THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 4
She was awake early again. Ruthie's thoughts turned to the two people who were currently occupying her bedroom. Her parents had informed her that they were taking a long weekend and had decided on the spur of the moment to come out and see her. Ruthie was wishing that they had given her a bit of notice, but in truth all the notice in the world wouldn't have helped. Because this moment would have come sooner or later; now that it was here though, she was scared, really scared. In a couple of hours she was gonna have to tell her parents about the paper; and if they didn't accept it, she would loose them and she didn't know how she would be able to deal if her family abandoned her. Sure they annoyed her from time to time, but she loved them and they formed this emotional safety net that she needed in her life. She didn't think they'd go off the deep end about this, but she was still scared because she didn't know what their reactions would be. She was trying to figure out how exactly she would convince them that she wasn't insane.
Ruthie remembered Gary talking about how he had convinced Toni that the paper was real and that he really did what he did. Unfortunately that meant taking at least one and probably both of her parents on a save; that was something else she wasn't looking forward to. Assuming of course that they didn't head for the hills once she told them what was up.
She heard movement coming from her bedroom, in a minute or two the sound of shuffling could be heard. Ruthie checked her watch, it was 6 am. She figured it was her Dad, had had always been an early riser. She got up and started the coffee maker. Ruthie usually didn't drink coffee, but she knew that both her parents were hooked pretty good. She heard the bedroom door open softly and then close. Her dad wandered around the apartment for a bit looking for her, then he found her in the kitchen.
"Morning Ruthie, couldn't you sleep either?"
"No, nervous I guess."
"Nervous, about what?"
"I've got something I need to tell you and mom, but I kinda need a favor first."
"Sure, what do you need?"
"I know it's gonna sound weird, but could you go out and buy a copy of the Denver Post, there's a machine on the corner near the front of the building."
"What's this all about Ruthie?"
"Dad, I promise I'll tell you everything, but I want to tell you and mom at the same time so I don't have to repeat myself."
Eric Camden studied his daughter for a second "this is pretty big, isn't it" he asked.
"Yeah Dad, it is" Ruthie answered softly.
"OK then, I'll be back in a minute or two with the paper."
As she watched him leave, Ruthie thought about waking her mother, but she knew that the smell of coffee would do the job soon enough. While she was waiting she sat in the kitchen and tried to figure out how she was going to broach the subject without sounding completely mental. Unfortunately she wasn't having any luck with that. She heard the front door open again and her father walked in, paper in hand. Ruthie told him to just leave it on the table and handed him a cup of coffee, which he gratefully accepted.
"So, other than this big thing, how are you doing Ruth?"
"Pretty good Dad, the gallery is going well and I've got a part time job with the Post, so financially I'm pretty comfortable. I was just talking to Simon a couple of days ago about looking for some long term investments, so I'm already thinking about the future. I guess that means I'm turning into a responsible adult."
"You always acted like an adult Ruth, even when you were a kid, so that's not too surprising. It sounds like your professional life is going well, how about the personal?"
His daughter's blush was all the answer Eric Camden needed on that score. There was someone that she was interested in. He wasn't about to pry for the particulars, that was Annie's job; he was just happy that there was someone. He had remembered the heart wrenching talks that they'd had after her long time boyfriend broke up with her during her sophomore year. It had taken every bit of control not to pass the creeps name on to Robbie Palmer, along with a request to mail Ruthie a few choice parts, assuming that Robbie would leave anything recognizable. But he hadn't, and she'd gotten through it, but he had been afraid that she had been hurt so much that she wouldn't ever open up again. When she was in Chicago, he had talked to Simon about it. Simon was convinced that if Ruthie were given enough time and space, she'd leard to open up again. It had been difficult to not try and push her out on dates when she had been in Glen Oak over the summers, but he had taken Simon's advice. And obviously it had been good advice.
"So will we get to meet this young man?"
"Maybe tonight, if everything works out that is."
"Sounds good."
"So how are you doing, and everyone else?"
"We're fine, Chandler and I are splitting Sunday's so I have more time for pastoral relations, and it gives him some good practice." Eric wore the contented smile of a teacher whose protégé was coming along better than he had hoped. "Your mom seems to like teaching; I think it helps her deal with the emptying nest."
