All characters in this story are fictional and any that engage in sexual activity are over the age of 18. I hope you enjoy reading it!
This is the final chapter of While You Were Sleeping, a tale of a loving family possibly torn apart by a coma and an unfaithful wife. Thank you for sticking with me to the end of this tale. Regardless of voting, so many people have weighed in with their opinions of my characters that I feel flattered. My reward for doing this is to know that people have an opinion about my work. To all those that spent time reading and commenting, I say a heartfelt THANK YOU.
Also a huge thank you to my editor Guinahart for graciously spending time working over my stories. Without her efforts, this work would be a much more difficult read.
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Hi, I am Jim. By now, you probably want to find me and kick my ass. Believe me, I am starting to realize that you're right, and I deserve it. Let me try to explain myself a little before you get out the Louisville Slugger.
Matt and I had been friends since grade school. If he went somewhere or did something, I was with him. We went to Prom together in high school. Hah, well not together, but we double-dated. That night, we both lost our virginity to our girlfriends. We even had a joint graduation party together. We were inseparable. We weren't related, but I truly felt we were like brothers.
After graduation, we both got accepted to go to the same university, and we even roomed up together. I used to party with him all the time, and eventually settled down a bit with the same group of friends towards the end of college. It was during this time that he started seeing Jennifer. I was a little jealous of her, as she was taking all of Matt's time.
As time went on, and I got to know her better, I started to have feelings for her, too. Of course nothing could happen as she was taken, but dang she was a great catch. Life went on and they got married after our college graduation. I thought I had moved on but never could get her out of my head.
I went into business with my uncle selling insurance. His agency sold mostly to businesses, but he did carry a few personal policies. I told him with me on board, we could really branch out that side of the market. He agreed, so we worked to get more involved with homeowners, auto, and life policies.
Anyhow, I did date some women, but never seemed to find the right one. I should have accepted the fact that Jennifer was off-limits forever, but I just kept comparing all my dates to her. Looking back on it, I think I was a little obsessed. You might be saying, "DUH!" at this point.
I met a pretty decent woman named Margaret, but she preferred Maggie. She said her name sounded too formal, and in her words, "Like an old woman name." We dated a few times until one night, we went back to her house, and had some hot sex. I'm talking the kind that requires you to burn the sheets afterwards hot.
While we were sitting there in the bed, just cuddling, the door busts in, and a huge guy is standing there looking VERY pissed! I was at a loss for words, so just jumped up and tried to grab for my clothes. Something was obviously not right, and I needed to get out of there pronto.
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" the big guy yelled. "WHY ARE YOU FUCKING MY WIFE, ASSHOLE?"
I quickly turned to Maggie, "WIFE?! YOU'RE MARRIED? WHAT THE FUCK?" After that, I was going to try to run past him really quick, but he grabbed my arm and tossed me down to the floor. He kicked me in the stomach and chest a few times, and then stomped on my groin so hard I almost blacked out. That shit hurt, a lot.
Maggie was screaming at him to stop, "DON'T KILL HIM, YOU'LL GO TO JAIL! PLEASE STOP!"
He backed up a step, and I took my chance to get up and run for it. Thank god for adrenaline, because otherwise, I would have been a dead man. I got outside to my car, mostly naked still, and drove to the hospital.
I told them I had been mugged and beaten, and then got checked out by the E.R. After several hours, I was told I had a broken rib, bruised torso and probably ruined testicles. Of course, I yelled at them but they told me that the damage was too severe and they might even need to operate. Thankfully, they didn't need to operate, but they did some tests and confirmed it was highly likely that I would never father children. That suits me as I didn't really want any, but that's beside the point.
Needless to say, after that episode, I was going to be VERY picky about my dating. Several years went by, but no matter how hard I tried, I never got Jennifer out of my head. Fast forward a few years, and my friend Matt got into his accident, and of course I went to help out as much as I could.
At this point I did not intend to do anything with Jennifer, other than help her out. After the first few weeks of being around her and their family, I continued to get really jealous of what Matt had, and how lucky he was. I really wanted what he had.
