Chapter 3: A Walk Down Memory Lane
"Andy, it's been three weeks since Ephram woke from his coma and he's still rambling on about Everwood. I'm worried about his mental well-being." Julia said as she walked with Andy to Ephram's hospital room. "He keeps switching. One minute he knows he's in New York, the next minute, he thinks he's in Colorado."
"Recovering coma patients do experience memory problems. From what he's told me so far, that supposedly happened, it really sounds like he's lived there. It's almost spooky. I'm stumped. Except for this Everwood chronicle, Ephram seems to be recovering fairly well. I'm seriously thinking of signing him up for a few sessions with Dr. Hwang when he gets a bit better." Andy resolved. His big calloused hands filled his lab coat pockets.
"A psychiatrist? Do you think Ephram can handle that? He's not going to want to go. Next thing you know, they're going to stick him in a straight jacket and ship him off to Bellevue." Julia objected.
"Listen, he gets released today. Why don't you take him around the old neighborhood and see if his memory picks up. Maybe that psychiatrist isn't needed after all." Andy suggested with a loving smile. Julia nodded as they approached Ephram's door.
"How do I look?" She asked while running her free hand thru her long hair trying to straighten the knots out. "Never thought I would say this, but after these few weeks, it seems like my son is a different person - like I'm meeting him for the first time." She continued adjusting her aqua-blue blouse.
"You look beautiful and don't worry. He'll come around. I know it." Andy reassured and opened the door for his wife.
Restless and uncooperative, Ephram gave the nurse a hard time as she fumbled with a gauze pad desperately trying to re-bandage the near-healed wound on his head when his parents walked into the room.
"Sweetie, you have to stay still so I can put this on you." The nurse instructed kindly.
"Fuck you." Ephram blurted, not realizing what he just said.
"Ephram! How dare you use that tone of voice with someone who was trying to help you!!" Julia scolded. "Apologize at once!"
"It's ok m'am. I'm aware of the post-traumatic amnesia and his acute confusion at this stage. He's just exhibiting some impulsivity and making inappropriate comments that come to mind. He doesn't mean it." The nurse replied as she successfully re-bandaged Ephram's head. "There we go. That wasn't so bad, now was it?" She smiled.
"Baby, are you ready to go?" Julia took his son's hand as Ephram stared blankly at his parents. "I'll take that as a yes."
"It's freezing outside. Mom, where's my coat?" Ephram asked.
"Ephram, it's 75 degrees outside. You won't need your coat." Andy replied with patience.
"In the middle of December? You can't be serious." Ephram slid off the bed. "Rocky Mountain air is a lot colder than it seems. And I always find myself thinking I should've worn a warmer coat."
"We are in New York right now. Not Colorado. And we are in the month of May. Remember that discussion we had yesterday?" Julia reminded. Ephram nodded obediently.
Teary-eyed already, Julia looked at Andy for support. She couldn't bear seeing her son this way, yet she knew she had to be strong.
"Your mom will bring you home and I'll meet you guys at Garlic Bob's for dinner at oh - 7-ish?" Andy said to Ephram. "Julia, you're going to pick Delia up?" Julia affirmed it.
"You mean you are going to be eating dinner with us?" Ephram asked his father in astonishment. "You sure you don't have to be at work or something?"
"Of course I'll be joining my family for dinner! I know I have a full schedule ahead but we always had dinner together every night - just the four of us." Andy replied giving a genuine laugh. Ephram watched attentively. As far as he knew, his father never had dinner with them.
"Yea, and Garlic Bob's is your favorite restaurant. Do you remember?" Julia hoped Ephram was able to remember his favorite restaurant at least.
"Sort of. I mean, it sounds kinda familiar." Ephram replied searching his mind for this memory.
"That's definitely a start!" Julia exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, I'm sure nothing can beat Momma Joy's lemon chicken." He said catching a frown on his mother's lips. "Did I say something wrong again?" He inquired helplessly trying to gain his mother's approval.
"No dear. You didn't. Let's just go, huh?" She cracked a smile.
"I'll see you later." Andy gave Julia a firm kiss on the lips. The good-bye kiss. Ephram was fascinated. The last time he remembered seeing his father kiss his mother was when he was about ten years old during a family trip to Coney Island. It happened on the Wonder Wheel when their cart reached the peak. With the way things have been going, he even doubted that memory.
Ephram's mother proceeded to lead him out the door by the hand.
"I'll walk you guys out." Andy replied giving Ephram a kiss on the forehead before they exited the room.
