Intervention: Part 1

By Lloyd Freestone

The Earth is dying and aliens have intervened to keep us going. Gerry Stanhouse is their main contact on Earth. He has concerns that the aliens have some underlying motives and he soon finds out what those motives are. He really doesnt care, as long as he gets to keep seeing his new alien love, Shareena. Could there possibly be an interstellar war? If there is, how will we fare? Can the Earth survive the major changes headed our way? Well, Gerry is going to do his best, if only for the sake of his new alien family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483694788

Lloyd Freestone

Lloyd Freestone is a retired sawmill worker who resides in Kimberley, B.C. He loves gardening, music and writing, mostly for his own gratification. He has one child, Kayla, and one grandson, Dreven, and is happily married to his wife of 42 years, Connie.Other titles by this authorInterventionLoss of a Legend

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Copyright © 2013 by Lloyd Freestone.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 09/20/2013

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

CHAPTER VIII

CHAPTER IX

CHAPTER X

CHAPTER XI

CHAPTER XII

CHAPTER XIII

CHAPTER XIV

CHAPTER XV

CHAPTER XVI

CHAPTER XVII

CHAPTER XVIII

CHAPTER XIX

EPILOGUE

There are twenty six universes parallel to ours.

This story takes place in the fourth one to the right.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to:

Gerry McMahon for suggesting I write the book

My daughter Kayla for her encouragement

My wife Connie for her understanding in my need to do this

Kate Reese for getting me to publish it

My computer; for understanding that, not everyone can type sixty words per minute.

The Altarian Federation; without them, there would be no book.

And, last but not least, a huge thanks to my sister-in-law, Catherine Priller for the cover art

PROLOGUE

The last traces of winter were slowly disappearing. Piles of snow still lay in the shadows of the trees and hung on in the low spots where the sun couldn’t reach. What a winter! The snowfall this year exceeded that of the winter of ’96-’97 by at least three feet. There were even days when the whole city was completely shut down. Highway travel was all but impossible for several days at a time, and the city streets went unploughed for weeks at a time. Now, in April, 1999, Mother Nature was still trying to prevent the arrival of spring. Dark grey clouds scudded across the sky, forming a formidable bank over the ski hill. Rain or snow? From this distance, he couldn’t tell.

Charlene Martin, registered nurse, stood looking out the window. It was a quiet time in the hospital. There were only a few patients that needed looking after on a regular basis and some could be left alone for hours on end. Her gaze shifted from the ski hill to the parking lot. Only a few cars were visible from this vantage point, but she knew that soon there would be more when the visitation crowd would start to pour in. She thought of the steady stream of people who came in to see one patient in particular. Gerry Stanhouse! Poor guy, she thought to herself. First, he loses his wife in an accident, and then a week ago he is admitted because of the accident he had. He was lucky though, if being in a coma could be considered lucky. His son and daughter were there the most, but his in-laws came on a regular basis as well. The insurance man had finally quit coming after the first few days and now phoned every day to see if there were any changes in his condition. Of course, there were none. At least, none that anyone could see. Charlene knew different, though, how she knew was a mystery to her. Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the ambulance.

She watched it pull up to the emergency entrance and saw the attendants exit the vehicle and hurry around to the back She knew that she should get down there, but something wouldn’t let her move. A voice in her head told her that there was no need to hurry, the victim was already dead. It was an older man who had a heart attack and died shortly after the ambulance crew arrived at his house. Charlene jerked back to reality, scared. How could she know these things? She shivered slightly as she turned away from the window, and glanced around as she made her way down to the emergency ward. Suddenly, she had a feeling of being all alone. Of course, she was, but for a while there, it felt as though someone were standing beside her. No! It felt more like someone else was inside her head, telling her what was happening, and then they suddenly left. She shivered once more and hurried down the steps to attend to the corpse.

Gerry groaned inwardly. He didn’t mean to startle Charlene like that and he hated himself for what he’d done. She was the only nurse who really seemed to care about him and his condition. In fact, she did care. He knew that, and he also knew that the others were just going through the motions of seeing to his comfort. Charlene really did care and he felt like a jerk for scaring her like that. He told himself to apologize to her and explain things the next time she came to his room to check on him. He knew that he might scare her more, but it seemed like the only way to ease her mind. And, a troubled mind it was. She was having marital problems at home and had done a good job of concealing things, at first. As Gerry grew stronger, though, he found it easier to get her to open her mind and let her thoughts and concerns flow freely.

She was an attractive woman, at least that was the impression Gerry got whenever he happened to be in her mind when she passed by a mirror. Being unconscious, he had yet to see her with his own eyes, and couldn’t wait until he was up and around to tell her how much he appreciated her concern about him.

Uh oh. The old guy in the bed across the room was in trouble. The thought came to Gerry as if he felt the pain himself. The man, Ben Springer, had fallen off a ladder last week and banged his head on the sidewalk of his house. He had severe head and neck problems but that was not where he hurt now. If Gerry were awake, he might have laughed at the situation. He wasn’t awake, and he knew the old guy was hurting. His appendix, never removed when he was younger, was getting ready to burst. The old guy was in such pain and discomfort that he couldn’t reach the buzzer to call the nurse.

