"James. James? Nice to meet you. I'm Karen. I'm a nurse in our family clinic at the VA." said the petite brunette woman, softly.
"A nurse? Why am I talking to you?" he questioned, impatiently.
"Because I want to make sure you're as comfortable as possible." she replied, gently shaking James hand.
"Well, I fell out of my wheelchair on that curb. All the dust and stones are sticking to me, and it hurts!" he complained, irritably.
"No doubt, it's been a long day. I'm sorry I have to keep sending you back. I'm afraid we don't have any wheelchairs on hand. I'll see what I can do to help." she answered, professionally.
"It's alright. I guess I can understand." he sighed, content to let her try something.
"Somebody is asking for you; it's your wife." she stated, cheerfully.
"She's here? What is she doing here? It's March!" he scoffed, wondering what she had in mind.
"She found out about your appointment and wanted to find a way to show her love." she admitted, quietly.
"Show her love? We are separated, Karen!" he reminded, in exasperation.
"Well, she doesn't know that, and she means well. I know you two have had a long journey, so whatever you can do to help, you should." she explained, sympathetically, as she handed James a matchbook.
"Oh, okay." he mumbled, gamely opening it. "This is a fishing tournament marker, right?" he questioned.
"Yes, that's what they gave to all the fishing veterans." she explained, simply.
James flipped through the matchbook. "Okay, so it's from the U.S. Army, 1956, '57-'58 timeframe. Thanks for the reminder, Karen. Yeah, I remembered years ago that I went fishing with my commanding officer and his family. They went on a baby-sitting trip to Maine." he explained, proudly.
"That's awesome, James. That was such a great choice for you and your family then. We're so happy they weren't caught." the petite woman replied, warmly, smiling at her patient.
As the pair continued their conversation, he felt grateful that his wife was working so hard to help him. She wasn't even really trying to play the perfect wife, she was trying to do what she thought was right. Her love drove her to contribute to the happiness of this family, defending him from the outside world. It was an opportunity she couldn't pass up, and she didn't care if something went wrong.
Although James was desperate to see his wife, he knew that he mustn't drive like he used to. He was too old to be taking chances on the road. He had to make a choice: look for some legal transportation, or look for an opportunity to get the wheelchair that he deserved. He had insisted that the technician forgot his wheelchair this time, but he knew it was his own fault. His physical and mental challenges had been causing him to fall often. In fact, he had fallen twice on this date alone that were not yet recorded by the system. He had to admit that his wife was right about that. He was too worn out to be driving a car, and the cushion of his wheelchair made him feel protected.
After the medical team cleaned and dressed his wounds, they loaded him onto the cruiser. As the cruiser pulled away, he saw his wife out of the corner of his eye. She waved at him, smiling brightly. He waved back at her, but the cruiser soon pulled out of his sight. A new thought crossed his mind. She could have easily gone to the bank. His name was on the account, but he had never received the funds due him according to their divorce agreement. He guessed that the $200,000 would be in transit soon, so he was glad that she had gone to the office.
James was more thrilled to observe the events that he had seen. He remembered cheating the banks and the government, but why did they suppress his finances? Why did they make his wife suffer? They were going to be 4k richer soon, and now he had a grip on that reality. These banks have been cheating me for years, and I'm not having it anymore! There are so many things I could do with that money. He chuckled to himself, thinking about how his cheating had set up the bank for a big success. They'll be wishing that they had paid me.
The cruiser arrived at the VA parking lot. James picked up his phone and called his wife.
"Hello, dear. Are you in the car?" she excitedly blurted into the phone.
"Yeah, I'm in the car." he replied, cautiously.
"Don't forget to go to the V.A. bank before you come home, okay? I miss you already." she added, yawning, sleepily.
"Okay, I'll do that." he grunted, hung up, and looked out the window.
The VA parking lot was packed with cars, and the front lobby was crawling with people. A lady started screaming next to him, and their gurney was pushed into a parking space.
"Okay, we're here." announced the driver.
James was handed the keys. He stood, but he felt unsteady and fell back down. The medical team rushed in to help, but they made him feel silly for fumbling about.
"Sorry, it's my problem. I'm a little drunk, guys." he awkwardly confessed, warmly shaking their hands.
"Don't worry about it." they replied, grinning at James.
"Okay, well, see ya next time." he said, smiling at James.
James grunted and waved back at them, as they left.
The parking lot was now empty and silent, except for the sound of approaching cars on the highway. He heard the front-door bells ring and looked over. He saw his wife standing there, smiling at him.
"Aren't you tired of waiting? You waited for me to break up with you, and now it's over. Come on, honey. Give me a hug." she chided.
James gave his wife a lukewarm hug. "Aren't you getting tired of waiting?" he asked, sourly.
