120 days...

by Stratton, M.

  “You’d better be. Get. Some. Rest.”

  “Yes, sir.” She already had her laptop open and was working. “Now go so I can get this done and get some sleep.” She looked up at him when he walked away from her and started getting ready for the day. “I am tired and I’ll take a nap soon. We have about fifty plastic containers of Halloween decorations, each one labeled as to which building it goes in. Most of the staff were here last year, so they will be able to remember and help you if you need it. The first day we usually organize everything, putting the containers in the right areas and putting batteries in the decorations. Not everything gets batteries, which is good. That would cost us a fortune. Only the decorations in the common areas need to make sure they work. Everything else really is only there for show. I should be better by tomorrow to help start to put them all up.”

  “First off, you don’t worry about tomorrow. Rest today, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow. Second, fifty containers? Please tell me they are the small ones.”

  She laughed at him. “Nope. This happens to be my favorite holiday.” She shrugged. “I indulge myself, and the guests always love it. Oh, and there is the occasional guest who isn’t a fan of the holiday, or who gets scared easily. You’ll have to check the current register and see if we have anyone who marked that on their forms. If there are, we try to go easy in the areas they like to relax in, and of course, nothing in their cabin. Sometimes it helps if they are shown exactly where everything is, in the daylight, or how it works.”

  “Good to know. I’ll check that before we get started today.”

  “Or I could check it right now for you. I know what to look for.” She started tapping on the keys.

  Ethan strode over to her and put his hand on the laptop as if he was going to close it. “You’re already making me regret my decision. Check your email, and take a nap. That’s all you should be concerned with right now. Understand?”

  “But, it will only take me fifteen minutes.”

  “No, who cares if it takes me thirty, you need to ease up. Let me do this for you and you get some rest.”

  “When did you get so bossy?”

  “Honey, I’ve always been bossy, but I never thought I’d find someone who makes me look like a push-over.”

  “What?”

  He leaned down and looked her straight in the eye. “Yes, my dear, you are bossy, but I happen to find it very attractive on you because it comes from your heart. You’re only trying to make things better for everyone. Now relax and be quiet so I can do the same for you.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he raised his eyebrow at her. “What, nothing to say?”

  “You told me to be quiet.”

  “And you listened? Well, that was easy.” He smiled and winked at her. “I’ll have to remember that. Now, I have to get to work before my boss writes me up for being late.”

  “You got that right, mister. You’d better move it.”

  He went over and opened the balcony doors for her. With the sun coming up, it was warming up outside and he knew she’d want to hear the birds and breathe in the fresh air. “There, perfect napping weather. I’ll check back in a little later.”

  “I’ll be here. Resting. All day.”

  “You’d better be.”

  She saluted him as he walked out of the room. Grabbing some coffee, he thought about what Sam had said about the containers and how she had to be exaggerating. Surely there was a better, more efficient way to get it all done sooner.

  Five hours later, they finally had all the containers down from the barn and where they were supposed to go. They still needed to check the batteries on the decorations in about half the containers. Ethan was thinking maybe he should have asked Sam more questions. Like how she could have gotten all this work done in one day. Even with all the extra help he was getting, he didn’t think they’d be done by dinner.

  They took the cart and dropped a container off at each cabin and room in the main house. Since none of the guests had any aversions to Halloween, he didn’t have to worry and was able to put everything where it needed to be. Since most of the guests liked the rec center, he thought that would be the best place to start. Looking at fifteen large containers, he shook his head and hoped not every single decoration needed a battery. He now knew why every time they went into town, she was picking up batteries. Between Halloween and Christmas coming up, they were going to go through a lot of them.

  Pausing for a moment, he thought about what Christmas would be like at the ranch. There would be no doubt Sam would do everything in her power to make sure the place was magically decorated. He was sure it would be a bittersweet time for everyone.

  Ethan frowned as many of the resort’s guests started filing into the rec center. He looked around and saw Phil escorting guests to different tables. Once everyone was seated, Phil started talking. “Thank you for coming out. You’ll see there are tools and batteries on everyone’s table. If you need help or more batteries, let us know and we’ll make sure you get what you need. Now, you all go easy on Mr. McGregor here. I think he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed today since Miss Truman is out sick. But that’s okay. We’ll do a great job, right?” There was a round of good-natured ribbing toward Ethan before the staff started making sure each table had a container.

  Reading the top of each container, Ethan started organizing them and making sure similar containers were put together. What Sam hadn’t told him earlier, there were already an additional seven containers, which had been used for their Beetlejuice viewing, already checked and was ready to go. That meant there were closer to sixty containers left to go through. Looking at his watch, he knew it was almost time to check on her again. She’d been sleeping the last time he went up to the house. On one hand, he was happy she was resting; on the other, he was worried she was actually resting, and he wasn’t the only one. The staff told him she hardly ever took a sick day. In fact, most had never seen her take one. Sure, she’d take some personal time off to go into town, but she always combined it with shopping for the resort, so it was never a full personal day off.

