Bound

It was another hectic day at the law firm. Being a legal secretary to three partners is synonymous with not having a life, being overworked, driven to exhaustion. Well, that is how Sarah feels every single day, yet she does it, believing that in life, you must work hard to be successful and live the American dream. She dreams of the day when she can finally retire at 65 with a decent retirement savings and finally do the things she loves to do - like reading, walking to the beach, painting, singing, cooking, traveling the world, and most of all, writing. After Sarah got promoted to Senior Legal Secretary, she has not slept for at least 4 hours a night.

Sarah was ecstatic for the promotion because she has been working tirelessly and needed a break. However, the financial benefit does not outweigh the toll it is doing to her health.

Migraines are the norm. She is lucky if she finishes her lunch while working, and when she gets home, her entire body is in pain due to stress and over work. Sometimes, she sits for an hour or two the moment she gets home, unable to move because her energy has been depleted for the day.

She is a go-getter for sure. If anybody can get things done, you can count on Sarah to finish the projects through. Sarah is in her forties, never married, well she is married to her job so that is not entirely true.

One late afternoon, while working on the expense reports, she walked to the breakroom to catch her breath and grab a cup of coffee.

“Hey Sarah, I need that submitted by 4PM so I get credited for my expense on my last trip.” Jim told Sarah as if she has forgotten about it since he told her that morning.

“Yes, Jim I am on it. Almost finished, actually.” she replied.

“Ok good. And did you see my email about the meeting for tomorrow? I need that set up in the large conference room by the lobby, and I want you to order breakfast from the cafeteria.” he added.

“Sure, I will take care of that.” Sarah said while rolling her eyes inside of her mind as she gets 20 new emails every half an hour for different requests.

Lawyers could be really needy and annoying to say the least. They expect Sarah to get things done instantly after sending email requests after another. Sarah knows better than to complain, after all, she is lucky to have a job. Anyone would be lucky to have a job - no matter how terrible it is, right? Well if they pay $110K a year, one can learn to suck it up.

Sarah managed to get 2 minutes alone in the breakroom as she walked back to her office. The phone rang, and as she was about to grab the phone, she felt numbness on her face and arm.

“Jackson Stone, this is Sarah, how may I help you?” as soon as she finished her sentence, dizziness came over her and couldn’t quite understand the person on the other line. The next thing Sarah remembers is a blackout. There was a thud sound as she hit the floor. Sam, her co-worker saw her drop and he came rushing in. Sarah is unconscious. Sam called the 911 and ten minutes later, Sarah was being transported to the nearest hospital, the Tully Center in Stamford, CT.

It took ten hours for Sarah to regain her consciousness. She opened her brown eyes slowly and looked at the pastel green painting of the room. There were no windows to see if it was morning or night, but she could see the nurses on the left. One of them saw her regain consciousness and came in to check up on her.

“Sarah, right?” the nurse asked.

“Yes. What happened? Where am I?” She tried to speak but her face seems to be paralyzed a bit.

“You lost consciousness and suffered a stroke. You are admitted to the Tully Center.”

Sarah looked at the nurse puzzled as she heard the word stroke. She thought how could I have a stroke? I am young with no serious illnesses. There must be some mistake.

“I am sorry what?” Sarah asked in disbelief.

“Well, why don’t you get some rest for now. We can talk more about it later.” the nurse smiled. The doctor will see you tomorrow morning and will explain your situation to you better.

"Situation? What situation?" Sarah thought to herself. She tried to move her body but she couldn’t. She felt so weak and can’t seem to control her body movements. She took a breath and slowly went back to sleep.

The next day when she woke up, she noticed that the nurse came in earlier and dropped off her food. She was able to sit up this time. She grabbed her tray and started to eat the scrambled eggs and noticed that she was famished. Sarah realized that she hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time. Even hospital food tasted good, she thought.

A guy with blonde hair, looking like Chris Hemsworth, in a white jacket is heading to her room, and she thought that he is too good looking to be a doctor. Surely, he should be a model or an actor, but she was proven wrong as he came in and introduced himself.

“Hi Sarah. My name is Dr. Bishop. I understand you have some questions about why you were admitted here yesterday.” he said

As soon as she locked eyes with his baby blue eyes, she had this weird and crazy feeling that she hasn’t felt in a very long time.

“Yes, um, the nurse said that I had a stroke, but that seems to be odd as I am perfectly healthy and young.” Sarah replied.

“Yes, as that maybe the case, you suffered a stroke in the right hemisphere in the cerebrum. We did a lab work on your blood and it seems that your cholesterol and sugar are high and you are depleted of B vitamins, iron and Vitamin D. It could be a cause of exhaustion.”

Sarah heard what he said and she was not shocked to hear his remarks as she has been neglecting her health for over a decade. She has been eating poorly, drinking too much coffee and barely gets enough sleep.

“Oh, so what should I do?” she asked him

“Well, I am referring you to a Health coach. But for the meantime, I am advising you not to return to work for at least a week or two until we finish some tests and see how you respond to your Health coach.

“But I need to get back to work. They need me there.” Sarah retorted.

“Sarah, I am sure they will get by. You need to do this or you might suffer another stroke and you might not be so lucky.” Dr. Bishop reassured her.

“You will get discharged probably in three days after we get the tests done. For the meantime, I am recommending you to take some much needed rest and I ordered IV supplements for you to take. Don’t worry, we will be checking up on you.” he said.

“Will you be checking up on me?” she said and followed up with, “I mean, is there another doctor that will be seeing me or are you solely assigned to me?” she said, trying not to sound pathetic.

“Oh, I am all yours. Finish your breakfast and get some rest.” he smiled.

