Dream a Little Dream of Me

by Daniels, Cobie

  “Okay, don’t panic. I’ve got you.” He saw a row of bushes and was able to get her to them just in time. As she hurled the contents of her appetizer, Gareth rubbed her back and talked her through it. When she was done, he was completely convinced that she had a concussion. “Like old times, yeah?” Kelsey started to cry. “Oh, Kelsey, I’m so sorry. Let’s get you to the ER.”

  Kelsey didn't even bother to fight him, and his comment about old times wasn’t lost on her. Between the vomiting, her head throbbing, and her puffy lip, she murmured out, “I must be a swight to bwehold?” Gareth laughed, and before he could stop himself, he let his words spill out, “You’ve never looked more beautiful to me, Kelsey.” Kelsey didn't dare look at him and didn’t respond. She just wanted the pain in her head and lip to stop, and she wanted to fall asleep. He opened the passenger door and buckled her up. They drove in silence the short distance to the hospital.

  When they arrived at the ER, Gareth pulled into the ambulance drop off, jumped out of his car, and grabbed a wheelchair. Wheeling her in past registration, he was met by the head nurse who stomped behind him, demanding he identify himself. The bright hospital lights and the sound of the nurse yelling were all too much for Kelsey who was keeping her eyes closed and praying that she would avoid getting sick again as a wave of nausea rippled over her. He stopped rolling the wheelchair long enough to identify himself so the nurse barking at him would calm down. He flashed his credentials and explained why they were here. She continued to stare a hole though his head when Gareth finally decided he’d had enough. Crossing his arms then widening his stance he spoke with confidence, “I’m sorry—I didn’t catch your name.”

  Taking a moment to absorb his name and job title, but not taking the sting out of her tone, she replied, “My name is Janie. We can register her bedside.”

  “Thank you. The patient and I truly appreciate it.”

  Pointing to the right she barked, “Roll her into that room.” She walked away in a huff and made no eye contact.

  “You swure know how to make a first imprewssion. That won’t count against you your fiwrst week?” Kelsey asked.

  “You let me worry about that. We need to get you out of these clothes and into a gown so we can get a CT scan.”

  “Gareth, I’m swure if I go back to Zwoe’s apartment and sweep this off I will be fwine.”

  Gareth was loving the lisp because of her swollen bottom lip. “Nice try, Mrs. Bauer, but when you sustain a head trauma, someone needs to wake you regularly to make sure your symptoms haven’t worsened. I’m sure the CT scan will come back negative, but it doesn't mean you don’t have soft tissue damage or swelling.” Reaching into the cabinet like he had worked there for years, he tossed the green hospital gown on her lap. “I’ll stand on the other side of the door while you change. I’ll be right out there if you need me.” Gareth looked at her and waited for a response.

  “Okay. Fwine.”

  After slowly helping her to stand and lean on the bed, he turned to walk out. With a smile on his lips, Gareth saw the hardheaded Kelsey was still there all these years later. A few minutes passed when he heard her call his name. Poking his head back in the door, he saw her perched on the bed, head back, a bump on her forehead, a swollen lip, and eyes closed. She looked pitiful but just still as lovely as the first day he’d laid eyes on her. Gareth's heart felt a familiar twinge that he hadn't felt in years. He cut the main florescent light off, leaving the smaller, less intrusive light on.

  “Thwank you,” Kelsey whispered.

  Just as he reeled in his thoughts, Nurse Janie came in right behind him, pushing a wheeled cart with a computer attached to it along with a stand holding a blood pressure cuff and thermometer. Gareth stood on one side of the bed while the nurse stood on the opposite and began to ask her the basic questions that one would ask at registration. “Can you state your first and last name?” “Kelsey Bauer.” Nurse Janie continued, “D.O.B.?” “August 19th, 1976.” Pointing to Gareth, Janie asked, “Am I safe to assume this is your husband?”

  Gareth felt the oxygen get sucked out of the room. Kelsey whipped her head up and almost vomited on the bed from moving too quickly. “No!” she said is a forceful voice that she immediately regretted. Bringing her voice low and keeping her eyes on her wedding band she answered, “My husband is deceased.”

  Nurse Janie didn't bat an eye and moved onto the next question. “Do you have your insurance information and driver’s license?” Sounding defeated she responded, “I …I don't know where my pwurse is at, and it has awll that information.”

