A Special Gift

by Alice Brown

  *****

  The next morning Stephanie woke up alone. Glancing over to the clock, she realized Marshall had probably left over an hour ago for work. She dressed quickly, then went downstairs in search of her mother.

  Walking into her mother’s office, she immediately inquired, “Mom, can I get on one of the computers?” She had an idea, but needed to check on some information on the internet before she shared anything.

  “Sure. Where’s the fire?” Erica replied, a little surprised to see her daughter in a good mood and with a bit of excitement in her eyes. She hadn’t seen that since before the earthquake.

  Stephanie smiled at her mother, sitting down at one of the computers. “I have an idea. Several years ago, Grandpa had me do some research on earthquakes. I remember coming across some information about other countries that experience earthquakes a lot more frequently than we do. They were developing and testing some new methods for building homes and other buildings able to withstand a major earthquake. I just need to find that information and see what advancements have been made since then.”

  “Interesting!” Erica replied as she rolled her chair over next to her daughter.

  What they found over the next fifteen minutes was, indeed, very interesting.

  “It looks like New Zealand, Taiwan, and Japan have all come up with innovative ways of building structures to withstand earthquakes,” Erica said as she jotted notes about an article she was reading. It hadn’t taken her long to start working on the computer next to her daughter. They were able to go through the information twice as fast this way.

  “It also says that New Zealand suggests protecting houses by tying the roof and walls together. That would make sense,” Erica continued as she continued taking notes. “They state to use angled light gauge metal lengths, and to affix them at a 45 degree angle in the corners. Okay,” she continued writing at a fast pace. “They also suggest using a specially reinforced wall board separately but in conjunction with the angle braces. Then tie the roof to the walls using special nails that are shaped like a “Z”.

  “Their houses are built with timber frames, which allows for some flexibility. This article states that they sometimes use ceramic bricks over the outside of the house. They tie the brickwork to the timber frame. If an earthquake hits, the brick wall may crack or sometimes even shatter, but it can fall away and the timber frame remains intact,” Stephanie added as she continued reading.

  “Evidently, they also have some concrete buildings. But it seems you have to use rebar, which allows the cement to crack, but the strength of the steel reinforcement will help support the structure. It also says you can use an all-steel frame, to allow some flexibility without collapsing,” Stephanie continued as both mother and daughter worked at a furious rate to read and jot down important information about building to withstand earthquakes.

  “Oh, now this is interesting,” Stephanie remarked as she came across a new article. “They state the foundations of the building must be anchored well into the ground, like down into the bedrock level, using steel girders, or drilling holes and filling them with steel reinforced concrete.” She glanced over to her mother. “We could easily do that with all of the underground buildings.”

  “Yes, I don’t see why we couldn’t,” Erica replied to her daughter. “Do you have anything else?” she asked.

  “Oh, yes, I’m not done,” Stephanie said. “This article states that you can use some type of large bearings, or large rubber pads, which allow the building to move without self-destructing. Evidently, Japan has worked on this one.” She stopped for a moment to continue reading. “Oh, now this is way cool. Japan and Taiwan have built buildings that have a large weighted pendulum hanging in the shaft from the top of the building. The force of the earthquake motion is absorbed into the pendulum and away from the building structure itself. Now, how cool is that? Have a swinging pendulum hanging from all of our buildings.”

  “Hang on a minute, Stephanie.” Erica held her hand up in front of her. “Charles, are you there?” She had activated her earpiece and was calling for her father-in-law.

  “I’m here, what do you need?” Charles replied.

  “Do you happen to know of any of our kind in New Zealand, Japan, or Taiwan?”

  “Japan and Taiwan, no, but there is a small group in New Zealand, or at least there was. I have no reason to doubt they are still there. Why do you ask?” he asked curiously.

  “Stephanie remembers doing some research on earthquakes back when she was younger. She came in this morning to look up some information about how to build structures that will withstand an earthquake. New Zealand, Japan, and Taiwan all seem to have some innovative ideas on that. I jotted down some notes, but I thought if you knew someone, it would be all the better, especially if they were familiar with this subject,” Erica replied.

  “My dear ladies, I think the two of you may very well be on to something here. Let me see what I can do. I’ll get back with you shortly,” Charles replied before he disconnected the line.

  Stephanie smiled inwardly. She had finally found a way to help her community again. It felt good to feel useful, instead of under someone’s care as she had been for the past three weeks. Even though she was completely healed and Dr. Carlson had removed the leg brace, she had still been warned not to do any type of projecting for another month. He had told her quite frankly that he didn’t even want her involved with any VCTF cases for a month.

  She rolled her eyes as the conversation from the day before came playing back in her head. “Now, I’ll go through your father if I need to, Stephanie, but I am hoping you will trust me and follow my recommendations. I feel you need this time to finish healing emotionally; if you go back too soon and are projected out when you run out of energy, I don’t know what the outcome will be. I also don’t want you having to deal with cases that would be emotionally sensitive to you right now. Give yourself another month of healing, and then you and I will sit down and see where you are at that point.” Dr. Carlson had been kindness itself, but he had been clear that he would tolerate no disobedience from her. If she tried to go around him, he would merely pick up the phone and call her father.

