Chapter Ninety-eight:
Jim stared at Tara in stunned silence. He replayed what she had said in his mind to make sure he had heard her correctly. His brain struggled to comprehend that she had just turned down his proposal. He didn't know what to say or what to do. He stammered out "but... I love you. I want to spend my life with you. I thought... I thought you loved me too."
Tara closed her eyes. When she reopened them she cut her eyes and made eye contact with Jim. She replied "I love you. I love you so much. But you don't want me to be your wife. You deserve better."
Jim stood and sat beside Tara, protectively wrapping his arm around her. He said "that is not true. You are the most incredible woman in the world. No one could deserve better than you." He was interrupted by a loud banging on his front door. He ignored it. The banging continued, only getting louder, until he heard Alex' voice scream "let me in!"
Jim was surprised, he hadn't expected her until after 5 pm. He softly said "hang on" as he got up off the couch.
Opening the front door, he found a frantic looking Alex. She didn't ask to come in. She didn't say a word. Instead, she pushed by Jim and rushed into the house. By the time, he had closed the door and made his way back to the living room, Alex had wrapped herself around Tara. She was holding on to her, covering her as if trying to protect Tara from the world. Jim just watched as Alex hugged her in silence. Finally Alex said "I am so sorry bae."
Alex let go of Tara. Still sitting closely at her side Alex took Tara's hand. She turned her head and gave Tara a smile. Jim knew it must be forced, but it looked genuine. Alex said "boo, you have to quit trying to one up me. I know you were so jealous of my leg braces you had to get your own. Now you have gone and gotten this cast. You really have outdone me now."
Tara said "wanna trade?" For the first time since her appointment, Tara gave the slightest hint of a smile.
Becoming serious, Alex said "you know I would." She then joked "heck, you look so fetching I might have to get me one too." She lay over on top of Tara again and with her left hand knocked on her friends cast. Alex said "you even make a cast look hot. But it is entirely too plain. We will have to work on that. But first, tell me what happened."
For the next thirty minutes, Alex sat beside Tara alternately talking and simply holding her hand. Jim stayed back, trying to busy himself. One of the things he had done was go outside to take some measurements and plan out a ramp to his front door. He was bent over holding a tape measure from the front door to the edge of the steps when he caught movement out of his peripheral vision. He straightened up and turned to see a black Mercedes pulling into the driveway. It parked behind Alex' car. He was surprised to see Beverly Willingham step out of the driver's side door.
Jim stood as Beverly Willingham confidently walked towards him dressed in what looked like a tailored black ladies business suit with matching 3" heels, each step clicking on the concrete. She looked elegant, professional and poised. The only thing that looked out of place was the Sleep Well protraction mask she wore on her face. As she approached she asked "how is she?"
Jim answered honestly "I don't really know. I think she is doing a little better since Alex arrived."
Beverly stopped in front of Jim and looked at him earnestly. She said "I am so sorry about this. Anything I can do, I will do. A powered wheelchair is on the way. May I see her?"
Jim answered "yes of course. And welcome to our home." As he held the front door open, Jim wondered if it really was still their home. He couldn't help but replay Tara telling him no in his mind. He tried to ignore that painful memory and said "she is in the living room. Follow me."
Entering the living room, Beverly Willingham marched towards Alex and Tara, both of whom had a startled look on their faces. Before they could speak, Beverly said "Tara dear, I am sorry. This is my fault. I already told Jim that anything you need I or the firm will provide. You have a powered wheelchair on the way, but it will be tomorrow before it arrives."
Stopping in front of the pair, Beverly said "how rude. Am I interrupting?"
Alex was the first to reply "no, we were just chatting."
Beverly noticed that Alex' focus seemed to be on the mask she was wearing, and not on her eyes. Beverly replied "I still clench when I am stressed. And I think we are all stressed right now. The mask helps alleviate the pressure. It helps, so I still wear it as needed."
Alex said "that is good. That is really good." She put her hand up to her own face, placing her finger tips over the chincup of her ever present Petit facemask, and said "I have been wearing mine so long I feel like mine is just part of me. I may even miss it some when it is gone."
For the next several hours, Jim felt like the doorman of a hotel as the number of people continued to swell. Next to arrive had been Marc. He was followed by the medical equipment company with Tara's bed. Jim and Marc had helped the two technicians move the bed into Jim's bedroom and finish assembling it. Again, Jim worried if Tara wanted to sleep in the same room as he in light of what had happened earlier. He told himself he would cross that bridge when he got to it.
While they had been working on the bed, Mona and Becky had arrived home from work. They were followed just minutes later by Aubrey. As all of the girls wrapped Tara in love and understanding, they finished setting up the hospital bed. As soon as it was complete and the technicians had departed, Jim pulled Marc out onto his front landing. Jim explained what he had in mind and asked Marc if he minded helping. Marc had told him it would be his pleasure, though the didn't know how much of a carpenter he would make but he would try his best. He reminded Jim that he and Alex owed him so much still for opening up his home to them.
Entering Jim's expansive garage, Marc found that it had a connected room set up as a workshop. Inside was a full complement of tools. There was a stack of assorted lumber and plywood stacked neatly in one corner. Marc had helped Jim get the wood they needed laid out, measured and marked. As they worked on cutting the pieces to size, Jim said "so, I need some help on something else too. Some guidance. Maybe just some reassurance. If I tell you something, can you keep it between us.?
Marc looked up, his curiosity piqued. He responded "yes, of course."
