Post by Rick Henry on Jan 14, 2004 2:25:09 GMT -5
Chapter Three
Six Weeks later.
When Karen Carpenter was released from the hospital she had to control the urge to run head long into the bright March morning. Her weight was up to a comfortable one hundred and twenty pounds. She felt more alive that day then she had felt in years. What she wanted most was to go home and just enjoy the day. She could see herself sitting on the deck by the pool at her parent’s house, working on her tan, or maybe just watching her favorite soaps and munching on some pop corn with her mother. For the moment she didn’t want to go back to her condo. It held to many memories of her marriage to Tom.
Drumming her fingers on the counter top Karen waited at the admissions desk while the receptionist finished filling out the necessary forms.
" There all done, now if you can sign on the dotted lines. You’re free to go Miss Carpenter." The woman pointed to the lines and gave Karen a pen.
Karen signed and said thank you then walked out the doors and into the sunshine. Waiting for her in his Ferrari was her brother.
Richard popped out and came around and opened the trunk and helped put her bags in. He then turned to Karen and hugged her close.
" You look wonderful!"
" Thanks. I’m white as a sheet! I need about twelve hours in the sun." Karen half said as her brother opened her door for her.
Karen got in and fastened her seat belt and then pulled her door closed. Richard quickly got in and started the car. Checking his mirrors he pulled away form the curb. In no time he guided the sports car on to the highway and merged with the fast moving traffic.
" So how are you feeling Kiddo?" Richard grinned.
" I’m happy to be out of that place. I’m looking forward to seeing Mom and Dad and my friends. I have only three weeks before I fly out to Seattle. It was great of the O’Neill’s to let me stay with them while I continue my treatment." Karen caught some of her brothers exuberance and found herself smiling to.
" That’s great." Richard pulled off the highway and on to Newville Ave. in minutes he’d stopped in front of their parents house. " You go on in and I’ll grab your bags. I’m sure that Dad is dying to see you."
Karen got out of the car and walked up to the front door she rang the door bell and then opened the door and when in.
" SURPRISE!" a chorus of voices called out. Her mother and father at the front of the group.
For a moment Karen was stunned into silence and then she snapped out of it and broke into a wide grin. Agnes and Harold came forward and hugged Karen then walking with her they joined the rest of the group.
" Hey there girlfriend." Olivia Newton-John hugged Karen. " Your looking good."
" Thank you." Karen smiled lopsidedly. " Who did all this? I mean I was expecting to come home to an empty house."
" Your parent’s sent out the invitations over a month ago. They thought that you’d like to see your friends once you got out of the hospital." Dorothy Hamill came up to the two women. She too hugged Karen.
" Your kidding me. My parent’s did this?" Karen looked over at her mother who was talking to Mike Curb and his wife Carol. Karen smiled at her. Agnes waved back.
" I helped out a little too." Richard said as he passed by with Karen’s bags, on his way up the stairs. " Karen go and mingle, don’t stand there like a stick in the mud."
Karen chuckled and took her brothers advice.
For the most part it for Karen she knew every face in the room save for a couple of new spouses. The one person that took Karen by surprise was Dr. Yates.
" Well Karen I guess your glad to be home for good?" the doctor winked.
" The care you gave me was just wonderful. What are you doing here Dr. Yates I thought that you’d be working today?"
" Please Karen call me Nathan. Actually I got an invitation from your mother. She told me that your separated from your husband and that you might like an escort for the party this afternoon. I hope that you don’t think that is to forward a reason?" Nathan smiled charmingly.
Karen raised an eyebrow. Then she too smiled.
" I can’t think of a better way to spend the day." Karen said and put her arm through the doctors.
The welcome home party passed by like a dream for Karen she saw friends that she’d not seen in years. She had a great time introducing Nathan to some of the big names in the recording industry and laughed at his schoolboy look of awe when he met Olivia.
" I have been a fan of yours for years! I loved you in Grease." Nathan shook her hand.
" Yes it was a blast. But of the two of us Karen is the better singer." Olivia said and winked at her best friend.
Karen blushed.
" I might have to better voice Olivia but you have the better figure."
" Nonsense Karen, your beautiful to me." Nathan said and on an impulse he kissed her cheek.
Karen blushed deeper and then smiled broadly. For once she was glad that Olivia was happily married. There was no competition.
At about seven p.m. the party started to break up, however Karen and Nathan went out on back patio and sat at the table with their drinks. Karen felt so comfortable with this man that she hardy noticed that the sun had begun to set and the first of the stars where beginning to shine. In an impulsive moment Karen asked.
" So are you a family man Doctor?"
" Actually my wife and I divorced two years ago. I do have a 4 year old son Christopher." Nathan reached in to his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He opened it and took out a small picture and handed it to Karen.
" He’s adorable. He has your eyes." Karen said with a smile. " I love children."
Nathan retrieved the photo and reinserted it in his wallet and then put that back in his pocket.
" My ex-wife and I share custody she lives in New Hampshire. Ben fly’s back and forth between us. I see him for a week at Christmas and for a month in the summer. It’s not the best solution but at least he can see me and know that he has a father that loves him." Nathan sipped his martini and then smiled.
" That’s so sad. I think that a child should have both his parents under the same roof. Tom and I never had the chance to have kids. I was too busy with my career and he was trying to rescue a floundering career of his own. Then I was in New York for a year for treatment. We hardly saw each other." Karen said pushing a strand of her chestnut brown hair out her face.
" I like your hair. It’s beautiful in the star light." Nathan winked at Karen.
" Are you making a pass at me good doctor?" Karen was truly flattered that he felt this way.
" If I was, would you be upset?"
" To tell you the truth it’s been almost two years since any man gave me compliment on my appearance. It’s nice to hear." Karen took Nathan’s hand in her own.