Gerry sent his sub-conscious mind out into the hospital and found a nurse. He was a little embarrassed because she was sitting on the toilet, but he entered her mind anyway and told her about Ben. She quickly wiped herself and rushed to the room to attend to Ben. Gerry planted the idea of the appendix in her mind and left in search of the doctor. Gerry found him in the cafeteria and hurried him on his way to room 104. The nurse, Patty Ingraham, along with help from Gerry, had already diagnosed the problem and was on her way to call the doctor when Dr. Barrett appeared in the doorway. She seemed startled to see him, but told him of her suspicions. The Doctor checked Ben, turned to the nurse and nodded his head. Gerry was a step ahead of them and already had Charlene preparing the operating room. Barrett and Patty started moving the bed and Gerry relaxed a little, glad to help.

Once they were out of the room, Gerry started to reflect on his current situation. Here he lay, unconscious, in a hospital bed and yet, he seemed to know what was going on around him. He was a Stephen King fan, had all of his books, and this was like something right out of any one of them. He was impressed, but scared at the same time. This power he had been given by Shareena, was getting stronger every day. Just in the last day or so, he discovered that he could command people with this gift, as well as read their every thought. It was great to be able to see through their eyes as well. It seemed to cheer him up to be able to see things from a hospital bed without having to get up, not that he could even if he wanted to. Shareena had seen to that and told him it would take three weeks before he was completely healed and free from pain. That would be a blessing. He had been in pain every day for the last thirty five years that he could remember, and often kidded Sherry that, one day he would wake up without any pain, only to find that he was dead. It was a shame that Sherry wouldn’t be able to see the new and improved Gerry Stanhouse.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of someone in the room. He was caught completely off guard but recovered nicely. It was a young girl, roughly the same age as his daughter, Kelly. About twenty two years old, she was concerned that her grandfather wasn’t in the room. Gerry interrupted her thoughts and told her that her grandfather would be okay and that she should just sit down beside Gerry’s bed and they’d talk. She could talk and Gerry would just listen, of course. She seemed to be at ease, sitting beside the bed of a total stranger and talking to his unconscious form as though nothing in the world were wrong. She seemed unaware that she was doing it and, before she realized what was happening, the nurse rolled her grandfather back to his spot. Once she was finished, Charlene looked at her and they started talking.

Your grandfather had to have his appendix out, she explained to the girl. It was getting ready to burst. Are you a friend of Mr. Stanhouse?

No. I don’t even know him. I came in and found my grandfather was gone. I started to panic and, before I knew it, I was sitting here talking to this man. He just lay there and listened to the ravings of a young girl, a total stranger. I don’t know why, but I seemed to feel at ease and didn’t have any worries. I knew where grandpa was and knew, somehow, that he’d be back here soon. How did I know all that?

I don’t know, but you’re not the first person it has happened to. Quite often, I come in here and sit in that same chair. I always seem to feel better when I leave. It seems spooky, but things like that have been happening since the second day he, she said, nodding toward Gerry, came in here. It’s almost like he is communicating with us, using his mind.

I know what you mean. It was as though a voice told me that things would be all right and all I could do was sit and wait. I sat down and talked to him. He didn’t say anything, of course, but I got the feeling that he was listening and heard every word I said.

If it makes you feel better, I think you’re right. She put her hand on Gerry’s foot and rubbed it affectionately. He’s a pretty special guy, at least while he’s unconscious. I can hardly wait to meet him when he’s awake and find out if he is as nice then as he is now.

Gerry started to blush. He could feel colour rushing to his cheeks and sent out a command to Charlene and the girl to go look at Ben. They both did, so they didn’t see the flush on his cheeks. Once he was sure it was gone, he let them continue with their conversation.

The girl, Pam was her name, asked Charlene a few questions about Gerry. Charlene told her all she knew about Gerry, which wasn’t much. Gerry helped her out here and there and Pam seemed satisfied with the answers she was given. She still couldn’t understand why a man, lying in a hospital bed, unconscious, didn’t have an IV attached. Charlene couldn’t explain it either, but with help from Gerry, she came up with a plausible explanation. The truth was that Gerry instructed the doctors and ambulance crew not to bother with one because he didn’t need any medication or excess fluids building up in his healing body. Even now, a week later, the doctor would get a thought that maybe Gerry should have one but Gerry would erase it from his mind almost as soon as it appeared. Shareena had told him that he wouldn’t need one and that the healing process would take longer if foreign matter were introduced to his system. He even insured that they wouldn’t insert a catheter into his urinary tract. To avoid problems, he simply called a nurse with his telepathic mind and got her to bring a urine bottle and hold it for him. He would do whatever it took to keep things a secret for as long as possible.

Kelly and Michael, Gerry’s daughter and son came in about that time. Charlene greeted them and introduced Pam. She then went on to explain what had been happening that afternoon. Pam and Kelly started talking while Michael approached the bed. He took his father’s hand in his and let out a long, heavy sigh. He jerked upright almost immediately and let Gerry’s hand drop to the bed. He had a startled look on his face as he sat in the chair previously occupied by Pam. He sat there, staring at his father, until Kelly touched him on the shoulder, causing him to jump again.

Relax, big brother. You’re a bundle of nerves.

I’m sorry, Kel. It just seems so spooky. We know dad’s going to be all right, but he just lies there, like he’s dead and never going to come back. I don’t know how much longer I can take this! Look at the way he’s all bruised. He must be in a lot of pain.

