The Woman Behind the Glass Wall Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  The Woman Behind The Glass Wall

  By

  DB Jones

  In Loving Memory of Linda Murray

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from DB Jones.

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

  Main Characters

  Sydney Parker

  Doctor Jacob Thornhill

  Jacob’s father, Doctor David Thornhill

  Anna - Sydney’s assistant and old friend

  Teddy - Sydney’s brother

  Doctor Brian Payne

  Amy - therapist

  Jenna - Brian’s girlfriend

  Doctor Thornhill’s nurse Maria

  Tyler Johnson - David Thornhill’s younger colleague

  People in the park

  Mrs. Foster – the old woman in the park (real name: Mrs. Farmer)

  The jogger in the park

  The young couple Sydney calls Heather and Luke, that often meet for lunch and walks around the park.

  ISBN- 13: 978-1542363105 (CreateSpace-Assigned)

  ISBN-10: 1542363101

  Copyright 2017 DB Jones

  Introduction

  Prelude

  CHAPTER ONE

  Twenty years later

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  Coming in 2017

  Books by DB Jones

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  About the Author

  Introduction

  “All I can hear is the gentle sound of the rain hitting against the metal awning outside my window. For most people it would be comforting, even relaxing, but not for me. It just reminds me of the day my life changed forever.”

  Prelude

  Momma told us not to play outside in the rain that day. Although it was late, my brother Teddy and I decided to sneak outside while Momma was in the kitchen fixing the Thanksgiving turkey and baking pies for the next day. I knew that she’d be busy and wouldn’t be checking on us for some time. Teddy tapped on my bedroom door. I slowly opened it looking around to see if Momma was watching us. He had his bright yellow raincoat stuffed in his backpack and handed me the blue one that Daddy gave me for my birthday. I hurriedly stuffed mine in my backpack. We crept down the hall, opened the cellar door and tiptoed downstairs, carefully avoiding that one step that always squeaked.

  The cellar had a door to the back yard that Daddy always used to bring in the wood for the fireplace. It was on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen, and we knew Momma wouldn’t spot us as we made our escape.

  Our old two-story white clapboard house with tattered blue shutters sat on a five-acre plot that Granddaddy gave Momma as a wedding gift. Our home was near the end of a long dirt road. There were large open fields on both sides of the house were once his father planted with corn. Across the dirt road was a densely wooded area. Daddy didn’t plant anymore because it didn’t bring in enough money to support us kids and the house, so he took a job in town at the steel mill. He worked long, hard hours and when he came home at night, he’d grab a beer, turn on the TV then plop down to wait for dinner. He sunk down on the old couch draped with an old quilt that Granny made. The TV was so old, that when the weather was bad, Daddy would have to get up and adjust the rabbit-ear antenna to get a picture we could watch. That ought to give you a clue how long ago it was.

  Well, back to my story. Teddy and I put on our rain gear and hiked down the path that led through the woods to the lake. When we started our journey, the rain was no more than a mist, but by the time we arrived at the lake, it was coming down hard. There was an old community shelter nearby that was used for church picnics and family reunions.

  Teddy and I huddled under the shelter hoping the rain would let up soon. We were bound to get into trouble when we got back home. It was already starting to get dark, and as soon as Daddy got home and Momma set the supper on the table, she’d be calling us, and then our transgression would be discovered. Neither of us were looking forward to facing what lay ahead. Teddy began to cry. “Daddy is going to kill us.” He darted out of the shelter and ran back into the woods towards home. I hesitated, hoping the rain would let up soon, but finally, I had no choice. If I didn’t leave then, I knew I might get lost in the woods.

  I pulled the hood of my blue raincoat over my head and began to run into the woods, praying to get to the road before it got too dark for me to sneak back into the house without getting caught. The entrance of the woods was up ahead, but it was too dark to see. I managed to find the dirt road only to discover it was further from the house than expected. The rain beat against me as I tried running in the mud. There were no visible lights on the road. I could barely see the ground. I ran out of the woods in the direction I thought would lead me home. Out of nowhere a car sped around a bend and caught me with his bumper sending me flying and landing just shy of a creek bed. That was the last thing I remembered until I woke up in the hospital.

  Momma and Daddy were sitting beside my bed. When I finally woke up, all I could see were red, swollen eyes and tear-stained faces. Momma grabbed my hand and began to weep again. Daddy stood up next to my bed. I had never seen my father cry before. He couldn’t say a word. His lips were quivering, and his hands were trembling. My brother, Teddy, was sitting in a chair across the room and wouldn’t come near the bed. He just sat slouched in the chair with his head hung low. I wondered why everyone looked so sad and then the doctor came in.

