The Seduction of Louise: The Story of a Big, Beautiful Woman
Chapter Fifteen - A Final Parting
The paramedics arrived and took Ross away, his head and neck held securely on the gurney. The police arrived, having been notified by the med-techs of a family dispute resulting in injury. I spent the better part of the early afternoon, seated at the kitchen table with a police sergeant, who took me through the events of the morning piece by piece, while his partner did the same with Louise in the living room.
When the local constabulary was satisfied that our stories matched and that Ross had indeed fallen accidentally as reported, they left.
Louise quickly showered and changed her clothes, and at her insistence, I drove her down to the hospital where we waited in the waiting room for any word about Ross's condition. He had been in surgery almost from the moment he was brought into the hospital and it was several hours before we heard any concrete news.
The surgeon took Louise aside and explained the critical damage to Ross's spinal column. He would live, but would never walk again, nor would he ever have full use of his arms. Ross was, for all intents and purposes, completely paralyzed from the neck down.
Louise cried. More for her kids than for herself I imagined. I could not see any scenario whatsoever where she would have ever taken Ross back into her life, his attitude and deportment had been completely deplorable and I'm sure Louise knew it was over long before Ross had fallen.
And, ironies upon ironies, Ida arrived at the hospital in an extremely agitated state. She cursed Louise out for several minutes, telling everyone within earshot how Ross was HER man now and had nothing to do with this "cow" who USED to be his wife.
I feared for Louise at the time, but I saw the edges of her mouth curling into a bit of a smile during Ida's tirade and knew Louise was all right. We left Ross, and all the medical problems, to Ida and left without a backward glance.
"God," Said Louise, as we got into the car and closed the doors, "That woman and Ross certainly do deserve each other, don't they?"
When we got home I fixed Louise a cup of tea and we chatted briefly until the kids came home. She seemed in reasonably good spirits, considering the events of the day. Her right eye was showing signs of darkening around the outside edge, but other than that she came through her ordeal relatively unscathed.
Louise took the kids aside, as soon as they arrived home from school, and told them about the accident their father had been in and his resulting paralysis. The kids took it very well, as resilient kids often do. Their dad had not been much of a part of their lives for almost a year, so it was no traumatic shock to know that he wouldn't be around at all anymore. Louise promised to take the kids to see their dad as soon as the doctors would permit family visits and, I assumed, when Louise was sure that Ida was nowhere in sight.
That night, after the kids were off to bed, Louise joined me on the loveseat where I was watching television.
"So?" I said, turning down the volume with the remote, "How are you doing, Louise?"
She smiled sadly and shrugged. "I'm good. I feel sad about Ross...we had some pretty good years...and made two beautiful children together."
I nodded.
"Don't get me wrong." She continued, "After this morning, there was no way I would have ever even THOUGHT of taking him back. I think more than anything I'm sad about the absolutely stupid decisions he's made in his life...and how he abandoned me and his kids for that stupid woman. It's just sad."
I nodded in commiseration.
"I'm so thankful for you, Jamie." She said, her eyes welling with tears. "If it hadn't been for you..." She let the words hang there as a tear slipped down her cheek.
I leaned forward and embraced her, feeling her body shudder as she sobbed quietly into my shoulder. Minutes later she rose up and wiped her eyes, blowing her nose into a tissue.
"Sorry." She said apologetically.
"It's perfectly all right." I said. "Do you want to be alone tonight?"
Her eyes widened. "Absolutely not." She said, "Do YOU want to be alone?"
I shook my head. "No...not at all...I was just thinking that...if you needed some time alone, I didn't want to impose on you."