Chapter Nine

Glowing and burning blinded by thirst
They didn’t see the stop sign
Took a turn for the worse
She said, ’listen baby. you can hear the engine rev.
’we’ve up and down this highway, haven’t seen a goddamn thing.’
Life In The Fast Lane
The Eagles

Five Weeks Later

September 9th

Rome proved to be delightful, Andy was right, the people, the food, the scenery, everything about it was just divine! For an entire week before her first opening she sat at her easel on the balcony of the two bed room villa over looking the Tiber River and watched the sun rise and set. She finished the painting of the three of them well in time for the first exhibit and had several more to go with it. Callestah drank lattes and cappuccinos and fine Italian wine, smoked an incredible amount of hash and was introduced to some of the loveliest people she’d ever met and began to get comfortable in her new life. If she didn’t look too closely, it seemed everything was well on its way to falling into place. Her hands were right as rain once more, her back was much less tender and the smaller scars and discoloration was fading quickly the same was true for her for the skin at her inner thighs. In three weeks she would go back to the clinic for her follow-up and maybe then they would continue with that last surgery or perhaps they’d tell her she was all right without it. She was really hoping for that latter.

Either way it was good to be here where everything and everyone was so colorful and full of life. Far away from her troubles back in the good old US of A. Andy kept her very busy, so busy she didn’t have much time to stop and think about things like Daniel and the children, life was moving to fast for that. Callestah did radio shows and television shows dedicated to the arts throughout Europe and pleasantly surprised Andy by speaking in perfect Italian, Spanish, German or whatever language the occasion called for.

It was Rome and Callestah fell in love with more than any other city or place they visited. Maybe it was the people, maybe it was the food or the atmosphere or the fact that on some quiet inner level she felt close to her Father here even though Ares was no where to be seen. She was sure he was watching from a distance but this city had been named for one of his sons, Romulus. Yes the Romans credited Romulus and Remise birth to their God of War Mars but that was no bother. Lord Mars—like the other ancient Roman gods-- was stolen from her Greek forefathers and, in this case, he was based upon Ares, those sons were her brothers though she’d never met them. Everywhere she looked she saw Ares’ zest for life staring back at her.

So then it was lucky for Callestah and Rome and the rest of Europe all fell in love with her. Everywhere they went Andrew Hartley and Callestah made a splash. In no time at all they were on the top of European A List at every turn. Paparazzi followed them as though they were royalty—the fact that they were one sexy couple didn’t hurt matters any-- and each new show and each new opening brought more and more rave reviews for Callestah and her talent. The papers back home didn’t fail to take notice of what was going on overseas. Callestah and Andrew Hartley weren’t making the big splash in the States they were in Europe, still from time to time, they appeared on Access Hollywood Tonight as they went to a movie premiere or one of her openings. Sometimes they were in the Arts and Entertainment sections of papers like the NY Times and magazines like the New Yorker.

Andy had her booked in the absolute finest galleries throughout Europe, there were no little honky-tonk galleries on this road trip. In fact her opening show took place in none other than the Doria Pamphilj Gallery which housed one of the largest and finest private arts collection in the world. Andy was personal friends with the owner who was a great admirer of Callestah’s work (and new body). Her paintings hung right along side some of the greatest artists of all time; Giovanni di Paolo, Diego Velazquez, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Tiziano just to name a few. Callestah was flabbergasted by it all at first. Why anyone would even consider hanging her crap along side some of the most famous and most revered artists in history was well beyond her comprehension.

Maybe that’s why the little strawberry blonde woman with the sparkling green eyes, great rack and sweet thighs soon became everybody’s darling. Soon they were doing everything but throwing roses at her feet. She was unassuming, almost shy and very warm when you got to know, very unlike the majority of the art crowd. Andy and she met with other creative types, actors, actresses, those in the theatre and movies, writers, historians, poets, anyone who fancied themselves to be anyone and with whom the world agreed. Calla found herself traveling in higher circles than she could have ever imagined. They dined at exclusive restaurants, and partied at high class night clubs well into the early hours of morning. She even danced with Brad Pitt one night. Callestah thought that was a hoot, he wasn’t as young as he used to be but Brad was still very handsome and charming. He took a shine to her and she to him but her eight weeks were not up yet and so when he asked if he could take her home she politely declined his invitation and then wrote all about it in her journal later the next day.