"Oh, don't worry about that." she assured, reassuringly. "I'll just be over there if you fall down." she finished, teasingly.
"Thanks. That's why I'm here. I'm here again," he reminded, wryly.
"I know, honey. I'm sorry that you had to wait so long." she softly whispered, smiling sadly, as she hugged him.
James felt embarrassed, thinking that he had been having too many falls for one night. "I'm sorry. I guess I let you down." he moaned.
"Oh, believe me. You didn't let me down. You always do that. I trust you, so you don't have to worry," she explained, wistfully, as if she were relieved that he was okay.
"I can't believe that I let you down, Karen. I love you. You deserve better." he moaned.
"I am better, honey. I don't need you to prove yourself. Don't feel bad. Our life is good." she insisted, firmly, trying to make him feel better about his condition.
"But it's not great! We're losing money, and we are not safe. I can't keep you safe like this. I'm so sorry that you have supported me all this time. It's my turn to support you now. We have to be happy and safe." he exclaimed, trying to get his point across.
"You have to calm down, honey. I see you have stress. Let's get home, and you can relax," she said, soothingly, as she hugged him.
Hugging her back, he felt better, as he realized that he only thought about how she had waited for him. He had never thought about what she wanted. So, he hugged her firmly, patting her on the back.
"I have a gift for you." he grinned, proudly. "We're going to be rich soon." he said, wryly.
"Honey, I don't need that. We're rich already." she said, warmly.
"No, really. We're going to be 4k richer soon!" he exclaimed, passionately.
"That's not much for 4k! You can afford to spend a little extra." she observed.
James cringed and snorted at her, feeling that it was not $4000 that she needed. "I can buy you all the jewelry you want, honey. That's my burner card. I cash the receipts, and I burn. I have about 300k by now. That's not enough for what we want. We will be rich." he stated, with exaggerated confidence.
Karen wanted to say, "You're delusional, James," but she didn't want to hurt him. Still, she showed by her expression that she didn't believe him. Eventually, she spoke, "Honey, you have always bought the best things for me. Why do you need to get anything new?" she asked.
James' face turned red, thinking how he had just had his thoughts of the money he had been skimming revealed to his wife. He was embarrassed. "I'm just going to get you something. I'll buy that later." he blabbered.
"Oh, okay. Honey, how much is this?" she pointed at the jewelry store's door.
"It's just a little, but it will be a lot." he grinned, fumbling about the money in his hands.
"Alright, honey. Go over there now and, if it's too much, I will get it later." she insisted, firmly.
"Okay, honey." he agreed, smiling, as they waved goodbye.
The store was crowded, and the lines were long. Holding the bills in his hand, he hurriedly marched inside, hoping that she didn't want it now. As he was about to pass the jewelry counter, he saw what he wanted and went up to the cashier.
"What would you like that can be put on a necklace?" the cashier asked.
"The tanzanites." he replied, an interested tone in his voice.
"Alright, let's take a look in the case and get you something." she said, enthusiastically.
James leaned over and saw several necklaces. He looked over the necklace she was holding to the light briefly. He saw the prices and sighed. "That one looks good." he observed, pointing at a simple one.
The cashier inspected it and inspected his wrist. "If you'll just take off your watch, I'll see if it fits." she said, confidently.
James took off the watch and gave it to her.
The shiny blue silver brushed band had the gold piece of metal for the watch face with that had the two diamonds embedded into it on the watch's face.
"Is that a Rolex?" he asked.
"Yes. It's a 10k Rolex." she replied, proudly, as she gave it back to him.
"10k Rolex?" he gasped, pretending to be proud.
"Yes, ma'am." she grinned. "Give me your card, and I'll hold your watch for you."
James couldn't believe that the watch was 10k. It didn't look that way. It was supposed to be a fake. He felt like a show-off when he took out the bank card and gave it to her. It was a $500 card. He didn't have one of his own. It was Karen's. He used it to make purchases. He had always felt ashamed giving it to strangers but then he had it, as a gift.
He smiled, looking at his watch as she scanned it. She smiled at him condescendingly, as if he had done the right thing to give her the nicely crafted watch. He felt even worse about it and felt that he should not be so cocky about his money. He had worked very hard for it, and he did not feel proud about it.
The cashier got his money, gave him his receipt, and a bag which had the watch in it as well as the nice wooden box with the necklace in it.
James inspected them. Still, he felt that it was too expensive, but he didn't know if Karen would like it. Always daring to win her over, he grinned and ran outside to her.
As he handed her the bag, she looked shocked. She smiled, looked inside, and said, "Oh my God, honey. It's so nice!" she exclaimed.
Hearing the excitement in her voice, James heaved a sigh of relief and grinned at her.
