Well, I've managed to put another installment together in record time (for me, anyway). To those of you I haven't gotten back to yet, I will, but I figured you'd want me to get this chapter done first. Hope you'll enjoy this one.
My thanks to a lot of people, but a few in particular, especially Karen, who realizes just how badly I need an editor, and of course fellow authors and friends, Sprout and DLS, I love you both--Drewbie for making the days better and DLS for making everything better. SHMILY, sweetie.
The same warnings/disclaimers apply, so back up a few chapters if you shouldn't be here.
And to Joshua, my love always...
"Search and Rescue" by Matt Hunter
Chapter 26
I shut the locker door and pulled my scrub top over my head. I picked up the stethoscope I had placed on the table and threw it over my neck. When I bent over to tie my shoelaces, I saw a massive set of calves behind me.
"Hi, Scott. What's up?"
"Just came in to say hello," he smiled. "I haven't been on since you've been back."
I grinned and stood upright, resting my arm atop the coffeemaker. "Speaking of which, please tell me I don't have to go on leave any time soon. After JC and I got back, I took off almost a month and a half before he had to go back on the road, and I have exactly jack and shit for time off."
He just chuckled. "Nope. As a matter of fact, we sent your replacement back to his normal unit, so you better get your ass back to work. We've got a job to do."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I smiled, "and stop checking out my ass."
He just rolled his eyes and left the room with a smirk. It was good to be back. I finished off my cup of coffee and headed out for the chopper.
As soon as I had my earpiece in place, I could hear Heidi, even over the helicopter's engines. "Welcome back."
I just laughed and positioned my mouthpiece. "Guys, I've been back for over a week."
"Yeah," Scott agreed, "but you're just now back on your regular shift."
"How could time with you clowns be regular?" I teased.
"Yup," Heidi smiled beside me, "he's back to normal, or at least as normal as he gets."
"I love you, too," I grinned.
"I'm sure my husband will be thrilled," she shot back.
Fairly typical night, for us, anyway. We made three runs. One dumbass tried to pass a tractor-trailer on the bridge, and wound up getting wedged up against the wall in his exploding minivan for his troubles. He had extensive burns, and we were hardly surprised when he died in mid-flight. The second one was a two-year-old who'd managed to nearly hang himself with a mini-blind cord. Normally, one of the fire department ambulances would pick up something like that, but they lived way out in the county, and there wasn't enough time. It was pretty routine, and other than being shaken and scared, he was fine before we touched down. Finally, some motorcycle rider played a game of chicken with the highway, and he lost. He definitely wouldn't be riding one of those deathtraps any time soon.
About 5 a.m., I was heading for the sleep room upstairs when my shoulder radio clicked to life.
"Wing-3, this is dispatch. Do you copy?"
Rolling my eyes, I gave up on any hopes of getting home on time and sighed, "Yeah, dispatch. This is three. Go ahead."
"We've got a twenty-nine year old female, thirty-six weeks gestation, with intense contraction pain and major blood loss."
"Copy that, dispatch, but this sounds like a ground call. Are they out of area?"
"Negative, Wing-3. I was told to pass this along to you by Wing-1."
I was puzzled. Why had Scott told them to tell me? First of all, he was the one that gave a thumbs-up to a fly-out, not me.
"Did he give a reason, dispatch?"
"Affirmative, Wing-3. He said you knew the patient."
I knew the patient? Who did I know who was thirty-six we . . . ? Oh, my God. It was Kathy.
"Copy that, dispatch. Tell Wings-1, 2, and 4 to meet on the pad."
"Negative, Wing-3. Wing-1 says they're already there and to get your ass in gear."
"Wing-3 out."
I charged out to the landing area, and breathless, I leapt into the chopper, which began to lift off the moment they saw me. True to form, Scott, Heidi, and Eric were ready to go.
"You better get a roadblock, Matt," Heidi reminded me. "We don't need anything slowing us down."
I nodded. "Dispatch, this is Wing-3. We need a one-six-six-zero at the following location . . . ," I began, finishing with Kathy's address. When my radio went silent, so did everyone inside the helicopter. A sudden sense of deja vu chilled me to my soul.
When we landed in the cove, all the neighborhood gawkers emerged from their homes to see the commotion. I sprang out before we had fully landed, Eric close behind. When we got to the door, I reached for my key, but my ring was in my locker. "I don't have the key!" I shouted.
"I do," Eric said flatly as he charged into the door with his shoulder. The door didn't give.
