I would be lavishly taken care of. Now I have to take what I can get. Damn.
"We've been over to your apartment," Jack told Danni the next day. "We are making plans to clean it out. If you have any things you would like with you, let us know. We have children eying your sports car, but I expect it will stay parked at our house for the time being. I told Carolina that it is a little car for a little person, so she should drive it, but she didn't think much of that idea." Jack laughed. Carolina rolled her eyes, shook her head, and smiled, and then the two kissed.
Jack and Carolina made a show of loving each other. Danni had been in lust often, but she could never remember the kind of comfortable love that Jack and Carolina displayed, if she could believe what she was seeing. Well, if their stupid love would make them take care of her, she could put up with it.
The two-hour drive to Briarwood, the stupid little town Jack live in, was not comfortable. Jack was driving an older minivan, and it was obvious that children had spilled all over the interior. Jack had enough money to have a nice new car every year, so she could not understand why he was driving this dump.
The house looked lived in as well. The woman with all the scars and a young woman who was almost certainly one of their daughters were herding a group of little ones. "We are taking care of, and home schooling, grandchildren," Carolina announced. "Our pediatrician lost his wife a couple of years after he moved here, leaving him with two small children. Our Evelyn married him, and those two children have been added to our crew."
The girl, who might be Evelyn, was carrying a toddler, and it looked like she was pregnant. For someone who hated children, this was going to be torture. Maybe the nursing home would be better. Damn.
Danni was barely able to use a walker to go through the house to a passageway and another house.
"The doctors say you are not going to be able to climb stairs," Jack told her. "We have set up a bedroom here in what is usually a sort of second family room. My office is in what was the living room, and upstairs Juanita has the master bedroom, and we have three guest rooms."
Danni looked at the hospital type bed, and some privacy screening. She wanted to scream, but she was so tired that she just collapsed into bed.
"We have cleaned out your apartment," Carolina told Danni. "Everything is packed up, and in the basement of this house. All the legal and financial things are in Jack's office, but everything else is packed. Do you have any idea what you want to do with any of your possessions?"
Why is Carolina being so nice? Danni could not understand these people. She ought to be looking at all her things, but she was too tired most of the time. She had to be nice; these people could kick her out at any time.
"How come Katherine Grayson did not ask you for a prenup?" Danni wheezed when Caro brought a meal to her.
Carolina thought a moment. "Because I was very poor, and I still fought having Jack buy anything for me. Jack said I didn't have a materialistic bone in my body. We do buy new cars, but then we use then until they are worn out and not dependable enough. I still take advantage of sales at the grocery store. I don't shop at thrift stores like I did before I married Jack, but mostly because I want to allow people who really need less expensive things to shop there.
"Jack and I just trust each other."
Carolina is a naive simpleton, Danni thought. She could afford houses full of nice things, and the house just shouted out middle class. More lower middle class than upper middle class.
She did not know who paid for the aids that came in twice a day. They made sure she was out of bed and in a chair. They made sure she didn't get bed sores. They helped with her toilet. Jack had enough money, and if hospice didn't pay for it, Jack could. She just made sure they didn't get rid of any of her things. She hadn't felt good enough to ask them to unpack any of them, but the nice things from her apartment were the only thing she had from fifty-five years of living, and she would be damned if she would let them get rid of her stuff while she was alive.
Carolina and Juanita helped her when the aids were not there. It was embarrassing, but she didn't have much of a choice. This dying is embarrassing. She hated it. The worst part was putting up with this family and their obnoxious goodness.
"Hello, I'm Evelyn Rogers, Jack and Carolina's second daughter. I have your lunch."
She is too damn cheery, Danni thought, but she didn't say anything.
"I heard you dated my father," Evelyn observed. "Why did you break up?"
"He left," Danni grunted.
"Why?" Evelyn asked.
"That's pretty damn personal," Danni observed.
"Did you ever get married?" Evelyn persisted.
"That's personal too. I really don't think I have to answer to you," Danni scowled.
"I'm asking people about marriage because I just married my husband," Evelyn explained. "His wife had cancer when she was pregnant with their second child, and waited until she was seven and a half months pregnant and they could take the child by caesarian before they started treating her. It was too late. I was working in a day care center, and Dr. Fred, my husband, was late picking up his children often enough. I stayed, and eventually offered to take the children home. It wasn't long before I was cooking dinner, and even staying and eating with them.