Most of all she liked the little villa Andy rented and made their ‘home base’ while they were in Europe. Andy felt she’d be more comfortable if she had a homier atmosphere to relax in rather than packing up and dragging everything from hotel to hotel during their five month stay. And, of course, Andy was right. While they did do their fair share of living out of hotels and eating room service, whenever there was a lull or she was bored he brought her back here where she could just unwind and paint and make him more money. Which she was doing hand over fist, those photographs Dyer took of her were selling like hot cakes. The good thing about photographs is that you can make so many reproductions of them! The Estate of Tom Dyer a/k/a Andrew Hartley signed deals with poster companies and frame companies and calendar companies and greeting card companies and even a few shadier companies who were interested in the photographs which hadn’t been entered into the competition. All in all everything was going fairly well for Andrew Hartley. And Callestah….more or less.

All that notoriety only served to increase the public’s thirst for her. Andrew Hartley had Callestah booked in some of the finest galleries and museums in Europe all with limited engagements lasting no more than two weeks each. This was his idea of promotion and pumping the market, he got her work out to as many people as possible in as little amount of time as possible all to increase demand and ultimately selling price. Over a scant five weeks Callestah’s works showed in Rome and then it was on to France and the Burgundy Gallery where her work stayed another two weeks. Two days ago her exhibit opened in The Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. In nine days it was off to London. In between they came back here to the villa in Rome to rest and party.

The party scene all over Europe was quite fabulous as Andy had said it would be but the pace here seemed more to her liking. In the evenings they would stroll down to the Via Veneto and through the narrow streets of Trastevere they would often spend time at Antico Caffè della Pace where other intellectual types, painters and artisans hung out regularly and there they would talk and drink in a relaxed but lively atmosphere. Sometimes they Andy was in a livelier mood and they would go the more high class nightclubs such as Gilda, where the politicos and celebrities were known to hang out or to Goa which specialized in electronic music and art exhibitions or perhaps they would be in the mood for something flasher and go to Ex magazzini and Black for loud live rock and roll and heavier drugs and wild sex. Andy liked to bring young girls and boys back to the villa or to whatever hotel they were staying at. If he couldn’t get a young one then he’d go for someone who could help him along the way, someone with money and who didn’t mind doing favors for a friend from time to time.

Being unable to fully participate, sometimes Callestah watched Andy with his conquest, sometimes she helped him and sometimes she just sequestered herself in another room trying not to listen through the walls. Andy was a young man he had needs, urges and desires all of which had to be met. Callestah did her best to keep him satisfied in that regard, she blew him off continually and he was really enjoying the new tits he had installed in her. Andy just loved to grease them up and slide his hard cock between them. He also enjoyed going in through the back door but that wasn’t enough for Andy he needed a fully functioning woman and that was something that, no matter how she tried, Callestah was not and might never be again.

Everywhere they went drugs and pills were passed around like Pez and wine flowed like water from every direction. Before she knew it Callestah fell into the habit of snorting a few lines to wake up in the morning after partying all night. She was still taking the pills the Swiss doctors gave her so that those two or three lines were usually followed with an Antibiotic, Antidepressant, Pain killer and Anti-inflamatory chasers. Sometime around eleven or so it was time for a bowl or two and then around one time for another and another handful of pills and a few lines to keep her going. Sometimes before dinner Andy would give her a boot but usually it was after dinner and just before they went out to drink, dance and party the night away. If she were lucky he’d boot her up again long about 2am. Callestah had taken to following Andy’s lead, she took the shot either in the sole of the foot—which hurt very much—or in her thigh or ankle, some place where track marks—which she was developing a nice set of—wouldn’t show. When the night began to give way to dawn she found herself chomping down Ambiens to shut her brain off and fall asleep only to wake up and do it all over again a few hours later. Life in the fast lane was very draining and all consuming. It took all of her energy just to make the attempt to keep up with it.

