When Jake woke up from his nap, it was with a start. He’d had an odd dream. It had nothing to do with what he was working on or his family; it was about a girl. A little girl with pretty green eyes and brown hair. Something told him that the little girl was his in some way. He assumed that the little girl in his dream was to be his daughter. He knew that he carried a recessive gene for green eyes through his mother. The woman that would be the child’s mother would have to have green eyes herself or a gene for green eyes. Well, unlike my brother before me, I plan on having at least an engagement ring on a girl’s hand before I go getting her pregnant. I also don’t plan on still living at home with Mom and Dad when that happens. I would like to own my own place before I start my own family. At least my parents can say that about me. I’m responsible, he thought as he stretched and went to find his family. He even snatched up the wife beater tank top he’d worn for a little bit and slipped it on over his head as he headed out back. His parents were sitting on the porch at the table eating. “Where is everyone else that inhabits the house?” he asked.
“Maddie’s at a friend’s house for the night. Her high school graduation is up and coming. James has football practice and he’s a team captain so he has to be there. Kayla has a soccer game out of town and will be staying with a team mate afterward. Jeremiah and Meagan left this afternoon for a trip with the band. Jessi had softball practice and Marc has a baseball game out of town”, David said.
“Whoa. That’s crazy. How do you two keep up with all of the activities?”
“Calendars both on the wall and on our phones”, Brie said with a smile.
Jake smiled at his parents. “Can I ask you two something and you’ll be perfectly honest with me?” He took a seat at the table with them.
“When have you ever known us not to, Jake?”David said.
“True. Ok, you two have been together for about 24 years. How do you two manage it? How have you stayed so in love?”
His parents smiled at each other as they exchanged a look and his father brushed the back of a finger across his mother’s lips. Then they looked at him. “You’re not trying to butter us up, are you?” Brie asked.
“No, I’m not trying to be Malachai. I sincerely want to know your secret. I mean, I see Malachai and Mandy heading straight for a divorce if he doesn’t straighten up. All of us kids could take an example from you on how to have a long and happy relationship.”
“You want to know our secret, Jake?” David asked.
“Yes, I would love to know.”
“There really isn’t one. We just strive to make each other better. You mother is my strength. I’m her rock.
We support each other in everything we do and we love each other with every ounce of what we are.”
“That’s it?”
Brie nodded. “Pretty much, Jake, in a nutshell. Lock, stock, and barrel.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “You two are such an inspiration. I really hope that I can find something like the two of you have.” He stood from his seat at the patio table. “I’m going to go pick up all of my shit.” He turned for the house.
“How is your research coming, Jake?” his mother asked.
“What research?” his father asked.
“Stem cells as a treatment for traumatic brain injury.”
“I told him about it this morning”, he said as he turned back to the table and sat back down. “The research is coming along just fine. Right now, I’m trying to understand more about what stem cells do. From what I gather, they’re the cells that create every other cell in the body. SO, my theory is that if we can program the stem cells to develop into a certain type of brain tissue or find a way to get them into the damaged section of the brain and get them to assimilate to that type of tissue, then we could reverse the affects of the trauma. But, I’d need to find a way to make that happen so that we could re-knit the damaged tissue.”
“If you can do that, Jacob, you’ll be swimming in Nobel Prize territory”, David said to his son.
“I know, but I’m not doing it for the glory. I’m doing this because I can’t stand to see one person suffer because of the stupidity of another.”
David laughed. “God, you sound like you mother.”
Brie laughed. “Is that such a bad thing?”
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He picked up his things from the living room and grabbed a quick bite to eat. He hadn’t eaten like he knew he should in months and he didn’t see the point in starting to do so now that he wasn’t in school any more. He would only have to go right back to eating like shit once he started working.
His meal was simple bachelor food; some macaroni and cheese and a roast beef and cheddar sandwich. He considered grabbing a small salad for some leafy greens, but thought better of it. He didn’t want to take away from his family. He sat in the living room and ate as he watched a documentary with his parents. He had nothing better to do. Once he was finished eating he was going to go to his room and watch a movie. He hadn’t watched his movies in a while. He thought maybe watching some of them would help him relax and clear his head.
