Good Friends

Elliot had been taken to the security office to await the police. By the time the police got there, Mark had already agreed not to press charges against Elliot. They loaded him up with painkillers after setting his nose and tried to admit him to a room but he refused. He told them that he needed to go and try to talk to Elliot. Both the doctors and the security staff thought that facing Elliot again would be a very stupid thing to do. Mark tried to explain to them that he understood why Elliot had done it. Elliot loved Kathy with an intensity that most people would never know. Mark must have said something or done something to trigger his friend's anger. If beating Mark made Elliot feel better, and then Mark would take another beating.

The doctor tried to explain to Mark that he might not survive another beating like that. Mark just shrugged his shoulders. "We've all got to go sometime," he said.

Back in the emergency room, Kathy floated above her body. 'They must have given me some really powerful drugs, she thought. I can actually look down and see myself on the table. It feels good to be out of myself though. I was in so much pain. There's no way I want to go back to that. I hope they keep me doped up until most of the pain goes away. I've heard about really stupid things they do in hospitals, like waking you up to give you a sleeping pill. Or sometimes they take you off of your pain medication while you're still in a lot of pain. I hope that doesn't happen to me.'

'I'm sure I really fucked my car up,' she thought. 'Elliot is going to have a fit.' Even as she thought the name, her consciousness quickly sought out her husband. He was there fighting a really huge man trying to get to her. Elliot was crying, he was crying over her. He really did still love her. She had to get to him. Then he called her name. The pull from the injured body was suddenly intense. It was then that Kathy realized that she wasn't alive.

She felt really good though. She was pain free and nothing seemed to matter anymore. She knew that she'd had a great life. It was actually better than great. She'd had a charmed life from the moment Elliot came into it. She only had two regrets in all of her life. One was that she wouldn't get to grow old with her husband, and the other was, of course, that thing with Mark. She'd never told Elliot about it or explained it. He needed to know that it didn't really mean anything. There was no way she would die without telling Elliot how wrong he was.

Then she heard Elliot call her name again. She'd often told him that nothing would ever separate them. She'd told him hundreds of times over the years, "You can have anything you want from me, Honey. All you have to do is ask."

Elliot was calling her so Kathy's course was clear. She floated over to the body and tried to force herself back inside of it. There was so much pain and she still couldn't feel anything else. Elliot called her again and her heart started up again. The pain was so bad that she blacked out. Her last thought was, "I'm sorry Baby, it's too hard."

One of the doctors noticed the very slight movement on the screen that indicated that Kathy's heart was trying to beat. He grabbed the defibrillator paddles and charged them. The other doctors looked at him as if he was nuts. "We already coded her," one said.

He didn't care. He jolted Kathy's heart and suddenly there was a flutter. Another jolt and he had an uneven rhythm that quickly stabilized. Then he got her breathing. The others in the room were amazed.

"How the fuck did you pull that off?" asked a nurse.

"It wasn't me," said the doctor. "Didn't you notice it? She was gone. She had no pulse, no cardiac rhythm and no brain wave activity. She was dead as a fucking doornail and then that guy started calling her name and shit, her heart just started beating. We need to get that guy in her fucking room, ASAP."

"I think he's her husband," said one of the nurses. "Good luck getting him back here. He tripped out and beat the shit out of some guy in the waiting room. Security took him."

Elliot was still in the security lock up. He was waiting to be processed out. He had already been told that if he caused any more trouble, he'd be not only ejected from the hospital, but probably sent to jail.

There was a knock on the door. They'd told him that it would be probably a half hour before he could go. Part of it was that they needed him to calm down.

A security guard stuck his head in the door. "There's someone who wants to see you Mr. Carson," he said. The guard stepped into the room and Mark followed him. Elliot notice that Mark was limping. His face was almost totally obscured by the bandages. Only one bruised and rapidly blackening eye was visible.

Elliot's eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked at Mark. Mark felt fear but pushed it aside.

"El, I know you're upset about Kathy passing, but why attack me?" he asked.