No matter how good the reviews were or how loud the parties, no matter how many drugs she took or what kind, or how much alcohol she consumed or how many people she let touch her under Andy’s watchful eye, nothing filled the empty aching place where Daniel had been. Nothing. She tried to hide that fact and not let on to Andy who would certainly be furious if he knew she was still pining away for her soon-to-be ex-husband. After all Andy had done for her it wasn’t fair to him that she was thinking of someone else. Everyday no matter where they were Callestah held her breath when the mail was brought to them. One day that big packet with some lawyer’s return address on it would show up. So far she hadn’t seen hide or hair of it. Andy was getting impatient, the other day he told her that she start the proceedings before her work went on sale again. If she didn’t, Daniel might well take her for half of everything she made which was estimated to be a considerable sum of money. More than Daniel made in his lifetime to date. In her heart she didn’t believe that, Daniel was never a spiteful man and even though he was probably angry enough to spit nails at her he’d never try to rake her over the coals like that. So she hadn’t done anything about consulting a lawyer either.

Keeping up with the children was difficult when you spent so many nights in a new hotel room and a new city. She did try very hard to stay in touch through her e-mail, Colleen sent a few pictures she was starting show and starting to get a little more frightened. Calla did everything she could assure Colleen that it was all normal and everything would work out in the end, that both she and the baby would be just fine. Nicholas’ job at the gym was going well as was Annie’s with the law office. Nick expressed a few concerns about his Father, he said Daniel had been drinking heavily and wanted to know what he could or should do about it. Daniel had never been much of a drinker either and that very much surprised and even hurt her to hear. She didn’t know what to tell Nicholas so she didn’t say anything to his query. A few days later another e-mail popped up in her box this time from Colleen. It was very short and not very sweet. Colleen informed her Mother that her Father had come home reeking of booze and cheap perfume he’d called her a whore and slapped her across the face when she’d asked where he’d been. Colleen moved out the next morning and was living with Nicholas and Annie, together the three of them were looking for a suitable apartment or house to live in. Calla would rather have Colleen come and stay with her and Andy but the lifestyle was too hectic for a pregnant teenager. Calla had such a hard time believing that Daniel struck their daughter and called her such a nasty name. He must have been thinking about his lousy unfaithful wife at the time and Colleen got in the way.

September 30^th

Geneva, Switzerland

Hand in hand Callestah and Andrew Hartley waited nervously in the doctors’ office after her follow-up appointment. Things had been going swimmingly with her art and her exhibits, nope things couldn’t be better there. However, last week the skin grafts on her back had begun to show signs of discoloration. They’d been told the grafts might not take and it was as they feared. The skin the doctors had so painstakingly grafted onto her was now peeling off in layers and there wasn’t anything that could be done about it. The extra-proteins and enzymes in her blood were preventing the skin from properly taking hold and she’d have to undergo another operation to have them removed or she risked infection setting in and having the entire sheets of flesh just peel painfully off of her. Not liking the looks of her toxicology report they suggested she check in for a few days prior to undergoing the procedure which they wanted to do as soon as possible.

The exhibit was moving to Düsseldorf, German next week. She had to be there for the press junket and the opening at least. A fact that Andy had no trouble reminding them of as they sat there. All this time, energy, effort and expense and the bloody operation didn’t take?! He as beyond pissed off as he calmly sat in his seat and running the angles in his mind. All right, the weather was turning colder so he’d dress her in some tight sweaters to show off her new breasts and they would keep her ugly back covered up and out of the public’s sight. No need to scare them off by presenting her as the Frankenstein’s Monster she was.

