I'll See You In Your Dreams

by Miller, Tony

  It was a beautiful fall day, and the gulls’ distinctive cries added to the ambiance that seemed to cater to Colton and Anne’s feelings of being in love.

  They entered the café and took a seat at a table by the window. Anne thought the ships were fascinating to watch and wondered what strange and exotic adventures occurred on them, and in the locations they visited. They ordered breakfast.

  A myriad of unsavory characters seemed to have found their way to wharfs everywhere. They were rough and tumble types, dirty, unshaven with a propensity to fight. Dock hands or wharf rats, as they were more commonly called, did not fit into normal society. Brawn was their only skill and it was in high demand. Their bosses and the shipping lines had a strict code of hands off for the wharf rats. They were to stay away from the customers. Any complaining customer could spell the permanent demise of the offending rat. Accidents do happen. So it was that all felt safe at the wharfs and the rats were simply entertainment to watch.

  As Anne and Colton looked out the window, they spotted two of the most unnerving wharf rats they had yet seen. They walked right past the window where Anne and Colton sat. Both had huge beards and long scraggly hair.

  One had turned and looked directly at Anne. He had one bloodshot brown eye that seemed to harbor a black cloud of evil around it. The other eye was dead and was clouded over white. His teeth were crooked and brown, with a single gold one in front. He was huge in stature. His fellow rat was scrawny with equally brown teeth. They were both filthy. The scrawny one had eyes that shifted continually.

  Anne shivered.

  “Cold?” enquired Colton.

  “No, it’s those two evil-looking characters who just sat on the bench over there. Something about them gives me a bad feeling.”

  “Just ignore them. They’re probably just waiting for a fellow rat to arrive on some ship. They’ll drink themselves to oblivion and put on another layer of dirt in an alley somewhere.”

  “Look, there’s a ship docking.” Colton stepped outside and shielded his eyes from the sun.

  “Yep, that’s the Oceanic.”

  “Shall we walk down and greet Sam, Colton?”

  “Let’s have another cup of coffee. It will be awhile.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Charlie took Casey’s hand in his.

  “Good morning, Casey. Remember, you do one squeeze for yes, two for no.” Charlie put his hands on each side of her face. Her eyes moved rapidly behind her lids.

  “Great, Casey!”

  He gripped her hands gently.

  “Casey, can you wake up?” She squeezed his hand once.

  “Casey, wake up!” Her eyes moved rapidly, and she twitched as though struggling, then her eyes slowed, and she began to drift away.

  “No! Casey!” A sudden and powerful sense of conviction came over Charlie.

  “Wake Up!” Casey’s eyes began to move rapidly as with a super human effort. Her eyes quivered and started to open. Finally, she opened them, then closed them, and opened them once more and looked at Charlie.

  As Casey’s eyes began to focus in, she whispered, “Col…ton.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Colton and Anne walked hand in hand to the sidewalk that led to the gangway. A guard stood to keep the anxious greeters from blocking the narrow wooden sidewalk. Colton and Anne stood waiting a few hundred feet away as the passengers disembarked. It reminded Colton of his first meeting with Sam.

  Anne noticed the two dirty wharf rats they saw earlier. They stood and watched the passengers as well. The big one glanced at Anne and sneered. His gold tooth twinkled as he looked her up and down. Anne drew closer to Colton and put her arm around his waist. Colton’s eyes were riveted on the disembarking passengers. After almost half the passengers had come ashore, he saw Sam. He raised his arm and waved it slowly back and forth. Sam spotted Colton and returned the wave as a huge smile erupted on each of their faces.

  Sam began to fast walk, and soon Colton broke free of Anne and the two embraced. Anne stepped back to let the two friends reunite. She smiled and watched her future husband and his best man embrace. She saw something in her peripheral vision that caught her attention.

  “OH, NO!” Anne screamed in horror.

  The two wharf rats stepped forward with revolvers drawn.

  Colton and Sam turned to the sound of Anne’s scream. Too late to alter fate, they couldn’t stop the chorus of the guns and their symphony.