He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
Karen smiled again.
Six Weeks later.
When Karen Carpenter was released from the hospital she had to control the urge to run head long into the bright March morning. Her weight was up to a comfortable one hundred and twenty pounds. She felt more alive that day then she had felt in years. What she wanted most was to go home and just enjoy the day. She could see herself sitting on the deck by the pool at her parent’s house, working on her tan, or maybe just watching her favorite soaps and munching on some pop corn with her mother. For the moment she didn’t want to go back to her condo. It held to many memories of her marriage to Tom.
Drumming her fingers on the counter top Karen waited at the admissions desk while the receptionist finished filling out the necessary forms.
" There all done, now if you can sign on the dotted lines. You’re free to go Miss Carpenter." The woman pointed to the lines and gave Karen a pen.
Karen signed and said thank you then walked out the doors and into the sunshine. Waiting for her in his Ferrari was her brother.
Richard popped out and came around and opened the trunk and helped put her bags in. He then turned to Karen and hugged her close.
" You look wonderful!"
" Thanks. I’m white as a sheet! I need about twelve hours in the sun." Karen half said as her brother opened her door for her.
Karen got in and fastened her seat belt and then pulled her door closed. Richard quickly got in and started the car. Checking his mirrors he pulled away form the curb. In no time he guided the sports car on to the highway and merged with the fast moving traffic.
" So how are you feeling Kiddo?" Richard grinned.
" I’m happy to be out of that place. I’m looking forward to seeing Mom and Dad and my friends. I have only three weeks before I fly out to Seattle. It was great of the O’Neill’s to let me stay with them while I continue my treatment." Karen caught some of her brothers exuberance and found herself smiling to.
" That’s great." Richard pulled off the highway and on to Newville Ave. in minutes he’d stopped in front of their parents house. " You go on in and I’ll grab your bags. I’m sure that Dad is dying to see you."
Karen got out of the car and walked up to the front door she rang the door bell and then opened the door and when in.
" SURPRISE!" a chorus of voices called out. Her mother and father at the front of the group.
For a moment Karen was stunned into silence and then she snapped out of it and broke into a wide grin. Agnes and Harold came forward and hugged Karen then walking with her they joined the rest of the group.
" Hey there girlfriend." Olivia Newton-John hugged Karen. " Your looking good."
" Thank you." Karen smiled lopsidedly. " Who did all this? I mean I was expecting to come home to an empty house."
" Your parent’s sent out the invitations over a month ago. They thought that you’d like to see your friends once you got out of the hospital." Dorothy Hamill came up to the two women. She too hugged Karen.
" Your kidding me. My parent’s did this?" Karen looked over at her mother who was talking to Mike Curb and his wife Carol. Karen smiled at her. Agnes waved back.
" I helped out a little too." Richard said as he passed by with Karen’s bags, on his way up the stairs. " Karen go and mingle, don’t stand there like a stick in the mud."
Karen chuckled and took her brothers advice.
For the most part it for Karen she knew every face in the room save for a couple of new spouses. The one person that took Karen by surprise was Dr. Yates.
" Well Karen I guess your glad to be home for good?" the doctor winked.
" The care you gave me was just wonderful. What are you doing here Dr. Yates I thought that you’d be working today?"
" Please Karen call me Nathan. Actually I got an invitation from your mother. She told me that your separated from your husband and that you might like an escort for the party this afternoon. I hope that you don’t think that is to forward a reason?" Nathan smiled charmingly.
Karen raised an eyebrow. Then she too smiled.
" I can’t think of a better way to spend the day." Karen said and put her arm through the doctors.
The welcome home party passed by like a dream for Karen she saw friends that she’d not seen in years. She had a great time introducing Nathan to some of the big names in the recording industry and laughed at his schoolboy look of awe when he met Olivia.
" I have been a fan of yours for years! I loved you in Grease." Nathan shook her hand.
" Yes it was a blast. But of the two of us Karen is the better singer." Olivia said and winked at her best friend.
Karen blushed.
" I might have to better voice Olivia but you have the better figure."
" Nonsense Karen, your beautiful to me." Nathan said and on an impulse he kissed her cheek.
Karen blushed deeper and then smiled broadly. For once she was glad that Olivia was happily married. There was no competition.
At about seven p.m. the party started to break up, however Karen and Nathan went out on back patio and sat at the table with their drinks. Karen felt so comfortable with this man that she hardy noticed that the sun had begun to set and the first of the stars where beginning to shine. In an impulsive moment Karen asked.
" So are you a family man Doctor?"
" Actually my wife and I divorced two years ago. I do have a 4 year old son Christopher." Nathan reached in to his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He opened it and took out a small picture and handed it to Karen.
" He’s adorable. He has your eyes." Karen said with a smile. " I love children."
Nathan retrieved the photo and reinserted it in his wallet and then put that back in his pocket.
" My ex-wife and I share custody she lives in New Hampshire. Ben fly’s back and forth between us. I see him for a week at Christmas and for a month in the summer. It’s not the best solution but at least he can see me and know that he has a father that loves him." Nathan sipped his martini and then smiled.
" That’s so sad. I think that a child should have both his parents under the same roof. Tom and I never had the chance to have kids. I was too busy with my career and he was trying to rescue a floundering career of his own. Then I was in New York for a year for treatment. We hardly saw each other." Karen said pushing a strand of her chestnut brown hair out her face.
" I like your hair. It’s beautiful in the star light." Nathan winked at Karen.
" Are you making a pass at me good doctor?" Karen was truly flattered that he felt this way.
" If I was, would you be upset?"
" To tell you the truth it’s been almost two years since any man gave me compliment on my appearance. It’s nice to hear." Karen took Nathan’s hand in her own.
He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
Karen smiled again.