The Good Husband

by Lucian Bane

  She nodded. “Okay, yes.” She absently smoothed her hair, wondering what she looked like. She took a quick inspection of her attire, relieved she wasn’t dressed inappropriately. “That…is very good.”

  “Extremely,” he said. “The post-operative schedule I gave you still applies, so you can review it to see what comes next, along with the timetable and risks involved at each stage.

  “Thank you,” she said, nodding. “Do you…need any coffee?” She realized she wasn’t sure if she even had any or if he drank it. “Maybe something stiffer,” she thought.

  “No thank you,” he smiled. “Yan has me follow a decompressing routine after intensive operations.”

  Cheryl nodded absently, trying to remember where the post-operation brochure was. She wanted to know things.

  “If you want to see him, I suggest you wait a week to allow swelling to go down. After, you can view him from the observation room. We can’t chance any infections, so we’re not going to permit any non-essential visitations.”

  “Oh…of course,” she agreed, nodding while her stomach spasmed with the idea of seeing him. “It’s…strange,” she whispered.

  “Dr. David, your psychologist will want to see you starting tomorrow. You can discuss any concerns with him.”

  Cheryl was sure his urgency had more to do with not wanting to talk about things he didn’t specialize in. “Yes. Good.” She liked Dr. David. “Charlie will come too.” She wondered then. “Why did you… have to operate?”

  “Ben suffered a stroke. We caught it in time before it caused any serious damage, but… we won’t know for sure until after he fully recovers.”

  She swallowed hard, unable to keep from feeling like she was responsible for that. Her and her stupid…sexual needs. “So, he…he could still be…”

  “Injured from it, yes.”

  “Like…how?” she was afraid to ask.

  “Certain degrees of paralysis. Or maybe nothing at all. It’s good to believe the best in that regard.”

  “So…six weeks from now and he’ll be re…revived?”

  “That’s the plan. Plus, close monitoring and testing.”

  The hugeness of it all suddenly hit her, and she sagged into the couch. “It’s done,” she whispered, feeling more exhausted than ever.

  “Well, I need to get to Yan.” Dr. Wong stood. “No, don’t get up, I can let myself out.”

  She stood anyway and hugged him before he could stop her. She kept it brief. “Thank you,” she said, lowering her head when the tears flooded in. “You’ve been…so very kind. You and your wife. Damn this crying,” she whispered, swiping at the nuisance.

  “It’s all normal Mrs. Rabinowski.”

  She nodded, smoothing her hands over her thighs. “Go see Yan. Tell her…thank you for everything. She was an angel. And your daughter. Tell Alice I would…. like to have her over for dinner. She has been truly kind to Charlie.”

  He gave a raised brow side-look with a weird half grin. “Your son is a good boy as well. Very respectful. We appreciate this more than anything.”

  Cheryl smiled weakly at the loud and clear message. He wanted it to stay that way. “Ben raised him…we both did, to…always treat girls like they are princesses.” She left off of God, sure Mr. Wong might not be that kind of religious.

  “Very good,” he said, nodding. “Goodnight. Ah, good morning, actually,” he corrected before heading out.

  Morning. She glanced behind her at the microwave over the stove, squinting. Wow, it was ten in the morning? She realized the windows were shut, blocking out everything. “AHNS, open the…windows.”

  “Please enter the security code for opening windows.”

  “Open…the blinds.” She eyed the wall of windows, then tried, “AHNS, open the blinds on the windows.”

  “Opening window coverings.”

  Cheryl watched in awe as the dark skins gradually disappeared and gave way to the breathtaking mountain range, lush and green. That would never get old.

  “Mom?”

  Cheryl jumped, turning to a half-asleep Charlie, squinting at the kitchen entrance.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “They’re done and he’s fine,” she hurried, resisting the desperate need to run him over with a hug as he zombie-walked to a chair at the island and sat. “Dr. Wong just left.” She remembered Ben’s complete honesty rule with Charlie. “He’s not out of the woods by a long shot, but…the first part is over and was a huge success. He didn’t use the word huge but from what he did say, it is. They wake him in six weeks, but he said we can…see him in one week. From an observatory.”