  Since everything was handled, he took a break and went to check on Sam. He crept through the house quietly, to make sure if she was sleeping he didn’t want to wake her, but if she was working, which he assumed she was, he wanted to bust her so he could give her a hard time. Sure enough, the closer he got to the bedroom door, he could hear her tapping on the keys of her laptop.

  Walking in, he didn’t stop until he pulled the laptop off her lap, ignoring her protests.

  “Anything you want to tell me?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.

  “No.” Sam raised both eyebrows at him. “Nothing, can I have my laptop back?”

  “Let’s see . . .” He used the touchpad to view what she had been doing. “I think you have some explaining to do, young lady.”

  “I took a nap after you left.”

  “For how long.”

  She shrugged. “I wasn’t keeping track.”

  “Just like you weren’t keeping track of how long you’ve been working. You owe me a four-hour nap.”

  “No way.” She shook her head. “There’s no way I could sleep that long.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have worked so long.”

  “But . . . but . . . I was in bed resting the whole time.”

  “Nice try.” He clicked the button to save her work and closed her laptop. “I’m taking this with me. You sleep.” He walked over and kissed the top of her head while he kept her laptop out of her reach. “I’ll be back in a little bit, and you’d better be sleeping.”

  “How’s the decorating going?” She had a hopeful expression on her face.

  “You’ll find out tonight. You’re already over on your work hours.”

  “Come on, you’ve got to cut me some slack. I’m not used to not being able to do anything.”

  “You need to get used to it. Honey, I’m part of your life now. We’re in this together, which means you can relax some and let me
help you. I know, it’s a crazy idea, but you’ll get used to it.”

  She smiled at him. “I like the sound of that, ‘We’re in this together.’ But you have to cut me some slack, too. I’m not used to depending on someone to help me.”

  “Yeah, I kind of already picked up on that.”

  “You don’t have to be sarcastic.”

  “Anyway, I have to get back to letting the guests run amok and destroy the place. I’ll be back around dinner.”

  “Ethan!”

  “Bye, love!” He quickly ran down the stairs and laughed when he saw a pillow sail out of the room and hit the wall. “Great arm, honey, maybe we should start a softball team.” Not able to stop himself from laughing, he knew he had to leave before she got out of the bed and chased after him.

  With everyone helping, the rest of the work for the day went quickly, and they finished right before dinner. Ethan jogged down the path toward Sam’s house. He wanted to see how she was doing. Last time he’d taken her laptop away, so he was sure she was going stir-crazy. He went to the resort kitchen to grab something for dinner. He didn’t want her to think she had to cook for them.

  As he approached the house his stomach grumbled; he could smell dinner cooking. Sam must be feeling better, a lot better if the aroma coming from the open kitchen window was any indication. He could see her dancing around and as he put his hand on the screen door to open it, he heard her singing. He smiled. She was back to her normal self.

  “Hey, Lucy, I’m home.” He tried for his best Ricky Ricardo impression.

  “Dinner’s almost ready. Tell me how the rest of the day went? I felt so bad for staying home, but I must admit, you were right, I feel so much better now.”

  “Whoa, wait.” He staggered to the chair. “Let me sit down.” He let his legs fold under him and looked up at her with his eyes open as big as they could go. “Did I hear correctly? Did you just say I was right? Come here.” He reached out, and took her hand, and put it on his forehead. “Do I have a fever? I must have a fever to hear you say that. You must have gotten me sick.”

  “Stop.” She gently pushed his head back. “Keep it up and no dinner for you.”

  “Well, it does smell wonderful. I think I’ll let it go, for now.” He winked at her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Nope, you can go get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready when you are.”

  “Perfect.” He stood up and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he passed by. “I’ll be back down in about fifteen.”

  “I’ll be waiting.” She turned and went back to the sink humming.

  Ethan stood there for a moment, trying to memorize everything. It was a good day, all of the guests were doing well. He’d been there long enough to know the signs of when the end was approaching; although everyone was different, and sometimes they snuck up on you, if the cancer was growing fast. But for the most part, they usually had a couple of days’ warning before the guest was going to need round-the-clock care which came at the end.

  Sam looked so beautiful—she always did—but there was something different about today. When he’d first come to the resort, she’d been all business, not hard, but she didn’t let many people in or get too close to her. He could barely remember that version. The Sam before him let him see her weak, let him help her. And he had to admit, he was in love with her. He wished he could pinpoint the exact second he fell. It was something you didn’t want to forget, but he couldn’t. It was a culmination of things, building on one another until he couldn’t deny it any longer.

  Turning, he took the stairs two at a time, plotting what he was going to do next. He’d never been in this situation before and didn’t know how to handle it. He had to find a way to make her see she was in love with him. There was no way she couldn’t be, and they needed to spend the rest of their lives together. There, at Last Resort, making their dreams come true.

  Day 49

  Ethan–

  I’m still not feeling too well, so Sam took me to the doctor. I was hoping I’d be done with them when I came up here, but as Sam said, we have to do whatever we can to extend my life, and that includes going to the doctor when I have a cold. She’s right, but I don’t have to like it.

