By Atonia Walpole
The direct continuation of Bolivia
(Picture creations also by Atonia)
Part 1
Dino was sitting by Terry’s hospital bed when he woke from surgery. He fluttered his eyelashes and looked over at Dino. “Um, what a sight to see.” His voice was hoarse.
“Yeah, that’s what I said when I came in here. How ya feeling, sport?”
“I’ve been better.” He raised his head and looked down the bed. “Still got two legs.”
“Yep, got a few stitches and a nice scar to show off. I, uh, called Toni and told her we got you out of the jungle and into a hospital. She wants to talk to you as soon as you’re able.”
Terry bit his lip. “I’m able…I want to go home.”
“Well, they wanted to keep you here for a week.”
“Bullshit…”
“That’s what I told them, so as soon as you can walk SI’s sending the plane.”
Terry closed his eyes. “Where’s ah Jean Paul?”
“Gone to the hotel to get cleaned up. He needed to. You know I was ready to pin his head on the wall but I’ve got a lot of respect for him. It should have been me looking for you. Why I thought a fall like that would finish you off…”
“I would have been dead if it hadn’t been for that crazy woman.”
“Maybe we should have done something for her, got her out of there.”
“No,” Terry met his eyes, “no…no.”
“Jean said you were tied up all the time. Is that so?”
“Yeah,” he squeezed his eyes shut. “You…ever been…raped?”
Dino stared at him a minute. “Can’t say as I have. Christ, Terry!”
“You wouldn’t think it was possible…but it is.” He turned his wet eyes toward Dino. “Somehow I got to deal with it, mate.”
“Maybe you need to talk to somebody, a professional.”
“I don’t want…anyone to know.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You were fucking tied up. Did she hurt you?”
He shook his head.
“Damn!” Dino ran his hand over his face.
“How’s Ms Ostettler?”
“Healing. She’s gone back to Mexico. Some friends came and got her while I was in Virginia. I made the trip to Virginia to tell Toni face to face that you were dead.”
“Ah…shit.”
“Yeah…bad scene as you can imagine. Had to call the doc to sedate her and Max showed up and more or less took over. He’s damn good with Jacky.”
Terry blinked his tears, looking up at the ceiling. “I knew he would. Toni is she…?”
“She’s okay. John and Max are both there and they talked to her and me, convinced me you were still alive. I guess they got some kind of sixth sense about it. She’s a strong woman, you know. She took a hit and it knocked her down for a day but she got back up. Here, use my phone. I’m gonna go see about getting you outta here.” Dino patted his hand, handed him his phone and went to find the doctor.
Terry turned the phone in his hand for a minute and punched in her number.
“Hi, luv, it’s me.”
“Terry…oh, Terry!”
“I’m, um, in hospital in La Paz, trying to get out and get home. Dino’s taking care of it. How are ya?”
Toni wiped her tears and took a breath. “I’m okay…wanting you home. When?”
“I don’t know yet, next couple of days, I guess. How’s Jacky?”
“Remarkable. He knew you were in a helicopter. You need to keep that line of communication open, Terry.”
Terry thought about where he’d been. “Yeah…sometimes. Is, ah, Max still there?”
“Yes, he and John are both still here. John wanted to stay until I heard from you. Max is…will be here until you get home.”
“Good on him. Tell Max that Jean Paul is out. He’s here in La Paz and will be flying out soon, back to Paris. He found me, Toni, and brought me out. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Are you…okay?”
“Um, yeah, just still a little, you know, from surgery,” he coughed. “I’ll let you know when we’re leaving.”
“You probably need to rest, honey. I can’t wait to see you. I did…I kept it warm because I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I’ll call you later.”
“Right.” Toni didn’t want to break the connection.
“Bye…luv.”
He was gone. She dropped her head, tears flowing. She wanted to be with him. She felt hands on her shoulders and looked up at Max.
“How is he?”
“I’m not sure. He’s had surgery and wants to come home. Jean Paul is out. He brought Terry out. He wanted you to know that he’ll be flying to Paris soon.
Max placed his palm on her cheek. “Don’t cry. I can’t stand it when you cry. You know that.”
“I can’t help it. I’d rather cry now than when he gets home. I have to be strong for him.”