  Charlie nodded, rubbing his face. “Alice told me.”

  At the opportunity to change the subject, or not run him off, Cheryl jumped on it. “She has been such a sweetheart,” Cheryl said, hoping he confided something about his feelings toward her.

  “Alice is certainly a wonderland,” he mumbled with a slight grin. “She wanted me to teach her to pray.”

  “Oh, Charlie, that’s… really amazing,” she decided to go with, not sure what else to say to that.

  “I hope I didn’t get in trouble,” he muttered, his face suddenly more serious. “I told her she needed to ask her parents. I don’t know if she had time.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they will understand. Yan is so compassionate and bright.”

  “But her dad?” He eyed her, as if he knew dads were different.

  “Mr. Lo is a dad, and you know how they are,” she said with an easy smile. “Always guarding every door.”

  He nodded with a half-smile, making Cheryl relax. “Would you look at that view,” she said, flopping a hand at the wall of beauty. “That could never get old.”

  Charlie turned in his seat. “Wow,” he muttered, getting up from the stool and walking toward the glass. Cheryl followed, but with every step, tension built up in her limbs.

  “A little intimidating,” she whispered once she made it to his side. “Feels like I’m standing in a tall tree.”

  “It’s magnificent,” he whispered.

  Tears threatened at hearing his quiet reverence and joy. “That was a beautiful prayer you prayed,” she whispered, wiping her eyes when they refused not to cry.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said softly, as if remembering. “When I was young…I used to wonder sometimes…” He smiled a little, looking down. “Who prayed for God?”

  Cheryl covered her mouth, fighting back a sob as she nodded. “You were always very compassionate,” she whispered. “Still are.”

  “It came to me again, stronger when I went to pray. Why would I beg and plead? Why would I even remind him how good He is.” He gave a light laugh. “Like He needs to be reminded. I think He knows. I wonder how many people just…think of Him, you know? His feelings. What does He want and need from us?”

  “Wow,” she whispered in awe, nodding at the scenery while not really seeing. “You are a special young man, you know that? Your dad will be so proud. Because I plan to tell him,” she gushed, then laughed. “My eyeballs just refuse to stop sweating,” she cried, laughing more.

  This time Charlie laughed. He put an arm around her shoulder and shook it a little then let her go. Her heart drank up the little bump of love as she watched him stare out the window again.

  “I’ll make breakfast,” she announced, needing distance from him before she fell apart. Why did she feel like she was losing him while he was standing right there, going nowhere? “Oh, I told Mr. Lo we’d like to thank Alice and Yan for being so nice through a difficult time.” She paused at the fridge as she realized. “Oh no…I forgot to invite Mr. Lo. I hope he doesn’t think I’m not appreciative, most of all for him. I’ll visit later and explain,” she said, getting food from the fridge and setting it out.

  “You mind if I take a shower?”

  She turned and gave him a big, normal smile. “Not at all. Take one for me too. Kidding,” she said with a little snort and eye roll. “I’ll take one after breakfast.”

&n
bsp; Charlie finished his shower about the same time breakfast was served on the island. “You’re usually quicker than that,” she said, eyeing him for signs of something different. She sucked in a breath then. “You shaved?”

  “Yum,” he said at the food. “I always shave,” he said. “When I need to.”

  “Oh,” she said back, trying to remember. She’d been busy with all her worrying maybe. “You’re growing up too quickly. Quit that.”

  “There’s a gym here. Alice wants me to work out with her. Did you know she knows Wing Chun?”

  “What? No! Wait, what is Wing Chun?” Cheryl sat next to him, picking up her fork and digging in.

  “It’s derived from one of the oldest forms of Kung-fu. Started by a Shaolin Buddhist Nun named... Ng Mui. There’re several stories about how she created it and why. But Alice likes the one about how she taught it to the beautiful Chinese girl who was bullied so that she could defend herself. Did you know Ng Mui was thought to be one of the Five Masters of the Shaolin Temple that was destroyed during the Qing dynasty?”

