Meanwhile, much to her relief Catherine finally returned home! After all the pit
stops they made, she wondered if she would ever make it!
Jennifer parked the car, and told her Mom she would be right back, she was just
gonna get Gonzy.
And so she accompanied Catherine up to her apartment, where immediately
after Catherine unlocked her door, Jennifer rushed inside ahead of her!
Lovingly, she picked up Gonzy's bowl, and said, "There's my little Gonzy,
come on little buddy, ready to go home?"
Jennifer then turned to Catherine, and with amazement said, "I believe a change
of pace had really done wonders for Gonz, look at him! He looks so
refreshed!"
As Catherine peeked inside the bowl, she sweetly placated Jennifer, by nodding
in agreement, and said, "Yes, he certainly does seem well rested."
Noticing the clock, Catherine shrieked, "Oh my goodness Jen, its nearly 9:30!
Was the clock wrong in the car?"
As Jennifer opened the door to leave, she said, "Yea, it's off about an hour and
a half, sorry thought you knew."
Excitedly, Catherine said, "I didn't realize, maybe we shouldn't have stopped for
those ice cream sundaes!"
To which Jennifer told her, "You know Mom! If you are on the road you stop
for ice cream!
Besides don't worry, I am sure your mystery man will call no matter how late..."
Redirecting her conversation to Gonzy, Jennifer said, "Well your vacation is
over, and we better get Grandma home a.s.a.p.! She gets cranky when she gets
constipated, doesn't she."
Jennifer then turned to Catherine, and smiled as she teasingly said, "Tell that Dr.
Man of yours hi for me, when you hear from him."
Yes, Jennifer still held the belief, the mystery guy really was Peter! And so
Jennifer continued, "And about your issues, well I'm sure being a doctor and all,
Peter knows all about VIAGRA!"
And because it was so creepy thinking of Peter that way, Catherine squealed,
"Jen! It isn't Peter, now stop it!"
Growing more and more anxious, Catherine began to worry Vincent may be
waiting for her out on the balcony! So in an attempt to get Jennifer out of her
apartment, she said, "Well you better go, drive careful, and thanks for letting me
tag along."
Nodding, Jennifer replied, "Are you kidding, Thank YOU!"
Trying not to close the door too quickly, Catherine promised, "I'll call!"
As quick as the door closed Catherine headed for the balcony to check for
Vincent.
Bursting through the doors, Catherine looked around, and sadly, there was no
sign of him yet. The thought crossed her mind, maybe she had missed him. But
if she had, surely he would return.
From the moment they said their tearful farewell, time passed so slowly, she
thought tonight would never come! And now that it had, she hoped she would
not be disappointed for its arrival, because she held out great hope, tonight,
Vincent would be hers once more.
Entering her apartment, she slowly closed the balcony doors, and noticed she
had a message on her answering machine. After Catherine listened to the first
four messages, she grew impatient listening! The first one was from a solicitor,
the next from the dry cleaners, the third call was from Willie, her Dad's old
housekeeper, then next, a message from Joe, reminding her of Tuesday's
deposition. Finally getting to the remaining message Catherine heard Peter's
voice, and listened intently to his message, as he said, "Cathy, I don't want to
alarm you but there has been a cave-in below in the tunnels. It is now 7:30p.m.
I don't know any details yet, but I am going below immediately. I would advise
you do the same as soon as you get this message. Kiddo, we may need your
help!"
Catherine stood in stunned silence, lamenting, that has been 2 hours ago! What
if Vincent has been hurt!
Peter's message was a bit vague, and it caused Catherine to wonder if he was
keeping some information from her, and so Catherine raced below as quickly as
she could, trying desperately to think positive, and not assume the worst.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile below, since Vincent had eaten, and his pillows had been fluffed,
Jacob tried to usher everyone from his room since he was now sleeping, saying
he needed to rest, so peace and quiet was imperative.
But of course Mary felt she needed to stay, and both Pascal and Rebecca felt
indispensable as well, saying they better not leave either.
However, because Jacob had noticed how all the activity earlier had caused
Vincent angst, he assuredly said, "I promise, we will keep you posted as to his
condition, however, now that all the excitement is over, what I really need is for
quiet within this chamber, and for everyone to carry on with normal duties."
