The Far Side of the Sun

And once Chelsea more fully understood the nature of Heidi's spinal cord injury, and the more she came to appreciate the depth of Heidi's skills as a physician, the more devoted she became as both a midwife and personal caretaker. As Heidi worked with her going over basic nursing skills and procedures, the more interested in nursing both Chelsea and Tina became, and the more time Tina spent with Martin and Heidi.

This little group became, in short order, the most complete family Heidi had known in nearly twenty years, and as autumn's harvests gave way to winter's frosts and drifting snows, the more attached she became to both Chelsea and Tina. The funny thing about all this came about when she finally recognized what was happening, and as usual she was the only one who was surprised. Martin once again filled her in.

"Oh, I think I began to see it a few weeks ago. Tina first, then Chelsea I think, began to see you as a teacher, then as something more. My guess is they see you as one who binds this effort together, a leader in some ways, perhaps, but I sense something different in the way they react to you. It's more like you've become, well, almost like a mother to them."

"A mother! Oh, come on, Martin..."

"Laugh if you like, but doesn't a mother bind a family together? Like the way you've bound those two to you."

"I didn't..."

"No, perhaps not deliberately. But the way you behave with them is not without affection, and people respond to affection, do they not? Better than the bark? And besides, right now you are becoming a very maternal figure," he said with a smile as he rubbed her belly. "I think it is a role that suits you."

She pursed her lips, scrunched her nose...

"Your eyes are so cute when you do that..."

"Do what?"

"That thing you do with your nose. It drives me wild."

"Wild? Really?"

"Yup. Wild."

"What are you going to do about that?"

"I was thinking...perhaps I'll start at your neck, and work my way down..."

"Heaven...this is Heaven on earth..."

"Yes, you are..."

December

Thanksgiving came and went; Christmas loomed. The anthropologists waited anxiously to see just how seriously the villagers took Christmas, and what the village might look like, but they remained silent about the material excesses and decorative debauchery that had become dominant themes in modern holiday celebrations. Heidi put up a small – though unlit – tree in the clinic, and Rebecca lit her menorah every evening as Chanukah approached, but the villagers' houses remained unadorned when Christmas Eve came. When the sun set that evening, the villagers gathered round a small bonfire and prayers were led by the parson, a few ancient carols sung, then the people filed back to their houses and placed candles in their windows or inside small shelters made for the event, and that was that.

On Christmas Morning Heidi was surprised to find several small packages on her doorstep, and she opened her presents solemnly. There was in one such package a small wooden carving, intricately detailed, and of an angel. Heidi opened it carefully, turned it in the light, watched as new details revealed themselves to her in the shifting light, and Martin saw tears forming in her eyes.

"I wonder who made it?" she said after a while.

"That's the way we exchange gifts, Heidi. You'll never know, but it's very unusual to receive more than one or two. You have, what? Six?"

"Seven."

"I've never heard of that happening before. Very unusual."

"All I've done is remove a few splinters. No big deal. I wonder why?"

"Perhaps people see in you something they like. Who knows? It's probably best not to dwell on such things, anyway."

"Who delivered them, do you know?"

"Your, what, Santa Claus, I presume?"

"Ah."

"Ah, your self."

"What did you get?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Martin said, holding up a weird looking metal tube encased in some viciously hard clear stuff.

"Oh my God," Heidi cried. "A Mag-Lite! A flashlight! That's hilarious!"

"A what?"

"Hear, let me have it. I'll get the batteries loaded and show you how it works." After a few minutes of well-intentioned cursing (to cut open the plastic case) and another trying to see which end was positive (loading batteries), she handed him the flashlight. "Now, see that black button?"

"Yup."

"Push it."

"Holy Mother of God!"

"Yup, Great for walking around at night. Maybe it wasn't such a bad gift after all?"

"Indeed!"

"Just don't forget to turn it off, or the batteries will die."

"Die?"

"The light will stop working until you put in new batteries."

"Why?"

"Batteries provide energy. Uh, let's see. It's like wood in a fireplace. When you burn wood in that fireplace, the burning wood releases energy as heat, and that energy warms the inside of a cabin. The airplanes I flew, the Silver Birds, use another kind of energy to climb into the sky. If the energy runs out, the aircraft stops flying. In your flashlight, the little light you see there behind the glass uses energy to make light, and the energy comes from those four batteries I put inside."

"Ah. Can I get more?"

