An Alternate Ending to:
One Bear Dances, One Bear Doesn't
By ACJ Leveille
Arysta@m-l-i.com
Previously
in the episode:
Amanda's mother and a
Russian immigrant she had been showing around D.C. were kidnapped and taken to
a warehouse. The intent was to trick the
Russian scientist into giving away valuable military secrets, but Dotty
overheard them talking, and called Amanda.
Amanda drove over, leaving a garbled message for Lee with a secretary. She was caught, and imprisoned. Lee finally gets the message, and he, Billy,
Francine and a group of agents rush to the warehouse that Amanda had
located. They arrive to find a
co-operative fellow (the head bad guy being nice) who tells them that someone
rode off in a van. Francine questions
the story, but it's obvious that they can't do anything; they have no proof
Amanda is in the building. Amanda hears
their voices, and then she, Dotty and Zernoff (the
Russian scientist) start banging and yelling to get Lee's attention.
Our story continues:
Lee glanced once at Francine, and headed
toward the source of the yelling, gun at the ready. He recognized Amanda's voice, muffled though
it was. Please let her be all right, he thought. He rounded a corner, and saw a door.
A shot rang out and he ducked, jumping for
cover behind a large crate. Shots were
exchanged. Lee fired carefully, aiming
to take out the man. The yelling had
stopped, and with a small part of his mind, he worried about why. Gunshots echoed around the warehouse, and he
realized that there must be other men hiding elsewhere in the crates and
boxes. He fired at the five or six heads
he saw peeking out.
"Freeze!" Billy yelled. He and three other agents held guns on the
shooters, and Lee breathed a sigh of relief as they slowly dropped their
weapons. Billy came out and took up the
weapons.
Lee turned toward the door, flinging it
open. He came face to face with Amanda.
He felt the beginnings of a smile, and
started to look her over quickly, making sure she was all right, when her eyes
widened and she screamed "Look out!" pushing him down and twisting out of the
way at the same time. The man fired
right at where his chest had been.
Lee hit the floor with a thump, rolling to
balance himself and head for the shooter, who was running away. Francine stared behind him, then took off after the man.
"Amanda!"
He heard Dotty exclaim, and turned back.
The absolute horror in the woman's voice filled him with
foreboding. He knew he still had a job
to do, but when he saw Amanda he forgot all about it.
* * *
She was
lying on the floor, her shoulder burning.
Amanda looked up at Lee and tried to smile. "What happened?" She asked, a bit
dazed.
"Amanda,"
he whispered, crouching next to her. He
had the same concerned look that she had seen when her Victoria Grenwich idea blew up in her face, ending with her being
injected with some toxin or other.
Someone
took her hand, and she glanced over at her mother.
"Oh no,"
Lee whispered, "Oh no."
"What's
going on?" She asked again, twisting,
trying to see what he was staring at. A
sixth sense clicked in her head, and she knew.
"I've been shot," she got out, hissing as the pain intensified with her
movement.
"We must
stop the bleeding." Amanda knew that was
Dr. Zernoff, the Russian scientist that had been
kidnapped.
Lee took
off his jacket, balling it up and putting it on her shoulder. He leaned into it. Tears of pain cascaded down Amanda's
cheeks. "Billy," Lee called. "We need an ambulance, NOW!"
Footsteps
came nearer, and Billy's face swam over her.
Amanda tried to sit up, but Lee held her on the floor. "Lay still," he hissed. Billy was gone, talking into his radio.
Lee
pushed the bangs off of her forehead, his eyes full of hurt… maybe fear? He pushed harder on her shoulder.
"Lee,"
Amanda raised her opposite hand, clutching at his sleeve desperately. "Is my mother all right?"
Her
mother appeared, knocking Lee off balance.
He shifted obligingly. "I'm here,
here. The ambulance is on it's way." Amanda
could hear the tell-tale wails in the distance.
