Percy said, "I can hear a phone-"
"No Percy. Please don't change the subject. Not before you tell me who you really are."
Then Tanya heard it too. Her phone. In her bag. Who was that calling her at 4 in the morning?
She gave Percy a warning look implying this conversation was not over yet.
She jumped off his long body and went to answer the phone. Whoever it was, they were relentless.
"Hello?" she asked irritably.
"Is this Tanya Whitford?" the voice sounded official.
"Yes. Yes, this is her. What, who is speaking?"
"This is Mount Sinai Hospital, we'd like you to come down as our patient's next of kin. Morris. He has suffered severe gunshot wounds... he was brought over... his mother is not answering her phone... you're his teacher?"
Tanya dropped the phone from her shaking hand. She looked back at Percy who had been enjoying the naked view of her posterior.
His smile turned upside down when she faced him. She was pale, if that was possible.
"Morris. It's Morris," she said slowly, before quickly gathering up the clothes on the floor.
Percy frowned and sat up, "What about him? Tanya?!"
She threw his clothes at him, "Get up. We're heading to the hospital. He's been shot. Several times..." she said the last bit almost disbelievingly.
Percy's eyes widened. He got up quickly and started to dress up. When they were both done, Tanya suddenly started to sob. Percy held her and tried to comfort her.
"What are we gonna tell Donyelle? Do you think they've called her?" Tanya asked in between tears.
Percy kissed the top of her forehead, "Let's get to the hospital and figure everything out from there, okay?"
Tanya nodded and sniffed, "I'm scared he might not make it, he's young,"
Percy grabbed her hand, "Tanya let's go."
Tanya and Percy sat in the lobby of Mount Sinai Hospital, facing each other. They were waiting for the doctor to allow them inside the room. The room where a wounded Morris lay.
The doctor, a gentle looking Indian man, finally emerged and gestured for the couple to enter.
Percy grabbed Tanya's hand and squeezed it. They were not sure what to expect.
Morris had been found by a young woman, who was there at hospital too, after she heard gunshots go off at a ball court nearby. And Morris had been the receiver of four direct shots from an AK47.
Needless to say, he was left bleeding while most people just tried to evacuate the scene.
Two suspects had been arrested. But neither of them was the shooter, according to the young woman.
This was stuff that Tanya didn't care about right now. She looked at the young woman, who was skimpily dressed.
Tanya just had to ask, "What, how did you get to the scene? I mean, weren't you scared?"
The girl bit her lip and said in a lilting Jamaican accent, "I was the girl. I caused the misunderstanding that led to my boyfriend shooting Morris. He thought Morris was macking on me, but it was me who started it."
She said this in a low voice. Tanya looked the girl up and down. She wanted to slap her, to hit her, to hug her and tell her it was okay. This girl had just incriminated her boyfriend. A mixture of emotions travelled through Tanya's body. She would tell the police, very soon.
Now that Tanya and Percy were in the room, everything seemed to go silent. The doctor stood in the corner politely.
Morris lay there, tubes coming in and out of his body. He was shirtless and bandaged around the chest area, where he had been shot at close range.
Percy stood back as Tanya let go of his hand and moved to the side of the bed. His eyes were closed and he was breathing very, very slowly. She held his cold hand and hoped the coldness was due to the weather, and not that he was slipping away. She was about to let go of it when she felt him squeeze her hold.
She gasped silently, "Morris?"
Without opening his eyes he mumbled, "Donnie?"
Tanya smiled slightly. His voice still carried some strength, "No sweetheart. Not Donyelle. But I'm sure she's on her way here. Do you know where you are? Do you know what happened?"
Morris made a gruff sound as he tried to adjust his position unsuccessfully, "Definitely not my comfy couch back home."
Tanya smiled. He could still be humorous. A good sign.
"Where's, I really want to see Donyelle. Sorry teach. I mean, thank you for coming," his voice trailed off like he didn't mean it.
Tanya smiled understandably,
"I know sweetie, You wanna see your girlfriend. The mother of your child. That's understandable."
Tanya squeezed his hand and whispered, "The doctor's telling me to let you rest Morris. Percy and I are outside of the room. Very close. Donyelle will be here soon."
Morris smiled weakly, "Tell her I love her. And I'm sorry. I don't deserve her, but I'll try. To change. I love her so much, no matter what distracts me..." His eyes teared up and he turned away. He didn't want Tanya to see him crying.
Tanya whispered, "Okay. You'll tell her when she comes okay?"
"I'm in so much pain," he suddenly said, as soft as he could. Tanya felt her eyes sting. He had been putting on act of strength and defiance. He was actually, really physically hurting. Tanya could not begin to fathom the pain.
