Firefly Cove

by Davis Bunn

  She would, in fact, probably have missed a very great deal. But Dino leaned over so that his face was in her hair, and his mouth very close to her ear. “You have entranced me since the moment you walked into my world. Sometimes late at night I find myself reliving that first hour together. You were so beautiful, so alive, so brilliant. And so uncertain of your potential. I listened to you talk and I knew, without a shred of doubt, that you would soon fly off to heights I could only dream of.”

  Stop, stop. Only she was not saying it to him. She was telling herself to stop crying and draw a decent breath and find the strength to raise herself back up so she was seated like an adult. Able to see him. And hold him.

  “It’s true. And what was more, I wanted to help you grow those wings. I thought there would be nothing finer than helping you leap into the sky, then be there to welcome you back to earth.”

  It was, of course, the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to her. And spoken by the man she most wanted to hear say it. But she could not respond. She was still having trouble finding enough air to weep.

  “For the past four years all I’ve had to live for is my work.” He stroked her hair, with long, slow caresses down to where he could gently touch her neck and wet cheeks, then again. “When you told me of your findings, all I could see was how this threatened everything I had built up. I was terrified. I acted out of fear. When I watched you leave the boardroom, I was torn in two. My head said I was making the only logical move. My heart . . .”

  Gradually her sobs eased. Tight little shudders ran through her body, then vanished. She sniffed and lifted her head far enough to wipe her nose. She wanted to tell him not to stop stroking her. But there was no need.

  Dino went on talking. “The university did exactly as I expected, which is to bring together all their big guns and take aim at . . .”

  His hesitation over the word was exactly what she needed. Asha forced her hands to press down on her knees, lifting her face up to the light. Only then did she realize that Dino’s face was wet as well. She spoke the name softly. “Lucius.”

  He nodded. “Lucius.”

  Her vision threatened to dissolve once more. Impatiently she wiped her eyes. Determined to see him. To absorb everything about this moment.

  “Lucius,” he said again. “He asked me to be his friend. To earn his trust. By coming inside and telling you what I should have said there in the president’s boardroom. That you were right and I was wrong. That either we are servants of the truth, or our profession has no meaning.”

  The distance between them was unbearable. She reached for him and said, “I love you.”

  CHAPTER 64

  Lucius was woken at noon by a knock on the sliding glass doors. He had sat there for hours by the pool, watching the lights in the kitchen and Jessica’s bedroom. Twice he had walked past the kitchen windows, observing Dino and Asha drinking tea at the vast kitchen table and strategizing and phoning around and waking up people. The only time they had spoken with him was to ask for the name of his attorney. Otherwise he had been politely but firmly shut out of everything. “Yes?”

  “Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Lucius. But Ms. Asha, she says to tell you, ‘The people are arriving in an hour.’” Consuela set his breakfast tray on the veranda table. “I am thanking you again for all you are doing. This place, it has come alive. Ms. Jessica, when I take her the tray an hour ago, she smiles and she says ‘thank you’! Can you imagine? I spend two years in this place, chased by echoes and maybe ghosts. Now I am told, go and cook for all these people!”

  Lucius watched her depart, poured himself a mug of coffee, and went inside for his pad and pen. Consuela’s words had carried a message. Either that, or the knock on his door had served as his alarm.

  He did not need to be a part of their conversation to know it was time to plan.

  He stared at the pool’s still waters, and forced his mind to walk down the lonely path. Beyond this lovely morning and the prospect of seeing Jessica again. Out past everything that made sense of his new existence. Into the shadows of tomorrow.

  When he was ready, he started making his list.

  * * *

  An hour later, Lucius was standing on the top step as a helicopter shook the air over the house and descended onto the front lawn. Dino was still upstairs reviewing Jessica’s medical records. Lucius saw Asha shiver as a tall, gaunt African American emerged from the rear door. “What’s the matter?”

  “That’s Walter Douglas.”

  “I know that’s Douglas. You were the one who said we needed him.”

  “You don’t understand. He’s the head of the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and the world’s foremost Jungian psychoanalyst.” Asha shivered again. “I don’t believe this is happening.”

  “Believe it,” Lucius grumbled. “I could buy a Bentley for what it’s cost to get him here on such short notice. Don’t you think I should know why he’s here?”

  “Jessica will tell you when she’s good and ready,” Asha replied, and descended the steps.

  The man topped out at almost seven feet. His angular form and measured gait really did carry a birdlike quality. “Ms. Meisel?”

  Asha’s voice held a slight tremor. “Thank you so much for coming, sir. This is . . .”

  “Lucius,” he supplied.

  The man’s fingers were long enough to wrap around Lucius’s hand. He examined Lucius for a long moment, then demanded, “Where is the patient?”

  * * *

  Dr. Douglas insisted upon interviewing Jessica alone, minus even the nurse. Asha set up the video camera, then retreated to the upstairs corridor.

  Fifteen minutes later, Lucius stood alone on the graveled drive when Sol Feinnes emerged from the limo. “Thank you for coming.”