I took her out to get her mind off things, and was so intoxicated, just being around her, that I kissed her. That night, I realized that I wanted to be with her. I really wanted Matt to recover, but if he never woke up, I would try my best to get her to love me like she did him. She did kiss me back, but right afterwards told me to never do it again and to take her home. When I dropped her off, she told me not to call for a few days and to never try that again.
After a few more weeks, I got her to agree to go out again. I really didn't lie to her about the other couple that was supposed to be with us, but it worked out in my favor, big time, when they canceled. She and I had a nice dinner and movie without them, and after that, well, you know. She was everything I ever imagined and more.
Right after, she must have suddenly felt guilty, because she quietly asked me to take her home. I dropped her off and hadn't heard from her since. I heard that Matt had woken back up, but wasn't sure how I could be around him now. If he found out, I am sure he would kill me.
A week later I had to see Jennifer. I just couldn't get her out of my mind. I thought I loved her, so I went to see her at work. I waited near the parking garage for her to come out and confronted her. She got very angry with me and told me to leave her alone and never come back. She said she would call the cops on me, even! I was yelling that I needed her, as she drove away.
After that rejection, I went back to my job and life. I was not really sure what else to do but avoid them both and hope for the best. See, told you that you wanted to kick my ass. After all that, I pretty much deserved it.
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Matt goes back to work
So, after all that intense therapy, I am still not one hundred percent, but feel a LOT better than before. I called my old boss, and asked him if I could start back up soon. He told me that my job was waiting for me when I felt up to going back, but to take my time. I would be glad to get back to work, to give myself something to do besides sit and think.
Monday, my mom came over again after the kids had left for school, and took me to therapy. This would, hopefully, be my last week of regular visits, to be followed up with check-up visits once a month. Doctor Swinson told me that I had recovered very quickly, and that I was a very lucky man.
I stopped and thought about that statement when I got home. I had three of the world's best children, who loved being with me, and had helped me out during my time of need. I had great parents who backed me up, and loved their grandkids almost as much as I did. I had a wife, that until recently was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I finally decided to move forward with a divorce, but hated it. I had her served at her parent's house, instead of at her work. I really wasn't out to ruin her life; I just wanted to get on with mine. We were supposed to grow old together, spending time with our grandkids, and even great-grandkids if we were lucky enough. I still wanted that, but couldn't get over the fact that she fell for Jim's bullshit.
I always knew he was kind of a ladies' man, but we swore to each other, a long time ago, not to mess with each other's women. I know he had it rough with that married lady a few years ago, but I had told him at the time that the right one would come along eventually. I never meant for that to be MY WIFE!
I finally reasoned if I was going to have any kind of chance at closure, I would have to confront him. He and I would never be friends again after what happened. Being honest with myself, I needed to know if it was his fault or if Jennifer was more into it than she had told me. It's sad what cheating will do to your trust in someone.
Jim worked for his uncle, so I thought it might be safest to visit him at work instead of a bar or something. After my mom left for the day, reminding me of a family dinner on Saturday, I got changed and had a sandwich.
There were only a few questions I needed answered, but I still sat and tried to think about what I was going to say when I saw him. I didn't want to get there and clam up or something. Honestly I wasn't even sure if he knew that I knew yet. I figured I could play dumb at first, and then go from there.
The drive took a few minutes, but seemed to pass by in about ten seconds. I parked at his agency, and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles were turning white. Preparation or not, this was going to be harder than I thought.
I got out of the car and walked over to the door, letting myself in. The receptionist didn't really know me that well but knew that I was a friend of Jim's. She buzzed him, "Jim, you have a visitor."
He opened the door and stopped for a second, looking at me. I tried my best to pretend I didn't know about him screwing my wife, but wasn't sure how well I pulled it off. I smiled and said, "Hey buddy, you have a minute to talk?"
"Sure Matt, just give me a second and we can go get some coffee?"
"Ok, I will wait outside then," I told him.
At this point I was starting to see red just looking at him, and wasn't too sure how long I could maintain my pretend ignorance. He came outside a minute later, and we walked over to a small corner coffee stand. We both got our coffee and walked back towards the agency.
They had a break area with a picnic table in back of the building, so we sat there to talk. It was a little satisfying to see him look so pale. He was squirming somewhat, but didn't come right out and say anything. I had to try to keep my cool as I started talking.
