Chapter 1; The Beginning
Monday, March 8
th
.
Gus lurched into the warm-up hut and stamped his feet. He was used to the cold, but thirty-three below zero combined with a twenty mile per hour wind was a brutal environment. He took off his gloves and his arctic parka in an effort to thaw out. In another ten minutes the rest of his crew should be in position.
He had started his seven week shift on the previous Saturday and immediately afterwards a Siberian Arctic front had moved over the Alaskan North Slope causing the temperatures to plummet. That morning, the pressure reading in one of the fifteen-inch re-injection lines had started to rise, possibly indicating a freeze-up, and Gus and his crew had been sent to investigate. 'I guess that's why they pay me the big bucks', he mused.
Waiting for the rest of his crew to arrive, Gus sat on the wooden bench in the warm-up hut and as he often did, thought about his work and life in general.
The last fifteen years had been hard; a work schedule of seven weeks on and three weeks off had been grueling, but the money was good. Unlike most couples, who spent their money as they made it, Gus and his wife, Julie, had saved and invested their money and now, at forty-six and forty-five respectively, they had paid off the mortgage on their house in Eagle River, put their daughter through college, were paying for their son, a sophomore at UAA in Anchorage, to complete his degree and had been able to purchase a retirement home in Sun City, Arizona.
They had a plan. Just six more years on the North Slope and they could retire. He would be fifty-two and Julie, fifty-one, which, for this day and age, when most people had to work well into their sixties before retiring, was not bad.
The seven weeks on, three weeks off schedule was tough on marriages. Almost three-quarters of the men who worked with Gus were divorced, but he had Julie; his love, his life and his rock. They were as much in love today as they were twenty-four years ago when they had married. They were an anomaly; a fifties' couple in a twenty-first century world; he made the money, which provided them with a good life, and she took care of the home. They were a great partnership and he trusted her completely. Their twenty-fifth anniversary was two months away and he wanted to do something special; something which told her and the world how much he loved her, but hadn't been able to decide on anything specific.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching heavy equipment and although he would rather have remained in the hut, it was time to leave. He stood up reluctantly, put on his coat and gloves and walked out into the frigid darkness. He had taken only three steps when he heard a noise directly behind him, but before he could turn to determine the source of the noise, everything went black.
Tuesday, March 9
th
.
Julie was aglow with excitement as she settled into the leather of her first class seat on the seven o'clock flight to Seattle. Her lover, Greg Peterson, was meeting all her expenses for this trip, just as he had for the other six trips she had made over the past two years. She was looking forward to five glorious weeks in beautiful Seattle, away from all the snow and winter weather in Anchorage. There were concerts, plays, art galleries and restaurants all waiting for her, but what she was most looking forward to was seeing Greg Peterson.
Greg and she had met in college, where he had been her first lover, but after a year of living together, she had realized he was and always would be, a player, always on the look-out for the next woman to take to bed. She had broken up with him and had started to date Gus on the rebound. Gus was the antithesis of Greg; whereas Greg was capricious and unfaithful, the terms steady and true described Gus. He was a great husband and father and despite having a lover, Julie looked forward to growing old with him. She was very fond of Gus and she knew he adored her; but he was just not very exciting in bed. Now she had it all; a great husband and a fantastic lover. If she ever had pangs of conscience, she rationalized her unfaithfulness by telling herself, after twenty-four years of marriage, she deserved some play time, some excitement.
She told her friends and children she was traveling to Seattle to take accounting refresher classes so she could take a part-time job as an accountant when Gus retired. She had taken a bachelor's degree in accounting at college, but had never worked after she graduated. She took the 'classes' only when Gus was on the North Slope and to date, she had managed to keep her trips to Seattle a secret by enrolling the assistance of her children after convincing them she wanted to keep it from their father in order to surprise him. To further embellish her story, she told her friends and children she was staying with an old college friend to save money and to keep it a secret from her husband. She smiled to herself at her own deviousness; she was having an affair right out in the open and no one knew!
The Alaska Airlines flight attendant brought her a glass of wine, while the other passengers boarded. Yes, she thought, as she sipped the wine, this was going to be another memorable trip to Seattle.
Wednesday, March 10
th
.
"The tests came back negative, Mr. Randall," the doctor told Gus. "It's just a mild concussion and you are cleared to be discharged from the hospital today."
"And the arm?"
"You have a hairline fracture in your left humerus. A cast is not necessary, but you must keep your arm in a sling for three weeks. Take it easy and rest - and no driving, either. Come back and see me for another x-ray, in three weeks."
"What about work?"
"Three weeks mandatory leave, with another three weeks of light duty only. Depending on your recovery rate, I might extend it for another two weeks," the doctor replied.
"Is there anything else?"
"In the future, you might want to keep your crew from running into you with heavy equipment," the doctor replied with a smile. "And your son is here to see you."
Gus nodded.
"I'll send him in now," the doctor said as he left the room.
As he waited for Josh, Gus wondered whether his son would be able tell him why his mother hadn't responded to the messages he'd left on the home phone.
"Hey, dad!" Josh cried, as he approached his father's hospital bed. "How are you?"
"It's just a mild concussion and a broken arm, son; nothing too serious, but I will be out of commission for a month or so. Where's your mom? I left three or four phone messages for her at home."
Josh paused; it was a difficult question and he didn't want to break his mother's confidence, but given the circumstances he had no option.
"Well, I guess I'd better spill the beans," Josh replied, as he moved a chair next to the bed and sat down.