Max went down on a knee beside her chair. “I guess I’ll just have to put up with a weepy Toni then.”
Toni smiled a little. “I guess you will. Where’s Jacky?”
“John’s playing trains with him. I came up here to find you. I worry when you go off by yourself.”
“Just to my bedroom.”
“You know what I mean.”
“What would I do without you?”
“I don’t know and we’ll never have to find out.”
“You should call home and let them know Jean Paul is out and okay.”
“I will. Want to come downstairs with me?”
“Not right now. I think I’d just like to finish my cry.”
Max chuckled, “Go right ahead. I’ll tell Munchie to bring you some tea.”
“Did I ever tell you I love you, Max?”
“Yes, Toni…many times. I believe you.”
He left her and went down to the kitchen.
Part 2
“I’ve never been so glad to see the ass end of a place in my life,” Dino exclaimed as they boarded the private jet.
Terry took the steps one at a time and entered the plane, shaking hands with the crew who were all smiles to see him. Word got around fast of his demise. Jean Paul followed him up the steps and found a seat. Mean Marine was already aboard. Dino’s team made their own way back to their homes in South America but Terry’s team was on the plane. A cheer went up when he started down the aisle, a little half grin on his face.
They would land in Miami and the team would board a commercial jet for Paris. SI’s private jet would continue on to Virginia and Dino was headed for Mexico.
“I guess this is adios for awhile.” Dino slapped Terry on the back when they landed in Miami.
“Don’t call me, I’ll call you…comprender?”
“Asshole.” Dino pulled his bag from the overhead bin. “See ya around.”
Jean Paul stopped by his seat. “You’ll be all right now.”
“I owe you much more than I can ever repay.” Terry looked up at him.
“There will come a time…maybe…maybe not. We are soldiers.”
“That we are. Have a good trip home.”
The plane refueled and Terry let his seat back and slept most of the way to Richmond.
Toni was at the airport with Max to greet him. She ran up to him as soon as he entered the terminal.
Terry gathered her in his arms and held her tightly. “So good to be home.”
“So good to have you home. I thought the plane would never land.” She looked up into his eyes and he looked away.
Max waited until he’d got through customs and embraced him. “Bollocks…is that all you could give me? Do you have any idea?”
Terry smiled, “First thing that came to mind. I didn’t have time to think about it. I was about to die.”
“Don’t do that again.”
“Not planning on it.” Terry took Toni’s hand and they walked to the car, Terry limping a little.
“We should have brought the car around,” Toni said, looking down at his left leg.
“I can walk,” Terry grinned a little. “Where’s Jacky?”
“We left him with Munchie. I didn’t know how long we’d be here and it’s just as well. We’ve been here for over an hour.”
“What’s all this ‘we’ business?”
“Oh, well, Max, of course.” Toni looked at him. He must be tired she thought.
Max drove with Terry in the front seat and Toni alone in the back. She looked at the back of his head all the way home but she swallowed the slight hurt in her chest. He didn’t seem quite himself.
“Has John gone back?” he asked Max.
“Yeah, left the day after you talked to Toni. Jean Paul get off?”
“Left him in Miami. He had a flight.”
“Penny’s going to Paris to meet him. She doesn’t even know what flight he’s on.”
“I’m sure that will make his day. He talks about her a lot, even mentioned the M word.”
“Aubrey will shit.”
“You okay back there?” Terry turned around and looked at Toni. “Awfully quiet.”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Toni reached up and ran her hand down the back of his head. He didn’t move.
Once they reached the house Terry picked up Jacky and held him and played with him for the rest of the evening.
Max observing, glanced at Toni several times. She’d never been good at putting on a false face. Terry was talkative with Jacky and with him and talked to Toni a little but not what he would have expected from him. He’d sat in a chair instead of on the sofa where she could sit next to him.
Toni heard the clock chime in the hallway. “It’s time for Jacky’s bath and bedtime. I’ll call you when he’s got his jammies on.”
“Okay, luv, here ya go. Jacky bath time.” He hugged him and passed him to Toni and she took him upstairs.
“Terry, are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Why?” He felt for his cigarettes and got up to go into his office, limping down the hall. Max followed him.
