Ashes to Ashes (55 page)

Ashe began to sob but refused to turn off the
message.

Another voice spoke. “A strong woman till the
end, your wife seems to be, Dr. Walters.” Steven Reynolds had a
high pitched range to his voice. It was a voice that had been
burned into Ashe’s brain, where it would remain until he died. “But
she is wrong. Undeniably so, I am afraid. It is your fault. All of
it. What is happening to your wife is because of you and no one
else. You get that…
doctor
? Her life may be coming to an end
in only a few minutes, but you have years to live with what you did
to her. I hope it hurts. Just promised me one thing, doctor.
Promise me that you won’t take your own life. I wouldn’t want your
guilt and anguish to end before it had run its course. That would a
shame…and a waste.”

There was a few seconds of silence.

Steven Reynolds returned to add, “You can
find her at The Sunset Inn just a couple miles from the North
Campus of YSU. I’m sure it won’t be hard for an intelligent man
like yourself to find. And don’t worry, I will be long gone by the
time you get here. It was nice meeting you, Dr. Walters. And I am
glad we could have this last talk. Maybe you could even save this
message and play it once in a while, to remind you how your wife
suffered and died because of
your
actions. Bye-bye.”

The definitive click of the ended call was
the last sound to be heard and caused Ashe to nearly fall to the
floor beneath his weakened knees. He held himself up by leaning his
weight against the nearby counter top. He reached his hand out
toward the erase button, as he had multiples time before. And like
those time, he never pushed it.

“I should have saved you, baby,” Ashe forced
through his clenched throat. “I should have been there to stop
him.” He thought about the black and gold container and the pill
that was inside. If it was true…if it was true…why couldn’t he have
had it in his possession back then. “If I would have had
that
pill, back then, you could have taken it. You would
have seen that bastard coming.
We
would have seen him
coming. We would have
known.
We could have
stopped
him. I am so sorry. I am sorry, my sweet, sweet Susanne. I’m
sorry.”

Ashe wobbled his way back over to the dining
room table. He collapsed onto his chair.

If he had only known.

Susanne would still be alive.

If he had only known ahead of time.

Before he could change his mind, Ashe picked
up the white pill and tossed it into his throat. He nervously
swallowed. He felt the pill as it slid down his still stiffened
neck.

He waited for several minutes without
anything.

Suddenly, whiteness began to take over his
sight. It started from the corners of his vision and fluidly worked
itself across his eyes, like spreading milk, until nothing was left
but the white. What little sense of self that was left to him,
experienced the sensation of flight. He was both afraid and curious
as he tried to anticipate where the flight might take him and what
he might witness when he arrived.