"One day Victoria, the oldest, she was four, she asked if I could be her mother. I said that to be her mother I would have to marry her father and live with them all the time. She responded that she thought I should marry her father, but that we had better practicing kissing if we were going to get married. She looked at her father and asked, 'Will you marry Ms. Grayson, please.'
"Dr. Fred replied, 'We have to talk about that. I like the idea, but I do not know if she does.'
"I replied that I thought it might be a good idea, but we would have to talk about it.
"'Let's practice both of us putting you to bed and kissing you good night,' he said.
"When the children were in bed we looked at each other. I told him that I was willing to be part of the family, but I was waiting to see if he liked me. He was concerned that as my employer he would be violating some standards if he became too forward with me, but he loved the way I was working with the children, and, and, and we talked and talked. Before I left, he told me that we had better practice kissing, and we did.
"Two months later we were married, and I think I became pregnant on our wedding night, or at least within a day or so. We both love children, so that is the best thing I can think of happening to me."
Danni didn't say anything, and an embarrassed Evelyn left the room. Stupid sappy stories. That Juanita and her son, all these sappy stories. I'm stuck here surrounded by all these sickly sweet sappy stories. Jack has all this money, and could be going on adventures all around the world, and instead that fat little Carolina has him tied down here with all these brats. She is helping with grandchildren and even children who are not her own.
I should have gone to a nursing home and died in peace. Keep the little brats away from me.
It is getting harder to breath, and they have me on oxygen now. There are two nurses taking turns, sixteen hours of nursing care a day. The bitches should have paid for twenty-four hour care, but they take care of me when the nurses are not around. They are probably stealing my money, and skimping on the nursing care.
I hate this family. I hate Jack Grayson. I hate Carolina Grayson. I don't know what their game is, but they are just abusing me, and allowing me to die.
"We are in the last stages," the hospice nurse told Jack and Carolina. "Danni may be able to hear us, but I really doubt she will be able to wake up enough to communicate. We will keep checking in, but now it is just a waiting game.
"We have been trying to comfort her these last weeks," Jack informed the nurse. "She just doesn't seem to want to be comforted. We've kept the children away from her, but none of us have been able to reach her."
REACH ME? For what. To make me happy? I'm God Damn dying. DAMN. Damn. Damn. …
"She's gone," the hospice nurse told Jack and Carolina.
"Sometimes you do the right thing not because the person you help appreciates it, but because it is the right thing to do," Jack told Carolina.
"I know," Carolina replied. "It is just that I had to change the ungrateful bitch's dirty diapers. You know, she never once said 'thank you,' or expressed any gratitude for what we did for her. I'm ashamed to say it, but I'm not sorry she is dead."
"Danielle Oberman, age 55, died at the home of Jack and Carolina Grayson," the obituary read. "There was no close family."
"Or friends," Carolina added. "Sad."
"She is mine," a voice rasped.
"Not so fast, Satan," another voice contested. "She has people praying for her."
"Her time to repent is long past," the first voiced rasped again.
"I honor the prayers of my people," the second voice declared.
"Hello," a very sweet voice purred. "People are praying for you, and God honors the prayers of His people. You are being given a choice."
"What kind of choice?" Danielle demanded.
"If you want to go to Hell, or you want to examine your life and confront some hard truths about yourself," the voice responded.
"Why would I want to go to hell?" Danielle inquired.
"The choice is usually in the form of 'I'll be damned if,' where the 'if' is any one of a number of things. I'll be damned if I want to be in heaven with him, or her, or with Catholics or blacks. I'll be damned if I will go to heaven without my gun, or if I have to believe this or stop believing that."
"Hell is not some place I want to go, is it?" Danielle hedged.
"No."
"Who are you?"
"You can call me 'G'," the voice replied. "I'm a messenger."
"Who the hell, well, I probably shouldn't swear. Who is praying for me, and why?" Danielle inquired, getting curious.
"The who is simple," G explained. "The why is more complex and something you will need to try and understand. The Grayson family has been praying for you. Let us go back to where they first found out that you were dying, and see if you can understand why they agreed to let you stay with them."
"Why do I need to understand this?" Danielle asked.
"Because you do not understand love, or why someone would try to be good and help people even if they get no reward."
"I need to understand this to avoid hell?" Danielle pondered.
"Yes," G explained. "You need to be able to love other people to be able to understand heaven. If you do not understand love, no matter where you are, it will not be heaven."
"Hello, are you Jack Grayson," was the voice on the phone.
"Yes, I'm Jack."
"I'm Dr. Kearney, from the Cancer Center at John Hopkins. We have a friend of yours here, Danielle Oberman. She is dying of cancer, and when we told her that we needed someone with a medical power of attorney, and ideally someone to take care of some other matters, you name was the only one she could think of."
