True Love Never Dies

PART SIX

Pregnant... that was all she said... pregnant. It was a foetus, something that probably didn't survive the crash, why else would Nurse Mae be telling him with such sustain. Tre began to feel a deep sense of gladness and regret for Eve; she had longed for a child of her own and was always secretly jealous of Claudia and Lisea, because they each had a "wonderful child". Eve was never one for admitting her jealousy and she never acted jealous around them, it just wasn't in her nature. She was too kind and delicate and caring.
"She always wanted children... " Tre muttered, "How old?" he added in whisper.
"Five months," Nurse Mae replied soothingly, there was a hint of sustain in her voice too.
"Five months... ." Tre repeated and he hung his head, his baby had died at five months, why hadn't Eve told him about the pregnancy.
"Would you like to see your baby now Mr Wright?" Nurse Mae announced. Tre's head shot up, "What?" he snapped.
Billie looked up in shock also, "Holy... ." He said drifting off; he too had assumed the baby dead because of the accident.
The Nurse stood and held out her hand to help Tre rise from his seat, a warm smile on her face, "Your wife witnessed a miracle, and that miracle is yours to enjoy now too." The Nurse said kindly as Tre followed her up to the maternity corridors.
They came to a stop outside the office. Many incubators were inside the adjoining rooms and the babies inside them either had blue or pink sheets below them. Each one was laden with tubing and surrounded by machinery that kept them alive.
"There it is... " Nurse Mae announced emerging from the office with an open file that had the name: Wright, Evelyn. Billie watched on, stunned, as did Tre.
"Oh...my God... " Tre breathed as he stared at the scan in disbelief.
"There's the head see that?" Nurse Mae asked smiling.
"Yeah... it's really big though!" Tre said astounded.
Nurse Mae laughed, "Yes well at five months the baby is still developing so the head will be out of proportion to the body." She explained happily.
"Wow Tre... this really is a miracle!" Billie muttered in his friend's ear and Tre nodded, a miracle it most definitely was... someone was on their side tonight and looking up to the ceiling he thanked that person immensely.

Billie was driving Tre home after the visit. As they pulled up outside the villa Billie turned the engine off. "You want me to spend the night with you buddy?"
Tre shook his head, "No you get back to Adie, fill her in, she'll need you right now more than I," Tre said strongly, "You guys are bound to be just as upset as me," he added thoughtfully. Billie nodded, "Thanks for your concern, your right Adie seemed really weird and sad when I left, how about you come back to mine?"
"No I think I want to be in my own bed tonight." Tre stammered at the thought.
"Okay man, well I'll be around in the morning alright?"
"Thanks Billie, oh and thanks for arranging the kids to be elsewhere tonight."
"No problem man," Billie Joe assured.

With a final nod and friendly hug Tre got out and stepped up to his front door. He found himself remembering how he'd been there the same way that morning before waiting to be let in and pulling faces to make his fun loving wife laugh that signature laugh she had of her very own. He wouldn't hear that laugh again for a long time nor would he pull faces for a long time. He suddenly felt like an idiot for even pulling faces and it felt like a kick in the gut, a kick into his self-esteem. He put the key in the lock and opened the door. The smell of stale food hung in the air. He had only left this place two hours before but it felt like an eternity, or was he looking at it from the point of view that Eve hadn't been in it for what felt like an eternity. There it was; the fallen banner, the untouched birthday cake, and the lasting things like their wedding photo.
Everything in the house was a reminder of the woman he shared it all with. As his eyes welled up he took a want for cleaning and went into the utility room to fetch a roll of black bags.

"Oh... Frank... " Tre heard a familiar voice from behind him, to his utter surprise it was Martha, the nanny. Martha was the old Christian lady that helped out a weekends when he had the kids. He would bring them all to the studio while Eve was at work and Martha would watch the kids while he played. Sometimes she did extra things like walking them to the nearby park and getting them ice-cream at the van. The kids loved her.
"Martha...oh... I'm so sorry, I forgot, here," He said apologetically fishing in his pocket for his wallet. Martha had agreed to help out that night even though she wasn't contracted for during the week but she knew Tre wouldn't trust anyone else with the kids and they loved her anyway.
"Oh no Frank, put your wallet away, I was just wondering my dear what has happened to have you this way?"
Martha was like the grandmother everyone wanted, she was kind and wise, like a female version of Dumbledore. She was also quite old fashioned and had always called him Frank Wright but she had kindly humoured him by calling him Frank Cool.
"I'm sorry Martha, maybe I should have told you before I left, you see Eve was involved in an accident and she was strong to hold for a while but the damage was to severe and... and... "Tre began to stammer, "And she's in coma... "he finally said bursting into tears again.
"Oh Frank... come here my boy...come here," she said pulling him into a hug, she was shocked and upset herself but knowing she had to now be the shoulder that Tre would cry on, kept her pulled together.
"Oh Tre, this is a most painful time, so just you cry," she insisted soothingly.
"She didn't deserve this... "
"You're absolutely right," Martha agreed kindly.
"She was too young and... and... she's pregnant!" Tre wailed harder.
Martha gaped in horror; Eve had confided in her when she didn't want to tell Tre, stories about relatives having babies and how she's been so envious enough to make her lose her appetite. It was Martha who convinced her in telling Tre because he was her husband and this was the type of involvement they should have together.
After Tre calmed down, Martha took command.
"Martha the baby lived, she's five months... I have baby... " Tre said holding out the scan pictures.
Martha was in shock she stared in horror and then smiled, "She is your gift from God, Frank, a wonderful gift from God." She sniffed back her tears and touched the tiny life upon the scan. "Now you go have a bath and put some clean night clothes on and I will clean up here," she said voluntarily.
"Oh no Martha you go on home, or too bed, the guest bedroom is made up if you wanna stay?"
"Frank, go have your bath and relax, you need it, you need time to come to terms with things, now go," she urged compassionately.
Tre nodded, "Thanks M," Tre muttered walking up the stairs. He didn't want to hear things like the Hoover or the sound of the polish being sprayed so he turned the stereo on in his room to listen to the radio.
As if by chance Hooverphonics, 'Eden' came on;

Did you ever think I'd feel as your best friend,
And did I ever think of you, I'm not complaining,
I never tried to feel; I've never tried to feel,
This vibration,
I never tried to reach, I've never tried to reach your Eden...