Jim had then explained to Marc about his failed proposal to Tara. Marc looked at him, a look of surprise on his face. He said "she loves you." He went silent a moment and said "don't take this wrong. But you have really shitty timing. I get that you were trying to cheer her up. And I believe that you meant it sincerely. But a marriage proposal is supposed to be a happy event. Today is not a happy event. And she may have felt like it was purely out of sympathy."
Jim pondered what Marc had said. He had not considered it like this. He asked "really? What should I do?"
Marc said "yes, really. I will be honest, I don't know what you should do. But I bet I know who would, Alex. Can I get her input?"
As if preordained, they both heard Alex voice inquire "hey, are you two in here?"
Marc shouted out "yes baby."
Alex entered the workshop and said "you two disappeared on us. I was just checking on you. I heard the saw, I wanted to make sure everything is ok."
Marc smiled and said "that is sweet baby. We are good. I am learning a lot about design and carpentry. And Jim has something he wants to ask you." Marc turned towards Jim and smiled.
Put on the spot, Jim looked at Alex. Alex said "ask away."
Jim said "I did something earlier I probably shouldn't have." He then explained to Alex about the failed proposal.
As soon as he was done speaking, Alex had practically shouted "JIM PHILLIPS! How could you do that to her? To put her on the spot like that after everything that has happened today? Why? Why would you do that?"
Jim looked down. He finally realized that he may have been selfish. He looked back up and said "I did it because I do love her. And I do want to marry her. More than anything else in the world. I didn't plan it like this. It just happened. Did I mess everything up?"
Alex said "a marriage proposal doesn't just happen." She thought a moment before she "you messed up. But I don't think you messed everything up. Let me talk to Tara. In private obviously and not in front of the group. What if Marc and I stay over tonight? Me and Tara could have a few minutes alone to talk. And if you really want to marry her, and I think you do, have a plan. It needs to be romantic. And unforgettable. And yours was neither." Alex could see Jim visibly exhale. She realized he had been holding his breathe the whole time she had been talking. She asked "you really do love her don't you?"
Jim said "more than I knew it was possible to love."
Alex said "don't hurt her. She is hurting enough already. If you promise that, I will fix this."
Jim said "I promise."
Alex smiled at him and said "good. And I will keep my word." She turned and looked at Marc and said "well I will leave you two boys to your toys." She lingered a moment looking at Marc. She stepped over and said "you have sawdust on your headgear baby." As she reached up to wipe it away, she saw Marc turn a bit red from embarrassment. She looked at him and said "I have never seen anything hotter in my whole life." She leaned in close, cupping his butt with her hand, and whispered "I will show you how much later this evening. But only if you wear your headgear like a good boy."
That night, Jim lay beside Tara in her new hospital bed, his arm draped over the hard plastic shell of her halo brace. Her legs were held aloft and supported by two padded slings that ran under her casted legs. He whispered "I am sorry I forgot to pick up your prescriptions this afternoon. I will pick them up first thing in the morning. I guess we are lucky that Becky is here so we could use hers. But first thing tomorrow I will pick them up, along with anything else you think of."
As Jim approached the pharmacy counter at Stone Pharmacy he saw that Kelly was not behind the counter. Instead there was a middle-aged lady that he had seen at the front register in the past. He did glance up through the glass to the raised area and saw Margaret Stone, her back to him. As he stopped he said "Hi, I am Jim Phillips. Here to pick up a prescription for Tara Reynolds."
The lady, her name tag said her name was Lisa, smiled at Jim. The first thing he noticed was how crowded her teeth were. He chastised himself for being so judgmental as she said "of course Mr. Phillips. Let me see what we have." As she typed on her computer, Jim looked over at Margaret. She was busy working, her back to him the whole time. He did notice at one point she bent over stiffly and awkwardly at the waist. He wondered why, but not for long as Lisa said "they are right here. Let me get them for you." When she returned, she asked for ID and method of payment. As she rung him up, she surprised him by asking "I notice you have braces. What's it like as an adult?"
Jim said "it is different. But I am glad I am doing it. Have you asked Margaret and Kelly about theirs? And speaking of Kelly, where is she? Everything ok?"
Lisa smiled and said "Kelly is great, she is in class this morning. And yes, I have spoken to them about them. They have told me I should do it. I just don't know if I could wear a facemask like they do. It just looks so overwhelming. I really don't know how Mrs. Stone is managing now with everything."
Jim looked at Lisa and wondered what she meant until she heard Margaret Stone's voice say "Jim, you are becoming a regular."
He looked over as she descended the steps to the register area. He noticed two things as she approached. One, she was wearing a turtleneck. It was entirely too hot to be wearing a turtleneck. Two, her body didn't appear to move from the hips up and her shoulders appeared to be pinned back unnaturally. As she stopped she said "how is Tara doing? I saw her prescription come through yesterday. Is everything ok?"
Jim smiled at her and said "Tara is doing ok. Better than can be expected. But she has had a complication from her knee surgery." For the next 5 minutes he told Margaret all about Tara's diagnosis and treatment. Margaret had looked on with rapt attention.
She said "oh poor Tara. That is going to be so hard. But she is strong. And I know you will take the best care of her. I need to quit having my own pity party and feeling sorry for myself."
Jim cocked his head and said "I thought you were used to your facemask. You make it seem like no big deal."
Margaret said "it's not my facemask that is bothering me." She rolled down her turtleneck some, revealing a stainless steel and white plastic neck ring wrapped around her delicate neck. She said "this Milwaukee brace is horrible though."