Dotty
brushed the tears from her eyes, crooning soothingly. "It will be all right. You're going to be fine," she said. Amanda saw the fear in her eyes too.
The
siren halted, belching its last few blurts of sound. Billy ran in again, the paramedic team quick
behind him. "There she is," she heard,
and then she was being lifted onto the stretcher, Lee still holding the jacket
to her shoulder. She moaned as the
movement jarred the wound, and Lee winced in sympathy. One of the paramedics looked at Lee, who
handed over the jacket easily.
Amanda
managed to lift her head in time to see her mother heading toward her, then Lee moved into her line of sight, taking her hand and
squeezing it gently. "I'm here," he
said, and she forgot about her mother.
He held on as the paramedics began to wheel the stretcher toward the
ambulance.
"We can
take one person with us," the head paramedic announced.
Lee
hopped into the ambulance as she was speaking, never once letting go of
Amanda's hand.
"Young man!" Amanda could barely make out
her mother's voice, but smiled at the tone.
There was a peculiar buzzing in her ears…
Lee
turned, talking to someone. Billy, she
thought.
"Lee,"
she said. He turned, looking down at
her, his bright eyes fixed on her face.
He blurred in and out of focus and Amanda began to realize that she was
cold, very, very cold. She tried to keep
her teeth from chattering.
"It's
all right," Lee murmured to her, "You'll be all right." He touched her cheek lightly.
She
clutched at him convulsively, trying to keep him in focus. She could barely feel his touch, her skin was freezing.
She let loose one small sob and closed her eyes, trying to focus on
staying warm.
* * *
Lee ran a hand through his hair. "Amanda," he started, but then he saw that
she had started to shiver. Her lips were
turning blue. "Hey," he started. The paramedic looked up from where he was
cutting away Amanda's sweater.
"She's going into shock," the man said, his expression turning grim. He gave up his slow, gentle clipping and
ripped the shirt. He probed at her
shoulder, eliciting a moan. She tried to
move away from his touch.
Lee watched helplessly, clutching her hand as
her teeth began to chatter. Her hand was
so cold in his.
Fresh blood seeped through her clothes, and
Lee held back a wince. The paramedic
gave up on the clothing and rummaged through a bunch of medical equipment. He worked quickly, and efficiently, giving
her oxygen and inserting an IV needle into her hand. Somewhere along the line, Amanda passed out.
"She'll be okay," the man said, finally,
monitoring her blood pressure and holding tight to a pressure pack he had
devised. "She's doing very well."
Lee saw the blood and tubing and wanted to scream that she wasn't doing well,
that there had to be something else he could do, but he knew that the paramedic
was right. She wasn't losing awful
amounts of blood or going into cardiac arrest.
Apparently, the wound wasn't even bad – all he had seen was blood, no
bone. All they could do was wait.
Oh, Amanda, he thought, looking down at
her. Why
didn't you order backup? Why didn't I
check with that secretary? She had
looked ferocious when he had flung open the door, then
relief had shone in her eyes when she realized who it was. Dotty and the Russian hadn't seen, he
remembered. She had kept them behind the
door. Protected them.
Like she protected you, Scarecrow, he told himself, thinking of the quick push she had applied to
his chest. Her action had probably saved
his own life, but he didn't know if the cost was fair.
The ambulance screeched to a halt, and the
paramedic threw the doors open. There
was a team of doctors waiting for her, as there usually was for agents injured
in the field.
They gathered around the stretcher, talking
amongst themselves.
Take it, Delmont," one said. Five of the doctors left, one looked at the
paramedics still standing over the stretcher and pointed. The stretcher was wheeled into the trauma room. The doctor followed behind, calling over his
shoulder, "Get her information, please," to the nurse who was standing beside
him. Lee hadn't noticed her before; a
testament to how distracted he had been.
"Her name is Amanda King." He told her.
She scribbled on the paper clipped to the board.
"Are you her husband?" She asked, looking up at him inquiringly.
"Her partner." He corrected.