"I lived with her about thirty years ago, but it has been maybe fifteen years since I have talked to her. She wants to give ME medical power of attorney, over her life? That's hard to believe."
"She really doesn't want to give anyone any power over any of her life," Dr. Kearney said, "but she is at the stage in her illness where she really doesn't have much of a choice."
"I'll have to talk to my wife," Jack replied. "Give me a number where I can call you."
Danielle could see all sorts of thoughts running through Jack's head. Danielle always had a group of friends, but from the two years Jack knew her, Danielle did not have any longtime friends. All of their life together was remembered from the position of the betrayal he felt when she told Jack she never wanted children.
Danielle saw all the times she responded favorably to Jack when the idea of a family came up, and how she knew each time she was lying. She didn't call it lying at the time, but from the other side of the grave it was obvious they were lies. Danielle didn't know how long these flashbacks took. Time was different here, and it could have taken hours, or no time at all, or both.
Jack was thinking of the betrayal, though. He was grieving the child they never had, at the same time he was grateful for his current life. Jack was thinking of the breakup. Maybe he should not have just walked away so suddenly. Even if they had not married, maybe he could have shared something, done something, to understand Danni, or help her. Something must have gone wrong in her life for her to be alone at this stage in her life.
Danielle found herself looking in on Jack and Carolina, as Jack told his wife, "I've just received a call from the cancer ward at John Hopkins. Danielle Oberman is dying of cancer, and needs a place to stay. I don't understand all the parameters of the situation, but I guess that she doesn't have any advance directive, any trust or any way of living out her last days. They told her that she needed someone who she could trust, to take care of her during her last days. The only people she could think of were us."
"We haven't seen her in years!" Carolina exclaimed. "Why us?"
"I don't know," Jack replied. "I do not know what to do. I do think we need to at least see her, and see if we can figure out what is going on."
"I want to soak this one in prayer," Carolina replied. "I'm going to call the prayer chain and have people from the church pray. We should also ask the family to pray tonight."
Danielle found herself watching as person after person prayed for her. She could see some dark aurora around her body diminish slightly each time someone prayed. She was not sure how she felt about it. Danielle was reasonably sure the dark aurora would eventually lead her to hell, but she had no idea what would lead her to heaven.
Jack told Carolina, "We have an in-service day tomorrow afternoon, and I do not have to be there. We could head to Baltimore tomorrow."
Carolina prayed aloud, "Lord, help is to know what to do, and to do the right thing. I have never liked Danni, but if we are being led to care for her in her last days, show us the way."
"What is Carolina going to get out of helping me?" Danielle asked G.
"She is becoming one of God's great saints, not by any huge and noticeable act, but by being kind to everyone," G explained. "She doesn't like you, never did. But if you need help, and she can help you, she will. She is a very good person, and helping people usually makes her happy.
"Carolina has also become much more willing to ask for help, and when she receives help she is always very grateful for it. She is almost opposite from your own refusal to help anyone else, but also refusal to accept help."
The next scene was at the hospital in Baltimore. "I cannot tell you everything," the doctor said. "I could if you had medical power of attorney, and I have the forms for that here.
"Danielle has been very reluctant to let anyone else know about her condition, or help. We have no next of kin to notify, and it has already been a problem. As she deteriorates further, not having anyone who can make decisions for her will become more and more of a problem."
"I don't suppose anyone else has a financial power of attorney either," Jack suggested.
"Not that we know of," the doctor replied. "We have form for that here as well."
Jack and Carolina Grayson walked into Danielle Oberman's hospital room, and this time Danielle was on the outside watching the exchange.
"I really looked that bad?" Danielle asked G. She was shocked at how emaciated she looked.
"Yes," G replied.
"Hello, Danni," Jack whispered. "It has been a long time." Danielle could feel the sympathy in Jack's heart, the real agony he felt in seeing her so obviously ill. Carolina too felt sorry for what she could see was a shrunken and pathetic figure. Danielle had not imagined that she was that obviously sick.
"I think the last time was on a flight back from Hawaii," Danni responded, "I sat … Carolina and a baby."
"The baby is a teen-ager now, so it has been a long time," Carolina beamed, and Danielle could see the very real pride Carolina had in her family. Danni realized that she never cared what other parents felt about their children, and only paid attention to it when it was important to be a good boss, or to play the part of a true friend.
