Chapter 7

A little disappointed but not very surprised about his proposal being rejected by Eleanor Ford, the woman who had caught his eyes on the sea shores of Prospect Beach, less than a week ago. And in the moments of his heartbreak, Nelson Zuckerberg reached his hand to the back of her head, pulled her head towards him and then began kissing her lovingly.

Because he strangely thought, he wanted her to always remember the touch of his lips next to hers.

It was a deep sensual and seductive kiss, and she certainly knew she would never get this moment of him kissing her from out of her mind. But feeling a little curious about the ring, Eleanor wanted to see what Nelson Zuckerberg intended on placing on her finger as an engagement ring. Therefore, she took the cute shiny little box from off the blanket, opened it up, and the sight of the ring almost surprise her half to death.

At first, the ring seems to be so beautiful... very shinny and pretty! Yellow gold with a small diamond stone incase on the top of it! But, after she further carefully examined the piece of jewelry, Eleanor came to realize that gold flakes were being smeared all over her fingers like butter against the sun! Soon, she came to recognized that the ring Nelson Zuckerberg was giving to her as an engagement ring, was fake... was made of nothing but pure copper or some very cheap metal, and the ring was nothing but a piece of costume jewelry that came from some wholesale shop or some convenient store.

Eleanor wanted to throw the box in his face and ran away and leave him right there laying on the grass, but she had Marx with her and very few transportation travelled or worked in that vicinity and she needed him to bring her back home. So, Eleanor kept calm and gave him the benefit of the doubt and turning to him she said.

"Nelson, it looks like your jeweler had ripped you off... he must have given you the wrong ring!"

Scrutinizing the piece of jewelry; rolling the piece of trash around and around in his hands repeatedly, Nelson exclaimed.

"Baby, you know what, I think you are so right!"

He then began expressing to her that he has the receipt for the ring at his art studio, therefore, he could always bring it back to the jewelry shop where he had bought it and have the money he paid for it refunded to him, or get the real deal – an authentic piece of jewelry he had paid for.

Not wanting to make any accusations and ruffle any feathers, Eleanor just lay there on the blanket, encouraging him to do just that as soon as possible or before its warranty runs out. From that moment onward, Eleanor squirmed whenever Nelson try kissing her, and she became even more anxious and determined to fight for the man she has been setting her eyes and her heart on, for the longest while named, Walt Whitman.

After spending over three hours at Lake District National Park, Eleanor and Marx were ready to return home to their peaceful and quiet neighborhood of Hillcrest Drive. And without any hesitancy, Nelson packed away all his picnic gears and utensils and ushered, Eleanor and Marx inside his vehicle. And couple minutes later, they were back on their way back home.

Sitting in the passenger seat beside the man who had just proposed to her with a fake ring, and claimed that he was madly in love with her, Eleanor wondered if Nelson had really gotten duked by the jewelry shop.

Or, had he purposefully gotten her some cheap costumed jewelry so as to get her reaction when he had proposed to her, but, because she had declined his proposal, his gimmick or his prank didn't work as he had planned; so now he was telling her that he had the actually receipt for the ring at his shop!

But, she would never know if he was being truthful unless she accompanied him to the jewelry store to obtain the refund or get the piece of jewelry exchanged for the real thing. So Eleanor asked Nelson when he thought he would be bringing back the ring to the jewelry shop; because she wanted to accompanied him there and see what other pieces of jewelry they had selling.

Without any reservation, Nelson asked.

"Would you like for us go there now?"

It was already late and she wanted to rest, so she suggested that he should stop by the house the following day around noon, and then they could both go and pay the jewelry store a friendly visit.

Satisfied with the postponement of that agreement, after that, the rest of the ride to Eleanor's home was mostly silence, until, Nelson pulled up his vehicle in front of Walt Whitman's property and shouted.

"Babes, you and Marx are home now, safe and sound!"

Hurrying to Eleanor's side of the vehicle, Nelson opened the car door and assisted her out of the car, then he did the same thing for Marx, who was partially asleep when they arrived in front of his house. Urging Nelson to act promptly, pick him up and carrying him all the way to the front door. And as soon as Eleanor opened the front door to the house, he stepped right through the door and placed Marx on the sofa packed with a variety of pillows. Tired and exhausted from the journey and his playful activities at the park, Marx continued sleeping long after Nelson had put him down to rest and walk back through the door.