"I know sweetie. Just hang in there. Donyelle, your mom.... they're all on their way. And we're all praying. You'll be fine. You need to finish your Greek mythology assignments as well..."
He chuckled and let go of her hand.
Tanya panicked and looked up at the doctor, who smiled softly, "He is just resting and he'll..."
...And then it started to beep loudly. The machine.
The doctor's eyes widened and all the nurses rushed into the room at his demand.
Then the fluorescent green line went flat.
Tanya could feel Percy's hands grip her shoulders to turn her away. Did she scream? Did she cry out loudly? Did she kick and hit things?
That moment would always remain a blur to her.
Morris was buried a few days later at a very emotional funeral.
The procession was larger than his mom could ever expect and she mentioned this during her emotional speech. The whole community seemed to be there. One of their sons had been taken.
The rest of the time, Donyelle and Morris' mom held each other and cried. Today was supposed to be the day Donyelle attended an antenatal scan with Morris. She remembered the last words she had said to him, Yes. My baby's doing fine so far.
She touched her stomach and looked up at the sky, "Our baby's doing fine Morris." This was when she had sneaked off to her own private corner to grieve. The father of her baby was dead. Gone.
Her boyfriend and best friend. Gone.
Donyelle sat on the church steps and could hear people asking after the service, "Where's Donyelle? His girlfriend? His baby mama..."
She remained seated on the hidden church steps and sobbed. She suddenly looked up when a shadow loomed over her,
"Need a hug?" Percy asked softly. Donyelle nodded and stood up as she cried, now much louder. The Greek in his funeral black suit lay her head against his chest and let her cry away.
Soon after, Tanya found them and joined in the sorrowful embrace. The church bell rang, signaling midday.
And the birds perched on the church roof flew off into the clouds, creating a lovely yet sad sight.
Gone to the clouds, as all resting souls did.
Chapter Nine
One evening in the kitchen, Tanya dared to open the book Perseus again.
She gasped.
Where there had been blank pages, letters now adorned the pages once again, like an ordinary book.
Like how it was before.
She continued to read...
Perseus walked up to Zeus throne. For the first time in a long time, his father was smiling at him.
"I found her. I found my princess." Perseus said as he walked along the marble floor towards the t
hrone.
Zeus nodded and said in his thundering voice, "Yes, I see that you have found Andromeda. It took you around one hundred centuries, but you have found her in the most unexpected of places. In a land called America..."
Perseus dropped his eyes, "Why is immortality granted to some and not to others?"
Zeus knew what his son meant, "You mean the young man... Morris?"
Perseus bit his lip, "Why do I deserve immortality... and he does not? He was going to be a father..."
Zeus didn't know how best to explain to his son, "Son, the world of the gods and the world of the mortals are as different as night and day. We have different rules. Different beliefs."
Perseus' jaw clenched, "Tanya... Andromeda... is a mortal as well... will I lose her too?" He was looking up at his father with earnest blue eyes, as if begging him to change the rules of the universe.
Zeus sighed, "She is indeed a mortal. Just like your mother. What is it with us and mortal women?" Zeus tried to smile. Perseus did not.
Zeus continued, "You need to make a decision son. Whether to risk the heartbreak of when she finally gets sick, and passes as all mortals do, or to marry an immortal goddess,"
Perseus kept silent for a bit. Then he spoke up, "I have decided... to live as a mortal. On earth. In Harlem, with Tanya."
Zeus shook his head disbelievingly, "You could bring her here to the clouds... and live in luxury..."
Perseus half smiled, "I don't think Tanya would appreciate the ride to another place and time. Besides, I quite like it where I am right now. In Harlem."
Zeus paused before saying, "I understand. I see that you love her. More than you think."
Queen Danae had awoken by now when she heard Perseus' voice. She called him to her bedside. She was looking healthier by the day. Perseus kissed her hand and she said,
"Whoever this Tanya is... or Andromeda... she must be very special for you to decide to leave us here."
Perseus bit his lip, "Mother as long as I am god, I will always find a way back to the clouds... to visit..."
Danae smiled and caressed her son's cheek, "Go and b with her. Don't forget to tell her how much you love her, before it is too late. Don't wait 70 years... she is a mortal..."
Perseus couldn't help but wonder whether his mother was talking about her own marriage to Zeus.
He nodded, kissed his mother and went back down to Earth.
Tanya closed the book abruptly when she felt arms around her waist. Percy pulled her against him and started to kiss her neck tenderly.
Tanya reveled in the feeling and leaned back into him. No words needed to be said. She was no longer afraid. She didn't care whether he was a god or a human or whatever.
