DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

JC: Ed Biggers
Part 1: Epiphany
Chapter 10
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Ed didn't want to admit it, but he was going to be very happy when 
John returned and started taking care of Beth. The care and feeding 
of Beth had become a full time job for Kelly and him. It took a bit 
of effort, but they were able to get her to work where she was very 
professional. While at the hospital, she distanced herself from her 
pain and avoided all emotional attachments. As a doctor, that was 
good. As a person, it was bad.

The past month had been very busy for Ed. Working full time at 
the auction yard, taking care of Beth, and preparing for school had 
not left much time for Kelly. The problem was that when he was 
free for Kelly, she was busy with work or with Beth. He had fixed 
up the guest room for Beth and Kelly now slept there with him in 
his room. They hadn't made love in weeks and both were feeling a 
very horny from the lack of sex.

The one time they had tried to show any sexual affection for each 
other, Beth had come into the room screaming that they couldn't do 
that. Her actions didn't make sense until she had shouted, panic 
stricken, that it would lead to love and that love hurt. The episode 
had left Kelly in tears and Ed had spent the evening trying to 
comfort her. He didn't know what to do about the situation.

Kelly and Beth were due back from the hospital in thirty minutes. 
At that point, the house would become a place of tension again. To 
him, it was amazing how much care Kelly showed Beth regardless 
of the time of day. Ed decided to take advantage of the quiet in the 
house and do nothing for a change. 

The quiet of the house was destroyed thirty minutes later when 
Beth and Kelly came home from work. After directing Beth into 
her room, Kelly collapsed on the couch next to Ed. He put an arm 
around her as she leaned against him crying tears born of 
frustration and a slow death of hope. The hope that one day Beth 
would be her wife was dying a little bit at a time. Each day that 
Beth pushed away love was another day that love was denied 
Kelly. Ed could do little, but tell her how much he loved her.

Frustrated and tired, Kelly ordered, "Slave, go to sleep."

Standing, Kelly turned to Ed and said, "I'm going to take a nap. 
Would you mind?"

It was easy to see that Kelly was just as weary as he, but he wasn't 
physically tired. He answered, "I'll go down to the bar and talk to 
Shirley while you sleep. Why don't I pick up some food from 
Maria's Cantina when I come back?"

Smiling for the first time of the day, Kelly answered, "That would 
be great. I don't feel up to cooking and I'm tired of yours."

Laughing, Ed had to agree. He only knew how to cook a few 
dishes and they had eaten them almost every day. He said, "Okay, 
I'll be back in a little while."

Walking down the street, Ed greeted his neighbors in a friendly 
fashion. A few of his neighbors still fled at his approach, but that 
had stopped bothering him a long time ago. The trip to the bar took 
longer now that he was spending five to ten minutes chatting with 
each neighbor on the way there. 

Entering the bar, he sat at the counter watching as Shirley handled 
the other regulars with quiet ease. She knew what everyone drank 
and provided it without having to ask, much to the delight of her 
customers. Instead, she was able to spend the few minutes talking 
with them about what was going on in their lives. It made the 
service special and her place seem like a second home. Ed realized 
that was what brought him back here even though he had never had 
that good of a relationship with Shirley back when he was 
drinking. As he watched her work, he realized that while she knew 
a lot of men, only a handful of them was single and they were 
usually not very nice. He wondered how she would ever meet 
someone nice to marry.

After serving everyone else, she finally made her way to his end of 
the bar. As she set the coke in front of him, she asked, "So how are 
things at your place? Beth still there?"

Nodding, Ed answered, "Things are the same at home. How are 
things for yourself?"

Shrugging, Shirley wiped down the bar not really wanting to think 
about it. She replied, "Every day is the same as the one before. 
There is a certain consistency in that. I have come to appreciate 
that."

Taking a sip of the coke and appreciating the feeling of the cool 
liquid in his mouth, he swallowed. Ed said, "I know what you 
mean, but you must want a day off on occasion."

She hadn't had a day off since the funeral and that had cost her a 
fortune in lost revenue. Even though the idea of a day off was a 
great dream of hers, Shirley replied, "I'm a business woman and 
can't really afford a day off."

After another sip of his coke, Ed asked, "Is there anything that I 
can do to help?"

"No. You've done more than your fair share," she replied. If she 
had known earlier that he could actually be this nice, she might 
have been interested in him long ago. Now that he was hooked up 
with Kelly and taking care of Beth, he was out of bounds. She 
couldn't believe that he was taking such good care of a woman that 
was basically a stranger.