"I hadn't thought about that" Ruthie said "it must be weird to only have two kids in the house."
"It is, especially since the twins are trying to separate themselves from each other."
"What do you mean, separate themselves?"
"Doing different activities, taking different classes, things like that. It's kind of hard on your mother as well. Not to mention little Ben (Lucy's son) creating a bit of havoc in everyone's life. But Lucy and Kevin seem to be handling him pretty well. Matt and Sarah are doing well, but nothing yet on the baby front."
Eric's litany was interrupted by two different sounds. One was her mother opening the bedroom door. She was peering out into the rest of the apartment like an owl that's been awakened in the middle of the day; and the sound of a dog's bark accompanied by the thump of a paper hitting the ground.
"Is that your dog" Annie asked.
"Well, that's a bit complicated" Ruthie said, opening the door. Quark came charging in as Ruthie collected the paper on the doorstep. The little dog bounded around the apartment, both entertaining and distracting Eric and Annie so Ruthie had time to check the paper and make sure that there were no immediate demands. Once her scan was done, she looked up to see both her parents laughing at Quark's antics. She got out the dog food, which quickly calmed him down, and as she fed him she faced her parents. God she was scared; she took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "First I need you all to listen to the whole thing before you start asking questions, and second, I need you both to keep this to yourselves for now. I know it's not fair, but I need you both to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."
Eric and Annie looked at each other; it was obvious that neither of them had any idea about what was going on. They held their look for a moment longer, silently communicating; then Annie faced their daughter and said "you have our word."
"Thanks" Ruthie said, then focusing on her dad "do you remember the conversation we had last Christmas, on our little walk?"
Eric had to think for a moment and Annie asked him "what conversation."
Looking at his daughter, Eric answered "she asked about whether or not I thought it was possible for someone to know the future,"
"That's odd"
"I thought so as well, but I told her what I thought. Actually the more I thought about it, I figured she must be asking about her boss." Then focusing on his daughter he asked "am I right Ruthie?"
"Yeah Dad, but how did you figure that out?"
"I talked to Simon and we pieced together some information so I had Drew Michaels check out some police reports. He talked to this detective named Winslow in Chicago. All in all it was pretty interesting and very informative."
"So Ruthie's old boss was delusional and thought he knew the future?"
"Not exactly" Eric answered "the consensus seems to be that he really did know the future, on a limited basis at least. There was too much there to draw any other conclusions."
"But that's impossible Eric."
"Normally I'd agree with you Annie, but there's some pretty overwhelming evidence here." Eric turned back to his daughter "So how does he do it Ruthie?"
Ruthie silently thanked God for her dad's inquisitive nature, because of that she would never have as good an opening as she had just been given. "He does it the same way I do Dad" Ruthie replied.
"I'm sorry" Annie said "did you just say you know the future?"
"Yeah Mom, that's exactly what I said."
Eric and Annie exchanged another look, finally Eric spoke up. "So you know what's going to happen in the future?"
"Well, for the next twenty four hours at least" Ruthie answered.
"So exactly how do you know things Ruthie" Annie asked her daughter.
"This" she said, holding up her copy of the paper.
"The newspaper, how does that tell you anything it doesn't tell everyone else" her father asked.
"Because this isn't a regular copy of the paper" Ruthie replied.
"What do you mean, it's not a regular copy" Annie asked.
Ruthie took a deep breath "its tomorrow's copy of the paper" she said. She closed her eyes, anticipating the flurry of questions that were surely to follow. She wasn't disappointed.
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'Of course it would be a save like this' Ruthie thought 'it couldn't be a hit and run or slip and fall, no, it had to be a jumper'. Her first save of the day was talking a man out of killing himself. Of course her parents had come along. After dropping her bomb on them this morning the questions had come fast and furious. At times she could tell that they were contemplating calling the guys with the white coats and butterfly nets to come and get her. But the presence of the paper and the research her dad had done had tilted the scales in her favor, for the moment at least. So now they were standing on the sidewalk, across the street from where a guy was gonna kill himself; her copy of the paper in their hands. Now all she had to do was make it change. 'Sure' she thought 'like it's gonna be simple'. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the access door and headed out on the roof.
