A Raven's Lullaby Part 2

She wakes up and the nightmare is true. She's laying in a bed, the monster starting at her and barking rules. But there is hope she meets unlikely friend.

Present Day

Snapping herself out of her memories she headed for the guest room of the cottage.  When she entered her husband started grunting angrily “Now if you are going to be like that I am not going to give you fresh linens or a change of clothes” she chastised.  The angry grunting stopped immediately.  She went to the corner of the room and retrieved an old fashion wheel chair.  Wheeling it over by the bed she asked her husband if he was ready to get up for the day.  As usual all she received was a low moan.  She reach down lifted him to a sitting position which would allow her to transfer him to the wheel chair with minimum effort.  Once in the chair she rolled him over to the window facing him so he could see outside.

As she went about her daily routine of changing his bedding she chattered on about everything that was happening outside the small cabin cottage.  Such things, like Mr. Foreman was able to find a driver for the fifteenth truck. “Can you believe that husband fifteen trucks, when we only started with that old clunker you use to drive” she added just like adding salt to a wound.  She fully believed that fifteen trucks were plenty, but Mr. Foreman argued that business was good enough for at least two more trucks.  She went on about the new house and how it looked grand towering over the town the way it does.  Not to mention the new trucking yard just down the road from the new house.  There is a new work shop, some of the best mechanics money can buy, and the dispatcher she is a hoot.  She looks like she is in her sixties but she is only forty-seven, she imagined it was all the chain smoking the dispatcher did that cause the premature aging.  But she is the right woman for the job because she knows how to handle the drivers and they seem to love her dearly even with her gruffness.

During her conversation there was a knock on the window, her husband jumped and moaned loudly, “Oh hush” she said “It’s just Salem wanting to come and say Hi.”  She moved to the window opening it so the bird could come in.  He perched himself in the middle of the window sill gave her a sweet chortling sound and then squawked loudly in her husband’s face.  “Now Salem you will play nice or I will shut the window” she demanded.  Salem settled down and watched her go about her duties.  She left the room briefly to retrieve the fresh linens and clean clothes for her husband.  When she re-entered the room the raven pleaded “sing mama sing” she laughed scolding him at the same time.  Salem could actually say many words but he preferred to just grunt.

She knew what song he wanted, but said “Since you asked nicely I will sing it once and only once Salem not over and over like you want it”  Salem answered with a solemn “okay” which sounded like a child who had asked for another bedtime story after his mother had already read three or four.  She started singing and as she did her husband began to shake.

“Hush little Salem don’t say a word mama’s going to buy you a mocking bird, if that mocking bird won’t sing mama’s going to buy you a diamond ring, if that diamond ring goes brass mama’s going to buy you a looking glass, if that looking glass gets broke mama’s going to buy you a Billy goat, if the Billy goat won’t pull mama’s going to buy you a cart and bull, if that cart and bull should fall Salem will still be the prettiest bird of all”

When she finished she looked towards the window sill where Salem had tucked his head under one of his wings and gone to sleep.

She had quietly gone to her husband’s wheel chair and moved it away from the window.  She turned the chair going towards the bathroom where she had already run a tub for him.  She stripped him down and placed him on the toilet saying “Take care of any business you need to take care of, especially since that’s the only kind of business you can do these days” there was a slight sound of vengeance and annoyance in her voice.  She walked out of the bathroom not returning for about twenty minutes.  Her husband indicated that he had completed his business, she then proceed to clean him up from that before getting ready to place him in the bathtub.  The bathroom was small enough that she could move him from the toilet to the edge of the tub without any problems.  She had gotten him on the edge of the tub and was attempting to reposition the wheel chair, when she ended up pushing him into the tub.  Once in the water he started flopping around like a caught fish.  Annoyed she reached down and helped him get sat straight.  “I don’t know why you think you have to react that way every time you get in the tub, your damn limbs aren’t broken and this is definitely a hell of a lot more courtesies then you ever showed me.”  She was mad now threw the wash cloth at him telling him to bathe himself and she would be back when she felt like it.  She left slamming the door; which in turn woke Salem who instantly started shrieking “Salem kill a*****e, Salem kill a*****e.  Save mama, save mama” she shook her head walked into the bedroom shouting “Salem stop!  A*****e just made me mad and I over reacted” Seeing her standing in the doorway and hearing her shout at him Salem realized she was okay, but he definitely was not a happy bird.  He flew over to her right shoulder snuggled her with his head like he always did whenever she was upset, hurt, sad or mad.  Smiling she stroked him from his head to his tail feathers.  “Now go on and let me finish packing the few things I want to take” she told him.