"You've been watching too much television, rookie," I remarked as I brought my foot up to kick beside the knob, knowing it to be the weakest point of door. As expected, the wood around the knob gave way, letting the brass fall to the floor, and the door swung open wide.
"God, no," I prayed quietly as I rushed to Kathy's side, massive amounts of blood between her thighs, on her nightgown, and down the fabric of the couch. I froze for some indeterminate amount of time. Staring at her unconscious form, I couldn't even see Kathy any more. I was suddenly a teenager staring at a wife about to die, and I was powerless to stop it again.
Eric finally shook me back to my senses, and underneath the strings of blond hair, I saw one of my dearest friends in the world, about to lose both her life and her child's. She had that same graven pallor that Ashley had. The perspiration had dried on her skin, leaving her cool and clammy. She felt like Ashley had when I held her dying body in my arms. I resolved myself then and there that she wasn't going to lose her baby and I wasn't about to lose her.
"What are we looking at?" Heidi asked from behind me.
"Abruptio placentae," I stated matter-of-factly, motioning for Eric to help me carry her outside. We needed to load-and-go.
"Are you sure?" Eric asked.
"Yes, God damn it! Just help me!"
We were back aboard and in the air in less than three minutes. I started hooking up the monitor while Heidi took vital signs and Eric started oxygen wide open. Scott began rattling off questions from the front.
"Does she have PIH?"
"No," I answered. "Blood pressure has always been fine."
"Cigarettes or alcohol?"
"No."
"Cocaine?"
"Get serious, Scott," I barked.
"I had to ask. Did she have an amnio?"
"Weeks ago. Too long ago for retroplacental bleeding from a needle puncture."
"Any mention of a short cord?"
"No!" I yelled. "It's idiopathic! Can we move on?!"
"She's shocky," Heidi whispered quietly into her mouthpiece.
"Sounds like a Class 3," Scott announced coolly as we flew faster and faster towards the hospital.
"No shit!" I screamed.
"Matt calm down, shut up, and do as I say," Scott told me flatly. "I do not need any hysterics hurting our chances at saving her and the baby."
"Sorry," I choked out.
"Okay. Eric, get some labs ready--draw me a CBC with diff, a PT/PTT, and type and cross four units. Just to make sure there's no mistake, draw me a separate fibrinogen, fibrin, fibrin split products, and d-Dimer, and call receiving and tell them to have four units of O-neg ready to hang and the ultrasound tech waiting for us."
Eric nodded, and Scott continued.
"Make sure the non-rebreather is at 15," he told Eric without stopping, "and Heidi, get me two 16-gauges with crystalloids wide open."
"IVs are already in," she replied. "You want normal or lactate?"
"I don't care," Scott answered, while I hooked up a fetal monitor. "There's still a question about using volume replacement before correcting the coagulopathies, but we need to do what we can right now anyway. I need an in-and-out UA, . . . ."
"Got it," I interrupted, producing the specimen cup I had beside me.
". . . gases, . . . ."
"Done," I announced, withdrawing the needle from the artery.
"Okay. Heidi, how are our vitals?"
"Pulse remains shocky, and BP is falling."
"Okay, start Dopamine and titrate up . . . ."
"Done," Heidi told him. "I'm already up to 20 mcg, and I haven't hit the seventies."
"Okay. I don't want Levophed. Too risky in pregnancy. Matt, how's the kid?"
"Baby's distressed, and mom's teetering on v-fib," I answered, wiping the tears from my eyes.
"Heidi, stop the Dopamine. I don't want to add to the cardiac sequelae. Bolus her with vasopressin and titrate up to 0.5 U/min."
As soon as the words left his mouth, we came to an abrupt stop on the pavement below. Receiving grabbed the sides of the gurney and started rolling immediately. Before we were out of the chopper good, the ultrasound tech was on one side and a unit of blood was on the rapid infuser.
"Get OB down here for a stat section!" Scott shouted as he approached the doors. Cindy nodded and grabbed the phone immediately.
Before I knew it, Kathy was gone. They had rolled her to OR, leaving me standing there, helpless, while Heidi rubbed my back and Eric assured me everything was going to be alright.
Somewhere, amidst all the confusion, Cathy had managed to pull up Kathy's information on her computer and called Kevin, who was apparently already on his way. Kathy must have called him. I know he was panicked. He was supposed to be flying in three days from now to stay with her until the baby arrived.
"Dear God, please don't take Kathy away from me," I prayed silently to myself. "I don't think I could survive losing someone else." The tears streamed unimpeded down my face, and I didn't have the strength to fight them. I cried for hours, before exhaustion finally overtook me.