  Cheryl smiled at him while eating. “And did you teach her that or did she teach you?”

  He laughed. “She taught me. She knows so much, mom,” he said, making Cheryl laugh at seeing how impressed he was.

  “See, I told you the world wasn’t entirely dumb,” she said. “Wow, am I a good cook or am I a good cook?”

  He laughed, nodding. “You’re a really good cook. You should make Alice your lasagna. Then you’ll be a legend here.”

  Cheryl had to laugh, really laugh at that. And it felt so good, then she had to cry at realizing how long she’d felt that kind of good.

  “You really need to have those optical sweat glands checked out,” Charlie joked, making her laugh again.

  “I’ll schedule an appointment with Dr. Lancaster. Speaking of,” she said, wiping her eyes again. “We have to start seeing Mr. David again.”

  “Okay.”

  Cheryl glanced at him, hearing his disappointment. “You don’t want to?”

  He shrugged. “I just prefer doing other things. I mean…I really do trust God, mom. Is that so strange, you think?”

  “No!” she said quietly. “No, no, it’s not strange. It’s…different from what most people understand.”

  “God made everything they study,” he reminded while polishing off his food.

  She smiled, that joy returning. “He did.”

  Charlie guzzled his juice like a man on a mission then set it down. “I hope they don’t think I’m crazy because I trust the One who created everything.”

  “Of course, they won’t!” Cheryl said, but really, she wasn’t sure. A lot of people considered having faith being unsound science. But really, it was no different than their version of exercising the power of positive thinking. “And who cares what they think? They don’t get to define you. You get to do that.” She gave in to the need to touch him, combing her fingers through his hair. “It’s getting long.”

  “I need a haircut,” he said, as if he’d mentioned it fifty times. “Alice says I should let it grow.”

  Cheryl smiled, focusing on her plate. “What else does Alice like about you?”

  He gave a snort. “Everything?”

  Cheryl didn’t stop her laugh at hearing that. “She likes you?” Cheryl decided to just come out and ask.

  “Well…she didn’t come out and say it. Actually, she did, but it wasn’t that kind of like, more like I like you Charlie Brown.”

  Cheryl gasped. “She calls you that?”

  “Yeah but…” he shrugged. “She isn’t meaning anything bad by it. She just so happens to be a Peanut fan and Charlie Brown is her favorite character. She showed me her collection. It’s huge,” he said amused. “I call her Alice in Wonderland. Which she seems to really like.”

  “That was risky,” Cheryl admonished, hoping he’d keep talking.

  “It just came out and she gasped like I’d called her some superhero.”

  “And you let that ride?”

  “Uh, yeah,” he laughed, nodding.

  “Smart…” she said, almost saying smart man but that didn’t fit yet. Neither did boy which left her with nothing but… “Smart young man.” Yeah, that fit. “Must be nice not to be around kids that are always cranky and mean.”

  “Very nice.” He stood and grabbed his dishes, walking them to the sink. He then did something different. He rinsed them.

  She wiped the tears from her face before he’d see her going at the crying again. What was wrong with her? Maybe she needed to talk to the psychiatrist. No, he might want to drug her up. She’d talk to Yan. She probably had some natural Chinese remedies that would work.

  “I told Alice I would meet her at lunch in the gym. Is that okay you think?”

  Cheryl considered why he was asking. “I mean…it’s okay with me, why? Is she respectful of her parents?” she suddenly wondered.

  “She loves her parents,” he said, like it was as close to respect as he could get while knowing it didn’t necessarily mean respect.

  “Well, whatever you do, don’t let her do anything that would get you in trouble. We don’t need that kind of problem while we’re here under their…roof.” She almost said at their mercy.

  “I won’t,” he assured. “She fears her father, but she’s also adventurous.”

  “Well, that sounds like a cute term for rebellious,” Cheryl half joked. “I think we need to set some boundaries.”

