Eventually…
Open your eyes, undo the seem. It's not like before, It's not just a dream
A hint of a smile as your hand touches mine, no longer alone… I feel them entwine
I'm holding your hand, you say quietly: "Baby don't go, Stay here with me"
So this is it, to you I belong. No more goodbyes, We knew all along
Eventually…
Open you eyes, shhh... It's not just a dream…. Eventually.
Final Chapter: EVENTUALLYThe sunlight was coming in brightly from the windows, it was another early summer morning, two weeks after the accident and Oliver e Isabel were still at the hospital due their overprotective fathers. This "Equalizing" story was complicated, one of those tales when you end up being your own father; Well, in Oliver's case, he ended up being his own brother. Oh yes, in a slightly Van Gogh-esque turn Oliver's current 'personality' was the youngest son of his own parents, born five years after his own death (his mom was about 45 when she "had" him) and named Oliver to honor his dead brother memory…
Oliver's parents, currently nearing in their mid sixties, came from Napa Valley, where they owned a vineyard, and were so happy about having their son back, just where they had left him, that they didn't mind the far fetched story, they went along. Jack, his once younger brother, now a 37 year old man was totally freaked about the situation, but was decided to make his brother part of his life again, he had been just a kid when Oliver died.
All things settled, this particular morning, Oliver and Isabel were playing chess in his hospital room
"I think you're cheating" Isabel said grumpily, her right hand still on a cast and resting on her lap, she was seated at the end of his bed, the chess board between them, watching as Oliver made his move
"I think you're losing" Oliver said brightly, taking one of her bishops. She cursed in Spanish "Now, now, that language isn't very lady-like"
"Shut Up!"
"C'mon, admit it" he said smiling " You have no chance, I was a Chess geek in high school"
"You're still a geek, that's for sure" she was smiling.
"Make you're move, you always take ages" he was the grumpy one this time
"Jacque Mate"
"WHAT?" Oliver looked at the board, then at her face, back to the board, looking at it from all angles "How?" he asked surprised "How did you do that?"
She smiled, her million dollars smile, leaning close to him over the board, stopping when her face was barely two inches away from his "My dad was a Chess geek too, he taught me well, don't you think?" Then she gave him a long, deep kiss, he had forgotten about that "I also know how to play Backgammon, if you want to lose again"
"Will I get another kiss like this if I lose?"
"Maybe" Isabel said, they were about to kiss again, when there was a sharp knock on the door and then it opened quickly, and they jumped
"Mom! Dad!" Oliver said sounding uncanny like Isabel's voice while making fun of the cheers of the other squad members "Weren't you supposed to come till after lunch?"
"It's after lunch" Oliver's mom said looking at Isabel up and down
"Issy" Daisy said coming in, knowing that she hated being called that "Your blood work came back and Will (Will it's the name of her doctor) wants to discus it with your parents who are waiting for you at your suite"
"Yes, right! Blood work" Isabel said in her cheerleader voice "I'll see you later" she said jumping off the bed, "Excuse me" she added to Oliver's parents, brushing past them and Daisy on her way out. Daisy then looked at Oliver's parents, noticing they were there
"Hum, Hi!" she said, looking at both of them alternatively, the room silent "Ok, bye" she said brightly, turned around and closed the door behind her
"So," Oliver's father ventured in "Who was that?"
"Isabel Tavares, my girlfriend" he answered felling like he was ten again
"She looks a lot like Abigail" Mrs. Hart said, she had never particularly liked Abby "What was of her, anyway? Do you know?"
"Well, she went back to Carmel, teaches Biology at a school, married a man named Emilio Tavares and has a daughter" Oliver explained as if it was so easy, his mother eyed him warily "Isabel, to be more exact"
"What?!" Mr. and Mrs. Hart said, surprised. Just then someone yelled a few doors down the hall
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"Sadicos, malditos…" Isabel was cursing in Spanish as the nurse walked a way with a fresh tube of her blood, someone mixed her results with some other patient's, so they had to re do them, Isabel never liked needles "Daddy, it hurts" she said like a little girl leaning into Emilio.
"I know, baby, I know" he said patting her head, Abby was seated across from them looking uncomfortable "I'm going to get you a soda or something, ok?" he added "You just wait here"
"I'll show you where the is machine, uncle Emilio, I have to go anyway" Daisy said getting up from her chair "I'll see you later, Issy"
"So, how do you feel?" Abby asked seating next to her daughter
"I'm ok, mom" she said, straightening up "No biggie"
"Well, them I'm going to use this time to talk about something very important with you" Isabel was already bracing herself for what may come next, there was something about Abby and her parental attempts that made her put on guard almost immediately "It's about Oliver and you"
"Oh, mom, I already know about the bees and the flowers" she said rolling her eyes
"It isn't that" Abby cut her "I want you to know that Oliver and I never… you know…"
"Got down and dirty?" Isabel asked raising an eyebrow
"If you want to call it that way…" Abby hesitated "All I wanted to tell you is that we were never together like that, I wanted you to know it because I don't want things to get weird for you two later on" she sighed looking so defeated "This isn't working, is it?"