  Gareth rested a hand on her arm. “Your purse is in my car. Give her your address information. I’ll take care of the billing.” Kelsey raised her eyebrow on the side that didn’t have the bump and looked down at his hand. Clearing her throat, Nurse Janie looked at Gareth for direction. Lifting his hand off of Kelsey he responded, “I’ll take care of the billing. Now when can we get her up for that CT scan, and how about some ice for this bump on her head and lip?”

  Glancing indignantly at Gareth, Nurse Janie looked back over at Kelsey. “Do you have any allergies?” “No.” “Blood disorders?” Kelsey was hesitant to respond but knew she had to. “I am anemic and require iron infusions every quarter. I come to the infusion center here.” Gareth was astounded at that answer and tried not to stare at her.

  Done with her questions, Nurse Janie filed out of the room. “I’ll have radiology down shortly to get you for the scan and will be right back with the ice.” Kelsey turned her head away from Gareth, as the emotion of the past hour and a half was starting to hit her and spill over her cheeks. How had this evening gone from being about an awesome girls’ night out to being in the ER with Gareth? As if knowing what she was thinking, he quietly spoke up, “Kelsey, what can I do? Do you want me to leave? Call your parents? Call Zoe? Just tell me, and I’ll do it.”

  Kelsey could barely think and was pretty much numb even without drugs, but she did know she wasn’t ready for Gareth to leave. “No, don’t weave,” was all she could manage to say. Relieved to hear her words, Gareth took a deep breath. The nurse came back in with the ice as promised, but Kelsey was too tired to hold it to her lip. “I just need to cwose my eyes, Gaweth; I don’t care about the ice.”

  Wishing he could do more, he grabbed the ice from her hand. “Lay your head back, Kelsey, and close your eyes.” She did exactly what he said, and as she did, he gently held the ice to her swollen lip. Kelsey drifted off. Gareth stood there dutifully holding the ice, staring at the face that, even after twenty years, still caused his heart to twist and turn like no other woman had. Seeing pieces of her hair fall across her face, he carefully and lovingly swept them away. “Lady Kelsey, my girl, why is the universe doing this to us?”

  Twenty minutes passed, and there was a knock on the door. Radiology was there to wheel her down for the scan. Carefully waking her, Gareth could see the exhaustion as she opened her eyes and he looked at her. In his best reassuring tone, he leaned in and whispered, “I’ll be right here when you get back.” She let a half smile fall on her face, “Thwank you.” He watched as they took her down and decided to run out to his car to retrieve her phone and her purse. The plan was to call her friend Zoe to give her an update on how Kelsey was doing and try to survive the rest of the night.

  August 1995

  Two Weeks before Kelsey’s Departure

  York, England

  Kelsey allowed the tip of her paintbrush to bounce off her lips as she studied her progress. She had two final projects due for her classes, and she’d already thrown herself into working away on them both. One had to be an oil painting of a picture taken over the past ten weeks. She’d be graded on interpretation of her subject, capturing natural light, color saturation, and realism. The second project could be her pick, and she decided to challenge herself by creating a stained glass window. Her plan was to use those projects as thank you gifts to Gareth and Camilla. She wanted to acknowledge them with something special to always re
mind them of the summer she spent there.

  Two weeks ago, after the trip to the York Riding Academy and after receiving the details of both assignments, Kelsey looked through some of the pictures she’d developed at the local camera shop. They included the pictures from her walks about town, some shots of Camilla’s garden, photos from the visit to the farm, and then images of Gareth that she had snapped while he was playing a soccer match on campus. She’d been walking across campus and saw him and thought it would be fun to capture him when he least expected it. She found a picture that showed his side profile with his foot on the ball, his hair weighed down with sweat, and the muscles in his calves and arms glistening with sweat in the sun. Then there was the tightness in his jaw and the intense competitive look in his eye. She’d quickly determined that this would be the perfect one to use, as long as she was able to do it justice. And, so far, the painting was coming along perfectly. She’d also decided that Camilla would receive a stained glass window of the family coat of arms. With just one more week to finish, she knew that it would be tough to pull this off, but she was up for the challenge.