  “You didn’t need to send a limo.”

  “I didn’t. Dr. Barbieri and Asha did.”

  Sol halted in the process of climbing the front stairs. “The therapists who want to lock you up?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “What is going on here?”

  “I have no idea. They won’t tell me.”

  Once inside the portal, Sol lowered his voice and said, “Yesterday afternoon the university officially requested a court order to have you locked up. They claim you are a severe risk to one of the most vulnerable members of our community. They have managed to obtain an immediate court hearing.”

  “When is it scheduled for?”

  “In two days. And I must warn you, if word gets out that you are here, tomorrow could be your last day of freedom for some time.” When Lucius did not respond, Sol added, “If the court rules against you, incarceration begins immediately. All my appeals will be lodged while you are residing in the hospital’s secure wing.”

  “I can’t think about that right now.” Lucius pointed up the stairs. “See what they want. I’ll be in the office. Come see me when you’re done.”

  * * *

  Half an hour later, the unusually tall man emerged from the bedroom and accepted their offer of coffee. He drank it standing in the corridor, idly smoothing down his tie with the hand not holding his mug. “Most remarkable. Ms. Meisel, during the journey north I studied your summary article on this young man. I also reviewed the videos you and Dr. Barbieri kindly forwarded. I must say, you appear quite young for the level of work I’ve seen here. You have been a therapist for how long?”

  “Actually, sir, I have not yet received my master’s.”

  “Is that so?” He turned to Dino. “You are her thesis supervisor, correct?”

  “I am.”

  He glanced at how they held hands. “And more besides, I assume. Did you assist her in the preparation of this work?”

  “On the contrary,” Dino said. “I fought her every step of the way. To my shame.”

  Asha said, “He has been a positive influence on my training from day one.”

  “Most remarkable,” Douglas repeated. He continued to flatten his tie. “It may interest you to know, Ms.
Meisel, that I sit on the Journal’s review board. I was alerted to your possible article submission, as it falls within my area of interest. I intend to urge the board to publish your work. I would ask that you consider adding one final paragraph to your conclusion.”

  Asha felt almost giddy in her joy. “Of course.”

  “You may quote me as saying that the medical world has ignored the field of near-death experiences for far too long. Simply because these events probe the boundaries of our profession does not excuse this willful blindness. We are being confronted on an almost-daily basis with evidence for which we do not have answers. It is time for us to begin gathering and collating these events.”

  “I agree,” Dino said. “I only wish I had reached this conclusion earlier.”

  Douglas tilted his head slightly, as though wishing to observe Asha from a different angle. “Have you ever considered applying to medical school?”

  When Asha seemed incapable of responding, Dino replied for her. “She and I have recently been discussing this.”

  “As head of my department, I participate in the admissions review board.”

  “He’s speaking of the UCLA School of Medicine,” Dino reminded her. “Where your father works.”

  “Were you to decide to apply, I, for one, would view your application in the most positive light.”

  Asha became frozen in an amber of joy.

  Walter Douglas surveyed the impact of his words with evident satisfaction, then said, “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word with the young man in question.”

  CHAPTER 65

  When Lucius was finally allowed to join the others in Jessica’s bedroom, it was so this tall gentleman could interview him. Asha positively glowed as she set up her video recorder and then seated herself next to Dino. Walter Douglas was perhaps the most intense man Lucius had ever met. He leaned in close throughout, his gaunt frame folded like a caramel-colored stork. Lucius could see a light spray of freckles beneath his dark skin, see the tight silver curls woven into his hair, see the intensity that overlay his every word and gesture. But there was no hostility, nor distance, nor any apparent desire to doubt what Lucius said.

  Douglas led him through a review of his first moments upon awakening inside the morgue, then the first days. Every time he obtained what he sought, Douglas nodded once and shifted Lucius forward with another precise question.

  Lucius responded without hesitation. He found no need to deflect or defend. Without apology he spoke of his early animosity toward Dino. He described his experiences with Sonya the previous Sunday as a turning point. Jessica watched him with a thoughtful gaze. She lay in the bed, on top of the covers, propped up on four pillows. Her face had lost some of its burdens. She looked utterly calm. At peace. Even happy.

  Douglas finished by asking, “What is it you intend to do now?”

  That was, by far, the easiest question of all. “I’m waiting for you people to tell me.”

  “It’s very simple, really,” Jessica said. “Find whatever needs doing, and do it.”

  * * *

  An hour later, Sol Feinnes found Lucius poring through Jessica’s annual reports and sorting the stacks of unopened correspondence. When Lucius started to clear a stack of correspondence from one of the chairs, he said, “Leave it. I won’t be staying that long.”

  “Will you tell me what’s going on?”

  “Jessica wants to do that herself.” Sol smiled. “She is one amazing lady.”

  “At least we agree on that point.”

  “I retract what I said upon my arrival. Three recognized professionals have now stated for the record that they will stand in your corner, if the university is so unwise as to take the matter to open court.”

  Lucius stifled his desire for a more complete update. “I’m glad.”