Closing the door behind him, Max took a cigarette from him and Terry lit it. “Why…because you don’t act like a man who’s missed his wife for the last month.” Max sat on the edge of his desk.
“Oh…how am I supposed to act?” Terry took a draw off his ciggie.
“Cut the shite. What’ s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. It’s not been exactly pleasant for me the last two weeks.”
“I’ll give you that. What else?”
“Just leave it, Max!” He walked over to the stack of mail and randomly went through it.
“You’re not going to hurt her. I won’t let you.”
“I’m not trying to cause any hurt. Thanks for coming to her and looking after her and Jacky. I knew I could depend on you.”
“Yeah, good old dependable, Max.” He slipped off the desk and walked around it. “You can talk to me, you know. You and I, Terry share a special bond. I feel it and I know you do, too.”
“I love Toni with everything I got, Max. Don’t start trying to dig around there.”
“I don’t doubt you love her but I do, too. She felt ignored this evening and it hurt her that you didn’t want her near you.”
“That’s not true.”
Max held his eyes. “You’ve got a problem. What is it?”
“Nothing…nothing, Max.”
Max took a breath. “Okay, when you’re ready to talk, let me know.”
“How long are you going to stay?” Terry sat down in his desk chair.
“Do I need to go now?”
“No, I, um, would like you to stay…for a while.”
“I’ve been here for a while. I miss my family, Terry,”
Terry looked away. “I just don’t …yeah…I guess you do. I can’t ask you to stay.”
“You can ask me anything you want. If I need to, I will, but you’ve got to give me a reason. Terry…what happened in Bolivia?”
Terry stared at the wall. “Nothing…nothing happened in Bolivia.”
“Bollocks!”
Terry’s eyes moved to Max. For a brief moment Max saw the pain and torture there but Terry quickly covered it up stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.
“You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
“There’s nothing to tell…”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m tired.”
Terry left his office and went upstairs, saying goodnight to Jacky, then he went into their bedroom and undressed, pulling out pajamas that he never wore, preferring to sleep in the nude, and put them on. He was in the bed with his light out when Toni came back from the bathroom, his back toward her side of the bed.
She stood there for a moment and quietly said. “Good night, darling.”
“Nite, luv.”
She let it go, as painful as it was. Something wasn’t right and he wasn’t ready to tell her.
Part 3
After Terry went to bed Toni quietly went back downstairs. It was only 9:00 and no way was she going to sleep. She smelled cigarettes and traced it to Terry’s office. Max was sitting in Terry’s chair staring at nothing.
“He’s gone to bed,” she said and slipped into a chair.
“He didn’t talk to you?”
“No, said good night. He has on pajamas…” Her voice caught in her throat.
“Pajamas? Something happened in Bolivia but he won’t say what. Maybe he just needs some time.”
“Time for what? I’m not sure he was glad to see me.”
Max looked at her for a moment. “I think he was.” He stubbed out the cigarette. “I’d like to know what his injuries were. May have something to do with it. Let’s get out of this smoke-filled room.” He took her arm and led her to the den, put another log on the fire and sat on the sofa with her.
“He has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I saw a slip of paper on the dresser. I’m going with him.”
“You should. You have a right to know if something is physically wrong with him.”
“When will you be leaving?”
“Not sure. He’s asked me to stay for awhile. That’s not like him. So I have decided to stay until I get to the bottom of it.”
“Oh, Max, I know you’re missing Connie and Maxi. If they could come over…”
“I don’t think so, love. I do miss them. Maxi will be nearly a month older when I see him again. Ah, Toni, who would have ever thought…?”
“I know. ” She took his hand. “Well, I’m prepared to give him a little space but not for long…I can’t. This almost makes me think of when he came back without his memory. But that’s not the case this time. He knows well and good who I am. Yeah…Bolivia.”
“Do you ever think, Toni, how different our lives would have been if it had been me? We would most likely have married…I’m sure I would have wanted that…but there would just be the two of us and whatever children we might have had. I’ve had no life- threatening peril at my doorstep and so I’m not sure if you would have ever seen the others. You would still have had your house here but we would be in France, living a rather normal, boring life.”
“You don’t know how I long for a normal, boring life. Terry has never been…”
“Boring? I might be a bit too tame for you. You must have needed that element of danger, unpredictability.”