Well after every argument on why it was important for each of them to stay was
ultimately lost, finally Mary, Rebecca, and Pascal reluctantly began to file out of
Vincent's chamber...oh and Mouse followed too.
But before Mouse could get away, Jacob firmly whispered, "EVERYONE that
is but Mouse! Mouse I would like to see YOU in my chamber! I will be there
directly!"
Guiltily, Mouse lowered his eyes, and shuffled and shifted before he exited
Vincent's chamber. Yes Mouse felt bad Vincent was hurt trying to rescue him,
especially since he was told to forget about exploring that area! But the good
thing was...he DID find an alternate route!
Yes though Mouse found an alternate route, he knew this information would
have to wait, until Jacob wasn't so upset with him. So on he went ahead of
Jacob, to await his scolding.
Meantime, with one last check of Vincent's forearm, Jacob turned to Peter to
say, "Well, I will go and deal with Mouse...I will check back afterwards..."
To which Peter declared, "No need my friend, I have the night shift remember?"
With a fond pat to Peter's shoulder, Jacob said thank you, and added, "Call if
you need me...and try to get some shut eye."
To which Peter scoffed, "Yeah like during the ole intern days, sleep with one
eye shut and one eye opened."
With a chuckle Jacob, nodded thinking back on those days of a young intern,
and then he left to deal with Mouse...the tunnel's adventurer!
So now for the moment, only Peter remained within Vincent's chamber, and
after he checked on Vincent, and satisfied with his vitals, he himself began to
feel quite exhausted,and so he settled in on the vintage fainting couch in the
corner, and unexpectedly began to snooze too!
As Catherine raced through the tunnels, she came upon Mouse, to whom she
anxiously asked, "Mouse, tell me, is everyone all right, is Vincent all right?"
In response, Mouse lowered his head shamefully, as he told Catherine, "Just
Vincent got hurt..guess its all my fault..."
To which Catherine urgently, yet hesitantly asked, "How badly is he hurt
Mouse."
To which Mouse guiltily replied, "Bad enough he has to rest in his chamber,
Father said he will be fine, just good thing Vincent didn't bleed to death. Peter is
with him now."
Without waiting for any more details, she ran the rest of the way, and as she
stood, standing at the threshold, she saw Vincent was sleeping, so she walked in
slowly, and with her hand to her mouth, she was in shocked disbelief.
As she looked about for Peter, she saw him soundly sleeping too, in the corner
of the chamber.
And so as not to wake the good doctor, she gingerly stepped to Vincent's bed,
and looked down at his incredible face, and it broke Catherine's heart, seeing
him looking so helpless and vulnerable!
As Catherine noticed his bandaged arm, she then looked over the rest of him to
see if anything else seemed injured. And because of all she didn't yet know
about his injuries, she sat down in the neighboring chair, and let go of her
emotions, which erupted from the depths of her worried weary soul.
As her mind wondered, Catherine wondered what she would do if anything had
happened to Vincent, and what if she was never able to tell him all the things
she imagined telling him? The things she wrote to him in her journal.
As Catherine's presence stirred him, Vincent looked over, and could not believe
Catherine was there! She had come to him! And so he softly told her,
"Catherine, you came..."
Upon hearing his voice, Catherine looked up, and tearfully, asked, "I was so
frightened. Please tell me you are going to be all right!"
Glancing down at his bandaged forearm, he told her, "I received a cut to my
arm Catherine, nothing more. It is just the amount of blood I lost which had
Peter and Father concerned."
Thoughtfully, he then added, "There is so much I want to tell you, so much to
share with you. I was on my way above when the cave in occurred, hindering
my intention. Now waking to find you here..."
Taking Catherine's hand in his, he marveled, "...even after I hurt you, you are
here..."
Catherine tearfully admitted, "The whole time I was away, I realized one thing,
no matter what you were going to tell me tonight, you will always be apart of
me."
Vincent tenderly wiped the tears from her face, and said, "I made a promise to
you before you left, do you remember?"
Catherine held her breath as she silently answered with a hesitant nod, and as
she found her voice, she finally said, "Yes I remember..."
As Vincent looked down upon Catherine's hand in his, he admired its delicate
beauty as he told her, "I kept that promise..."
To be continued
Chapter Seventeen
| Where Rainbows End! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Sixteen |
