Chapter 15 One Month Later
Beth held a red silk fan and a rice paper hanging in her hands. Waving them in front of her, she was trying to catch the attention of the shopkeeper. Even if she did, she wasn't sure she could make herself understood. Frustrated, she sat the merchandise back on the table and walked out of the shop. The Beijing air was so hazy that she couldn't see the August sun, but she could definitely feel it. She wiped the beads of sweat from her brow and shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked up and down the clogged street trying to decide in which direction to proceed. Kevin had told her that they would have time for dinner together that night, but the next day was the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. Everyone from the network was rushing around to help out the folks from NBC. She understood that the trip was his work, but she hadn't seen him too much during the last week.
When he had made it back to the hotel in the evenings, or early in the mornings, he was exhausted but happy. Seeing him enjoying his job so thoroughly made her lonely afternoons worthwhile. There were tons of people around. She was sure that she would soon find someone to spend the days with, and Kevin would be free as soon as NBC was up and running. His actual on-air time wouldn't even start until she left for the States in almost two weeks. He had also scored her press passes to the opening ceremonies and gymnastics. She was really excited about that. Today and tomorrow would really be the worst days. She had decided to stay far from the Village and Command Center, so she was spending the day sightseeing and shopping. There wasn't really anything specific she wanted to see or do, just being in China was enough for her. She realized that it was getting late, so she headed back toward the hotel, debating on whether or not to wait for Kevin to eat dinner if he wasn't back in the room when she got there.
Beth was pleasantly surprised to find her husband waiting for her in the room when she opened the door. His hair was pretty messed up and his eyes were tired, but he smiled wearily at her as she closed the door behind her. She gasped in mock surprise and crossed the room to sit on his lap. He nibbled softly on her ear and whispered that he loved her. She turned to wrap her arms around him. His eyes were closed, and at that moment she realized how completely exhausted he was.
"Kev, why don't you go to bed. I'll give you a massage if you want."
He opened his eyes and nodded. He didn't say a word as he bent over to take off his shoes, but she beat him to it, having already untied them and slipped them off his feet. That still freaked him out a little, even after more than five years, being touched and not knowing it. Yet, he was so tired and sore. He'd been rushing around all over for nearly a week with only about three or four hours of sleep each night. He knew he couldn't keep up like that, but there had just been so much to do. Beth was already on the bed waiting for him. He transferred himself over there with her, but his arms were so fatigued that they buckled under the weight of his body. Beth grabbed him before he could slide off the bed. He felt a little silly as she helped him pulled himself back up beside her.
"Sweetie, why didn't you let me know you were so exhausted?" Beth asked.
"I didn't know that I was. I just about took a dive there, though, huh?" He smiled at her.
He flipped onto his stomach and placed his head on the pillow. He felt the bed move as she climbed on top of him. He felt her hands on his shoulders and upper back, but he assumed she was sitting on his butt, since he couldn't really feel the rest of her. He knew he must be really tense. She moved to the center of his back, moving carefully around the ugly scars on either side of his spine. She traced them with her fingers unconsciously. She didn't know it, but every time she gave him a massage, she did this. He realized it even though she didn't. She kept going lower. He wouldn't be able to feel her hands much longer. Instead, she moved up to his shoulders and his arms, rippled with muscles from so much everyday use, but still quite sore and tired. She lay down across his back with her face between his shoulder blades. She began kissing him there softly as she continued to massage his arms. A few minutes later, she heard him start to snore lightly. When this happened, she stopped on his arms and moved to his legs. He had been away from his therapists for more than a week. He had planned for small-scale workouts, but she knew that if the rest of his body was that tense, his legs would be as well since they hadn't been worked out since they left Connecticut. She began to work on his hamstrings, calves, and then ankles and feet. She wanted to roll him over and work on his quadriceps, too, but she didn't want to disturb him.
Beth decided to take a shower before she got into bed with him. She had been a little hungry, but now she was just as tired as Kevin had been. She undressed and stepped into the shower. She quickly finished washing herself and dried her hair before she went back to the bed. Kevin was still lying on his stomach, shirtless, with his arms folded under his head. She climbed in behind him, and he stirred for a minute and turned toward her. She snuggled up against his chest as he placed his arm around her and held her extremely close to him. He started to say something to her, but fell back asleep before the words even escaped his mouth. She smiled and closed her eyes, as well.
Three hours later, Kevin woke due to a cramp in his left arm. It happened from time to time, and he knew exactly what to do to get rid of it. He tried not to wake Beth as he worked it out, but she stirred beside him anyway.