“Not to the extent that I’ve had it. I never thought you boring.”
“I think I probably am, especially against Terry. But…all that’s gone under the bridge now. It’s too complicated to go back, isn’t it?”
“It became complicated when I got pregnant with Jacky. I could never…I would never…”
“I wouldn’t ask you to. It’s like that poem, isn’t it, two paths in the wood…”
“Oh, Max!” Toni put her arms around his neck.
“Sleep with me tonight.”
“Oh…I couldn’t.”
“Why not? He’s got his jammies on. Maybe it will wake him up. He needs waking up.”
“But we don’t know what’s wrong with him. You’ve been here all this time and never asked me that.”
“I wanted to. Don’t think I didn’t.”
“I thought…things had changed for you.”
“Never where you’re concerned. Besides, John was here.”
“Is that what stopped you?”
“Not really, but you should know I’m not John and never will be. Donna’s got him by the balls.”
“And you’re not caught that way?”
“I’m not made that way and never with you.” He held her to his chest and rubbed his hand up and down her back. “I think you need a little love right now.”
“Would you really have bought a house on Beacon Hill in Boston?”
“I would have, as many houses as you wanted.”
“I remember what my grandmother said when she saw you. She said ‘I’m glad it was you’, and it wasn’t.” Toni began crying softly.
“It was then…wasn’t it?”
“Yes, we were married and it was summer.”
“Everything changed after that. Terry got to you in the fall. You should have just taken him then and not have put yourself through what you did. It would have been better for all of us.”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“Yes you were. You knew he was the one you loved above the rest of us. I probably shouldn’t tell you this but before he left for Bolivia and we were all together in the other room he said if anything should ever happen to him, you would come under my care. So you can imagine when I first heard…what I thought.”
“Oh, Max, he had a premonition.”
“I don’t know. I also told him the same thing. If I pop off then Connie and Maxi would come under his care. It could happen, you know. I don’t go off cliffs but I cross the street, drive a car. We aren’t magically preserved anymore.”
“I’m afraid, Max. Fear went down my back when he got that call on Christmas Eve from Dino. It’s still there…fear.”
“I don’t feel anything, no lumps or bumps on this side. Now the other side…”
“Max Skinner…I should go to bed.”
“Oh, have you changed your mind?”
“No.” She grinned at him and pulled away out of his arms.
“Well, you know where I’m sleeping. I wouldn’t mind it at all if you found your way into my bed tonight.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiled and went upstairs to bed.
Max set on the sofa a minute then got up and helped himself to the cognac bottle. He was standing in front of the fire, nursing his drink, when Terry came back down wrapped in a robe and wearing slippers. Max turned around, looking at him for a moment.
“Why aren’t you upstairs making love to your wife?”
Terry didn’t answer him. He limped over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink.
“I said…”
“I heard you.”
“Well…I offered her my bed. She prefers yours.”
“You should have taken her to yours.”
“Were you…injured around there?”
“No.”
“Find another woman to shag?”
“You bloody bastard.”
“Ah, signs of life! You know you’re going to spill sooner or later. Why not cut the crap and tell me now? Get it out there and don’t give me that shit about nothing being wrong. This is not like you.”
Terry ran his hand through his hair. “I’m just tired. I’m not sleeping well.”
“You have meds for that. Try again.”
“I don’t want to be…medicated.” Terry took a drink from his glass.
“You don’t want to be medicated, don’t want to be touched by the woman who loves you. One and one makes…what?”
“I almost fucking died. I thought I was gone. That’s why I sent you the message.”
“Bollocks is a message? Yeah, well, you didn’t die. Banged up a little, okay, a lot, but you’re walking around, still got your dick. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Terry put his head in his hands.
He was hurting. Max could feel it. He went over and sat on the sofa beside him. “Whatever it is, Terry, if there’s nothing I can do about it, I can listen…maybe help you.”
“It’s something I have to learn to deal with, come to terms with on my own. You can’t help me.”
“What happened to you?” Max noticed his glass was almost empty. He took it from him and refilled it, sitting by him again.
