All the usual warnings apply. Any mention of a person, place or thing is coincidental and should not be taken as an accurate portrayal. No one under 18 engages in sex.
One comment on part 1 said this story is long, winding and boring. If all the reader wants is a story to wank by, please look elsewhere. This is the tale of multiple people brought together by unusual circumstances and how they cope with their love for each other.
While we fixed a late brunch for the rest of our family, I told my children about their half-sister's phone call. "Based on what you've told us," Sophia said. "I'm surprised she called."
"Not as shocked as me. I'm just as curious as you are."
"I'd like to meet her," her twin brother, Scott, said. "Sophia is okay, but I'd like an older sister sometimes too." His smirk told me he was teasing her. I let him continue. My sister and I used to tease each other too. Scott is 19 minutes older than Sophia and he never lets her forget it.
Sophia punched her brother's arm. "Goofball. She's too old to be hanging around us."
I frowned at them and shook my finger. They stopped clowning around and returned to their tasks of dicing veggies and shredding potatoes for hashbrowns.
Dave and his wife, Lana, lived a short distance away. They brought their two children and joined us for the day.
He decided against a professional baseball career. Because of what happened to Norm, he didn't want to be gone for extended times. He and Lana teach and coach at a Santa Ana high school.
Bri took nursing to help her dad. During her junior year, she met Ken who was taking pre-med. While he was in med school, she studied to become a physician's assistant. In her spare time, she coaches hitters as a non-staff coach at a community college in Riverside.
She and Ken, her husband, were present also. Of course, their two children ate with us too.
A few minutes later, Norm and Emma came over from their house. He's using his wheelchair today because he drove one of the vehicles from our new houses in Santa Ana to Universal Studios yesterday. He walked using arm crutches for part of the day and used a wheelchair for the rest.
Emma and I kissed and hugged. I bent over and kissed Norm on the lips. Emma hugged everyone else before we started. I had started telling them about my daughter's call when our current girlfriend entered the dining room.
"I'll fill you in on the missing parts later," I told Sorrento Alvarez. She made the rounds of greeting everyone before she joined in.
"Did you have a good trip to visit your sister and her husband," I asked, as she sat by me. "We all missed you."
"I did. Thank you for allowing me to go." She is our current unicorn who helps with childcare or stays with Norm when Emma or I can't be home. I filled in the missing pieces after we ate.
***
In the original nine months Emma and I spent together, our relationship was on auto pilot. I would drive to their house on Friday evenings. We would attend sports events, go hiking or riding bikes or another normal family-based activity. Of course, we made love furiously.
The time after Norm's return reminded me of a whitewater rafting trip down the Deschutes River that I took with some friends in college. Lots of unseen hazards, excitement and sometimes, downright terror. I considered the next two years like taking that trip without experienced guides.
***
Sorrento and I were supposed to join the others for hiking in the afternoon, but she was too tired from her two-week trip to Brazil. She went to take a nap.
I needed to review a few contracts but soon put them away. My mind kept drifting back over the past 16 years.
On the night of the phone call, Emma and I plotted our future actions. She retrieved her wedding ring from the bedroom and put it on again. Despite our desires, we agreed we should stop sleeping together.
Emma got a call a week later that Norm would be moved during the next week to William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss near El Paso. I was working when Sally Feldman called.
Emma called me that night and asked me to come over. She wanted to be held while we talked. I consented at first, although my mind continually warred with my body.
My ex-wife...I no longer cared about. Emma, I loved with all my heart.
I was hoping against all hope that we could stay together. But I didn't see a path. I was already mentally preparing for the split.
"I wasn't aware of this, but Fort Bliss is one of the top five medical facilities in the military," she said. "The state department is trying to keep his recovery hush-hush at this point for fear of further attacks or retribution. Fort Bliss is located next to an Air Force base and is far more secluded and secure than Walter Reed, for example.
"She said we can visit him sometime next week. Since I don't have exact dates, I don't know if the kids can go or not."
Guilt overrode my desire to hold her. We parted. My guilty conscience continually plagued me. She looked hesitant and conflicted.
"I've been talking to Mark and some of the other executives at the Halo's offices. The owner leases a smaller jet he uses to travel. He agreed to loan it to me whenever we need it and it's available.
"If we can find a day that works for the children, we can fly El Paso and stay as long as we need. Norm can meet and talk to Dave and Bri. I'll bring them back and you can stay with him. I'll come to get you when you want. How much can he talk?"
"Ms. Feldman said no longer than a half hour at a time, maybe two or three times a day at this point. I'm not sure what to say."
