Chapter 2

As Jane struggled with the emotions the storm invoked in her mind Isaac, reveled in the power and the beauty. The power of the storm was a release for him. It echoed his feelings and appeared to encourage them. It was an answer to his prayers. The lightning was the only illumination for the room as the power had went out several hours before. Sparsely furnished it had a small desk, chair, bed and night stand. Each flash that lit the room drew his eye to his guitar leaning against the small desk. The bane and blessing in his existence. He stared for a moment and as the lightning flashed again he saw the small velvet box. It was an unassuming object with contents more useless, yet more important, than he could ever have imagined. Another flash lit the diamond in it all its brilliance. He turned his head away and poured another drink.

Isaac sat in front of the sliding doors watching the storm increase in power. He raised glass to his lips, drinking deeply, to feel the burn whiskey provided. It hurt every time, but pain meant he was alive. Only God knew why he still wanted to live, but part of him did. It was the part that didn’t that worried him. He rubbed his eyes wearily. Shit. He filled his glass again. The other part of him thought that his life was over. The past was perfect but it was over and never coming back. He stood and stumbled to the bed with the bottle. He collapsed there, spilling his whiskey, and laughed. He reached over to place his bottle on the bedside table and dropped it on the floor.

He stumbled his way to a standing position on the bed. The mattress dipped and shifted. He fell against the wall. He laughed louder and pushed away. He yelled, “King of the world!” Laughter quickly turned to tears. The smile faded and he dropped to his knees. He slipped off the bed and into unconsciousness.

He lay there for several hours as the storm calmed and the night grew into day. The harsh song of the alarm woke him at six a.m. He groaned and tried to push himself up. A sharp, shooting pain ripped through his right arm. He fell back to the floor and rolled over gasping. Oh, fuck. Shit.  He cradled his arm and tried to block out the pain. He sat up and stumbled into the bathroom hung-over. Looking in the mirror he could see his blood shot eyes and the bruise that had formed on his forehead. His right wrist was swollen and it had a constant ache that was only broken by sharp pains.

The smell of stale alcohol clung to him like a fog. He dragged his shirt over his head. It filled his nostrils and turned his stomach. The pain ripped through his arm once again and made him dizzy. He sank to the floor and rested his head against the wall as the nausea passed. He carefully got in the shower and let the water rush over him, all the while being careful to not move his wrist.

Stepping out he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He stepped back up to the mirror and really looked at himself. His eyes had a slightly hollow look. They were still bloodshot and bruised. The bruise on his forehead had darkened. His face and his body lacked any definition. His ribs were as visible as were his cheek bones. He looked pale and listless. His gaze was drawn to his wrist which was now throbbing painfully. I look like hell and I’m doing it to myself. I have got to let it go. He sighed deeply and stepped out of the room to get dressed.

He smiled to himself as he got dressed. Even his wrist didn’t dampen his good mood. He felt free. His cell phone rang and he reached for it. Flipping it open, he said, “Hello.” He smiled at Taylor’s hesitant voice on the other end.

“Um, hi Isaac, I didn’t think you’d be up yet.” He laughed a little nervously. Isaac said nothing waiting for Taylor to continue. “I, ah, wanted to leave a message for you.”  

Isaac broke in and said, “What’s up Taylor? I answered so why don’t you tell me or would you rather I hung up, so you could call back and leave a voicemail?” He rolled his eyes.

Taylor said, “Yeah that would be great.” He let out a gusty sigh. “That would help Ike.”

He laughed. “Well, Tay, tough shit. You have me on the phone. What do you want? I’m waiting man. It won’t get any easier by you avoiding the issue.” He smiled evilly as Taylor squeaked. He heard the phone drop. And some mutters.

A second later Beth came on the phone. She said, “What Taylor is trying to say is we are at our house in Florida. So in essence we are a couple blocks away. If you need us we are here. We won’t bother you otherwise.” Isaac snorted. She laughed and continued. “I’ll try to keep him from bothering you. Zac’s coming too. I’ll chain them to the piano here.”

Isaac smiled. “You’ll have to invite me over to see that. I, in fact, do need Taylor, actually. I need a ride to the hospital.”

Beth sighed, “What did you do? You sound better by the way.” Taylor was in the back ground saying, “What’s wrong? Is something going on?” She shushed him and said, “I’ll tell you in a minute.”

He sat down on the bed with his back leaning against the headboard. Isaac said, “I fell off the bed last night and I think I did something to my wrist. The son of a bitch hurts like hell.” She made a nose that sounded like, tsk tsk. “Before you ask, yes, I was drunk. I am hung over, but I haven’t had anything to drink since last night. I think I’m through punishing myself.” He smiled softly as he said it.

She said, “Good Isaac. You know what I think. I think you need a distraction. Why don’t you come over this evening after you take care of your business, we can have some dinner and fool around with some songs? It’ll be fun. I’ll even let you play the guitar.” She laughed. “Well maybe you can sing. Taylor’s going crazy over here because he doesn’t know what’s going on. So I’ll hang up now and tease him for a minute. I make sure the thing you wanted done is done in a minute, ok?” He could hear Taylor growl.