Terry took a drink. “I was given something. I don’t know what it was, in the food or water or what. It made me a little drowsy. I was kept tied up, hands over my head, feet. I couldn’t get up. You see, I was found by this insane woman and taken to a hut in the woods. At first I thought she was helping me and she did, dug the bullet out of my thigh, but she started touching me, fondling me. One day she gave me this drug or whatever it was and when I woke up my hands were pulled up, tied to a tree limb inside her hut and she was…oh, bloody hell! Two days…I was raped repeatedly. You know you think you could control that but you can’t. I couldn’t. I can’t get it out of my mind, that creature on top of me, riding me like a damn horse.”
“Bloody fucking hell, Terry!” Max’s arm had gone around his shoulders. “Is that how Jean Paul found you?”
“No, she’d left me one morning and I started working on the damn ropes around my wrists.” He looked down at his still scarred-up wrists. “ I managed to get one hand out and then the other. I didn’t care if I pulled my damn hand off. There were helicopters up above. No way to know whose but I found my clothes and dressed and she came back. Went at me with an axe. That’s when Jean Paul jumped her.”
“What a hell to have to go through. But Terry you survived it, all of it. You’re here safe and sound at home, with people that love you. Let it go.”
“It won’t go.”
“Toni needs to hear this so she’ll understand, Terry.
“I can’t tell her. I don’t think she’d want to touch me again.”
“Bollocks! You know her better than that. You’ve got a doctor’s appointment. Ask for some help, Terry.”
“You’re talking about mental health. I can’t do that. I can’t. If something like that shows up on my medical records I’m not working anymore.”
“Oh, so that’s more important? You need to get your head straight about something Terry. Upstairs is what’s important. Toni and Jacky…the rest of it can go to hell.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
“I don’t?”
“No. I think maybe it would have been better for everybody if I’d…”
“Shut the fuck up! Come on…” Max stood up and reached out his hand.
“What…no. No, Max.”
“You’re not as strong as you were, still a little weak. I could probably do it if I had to. Want to come willingly?”
“Don’t do this…”
“Face it, kill it, and get on with your life. That’s what you do, right?” Max leaned down in his face.
Terry stood up. “You’re a bastard.”
“I know. Aren’t you glad I am?”
They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and Max turned. Terry followed him up the stairs.
Part 4
Toni wasn’t in bed. She was dressed for it but she couldn’t settle. She was so worried about Terry thinking all kinds of things when the bedroom door opened and Max and Terry came in. Max, seeing the bed plopped down on it. Terry limped around, not wanting to face it, not wanting to be there at all.
Toni stared at them a minute. “What’s this? Two of you at once?”
Max tilted his head. “Maybe…no, Terry has something to tell you, love. You’d better come and sit.”
She looked pale, eyes wide she sat in a chair.
“I’m not sure I can…” Terry looked at Max.
“Want me to?” He made it quick.
Toni, head in hands was crying. Terry with a pained look bit his lip, his own eyes wet. “Toni…I can understand if you…”
She looked up at him. “Then you don’t know me at all.” She stood up and went to him.
Max watched their embrace. Terry probably wasn’t out of the woods yet but Toni needed to know so she could help him. Boring, that’s what he was, he thought, boring. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. ‘Two of you at once?’ he smiled a little. Ah, she’d never go for it. Still…
“Um, I could stay here,” he smiled.
“For what?” Terry asked.
“Well…threesome.”
“Get the fuck out of here.”
Max laughed and slid off the bed. “Ah, Terry, you’re okay, man. Put it all behind you and move on.” He slapped him on the back, not seeing him wince and left their bedroom.
“Are you still sore all over, honey?” Toni asked.
“Yeah, a little. It was a long drop.”
“Come to bed and let me hold you, my battered-up love. I was thinking tomorrow instead of going to see the doctor, we could fly up to Boston. I know a house up there on a bluff where you can sit and see the ocean all the way to the horizon and there’s a pond and trails to walk or run on. I hear there’s even a touch of magic about the place.”
“Toni…”
“And we can send Jacky home with his uncle Max. He loves his uncle Max. Then…when we’re ready we can go get Jacky and go back to London…home.”
“You thought all that, did you?”
“And more…so much more.”
“I love you, Toni.”
ON TO HOME AND FAMILY
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