John Taylor, age 39, married with two kids. His business was going under, and he believed that the only way he could take care of his family was if they had the money from his life insurance policy. Of course that meant he had to be dead. Which has led him here, to the ledge of the Fulton Building in downtown Denver, where he now stands contemplating the long way down.
"Seems like an awful nice day to be ending your life" a voice behind him said.
He turned to see a young woman, at least ten years younger than himself "you wouldn't understand" he replied, turning back to his contemplation of the sidewalk. Then he turned back to the girl "what are you doing up here anyway?"
"I saw you from the street and thought I might be able to help."
"My life's so bad no one could help."
"Then explain it to me" the girl said "tell me why you think it's necessary to end your life."
"Listen. . ."
"Ruth, my name is Ruth" the girl supplied.
"Listen Ruth, I'm sure you're a nice person, and you only have the best of intentions, but this is really none of your business."
"Yeah it is" Ruth replied "if I see a person hurting, someone I believe that I can help, then it is my business."
"You think you can help me" John asked, a little hysterically.
"I'd like to think so, but I can't be sure till you tell me what the problem is."
John took a small step back from the ledge and turned to the girl. "It's like this" he began and spilled out his tale. He told her of his hopes and how he kept running into walls, the struggle and the fight. How his family was suffering because he wasn't home, or when he was he was angry because of what was going wrong at work. "So I figured if I remove myself from the equation like this, then my family has enough money to be comfortable for life and Liz will be free to find a guy that deserves her."
"But your family won't have you" Ruthie said "have you ever asked them if that's what they want?"
"Of course not, but it's obvious that they'd be doing better without me."
"You think it's obvious, but maybe they see something else. You'll never know till you ask them. And if you go through with this, you won't get that chance, will you?"
"So you think I should keep trying?"
"What you think is important, but if you're asking my opinion then yes, I think you ought to keep trying."
"But it can be so hard sometimes" John said, his eyes swimming in tears.
"Yeah, life can be hard" Ruthie agreed "but it's our family and friends that get us through it. If nothing else, you need to live for them."
"But what about the business, and money; how will we live?"
"I honestly don't know John, but what if I was to tell you that on Monday, a multinational company was going to offer to buy you out for more money than you could imagine."
"How could you know that was gonna happen" John asked.
"That's not important" Ruthie answered "but how could you still think about doing what you came up here to do in case I'm right?"
John just stood there for a minute, head down just contemplating the roof of the building. Finally he just looked up and gave the young girl a smile "I guess I'm hanging around for a while" he said and started walking to the access door. He got to the door and paused for a moment. He was trying to think of some way he could properly thank the young woman for talking him out of killing himself, thank her for giving him hope back. "I can only say thank you" he told her frankly "but that seems damned inadequate".
"No" Ruth replied "it's perfect".
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"So is that a normal day for you" her dad asked.
"Pretty much" Ruthie said "today was a bit tougher than the average, just because of the guy on the building, but I've had worse." They were back in her apartment after a day of saves. In addition to talking John down, they had watched her stop a runaway baby carriage and prevent a 7 year old from chasing a ball into a busy street. Just another day for Supergirl as Nif would say. Of course she had taken her parents to the gallery, and they had met Jennifer. Everyone had seemed to hit it off well, Annie especially seemed to like the woman and the two of them were soon trading Ruthie stories.
Ruthie had shown them around Denver, a city she was really beginning to appreciate, but her parents had seemed indifferent. Giving up she had taken them back to her place.
"Honey" Annie said "have you ever thought about not doing anything, I mean it's so dangerous out there." She still had nightmares of the time Ruthie had been shot.
"Of course Mom, but I can't know about something and then refuse to do anything about it; I couldn't live with myself if someone ended up dead because of my inactions. Now before you start on the danger, I'm very well aware of it. I don't know if Nif told you about how we met?"
"No specifics" Annie replied "she just said you stopped her from being mugged."
"Yeah, she was being mugged, by a 250 pound guy who was drunk, and mean. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, going in and facing that gorilla, but if I hadn't then I wouldn't have the friend I have today. So I know it's risky, but what good thing isn't?"
"So what's the dinner plans" Eric asked, wanting to change the subject.
