| A Dream Within a Dream! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Eleven |
As Jacob stood evaluating Paracelsus, he credulously noted, "Listen to how you are speaking! You act as if she never touched your life, or your heart!"
Paracelsus angrily explained, "You are right...my heart has grown callous and cold. When I lost Anna's devotion, I lost everything. You can't possibly understand how it was for me back then...Anna so much wanted to have a child."
Paracelsus lowered his head, and tearfully remembered, "Then when Anna miscarried, the child she struggled so to carry, everything changed between us...she became lost...so lost. Then Anna found Vincent...and I hoped we could be happy once more. Now that she had a child to love and care for."
Paracelsus once more looked down to where Vincent painfully lay, and as he tightly grasped the bars of the cage with his clenched hands, he then angrily added, "However it was you, always you Jacob, that Anna turned to. Not to me as she should have! I was her husband, and I loved her."
Jacob remembered too those days, and he recalled how driven John was. Barely sleeping, working endless hours and experimenting with a drug that he was developing.
Jacob nodded his head as he inserted, "Yes Anna turned to me...she had to! You...you were on the verge of some grandiose discovery, and you didn't have the time to devote to them. You were hardly ever there, and when you would appear from your laboratory, your demeanor was frightening, and in an altered state."
Paracelsus shouted, "I had to complete my study...and while I labored, you were stealing my family...my wife and ultimately my child."
Jacob lowered his voice and calmly said, "John...it was you Anna loved and needed, you the good man she once knew and consented to marry...not me."
Jacob then remembered how pervasively possessive John was of Anna. Then as Vincent entered their lives, he became obsessively possessive of him too.
Vincent, the helpless infant. After a time John tried to keep everyone away from him, especially Jacob, even though he knew Jacob loved him as well, loved him as much as he had claimed to.
Jacob then added, "You tried to isolate Vincent, and deprive him of the community getting to know and love him. Thanks to Anna's insight, she knew how important this bond would be, and saw to it, that it happened. Vincent in his infantile innocence could not know he was the binding foundation of which our community was missing, and needing to thrive, survive and exist. Vincent enabled us to look outside of ourselves and find a purpose in our lives again, he nurtured the giving loving nature in all of our hearts. Yes John, it is true...Vincent needed to connect to the community, he needed this world to live in...and we needed him. And think...had the tunnels failed, where could he have gone? What kind of life could he have lead?"
Paracelsus looked back at him, and for a moment Jacob thought he saw a spark of remorse in his eyes, as the dawning acknowledgment of Jacob's truthful, words settled in.
Jacob pushed to connect with one more plea, "For Anna, John, be the man she loved, and once knew. Set Vincent and Catherine free. I promise you, we are not leaving without them, and we will fight to our last dying breath if we have to."
Paracelsus looked around at the rescue team and then back at Jacob and said, "You are no competition for my army...you know that don't you Jacob."
Jacob resignedly nodded, "Yes I know that, we all know that is true."
Paracelsus winced as he looked at Jacob, and in an unbelievable manner said, "Still, you are willing to fight for their freedom, at the risk of sacrificing all your lives?"
Jacob looked to the others behind him for affirmation, and as they all stepped up in line to join him, he lowered his head humbled by their devotion. Jacob looked back at Paracelsus and said, "If necessary John...yes we are prepared for such a sacrifice."
Jacob stepped closer to Paracelsus and said, "Somehow though, John, I don't feel it will need to come to that. It is your last chance to demonstrate to Vincent you love him, if it were to be you...who unlocked that cage."
Catherine watched on and she prayed Jacob would get through to Paracelsus. As she cradled Vincent's head on her lap, she applied pressure to his gaping head wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
Jennifer could see the desperation in Catherine's eyes, and she then too pleaded, "Please let them go Pair-a-seltzers, please. Listen to Pops! You know he is right, Vincent will at least respect you for letting them out of there."
Paracelsus stepped up to Jennifer, and asked, "So you feel respect is all I can expect for my good deed?"
Jennifer tipped her head and said, "That's a great start isn't it?"