  All I can remember from that point on was seeing my Momma and Daddy comforting each other as words were coming out of the doctor’s mouth that I couldn’t comprehend. It wasn’t until much later when my parents took me home did I understand the magnitude of what happened.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Twenty years later

  “Sydney, it’s time for your therapy.”

  “Thank you, Anna.” Sydney turned her wheelchair around, ran a brush through her hair and rolled up her pants legs.

  “Oh, did I tell you that the doctor was coming with your new therapist today?”

  Sydney clinched her jaw. “No, Anna, you didn’t. What happened to Sandra?”

  “She moved to Seattle to care for her mother.”

  Sydney blew the air out of her cheeks. “Oh, great. Now I have to start all over teaching someone my routine.”

  Anna left the room and returned with a tall, good-looking man with sandy-blond hair and blue eyes. There was a short, slender young woman by his side. “Sydney, this is Doctor Jacob Thornhill. He’s your new doctor, and this is Amy, your new therapist.”

  Doctor Thornhill reached out for Sydney’s hand. “Good morning, Miss Parker.”

  “Doctor Thornhill, what happened to Doctor Casey?”

  “Doctor Casey is retiring, and I volunteered to take a few of his patients.”

  “Well, Doctor Thornhill, shall we get started? I’ll get back on the bed, and we
can go over my routine with, Amy, is it?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I don’t think that’s how we're going to start today. I’d like for all of us to get to know each other a bit first. I thought since it’s such a nice day we’d go outside.”

  “I don’t go outside. There’s no sense just sitting there, at least in here I have my writings and work.”

  “I see, but I think it would do us good to talk outside.”

  “Talk? I thought you were here to observe my therapy?”

  “I’m not here for your therapy. Amy will address that later.”

  She cocked her head to one side. “I’d rather not go outside.”

  He smiled. “Just humor me today.”

  “I’ll give it a try.”

  He started out the door.

  Sydney called out to Doctor Thornhill. “Hey, aren’t you going to wheel me out?”

  He put his hands on his hips and grinned. “I think you are more than capable of wheeling yourself around. Now, follow me.” He turned and headed for the door.

  Are you kidding me? Does he think I should wheel myself outside?

  Sydney hesitated and waited for him to return, but when she realized he wasn’t coming back, she wheeled her chair to the French doors of the balcony. Jacob was standing there holding the door open for her. “Nice balcony you have here.”

  “Thanks,” she huffed as she wheeled up to the entrance.

  “Do you come out here often?”

  “Never. It just reminds me of what I can never do again.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Run in the woods, swim in the lake or feel the breeze on my face as I walk down the street with my friends.”

  He stood looking out at the park across from her place. “What makes you think you can’t do that anymore?”

  “Are you blind? I’m in this chair, and I’m never going to get out of it, so why leave my room and torture myself with what can never be.”

  Jacob leaned against the railing as Sydney remained in the doorway. “Tell me about your childhood.”

  “My childhood?”

  “Uh uh.”

  “Well, I lived with my mother and father, my brother, Teddy and my baby sister, Rosa. We had a home in the country until my daddy died in a car wreck and my mother ended up in a nursing home until she passed away of cancer, that is. The doctors wanted to put me in there, too.”

  “That doesn’t tell me about what you did as a child.”

  She slowly wheeled out onto the balcony and looked out at the park and to the lake across the street. Sweat ran down her back, her hands shook, and she stayed as close to the doorway as possible. “There was a wooded area in our neighborhood and a lake not much bigger than the one over there in the park. I think this is why my brother moved me here. He thought it would help, but it doesn’t, and that’s why I don’t come out here. It’s a constant reminder.”

  “Did you spend much time playing in the woods as a child?”

  “It’s all we did. My brother and I would make forts and pretend we lived in the jungle. Those were great times until…”

  “What about your sister?”

  “Rosa was too young, and momma wouldn’t let us take her out there. Momma didn’t like us being out there either, but we always found a way. Can we go back inside now? I don’t like being out here.”

  “Sure.” He started for the door.

  “Can you help me back inside?”

  He turned to her. “Are you tired?”

  “No.”

  “Then I think you can do it on your own.”

  Sydney spun around and wheeled in passed Doctor Thornhill and sped across the living room back to her room. “I guess we can start my therapy now.”

  She took off the armrest of her wheelchair and hoisted herself up using the trapeze that hung over her bed.

  “You can do quite a bit for yourself.”

  “I do what I can.”

  Amy began Sydney’s physical therapy with flexing her joints then started to stretch her leg.

  “That’s not part of my routine.”

  Doctor Thornhill took hold of Sydney’s leg and began stretching it. “It is now.”

  “Damn!” she hollered.

  He stopped, pushed a little harder and she yelled again. “Do you feel that?”

  “You’re dang right I do. Do you have to pull so hard?”