"I guess not" Isabel said looking at her mother "No offense, bur parenting has never been your strong point"
"I know"
"But it's ok," Isabel added "I'm already brought up, and I guess I turned out ok, so don't worry. Who knows, maybe if you stop trying being the mother of a three year old, we might get along"
"You think so?" Abby said looking at her, and for the very first time realizing how much her daughter had grown up, finally realizing the things they had in common, for more than she could remember, it had been the things they didn't share what she had been the most aware of. It had been all those differences what attracted Oliver to Isabel. "You know, I'm glad you have Oliver, you two a right for each other in a way we never were"
"What do you mean?"
"We were best friends, but when it came to romance it was always a little bit weird. Like if I wanted to take his hand in public, he would jump. It hurt when I lost him and it hurt when I found out he had been at home with you all that time, but it hurt for the friend, not for the boyfriend." Abby was explaining all of this, trying to set the record straight, then she smiled, truly happy "When I meet you dad, what I remember the most is that he hugged me, it was late at the school Carnival, and we were just hanging out, and he just put his arm around my shoulders and walked me home." There was another pause "When you walked out the prom dance last year, Oliver offer you his and, and when you took it, he intertwined his fingers with yours. He never did that with me. That's how I realized how much he loved – loves - you"
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Isabel and Oliver had to stay at the hospital for three days more, then each family insisted they went home, so Oliver went to Napa, and Isabel went to Carmel, and they spent hours logged into the net IM each other, and he called her every night before she went to bed. Isabel was resigned to not see him till the beginning of school, but then he called, asking her to go to San Francisco, where he would pick her up. Abby managed to convince Emilio and he let Isabel go. After meeting with her in San Francisco, Oliver took her to Napa so he could make the proper introduction, and they spent the night at his parents hose.
Next day, Oliver woke her up so early, half sleep she eat breakfast with his family, this time Jack was there too, with his whole family. If she had been more awake, she would have realized that Oliver's nephew Matt, a fourteen year old, was hitting on her, but she was too sleepy to notice. Then Oliver said "We have to go, be back soon" and dragged her off
"Where are we going?" Isabel asked once they drove out of Napa, she was trying to find a position in which she could sleep, on the radio, old songs were playing
"You'll see" was all he said, smiling
"Just wake me up when we get there, ok?"
Two hours later, they were at his family cabin in the woods "This is the place I told you about" he said getting their bags "remember?" she nodded "Over there is the dock and the lake" he said pointing to the right "You drive down that road for fifteen minutes and you'll find the town"
"This is great" she falling in the couch and turning on the TV
"Dad didn't wanted to miss the football games while we were here, so he put Satellite TV. And we are lucky it's clean, Jack bring his family a few days ago, Maxine, his wife, it's a compulsive cleaner, she cleans everything when she comes, Jacks says the woods make her nervous"
"Go Maxine" Isabel said, still zapping the channels
"I'm going to bring some wood in, for the fire later. It gets chilly here at night. Care to make the bed?"
"Ok, there is nothing on anyway" she said getting off the couch and searching for the room
"Up the stairs and to the right, the sheets and the covers are in the hallway closet" Oliver yelled from outside.
Oliver went all romantic, cooking, cleaning and pampering her.
Later they went to bed, and sleep together for the first time, taking their time to enjoy the way their skin felt against each other, losing all hurry or sense of time, making it as magical and special as it could be. Afterwards, they were laying in bed, kissing and talking, Oliver was telling her about the first time he saw her:
"I don't know why I went, it was your first night at home, your parents had just left you at the nursery, and I looked into that little crib and there you were, pink and white all over, sleeping. Then you woke up, and you focused your eyes in me, and I knew you could see me. Guess that's why I decided to stick around, if you could see me you would need all the help I could give you: it's very scary when you see a ghost for the first time"
"I don't remember when I saw the first ghost, it must have been you" Isabel answered, she was drowsy, after all the physical effort, and yawned a little, but she wouldn't sleep. Oliver had his hand on her hip, his thumb brushing back and fort over the skin there, and he was smiling at her "But I guess it's like the Ocean, I can't remember when was the first time I saw the Ocean either, for all I know, it has always been there. Like you"
"You look tired, we better get some sleep" Oliver said sweetly, but Isabel shook her head no. "Why?" Oliver knew her well enough to know that something was up
"Last time I went to sleep and you were the last thing I saw, when I woke up, you were gone" she said a bit shyly "I don't want to take any chances"
Now Oliver understood, she was afraid. "Hey" he said brushing her hair back, kissing her forehead "I'm not going anywhere. Take a chance on me"
Isabel looked at him, then kissed him softly, snuggled closer and closed her eyes, deciding to take a chance on Oliver.
Days later, the night before they had to go back, Oliver took Isabel for a late walk into the woods
"Are you sure we are not lost?" she asked, "It's dark and getting cold, and we have to wake up early tomorrow"
"No we are not lost, we are almost there. Trust me, I know this woods as the back of my hand" He said as he guide her into the woods, you could hear water running "Now, here we are" There as a little camp there. He lit the fire and both of them seated down, there were at the edge of the lake. He hugged her, covering both of them with a blanket. "Lets see," he said looking at the sky above "There is Taurus, also known as the seven sisters. And the Can constellation" he was pointing at the stars above
"This is why you brought me here?"
"Yes, I wanted you to have the whole of the Hart's camping experience"
"I remember, you told me about this. That night when I asked if you ever went to camp"
"You said that maybe we could come sometime" he said hugging her tighter "So here we are"
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That's it!
End of the story!
Thanks for your time and reviews!
Love you guys!
Much love,
Alex.