Still not happy with the fact that a*****e; a name Salem had place upon her husband from the beginning, and now had awaken him from his nap was bound and determined that someone was going to hear about it.  Jumping from her shoulder to the window sill he looked around and started yelling “Foreman, Foreman, Foreman” and flew towards the work shop.  She had her hands on her hips and was shaking her head because she know that once the raven found Foreman and with the words that Salem would and could say Foreman would figure out what happened and would supply Salem with all sorts of sympathies, treats, hugs, nasty come backs about a*****e and even sing Salem one of those old trucker songs that he liked.  There was never a bird more spoiled or loyal a friend then Salem.

She started going about doing the little things that needed to be done, before deciding to go back and get her husband from the bathroom.  When she entered he was shivering and trying to get out of the tub by himself, but since his accident five years ago his legs had been amputated from just below his knees and his arms just below his elbows.  When he had noticed that she entered the room he stopped struggling “Oh please don’t stop on my account, I enjoy watching you struggle just as you did me for five years” she said menacingly.  “You are a cold hearted b*****d who kept me like a common slave, but you see dear your sentence is about up.  Yeah that’s right my dear sweet husband it has been five years now since the night of your horrific accident and I figure it would be unfair of me to make you suffer longer than I did, so today things will be changing for you.  Although there are those such as Foreman, the Padre and of course there is Salem that feel I am being a little too lenient.  But since it was I who had to suffer your cruelties they are agreeing to stick with my plan” she was telling him while helping him out of the tub and back into the wheel chair she stop for just a moment and said “Of course.  Salem on the other hand is a wild animal, so I’m not so sure I can count on him to follow the plan.  Oh well!” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

She pushed him out of the bathroom and back towards the guest room to get him dressed.  Salem noticing they were back in the bedroom kept flying past the opened window with a very clear “A*****e.”  This made her husband nervous enough that he was visibly shaking, but she did nothing to stop the bird from having his fun.  In fact, Salem had done this routine so often that he had taught his mate the same word so together they were taking turns passing the window with a loud “A*****e.”  With her husband now dressed and placed in front of the window where he would have to continue to face the torment of the two ravens she said “Enjoy your day dear,” then gave that same evil laugh he had given her on the day of their wedding.

Meeting the Doc

                She continued to lay there staring at what now she was sure a Tiffany lamp shade.  Her pillow was soaking wet from her tears but she was helpless to do anything except stare at that awful ugly lamp shade.  As far as she could tell it had been a couple of hours since her husband had left, but she heard a car on the gravel driveway outside.  Then she heard a car door shut, footsteps crossing the gravel to the porch, then the front door of the cottage opening.  “S**t I hate this place” she heard a voice say.  Walking into the bedroom the gentleman was shocked to see his patient was awake.  He fumbled with a quick apology about his comment upon entering the cottage then introduced himself.

                So this is the town doctor, who also happened to be the father of someone that she used to call friend or was she still a friend.  She managed a very soft and slow “It’s okay Doc, I don’t care for it much either.”  He managed a small grin before saying “Let me get you some relief from the pain and then I will explain everything.”  He reach into his bag pulled out a syringe and emptied the contents into; which she was just noticing for the first time, an IV line.  She felt an almost instant euphoria looked at the Doc saying at the same time as him “morphine” he smiled and because of the morphine she was able to manage a small grin.

                “I guess you have a lot of questions the most obvious one being why a man who took an oath to heal people would work for a person like your husband? Believe me when I say I wish I didn’t and am surprised he called me for you.  He probably won’t have except you gone into a seizure and he doesn’t want you dead” he finished while a small tear was running down his cheek.  She continued looking at him so he took that as a silent “Okay get on with it Doc.”  Taking a deep breath in then slowly releasing it he went on to explain.  Her husband’s family was not all monsters like her husband.  On the contrary the doctor believed the meanness started with her husband’s mother.  Her late father-in-law had been an only child and despite the looks of the small cabin cottage came from a very wealthy family.

