Running
Chapter 2
Rating PG-13
I don't own 'em ~ they just use my head for a playground sometimes!
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Later that afternoon in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. . .
Jordan. . .
What the. . . Where am I? Ok, think Jordan. Just look around and. . . Oh yeah. I'm at Aunt Laura's ~ Laura's ~ house. Now I remember. Guess I should go downstairs and see if I can do anything to help out or whatever. . .
"Laura?"
"Hey there darlin! Get a good nap in?"
"Yeah. Thanks. Can I do anything to help with anything?"
"Nah. I figured I'd take you down to Calabash for some seafood ~ you can eat seafood, right?"
"As far as I know. I've never been allergic to it."
"Good. We'll go to Beck's. It's one of the best all around down there. Then we can come back and go for a walk on the beach."
"Sounds great. Should I change?"
"No baby. This is the beach. You don't have to get dressed up here. Come on, we're in the rolling Spring Break season, so the places fill up pretty quick."
"Ok."
It took about 15 minutes to get to Calabash. There were a couple of big old houses, but mostly it was little lots occupied by mobile homes. Just a little beach community. We got to Beck's and amazingly were able to get a table pretty quickly. After we ordered our meals and had gotten out drinks and our hush puppies, Laura turned to me for some girl talk.
"So what are you up to these days? Still working on being a heart surgeon?"
"No. That. . .well, some stuff happened and I figured out that wasn't for me. I'm, um. . .I'm working as a Medical Examiner."
"Oh wow! You mean you cut up dead people? How'd Max take that little career change?"
"I think he just wants me to be happy."
"Yeah, probably. You do seem to be happy, relatively speaking. How's Max doing anyway?"
"He's ok I guess. Still working hard and all that. When was the last time you heard from him?"
"It's been a while. Somewhere between your mother's. . ."
"Murder. It's ok, you can say it."
"Alright sweetie. Between that and the mess with Charlie it somehow just got easier not to talk with each other ~ we just seemed to end up sad. Funny, you'd have thought it would have brought us closer together."
"Yeah."
"Say, speaking of Max. . . Do you need to call him and let him know you're here safely?"
"Um. . .well. . ."
"Jordan, he does know you're here right?"
"Not exactly."
"What?"
"I just. . .I just took off. I needed to get away."
"Jordan. . ."
"The past nine months have been really weird. The thoracic surgeon thing? I was in a residency program for it. A good one."
"What happened?"
"I challenged the head of the program on a call he made in the O.R. And he saw to it that the residency program had to lose a resident. Me."
"Oh honey. That must have been. . ."
"Shattering. And then I, well, I almost killed myself."
"What?"
"Dad and I were having our usual at home happy hour and I combined it with some sleeping pills I had. A lot of them. I don't know that I did it on purpose ~ it just kind of happened."
"But you pulled through."
"Yeah. Apparently it was sort of touch and go at first. Dad said they had to shock me back one time. He wasn't too happy with me."
"No, I can imagine not. And I'd think that's even more reason why you'd want to check in with him."
"I will eventually. I just can't right now. I just had to get out of Boston for a while. . ."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not right now. Look, the food's here."
So we ate our meal just talking chit chat. I could tell Laura wanted more, but she was willing to give me the space I needed. When we finished, we drove back to her house and went in to put on some grubbies for a walk on the beach.
It wasn't far, and as we topped the approved trail over the dunes, I got a glimpse of the ocean, the sky reflecting the sunset behind us. As we got to the beach proper, Laura grabbed my arm and pointed out towards the horizon.
"Jordan, look! Dolphins!"
And there they were, a pod of dolphins leaping through the water. Strange as it might sound, their presence made me feel safe and I spilled the whole story out to Laura. How the affair started. What happened before I left. How I'd fallen in love. We walked until we got tired, and then we just sat on the beach while I continued to spill my guts to this aunt I hardly knew. As I finished talking, Laura reached out and wiped the tears I didn't even realize were there from my face.
"Oh baby. I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all go away."
"Thanks Laura. For listening. And trying to understand."
"I do understand. Probably better than you think. But you don't think Max would understand if you talked with him?"
"I don't know. Maybe. But I had to get out of Boston. I couldn't risk running into. . ."
"I understand."
"But you're going to make me call him?"
"Does anyone know where you are?"
"I sent my boss a letter saying that I just needed to get away for a while ~ played the stress card."
"But. . ."
"I didn't tell him where I was going."
"Ok. I'll give you a couple of days to chill. And then you're going to call Max and let him know you're ok."
"Alright. I guess it's only fair. But what if. . ."
"If he happens to call looking for you before your 'chill time' is up, I'll think of something. But you might decide you want to talk to him by then."
"Maybe. We'll see. I just don't think I can tell him what really happened."
"You'll think of something when the time comes. Hey, it's getting dark. We should probably get back to the house. I've got some peach cobbler and ice cream we can have for a snack."
"Sounds good." We stood and walked back to the house. As we began to move, Laura put her arm around my shoulder in a cross between mom and big sister.
We had some of the cobbler and ice cream and sat up just catching up on family tales and stuff. Finally we decided to call it a night. As I went to bed it occurred to me that for the first time in a long while, I really felt safe.
. . .to be continued. . .