Monday
Jinny awoke gently to the delicate morning sunlight slipping through the gaps in her drapes. As she stretched her arms above her head and yawned, she realized that she had fallen asleep on her couch. A great blanket was spread over her, and although she was puzzled as to the seeming deliberateness of her sleeping location, she assumed it must have been for good reason.
She swung her legs over and pulled the blanket off, folding it into a neat square before laying it over the back of the couch. She wore a pastel-yellow nighty, her husband’s favorite. Rubbing her eyes, she headed upstairs.
The bed was made, so she couldn’t have gotten up to sleep elsewhere in the middle of the night. The couch must have been by choice.
Running her hand lightly along the covers, her thoughtful daze was broken as she reached the headboard. The window to the right of the bed seemed off-color, as if it wasn’t letting in as much light as the window on the left side.
Jeremy must have replaced it without telling me, she thought. Although I can’t remember when it was ever in need of replacement. I’ll have to ask him about it when he gets home. Less than a week now. Jinny smiled and did a little turn, kicking her heel up and skipping merrily out of the room, her nighty fluttering around her.
Downstairs again, she headed for the kitchen. Pots hung from the ceiling above a polished rosewood table. Jinny couldn’t remember the last time she had seen her table so clean; it shone pleasantly in the pale sunlight.
A beautiful day can really make you notice these things, Jinny thought happily.
She danced across the kitchen floor and opened the fridge. Inside was a plate with a full meal on it: chicken and ham with gravy on the side, sweet potatoes, and coleslaw, covered with Saran wrap. A wine glass sat beside it. The sticky note that leaned against the base of the glass read:
I guess you fell asleep before our dinner plans!
I wrapped yours up and brought it over.
I know you’ll make it up to me!
-Teri
Tuesday
Jinny rang the bell and waited, holding two bags of Chinese food. Several seconds later it swung open and a woman greeted her, surprised but smiling. The woman was slightly older than Jinny.
“Jinny!” Teri said, throwing her arms around her. “Well I would certainly say this makes up for it!” Teri gestured to the Chinese food and welcomed Jinny inside.
“I hope it does,” Jinny said. “I felt so bad yesterday when I saw your note! I can’t imagine how I managed to fall asleep at such a time and miss our dinner.”
“It happens to the best of us, sweetie. Don’t feel bad at all!”
Jinny smiled. She loved having dinner with Teri. No matter how bad her day had been, Teri could make things better.
“So how was work today?” Teri said, leading the way to the kitchen. “Mark still giving you trouble?”
“Oh, no,” Jinny said. “Not really. He’s pulling his weight now. I think he sensed how frustrated I was getting when we had shifts together. And I know you don’t buy into it, but I keep going back to the inferiority complex that must come with being a male nurse; I mean, think about it: All your buddies work in construction or accounting or teach at a university, while you wear light blue scrubs and pal around with women all day. It’s got to affect you somehow!”
Teri scoffed. “I tell you every time, Jinny, there is no such thing as a male inferiority complex!”
“Here we go again,” Jinny said while rolling her eyes so Teri could clearly see.
“It’s simply an individual man’s inability to accept the fact that he has a higher level of estrogen than most guys.”
“Teri you’re so mean!” laughed Jinny as she took a couple plates down from the cupboard over the sink. “Mark is just as manly as any other guy out there. He just doesn’t know it himself.”
“I see,” Teri said, extending the duration of the second word. “And is he still threatened by your husband coming home? I seem to remember that you thought he had a thing for you.”
“Oh, I don’t think he does anymore,” Jinny said, removing her wontons from their bag and setting them on her plate. “He’s been acting so strangely lately whenever I bring Jeremy up in conversation.”
Teri took two wine glasses down and uncorked a bottle sitting beside the sink. “Strange?” she asked as she poured. “How so?”
“Well, he just gets really quiet, like he doesn’t want to even hear Jeremy’s name. Isn’t that odd?”
“Very odd, dear,” Teri took her Chow Mein from the little foam box inside her bag and poured in onto her plate. “But I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
“I’m not, really,” Jinny said cheerfully as she set several egg rolls onto her plate. Together they carried their meals over to the dining room table. “I mean, how could I worry about anything when there’s less than a week to go before Jeremy gets home? Really, I’ve never been happier.”
Teri looked at her over the steam rising from her plate and smiled. “Exactly, dear. Exactly.”
Wednesday
Jinny unloaded her clothes from the drier and piled them in a basket. She kicked the drier door closed and marched up the stairs. As she turned the corner to head up the second flight, she noticed a discoloration in the wall at about her knee level. How strange, she thought. Haven’t noticed that before.
Paying little more attention to it, she headed for her room, humming happily to herself.
She sat on the side of her bed and began to fold things, making separate piles for each type of garment. A framed picture of a handsome man in a military uniform stood on her nightstand. She regarded it often, smiling uncontrollably.
Thursday
Jinny walked the hallways of the hospital with an extra spring in her step. She turned on her heel and walked into a patient’s room, carrying a fresh meal and some pills in the side.
“Good morning Mr. Stevens!” She said brightly. “Pancakes, eggs, and bacon with a side of antibiotics – I’m jealous!”
