There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series) (22 page)

“Sadly, I discovered
Thomas had turned to alcohol, opium, and whores.
 
He gambled and lost consistently.
 
He spent twenty years in prison for practically killing a
man in a bar fight.
 
This
stranger…this pathetic man that I had found, was no longer the friend from my
youth.
 
I knew I had to save him
from himself.”

Tony
snorted.
 
“It’s ironic.
 
I saved him all right, just so he could
die a most agonizing death!”
 
Tony
groaned and closed his eyes for a moment.

“I’m sure he
knew you did everything you could.
 
He knew you loved him, Tony.”

“Yeah, I
suppose he did.
 
It was necessary
to separate him from all the vices he had acquired.
 
After he dried out, we took off for England, and for a while
he seemed to be more like his old self.
 
We had some good times.”
 
Tony grinned at his wife.
 
“We even met some pretty women.”

“I’m not the
least bit jealous, darling.
 
Please
continue,” Sophie entreated, gritting her teeth ever so slightly.

“When the
Lusitania sank in 1915, we knew it was just a matter of time before there would
be a war.
 
We didn’t, however,
realize the scope of it.
 
World War
I was declared, and naturally, being
almost
impervious to gunfire, we
enlisted to fight.

“At first, it
was as exciting as we had imagined.
 
I had fought in the Civil War, don’t forget, but Thomas had stayed drunk
for years.
 
This was all fun and
games for him.
 
We garnered a
reputation for fearlessness under fire.
 
Nothing stopped us.
 
We even
managed to see a few of the places we had once occupied in another life, so
many years earlier.
 
Of course,
that was our little secret.

“Then the tide
of the war turned, and we took an awful beating.
 
We were lucky, but our friends were not.
 
I started to lose count of the friends
and comrades we had lost.
 
Thomas
and I continued on, but even we started to pray for a quick end of the
hostilities.”

* * *

The hospital
room door opened, and a man in a white lab coat entered, giving a reclining
Sophie the evil eye.
 
He glared at
her, lying on the patient’s bed, and cleared his throat loudly.

Sophie yawned
and kissed her husband’s cheek, while Tony pulled her closer.
 
She was not the least bit intimidated
by the man in white.
 
As far as she
was concerned, she had traveled a long distance to be with her
husband—not to mention, she was in a delicate condition—and if he didn’t
like it, he could just piss off.

“Yes?
 
Do you need something, doctor?” Tony
inquired.

The doctor
turned his attention from the pretty lady, lying in the bed, to the
patient.
 
His English was heavily
accented and hard for Sophie to decipher, but Tony had no problem.

“I am afraid
for you.
 
It is the cancer we have
seen.
 
Today, you will take the
chemical treatment.
 
I am sorry.
 
It is different for us to treat.
 
Yes?”

Sophie’s eyes
were as big as half-dollars.
 
She
grabbed her husband’s arm.
 
“Tony,
did he say cancer?”

Tony
smiled.
 
“He did, darling, but I
told you to expect dire news.”

Tony responded
to the doctor’s analysis.
 
“No.
 
I will not take your
chemicals.
 
If I have the cancer,
then I prefer to go home and die peacefully.
 
Thank you very much for your concern.
 
Please get my release papers in order.”

The young
doctor began to protest.
 
“No, no,
no.
 
You cannot do this thing, you
ask.
 
I will start the treatment
today.”

Tony scowled at
the man and raised his voice, which caused his ribs to hurt like hell.
 
“No!
 
I said, get out!
 
I’m going …”

He gasped for
air and waved the man away.

Sophie jumped
down from the bed and took the doctor by his sleeve.
 
“My husband wants to go home.
 
See to it, now.”
 
The next thing the doctor knew, he was being propelled out and into the
vacant hall.
 
The door closed
securely behind him.

For the rest of
the afternoon, Sophie and Tony waited for the nurse, or the doctor, to come in
with the necessary release papers.
 
There was plenty of time for Tony to finish telling his wife of the
horrors that haunted his dreams.
 
He felt the overwhelming need to purge the atrocity of his actions, from
his soul.
 
What would Sophie think
of him, once she knew the unimaginable cruelty he was capable of committing?

Sophie was
sharing Tony’s bedside.
 
He ran his
fingers through her soft curls and heard her sigh with pleasure.
 
She’d never know the extent of his love
for her.
 
It was immeasurable.
 
“Sophie, darling.
 
We were interrupted, earlier.
 
I need to tell you what happened to Thomas,
if you’re willing to listen.
 
It is
more horrible than you can imagine, and I wouldn’t blame you if you got up and
walked away.
 
Promise me, that you
will wait and hear me out before you judge me…before you decide that you can no
longer be with me—before you leave me.”
 
His voice broke off.
 
He hadn’t been so afraid of anything, in many years.

Sophie took
hold of Tony’s hand, and stared directly into his green eyes.
 
She understood.
 
“Oh, darling,” she whispered.
 
“Don’t you know there is nothing you can
say that will change my love for you?
 
I know I appear silly and slightly air-headed, but I understand more
than you think.
 
I know you’ve
suffered more than any man can be expected to, and I know you’ve survived.
 
Your heart, mind, and soul are intact.
 
I can’t expect more.
 
As long as you still love me, you don’t
have to worry about my love for you.
 
I’m here, Tony.
 
Forever,
until death.”

Never before
had his wife spoken so eloquently, or with such passion.
 
Tony could feel his heart swell with
pride and devotion for her.
 
Not
only was she breathtakingly beautiful, but she was, indeed, wise beyond her
years.

Clearing his
throat, Tony gave Sophie a little squeeze, and closed his eyes.
 