I felt someone running their fingers through my hair, and I strained to open my eyes. My first instinct was to sit up, but someone had placed a blanket atop me. After finally getting untangled, I rubbed my eyes and glanced at who was beside me.
"Kristin!" I greeted, recognizing the blond face smiling at me. I leaned over and hugged her. Though I was happy to see her, I knew that if she was here, someone else was, too.
My question was short-lived, as Kevin rounded the corner with a tray of three coffees. I stood up and stretched while he set the tray down. I walked over to him and hugged him tightly. He kissed my cheek, and I could feel a tear run down the side of my face that was not my own. I pulled away from him enough to wipe underneath his eyes. "I'm glad you're here," I told him.
"Me, too," he agreed, nodding his head.
"I'm glad you're both here," I corrected, glancing back at Kristin. Taking Kevin's hand, I led him to the uncomfortable couch, and we all sat.
"How is she?" he asked me.
"Honestly? I don't know. No one's given me an update since they took her back to surgery."
"They haven't told us any more than that, either," Kevin said.
"I'm really scared," I confessed.
"We all are," Kristin weakly half-smiled.
"I know," I nodded. "It's good to see you again, by the way. I haven't seen you since Kathy left Florida."
"That reminds me," she smiled, "she has to make it, because she owes me half of the clean-up expenses for our apartment. That place was a disaster area."
"If it hadn't been, she couldn't have lived there," I laughed through my tears, grateful for any light moment. "By the way, congratulations on the engagement."
"Thanks," Kevin replied flatly.
"Kathy was thrilled," I told him, trying to focus my mind elsewhere. "Who better to get together than her old roommate and her old boyfriend?"
"I called to tell her," Kristin chuckled for a minute before continuing, "and she told me I was a good rebound relationship for him."
"Never mind the fact that Kevin that dated both of you on-again, off-again at least three times a piece that I know of," I smiled.
"Four," Kevin corrected, "but who's counting?"
"Four," I conceded. "If memory serves, Kristin introduced you to Kathy first, right?"
Kevin nodded.
I started counting for a second, but Kristin grabbed my hand. "Yes, this is number five for me," she smiled.
"Thought so," I grinned, "though you're the first one to get a real commitment from Prince Charming over there. If I'd known you and Kathy would be playing musical boyfriends with him that often, the only kind of commitment you two would have gotten would have been to the nuthouse."
"Get it right," he smiled. "I'm Aladdin."
"Maybe it's not too late for the padded walls after all," I smiled. The smile blanched from my face as a woman in surgical scrubs approached.
"How is she, Maddie?" I asked as I rose to my feet. Shaking my head with realization, I introduced everyone. "Dr. Madeline Sawyer, this is Kevin Richardson, the baby's father, and Kristin Willits, his fiance."
"A pleasure," she smiled, shaking both of their hands, "and both mother and son are doing fine."
"Thank God," I sighed, finally breathing again.
Kevin's tears grew steady as his knees buckled beneath him. I grabbed his arm to support him. "I have a son?" he asked incredulously.
Maddie smiled, "Forgive me, I've never been big on the old school ways, but let me try this again. Congratulations, Mr. Richardson, it's a boy."
"When can we see them?" I asked, Kevin obviously not thinking too clearly.
"In just a few minutes. I'll send someone out to get you," she told us. "She had lost a lot of blood, but once we delivered the baby and got the bleeding under control, both of them improved dramatically. I'm keeping her in intensive care for a few days because we're still titrating vasopressors to keep her pressure up, but once she's had a little rest, I'm positive we can wean her off of them. My best guess is by tomorrow sometime at the latest. I would keep her anyway just to watch for sepsis, DIC, and any amniotic emboli. Otherwise, they both look good and should be able to go home in a few days."
"Thank you, Maddie," I told her, wiping my eyes.
"My pleasure," she acknowledged.
True to her word, one of the OB nurses whose name I didn't know came out to get us. She led us back to the postpartum intensive care rooms. When we walked in the room, Kathy looked like a ghost, but she was alive, she was awake, and she was smiling. We couldn't ask for more than that. I turned my head and sniffed deeply, but it was no use. The tears came anyway.
She outstretched her arms and enfolded them around me. I could feel the abdominal dressing over the cesarean scar, but if it bothered her, she didn't show it. "I thought I was gonna lose you there for a minute," I cried in her ear.
