In Sickness and in Death (10 page)

Brian thought of Adrienne and found her in one of the city’s most expensive restaurants having dinner with Alan Robinson. Evidently the couple’s relationship was growing more intense. He watched as they finished their meal, and then sat sipping champagne and gazing into each other’s eyes. They rose as one and went twirling around the small dance floor. They appeared to be two people very much in love. Brian couldn’t help wondering if Alan knew that Adrienne had taken that cruise with one of his family’s friends. He’d be willing to bet that he did not. But there was nothing he could do about that. In fact, right now, there was nothing he could do about anything. He’d pay Adrienne another visit after she was asleep.

It was the early morning hours on the physical plane when Brian returned to Adrienne at the condo. He began to conjure the vision of her sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed happily contemplating the stacks of bills in her hands. He noted a small smile appeared on Adrienne’s sleeping face that widened as he sent the image of her lying back and tossing the money into the air.

As the currency floated down toward her, he changed the presidential faces on each piece to a picture of himself. Then the corners of the bills began to slowly melt into drops of blood. They continued to disintegrate until there was nothing but a downpour of blood upon her. With a horrified gasp, Adrienne’s eyes popped open and she sat upright.

“Damn nightmares!”

Brian smiled. Maybe she was getting the message. He hoped so. He would try sending that one repeatedly and see if he could get through to her. Meanwhile he would pursue his own development.

Even though Brian kept up the ritual of nightly visions, Adrienne apparently remained unaffected by them. She continued her extravagant shopping sprees, taking all sorts of trips with both men and women friends and keeping company with several young men. Brian knew that she was spending the insurance settlement with abandon. How long would it last? How long
could
it last?

Brian routinely checked on his mother. He became worried when, not too long after she had found out about his death certificate, she began acting unlike her normal self. She had always kept an impeccable house and was fastidious about her personal appearance. As long as he could remember she had luxuriated in a daily bubble bath and had a standing weekly appointment at the beauty salon for a hairstyle and manicure. Even after his dad died, she had not backed off her usual routine despite taking on a fulltime job. Now, she moped around a house darkened by closed draperies. There was clutter everywhere. Unwashed dishes overflowed the dishwasher onto the counters. Dust coated the furniture and floated in the slim beams of sunlight that crept around the edges of the drapes. As the days passed, he noticed that she never seemed to call her friends or go out to lunch with them as she had frequently done in the past. He began to worry about the apparent deterioration of her mental state.

Brian popped into the hospital one evening and found Adrienne deep in conversation with Doctor Robinson.

“But, Alan, does it
have
to be next weekend?”

He shrugged. “That’s when Mom and Dad have the ski lodge scheduled. Do you have other plans?”

Adrienne looked flustered. “It’s just that I promised some of the girls that I’d go to Vegas with them, and they’re
so
looking forward to it.”

I wonder if it’s really girls she going with to Las Vegas
, Brian thought. Adrienne cast a sideways glance at the callboard where a signal light had just come on. She turned her body slightly so that, as Alan followed her movement, his back was to the panel of lights. “Can’t they reschedule it for the following weekend?”

Alan sighed. He really cared a lot about Adrienne and had been looking forward to a weekend of skiing with her. But the only way he could go would be in the safety of a group of other people. His mother and father would see to it that the unmarried girls roomed together and there would be no opportunity for any sexual encounters. “I’ll ask, but I think they had a hard time getting the reservation. You know this is their busy season up there.”

Another nurse approached the station, saw the light and with a resentful glance at Adrienne, hurried away down the corridor.

Brian watched the young woman disappear. It seemed as if Adrienne was paying so much attention to her personal life that her coworkers were having to pick up her slack and resented it. He wondered again if Adrienne was really going to Las Vegas with William Jennings, or one of Alan Robinson’s other friends, and she didn’t want him to know about it,
if
she was even going there at all. Why couldn’t she see that pursuing her own interests while taking advantage of others was so wrong?