He allowed himself to travel back to
that unforgettable night…a night, long ago, in the midst of battle.
 
A night that was to change Tony’s life,
for all eternity.

“God seemed to
have forsaken us.
 
The weather was
cold, wet, and miserable.
 
For
seventy-two hours, we had been under constant barrage.
 
The enemy pushed forward and there was
very little we could do to stop them.
 
Two thirds of our ranks had fallen.
 
Those that remained were demoralized and already defeated.
 
Thomas knew that he and I could escape,
but it wasn’t in us to run away.
 
Thomas was very brave.
 
Unfortunately, he was also, foolish.

“I don’t know
if he planned on doing what he did, or if it was instinctual, but I see it
replayed, over and over in my mind’s eye.

“It had been
unusually quiet for nearly an hour.
 
We knew that when the bombardment started again, it would be the
last.
 
We were too few in number,
and had nowhere to retreat.
 
Suddenly, and without warning, a grenade was tossed in our midst.
 
Nine of us saw it lying there, and
simply stared at it, realizing that it was going to be the last thing we’d ever
see.
 
I was too tired and stunned
to worry about my immortality.
 
It
wasn’t until I caught motion out the side of my eye, that I woke up, and
realized what Thomas was about to do.”

Tony’s eyes
opened and he gazed straight up at the stark ceiling.
 
His fingers ceased to caress Sophie’s curls, but instead,
they gripped her skull tightly enough to cause her discomfort.

“Tony,” Sophie
complained.
 
“Darling, you’re
hurting me.”
 
She wasn’t afraid of
him, but she wanted to bring him out of the horrors he was imagining.

Tony suddenly
stopped.
 
Looking down at Sophie,
he released his fingers from her hair and stroked her wet cheek.
 
“Sorry, beautiful.

“I screamed, as
I watched my best friend launch himself over the grenade, just before it
exploded.
 
I sat there,
motionless.
 
We all did.
 
Our friend, Thomas, was mortally
wounded, although he was moving.
 
All the men were astonished that he could have survived the initial
explosion, but I knew he would.
 
I
knew that the worst was not over.
 
I yelled for a blanket and covered his bloodied and dismembered body.”

Tony looked
directly at Sophie.
 
“I’d rather
not describe, in full detail, the condition of his body.
 
It is too difficult for me, and quite
frankly, I don’t want you to know.”
 
He could tell by the ashen color of Sophie’s cheeks that she was already
badly shaken up.

“No, Tony.
 
I can imagine.”
 
Her voice was very soft and slightly
tremulous.

“Thomas passed
out, thank God.
 
I convinced the
men he was dead, and no one argued with me.
 
After all, no one could survive his injuries.
 
Just as the next salvo was launched, I
dragged Thomas off into the woods.
 
At that moment, I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the war.
 
I needed to get my friend to a quiet
spot and figure out what to do.
 
I
followed the river for a bit, until I found an overhang.
 
It was far enough removed from all the
craziness of battle.

“I unwrapped
the blanket and got my first, really good look at Thomas …”

* * *

“Dammit,
Thom.
 
Why the hell did you do
it?”
 
Anthony was repulsed by what
he saw.
 
“What am I supposed to
do?” he cried.

“The pain…it’s
not so bad, now,” Thomas gasped.
 
It was amazing that he was still breathing.
 
His lungs and entire chest had taken the brunt of the
explosion.
 
“How bad?”

Anthony did
a quick visual inspection.
 
“God, Thomas.
 
It isn’t good.
 
I don’t know what to do!”
 
Anthony was nearly hysterical.
 
He and his friend had never been in
these dire circumstances before.
 
This was new territory for both of them.

Trying to
lighten the mood and help his friend deal with everything, Thomas smiled.
 
“See a gypsy anywhere?”

“How the
hell can you joke at a time like this?
 
What am I going to do?” Anthony shouted.

Thomas
closed his eyes.
 
His breathing was
labored and blood soaked through the blanket and into the soft, black earth.

“Off,” he
groaned.

“What?
 
Off with what?” Anthony muttered.
 
He had no idea of what to do to ease
Thomas’s pain.

“Head.
 
Gotta…do it.”
 
Thomas never opened his eyes.
 
It was just too painful.
 
“Off.
 
Only thing
…”

“No!”
Anthony shrieked as he got to his feet.
 
“You can’t possibly mean that.
 
It’d kill you!”
 
Anthony
didn’t realize the ridiculousness of his statement, but Thomas almost chuckled.

“Please,
friend.”
 
Thomas ceased his
breathing.

Anthony
stared down at his best friend, with a numbing sense of calmness, that he was
unaware he possessed.
 
Anthony
assessed the true condition of his friend.
 
His lungs no longer functioned.
 
His legs were severed from the hips, and he had only a
partial arm.
 
There was no stomach,
no intestines, or lungs that Anthony could see.
 
He had to ask himself how Thomas had managed to stay
conscious and speak lucidly.
 
He
knew it was the result of their shared curse.

Anthony
nodded.
 
Something had to be done
to end the suffering, forever.
 
Just as Anthony was preparing to wrap Thomas’ body in the blanket,
Thomas opened his eyes and stared directly into Anthony’s face.
 
Anthony jumped back.
 
How could it be his friend was still
aware?
 
He saw pleading in the
man’s blue eyes.
 
Unsure of what to
do, Anthony located the heart, hidden and mangled up behind the
collarbone.
 
It looked badly
damaged, but he thought he could detect a small, quivering of the muscle.
 
Without thinking, he took his bayonet
from its scabbard, and plunged it deeply into the organ.