Work Text:
Priscilla's Present
by Mummiehelen
Priscilla knew Elvis was on a downward spiral and had been for a the last seven years.Even though she had medical power of attorney, she just didn't know what to do about it. Until she heard about the doctor. Brianne Mason was something of an urban legend in L.A. Some people doubted she even existed. But that was because she was a recluse.
She not only had a medical degree but, advanced degrees in bio-chemistry and nutrition. She'd left the medical community because of differences with hospital administrators to go into private practice--- very private practice. She built a clinic based on holistic treatments and nutrition to treat patients whom other doctors had given up on for one reason or another. Priscilla was put in touch with a former patient.
"Oh yes, Dr. Mason exists alright."
"I'd love to have her treat Elvis. He's out of control and even his own doctor can't treat him."
The woman gave her the information and she called the doctor herself. After a brief conversation, they set up a meeting.
*****
Priscilla sat across from the doctor who appeared to be a lot younger than she expected.
"Do you think you can get him out of Graceland undetected?"
"I still have access. I could come in around the back after he's taken his sleeping pill with a van and a wheelchair."
"I can provide skilled help to get him out. I'll be up the road waiting to transfer him."
So after spending the afternoon discussing Elvis, the plan was made. Elvis often didn't go to sleep till almost dawn. That was one of the few times there weren't crowds at the front gate. Priscilla could use her remote to open and close it without witnesses or setting off the alarms. She'd drive the van around the back.
Because of his weight and problems with his legs, ( in recent concerts, he wore knee pads under his jumpsuit to protect his joints when he knelt) he now slept on the first floor in a room off the kitchen that had originally been servant's quarters and had its own bath and small sitting room.
She cut the engine and tiptoed to the back door, punched in the code and went inside. She could hear the 'boys' just down the hall playing cards with the television blaring. She signaled for the two strapping orderlies to follow her to Elvis's room while she returned to the van for the wheelchair. They lifted him with great care and set him in the chair, covering him with a blanket. He stirred briefly but, didn't rouse from his drugged sleep. They loaded him into the van. Priscilla fixed his pillows and covered them with the bedspread so it looked like he was still there and closed the door. She went out the back way, wiping the knob after she was sure the door was shut. She got behind the wheel and drove out, thinking that it would be the last time either of them would pass through the custom made gates with his likeness and music notes outlined in wrought iron.
Chapter Two
Elvis woke understandably disoriented. This was not the royal blue and ivory room he'd gone to sleep in. In fact, this didn't look like a room at all. The walls curved into the ceiling like a cave and there were no windows.The space was illuminated in orange tones, like a sunset and came from an unknown source. There was one opening which was lit in normal, incandescent white. He got out of bed carefully and headed toward it and was happy to discover it was a bathroom, which he needed. After relieving himself, he caught his reflection in the metal mirror. He slid his jaw from one side to the other but no matter how he moved it, it was still soft and saggy.He washed his hands, splashed his face and looked around.
There was a set of sliding doors with a closet behind them. Inside were a robe; slippers, pajamas and several sets of sweat pants and shirts. Opposite the sink,was a glassed-in shower with multiple heads as well as a hand held sprayer next to an unusual looking tub. It was upright and square with a door and a seat.Closer inspection revealed whirlpool jets. He thought that might be nice. He loved a good soak but it had become difficult for him to get in and out of the standard bathtub that was there when he bought Graceland. At the age of twenty one, it hadn't mattered. As he got older and heavier though, he wouldn't admit he needed to change it.
He came back to the larger space, wondering what was next. A woman was waiting.
"Good morning." she said pleasantly.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Brianne. This is my place and you are my guest."
"What is this place?"
"My clinic."
"My attorneys have been instructed not to pay ransom."
"You aren't kidnapped. This was arranged by Priscilla. She's very worried about you."
"I was still removed from my home without my consent."
"Would you have given it?"
"No."
"She thought as much but, you *did* give her medical power of attorney."
"What about my public. Don't you think they'll miss me?"
"You could hole up at Graceland and your public wouldn't know if you were there or not.Now, I'd like to examine you."
"You'll do no such thing."
"We can do this the easy way or the hard. It's up to you." she said, hinting that she had help if she needed it.