  “Me too,” Charlie said, making Cheryl sit up straighter.

  “You too?”

  He opened drawers and found a dishtowel. “I mean yeah, I know the rules. Dad taught me.”

  “He did? When?”

  “When I was twelve,” he laughed. “We had a talk.”

  “A talk?”

  He located the cabinets for the dishes. “Well, not the talk. But just about physical boundaries. That God put chemicals in boys and girls that are designed to lead to marriage one day. And there would be a time when I’d need to use those boundaries to make sure I didn’t act on chemicals before marriage.”

  Charlie grabbed the jug of orange juice and returned it to the fridge, then took the pots from the stove and proceeded to wash those too. “There’s…a dishwasher,” she mumbled. “And are you having these…chemicals?” she dared ask.

  He gave a light snort. “Mom…if I was, I wouldn’t want to talk to you about it. But I can assure you that I am remembering dad’s words.”

  “So you are. You really like Alice?”

  He was at the sink, back facing her. “I do like Alice,” he admitted.

  “You’re doing dishes, you’re shaving, you’re setting up boundaries that I had no clue you knew about. What else am I missing in your life?”

  “You’ve been busy with dad’s stuff.”

  She brought her dishes to the sink and began looking for cleaning supplies. “How about you get going and let me do my job. I can’t believe you had the boundaries talk with your dad. What other talks did you two have? I thought he told me everything,” Cheryl muttered, finding cleaning supplies under the sink.

  “Everything except the things I ask him not to tell,” Charlie admitted with a sly tone.

  “Well, you little shit,” she said, whacking him with the rubber gloves before slipping one on. “You tell Alice to tell her mom, and her dad that I’ll be cooking them dinner as a thank you. If they can make it. Or…want to make it.” She straightened at the counter, considering. “It’s like inviting them to our room in their house, isn’t it?”

  “No, it’s not,” Charlie said, heading out the kitchen.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Call Alice.”

  Call? “On the phone?” Did he have one? Was there one in the room?

  “On the Walkie Talkie,” she heard him say.

  “Walkie talkie?” she wondered, trying to remember him having one or bringing it. She looked around the beautiful, airy space, feeling like she’d been translated into
another world or stuck in a dream. She missed her home. Her kitchen. Her cabinets with the peeling paint and those damn stains she could never get off.

  She needed a long hot shower. That’s what Ben would tell her to do.

  Oh God, Ben. She closed her eyes, remembering. His head was gone. It was like he was half dead. Her desperation for him to live was crashing into reality.

  “Like an eye transplant or a heart,” she mumbled, opening the nozzle on the disinfectant cleaner. “You can’t see a heart or a kidney, but they’re still new, they belong to other people.”

  She set the nozzle to stream and began circling the counter, Rambo-spraying the surface. Who was she kidding, this was way different. The whole seeing the difference was the difference. She’d have to treat it…like a…new…. haircut, or beard shaving. He’d done that once after growing a beard and shaving it off without warning one day. The shocking difference was one for the books.

  God, this was way different. But she needed to start mentally preparing for this. And what about Charlie? She returned the cleaner to the cabinet and attack scrubbed the counters. What was Charlie’s plan on it? Maybe she could ask him. Get some coping ideas or some…just some ideas. He seemed so intact, so…unbothered. She needed some of that, needed to try and find a way to embrace this part.

  And what about Ben? Would he remember what he looked like? Would he look in the mirror and remember his old self and stand in awe of his new? Would he see it as a new “look”? A new head style? “Right, right,” she mumbled, back to scrubbing. “Just a new head-style.”

  Alice in Wonderland

  “Charlie Brown,” Alice whispered from her hiding spot at the top of the building.

  “Alice?”

  “I’m on the roof. You should come and see this.”

  “What?”

  “The view!”

  “How do I get there?”

  “Take the corridor form your house to the north stairway and climb till you get to the top. I’ll meet you there. Unless you can’t come,” she realized, holding her breath.