  It was early afternoon on what was shaping up to be an overcast and unseasonably cool Saturday. Needing a break from staring at the canvas, Kelsey grabbed her hoodie and made her way downstairs to see if anyone was home to share a cup of hot tea. When she saw she was alone, she filled the kettle and placed it on the now warming burner with a twinge of disappointment. She decided to step out on the patio to wait for the whistle and take in the cool breeze and Camilla’s garden. As she walked through the middle of the garden, she admired each of the plants that Camilla took so much pride in planting and tending to: the hollyhocks, Sweet Williams, marigolds, lilies, peonies, tulips, crocus, daisies, foxglove, and lavender. She felt like Lizzie Bennett taking a turn in the garden.

  An unexpected sadness settled upon her as she realized she would be leaving all this soon. She’d become such good friends with both Gareth and Camilla, no longer having them in her life was going to take some adjusting. She’d write them regularly, of course, and even invite them to the wedding, but it would be different.

  The sound of the sliding door opening brought her back to reality. Spinning around, she saw Gareth. “I was wondering where you and your mom were.” As Gareth came closer, she could sense he was tired and not himself. In reality he’d been that way off and on for about two weeks. At dinnertime he seemed just okay, but he hadn’t been his usual talkative self when they cleaned the kitchen. She chalked it up to him reading all the pre-med books he’d acquired on a recent trip to the school bookstore.

  “The kettle was just starting to whistle when I walked in. I cut the burner off, but the water should be nice and ready for a cup if you’re ready. Do you mind if I join you?”

  “No, not at all,” she said, and she followed Gareth back into the house where he pulled out the tea bags, milk, and sugar. “I think we have a few fresh biscuits are you interested?”

  “Yes, I was in need of a little something before lunch. After breakfast this morning I lost track of time working on one of my final projects.”

  “You’ve been so secretive about them all week. What kind of projects are they?”

  “Oh, I have to create an oil painting and a stained glass window.”

  “Oh, that’s it, aye?” Gareth said with a snicker.

  “Ha ha. I have it under control; don’t you worry. My progress is actually ahead of schedule, thank you very much.” Kelsey sat at the table as Gareth brought over their cups and the pot of steeping tea. “I was reflecting in the garden on how sad I’m going to be once I’m gone and don’t get to see you and your mom on a daily basis.” Gareth’s heart constricted and must have also shown on his face because Kelsey immediately noticed. “Are you okay, Gareth?” she asked in worried tone.

  “I’m fine, just haven’t been feeling that great, probably because of the lack of sleep.”

  “What’s bothering you? Do you want to talk about it?”

  Of course the voice inside his brain was screaming at him: just tell her you bloody fool! The color began draining from his face, and he needed to change the subject and fast. “No, it’s nothing. So is there anything else you wish you’d done while here in England?” Bringing over the biscuits to the table, he sat down to gather himself and pour each of them a cup of tea.

  Not understanding the non sequitur of his question, she indulged him in an answer, “After our riding adventure, I wish I’d planned a road trip of some kind for a weekend. To where, I have no idea, but to be able to take a long drive through England and explore something other than a traditional city would’ve been nice. I find it funny that back in Virginia many of our cities and counties are names from here. Obviously we know from history why, but to know that there is a New Kent County, Loudon County, Prince George County, Norfolk, and Isle of Wight is pretty fun.”

  As she continued to talk, Gareth had another brainstorm. His mother’s closest friend ran a bed and breakfast on the Isle of Wight. That was an island six hours south of York. If he could convince Kelsey to skip class on that Friday, they could head there for a long weekend. Gareth would do his research, but he needed to see if Kelsey was game. “How far along did you say you are you with your projects, Kelsey?”

  Kelsey added milk and sugar, stirred her tea, and took a quick sip, “I plan on using every spare moment this week to work on them. The professor is giving us off this Thursday and Friday from class so we can focus, but I plan to have the majority of both of them done by then. I should have the oil painting done by Tuesday so it has more time to dry.” Brilliant! swept through his mind. He set his biscuit down, took a deep breath, and looked across the table. “Would you like to take a road trip Thursday, just for a couple of nights?”

  Kelsey looked up with wide eyes. “Where?”