                She grinned at the doctor nodding towards that ugly lamp shade hanging above them.  “You have a good eye for the antiques I see” he said.  She gave him a scowl that ended with her moaning in pain from the movement of making such a gesture.  He corrected himself when he understood the reason behind the scowl.  “Oh yeah, I see what you mean it’s obvious the family is wealthy if they own a Tiffany lamp shade” she nodded letting him know that is exactly what she meant.  The doctor continued to tell her what he knew of her husband’s mother and father.  Her father-in-law had gone off to college upon returning he brought with him his wife.  She happened to be a beautiful creature on the outside, but was rotten as hell inside.  The new wife was aware of her new families’ money and thought them backwards for living such a simple life style.

                However, new wife’s mother-in-law knew from the start that her now daughter-in-law was an evil hag.  “Sorry if that sounded harsh but that was how your husband’s grandmother spoke of his mother” he explained.  She nodded toward the Doc and moaned “You knew” he confirmed with an “Oh yeah I knew your husband’s grandmother she was a very lovely woman. His mother I hate to say was an evil hag” she grinned when the Doc winked at her.  “I digress though I was explaining why I work for your husband” he stated getting himself back on topic.  The Doc continued by stating that he needed to make her aware that the family she herself had just married into is wealthy; which in turn ended with him the Doc being indebted to her husband’s family.

                Doc continued with he never knew wanting to be anything else but a doctor, but his parents didn’t have the financial means to send him to college let alone medical school.  Doc’s family had owned the local dry cleaners and laundry at the time.  He remembers his mother taking on alternations and mending to earn extra money.  “But it just so happened that your husband’s grandfather was my father’s best friend; so it came to past that my father’s friend paid my way through college and then medical school.  My father tired in many ways to repay his friend for his kindness, but he wouldn’t take anything.  He told my father that he was only making an investment in the town, because it might one day need a good doctor.  Of course, if he knew the business his grandson and evil hag daughter-in-law was going to send my way he might have felt differently about the situation” the Doc said with a shrug.  “Anyway long story short your husband’s grandfather died of a heart attack on my trip home to open a medical clinic here in town; which left your husband’s father in charge of the family fortune.  But what that really meant was the evil hag was now in charge” the Doc shuttered check to see if she was still awake and continued.

                “When the evil hag was pregnant with her first child it was born premature and the poor little one’s lungs just couldn’t keep up.  The baby; which was a girl made it to be one month old to the day before passing” tears were now freely flowing from Doc’s eyes, but  he continued speaking “After that the evil hag owned me.  My guilt from not being able to save her daughter and the fact that it was the families money that paid for my schooling put me right here in the situation I am in, so I have no one to blame, but myself.  When the evil hag asked for the first of many medical cover ups I could have said no, but I didn’t and now I have gone too far to even begin to make it right.  It would mean embarrassment for my family and crush my daughter’s heart to know her father was in league with the devil” he wiped the tears from his face looked her straight in the eyes and said “All I can do now is patch you up, try to help keep the pain to a minimum and hope that we don’t have a constant visitation schedule” he finished like a man that had just gave confession and went on to give her what he called “a look over.”

                She came to learn that she was bruised from head to toe and her face was unrecognizable; after threating to try and get out of bed several times to see for herself the doctor had finally handed her a mirror.   She also discovered she had been out for over a week.  The story spreading through town was that the pick-ups door had opened; which caused her to fall out and be run over by the back tire of the truck.  The groom of course was completely distraught making it necessary for the doctor to visit frequently because the groom couldn’t stand to be away from his beloved wife.  The Doc also informed her that it was Friday so she had a whole week of recovery before her Thursday phone call.  He then took the lid off the pain pills and left two extra syringes of morphine with strict instructions not to do anything stupid or it would come back on him.  He removed her catheter; which she also had not been aware of, had her sit on a bed pan until she went on her own.  When she was done he removed the pan, handed her a wet wipe and left the room; coming back to the bedroom the doctor explained that he would be back later this afternoon to check on her and this ended up being their routine for the next two weeks.  The doctor would come three times a day administer care, feed her meals, and give the required amount of pain medications before she was able to move without assistance.