  Anne’s consciousness seemed to whirl as she saw Colton and Sam collapsing to the dirty wooden sidewalks. It all seemed like it was in slow motion.

  She stepped forward in a fog of disbelief and collapsed onto Colton. She couldn’t wail as she should. She couldn’t cry out. She could only see his face. She blocked out all but his face. His eyes were half closed, and a slight grimace crossed his lips. She kissed him softly.

  “Don’t leave me, Colton. Don’t go. Please don’t go!” She began to sob.

  “Please, wake up; wake up, Colton, please. I love you so much.” She felt his breath stop. She put her head down on his chest. She felt his warm blood on her cheeks. She raised her head and looked into his sightless blue eyes. She softly touched his lips.

  An eerie calm overcame her. As she looked into his face, a great power from some other universe seemed to empower her. With a force she didn’t previously know she possessed, she said with absolute certainty, “We will be together. I swear before God I will not lose you. I swear before God I will come to you. I will come to you!” She laid her head on his chest once more and drifted off into the dreamtime.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Charlie’s mind seemed to lock up. Did Casey just call me Colton? How could she know that name? He hadn’t mentioned it. He just smiled and gently squeezed her hand. Her eyes drooped a bit, but with great effort she opened them once more.

  “I love you so much, Colton. Please … don’t …” Her eyes closed, and she slipped away once more.

  Charlie leaned down and softly kissed her lips.

  “I love you, too!”

  <><><>

  Charlie called the doctor and reported her brief awakening. The doc was pleased that she had awakened, however briefly, in less than a week.

  “She seemed to recognize me, but called me by an old, uh, nickname I was called years ago, that I’m sure she has never been told.”

  “Well, Charlie, it’s expected that they will be a bit confused at first. That will blow off as she gets reacquainted with her surroundings. Good job, Charlie. Stay with her and continue bringing her around. I’ll be by today to check her vitals.”

  <><><>

  Charlie sat in the chair in the corner of Casey’s room reading a magazine. Charlie glanced up, and Casey’s eyes were moving behind her lids. He stood and stepped to her bedside. He took her hand in his. As he gazed at her face, he gave in to the overwhelming impulse to kiss her. He leaned down and lightly put his lips to hers. He pulled back, and her angelic face took his breath away. He leaned in once more and put his lips to hers, and she responded! He pulled back slowly, and her eyes were open. She had a slight smile on her lips.

  “Charlie,” She croaked out feebly.

  “Casey,” he said almost as a question and with slight embarrassment.

  “I knew you were a prince,” she said slowly.

  “And you have always been my princess.”

  “Where am I, Charlie?”

  “In the hospital. You were in a car wreck.”

  A worried look crossed her face.

  “No more questions about that. Doctor’s orders. We only want to talk about the good stuff until you’re totally well.”

  Casey smiled. “Is that why you kissed me? To give me, good stuff.”

  Charlie smiled sheepishly. “Only in my wildest dreams would I imagine you would consider my kiss good stuff, so, no, I wanted you to give me good stuff. I just got busted by you.”

  “Speaking of dreams, Charlie, I had the most wonderful and horrible dream, and
you were in it, Charlie!”

  “Was I the wonderful or horrible part?”

  “Both.”

  Her eyes drooped, and she fought to keep them open.

  “Rest a bit, princess. We will talk in a bit.”

  <><><>

  After the doctor checked her vital signs, he approached Charlie. “Looks like she’s going to be fine physically. She can go home tomorrow. Is there someone to care for her?”

  “I talk to John several times a day. It doesn’t look good for their mom.”

  The doctor crossed his arms and looked down.

  “Stall Casey as long as you can. Patients recover better in a positive environment. When she has her strength back, she’ll have a better chance to handle the loss of her parents.”

  “Okay, doc, I’ll stay at her house with her.”

  When Charlie returned to Casey’s room, she seemed lost in thought. Charlie stood in the doorway. After a moment Casey slowly turned her head to Charlie. Her eyes were moist.