  “Well, as you were talking, I thought of how my mum’s close friend Pam and her husband run a bed and breakfast on the Isle of Wight. It’s an island, so we’d take a ferry to get there. It would be about a six-hour drive from here, so you’d get to see plenty of countryside. She lives in Shanklin, a small quaint village, but popular place, that sits near the beach. I totally understand if you don’t want to go, but it could be a great way to end your summer here if you’re up for it.” Gareth was trying hard not to look desperate as he saw Kelsey mulling it over. “I don’t know if I have the extra money for it,” she said quietly.

  “I invited you, and that would make you my guest, so no need to worry about that.”

  Looking at him intently and not mincing her words, she came right out and asked him, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

  Gareth could feel the panic rising, but before he let it go out of control, he shrugged his shoulders. “You’ve become a good friend, Kelsey, and I just want to make sure that, before we send you home, you have nothing but fond memories of us here.”

  Kelsey smiled, “Please be reassured, Gareth, if I were to leave tomorrow, you need to know that I hold you and Camilla so dear to me, and I will never forget this amazing summer. My final two projects are huge, and they’ll heavily weigh into my final grades for each class. Can you give me a day to think about it?”

  He sighed on the inside but gave a small smile on the outside. “Of course. I’ll need to see if Pam has any ‘room in the inn,’ so to speak.”

  “Well then, let me finish my tea and head back upstairs, before I can even consider this, I need to jump back into my work and really process how much is left.”

  As Kelsey went upstairs and closed the door, she couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of her stomach. She chalked it up to realizing how much work she had ahead of her, especially now with this invitation on the table. She stared momentarily at the canvas, smiling at how well she felt she was already capturing Gareth, and immediately got back to work.

  Gareth remained downstairs finishing his tea and gazing out the window. He contemplated the negatives of confessing to Kelsey. She’d probably lock herself in
her room the rest of the time she was there and only come out for classes and dinner. She’d no doubt tell Jason, who’d be on the first plane here to defend her honor and kick his ass to a pulp. As he let that scene play out in his head he then contemplated the other scenario. Maybe she would just listen, hear him out, and give him a chance. There was always hope, wasn't there?

  He heard the front door open from the jangling of keys. Camilla came into the kitchen with an arm full of groceries. “There are a few more bags in the car. Do you mind helping?”

  Springing up from his chair, he headed outside with her. Knowing what kind of reaction, it could elicit, he asked her a question, “Thinking about taking a road trip to Isle of Wight next weekend. Can you contact Pam and see if she has any availability?”

  As they reached the Rover, Camilla stopped and looked at her son with a raised eyebrow. “Would you be going by yourself?”

  Reaching for two bags, he looked directly at her. “No, I’ve asked Kelsey to join me, and so I’ll need two rooms.” Camilla stood there staring. He knew she wanted to say something, but instead she responded while grabbing the last two bags. “I’ll call her once I get lunch started.” Not expecting that response, he walked back into the house behind her. Giving her just a minute as he placed the bags on the counter he finally spoke, “I know you want to say something, so why don’t you just get it out of your system.”

  Unpacking the groceries, she stopped mid kitchen and paused before continuing. “Gareth, ever since you were a little boy, the minute you got an idea into your head, there was no changing your mind. I’ll never forget the day, it was a Sunday—you couldn't have been five maybe six-years old—you wanted to go to the park down the way and play football with the adults. While your father and I loved that you thought you were ready for that, we both said absolutely not, that you were too young for their grown up game. I left you in the back yard long enough to turn off the kettle and make you a sandwich while your father continued to fuss in the garden. I came back, and you were gone. At first I figured you were sitting in a corner of the yard pouting, but two minutes later I realized you were gone. I ran out to the street, looking in both directions, yelling for you, and there was no response. I ran to all the neighbors’ doors to see if you’d gone there. Nothing. Halfway down the street and ten minutes later and after knocking on every one of your friends’ doors, it dawned on me that you’d gone to the park. You and your tiny little body carried the ball all the way to the park. I went from scared to furious to scared out of my mind in a record time. I grabbed my keys and yelled for your father, and we both jumped into the Rover and franticly made our way to you. When we pulled up we leapt out of the vehicle to see all of the adult men cheering you on as you were one on one with the goalie. We both realized they were letting you have your moment. Apparently, when you arrived breathless, you pleaded that they let you play before your old mum showed up to steal you away home.”