Tre walked into the en suite and ran the bath he returned to his room and looked about; the words filled him up as he remembered the first night they spent together in that bed and earlier that morning, even the night before. His gaze fell on a T-shirt hastily shoved under the pillow at Eve's side of the bed. It was one of his but she had been wearing it in bed for the past week. He darted over and snatched it up; slowly he walked to the end of the bed where the empty boxes were and kicked them gently from his walkway before sitting down on the end of the bed holding the t-shirt up to his face. He buried his face in the material and inhaled the scent of her perfume, her smell.

Did I ever think of you as my enemy,
Did you ever think of me, I'm complaining,
I never tried to feel; I never tried to feel,
This vibration,
I never tried to reach; I never tried to reach,
Your Eden... .

Slowly getting teary again he sauntered into the bathroom, the water was lukewarm, he stripped off and lay in the bath, listening to the smooth lyrics of the song, the orchestra in the back ground calmed him as tears slid down his face.
Slowly and ever so calmly he reached over for the remote on the bath side cabinet; he turned the music up so loud he couldn't hear himself whimpering. Hey just lay in the bath soaking away all his problems falling into a wakeful daze.

***
Tre must have been in the bath listening to "soppy" FM for what seemed like hours. He wasn't listening to it because he was feeling soppy. It wasn't his radio station it was Eve's, she was into all that stuff, Lamb, Hooverphonic, Alanis Morrisette. He would hear her singing along to it whilst cleaning. Tre lay and listened to the regular songs and he could hear Eve singing along to them, in his mind, he could see her singing Gorecki by Lamb whilst making the bed.

The change over for DJs took place and the early morning DJ, Chris Ponisi announced that it was one Am. He knew Chris, met him at a music ceremony, Eve had admired him. He sat up and switched of the radio with the remote. The water swished around him, he felt his skin tingle and a shiver go through his body, it was freezing. It was so late Martha was probably exhausted from cleaning; it would have taken her all night without his help. Tre jumped out of the bath, scolding himself for being so selfish and thoughtless, the mess that was left over from the party was huge and too much for one old lady to do all by herself, she would probably still be awake trying to finish it. Tre's sudden urge to clean was gone and was replaced with an incredible need to get shit-faced and smashed. After throwing on a pair of grey jogging pants and a sweat top he headed down stairs. The house was surprisingly warm, when he checked the emersion in the upstairs hot press he noticed it had been set to the timer, coming on every two hours for an hour, Tre smiled at Martha's thoughtfulness, if Eve was here she would have been kissing Martha's feet. Eve always complained about having to get out of a warm bed to a near death state when her feet touched the stone cold eliminate flooring.

When Tre reached the end of the hall he noticed the guest bedroom door was ajar, and inside, illuminated by the light of the hallway streaming in Tre saw the small form of the old lady, he smiled and sighed then tip-toed downstairs. Much to Tre's surprise the house was gleaming, the two fold-up food tables had been cleared, wiped and folded and all the decorations were neatly crammed into a cardboard box in the corner of the foyer. The floors were mopped and the kitchen tidied, including Tre's mess in the sink which he grimaced at the thought of.
That woman is a saint, he thought.

Tre walked into the living room, where the huge speakers were, Martha had cleaned the sound system and speakers as well because they weren't grey with dust anymore; they were a shiny black. The room was just as it was before. Suddenly Tre got a flash back;
A talk show on the TV,
His empty coffee mug,
The pale orange light filtering through the wooden Italian Venetian blinds.
Eve, standing at the living room doorway, in her painting shirt, staring at him.

Suddenly the room started to feel very small, it was a place he didn't particularly wanted to be in at the moment, he needed to be outside in the fresh air. As he turned he saw the dark square stain on the wall, it was the paint from the picture frame in which Eve's portfolio photograph hung the morning before. The day it fell from the wall... .and that clock, the wedding present that stopped right after... .

Tre darted into the foyer and threw open the door, he stood on his porch taking a few gulps of fresh air, the whole house seemed to have closed in around him. Sweat creased his forehead and underarms; it was the realization that the clock, picture and Eve may have had an eerie connection. It was like everything connected to her broke when she did. Tre sat down on the porch step and hung his head in his hands, his stomach gave a lurch and he felt the hot bile rise again, he jumped to the side of the porch and threw up. More mess. After belching for what seemed like the hundredth time he felt a rumble in his tummy. After breakfast he hadn't eaten anything except for a few cocktail sausages and cheese squares, all he had really drank was a bottle of beer and a few sips of water provided by the kind Nurse Mae.

After giving himself a shake, Tre wandered into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. Although he was hungry his eyes seemed to glaze over the food and he did not find anything that would take his fancy. He instantly forgot about food as he felt a wave of exhaustion come over him and he decided to retire to bed.