She looked puzzled, and Lee pushed his free
hand through her hair. "We're federal
agents, and she's my assistant." He
explained.
She made another mark on the chart. "You're going to have to wait in the waiting
room." She told him, pointing at a darkened lounge down the hallway.
"No."
"Sir, if you don't we're going to have to
call security." Her mouth settled into a
firm line, and Lee had no doubt she meant every word she said. He clenched his fingers into a fist. As he stalked from the room, he turned
back.
"I want to be told the minute she wakes up,"
he ordered the nurse. She pointed once
more toward the waiting room, and Lee, cursing, made his way there.
The chairs were orange plastic and hard to
sit on. There were vending machines
clustered in one corner, and people milling around, talking in low voices. Lee resigned himself to waiting. He shifted in the uncomfortable seat, holding
his head in his hands. What have I done?
* * *
"Who on earth was that young man?" Dotty wondered. She watched the ambulance turn onto the
street. The lights were flashing and the
siren blaring once again. She looked at
the man holding her shoulders, holding her from her daughter.
"He's one of my best agents, and he'll make
sure your daughter gets the best treatment, Mrs. - …" He looked at her
questioningly.
"Dotty West," Dotty supplied, looking the
black man over.
"Don't worry, Mrs. West. Why don't you go get in that car there," he
pointed at a sedan, "and I'll take you over to the hospital myself in just a
second."
"Perhaps I could have a ride to my home," Dr.
Zernoff interrupted, looking at the man.
Dotty felt a frisson of fear. "Please stay with me," she asked him in a
whisper.
The Russian looked down at her. "Are you sure you want me to?"
"Yes, yes."
She affirmed.
"All right." He patted her hand,
pulling it into the crook of his elbow.
"We will be waiting in your car, sir," he nodded to the man, and they
made their way to the sedan.
Shortly enough, the man joined them again,
bringing a pretty blonde woman with him.
The blonde climbed into the front passenger side and perched there. Something niggled at the back of Dotty's memory – something that she thought she should
remember. Had she seen that woman before
somewhere?
"I'm Mr. Melrose, by the way, and this is
another of my agents." He indicated the
woman, then started the car and moved smoothly into the evening D.C. traffic
patterns.
The woman smiled. She
looks like a piece of work, Dotty thought.
"My daughter… what… what's going on?"
"She's been taken to one of the best
hospitals in Alexandria, and I'm taking you there right now." Mr. Melrose assured her.
"Who was that man? The man who went with her?"
She saw the man's eyes in the rearview mirror
as he looked meaningfully at the blonde woman.
The woman's shoulders lifted with a breath,
and she turned. "Mrs. West, don't
worry. Your daughter will get the best
medical treatment available," she said.
"I'm Francine Desmond, by the way."
She held out her hand.
Dotty took it automatically. "Nice to meet you," she said. "So who was that man and why did he push me
out of that ambulance? I should have
been the one to ride with Amanda! She's
my daughter!"
Francine's smile flickered."That was Mr. Stetson, one of our best agents," she
said audibly.
"So
why did he jump in that ambulance?" She
pressed.
"I'm sure he just wanted to make sure your daughter
is okay," Mr. Melrose inserted, not taking his eyes off the road. "After all, she did save his life!"
Dotty leaned back against the seat. It was true. She fell into thoughts of
Amanda. She had seemed so together that
afternoon. She had been cool and calm,
and had even kicked a gun out of a man's hand!
She had saved that agent's life!
Dotty wondered. She hadn't
thought Amanda could do all of that.
Come to think of it, where had Amanda learned
to do that, she wondered. The Amanda she
had seen in that blank little room bore little resemblance to the daughter she
saw on a daily basis. She had known
exactly what she was doing, Dotty realized.
"Oh Amanda," she breathed, "What have you
gotten yourself into?"
She thought of the worried young man who had
climbed into the ambulance, clutching her daughter's hand the whole way. Somehow, she knew he was the key to this.