Before heading back to his car, Nelson pulled Eleanor towards him and gave her a very warm and loving embrace.

The kind of embrace that she needed from a man and which had also caused her to feel loved and beautiful.

Without saying another word, he just held her, wrapping his long arms around her for a good fifteen minutes and began caressing her back while making small sprout of kisses on her forehead before letting her go.

And when he had finally released his arms from around her lean frame, Nelson told her that he sincerely loved her, he wanted them to go out on another outing like the one they had just had; because he really had a wonderful time at the park with her and Marx, today.

Not forgetting about the ring, he went on to express to her that he was going straight to his shop to obtain the receipt for the ring and then immediately to the jewelry shop to have the ring exchanged or have his money refunded to him.

Leaving Eleanor with those comforting words, he kissed her on the lips, ruffled her hair with his hand, before making his way down the walkway and then into his vehicle. And as he blew his car horn while driving away, Eleanor who was still standing at the doorway, waved a cheerful good-bye to him before closing the front door in frustration.

Walt Whitman's bedroom was her oasis.

That's where she found the most peaceful moments... that's where she could relax, sort through her troubles and clear her head.

So, Eleanor got the bathtub running with water, turned on the surround system sprinkling words of sweet soft melody in the air. Minutes later, she got herself completely undressed and began stepping inside the tub of water where she remained relaxing for hours while fantasying and envisioning her future days spent with Walt Whitman in his spacious mansion.

Days after Annie-fay's spontaneous exit from his hospital room, Walt Whitman stayed determined in calling her phone number, but she never responded to none of his calls. And the only physical reminder of her presences in his life were now the beaded bracelet from South Africa which she had given him and the reading of her column in the Sunday papers when he went to visit the playroom in the hospital in the afternoons.

Obviously, he knew her telephone number but she still wasn't responding to any of his calls so that became completely ineffective – worthless to him, in some form of way. Because if he became desperate in finding her, and decided to use a private investigator to track her down, then her phone number could become very relevant; but if not, what's the use?

Since she supposedly had been working at the hospital, the Private Investigator could get the relevant information needed from the hospital, if she had been transferred to another hospital or was still working there.

He had to find her!

He had to make it up to her!

He had to seek her forgiveness and win her hart back!

And now Walt Whitman was thinking about calling his lawyer from his hospital room and have him put a private investigator on the case so as to find his woman.

Her absences, her not calling him back, her not suddenly dropping by his hospital room to see how he was doing, was killing him, and his skin was now agitatedly hitching, for him to get out of the medical facility and go find her himself.

One week had passed and there were no word from Annie-fay; and so came and went the second and the third week, and yet still, there were no signs or sight of her anywhere around her workplace, either.

"This is crazy... this has gone too far... I must hurry up and get out of here; and go find her!"

Walt Whitman deliberated to himself.

"Only one more week and then I'll be out of here!"

Walt Whitman went on saying to himself.

Even though, he had only one more week left in the hospital before being discharged, Walt Whitman became very impatient; his skin was hitching like a dog with fleas. And so, he anxiously pick up the phone from his hospital room and dial the phone number to his attorney's office and related to him in details of what he wanted to have done concerning his fiancée Annie-fay Kafka.

"Do you really want me to go out and obtain a P.I. to look for that woman who might be in her village in Africa by now?"

Attorney Greenspan asked with concern in his voice.

"Was I speaking Mandarin or Papiamento?"

Walt Whitman lashed out, in his reply.

"Please, just have him find her, and get her comfortably, so he can arrange a meeting between me and her. That's all I need and that's all I'm asking; for now!"

Walt Whitman demandingly ordered.

Now, he was stretched out on his back with both hands above his head, wondering about the moment when he would hear the long awaited news that she has been found and agree on speaking with him. And also how he would be able to lay eyes on her again, telling her how much he loved her and misses her. While she in return would do the same, embracing him, kissing him.

Whilst his imagination and his fantasies took him away to what might be possible, the wounded man dose off into a deep sleep as his heart ached to find the woman that he has been madly in love with, secretly, for the past six months.