Or whether he'd ever admit to any of this.
All she knew is that he loved her, and now she knew, she felt exactly the same way.
Percy whispered into her ear as she set the book down on her kitchen table, "A penny for your thoughts princess?"
Tanya smiled, "We seriously need to find a way to get our jobs back... I don't know about you, but I miss my students..."
As she said this, Percy started to unzip her pencil skirt. She giggled and held his hand to stop him,
"This is the exact behavior that got us suspended in the first place,"
He nibbled on her ear lobe, "But we haven't even tried the rooftop yet..."
Tanya blushed because she knew he was talking about all the places they had made love. From the shower, to the kitchen floor, to the TV couch... just about everywhere.
It was the kind of 'suspension from a job' that anyone could enjoy.
She stopped his roaming hand and said in a serious but endearing tone, "I love that you asked about Morris,"
Percy looked at her quizzically, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Tanya smiled knowingly, "That's okay. Neither do I".
And she pulled him up onto the rooftop.
Chapter Ten
Percy walked into the head office of the Zarefsky Center for Mental Correction, and threw his license onto the mahogany table.
"I can't do it anymore," he simply said.
Dr Zarefsky turned around in his swivel chair and narrowed his eyes at the young recruit.
"Why did you accept the assignment if you knew she was going to be... such a beautiful woman?"
Percy hung his head low as he spoke, "This. This project you're working on, it's, it's noble but it's inhumane at the same time. It took me a long time to realize that,"
Dr Zarefsky stood up, "No. Dr Theodosiou. The only thing you've managed to achieve throughout this project is falling in love with your patient, who already has a boyfriend."
"You must guard against such sexual wiles when dealing with helpless, mentally disturbed women..."
Percy interrupted angrily, "Don't call her that..."
"What? What else should I call her? She is a patient here at Correctional Facility and she doesn't even know it. She can't even remember what happened to her just over a year ago. How she came to be so... delusional..."
Percy looked up at his grey-bearded boss, "She still believes I'm a god and that she's Andromeda. There's this book... she sees pages and then she doesn't see them. To her, the story changes as her life changes as well. It's hard to grasp, but this triggered everything."
Dr Zarefsky asked to see the book that Percy had managed to bring along.
Perseus: A Reader's Digest Compilation of Greek Mythology
The elderly doctor shook his head, "Remember Sara Turner? The patient that I worked on? She used to read a lot of Twilight novels. When she got into a brain injury, she started to imagine her own husband was a handsome vampire,"
Percy's shoulders slumped, "Look doctor. I came here to resign from, from this career. I can't do this to Tanya anymore. It'll break her heart when she finds out, who she really is, and what happened to her." His eyes were almost brimming with tears.
Dr Zarefsky walked over and placed a hand on his subordinate's shoulder, "You have to be the one to tell her Percy. You have to open her eyes to reality... and remind her of what happened to her in that Arab bookstore a year ago, while she was reading that Reader's Digest. You owe it to her and to her students."
Percy sniffed, "She's gonna hate me. I don't want her to hate me..."
"You're her doctor Percy. You took the Hippocratic Oath when you began medical school, you can't just quit. And you can't just abandon assignments. She is not cured yet."
Percy looked up at the ceiling and hoped to god Tanya would find it in her heart to forgive him, for using her as an experiment.
He hoped she realized how much he loved her, even though he wasn't supposed to.
Doctor-patient relationships were discouraged, and for good reason. A situation like this was a doctor's worst nightmare, and a patient's worst heartbreak.
Tanya placed the bag of groceries on her table before grabbing her phone to call Percy. He had gone on a small trip to Buffalo but she missed him already.
When she picked it up she found a small message from Eric,
Hey sweetie, hope you doing okay? How is your head feeling nowadays? Do you still get migraines? Just wondering. I might come down some time soon. I love you Tanya and I'm glad you're alive. I thank God every day.
Tanya looked at the message with confusion. How is my head feeling? Glad that I'm alive? She wondered, how did he know I had migraines?
She always got a jab of pain in her forehead whenever she woke up but she didn't remember telling that to anyone. They were just random headaches after all.
She shrugged the bizarre message off and placed the phone back down on the counter, forgetting that she had wanted to call Percy.
So Eric wants to come down to visit huh? She rolled her eyes and went through his clothes which were still in her closet.
She had never touched them since he had left and they were collecting dust. She started to remove them one by one, dusting them off.
That's when she saw it. The
wad of newspaper clippings and papers.
She hadn't seen this before. She started to go through the documents and what she saw, was... mind numbing.
THE NEW YORK TIMES- WEEKEND EDITION
A Greek God In Harlem Page 6