He had known Amanda. He was a spy.
Amanda's new abilities. One by one, the pieces began to fit
together. Her
all-nighters, her mysterious new job.
Who had ever seen a film by IFF anyway? Suddenly it was so clear…. That
woman, Francine, had come to the house before.
She had been a client of Amanda's, or so Amanda had said. It was all too clear what she was really – a
co-worker of her daughter's.
"We're
here." Francine announced as the sedan slid into a parking slot. Dotty forced all thoughts of Amanda's dupilicity from her mind.
The hospital loomed above them, gray and cold. Dotty shivered as she thought of what might
be happening to her daughter inside there.
She started walking, Zernoff and the two
federal agents following behind.
* * *
Lee saw them as they came into the waiting
room. Dotty was frowning, and looked
worried. Her daughter's been shot, he told himself. Of
course she's worried!
Billy, Francine, and the Russian they had
been sent to rescue were behind her, and they quickly pointed the woman toward
him. Lee groaned. He didn't want to have to deal with secrets
now.
He plastered a smile on his face and stood
up.
"Mr. Stetson," Amanda's mother marched up to
him, a frown on her face. "How is my
daughter?"
"Umm…" He was lost for words. Lee had seen Amanda's mother many times, but
he had never, until now, thought of her as imposing. He looked at Billy.
"Scarecrow, how's
Amanda?" He barked. Lee could tell he was worried, too. Even Francine was watching with interest.
He exhaled.
"She'll be fine, they think. The
bullet cut a furrow in her shoulder, but didn't hit anything, last I
heard." He shot a black look toward the
trauma room. "They won't tell me
anything," he growled.
Francine eyed the desk at the nurses station, where several large-armed women
hovered. "I'll just go see if I can find
a nurse or something, okay?"
"Why don't you do that," Lee suggested. She turned on her heel and stalked toward the
nurse's center.
"Is she going to be all right?" Dotty questioned.
"She'll be fine," Lee assured her, then turned to his boss.
"Look, Billy, you've got to get them to let me in there. I don't want Amanda waking up alone."
He glanced at Dotty, who seemed to be listening with great interest. She sat back on her heels. "When did you and my daughter meet, young
man?"
Lee gulped.
Is this what Amanda has to go through every day, he wondered? I hate this! "We talked some on the way over here." He took Dotty's
elbow and led her over to a seat. "Why
don't you just sit down here while I talk with Mr. Melrose."
Dotty opened her mouth as if to argue, but
Lee turned away before she got the chance to speak.
Just as Lee neared Billy, Francine came back
down the hallway, her face stiff. "They
don't like me asking about her because I'm not family," she reported.
"So you didn't get anything either?" Lee felt like cursing. He glanced over at the trauma room, but the
doors were still and it was quiet. Dotty
drifted to his elbow, listening intently.
"I didn't say that," Francine said with a
catlike smile. "According to the charts,
they're patching her up now. She'll be
going to a recovery room soon."
"When can I see
her?" Dotty asked.
"It won't be long Mrs. West." Francine informed her.
As she spoke, the doors swung open and a
gurney was wheeled out. Lee rushed
forward, but was pushed back by the orderly.
"We're taking her to recovery, sir," said the nurse he had spoken to
earlier. "When her doctor says it's all
right, you can come and visit." They
strode past him without stopping, heading for the elevator.
Lee growled and yelled after them, heedless
of the crowded hallway. "Who's her
doctor?"
"Dr. Delmont," the woman's voice floated back
to him.
"Delmont, right," he repeated, glancing,
trying to find a nurse. He grabbed
one. She was tall and thin. A brunette.
"Yes?" She asked,
her eyes wary.
"I'm looking for Dr. Delmont."
"I think he's busy. Would you like me to tell him you're looking
for him?"
Lee just looked at her. She waited patiently. "Yes," he bit out.
She nodded and walked away. Lee returned to the waiting room, his hands
in his pockets.