Mike. He’s going to be fine. He told me yesterday that he’ll be like this for another two weeks and then he’ll be like a new man. He says that there is no pain whatsoever. His whole body tingles, like someone has a vibrator going on him all the time. His back, neck, head, shoulders and knees are the worst. His arms, hands and chest have quit tingling now, so they are completely healed. The tingle stops when there is nothing left to repair. I’m happy for him, but I sure can’t wait for him to explain everything. Knowing him, he’ll have some whopper of a story and, as usual, we’ll have to try to sort out the truth from the bullshit. You know how he likes to spin a yarn, as he says.

I know. It’s just that it wasn’t that long ago that we lost mom and now, for a while, we thought that we were going to lose him too. Life sucks!

It sure is weird. That’s all I know for sure. He’s lying there, not moving, yet we can communicate with him as if he were awake. I feel a little spooked too, but we know it’s going to be all right.

I suppose you’re right. I just wish I’d have inherited some of dad’s coolness like you did. I just can’t seem to relax in the face of adversity like you and he can. I’m more like mom, ready to panic at the drop of a hat. You two never seem to get excited about anything.

Remember what dad said about that. He only ever got real excited about anything twice in his life and both times mom ended up pregnant and he said that was enough of that. I sure hope that this thing doesn’t screw up his sense of humour.

I don’t think it will. If it was going to, he’d be dead instead of laying there. God I can’t wait for another two weeks. I think I’m going to go nuts.

Relax, son. I told you before that everything will work itself out. And don’t worry, either of you, about me losing my sense of humour. The only thing that’s really going to change is the fact that I’ll never have any pain again. You think I was funny before, just wait for another two weeks. You’ll be sorry. Have you done those things I asked you to do?

Yes dad, Kelly answered. Michael went and looked into that property you wanted him to and I checked into the ownership. You can get it for a song, really. I can’t wait until you win the lottery. It will be nice to have money for a change.

You bet, dad, Michael replied. And, Kelly, call me Mike. You know I hate Michael.

Michael, Michael, Michael, Kelly taunted.

Stop it you two. Fight at home. Yes, it will be great to have money, but don’t forget, we have a lot of things to do with it when we get it. I’ll fill you both in on all the details when we get it. For some reason, I feel a little pessimistic about it. I don’t know why, after everything else that has happened.

Dad, you never did tell us if she was cute or not.

"Leave it to men to talk about whether a girl is cute or ugly. Dad will tell us everything when he can talk again, won’t you dad?"

You bet I will, pumpkin. Why don’t you two go now. Believe it or not, I’ve had a busy day and I’m a little tired right now. You know, your mother never liked that little story about me getting excited. Every time I’d tell it, she’d hit me.

I know, dad, but she always had a smile on her face when she did it. And, I don’t think she ever hit you very hard, did she?

No, Kelly, she never hit me very hard. I think she was afraid that if she did, she’d kill me.

Oh daddy, Kelly replied. Gerry loved it when she called him daddy. To him, it showed that she was still his little girl and always would be. You’re a lot tougher than you let people know. I’ve seen you get hurt and laugh it off where others would be in mortal pain and out of commission for a week. We’ll go now, so you can get some rest. We’ll see you tomorrow.

I don’t think I can make it tomorrow, dad, Michael added. I may have to go back to Calgary. My boss is getting a little upset that I’m not there. I should just tell the jerk where to go and find a job somewhere else.

Why don’t you do that, Mike. I guess I should tell you some of my plans now, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that I’m going to need you here when I get out of the hospital. Go back to Calgary and give your boss his two weeks notice and then pack up everything and move back here. Like I said before, I’ll fill you in on everything when I can talk.

OK, Dad. You rest. Kelly can look after things and I’ll be back for good in two weeks. Just in time for some explanations.

Charlene came into the room just as the kids were leaving. She smiled at them as they said goodbye and walked to the edge of the bed. She looked down at Gerry and shook her head.

Mr. Stanhouse; I don’t know what your story is, and right now, I don’t care. I know you had a hand in saving the life of Ben Springer, and I know you have been helping me out with a few other things around here. I don’t know how you can do these things but I’m very grateful and I wish to say thanks. If there is anything I can do, just let me know, somehow, and I’ll do whatever I can. She put her hand on his leg again and, in a barely audible voice said, Thank you!

You’re welcome, Charlene. Sit down, if you’ve got the time, and I’ll try to tell you everything you want to know.

Charlene jerked, as if someone had punched her on the chin. Frightened, but curious, she sat in the chair. How do we do this? she asked in a voice not much louder than a whisper.

Clear your mind. You are about to see a movie. It probably won’t be that entertaining but please don’t leave in the middle. Here is everything that you could possibly want or need to know about Gerry Stanhouse. If you are ready, I’ll begin.

Charlene slowly nodded her head and Gerry started to speak, in a manner of speaking.

CHAPTER I

It’sa my life

It’sa my life

It’sa my life

My life

-April Wine (Bad Side of The Moon)

Gerry Stanhouse was born and raised on a farm near a small town in Saskatchewan. He spent the first eighteen years of his life there, working on the farm and going to school. Farm life agreed with him, and he was no stranger to the hard work which is needed for a successful operation. His family raised purebred Aberdeen Angus cattle and had good fortune with it.

Gerry was the youngest of five children raised by Russell and Edna Stanhouse. Gerry had two brothers and two sisters. His brothers were more interested in the farm than Gerry, who was more interested in sports. He was an excellent athlete and was proficient in most sports, hockey being his forte. He had dreams of being a pro, but they were shattered, along with his knee-cap by an enraged bull when he was sixteen years old. He had been invited to the hockey camp of a junior team but he had to decline. His father and brothers tried to make it up to him, after all, he did save the life of the farm’s prized bull, but nothing could pull him out of the doldrums he was in. As a result, his school grades started to fall off, and he lost interest in almost everything.