Dr. Munsch continued to tell her that the finer work that they had done to her that involved removing the scar tissue and piecing her together again was holding nicely. That meant the scars on her inner thighs would no come back neither would the ones on her inner and outer lips. The ones inside of her had healed as well as could be expected and they didn’t believe that they could anything for more her where they were concerned. They cleared her to engaged in vaginal sexual intercourse if she so desired but warned them both it was not going to be a walk in the park and may prove altogether unsuccessful for both of them.

There was no problem with the new set of tits and the molding they’d done on her thighs was holding up very well. That was the good news they offered.

Back to the bad news, her insurance didn’t want to pay for the procedures the clinic preformed and they wanted cash up front. Callestah turned to Andy with an incredulous expression. “You billed Daniel for all of this?”

“You are still his wife, darling’. You’re still on his insurance.” Andy said easily then turned to the doctors. “Resubmit the claims I’m sure some of it must be covered by the insurance.” That was his suggestion to the non-payment issue. “I’ll foot the bill for this one and you can pay me back later, love.” Andy encouraged.

“How much?” She hadn’t her boot today and it was starting to show. Andy didn’t want to give it to her because they were coming here today and the news rolling around in her head and the DTs starting to kick into her body didn’t make for a good combination. Andy just sat there as though he didn’t know what she was talking about. “How much did you bill Daniel for?” She looked at the doctors in front of her. “How much is this going to cost?” Callestah let go of Andrew Hartley’s hand. As if the situation weren’t bad enough! She’d done everything the doctors told her to, she took all the right pills at all the right times, kept her back covered with the salve and clean bandages when she wasn’t out running around on the town and tried to stay as still as possible—again when she wasn’t out running around on the town. She slept on her stomach or her side, both of which were uncomfortable for her but she wasn’t to put undue weight on the new grafts. What else did they want from her? Why didn’t it work? She was always going to be some hideous freak who had to hide herself to keep people from screaming in terror. No one was ever going to love her again and if the scars inside of her wouldn’t go away no one would ever make love with her again either. Not even Andy. There was no denying there was a long road of loneliness ahead of her. Andy thrived on sex and so did she in her own way. Callestah thrived on touch and kisses and making love. That was all over now.

Nervous glances were exchanged all around before one of them answered her. “Your insurance was billed for everything,” he explained in a low voice and then waved a dismissive hand in the air, “though we didn’t expect them to pay for the purely cosmetic procedures.” He explained further. “The total we submitted was in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty thousand American dollars.”

“Oh my god!” She gasped.

“Perfection isn’t cheap, darlin’.” Andy said as he shot her a harsh glance. “I still say they’ll pay for some of it.” He said to the doctors.

Well if Daniel got the bill then he must know where she’d been and why. That was very bad. She never wanted him to know those ugly scars returned to her. He had enough on his mind. What must he think of her? What freakin’ nerve she must have in his eyes! For Daniel to go through all of this and then for her to have the gall to BILL him for it. He must be fit to be tied no wonder he struck Colleen. “You will not submit that bill to my husband’s insurance again,” she said in a strong low voice. “You will bill Andy for all of it and when those fucking paintings sell we will pay you off in full.”

“Callestah be reasonable…” Andy began but she cut him off.

“No you be reasonable,” she told him. “Daniel is not responsible for this and I won’t let him pay for it. Those paintings are going up for auction in just over a month, you can hold on that long can’t you?” She asked the doctors. They agreed they could and that they would not resubmit the bill to Daniel Jackson’s insurance company. Callestah already knew what Andy was going to say about the rest of it and she beat him to it. “Now, I can’t come in for this procedure for at least nine days, my exhibit opens in Germany in a week and I have two days worth of press before I can get back here. What do I do in the meantime?” Andy who had been sitting there looking totally disgusted with her now sat up and took notice.