And even though, Eleanor Ford has been at the hospital numerous times during the past three weeks, visiting her neighbor, the man whom her mind has been totally consumed with. Hoping that he would drop every single female he was contemplating on having a fling with or a shake in the sack, and pop the big question to her. But, during her many visits and bringing him his favorite snacks, cologne, and clothing that she thought he should be wearing while in the hospital that were appealing to her eyes, it was quite clear as day, that Walt Whitman was giving her the cold shoulders.

Her every visit and her constant actions of playing his wife, Walt would ignore her, and began talking about how he misses Annie-fay, and how he definitely couldn't wait to see her beautiful face again. Sometimes, even interrupting Eleanor's romantic thoughts of him and began asking her about her date with Nelson Zuckerberg and how was their relationship going. Which she usually in return tried to avoid his questionings and combat her answers with his inquiries by telling him they weren't actually serious about each other and that they were only just good friends at the moment.

And in her statement of constantly rejecting and denying her relationship with Nelson Zuckerberg, Walt Whitman with a sense of humor, often interjected and amusingly stated to her; "That's the perfect way to let those kinds of connection start; as good friends! Being good friends before marriage, a woman can never go wrong!" as he focus on looking at the newspaper or a magazine in his hands. Often times, pretending to be reading it, even though nothing of interest inside the newspaper or magazine were of any importance to him.

Most times, triggering in Eleanor's mind great disappointment and heartache, knowing fairly well that he was purposely disregarding her presences in the room and overlooking the fact that she had romantic feelings for him.

Anyhow, she continued and would continue to play with Nelson Zuckerberg's heart; keeping him on the sidelines while she kept on dabbling with his emotion; hoping that Walt Whitman would soon come to his senses and come through for her in flying colors.

But, she had no clue that Walt Whitman was trying to move heaven and earth so as to find his African Princess, Annie-fay who was a beacon of light to his mind and an ocean of joy to his heart.

Out of all the women whom he had pursued and who had tried to pursue him for one thing or the other, Annie-fay was the one who had kept him encouraged the most without trying to bed him or to wed him after sharing a few words with them or taking them out for dinner. And that included Eleanor Ford who was living across the street from him, who was always trying to take off her panties and force them down his throat while stretching forth her finger for him to put a ring on it.

He had rejected her so many times that he could have built another house if he was getting a dollar every time he told her nicely to back-off and let him be. But, she was fierce and determined, and as the years went by, she became even more aggressive in pursuing him and having him for herself whether he wedded her or not.

However, she was his neighbor and he wanted to maintain a good relationship with her, especially since he had a son, without the presence of a mother in his life who often times looked-up to her for motherly guidance and security. And this was one of the reasons why he really wanted to bring Annie-fay into the picture, away from him falling in love with her and wanting to make their relationship legal.

"Because who else could take good care of his son than an African Princess; just like his mother use to be?"

Walt Whitman thought.

Furthermore, he thought Annie-fay would be able to bear him children who would look similar to his son Marx, allowing them to blend in as one big happy family.

Only seven more days were left before Walt Whitman would be out of the hospital and returning home to Hillcrest Drive to continue on with his life as usual. And on his fourth day before leaving the hospital, he received a call from his private investigator with very welcoming news about his love interest Annie-fay Kafka.

She was indeed still working at the hospital, but, she had received dreadful news of her father's reoccurring ailment and had returned to South Africa to see about him like he had instructed for her to do; by way of their village chiefs...

"My daughter, please come now, before I close my eyes!"

It was a crucial warning Annie-fay had taken seriously and heeded urgently to the call.

But soon, she would be returning from her country and returning back to work in the States and also some place in the Caribbean.

Walt Whitman was now overjoyed to hear this spectacular news and he thought about making arrangement for her to come by his house and see him as soon as she had returned home. He wanted to have a party for her, a small gathering of friends and family, even though, most of them were at far distances. But most importantly, he wanted it to be official that she was going to be his right-handed woman – his spouse, his significant other from here on out. He was just tired of waiting and ready to put the ring on her finger.

But, would she accept his ring?

However, Walt Whitman instructed his private investigator to keep on pursuing the case. And inform him immediately after he learnt that she had arrived in the States, so he could make contact with her and probably arranged to visit her by her apartment before she had returned to work.