 

Finding a Friend and Making a Plan

                She was into her fifth week of convalescence when she found Salem.  It was during Doc’s weekly visit; now that it had been reported she was moving on her own her husband had restricted Doc to one visit a week.  During the two weeks when Doc was coming three times a day a friendship was built.  The more she heard of Doc’s situation the more she realized he was just as much a prisoner has she was, only with extra privileges that she was not allowed.  Although the conversations were not directly about her health and the process of her recovery; they inadvertently were helping her learn how to manipulate her husband and what she would need to do to survive.  They had come up with and plan and agreed to put their plan in motion and were testing it on her first Thursday night call.  She still smiles when she remembers how it had worked and how when it was over both she and the Doc ended laughing hysterically.  This was the one week Doc had told her about on their first meeting.  During that week and after several more conversations with Doc, more stories about some of the town’s people situation, stories about her husband and her deceased mother-in- law she realized that it was not just her life in danger but others as well.

                It was five minutes to six; the Doc had placed a chair by the old rotatory phone that hung on the kitchen wall.  They were trying to compose themselves, because upon her first sight of the kitchen and her comment after entering had the doctor confused.            

“Good God” she wrinkled her face into a look of disgust and wonderment at the same time.

“What? The chair is just a few more steps you can do it” he encouraged.

“No! Doc. Are you not seeing the same thing I am seeing?” she asked with some bewilderment.

“Well, No I guess I am not. It’s an average kitchen” he said shrugging “Yeah maybe it’s a little out dated, but I am a fan of the sixties look, so I kind of like it” he said looking around.

“Really Doc?” she asked with amusement.

“Because this is exactly what I would imagine the Leave it to Beaver kitchen would look like if it was in color” she finished settling herself in the chair.  When she had looked up at the phone she couldn’t help but mumble “Of course, why shouldn’t it be.”

“What?” the Doc asked still not understanding her meaning.

Pointing up at the phone she stated “Pastel pink Doc, from what I have learned about my husband’s dearly departed mother this week; from your mouth remember, you are still not getting the irony of this kitchen.  Even down to that damn a*s ugly pastel pink rotatory phone hanging on a pastel green wall”

“Well I said I was a fan of the sixties” he said while scanning the kitchen again thinking he had certainly missed something.

She shook her head because she had learned after just her second visit with the Doc that he did not grasp sarcasm right away.  She now remembers making a mental note about needing to correct it.

“Doc, my husband’s mother and this kitchen, think about it? It’s not that hard”

He looked nervous like he might give a wrong answer causing him to fail the test.

“Well obliviously it is because I still am not seeing the bases of your humor” he snapped.

“Doc, the lady you have been describing this whole week and this kitchen” she said while motioning with her hand to really look at this area.

“Well . . . she was evil incarnate, she was domineering and demanded complete submission from an individual and Lord help anyone who decided to cr…” he paused smiled and continued “Oh! This kitchen looks like sweet Mrs. June Cleaver, where as your husband’s mother was the wicked witch of the west” he started grinning at himself that he was able to figure out her joke.

“There you go Doc I knew you could do it” she said like a teacher does a student that just figured out a complicated math problem, while patty his arm.

He quit grinning saying “Do you have to make a joke out of everything?”  He was sitting opposite of her in one of the stainless steel chairs with a pastel yellow cushioned back rest and seat.  She realized that he was scared for her, mad about feeling helpless, worried about others and taking the responsibility of her husband’s actions onto himself and just wanted to make sure she was taking the plan seriously.  However she refused to lose herself while in the process of getting out of this s**t hole and she used humor as a release.  So in her best June Cleaver voice she said “Yes, Ward I understand Beaver is a very dangerous individual and we should work very hard not to upset him.”

“This is seri…” he started to say but was unable to finish because she was looking at him with a sweet obedient wife from any corny TV series ever made during the sixties and started laughing.

                The laughter and amusement ended with a loud shrilling ring from that ugly a*s phone.

“Remember what we discussed you can do this” the Doc said as he picked up the phone on the fourth ring.

“Hello, I know Sir but I have her seated right next to the phone, she still has trouble lifting her arms” he was silent for a moment.  She noticed he relaxed his posture and continued talking, only this time he was a professional doctor giving an assessment of his patient.

                “Well, Sir I am quite happy with her progress.  She was very lucky not to have broken anything during her fall.  Yes, it’s mainly a lot of bruising and the concussion.  The unconsciousness for that length of time is not unheard of with a patient that has suffered a major trauma such as your wife’s, it’s the body’s way of healing itself” he went silent again, but was shaking and nodding his head.  Damn this was killing her that she could not hear the other side of the conversation.  She wanted to hear her husband’s voice; there was a lot to be learned from a person’s voice.  This man on the other end of the line that was now speaking about her private medical care and progress to someone; up until a week ago was a complete stranger was not the man she thought she had married.