One evening, in the spring of 1971, his father and mother sat him down and they had a heart to heart talk. They felt that Gerry was wasting his time around there, and suggested that he might be happier somewhere else. They weren’t kicking him out of the house, they were just trying to get him to respond and decide what he wanted to do with his life now that hockey was out of the question. In reality, they wanted him to stay, but they wanted him to be happy.

Gerry decided that he might as well move to B.C. and get a job out there. He dropped out of school, after completing grade 11, loaded his car, a 1965 Buick, and headed west, to the small town of Ice Lake, B.C. where he became employed in the sawmill there.

He lived in a boarding house for two years, with a couple other guys who worked at the mill. He moved out on his own in the summer of 1973, and lived in a detached motel room, one of the seediest places he’d ever seen. He helped the elderly owners fix it up and got a reduced rate on the rent for his efforts. It was that fall that he met Sherry Watson, after a hockey game in Kimberley. Gerry played on the sawmill team and was a standout on defence, even with his wonky knee. He would have further knee problems later on which would plague him for the next 26 years.

Sherry Watson was born and raised in Kimberley. She was a year younger than Gerry and still lived at home with her parents, Chuck and Jean Watson. Chuck worked as a miner at the Sullivan mine in Kimberley and Jean worked as a cook in a local restaurant. Sherry was the oldest of four children, with two brothers and a sister. Her brothers were twins, a year younger than her and her sister was three years her junior. They were a close knit family, similar to Gerry’s. Sherry had graduated in 1973 and was hired by Cominco as a secretary that same summer.

Sherry had gone to the hockey game on that fateful night to watch her brother, Bob play hockey against the Ice Lake hockey team. It was a battle for first place over all. It was not top calibre hockey by any stretch of the imagination, but it was entertaining and helped take her mind off her boyfriend who dumped her for no apparent reason that she could think of. It turned out that a few years down the road, he announced, to the shock of many, that he was a homosexual.

Sherry always sat behind the penalty box when she went to these games, for a good reason. Bob usually seemed to spend most of the game in there. He wasn’t a dirty hockey player, he just couldn’t skate that well and always seemed to trip the other players, an infraction for which he was penalized 90% of the time. They would visit there until his penalty was over, usually when the other team scored. Sherry was also curious about a tall, lanky player from the other team. She had seen him play on several occasions and, without even realizing it, became infatuated with him. He was easily the best player on the ice, on either team and had almost single-handedly beat Kimberley every game they played. To her dismay though, he never seemed to take any penalties, so she never got to talk to him in the penalty box. She had a feeling that this game would be different. On one of Bob’s many trips over there, she convinced him to get into a fight with the star of the other team. He did. Sherry was sorry to see her brother get beat up as badly as he did, but she got her chance to talk to the other player.

Gerry was as confused as anyone when he was attacked by one of the Kimberley players. As a rule, Gerry didn’t like to fight in a hockey game, but he wouldn’t back down from one either. He had one fight earlier in the season, and soundly beat the tar out of probably the toughest player in the league, a big goon from Invermere. Word soon spread that a fight with number 4 from Ice Lake would be similar to committing suicide, so no one challenged him, until now. To give Bob credit, he did okay for the first ten seconds. It was then that Gerry’s superb balance and skills stood him in good stead and Bob was soon over-matched. The fight didn’t last long, either. Bob took a few swings at Gerry, who, then realising that someone had the nerve to fight with him, decided to swing back. He connected with his first two punches and Bob collapsed to the ice. Gerry was never one to keep going after the fight was over. Once Bob went down, Gerry backed off and looked at his fallen enemy. The referee and linesmen moved in quickly at that point, but the fight was over and Gerry was already on his way to the penalty box without the need for an escort. It was after that fight that he became known as a ‘gentleman fighter’ and gained more respect from the rest of the players in the league.

As he sat in the penalty box, he started to get yelled at by a girl who was sitting just above him in the stands. She called him a goon and a bully, but he could tell from her voice that she didn’t really mean it. He took it for what it was meant to be, a chance to meet. He stood up on the seat and called her over to talk to her. He apologized for beating up her boyfriend, and upon hearing that he was her brother, apologized for that. They had a long talk, he was in there for five minutes, and agreed to meet her after the game. They talked for a while after the game and made a date for the next night. They became inseparable after that and were married in the spring of the following year, 1974.

Gerry had his second knee operation later that winter when he had the cartilage removed from his left knee, the same one the bull had kicked. A year later, he had the rest of the cartilage removed from the same knee. That seemed to be the start of all the rest of his problems with his health; that and the fact that he started smoking, one of the dumbest things he’d ever done.

Gerry and Sherry were blessed with the arrival of Michael in January, 1975, and the next year, February, 1976, Kelly arrived. They tried to have more kids but to no avail. They were extremely happy with the two kids they had so they weren’t too worried about not having more.

