Dad
By: Dawn Brown
DAB42782@aol.com
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Disclaimer: This story is one that I wrote. I am borrowing the characters
from the creators and producers of the TV show Diagnosis Murder to write a
story. No money has or will be made from this.
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"...and may he rest in peace," the preacher finished saying as the
body was laid to rest in the ground. The grass was green and the sky was
as blue as the ocean. Many of times this would be a day to go to the
beach or have a picnic with family and friends, but instead it was one of the
saddest days that Steve Sloan had ever experienced. Thoughts raced
through his head. His best friend since childhood, Lt. John Embers had
been murdered a week earlier. It was hard for Steve to see the glossy
white, gold-trimmed casket go into the ground. He had never felt his heart
sink so low in his life. Steve's dad stood next to him, observing the
disappointment in his son's eyes throughout the whole service.
"That was a nice funeral, wasn't it, Steve?" Mark said, with a small
tremble in his voice, trying to break his son's silence.
Steve's face lifted from the ground and gave a quick glance to his
dad. As his face looked back at the ground, he quietly and hesitantly
answered, saying, "Yeah, dad, it was." Steve didn't notice John Embers'
teenage daughter, but Mark did. Seeing that she was alone, he grabbed his
son's arm and guided him over to her.
"Hello, Sara," Mark greeted her as pleasantly as he possibly could
under the conditions, "It was a beautiful service, it really was."
"Hello, Dr. Sloan, and thank you for coming," her voice quivered as
she held back the tears that wanted to pour like rain. "Hi, Steve. How are
you holding up?"
Steve's head raised, just now gathering his thoughts in his head and
noting Sara's presence. By this point a tear was rolling down Sara's cheek
and it made Steve's heart hurt more. "Sara, I'm so sorry about your dad.
He was such a good person." He then proceeded to embrace her as a
stream of tears flowed down her face. Mark's hand rubbed his son's back
trying to comfort him in the matter.
"Steve," Sara said as she backed away from the hug, "my father
told me to give you this if anything happened to him. He said that you
would know the real meaning that was behind the reason he had it." She
reached into her purse that was only being carried to hold on to the item.
A purple heart was pulled out and with her cold hands Sara placed it into
Steve's sweaty palm. He looked at it and was puzzled by what was meant
by the real meaning.
The strong silence at the moment was then broken by the call of her
best friend. "Sara, come on, we're leaving."
"Well, Steve, Mark, thank you for coming. Both of you meant a lot
to my father throughout his life. He always had a story about everything in
life that would bring your name into it, Steve."
"Sara," Steve started a sentence, but was too choked up to finish.
Sara saw more pain in his eyes than she felt in her own heart. It was hard
for her to not break down, but she knew that would make Steve hurt even
worse.
"Sara," Mark said trying to continue, "things will all come back
together in time. The police are doing their best to find the person that
killed your father and justice will be served." Sara began to walk away
when Mark said something else. "Oh, and Sara, if you ever need anything,
Steve and I are just a phone call away."
"Thank you, Mark," she said in a shaky voice as she went back over
to give him a big hug. Then she walked back over to Steve and gave him
another comforting embrace and a kiss on the cheek before running to
leave for her friend's house, where she was staying until a new permanent
residence was found for her.
"Dad," Steve said, "how is she able to cope with this, but I'm not
able to? If it were you that something happened to, there is no way I could
keep as much composure as she just did."
"Well, son," Mark said in reply, "she realizes how much he meant
to you. Sara is a person that thinks of others before herself, and doesn't
want to cause any more pain to anyone than has already been experienced.
You remember when her mother died? Sara was only eight, and realized
what had happened, but she was a little ball of sunshine that kept John
sane. When we stayed at their house at the time of the funeral, she ran
around cleaning as much as she could and as high as she could reach with
her little arms and made breakfast for everyone the morning her dad
wouldn't leave his room. Sara then announced to everyone that her dad
would be hungry too, so don't eat everything. After piling up the food on a
small plate she plowed into his bedroom and said "you have to eat a good
breakfast to stay strong an healthy, just like mom always said." John took
her into his arms and walked out of the room with a big smile on his face.
For that moment you would have never guessed something tragic had
happened to the family."
Steve let it all sink in and a small grin was forced onto his face.
Memories filled his head of when he and John had been younger and when
they had gone and done things with Mark. Then the memories flashed
ahead to how he and John had taken Sara to football games and the times
that he spent with them. "Thanks for reminding me," he said looking into
his dad's eyes, "and always remind me of past memories and how good life
has been for you and me."
