Billy Beeep...beeep...beeep..." Aaah, dam! Always so early," he muttered as he lazily reached over and shut off the persistent and irritating alarm. William Randolph Bridgeworth rolled slowly onto his back and rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands. William Randolph Bridgeworth looked around the bedroom and was pleased. A soft ambient light filtered through the saphronous curtains adding a golden shimmer to the expensive trappings throughout the room. William Randolph Bridgeworth, Billy, to his many friends stretched from the tips of his well-manicured fingers to the tips of his equally well-manicured toes. He loved the feel of the smooth satin sheets cool against his naked body. "Damn, life is good," he thought to himself and smiled. Billy was living fatter than a cheese factory rat and loving it. His business was doing well, it had grossed over $150,000 the last quarter and he was planning an expansion. Tonya was knocking down 80 a year doing a job she loved and the children were the envy of all their friends. What more could a man ask for? His gaze fell upon the picture on the nightstand next to the bed and he reveled in the shear beauty of his family. Tonya, his lovely wife, was a statue in black marble created from the hand of Michelangelo. Her eyes were radiant beyond the shimmer of the pure Oriental Silk that she wore in the picture, and her soft ebony skin muted the gentle flow and shimmer of the fabric. Mother, lover, and friend, she was the strength and resolve and the inner peace he had never had before her. Tonya was an eternal light that brightened his everyday and gave him the strength to live. Tiffany, was his oldest daughter and she was bright and vibrant and full of life. He had a hard time believing that she was a junior in college already. Tiff, was one of those born diplomats; she could put Klansmen and Black Nationalist together and make them believe it was what they wanted to do. She was a natural conflict resolver. She possessed an inner serenity that could drive people to total distraction and sooth over outer rage as if it were butter on hot toast. She settled the troubled seas of all she came in contact with. But, no matter what the situation, Tiffany, was well liked by everyone. At the present she was tense and anxious, a state she was quite unfamiliar with, because she was pledging to be an AKA (Alpha Kappa Alpha), just like her mother had a few years in the past. Well, maybe not as few as she would admit to, but his baby held her age well. Anyway, the stress of this procedure had caused a crack in the icy calm that was her normal attitude and a prodigious increase in his phone bill. That, however, had turned out to be a kind of blessing in disguise. Because, now he got to talk to her on a more frequent basis and that eased the time between her visits. The visits that he always, jokingly, declared to be to numerous, lengthy, and far too expensive. Yes, she was a blessing in his life and when she was through with college and off on her own he would surely miss her. Next to Tiff in the photo was the beautiful Latonya, as sure of herself as any twenty year old. Since she was only sixteen this attitude caused her mother and he a great deal of consternation and not a little apprehension. But, despite her desire to be, to damned grown-to damned soon, she was a scholar student and quite a caring person. She constantly filled their hearts with pride and joy with her grades and scholastic honors. Latonya was a sassy bundle, who had trouble keeping her mouth in check and her attitude under-wraps. This of course tended to cause a good deal of conflict between her and her mother, who was not inclined to take any shit from any child of hers. Billy thought the main conflict was the result of their being very much alike. He could not help but think that a young woman of tempered steel was being forged in the fire of their relationship. He also had no doubt that she would need all that strength in the world of the future. And Billy didn't want her depending on some bubble-headed guy for her security, or for validation of who she was. He wanted her to be an independent, self assured, and capable, woman of the 21st century. Well, that's enough of the H. G. Wellian, key to the future rhetoric, it would be enough for him to know that she could make it regardless of the hand life dealt her. Billy knew she was and always would be a fighter. Billy's youngest pearl, Jeanna, was eight years old and all sugar and spice with a touch of pepper thrown in to add flavor. Already showing indications that she could very possibly turn out to be the most intelligent and beautiful of the trio, but only time would determine that, he would wait and see. Jeanna was a never-ending journey and a never empty well. She could talk forever about everything and she had questions about all things. One moment she would ask a guileless question in total confusion, then the next second shock you with an unexpected understanding. You never could be sure what she was going to ask or how much of what you said she would grasp. This added a great deal to Billy's reading list because you never knew when it would be necessary to explain the origin of green eggs and ham. Discovering the treasures of her young mind constituted one of life's many intrigues, and just like life you were never quite prepared but very often pleased with the results. Billy smiled as he recalled the time she had asked him where love was. They had been driving from someplace or another when she had asked him, "Daddy where is love? The question had taken him by surprise, so he asked her, "what do you mean honey? "Daddy I want to know where love is." He looked at her a little perplexed and answered her. "Love is everywhere