*** Take The 1 Train ***
"Where are we going?" Ephram asked carefully thinking before he let the words escape from his lips. He has been unwittingly making a lot of comments he couldn't control lately. And he knows he's made a blunder when everyone stops talking and gape motionless at him like as if he just said something in Swahili. Other times, he found himself repeating the same question he's already asked. He just kept telling himself that it was all part of the coma recovery process.
"We're stopping at home first, then we're going for a nice walk around our block, maybe grab lunch somewhere, pickup Delia from daycare, and meet your father at Garlic Bob's." Julia planned as she slid her Metrocard thru the turnstile slot for Ephram at the Sheridan Square station.
One thing was for sure, Ephram's memory of New York City mass transit has not faded. His recollection of the subway system always stuck with him. Most people would find the grimy tiles and rusty old graffiti-ridden columns that held up the dirty station to be disgusting and filthy, but there was something authentic about it as an entity. Of course, one can't avoid the occasional whiff of urea and stale air, but it's all part of the ambiance. You got to take the good with the bad. The subway was a necessity for any New Yorker. It was a means of mobility around the city in the fastest, easiest, and most inexpensive way. Everyone relied on the MTA. Ephram often took the N or the R to city hall, the Q to Coney Island, the 7 to Times Square, the C or E to SoHo, and the F to Queens Plaza. He knew it well.
"I remember the train." Ephram said as they walked down the stairs to the platform. "Dad and I used to take the 9 train to South Street Seaport."
"That's right! Oh, Ephram! You remembered!!" His mother was so happy upon hearing those words she hugged him right there on the platform getting a few odd stares from onlookers but she didn't care.
"Do you remember anything else?" Julia asked in anticipation. Ephram didn't want to disappoint her and yet he didn't know what the right words were.
"Um - uh." Ephram watched a gray rat the size of a baseball scurrying along under the train tracks amongst the litter of crushed soda cans and discarded food wrappers.
"Ephram, it's ok." Julia finally comforted. "We'll take it slow."
"I would've driven us home instead of taking the subway but as you can see, being single-handed has its disadvantages." Julia said lightening the atmosphere. "Besides, my car is still in the shop. Heaven knows how long it takes to replace a car door."
"A black Saab?" Ephram recalled.
"No. Close though. A burgundy Saab." Julia replied. "Your father drives a black Land Rover."
The glaring headlight of the 1 train snaked out of the obscure tunnel and pulled into the station bringing a strong gust of hot wind as the brakes screeched to a jerking stop. The doors glided open and passengers stepped off the train lively. Sounding like a loud distortion of static, the conductor mumbled something barely understandable into the speaker - probably stating the station and transfers available for the 2,3, and 9 trains. Julia and Ephram proceeded into the train and took a two-seater by the window.
"Please release the doors in the rear. Don't make me take this train out of service. There are other trains behind this one, you know." The conductor berated over the speaker. "Stand clear of the closing doors."
"That's New York for ya." Julia shrugged.
They got off at 86th Street. The walk home was quiet. Ephram thought it was better to stay quiet than to talk when stupid comments were bound to come flying out of his mouth. He was getting a little weary of his mother asking him if he was ok every five minutes. But he knew she was just concerned and he also knew that any talk of Everwood made her uncomfortable.
*** Home Sweet Home ***
Ephram stood in the middle of the spacious living room gazing at the interior of their 10th floor apartment on Amsterdam Avenue and 87th Street. He had expected his home to be nothing like he imagined but quite on the contrary, it was exactly how he remembered it. The brown leather sofa backed against the window, the matching love seat and recliner circled around a 26" flat screen television in the wall unit, the blue and wine Oriental rug underneath the glass coffee table, which stood on stilt elegant mahogany legs, and a reproduction of a huge painting of Edgar Degas' Danse A L'Opera portraying a ballet instructor conducting dance class to a group of young ballerinas. Numerous framed family photos lined the end tables and bookshelves. He looked out the curtained window and saw a view of other tall buildings and if one looked really hard, the trees of Central Park were peeking thru the narrow gaps of adjacent buildings.
"You want something to drink?" Julia asked throwing her keys and purse onto the kitchen counter and reaching for the fridge handle. "How about a soda?" Ephram nodded as he pulled a stool out from under the island counter. She poured him a glass of Coke with ice and produced a dish of brownies.
"Mom?" Ephram said after taking a sip of his soda.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Has dad always been around? I mean, has he always been there for us?"