"What's wrong, Kev?" she asked, still a bit sleepy.
He was lying flat on his back working out the cramp. "Just a cramp. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Need me to get anything for you?"
"Uh, no. It's better now. Go back to sleep if you're still tired."
"Well, it's like 7:30, so I'm getting hungry and I don't want to sleep too much longer or I won't sleep tonight."
"Want to order from downstairs?" Kevin asked, not really wanting to leave the room.
"Perfect idea. What do you want?" she asked, although she was pretty sure of what his answer would be.
"I don't know. Is there any way we can get some cheeseburgers?"
She smiled knowing that would be his request. "I could run down to the Village and get something if you want."
"No, I don't want you to leave me. How about pizza? They can't really make that weird, can they?"
"I'll check it out, there are some food brochures here, so I'll see what they have." She walked over to the desk and picked up the papers and then the phone to order. She crawled back into bed with Kevin to wait for their was now sitting up in the bed, his well-developed chest inviting her. She straddled him, still enjoying the newness of their marriage. He asked her how her day had been. She told him about her rather uneventful day and asked about his. He explained that mostly everything was finally ready for the next evening's festivities, so the ESPN team was allowed to go early and didn't have to come in until noon the next day. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to watch with her or if he'd be needed during the taping, but he told her he would get in touch with her as soon as she knew. She told him not to worry about her, that she would be fine no matter what he needed to do. He leaned forward to kiss her. As he did so, there was a knock on the door. Beth jumped up and grabbed Kevin's wallet from the bedside table to get their pizza.
By the time she came back into the room, he was back in his chair ready to get drinks from the vending machine, but Beth had ordered them already. They were actually cold, as well. Kevin raised his eyebrows, impressed at her ability to provide dinner. She placed the box on the bed and turned on the television. They laughed together at the variety of Chinese channels they found. They looked at the movies available to watch, but couldn't decide on anything. Kevin turned off the television at that point and grabbed a slice of pizza. She took one, too, yet she didn't feel as hungry as she had a few minutes earlier. Kevin, on the other hand, just now realized that he was starving. He had about four more slices before he decided he was finished.
It was only 9:45, but Kevin's eyes were starting to droop again. Beth hated to admit it, but she was getting sleepy again as well. Kevin headed into the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed. She followed him to brush her teeth. When she was finished, she gathered up their laundry to send down to the hotel's service the next morning. Kevin was out of the shower a short time later, and they met once again in the bed. The time they had spent together on this day had been the most of the entire trip so far. Kevin set the alarm for the next morning, turned off the light on the bedside stand, and the two of them fell asleep quite quickly.
In the morning, Beth was awake before Kevin, so she decided to order breakfast for when he woke up. She also went downstairs for a swim. She left him a note, kissed his forehead, and headed to the elevator. She swam fifty laps before she felt truly awake or realized she had been gone for about an hour. It was 9:00, so she thought Kevin may be awake by now. She rinsed off in the locker room before going back upstairs. She had always loved the smell of chlorine from the pool, but it made Kevin think of the first days in the therapy pool. Those memories weren't especially pleasant ones for him. He liked the water better now, but the intense odor of an enclosed pool sometimes would make him nauseated. She hoped he wouldn't have to cover the swimming venues.
Kevin woke up alone in the bed. Beth's note was beside him on the table, and there was a light breakfast waiting there, too. He pulled some paperwork out of his case to look over the finishing touches for the day's activities. There were a few nervous butterflies in his stomach thinking about how important this evening would be. He had been doing whatever he had been told, and he thought he was doing ok. Obviously, he wasn't able to do some of the legwork that would normally be expected of the new guy, but they seemed to be able to find plenty of work for him. After all, he wasn't some junior cameraman, he was an anchor. He was a little nervous about being on air in front of the whole world, but this was going to be his career. The guys he was working with were really helpful and incredibly professional. They would take care of him. They had told him so. His main duties would be covering wheelchair basketball, and he thought he could handle that pretty well. He was going to wait for Beth to come back before he ate, but his stomach started grumbling. To get his mind off of everything, he decided to take a shower and change his clothes. He always felt better when he was clean, and perhaps Beth would join him when she got back.
