Because of Ellison (35 page)

A smile crept over my face when I realized that once again,
Ellison had improved my life. And maybe that’s what I’d always needed. A
tenacious blonde who wouldn’t take shit from me and who called me out on my
mistakes — and a woman who, by her very existence, brought something to
life within me.

- 2064 -

The auditorium was silent. Not a single person spoke or made
a sound while their eyes remained glued to Hunter at the podium. His head was
bent down and his posture looked tired and frail. Finally looking up, the
audience could see a tear rolling along the wrinkled skin of his cheek from the
illumination of the stage lights. Clearing his voice, he straightened his spine
and rolled his shoulders back in an effort to finish what he’d come to say.

“I started college with Ellison that year, but, the passion
of being newlyweds overtook us and she became pregnant during the second
semester. I argued with her for the first four months of her pregnancy about
her decision to withdraw from school in order to raise our first son. I didn’t
think it was fair that she should have to give up her dreams in order for me to
continue forward in mine.” Chuckling to himself, his shoulders shook with mirth
and a smile cracked his lips.

His voice boomed out louder, prouder, when he continued,
“She put me in my place when I’d said that, and she told me that there were
many ways in this world to make a difference. Sometimes, it’s the things you do
yourself, and other times, it’s something as simple as raising a child to be
remarkable. As soon as she knew she’d be a mother, she chose the latter path.”

His eyes took in the audience, the faces were shadowed in
comparison to the lights glaring down on his body, but he still tried to meet
their eyes, tried to make them understand. With his eyes locked to the nameless
faces before him, he confessed.

 
“I wasn’t able
to save her. Despite how tirelessly I worked, how many hours I devoted to
finding a cure for the disease that killed not only her, but so many people
that came before her, I didn’t discover it in time.” His hand hit against the
podium, the sound of the strike echoing out across the large space. Tears
welled in his eyes and his body sagged at the sudden drain in strength that
accompanied remembering when she’d died.

Hunter gained his composure to finish his speech. “Ellison
had once said that she feared being insignificant — she feared she was
one small person who could only hope to bring small changes to the people and
environment that she loved.” He looked down at the wood of the podium and
traced a vein of the wood with his finger.

Looking up, his voice bellowed out when he finally reached
the end of the story he had to tell.

“Ellison is anything BUT insignificant. She is the reason
for my success; she is the smile and the light that drove me along my path in
life. She is the reason so many people can stop fearing a disease that carries
the pain, the heartache and the tears of every person it has touched directly
or indirectly. Whereas, I’ll be accepting the credit for the cure, and whereas
it will be my research and methods that will be used and applied to finally
eradicate something as heinous and far reaching as cancer — the true
credit belongs with a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes and a smile that would
light up even the darkest corners of this Earth — the credit belongs with
Ellison.”

His vision was distorted by his tears, but even distorted,
his eyes widened to see one person after another stand up, bring their hands
together and applaud. It was a steady wave as they rose from their seats and
the light applause rapidly became a booming ovation before him. But Hunter
couldn’t smile with them. Despite having succeeded in his quest for a cure, he
still considered himself a failure, because he hadn’t been able to save her.

Slowly, he stepped away from the podium and made his way down
the stairs. Silently stalking back up the carpet through the center of the
room, the audience continued to applaud, their faces following him as he
passed. At the end of the row of people stood two men. They held out their
hands to steady him as he reached the door and they walked him through and to
the car waiting to take him home. Once packed in the car, the older of the two
men turned to him.

“Do you want to go straight home?”

Hunter shook his head. “No. There’s one place I want to
visit first.”

~
    
~
    
~

Placing the roses at the base of the granite slab, Hunter
traced his finger over her name where it had been carved into the stone. He
brushed away the dirt and errant leaves that littered her grave and he leaned
forward to kiss the stone that marked where Ellison’s body had been interred.
The two men reached down and assisted Hunter back to his feet, and the three
men stood staring down at the grave.

Hunter sniffled and wiped at his nose with the handkerchief
he’d pulled from his pocket. “You know boys, your mother would have been proud
today. If she could have been here, she would have stood at the podium with me
and she would have argued with me about my crediting her with the
accomplishment. But she would have smiled as well — because, despite her
argument, she would know that what I said was true.”

Jeremy, Hunter and Ellison’s oldest son, spoke first. “I
didn’t know the entire story until tonight. I find it hard to believe that
grandma and grandpa had been so cold when you grew up.”

Hunter smiled. “My parents were just another one of your
mother’s accomplishments. I don’t have to tell you boys, but she had an uncanny
ability to set people at ease, to forgive and teach others to do the same. It
was her meddling that caused my parents to return to Florida to be closer to
the two of you.” Hunter laughed. “I don’t think my mother or father knew how to
deal with her stubbornness any more than I did.”

Chase, the younger of their boys, spoke next. “I’m glad you
didn’t give up, Dad.”

Hunter turned to look at him. “Give up in what? Finding a
cure?”

Chase shook his head and wiped a tear from his face in
attempt to hide his emotions. “No. I’m glad you didn’t give up on her.”

Hunter nodded his understanding. “Your mother loved you two
boys more than anything else in this world. She believed she was put on this
Earth to raise you. I believe she was put on this Earth to save not only my
life, but those of everyone she knew.” He grew quiet remembering back to the
many days and nights they’d spent together. “She once told me that she would
lay out in the grass with the two of you when you were young and watch the
clouds. While the two of you competed to find the different faces and shapes,
she pretended that she could see her parents up there waving down.” He laughed again.
“She always did say the craziest shit.” He paused to swallow down the lump that
had formed in his throat.