On the sixth day before Walt Whitman was scheduled to be discharge from the hospital, he just couldn't sleep. Causing him to spend actually the entire night awake thinking and rethinking about his life, as though, it was a play-write manuscript. He kept on rehearsing what he was going to say to Annie-fay whenever he had seen her again, and kept on rehashing in his head all the things that he wanted to do to make her life be happy. And that included selling his brand new house which he owned on Hillcrest Drive.

He began thinking of being thankful that he had made a decision to retain a private investigator to locate Annie-fay's whereabouts for him. And now that he was positively aware that she was still living and working at the same place, made him broke out with happiness on his face and a surmountable amount of joy was flooding through his heart.

Especially, now that he only had few more hours to wait before the hospital signed him free and clear to go home and sleep into his own bed and drive around in his own car, Walt Whitman was elated and overly excited for Saturday morning to come. He was now not only elated for finding Annie-fay, but he was also very contented to learn from the medical professions that his gun-shot wounds were properly healed and he was now having a second chance on life.

Just after ten o'clock in the morning, Eleanor arrived at the hospital building to escort Mr. Whitman to his house, and she made three different trips to his car reloading his belongings inside his car. And after done doing so, she returned to the fourth floor of the hospital building where she and Marx waited for the doctors to sign his release form for home, and expressed to him any suggestion they might have had for him before allowing him to leave the building.

There in the large elevator of the hospital, Walt Whitman sincerely thanked Eleanor once again for being there for him and for taking such good care of his son while he was unable to.

Shortly, they were out of the elevator and making their way to his car, which he had every intention of driving the vehicle back home himself with his son in between the two front seats like they always do.

Taking the keys from Eleanor's hands, Walt Whitman positioned himself around the steering wheel and pulled out of the parking lot before driving down the narrow service road and then making his way onto the high-way. It was in this moment that he thought to himself how his life could have turned out if the bullet had taken his life... the chances of doing what he was now doing would be absolutely nil, and the thought of it made him reach for his son hands and held while driving.

He now wanted to make it right with Eleanor!

He honestly wanted to be upfront with her and let her realized and understand that they weren't going to be a commitment or sexual relationship between the both of them. Because he would cheating her, and also cheating himself if he made that decision to be with her in a manner in which he didn't want to or felt was right for him at the time.

Therefore, he was ready to cut whatever cords she obsessively thought were holding them together.

And he also wanted to make it right, with Annie-fay, as soon as she had returned home from South Africa.

But what Walt hadn't known for sure, was she still mad with him? Or, had she forgiven him for introducing her to Eleanor knowing very well that Eleanor had been making a past on him for the longest time and was expecting him to put a ring on her finger?

Unable to ask her these questions face to face, Walt Whitman would only anticipate and hope that all his foolish mistakes were forgiven by her and they could start all over again.

And before making that sudden deep turn where he would enter onto Hillcrest Drive, Walt Whitman made a detour, finding his way at the Garden & Loan Savings Bank. There, he made a withdrawal of a tidy-sum – a small fortune which he paid to Eleanor; giving her twice as much as she had asked him for before. And in addition to that; he paid her whatever he had owed to her from the very first time he had fallen from the ladder, hit his head; causing him to be admitted in the mental ward for a period of one week.

Handing Eleanor the envelop loaded with cash, Walt Whitman had her signed a receiving from stating that she had collect this vast amount of money from him, and now that such was accomplished, he felt confident that he could now completely cut ties with her and move on with his new life.

Hopefully, with Annie-fay Kafka, the woman of his dreams.

Elated that he was going to turn a new page and settle down with someone he loved dearly, Walt drove the rest of the way home in silence, dropped Eleanor off in front of his gate and then pulled his car inside his garage.

Seconds later, he was lifting Marx and bringing him through the side door of garage and towards the living room where he rested him on the sofa.

In this moment, Walt wanted to speak with his son about having a new mom in the house– having Annie-fay as part of the family and the both of them sharing this household with her or then possible moving somewhere else. He thought he had a right to know, there were going to be some changes around the house, and especially, when Annie-fay had come to live with them.

But in his state of ignorance, and not understanding clearly all the details of attraction in a relationship, Marx with a pouting face asked.