                “Yes Sir, everything is good in that area as well, I don’t see this accident affecting her ability to have children” he said blushing and trying to avoid making eye contact with her.

“Right, I would like to see her three times a day until she is able to move by herself, if that is alright with you?  No Sir, she requires assistance in the smallest actions, I can do that I will just schedule her as my last patient of the day at this time on Thursdays.  I know and understand she is waiting to speak with you as well Sir, okay I look forward to speaking with you also next Thursday, here she is” finished he handed her the phone covering the receiver as he whispered “Remember what we practiced.”

                She took the phone placed it to her ear saying “Hi, sweetheart” to begin the conversation.

“Hey, sweetie you are sounding really well.  The doctor is taking good care of you I hope” she was shaking with rage that he would be talking as if he had done nothing wrong.  As if the story that is being circulated around town was the truth.

“He is” she replied trying to calm herself down.

“That’s good; he has been the family doctor, since before me.  The old coot is a bit serious, but he means well” her husband ended with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I know what you mean” she giggled and then was able to continued talking with him as she had done when they were dating, before she discovered he was a monster.

“Are you okay sweetheart? Are you getting enough to eat, enough sleep? Maybe I should be with you on these trips so I can take care of you at least until we start having children” the Doc rolled his eyes and she silently prayed that he didn’t take her up on that offer.

“I don’t want you worrin’ about me sweetie.  You just focus on getting better and don’t worry about the house work quiet yet.  The woman that runs the bar will come in and clean until you are ready to do it on your own”

“I don’t know dear, do we really want a stranger in our home?”

“Listen to you already caring about following the rules; I like that but don’t worry she is the one that did it for me before we got married.  Besides she can show you the proper way it’s done.”

“Oh! I didn’t think about that, you’re right it’s best to learn the correct way first.”

“That’s my girl! Now what are your plans for the week” he asked.

                She couldn’t help but think, Oh my God!  Is this man really that delusional or is it that much confidence in himself that he can carry on a conversation that would generally take place between normal married couples.  Instead of the truth, that he was talking to a woman he married, raped and beat the s**t out of all in one day.  She turned pale, started sweating and feeling dizzy and without realizing it said into the phone “Baby, I don’t feel so well” and fainted.

*****

                She awoke with the most disgusting smell under her nose and angry because she was in the middle of a wonderful dream.  Fighting to push the smell from her nose, while trying to recover her senses she hears “Quit fighting and just wake up.”

“Doc is that you?” she questioned.

“Yes, it’s me who else would it be?” he groaned.

                Finally realizing where she was and what had just happened she started to panic and frantically asked “Did I mess it up, was he angry, he isn’t coming home is he?”

“No calm down it actually worked to our advantage” said the Doc.

“Really how?” she asked

“Well it was more of a show for me than anything.  You see he has been playing the role of concerned loving husband, so when you fainted and dropped the phone he had no choice but to continue with that role.”

                The Doc smiled and continued to tell her what had happened after she fainted.  Before she could fall Doc had caught her picking up the phone he had explained to her husband that his wife had fainted. The Doc asked her husband for permission to set the phone down so he could attend to his wife.  Her husband still playing the doting groom over his injured bride naturally agreed.  Doc set the phone on the seat of the chair, picking her up quickly and placed you haphazardly on the bed, then returned and picked up the phone.  The Doc explained to her husband that things like this will happen; his wife is weak, on strong medications and still suffering the effects of the concussion.

                Her husband playing his role agreed with the doctor’s prognosis and displayed less suspicion and concern about the three times a day visits that had been requested.  “I believe that if he had any second thoughts about making the decision to allow me to care for you they are now squashed” the Doc ended excitedly.

“Good” was all she had time to say before she needed to quickly lean over the bed grab a basin placed there for just this purpose and threw up.  The Doc handed her a wet wash cloth when she was finished, took the now full basin to the bathroom.  She heard a splash in the toilet; which kind of made her gag, the toilet flushing and turned to watch as the Doc returned to the bedroom.  She looked at the Doc grinned and started laughing hysterically, slight confused but realizing what he has learned about this patient he joined in with the laughter.

To Be Continued... 

Author's Note

My characters or taking a life on of their own each needing a back story. Unfortunately for you guys it's making my story longer. I am not so sure was qualifies as a short story to when it becomes a book