"All mine?" All kinds of thoughts were running through her head. She tried not to act giggly and said casually, “Ok, Dr. Bishop, thank you.”

Sarah got discharged on Thursday and when she got home, she got a phone call from work, telling her that they are letting her go as they need someone immediately to cover her work. That was a hard pill to swallow as she had given the firm everything she had and they couldn’t even give her some time off. She stared at her window for most of the day, wondering what on earth could she do now as her right arm is slightly paralyzed from the stroke. Certainly, she can’t go back to be doing the same job as it is slowly killing her.

Luckily, she had saved about $75,000 on her savings so she will be ok for a while. She needs to move out of the city of course, as the rent is outrageous. It would eat up her entire savings in a year or two.

She looked at her notes from the hospital and saw that she has an appointment with the Health coach tomorrow on Zoom. She sat down on her favorite chair and wondered how she is ever going to get through this. She noticed a small black book on her shelf and she walked over and grabbed it. She went back to her chair and opened it. The first page is a handwritten note that says:

“Dear Sarah,

Like attracts like. You are so much more than you could ever imagine. I am giving you this book and hopefully you will read it someday as I journey on to the afterlife. I am sharing with you the secrets to my happy life. I hope you see the beauty within you just as I did. Remember, love and magic move beyond time and space, which means I will be with you forever.

Love,

Angela Signore”

Several tears fell from Sarah’s eyes as she remembered her dear friend, Angela. The one true person who cared for her. She passed away two years ago and forgot about the book all this time. She was a beautiful soul and was always there for Sarah. They were childhood friends and the best of friends. Oh how she misses her! Sarah is now sobbing as she remembers the good old days and how much she meant to her. She needs her now more than ever.

When Angela was alive, she lived a full life. She owned a successful business and managed to have a balanced and centered life. Sarah held the book to her heart as she thought about her. She turned on the next page and noticed a piece of folded paper.

She opened it and it was a note from Angela.

“Dear Sarah,

I know that when the time is right, you will read this note and I ask you to humor me and follow my instructions carefully. Do you remember Café Brioche in Portsmouth, NH? We used to hang out there when we attended the University of New Hampshire. It was our favorite place to get our coffee and chocolate croissant. Oh I wish I can go with you still, but you have to do this on your own for now. When you get there, see the owner, Mrs. Smith. I left her a package for you. Please don’t waste anymore time. I need you to get this package as soon as you possibly can. I love you dearly and I have watched you for the past decade losing yourself. All you did was work. The bright, intelligent, funny Sarah that I knew went away. You need to find yourself back and I know just how. Take a trip out of your busy life and do me this favor.

Love,

Angela Signore”

"Well, I can’t drive with my right arm like this. But I can take the train or an Uber. What do I have to lose?" Sarah thought to herself. She packed her bag and made up her mind that she will go on this quest tomorrow first thing after breakfast. If it means so much to Angela, then it is worth it.

Sarah got on a train to New Hampshire, and then took an Uber to her hotel in downtown Portsmouth, the Marriott. She had forgotten how quaint and beautiful Portsmouth was. The Fall leaves looked incredible as she walked by the locally-owned stores and restaurants. She decided to take a stroll from her hotel to Café Brioche. She remembered how to get there like clockwork. She was relieved to see that the café is still there after all these years. She walked in and smelled the perfect aroma of roasted beans filling up her lungs.

Sarah went up to the counter and asked if Mrs. Smith is in.

“Who shall I say is asking?” the barista asked.

“Please tell her that Sarah Demeters is here.” she replied.

“Ok sure, if you would wait for a moment.” the barista said.

Sarah looked around as she waited. She thought that the café looked exactly the same as she remembered it. It still has the same magic.

“Sarah, oh Sarah! So good to see you!” A petite woman appeared and gave Sarah a hug before she could say anything.

“Oh Mrs. Smith! So great to see you too! How are you?” Sarah asked.

“I am well, thank you. It has been a long time. I see you finally saw the note from Angela? She told me all about it.” Mrs. Smith replied. “ I have a package for you, Sarah. Here it is. Have a cup of coffee. Stay awhile.”

“I am afraid I can’t. I am exhausted from my trip and my doctor told me to rest.” Sarah said.

“Doctor? Are you ok, Sarah?” Mrs. Smith asked.

“Yes, yes, I am fine. Just need to rest you know?” Sarah said convincingly.

“Ok dear. Get some rest and do not be a stranger! I have been waiting for you.” she said.

Sarah got back to her room and laid down for about an hour before opening the package.

Slowly sitting up, Sarah grabbed the package and untied the bow of the box. The box was wrapped in blue satin cloth, Angela's favorite color. She opened the box and there she found money, $20,000 in cash and some notes. She opened the note that said, “Open me first.”

“Dear Sarah,

Thank you for coming and fulfilling my wish. Inside this box is $20,000 in cash and some familiar notes that we have written back in college. We said that we were going to conquer the world and live happily ever after. Do you remember? My wish is for you to remember your dreams. You will see that there is a note here that you wrote. In it, you said, you want to be a writer. You wanted to travel, fall in love, and write stories that empower and encourage people. Somehow, your path has changed. You are trapped in a world that you do not belong to. I want you to take this money and travel so you can fall in love with yourself and live all over again.

My dear Sarah, I am sorry I am not there with you. I wish we can grow old together but alas, my time has come. Live the life that you want. Life is short and I don’t want you to regret living a life half dead. Please read the little black book in its entirety. I left my most cherished secrets there for you to prepare you for a life of abundance, happiness and love.

Your best friend,

Angela Signore"