Broken (3 page)

I shook my head slightly. "I ... I’m fine. Just a
little dizzy there," I said.

Jim drew a relieved sigh and laughed. "Boy I
thought for a second you were going to faint there," he said. "It was
crazy. I tell you. Your eyes. They ... They ... it was like they glowed there
for a minute man. It was like the blue in your eyes lit up in the dark for a
second. That's crazy man. Maybe you should have a doctor check you or
something. Your eyes looked weird. It was like they were on fire or something.
I’ve never seen anything like it. Are you sure you're okay? Your eyes are still
glassy. Maybe you have a fever or something."

"I do feel a little warm," I said.

Jim touched my forehead. "A little hot!? Man
you're burning up!"

"I guess I'd better go home," I said.

Jim put his glass on a table. "I'll take you
home."

"Thanks man," I said and looked towards
Heather’s direction. The look in her eyes told me she was drunk by now. She was
leaning on some guy who looked like the rest of the company. She was laughing
at everything he said while gently touching him.

"You want me to tell her that you're going
home?" Jim asked.

I shook my head. "She won't care by now," I
said. "Probably won't even notice."

"Come on. We'll take my car," Jim said.

I threw one last glance at Heather as I left the
ballroom of Regina and Ralph's oversized mansion. As I did she turned and
looked straight into my eyes while touching the man's chest gently. We had been
through this so many times by now. I knew that look in her eyes. She knew I was
going, but she couldn't care less.

Chapter 3

I was
still burning
hot as I paid the sitter and checked on
William. He was sleeping soundly in his bed as I went in to kiss him on the
forehead. I stroked his cheek while feel my love for him rose inside of me. He
was the one thing I had accomplished that I was proud of. The one thing that
kept me sane. Everything else, the house, the cars, the clinic none of it had
anything to do with me. None of that could make my heart pound like the sight
of William breathing heavily under the covers did. I smiled and kissed his
forehead again while wishing that he grow up to have all of his dreams realized
and that he end up with the woman he truly loved.

I felt a drop of sweat roll down my forehead and saw
it on the tip of my nose as it left my body and landed on Williams cover. I
wiped the rest of the sweat away with the back of my hand. It was hot outside
but I did not normally sweat like this. Plus I had been in air-conditioning all
day. Merely going from Jim’s car to the house would not make me perspire like
that. I felt my forehead and it was still burning. I had to have a fever, I
thought. But why didn't I feel sick? I didn't have that feeble, feverish
feeling. I wasn't even tired. To be perfectly honest I felt even stronger than
usual. I looked at my arms and felt strength rising in them, like the muscles
were literally growing as I watched them from outside the white shirt. What was
going on? Was it muscle-pain caused by the fever? Maybe it was just a cold coming
on or the flu, I thought and got up from William's bed. I didn't want to infect
him if I was contagious.

I glanced at him for one more second before I
carefully closed the door to his room and went back to the master bedroom. I
stripped off my shirt and pants that had started to feel like they were
tightening around my thighs. Sweat was still pouring down my face like I had
just been working out. I found a towel in the bathroom and wiped my face and
neck while more sweat poured out. In the medicine-cabinet I found a thermometer
and took my temperature. One hundred-two point two degrees. No wonder I was
hot. I did have a fever and a pretty high one at that. I should be feeling weak
and tired instead of this incredible strength that I sensed rising in me,
causing me to want to go for a long run or do an intense work out. I stared at
my reflection in the mirror over the dresser. I even looked bigger than usual,
I thought. It wasn't just a feeling? Maybe the fever was causing me to be
delusional, but hadn’t my eyes changed, too? It was like they were glowing, the
blue in them on fire. Just like Jim had said. I shook my head and found some
pills in the bathroom-cabinet to kill the fever. It had to be the fever making
me see things. Could the fever make me feel strong and energized as well? Give
me a craving for running wild in the yard or through the nearby forest?

I shook off the feeling and went to bed. My heart was
racing as I lay in the dark. I couldn't have any cover on me because of the
intense fever. The heat and racing heartbeat kept me awake. My body was
restless, agitated. I opened my eyes and to my surprise I could see.
 
I saw everything in the darkness just as
clear as if it were the middle of the day. I propped myself up on my elbows as
I studied the room closely. The light was definitely off but everything was
visible in this bluish light. I saw Heather's earrings on the dresser that she
had decided not to wear; I saw my own cufflinks in the bathroom through the
open door. Was it just because I knew they were there? Was my mind playing
tricks on me again like when I was attacked by the alligators and heard voices
and saw strange images?

I put my head back on the pillow. It had to be the
fever. I couldn't even see the cufflinks from where I was lying if it had been
bright daylight. I felt everything pumping inside of me as I closed my eyes
again. I needed to get some sleep. I hadn't been able to sleep at night for
almost a month now. Instead I took those small naps in my office just to get by
during the day. Maybe that was what was finally catching up on me? Maybe it was
some sort of stress? My body saying "Stop I can't do it anymore."

"You need to slow down," I whispered to
myself in the darkness. "It's not worth it. To die from stress-related
diseases before you turn forty and leave William without a loving father. It's
just not worth it."

I heard a door slam and opened my eyes. Heather was in
the room. She swayed from side to side leaning on the dresser while taking off
her high-heeled shoes one by one. They both made a bump as they hit the floor.

