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- 01/10/2022
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Timothy - 70. Chapter 70
Mom and Dad arrived early Friday afternoon, and Dad had two copies of the newspaper for us. We rode in Dad’s car, reading Rich’s article. “Dad, has there been any feedback on this article?”
“There was a rumor that the school board was thinking of suing the newspaper for printing that story.”
“I wonder what they will say when I file my lawsuit.”
“When are you going to do that?”
“We have one more witness to interview, which we hope to do soon.”
“Tim, are you planning on showing this to Ann Marie?”
“No, but I’ll give it to her doctor and let him decide if we should show her the article. This will bring everything back and hopefully not cause a relapse.”
Arriving at the hospital, we met with Ann Marie’s doctor. Mom and Dad went to her room. I introduced Stephen to the doctor. “I believed I told you that I was planning on suing those men who raped Ann Marie. I had a reporter write an article for our newspaper in my hometown. Here is a copy of the newspaper. With your approval, I’d like to show it to Ann Marie.”
“Let me read it and see how today goes. She knows that you are taking her out to dinner. If that goes well, I’ll think about letting her read this paper.”
“If you’re free, how about joining us?”
“I’ll join you this time since it will be her first time out, but I don’t want my attendance to be a regular event. She needs to be with family and not family plus one.”
There was a small restaurant close to the hospital that the doctor recommended. We went to Ann Marie’s room; I opened the door and walked in. Seeing me, she came and hugged me, “You are alone?”
“No, he’s behind me.”
The doctor walked in, and you could see the disappointment in her eyes, then Stephen walked in. She smiled; I got a hug, and so did Stephen.
“Stephen, I’m sorry for how I treated you when we first met. I’m glad you married my brother, and I’m glad you are my brother-in-law.”
I watched Stephen, and he smiled as he hugged her and kissed her cheek. Looking around the room, everyone was smiling. Somehow, I knew that it wouldn’t be long before Ann Marie would be well enough to be discharged from the hospital.
The restaurant was different, and the menu had only two selections, seafood, and meat. I thought this was strange, but the doctor told us to select one. Stephen and I chose seafood, Mom and Dad chose meat. We waited to see what Ann Marie would choose, and I whispered to Stephen seafood.
We waited. She called over the waiter and whispered something to him. Looking at Stephen, “Fish,” Dad whisper to me, “Five dollars say it’s meat.” “You’re on.”
Dinner started with a cream of broccoli soup, followed by a mixed salad of greens with a flavored dressing. “This dressing is unique, and I don’t think this came from a bottle, and it must be homemade.”
Dinner was served, and Ann Marie ordered fish. It wasn’t ordinary fish, and the fish fillets were stuffed with a mixture of shrimp and crab meat. Looking at Stephen, he had a big smile on his face. I knew this would become a favorite restaurant.
Dad’s meat dish looked good. It was a meat roll stuffed with ground meat and sage gravy. Mom asked if he liked it, and he just smiled. Somehow I knew it would be on Mom’s list, and she would try and make one for Dad at home.
“Ann Marie, did you like your dinner?”
“Yes, Stephen, and Tim, when you and Stephen come and see me, you’ll have to bring me here again?”
I was happy to see her smiling, “Ann Marie, it’s a date.”
Driving home, “Ann Marie certainly has improved. Dinner was fun.”
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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