  He kept up the treatment without saying anything else until he finished then sat down in the chair in the corner of the room and began to document what he had done. When he finished, he put his computer down and stood to leave.

  “You’re just going to leave now?”

  “I am, but I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”

  “That’s it?”

  “It is for now, but when I come back, I want to talk to you about changing your treatment plan.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I think you can do a lot more than you’ve been doing.” He turned and left before she could say a word.

  Anna came into the room after Doctor Thornhill and Amy left. “Well, what do you think of him?”

  “I don’t know what to think. I’d much rather work with Sandra or Amy. I certainly don’t want to work with him or have him dictate how I should do my therapy.”

  “What? Sydney, he’s a neurosurgeon. You should be glad he’s taking an interest in you.”

  “Then he ought to stick to operating on people and leave the therapy to a real therapist.”

  “From what I heard, he only takes on certain patients.”

  Sydney turned her head. “Why did he take me on?”

  “That’s something you’ll have to ask him. Do you want some tea?”

  “Thank you, Anna. Yes, I would.” Anna left and headed to the kitchen.

  “What’s up with this guy? Does he think I’m some charity case or project for his experiments?” she mumbled under her breath.

  Anna brought in tea and set it next to her computer. Sydney had Googled Doctor Thornhill’s name online. “Anna, look at this. Is this the same man that was just here?”

  Anna leaned in over her shoulder. “Doctor Jacob Thornhill. I think so.”

  “I don’t get it. With his credentials, accomplishments, and status as a surgeon, why is he spending time with me?”

  “I don’t know. It does seem a bit strange.”

  Sydney lifted herself into bed and spent the next few hours reading the journals and articles that Doctor Jacob Thornhill had written. When she was finally too tired to go on, she shoved her computer table to one side and drifted off to sleep.

  She dreamed of running through the woods with her brother, jumping off the dock at the lake and swinging from a rope the pastor tied from the tree so the kids could swing out over the water. She tossed and turned in bed and awoke several times only to find herself drenched in perspiration. “I’m as exhausted as if I had been on a run.” A tear spilled from the corner of her eye onto the pillow. “Why did this happen? What great lesson was the Universe trying to teach me by putting me in this situation?” she cried silently.

  The rain that morning beat hard against the metal awning. Every muscle in Sydney’s body ached. She stretched as best she could and tried emulating the moves Doctor Thornhill used on her but to no avail. “Dang, why does it have to be so hard?” She maneuvered to the side of the bed and reached for her wheelchair when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck near the window. The crack of thunder threw her off balance. Sydney tumbled out of bed and hit her leg against the wheelchair as she fell to the floor. “Anna!”

  Anna came running into Sydney’s bedroom. “What happened?”

  “I guess the lightning startled me when I tried getting out of bed and I missed the armrest of the chair.” Sydney tried crawling to the chair then Anna assisted her back into the wheelchair. “I’m sorry, Anna. I know this isn’t easy for you. I don’t know why you stay.”

  “Syd, we’ve been friends since childhood. Your family helped me
when I needed them the most, and you stood up for me when all the other kids in school made fun of me. I’m not about to leave you. Besides, who else would put up with you?”

  “So true. You are a dear. You could have said no, and let the doctors send me to a nursing home.”

  “Over my dead body. That’s not going to happen as long as I’m alive. Your sister and brother would never let that happen either. I wish you’d get that out of that stubborn head of yours. Those doctors didn’t know what they were talking about trying to send you there. Just because you have difficulty getting around doesn’t mean your mind does. Look what you’ve accomplished over the years. You have people waiting for your works. How’s that book coming along? I saw some of the illustrations you did, they’re amazing.”

  “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have my mind and hands. I just wish I could walk and run like all those people in the park across the street. I watch them every day from my window as I work. I envy them.”

  “I can move your desk if it bothers you to see them out there.”

  “Oh, no. I didn’t mean that. I guess I live vicariously by watching them. I see some of the same couples strolling along the paths and imagine what they’re saying to each other, wondering what type of lives they live; do they have families; are they in love or are they just leading a clandestine life enjoying the occasional moments they grab together in the park? No, don’t move the desk. My illusory friendships with them are the inspiration for the stories I write.”

  “I don’t mean to push, but have you given any thought to what Doctor Thornhill said about getting outside?”

  “Except for the occasional hospital or doctor’s visit, I haven’t left this home in years. I’m comfortable living within these glass walls. The thought of encountering strangers out there terrifies me. No, I have no reason to go out there.”

  “Well, if you ever change your mind all you have to do is say the word, and I’ll give this chair a wheelie out the door.”

  “I know you would, Anna, but that’s not my destiny. I’ve accepted my fate. I will never get out of this chair so why torment myself outside among those who are doing the things I can only dream of doing? Thank you for caring. Now I’ve got to get to work. This book isn’t going to write itself.”