"Did the doctors tell … prognosis," Danni grunted, realizing that she was only focusing on herself. She really did not care for Jack and Carolina, only for what they could do for her.
"A little," Jack said. "If we are going to help you we need several things. I am not trying to be rude or demanding, but realistic. We need your medical power of attorney, with full powers to make medical decisions for you. We will take your wishes into account, but I don't want any legal loopholes that could expose us to liability. We need the same type of power of attorney for your financial matters, so we can pay your bills and take care of financial matters when you are incapacitated. If you have someone else who you want to handle those matters, we can talk to them, but we need to protect ourselves if you are living under our roof or in our care.
"Who do you want to leave your possessions to?"
"I want to take them with me. I've never really planned to die," Danni admitted. "They are going to kick me out of my apartment in a couple of days, and all my paperwork and possessions are there, except for my car. I drove it here a few days ago because I felt just terrible, and it has been here ever since."
"I have the medical power of attorney forms here," Jack said. "Sign them, and we will talk to your doctors."
Danni then saw Jack and Carolina go back and talk to the doctors.
Jack started, "I can tell that there is more going on here than just her illness. What is going on?"
The lead doctor looked at two of his colleagues, and then said, "We first saw Danielle about a year ago. She was working as a financial analysis and supervisor, doing a fair amount of traveling, but had been feeling under the weather. We found a cancer that had already metastasized, and after talking to her, started to aggressively treat it. We kept the cancer at bay for the first six months, but then the cancer started to spread. Along the way, we kept trying to see if there was anyone other than Danielle we could recruit to help her with her fight.
"Danielle never allowed us to contact anyone at her company, or anyone else. She filled in the forms for medical leave, but did not allow us to talk to Human Resources. We had a couple of crisis, and the inability to contact anyone else was a real problem. You are here because we are getting towards the end of her life, and we either put her in a nursing home with, we hope, hospice protocols, and let her die alone and un-mourned, or we find someone so she doesn't die alone.
"There are, of course, other practical problems with having no one. I know she is concerned because she may lose her apartment, and all her possessions. She really needs to get a financial power of attorney in place too. I'm not sure if she trusts you, but if she does you could help her and everybody around her."
Jack and Carolina went back to Danielle's hospital room, and Jack told her, "We've talked to your doctors. We need you to sign these financial Power of Attorney forms as well. We also need the key to your apartment and the apartment address, and the key to your car. We also need computer passwords, so we can access your financial records. We plan to be back here tomorrow, and figure out what we can do for you."
Danielle saw herself reluctantly and grudgingly sign the forms, and give them the keys. She gave them the passwords for her computer, just because her brain was fuzzy and she really didn't quite know what she was doing. She told them where she lived, and what kind of car she was driving. "I have no idea where I parked it," she confessed. Jack and Carolina drove around for about half an hour trying to find her car, before they found it. Jack drove it back to their house.
Danielle saw Jack call Beverly Sharpe, and she knew that Beverly was an accountant. Jack explained who Danielle was. Then he said, "The doctors thought that Danielle's finances were not in good shape these last couple of months. I thought we had better engage an expert to look into what she has, and how we can pay her bills and wind up her estate."
"Estates where the person has made no plans can be difficult," Beverly told Jack.
Jack explained, "We are going over to see Danielle's apartment for the first time tomorrow morning. I know it is Saturday, but if you have the time, I would like you to come with us. You will know what you are looking for."
"If the apartment lease is up in a couple of days we have to work fast," Beverly agreed. "Once the records are lost these things become nightmares really fast."
Danielle saw how Jack and the people around him were rearranging their lives to accommodate her. "Why are they doing this for me?" she pondered, as G showed her all the chaos, all the change of plans, which were taking place.
"They are doing it for Jack and Carolina, not for you," G explained.
The next morning Jack, Carolina and Beverly took a newer minivan to Baltimore, and told it to drive straight to Danielle's apartment.
"Tell me again why we are doing this?" Beverly asked. "It has been years, decades, since you and Danni lived together and were friends."
"I am not sure," Jack confessed. "I'm mostly mad at Danni, but there is something in me that says I abandon her, just walked out of her life, and never invested in trying to change her. Maybe the way we broke up made her bitter. I don't know. If Carolina told me to walk away, I would. She has really good instincts about this type of thing."
Danielle could see all sorts of conflicting emotions in Jack, Carolina, and Beverly.
Carolina explained, "I'm just reluctant to abandon someone who asks for help. If they betray you, try to bring you down to their level instead of accepting a helping hand, that's a different matter. We have just had enough experience with people who asked us to throw them a lifeline taking it and getting better that it makes up for the people who accept help and then throw the lifeline back at you in spite."