  “They’re dead, aren’t they?” Tears rolled down her cheek.

  Charlie shifted and looked down at his feet.

  “It’s okay, Charlie. I’ve remembered bits and pieces of the accident. They would be here if they were alive.” Her forlorn expression broke Charlie’s heart as he knew he could not do anything but comfort her. He wondered if he should even tell her that her mom was still alive. It would most likely be false hope.

  “Your father was killed instantly. Your mother is still alive, but not expected to make it. I’m so sorry. John is with her at Stanford.”

  Casey said nothing, but stared at Charlie. After a long moment she said stoically and softly, “Thank you for telling me. Just leave me until tomorrow.”

  Casey immediately fell into intense weeping. Charlie slowly turned towards the door to leave respectfully, as asked.

  He turned back around, “Good night, Casey.”

  “Good night, Colton.”

  Charlie’s knees weakened after a few steps in the hall outside her room. He put his back to the wall and slid down it. This was like something in a book or a movie. She called him Colton. She mentioned her dream with him in it.

  Could Casey and Anne be the same person? How could that be? This seemed impossible, unreal. Was he dreaming now? He felt the floor, then the wall. It seemed solid enough. What the hell am I talking about? After all Stanley and I went through, nothing should seem impossible. Maybe I’m dreaming now?

  Don’t think, he told himself.

  Charlie closed his eyes. He relived kissing Casey’s lips. He recalled the exact moment she had responded. He remembered a familiar smell. What was it?

  It was the smell of Anne’s room.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Anne returned to Fresno after making the arrangements to have Colton’s and Sam’s bodies sent back to England. She had wired her father for his help, and he arrived in two days. She had tearfully told her father everything. She knew he probably thought her mad, as in crazy. Thanks to Ludwig and the newspaper, crazy was all the rage. It didn’t take much to pick up such a label. Her story would surely land her atop the loony list.

  Her father listened and made no outward judgment. He simply reminded her that, to avoid embarrassing questions, they should agree on a more mundane story. They agreed that the story was that Colton had gone to Los Angeles to have surgery. She had accompanied him, as they were engaged. This would quell the rumors already swirling through the tea parties around Fresno. They would say Sam had simply returned to England.

  The story worked, and Anne lived with her parents until their deaths. She stayed in the house until her own death as Anne at age eighty-five.

  Anne spent the remainder of her life looking for Colton to again magically return in some form. She spent many hours looking out her window at the train station across from her house, hoping to see him saunter out on his way to her. He never came.

  She adopted every stray cat in the hope that each one might possess the magnificent soul that was Colton. She knew better, but they gave her hope and she loved them dearly anyway. She became the ‘Cat Lady,' the crazy lady with the cats. She didn’t mind.

  She often relived her nightmare at the shipyard. But on her deathbed as she felt herself fading away, she smiled. She could feel Colton’s lips kissing her softly.

  EPILOGUE

  Charlie and Casey entered Denny’s and took the booth that he forced Stanley to endure. Casey sat next to Charlie and he was glad he got this booth, as it was the first one and hidden from the view of most in the restaurant.

  It had been six months since Casey’s coma, and she was now in perfect health. She and Charlie could now remember all the details of both lives. It was a source of humor between them. Casey often threatened Charlie in a whisper, “if you get killed one more time, I’ll kill you myself.”

  His answer was always a nonchalant, “stop, you’re killing me.” She then applied a litany of physical responses from pinches to punches to choking him to biting him.

  The waitress brought them coffee. Charlie checked his watch. They were excited, they were meeting Stanley. He had just returned from Oxford with a huge surprise he wouldn’t disclose. It had to be in person he demanded.

  Casey hung on Charlie’s shoulder and nibbled on his ear. She put her lips to his ear and whispered so her breath would blow in it. It drove Charlie crazy.

  “So, handsome, what do you think the big surprise is that Stanley is going to share with us?” Charlie shivered.