"For a minute there, you pretty much did," she replied, her answer filled with as much laughter as tears. "Thank you."
"Thank you," I whispered, "for not leaving me."
"Would I do that to you?" she laughed. "Besides, Ashley would kick my ass."
Realizing I was monopolizing her, I stepped to the side and let Kevin plant a prolonged kiss on her cheek. He wiped his eyes, which had obviously been crying, even from Kathy's medicated perspective.
"Hey, Kris," Kathy smiled at her friend.
"Hey, Kat," Kristin smiled, stepping forward to take a seat on the edge of the bed. She grabbed Kathy's hands in her own and placed her forehead against Kathy's.
"Excuse me," I heard from behind me. I turned to see another nurse holding a baby in her arms. "But I have someone who feels left out."
I smiled at her and stared in awe at one of the most perfect-looking newborns I had ever seen. I stroked his cheek, and he turned instinctually towards my finger. Any trouble he'd had coming into this world seemed forgotten now. He was swaddled in one of baby blue hospital blankets. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked me.
I just grinned and shook my head. "I think Dad might have something to say about it."
Kevin stood up, shaking his head and walking towards me. "What am I gonna say?"
"That you want to hold your son," I smiled, folding my arms and stepping back.
When the nurse handed the baby to him, the look of sheer wonder that overtook him was truly something to behold. The best way to describe it is that he was truly humbled by the fact that this child was his. I stepped over to the bed and held Kathy's hand. A tear escaped her before she caught it, but otherwise, she sat motionless, smiling at watching Kevin and their son.
Kristin ran a finger across the baby's adorable nose. "He's beautiful, Kat."
"Thanks, Kris," Kathy smiled, even brighter, squeezing my hand.
"Have you decided on a name?" the nurse asked. "I need to get started on the birth certificate."
"Actually," Kathy smiled at me, "Kevin and I argued about baby names a few months back, but ultimately, we never found a combination we agreed on."
"Um, so we're going to call the child `Baby Boy?'" I laughed.
"No," Kathy laughed as she handed the clipboard and pen back to the nurse. "He finally gave in to my superior wisdom and let me pick by myself."
"So you don't even know?" I asked Kevin. He just shook his head.
"I decided on a name that would mean a lot to both of the important men in my life," she smiled. "That's why I decided on Gerald Ashley Richardson."
Kevin and I were both speechless. We were the more emotional pair in the room. Kathy sat on the edge of her bed and pulled both of us to the mattress beside her and into a hug. After sitting there through idle chatter for a few minutes, I had to leave the room. Though so much time had passed, the hurt hadn't, and I was starting to get emotional.
I walked back to the empty waiting room. I looked out at the night sky and the profile of the city in the distance. Pushing my hands into my pockets, I just stood there, motionless, reflecting on my thoughts, I guess.
"Penny for your thoughts," I heard a voice offer as a hand came to rest on my shoulder.
"Hey, Kev," I smiled back to him, turning again towards the window so I could try to regain my composure. "Don't steal my lines."
"Whatever works," he grinned, stepping around me and pressing his back against the window. "Kathy and I talked it over, and we've decided to call the baby Ashley."
A tear was already halfway down my face, and I was beginning to snot up for lack of any better descriptor when I started to laugh. "That's a cruel thing to do to your son, Kev," I smiled. "Are you trying to get him beat up in school?"
"Well, Kathy'd pretty well made up her mind anyway," Kevin laughed, "but I agree wholeheartedly."
"That's sweet," I tried to smile before making a futile attempt to avert my gaze.
"But it hurts, doesn't it?" he asked after studying me for a few moments. It was as though he was reading my mind.
I met his gaze again and just smiled. "A little, I guess."
"I understand," he nodded.
"I suppose you do, in a way," I agreed. "Is that bad?"
"Not at all," he shook his head, "but I think his grandfather would have been proud to have a namesake."
"Ash would have loved it, too."
"Thinking about how things might have been?" he asked me.
"Not in that way," I told him. "It was just when I looked at him a while ago. It brought back a lot of memories."
"Wondering how much different things would have been if Carolyn and Catherine had lived?" he asked.
"You've got a good memory," I smiled. "I think I've said those names a half-dozen times in the last ten years. Yeah, I guess I was. Maybe even a bit jealous. How sad is that?"
"Not much," he smiled back. "You've rushed through the last twelve years, and I'd say it's fairly normal to feel like you missed a lot of the girls' childhood, as well as your own."
I just nodded and stared more intently out the window. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. "Come on," Kevin said softly. "Mom and your new godson are worried about you."