  Evan

  Sam got up as quietly as she could and made her way to the bathroom. This was the third morning in a row she had gotten sick. With shaking hands, she reached over and grabbed the wet cloth to wipe her face. She was beginning to get worried. While it was mostly only first thing in the morning, there were still times throughout the day when she was nauseous. The last thing she wanted was for Ethan to worry about her. For so many years, it had just been her. She had no one to rely on, and at that moment, she couldn’t depend on Ethan. She hadn’t been completely honest with him, really with anyone. She knew that once she and Ethan became close, she should have opened up to him, but she didn’t know how to. What words could she say? She was kicking herself for letting things get as far as they had.

  Sitting for a few moments to make sure her vomiting was over, Sam admitted to herself there was nothing she could have done. There was no way either one of them could have stopped what was going to happen. There was no choice involved with who or when you fell in love. At that point, all she could do was hold on and hope for the best when she finally told him everything.

  Her phone rang from the bedside. Quickly, she went to answer it, hoping it hadn’t woken Ethan up yet; he still had a half an hour to sleep. “Hello,” she whispered and walked out of the room.

  “It’s Kris,” said Phil.

  “I’ll be right there.” She disconnected the call and turned to go back into the bedroom to get dressed and ran right into Ethan. “Geez. You scared me,” she squeaked.

  “Everything okay?” His voice was gruff with sleep.

  She shook her head. “No, Kris isn’t going to make it much longer.”

  “Dammit.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not sure when I’ll be back, so–”

  “So nothing, I’m coming with you.”

  “Ethan . . .”

  “Don’t ‘Ethan’ me, you know I’m going. For Christ’s sake, Sam, he’s the first guest I checked in. I made sure he had the best time at the football game. It’s something I couldn’t do for Evan, but I could do for Kris. This is different.”

  Sam’s heart went out to him. She knew not being there for his brother had been eating at him, and that making sure Kris had an experience of a lifetime, helped in some small way. “I know, Ethan, but this isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be harder than any before.”

  “I know. Patty was hard, and this one will be too. It wouldn’t make it any easier if I wasn’t there, if I walked away and did something else.” He took her face in his hands. “Samantha, I’m here for the long haul. Doesn’t matter if things are smooth sailing or rough weather. I need to do this.”

  “Will you let me help you?” she asked him.

  “I’ll always need you.”

  He pulled her up in his arms and they held tightly onto each other, knowing another guest would be leaving within the next day or so, and there was nothing they could do but be there for him.

  The tumor in the back of Kris’s head had grown so large he had no control of anything from his neck down. Ethan had helped feed him when he wanted something to eat and joked with him when he was awake, but most of their time was spent in silence since the pressure on his brain was too much.

  Sam would come in every hour and stay for a little bit, but Ethan wanted the responsibility. He knew it was hard for her. Sam felt it was her duty to take care of everyone who came to the resort. But that time, it was Ethan’s and she didn’t know how to completely let go.

  She had just left and it was only Kris, Ethan and Phil, the nurse on duty. Ethan looked at the clock. It was eleven at night. It was Ethan’s second night by Kris’ bedside. He hadn’t left the night before, wanting to make sure someone was there for Kris if he woke up.

  “Hey,” Kris’s soft vo
ice slurred from the bed. “Make sure my girls get the ball.”

  Ethan didn’t have to ask him to explain. He knew exactly what he meant, the game ball. “You know I will.”

  “Make sure they know . . . I’ll be looking out for them.” He tried to raise his hand to point up, but couldn’t.

  “I will. They’ll know you’ll be there for them.” Ethan leaned in closer to the man he’d grown so close to in such a short time. “Listen, buddy, I can see you’re holding on, but it’s time to move on. It’ll be okay. I’ll stay with you.”

  “I don’t want to leave,” Kris whispered.

  “There’s something better waiting for you. All that’s left for you here is pain. You’ve done what you were put on this earth for. Now it’s time for your next journey.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Just let go.” Ethan bowed his head. “Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You are not alone, Kris. He is waiting for you.”

  Silently, Ethan held Kris’s hand and continued to pray for the man as he slowly let go. His breathing became shallower and there were times it stopped altogether, then would start up again, before finally going silent.

  Ethan didn’t leave his side as all the machines were turned off and phone calls were made. When he looked up and saw Sam standing in the doorway, he nearly lost it. He wasn’t sure how it could get any easier. Was it really something he could do, day in, day out? Sometimes, they ended up having a couple of deaths a week. He wasn’t naïve; he knew people came in and out of people’s lives all the time. But to be surrounded by death, even doing something so good, took its toll.

  Sam came over and sat down in the chair on the other side of the bed and picked up Kris’s hand, saying her own silent prayer for the man they’d just lost.

  Day 50

  Ethan–

  Considering I’m dying, the doctor said I was doing really well. I’ll take it. Doesn’t it always work that way, as soon as you go to the doctor you start to feel better? That’s me today. We’ve got another new guest today, Bruce. He’s an awesome old guy, and can still run circles around me on the basketball court. I blame the fact I’m not 100 percent.