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Despite its name, the 'Leadville Mining Company' is one of the best restaurants in Denver. Currently Ruthie was sitting at a table inside an old bank vault with her parents and Doug. As soon as she mentioned that she had already made dinner plans before she had known her parents were here, they were on that like white on rice. 'Who was he, what did he do, how had they met' all the usual questions. Actually for Ruthie, it was a bit of a relief not talking about the paper. It was a bit of a relief for her parents as well, now they could worry about more mundane subjects and not magical papers and the danger it put their daughter in.
"So Doug, Ruthie tells us that you're a doctor" Eric asked.
"Yes sir, I work in the ER at Denver Memorial."
"Do you like it" Annie asked. She had heard something in the young man's voice.
"Doug sighed and looked at the table for a moment "sometimes it's hard, harder than I imagined it could be. Accidents I can deal with, things happen; but a ten year old kid came in today" his voice cracked a bit "just beat to hell because she let the door slam while her father was sleeping off the previous nights drunk. Cases like that take it out of you. I know the father is going to jail, and I know that the kid is finally with some relatives that care for her but that doesn't make up for the years that this went on before the system kicked in." He looked up at the Camdens, "sorry to dump on you guys, but I couldn't hold it in any longer."
"That's OK Doug" Ruthie said, sliding her hand in between his two and managing to hold them both "Dad's a minister, so we've heard this story before and worse. The real question is, are you going to be OK?"
He was surprised at the family's reaction, but from what he knew of Ruthie, maybe he shouldn't have been. "I'll be OK" he said. "Knowing that she's finally safe from him, her smiling at me when she woke up, watching the cops man-handle him a bit; all those things make it a bit better. And having friends that care doesn't hurt either."
At that moment, Eric and Annie might as well have not existed because the two young people had locked eyes. Eric debated on interrupting them because he was sure spontaneous combustion might take place if they stared at each other much longer. For Ruthie and Doug, it was like they were truly seeing each other for the first time, and both liked what they saw. Alas, all things must end, and in this case it was the waiter trying to serve dinner that interrupted the two of them. Doug whipped around and Ruthie looked up to see the disgruntled waiter. Doug looked back at the girl and blushed; Ruthie just stared at the table and looked flustered.
The rest of the dinner was polite but awkward, and Doug left early, saying he had to go in tomorrow to check up on the girl. After that, the Camdens talked among themselves for a bit, then went back to Ruthie's place. It had been a busy day.
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Eric Camden realized he was alone in bed and sat up. Annie was staring out the window, her mind a million miles away. "Quite a bit to take in isn't it" Eric asked.
"Do you mean the paper or Doug" Annie replied without turning.
Eric thought for a moment "the paper I suppose. It was just a matter of time before Ruthie found someone. And Doug seems nice enough."
"What about the paper Eric, why her; why should Ruthie have to be burdened with taking care of an entire city."
"I suppose because she can" he said, getting up. "If I got something like that I wouldn't know what to do or how to act. I couldn't do what she chooses to do. Understand Annie, it is her choice. She could have turned her back on it, but she chose to accept the burden. All we really can do is support her choice." Annie started to say something, but Eric cut her off "don't misunderstand, the notion that my little girl is stopping bank robberies and taking on muggers scares the heck out of me, but can you honestly think of anyone that you would rather have shouldering that kind of responsibility."
Annie sighed and looked at the floor, her silence was answer enough. As she came back to bed she said "your kids never turn out the way you expect, do they?"
"Well, I can honestly say I never saw this coming" Eric said with a laugh. Then leaned over and held his wife, are you really gonna be OK with this?"
"Yeah I will" Annie said "in time."
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Ruthie was awake as well, but her mind was on someone not in the apartment right now. The way Doug had bared his soul at dinner, it had taken all her control to not simply hold him and tell him everything would be alright. If she was being honest, it was when she realized that she truly loved the young doctor. What's more, she was pretty sure that her feelings for him were reciprocated. That scared her. But what scared her even more was the realization that if they were ever to have a relationship, she would have to tell him about the paper. The telling him wouldn't be so scary, but his possible reactions were. What if he pulled a Meredith or an Armstrong and just left. Would she be able to handle life without him the way she now felt? Or what if he was like Bernie and smothered her, could she deal with that? No, telling him wasn't scary anymore, the possibility of him changing however; that was terrifying. And that's why she was lying on her couch, staring at the ceiling. She was summoning the courage to put her heart on the line.