He relented, donned one of the sweatsuits and was taken to an examination room where he was given a thorough physical. The doctor listened to his heart and lungs. She checked his blood pressure, pulse and reflexes among other things, including drawing blood for analyzing and determining his BMI ( Body Mass Index). Afterward, he put the sweats back on and met Brianne in the hall outside the examination room.
"We'll begin each day with a revitalizing bath followed by breakfast, rest , exercise, lunch, treatments and rest, a tonic or detoxifying bath, dinner and relaxation before a final soothing bath and then to bed.Since you had to be examined this morning, we'll start today with breakfast."
And so began the stages of his recovery, which followed the stages of death. First there was anger. He was furious when he realized he couldn't order Brianne around and couldn't leave his light controlled environment,except to follow the schedule the doctor had made for him.
She led him to a lushly planted solarium where a table was set for one with a frozen melon smoothie.
"This is it? This is my breakfast?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes."
He studied it a moment, then picked it up and hurled it toward one of the large tubs holding small trees that lined the room.
An orderly who stood at the door started to come in. Brianne stopped him with a wave of her hand.
"I had hoped you'd behave as a Southern gentlemen while a guest in my home but, since you've shown you can't..." she said, nodding to the orderly, who came forward and picked him up and started walking him out.
Like many of her staff, Frank had been a competitive body builder whom she'd trained as a physical therapist in order to handle stubborn patients without either getting hurt. He took Elvis back to his quarters. If he wanted to sulk in self-righteous indignation...let him.
Brianne visited some time later to be greeted by a ravenous Elvis.
"I suppose you're going to let me starve."
"The decision not to eat was your own." she said calmly.
"Well, can I have something to eat now?"
"As long as you understand two things. One, I don't have anything here that's even remotely close to your former diet and two, you behave like an adult and stop destroying my property. That was a Waterford parfait dish you shattered."
"I'm sorry. I guess I was surprised that that was my whole meal."
"A certain amount of bad temper can be tolerated and I was giving you the benefit of the doubt but, if you continue, I'll have to resort to using prison issue tinware."
"I wouldn't like that. I'll behave." he said with a rueful smile.
She gave him soup and salad,then told him the results of the tox screen she ran on his blood sample.
"The painkillers found were Morphine and Demerol.Chloropheniramine, an antihistamine.The tranquilizers Placidyl and Vailum.
Four drugs were found in "significant" quantities: Codeine, an opiate, Ethinamate, usually prescribed as a "sleeping pill," Quaaludes, and a barbiturate, or depressant, that couldn't be identified. Also Diazepam, Amytal, Nembutal, Carbrital, Sinutab, Elavil, Avental, and Valmid were found. That's quite a cocktail."
"All prescribed by my physician." he said defensively.
"That combination, in those amounts should never be in the system at the same time, especially outside a controlled setting, like a hospital. Also, your BMI is over 40, making you class three obese."
"Meaning?"
"Normal would be around 25, almost half your body weight is fat."
"I guess I could see that for myself."
"That's mostly fluid retention, which will drain with treatments."
Brianne patiently tolerated his temper tantrums and foul moods as the toxins, excess fluids and drugs were eliminated from his body.
Despite what he considered involuntary confinement, Elvis actually enjoyed the pampering which began that day with a remineralizing seaweed wrap. It jump started the healing process by replacing much needed nutrients.The paste, made of powdered seaweed and water was brushed on, he was wrapped in a mylar blanket and left in the comfort of his room. The temperature had been raised for the wrap to do its work and was followed by a short nap and revitalizing ginger,lemon and parsley bath in the tub in his bathroom. Other treatments he'd receive during his stay included various massages; facials, hair and scalp treatments and herbal steam baths.
After dinner and some conversation with the doctor, he had a soothing bath with neroli oil, which acts as a tranquilizer and sedative. Then he went to sleep for the first time in recent memory without the aid of sleeping pills. As he drifted off, he had to admit, he was already starting to feel better.
Still, there were times when he was difficult.
"I'm the King of Rock and Roll!" he thundered at her one day when she felt his body had recovered enough to start some gentle physical therapy and exercise.
She got within an inch of his face.
"I've treated *real* kings. You exist on the whim of the public so let's just get past this and do some work."
After that,he did his routine, upper body one day, cardio the next, then lower body after that with a day off to rest but,once the novelty of using the high tech equipment wore off, he got bored.