Life went on in a normal sort of way for the next 14 years, until the decade of the nineties arrived. Gerry had started to run into health problems, mostly due to smoking and, with his knee giving him problems off and on, he wasn’t near as active as before and started to put on some weight. He quit smoking for a year, put on 50 pounds and suffered immensely, his knee not being able to withstand the extra stress it was subjected to. After he started smoking again, he lost a lot of his belly, but the damage had already been done. He became lazy and complacent and consequently fell prey to almost every illness that was making the rounds. He began to miss a lot of work and they ran into financial problems because of it. As with everything else, these problems ran their courses and they eventually started to get back to normal.

In 1981, they bought a house in Kimberley. Gerry drove 27 miles to work, every day while Sherry simply had to drive four blocks. This allowed her to spend more time with the kids while Gerry got to spend less. He accepted this as a fact of life and explained it to the kids. They accepted it because they knew that they’d get to spend more time with their grandparents.

Gerry also bought a new car in 1989. He needed a car that would give him good gas mileage, so he went to Cranbrook and bought a new Chevy Sprint. It was a small car, almost too small for a man of his size and stature, but he didn’t care. This car was going to save him a lot of money on gas. At least that is what he hoped. He was right. That car lasted him until 1999. He had the engine rebuilt once, in 1997, and, when the car was totalled off, he had almost 400,000 kilometres on it. None of his friends and co-workers could believe that the little ‘rice-rocket’, affectionately named ‘Blue’ could last as long as it did. Gerry had a heavy foot and made that little three cylinder engine work every step of the way.

Edna Stanhouse had been sick for a while in the late eighties and, on January 5, 1990, she succumbed to heart failure. Gerry took her loss very hard, but not as hard as his sisters. His oldest brother had a hard time with the whole thing too and went into a deep depression. He spent the next two years in hospitals of various kinds and was never the same again.

Almost a year later, in November of 1990, Gerry had the first of two aneurisms. He awoke one Monday morning to go to work and made his lunch. As he was putting away his sandwich makings in the fridge, he bent over and thought someone hit him over the head with a baseball bat. He dropped to one knee and stayed there for about five minutes. The immense pain eased and he went to work after taking a couple Advil tablets. Three hours later, at work, he bent over again, this time to retrieve his hard hat, and collapsed on the floor. That was the last day he worked for seven months.

The first aid attendants took him to the hospital where he was told that it was nothing serious, and that he should go home, take some Tylenol and go to bed. If he was still having problems the next day to come back and they’d do some tests. They did all kinds of tests on him, kept him hospitalized for two weeks, and found nothing. Gerry had never experienced such pain as what he was now having. There were times that he honestly thought that his heart was going to come out of the back of his head. There were even a few times that he actually screamed, he was in so much pain. Try this drug, try that drug, we don’t know what to do, seemed to be all the doctors could say. He was finally referred to Dr. Coughlin, a neurologist, in Calgary. He saw the doctor several times, and even spent a few days in hospital there for tests. Even there they could find nothing. Even though all the doctors said that he had all the symptoms of an aneurysm, they could find no evidence of one.

Gerry suffered for seven months before the headaches eased off enough to allow him to return to work. He was glad to get back, but he went through the next three years in a stupor, due to all the codeine he had to take to keep the headaches at a level where he could work. That finally got the best of him too, and he became addicted to codeine. It seemed as though the fates were conspiring against him. He finally discovered, on his own, that if he smoked too much, the headaches got worse. He was between a rock and a hard place. He was afraid that if he quit smoking, he’d gain too much weight and wouldn’t be able to do anything because of his knee. On the other hand, if he smoked too much, he got a nasty headache. He cut way down on his smoking and reached a sort of happy medium.

By this time, Gerry was really starting to hate the decade of the nineties. Along with the loss of his mother and his own problems, he lost two uncles, on his father’s side and an aunt on his mothers’ side. Elderly relatives in Sherry’s family were starting to die too, an aunt and an uncle within a month of each other.

Not everything that happened in that decade was all bad. There were a few highlights. Michael graduated high school in 1993 and Kelly graduated in 1994. Both kids found work almost immediately. Michael was proficient with electrical equipment and earned an apprenticeship with a large contractor in Calgary. Kelly showed that she was good with people, and had an aptitude for secretarial work and got a job with an accounting firm in Kimberley. Not to be outdone by his kids, Gerry even managed to graduate himself, in 1998. The sawmill had instituted a new training policy and this allowed all employees and their spouses a chance to upgrade their education. Gerry jumped at the chance and was one of the first graduates to come out of the sawmill program. His elation with his accomplishment was short-lived, however, due to the death of his father in June of that same year. Cancer!

Russell left everything he owned to Gerry’s brothers and sisters. Gerry received nothing because he had borrowed some money from his father when he was off work with those headaches. He had reached an agreement with his father that he would be written out of the will if he hadn’t repaid the loan by a certain date. Gerry hadn’t and was left out.

Before Russell died though, there was another death in the family, which hit Gerry almost as hard as when he lost his mother. Sherry’s sister, Jennifer, lost her husband to a heart attack. Jason and Gerry had become very close in the ten years that they knew each other. Jason had diabetes when he and Jennifer met. A few years later, Jason had to go on the needle because he couldn’t be regulated by diet. In 1996, Jason suffered further when both of his kidneys shut down and he was forced to have dialysis every two days. As a consequence, Jason and Jennifer didn’t make it back to Kimberley at all. Gerry and Sherry made numerous trips to Rimbey, Alberta to visit them and tried to see them In Calgary whenever they happened to be at the hospital there. Gerry thought that Jason was looking worse every time he saw him and decided that enough was enough. Gerry offered one of his kidneys to Jason. Jason declined, for reasons known only to him, leaving Gerry to wonder what Jason was going to do. On March 3, 1998, Jason died. At the funeral, Jennifer told Gerry that Jason had a change of heart, two months earlier, and had a consent form all ready to send to Gerry. Why he didn’t send it, Gerry would never know. Now it was too late.

