We hug again, tighter this time. All will be okay with us. Eventually, Kath leaves to get dressed. Back to the kitchenette. That kitchenette.
As I watch her back, skeletonized by Nick’s penmanship, I’m reminded of tribal skin designs I’ve seen in National Geographic – Africa, Australia, the Amazon, Papua New Guinea, Native Americans – even the Spanish decorate their bodies with skeletal lines for their ‘Day of the Dead’ festival.
I refold the hospital gown and tuck it under my arm. I’ve decided to keep it, to make it a quirky part of Kath’s sexy lingerie collection – an instant turn-on for her, and me, if my instincts are correct. I realize with amusement that Katherine is now ‘the more experienced one’ but it’s too soon to make that joke, I’ll wait for her to use it first.
As I wait, I get a strong sense I’m not alone, a quick glance around the empty room proves that to be false, but the benign feeling remains. A presence – feminine, motherly, calming.
“Hello?” I say quietly, more as a private game with myself while I wait.
It suddenly goes dark. Not entirely dark, I can see the lights are still on in the kitchenette, plus the lights of the city visible in the window.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” I say aloud, continuing my game. “I booked the room until half past ten. The BMS will turn the lights off thirty minutes after that, so it must be eleven o’clock right now. And I saw the motion sensor in the kitchenette that’s keeping those on. See… entirely explainable.”
Brightness bursts across the room; a cascade of colors sliding along the walls, not lit from above but from a point source outside the window. I see the beautiful face of Venus cast in front of me and recognize Botticelli’s depiction just as I hear the rotors of the medivac helicopter approaching the building. As it slows, the aircraft levels into a hover, its landing lights now pointing downwards towards the hospital helipad, instead of through the stained-glass window.
I begin laughing, not entirely convincingly. “Fuck!” I say. “Freyja, Venus, Aphrodite, Gaia, Ishtar, whoever you are tonight, I didn’t know you had such a wicked sense of humor. I thought there were other gods for that, Loki or Comus or something? But you just got me good, I nearly pissed my pants.” I take a long, deep breath to settle myself.
“I saw you,” I add, “in Brooke’s face as she came. You are beautiful.”
“Well, I hope you enjoyed our little fertility ritual tonight. I’m glad you were one of the first to be worshiped in the new Prayer Room. Welcome. And thank you,” I say, to conclude my game.
But what if this isn’t a game? What if there is a goddess in the room? Should I pray? Should I kneel? Should I ask for something? Should I change? Should I make a sacrifice? Should I just enjoy her company? Yes! That would be the most appropriate I conclude – just enjoy her presence with reverence.
“Who are you talking to?” Katherine asks, startling me. “And why are the lights out?”
I turn to face her. She’s dressed now and backlit by the light from the alcove. I can hear the helicopter turbine spinning down, it must have landed, but its strobe light still pulses in the room.
“A goddess,” I answer.
Kath smiles coyly, thinking I’m talking about her. I don’t correct her, my answer still holds with her interpretation. I walk to her. As I approach, my mind swirls with memories of our past; our first embrace next to the dumpster, our first kiss, our wedding day, that prairie in the Colorado springtime. We embrace again, and I feel our love for each other replenished by those memories. I know Katherine is feeling this too, recalling those memories, restoring our love. I remember that the goddess of passion and fertility is also the goddess of love.
I remember now. That prairie in Colorado. That’s when I felt the same intensity as the kitchenette. That was when I was in the presence of this Divine Feminine before. I now know that was when our daughter was conceived.
The room lights come on again. “Sorry about that,” says Brooke, from the control panel near the door, “we’ve obviously overstayed our booking.”
Kath and I release our hug and turn to her, but we’re holding hands like we used to in those early days.
Brooke is looking at the massage table. “Let’s just dump this in the store room across the hall. I’ll send some orderlies up tomorrow to get it,” she decides.
“You told me everything was locked up here,” Katherine points out.
“Oh, yeah… Sorry,” smiles Brooke. “If I took you there, I’d want to stay with you, and I shouldn’t be leaving the doctor and his students unescorted up here.” We both smile and shake our heads at being duped earlier.
“How about you join us tonight?” invites Katherine. “Our bed will be more pleasant than staying in a bland hospital one. Alone.”
Brooke, sensitive as ever, considers the offer before declining. “I’ve got an early start here tomorrow. And you two need to go back to your hotel and make love, as only the two of you know how. It’s your wedding anniversary.”
“However,” she continues, “I finish just after lunch tomorrow, and I hear you’re in town for another night. I’d be happy to swing by then.”
“Then I’d better ask for a late check-out,” says Kath, giving Brooke’s hand a squeeze.
~ ~ ~ The End ~ ~ ~
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