Reading the emotions of the people riding in the car was a painful experience for Danielle. She was beginning to realize that people who were nice to her did not necessarily like her. Danni had been nice to people because she had to, without liking them, but she was not conscious of how much she had hurt people by being insincere.
The apartment was a mess. Jack remarked, "This does not look like the organized Danni I knew."
Carolina opened the refrigerator, and started to throw out food. "It looks like Danni did cook for herself and others, but the last time was probably weeks ago." Danielle knew that Carolina was correct. She had not had the strength to make anything more complicated than a sandwich or a bowl of something she could just heat and serve.
"The records were very neat until the last six months, and then they became worse and worse," Beverly remarked. "I do not think we have all her passwords, but we seem to have the key financial ones."
They worked in and on the apartment for a couple of hours, and then went back to the hospital. Once there they asked the charge nurse, "Has anyone been here to see Danni?"
"You are the first people she has allowed us to contact," the nurse replied.
"Where can you discharge Danielle to?"
"She could go to a nursing home, or to a private home. If we discharged her to a private home, you are going to want a local hospice to work with you in setting up a room for her. She is periodically throwing up, and incontinent, so you do not want her on carpet."
"I've worked with our local hospital and hospice," Carolina replied. "If I call now I can probably have all the equipment delivered by tonight."
Danielle saw Carolina and Diane work with the nursing staff and the hospice in the Briarwood area to arrange the delivery of needed medical equipment to Jack and Carolina's home that night. She saw how Carolina just charged it to her personal account until they could arrange the financial matters with hospice.
Danielle asked, "Is Carolina always that free with Jack's money?"
G looked at Danielle, and Danielle saw that the money was, as far as legally possible, both of their money. She also saw that there was no conflict in how the money was spent. There was a special charitable checking account with money used for charity.
Danielle also saw that, at least for the time being, she was a charity case, something that made her mad. "There is money available to pay my medical bills," she told G.
"There will be, because you gave Jack and Carolina your financial power of attorney. If you had not it is possible that the money would have been misdirected," G explained.
Meanwhile Jack was in her room, and Danielle saw that she was being treated, and was not fully with it mentally. Once the treatments were finished, she awoke. Jack and Carolina were in the room.
"We've been over to your apartment," Jack told Danni. "We are making plans to clean it out. If you have any things you would like with you, let us know. We have children eying your sports car, but I expect it will stay parked at our house for the time being. I told Carolina that it is a little car for a little person, so she should drive it, but she didn't think much of that idea." Jack laughed. Carolina rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grinned, and then the two kissed.
Jack and Carolina made a show of loving each other. Danni had been in lust often, but she could never remember the kind of comfortable love that Jack and Carolina apparently had. Well, if their stupid love would allow her to be taken care of, she could put up with it.
From the other side Danielle saw how much Jack and Carolina loved each other, and what tremendous joy that love gave them both. Danielle saw just how jaded and cynical she had become. "I was not a very nice person, was I," Danielle told G.
"No," G replied. Danielle waited for something else from G, but there was nothing but the 'NO' hanging out there. She was not a very nice person. It hurt to realize how not nice she could be.
"We are taking you to our house tomorrow," Carolina told Danni.
Danielle waited to see how she would respond to Carolina, but there was no verbal response. Internally she saw that instead of being grateful, she resented how Jack and Carolina had taken over her life. From the other side she also saw how someone had to take over; she was incapable of handling her own affairs or living on her own.
The next day Jack and Carolina did not take one of the minivans parked in their garage, but an older one parked outside. "We were told that Danni sometimes throws up, or is incontinent, so I want to take the oldest minivan, the one we save for the times when one of the family cars is out of service," Carolina explained.
"I agree," Jack replied. "The Danni I knew, and the one we saw on display at the apartment, would want to ride is the newest and nicest vehicle. It looks like she is very shallow that way. I am sure that she will look down on our house. It is a middle class child friendly place, not a mansion. I wish she could see all the love that the house has held over the years we have lived there."
Danielle saw a montage of all the life the Grayson house had seen, mostly happy, but occasionally sad or even tragic. It was clear that in the eternal scheme of things, her life had been very shallow, and the Grayson family were good in a way she was still having a hard time processing.
"Did you notice that there were no children in any of the photographs, no mention of any family," Carolina observed. "I know Danni did not want to have any children, but it almost seems as if she stopped seeing people who did have children."
