My glorious days with Lenny were passing swiftly, and no attempts on my part to hold on to each moment were able to change that fact. We were blessed with warm, sunshiny weather so that we were able to be outdoors doing all those wonderful romantic things I loved so well.
We went to the Botanical Gardens and walked hand in hand through the pink profusion of cherry blossoms that had burst into bloom, the beauties of nature all the more wondrous because we shared them together. We packed a picnic lunch and went down the drive by the Hudson River to watch the water drift by, as we fantasized what it would be like someday when we could get married. We found we both wanted a girl and a boy, and that we agreed on how to bring them up—with firm discipline, open love, and common sense. We hiked across the George Washington Bridge and gazed at the city skyline, marveling at how beautiful it looked from a distance, where you couldn’t see the poverty and the dirt. We talked about questions for which there seemed to be no answer, like why some people seemed to have everything, while others were poor and sick and suffered every day of their lives. I was touched when Lenny told me that sometimes he felt so bad for other people that he’d have to struggle to keep from crying.
These times and these talks I had with Lenny served to help me understand the reasons why I loved him so much. There was no one else I could talk to from the depths of my soul, no one else who could share his innermost thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears so openly with me. What Lenny and I had was special. That’s why I tried so hard to hold on to each moment, to etch the memory of each kiss, each touch, each loving word so deeply in my heart that it could carry me through the next period of time without him that I knew was coming all too soon.
On the last Saturday of his leave, Lenny received notice of his acceptance in a six-month training program to become a communications technician. The school was located in Florida, which sounded very far away to me, but Lenny was happy with his assignment.
“Florida sounds far, but it really isn’t so bad,” he tried to assure me. “There are planes going between New York and Florida all the time, and I’ll be able to come home for long weekends. And the school is exactly what I wanted. Do you know how great field communications is with all the technology being developed now? With what I’ll learn at school, I should be able to get a terrific job when I get out of the navy!”
I began feeling better about his assignment. I saw how serious Lenny had become about making something out of his life since he had been home. Wherever we went, he brought along the workbook he was studying to prepare him for his high school equivalency diploma test. He knew the math really well, and he was always asking me to help him with the points of English grammar where he was the weakest. At the rate he was going, I had high hopes he would pass the test.
That night Sheldon threw a party at his house in Lenny’s honor. Most of the kids in the neighborhood showed up, including some I hadn’t seen for a while, like Danny and some of the other boys who had been away at college. Even Roz and Fran made an appearance.
“We only came because it’s Lenny’s last weekend,” Roz announced loudly when they arrived.
“Come on, Roz. You don’t have to make excuses for coming to our parties,” I said to her. I couldn’t understand why Roz, after all this time broken up with Sheldon, still obviously felt funny about attending functions that had anything to do with him.
Fran had no such difficulties. She went from boy to boy in the crowd, laughing and flirting with them in that way that came so easily to her. She even spent quite some time with Lenny, talking to him earnestly in one corner of Sheldon’s living room.
I spent the time Lenny was occupied with Fran dancing with the other boys. Lenny didn’t really like to dance very much, and I loved to, so it was good that Fran was keeping him busy, I thought as I danced with Danny. But by the time I had danced with Sheldon, Louie, and Nicky, I found myself feeling annoyed at how much time Lenny was devoting to Fran.
“Hey, Lenny, you haven’t even danced one dance with me yet,” I finally went up to him and said. “How about it?”
“Well, if it means that much to you,” he said reluctantly. “As soon as I have a little snack.”
Lenny’s little snack consisted of a huge double-decker sandwich, with everything you could think of on it, and a pile of corn chips. He wolfed the food down in record time, and washed it all down with two cups of soda, then followed me out to the dance floor.
A fast record was playing, but that didn’t stop Lenny this time. He really got into it, moving and gyrating across the floor until I laughed to see him.
My laughter ended abruptly as Lenny’s movements slowed, and I noticed this pained expression come across his face. What could be wrong? I wondered. Then his hands clutched at his stomach, and I knew the answer. His stomach, the pains he had been having in the navy—they must be back again!
“Lenny! Are you all right?” I asked anxiously.
“No-oo,” he groaned. “My stomach—it’s killing me. Come with me into Sheldon’s room, Linda. I’ve got to lie down for a while.”
I went with Lenny and sat with him while he tossed and turned, trying to find a position that would be comfortable for his body to lie in. I brought him some ginger ale, hoping that would relieve the pain, and when that didn’t work, I brought him hot tea. Nothing seemed to help. Lenny was sweating profusely now, and he felt hot to my touch. I was sure he had a fever. I felt so helpless. This was the first time Lenny had ever been sick in my presence. I didn’t know what to do!
There was a knock on the door, and Sheldon poked his head inside. “Is everything all right? Lenny’s been in here forever, and I kept noticing you going back and forth, Linda.”
“No, everything isn’t all right,” I told him. “Lenny took sick suddenly. He’s got this awful pain in his stomach, and I think he’s got a fever as well.”
