Chapter 30: The Pain of Recovery

Upon waking up, Jack groaned and regretted it immediately. His head was pounding, his bladder was filled to bursting, his stomach was roiling, and his bowels were boiling. He didn’t know if he was going to piss, puke, or shit first. Regardless, it wasn’t going to be long before he was doing one of them. This was the hangover from hell.

Jack rolled out of bed and raced for the bathroom hoping that no one would be in it. Each step was pure misery, but he was in luck. June had just stepped out of the bathroom. He ran past her closing the door behind him with enough force that the noise caused him to groan.

June watched Jack rush into the bathroom and shook her head in amusement. In a way, she had been relieved the previous evening when Greg had come over to take him out for a drink. He had been pacing around the boat, unable to work on it. He had reminded her of a tiger trapped in a cage. She had been afraid that he’d come in the house and ruin the evening for Lisa.

Although Jack would have been shocked to learn of it, she had been pleased at how drunk he was when he came home. A man who didn’t care about his daughter wouldn’t have been so upset about what his daughter was doing. It just confirmed what she had learned just a little while ago, although she would never say that aloud to anyone.

After hearing the sounds coming from the bathroom, she went in the living room and called his job to let them know that he wouldn’t be coming in that day. She knew that he would be spending most of the day in bed nursing a first class headache. She went into the kitchen to get a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water. He’d need it when he came out of the bathroom.

Jack left the bathroom twenty minutes later, moving like he was a hundred years old. His face was white and his forehead dotted with beads of sweat. June handed him a pair of aspirin and the glass of water. Barely able to speak, Jack said, “Thank you.”

Seeing him grimace at hearing his own voice, she smiled and patted his arm rather than answer. Thankful, he swallowed the aspirin. After draining the glass, he handed it back to her and returned to the bedroom. June stood at the door and watched him move a pillow over his head. She smiled and closed the door.

Lisa and Harry came out of her bedroom. Harry had an arm around Lisa and held her close to him. Both were dressed in their regular clothes. The fact was that Harry was feeling a little weird about having to deal with Lisa’s parents in light of what they had done several times since going into the bedroom the previous evening.

June put a finger in front of her lips and gestured towards the kitchen. Confused, the young couple followed her. Harry immediately thought that she was going to try to sneak him out of the house before Jack saw him. His stomach flipped several times at the thought.

Once in the kitchen, June said, “We need to talk softly. Your father isn’t feeling very well.”

“What’s the matter?” Lisa asked looking at her mother with worry.

“He and Greg went out last night for drinks. They were in pretty sad shape when they got home,” June said glancing in the direction of the bedroom.

“Why?” Lisa asked looking at her mother in confusion. She molded herself to Harry when he pulled her close.

“I think they both were upset about their little girls becoming women,” June said.

Harry’s eyes grew round and he asked, “Do you mean my sister...”

“Yes, Harry. Your sister was doing the same thing you were doing,” June said.

“I bet Dad was fit to be tied,” Harry said knowing that his dad wouldn’t very happy about what Cathy had done. The thought that Jack probably felt the same about what he had done with Lisa fully registered in his mind. He looked over at Lisa and said, “Your dad probably hates my guts about now.”

“Daddy likes you,” Lisa said looking to her mother for confirmation.

June smiled and said, “I’m pretty sure that it is a good thing that your father is indisposed. I’m confident that we would not enjoy breakfast if he was here.”

“Maybe I should leave,” Harry said. He held his head in his hands and said, “My dad is going to kill me.”

Lisa frowned and asked, “Are you sorry about what we did?”

“Sorry? No way. That was the best experience of my life. I love you so much that I don’t know what I’d do without you. I want to do that with you for the rest of my life,” Harry said.

Although Lisa grinned, June frowned and said, “Hey, it’s a little early to be talking marriage.”

Harry blushed when he realized what he said. At least he was smart enough not to try to retract it. After a moment of thought, the idea didn’t sound that bad to him. Taking Lisa’s hand, he said, “That’s true. We have a lot of time before I’ll be here asking Mr. McCullum for Lisa’s hand in marriage, but rest assured that I’ll be here.”

As a result of his words, Lisa felt like a million dollars. She leaned her head against his shoulder and practically purred. June watched the pair and decided not to argue. They were young and life had a lot to throw at them. Smiling, she asked, “What would you like for breakfast?”

