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

“We could go for a walk. I wonder if I will ever run again.”

“I think you will. You’ve had the drive and will to overcome other obstacles, so this one won’t be any different.”

“I hope not. I hope my voice comes back.”

“I do too,” he said. “But if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m just thankful I still have you both.”

She hung on to him as they made their way around the apartment and finally to the bathroom. She chuckled, “I’m glad there are handicapped bars in the shower. I don’t know what I would do without them.”

“I could get you a cane, a walker, and a shower chair.”

She punched his arm, “I’m not that bad!”

“No, you’re not.”

“Cori just moved.”

He left her in the bathroom until she called for him. “OK, Grandma Faith, I’ll help you.”

“Smarty,” she said. “It won’t be long. I almost got up by myself just now. In a couple of days, I won’t need you.”

He helped her back to the couch, and sat beside her with his arm over her shoulder. She nuzzled her arm behind his back. “It’s nice to be home,” she said. “I forgot to take my morning blood thinner, can you get it for me? I don’t need any more blood clots.”

“You’re no fun!” He was back in a flash with the tablet and a glass of water.

“Thanks,” she said.

“We sure don’t need that to happen again,” he said. “When you coded, I melted. That was the most horrific experience of my life. If it hadn’t been for Ricky that day, I would have disintegrated, evaporated, or ignited. It took so long for them to get you stabilized, like two hours! I thought the clot removal idea was a clever one, and it worked, but at the time I thought it was a ridiculous, last-ditch effort. We owe Peggy for the idea, the insistence, and the wisdom. Wow. I was sure I had lost you two, and, honestly, I think Ann and Haley thought so too.”

“I don’t remember anything,” she said. “I don’t remember anything from when I told you I was getting worse and Peggy came to intubate me until that morning in this room when we Facetimed my family. There is something I learned, and that is that chest compressions are not good for ribs.” She pointed a finger at him, “Don’t make me laugh.”

“When you’re a little better, we can go spend a few days in Lubbock,” he said. “I’ve never been there, and we can’t go back to work until you’re better.”

“That reminds me, what was Natalie all giggly wiggly about last night?”

Josh got up, scooted to the roll-top desk and returned with a white velvet box. He got down on his knees in front of her, opened the box and said, “Faith Renee Pernitelli, will you marry me?”

She burst into tears, and in a squeaky voice said, “Yes, Josh, yes.” She grabbed a tissue, looked at the box, and said, “You have to ask my dad.”

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Josh retrieved the video Natalie had recorded. She watched as he asked her dad, as Natalie squealed, as Marianne agreed, and as they had to prompt Jim to answer. “When did you do this?” she asked.

After you coded, got back to the ICU, were extubated, and we were waiting for you to wake up.

“That is so cool,” she said.

He took the ring from the box and put it on her finger. “It’s really pretty. I love it.” She tilted her head from side to side examining it. “How did you know what size?”

“Natalie.”

“Of course.”

He kissed her. “I want you in my life forever. I want Cori in my life forever. I’m so happy.”

“I’m happy, too.”

She grabbed him by the neck and pulled him hard. He felt the tremor which had been present ever since she got sick. He wondered if that would go away. At least he had her, and her brain was working. The rest didn’t matter.

Faith couldn’t wait to Facetime Natalie, but she didn’t answer. “This is Tuesday and it’s ten in the morning. I bet she’s in school.”

“Probably,” Josh said. “We can call again tonight when they’re all home.”

“Are you glad Brian died?” she asked.

“What?” he gasped. “That’s quite a question. What do you mean?”

“I guess I mean, are you glad he doesn’t live here?”

“Yes.”

“Has anything changed for you?”

“No,” he said. “Well, maybe. He’s less of a threat. You used to talk about Brian this and Brian that and sometimes it irritated me. I was sensitive. Maybe because I tried so hard to love you and to get you to love me. Now, I don’t feel that way. You are going to be my wife, and you are not his wife anymore. Do you want to talk about him?”

“No, not really.” She twisted the ring on her finger, raised her hand to show it to him and then put it back down. “Yes. I was really shocked when he died. Almost as if he’d been killed in a car crash. I swear I didn’t see any opiates.”

“Can I say something without being offensive?”

“Sure, what?”

“This came from Natalie. You sometimes don’t get the main idea. Your dad said that too, once. I’m thinking it could have been going on and you might not have caught on. It is amazing that you can be so observant and perceptive at work, but in your private life you seem clueless. Sometimes. I’m just saying.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Natalie has told me that a lot of times, and the last time had to do with a yellow rose. I was clueless.”

“The yellow rose. I couldn’t believe you.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m going to watch you like a hawk. I am not going to miss opiates or anything else that could take you away from me.”

“You’re sweet. I love you and I always will.”

“I love you too.”

“I love you too, Cori.”

The noisy little storm had passed, bringing a few gusts of wind, spectacular lightning, and only a sprinkle of rain, all typical for early summer in West Texas. The air was clean, the breeze cool, and flowers in the back of the Pernitelli home ablaze with color. The setting was perfect for the backyard picnic.

On the grill, Jim roasted chicken, tended potatoes wrapped in foil, and seared zucchini planks. Josh stood next to him, watching the master turn the sizzling meat, the sparkling potatoes, and the soft vegetable, aromas awakening noses and raising expectations.

“Thanks for bringing Faith out here,” Jim said. “We have been dying to see her.”

“I’m sure it was awful,” Josh said. “You couldn’t visit her, even when she was so sick. I’m just thankful for the electronic magic we have.”

“Her ring is beautiful. Where did you get it?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Josh said. “I don’t need it widely known.”

“I can keep a secret.”

“Sam’s.”

Jim coughed and said, “I never would have guessed.”

“Yes. I had been to all kinds of places, Jared, a shop in Old Town, a shop near the airport, Shane Company, Zale’s. They were all ugly and all the same. They just didn’t pop. Then I went to Sam’s for other things and walked past the jewelry display and that one just about jumped out of the case and into my pocket. I just liked it.”

“She didn’t help you pick it out?”

“No. I got it while she was still in the hospital.”

“Didn’t you have to quarantine?”

“I tested negative while she was still in ICU. I was just thankful that Emily didn’t insist I come back to work.”

“Natalie was impressed by the ring,” Jim said.

“I showed it to her in Sam’s that day, and she approved. I proposed and put it on her finger about noon the day I got her home from the hospital. Then we called that night and you all got to see it.”

“It wasn’t as impressive on Facetime as it is in person. You did a good job.”