  “Show us the heart he stole from the tin man in Oz? I don’t know. Maybe he got a lobotomy to help him quit drinking. Remember his adage, ‘Better a bottle in front of me, than a prefrontal lobotomy.’”

  Casey pinched him. “Liar. Stanley doesn’t drink!”

  “He freezes it and eats it so he won’t have a drinking problem.”

  Just at that moment Stanley entered the restaurant.

  To Charlie and Casey’s surprise, he had an attractive woman with him. She had her hand in the crook of his elbow, and was smiling and bumping him as they walked.

  “Uh-oh, love bugs at twelve o’clock,” Casey whispered.

  “She could be his probation officer!” said Charlie.

  “Stop it, Charlie, or you get a spanking when we get home.”

  “She could be his psychiatrist,” Charlie disobeyed.

  They both laughed, but Casey whispered, “You’re going to get it when we get home.”

  “Promises, promises.” Charlie smirked sideways at her.

  Charlie stepped out of the booth just as Stanley and the mystery woman arrived at their table. He and Stanley touched fists.

  “Hey bro or my brother from another mother,” Charlie goaded.

  Stanley turned to his companion.

  “I told you he was a bit slow.”

  “You did not, bad boy!” said the mystery woman.

  Everyone smiled as Stanley turned to his companion.

  “This is my fiancé, Gabrielle Green.”

  Gabrielle extended her hand, and Charlie shook it.

  Stanley and Gabrielle slid into the booth across from Charlie and Casey.

  “This is my fiancé, Casey.” Charlie said to Gabrielle and they reached across the table and shook hands.

  “So, Stanley, you’re finally going green?” Charlie said somberly.

  “What, organic?”

  Charlie cut his eyes to Gabrielle.

  “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, I have to admit I missed you.”

  “I didn’t even hear the shot!” Charlie retorted.

  They all laughed.

  So what do you do for a living, Gabrielle?” asked Charlie.

  Charlie took a sip of his coffee.

  “I’m a psychiatrist,” Gabrielle said confidently.

  Charlie choked and began to cough as Casey patted his back. A drip of coffee dribbled out of Charlie’s nose. Stanley chuckled at his friend’s reaction. Charlie dabbed at the coffee that escaped his nose.

  “
You’re kidding, right?” Charlie said bemused. He looked from Gabrielle to Stanley.

  “No, I’m not. I am a psychiatrist!”

  Charlie laughed out loud.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way Gabrielle, but I can’t help myself. It’s just that Stanley is literally doing to a psychiatrist what he has demanded be done to psychiatry.”

  Gabrielle laughed. “Yes, I know. I love his rants, and he’s right, you know? That’s how we met. He went off on a psychology major, in a Quantum Physics class, who was foolish enough to mention the chemical imbalance possibility of causing differing consciousnesses. Stanley ate his lunch basically. He was my man after that. I’m trying to clean up the field, along with a minority of psychiatrists who got into the field to actually help people.”

  “What in God’s name did the others get in to the field for?” Charlie inquired.

  “Some for money, and the chance to be a doctor without being held to any standard. Psychiatry gets most of the incompetents and the field attracts anti-social narcissists more than any other field.”

  “Why are so many narcissists attracted to psychiatry?”

  “Well, a narcissist must be right! We all want to be right, but we can be wrong and not despair. A narcissist is in terror of being wrong. They’re bullies who seek a way to force agreement. Psychiatry is perfect for them. Anyone disagrees, label them crazy. No one can argue with them, because there are no standards. They become like the high priests of the Mayans. They voice an opinion and a heart is cut out, or thousands of volts go through your head or some unproven label haunts you for life. No science required just well-placed bribes!”

  “How?”

  Charlie had heard it from Stanley, but he wanted to see just how matched she was to Stanley.

  “It survives by pharmaceutical money. That money bribes every politician. The FDA and money from its drug ads compromises the news business to the point where the public is without protection.”

  “Well, I can see why Stanley plans to marry you, but how in God’s name will you fix all that?”