"I've done nothing for you," replied Ed surprised at the suggestion 
that he had done something for her. He added, "In fact, I've made 
most of your life pretty miserable."

She smiled and said, "You've stopped making my life miserable. 
And after the little fight that you had with Richard, he's stopped 
making my life miserable. In fact, of late most people are drinking 
less and eating more. I make more off the snacks and stuff than the 
drinks, so business is good."

"I didn't have anything to do with that," replied Ed in surprise. 

The discussion was interrupted when a sixteen year old kid walked 
into the bar. This was not the first time in the past month that he 
had come into the bar and Shirley was getting tired of it. All she 
needed was to loose her liquor license. She turned to the kid and 
said, "You're not allowed in here. I've told you that several times 
already."

Looking around until he spotted Ed, the killed pulled a gun and 
pointed it at Ed. He shouted, "You killed my father."

As Shirley backed away from the bar, Ed raised his hand and said, 
"Another coke please. Make that two."

The kid shouted, "Did you hear me? You killed my father."

Doing his best to look calm and cool, Ed was actually scared as 
hell. The worst thing that he could do was to make the kid even 
more scared than he was. Visions of lying on the floor dying came 
to his mind, his dream of growing old with Kelly defeated by a 
bullet fired by a dumb kid. He finished off the coke that he had 
been drinking and pushed the glass towards Shirley. Ed said, "You 
can set one of the cokes at the far end of the bar for the man with 
the gun."

Like a fan at a tennis match, Shirley's head was moving from side 
to side as she looked first at the kid and then at Ed and back at the 
kid again. She poured a coke and set it at the end of the bar 
keeping her distance from the kid afraid that he would shoot her. 
Hardly able to accept the incredible bravery Ed was demonstrating, 
she set a second one down in front of him. Ed said, "Thanks. I find 
that when I get nervous, I also get thirsty. I imagine the young man 
is just as thirsty as I am."

The kid looked at the coke and then back at Ed. He said, "I'm not 
falling for that trick."

Slowly turning to face the kid, Ed said, "It's not a trick. The drink 
is at your end of the bar. You have a gun and can fire three times 
before I could make it over there. So go ahead and take a sip of it if 
you want."

Signs of his nervousness were easily observable as the gun 
trembled in his hand and the sweat broke out on his forehead. He 
sidled over to the bar and carefully reached out for the coke. Ed 
picked up his and held it up as though making a toast. The kid 
didn't return the gesture but did drink about half of his coke. Ed 
asked, "Would you like some Nachos?"

"Why did you kill him?"

Ed shrugged and answered, "I'm not sure who it is that you think I 
killed?"

Angry, the kid spat back, "My father, Harry Burton."

"Oh," replied Ed knowing the whole time that the kid was Sammy 
Burton. His attempt to draw out the conversation was beginning to 
fail. Finally, he said, "Well, why don't you let everyone leave the 
bar. There's no need for them to have to witness my death."

"What?"

"It is the considerate thing to do," replied Ed. He turned to face the 
rest of the bar and shouted, "All those that want to see the kid 
shoot me, raise your hand."

Looking around the room, no one had their hand up. Ed turned to 
face the kid and asked, "Can I tell them that it is alright for them to 
leave?"

Somewhat confused by the request, the kid looked around the 
room. He saw fifteen faces staring at him, most etched with fear. 
He shouted, "Go on, get out of here."

When no one moved, Ed shouted, "You heard the man. Get out of 
here."

It took several minutes for the people to clear out of the room. Ed 
took another sip of his coke and noticed that Shirley was still 
standing behind the bar. When he looked at her, she shook her 
head. He said, "Get out of here."

She replied, "It's my place. I'm staying here."

Looking at the kid, Ed said, "If he starts shooting, he just might hit 
you. I don't think that he wants to spend the rest of his life knowing 
that he hurt an innocent bystander. So why don't you go outside. 
After the shooting is over, you can come back in. Okay?"

Giving Ed a dirty look, she came out from behind the bar and went 
out the front door. He could tell that she was hoping that it was 
possible for her to talk him out of shooting Ed. Watching the 
exchange, Sammy stepped away from the bar a little making sure 
that she didn't come up behind him. When the place was empty, Ed 
said, "Thank you. Now that everyone is gone, we can talk about 
how your father died."

