Sharon Read online

  “Yes, Sir,” Jeremy snapped angrily and jerked a salute. He backed up to turn and leave.

  “Hold it, soldier,” the General went on. “Capt. Pallister, did you have something to add?”

  “Yes, thank you, Sir. Knowing the serious trouble Lt. Taylor has been in, and knowing the ungentlemanly manner with which he has treated his wife, my staff and I have arrived at a decision. Our recommendation is that Lt. Taylor be required to see Dr. Harrison, who is an excellent psychiatrist.”

  “I concur,” Gen. Huff looked at Jeremy. “This will go into your records. Make sure you make the appointment with Dr. Harrison and --”

  “That’s not fair,” Jeremy interrupted heatedly.

  Gen. Huff continued firmly. “Lt. Taylor, you’d better count your blessings, keep quiet and cooperate. You’re in enough trouble. If your present behavior continues, your rank will be reduced and you could face a dishonorable discharge. You WILL see the psychiatrist. You WILL abide by rules and regulations. You WILL get help for your drinking. You WILL treat your wife with the respect she deserves. You WILL cooperate or what happens to you won’t be anyone’s fault but your own. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” His blue eyes were snapping.

  “Yes, Sir!” Jeremy said with a brazen expression. He again saluted, turned smartly and marched out with stiff, angry strides.

  “I’m surprised he got this far in the Air Force. There’s a young man with a lot of emotional problems. He’s had the world at his feet and doesn’t have the maturity to deal with it,” Gen Huff observed. He sighed and ran his fingers through thick, wavy, gray hair. At five-eleven he was in excellent physical condition.

  Jeremy was in a murderous mood. He accepted the fact that not everyone agreed with him, but chalked it up to their ignorance. He could not accept the fact that he had been disciplined and not allowed to do as he pleased. Too, he was irate that Philip had witnessed his correction and had given his suggestions. Most of all, he was angry at Sharon and blamed her for all that had occurred. Philip outranked him and he could not rave at a superior officer, even one considered a friend. He grinned evilly as he thought of Sharon.

  When Jeremy staggered in the door late that evening, Sharon was hoping for peace. She wanted to know what happened at the hearing, but knew better than to ask. Before she could speak he was screaming at her.

  “Little Miss Puritan,” he raved drunkenly. “You may have other people fooled, but I know you for what you are, and so does my mother. Your friend, old pretty boy Philip, recommended a psychiatrist for me. He must have gotten the idea from you.”

  “Jeremy, what idea do you think Philip got from me? I’ve always been proud of you and supported you.”

  “Not like mom does.”

  Much to Sharon’s relief, Jeremy staggered over to the couch and passed out. She tried to think through what was happening. Obviously Jeremy has told his mother lies and she has encouraged him in his irresponsible behavior. Dear Lord, what shall I do? Maybe it’s time to confide in Dad Taylor, and maybe my dad. I can’t shoulder this alone. Father, where are you? Why have you forsaken me? Oh, forgive me. I know you never leave us. It’s we that leave you. I’ve tried too long on my own. I’m now leaving it in your hands.

  Jeremy roused to see Sharon walking the floor and crying. With a roar he leaped up and jumped at Sharon, landing several blows and kicks as she fell. She rolled screaming across the floor. Jeremy fell over an ottoman as she drug herself up and wobbled out of the house, unaware of where she was going--just trying to get away.

  Jeremy ran out of the house as Sharon fell down the front steps and onto the lawn. He was shocked to see Linda and Philip running toward them as well as other neighbors gathering around.

  He knelt quickly beside Sharon. “Sharon, oh baby, forgive me,” he whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you, but you make me so mad sometimes. It’s your fault. I know I’ve drunk more than I should, but everybody has picked on me today. You should have more faith in me. It won’t happen again, I swear. Please don’t tell anyone or I’ll be in serious trouble. Gen. Huff said --”

  “Sharon! What has happened?” Linda broke in as she fell on her knees beside Sharon. “We heard you screaming.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “What’s going on here?” Philip demanded through gritted teeth.