He really hated the nineties!

Shortly after Jason died, Gerry had problems with his knee again. It would always swell up on him and it ached all the time. He went under the knife again. This time, it was different. This time he had arthroscopic surgery and the doctor wanted him to be awake for the whole procedure, so he could see for himself what his knee was like. They gave him an epidural and he watched, fascinated. He saw everything there was to see, and it wasn’t good. The doctor told him that he would have to have the whole knee replaced, sooner rather than later. It was going to be a tough decision. Replacement surgery in a person as young, Gerry laughed at that because lately he felt like he was older than dirt, would mean a radical life-style change. There was also the fact that he could end up in a wheel chair by the time he was sixty-five. He wasn’t too keen on that idea, but he didn’t know if he could live with his knee the way it was now. Oh well, he’d deal with that decision when the time came. He was to have further problems that would take his mind off his knee for a while.

Gerry was starting to breathe a sigh of relief when 1999 came along. That meant there was only a year to go in this terrible decade. However, 1999 would not go quietly, and would actually be the worst year, and the best year of his life.

Gerry had another aneurysm on January 16. This one was twice as bad as the one nine years previous. It was on a Saturday. He was ‘donking’ around in the basement when it happened. He liked to spend his weekends alone in the basement, especially since the kids had grown up and left home. Well, Kelly was still living there, but she had a life of her own now, and Sherry always seemed to have meetings or bowling or some other such thing to do, so Gerry had all kinds of time to himself. He never really seemed to accomplish a lot, but he always seemed to kill a lot of time and usually made more saw dust than anything else.

On this particular day, Gerry had a specific goal in mind when he went down there. Sherry wanted a shelf unit built for the room they used for their office. Gerry had an idea when he went down the steps of just how he was going to do it, and he also had all the materials necessary for the job. About an hour before Sherry was to leave to take her mother to bingo, Gerry went upstairs to the office to get more measurements for the shelves. Sherry was relaxing, playing a few games on the computer, when he entered the office. It wasn’t really an office, just a small bedroom that they converted when they got the computer. Gerry had since added a bookcase, a dartboard, which they used once and a stereo stand. Gerry couldn’t seem to accomplish anything unless he had music of some sort going, whether it is pre-recorded tapes, self-recorded tapes or just the FM radio. He particularly liked the classic rock and roll radio stations and could quite often be heard singing along to the music. Unfortunately for Gerry, he couldn’t carry a tune in a paper bag. That was a shame, really, because he knew almost all the words to the older songs.

*     *     *

Gerry interrupted his silent narration at this point. He could sense something wasn’t right. He knew that Charlene was still sitting beside him, in the chair. Why did you stop? she whispered.

Something isn’t right. I think I may have kept you too long. The other nurse is looking for you. Isn’t it time for you to do your final rounds?

Charlene looked at her watch. You’re right. I’ve been here half an hour. I just hope I don’t get in trouble. This is only my first week on the job, here. I’d hate to get fired!"

Not to worry, he told her. I think I can help you with the head nurse. Just go about your business as though nothing has happened. Everything will work out fine.

Thank you Mr. Stanhouse. I’ll go do my job and come back for more of the story when I’m done.

It’s a deal. By the way, my name is Gerry. Mr. Stanhouse was my father.

Charlene laughed a little as she arose from the chair. Okay, Gerry! I’ll be back in a little while to give you your sponge bath. Rest now and don’t forget the story.

She left the room and Gerry let his mind wander throughout the hospital until he found Patty Ingraham again. She was getting concerned that Charlene had sort of disappeared and it was getting to be time for the final rounds. They had to give out the evening medication. Although there were only a dozen people in the hospital, they all needed looking after and, after all, wasn’t that what the nurses were for? Charlene had been gone for almost half an hour Where could she have gone. She’d have a talk with her when she found her. Suddenly, Patty had a flash. She knew where Charlene was. She was looking after Mr. Springer. She didn’t know how she knew this, she just did. Well, you can’t discipline someone for doing their job. She looked down the hallway and saw the other nurse come out of room 104.

Charlene approached her and filled her in on the condition of Mr. Springer. Charlene hadn’t even looked at him since she sat down beside Gerry, but Gerry had somehow told her how he was doing. Mr. Springer is awake now and said he had a lot of pain in his back. It took a while, but I managed to get him comfortable. A little white lie wouldn’t hurt, she thought, and she did make him more comfortable.

Are we ready to do the meds, now?

Yes. Once we’re done them, we can do the sponge baths and then we can relax for a while until the night shift comes on. Are you okay, Charlene? You look a little pale.

I’m fine. I’m just not looking forward to going home. Paul has been a real asshole lately. If I’m late, he wonders where I’ve been, and if I’m home early, he figures I’m checking up on him. If I had the nerve, I’d leave him in a minute. If I did that, though, he’d find me, beat me and drag me back. If I just go home and say nothing, he’ll only yell a little and go back to his beer. He never used to be like that before he started drinking all the time. Oh well, I can’t let my home life detract from my job. Let’s get finished.

