Night Watch, Part 17

(Continued from previous episode. Sorry for the long delay. My wife and I took a little Northwest vacation. We started in Bellingham, WA, where I gave a talk at Village Books that was nicely attended. Many thanks to those who supported the event. Over the next few days we visited Anacortes and Whidbey Island and did lots of nice walking on scenic trails. In Anacortes we attended the big arts festival, on Whidbey we went to a nice little farmer's market in Coupeville and bought nice organic vegetables. It was a pleasant long weekend. Now back to work!)

David lifted his sleeping son out of the car seat and carried him into the house. Angela's father waited in the doorway.

"Hello, Buddy," said David. He shook Buddy's hand and stepped into the bright foyer, decorated in kiwi-colored wallpaper and crowded with umbrellas, shoes, hats and coats. The house smelled of pasta and cookies and coffee. Buddy wore slippers and dark slacks and a white shirt; it was his office attire.

Buddy closed the door. "They're upstairs calling Doris."

Aunt Doris was Olivia's mother. "Where's Olivia?"

"She's staying overnight at the hospital. Doris is with her."

David placed Tony on the sofa. "That's unusual, isn't it? For a miscarriage?"

Buddy motioned to a chair. "Have a seat." David sat on the sofa next to Tony, who continued to sleep through the conversation. In his gravest tone, Buddy said, "Something happened."

"Like what?"

Buddy's anger rose as he struggled to find the words. David's mind filled with dreadful possibilities. "Something hit her in the stomach."

"Something? Or someone?" asked David.

"She's not saying, exactly, at least not yet."

"What do you think happened?" asked David, already knowing the answer.

"Frank."

Frank was Olivia's husband, a handsome house painter with a mean streak that flared when he drank. He had been dropped from a couple of jobs for showing up late and starting arguments with other workers. David thought he was the most boring person on the planet as soon as Olivia met him and was astonished when she actually married him. At family gatherings, David often found himself backed into a corner by Frank and forced to listen to his latest tale of being cheated out of something by an employer, or having something stolen from him, or having an auto mechanic overcharge him, and in every case Frank had a vague 'plan' to get back at the person. His story would be sprinkled with phrases like, 'he don't know who he's dealing with,' or 'that guy better watch his step.'

"Do you think he hit her?" asked David.

"There's no doubt in my mind," said Buddy. "What I can't figure out is why Olivia is protecting him." His head of wavy hair was streaked with gray. He sat on the edge of his seat with his hands propped on his knees, like he was anxious to get up and do something.

David had to admit he could picture Frank in one of his mean drunk moods, getting into an argument with Olivia and striking her. He also knew that Olivia was no cupcake to live with, but David couldn't say that. Olivia was family. She was right no matter what.

At that point, Angela and Natalie came down the stairs. Angela's eyes were red. Buddy looked at them. "Well?"

"Visiting hours are over," said Natalie. "We're going to see Olivia tomorrow." She went directly to Tony, who was curled on a cushion with his eyes closed. Natalie gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Look at my sleeping angel."

"Is she all right?" asked Buddy.

"She had some surgery," said Natalie, shaking her head. "This is bad. This is real bad."

"Did she say what happened?" asked Buddy.

"Doris says he hit her."

Buddy slapped his knee angrily. "I knew he would do that. Didn't I say it? That Frank has a short fuse. I know the type."

Tony opened his eyes, bewildered, and let out a cry. "Look what you did," said Natalie. "You woke up the baby."

"It's okay," said Angela. "He'll go right back to sleep." She lifted Tony to her shoulder and cooed softly in his ear. "Come on, Sweetie. Let's go night-night." She tiptoed back up the stairs.

"What did Doris say?" asked Buddy.

"She said Frank punched Olivia in the stomach. Hard."

Buddy stood up, unable to sit any longer. "That guy's a hot head. I told Ed that."

Ed was Buddy's brother and Olivia's father. In the Tortorich family, your nieces and nephews were like your own.

Buddy gestured with his hands, like a minister giving a sermon. "How could he punch a pregnant woman in the stomach?"

Natalie had no answer.

The next morning, Buddy agreed to stay with Tony while David drove Angela and Natalie to the hospital. Buddy was thrilled to have some grandfather-grandson bonding time. David was worried that they would go on a fishing trip or buy tickets to a Giants game.