That night Brian sent Adrienne a dream that placed her in the role of a modern-day Cinderella. She was in an office, chained to her desk, while her coworkers danced and sang and flirted with the managers. Brian noted a small frown on her sleeping face while her lips compressed into an angry line. In Brian’s vision, the more her resentment grew and the more she struggled to free herself, the tighter her bonds became and she felt ever more compelled to handle the increasing work demands made upon her. Her legs twitched as if she were struggling with the chains that held her fast. Broken guttural sounds issued from her throat and tears oozed from beneath her closed eyelids. Brian wondered if she was getting the message he was trying to send or if she were just reacting to the frustration of her mentally restricted movements. Only time, he decided, would tell whether or not he was getting through to her at all. He returned to the world of spirit to continue his meditation.

At the hospital the next day, Brian thought he could see some subtle changes. Adrienne did not constantly appear in Alan Robinson’s presence as she had been doing since the new doctor had come to the hospital. Several times, when the doctor was in her vicinity, Brian saw her gazing at him with a curious expression and he wondered what it might mean. She seemed to be concentrating more on her patients than she had been lately and Brian began to feel hopeful. Maybe he would leave off the dreams for a few nights and see what happened.

He thought of his mother and found her lying on the living room couch staring glassyeyed at the flickering television screen and clasping his last portrait to her breast. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes, her hair was disheveled and she wore not a smidgeon of makeup.
My God Mom
, he thought.
You’ve got to snap out of it
. In his frustration, Brian thought,
Dad, you gotta help me!
Immediately, he found himself beside his father with a small group of socializing entities. Glancing around the group, Brian recognized his grandparents and a couple other spirits who were familiar. He must have met them since coming here, but he wasn’t sure who they were; he just picked up a caring, helpful vibration when he looked at them.

“What is it, son?” his dad asked. “You seem upset.”

“Oh, Dad, it’s Mom. She’s just not acting like her normal self – it’s like she’s really depressed or something – and nothing I do seems to help at all.”

His father’s eyes clouded with concern as he glanced around the group. Finally, he nodded slightly. “Maybe we can help.”

In the wee hours of the morning, a group of relatives surrounded Vivian’s bed. Pooling their powers of concentration, they projected happy visions of the past into her subconscious mind. The first scene revealed the newly married Forresters attending a family reunion where they happily joined into the singing, dancing, conversation and laughter. Vivian’s furrowed brow seemed to relax, if only just a little. That scene shifted into one of a family vacation at the shore when the kids were small. Happiness and carefree enjoyment exuded from all the participants as they built sand castles and splashed in the surf. A slight smile curved Vivian’s lips. Another shift and Brian was shown being happily greeted by all of the family members who had already passed over. Vivian’s smile faded, but the frown didn’t return. Another fade-out and Vivian was shown an older version of herself surrounded by all of her laughing grandchildren. This tableau was accompanied by the projected thought that she should really enjoy her future years with what remained of her family. A somewhat sad smile twitched around her mouth.

As if on signal, the spirits faded as one.

“I hope we got through to her,” Brian commented.

“Me too, Son. Me too.”

On Saturday evening, earth time, Brian found Adrienne in the restaurant of a glitzy Las Vegas casino in the company of three young women he recognized as other nurses from the hospital. They had apparently just finished their meal and were lingering over drinks while they discussed how they intended to spend the rest of the evening.
So she wasn’t lying,
Brian thought.
She actually was going to Vegas with some of the
gals. Maybe she really is trying to turn herself around after all.
One girl pushed back her chair and tossed her crumpled napkin onto the table. “I think I’ll go hit the slots.”

“I want to check out the tables,” another announced.

“I’m with you,” said the third. “Are you coming, Adrienne?”

“You guys go ahead,” Adrienne said with a shrug. “I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

The others rose from the table and, laughing, headed for the casino. Adrienne watched them leave and then she, too, stood up and walked away. Brian followed her into the ladies room where she carefully observed her reflected image in the mirror and then touched up her makeup.