"She was with me often enough when I was with children, in my family and elsewhere," Jack remembered. "She was never very good with them, but I know she was an only child, and I just thought she needed practice. It is pretty obvious that her problems with children go deeper than just being an only child."
"She looks like a fat little mother," Danielle told G. "I just don't see what Jack sees in her."
"Your image of Carolina is woefully incomplete," G told Danielle. G showed scenes from the start of Jack and Carolina's relationship. The dress Danielle first saw Carolina in was from a thrift shop. The second time Carolina was in full mother mode, and although the dress was practical and cute, it was not the type of outfit that would impress Danielle. The dress she was wearing to bring Danielle to their house in Briarwood was old and practical. "I'm wearing this in case Danni throws up on me," Danielle saw Carolina tell Jack.
"We are going to go forward a couple of days," G told Danielle. "You need to change your mind about how Carolina looks. It is Tuesday, the first week you were dying at their house. Carolina has an appointment to see your old firm tomorrow."
Danielle saw Carolina and Jack meet towards the bottom of a set of stairs that led up to the bedrooms. Jack was dressed in a casual shirt and slacks, looking very much like a late middle-aged man, with graying hair and a moderately lined face. He was still reasonably thin, but he did have a little belly. Carolina wore a blouse that was a little stained from child-care, and comfortable slacks. Her hair was red streaked with white, and her face was more the face of a young grandmother than of a young bride.
Jack and Carolina kissed at the bottom of the stairs. Jack moved his hand up from Carolina's waist to her breast, touching her in a way that was very sensuous, and she responded by giggling and putting her head into his side. Carolina took to the stairs first, obviously wiggling her butt, and Jack put his hands on her retreating bottom. Danielle and Jack had engaged in some passionate intercourse, but nothing like this comfortable foreplay.
They casually undressed and tended to the nighttime pills and toilet, gently touching when they could. While this was occurring, Danielle finally saw what Jack saw. Carolina was only a little heavy, just over the high end of ideal body weight. Jack loved all of Carolina's body, the adequate breasts that nursed their children, and that felt so good when they pressed against his skin. There was a little baby belly, but not enough to get in the way of lovemaking, and a defined waist that, if not real thin, was just delightful to feel. Carolina had more than adequate hips. She was equal parts curvy and pear shaped. Her body was not the tight, muscular body that Danielle possessed for most of her life, but Jack felt it was as sexy as it could be.
Jack and Carolina climbed into their bed, held each other, and gently talked.
"I'm sorry we have Danielle here, Carolina," Jack mumbled. "She hasn't changed, and I should have known better."
"We made the decision together," Carolina responded. "The Lord asks us to try to do good. We don't have to succeed each time. It would be nice to get a 'thank you' occasionally from the bitch, though.
"I'm sorry, calling her a bitch, Jack. Danielle just seems to bring out the worst in me, and I'm not proud of it."
They held each other, each feeling the other's body, each rejoicing in how their body and the body of the other felt. Sex was part of it, but only part of it. A comfortable talking to each other while holding each other was part of it as well, as was starting to sleep spooning, Jack holding Carolina while they both started to doze.
The next morning after breakfast Carolina dressed to meet Annatole Orwant, Danielle's old boss, and other people at the company where Danielle had been employed.
Carolina looked in the drawer with her fancy bras, and picked out one that flattered all her shape, showing a modest amount of cleavage. She put on tights that flattened her belly, but showed off her hips and bottom. She put on a dress that shouted out 'old money,' picked out small but very expensive earrings with emeralds that complimented her engagement ring, and then put on a necklace with diamonds and emeralds that went with the earrings. Danielle saw that Jack had given Carolina the jewelry and many other pieces as well. The amount and expense of the gifts embarrassed Carolina, but she knew how to wear them.
Carolina picked out two expensive little rings for her right hand, and an exquisite purse. Her shoes were the modest heels that one saw on a woman who did not need to pretend she was anything other than what she was. Carolina looked every bit a middle aged, wealthy, grandmother.
"Carolina doesn't usually dress like that," Danielle complained. "Why are you showing me this?"
"To show you that Carolina dresses for comfort, in child friendly clothes, by choice," G responded. "Carolina worked for years as a seamstress, and still sews. She has an eye for clothes, which is why that dress, which she made, flatters her figure as well as it does. You have seriously underestimated her since you first met her."
Carolina entered a newer minivan, and gave the car an address in Baltimore. While the car was driving to the meeting, Carolina reviewed the information Beverly has given to her, and made a couple of additional calls. Once at the office, Carolina exited the car, and told it to find a charging station and wait for her call.