"Why did you want everyone gone?"

Taking another sip of the coke, Ed sat there for a moment before 
he answered, "There are some things that should be said man to 
man and without an audience. This is one of those things."

Sammy stepped back a little, making sure that there was plenty of 
room between him and Ed. He asked, "So tell me your story."

"Well, I was on a date with my girlfriend. I wanted to take her to 
Maria's Cantina so that she could taste some of the best Mexican 
Food in the state. We had just gotten our drinks and were getting 
ready to have a nice little intimate chat." Ed winked at the kid and 
said, "I'm sure that a man like yourself knows what it's like to have 
an intimate chat with your girlfriend."

Having no real idea what it was like to talk with a girlfriend like 
that, Sammy put on a show of bravado. He said, "Sure."

"So your father stops by the table and looks at my girlfriend for a 
minute. Then he says.." Ed paused to capture the full attention of 
the kid. As Sammy stared at him, he continued, "Hey, Ed. Who's 
the whore?"

Cringing, Sammy recognized his father in the statement. 
Embittered by a cheating wife, his father had taken to calling all 
women whores. He countered, "My dad called all women whores. 
He didn't mean anything by it."

Raising an eyebrow, Ed stared at the kid for a moment wondering 
if he understood that his father did mean something by it. Rather 
than argue, he continued, "Well, I got furious. The problem was 
that I was with a real nice woman. In fact, until you came in here 
with the gun I had plans on marrying her. The last thing that I 
wanted to do was get in a fight."

"So you dragged him outside where you could beat the shit out of 
him without her seeing it."

"Now, let me tell you my story and then you can kill me. Don't put 
words in my mouth that aren't there," replied Ed with a little anger 
in his voice. He took a deep breath and calmed down before 
continuing. "I looked at your father and saw that he was very 
drunk. Do you believe that?"

Sammy replied, "Sure. He wouldn't have said that to you if he was 
sober. He wasn't stupid."

"Well, I know drunk having spent a large number of nights that 
way. The first stage is getting loud and obnoxious. The second 
stage is getting pale or greenish looking. The third stage is when 
you start to break out in a sweat. Your father was loud, pale, and 
sweating. He was also moving directly to stage four. Do you know 
what stage four is?"

The kid shook his head and answered, "No."

"Barfing," replied Ed. He took a sip of his coke and saw that 
Sammy was nodding. He continued. "That's right. Your father was 
about to barf right there in the middle of the restaurant."

"That's no reason to kill him!" shouted Sammy. He knew all of that 
from what people had said in the restaurant about his father.

Ed said, "Well, the last thing that I wanted was for him to barf 
right in front of my date. Nothing is worse than that on a date. I ran 
over to him and put my hand over his mouth. I picked him up by 
the back of the belt and carried him through the fire escape door. 
Now, I imagine that if you ask people about what happened that 
night, you probably have the story to that point."

Reaching for the coke with a trembling hand, Sammy said, "Yes. I 
heard that you picked him up and carried him out."

Ed watched as the kid took another drink of his coke. It was almost 
finished, as was his. After the kid had set his coke back down, Ed 
said, "I made it outside just in time. Your father started barfing in a 
trashcan. He was really sick. I've been throwing up drunk before, 
but your father was in real bad shape. I was really afraid that he 
was suffering from alcohol poisoning. Do you know what that is?"

Leaning forward, interested in the story, he shook his head. Ed 
said, "Well, if you drink enough alcohol, you can get more in your 
body than your body can handle. Even if you throw up, there's still 
more getting absorbed. It can kill you and lots of people die of it 
every year."

Not quite sure if he believed Ed since he hadn't ever heard of it, 
Sammy challenged, "Are you trying to tell me that he died of 
alcohol poisoning?"

"No," replied Ed. Sitting back in his chair, he continued his story. 
"I'm just telling you that I was afraid that he was suffering from it. 
He was very sick. Normally, you throw up a couple of times and 
that's it. Your father was throwing up continuously."

"About the time the Sheriff showed up, I noticed that your father 
wasn't throwing up food or liquor anymore. He was throwing up 
blood. I'll tell you the truth, I had no idea what was happening. The 
Sheriff had already called an ambulance. He and I carried your 
father around to the front and met the ambulance there. They took 
him to the hospital, but he died on route."