“We’d like to have you stay now,” Doctor Munsch said in a flat tone. “Nine days is too long.”

“Well it’s what you’ve got to work with,” she countered in the same flat voice. “Now what can we do?”

“You don’t understand, the flesh we put on you is dying, Callestah. It will turn black and begin to fall off within a matter of days. If you’re lucky you won’t get an infection but with your toxicity levels and low immune system you’re bound to end up with one if you let this go too long. Once that happens it will spread to the surrounding healthy tissue.” He warned.

“If you do it right now will she be able to make Germany in time?” Andy asked. Germany was a very big stop. It was the next to the last show on this European Tour, next up was the closing exhibit at the Guggenheim in Venice. There was no way she could miss that.

“Perhaps but I don’t recommend doing the procedure before she detoxes.”

“Well you can either wait nine days or do it now, which do you suppose is the better option, mate?” Andy asked with a toss of his blonde head. This was bad all the way around it was just bad. All that money down the drain those ugly scars would come back and to top that off the ones between her legs didn’t seem to be doing any better. Making money and partying with Callestah was one thing and it was a great deal of fun, Andy could see keeping her on well after this but if he couldn’t actually fuck her then his incentive to keep her by his side by greatly lessened. Oh, and after all he’d done to obtain her! All those years he’d drooled over the files from calliendanny.com! Now he had her and she was a fine prize, a wonderful trophy, yes indeed, but if she couldn’t spread those Roman columns for him then…. “You sure there’s nothing you can do about the other ones? They really quite disconcerting.” He complained and picked a piece of lint from the cuff of his navy blazer. Maybe she was more trouble than she was worth. Andy remembered sinking deep into her when she first came to New York and again in Daniel’s office, that was one hot tight box! Now it was ruined. His toy was busted and it wouldn’t be put right.

“Why can’t you fix them?” Callestah asked and leaned forward with wide eyes. “If there’s even a chance I’ll do it.”

“No,” said Doctor Munsch. “We’re really very sorry but our talents cannot help you with this. We’ve gone as far as we can.” He explained softly. “As to the rest of it, perhaps we can have you ready for Germany in a week but it will be painful and there’s a greater chance of infection setting in if you don’t rest afterward.”

“Andy?” Callestah asked as she waited for him to make the decision.

“Do it.” He said as he rolled his eyes and then stood up. “I’ll go and get your things.” Andy kissed her cheek and then walked out of the office. The disappointment was obvious.

“We’ll get you admitted,” Doctor Munsch said with a kind smile.

Again she was in a plush white room with flat screen TV and Internet and lovely view of the Alps. All night long they pumped one liquid after another into her veins through the hanging IV bottles. She knew she was a junkie, yep, there was sense in denying that anymore and because of the enormous amount of drugs she indulged in there was a greater risk when she went under the knife. Maybe she’d die. Maybe Hades would come to her in dreams instead of Aphrodite and he would lead her away to the only place in the known universe where there was no pain. The one place where there was Nothing.

Three hours or more after she was admitted Andy came sauntering into the room with an overnight bag full of her clothes and assorted personal items. He had a rather smug self-satisfied look on his face. “Hello, dahling.” He said with a cheery smile. “I don’t want you to be nervous everything will go as planned and this will all be behind us soon.”

“I know,” Callestah agreed. There was something on his mind and it wasn’t long before it made it known.

Andy produced a large FedEx envelope from the overnight bag. “I know the timing is awful my dear but these came for you.” He handed it over to her.

Gruskin & Gruskin

56 Huntington St.

Silver Springs, Colorado

Read the return address. That was the law office Daniel used. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was in the FedEx envelope. Daniel had finally gotten around to having those divorce papers drawn up. This was the first round. Hopefully it was also the only round she didn’t want to argue or bitch over money and knick-knacks.

“Go on, love, take a deep breath,” Andy inhaled a big lungful of air and then exhaled. “And open her up.”