"Scarecrow, I think you need to sit down,"
Billy told him as soon as he saw him.
Lee bared his teeth in a grimace, but complied, seating himself beside
Dotty.
She reached over and laid a slender hand on
his arm. "Thank you for worrying about
my Amanda," she said softly. "Thank you
for saving our lives today."
Lee looked at her, and saw Amanda in
her. There was a
knowledge, a certainty there. An utter peacefulness.
As if she knew everything and was content to wait and worry, he thought,
though he knew it to be impossible. He
thought of the boys. The boys! He searched for a clock. It was almost two thirty. Surely they would be getting home soon. He searched frantically for a way to prompt Dotty's memory of them.
"I appreciate that. I hate that she got shot, Mrs. West," he said
with an attempt at a debonair smile. "Is
there anyone else that should be informed?
A husband, perhaps?"
"No, not…- " Dotty's hand flew to her mouth. "The boys! Oh, Mr. Stetson, thank you again, if I had
let those boys come home alone!" She
stood up, rummaging in her purse, then turned to him. Lee held up a quarter. She took it, mumbling thank you, and headed
for the bank of pay phones against the far wall.
Lee watched her dial and looked away. Billy and Francine were watching him. He smiled for their benefit, then went back
to worrying.
"There he is," he heard after a time. It was the nurse he had talked to. She nodded to the doctor she had been
escorting, and left. The doctor came
forward, hand extended. He was short and
almost bald, and his scrubs were splattered with blood.
The sight almost made Lee sick, though he had
seen plenty in his career. How much of it, he wondered, was Amanda's?
"Dr. Delmont," he shook the man's hand.
"And you are?"
"My name is Lee Stetson." He supplied.
"Ah..."
The man looked at the chart he was holding. "I see here you came in with Mrs. King."
"How's she doing?" Lee felt a presence at his shoulder, and
looked around to see Billy and Francine flanking him. Dotty was rushing over, as well. Zernoff was right
behind her.
Lee rolled his eyes. "This is my superior, Mr. Melrose, and my
co-worker, Francine." He pointed at
Amanda's mother. "She's Mrs. King's mother."
"Oh," the doctor said, re-orienting
himself. "Then I should be talking to
her." He sounded doubtful.
Billy stepped in, flashing his badge. "Speak freely. How is she?"
The doctor looked like he was going to balk,
but Billy's tone seemed to convince him.
"She's going to be all right.
We'll keep her overnight to make sure, and give her some antibiotics,
but she'll be fine." He looked at the
gathering. "She'll need help for a
little while, carrying things around the house, that sort of thing."
"Don't worry about that," Dotty spoke
up. "I can take care of her."
"Good."
The doctor said. "You can see her, she's in recovery room six, on the next floor up." He turned to leave.
"Wait," Lee grabbed his sleeve, pulling him
back. "Is her arm going to be okay? There isn't any nerve damage or anything, is
there?"
The doctor eyed him. "Not that I could tell. There will probably be some stiffness for a
few weeks, though, while she heals. If
that's all...…" he hinted broadly. Lee
let go of his coat, and looked around.
Billy and Francine, led by Dotty, were already
waiting for him by the elevator. He
walked swiftly to catch up to them.
"I'll wait here," Zernoff called. Lee nodded once before the heavy sheet doors
slid shut.
The elevator sped up to the floor, and soon
enough they were all dumped into the much-quieter recovery area of the
hospital.
"Can I help you?" A nurse inquired from the desk situated
directly in front of the elevator doors.
"We're looking for Amanda King's room." Francine said.
"She's in room six," she said, after
consulting the chart. She looked them
over, skeptical. "Are you all family?"
"Yes," Lee said smoothly. He glanced at Billy, who looked stunned. "He's an uncle by marriage." He said, thumbing toward him.
Billy shrugged and followed the other three
as they headed down the hallway. Dotty
stopped outside the door, hand on the knob, looking at
the trio of government officials.