Paracelsus dreamily nodded, and said, "Mrs. Applebee told me the same thing as I once nursed my broken pubescent puerile heart. She told me it was far nobler to win one's respect than it was to win ones love. At the time I thought she was merely reconciling the explanation from my unrequited love, a beautiful redheaded girl, who had told me she did not love me, but did respect me."
Paracelsus lowered his head, and dropped the keys to the cage onto the dusty stone floor, and as he turned to walk through the cavern's threshold, he turned his head and said, "Jacob, when you receive the test results from the vile, then you will know...know everything. Go now and leave here. I am sick of all of you."
Slowly he walked out, leaving them to return safely back home to care for Vincent's injuries.
As they walked towards home, Pascal tapped a triumphant message on the pipes. The message said they were all returning back home.
He included a SOS as well, saying they needed help with Vincent as the drug he had been given, made it difficult to support him.
Jacob asked Pascal to include a request for Peter to come down to the tunnels ASAP, because he will need his help doctoring Vincent.
Several of the men ran to their aid with a cot, and as they placed a complacent Vincent upon it, they all took their turn to help carry their brave fallen warrior.
Although their coming home was a victorious occasion, the mood among the rescue party, and of the rescued, was sullen. They were all so worried about Vincent.
Jacob and Catherine walked arm in arm, silently behind the cot. Partly for emotional support, but Catherine also wanted to help assist Jacob too, as Vincent would do whenever they walked along together.
Pascal, Jamie and Mouse followed silently behind them, exchanging knowing looks as they all prayed for Vincent's recovery.
Jennifer walked along side Ronald, and as they walked, he reached for her hand. Jennifer turned to look at Ronald and he in turn looked back, both feeling the enormity of the days events. And though Jennifer was normally verbose, she did know when her silence was appreciated, and knew this was definitely one of those times.
Most of the community walked to meet and welcome them back, and it was Mary and Rebecca who were at the front of the pack.
They both looked down at Vincent, and Mary shook her head with worry, and Rebecca burst out crying! Catherine put her arms around Rebecca and said, "He will be all right Rebecca. He has a few surface injuries, and Father will have Peter check and make sure there are no internal ones too. It is the affect of the drug Paracelsus injected in him that has Vincent in such a state. So until we know more...try not to worry."
Rebecca looked back at Catherine and said, "I will try Catherine. I will try."
Mary approached Jacob, wanting to hug him but could not. She had tears in her eyes as she said, "Father, you are safe...I am so thankful you all are."
Jacob with a quivering smile said, "Yes Mary, I wasn't sure I would ever see you again. He then tried to cover up his obvious singled out homage to Mary, by spanning the crowd and saying more generically, "See any of you again."
With a bit of levity to his voice, Jacob announced, "Due to the bravery of these people...my friends...and my son...we are all back safely home. Thank you all!"
By the time they returned to the tunnel main, Peter had arrived and he helped Jacob clean and bandage Vincent's wounds. Vincent's condition did not seem to be life threatening, but he was in a calm, spent state, that left him just short of comatose.
Both Peter and Jacob agreed, that once the drug wore off, he might be pretty sore, but should be fine.
Catherine was the only one besides Mary and Rebecca allowed in the hospital chamber, and she never left his side. She stepped back when needed, as not to be in the doctor's way, but returned faithfully back, reaching through their bond telling Vincent how much she loved him, and that he would be all right.
Jacob and Peter decided Vincent could be transported back to his own chamber where he would be more comfortable.
As Vincent began to rally, Catherine tearfully looked at him, and told him, "Hi Vincent, we are home...safely home just as you promised."
Vincent looked at Catherine anxiously and asked, "How is Father?"
Catherine smoothed his hair and said, "He is fine Vincent. He is right here."
Jacob then stepped to the bed, and said, "Here I am"
Vincent weakly smiled and said, "Father...and the others?"
Jacob assuredly answered, "Everyone is fine Vincent, and all anxiously awaiting your prognosis. What would you have me tell them my son?"
Vincent looked to Jacob and said, "Tell them I am planning on a speedy recovery Father."