Apparently satisfied with the results, she turned and left with Brian trailing along. Instead of heading to the casino, she drifted toward a shopping area and perused the offerings of several shops. She soon strolled into a jewelry store and leaned over a glass display case.

Well, she always did like jewelry
, Brian thought.
At least she’s not buying anything.
Feeling a tug, Brian instantly found himself beside his father at the edge of a sparkling lake. His dad smiled a welcome.

“So, how’s she doing?”

Brian frowned. “Well,” he said slowly, “I’m not sure, but she seems to be doing better. She’s taking more of an interest in her work responsibilities and she actually didn’t lie about going to Vegas with some of the nurses from work. Right now, she’s windowshopping at a jewelry store, but so far she hasn’t bought anything.”

The old man smiled. “Good. She may really be starting to turn around.”

“I hope so.”

His father nodded. “I also wanted to let you know that I checked on your mother this evening.”

“How’s she doing?”

“She seemed to me to be doing better. She was on the phone with your sister and her kids and the house wasn’t in nearly the disarray it had been before, so . . .”

“So, maybe she is actually getting better.”

“I think she may be.”

The next time Brian popped in on Adrienne, he found her in the apartment at the computer. Gazing over her shoulder at the lighted screen, he noted that she was apparently paying bills. He smiled as he recognized the name of the company holding the note for the Corvette, followed by the one whom he’d been paying for the furniture. When she had signed out of the bank site, she picked up an envelope addressed to the doctor who owned the condo. Smiling to himself, he followed her downstairs to the mail drop.

“Yes!” he whooped – but, of course, she didn’t hear him.
Maybe it’s time,
he thought,
for an encouraging dream to show her that she’s on the right path.

In the early hours of the morning, Brian appeared at Adrienne’s bedside. As she slept peacefully, he projected a vision into her mind.

Adrienne, dressed in a beautiful blue, flowing gown was in a small boat drifting serenely down a babbling stream. Sunlight warmed the air and filtered through the leaves overhead to create a dappled pattern on the water below. As she drifted tranquilly along, she felt totally at peace with the world and all that surrounded her. She smiled blissfully. Brian smiled happily down at her sleeping form and returned to the world of spirit.

The next day Brian visited Adrienne at the hospital where he found her paying scrupulous attention to her list of patients. She would engage them in friendly chitchat while she was taking care of them, unlike he had ever seen her do since his own stay under her care. Obviously, the way things had happened afterward, she’d then had an ulterior motive. The patients now seemed much cheered after her visits, and Brian was happy that she was taking the time. He decided that another reassuring dream was in order.

While Adrienne slumbered, Brian projected a vision of her walking through a meadow of lush grass that was awash with bright blossoms of every color. She was wearing a dress of iridescent ivory satin that seemed to gleam in the sunlight. He visualized a shimmering lake where Adrienne leaned over the water to view her reflection wearing a matching straw hat adorned with masses of bright flowers. He showed her aglow with an internal light. In her sleep, Adrienne smiled.

Brian spent a moment watching the smile upon her sleeping face before departing. Thinking of his father, he appeared beside him beneath the spreading Tree of Knowledge.

“You seem pleased,” the elder man commented.

“I guess I am,” Brian commented. “I just left Adrienne and, Dad, she really seems to be making progress. Would you believe that today she really seemed to sincerely care about her patients? She not only handled her duties efficiently, but she also spent a good deal of time just chatting with them. I never thought I’d see that when she had nothing to gain.”

“Well, son, you know that everyone is capable of change – if they just want it badly enough.”

“I guess so,” Brian said with a sigh. He leaned back against the trunk of the tree and blissfully enjoyed the peace of his surroundings.

Now,
he thought,
that Mom and Adrienne are doing better I can start spending some
time learning all of the things I’m supposed to learn over here.