"Look, this is just weird. You all feel this
bad about her getting shot?" She asked,
incredulous.
Billy, Lee and Francine nodded solemnly.
Dotty sighed, and opened the door.
The hospital room was dimly lit, and Amanda
was the only occupant. They had her
propped up in bed, and hooked to the IV rig were two fluid bags. Lee moved closer and read the labels. Dextrose. An antibiotic. Both acceptable.
As they got closer to the bed, Amanda seemed
to wake up, her head twisting slightly.
Her eyes opened, and she saw them all.
A smile crossed her face.
For the first time in two hours, Lee Stetson
felt himself relax. If Amanda could
smile like that, she really was going to be all right.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, looking right at Lee, then at
Billy and Francine.
Dotty assumed that she was speaking to
her. "Amanda, dear, I would have been in
the trauma room with you if they had let me," she said dryly.
Lee nodded, echoing the sentiment.
Dotty pulled a chair up, sitting in it,
gently taking Amanda's free hand in her own. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, mother, I'm fine." She flexed her shoulder gingerly, wincing a
bit with the pain. "It hurts, but the
doctor says that I'm going to be fine in a few days."
"It's going to be a little longer than a few
days," Lee couldn't help but say. "At least a couple of weeks." He looked closely at her. "What the hell did you think you were doing!?" He closed the distance between himself and
the hospital bed, glaring down at her.
"Mr. Stetson!" Dotty exclaimed, pushing her way between the
irate man and her daughter.
Amanda struggled to right herself in the
bed. "Mother, that's all right." She looked at Lee. "I'm sure Mr. Stetson was very worried about
me, and is very relieved to hear that I'm all right."
Lee griped the metal rail of the bed
tightly. "Yes, that's it," he said
through his teeth.
"That still doesn't make it right." She turned to Lee. "You've been shot, Amanda, and his yelling at
you can't be good for your recovery! I'd
like you to leave, Mr. Stetson."
"Wait, mother!" Amanda raised a hand. "Could I please talk to Mr. Stetson alone for
a minute?" She looked at the crowd
gathered in her hospital room.
Billy
nodded, motioning to Francine. They
walked out. Dotty followed after a few
seconds, but she didn't seem happy about it.
Lee let loose once the door was shut. "Why didn't you duck, damn
it! You knew that guy had a
gun!"
Amanda smiled wanly. "I guess I just didn't think about it."
"Didn't think about it!" Lee turned suddenly,
running his hand through his hair. "Amanda, you almost got yourself killed!"
"I saved your life, didn't I?" She asked gently.
Lee hung his head. She was right. "Yes, you saved my life. Again."
She smiled back at him, reaching for his
hand. "I'll be all right. I'll be out of here soon." She looked toward the door. "Do you think Billy will give me some time to
recover?"
"Don't worry, you won't see the field again
until our medics clear you," he said grimly.
They sat in silence for a brief period. Lee enjoyed the fact that Amanda was all
right, Amanda enjoying the fact that she had managed to defuse the
situation.
"Are you going manage at home?" He asked.
She patted his arm. "I'll be fine. Mother and the boys will help me."
Lee waited another moment, putting off the
inevitable. "I'll go tell your mother
she can come back in here. I'll see you
later?"
Amanda nodded. "Of course. I expect that you'll at least have to debrief
us, right?"
"That's true," Lee said as he opened the
door. "I'll see you then," he promised,
and left.
* * *
Amanda watched the door close behind him and
exhaled. She twisted, trying to get
comfortable. She wondered absently if it
was possible to be comfortable with a bullet wound.
"Mrs. King, we're going to have to arrange a
time for you to come in for debriefing," Billy said, unwittingly echoing her own comment of a few minutes earlier.
"Yes, sir."
Billy turned to Amanda's mother. "You as well, ma'am. We will call you tomorrow to arrange a
time. We'd like to get this over with as
soon as possible." He said, turning and
leaving the room.
"Bye, Mrs. King," Francine said as she shut
the door.