Not believing the story, Sammy sat back and asked, "Do you 
expect me to believe that you didn't beat my father to death?"

"I don't really care what you believe," answered Ed. Taking a deep 
breath, he said, "But I do want you to hear the rest of the story. 
After all, you are going to kill me when I'm done."

"Okay, finish your fiction."

Laughing, Ed shook his head. At least the kid was allowing him to 
tell his story. Ed said, "Well, when the sheriff heard that your 
father died, he found out some information. I'm sure that you've 
heard that the official cause of death was internal bleeding from an 
ulcer. Your father had the ulcer before that night, but all of the 
alcohol ate away what little lining remained in his stomach."

"It was a cover up. I'm telling you, it was a cover up."

"There was a cover up, but the cause of death wasn't what we 
covered up," replied Ed. This was the hard part of the story to tell. 
Ed said, "We covered up the fact that he was throwing up all over 
himself. Hell, he had shit all over himself before we got him to the 
ambulance. The Sheriff and I decided that we would just say that 
he died of the bleeding ulcer without giving any of the details of 
his last few minutes of life."

Ed looked down at the floor and sighed. He said, "We wanted to 
allow your father to keep a little of his dignity. The only people 
that really know the shape your father was in, are me, the Sheriff, 
the men in the ambulance, and the morgue. The reason that I 
wanted to tell you this in private is that I didn't want others to 
know what shape your father was really in."

Unwilling to believe Ed, Sammy raised the gun pointing it at him. 
Ed turned to face the bar and looked at his glass of coke. There 
was a single swallow left. Taking a deep breath, he picked it up 
and drank the rest of it. Ed turned to face the kid and said, 
"Thanks, for letting me tell you what happened that night. I wish it 
had a better ending, but it didn't."

"Do you have any last words?"

This was a question that Ed never thought he would be asked and 
didn't have any idea what he should say. He answered, "I'm sorry 
that your father died. It wasn't fair that he spent the last few 
minutes of consciousness in an alley bent over and vomiting into a 
trash can with a person that he absolutely hated."

Having nothing else to say, Ed sat there quietly waiting for the 
shot. Tears running from his eyes, Sammy cried at the mental 
image that Ed's story had created. Despite his verbal denials, the 
story was believable. So many little features of the story fit with 
what he knew about his father. 

A loud knock on the door caused them both to jump, Sammy 
because he was scared that Ed was attacking him and Ed because 
he had been expecting to get shot. Recovering first, Ed called out, 
"Who is it?"

A deep voice replied, "This is the Sheriff."

Ed called back, "It's okay. Stay out there for a bit longer."

"Are you sure Ed?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Stay out there until I ask you to come in."

Looking at Ed, Sammy asked, "Why did you say he should stay 
out there a little longer?"

"Because you have some decisions to make and having the Sheriff 
in here will only complicate things," replied Ed. There was a slight 
hope that he would emerge from this alive. He said, "You have 
three choices. You can shoot me and got to prison for murder. 
From a purely personal perspective, I don't recommend that one."

With a laugh tinged with bitterness, Sammy replied, "I can 
understand that."

Smiling Ed continued, "Alternatively, you can try using me as a 
hostage. Of course, that never works. Odd are, they'll shoot you 
and I think from your perspective, you don't want that to happen."

The laughter died on the kid's lips at the thought of those 
consequences. Looking at Ed, he asked, "What's the third 
alternative?"

"We could work out a story that keeps you out of trouble and me 
alive," suggested Ed. "I think that in terms of consequences, that is 
the best solution."

"What kind of story?"

Ed suggested, "Well, how about we tell people that instead of that 
being a real gun that it is a starter pistol. That you came here to get 
the true story about your father's death from me, thinking that the 
starter pistol frighten me and would get me to tell you the truth. I 
imagine most people would understand your desire to make sure 
that your father wasn't murdered."

"I won't press any charges and I'm sure that we can talk Shirley 
into not pressing any charges. The Sheriff might be convinced that 
the only charge to bring against you is creating a public 
disturbance which is a misdemeanor punishable by a minor fine."

As the reality of the situation became clear to Sammy, he realized 
that he had very few options. He asked, "Why would you do that?"

Ed said, "Look, you still have a chance at having a good future 
ahead of you. I'd hate to see that get taken away from you now."

"Why would the Sheriff and Shirley agree to it?"