It had been a long night. It was almost noon now, and I hadn't been asleep in well over a day. I was so relieved to get back to the hospital, I could barely walk. I tilted my head forward and let it rest on my locker for a few minutes. Eric asked me if I was okay, and I assured him that despite sheer exhaustion, I was.
I pulled my scrub top off and threw it in the hamper. Loosening the drawstring on my pants, I did the same with them. As I was pulling on my jeans, I could hear my cell phone ringing under my shirt.
"Hello," I answered in more yawn than greeting.
"Is that anyway to say good morning?"
"Hey, hon," I smiled at JC's voice in spite of myself. "Sorry, I'm just beat."
"I know," he told me sympathetically.
"So where are you?" I asked him. "Philadelphia, D.C., Chicago, or Orlando?
I've lost track of my copy of the schedule."
"It's okay. It wouldn't have helped you anyway," he laughed. "I'm in Memphis."
"Good," I grinned giddily. "How long this time?"
"Three days," he replied.
"Better than last time," I pointed out. "Would you mind if I slept through part of your first day here? I don't think I can keep my eyes open one more minute--not even for you."
"Gee, come home to see my fiance and this is the reception I get," he observed sarcastically.
"Josh . . . ," I began.
"I'll make you a deal," he cut in.
"I'm listening," I said cautiously after pulling my shirt over my head and shutting my locker.
"See if Kathy needs a baby-sitter."
"Josh . . . ," I began again, smiling.
"Well, I need some cute guy to hold my interests."
"Very funny," I grinned. "You know, Kathy, Kevin, and I were worried about the confusion Ashley's going to have early on getting Kevin and I confused as `Daddy' because he's not around all the time. I don't think any of us realized that you would be the one he'd most likely think was his father."
"Hey, I'm not that bad," he pouted. "I'm not around that much."
"Let's see--three days this week, Wednesday and Thursday last week, Monday and Thursday the week before, and the weekend before that. Do you really want me to go on? He's only five months old now, but I'm quite sure I can think back that far."
"Okay, okay," he laughed in surrender. "I confess, I love spending time with him. You got to be a daddy. I didn't. Having a kid around that young is new to me, and I love it."
"I know," I sighed. "I'll stop by and pick him up. I'm sure Kathy would appreciate the sleep."
"Good," he said smugly.
I laughed, "Don't get too proud of yourself. Your timing's perfect."
"What do you mean?" he asked intrepidly.
"Some wedding planner Kathy's hired is coming over this afternoon anyway. As long as you're here . . . ."
"Okay, okay," he sighed again. "Is Kathy sure we can trust this woman to be discreet?"
"Apparently," I told him. "She said this guy has the hots for you anyway."
"Great," he added in his Eric Cartman voice.
"I'll see you when I get home," I chuckled. "I love you."
"I love you most," he answered.
"Do not," I shot back.
"Do so," he continued, and so our dialogue continued all the way to Kathy's house.
"We're home," I announced as we came through the door. I threw the keys on the table and lifted Ashley further into my arm as I shook the diaper bag free.
"Bout time," I heard JC answer from behind me as he twisted my head backwards for a kiss while he took the baby into his arms. "Now go get some sleep."
"Why do I suddenly feel like the other man?" I smiled.
"Because you are, maybe?" he grinned back, kissing me on the nose.
Shaking my head, I started into the kitchen for a drink. "Gee," I smirked, "I feel loved."
"You should," I heard JC call from the other room.
"Oh, really?" I asked with a smile. "And why exactly is that? I just get home after a long night of work, my fiance who's only in town for days at a time, and he's rushing me off to sleep."
"Only so I can rush you off to bed later," he grinned. "You're no good to me if you're exhausted."
"Duly noted," I smiled, poking my head around the counter to watch them. When I watch JC and Ashley together, it took my breath away. This man was made to be a father. I turned out the light in the kitchen and stood in the doorframe.
"You're a very lucky little boy," JC said, talking to Ashley like he expected a response at any time. "You have a ton of people who love you."
Ashley just cooed playing with the blocks while "Uncle" Josh supported him against his arm.
"Your mother and father, for one," JC smiled, completely oblivious to the fact that he was talking to an infant. "And don't let it go to your head, but with a gene pool like those two, you're gonna be gorgeous."
Ashley laughed and looked up at him. JC just smiled, and those dimples emerged.