  She glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see that she had been in her mom’s office for almost three hours. It was almost noon, and Stephanie suddenly realized she wasn’t feeling quite right, but didn’t know why. Maybe it’s because I need to eat. She told Erica she was going to the kitchen for lunch.

  “Okay, dear. I’ll see you later this afternoon,” her mother replied, barely glancing up from her computer.

  Stephanie started for the kitchen. She heard her name being called, seemingly from the other end of a long tunnel. Blackness surrounded her and filled her head. Suddenly everything stopped, leaving her unable to move or function in any way.

  She woke up with a start. She was in her own bed, Marshall sitting next to her on the side. “Are you off work already?” she asked. Had she slept the entire day away? Had she just dreamed going downstairs and helping her mother?

  “No, I was over at Charles’s when your mother said across the earpiece that you had fainted. I came right over,” he replied, looking at her closely. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Yes, why?” Why is he looking at me like I am a piece of fragile china, ready to break?

  “You just scared us, sweetie. We thought you were doing okay, and your mom said you were fine in her office until you stood, and then you fainted. She is on the phone with Dr. Carlson now,” Marshall finished.

  “Oh, lovely” Stephanie grumbled. She didn’t even want to think about how long this episode was going to set her back. “This ought to set me back another month or so.”

  “What do you mean?” Marshall asked, cocking his eyebrow.

  “Yesterday, when he was removing my brace, Dr. Carlson made me promise not to get involved with any cases or do any projecting for another month. He thinks I need the time to finish healing emotionally.” It was easy to see that
Stephanie was not happy about passing this information on to him.

  “And when, exactly, were you planning on telling me this, or even your father?” Marshall asked in a deceptively low voice, with that eyebrow still cocked dangerously.

  Stephanie knew he wasn’t pleased that she hadn’t shared this with him, let alone her dad. Well, it wasn’t like there had been a lot of time last night anyway, she thought. She would have eventually gotten around to telling them. Well, maybe. She wondered if he thought she hadn’t told them so they wouldn’t stop her from going back to work.

  Now that she had confessed to her omission, she wasn’t going to lie to Marshall. “I don’t know. I guess I was just going to take things day by day and see what happens.” She looked down at the covers, pulling lint balls off the light blanket that was over her. She knew he wouldn’t be happy with her. Biting down on her lower lip, she shyly asked, “Are you mad at me?” She couldn’t even bring herself to look at him.

  “I am more concerned than mad,” he stated, bringing her chin up with his finger. “Stephanie, I don’t want to have to go behind you and start checking up on you, but I am very concerned about your health. I don’t care if it takes another six months before you are able to come back to work with the VCTF, and I am sure your father feels the same way. What we both want is for you to be completely well and able to handle things when you do come back. It is not going to do the VCTF or yourself any good to come back too soon and end up not being able to handle it, and face an emotional setback. You are part of a team, and you could put yourself and others at risk if you try to come back before you’re completely fit for duty.” He looked at her sternly, hoping she fully understood how serious he was about this. “I just want you better,” he whispered, snatching her into a tight hug. And for what felt like the millionth time over the past month, she felt tears filling her eyes.

  “Urgh! I am so sick of feeling like an invalid! I am so sick of crying all the time, of my emotions getting the best of me! I just want to be me again!” she wailed, while Marshall continued slowly rocking her back and forth.

  “Shh, it’s going to be okay,” he soothed her. “You have done so well, and have come so far. You are getting there, darling; just don’t try to rush it.” She was once again soaking the front of his shirt, but he couldn’t care less. He knew she wasn’t completely out of the woods yet, and fully expected a breakdown once in a while.

  She pulled away from him to grab a tissue. “You are going to feel embarrassed answering questions about why the front of your shirt is always wet at the rate I’m going,” she grumbled.

  “What makes you think I don’t already?” he teased, all of the sternness gone. “That’s what I like to see, a smile on that beautiful face,” he stated as he gently caressed her cheek.

  A knock on their front door stopped their conversation. Marshall called out to come on in, and Erica walked into the bedroom a second later. She addressed Marshall first. “Dr. Carlson said it was probably just her body trying to finish adjusting. He said to make sure she continues eating and gets enough blood in her, and that we should just keep an eye on her over the next day or two. He wants to see her if it happens again.” Erica turned her attention to her daughter. Crossing her arms in front of her, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like her daughter’s answer. “I’ll bring your lunch up to you in just a minute, but first, have you told your father and Marshall about your conversation with Dr. Carlson yesterday?”

  “Marshall does. I just told him,” Stephanie replied, sighing deeply. Now that she’d had time to think about it, she had withheld important information and hurt people she loved dearly by doing it.