Danielle recognized the office building where she worked. Carolina took an elevator up to a top floor, and was directed to an expansive corner office. Danielle knew the office well; Mrs. Orwant usually met with employees in her office. Mrs. Orwant, Danielle could never call her Annatole, could be a demanding boss at times. Danielle felt she had made the Orwant family a good deal of money, without being given enough credit. She had lost the family money a few times as well, but Mrs. Orwant did not fire you if you won much more often than you lost. Danielle waited to see how intimidated Carolina would be by the presence of Mrs. Orwant.
Carolina walked into the office, and beamed. "It has been a long time, Annie. How are your children?"
Annatole responded, "It is good to see you, Caro. The baby I was pregnant with when we first met is going to make me a grandmother soon, and her sister is engaged. I haven't seen you since Peter was injured and Kate retired from the senate and stopped giving those big parties. I envy you and Jack being able to skip the social whirl."
"We are rather busy with our family. I could talk for hours about what they all are doing, but in general, our family has been blessed. I need to talk to you about Danni Oberman."
Annie queried, "What is the relationship between Danni and the Grayson family? I asked Kate, but she gave me a rather sharp answer that closed off any further questions. Is she some distant relative?"
"She and Jack lived with each other for a brief while before he and I married," Carolina replied. "It didn't end well. I know mom Grayson asked Danni to sign a prenup, because she thought Danni was just after Jack's money. We've only seen her a couple of times since. We were shocked that she got in touch with us as her medical condition deuterated."
"I asked because Danni contributed a little money each month to the Grayson Foundation. You have to be part of the family, or associated with it in some way, to contribute," Anne explained. "Danni would never explain the connection, but I'm beginning to think the contribution was more to brag about an old connection than because of any desire to do good."
"She probably donated just enough when she and Jack lived together to be able to continue," Carolina theorized.
Danielle was mortified to learn how close to the truth Carolina and Annatole were. You were expected to be charitable if you worked for Mrs. Orwant, something Danielle always resented. Danielle always felt superior to Jack's 'fat little wife,' and to see Carolina as a buddy to someone who had always intimidated her was embarrassing or worse to Danielle.
"I'm surprised that Danni didn't ask someone from here to help her," Carolina commented. "Didn't she have any close friends here?"
"The family office is reasonably small," Anne told Carolina. "Danni seems to be allergic to families with children, and she was the only single person in the office most of the years she worked here. The good part of being single was her ability and willingness to travel on a moment's notice, so she was a valuable employee. I don't think anyone knew her well, or was friends with her.
"I think she had some friends outside of work, but I never knew who they were.
"Let me bring in some of her coworkers to see if any of them have a better idea of who her friends were."
What followed was a painful hour as coworkers shared their respect for her work, but lamented her shallowness. No one could remember Danni going out of her way to be nice to someone unless it was an expected obligation, and no one considered her a good enough friend to go out of his or her way to help her in any major way.
"She was good enough to work with," one person said. "I don't think she fully trusted any of us, and I don't think any of us totally trusted her."
Caro had a list of questions about finances, and marked off the list that Beverly Sharpe prepared. Caro made sure that life insurance policies would continue to be paid, so there would be enough in Danni's estate to take care of her final expenses. Caro did ask anyone she talked to if they knew what she and Jack should do with personal possessions and any money left after she died. No one had any suggestions.
"After hearing this, why didn't Carolina just dump you at the nearest nursing home to die alone and un-mourned?" asked G.
"I don't have any idea," Danni confessed.
"It is something you need to learn if you are going to be able to live in heaven," G responded.
Carolina and Annie ate lunch, and talked about family, as some of the staff pulled together information. Mid-afternoon, just before Carolina was about to leave, one of the staff told Carolina, "I have the name of a bar Danni frequently visited after work. I went with her a couple of times, but the place gave me the creeps. It was all supposedly single people on the make, trying to find someone to hook up with."
Caro directed the car to take her to the bar.
Carolina walked into the brightly lit room, just as an elderly man positioned himself behind the bar. "Can I help you, Miss?" he inquired.
"I'm trying to find people who are friends with Danni Oberman," Carolina explained. "She is terminally ill, and my husband and I are taking care of her."