“Where does it hurt?” Sheldon asked nervously. “Could it be on your right side?”
“It could be.” Lenny’s voice was thick with pain. “It’s so bad now that it seems to hurt all over, but I think it started on the right side.”
“Hmm. It sounds to me like appendicitis,” said Sheldon. “I had it myself when I was about eleven, and it felt the way you’re describing. If it doesn’t get better soon, you ought to go to a hospital and get yourself checked.”
“It’s not going to get any better.” Lenny’s voice was practically croaking now, and he paused to take a deep breath before going on. “It’s been getting steadily worse since I first felt it. I can’t wait any longer. I’ve got to go to the hospital, now!”
“How are you going to get there?” I asked fearfully. “The closest hospital is almost a mile away, and I don’t see how you can make it there the way you’re feeling.”
As if to prove me wrong, Lenny made an effort to sit up, only to topple over again. He clutched his stomach and groaned with pain.
“He needs an ambulance,” Sheldon said, his face ashen. “We’d better call one immediately.”
“Wait!” Lenny gasped. “I’m in the navy now— I’ve got to go to a naval hospital. Get Saint Alban’s on the phone, Linda, and see if they’ll send an ambulance right away!”
* * *
I was so worried about Lenny, I couldn’t sleep that whole night. No sooner would I doze off than images of the way he looked—doubled over, his face etched with pain as the attendants helped him into the ambulance—came to mind, and I was wide awake again.
If only I could have gone with him to the hospital! At least I would have been with him; I would have been there to see what was going on. But the ambulance driver had refused to take me, and Saint Alban’s was too far away for me to get to on my own so late at night.
“Go home and get some sleep,” Lenny had managed to say to me before they took him away. “Call my mother—tell her why I won’t be home. I’ll call—soon as I’m able to.”
The ambulance attendant had closed the door, and the driver pulled away. I stood there, staring after the ambulance, totally unaware of the crowd of kids that were there behind me, until Fran came and took my arm.
“Come on, Linda. There’s nothing more anyone can do for Lenny. Roz and I will walk you home.”
“You don’t have to—the party,” I protested.
“I think the party’s over for tonight,” Roz said firmly. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll come, too,” offered Danny. “You girls shouldn’t be walking the streets alone this late at night.”
I was really grateful for my friends’ company as we walked together. They might not fully understand the way I felt about Lenny, but they were here for me now when I needed them.
When I got upstairs, I did as Lenny requested and called his mother to tell her what happened. “Oh, my baby! My poor babyyy!” She began to shriek hysterically as soon as I mentioned the words ambulance and hospital. I tried to calm her down with very little success. She began plying me with questions about every little detail of the evening, wanting to know exactly what Lenny ate and drank and what were his exact movements before he got sick. I only got her off the phone by telling her that if she called the hospital, they would probably tell her his condition.
Talking to her got me even more upset. Nervously I paced back and forth in the kitchen. My mother heard me and came out of her room to see why I was still up.
“Linda! You look pale as a ghost. What’s wrong?” she asked as she wrapped a robe around her nightgown.
I hesitated, knowing that my parents were capable of using Lenny’s illness as one more reason I should have nothing to do with him, but I wound up telling her all about what had happened with Lenny. Surprisingly, my mother was actually understanding.
“What a frightening experience that must have been for you,” she said sympathetically. “You must be so worried about him. Why don’t you do as you advised Mrs. Lipoff and try calling the hospital? They might have a report on him by now.”
But when I called the hospital, all they would tell me was that his condition was “stable.” I had no idea what stable meant, other than they didn’t seem to think he was dying. It wasn’t enough to allow me to sleep peacefully that night.
I must have fallen into a deep sleep toward morning, because I didn’t even hear the telephone ring. The first thing I became aware of was my mother’s voice calling, “Linda, wake up, Linda. Lenny’s on the phone!”
“Lenny!” I hopped out of bed, immediately wide awake. I ran to pick up the phone. “Lenny! Lenny! Are you all right?”
“I seem to be. It wasn’t appendicitis. The pain went away, and they couldn’t find anything wrong, so it looks as if they’re going to release me.”
“Release you? After the way you were so sick last night? I don’t understand, Lenny. What could have caused severe pain like that? And what made it go away?”
“What made it go away was the pain medication they gave me. One shot and I was out like a light. And when I woke up this morning, the pain was gone. The doctors couldn’t find anything, so they figured it was a severe case of indigestion. They want to watch me a little longer, but if I can handle lunch okay, they’ll send me home.”
“But, Lenny—this is so scary. I can’t believe indigestion could have made you as sick as you were last night. What if it’s something serious, and they haven’t been able to find it?”
“I can’t think like that, Linda. I’ve got to hope that this will never happen to me again. I’ll tell you one thing, though. You’ll never find me pigging out on junk food again—never!”
“Sure, sure.” I couldn’t help laughing. I knew Lenny well enough by now to realize that when it came to food, his self-control was nonexistent. And I wanted so much to believe that the doctors were right and there was nothing seriously wrong with him.