A Christmas Journey by Arthur Stein

Author:Arthur Stein [STEIN, ART]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7414-7819-1
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Published: 2013-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XVII

I never knew there would be a better tomorrow

But you’ve come into my life and taken away all my sorrow

My days of sadness are a thing of the past

Because I have found true love at last

My days of emptiness are gone for good

Because you fill a void in my heart that you should

You’ve opened a window

You’ve shown me the light

And my love for you will continue to burn bright.

—Yvonne Warren

Ben and Claire saw each on weekends, alternating between the city and upstate. As their relationship evolved, Claire still held back her past. Life began to fall into a routine as they took in movies, tried new restaurants, and took long Sunday rides visiting antique shops in the Finger Lakes and the Berkshires. Claire started transforming the upstate house into her own vision.

But a cloud hung over the blossoming relationship—Claire’s fear of revealing all of herself to Ben. She had to roll the dice and the truth as it always does must reveal itself. On a cold dreary evening at the beginning of February, Claire summoned her ghosts.

After dinner they took their coffee into the family room, and made a fire. Dinner had been unusually quiet and Ben knew something was up.

“Ok, you want to tell me what’s on your mind.”

Claire hesitated searching for the right words, although she had rehearsed this many times.

“Ben, I haven’t been totally upfront with you.”

“Oh?”

“I told you about what happened on 9/11 but didn’t tell you what happened after.”

Ben just stared at her still having no clue what she was talking about.

“I’m sorry, I’m not following you.”

“Well my dear, you have been spending the past two months with a crazy lady.”

Ben let out a nervous laughter, not sure at all where this was going.

“What are you talking about?”

She took Ben’s confusion as a good sign. I must have hid it well, she thought to herself.

“I’m talking about a full-blown nervous breakdown, certifiable, loony bin, electric shock treatments the whole shebang.”

Ben just stared at her. He was speechless. He knew she was not kidding but he was as confused as before she began.

“Wait a minute Claire. Start from the beginning.”

And so she did. She told him about her break with reality, her involuntary free-fall into a catatonic vegetative state, the hospitalization at Bellevue, the drugs, therapy and her personal favorite, the electric shock treatments. What she did not tell him about was the red beret on the stairs.

“I should have told you much sooner but I feared that I would scare you off before you got to know me. Have I?”

He just continued to stare at her as if seeing her for the first time. He was attempting to process what he just heard, but to Claire at her most vulnerable, it appeared to be judgmental.

“Ben, please say something.”

“Well as you might imagine, you just threw a lot my way. This is something I didn’t have slightest inkling of which I guess is good—because you give no indication that you suffered so. How long were you hospitalized?”

“Three months.

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