The mother and daughter watched after her, then sighed at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.
Dotty sat down on the end of the bed. "How do you feel, Amanda?"
"I'm good, mother. Tired." She smothered a yawn. "Are you all right, though?"
"I'm fine."
Dotty answered. "Why on earth did
you jump in front of that gun like that?"
"Mother, I hardly jumped in front of it, I
just…forgot to duck." Amanda tried to
explain. She couldn't very well say that
all she had been concerned about was saving Lee's life, could she?
"You scared me." Dotty said, gently hugging her daughter. "Now, how do you know this agent?"
"What do you mean?" Amanda asked.
Dotty West could probably out-interrogate a Russian general if she put her
mind to it, a fact her daughter knew well.
"Dear," her mother began, "I'm not
stupid. I don't know how or when you met
him, or anything about him, for that matter, but it's quite obvious that you
and that Mr. Stetson know each other!"
Amanda felt light-headed, even through the
drugging haze of the pain-killers. She
opened her mouth, sluggishly searching for something, anything, to convince her
mother that it wasn't true.
Dotty held up her hand. "No more lies," she said. Amanda instantly fell silent. "I know that now is not the time for this
discussion, but I wanted to tell you I knew."
She paused for a moment to gather as much of her daughter as she could
into a gentle hug. "I'm sure it has been
difficult, hiding this secret from us."
Amanda debated, just for a moment, protesting
again. She knew that if she worked hard
enough, she could convince her mother that she had been imagining things in all
the chaos, but she couldn't. She found
she didn't have the energy – or the inclination. She hung her head. "It's been so hard," she whispered, and the
tears began to
trickle down her cheeks.
"Oh, darling," her mother enfolded her in her
arms. "I know you had a good reason for
this. I know you Amanda.
Amanda sniffled, feeling lost and
childish. "It was to protect you," she
said. It came out in a whisper. She clung to her mother. "It's so dangerous, being a spy."
Her mother laughed. "You always did want to be a spy, didn't
you?"
Amanda found herself laughing too, then
hiccupping, wincing at the pain that shot through her shoulder.
"You're still my baby, Amanda, and although I
would never dream of interfering in your life, I wanted to make sure you
understood that you didn't have to lie to me anymore." She gently lifted
Amanda's chin. Her eyes were dark and
serious. "I'll keep your secret," she told her
daughter.
"I know," Amanda choked out, wiping her
eyes. "I don't know why I'm
crying." She looked at the bags hanging
on the IV stand beside her bed. "It must
be all the medicine they have me on. I'm bawling like a baby…" she trailed off,
still sniffing.
Dotty released her, "I'm not going to
question you about this anymore. In
fact, I'm not even going to talk about it.
When you're ready to discuss it, I'll listen." She smiled, and Amanda smiled back, a
tremendous weight lifted from her shoulders.
"Besides," her mother continued.
"I want to know all about this Stetson, and how you know him. Where did you two meet? And that Francine! Is she ever a ripe one!"
"Um...Mother?" Amanda interrupted.
"Yes, Amanda?"
"What about the boys?" she asked.
Dotty stood, eyes flying to her watch. "Oh, I almost forgot! I have to get home! I had Mrs. Smirten
go by about the time they got home, but they're probably scared to death. We'll talk about this later. Do you think that one of the agents can drive
me over to pick them up?"
Amanda looked out the door. "I'm sure someone would," she assured.
"Well, take care then, Amanda. I'll bring the boys by later." She rolled her eyes. "Bullet wound. They'll be fascinated!" She paused one last time, with a cat-like
smile painted on her face. "By the way, Amanda.
You have good taste. Got that
from me, I expect."
Amanda laughed weakly as her mother went
through the door.
* * *
Lee popped up at Amanda's window at four o'clock the next day.
"Come on in," she called with a little
laugh. Francine had warned her earlier
to expect him.
He obeyed.