"I will, son, I will," Mark answered back, forcing a smile and
choking back tears, "Now, let's go home."
* *
A knock at the door came at the Sloan beach house around eight
o'clock the next morning. Mark had been awake for a couple of hours. He
had finished his walk on the beach and had been sitting at the kitchen table
reading the newspaper when he heard the visitor's rapping on the door.
Steve, on the other hand, was still sound asleep. While looking through
things to remember John and the good times they had in life, he had lost
track of time and didn't get to sleep until five that morning. Mark stood up
from his seat and opened the door to see a tall man in a suit with dark
brown hair, and young Sara.
"Well, hello!" Mark greeted when he saw Sara was standing there.
"Hi, Dr. Sloan," she said quietly while staring at his feet. The tone
of her voice was the first clue that something was happening that she was
very unsure about. Mark decided that maybe he needed to break the ice.
"Well, Sara, do you like my shoes? I just got them a couple of days
ago at that new "Shoes-for-Less," he said. She looked up at him and
shook her head. A little smile managed to appear on her embarrassed face
for him noticing that she was looking at his feet.
"Dr. Sloan," the man said, "is your son here?"
"Why, yes he is, sir. May I ask who you are, first?"
"Sorry for not introducing myself," the man said as he offered his
hand and Mark shook it while he answered. "My name is Joshua Stern. I
am Mr. Embers' attorney."
"Well, nice meeting you. Oh, go ahead and come in."
"Thank you," Mr. Stern said. He guided Sara in by placing his hand
on her back sort of to comfort her as the uncertainty became more
apparent on her face.
"Steve," Mark shouted down the stairs, "Steve, wake up, we have
some visitors." The shouting scared Steve so much that he fell on the floor
before getting up. He didn't want to yell back to his dad, so he grabbed his
robe and put it on rapidly. Steve dragged himself up the stairs and then
peered around the corner to see Sara and the attorney.
"Hello, Sara," Steve greeted with a bit of surprise in his voice.
Then he looked at the man. "Who are you?"
Mark interjected, "Steve, this is Joshua Stern, John's attorney. He
needs to speak to you."
"Let me run back down and change into something more
appropriate," Steve said as he began back down the stairs.
* *
Steve walked onto the deck to see Sara and Mr. Stern already
seated. Mark had grabbed a pitcher of tea and was pouring it into tall cups
for everyone. Steve and Mark both pulled up chairs to sit in. Sara still
looked down, but they could not guess why she seemed so distraught.
"Mr. Sloan," Josh began, "About a year ago, Mr. Embers came to
me about making a will. The thing is, there was only one thing he wanted
to put in his will, and he wanted to leave it to you."
"Why do you sound so concerned about this?" Steve questioned.
He could tell that whatever it was must be important just because of the
concern.
"Well, the 'thing' happens to be here today," Mr. Stern answered
back. He still had the tone of concern in his voice. When Mr. Stern said
'thing' again, Sara's head sank even more giving more of a look at the top
of her blonde head. Mark crinkled his forehead as in thought trying to
figure out what this thing was all about, while Steve was trying not to lose
his patience with Joshua for not telling him what was in the will.
"Just tell me what you are talking about, Mr. Stern," Steve
demanded. "If it is as important as it sounds, maybe the sooner I know the
better things will be."
"Well," Stern started, but took a big gulp then spit it all out, "Mr.
Embers believed you were the best person that he knew, and he knew you
are responsible and have many values. Therefore, he decided to leave you
his daughter in his will."
Steve's eyes popped out of his head! The thought of him having to
take care of a daughter along with his dad, Amanda, and Jesse, was just
unthinkable.
"Steve," Sara said, "you don't need to take me in. I'm so sorry. I
didn't know that he had decided to do this. I... I..."
Mark cut her off with a question to the attorney. "What will
happen to Sara if Steve decides not to take her in?"
"Well, she will automatically be put into an orphanage or placed in
a foster home. If placed into a foster home, her home will probably change
every few months."
Steve heard this and his heart broke. She was his best friend's
daughter, and he was being asked to do this for him. If he didn't take her
in, it would be as if he was breaking a promise to John. That was
something he would never do. Then he glanced at his own dad. What if
this had happened to him as a teen? Would he want to be moving around
or would he want to stay somewhere that felt a little more secure?