“All right, but don’t kill him. I still need him for some stuff, ok? Bye, Beth.” They laughed and she said, “Bye, hon.” He flipped his phone closed and leaned against the headboard. He sighed and stood up. Walking to the sliding door he glanced at the desk in the corner. The box still sat there. I need to take care of that. He moved toward it, stared at it for a moment and flipped the lid closed. He moved toward the trash can and then thought better of it. I think I’ll just put it out of the way. That is worth to much money to throw away. He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and through it in with all the other odds and ends. He closed it with a snap.

He heard a horn honk. Walking to the window he grabbed his jacket and when he noticed Taylor’s car. He went out.

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Jane sat at her desk trying to type out a patient’s information in the computer. Her thoughts were far and away not on her job. She continued to be distracted by revelations and dreams of a life she knew to have been hers. She felt as though her heart would stop if she felt the loss of it any deeper. The distraction was creating that hard lump in her chest again. Tears were rushing to her eyes at an alarming rate. She shoved her way back from her desk and stumbled into the back office. Leaning against the door her body was racked with sobs.

Slowly her breathing returned to normal. She went into the connecting bathroom and splashed some water on her face. Patting herself dry she looked in the mirror. She was thankful for her ability to cry and look good at the same time. This made her smile a little. It certainly came in handy. She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Pushing open the door and walking through the tiny office she came back to her desk in the reception area. The phone was ringing. She cleared her throat and answered it.

She said, “Hello. Dr. Beatrice Graft’s office. Jane speaking. How can I assist you today?” She sat in her chair with the receiver tucked firmly between her shoulder and her ear.

The caller replied, “Hi this is Carol from Dr. Stange’s office. I have a patient here with a broken wrist. He needs to get in to see Dr. Graft today. Is it possible? He will pay if she can take personal time to see him today. Just between you and me he is filthy rich and incredibly good looking.” She sighed dramatically. “He wants the best to check him out and Dr. Graft is the best. Times like this I wish I was a doctor.”

Jane smiled and said, “You’d hate it, Carol. I would think all that emotionless touching is bad for the libido. Bee would probably disagree. Yes, Dr. Graft is the best. I know she helped me a lot. Ok. Let me check her schedule.” Turning to the computer she punched a few keys and clicked a few icons on the desktop. The calendar opened and she began to look.  She continued, “She has a block of time between one o’clock and three o’clock. It is definitely his lucky day. We had a few cancellations. So when does he want in?” She leaned back and taped at the keys.

Carol immediately replied, “One o’clock is fine. It is the earliest she can see him, right?” Jane could hear someone talking in the background.

“Yes, it is the earliest she has today. He is lucky we have time at all and so much of it. Just fax his chart over here. Kim will take care of it.”  Jane smiled.

Carol laughed. “All right. Just pencil in Isaac. Bye dear. I’ll just go and fax his chart.”

Jane hung up the phone and sighed. She scheduled the appointment and looked at the clock. She snorted. Eleven forty- one. Kim was eleven minutes late.  Just like her to be late when I have somewhere to go, thought Jane.  Shaking her head she went back to entering the patient’s information. Time seemed to fly by now that her mind was occupied with work.

Kim walked in the front door at twelve thirty apologizing profusely. “I am so sorry Jane. I got caught in an accident. I have to go and get my bumper fixed. I can’t believe my luck. I was pushed through a red light. Thankfully there was no one coming. Oh man.” Her voice had risen a little. She sank down in a chair across from the desk and shook her head as if trying to clear it.

Jane moved over to her and said, “Breathe deep. In and out.” Kim smiled weakly, but waved her aside. “Are you going to be all right Kim? Do you want me to stay?” She asked.

Kim sighed and said, “I’ll be fine. It just hit me a little. I just need to get to work. What’s going on today?” She watched Jane sit down and pull up the schedule. Kim put her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk.

Jane started reciting the pertinent schedule up until then and ended with the unexpected appointment at one. She said, “Carol called form Dr. Stange’s office. It seems this patient is very wealthy and good looking. She was practically drooling.” They laughed together.

Kim looked at the clock and said, “Well, you should be going. I’m fine now. Mr. Rich is going to be here soon and I’m going to need you to leave. Why would he look at me when you’re here? Would you rather go for a short dumpy blond with brown eyes or a long legged brunette with shiny green eyes? If I were him I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Jane laughed and shook her head, “Honey, you are curvaceous and sexy. You are a very sexy woman. If I were him I would pick you.” She grabbed her coat off the coat rack. She said, “Sweep him off his feet, babe. If he breaks anything while falling in love you’re both in the right place.” She laughed at the look of horror on Kim’s face. “I know it was a lame joke.” She opened the door and left.

She walked down the hall, went down the elevator, and out the door. All the while she was singing to herself. She jogged up to her friend’s car. His window was rolled down and she said, “Hey can I get a ride, baby?” She flashed a smile and opened the door. Her friend laughed. They had to wait for traffic to clear and they sped away.

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Taylor pulled smoothly into a parking spot. The car in front sped away. He smiled at Isaac and pulled forward. He said, “Well, Isaac, we’re here. Dr. Graft is supposed to be the best.”

Isaac sighed. Taylor came across and opened the passenger door. Isaac stepped outside and said, “All right. Let’s get this taken care of. My guitar already feels neglected.” He looked at the building, ran one hand through his hair while cradling the other to his chest, and started walking. Taylor put his arm around Isaac and squeezed. His arm dropped and he punched him in the arm. Isaac looked at him, smiled, and said, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Taylor smiled and said, “So am I.”