Chapter 3...Found and Lost
He stood alone beneath the pier.
Antonio stared into the black stretches of the ocean. He flung the flattest
rocks he could find into the sea, but the tide was too rough, and buried them all
before they could skip across the moonlit water.
A freshman English flashback struck him. A half-smile creeped across his
lips..... Isn't it so symbolic.........
It was symbolic alright....of his life in general. But most of all, his drowning
heart and soul.
He felt a cold tear trailing down his face as he tossed another rock. It
disappeared, crushed beneath the tide. He could almost feel himself sinking
beneath the waves. That was what happened everytime he tried to get close to
Gabi. And that was the way it would be....forever.
He had tried so hard to do the right thing. Well, Father Antonio had, at
least. To reunite Gabi and Ricardo....to find the strength to let go of the night
that still haunted his dreams and give her to his brother. To move on. But every
now and then, the man he really wanted to be broke to the surface, gasping and
reaching for the woman he loved. The man who wanted to laugh and dance the
tango.....seranade her with bad renditions of Styx songs, be a little impulsive
now and then, and lift her up to the stars.
But the guilty priest...the facade... always pushed that man beneath the
waves again.
It all came back to her as she walked towards him.
The eve of her first attempt at marrying Ricardo.....
"I have to say goodbye to you, but I can't.........."
She remembered holding him here beneath the pier, and not wanting to let
go.......
God.....this can't be happening again......
She folded her arms and sighed. All her life, she had tried to get men to
love her. Now she was trying not to love a man....
Interlude The man dressed in OR scrubs
ducked into the intensive care unit at South Bay. He glanced at the disheveled
man sleeping in the bed and whipped out a cell phone.
Ricardo opened one eye, unnoticed by him.
Jake: Yeah, it's me. Your trusty thieving protege. I swiped the allograft stuff
you needed from the hospital. Yeah, I'm still here. Nah, nobody's around.
Phillip: Get out of there, you moron! This plan might go off without a hitch
unless you set off somebody's pacemaker with your damn cell phone!
Jake: Tell me this. Why do you get to hunt down this Torres guy while I'm
stuck running your errands? Besides, the guy's a priest. Heh. He'll probably be
dragged away willingly.
Ricardo raised an eyebrow.
Phillip: Thanks to the "Torres Guy," Jake, I don't have a pleasant enough
face to blend unnoticably with the medical community!! Now deliver those
supplies to the Power Plant, now!!
Jake: Alright, alright. The Power Plant. Got it. Francesca is as
good as alive again......
He slipped out the door, and Ricardo's mind spun into detective's mode.
Francesca was as good as alive....stolen med supplies....dragging away
Antonio?? It made no sense.
He reached for the call button. There had to be some way he could tell them
he wanted to see Spence and Ruiz! The nurse had left a clipboard and a pen.
His left hand just might be strong enough to write....
His shaking hand froze as he began to push the button.
No. I can't.....I won't. Antonio wants to betray me? Then I don't
give a damn about him. Whatever's gonna happen to him, he deserves. And
hell. This might just delay my sham of a wedding tomorrow..............
Ricardo's lip quivered into a semi-smile. There was only one thing he owed
Antonio....
Silence..............
Gabi: .....I thought I'd find you here.
He heard her voice and trembled. He tried to look at her abruptly,
emotionlessly.....but his cold stare melted into adoring eyes....as always.
Antonio: How'd you narrow it down? I sulk just about everywhere.
Gabi: You were so sweet to me tonight, Antonio....
Antonio: Gabi, don't....we both know I crossed the line.
Gabi: ..... I tried to deny the obvious....but...all this time, you've been silently
dying inside and you didn't tell me?
Antonio: Why? So I could try to sabotage your relationship with Ricardo
again?
Gabi: Can't you see? How can I marry Ricardo if it means I'll have to kill
you? How can I be happy for the rest of my life watching someone
I....someone I care about having pain for breakfast, pain for lunch, and, and a
sensible pain dinner??
Antonio: (rolls eyes) Spare me the Slim Fast analogy, Gabi. I think I'll live.
Gabi: Maybe you will, but he won't...
Antonio: Who?
Gabi: The man I danced with tonight at the Deep. The person you only show
to me. I can't watch that part of you die!!
Antonio: It's the part of me that has to die, Gabi!! It's the only way you can
have a future.
Gabi: Is it?
Antonio: Gabi, what does it matter? You don't love me. Please....if you love
Ricardo as much as you say you do....just go.
Gabi: I can't.....I can't leave you like this!
She ran towards him and tripped over a rock buried in the sand, and flew
into his arms.
Antonio: You know....I'm beginning to think that God has a twisted sense of
humor about all this.
Gabi: What makes you say that? All the strategically placed objects he
throws in my path whenever we're together?
Antonio: No, I mean how it's luckily always you that falls instead of
me.
Gabi: Oh, very funny. I think it's about time you were the faller, and I was
the fallee.
Antonio: (wistful smile) Too late.....