"I'll do it," he announced with confidence to the table. Sara's eyes
went back and forth between Steve and Mark. They had been so good to
her father and she knew this was what he would have wanted. Her eye
peered over at Mark and a great big smile decorated his face. Steve looked
at his dad and was able to catch the smile, too. It was obvious that Mark
was happy with the decision which gave him more confidence in agreeing
to do this. The silence was finally broken by Mr. Stern.
"There are some papers that do need to be signed, but we can hold
off on those for the moment until you all get your arrangements
straightened out and some of the emotional points of this change are
fulfilled. I will allow her to stay here, but we cannot let her get all of her
things out of the house until what is needed out of the house for the murder
investigation has been collected." With that, he stood up, and walked
away. The three of them that were left all stood up. No one really knew
what to say.
"Get over here," Mark said as he motioned her over. He put his
arms around her to reassure her spot in the home. "Welcome home," he
then added with a huge smile on his face.
Steve tried to maintain his composure as he realized that there must
be a lot more stress on Sara than on him. "Now, you realize you are part
of one of the zaniest families out there. This means that things will never
be normal, and a lot of unusual things will happen."
With that being mentioned, Sara began laughing and her face lit up
like the ball of sunshine Mark had mentioned at the funeral. It was
amazing to Steve, that she still had that little girl face and she wasn't the
grown-up that she had fooled him into believing.
* *
"Hi, Jesse! Hi, Amanda!" Mark exclaimed happily as he strolled
into the lounge at Community General. Amanda was puzzled because he
was late for work, but still in such a fantastic mood. Jesse was tired
from being awake all night that he didn't really notice.
"Mark, why are you so late? Actually, more importantly, why
are you so happy?" Amanda interrogated.
"Well, honey, something wonderful happened this morning," he
answered back. Amanda gave a questionable look.
Jesse decided he'd get in on the conversation. Drearily he added,
"Mark, Amanda wants to know exactly what happened to make you so
happy." Mark started laughing at Jesse and how he sounded so dead.
"You know about how Steve's best friend was murdered about a
week ago."
"Yeah, Mark, I did the autopsy," Amanda acknowledged while her
forehead wrinkled up, "What's so good about that?"
"He has a daughter named Sara. She is the sweetest young lady.
Anyway, this morning his attorney, Joshua Stern, stopped by with Sara.
We all sat and had a discussion. John had only one request if he died. It
was that he wanted Steve to take care of his daughter."
"Mark, you mean Steve's a daddy!?!?" Jesse was so excited that he
fell out of his chair when he said this.
"I guess you could say that in a way."
"And even better," Jesse adding his two cents worth again, "you're
a grandpa!"
Amanda gave Jesse a look that basically said, "you shouldn't have
said that." The thing was while she glared at him, Mark was engulfed in
laughter. Jesse followed while rolling on the floor. Part of his laughter
was due to Mark and the other part was because he was slaphappy from
his lack of sleep. Amanda let out a small laugh while shaking her head.
While they were all laughing Steve and Sara walked in. Steve had a very
confused look on his face while Sara stood silently not knowing how to
react. Mark was able to gain control of himself long enough to introduce
Amanda and Jesse to Sara. Sara remembered Jesse from the week before
when she came to the hospital to see her father for the last time.
"What is all of this insanity about," Steve asked.
"Jesse just said something that was so hilarious. It was no big deal,
really," Mark replied while trying to hold in his laughter.
"So, Sara, are you ready to attempt the impossible?" Amanda
asked, being met by eyes questioning what she was talking about. She
didn't answer to anyone's eyes, so Sara went ahead and asked.
"I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Oh, what I mean by attempting the impossible is living with Steve
and Mark."
"Hey," Steve snapped back, "what do _you_ mean by that?"
"Nothing. Sara, you are the luckiest girl on earth to be living with
the two of them."
"Thanks Amanda for the compliment... I think," Steve questionably
replied.
"Well, folks, I have rounds to make. Steve, I'll see you at home
later," Mark said.
"Okay, dad."
* *
Sara lay asleep in Steve's bed. Until they were able to clear the
extra room of all the junk that was stored in it, she would sleep there,
Steve was going to take the couch, and Mark would stay in his room.
Mark and Steve were awake still, though. They were sifting through
information that had been gathered about Lt. Embers' murder.
"Dad, there's nothing here to go on. So far it looks like the perfect
murder. Something has to be here, but not seen."
"I don't mean to be nosy, but what was meant by that purple heart
that Sara gave you yesterday? John never did serve, did he?"
