Tony Scott - Along Came COVID - Love and Loss in the 2020 Pandemic

“No joke!” Ricky said.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s controlling of us . We can’t make any decisions or treat any patient without talking to him. It’s smothering how he hovers over us.”

Josh nodded, even though Ricky couldn’t see. “That’s true.”

“Well, treat her better, and you will catch her. Remember, a boy chases a girl until she catches him. I’m thinking you are totally hooked. I just have to wait for her to reel you in.”

“I asked her to move in with me.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. She can’t afford her apartment now that Brian has moved out. She hasn’t been able to find another roommate, and I don’t think cheap apartments are plentiful on the north side of Albuquerque.”

“I would agree with that.”

“She says Haley doesn’t want her, which I took to mean she wants you.”

“Someday.”

“So, I asked her. I think she accepted.”

“Good job, Josh. She’s reeling you in. Just don’t fall off the hook.”

The glass in the door rattled.

“Brian, what’s up?”

“Did you have anything to do with my wife divorcing me?”

“No! I didn’t know you were getting a divorce.”

“Josh Menkowicz apparently is helping my wife divorce me. He has a lawyer sister where he got divorce papers that they coerced me into signing. They filed them, so I guess now I am divorced. He has successfully stolen my wife, and I thought you probably were behind it.”

“No.” Peggy said. “But how did they coerce you?”

“Faith told me to sign, or else.”

“Or else what?”

“I don’t know. She just has a way of ordering me to do things.”

“Don’t you have any control?”

“I don’t feel like it.”

Peggy shook his head. “That’s a shame.”

“Are you being sarcastic? Did you want to be behind it?”

“No. I never like when marriages fail. But signing indicates you consent. Now you’re telling me you didn’t consent. Which is it?”

“There is no point in me refusing. It would only incite more action in which I would wind up divorced anyway, and probably with a mountain of lawyer bills and alimony to boot.”

“What effort did you make to reconcile?” Peggy asked. “Did you go talk to her?”

“Yes. She refused to let me move back in.”

“It might take a lot of conversations and perhaps a marriage professional to get to that point.”

“And time and money. More than that, she has you and Josh on her side.”

“I’m not involved in this one way or another,” Peggy said. “I had nothing to do with it. I wasn’t even aware it was happening.”

“Faith and Josh don’t talk to you?”

“No. Sometimes about patients after rounds. It sounds like you could have made a more diplomatic effort.”

“I don’t think it’s worth it. I don’t think any of this is worth it.”

“What isn’t worth it?” Peggy asked.

“It’s so hard.”

“Anything worth having is hard. Are you telling me that a marriage is not worth having?”

“No. I’m saying I am in a position that I don’t have any choices. Faith and Josh have cornered me and forced this to happen. I don’t know why we couldn’t go on as we were.”

“Can you honestly say that from Faith’s perspective?”

“Yes. She just blasts her way through life and gets what she wants, when she wants it. And now she wants Josh.”

“Is she running toward Josh or away from you?”

“Toward Josh.” He made his chair squeak and clatter. “This is so hard.”

“But look what you have accomplished. College, medical school, residency, fellowship, and now practice. Hard is not a stranger to you.”

“I didn’t know life was going to be like this.”

“Excuse me? Did anyone ever say life was going to be easy?”

“I don’t suppose they did.”

“It won’t be. If you do your whole job and do it well, it will consume you. It will take time, discipline, money, and effort. Then if you groom a marriage and raise a family, it will consume another you. It will take more time, more money, and more effort. There will be turbulence where career meets family. But when you get to my age, you will be rich, just not in dollars.”

“But how does this license someone to steal my wife?”

“It doesn’t, and I didn’t, and I suspect neither did anyone else. It would be ignorant to think Faith Pernitelli could be swayed into making a life-changing decision she doesn’t want. That woman knows what she wants, gets what she wants, and is willing to spare no effort to accomplish what she wants. If it’s not too late, you might want to get yourself together and make things happen instead of letting things happen to you.”

“You know, you are a crazy, annoying old woman,” Brian said standing. “I don’t know why you are inflicted on us.”

“That’s for you to work out in your head. I would suggest you get on it and get it done. Remember, you came in this room under your own power. I didn’t drag you here.”

“Do you honestly think I am along for the ride? I’m not. I am in total control of life.” Brian sat back down.

Peggy returned her brain to the upright position from Brian’s one-eighty, took a pull on a Diet Mountain Dew, and said, “By what actions would I know that was true.”

Brian’s inflection subdued, “I make rounds every morning on time, I see all the patients in the clinic that they assign me, and I am available to anyone who wants to call me for something.”

“Those are just the basics,” Peggy said. “Where’s the extra, the bonus, the prize?”

“You are an annoying old woman.”

“My wife agrees.”

Brian got up and left, closing the door so gently the window didn’t rattle.

The tram door opened, and Josh and Faith picked a seat facing the dust bowl, a geologic basin that contained Albuquerque and several surrounding communities. It was early morning, the air was crisp and dry, and the visibility unlimited. Josh had seen an offer on TV for tickets and had made the call to get them.

“I have heard about this ride, and I have always wanted to do it,” Faith said, nestling against Josh to allow for more people to be seated. “This is a perfect day.”

It only took minutes to load the tram, close the door, announce the safety instructions, and they were off. The wheels emitted a soft hum and the desert floor fell away. The mountains to the north became much taller than they had looked at the station, and the mountains to the south came into view over the horizon. Sharp faces of granite formed long shadows in the morning sun, the station at the bottom of the tram disappearing as they floated over the first ridge. For a short time, the summit of Sandia Peak disappeared. Some wild goats were visible in one of the crevices to the south.

“This is really beautiful,” Faith said, craning to see all vistas along the way.

“It sure is,” Josh said. “Look, there’s even some snow.”

Emerging from the tram, the cold air was shocking. Josh zipped up his coat and pulled on a stocking cap. “Boy, it’s cold up here.”

“Yes,” Faith said, buttoning her coat and pulling up her hood. Following the decking to the south, Faith was fixed on the mountains to the south. “I wonder how far you can see. Hundreds of miles, I bet.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “It’s amazingly clear.”

Together, hand in hand, they walked to the south end of the deck. From there, they identified some landmarks in Albuquerque, looked at a map poster showing Rio Rancho just beyond Albuquerque, the Jefferson Mountains in the distance to the south, and out over the Navajo Nation to the west. “We are five thousand feet above Albuquerque, it’s no wonder is it so cold here,” Josh said.