  “Oh, dear God,” Jeremy groaned. “Sharon, sweetheart, what did happen to you?”

  Sharon could hardly believe that Jeremy was denying what he had done. It’s almost as if he doesn’t know. This is a chance for me to prove to him that I do love him and support him.

  “I--um-- started down the steps and some animal ran in front of me. It startled me and I fell,” she said haltingly trying to breathe through the pain.

  Someone had called for help. Military police and paramedics arrived. Philip’s lips were a tight slash as he pulled Linda to her feet so that medical assistance could be given to Sharon.

  “Capt. Pallister,” Philip turned to acknowledge the lieutenant who lived on the other side of the duplex with Jeremy and Sharon. “My wife and I heard Mrs. Taylor screaming and Lt. Taylor yelling inside the house several minutes before she came out. She was begging him to stop and then we saw her run out and fall off the steps.”

  “Thank you for the information. Will you please tell this to the M. P.? If you know, for a fact, about any other unpleasant incidences in the past, please give that information, also.” Philip was sure this was not the first incident.

  “Yes, Sir. We’ll be happy to help. We’ve heard her begging for mercy before this.”

  Linda and Philip followed Sharon to the hospital. The doctor could not give them much information because the injuries were too fresh and the flesh swollen. Philip explained to the medical staff why Jeremy should not be allowed to see Sharon. He and Linda stayed until midnight and then reluctantly went home.

  Sharon woke the next morning feeling sore and stiff. Her aching heart felt worse than her physical injuries. She hazily became aware of a nurse standing by her bed.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Taylor,” the nurse spoke kindly. “I need to bother you a little to take stats. Your breakfast is on the way.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t think I can eat anything.”

  “You need to build your strength. Besides, putting it in your mouth is a lot more pleasant than putting it through needles and tubes,” the nurse chuckled.

  “I suppose you’re right. What’s wrong with me?”

  “The doctor will be here in a few minutes and he can answer your questions a lot better than I can.” The nurse patted Sharon’s foot and quietly left. Sharon slept.

  “Good morning, Sharon.” She slowly opened her eyes. “How do you feel?” Squinting, she recognized Col Ben Davis, her doctor. “How do you feel,” he repeated.

  “Like I’ve been hit by a speeding train.”

  “That good, huh?” He smiled at her as he sat in a chair by her bed. “Honey, I wish I could say you just need a rest, but it’s obvious you’ve suffered a beating. According to your neighbors, this isn’t the first time. I can’t for the life of me understand why you’ve put up with such cruel, inhuman treatment. Why didn’t you leave him or confide in someone who could help?”

  “You’ve heard it all before,” she sighed. “I truly love my husband and keep hoping he’ll be like he was when we were newly married. Too, I’m not sure how much of the guilt is mine. I knew he had emotional problems while growing up, but I assumed his military training had helped him to mature. Please don’t tell anyone what I’ve said. I must try to help him. Now, what is wrong with me?”

  “First, you can’t help your husband do anything. He’s an adult and responsible for his own actions. He has to recognize that he needs help and ask for it. As for you, you have three broken ribs, a broken finger and numerous cuts and bruises. I’m keeping you on painkillers for a couple of days until you can breathe easier and feel like sitting up for a short period of time. I have to go on rounds, but I’ll be back. We need to have a long talk. G
ood. Here’s your breakfast, and I want you to eat every bite.”

  Sharon dutifully tried to eat the oatmeal, milk and bowl of applesauce, but she choked when she tried to swallow around the catch in her throat.

  Although Sharon slept through Linda and Philip’s brief visit, she was wakening when Jeremy came just before lunch. He placed a vase of her favorite peach-colored roses on the stand by her bed. “Hi beautiful. Wanta’ see these blush with shame? They know they’d never match your beauty.” He continued to babble, but Sharon was too groggy to respond. Too, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say to him.

  “I’ll come back another time when you’re more alert,” Jeremy said as he leaned to kiss her cheek. He left, and Sharon relaxed into the cottony feeling of the painkillers.