"You never mean to be nosy, do you dad?" Steve had a little smirk
on his face and a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he said that to his dad.
"Well, I really haven't figured that out yet. And, you're right he was never
in the service."
"Do you think it could be a hint to his murder? You may need to
talk to Sara more about it. Who knows. There could be something that
she knows that would help."
" I really don't want to do that to her yet. She already did a lot for
me at the funeral, and now I realize why she was so upset when she first
showed up here earlier today." As soon as Steve finished his sentence a
loud scream came from Steve's room. Steve got up and sprinted down,
with Mark close behind in his tracks.
"Don't hit me, again, please, father, don't!" Sara screamed in her
sleep.
Steve looked at his dad in terror. Could it have been that John beat
his daughter? The best friend Steve ever had do something this cruel! In
his mind he tried convincing himself that it wasn't true, but that is all he
could think that was meant by it.
"Sara! Sara! Wake up, honey," Steve frantically attempted to
awake her. Sara awoke once he said the same words again. She snapped
up and started crying.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that. I... I..."
"It's okay. Go ahead and lie back down." Tears streamed down
her innocent face. Steve cradled her in his arms. She couldn't close her
eyes. Her fear was expressed through this.
"Steve, really, I'm sorry. You two can go back to what you were
doing. You know, nightmares will catch you off guard any time." Mark
crossed over to Steve and whispered something to him.
"Sweetheart," Mark said, "could you sit up real quick for me,
please?"
"Yes, sir," she answered immediately, with a little quiver in her
voice.
Mark lifted up the back of her shirt to do a quick examination.
Neither he or Steve were prepared to see what was there. The beatings her
back must have taken over the years had left numerous scars deep in the
skin. Her back was still scraped and bruised from whenever her last
beating had been by him. Steve closed his eyes to focus quickly and to
hold back tears from the betrayal of his best friend and the scarred life of
Sara.
"Sara, honey," Mark asked, "how often did your dad do this to
you?" Sara choked up and tears swelled her eyes. Steve gave his dad a
'how dare you' look for asking the question.
"It was... It was... He beat me almost every day. Please don't hurt
me for that. I promised him I wouldn't tell, so I wouldn't get beat worse,
and if you are planning on hitting me for this interruption, I promise you
that I won't tell..."
"Honey, no one is ever going to do that to you again," Steve swiftly
assured her. He gave her a hug to make sure she knew he meant it. Mark
was almost in tears that a father could be so cruel, while Steve was
wondering the same thing.
"Sara, tomorrow, I don't want to scare you or anything, but I want
to look over your back and try to make sure everything's okay with it at the
hospital, if that's alright with you?"
"Yeah, that'll be fine, thanks." After a long pause Sara said, "I don't
think I'll be able to get back to sleep for a while."
"I have an idea," Mark said with a smile, "Up in the freezer there is
some vanilla ice cream and I have chocolate, nuts, and cherries in a
cabinet. We can all go up and make huge sundaes since none of us can
sleep anyway. Does that sound good?"
Steve looked at Sara, then back up at his dad. He thought this
should calm some of Sara's fears of him and his dad. "That does sound
really good, dad, don't you think so Sara." Sara couldn't say anything, but
she nodded her head with a little bit of a smile forced on her face. The
three then proceeded up the stairs.
* *
""Okay, honey, we're finished," Mark said after he finished the
close examination of the cuts and bruises on Sara's back.
"Thanks, Dr. Sloan," Sara chimed back. She was very happy this
morning. The time that had been spent the night before chatting and eating
those sundaes really had helped her. As she got off of the examination
table, Dr. Bentley and Dr. Travis entered.
"Well, hello, you two," Mark greeted cheerily, "Did you get any
sleep last night Jesse?"
"I slept for twelve hours," he happily said quickly changing the
smile on his face to a frown, he then said, "but now I have to work for the
next twenty-four."
Everyone laughed at him. Steve wasn't there because he had some
cases to catch up on, so Sara was going to stay at the hospital with Mark
all day. She had decided that maybe she could permanently volunteer
there. One of the other hospital nurses stepped in.
"Well, hello Margie," Dr. Sloan greeted, "This is Sara. She's the
new volunteer I was talking to you about earlier."
"Hi, Sara," Margie with a smile said to the girl.
"Hello," Sara said back with a little bit of uncertainty in her voice.
She would have to wait for Margie to prove her trustworthiness to her.