*****
Next was denial. By this time, his hair had grown out a little and the roots were a combination of gray and his original light brown. This annoyed him cause he was so used to the shoe polish black color he'd worn for so long and he wanted a touch up.
"I think it's time you realized your old image is just that...old." she said in reply to his request.
It wasn't just the color. He didn't want to see the grays. He was too young to have gray hair.
Then he tried negotiating, banking on his once considerable assets to charm her. She conceded, or so she let him think. He wanted to get out and she was planning to let him see the outdoors now that his body clock had adjusted properly, he was slimming down and gaining strength.At first it was just for walks but, he got to see what part of the country they were in. The area was a desert surrounded by mountains. Once he realized he wasn't leaving till his treatments were done,he quit trying to figure out how to escape. He wasn't even sure where her property ended or where he'd be if he could get off it but, he was full of bluster anyway.
"This is beautiful country." he said as they strolled along a path.
"It's one of the reasons I wanted to settle here."
"Was it also because of the isolation?"
"Yes.Surely you can appreciate the need to remove people from their usual environments in order to treat them."
"We're outside. What's to keep me from just leaving now?"
"The desert is three days to civilization in any direction on foot. I suggest you pack some provisions."
He had no idea they were that isolated.
"Why are there no windows in my room?"
"It's to reset the body clock, which was particularly important in your case."
"Yeah, I guess I did have my days and nights backwards."
"It's happens easily enough when you work nights."
"And the colored lights?"
"I've used the lights successfully many times. It's part of resetting the body clock in that I needed different moods from you throughout the day. White for clarity when you woke. That helped tremendously when the drugs were clearing out of your system. Orange for stimulation, which helped to re-educate you in various ways. Yellow when you needed energy for physical therapy and later, exercise. Green for after your sessions to bring your body, mind and soul into harmony and blue for healing and calm.
"I *did* sleep well when the room was blue." he said.
"Yes, I believe blue has the greatest direct effect. The others are more subtle but, just as useful."
She added horseback riding and swimming to his 'ala carte' exercise which helped when he fell briefly into a depression, missing all the unhealthy, fattening foods and the things he indulged in when he was at Graceland.
There he ruled with absolute authority and went into a bit of a funk when it finally dawned on him, it wasn't going to happen here.Finally, there was acceptance when he saw the results of Brianne's treatments.
Chapter Three
He thought he could be released at that point and was quite surprised when Brianne informed him that their journey together wasn't over.
"What do you mean?"
"The first part was to bring your body back from almost complete decimation.There was damage to every system. Now I have to re-educate you."
During his recovery, she'd kept him on a very controlled diet. Now she could reintroduce some of his favorite foods in healthful ways, like fried chicken which was now dredged in an herb infused coating and baked with a little butter. His favorite peanut butter and banana sandwich was retooled to open faced, whole grain toast spread with organic peanut butter topped with banana slices.Corn fried in bacon grease was replaced with fresh corn on the cob served with a bit of unsalted butter. Fried favorites in general were either baked, broiled, sauteed or eliminated.
As the months passed, his hair grew out and was cut by the same stylist who had shaved him from the beginning.His mutton chop sideburns were long gone and only the ends of his hair were still black. A few more trims and it'd look as if he'd never started coloring it.
They continued their daily walks and she often joined him for horse back riding. In addition, he worked with a trainer who used yoga stretches to keep his joints limber.
One day when they were out for a walk, he brought up the subject of karate.
"I think you're in shape to handle the rigors of martial arts training and I know just who to bring in to work with you." she said.
A few days later, a man who went by the single name of Kim arrived and set up a former dance studio to his own specifications. He liked that the walls were lined with mirror panels, it allowed him to study his student from different angles. He covered the floor with mats and used shelving to house pads, weapons and breaking boards.
Elvis balked at having to go back to the beginning but, Kim reminded him that he needed to retrain his body. Unlike Brianne, Kim brooked none of his moodiness or temper tantrums.If he wanted to train again, he would do as his teacher instructed!
"You lack discipline." Kim said after Elvis did his warm-ups half heartedly.
"What?"
"You're playing at it but, this isn't one of your movies where you get to do all the chop chop stuff."
"What are you talking about?"