“But for some reason, the crazy shit she said always seemed
to eventually make sense. After she died, I spent many days laying out in the
yard when I wasn’t working. I looked up at the clouds and I watched to see if
by some stroke of luck I would catch a glimpse of her hair glistening in the
sunlight. And even though I never did, I felt her - in the wind, in the grass
beneath my body, and in the rain that sometimes fell on my face as I lay there.
She’d become part of the environment that she loved and it was in those quiet
places that I found her, could talk to her, and could know that, somehow, she
heard whatever it was I had to say.”

When they’d grown silent again, Hunter realized how tired
he’d become. “Come on boys, take me to my house so you can get back to your
wives and your children. I’ve done what I needed to do and now I’m ready to go
home.”

 
~
    
~
    
~

When they pulled up to the house, Hunter climbed out of the
car and waved at his sons while they drove out to the road and disappeared
around the bend. Turning around, he looked up at the two houses that stood on
the property.

Through the years that followed the summer he’d met Ellison
James he watched as Lily went to college, eventually marrying Ryan and moving
to a small town 20 minutes from where she’d grown up. She became a teacher and
had four children, three girls, and one boy. Bill remained living in the house
that Hunter had spent three months repairing and Ellison and Hunter remained
living on the property with their boys until Bill eventually grew old and
passed away. Hunter had offered to move Ellison and their sons to a nicer home,
one nestled snuggly within a wealthy city or town where they’d want for
nothing. But Ellison had always refused, claiming she had everything she would
ever need tucked within that wooded lot, minutes from the trails she loved to
hike daily. Eventually, when the boys had grown old enough to walk those miles
beside her, it became a family affair and Jeremy and Chase had grown up to go
into forestry as their mother had always dreamed she would do someday.
Ellison’s brother, Jake, married when he graduated college and, although he’d
completed his degree in business, he realized he wasn’t made for life inside an
office, eventually quitting his profession to be a tour guide for hikers in the
Appalachian mountains. Finn moved away within a year of Ellison and Hunter
getting married, an occurrence that Hunter would never say he was completely
unhappy about. He didn’t want to exclude someone that was important to Ellison,
but he never got over his anger towards Finn for having practically abandoned
Ellison while her father battled his disease.

Walking up the wooden steps of the staircase, Hunter
approached the front door, reaching out to ring the lit doorbell. The chimes
inside reminded him of the day he’d installed the damn thing, and the way
Ellison had jumped excitedly to have something so simple added to the home
she’d always loved.

Letting himself in the house, he realized how much he missed
the incessant noise and welcoming barks of the terror mutts Ellison had raised.
They’d passed away years after Hunter and Ellison married, however they’d been
the best of friends and protectors for the boys during the many years they’d
had together. Crossing through the living room, Hunter’s eyes flicked to the
many family photographs and memorabilia on the walls and counters where Ellison
had lovingly placed them. She was always so proud of the family she’d created
and she’d talk any person’s ear off about the accomplishments of not only her
husband, but her boys as well. Laughing to himself, Hunter recognized that if
it hadn’t been for the light inside her, those accomplishments would have never
come about.

Finally reaching the bedroom he’d shared with Ellison for
more than 50 years, he dressed in his nightclothes and moved the different
letters, journals and photographs he’d rummaged through while preparing for the
speech he’d had to give. It was the story of Ellison’s life, something, as
she’d grown older, that she’d documented and preserved. It’d broken his heart
to read her memories of her father’s passing, but he could relate and
appreciate every terrible experience about which she wrote. He’d experienced it
himself when he’d taken a leave from his practice to care for her when she’d
become sick and died. He remembered her anger, her futility and her despair and
he understood what it felt like to watch the light drain from the person you
love. It wasn’t supposed to end that way. That’s not how he’d imagined he’d
lose her. But it’s what happened and Hunter had to tilt his hat to life, to
recognize that fate and nature were going to do what they were going to do,
despite how much you fought against it. He’d wanted to die beside her, but he
wouldn’t let himself leave the world until he’d destroyed the one thing that
had destroyed her.

Lying down, he rested his head against the pillow, pulling
another pillow to his side to make up for the loss of Ellison’s body. Closing
his tired eyes, he curled into a fetal position, allowing his tired muscles and
bones to rest.

“That was a great speech. I totally would have agreed with
the bitch part. But, as usual, you showed no respect. I remember telling you to
refer to me as ‘Evil Princess Bitch.’”

Hunter’s eyes opened slowly, his mind not comprehending her
voice.

“Well, come on. Stop being so damn lazy and wake up. I’m
standing right here. Look at me.”

When his vision finally focused, he couldn’t believe what he
saw: Ellison — young, beautiful, relaxed and carefree — leaning up
against his wall.

He pushed himself up swiftly, the years of his life no
longer weighing down his body. Shock washed over him and he rubbed at his eyes.
“Ellie?”

She smiled. “It’s about time. I’ve been standing here
forever. You just never noticed.”

His jaw dropped. “I must be dreaming. Oh God, El … you look
beautiful.”

Pushing off from the wall, Ellison walked slowly to the bed,
eventually sitting down beside him. Hunter jumped to feel the mattress lower
from her weight.

“You look tired, Hunter. I think it’s time for you to
retire. You’ve done what you came to do and I couldn’t be more proud.” She
reached out to touch his cheek.

Feeling the warmth of her skin on his, Hunter leaned into
her touch, the few years he’d lived without her never allowing him to forgot
what it was like to hold her, to feel her hold him back. Guilt flittered along
his thoughts. “I failed you, El. I couldn’t figure it out in time.” He looked up
into her crystal blue eyes. “I couldn’t save you.”

“But you saved our boys and their children as well … and so
many countless others who would continue to die if it wasn’t for what you
accomplished. Those people may not be sick yet, but they will be. However, they
no longer have to fear the diagnosis — thanks to you.”