"Well, let's get started!" Margie exited the room with Sara after
Mark gave a nod of reassurance for her to follow.
"Okay, gang, let's get started," Mark spoke to Amanda and Jesse.
"Mark, please forgive me if I missed something, but what are you
talking about?" Amanda asked.
"Oh, we have to solve the murder of Sara's father, Mr. John
Embers. There are so many pieces of this puzzle that have to be placed
carefully together, and I know that Steve isn't totally up for this whole
investigation, so I figured we could do it for him."
Mark opened the door and left the room. As usual Jesse and
Amanda followed close behind as they went to Dr. Sloan's office to insure
the privacy of their conversation.
* *
"So, Mark, what do you have so far," Jesse wanted to know for
curiosity's sake.
"Well, there's a purple heart and any information Sara has. I haven't
asked her anything about her father's death, but I do know that the abuse
that she suffered over the years will probably provide some clue," he
answered with a little bit of a shake in his voice during the abuse part.
"Well, how do you expect us to get anything from just those at this
present moment?" Amanda snapped back. She really wasn't in the mood
for all of this to be happening right now. At this point Steve walked in
hearing Amanda's snappiness.
"Aren't we in a good mood today," he said with grin while giving
Amanda a sort of mischievous look. His joking quickly ended when he
realized that it was just Mark, Amanda, and Jesse with no sign of Sara
around. "Where's Sara at?" he questioned frantically.
"Calm down son. She decided that she would like to do some
volunteer work since she has to be up here anyway. Sara is just fine right
now. The bigger question is why are you here?"
"Okay. Sorry I snapped like that, but after the conversation last
night, I wouldn't want anything worse to happen to her than what already
has. All of my cases are now caught up on so I decided to see if Sara
wanted to do anything. I don't know why I'm so worried."
Jesse thought this was the perfect opportunity to add his two cents
worth. "Well, well, aren't we Mr. Mom now. You better be careful, or
next thing you know you'll be wearing a dress. Wait, you've already done
that" Jesse began laughing hysterically. The dress reference was to an
undercover assignment that Steve had done a couple of weeks earlier.
Amanda gave Jesse the I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look, because she
knew Steve was truly worried about Sara. Mark stood laughing at Jesse
while looking at his son.
Steve glared over at Jesse acting as if he was mad. Then he said,
"Ha, ha, Jess. As I remember you helped me with that assignment and
wore a cute little flowery dress that you chose yourself. AND, you had an
overwhelming response from men that wanted your phone number." By
this point, Mark had begun the hysterical laughing followed by his son.
Amanda let a small smile broaden her face. Jesse turned red and started
looking at the floor.
"This investigation needs to continue now, boys," Amanda
announced.
"I agree with her," Jesse said as he slowly lifted his head up.
"What are you guys investigating, may I ask, or is it something I
shouldn't know about," Steve queried since he had just come in.
"We're trying to find out exactly who murdered John Embers,"
Jesse said to Steve, "We don't have any leads yet, but we just got in here to
start."
"Didn't you say, son, that he never served, but had that Purple
Heart? Also, he left that to you, and you have no clue what the meaning is
behind it?"
"Yeah, dad, but I guess there could be something behind it I don't
remember. I have no clue what it could be though." At that moment Sara
slipped in silently. She almost went unnoticed except the creak of the door
hinges moving gave her away.
"Sara, are you alright?" Steve asked with concern.
"I'm doing just wonderful today, Steve," she said with the brightest,
most angelic smile on her face. "The volunteer stuff will be fun once I go
through all of the training. There was an emergency, so I was told to come
here since everyone else is busy down there."
"Well, perfect timing, Sara," Mark preparing to question her if
possible. "Are you up to answering a few questions about your dad,
honey?"
"Please refer to him as my father. I'm uncomfortable with the term
'dad' being used for him."
"Why don't you want him to be called dad?" Jesse inquired.
"One time I read somewhere that anyone can be a father, but it
takes a special person to be a dad, and I never thought that he lived up to
that title." Everyone looked at one another astonished that she said that.
Sara broke the shocked air in the room, "What do you want to know about
my father?"
"Well, first of all, did he have any enemies?" Mark was the one
questioning as the others sat and listened.
"A better question would be who wasn't his enemy. Steve was the
only person that he never did back-stab," her voice sounding strong and
fading as she looked up at Steve. "He wanted to be a good person, he
really did. The problem was his past followed him, and he kept leading it
onward."
