Pulling Away
Chapter 5
Author's Note: Use of the F word. Please review. I get really sad when people don't review and it stunts the creative juices that flow. Please, just so I know that people are reading, thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights whatsoever associated with 24. Wish I did, but I don't. You know the drill don't own characters, plots, beautiful actors, etc etc.
When morning came, Michelle was the first to wake. Her eyes hurt, and she instantly remembered what had occurred last night. Depressed, she got out of bed, and put on her jogging clothes. She had a lot of thinking to do, and exercising cleared her mind. She went into the bathroom and tied her hair back. She was speedily walking down the stairs. She made her way to the front door, and briskly walked out, not noticing an empty 30 pack sitting next to the door.
Tony woke up about 20 minutes later. He sat up slowly, and shook his head to gain clarity. His head was pounding. He'd never had a headache like this before. He made his way to the bathroom to get some medication. Michelle had written him a note. It said, Jogging, be back later, Michelle. Tony acknowledged it and proceeded with his headache business. Finally he found some Advil, and popped the cap open and downed 4 pills. He put on his bathrobe, and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Everything was as it had been the night before, Michelle hadn't moved a single thing. She didn't even start the coffee. Something Tony could not start and get through the day without was his coffee, or that's what it used to be. Now it appeared to be alcohol. He went over to the pot and started some. He looked around the room, not knowing exactly what to do until his coffee was ready, so he walked over to the TV and turned it on. The tv shone a bright picture of the weather.
Today is going to be lousy, rainy, and cool. Tomorrow should by sunny with a high of 88. The weatherman said from inside the box in their living room. Tony grinned.
"Look's like I'm staying in today." He said to nobody. Tony looked around the room once more and decided that it was time for him to shower. He walked back up the stairs, and into the bathroom and his robe fell to the floor. He turned on the water, and when it was the perfect temperature, he got in.
The warm water was running laps all over his achy body. The warmth felt good on his muscles, and Tony just stood there for a minute or two before proceeding to the shampoo. He reached for the Pert Plus. He opened the bottle and a glob fell into his palm. Tony massaged it into his scalp and lathered until he was sure his hair was good and clean. After rinsing, he reached for the bar of Irish Spring. He soaped up his entire body, starting at his neck, and then slowly working his way to his defined shoulders, and then all over his chest, followed by his arms, and his groin. After he was all clean, he stood under the waterfall coming from the shower head for another few minutes. He finally realized that it was time to get out, because his hands were getting all pruney.
After getting out, and drying off all areas of his body, he wrapped the towel around his waist, and looked into the mirror. He noticed that his usual 5 o'clock shadow had turned into 72 hour man stubble. He reached for his shaving creme and lathered his face. After a few good swipes of his razor, he was back to normal. He walked out of the bathroom, and headed to his dresser for some clean cloths. Once he was dressed, his brain was practically begging for coffee. He walked down the stairs, and Michelle was sitting at the table enjoying a cup of joe that Tony had started, and reading the newspaper. She didn't look up when he entered the room, but her body tensed up. All her muscles contracted, and waited for him to say something. Tony got a cup, and poured coffee in it. He walked over and added his cream and sugar, and sat down next to his wife, but she still didn't say anything to him, or even look at him.
"Good Morning." He said apprehensively watching her.
"Oh, morning." She said with incredible nonchalance like he had never heard before. The two sat in silence for a few more seconds before Tony felt really awkward.
"So, have a nice jog?" He asked trying to make conversation.
"Yep." Michelle answered never taking her eyes off the paper. Tony nodded, his eyes wandering around the room.
"Where'd you go?" He asked once again trying to break the silence that inhabited the room.
"Oh, just around." She said getting up, and walking straight upstairs. After a minute, Tony heard the shower faucet turn on. He sighed heavily, and scanned the room quickly. He noticed the empty beer cans in the case by the door. His expression changed from confusion to guilt, and he got up and brought the box and put it with the recyclables, hoping that she hadn't seen it.
Upstairs, clenching her teeth was all she could do to keep herself from crying. She had never acted like that towards him ever, not once, and she hated doing it. What she hated more though, was last night's occurrences. It was hurtful, and she had to say something to him about it. But what was she going to say? Hey, Tony, you can't just fuck me like that, you have to mean it. No, she couldn't say anything even remotely close to that. If she was going to address this, then she was going to have to be sensitive about it. After all, Tony was still recovering, and getting used to being home again. But he shouldn't have to get used to her again, he should have never lost it.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Tony had clicked on the TV, and parked it right on the sofa. He was still drinking his coffee, when the phone rang. He realized that the shower was still running, so he got up and answered the phone.
"Yeah." He answered. He had always tried to say 'hello' but it never came out.
"Mr. Almeida?" The other voice questioned.
"Yeah, who's this?" Tony asked. The voice was very serious, very 'would you like to enroll for our latest credit card'.
"This is Phil Wellsman from the Tax office. It seems your wife sent in the taxes a few weeks ago, but we are missing your ineligibility number. Do you think you could tell me what it is?" Phil said, his voice becoming more casual now. Tony looked up and the shower was still running.
"Yeah. Hang on, let me get the cordless." Tony said putting the phone down and walking to the office. He picked the phone up off the cradle, and clicked the on button.
"Alright." He said walking back into the kitchen. When he was by the other phone, he hung it up, and both parties heard a slight click. "I've got to get that information out of our lock box." Tony said. While he was walking over to a cabinet on the floor of the kitchen, he decided to ask the man a very important question. "Uhh, Mr. Wellsman?" He began.
"Phil, please."
"Ok, Phil, how long am I going to qualify for ineligibility?" Tony asked.
"Well, since you're out of prison, you'll need to hold a job for 6 months, then you're going to owe all the money from when you weren't working." Phil said calmly, as if he tells this to every customer of his. Tony nodded, though Phil couldn't see. He got the lock box opened with the key that they kept with the silverware. The lock box was primarily used to store tax information, important medical documents, social security information, and of course, passports, and some savings. Tony fished through the papers until he came to the one he was looking for.
"Alright, I think the number is 447-935-8824-77" Tony read to the man.
"Thank you very much, and tell your wife that these will be processed within the week." Phil said.
"Yeah, I will." Tony said and hung up the phone. He began putting the tax papers back, when he noticed a medical document sticking slightly out. The only reason he paid any attention to it was because he saw the words 'Cordiella Virus' in one of the sentences. This sparked his attention, so he pulled out the document. It was a letter to Michelle from NHS. It read:
Dear Mrs. Almeida,
It is confirmed that after a very conclusive testing process, we were able to determine the reason as to why you did not contract the Cordiella Virus. It has come to our attention that you're antibodies were much higher than an average woman's, and this was the reason for your body fighting off the infection. Your antibodies were higher than usual because you were carrying a fertilized embryo. I am sorry to report that the embryo was killed by the infection, and will abort your body within the next month. We've concluded that you were carrying it for 4 weeks, and it's development, had it not been in contact with the virus would have been very good. We are terribly sorry to bear this news to you in this way. If you would like counseling, please call our office at 555-8365 ext. 511.
Sincerely,
Sarah J. Kaiser MD
Tony stared at the paper for what seemed like forever. He was trying to make sense of it all. Michelle had never mentioned this before. Never, not one time in her letters or when she came to see him. She had kept it from him for so long.
"She was pregnant. She was pregnant and she never told me." Tony said out loud stunned by how real the words were. "Why would she keep something this big from me." He paused again and thought so hard his head hurt. "What does this mean?" He asked himself.