"Shouldn't be a problem, but a better solution would be to get batteries that can be recharged by the Sun..."

"What?!"

"Yup. Like those panels behind the clinic, up on the hillside? The Sun is a giant heat source, and heat is energy. Those things on the hill are devices called solar panels; they transfer energy from the sun into batteries, so the sun's energy can be used later."

"Could we use the sun to provide light inside our houses, at night?"

"Sure."

"Why haven't you told us of this?"

"The same old reason, Martin, to study..."

"Oh, yes, to study us! Birds in a cage!"

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

"I know. But there are some things that might not be too bad to have here, you know? Like light?"

"I can talk to Amy..."

"Yes, you can. And ask her, as she seems to be the unelected leader of our villages, why this would be a bad idea. These lights?"

"I will."

"Well, I must talk to the village council about this!"

"Right now?"

"Yes!" Martin said with flashlight in hand as he flew out the door and into the sunlight.

"I guess I should have gotten him a new coat," Heidi sighed as she put another log on the fireplace.

+++++

There were tearful goodbyes as New Year's Day approached, and a Farewell Dinner was planned – only to be postponed when a blizzard of epic proportions settled over the New England states. In three days several feet of new snow had fallen on the valley, and in some areas there were drifts would swallow a tall man. In any event, The Departure was postponed as transport couldn't reach the valley, and people huddled in their cabins and shelters around fireplaces and campfires on New Year's Eve as vicious winds tore across the valley.

"I'd kill for a pizza about now," Rebecca groaned. "Even a frozen one."

"Brownies, fresh brownies, still warm from the oven" Heidi said. "And banana pancakes."

"A root beer float. I want a root beer float. No. I need a..."

"The corn will be ready in another hour or so," Martin said helpfully.

"If I ever see another ear of roasted corn, I may die," Rebecca replied.

"And if you don't eat this roasted corn," Martin added sardonically, "you may very well die."

"I see your point."

An oil lamp sputtered on the wall when a gust slammed the house, and the room grew dim. "Time to trim the wick," Martin said, looking over his shoulder at the lamp.

"Time for some solar lighting," Heidi grinned, knowingly. Martin's victory over Amy was big news in the valley.

"Aye, that would be nice on a night like this."

"Yeah," Rebecca added, "especially after a week of zero sunlight. Have you thought of wind turbines? With the amount of wind out there right now you could power the eastern seaboard."

"As an adjunct, yes," Heidi replied. "But apparently they can freeze up in wet, heavy snow like this, and the blades aren't as effective. Apparently they get too heavy and the inner charging works have been known to catch fire."

"Swell."

"Well, this is a hard place. Winter's here are as bad as any place in North America."

"No shit, Sherlock." Rebecca rolled her eyes as another gust shook the house.

"You need to get laid," Heidi said.

"Oh, man, do I!"

"Laid?" Martin asked. "What is this?"

"She needs sex, Martin," Heidi said through that knowing, scrunched-nose grin he loved so much.

"And what about you?" Martin asked as he looked hopefully at Heidi.

"Nope, not this momma," she said, rubbing her now rotund belly. "But you two, you go right ahead. No reason for the two of you to suffer."

Martin turned back to tending the fire, Rebecca looked away nervously.

"Well, how about another round of gin-rummy?"

"I'm game," Rebecca said. "You deal."

"Venison is getting there," Martin said. "Shouldn't be long now."

"Man, we are in a rut!" Heidi cried. "And here I am locked up with you two, horny as a couple of rabbits!"

Rebecca looked at Heidi, then at Martin. "Threeway?"

"What?" Heidi said.

"You know, a threeway. The three of us, together."

"You jest!" This from Martin.

"I do not, good sir!" Rebecca replied deferentially. "'Tis a common enough thing among the truly and wickedly debauched of the City. And it be right fun, too!"

"Well, how would we do something like that?" Heidi asked skeptically.

Martin turned his head slightly while pretending not to listen.

"Well, we could try it with you on the bottom, Martin in the missionary position with your legs on his shoulders, leaving me...um, on your face."

"Sounds interesting, but," Heidi said rubbing her tummy again, "not with this watermelon on board."

"Oh, yes. Forgot," she said, discarding a card and picking up another.

"So, are you 'bi'?" Heidi asked.

"More or less, as the mood hits."

"Really? As the mood hits?"

"Well, I prefer cock, but there's something about the vagina that really turns me on, too."