  She watched as her mother placed a hand on Marshall’s shoulder. “I think I will go get a lunch tray and leave this for the two of you to discuss.” Her voice let Stephanie know she was not happy with her daughter at the moment. “Good luck trying to talk some sense into my stubborn daughter.”

  Erica quickly walked back out the door, and Stephanie peeked up at Marshall. “I’m really sorry,” she whispered.

  He groaned and wrapped his arms around her tightly. It was simply impossible to stay mad at her for very long. He loved her too damn much. “You do know our relationship will go a lot smoother if we have open communication, don’t you?”

  This made Stephanie feel even worse than she already did. “Yes, I do know that, and I’m sorry. I guess that makes my second blunder this week already.”

  “What do you mean, second? Did I miss something? Or did you forget to tell me something else?” That eyebrow was cocked back up.

  “I know you were not real happy with me last night when I mentioned Mary’s problems to Dad without saying something to you first,” she replied quietly.

  “Oh, that,” he responded, and then considered what he wanted to say next. “Stephanie, I am curious why you asked your dad to drain your savings account, without coming to me about the problem first?”

  “I don’t know if I can give you an exact reason,” she responded honestly. “I do know that we are not married yet, so I don’t really think it is fair of me to come to you about a financial problem, when it’s my burden, not yours. If we were already married, then I probably would feel different, but I’m really not sure of that one either, since we’ve never discussed how we’d arrange our finances. Marshall, I have no idea where you stand financially. I am not marrying you for money; I am marrying you because you and I are soul mates, and you will be the only man I love. Your apartment is really cute, but it is small. So, I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I assumed that you lived in a small apartment to save money, and that is fine with me. That is one of the many reasons I was uncomfortable that day going over house designs. I don’t want you to go into debt because you think I have to have a big house. And then when Dad offered to give you the land, I just assumed…” She let things trail off there with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

  She glanced back up with annoyance when she heard Marshall chuckling. “Are you laughing at me?” she growled, irritated and a little hurt. She was trying to be honest with him, and he was laughing at her?

  “I guess I am, but I have no one but myself to blame,” he replied.

  “Explain, please,” Stephanie gritted out between clenched teeth.

  Just then, her mother came back in with a lunch tray, and Marshall stood as Erica approached the bed.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing into the closet.

  “Any luck getting through that thick skull?” Erica called out to Marshall.

  “We are working on it,” he replied, walking back out of the closet a minute later with a box in his hands.

  “Well, I’ll leave the two of you alone,” Erica said as she left the room after giving Stephanie the lunch tray.

  “Thanks for lunch, Mom,” Stephanie just barely remembered her manners before the door shut.

  Stephanie’s stomach was growling, and she dug into her lunch. Midway through her meal, she glanced over to Marshall to find him sitting on the floor next to the bed. “So, what’s in the box?” Whatever it was must be important since he was sitting on the floor with it.

  “Our finances,” he replied, but hesitated for a moment. “I probably should have sat down with you to discuss this, but I really didn’t want to do it until after we were engaged, at least. But we simply haven’t had the time since then, and last night, you seemed to have a hard time swallowing the amount that Pop Atkins left us in his bank account. I thought if you had a hard time with that, maybe I should wait until after we are married to let you know our financial condition.” He paused there to make sure he had her attention, “It doesn’t matter to me in the slightest that you and I are not legally wed yet, I love you and I trust you, and as far as I am concerned, what is mine has always been yours also. I haven’t given you much of an idea about this, and I am about to clarify things. Providing, of course, that you can handle what I am about to show you.”

  Stephanie schooled her
features to one of interest so his feelings wouldn’t be hurt. Inwardly, she was rolling her eyes.

  “I am okay,” she responded as she continued eating. She bit into a large dill pickle, knowing the smell would have Marshall crinkling up his nose. She loved doing that to him.

  He put the box on the side of the bed next to her. “This box contains all of my financial information. First of all, though, I think you deserve a present,” he said with a smile.

  Okay, I have upset him twice in the past two days, and he thinks that I deserve a present. And everyone around here is worried about my emotional and psychological problems?

  She couldn’t help cocking an eyebrow as she looked at him doubtfully. “What, you don’t want a present?” he asked, implying with his wounded tone that she had just insulted him.

  “I never said I didn’t want a present,” she clarified. “I just don’t know how I deserve a present when I have managed to make two major blunders in two days.”

  Marshall leaned over and kissed her lightly. “Will you please stop beating yourself up? It’s over, and I promise you I am not holding anything against you. Besides, it was a mistake of my own that caused the first blunder. I’ll take responsibility for that. Now the second, no, I won’t accept responsibility for that one. But, let’s go back to the first,” he said.

  “Hold out your hand and close your eyes,” he instructed her. She obeyed, and felt him put something in her hand. She opened her eyes to discover a beautiful emerald that had to be at least 8-10 carats.

  “Marshall, it’s beautiful. Is it yours?” Stephanie asked.

  “Yes, it belonged to my great-grandmother. I was going to get it set into a necklace for you if you would like. I also have some smaller stones that would make a great pair of matching earrings.”