"Why of course he has! You have to understand that being one of New York's best neurosurgeons certainly has its demands, but we've got to give him credit because he's never missed out on a single birthday, holiday, or important event."
This was not how Ephram remembered it at all. In his Everwood-life, he resented his father for being constantly caught up in his work and neglecting his family. In this apparent real-life, they appeared to be a happy-go-lucky family.
"What about my piano recital that night? I looked for him in the audience and he wasn't there."
"No. Your father was supposed to meet us at the recital hall because he had a late appointment. But we didn't make it to the recital. Me and you were in the car wreck that left you in a coma, remember?" Julia repeated knowing that this issue has already been dealt with earlier. "Your father was devastated when you lapsed into a coma. He cried for days."
"Oh." Ephram never would've believed it. But his father was really a good father and one that cared immensely about his family. He was not only surprised but was appalled at how different the way of life was.
After his snack, he ventured into his bedroom. Everything was where it was supposed to be. Not one thing was out of place. His bed was neatly made up with blue sheets tucked under the mattress and covers folded in perfect rectangles on top. Posters of miscellaneous teenaged subjects filled his walls - an alien poster stared back at him hauntingly. On his metal desk was his Dell laptop computer and next to it was a white clay model of a man's head he made with skinny silver pins protruding out in every direction, which he called 'Pin Head'. He admired the collection of action figures that had accumulated on his bookshelves.
"Ephram, you ready for our walk?" His mother stuck her head through the doorway. Ephram breathed in the sweet pleasant scent of his mother's perfume. 'This was too good to be true' he thought.
*** In The 'Hood ***
Ephram watched the Mister Softee ice cream truck come to a rolling stop as an electronic music box rendition of 'London Bridge is Falling Down' blasted continuously out of the speakers attracting a multitude of children from the playground like the Pied Piper. Swarms of excited youngsters ran towards the truck from all directions knowing exactly what the music meant. 'Like bees to honey' he thought. He used to be one of those kids. The highlight of a warm day was seeing that ice cream truck inching its way down the street. That chocolate soft ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles meant a lot to a kid back then. As he was thinking of the times he raced from the monkey bars to be the first one at the truck, he started remembering minute details of his childhood.
"I fell here and had scraped my knee really bad." Ephram pointed to a spot next to the water drinking fountain. He looked to his mother for confirmation.
"Yes!! Very good! You were eight and was so excited with running for that good for nothing Mister Softee truck that you tripped on your untied shoelaces." Julia shook her head in humored disgust. "We had to get 3 stitches in your knee."
They watched the children for a while before continuing down the block. Ephram stuck his hands in his pockets and remained passive for most of the walk while Julia babbled about places they came across. They finally made their way to Central Park.
"Ephram, you seem quiet." Julia said.
"Can we sit down for a minute?" Ephram requested. "I have a small headache."
"Sure." Julia looked worried. "Let me get you some water." She bought a bottle of Evian from a nearby hotdog stand. They took a seat on a shaded bench.
"Are you ok?" Julia asked for the millionth time.
"Yea. I'm just tired I guess." He replied. "I think I've forgotten how to walk after being asleep for two weeks. Gosh, it's tiring."
"Well, take as much time as you need." She patted his knee. Ephram leaned his head against his mother's shoulder. She wrapped her good arm around her son's shoulders.
"I love you mom." He said with eyes shut as he held her tight. "I missed you so much."
Julia's heart brimmed with warmth and happiness when she heard these words. "I love you too baby."
"I've thought of you everyday. Life in Everwood was never right without you." He muttered then realizing he said the forbidden "E" word again. He had been trying so hard not to mention it, but it just slipped out. "I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to say Everwood. I - sometimes my brain makes me to say funny things."
"It's fine. I'm not mad at you." She forgave. "I love you. That's all that matters." She stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. His spirit felt so free and safe that he never wanted it to end. It was like as if his soul had been falling further and further into a bottomless abyss then being caught and saved by the comforting hands of his mother. She brought him back into the light. She was his savior. They stayed in a long embrace partly because Ephram wouldn't let go. He missed his mother's kisses and her warm embrace. He never thought at that particular moment in his mother's arms would bring out so much repressed emotions that were bottled up inside and his heart overflowed with such delight that he wanted to cry tears of joy. But he refrained from doing just that because the last thing he wanted was to scare his mother.
They had a long lunch at Tavern On The Green and picked up Delia from daycare. She was so thrilled to see her brother, that she almost suffocated him with her bear hug. They were on their way to meet Andy at Garlic Bob's on Columbus Avenue for dinner.
