Chapter 34
BEGINNINGS
Sarah limped behind the aluminum walker as she navigated from the kitchen to the living room at their St. Louis apartment. She plopped onto the sofa and lifted the lace-covered wedding album from the end table.
“Will you take this man . . ?” she recalled the hospital chaplain saying as she lay on her bed. Fourteen people crowded into her room for the ceremony. In every photograph, Bill stood grinning down at her. How he loves me, she thought.
The alarm clock buzzed like a chainsaw. With the back of his fist, Bill smacked it silent. The afternoon sun flooded their bedroom. He slipped on a pair of socks and laced up his running shoes.
It was time for the afternoon workout.
“Hello, Sweetheart,” she called from the couch.
“Hi, Sarah! How you feeling?”
“The usual deep ache in my thighs. Marsha is coming by in an hour to take me to physical therapy. Where are you working out?”
“I was thinking about repeats on The Slope,” he said. “I feel like hammering.”
He walked to the back of the couch, bent down, and kissed her on the neck. She turned with difficulty, threw her arm over his head, and planted a juicy kiss on his mouth.
“I love you, Bill,” she said. “Have a good run.”
“You’re my Princess,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight when I get home from the theatre.”
Bill Szymczak broke into a brisk run. It was two short miles to The Slope, a monster hill that might help mold him into an Olympian. One fact was beyond question: He was going to try.