Upon arriving at the hospital, David followed Angela and Natalie through the lobby and up the elevator and down the corridor to a nurse's station. As they walked, Angela and Natalie made small talk, but their faces said the rest: they were worried about Olivia. David suspected there was more to the story; some important detail had not been passed to him.

The nurse led them to a room filled with morning sunlight. Olivia sat up in bed. She was weak but smiling. Gone was the bravado that was her trademark. Doris stood up from a chair as we entered.

"Hi Aunt Doris." Angela hugged her. Doris was a short, wide woman with dark hair and flowing, silky clothing. There was a certain kind of woman that the Tortorich men married, and Doris and Natalie were from the same mold, although it could be said that Natalie took better care of herself.

"You shouldn't have come all this way," said Olivia from the bed as Angela hugged her.

"Nonsense," said Angela.

David dutifully hugged Aunt Doris and then gave Olivia a kiss on the cheek. He noticed the absence of the full body hug that she usually greeted him with.

"Where's Tony?" said Olivia.

"Bonding with his grandfather," said David.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I can only imagine where that will lead."

"I'm trying not to think about it," said David.

Angela pulled a chair up to the bed and sat and held Olivia's hand. "You look good," said Angela, although to David she looked anything but good.

"That's funny; I don't feel good," said Olivia.

"How did the surgery go?"

Olivia didn't answer. Her face broke up and she began to cry. Tears sprung from her eyes and slid down her pale cheeks. "I'm never going to have a baby. Ever."

Angela held Olivia tightly. Olivia's whole body shook; her shoulders and back rose and fell with each release of stored-up emotion. She cried hard onto Angela's shoulder: a loud wail of anguish. David fully expected half the nursing staff to come rushing in the door. Doris and Natalie both sniffled into tissues drawn from their purses. To David it was as if someone were lifting a curtain to reveal a secret. He knew what being a mother meant to Angela. It was one of those life events that she absolutely had to experience. But he hadn't known that Olivia felt the same way. He hadn't expected her to feel the same primal tug toward mothering that Angela felt. And yet, the strength and depth of her feelings was evident. David wondered if it was a universal fact about being female: if you are cheated out of motherhood against your wishes it is a devastating thing.

David stood respectfully with Natalie and Doris. There was nothing to say. Olivia had to cry it out. Finally she pulled her head up and blew her nose several times and contributed to the pile of tissues that had collected on her nightstand. She drank water; her regular breathing resumed. She composed herself to speak.

"Frank came home late," she said. "I could smell the beer on his breath. That didn't surprise me. But I also smelled something else: a woman. He was with a woman. I could tell. We got into an argument about it. He denied it, and called me a nosy bitch. I slapped him on the face. And that's when he punched me, low, in the abdomen." She placed her hand over the area of the blow. "I thought my insides caved in. I fell down and screamed. He didn't even help me. I yelled at him to leave. Then I reached the phone and called 9-1-1." She took a deep breath. "The fetus was alive, but they had to abort it because the wall of my uterus and my cervix were damaged. They're useless now."

Olivia fell on Angela's shoulders for another bout of crying. Natalie spoke. "Don't dare tell Buddy any of this. He'll kill Frank."

"Same with Ed," said Doris. "They don't need to know the details." Both Doris and Natalie looked at David, like he was the one who required emphasis on this point.

"They won't hear it from me," David said.

Olivia smiled and recomposed herself once again. "Now I'm ready to leave the hospital."

Doris said, "Why don't you come home for a while? We can worry about your apartment later."

"Thanks, Mom. It's good to have family."

***

As David drifted off to sleep in the recliner in his living room, he could hear Olivia's regular breathing from the sofa. He wondered to what extent she was reliving her experiences. She had promptly divorced Frank and filed assault charges against him, but he got off with a fine and some community service. He harassed her for a while--it was a hectic six months for the whole Tortorich family--until he had another girlfriend, and then he left Olivia alone.

But all of that was not what stayed with Olivia. It was her lost baby. As soon as Angela's current pregnancy started, Olivia became depressed and had to go for counseling. They talked and cried for hours on the phone. It was exhausting for Angela, because Tony was extremely active and David worked long hours. At times Olivia became angry at Angela, and accused her of flaunting her pregnancy. Angela had to be careful not to emphasize her growing belly whenever they went to visit family in New Jersey.

But now, here they were. There was no denying Angela's condition: Olivia had to accept it and help out, or else go home. She seemed surprisingly calm all evening. But David knew she was struggling.