* end of chapter 3 *
"Andy, it's been three weeks since Ephram woke from his coma and he's still rambling on about Everwood. I'm worried about his mental well-being." Julia said as she walked with Andy to Ephram's hospital room. "He keeps switching. One minute he knows he's in New York, the next minute, he thinks he's in Colorado."
"Recovering coma patients do experience memory problems. From what he's told me so far, that supposedly happened, it really sounds like he's lived there. It's almost spooky. I'm stumped. Except for this Everwood chronicle, Ephram seems to be recovering fairly well. I'm seriously thinking of signing him up for a few sessions with Dr. Hwang when he gets a bit better." Andy resolved. His big calloused hands filled his lab coat pockets.
"A psychiatrist? Do you think Ephram can handle that? He's not going to want to go. Next thing you know, they're going to stick him in a straight jacket and ship him off to Bellevue." Julia objected.
"Listen, he gets released today. Why don't you take him around the old neighborhood and see if his memory picks up. Maybe that psychiatrist isn't needed after all." Andy suggested with a loving smile. Julia nodded as they approached Ephram's door.
"How do I look?" She asked while running her free hand thru her long hair trying to straighten the knots out. "Never thought I would say this, but after these few weeks, it seems like my son is a different person - like I'm meeting him for the first time." She continued adjusting her aqua-blue blouse.
"You look beautiful and don't worry. He'll come around. I know it." Andy reassured and opened the door for his wife.
Restless and uncooperative, Ephram gave the nurse a hard time as she fumbled with a gauze pad desperately trying to re-bandage the near-healed wound on his head when his parents walked into the room.
"Sweetie, you have to stay still so I can put this on you." The nurse instructed kindly.
"Fuck you." Ephram blurted, not realizing what he just said.
"Ephram! How dare you use that tone of voice with someone who was trying to help you!!" Julia scolded. "Apologize at once!"
"It's ok m'am. I'm aware of the post-traumatic amnesia and his acute confusion at this stage. He's just exhibiting some impulsivity and making inappropriate comments that come to mind. He doesn't mean it." The nurse replied as she successfully re-bandaged Ephram's head. "There we go. That wasn't so bad, now was it?" She smiled.
"Baby, are you ready to go?" Julia took his son's hand as Ephram stared blankly at his parents. "I'll take that as a yes."
"It's freezing outside. Mom, where's my coat?" Ephram asked.
"Ephram, it's 75 degrees outside. You won't need your coat." Andy replied with patience.
"In the middle of December? You can't be serious." Ephram slid off the bed. "Rocky Mountain air is a lot colder than it seems. And I always find myself thinking I should've worn a warmer coat."
"We are in New York right now. Not Colorado. And we are in the month of May. Remember that discussion we had yesterday?" Julia reminded. Ephram nodded obediently.
Teary-eyed already, Julia looked at Andy for support. She couldn't bear seeing her son this way, yet she knew she had to be strong.
"Your mom will bring you home and I'll meet you guys at Garlic Bob's for dinner at oh - 7-ish?" Andy said to Ephram. "Julia, you're going to pick Delia up?" Julia affirmed it.
"You mean you are going to be eating dinner with us?" Ephram asked his father in astonishment. "You sure you don't have to be at work or something?"
"Of course I'll be joining my family for dinner! I know I have a full schedule ahead but we always had dinner together every night - just the four of us." Andy replied giving a genuine laugh. Ephram watched attentively. As far as he knew, his father never had dinner with them.
"Yea, and Garlic Bob's is your favorite restaurant. Do you remember?" Julia hoped Ephram was able to remember his favorite restaurant at least.
"Sort of. I mean, it sounds kinda familiar." Ephram replied searching his mind for this memory.
"That's definitely a start!" Julia exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, I'm sure nothing can beat Momma Joy's lemon chicken." He said catching a frown on his mother's lips. "Did I say something wrong again?" He inquired helplessly trying to gain his mother's approval.
"No dear. You didn't. Let's just go, huh?" She cracked a smile.
"I'll see you later." Andy gave Julia a firm kiss on the lips. The good-bye kiss. Ephram was fascinated. The last time he remembered seeing his father kiss his mother was when he was about ten years old during a family trip to Coney Island. It happened on the Wonder Wheel when their cart reached the peak. With the way things have been going, he even doubted that memory.
Ephram's mother proceeded to lead him out the door by the hand.
"I'll walk you guys out." Andy replied giving Ephram a kiss on the forehead before they exited the room.