  A soft voice repeatedly speaking her name roused her from troubled dreams. She slowly opened her eyes to see a chaplain, Col. Mark Kirkpatrick.

  “Hello, there,” he said softly. “We’ve all been so worried about you. How are you feeling, or is it too soon for you to know how you feel?” he smiled.

  She tried to smile but a groan escaped.

  “Be still, please. I’ll do the talking. I don’t want to add to your hurts and heartaches, but I know what happened regardless of what you’ve said, or haven’t said. People heard the ruckus from inside your house, and the M.P. s saw Lt. Taylor’s bruised hands the night you were injured. You may not realize how loudly you were screaming and begging him to stop, but several people came out in time to see you running out of the front door and fall down the steps.”

  Sharon began to sob and shake, cringing against the pain.

  “Please try not to cry. I know it upsets you, but for your sake, and your husband’s, you must tell the truth. We all know he desperately needs professional help, and the only way he’s going to face facts is for you to be strong enough to tell the truth.”

  Sharon shook her head and turned her face away from him. She was sobbing aloud as a nurse hurried in.

  “Colonel, you’ll have to leave. This is a very sick woman. She must have rest and remain free from stress as much as possible.” He patted Sharon’s shoulder, said a quick prayer and left.

  That evening, gritting her teeth against the pain, Sharon made a person-to-person call to Malcolm Taylor. It wasn’t something she wanted to do, but common sense told her he needed to know what had been happening.

  “Dad Taylor, you don’t know how sweet your voice is. First I want you to promise you’ll not tell my parents what I’m going to say. I don’t want them to worry. I can’t ask you not to tell your wife, but I hope you won’t. Just listen, please.” Haltingly she told him all that had occurred even to the men talking downtown and Jeremy’s anger as he shook her.

  Malcolm made a strangled sound, and his mounting anger was palpable over the phone when she told him why she was in the hospital. Telling him the entire truth, she sensed it was taking all his strength to try to remain calm.

  “Honey, I’ve suspected that all was not well, but I had no idea it was this serious. I’m heart-broken. I’ve known and loved you all of your life and was ecstatic to welcome you into the family as my daughter. I can’t answer for my wife. She’s been wrong in spoiling Jeremy. Honey, your parents need to know. They love you with all their heart, and regardless of how old you are or how far away you live, you’re still their little girl. Your dad is not only my partner, but he’s like a brother to me. They’ll be deeply hurt to learn you told me and kept it from them. However, Jeremy is my son, and I’m partly responsible for his actions. That’s why you called me first. Honey, you need all of us loving you and supporting you as you deserve.” Malcolm could hardly stop talking for his anger. He wanted to be there to hug Sharon and comfort her.

  Sharon couldn’t control her tears with Dad Taylor being so sweet and understanding. Through her wrenching sobs, she reluctantly agreed that he could tell her parents.

  The next day when Jeremy came in, Sharon was prepared to discuss their future, hopefully without breaking down.

  “Darling, something is seriously wrong. Regardless of what you think, I’m on your side. I’ve not told anyone here what happened, but they’re not fools. They guessed, and heard for themselves.”

  “Yeah,” he sneered. “Everyone’s guessed. They guessed after you told them what a monster you married.”

  “No, Jeremy. I’ve never said anything negative about you. Why have you turned against me? No one here knows for sure how badly you’ve treated me.”

  “I’ve treated you!” He jumped up raising his voice. “What about the way you’ve treated me; your neglect of me.”

  “How have I mistreated you, Jeremy?” she asked in surprise.

  “You expect too much from me. I should never have married you, and mom thinks so, too.”

  Sharon looked him straight in the eyes. “You can go on pretending, but you’re not fooling anyone. You’re only fooling yourself. I’ve been willing to lie and cover up for you. I married you because I believed in you and I loved you. Why did you marry me?”

  “Because Miss Pure and Proper would not go to bed with me without being married,” he answered insolently. “And mom thought you’d make good connections.”

  “Is that the only reason?” she gasped.

  He laughed and then like a bolt of electricity it dawned on Jeremy. “No one here knows. What do you mean, no one here knows. Who does know?” he snarled.

