Through The Looking Glass
By Shotzette

Through the Looking Glass
By Shotzette

shotzette@yahoo.com
Drama
SFM/WM
Part of the "Souvenirs" series.

This is a work of fan fiction and is not intended to infringe upon copyrights held by any beings or entities, living, dead, or imagined.





"Okay, Walter. This is the part where you giggle and say "April Fools!", Shirley Meaney said, as she continued to shovel the applesauce into Davy's mobile mouth. She did not need his wisecracks right now! She had to have Davy fed and bathed before meeting Bernice at the Ladies Auxiliary Hall. She couldn't be late. Bernice was going to introduce her to the committee Chairwoman and had broadly hinted that her husband was quite influential at Army Med.

"I wasn't joking," was Walter's flat reply, as he dragged her back to the here and now. "I know you haven't been happy being an Army wife, Sweetie. Frankly, all the forced socializing and glad handing is wearing me down, too. I don't know how you handle it as well as you do."

"I handle it," Shirley replied, with steel in her voice. "If making nice with the top brass's wives will get you to where you want to be, I'm willing to do it."

"That's just it. The Army's not where I want to be, not really. Enlisting just gave me better opportunities than I'd have elsewhere. I never would have been able to afford medical school on my own, you know that."

Of course I know that, Walter!" Shirley finally threw down the spoon in exasperation. "If you don't stay in the Army, you have to repay them all the money they spent on your education. You made that clear to me from the beginning."

That's why I thought you'd be happy when I told you about the letter from home." Walter waved the coffee ring stained page under her nose. "Doc Winston is retiring, and they want me to come home and take his place."

"You can't be serious. You want to go back to Kentucky after working so hard to get out?

"Shirley, I never wanted to leave. I just didn't want to have to work in the mines like my Daddy and my brothers."

"I don't see the difference."

"The difference is, Shirley, is that they need a doctor. The closest doctor that most of the people I grew up with is in the free clinic in Berea, and that's nearly an hour's drive from Browning Hollow. People are lucky if the doctors at the clinic can see them within six hours, which means losing a whole day's pay."

"Walter," Shirley said through clenched teeth, as she picked up Davy, "you told me what your hometown was like. I know most of the people there are poor."

"Then how can you not understand what they're offering me? Everyone, and I mean everyone, chipped in to pay off my student loans. They even got a referendum on the local ballot to increase the tax base to cover my loan. They are that desperate to have a local doctor."

"I realize that, but why does it have to be you?"

"Who else would it be?" he asked, as his voice rose in volume. "I know these people, Shirley. I grew up with them. Would an outsider know that Missus Wallace is a diabetic, but it doesn't stop her from baking pies for every church event then eating half of them herself? Would an outsider know that Reverend Hollis, an upstanding leader of the Baptist church has cirrhosis of the liver from the usual cause?"

"No, I guess he wouldn't. But they'd learn, just like everyone else who moves someplace new has to learn."

"Who else would understand the need and want to go there?"

"Beats me." Shirley's cheeks reddened as the venom in her voice surprised her, but she forced herself to meet Walter's eyes.

"I can't believe you are not supporting me in this decision."

That was the last straw. "Unsupportive!!! I have moved heaven and earth to help you and your career, and you're calling me unsupportive?"

"I don't know, Shirley. What's more important to you? Me, or my career?

"I'm not even going to answer that."

"Good. I don't think I could handle it right now," Walter said, as he took the now crying toddler from Shirley's arms and began to bounce him on his hip.

"Where is all of this coming from, Walter? Are you so miserable in the Army that you want to go back home?"

"I have no right to complain about the Army, Shirley. If you haven't noticed, we're in England, not Southeast Asia. I can't complain because I'm treating a General's wife for ulcers, and not ass-deep in mud in an Army hospital on the front lines."

Shirley paled at his words. "They wouldn't ship you out there. They couldn't...

"They could, and they would. The only reason I'm here is because the right people like me. It's not right," he said, as if far away, "Other guys, no better than me are putting their lives on the line to save the lives of others. It's not right."

"Of course it's not right, Walter," Shirley said, as her tone softened perceptively. She took a deep breath before asking her next question. "This is about Jeff, isn't it?"

Walter's hands tightened around his son, as if reflexively. "Yes. And no. He was a great guy, Shirley. I wish you could have met him."

"Me too," she replied, with a sad smile.

"It's not fair. He was a better doctor than I am. Hell, he was one of the best surgeons that ever came out of Army Med. He wrote me a letter, Shirley. He probably wrote it a few hours before his unit was shelled. He had such big plans... He was going to resign and join the Peace Corp after his hitch was up. He was tired of seeing so much death and only being allowed to treat people that wore our uniforms..."

Shirley said nothing, but pulled her husband into a tight embrace. She tried to drown out every other sensation but the feel of him against her. He trembled slightly in her touch and it frightened her to her core.

Long moments went by before Walter gently pulled away from her, to stare at her with reddening eyes. "I know what I'm asking you to do isn't easy, Shirley."

"No," she whispered, "No, it isn't. I love you, Walter, but I don't know if I'm ready for the life you now want me to lead. I don't know if I can handle another life change right now."

He looked away, and swallowed noisily before meeting her eyes again. "I know. I just don't think I can lead the life you want us to lead anymore. I'm sorry, Sweetheart."

Shirley drew back from him. "Maybe we both need some time to think things over, Walter. I mean, we both realize that neither one of us is leading the life that we thought we would. Maybe some time apart would do us both some good," she sniffled, as she ignored the tiny shrieking voice in her head that cried out for her to hang on to her doctor and never let go.

The neutrality of his nodding head, sent a chill though her.

FIN


To "Nashville Skyline Rag"
To "Desertion"










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