“Yeah,” she whispered as she ran her hand over the cardboard envelope. “No big deal, right?”

“That’s right, love. We’ve been expecting this.” Andy for one was damn glad to see it finally show up! What the hell took Daniel Jackson so long he didn’t know and wouldn’t hazer to guess. After all Andrew Hartley had expended a lot of effort and energy keeping the two apart over the last few months. Daniel sent letters and drunken e-mails to her which he intercepted. Sometimes Andy read the snail mail letters and sometimes he just threw them out but she never saw one of them and had no idea her estranged husband had been trying to contact her. Likewise he’d blocked Daniel’s e-mail address from Callestah’s e-box months ago. They just went straight into her junk box which she never looked at. The only other way he could get to her was if he should call her cell phone so Andy blocked the home number and Daniel’s cell phone from hers. If he called he was told he was unwelcome and the call would not go through. After all these months of biting on silence it was about time the Yank got his ass in gear and began dissolving this marriage.

He watched her pull the little cardboard zipper and removed the small stack of neatly typed legal cap pages.

That was as far as Calla got before she stuffed it all into the envelope haphazardly. “You look at it, all right.” She said and handed it to Andy while she swallowed hard. “You tell me what it says and show me where to sign, ok?” After the news she’d gotten earlier in the doctor’s office this was just the icing on the cake. Maybe it was for the best considering her present condition and her expected new limitations Daniel wouldn’t want her anymore either and he was well rid of her. She was just sorry he had to know about the marks and how they’d returned.

“Of course.” Andy soothed. “I’ll just sit over there and read them.” Andy picked up the envelope and sat on the white couch by the picture window while she curled up in the bed. Poor thing, he thought as he looked over at her all huddled up in a little ball, the timing really was dreadful. It took him just under twenty minutes to reach the bottom line. All in all it was pretty standard stuff. Daniel was suing her on the grounds of Abandonment as primary and Adultery as secondary which he had a good case for if he won it he’d get half of everything they acquired during the lifetime of their marriage including half the value of Callestah’s paintings. If Daniel lost that round he still had Irreconcilable Differences to fall back on which was undeniable at this point in which case he’d still acquire half of all the marital assets but no proceeds from her artwork which would be considered as independent assets since Daniel didn’t paint any of them.

Callestah could fight him on the Abandonment and Adultery issues she could say that he made life so intolerable that she had to leave the house and wasn’t it lucky for her she had someone who would take her in? If Daniel had just gone for Irreconcilable Differences Andy would have her sign the bloody thing and he’d express mail it back to Daniel Jackson. But there was a considerable amount of money on the line when you factored in the prices her paintings would fetch in December and this was bound to drag on long past that. Damn why couldn’t the little bugger just make it a quick and clean break?

The last paper Andrew Hartley pulled out of the FedEx envelope had his name on it.

The little bastard! He wanted to hard ball and he wanted to play by archaic rules well fine. Andy would play with him.

One of the nurses was coming into the room to sedate Callestah for the night. Surgery was slated for bright and early tomorrow morning. Andy put the papers in the envelope when the nurse was done and then went to her side. “I’ll tell you what dahling, I’m going to have my lawyers look these over, all right?” He asked and brushed the hair away from her face. “I don’t think Daniel’s being very fair to you with this. I want to make sure you don’t get taken for a ride.”

“Stay a while?” She asked as she turned toward him and held her hand out to him.

“I can’t,” he muttered with a smile. “I’ve got to get these off tonight.” Andy took the outstretched hand and kissed it before lying back on the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow when you wake up. Hopefully I’ll have good news for you, my dear.” Andy kissed her forehead. Yes Andy had plans for the evening he couldn’t stay here in this depressing atmosphere. He had two stunning Swiss call-girls lined up for the night and there was that cute little chamber maid who was all of 17 he’d asked her to come up to the room later on as well. “Good night, love.”