"Is it safe?" He asked, almost
whispering. He swallowed hard when he
saw her, propped up on a huge heap of pillows on her couch. She looked so pale, he thought.
"Philip and Jamie are at a friend's house,
and mother is out shopping," she informed him.
"Oh."
He came into the room, squatting down next to her. "How are you doing?"
She shifted in the pile of pillows. "I'm all right. The doctor said it was just a scratch. 'Barely qualifies as a gunshot wound,'" she
quoted with a laugh.
Lee shifted uncomfortably. "He gave you something for the pain?"
She nodded.
"Two little yellow pills every six hours, preferably
with food."
Silence descended. Lee was once more assaulted by the thoughts
that had been circling in his head for the past two days. Amanda had been hurt. She had two kids, and a mother, and none of
them knew what she did during the day.
Just thinking off all the times they she had been – with him – dodging
bullets, made him shudder. This job was too dangerous for her. That was the only conclusion he could come
to. Somehow, though, he found he didn't
want her to quit the business.
"I just came by...…" he started, shaking
himself out of his introspection.
"Because Mr. Melrose told you to," she
finished. He didn't like the look on her
face – was it disappointment?
"Hey, I wanted to make sure you were
okay!" He protested.
"I'm fine," she assured him once more.
"So...we caught the guy," he said after a
moment.
"Francine told me," Amanda informed him. "She came over to debrief me earlier today."
Lee cracked a smile. "I know. I waited in the car." He looked out
the window. "You have a lot of curious
neighbors."
Amanda winced in sympathy.
"Well," Lee
said, standing up, "I'd better be going." He glanced around the room. He was never completely at ease in Amanda's
home. Dotty or the boys had the most
arcane sense of timing…
"I'm glad you're all right," she said
quietly. "I wish they would tell you how
much a scratch hurts, though!" She
joked, flexing her shoulder a bit.
"It's a hazard of being in this business," he
reminded her. "Are you sure you want to
keep being an agent?"
Her eyes locked with his in an instant. "Are you kidding? I'm not the one whose life got saved
yesterday, mister! I think you need me!" She lay back against the pillows, grumbling
under her breath.
Lee breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing
until that moment just how scared he had been.
"I'm glad to hear that," he said.
Just then a car pulled up in the
driveway. Amanda's mother was home. Amanda got a panicked look on her face and
started shooing him out the door.
With a wry smile, getting used to the
treatment by now, Lee turned for the door.
He stopped, remembering something.
He dug in his pants pocket. He
handed something to her, folding her fingers over it. "Thanks for saving my life," he said, and
ducked out the door.
Amanda managed to look calm when her mother
came in through the side door carrying two brown bags of groceries. She lay back carefully against the pillows
and tried to look like she was resting.
Her mother hadn't mentioned her revelation again, and she had no
intention of re-starting the discussion.
She simply wasn't up to it. She
hadn't told Lee about it, either.
She looked at the object in her hand when her
mother went out for a second trip.
It was a small metal ball. She rolled it around in her fingers,
wondering. The bullet, she
realized.
"Oh, Lee," she said, sighing.
"Did you say something, dear?" Her mother asked, coming in the door.
"No, Mother," Amanda said, closing her eyes
to rest. She held the bullet tightly in
her hand as she fell asleep.
* * *
Dotty smiled as she watched her daughter fall
asleep. The painkillers she was taking
made her tired, but she needed the rest.
As she watched, Amanda twisted. Her hand fell open as she moved, and
something dropped, rolling on the carpet.
She bent slowly, picking the object up.
She gasped. "A
bullet!"
Shaking her head, she put the ball back in
Amanda's fist. "In my day, they gave
flowers."
THE END
AFTERWORD
The "chapter" following this story is
actually the short, introspective scene where Lee retrieves the bullet he gave
Amanda. I wanted to write this scene, as
I think it is important, but it didn't fit the tone I desired for this
piece. Therefore – you'll find it
separately. Hope you enjoy! Please
review if you read this!