Kevin had already settled himself on the shower bench when he heard the phone ringing. Knowing there was no earthly way he could make it back to the bedroom in time to answer it, he let the machine pick it up. The water was running, and he hoped that the call wasn't too terribly important. He heard Beth call out to him as she came into the room. She entered the bathroom, and he asked her to check the message on the phone. She skipped into the room and punched in the access code for the voicemail. Her eyes widened as she heard the message and a smile spread across her face. She hung up the phone, stripped off her wet suit, and walked naked into the bathroom to join her husband in the shower.
Kevin smiled up at her as she stepped in and sat beside him on the bench. She brushed his wet hair out of his face and ran her hands over his glistening body. His shoulders felt a little less tense than last night, but she still felt a few knots. He scooted forward a little and she slipped in to sit behind him. She put her head over his shoulder and kissed his neck, shoulder, and ear.
"Guess what the message said?" she whispered in his ear.
He shrugged and turned his face toward hers to return her kisses.
"You don't have to come in today or tomorrow or the next day. They said they'll see you Monday at seven thirty at the Command Center. Cool, huh?"
Kevin smiled. "Yeah, that's very cool. So what do you want to do today?"
She lowered her eyes and her voice as she answered, "You."
He shook his head, knowing that she was serious. He thought she had a great idea. She moved from behind him, grabbed the bar of soap, washcloth, shampoo, and shaving supplies. She washed his back and hair as he began to lather his face. She took the razor from him, and he told her she could shave his face if he could shave her legs in return. She crinkled her nose but agreed. They finished up in the shower with only one small cut on her left ankle, but his face was soft and smooth.
They spent the day around the Olympic Village and tourist attractions even though the crowds were crazy. Kevin was a wonderfully cheesy tourist. They had their pictures taken at various points around the city. After lunch at McDonald's (Kevin had literally begged her), they moved away from the Village to explore a little more of the city. About twelve blocks east of their hotel, they came upon a building that in any other city would have most likely been a church. They were very interested about its use when they saw several young girls playing in a small playground on the lot. Beth and Kevin approached the fence and looked into the yard. They didn't know if they should go in, but they wanted to find out what it was and why there were so many little girls there. Kevin noted the location and promised Beth to ask someone when he got back to work. They headed back to the hotel after a full afternoon to prepare for the Opening Ceremonies.
Kevin grabbed two small American flags off the desk and handed them to Beth as he changed the batteries and disc in his camera. He wanted to be sure he'd get everything on film. They left the hotel together and walked the six blocks to the stadium excitedly. Neither of them had ever been to the Olympic Games, and they were both looking forward to the experience. They found their seats in the press section. Beth could see everything. The music began and Beth felt a stirring in her stomach. The sea of faces below her was a rainbow of colors. Flash bulbs twinkled like stars even though the sun was just beginning to set. She sat beside Kevin, her hand in his. The two of them were mesmerized by the parade of nations and the Chinese-inspired pageantry. Beth moved closer to Kevin. He wrapped his arm around her, and held her as they watched the torch being lit. Afterward, they just waited in the stands as the athletes and spectators continued to take photos and drink in the entire scene. Once the crowd had cleared out a bit, the Girardis moved toward the exit. Kevin took Beth onto his lap and cleared a path for the two of them.
The newlyweds were actually able to spend time together over the next week. Kevin took Beth to the gymnastics events where she cheered on the American teams. They saw swimming competitions, basketball games, and even a baseball game before it was time for Kevin to head to work full time. Beth decided to leave a few days earlier than she had originally planned. She was anxious to get home and work on the house, and she didn't look forward to spending her days without Kevin. She wasn't interested in watching track and field, either. She packed up her bags and helped him with his as well. Once she left, he would be moving in with the broadcast team closer to the athletes. He went with her only as far as the front desk and the airport shuttle. He pulled her down onto his lap, like he normally did. They embraced and he kissed her passionately.
"I miss you already," he breathed in her ear.
"I'll be watching you every night, so don't mess up your lines, ok?"
He stroked her hair and let her move toward the van. She handed her bags to the driver and glanced back at him with a smile. He waved good bye and she climbed into the back seat. As they drove away, she could see him mouth the words, "I love you." She hated to leave him, but she knew very much that he had a job to do. She didn't want to distract him even though she was thankful for the honeymoon.
Kevin watched the shuttle take his wife away from him. He really did miss her already. With her beside him, he felt normal, whole, capable. He really had dealt with his disability pretty well over the past few years. It had been hard at first, especially the first two years or so. He had remained extremely bitter and unsettled until Beth came back into his life. She had made him see that his life was still ahead of him. He could still be successful, happy. He had believed her without question. She was the reason he had this job, and he was going to do it to the best of his abilities.