Greg had finally managed to make it to the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Doing his best not to move too quickly, he lifted the cup to his mouth and took a satisfying sip of the hot liquid. Nothing had ever tasted so good to him. The front door closed and the noise slammed into his brain like a locomotive.

Humming happily to himself, Harry entered the kitchen. Greg would have glared at him, but it hurt too much to move his face. Excited about what he had just done, Harry was in a very good mood. Spotting his father at the table, he said, “Hi, Dad.”

Greg cringed and couldn’t decide if it would be better to yell at Harry or crawl under the table. Instead, all he managed was a barely heard, “Shhh.”

“Oh, sorry Dad,” Harry said in a softer voice.

Greg looked at the clock and saw that is was approaching noon. It took him a few minutes to recall that he was supposed to be at work. Managing to get a scowl on his face, he asked, “Where have you been?”

“I had an important errand to run. I ordered a dozen roses for Lisa,” Harry said. He kept lowering his voice each time his father grimaced.

“Good,” Greg said just as the doorbell rang. Unfortunately for Greg, it was more than just a single ring. Someone was outside pushing the button over and over. Holding his hands over his ears, Greg shouted, “Get that door before I kill the son of a bitch.”

Harry had barely stepped out of the kitchen when Cathy shouted, “Flowers! He sent me a dozen roses!”

Greg grabbed his cup of coffee and headed out to the back yard. It didn’t matter to him if it was hot outside. It wouldn’t have mattered if it had been snowing. All he wanted was quiet and that seemed like the most likely place he was going to find it. He closed the door behind him as gently as possible and made his way to a chair. Sitting down, he took a sip of his coffee and sighed.

Jack wandered into the kitchen and looked around. His mouth tasted like a rat had crawled inside and died. June turned and handed him a cup of coffee. In a soft voice, she asked, “Are you feeling better?”

“A little better. I’ve got a headache and everything is still too loud,” Jack answered. He turned and looked at the kitchen clock. He groaned and said, “I missed work.”

“I called your office this morning and let them know that you weren’t feeling well,” June said.

“Thanks,” Jack said. He sipped his coffee.

The quiet in the house was shattered when someone started ringing the doorbell over and over. Jack rose and said, “I’m going to kill who ever is at the door.”

He hadn’t made it out of the kitchen when he heard Lisa shout, “Roses! He bought me a dozen roses!”

As Jack staggered back to the table, June ran around him to see what had gotten Lisa so excited. He collapsed into his chair. He wasn’t in time to cover his ears before his wife shouted, “They’re so beautiful.”

“At least he sent flowers,” Jack mumbled. He wished there was some quiet place for him to wait, but there wasn’t. The sounds of mother and daughter appreciating the flowers were driving nails into his brain. It was obvious to him that his daughter was happy and, in the light of day, that was the important thing.

The pair of women entered the kitchen. Lisa was glowing while carrying a huge bouquet of roses. She looked up at her father and saw the man slumped in his chair holding up his head in his hands. Unshaved and red-eyed, he looked positively miserable. In a soft voice, she said, “I’m sorry for making so much noise, Daddy. I was just excited about getting these roses from Harry.”

He looked over at the roses and then up at his daughter’s happy face. Sighing, he said, “They are pretty.”

“He loves me,” Lisa said after smelling the roses.

“I’m sure he does,” Jack said. He noticed the heart shaped pendant hanging on a gold chain around her neck. He wondered where it had come from.

June bustled over to the cabinet and removed a vase in which to put the flowers. She filled the vase with water and brought it over to the table. Together, the women arranged the roses within the vase. Jack watched them work. Lisa was so happy. Despite the throbbing headache, he knew that he’d never say anything that would hurt her. When they stepped back to appraise the flower arrangement, he said, “That was real nice of Harry to send you those flowers.”

Looking over at her father, Lisa was fully aware of how hard that was for him to say. She and her mother had discussed his feelings about the events of the previous night while he had been recovering in the bedroom. She went over to him and hugged him. His rough unshaven face scratched her face, but she ignored the discomfort. She whispered in his ear, “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Jack said. He rubbed his face and said, “I guess I had better take a shower, shave, and brush the old fangs.”