As Vincent then looked deeply into Catherine's eyes he said, "And you and I have a date I long to keep."
To be continued
Chapter Twelve
Paracelsus angrily explained, "You are right...my heart has grown callous and cold. When I lost Anna's devotion, I lost everything. You can't possibly understand how it was for me back then...Anna so much wanted to have a child."
Paracelsus lowered his head, and tearfully remembered, "Then when Anna miscarried, the child she struggled so to carry, everything changed between us...she became lost...so lost. Then Anna found Vincent...and I hoped we could be happy once more. Now that she had a child to love and care for."
Paracelsus once more looked down to where Vincent painfully lay, and as he tightly grasped the bars of the cage with his clenched hands, he then angrily added, "However it was you, always you Jacob, that Anna turned to. Not to me as she should have! I was her husband, and I loved her."
Jacob remembered too those days, and he recalled how driven John was. Barely sleeping, working endless hours and experimenting with a drug that he was developing.
Jacob nodded his head as he inserted, "Yes Anna turned to me...she had to! You...you were on the verge of some grandiose discovery, and you didn't have the time to devote to them. You were hardly ever there, and when you would appear from your laboratory, your demeanor was frightening, and in an altered state."
Paracelsus shouted, "I had to complete my study...and while I labored, you were stealing my family...my wife and ultimately my child."
Jacob lowered his voice and calmly said, "John...it was you Anna loved and needed, you the good man she once knew and consented to marry...not me."
Jacob then remembered how pervasively possessive John was of Anna. Then as Vincent entered their lives, he became obsessively possessive of him too.
Vincent, the helpless infant. After a time John tried to keep everyone away from him, especially Jacob, even though he knew Jacob loved him as well, loved him as much as he had claimed to.
Jacob then added, "You tried to isolate Vincent, and deprive him of the community getting to know and love him. Thanks to Anna's insight, she knew how important this bond would be, and saw to it, that it happened. Vincent in his infantile innocence could not know he was the binding foundation of which our community was missing, and needing to thrive, survive and exist. Vincent enabled us to look outside of ourselves and find a purpose in our lives again, he nurtured the giving loving nature in all of our hearts. Yes John, it is true...Vincent needed to connect to the community, he needed this world to live in...and we needed him. And think...had the tunnels failed, where could he have gone? What kind of life could he have lead?"
Paracelsus looked back at him, and for a moment Jacob thought he saw a spark of remorse in his eyes, as the dawning acknowledgment of Jacob's truthful, words settled in.
Jacob pushed to connect with one more plea, "For Anna, John, be the man she loved, and once knew. Set Vincent and Catherine free. I promise you, we are not leaving without them, and we will fight to our last dying breath if we have to."
Paracelsus looked around at the rescue team and then back at Jacob and said, "You are no competition for my army...you know that don't you Jacob."
Jacob resignedly nodded, "Yes I know that, we all know that is true."
Paracelsus winced as he looked at Jacob, and in an unbelievable manner said, "Still, you are willing to fight for their freedom, at the risk of sacrificing all your lives?"
Jacob looked to the others behind him for affirmation, and as they all stepped up in line to join him, he lowered his head humbled by their devotion. Jacob looked back at Paracelsus and said, "If necessary John...yes we are prepared for such a sacrifice."
Jacob stepped closer to Paracelsus and said, "Somehow though, John, I don't feel it will need to come to that. It is your last chance to demonstrate to Vincent you love him, if it were to be you...who unlocked that cage."
Catherine watched on and she prayed Jacob would get through to Paracelsus. As she cradled Vincent's head on her lap, she applied pressure to his gaping head wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
Jennifer could see the desperation in Catherine's eyes, and she then too pleaded, "Please let them go Pair-a-seltzers, please. Listen to Pops! You know he is right, Vincent will at least respect you for letting them out of there."
Paracelsus stepped up to Jennifer, and asked, "So you feel respect is all I can expect for my good deed?"
Jennifer tipped her head and said, "That's a great start isn't it?"