"You know why, you piece of shit," snapped Elliot. "I heard you and Kathy talking, yesterday. I know all about your affair and you guys fucking. We've known each other for most of our fucking lives Mark. I've always known that you could be a bastard, but I really thought that our friendship meant something to you."

"El, it does. It means more than you'll ever know. But you just don't understand. It really isn't..." Elliot interrupted Mark before he could finish.

"That's the same stupid thing she said," snapped Elliot. "It isn't what you think. So Mark what the fuck is it then? Mark, I've seen you go through 3 or 4 women in a weekend. Remember that time that you had 2 dates on Saturday and another 2 on Sunday. The one you took to lunch and fucked Sunday afternoon wanted to stay with you, so you had to start an argument with her so you could meet your Sunday evening date. And then she called you anyway, trying to make up with you and the evening girl caught you?" Mark nodded his head and tried to smile, but it was too painful.

He sat down on the desk near where Elliot was standing, half expecting his friend to take another shot at him.

Elliot sat down right next to Mark. "Mark, I'm not like you. You go through more women in an average day than I've had for my entire life. The whole time that I've been alive, I've only loved two women. And even with those two, there's only been one mature adult relationship. Kathy was all I had and all I'd ever want. I loved that woman with my whole soul. If you're supposed to be this great friend of mine, why couldn't you let me have that one thing?"

"Elliot, you're a fool," said Mark. "You didn't have one thing. You had everything. Every one we know, whether married or single is jealous of what you and Kathy had together. That includes me."

"El, you probably don't know any of what I'm about to tell you, but it's all true. You and Kathy didn't get together naturally. There were no coincidences. Sally and I saw how much you liked her from the first time you saw her and pushed you guys together. Remember when she ran out of gas and couldn't figure it out? She didn't run out of gas, El. I siphoned all of the gas out of her tank. Every guy that was going to go and help her before she got you to look at her car, either Sally or I explained what was going on and told them to stay out of it."

"The accidental lunch meeting wasn't an accident either. Elliot you came to work that day early, so you could avoid her. Most guys would have gone looking for her and a lot of them would have been expecting to get something for their trouble. Not you El. You help out the woman you'd been practically stalking and then try to hide from her. What did you think she was going to do, thank you to death?"

"Sally and I had to do the lunch thing just to keep the ball rolling. Even then you almost messed it up. You never said a fucking word to her at lunch. You just sat there staring at her. Sally and I had to trick you into admitting how you felt about her, where she could hear it. After that we got lucky, she just took over and pushed us out of it. It turned out that she felt the same way about you. Maybe the two of you might have gotten together eventually without us, but I really doubt it. You were just too fucking shy back then."

"So since you helped to bring us together, you figured she owed you some pussy, right Mark?" snapped Elliot. "Payment for services rendered. What am I supposed to do, fuck Sally someday?"

"No El, it was never like that," said Mark. "At first I just couldn't figure out what you saw in Kathy. I mean...look El, don't take this the wrong way, but at first I didn't think that Kathy was hot at all. I just couldn't see it. Her face wasn't really that pretty. She was actually kind of plain. She doesn't have any tits. Her ass was almost non-existent and her legs aren't anything special. I just couldn't figure out what you saw in her. Shit nobody could. But once the two of you got together, you both just blossomed."

Mark paused. "I don't know how to explain it, El. She just got to be really sexy, and I think you had a lot to do with it. Plus the weirdest thing about it is. That whenever the two of you were together, it was like no one else was in the room. I stood between the two of you a couple of times just for shits and giggles, ask Sally. You could almost feel the pull between you two. You guys had some kind of fucking magic going for you, and I was jealous. Shit everyone is jealous of you guys. You have what everyone wants down deep inside. You have real true love."

"El, for me it was like a God damned drug. I could go out and fuck all of the women I saw. Not one of them EVER looked at me the way she looked at you. When you said her fucking name, she lit up like a Christmas tree, and you lit up too, whenever she was around. God, I wanted to feel what that was like."