She looked into his sighing eyes and felt incredibly sad. At that moment,
she hugged him as tightly as she could. Her fingers caressed the back of his
neck in a way that sent tremors down his spine and made him feel as if he could
drift off to sleep.......
Gabi: Antonio.........what am I gonna do with you?
Antonio: Well, I have a list......
Gabi lingered in the embrace and cleared her mind of everything. She had
to answer the million dollar question...the one that haunted her sleep, filled her
with guilt at Ricardo's bedside, the question that she had tried to prove wrong
tonight. She let everything go and searched for what was in her heart for the
man she held in her arms.
And then she knew.
Ricardo was the first man she had ever loved. And Antonio would be the
last.....
Oh, Lordy, Lordy..........
A black van was parked beside the boardwalk that led to the sandy
place beneath the pier were they were locked in each other's arms.
Phillip put down his binoculars and loaded the cartridge into the silver barrel
of the tranquilizer rifle.
Phillip: Well, well, well.....at least now I know why Francesca's attempts to
seduce Father Melancholy failed so miserably. Apparently she was a bit too
tall for his tastes. Ah, yes. He's right where I can get the clear shot of
a lifetime. But what to do about Punky Brewster? Hmm......I suppose she'll get a
sedative in the neck as well.
Nothing matters....as long as I get Francesca's unsuspecting donor.
He aimed.......
Gabi looked up at Antonio.....her almond eyes shined with longing. He
gazed back at her, half-frightened of what he could feel was about to
happen....he instinctively started to lean towards her. She could feel him holding
his breath in anticipation. Lighting began to light up the sky.......as if it was born
from this electrifying moment.......and their lips slowly met. She felt chills all
over her body as the slow, gentle style of his kisses came back to
her....memories became solid.......it was real again. They broke from the kiss,
shivering.
Antonio: (Amourously catatonic) Wow.....that was.....that was just like biting into a York Peppermint pattie, wasn't it...........
Gabi: Antonio...there's something I have to tell you........I..........
The madman squeezed the trigger.
Antonio: Aggh!
He felt like a subway train had collided with the back of his neck....his whole
body flinched in pain as he grasped at her tightly......
Gabi: Antonio??? My god, Antonio, what's wrong??!
Antonio: I don't know.............I don't know............
I'm having a stroke. My God.........am I finally getting what I deserve?
She was already becoming an edgeless blur as his head began to
spin.......she struggled to hold him up as he went listless in her arms.....
Gabi: No!!! Not you too!!! Look at me, Antonio! Come on, tell me what's
happening to you!!
Antonio: Gabi....
He half gasped her name, and fell forwards on her like deadweight. She
struggled to lift him off of her, and as she propped up his head on her lap, she
cradled the back of his neck....and a tranquilizer dart fell into her hand.
Gabi: Oh my God!!!!
She looked around in horror. This was the sort of thing that happened in all
the cop action movies she and Ricardo used to go to. But who had shot it??
In the darkness, the headlights of a car flashed in the distance.
Gabi: (shaky voice) Oh no....oh God.........come on, Antonio....we've gotta
get the hell out of here.........
A rush of adrenaline possessed her. She slung Antonio's lifeless arm over
her shoulders and hoisted him up as best she could, and began to stagger away
from the pier towards the beach, struggling to carry him.
Gabi: Ughhh.......now don't take this the wrong way, Antonio....but my Gaad
you're heavy!! Just hold on.... I'm gonna get help....I'm not gonna leave you.......
It got harder and harder to run beneath the weight of his body.... it became
more and more overwhelming as she stumbled ahead, always glancing behind
them in terror to see if the predator that stalked them was near.
Gabi: I can't give up.....you'd never let me down.........
Frightened tears trailed down her face. She staggered behind a lifeguard
tower and prayed that they couldn't be seen.
She lowered Antonio to the sand and propped him up against the tower.
She nestled her head against him, and huddled up as tightly as she could in the
darkness..... breathing wearily, exhausted. She gazed at his soft features,
caressing her fingers against them......and a longing whisper escaped her lips
that had once been said to her.........
Gabi: I can't lose him......not now.......I love him.........aaaagh!!!
A dart had pierced her forearm.
She fought unconciousness as hard as she could. Darkness flashed over
her eyes as she grasped at his hand........
Gabi: No.......Antonio...........I can't .............I.........can't leave you
alone..........
She sank to the sand, her hand still clutching his.
Phillip: Hmmm hmmmm hmmmmm..............
He stood over the lifeless bodies in victory.
Phillip: So. The little woman loves the priest. What a romantic
tragedy! You'll wonder what happened to him.....the poor sap.......and you'll
never know. You'll toss in uneven sleep, unsure of whether he's alive....or
dead.....forever an open wound in your heart.............just like what happened to
me after that watery night...........
Czech mate, Father..........I'm getting back everything you took from me.........
Antonio's dark hair was sullied with sand as Phillip dragged him away. The
moment Gabi's still hand slipped off of his, it started to rain.
TO BE CONTINUED......;-)