  “You don’t sound glad. You sound impatient.”

  “I hate being left out of everything.” When Sol merely smiled once more, he added, “I’m the one who brought you people in on this!”

  “Let Jessica explain.” Sol glanced at his watch. “I’m due in court in two hours.”

  “How convenient.”

  “The lady will tell you when she’s good and ready.” Sol reached across the desk. “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this. It’s been a pleasure. And I mean that sincerely.”

  CHAPTER 66

  For the remainder of that afternoon, the house hummed to a tune that Lucius could not quite hear. He joined the others for an early dinner and endured the quiet sense of repressed excitement that infected everyone else, even Sarah. He did not object, nor make demands. But it was hard, this waiting. He disliked having lost the sense of control, and knew it hearkened back to his previous state. And something more. Beneath the flow of plans and excitement lurked a darker current, one he suspected only he was aware of.

  When the sunset began to stretch shadows across the rear lawn, Sarah emerged to say that Jessica had awoken and was asking for him. As he passed the closed office door, he heard Asha and Dino talking loudly on the speakerphone. It felt as though they had invaded even this fragment of his space.

  When he entered the bedroom, Lucius intended to demand, to object, to complain. But he took one look at the figure seated on the chaise longue, and the whole wretched truth struck home.

  Jessica was dying.

  This was not some distant threat. It was happening now. Hours or days or weeks from now, she would be gone. Probably not weeks. Her hold on life was so tenuous every breath seemed an achievement. Neither the cream silk outfit nor the carefully coiffed hair nor the smile mattered. Lucius wondered how he had remained willfully blind to this fact, but he did not ask why it had come to him now. He knew. Jessica was the woman in control of everything. She had a purpose. His being allowed here, the work of these past two days, even the reason why she had excluded him until now. It was part of her plan.

  Jessica said, “You’ve been sulking for all this time, now you won’t join me?”

  Lucius forced his leaden limbs to carry him across the room. “I don’t sulk.”

  She merely smiled and gestured with arthritic fingers at a carefully wrapped gift on the table before her. “I have something for you.”

  He lowered himself onto the sofa beside her. “Jessica . . .”

  “Hush, now. There will be time for all that. Open your gift.”

  The book was by Jane Austen and bound in ancient leather with raised gold lettering. Lucius had to assume he held a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. “I never read this.”

  “There is no better time than now to start your education. Read me the first passage.”

  He opened the book, swallowed hard against the burn, and began, “‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’”

  “Words you should take to heart.” She reached over, closed the book, and said, “Don’t you feel like a better man already?”

  The words might as well have been drawn from their earliest times together. He looked into that brilliant emerald gaze, the fire unquenched by all she endured. The one portion of her that remained untouched by years or illness or loss.

  Lucius asked, “How long have you known?”

  “I suspected that first moment in the dealership. I’ve simply observed you and allowed the impossible truth to grow on me ever since.” Jessica reached out those hands, the fingers twisted and swollen, and stroked his face. “Now I must rest.”

  CHAPTER 67

  The dinner that followed was unlike anything Lucius had ever known, and almost more than he could bear.

  Asha noticed his distress, and walked over to his end of the table. “A penny for your thoughts.”

  Because it was Asha who asked, and because her concern was genuine, Lucius replied, “It’s very hard to smile through pain.”

  She drew out a chair and seated herself beside him. “How true.”

  “Don’t you want to join the others?�
��

  She smiled. “I am as joined as I could possibly be.”

  The kitchen was made for such a gathering as this. Consuela had room to move about freely, and she enlisted Sarah and the day Ruth as her assistants. The room echoed with multiple conversations and laughter. When the night Ruth showed up, the day Ruth showed no interest in departing. Even Sarah revealed a hesitant smile as Dino refilled her glass of wine.

  Asha said, “How is Jessica?”

  “Asleep. Thankfully. It’s been a long day.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Famished.” Lucius saw a new and abiding connection within those lovely dark eyes. He added, “Everything about this evening leaves me feeling intensely guilty.”

  She sipped from her glass, and said, “I understand.”

  “I am hungry, and I’m looking forward to a wonderful meal.” He stared at the glass he had held since entering the kitchen, and not yet tasted. “I have done everything I can to make Jessica’s desires a reality. I have had a good day. I have prepared for what is to come. I am satisfied with my efforts.”

  “As you should be,” Asha said.

  “And yet all I feel is guilty. And sad. And . . .”

  Asha smiled a welcome as Dino pulled out the chair on her other side. She took Dino’s hand, entwined her fingers into his, and waited.

  Lucius could read their gazes like a shared script. The reason why they were here. The message they knew he needed to receive while they were present and able to offer him the strength required to accept. He said, “Jessica is dying.”

  Their silent response served as well as a hundred volumes. The concern, the strength, the compassion.

  Consuela chose that moment to announce, “Dinner is served.”

  Lucius kept to himself throughout the feast, a rainbow assortment of Mexican dishes. He observed the others and heard laughter to comments that mostly passed him by. And he struggled to breathe around a broken heart.