I suddenly feared that I might never be able to make that call.
The cat, as if sensing my distress jumped down from the couch and twined back and forth through my legs, giving me at least something of an interface with her world.
I gazed at the painting for a few moments more, regained my composure, and turned away. We looked around the dwelling for a bit, but, didn’t tarry… Giddeon and I then went back outside and made our way down to our car in the parking lot.
I remember that the last thing I saw before we closed the condo door was the painting by the window.
Chapter 17
As difficult as it was for me to contemplate Melody painting that picture and waiting on the phone to ring, it paled in comparison to seeing my brother next to my bedside in the I.C.U.
Jeremy was 8 years older than me, but looked to be twice my age at that moment. If I ever had any doubt that my brother loved me, it was dispelled by the look on his face as he stood in that room surrounded by a plethora of machines and tubes dedicated to maintaining and monitoring my status. I listened as he talked over my condition with the doctors… watched as he was comforted by the nurses… and, wept as he held my hand and tried to coax me into waking up. Giddeon remained respectfully in the background.
Seeing yourself unconscious and in critical condition is an experience that few must ever get to experience; I don’t recommend it. Watching your only living relative see you in such a condition is almost impossible to take. I wanted to tell Jeremy that I was alright, and not in any pain. That I had played golf earlier during the day, and, had had a MangoMooMania smoothie. I wanted to say that when I came out of the coma, the most beautiful woman in the world was waiting to go out with me… but, I couldn’t tell him.
I couldn’t communicate with anyone in the reality that I had left behind.
It seemed, for the time being, that I was stuck in a supposition of states with my guardian angel/subconscious… and only cats, and possibly dogs, were capable of sensing my existence.
After an hour, I couldn’t take it anymore and asked Giddeon to drive me home. I went to my boat, had him crash the door open for Boris, and made my way forward to the bunk where I fell asleep with the marina cat by my side.
__________
I was awakened by Jeremy stepping onto the Catalina. I recognized his curly brown hair in the entryway and watched him come through the open door and down into the cabin. He looked around, spotted Boris and walked forward to the triangular-shaped bed.
“Hey kitty… what are you doing in here?”
He stretched out his hand and Boris sniffed at it uncertainly.
After a few seconds, my buddy must have determined that Jeremy was indeed a cat person and rubbed his face against the outstretched fingers. I wondered if the animal possibly smelled a genetic link between me and my brother. Jeremy sat on the end of the bed, and Boris deserted his spot for real human contact. He situated himself next to my sibling, who scratched him on his neck and behind his ears.
“I don’t see a litter-box, anywhere, so you must be one of the locals, huh?”
Boris meowed his answer and Jeremy smiled.
After a minute or two of interaction with his four-legged welcoming committee, my brother stood up and looked around the boat. He opened the refrigerator and checked out the contents… beer, sandwich meat, a box of cat food and a carton of orange juice… then, closed the small door. Jeremy had been to Coronado twice before, and had a key to the dock gate and the boat. I figured he was planning on staying there while I was in the hospital… that was okay with me. I watched as he flipped out his phone and punched in some numbers. He held it to his ear for a few seconds.
“Hey, babe. I made it here.”
There was a pause as his wife spoke to him. After a few seconds, my brother continued, “I just got back from the hospital… he’s still in I.C.U. He doesn’t look so good…”
I could hear the strain in his voice as he paused, again. Then,
“…he’s still out. His head is all bandaged up, and they have an I.V. in each arm. Lots of monitors… oxygen under his nose. The doctors said the surgery went well, but, they don’t really know the extent of his damage… he had a lot of bleeding… sub-dural hematoma.”
More silence as he listened to the phone.
“I’m okay… it’s just, I don’t know… I’m okay. I’m on his boat. I’ll probably spend the night here and then go back to the hospital first thing in the morning.”
Again, he was quiet as his wife communicated with him.
“I know. I think he’s gonna be alright. He just looks so bad, right now. Oh, yeah… the door here on the boat was wide open, and a big tomcat was asleep on his bed… Boris? That’s his name? How do you know that…? He talked about him before…? Guess I don’t remember… Everyone at the marina feeds him…? Well, he definitely isn’t missing any meals.”
Boris was rubbing against Jeremy’s legs and begging for food since he was next to the refrigerator. My brother opened the door back up, got the box of dry cat food out and shook some of its contents onto the floor. The feline settled down for a snack as Jeremy put the Kibbles and Bits back in the fridge, and then, he had himself a seat on the couch.
I continued listening in to the side of the conversation I could hear. “I don’t know… my friend’s covering for me. The doctor said Greg could come out of it tomorrow, or… it could be… a while.”
He seemed to have trouble getting the last part out.
“Thanks, babe. Anyway… I’ll keep you updated. I’m gonna get something to eat. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you, too. Bye, bye.”
He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. He sat there watching the cat as the last rays of the sun found their way into my little boat from 93 million miles away.
That’s about how far away I felt at the time, also.