"Why can't Ms. Eleanor be my Mom and why can't she move inside the house and live with us, and not the lady from South Africa?"

Staring down at his son, trying to determine the correct answer to give him, Walt Whitman thought he had the right answer. And he then ask Marx about the guy Eleanor and him went to the park with a few weeks back. He then went on to explain to his son that Ms. Eleanor would be marrying that man very soon, and after she had done so, they would be moving in together and having their own children which she was going to be a mother to. Therefore, she couldn't be a mother to him, however, since he was going to marry Annie-fay and have more babies with her, Annie-fay was going to be his mother, instead.

Hearing the explanation given to him by his father, Marx didn't understand it quite well, but allowed his father's clarification of the matter to suffice him. Sulkily, he then left the presences of his father and then entered his bedroom where he began sobbing bitterly.

It wasn't the reality that he was hoping for, but it was a reality that he might soon have to accept whether he wanted to or not. It would have been quite marvelous for him if his father was madly in love with Eleanor and felt the same way about her like he did Annie-fay. But the truth of the matter is, that wasn't the case.

There was nothing in Ms. Eleanor that made his blood boiled hot or his heart pounded fast, or made him want stop whatever he was attending to and want to spend his precious time with her.

She was nice to be his neighbor and also be a casual friend to him and his son, but he saw noting in her that would light a fire in his soul and keep it burning. Or, had his heart skipping a beat when he looked at her, and not the opposite. He wanted someone in his life who would always allow him to remain erect in his mind and also in the bedroom, and not dismantled and deflated.

Even though, his son was very unhappy about Ms. Eleanor not being his step-mother, Walt Whitman was determined and head-strong about going to win Annie-fay's heart back, making things right with her and him once again, and if possible, forever.

While Marx stayed inside his room sulking and frowning, and his father went to the kitchen to start fixing a meal, someone came knocking at the front door. Urging Marx to leap from his bed and ran to the door and open it because he presumed it was Ms. Eleanor who had come over to visit like she often did.

And he was right, it was her, and she wanted to speak with his father right away since she had perceived that he was definitely avoiding her presence. She wanted to apologize to him for anything she might had done to offend him, especially, anything concerning her fight with Annie-fay whom he seemed to adore. She also wanted to apologize to him for allowing herself to absorb intimate thoughts of him; causing her to believe that something magical and mystical would ever become of their friendship or whatever else she was infatuating about them being together as a couple.

Marx hearing the apologies blurted out.

"Now that Ms. Eleanor has apologized, you are going to marry her and she is going to be my Mama, right Papa?"

Looking down at him, his father smiled, but it was Ms. Eleanor who had turned to him and responded to his question.

"No Marx, my apologies to your father means no such thing! It simply means that we are neighbors and we don't want to have any animosity or hostility between us!"

Marx showing confusion written all over his face, smartly asked.

"What is an animosity and what is hostility?"

"It simply means; we don't want to hate each other, or have any bitter fights with each other, or have any dislike towards each other because we are neighbors and neighbors are not supposed to be in a fight with each other!"

Ms. Eleanor explained.

Hearing that explanation, Marx was satisfied, but went back to his room feeling sad, because, he still did not get the answer he was hoping to hear; concerning his father wedding Ms. Eleanor and officially making her, his new Mama.

With her apologies clearly voice and out of the way, Walt Whitman looked Eleanor dead straight in the eyes and told her that he thanked her for apologizing and he hoped they could remained as friendly neighbors once she was through obsessing over him and stop interfering in his personal and private life.

He had stopped carrying any acrimonious feelings in his heart for her before her apologies, especially, after learning that she wasn't the one truly responsible for driving Annie-fay away from him. But her sudden disappearance and the lack of response to his numerous calls to her were only because her father had summoned her to quickly come back to South Africa and see him before he closes his eyes and be no more in the flesh.

Excited, Walt Whitman went to his refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of wine to celebrate their reconciliation, but Eleanor flatly rejected having any form of celebration party with him. Because she realized, spending moments like this with him, drinking and celebrating for one reason or another, were the same moments which had drawn her closer to him; causing her to remain attached and keep falling in love with him.