  “Your dad knows and by now my parents and Lynn.”

  “How does dad know? Who told him?” he shouted.

  Two nurses, working on records at their station, had looked up when Jeremy raised his voice. One ran into Sharon’s room while the other one called security. They struggled with Jeremy to keep him off Sharon’s bed until security came. He had just slung one nurse to the floor when the M.P.s rushed in. Jeremy fought the two guards while yelling incoherent phrases and profanity as they wrestled him out of the room. They fell to the floor in the hall while they placed handcuffs on Jeremy.

  “Please don’t hurt him,” Sharon sobbed. She was so upset that a nurse called the doctor who immediately ordered a sedative.

  Sharon was awakened in the late afternoon by the sound of the nurses’ starched uniforms moving around. She slowly opened her eyes and then shrieked.

  Chapter Three

  “Glory be! It’s an angel!” Tears of joy streamed from Sharon’s eyes.

  Lynn was standing by Sharon’s bed with misty green eyes. Lynn’s long, dark eyelashes grazed a smooth complexion tanned lightly by her outdoor activities. Shoulder-length honey-colored hair fell in soft curls with a wavy bang over her right eyebrow.

  “That’s enough,” Lynn broke in after several minutes. “We’ve shed enough tears, and they’ll stop right now. Sharon, you’re a beautiful person, inside and out, who has done no wrong. You’re an intelligent person with a tremendous amount of common sense even if you did lose your mind temporarily,” she smiled. “By the way, I want to meet your friend, Linda, and thank her for calling me. She sure is concerned about you.”

  “I know. She and Philip have been great friends. They’re worth a million. You’ll meet them soon.”

  The next day Sharon felt a little better. The two vivacious girls put a sparkle on the whole floor much to the delight of patients and medical staff as Lynn wheeled Sharon through the halls greeting everyone. Sharon rested peacefully that night.

  The next morning, after a bath and breakfast, Sharon was just settled in bed when she heard Jeremy’s voice at the nurses’ station.

  Col. Kirkpatrick and an M.P. were with him as they entered her room. Jeremy sat subdued in a chair by her bed. “I guess you know I’m under arrest. I’ve also lost my officer’s rank and--. Well, never mind. Tell me, how does dad know?”

  Sharon told him of the phone call. Sitting with bowed head in his hands, he said, “I truly am sorry that I hurt you. I hope you heal quickly.” He stood up.

  “Jeremy, I meant it when I said I wanted to save our marr
iage. Will you go with me to a marriage counselor?’

  He stared down at her, shook his head, then left without looking back.

  Megan and Sean came in the afternoon while Lynn was there. “How lovely to see both my girls,” Megan tried to smile. There were hugs all around, but Sharon noticed how her dad was shaking while trying to control his anger.

  Gritting his teeth and clearing his throat, Sean finally spoke. “We talked to Dr. Davis and a Capt. Pallister before we came to the hospital. I hope I don’t see Jeremy or I’m afraid I’d be arrested for what I feel like doing.”

  Dr. Davis walked in. “Good news. If our girl has a good night’s rest and a good check-up tomorrow, it might be possible for her to leave the hospital. I didn’t want to send her back to the base alone, so we’ve kept her here to make sure she started healing well. Too, I was hoping someone would be with her that would love her and care for her.”

  “Dr. Davis, you’ve earned my undying gratitude.” Sean shook hands with him.

  Everything did go well and the next day Sean and Megan took Sharon and Lynn to a hotel where they had rented a suite. Lynn brought them up-to-date on her horse program with the handicapped.

  Later the two girls were alone in their bedroom. “Sharon, are you returning to Ft. Lauderdale or would you be willing to give Zephyrhills a chance and stay with me?”

  “I know I don’t have a future with Jeremy. As much as I hate to, I’m going to file for divorce as soon as possible. Philip has offered to represent me. The University in Tampa sounds good so that I can finish my education and get my degree to teach. If you’re willing to put up with me, why don’t you find a house for me in Zephyrhills and take care of opening it for me. I’ll come as soon as I can.”