__________
I walked out over the waterfront, giving Jeremy some space even though he didn’t really need it. The lights were starting to come on around the cove as dusk crept in; Giddeon came up beside me. His hands were stuffed down into his blue jean pockets just like I had a habit of doing when the air was slightly cool.
“We can stay over at The Del while Jeremy is in town. They have great room service,” he said.
The air around us was still, as if the growing darkness brought with it a weight that settled any breeze.
“Every place has great room service for you… all you have to do is snap your fingers.”
“That’s true. However, the view is better than here on your boat. Plus, there’s a swimming pool, hot tub, bikini’s…”
I smiled with one corner of my mouth, and shook my head.
“There’s only one girl I’m interested in… but, The Del might be a good idea. I’ll go get my things.” I started back towards the Catalina.
“No problem… come as you are. I’ll bring everything, later.”
I turned back around, put my hands into my pockets, too, and together we walked over to the historic hotel across the road.
Chapter 18
The Hotel del Coronado was completed in 1888, and is one of the oldest hotels standing in Southern California. The woodwork in the large dining room is all tongue and groove; no nails or screws hold the beautiful, arched ceiling together. The craftsmanship is phenomenal, and it’s a popular spot for receptions, parties and gatherings.
A steady flow of tourists, both domestic and international, come through the place, which has quite a history. ‘Some Like it Hot’, with Marilyn Monroe, was in large part filmed there, and several presidents and celebrities over the years have frequented its rooms… rooms which have the benefit of overlooking one of the top 10 beaches in the world. These facts and this history, along with the famous San Diego weather, help make ‘The Del’ a popular tourist destination. As luck would have it, Giddeon knew of a set of adjacent rooms that were unoccupied on the third floor, facing the Pacific.
As I suspected, both doors were unlock
ed. We each entered our units, and then my subconscious came through a door that adjoined the two rooms.
“I stay here a lot. Especially when you’re reading message boards for the penny stocks… I find that rather mind-numbing.”
“I wouldn’t have my boat without those message boards. You’d rather I flip through ‘War and Peace?”
“Definitely ‘War and Peace’, or Sci Fi, like when you were a teenager. By the way… I picked out that penny stock for you. I also showed you how to hack the system so that your wire transfer would be immediately available. You were dead drunk, remember? That’s when you can hear me, sometimes.”
“No kidding? You picked it out? Why don’t you pick more? I haven’t really hit one, since.” I was feeling better being in the new environment of the hotel; not quite as melancholy as before.
He smiled, opened the sliding glass door and walked out onto the balcony. I followed and stood beside him, my hands on the railing.
“You don’t drink that much, normally… I was feeling a bit tipsy, myself. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Is there some kind of rule against it?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Not that I know of… it just doesn’t seem right to interfere without your permission.”
“Why would you need my permission… you’re me, remember?”
That put a quizzical look on his face.
He shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t really worked that out… I just know what feels right, and I go by that. Of the very few times I’ve stepped in, one of those was Thursday. I practically pushed you out of your chair towards Melody.”
Two beers appeared in his hands. He gave one to me.
“You done good,” I said.
“You’re in a coma.”
“There is that. But, still… you done good.”
He grunted and then said, “That’s not proper English, you know?”
I nodded. “I know… but, it just feels right.”
He laughed. We drank our beers and watched the sky and the sea become one.
Chapter 19
Jeremy stayed for nearly two weeks. Towards the end of that time, it was becoming evident that my condition wasn’t improving. I had been moved to a regular hospital room close to the nurse’s station, and Giddeon had listened in on several of the conversations between my brother and the doctors. Apparently, I had a little brain activity, mostly Alpha waves, which were common in both deep sleep and some comas.
I never heard finances discussed, however, I was sure the bill was going to be enormous. I know that must have worried Jeremy… he was well off, but not what I would have called rich. My brother has always been responsible and hardworking; I really hated knowing that his irresponsible sibling was going to cost him an arm and a leg, if not more. All I ever heard him say to the doctors was in the form of what more could he do… were there any specialists that could be called in… any treatments that could be initiated? Not, ‘How much is all of this going to cost?’
I realized that he was a much better person than me, and I began to feel not only invisible, but, small.
__________
I followed Jeremy to the airport and watched his plane as it rose into the aqua marine sky. I slipped back out of the terminal, unnoticed by TSA agents and all of the other people in the building. Giddeon was waiting beside my car in the parking lot.
“He’ll be back… probably in a week or two,” said my new best friend.
“I know… hopefully, I’ll be awake by then.”
Giddeon shrugged his shoulders, indicating ‘I don’t know’. He took the keys from me. “I’ll drive.”
I got in the passenger side, and Giddeon went around to the driver’s door; he climbed in and started the engine. Of course, the parking bar at the exit gate was up and we drove right through. He didn’t head towards the interstate, however. In a minute or two, it became evident what our destination was.
Seaport Village… where I met Melody.
__________
“I want to show you something,” Giddeon said. Before long, we were there.
He slowed, pulled into a parking spot, and got out. I followed, and we made our way down the waterfront on the little path that borders the bay. After a brief stroll, we approached the restaurant where she and I had met. As we got closer, I saw, to my surprise, that Melody was actually there… seated at the same outside table with a glass of iced tea in front of her.