*** Take The 1 Train ***
"Where are we going?" Ephram asked carefully thinking before he let the words escape from his lips. He has been unwittingly making a lot of comments he couldn't control lately. And he knows he's made a blunder when everyone stops talking and gape motionless at him like as if he just said something in Swahili. Other times, he found himself repeating the same question he's already asked. He just kept telling himself that it was all part of the coma recovery process.
"We're stopping at home first, then we're going for a nice walk around our block, maybe grab lunch somewhere, pickup Delia from daycare, and meet your father at Garlic Bob's." Julia planned as she slid her Metrocard thru the turnstile slot for Ephram at the Sheridan Square station.
One thing was for sure, Ephram's memory of New York City mass transit has not faded. His recollection of the subway system always stuck with him. Most people would find the grimy tiles and rusty old graffiti-ridden columns that held up the dirty station to be disgusting and filthy, but there was something authentic about it as an entity. Of course, one can't avoid the occasional whiff of urea and stale air, but it's all part of the ambiance. You got to take the good with the bad. The subway was a necessity for any New Yorker. It was a means of mobility around the city in the fastest, easiest, and most inexpensive way. Everyone relied on the MTA. Ephram often took the N or the R to city hall, the Q to Coney Island, the 7 to Times Square, the C or E to SoHo, and the F to Queens Plaza. He knew it well.
"I remember the train." Ephram said as they walked down the stairs to the platform. "Dad and I used to take the 9 train to South Street Seaport."
"That's right! Oh, Ephram! You remembered!!" His mother was so happy upon hearing those words she hugged him right there on the platform getting a few odd stares from onlookers but she didn't care.
"Do you remember anything else?" Julia asked in anticipation. Ephram didn't want to disappoint her and yet he didn't know what the right words were.
"Um - uh." Ephram watched a gray rat the size of a baseball scurrying along under the train tracks amongst the litter of crushed soda cans and discarded food wrappers.
"Ephram, it's ok." Julia finally comforted. "We'll take it slow."
"I would've driven us home instead of taking the subway but as you can see, being single-handed has its disadvantages." Julia said lightening the atmosphere. "Besides, my car is still in the shop. Heaven knows how long it takes to replace a car door."
"A black Saab?" Ephram recalled.
"No. Close though. A burgundy Saab." Julia replied. "Your father drives a black Land Rover."
The glaring headlight of the 1 train snaked out of the obscure tunnel and pulled into the station bringing a strong gust of hot wind as the brakes screeched to a jerking stop. The doors glided open and passengers stepped off the train lively. Sounding like a loud distortion of static, the conductor mumbled something barely understandable into the speaker - probably stating the station and transfers available for the 2,3, and 9 trains. Julia and Ephram proceeded into the train and took a two-seater by the window.
"Please release the doors in the rear. Don't make me take this train out of service. There are other trains behind this one, you know." The conductor berated over the speaker. "Stand clear of the closing doors."
"That's New York for ya." Julia shrugged.
They got off at 86th Street. The walk home was quiet. Ephram thought it was better to stay quiet than to talk when stupid comments were bound to come flying out of his mouth. He was getting a little weary of his mother asking him if he was ok every five minutes. But he knew she was just concerned and he also knew that any talk of Everwood made her uncomfortable.
*** Home Sweet Home ***
Ephram stood in the middle of the spacious living room gazing at the interior of their 10th floor apartment on Amsterdam Avenue and 87th Street. He had expected his home to be nothing like he imagined but quite on the contrary, it was exactly how he remembered it. The brown leather sofa backed against the window, the matching love seat and recliner circled around a 26" flat screen television in the wall unit, the blue and wine Oriental rug underneath the glass coffee table, which stood on stilt elegant mahogany legs, and a reproduction of a huge painting of Edgar Degas' Danse A L'Opera portraying a ballet instructor conducting dance class to a group of young ballerinas. Numerous framed family photos lined the end tables and bookshelves. He looked out the curtained window and saw a view of other tall buildings and if one looked really hard, the trees of Central Park were peeking thru the narrow gaps of adjacent buildings.
"You want something to drink?" Julia asked throwing her keys and purse onto the kitchen counter and reaching for the fridge handle. "How about a soda?" Ephram nodded as he pulled a stool out from under the island counter. She poured him a glass of Coke with ice and produced a dish of brownies.
"Mom?" Ephram said after taking a sip of his soda.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Has dad always been around? I mean, has he always been there for us?"
"Why of course he has! You have to understand that being one of New York's best neurosurgeons certainly has its demands, but we've got to give him credit because he's never missed out on a single birthday, holiday, or important event."