"At last count, I think you've got over a dozen uncles' and a few aunts,' but just so you know where we stand, I'm here to make sure than Uncle Matt and I are your favorites," JC grinned as he handed him one of the umpteen million toys that he and Justin had bought not long after the baby was born.
I just smiled to myself, shook my head, and walked back to the bedroom for a nap. I was asleep almost the instant I hit the pillow. When I awoke some time later, it was dark outside my window again, so I knew I'd been asleep for hours. It didn't get dark this time of year until late.
Stumbling to my feet, I tried to mat down my bed head hair. I staggered down the hall for a few minutes, pausing long enough to squint my eyes until the clock on the stove came into focus. It was the middle of the night. I just grinned to myself, thinking "So much for just taking a nap."
I was surprised I hadn't heard Ashley getting grumpy. Normally, the sounds of a baby crying could wake me from the soundest sleep. Investigating, I followed the light being cast from the television in the living room. The sound was down, and some black and white movie from the 30s or 40s was on. JC was stretched out on the couch with Ashley resting on his bare chest.
Though the baby was sound asleep, JC looked at least semi-awake. Ashley had his index finger held fast in his tiny hand, while JC used his free hand to brush the blond, already darkening hair back from his sleeping face. This man I loved more by the second just laid there, contently, singing some soothing lullaby.
"Hey," he called softly when he saw me.
"Hey, yourself," I smiled back. "Do you get any sleep when you're here?"
"Not really," he grinned, "but I don't mind."
"The guys would have a stroke if they knew you were passing up sleep," I laughed quietly.
He just shook his head and smiled. "Justin could relate. Having a little brother that small is almost the same thing."
"In some ways," I agreed, "but not all. You're a natural at this, you know."
"What?" he laughed.
"Being a father," I answered.
"Don't be silly," he grinned.
"I'm not," I smiled, shaking my head. "Everything's instinctive to you, and you don't get upset, no matter how cranky he gets."
"He doesn't get upset that often," he said modestly as he shifted out from underneath so he could place Ashley against a pillow to keep him from rolling off the couch.
"Like that," I observed quietly.
"What?" he asked, unable to hear.
"Nothing," I told him. "Though it's worth noting that you're right about one thing."
"And what's that?" he smiled, standing his full height next to me and popping his back, which he knew I hated. "Sorry."
I shook my head again, telling him to forget that. "That child isn't fussy around you."
"He's a good kid," JC smiled proudly at him.
"He's a great kid," I corrected, "but the fact remains that he behaves better for you than he does for Kathy, Kevin, Kristin, or me."
He leaned over and kissed Ashley on his hand. "Let's get some sleep," I told him. "Both of us." JC nodded and pulled me down to the blanket outspread on the floor beside the couch. Hooking his arms beneath mine, he pressed tightly against me and kissed my neck. His warm breath electrified me, but it also soothed me, and soon, we were both out cold.
When I heard the doorbell ring, I could scarcely believe my ears. The baby was starting to cry, so I rubbed my eyes and reached for him. Before I could reach him, JC was already on his feet, and when he slid his hands underneath his armpits, Ashley was suddenly content once more. I could only sit there on the blanket, my head propped against my hand, and watch in wonder, smiling.
"Who in blazes could that be?" I croaked hoarsely.
"Maybe that wedding planner," JC offered.
"Oh, yeah," I said, with sudden realization. "I thought he was coming by yesterday."
"He was," JC called as he entered the hallway. "His secretary called to say he was running late, and I asked if we could reschedule it for this morning."
"This early?" I asked incredulously.
"Of course not this early, but I didn't exactly set a time."
Looking around, it dawned on me that it was no wonder he was so chipper. He was awake. A half-empty cup of coffee was sitting in the floor next to the newspaper. Laughing to myself, I grabbed the cup and took a sip. I didn't think anything could make him an early riser.
"I thought you said Kathy said this guy liked me," JC said as he and Ashley came back into the living room.
"Her exact words were he'd trade his immortal soul if he could jump your bones for the night," I grinned.
He turned a fiery crimson. "Well, he seemed surprised to see me. I mean, he recognized me and all, but he seemed to snap out of it and ask for you."
"Okay," I said, rising to my feet and straightening the T-shirt and pajama bottoms I had on.
"I think there's some confusion," a familiar voice stated. When I looked up from checking to make sure I was at least semi-presentable, all words failed me when I saw who was standing there. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't believe he was there.
JC looked at me, concerned. "What's going on?"
"Rich," I said simply.
TO BE CONTINUED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Comments are always welcome at: m_n_hunter@hotmail.com