With that, the two nurses got busy attending to their patients. Charlene seemed to go doubly quick. She wanted to get back to Gerry and hear the rest of the story. She would hear it all too, even if she had to stay the rest of the night and to Hell with Paul.

Patty said that she’d take the north wing and Patty could have the south wing, where Gerry was, and they’d give the bedridden patients a sponge bath. The patients seemed to enjoy this, especially when they also got their backs rubbed. That was the only good thing about being stuck in bed. The older men really appreciated it. There was no way they’d ever get that kind of attention at home, especially from a young good looking girl. For some, it became the highlight of their hospital stay.

Patty had about 8 patients in her wing, only four of whom were in complete bed rest. She was envious of Charlene who got the easy wing. She only had two, Mr. Springer and Mr. Stanhouse. Mr. Stanhouse had never given her trouble in all the times he had been admitted to the hospital over the years. He was in here for two weeks in January, poor guy. Severe headaches caused by an aneurysm, so the doctor said. Now, almost three months later, here he was again, this time in a coma. She fondly remembered him as being one of the good ones. A patient who didn’t call the nurse for every little thing seemed rare to Patty, and she and all the other nurses found him to be a special sort of guy. He would help them in any way he could and he always made them laugh. In fact, most of the nurses would fight over who would look after him on any given day. It did upset the way things were done there, but everyone did their jobs so there was no problem.

*     *     *

Charlene had a hard time keeping her mind on her job. Paul was becoming more of a pain every day since they moved here after Charlene got this job. He didn’t work and loved his beer. Being drunk all the time was the reason he lost his job in Kamloops. With only one of them working, they couldn’t afford to live there anymore. Charlene read about an opening in the much smaller town of Kimberley, applied for the job and got it. She was almost thirty, childless and enveloped in a loveless marriage. Sex was a problem for her. Paul decided that he should and could have it any time he wanted, and he did, resorting to rape whenever she wasn’t in the mood.

In the beginning, they were a happy couple. Carefree and footloose. Then, one day, Paul changed. He began drinking more and she noticed that her savings account was getting lower. When she opened her own separate account, the beatings started, because Paul couldn’t get at her money. She had tried to leave him on several occasions but he would always find her and drag her back, always making promises that he would change. That would last a few days and then he would be the same old Paul.

He didn’t seem to care if he worked or not. She made enough money for them both so he was going to enjoy life, no matter how miserable he made her and, if she ever left him again, he’d beat her to within an inch of her life. Paul was on top of the world, at the bottom of a bottle, and always used Charlene as a step to crawl out once in a while. When he was sober, he was a nice guy, but those times were becoming fewer and Charlene was getting tired. Why couldn’t he be more like Gerry Stanhouse? Charlene thought, the day after she first saw Gerry in the hospital. Not unconscious, of course. Although, for Paul, that would be an improvement. Gerry seems like a real nice guy and I’ll bet that he never ever hit his wife. Why are some men like that?

Charlene thought about Gerry while she was attending to a patient in another room. How old was he? In his present condition, he didn’t seem very old. His grey hair had deceived many people. She figured that he was around 43-45, almost twenty years older than her. She could fall hard for a man like him; in fact she already had. She wanted to be with him all the time. That was why she phoned Paul and told him that she had to work a double shift. She wanted to hear the rest of the story. Besides, being near Gerry made her feel better.

*     *     *

Charlene re-entered room 104, taking with her the medications for Mr. Springer. Gerry, of course, got none. She was still confused by this but she knew that Gerry would tell her why eventually. Mr. Springer took his pills with no problem and she hurriedly washed his back and straightened out his bed. Having attended to him, she turned her attention to Gerry. She went through the curtains around his bed, which were always pulled, for privacy, and gently pulled the covers off his body. She had bathed him before, but the sight of all the bruising, all over his body, almost made her nauseous.

Gerry assured her that he was in no pain, and she gently dabbed at his body with the warm cloth. She started at his chin and slowly worked her way down. For some reason, she took her time while washing his genitals, and had a fleeting thought of taking him into her mouth. Gerry read this thought and responded.

I’m flattered, Charlene. But right now, I don’t think I could get it up with a tow truck. If you still feel the same next week, I should be able to respond. And, as soon as I get out of here, I’ll repay you in kind. The choice is yours.

She couldn’t seem to get used to this idea of hearing him without him moving his lips. She blushed, no one could see her, of course, and looked around. They were alone so she relaxed and continued washing him. I don’t know how you knew that, Gerry, she thought. Now I’m embarrassed.

Don’t be. I can read minds you know. I just discovered that the other day. The power is getting stronger every day. Like I said before, I’m flattered. You are an attractive woman. It’s too bad your husband doesn’t appreciate you more. He must be a real jerk.

Charlene said nothing as she worked her way down to his feet. Can I roll you over? she asked silently.

No. I shouldn’t move or be moved for a while yet. I was told that anything like that could do more harm than good. I’ll let you know when the time is right.

Charlene smiled. Okay, Mr. psychic. You let me know when you want something done for you and I’ll do it. Since I’m done with you for now, I’ll take the stuff back and wait for the night shift to come in. I’ll be back to see you after the debriefing and you can finish the story.

Take your time. I’m not going anywhere. What about your husband?

I phoned him and told him that I have to work a double shift. After this shift tonight, I was off for four days anyway. I don’t know how I’ll explain it when the overtime isn’t on my next cheque.

Leave that to me, Charlene. Go now, and come back when you can.