She looked amazing; if anything, she was even more beautiful than the day I met her.
Yet, there was something different about her. A fragment of sadness in her eyes. I realized that she was there hoping to see me, and the realization was crushing. I hadn’t called. I’m sure that she was thinking that maybe I had lost the number and that I would show up at the restaurant, looking for her.
We walked over close. Giddeon informed me that Melody had been there three days in a row… always at the same time, and at the same table… our table.
The table in the painting.
I had never even told her my last name… or, where I worked. At the time, I was embarrassed to say what I did for a living. Why? I don’t know. I was so stupid. I knew she was more interested in me than what I did, but, for some reason I had been reluctant to say anything more about my situation than that I was taking the summer off from college. I suppose I was trying to play it cool and break it to her, slowly, that I wasn’t exactly a captain of industry or a Rhodes Scholar.
She had no way of knowing that I was in a hospital just a few miles away. That I was an ‘inter-dimensional tourist’ that had just waved goodbye to his brother… a brother doing everything in his power to wake me up. I couldn’t tell her that I wanted nothing more than for her to look up and see me… not to see through me as she was doing at that moment.
I sat down next to her and reached out for her hand. Naturally, mine went right through hers to the table below; still, I kept it there, covered almost completely by what I knew was her soft palm, and warm, elegant fingers. Melody looked down, almost as if she detected something, and then, her gaze returned to the passersby, searching for me.
“Do you think she can feel my presence… just a little bit?” I asked Giddeon.
He replied, “Doubtful. For the most part, you couldn’t even detect mine.”
Melody removed her hand from my attempted touch and put it around her glass of tea. She stared into her drink, and the lashes of her eyelids momentarily masked the look that I found so painful. The look that was full of questions… ‘Where are you? Why haven’t I heard from you? We had such a nice time…’
It broke my heart to see her like that.
The vision seated beside me finally sighed, dug through her purse and paid her tab. She stood up and waved goodbye to her waiter. I watched her look out over the people on the concrete path one last time, and then join them on the walkway. Her honey-blonde hair shimmered in the breeze, and I sat there as the last of her fragrance dissipated around me into the bright, California sky.
Chapter 20
Giddeon sensed that I needed cheering up, so we went to a movie. ‘Avatar’, at the theater on Orange Avenue. I’m pretty sure ‘Avatar’ wasn’t playing there… as a matter of a fact, I’m fairly certain the theater was closed for renovations. I suppose Giddeon just sampled the field of probabilities of the building until he found the reality that he wanted, and, poof, there we were. I wasn’t really interested in the particulars of how he did it… I was just glad that he did.
The special effects were awesome; I didn’t even mind wearing the clunky 3-D glasses. For over two and a half hours, I forgot I was in a coma… I forgot about my brother’s pain… and, I almost forgot about how much I wanted to be with Melody… except for when the love story woven into the plot of the movie kept reminding me. All in all, though, it was nice to just put my brain on hold and let the scenes of Pandora wash over me.
When it was finished, we stepped out onto Orange Avenue into the afternoon. As always, it
seemed strange going into the daylight after a movie… for some reason I always forget I’m at a matinee when I go to one. Giddeon was thirsty and wanted another smoothie.
We crossed the street and made our way over to ‘MooTime’, once again, so that Giddeon could peruse the menu. Sure enough, a new flavor had appeared on the Formica board and he ‘ordered’ it. I stuck with MangoMooMania.
We sat down in the seats outside and took our time savoring the drinks.
Tourists and locals were out in force, and we silently watched the parade of real people file past our position. The colors, textures, sounds and smells all around us were in their own ways more overpowering to me than Pandora; it was easy to forget I was somewhere else, and, that that particular somewhere else was a sterile, aseptic room full of monitors.
__________
Boris was asleep in the captain’s chair when we got back. He had a pretty good life. If there’s a lottery for cats, he must have hit it. Everyone at the marina knew him, food was not a problem and the weather is practically made to order. He showed no inclination to get up from his spot, so Giddeon and I went on inside the Catalina. I had a seat at the table; Giddeon positioned himself on the couch across from me and picked up my Ovation guitar. He strummed a few chords, and then did a perfect rendition of the beginning of ‘Hotel California’. The clarity of the Elixir strings was extraordinary, and his timing mimicked the original so closely that it was like listening to a CD. He went on up to the part where the vocalist comes in, and then, stopped.
“Any requests?”
“That’s really good. Where did you learn to play like that?”
“You’ve been to a lot of concerts and watched a lot of music videos… I pay attention.”
“I pay attention, too, but I don’t play like that.”
He smiled, and did part of a Fleetwood Mac intro… I couldn’t recall the name of the song at the time.
“5.6 percent, remember?”
“If I ever get out of my coma, I’ll work on upping that.”
“You can try… but, you won’t be able to change it, much. Kind of the way humans are wired. Everyone has sort of a firewall keeping them out… don’t really know why.”
“Even with your percentage, you can’t figure it out?”