"Tell him the truth when the topic comes up. I know from personal experience that lying only complicates matters. We don't want to cause a setback.
She stepped into my arms again, tilted her face up and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm confused, Cliff. I love you. I love Norman. My mind tells me that I didn't cheat on him because of the circumstances, but my heart feels like I have by sleeping with you."
"I don't know exactly how to respond. Everything the government said led you to believe Norm was dead. I would never have consented if I didn't believe the same thing.
"All we can do is be honest and hope for the best. Lies ruined my marriage. I don't want to see us go down that road too."
Because he had a setback from the trip, it was the weekend after Thanksgiving Day before we went. Emma, Dave and Bri entered his room first.
The owner knew many people in the federal government. I was able to discover information that Ms. Feldman was withholding or didn't know.
The explosion blew Norm clear because he was in the back seat. According to available records and their reconstruction of the incident, he had the reinforced glass up between the front and the back which partially shielded him. The SUV they were using had been reinforced too. Hezbollah found him among the rubble and kidnapped him.
His captors took him to a medical facility for treatment before being kept in captivity until the weekend before Halloween. For nearly three years, they tortured him multiple times. Details were classified and not available.
We got information later from Norm that only hinted at what he experienced. The doctors said his mind blotted out many of his memories.
During a raid by Mossad to recover three Israeli hostages, they found Norm in a Syrian cave. At first the Mossad forces weren't sure who he was. He was delirious and near death upon discovery.
My source sent me photos of his condition soon after they found him which I didn't share with Emma. I told her what I had but she said she didn't want to see them.
The best description was skin and bones. Even if I had known him his entire life, I wouldn't have recognized him. He went in and out of consciousness while they moved him to a miliary hospital. He was covered with untreated and festering wounds, the accompanying report said.
They didn't call Emma until he stabilized enough his chances of survival were good. During that time, his DNA tests revealed who he was.
Based on what I was told, they were shocked to find him because everyone assumed he died in the blast. People who are that close to a blast that large survive only once in a million times, my source said.
We flew over early on Friday morning to El Paso Airport, picked up our rental car and arrived at Fort Bliss at about ten. The hospital isn't that far from the airport terminal, but the day was cold and windy. It was too far to walk anyway.
Dave drove while Bri rode in the front seat. Emma held my hand so tightly it hurt sometimes. She continually trembled during our car ride.
"I'm here with you until you tell me to leave," I whispered in her ear. "It's hard to stay calm but think of the love between you and Norm. Hope for the best."
I waited outside the room. Dave and Bri came out first, tears streaming down their faces. They both hugged me. I handed them handkerchiefs because I'd brought an extra supply.
"What does this mean for you, Cliff? You've become such an important part of our lives, we don't want you to go," Dave said.
"We love our dad too," Bri said. "I want you both to be part of our lives."
"Now is not the time to worry about such things. I'll hang around until your dad or mom tell me to leave."
Emma came out with about five minutes left, sobbing and devasted. She shuffled directly into my arms.
"The nurse chased me out. No visitors until at least two this afternoon."
Norm's parents arrived before we left for lunch and joined us. They came from Northern California where they operated nut orchards and a processing plant.
While Emma and the kids visited Norm on Friday afternoon, I talked to Norm's parents. We hadn't tried to conceal our affection for each other. In response to their questions, I explained what happened and how much I care for Emma.
"Both of us sincerely trusted what the State Department told her," I said. "We never would have let it go as far as it did if we hadn't believed that.
"As soon as we got the word, we stopped. But she's asked for my support through the early days, and I agreed."
"We were told the same thing," August Wolfe said. "When Ms. Feldman called us, we thought it was a practical joke. Emma is a wonderful woman. I know this sounds strange, but please hang around until they ask you to leave."
We skipped the afternoon visit because his parents were here. We drove around El Paso to see the sights until we stopped for dinner and headed for the hotel I booked. That night, Dave and I slept in separate beds in one room. Bri and Emma slept in another room.
I drove the three of them to the hospital on Saturday. Her parents had come to visit and there was plenty of transportation available.
One of our players lived in Flores Magon, Mexico, about three hours away. Pablo Morales' mother was sick. I went to visit them.
Sunday morning, we reserved for visitations by the parents because they planned to fly out later in the day. Before he left the hospital, Gus pulled me aside. "Marge and I discussed your present with Norm. We still have questions, but he wants you to stick around."
In the afternoon, I let Emma, and her children visit Norm without me. After a few minutes, Dave and Bri came out and sat by me.