sweetheart. It's all around us all the time." She looked a little puzzled so he asked her, "why do you ask sweetheart?" Jeanna looked at him and answered, "Because the song on the radio said that love was between your legs and mine. Is that where love is daddy?" It had been all Billy could do to keep from bursting into laughter. He put on as solemn a face as he could muster and replied as seriously as possible, "That just means that they feel love between them, honey." Billy remembered he had been silently congratulating himself on how cleverly he had answered her question. Jeanna looked at him just as seriously and asked, "Then they weren't talking about their thingy's then?" Billy lost it and had to pull over to regain his composure. Then he said to her, "You better ask your mother about that when we get home, okay?" She was all legs and hair, smiles and sunshine, and photo ready. She was always a picture in the making and Daddy's little girl. The picture on the stand represented all the joy in Billy's world and was the one thing that he was absolutely sure would never end. In Billy's mind there could never be an end to the happiness in his heart. Those were the thoughts that occupied his mind as he swung his long legs over the edge of the bed and sat-up. " Yes, life sure is good," he mumbled to himself as he reached into the shelf space at the base of the nightstand and searched for his bottle of medicine. His hand closed around the familiar shape of the bottle and he pulled it from its' space just as he always did; he then screwed the cap off and poured half a glass of the smooth amber liquid. Billy closed his eyes and slowly drained the glass, and the strong fluid burned a familiar path down his throat to spread its' heat, like wildfire, throughout his body. A light euphoria came like an old friend and rushed to his head, comforting in its' predictability. Billy loved it, the smell, the taste, the feeling, and the fire. Oh, yes the mellow, mellow, fire. Yes! He loved everything about his " Do It Fluid." So, he poured another half glass of love and lay back onto the soft pillows of the bed. Telling himself that he would get up in another minute or two, Billy closed his eyes and thought about his beautiful family and how lucky he was, and William Randolph Bridgeworth smiled. Beeep...Beeep...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeee. " Oh, shit...come on people, move it or we're gonna lose this guy." "Ready, doctor." "Alright, everybody...clear." Thump, thump...Beeep...Beeeeeeeeeee. "Linda, give me 25cc of Thorisen...NOW!" "Ready, clear." Thump, thump...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. "Come on Ed tell me something, what the hell's going on?" "Come on, what'ta ya got?" "Sorry, Bob, nothin happen'n here." "Alright, everybody...one more time, clear." Thump, thump...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. "Well, talk to me." "No pulse, no breathing, pupils fixed and dilated, sorry Bob, I think ya lost this one." "Damn I hate it when they come in like this, not one chance in a thousand...I just hate it." "Well, Ed, you and Linda finish up here and get him down to the ghoulies at the morgue." "Sure thing, Doc, will do." " Oh, Ed, this guy have any family?" " Don't know Chief, your going to have to ask Pamela down in Admin.." " Okay Ed, I'll be heading that way right now, so when you and Linda get through here, take a break and I'll see you at the next episode." Robert Matthews, M.D., walked briskly toward the Admissions Office. He wasn't really in a hurry, but after three years in the ER he never seemed to be able to take his time doing anything anymore. That and the fact that what he was about to do was something he had always hated, made him hurry. He hated with a passion bearing bad news to relatives, and he had never been good at it. Dr. Matthews simply wanted to get through this responsibility as quickly as possible. As Dr. Matthews entered the lobby and headed toward the Admissions desk he began to search the area for red eyed sobbing women and anxious worry faced men. He was certainly surprised, and rather pleased, when he found none in either category in the lobby area, where they should have been. He approached Pam and the desk still looking. "Hi, Pam." "Hello, Doctor Matthews, may I help you?" "Yes, Pam, can you tell me where the family and friends of the Hypothermia in OR Three are?" "Sorry Doctor, no-ones been in here for the last hour or so." "Well, who brought him here?" Doctor Matthews asked vacantly as he slowly surveyed the area again a little perplexed. "One moment and I'll check sir." Matthews absent-mindedly drummed his fingers on the counter top as he waited. "Sir, he was admitted to the hospital this evening at 10:15 by a Mr. Samual Grayson." "Well, who the hell is the guy?" "It just says Billy on the form sir, no last name and no address. Just another one of those skid-row bums, I guess." "Well thanks," he sighed, "sorry to bother you Pam," he said as he turned to leave. "It's quite alright sir," Doctor Matthews walked slowly, a pace he had not used much lately, through the fluorescent glare of City General's ER Hallways. He ignored the general confusion of noise and motion that was the norm, and wondered who the hell in God's name was Billy. How could anyone sink so low? CODE BLUE...CODE BLUE...ATTENTION IN THE ER...CODE BLUE...O.R. five...CODE BLUE, the message blared over the hospital PA system. Dr. Matthews head came up, all thoughts disappearing as he began to run toward O.R. five. As Dr. Matthews rushed toward O.R. five and his next emergency of the evening the body of William Randolph Bridgeworth decimated by the ravages of alcohol, time, and weather went, under the knife of the County Coroner.
Copyright © 2001 Abert Davis |