"I can't believe you two!" Martin shouted, adjusting his trousers in the crotch a bit. "This is unreal!"

"Why's that, sweetie?"

"Why's that, she asks. Why's that, indeed!"

"Martin, dear, are we horny?"

"Me? Horny? Only for the last two weeks!"

"Oh honey, come here!"

"What now?" he asked as he came to her side.

"Now, now, just be quiet and let the doctors take care of you, okay?" She undid his trousers and let them slip to the floor, then took him in her mouth...but soon stopped. "Oops, uh, Rebecca? You'd better get over here. I don't think he's going to last long tonight, at least not the first time up to bat!"

Rebecca was on her knees in front of Martin a split second later, and she took him in her mouth in one fell swoop. Within seconds Martin was boiling over, unloading a huge mouthful as his back arched uncontrollably; Rebecca swooned and swallowed as much as she could but it was soon roiling out the sides of her mouth, running down her chin and onto her bosom.

When he was finished, Martin lifted Rebecca from the floor and carried her to the Heidi's lap; there he ripped her pants off and planted his penis in her flower in one ragged motion. With one hand on a table, the other on Heidi's chair, he thrust into Rebecca while he kissed them both. Within minutes his back arced, his breathing deepened, and he sent his seed deep within Rebecca...

When he looked at Heidi he saw her eyes had rolled, her breathing was deep and ragged, and she was deep in her own orgasm. Rebecca turned her face and saw it too, then kissed Heidi lightly on the cheek.

"That was good," Heidi finally whispered. "So good."

Martin stood, looked down at the two of them.

"As long as I live," he said, "I'll never understand women."

"Oh, I don't know, Martin," Rebecca said. "I think you had us figured out pretty good tonight."

The only thought dancing in the shadows of Heidi's mind was an after-image of Rebecca, and suddenly she knew that her friend was now with child. She was, she could see clearly now, going to die in childbirth, and Rebecca would be left to raise Martin's two new daughters.

Yes, it was all very clear now, and she smiled as she felt sweet sleep's deep embrace coming for her.

+++++

A few days later the sun reappeared; thunderstruck villagers and students alike began digging out. The Farewell Dinner was on again, now for that evening, and the academic sorts set about packing their belongings while the villagers prepared for the festivities. When the day's shadows grew long and while torches and bonfires were lit, all the people in the valley assembled under the sheltering eaves of the pavilion and enjoyed one last supper of venison and roasted vegetables, fresh cheeses, as well as several kegs of Budweiser beer that had mysteriously appeared. There was a dance, of course, and final goodbyes were exchanged between tearful friends and proud mentors, while promises to return someday were solemnly made. Tina and Chelsea cried and hugged for what seemed like hours.

And Heidi, Martin and Rebecca made a brief appearance, but soon left after making a few polite good-byes. Heidi appeared pale, almost emaciated, and all who saw her looked very concerned.

Helicopters ferried the academic teams out early the next morning, and Rebecca left with them. Her replacement, a young surgeon from Massachusetts General, was due to arrive the next day.

And then the next storm hit.

+++++

After five days of solid snow, wind driven drifts had covered many of the smaller houses in the main village, and word reached Heidi and Martin that one of the houses had collapsed under the weight of so much new snow. Martin and several others raced to the scene and had begun digging the people – two elderly sisters and their dog – out when Heidi received word that one of the women had a very bad leg injury. Chelsea and James dug out the walkway from their house to the clinic and helped her along, then Chelsea worked to get the exam room setup while James shoveled snow from the walkways around the clinic.

Heidi heard calls and voices outside the clinic, and rolled to the entry area only to see two young men carrying an old man, the village parson, towards the clinic steps, and she started inventorying symptoms as she looked on. Cyanotic, lips blue, fingernails too. Heart attack? She turned her chair and wheeled into the exam room, got the small battery powered EKG powered up, then the defibrillator. The door to the clinic burst open and men carried the parson into the exam room, with Chelsea close behind.

This was, thankfully, one of the emergency situations Heidi and Rebecca had trained Chelsea to assist with, and the midwife set about lowering the table to Heidi's level while getting the parson's shirt off. Heidi struggled to work around the table but got a line started while Chelsea called out vitals.

"He's crashing," Heidi said as she got oxygen running through a mask over the old man's face. "Get the defibrillator!"