He took a long drink of the water in his glass; then excused himself. After putting his bowl in the kitchen and washing out his dishes as per orders of his mother, he made his way up the stairs to his room. He’d taken over Malachai’s room after Uncle Matt had passed away. It didn’t bother him to sleep in the same room that his uncle died in. In some ways, it actually comforted him. Morbid as it might sound, but the knowledge that his uncle died in the room he was sleeping in made him feel a little safer than usual. Yeah, like Malachai, Jake knew how to shoot a rifle. His father had taken to teaching all of his brothers and sister how to shoot after the war was over and they’d reached the age of twelve. But, there was something about sleeping in the same room that his uncle had slept in for the last two months of his esteemed life that made Jake feel safe. He couldn’t explain it. All of his brothers and sisters thought he was crazy, but he really didn’t care.
He ran his hands gently over the silk comforter that his parents had given him when he and his twin sister turned sixteen. It was green, his favorite color. He’d thought for a little while at the end of high school that he would go into the military, but that wasn’t his thing. He wanted to save lives, not end them. True, he could have done that in the military, but he didn’t want to risk ending up like one of the people he was trying to help. His work with the victims of traumatic brain injury was too important to him and to those he was trying to help for him to go and do something like get blown up. What good would that do his patience?
After picking one of his favorite movies he climbed into bed and settled in. It was one of the bloodier movies he owned. He liked his action movies because he could watch the blood and guts fly and not get sick to his stomach. He actually liked to watched them and pick apart what was plausible and what wasn’t. He’d argue with his older brother for hours whether or not a certain way a neck was broken could actually happen. Usually, he won. Gotta love having a massage therapist as a mother, he thought as he remembered all those nights arguing with Malachai over different movies.
When the movie started he lay back in his bed and got comfortable. He was going to try to grab a quick cat nap. His sleeping pattern was a mess. Grabbing cat naps wherever he could, sleeping wherever he could lay his head down. But, he’d gotten used to it. This was going to be his life. He accepted that after his first double at Johns Hopkins’ Medical Center.
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The movies ended up watching him sleep for about an hour before he came too having heard a raucous downstairs. He jumped and ran down the stairs with a baseball bat in hand. When he happened upon the source of the noise, he didn’t bother announcing himself. He just chuckled to himself as he relaxed and headed back up the stairs to his room. I love my parents, man! he thought as he walked back upstairs to his room. Twenty plus years and they’re still hungry for each other physically. I want a marriage like THAT! Twenty, thirty years in and I still want her the way Dad wants Mom. He laughed and shut the door behind him. Once he settled back into the bed, he restarted the movie and grabbed has laptop and checked his email. He had more offers for jobs. The most recent offers were from Parkland Hospital in Dallas, TX and Herman Memorial Hospital Systems in Houston. He responded to the request from Houston. “To Whom it May Concern, I am not interested in working for a hospital SYSTEM. I am the kind of person that likes to know where I’m going to be working every day/ night. A hospital system offers not such security. I appreciate your offer, but I have to decline. Sincerely yours, Dr. J. Micah Draiman, M.D.”
To Dallas, he responded, “To Whom it May Concern, At the moment, I am taking a short sabbatical to clear my head after completing Medical School. I’ll be calling you here soon in order to try to set up a date to interview. I do have several questions that I would like to ask before agreeing to come down for a face to face interview, should you decide that is necessary. Sincerely yours, Dr. J. Micah Draiman, M.D.”
He smiled at himself as he hit send, then laughed out loud when he heard his parents coming up the stairs. They knocked on his door. “It’s open!”, he shouted out.
The door opened to his father. “Were you downstairs about fifteen minutes ago?”
“I heard a bit of noise and ran down with a baseball bat, then discovered what was really going on. After that I came back up here. You two should really work on not making so much noise when fooling around in other parts of the house besides your bedroom.”
David laughed as he pressed his forehead against the door. “Wow. Leave it to you, Jake, not to be fazed by seeing what you saw.”
“I’m a doctor, Dad. Why should seeing two consenting adults having sex faze me?”
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He slept again, and dreamt again. It was the same dream he’d had earlier that day. A little girl with curly brown hair and green eyes. He held the little girl to his chest protectively, but affectionately. He saw his lips move to speak a name, but heard nothing. He apparently wasn’t meant to know the child’s name yet. He searched to see who the mother of the little angel in his arms was. Brown hair and green eyes started back at him, captivating him. Who is this green eyed mystery woman who manages to capture my heart? He thought to himself. He knew the answer, but he was afraid that he’d never see her again. Delilah. Her eyes had captivated him the moment he met them with his across the commons area at Loyola. She was a dance major and he had been pre- med at the time. He wondered what she was up to. I’m going to give her a call tomorrow, he thought to himself after being startled awake again. I wonder if she even remembers me. He would find out, and the answer would make his soul fly.
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