"It was maddening. It felt like I was being crushed in a vice. On one hand I had our friendship. And whether you know it or not, you're the only real friend I've ever had. You've stood by me when no one else would. Most guys know that I'm a piece of shit. They know that if I get a chance to fuck their wives or their sisters or shit, their moms, I'm gonna do it. I mean look at what I did to Sally. But while we're on that subject, Sally was no babe in the woods. I tried to break things off with her when she got married, but she wouldn't let me."

"Anyway on one hand there's my loyalty to you, but on the other I really wanted a crack at Kathy. El, you wouldn't believe how many times I tried to get her to notice me and she never paid me a bit of attention. I tried all of my best lines and moves, nada. It took years until I caught her at a weak moment. El, she was really pissed at you for going to work on the Saturday that your in-laws first came over. She was really nervous about having them over. She hadn't seen them since your wedding and she really wanted them back in her life. She needed you for strength El, but I guess you didn't understand that."

"Anyway, she started drinking and I saw my chance. I started feeding her all the attention I could and making sure that she drank way more than she ever had. But as drunk as she was she knew what was going on. She even told me that she was really pissed at you and it would serve you right. I guess in her mind she was getting back at you for hurting her somehow. You know how her temper is."

"But to me, it was different, El. I guess I was a fool. I thought that by having sex with her, I'd get to feel some of what you guys had. She didn't even take her clothes off. We didn't even kiss, I just started rubbing on her and she opened her legs. El, she didn't want me. She was just drunk and out of her mind. She was trying to get back at you, but even drunk she didn't get wet or anything. It was the worst sex I've ever had. When I finally got it inside of her, it was like I'd been struck by lightning. I realized that I had done the worst thing ever in my life. I think she realized it too because she pushed me out of her so fast my head spun. I didn't even get to finish. She wouldn't let me. Instead of feeling the magic I'd been looking for, all I felt was guilt."

Mark looked at Elliot and suddenly noticed that Kathy's father was standing in the doorway listening. The man shook his head and walked back down the hallway.

"El, she sobered up really quickly too. She told me to get out of her house and never come back. I explained to her that if I did that, you'd figure out that something had happened between us. Neither of us wanted to hurt you, so we agreed to just forget about it. El, we got past it and moved on. We both realized that it had been the biggest mistake of our lives. For the past six years that woman has dedicated her life to being the best wife you could ever have. Elliot, she loved you so much it was just crazy. I really believe that she would have died for you." Mark realized that he'd probably said a really stupid thing considering the circumstances but he kept going.

"We're all getting older Elliot," said Mark. "And I'm at a time where, I'm not the young dashing playboy anymore. I've been looking back at my life and I've realized that I've missed out on a lot of things. I've been through hundreds of women, but what do I have to show for it?" He looked at Elliot and his one eye was starting to water.

"Elliot, I don't have shit. I'm not even a footnote in the lives of most of those women. If I were to die tomorrow, I don't think anyone would care. You've been with 2 women in your entire lives. I'd be willing to bet you anything that Belinda still thinks about you often. Shit, she named her first fucking kid after you. If you hadn't been with Kathy, when she got divorced and moved back to town, I'll bet she'd have been all over you again."

Elliot looked confused. "See what I mean El," said Mark. Your first love moves back into town and you're so into Kathy that you don't notice or care. Anyway yesterday I was feeling really mortal. I guess we all like to know that if we die a little piece of us lives on. So I asked a really stupid question, half joking. It was the first time that Kathy and I have even mentioned the incident since it happened. I guess that she's finally forgiven herself for it and started to relax. That must be a great feeling that you guys have, just knowing that the person you love, loves you back and more than anything or anyone else. Don't piss that away El."

"When I asked Kathy about Steph, I already knew the answer, El. The timing just wasn't right. Like Kathy said she was born over a year after our mistake. It isn't possible. But now I realized that I've made a second mistake. We promised not to ever mention what happened and the first time we did, everything fell apart."