"What's not worth it?" she asked while
taking off her earrings concentrating on keeping her balance and not falling. I
studied her face and eyes that I could see perfectly in the darkness. Even the
smallest features were clear to me. Her make-up was a mess, the lipstick
smeared. I could smell the alcohol on her breath.

"Nothing," I mumbled with a deep sigh.

She took off her dress, nearly falling over with the
effort. "So why on earth did you leave the party so early?" she said.

"Do you really care?" I asked.

She laughed and almost tipped backwards. "No, I
guess I don't," she answered. She put on her negligee and threw herself on
the bed. "What happened to you anyway? You used to be so much fun."

"I guess I grew up." I closed my eyes and
tried to remember the last time I had really enjoyed my life. Besides wonderful
moments with William there weren’t any recently.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at her. It
startled her.

"Oh my god!" she burst out. "What's with
your eyes? It's like they’re glowing in the dark!" Heather sat up and
stared at me. "Stop it Chris. It's freaking me out!"

I didn't close them. Instead I kept staring at her. I
smelled the scent of another man on her skin. It drove me wild. Wild with rage
and jealousy.

"Chris, stop staring at me.
Jeeez
.
Please just close those things would you?"

I didn't. I felt my heart racing even faster now. The
thought of Heather with another man drove me crazy. She was my wife, my woman,
the mother of my child. I felt my sex rise as I climbed her. I was harder than
ever.

She sighed. "Not now Chris. I had a really long
day," she said trying to move me, but I clung on to her holding her arms
down.

"I bet you have," I said with a hoarse
voice. The strength in my body and sex was arousing. I felt powerful and
strong. "And now you're going to have a long night with your
husband," I whispered in her ear.

"Chris, I really don't ..." she stopped
talking as she realized I wasn't going to move. I held her down with one hand
as I tore off her negligee and ripped it to pieces. I grabbed her panties and
removed them in one quick movement. She was naked and defenseless underneath
me. Defenseless under the inhuman strength that had risen inside of me. She
smiled as she seemed to enjoy my newfound desire for her that had been lacking
for years now. With beastlike lust and desire I entered her and rode her again
and again. I exploded inside of her but was ready for more a few seconds after
and gave her another turn.

Never had I felt such a rush, such a lust. Heather
kept stroking my chest and my arms like it was the first time she saw them,
dazzled by their size and shape. I continued till she was almost worn out and
said she simply couldn't take anymore. Then I took her once again - just to
make a point - before I fell back on the bed not feeling the least bit
exhausted but rather filled with more strength and a feeling of incredible
invincibility. One thing was definitely sure. Fever or not.

I wasn't sick.

Chapter 4

The
next morning Heather
was the one who was sick, not me.
She was throwing up and was burning hot as I had been the night before. Me on
the other hand; even if I didn't get much sleep I felt better than ever. The
fever was gone and I had managed to get at least an hour of sleep after the sun
rise. Apparently that was enough for me these days. As I did my morning routine
I stared at my reflection in the mirror and felt relief as I realized the
glowing in my eyes was gone as well. To test it I turned off the light in the
bathroom and observed that I wasn't able to see in the dark. It had all been
the fever, some sort of illusion caused by my elevated body temperature. My
muscles hadn't grown either. I looked completely normal, to my surprise I
wasn't even pale or the slightest bit affected by the sickness from the night
before.

It was Sunday - my only day off - and I was going to
enjoy it. I decided to take William golfing while his mother nursed her
hangover. She was lying on the bathroom floor when I went up to say goodbye. I
had told William to wait in the car for me. I didn't want him to see his mother
like this.

"We're leaving," I said.

Heather nodded without looking at me, and then she
lifted her body to bend over the toilet once again and emptied her stomach into
it.

"How much did you drink last night anyway?"
I asked disgusted by the smell and the repulsing sound.

"Too much, I guess," she moaned

I scoffed. "You can say that again. Probably
popping pills as well too, right? Maybe we should try and lay off the wine for
a couple of days, huh?" I tried that approach before and knew the answer.
Heather never managed to go after than two o'clock in the afternoon before she
opened the first bottle of white wine or champagne. Mixed with all the
crap-medicine she had her doctor prescribe for her she would always be drunk by
late afternoon and keep the buzz going until midnight before she passed out if
she didn't go out with her friends. But normally she didn't get sick from it.
Not like this. I was hoping this would teach her to hold back a little. The
thought of her driving around with William while drunk scared me like hell.

"I don't think this is from the wine or the
pills," she managed to say between vomiting. "I think I might be
coming down with something. Or maybe it was something I ate last night. I feel
really horrible. I think I might have a fever as well."

I sighed. Then I helped her by holding her hair away
from her face as she once again emptied the contents of her stomach. Then I
wiped her mouth with a tissue and helped her on her legs. I carried her on top
of the bed and felt her forehead. "You
are
a little
warm." I took her temperature. 101.6. Not as high as mine had been but
enough for me to know that she was right. This didn't come from the drinking.
She was sick.

"I’m cold," she said. Her voice was
shivering. I put the cover on her and made her feel comfortable in the bed.
Then I brought her some pills to kill the fever and a glass of water that I put
on the nightstand.

"I think I might have given this to you," I
said.

Her eyes were closed. "How so?" she said
with a feeble voice.

"I had it last night. I had a fever. That's why I
went home from the party. My temp was one-hundred-two point two."