“Yum!” said Mr. Stevens, sitting up in his bed with some effort. “Let me at ‘em!”
“Looks like you’re doing better today.”
“Me? How about you, honey? You are glowing today!”
Jinny blushed. “Oh!” she said. “That’s right, I haven’t told you!”
“I’ve been here for three days and you’ve been holding out on me?” Joked Mr. Stevens. “I’m offended!”
“Terribly sorry,” Jinny said, setting the tray on the bed next to Mr. Stevens and fluffing his pillow. “But there is good reason for my mood, you see. My husband comes back from overseas on Sunday, and I can’t help but count down the days.”
“I see!” Said Mr. Stevens. “Well then wear that smile all day long.”
“It’s a promise,” Jinny said.
Friday
“Hello?”
“Hi Teri. Can you talk for a minute?”
“Jinny, why are you crying?”
“I don’t know….It’s silly really. I mean, a month ago I was fine, and that was a month! And now it’s only two days and I should be happy but it just feels like so long. It’s like the closer I get to Sunday the longer each day takes to pass.”
“I know honey, I know. But just think – you’ve made it so long already; think of how little time is left compared to what you’ve already gotten through.”
“I just…I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“And soon you won’t have to. You’re almost there; you just need to stay positive.”
“I’ll try…”
“Do you want some company?”
“That’d be nice. Thanks Teri.”
Saturday
Dear Jinny,
It’s really getting dull here. There is nothing going on and I don’t think I can handle another five hour guard duty tonight, even though I’ve done so many already. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of returning home to you. I look at your picture every night, sometimes for hours. I can’t wait until our life can finally start. All I have here are memories. I play them over and over to keep me sane. Do you remember that night when we slept on the pier? We were the only ones for a mile. I keep replaying that night in my head. When I get home we are going to do that all the time, alright? We will fall asleep under the stars and wake up under the sun. I’ll plan it out tomorrow on our patrol. It’s the last one, thank God. I’m sorry this letter can’t be any longer, but it will have to do – I have to take the first shift tonight. I will see you very, very soon Jinny. I love you. You are in my thoughts always.
-See you Sunday at 8 pm
-Jeremy
Sunday
Jinny spent the entire day preparing for Jeremy’s arrival, as she had requested the day off from work. She danced around the house, cleaning and cooking and singing to herself.
That night she polished the table and set out dinner with two glasses of wine. She put on her yellow nighty – her husband’s favorite – and patiently waited at the table twenty minutes before he was supposed to arrive. Her hands in her lap, sweaty with anticipation, she stared at the empty spot across the table and glanced out the window every couple seconds.
At half past eight she ate her own dinner. It had grown cold. She then went over to the couch and turned on the T.V.
“You know you aren’t doing her any favors,” said a man walking along the sidewalk to a woman beside him.
“How do you know?” said the woman.
“Teri, what you’re doing here is holding her back. You are keeping her from progressing, from moving on. She needs to move on, or at least be given the opportunity.”
“But is this really all that bad?” said Teri. “I mean, she’s happy mostly all week – probably happier than most of us. I couldn’t take that away from her.”
“But she’s happy for the wrong reason!”
“She doesn’t know that,” said Teri, defensively.
“Wouldn’t you want to know?” the man argued. “Would you want to be kept in limbo like this? Even if you didn’t know it yourself, would you want everyone to put on a show for you?”
“You don’t understand. We’ve tried to tell her. I got the girls together last month and we told her. She absolutely lost it. She was hysterical. Smashed a window and kicked a hole in the wall and broke things… I couldn’t see her like that again. I couldn’t do it to her.”
“It’s hard, I know, but you’ve got to try again.”
“It didn’t work, Mark!” Teri yelled. “She didn’t remember! She never remembers. It’s like she just thinks it’s the same week over and over. I had to take the date off of Jeremy’s letter so she would only see ‘Sunday’.”
“How long has it been like this?”
“A few months.”
“Jesus. How do you keep it up?”
“It’s hard sometimes. Lying to her is the hardest part. The window I had replaced and the wall I fixed and painted over; things like that aren’t difficult to hide. But every time I put the dinner she made in the fridge and write her that note….I don’t know how long I can keep it up, Mark, I really don’t.”
“Maybe if she figured it out on her own. Maybe, if you didn’t go over there tonight, she would wake up in the morning and see everything and begin to understand. Maybe that’s the answer.”
“Maybe…”
“What would keep you from just walking home right now? Why couldn’t you try that?”
“I just… I just don’t want to lose her. This could kill her, Mark, it really could.”
“And you think you’re saving her this way?”
“…Maybe I am. Please, just don’t say anything. Not yet. She said you have been acting strangely.”
“I can’t help it. It’s just wrong.”
“Just please, Mark, don’t tell her yet. Not yet.”
“Fine.” Mark began to part ways with Teri, crossing the street back to his car. “You just do what you think is best, Teri.”
Teri watched him go, then she turned around to face the walkway to a house with a light still on inside. Through the window a woman lay sleeping on the couch, the blue flashes of a T.V. reflecting upon her face.
Teri walked up to the door. For a moment she hesitated, her hand on the doorknob. She wanted so badly to walk away.
She turned the knob slowly and went inside, closing the door silently behind her.