This was not how Ephram remembered it at all. In his Everwood-life, he resented his father for being constantly caught up in his work and neglecting his family. In this apparent real-life, they appeared to be a happy-go-lucky family.
"What about my piano recital that night? I looked for him in the audience and he wasn't there."
"No. Your father was supposed to meet us at the recital hall because he had a late appointment. But we didn't make it to the recital. Me and you were in the car wreck that left you in a coma, remember?" Julia repeated knowing that this issue has already been dealt with earlier. "Your father was devastated when you lapsed into a coma. He cried for days."
"Oh." Ephram never would've believed it. But his father was really a good father and one that cared immensely about his family. He was not only surprised but was appalled at how different the way of life was.
After his snack, he ventured into his bedroom. Everything was where it was supposed to be. Not one thing was out of place. His bed was neatly made up with blue sheets tucked under the mattress and covers folded in perfect rectangles on top. Posters of miscellaneous teenaged subjects filled his walls - an alien poster stared back at him hauntingly. On his metal desk was his Dell laptop computer and next to it was a white clay model of a man's head he made with skinny silver pins protruding out in every direction, which he called 'Pin Head'. He admired the collection of action figures that had accumulated on his bookshelves.
"Ephram, you ready for our walk?" His mother stuck her head through the doorway. Ephram breathed in the sweet pleasant scent of his mother's perfume. 'This was too good to be true' he thought.
*** In The 'Hood ***
Ephram watched the Mister Softee ice cream truck come to a rolling stop as an electronic music box rendition of 'London Bridge is Falling Down' blasted continuously out of the speakers attracting a multitude of children from the playground like the Pied Piper. Swarms of excited youngsters ran towards the truck from all directions knowing exactly what the music meant. 'Like bees to honey' he thought. He used to be one of those kids. The highlight of a warm day was seeing that ice cream truck inching its way down the street. That chocolate soft ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles meant a lot to a kid back then. As he was thinking of the times he raced from the monkey bars to be the first one at the truck, he started remembering minute details of his childhood.
"I fell here and had scraped my knee really bad." Ephram pointed to a spot next to the water drinking fountain. He looked to his mother for confirmation.
"Yes!! Very good! You were eight and was so excited with running for that good for nothing Mister Softee truck that you tripped on your untied shoelaces." Julia shook her head in humored disgust. "We had to get 3 stitches in your knee."
They watched the children for a while before continuing down the block. Ephram stuck his hands in his pockets and remained passive for most of the walk while Julia babbled about places they came across. They finally made their way to Central Park.
"Ephram, you seem quiet." Julia said.
"Can we sit down for a minute?" Ephram requested. "I have a small headache."
"Sure." Julia looked worried. "Let me get you some water." She bought a bottle of Evian from a nearby hotdog stand. They took a seat on a shaded bench.
"Are you ok?" Julia asked for the millionth time.
"Yea. I'm just tired I guess." He replied. "I think I've forgotten how to walk after being asleep for two weeks. Gosh, it's tiring."
"Well, take as much time as you need." She patted his knee. Ephram leaned his head against his mother's shoulder. She wrapped her good arm around her son's shoulders.
"I love you mom." He said with eyes shut as he held her tight. "I missed you so much."
Julia's heart brimmed with warmth and happiness when she heard these words. "I love you too baby."
"I've thought of you everyday. Life in Everwood was never right without you." He muttered then realizing he said the forbidden "E" word again. He had been trying so hard not to mention it, but it just slipped out. "I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to say Everwood. I - sometimes my brain makes me to say funny things."
"It's fine. I'm not mad at you." She forgave. "I love you. That's all that matters." She stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. His spirit felt so free and safe that he never wanted it to end. It was like as if his soul had been falling further and further into a bottomless abyss then being caught and saved by the comforting hands of his mother. She brought him back into the light. She was his savior. They stayed in a long embrace partly because Ephram wouldn't let go. He missed his mother's kisses and her warm embrace. He never thought at that particular moment in his mother's arms would bring out so much repressed emotions that were bottled up inside and his heart overflowed with such delight that he wanted to cry tears of joy. But he refrained from doing just that because the last thing he wanted was to scare his mother.
They had a long lunch at Tavern On The Green and picked up Delia from daycare. She was so thrilled to see her brother, that she almost suffocated him with her bear hug. They were on their way to meet Andy at Garlic Bob's on Columbus Avenue for dinner.
* end of chapter 3 *