So nicely, she bowed out from the celebration and told him, she was returning home to catch up on some calls, do some cleaning and then read a book; since she had been ignoring her own house and actually living in his for the past six to seven weeks while he was in the hospital.

Making her way to the front door, Walt Whitman slowly walked behind her and when she opened the door to let herself out, he leaned forward and embraced her, telling her thanks again for everything she had put aside just to take care of him and Marx. But Eleanor stood there, stiff as a board, not wanting to reciprocate in the sharing of any of his affections towards her. And as soon as he released his hands from around her shoulders, she walked away from his front door without even glancing back to see if he was staring at her or not.

Walt had never seen her acting this way towards him before, and he wandered if she was up to some old fashion drama, once again concerning him and beauty, Annie-fay!

Since their reconciliation, he thought about inviting her to his upcoming engagement party, believing and hoping that Annie-fay would come to understand his reasons for doing so since she had been there by his side during his hospitalization and caring for his son in the process.

But, would Eleanor ever behave civilized, cordial and curtail her mannerism and the approaching engagement party, or, would she crash the party and cause a scene during the entire affair?

Nevertheless, Eleanor was very tired of draining herself with the hopes and dreams that Walt Whitman would one-day be hers' truly forever and forever! She was quite ready to give Nelson Zuckerberg the fair chance he needed; a chance she thought he deserved and was eagerly yearning to have with her.

Especially since he had visited her with an explanation that his jeweler had made a gruesome mistake by giving him the costume jewelry for the Real McCoy which he had paid thousands of dollars for. Only because his employee had used the wrong box to package the costume jewelries into at the store.

And he was now holding the genuine piece of jewelry made of white gold, incased with an heart-shaped diamond at the top so whenever she was ready to say yes to his proposal, he would have it all ready and waiting to place it on her finger.

However, two weeks had now passed and Walt Whitman heard surprising news that Annie-fay was back in the United States, though, she would not be returning to work at the hospital until the next seven days. Glad to hear the news, Walt Whitman decided on giving her a call and try resuming their relationship together.

Happily, Walt dial the telephone number to Annie-fay's apartment, and this time, someone did respond to his phone call at the other end, giving him such a great and freeing relief.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?"

She responded.

"Hi, sweetheart, it's Walt, how are you doing?"

Walt Whitman asked softly.

"I'm doing alright, under the circumstances!"

Annie-fay replied.

"I've called you numerous times and no one responded! I thought something dreadful had happened to you!"

Walt Whitman stated his concerns.

"My answering machine had given me that revelation!"

Annie-fay responded.

Knowing fairly well what her real dilemma was all about, Walt Whitman still when on to ask.

"So what has happen to you why you haven't returned any of my calls? I asked many of the nurses for you at the hospital, and no one could give an account of where you were or what had caused you to just up and disappear into thin air like spit against sun heat!"

Walt stated with concern in his voice.

"I had to rush back to South Africa... it was an emergency call! My father fell ill and wanted to see me before he passed away!"

Annie-fay uncovered honestly.

"So did he actually past away?"

Walt asked anxiously.

"No, thankfully he didn't! Or else, I probably wouldn't be here talking with you right now!"

Annie-fay confessed.

"So his your father alright now... he has improve in his condition?"

Walt inquired.

"Yes, he is quite stable now and doing much better now than when I had just gotten there. I left him walking around and eating now! He had come down with a serious case of chest congestion and pneumonia. But I thank the god's that he is back on his horse and riding well!"

Annie-fay expressed.

Learning that her father is doing well and she also was doing completely fine, Walt Whitman tried turning his attention towards their relationship and asked.

"When will it be a good time for me to come by your apartment so we could sit down and talk about us?"

Drawing the lingering sounds of doubt and indecisiveness, Annie-fay took a moment to give him an answer of when they could meet. She also thought about another location other than her apartment for them to have their meeting, because she wasn't quite sure of what his intentions were since their little altercation in his hospital room.

Finalizing her decision, Annie-fay laughing suggested.

"Why don't we meet at Nick's Pizzeria, and there, we could order some food and talk... air out our frustrations!"

"Why don't you want me, to come be your apartment?"

Walt asked sternly.

"Do you want to talk or not?"

Annie-fay replied forthrightly.

