Saving Nanny Fine

Part 5

by

A Beautiful Storm
(Wackyhorse2002@aol.com)

She was gone.

Gone, like smoke blown away on the summer breeze. Gone, like the perfect day come to a close. Gone, like a wonderful dream chased away by the morning light. Gone, like she had never been. They hoped they could forget her. They hoped to forget everything about her.

Losing is much worse than forgetting.

But it is hard to forget someone you love.

Especially if they never knew. Maxwell felt as if her would fall apart. He felt like he had died--he felt angry and sad and lost and confused. She had left him. He had lost her. He walked around the house, never speaking, never smiling. Never anything. His children seemed barely alive. The house seemed barely alive. It all seemed surreal.

He had loved her with a passion deep and pure, he had just not been able to come to terms with his own feelings until he felt he could lose her. And then, it was too late. He had played with her feelings, toyed with her emotions in a way she should never have allowed. He blamed himself for her death.

If he had just confessed his feelings, they could have married. They could have had children--they could have had so much. If that had happened, she would have had no need to pretend she was well. She could have stayed in bed all day until she was better. But then, there was always that haunting question.

Did she love me? He always asked himself. There had been signs. A shared laugh, a kiss here and there; but nothing more serious than what he asked. And he could tell she had been incontent with their relationship. She wanted more, she deserved more. And he couldn't give it to her. Had she moved on? Had she forgotten him? Had she forgotten them? This disillusion haunted corners of his mind--and surely would until the day he died.

Then, it no longer seemed surreal. It was real. When they carried his beautiful Fran to the front of the room full of mourning loved ones, when they said a prayer in her behalf. He went up to the front of the church, and left a beautiful boquet of flowers along with a note in her hands. A silent tear rolled down his face as he stared at the woman before him. he leaned over and kissed her gently.

They lowered her into an early grave. Not a Sheffield was in sight. Not even her beloved Maxwell. They had all left early, Maxwell before the others. He had taken a cab to the harbor, one last time.

As he stood looking out at the statue of liberty, all he could think was I'm going to see her again. He climbed through the little gate blocking him from the water. Staring down at the dark swirls, he saw all that was good and all that was bad in his life. Very few things were good. But she was. Fran Fine was all he could see as he jumped into the icy depths of the water...

Maxwell Sheffield jumped up, drenched in a cold sweat. It had been a dream, just a dream! She was still alive! He could have done a backflip. Just then, the phone rang. He picked it up, and heard the voice of Dr. Jenkins. He could have sworn his heart stopped when she told him the news.

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