They had one of the new auto-defib units, one capable of diagnosing rhythms and delivering the appropriate charge, and Chelsea set it up while Heidi drew epinephrine and adrenaline syringes.

The defib unit sent one shock, then another, and the parson started breathing better, his color improved.

"Let's get the EKG on him!"

Then there was another commotion at the entry, and Martin and several other men carried one of the sisters into the exam room.

"What the devil!" Martin cried...

"Take her to the OR; I'll get there as soon as I can..."

"Heidi, she's bleedin' bad!"

Heidi turned and looked at the woman more closely: she had an obvious compound fracture of the right femur; there was bone sticking through the skin and what looked like a steady ooze of blood seeping from the ripped skin. She rolled over, looked at the wound more closely: oozing, not pulsing. Good.

She rolled over to a drawer and took out a package of large absorbent surgical dressings.

"Open one of these and put it over the wound. Then take your two hands – like this – and press down on her leg right here," she said, pointing where to apply pressure. "Get her on the table in the other room; I'll be there in a minute."

She looked at the parson's EKG: stable, normal sinus rhythm. Breathing: 16-18. BP: 145/55.

"Let's get his IV running," she said to Chelsea, and after it was established and fluids were running she rolled into the other room, looked at the fracture. "We're going to need a medevac to Burlington," she said to the men in the room looking on. "This is an orthopedic surgeons job."

"With this snow?" Martin said. "Not likely!"

"Is it still snowing hard?"

"Geesh," one of the other men cried. "Look out the window, mum! Ye can't see fifty feet out there!"

"Crap. Well we're going to have to reduce the fracture, and I'll set it as best I can, keep her sedated until we can get a flutterbug in here."

"Uh, 'cuse me, mum, but what's a flutterbug?"

"Chelsea, can you bring another IV set here?"

"Yes'um,,," came the reply from the other room.

"Okay, Martin, you and the other men stand at the end of the table. We're going to set this nylon contraption on her leg, then we're going to pull on that bone until we can get it lined back up..."

"Er, 'cuse me, mum, but we're gonna do WHAT?"

"Then we'll close that wound and get an antibiotic running..."

A few hours later the parson was sitting up and talking with his wife, and a sedated Bruney Swanson was sitting up in the OR, talking with her sister – who had brought their dog along to visit. Heidi was exhausted, pale as a lily except around her eyes, which were red-rimmed and glistening.

"Heidi, 'cuse me," Chelsea said, "but we need to get you to bed now."

"Yeah, I feel like shit warmed over," she said. "Let's get me set up across the hall, and you too. If it hits the fan tonight I want you here with me."

"You know, mum, there's two people alive tonight that might otherwise be dead."

"Yeah? Well, it's what physicians do, Chelsea. Nurses too. I couldn't have done it without you."

The older woman looked down, nodded her head. "I think I want to go to school. To learn how to do this better. The right way."

"You'll make a great nurse. Now, I think you'd better help me to bed. I don't feel so hot."

"Right, mum. Martin? I'll need a hand, please!"

"I'm here...how's Heidi?"

Heidi's eyes were closed, her breathing very shallow.

"Heidi?"

"Mum?"

"Oh God! Where's that thing, that cell phone thing?"

"Check her coat pocket, Martin!"

"Oh, God no! Oh no, she's bleedin'!"

+++++

Seven Years Later

Martin walked along the path from the village school to his house, along the path of his life, his daughters' hands in his and, and as was usually the case on a bright, sunny autumn afternoon, he had a quiet smile on his weathered face.

The two girls at his side were as different as night and day. Quick-witted Marion, she of the curly dark hair and deep brown eyes, was fairly plump and short and easy to smile, while the more studious Hilda was tall, rail thin, and her hair a shocking reddish blond. But most striking of all were Hilda's eyes, which were a piercing vivid blue that belied a staggering intelligence. When Hilda scrunched her nose 'just so' at her father, he would laugh and smile and all was right with his world, for she had a way with him few others possessed.

And today was such a day. Here – on the far side of the sun, where the same sunlight fell on an indifferent earth, only here, on a world unto itself – lost in time.

They walked along the well worn path past the village cemetery and through the woods toward the clinic compound, and that would take them on to their house. The wheelchair ramps and walks were little used these days, but even so, when they came to the elevated walkway they took to it and walked along listening to afternoon breezes running through dry leaves of grass. Martin listened too, listened while the girls told him about their day in school, about the boys they liked and the girls they disliked, about what they were learning, and why.