"I hope you are getting paid enough," the bartender told her. "My name is Terry, and I'm the afternoon and evening bartender here. The crowd is mostly middle aged, or older but pretending to be middle aged. They are mostly single, or pretending to be single, as well. I've seen a few matches between patrons, but not many. Danni always struck me as a gold-digger looking for a rich piece of ass. She was pretty enough to have guys take care of her, and I guess she was a pretty good piece of ass if you liked athletic woman. I sure do not know anyone who would call her a friend, though."
"No one who would like to visit her?" Caro asked. "We live a couple of hours away, so it would be a bit of a trip."
The man shook his head. "She would never do that for anyone else, so I have a hard time imagining anyone who knew her from this place wanting to go out of their way to see her. She would occasionally lament that she almost married one of the Grayson heirs, but I cannot see one of them married to that selfish bitch."
"I'm Carolina Grayson, and I'm married to Jack Grayson, the man she dated," Carolina snorted. "Here is my contact information, if anyone does want to visit."
Carolina left the bar, entered her car, and told it, "Home, please."
The automobile voice answered, "Leaving for the Jack and Carolina Grayson home in Briarwood."
Carolina prayed, "Lord, is there any gratitude in that woman? Is there anything in her focused on others, and not on her own selfish self? What do you want us to do?"
There was no answer.
This was hardly the first time she and Jack helped someone, and the person was not grateful. At times people they helped became resentful, and a couple of times people they helped tried to get revenge. There was a reason Jack insisted on both medical and financial powers of attorney.
Well, they had made a commitment, and they would stick with it, no matter how nasty or ungrateful Danni was.
"Why am I doing this?" Danielle asked G, the ghost or angel or whatever it was that was showing her all this. "Why are you allowing me to hear what people are thinking?"
"To avoid hell, to see where you went wrong, to salvage a little joy," G sighed. "You can stop examining your life, and slowly and painfully fade away."
"Are Jack and that fat wife really happy?" Danielle asked.
"Yes," G replied. "You need a change of heart, and calling that saint who took care of you Carolina, instead of Jack's fat wife, is a start. A little one, but a start. Thanking them for taking care of you is critical, but it is late for that."
"Carolina Grayson," Danielle said. "Is there any way I can go back and change things, even to thank Carolina?"
"No," G told Danni. "You can be grateful, though. You have no idea what Carolina and others did for you."
G showed Danni another scene.
"The third shift nurse didn't show up," Carolina told Jack. "Juanita is going to check on Danni, and try to stay awake for some of the night. She will call me when we need to change her diapers and clean her.
"I didn't mind changing dirty diapers for children, still don't really. It is just gross changing an adult, though, especially that ungrateful bitch."
"Should we find a nursing home to transfer her to?" Jack asked.
"No, I don't want to give that type of lesson to the children," Carolina explained. "Plus we agreed to take care of her, and we ought to honor our commitment."
G then shown several scenes where Carolina or other people changed her diapers or otherwise took care of gross bodily problems as she, Danielle, deuterated.
"Is there any way I can thank them?" Danielle asked.
"What is in your will?" G asked.
"I guess I made out a will years ago," Danielle pondered. "I have no idea what is in it."
G then showed Danielle working with someone to construct a will. She knew she didn't want to, but that was something you had to do if you worked for the Orwant family management company. She found out that she had asked Jack Grayson to distribute her personal possessions any way he saw fit, more to brag about the Grayson family connection and not give anything to any distant relative that because of any desire to help anyone.
Maybe he will feel sorry he didn't marry me, when he sees all my nice things, Danni thought. From the other side she saw how shallow that was, and how wrong.
Jack and Carolina did allow the children to go through her possessions, and take what they wanted. None of the things brought any great joy to anyone, although they were appreciated. The money left over after all her final expenses were paid was donated to the Grayson Family Foundation.
G then asked Danielle, "Are you ready to go back to the start of your life, and see why you ended up so shallow and selfish?"
"How long will that take?" Danielle asked.
"A very long time, because you are also going to be shown how your choices hurt other people," G explained. "It is going to be painful, but much less painful that not examining your life and ending up in Hell."
Eternity ended up being much longer than the brief life Danielle had on earth. She eventually did meet Jack and Carolina Grayson, and she was able to say, "Thank you" and "I'm sorry." It took an unimaginably long time, but Danielle was content.
Carolina Grayson had become one of God's great saints, with a joy that was way beyond Danielle's limited ability to experience. Danielle knew that one of the reasons she was in heaven was because of Carolina's love, something she eventually was able to rejoice in.
"When we've been there ten-thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we've first begun."
From the song, "Amazing Grace."
Thank you for reading this. If you like this type of story you might check out "The Great Divorce" by CS Lewis.
Jet LaBarge