"Because the Sheriff is a stand up guy and Shirley would hate to 
see your future ruined because of me," replied Ed. He asked, 
"Should I call them in now?"

Not knowing what else to do, Sammy said, "Okay."

Leaning back as though he was about to call out for the Sheriff, he 
stopped and leaned forward. Calmly, he said, "You might want to 
set the gun down before the Sheriff comes in. He's liable to shoot 
first and ask questions later."

Making sure that it was within reach, Sammy set the gun on the bar 
in front of him. Ed shouted, "Hey, Sheriff. Could you and Shirley 
come in here for a moment? We would like to talk to you two 
alone."

The door slowly opened and the Sheriff entered with his gun 
drawn. Looking at the gun on the bar, he came into the room more 
holding the gun on the kid the whole time. Ed said, "Call Shirley in 
here. Trust me, it will be okay."

Not taking his eyes off the kid, the Sheriff called out, "Come in 
Shirley."

Slipping through the half open door, a very nervous Shirley 
entered the bar not knowing what she would find. She saw the gun 
on the bar, the kid sitting at his end, and Ed still very much alive. 
Breathing a sigh of relief, she moved behind the Sheriff. 

As the tension in the room mounted, Ed decided it was time for 
someone to take charge. He said, "Sheriff, would you mind coming 
around here and sitting on the other side of me? Shirley, would you 
mind refilling our cokes?"

The Sheriff replied, "I can't do that. You'd be blocking my shot if 
he picks up the gun."

Laughing, Ed said, "That's the whole point, Sheriff. I think Sammy 
and I would both be a little more comfortable if no one is pointing 
a gun at anyone."

The Sheriff kept his gun out and made his way to the other side of 
Ed. A confused Shirley made her way behind the bar and filled 
four glasses of coke. She set one in front of the kid, one in front of 
Ed, another in front of the Sheriff, and took a big gulp out of the 
last one. Once everyone was settled, Ed said, "Great. Now, we 
have a problem and I would like us to all agree on a solution. In 
particular, Sammy here is in a bit of trouble and I would hate to see 
him suffer because he wanted to find out how his dad died."

The Sheriff looked at Ed for a moment and then asked, "Did you 
tell him what happened?"

Looking back at the Sheriff, Ed said, "I told him exactly what you 
saw, what we did, and what we decided. He went to this extreme 
effort to find out what happened, so I decided he deserved to know 
the truth."

With a look of disbelief, the Sheriff said, "Did he believe you?"

"No."

The Sheriff looked over at the kid and said, "When I arrived there, 
Ed was doing everything he could to help your father. Your father 
was real sick and we didn't know what to do. We carried him out to 
the parking lot to be there for when the ambulance arrived. We 
didn't want folks to know about your father's last minutes, it wasn't 
pretty."

Ed nodded, "We didn't want to hurt his dignity any more. I figured 
if some people continued to believe that I was involved in his 
death, it would be better than the truth."

"If I had known you would do what you did today, I would have 
told you the truth. I just wanted to spare you the mental image," 
said the Sheriff. 

Not aware of any of the actual events of the night, Shirley looked 
at all three men with an expression of curiosity. Ed said, "Well, I 
proposed to Sammy that we tell folks the following. He came in 
the bar carrying a starter pistol in the desire to find out the truth 
about the night his father died. After everyone left, we discussed 
the matter to his satisfaction. I suggested that Shirley wouldn't 
press any charges against him, I wouldn't press any charges, and 
that you would charge him with creating a public disturbance. We 
can clear this up in a minute. He can leave here saving face without 
destroying his future. Do you have any alternatives in mind?"

A silence descended on the room as people thought about their part 
of the bargain. Shirley stared at Ed as she thought about what he 
was doing for the kid. She wondered if the kid knew how lucky he 
was. The Sheriff looked over at the kid thinking about how he had 
just lost his father. Ed was thinking about explaining his behavior 
to everyone else in town. Holding his breath, Sammy was just 
hoping not to go to jail.

The silence was broken by Shirley when she said, "No charges. I 
promise."

Looking at Ed and then at Shirley, the Sheriff said, "Since the gun 
was pointed at you, Ed, I won't make an issue out of it. I'll say it 
was a starter pistol although I can see from here that it isn't. I'll also 
settle for the simple charge of disturbing the peace. It's a simple 
misdemeanor."

Letting his breath out and relaxing in a slump, Sammy said, 
"Thank god."