Paracelsus dreamily nodded, and said, "Mrs. Applebee told me the same thing as I once nursed my broken pubescent puerile heart. She told me it was far nobler to win one's respect than it was to win ones love. At the time I thought she was merely reconciling the explanation from my unrequited love, a beautiful redheaded girl, who had told me she did not love me, but did respect me."
Paracelsus lowered his head, and dropped the keys to the cage onto the dusty stone floor, and as he turned to walk through the cavern's threshold, he turned his head and said, "Jacob, when you receive the test results from the vile, then you will know...know everything. Go now and leave here. I am sick of all of you."
Slowly he walked out, leaving them to return safely back home to care for Vincent's injuries.
As they walked towards home, Pascal tapped a triumphant message on the pipes. The message said they were all returning back home.
He included a SOS as well, saying they needed help with Vincent as the drug he had been given, made it difficult to support him.
Jacob asked Pascal to include a request for Peter to come down to the tunnels ASAP, because he will need his help doctoring Vincent.
Several of the men ran to their aid with a cot, and as they placed a complacent Vincent upon it, they all took their turn to help carry their brave fallen warrior.
Although their coming home was a victorious occasion, the mood among the rescue party, and of the rescued, was sullen. They were all so worried about Vincent.
Jacob and Catherine walked arm in arm, silently behind the cot. Partly for emotional support, but Catherine also wanted to help assist Jacob too, as Vincent would do whenever they walked along together.
Pascal, Jamie and Mouse followed silently behind them, exchanging knowing looks as they all prayed for Vincent's recovery.
Jennifer walked along side Ronald, and as they walked, he reached for her hand. Jennifer turned to look at Ronald and he in turn looked back, both feeling the enormity of the days events. And though Jennifer was normally verbose, she did know when her silence was appreciated, and knew this was definitely one of those times.
Most of the community walked to meet and welcome them back, and it was Mary and Rebecca who were at the front of the pack.
They both looked down at Vincent, and Mary shook her head with worry, and Rebecca burst out crying! Catherine put her arms around Rebecca and said, "He will be all right Rebecca. He has a few surface injuries, and Father will have Peter check and make sure there are no internal ones too. It is the affect of the drug Paracelsus injected in him that has Vincent in such a state. So until we know more...try not to worry."
Rebecca looked back at Catherine and said, "I will try Catherine. I will try."
Mary approached Jacob, wanting to hug him but could not. She had tears in her eyes as she said, "Father, you are safe...I am so thankful you all are."
Jacob with a quivering smile said, "Yes Mary, I wasn't sure I would ever see you again. He then tried to cover up his obvious singled out homage to Mary, by spanning the crowd and saying more generically, "See any of you again."
With a bit of levity to his voice, Jacob announced, "Due to the bravery of these people...my friends...and my son...we are all back safely home. Thank you all!"
By the time they returned to the tunnel main, Peter had arrived and he helped Jacob clean and bandage Vincent's wounds. Vincent's condition did not seem to be life threatening, but he was in a calm, spent state, that left him just short of comatose.
Both Peter and Jacob agreed, that once the drug wore off, he might be pretty sore, but should be fine.
Catherine was the only one besides Mary and Rebecca allowed in the hospital chamber, and she never left his side. She stepped back when needed, as not to be in the doctor's way, but returned faithfully back, reaching through their bond telling Vincent how much she loved him, and that he would be all right.
Jacob and Peter decided Vincent could be transported back to his own chamber where he would be more comfortable.
As Vincent began to rally, Catherine tearfully looked at him, and told him, "Hi Vincent, we are home...safely home just as you promised."
Vincent looked at Catherine anxiously and asked, "How is Father?"
Catherine smoothed his hair and said, "He is fine Vincent. He is right here."
Jacob then stepped to the bed, and said, "Here I am"
Vincent weakly smiled and said, "Father...and the others?"
Jacob assuredly answered, "Everyone is fine Vincent, and all anxiously awaiting your prognosis. What would you have me tell them my son?"
Vincent looked to Jacob and said, "Tell them I am planning on a speedy recovery Father."
As Vincent then looked deeply into Catherine's eyes he said, "And you and I have a date I long to keep."
To be continued
Chapter Twelve