"Never doubt that you were the only man that woman loved Elliot," said Mark. "We did a really stupid thing, but she's never belonged, body, mind or soul to anyone other than you. You two were meant to be together. "

"If that were really true Mark, she never would have spread her legs for you," spat Elliot angrily. "I've lived all of my life believing that people should always try to do the right thing. I've always known, as you said that you were and are a piece of shit. But Kathy, I fell in love with her from the very first moment that I saw her. From that moment on, I could no more touch another woman than I could pull off my own head. I just couldn't do it. I guess I thought that she felt the same. And I guess I was wrong."

"Elliot, people make mistakes," said Mark. "Just because she made one slip doesn't mean that you should throw everything away. You had ten great years together and two beautiful children. If Kathy were to walk back in that door right now, we both know that you'd take her back in a heartbeat, wouldn't you?"

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Okay readers it's time for a commercial break. Here are the commercials. I don't always drink beer but when I do....

For the best car ever, test drive the new Ford Must...

Okay, not those commercials. This is the time where we say WHAT IF? If you've made it this far then you know the set up. You can see that Elliot's life is sitting on the edge of a knife. You get to determine his future and that of his wife and children. The decision is in your hands. There are many possibilities for how this can all play out. In fact there are many more than I could ever write. I know that some of you love stories with multiple endings and some of you hate them. I did warn you in the beginning that this was one of those stories. So if you hate them, just pick one and don't read the other one. If you choose to read both of the endings I've included here, you have only yourself to blame if you don't like one of them.

Those of you who'd like to see Elliot give Kathy another chance, should read story A (the one at the end of this paragraph). Those of you who think they should split up, should scroll down to story B (the one that follows story A). And those of you who want to see something else entirely have my permission to write your own ending and post it so the rest of us can read it. I may even take another stab at this sometime in the future myself. Any way....Now back to our regularly scheduled story.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Story A

A nurse came running into the security room. "Mr. Carson," she said excitedly. "Your wife is alive. Her doctor wants you to come up to her room."

Elliot quickly got up and followed the nurse to the elevator and up to the ward where recovering patients were housed. He went into the room the nurse led him to and looked around. There he saw Kathy, the woman he'd loved for more time than he could even think about. She was totally covered in bandages. Her mother and father were standing beside her bed on one side. Elliot smiled at them. His father in-law just shook his head.

"Elliot, the doctors think you saved her," he said. "It must be a miracle. She was dead. I can't believe this. It's still going to be touch and go, though. They have no idea when she might wake up or what to expect when she does."

Elliot sat down in the chair beside the bed. He reached out for Kathy's hand and held it. He felt her fingers squeeze his. He knew that it was more than just a reflex. Kathy somehow knew that he was there with her.

Elliot thought back to when they'd first met. Even then he'd known she was special. He thought about their children and how much they both loved them. He thought back over each and every special memory they'd experienced over the past 10 years. He was almost up to the birth of his son, when he felt her hand squeeze his even tighter. Somewhere over the previous three hours, Kathy's parents had left the room.

He looked at her face and saw her eyes looking at him. "Luv oo," she said. "Nu oo'd be here." Elliot pushed the button to call the nurse. The nurse came in. She checked Kathy's heart and lungs. Kathy just stared at her while she did it. Before the nurse left, Kathy was asleep again. She held onto Elliot's hand tightly. Elliot himself dozed off for a few moments. When he awoke Kathy's parents were back. "Are you okay Elliot?" asked his mother in-law.

"I'm fine, I just need to pee," said Elliot. He stood up and tried to gently let go of Kathy's hand and she awoke instantly.

"I'm not leaving," he said. "I'm only going to the lavatory." Kathy looked around and groaned as she tried to move her neck. She had a cervical collar that prevented her from moving it very much. She saw her parents, but barely acknowledged the fact that they were there.

"I don't even have to leave the room," said Elliot. "I'm going to use the one right there in the corner of your room." Kathy nodded and moved her neck as much as she could to try and see the room.

Her father asked her if it hurt to talk and she just looked at him. She gave him the barest of nods and looked for Elliot again.