The medicine the nurse gave her was making her sleepy but it wasn’t shutting her brain off and thoughts of Daniel kept running through her mind. Even though she wasn’t supposed, Callestah got out of the bed and dug in her purse for that store of Valiums she kept. They would shut her mind off and keep her from thinking about what was and what could have been. What should have been.

That was long ago and far away there was no sense in turning back to it when it was clear he was going forward. Callestah wished she could do the same but it seemed every time she got two steps forward someone pushed her back one. Swallowing two pills dry she climbed back into the bed realizing that she’d never be rid of Kanan’s scars and that she’d spend her life hiding them from the world and her own eyes. Andy thought they were ugly and he was right. There was little point in trying to deny that he would find her desirable when they returned especially not given the news that the other scars weren’t likely to get much better. Andy liked sex he thrived on it as much as he did his work and the drugs he took. Once upon a time she liked sex too. She still felt the need to be touched and kissed but if it wasn’t going to go through to fruition then Andy had no use for such things. That wasn’t likely to change.

There was a laptop on the table next to her and she picked it up and turned it on. Callestah got into her e-mail and composed a short note to her almost ex-husband.

My Dearest Daniel
Your package arrived. I haven’t read it yet but whatever you want I’ll give it to you. I’m so sorry about everything. I wish I could take it back and do it over again. I hope one day you’ll forgive me. I’ll always love you.
Kitty

She sat there in the dark and lonely bed reading the short note over and over and getting sleepier and sleepier. She shouldn’t send it she should delete it. It sounded so pathetic. Her hazy mind tried to use the mouse pad the little cursor zigged and zagged all over the screen while she tried to get control of it. When you’re seeing double DELETE and SEND can look very similar and the little cursor can seem so very blurry. Calla hit the SEND button by mistake she tried to hit the STOP button before the command could go through but it was too late. MESSAGE SENT.

“Shit,” she mumbled and closed the laptop with some effort her sleepy hands managed to put it back on the night stand. The sedative and the Valium finally did their job and she drifted off into a black sleep. When she woke up sometime later she wouldn’t remember sending that e-mail which was probably a good thing since Daniel couldn’t respond to it.

“Not again!” Doctor Munsch shouted as he continued to hit Callestah with the shock paddles. “Damn it, I told them! Come on Callestah! Come on!”

Doctor Munsch tossed the paddles to the floor and began pounding on her small chest to kick start her heart. “Come on girl! You’ve got a whole life ahead of you!”

The heart monitor began to flicker once more and the flat line slowly took on an even beat. “This girl is going to be the death of me.” Doctor Munsch groused. “We’re almost done, let’s finish this.”

When she came out of the operating room Andy was waiting in the hall, he watched them wheel her past him on the gurney, her face was ashen and there were several IVs hooked up to her. “I don’t want to see her here again, Mr. Hartley.” Dr. Munsch said as he removed the surgical mask. “That woman needs to be at an In-Patient Rehabilitation Clinic,” he warned. “Cosmetic surgery is the least of her problems.”

Andy rolled his eyes he wasn’t in the mood for a drug lecture. “How did it go?”

“She flat lined on the table…again.” Dr. Munsch huffed. “I’m telling you Mr. Hartley if you don’t get into her rehab in the very near future she’s going to die.” Shaking his head Dr. Munsch walked off down the hall after his patient.

Twenty-four hours later Callestah woke up. She’d slept much longer than any of them anticipated but given the fact that she’d flat lined on the table for the second time and given her drug history no one was much surprised by the length of her nap. “You gave us quite the fright, my dahling.” Andy whispered as he leaned in close and kissed her cheek. “Everything went as planned they removed the grafts they’re going to keep you very still for the next 72 hours or so. A day or so after that and you’ll be chipper again and we’ll be off to Germany. This tour has been very hard on you, hasn’t it my love? It’s almost over.”

End of Chapter Nine
Tarnished Heroes: Life in the Fast Lane--Calla's Story
Continue to
Chapter Ten