"Sweetheart, that place is nice, but it's too distracting! There are always people coming in and out of that place! How are we going to have a peaceful and quiet conversation with so much interruptions going on around us?"

Walt Whitman asked with serious trepidations.

"Okay then, you pick a place that you think is peaceful and quiet, and we could talk without being interrupted!"

Annie-fay suggested.

Laughingly, Walt Whitman replied.

"Your apartment!"

Now, they were both giggling at his comment, and she, completely had let her guard down, telling him to come over to her apartment at noontime tomorrow.

Still laughing, he promised her that he would be there at noontime sharp, and he would be bringing lunch... an extra cheese pizza from Nick's Pizzeria and her favorite, Mott's Apple Sider drink.

And just like he had promised, Walt Whitman showed up at Annie-fay's apartment complex, parked his vehicle and moments later, he was standing at her door with a large size pizza and a large bottle of Mott's Apple Sider drink in his hands, and pressing on her door bell repeatedly for her to open.

Neatly dressed in a half-the-shoulder top and a knee high shorts, Annie-fay opened the front door to her apartment with a big smile on her face, granting entrance to her visitor, Walt Whitman.

Before entering through her apartment door, Walt leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the cheek, while asking, how she was doing as he gazed into her eyes.

"I'm doing great!"

She replied, as she directed him to the dining table to rest the box of pizza and the bottle of juice he had in his hands.

In minutes, he was standing at her kitchen sink watching his hands, and seconds later, he was seated around the sturdy glass table, opening up the pizza box while she search for plates and drinking glasses from her cupboard, placing them on the table in front of her visitor.

Seating herself across the table from him, Walt got to the point.

"Sweet heart, I miss you! I miss you coming to my hospital room and hanging out with me until you were ready to leave for your home or to do another shift! I was so hurt when you stormed out of my room without giving me a chance to talk! But you are here now and I'm very happy that we can now meet and talk!"

Walt was mindful of his tongue, because he certainly didn't want to say anything that would reveal to her that he employed a private investigator to track her down, find her and upload him with every information he could found out about her or her whereabouts.

So he went on, addressing the main issue which was all about Eleanor and her wanting to be with him and was expecting a serious relationship between the both of them. And so, he stated the facts as honestly as he could to her.

"I want you to understand that Eleanor has been there for me and my son, therefore, I have no intention of shunning her away from me. However, I have made it clear to her recently and also in the past, that I certainly wasn't interested in having a sexual or intimate relationship with her. And I honestly think that this time around, she had gotten the message! And I swear, if I had any inclination that she would have ever assault you, verbally or otherwise, I would have warn you and give you the details of the whole situation. But, I have spoken to her about the depth of this relationship, and now she understands that I'm only interested in being with you and only you! And she also knows I'm very serious about us becoming a legal couple; hopefully, very soon!"

Feeling satisfied with his explanation, Annie-fay reached for his hands and tenderly caress them, as she told him that she was happy that he had clarified the matter with her which he and Eleanor were experiencing and that it wasn't as serious as she thought it would. Because she was single, didn't see any female companion visiting him, she was next door, presumed he was single and an available man and wanted to pursue him.

Fast forwarding on her thoughts, Annie-fay vivid recall Eleanor's behavior that morning she had to return to work after spending the night with Marx, so she could go on her date. And it allowed her to reflect on how Eleanor was in a rage of jealousy and how much she wanted her out of the way that she slammed the front door so hard that all the organs in her body trembled, as if, they had suddenly lost their position in her body. And she concluded that Eleanor was seriously expecting very much from Walt Whitman where loving her back was concern.

But Annie-fay was now ready to forgive Walt for not warning her about Eleanor having a crush on him and she was also willing and ready to forgive Eleanor for her obnoxious behavior towards her that faithful Friday morning.

Talking about Eleanor and her distasteful and spiteful behavior, Annie-fay asked.

"How is she and that date of hers is making out?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sure how they are doing together, and I haven't met the guy to say he his nice or not, but Marx seems to like him!"

Walt replied.

With almost the entire box of pizza done, Walt Whitman got up from the table and went to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. And as soon as he was done doing so, he reached for Annie-fay, gently pulled her towards him and began kissing her passionately.