"I could tell by your stance when I watched those films, that they let you skip steps and do only what you wanted. This is a dojo and I am a shihan, a master instructor. You will do all the steps. That includes meditation, the junbi undo or warm ups and stretches before you get to practice with a partner. If you want to get to that point, you 'will' find the patience and discipline.If you do, I'll add hojo undo or supplementary exercises."
Though it took great effort of will at times, Elvis summoned the discipline to do everything his master instructed.
*****
In the beginning, after he realized why he was there, Elvis concentrated on getting better. He'd always prided himself on the fact that he was good at anything he put his mind to. Now that he seemed to be in optimum condition, he began to wonder what the outside world thought had happened to him and asked Brianne about it.
"Priscilla has taken care of that. You can discuss it with her when she picks you up."
"When will *that* be?"
"In a couple of days."
"A couple of days? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I find if patients know too soon, they tend to get anxious."
"Will she be taking me back to Graceland?"
"Elvis, it was my task to give your body what it needed to heal itself. Where Priscilla takes you isn't up to me. I only hope that wherever you are,you'll continue to practice the good habits you've learned here and live a happy, healthful life."
During the next 48 hours, he went through a gamut of emotions. He was looking forward to seeing Priscilla again of course but, also a little wary of going back 'outside'. He felt safe at Brianne's ranch. It had become his sanctuary. Now he wasn't sure what Pris had planned. Perhaps simply not knowing was the worst part.
Epilogue: Six Months Later
Long after the world thought The King of Rock and Roll died on August 16, 1977, John Jessie Garon and Priscilla were married and living a quiet life in the countryside of upstate New York.She'd arranged for his name change, using one of his favorite screen personas,Johnny from Frankie and, plus his twin brother's name.
*****
Elvis and Priscilla walked hand in hand down the main street of the small town their home was just outside of. Being able to do so had taken months. Years of being isolated from the public had given him an acute case of agoraphobia, so that walking down the street terrified him. He had thought it was because people would recognize him and that was a legitimate concern but, it was mostly due to the fact he'd been away from any kind of normal existence for so long.
He could smile now and feel comfortable as people passed them with no more than a nod for a neighbor.
"I remember once you said you'd give a million dollars to be able to walk down the street without being recognized and getting mobbed." she said.
"That was at a time when I thought it'd never happen."
"How does it feel?"
"Wonderful." he added with a rueful smile."You have to admit Pris, it was a huge change in the way I lived and I don't just mean the bad habits I had. I mean performing. I loved the interaction with the audience."
"You realize of course that all you'd have to do is sing and people would put two and two together. No one else has a voice like yours."
"I guess that means I won't ever be able to sing in public again."
"No, that belongs to your former life but, I was thinking, now that we're settled in our home and it's unpacked and furnished, I thought we'd travel. You know, have a chance to see all those cities you played when all you could do was go from the plane to the hotel to the theater, back to the hotel or the plane and on to the next city."
"You mean do what we're doing now, just walking down the street?"
"Yes, and in all the great cities of the world you couldn't go to with the colonial."
Col. Tom Parker wasn't an American citizen and therefore couldn't apply for a U.S. passport. So they never left North America. Priscilla had taken care of all Elvis' paperwork, including a passport in his new name.Now they could go wherever wanderlust took them.
"Thanks Pris, thanks for giving me this chance."
"I couldn't tell you at the time cause I don't think you would've believed me but, I didn't divorce you cause I stopped loving you. Quite the opposite, I don't think I could stop. But I was losing you, to your career and all that went with it, to your buddies, to the things no one could stop you from indulging in. I couldn't watch it any longer. I thought that would be it. Then I heard about Brianne and after talking with her, I had hope."
"That she could take my sorry, stubborn butt and whip me into shape?"
"Her reputation is based on the fact that she doesn't care *who* you are.If you can be healed, she'll find the best way to bring it about."
"She sure didn't take any of my guff." he chuckled.
"Aren't you glad?"
"I am now."
"Then why don't we finish our shopping and head back home so we can figure out where we want to go first and start making plans." she said with a dazzling smile.
*****
Now that Brianne had successfully treated another wealthy patient and had been handsomely paid for it, she did as she always had. She spent the next several months at her free, inner city clinic. It was staffed year round with like minded physicians but, she loved being 'hands-on' with these patients. It gave her the balance and perspective she sometimes she lost when caring for patients one-on-one. She'd need to replenish that for the next one...whomever it may be...
The End