Smiling, Ed said, "I'll agree to all of this on one condition."

Everyone turned to look at him, surprised by his imposition of a 
condition on a deal that he had proposed. Sammy asked, "What?"

Sighing, Ed said, "We tell everybody that I realized that it was a 
starter pistol as soon as I saw the gun."

Exchanging glances at each other, everyone said, "Okay."

Ed said, "Shirley, would you mind sliding the gun over to the 
Sheriff?"

Going to the end of the bar, Shirley put her hand on the gun and 
walked to the other end of the bar sliding it along the length of the 
counter. Picking up the gun, the Sheriff quickly unloaded it putting 
the bullets in his pocket. The tension in the room evaporated 
almost immediately. 

Standing, Ed went over to Sammy and said, "Promise me that 
you'll go to college and do great things."

Looking at Ed with real respect, Sammy answered, "Yes, sir. I'll do 
that."

Patting him lightly on the back, Ed said, "Good."

The Sheriff went over to Sammy and said, "We'll go over to the 
station and call your mother to come pick you up. You're a minor 
and all records of this incident will get sealed when you turn 
eighteen. Don't brag about this, okay?"

"Sure, sir."

Pulling out a ten, Ed set it on the bar and said, "Thanks Shirley. 
Sorry to cause a problem for you."

After Ed left the bar, the Sheriff took Sammy over to his office. 
Shirley was left standing behind the bar looking at the ten, hardly 
able to believe what she had seen Ed do in there. She poured 
herself a shot of Tequila and drank it back. Taking a moment to 
compose herself, she went to the door and shouted, "It's all over. 
You can come in now."

Walking slowly, Ed started to head home. Before he hit his street, 
he remembered that he had promised to pickup some food from 
Maria's Cantina for dinner. He turned and headed over to get 
dinner. 

Entering the Maria's Cantina, he was met by Maria at her 
customary post. She had heard that Ed was being held at gun point 
by a kid waving a .45 automatic. She said, "I heard that you were 
being held at gunpoint over at Shirley's place."

Forcing a laugh, he replied, "It was a starter pistol. No big deal - 
just reaping the results of my past sins."

Shaking her head, Maria couldn't believe the rumor mill had 
exaggerated the story to that point. She asked, "What can I do for 
you?"

Trying to figure out what to order, Ed was silent for a moment. 
The old standbys always worked. He finally said, "How about two 
diet salads and an enchilada dinner to go?"

Smiling Maria wrote down the order and took it to the kitchen. 
Returning, she asked, "So, how are thing going?"

"Nothing has changed," replied Ed. The current condition of Beth 
was a tightly guarded secret although a few people did know the 
truth. His neighbor, the other Maria, and Shirley were two people 
that had seen Beth at the funeral. They had discovered the truth 
very quickly, but had waged a major campaign to help hide the 
truth from others. He added, "They are still working on Beth's 
house, so I'm stuck with a girlfriend and a very prudish roommate. 
A male fantasy so close and yet so far."

Laughing, Maria said, "You men are all alike."

There wasn't too much for him to say on the topic. If he said too 
much, people would get suspicious. If he didn't hint at desires for 
Beth, people would get suspicious. He didn't like doing things like 
that, but it was necessary to protect Beth from even worse 
speculation. Ed sighed as he thought about how much his life had 
changed. 

It was twenty minutes before his take out order was ready. He paid 
Maria and left the restaurant. Walking home, he held up the 
takeout order to stave off questions. His neighbors understood that 
he didn't want the food to get cold before he reached the house. In 
a way, it was fortunate that he had the food, otherwise it would 
have taken him hours to reach the house.

Entering the house, Kelly was awake and waiting for him. While 
he was in the bar, she had several phone calls letting her know 
what was happening to him at the bar. It only took a single glance 
to see that she was upset, angry, and frightened about the incident. 
She said, "Why didn't you call me when it was over? I've been 
sitting here worried out of my mind."

An exhausted Ed sat down on the couch and answered, "I didn't 
know that you knew. I thought you were taking a nap."

The fear for his life had to find expression. It came out as anger 
directed at him. She yelled, "I was sitting here imagining you lying 
on the floor of the bar bleeding to death and I'm stuck here unable 
to leave!"

Taking a deep breath, Ed said, "I had visions of lying on the floor 
bleeding to death. The only thought I had was how much I loved 
you and how horrible it would be to die without having spent a 
lifetime with you."