He loved her and wanted her, and she seem to want him just as much as he wanted her, but, they both decided on waiting until after their engagement announcement before start playing any hanky-panky in the sack, and in his case, his massive king-size bed.

But with all his great admiration, respect and love for Annie-fay, was she being totally honest with him?

Seven days had passed and Annie-fay had returned to work in the hospital, and like she often did, she went to a different ward to work; after finishing her regular shift over at the children's ward. She was sent to work on the same ward where Walt Whitman had spent his recovery period in the hospital.

And since working in the children's ward for a very long time, most of the children there knew her and was quite fund of her; and some of the able body children would oftentimes leave with her to various parts of the hospital especially the canteen and also up to the other recovery floors where adults and elders were being treated for their aliments and getting ready to be sent home.

Packing her bags to make her way to the recovery floors were they were only adults admitted on that ward, one of the little girls from the pediatrics section, around the age of six or seven stated that she wanted to come with Annie-fay since it was early and she wasn't ready to retire for bed as yet. Annie-fay not seeing the harm in her doing so, told the young child to come along with her, and as soon as she had done given out her first set of medication to her patients, she would accompany her back to the children's ward, so she could get ready for bed.

Annie-fay became busy, handing out medication to each patient as she pushed her medication trolley up and down the corridors of the hospital while the little girl run back and forth playing in the halls of the ward where Annie-fay was diligently doing her job.

Busy, carefully administering medication to the patients on the ward, Annie-fay had no clue that the little girl had gone missing or didn't even recognized that her playful little voice was no longer chuckling or echoing in the hall-ways of the hospital anymore.

It was Ms. Connie, the female floor and maintenance supervisor who had begun doing her rounds, checking the various rooms on the hospital ward to make sure they were up to standard –clean and in order; who had heard the squeaking sounds of deep pain and great discomfort coming from one of the rooms she was inspecting. And as she suddenly opened the doors to the room where she heard the grinding oppressive sounds of the patient; she was shocked about what she had seen.

To her, it sounded like someone was being stifled with a pillow over their face or nostrils and struggling vigorously to free themselves from the assault, but somehow were unable to. But as she looked more carefully on the hospital bed, she notice the twisted little face of the child in pain, buried down under the control of two adults, weighing around three-hundred pounds or more and witnessed the horrific act being done to the pediatric patient.

Her exact encounters were two patients; a male and a female patient, sexually assaulting the little girl, pinning her down on the hospital bed and were grouping on her small body while another man in his hospital gown, weighing around the same, seemed to be waiting for his turn.

All Ms. Connie could see was her sad little face peeping out; hardly able to cry out for mercy or beg them to stop, as they ravishingly entered her in the back and in the front, and then sexually rammed and jammed their manhood and fingers into the small cavities of her body, emasculating her tiny little body to shreds.

Very frightened and in total shock to see such a barbaric act being done to the little girl, Ms. Connie managed to make her way out of the hospital and screamed out loudly as she could;

"Nurse!!! Nurse!!!! Nurse!!!!! Please come quick!" as she waved her hand in the air for Annie-fay to stop whatever she was doing and come immediately to the scene of the act and intervene.

Thinking, it was some medication that was needed to rectify the problem, Annie-fay raced down the hospital corridor; pushing the medicine trolley with her like a speeding getaway car in high traffic. Soon Annie-fay stopped at the doorway where Ms. Connie was still standing and obviously shaking, indicating with her hands for her to hurry-up and enter the room right away!

And upon arriving at the patient's bedroom door, Annie-fay quickly dashed herself inside the hospital room to help... hoping to attend to one of the elderly patients lying on one of the beds in the room who might need a pill to settle their condition or to be resuscitated. But as she looked closer and more carefully, she noticed the horrific act... a heap of huge bodies bearing down on the pediatric patient; her little friend, a little girl no more than six or seven years-of-age. Being grouped, sadistically rammed and viciously jammed in the tiny crevices of her small body by these psychotic, barbaric and criminalistics minded patients being treated in the hospital.

Standing in a state of shock for a tiny moment, seeing with her own two eyes the cruel, callous and coldhearted actions being done to one of her favorite pediatric patients, Annie-fay's heart couldn't keep beating, so she collapsed to the floor and died.