Charlene left the room and came back an hour later. I’m back, Gerry. Paul was drunk again and didn’t seem to care. I’ll be here with you all night.

"That’s good. Now, where was I? Oh yeah . . . ."

*     *     *

Along the wall of the office, Sherry had a few boxes stacked up, the contents of which would go in the new shelf unit. Gerry had to move them, in order to get the proper measurements he needed. As he lifted the first box, he felt a rush of blood to his head that made him slightly dizzy. He shrugged it off, set the box in the kitchen and returned to get the second one. This one was only slightly heavier than the first, maybe twenty pounds, and contained their wedding pictures and some other family pictures. As he lifted this box, his head began to spin faster. He took one step ahead and everything went black. He fell to the floor, crushing the box beneath him, and pile-drove his face into the floor. He was motionless as Sherry let out a scream. He didn’t respond to anything Sherry did. Since he was too heavy for her to move, she immediately went to the phone and called the ambulance.

The ambulance arrived in five minutes, although Sherry could have sworn that they took an hour. By this time, Gerry was starting to move a little. He had a small gash on his forehead where his glasses had cut him when he fell and Sherry managed to get the bleeding stopped. She also covered him with a blanket to keep him warm. Her greatest concern, oddly, was how were they going to get him out of there? This year looked to surpass the winter of ’96-’97 for snowfall and their street hadn’t been ploughed for a few days. People were having a hard time driving out there, but, she supposed, the ambulance would make it, come hell or high water. That was one of her favourite sayings. She always used it, either when talking to the kids to get them to do something or when talking to Gerry to get him to do something. It’ll get done, and you’ll do it, come Hell or high water. She didn’t even know where she picked that up, but, she thought, she sure used it a lot.

By the time the attendants had Gerry loaded on the stretcher, he was starting to babble incoherently. He said that he felt woozy, and that he hoped the elves would get the toys built in time for the Easter bear to give to the old people. The only thing he said that made any sense at all to anyone there was that his head hurt like hell. He asked Phil, one of the attendants, if he would take his head off and carry it in a separate bag so that maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much. It was an attempt at humour. Normally, Gerry could make anyone laugh at any given time. He was not normal at this particular time and all Phil heard was, mumble, mumble… . bag of… . head up your… mumble, mumble… . off.

Sherry was scared. She was holding his hand, trying to keep him from talking and not having very much luck. Gerry was starting to get upset with everything. As far as he knew, he was talking in a perfectly rational way, telling some of his best jokes. On the outside, though, what came out was a steady stream of profanity, mixed with a few giggles as Gerry attempted to laugh at his own jokes. Phil tried to assure Sherry that things like this happen all the time. Sherry said she realised that, but this was her husband and he wasn’t normally like this. She apologized for his behaviour as they took him out of the house and loaded him into the ambulance. Sherry noticed that it was starting to snow again as she started her car to follow them to the hospital. Sorry, mom, she said to herself. Bingo is cancelled tonight. She put the car in reverse and sped away after her husband.

Gerry spent two weeks in the hospital this time. The doctors said that this time there was no doubt that he had an aneurysm. The tests were conclusive. It was only a small one, not too serious, but serious enough to send him to Calgary to see Dr. Coughlin again. They made his appointment for him, Friday, April 9. Gerry was almost a hundred percent by this time and his sense of humour was coming back. It’s a good thing there’s nothing wrong with me, he said to Dr. Barrett. If there was, a guy could die before he gets to see someone. Dr. Barrett agreed with him but told him that there was not much else they could do except wait. If Gerry’s condition was more serious, they would ship him over by helicopter. But, since he was recovering nicely, there was no need to panic. Barrett told him that he wouldn’t be going to work for quite a while and that also meant that he wasn’t supposed to do anything at home either. Once Gerry agreed to follow the doctor’s orders, Barrett let him go home. However, if Gerry were to start having problems of any kind, dizziness, nausea, etc., he was not to hesitate but get to the hospital immediately. Barrett didn’t seem to think that Gerry would have any problems, if he just followed orders.

And, he was right. Gerry followed orders and did as little as possible. He watched lots of television and read a lot of books. He re-read his Stephen King collection again and even convinced Sherry that he should invest in the two newest efforts by the master of terror. Sherry acquiesced and bought them for him the following payday. His collection was now complete. Trying to take inspiration from Mr. King, Gerry decided that he would try to write a book as well. He had lots of time for it; all he needed now was an idea. This was nearing the end of February, and he never really got started on his great Canadian novel. Two weeks later, Sherry was killed in an automobile accident.

The nineties suck!!!!!

Wednesday, March 3, 1999, exactly one year to the day after her brother-in-law Jason died from a heart attack, Sherry Stanhouse and her mother, Jean Watson were killed in a car accident while they were on their way home from Cranbrook after going to bingo. It had been a lucky night for Sherry. She had won three times for a total of $954 in winnings, the best she had done in almost a year.

It had snowed a little while they were in the bingo hall, but not enough to make the roads slippery. Since it was fairly cold outside, minus 10 Celsius, the snow was a fine powder and blew off the road with each passing vehicle. Sherry was a good driver, but even the best driver in the world couldn’t have avoided what was coming a few miles down the road.

Sherry was driving the speed limit for a change. She normally went about 10 kilometres over the speed limit but, when her mother was with her, she drove at the posted speed. They were just coming over the crest of a hill when Sherry thought something looked sort of funny up ahead. She took her foot off the