Steve's face expressed dismay. Mark knew that Steve's thoughts of
his best friend kept getting worse, but there was no way to avoid the truth.
Amanda sat quietly with an inquisitive expression on her face while Jesse
was listening, but playing around with a pencil to stay entertained.
"Sara," Steve began, "please tell us anything you know. I don't
want anyone else getting hurt - especially you. If there is anything else that
you're not telling, I'm pleading with you to tell me or my dad."
Steve looked straight at her hoping that she would have something
to help out. She stood there quietly, then spoke up and said, "I've already
made a list of all the people that I know hated my father. I honestly don't
know anything else, Steve."
Steve looked over at his dad. Mark shook his head and shrugged
his shoulders.
"Well, I guess we can go ahead and leave for the Lakers/Bulls
game, since we have no other business here," Steve said as he pulled two
tickets out of his jacket's pocket. He knew that she was a big Lakers fan,
because she, her father, and Steve used to go to the games together.
"I thought they were sold out!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen
them play the Bulls before!" Sara then ran over to Steve and they started
out the door.
"Bye, everyone," Sara said.
"Bye, everyone, see you tomorrow. Dad, I'll talk to you tonight
about all of this."
"Okay, Steve, see you later."
Steve and Sara left. Mark paced back and forth in the room
holding his chin with a worried look on his face.
"Mark," Amanda began her question, "is something wrong. You
look worried."
"The problem is, I believe that Sara doesn't know anything, but if
she doesn't know anything, there goes our only clue, besides that Purple
Heart."
Jesse finally lost interest in the pencil and joined in the
conversation. "I agree with you Mark. I think that Sara is telling the truth,
because she has so much trust now built up between you and Steve, that
she wouldn't want to let you two down."
"I'm just going to have to talk to Steve. After this afternoon's game
he probably will investigate some more."
After that statement, Jesse was paged to the operating room. Mark
had to make his rounds and check up on some patients. Amanda needed to
go and check out a body that was brought into the morgue only about an
hour earlier.
* *
Steve dropped Sara off to an empty house, so she decided to go
walking on the beach. He had to go check out a lead in the Lt. John
Embers case.
While at the game, he had found a matchbook on the ground for a
nightclub called "Purple Heart." This made him think of the Purple Heart
that Sara had handed him the day of her father's funeral. His thoughts
started to go astray again, and he began thinking of the good times he and
John had shared. Before he knew it, though, he was at "Purple Heart."
The building was the color of a royal purple crayon. The front doors were
trimmed in gold with glass in them. Steve entered to see some of the
waiters and waitresses cleaning off the tables and preparing for the night's
crowd. He noticed that each one wore replicas of the infamous Purple
Heart as part of their uniform. As he looked around he spotted someone
that looked to be in charge.
"Excuse me, sir," he started out, "may I ask you a few questions."
The man looked at Steve with his face full of disgust. "I don't have
time right now. Unless you are here to get some stuff, I don't want to talk
to you right now."
Detective Sloan became mad at the attitude the man had. He pulled
out his badge and snapped back, "Detective Sloan, LAPD."
"You have my attention, now."
"Good. Did you ever meet a guy named Lt. John Embers?"
The man turned around and started doing something. He acted as
if he was ignoring the question, which just kept feeding Steve's anger.
"I could take you into the station for questioning," Steve said very
sternly.
"No, I have never met John Embers."
"You've never met him, but have you heard the name before?"
"Yeah, my partner did business with him. He always complained
about how Mr. Embers couldn't pay for the stuff that he bought. That
really angered him."
"Well, sir, what kind of stuff did he buy?"
"You know, the usual drugs. None that are legal," the guy told
Steve with a sly smirk on his face.
"Where's the guy that was selling the drugs to him?"
The guy stood there with a look of evil in his eyes. The
conversation became abruptly quiet.
Steve asked again, "Where's the guy that was selling the drugs to
him?"
The man ran up to Steve and knocked him down. One of the
employees called for the police to come and stop this nonsense. They
wrestled around on the floor and knocked some tables over. After both
men were bleeding from cuts suffered, Steve finally pinned him down.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, before I kill you, where's your
partner?"
The guy in a very calm voice started to talk. "He won't let anyone
associated with John Embers live."
Steve worried asked, "What exactly are you talking about?"
"You know, Sara _was_ a sweet and pretty young girl. Too bad
her father couldn't pay up."
A couple of officers walked into the club and broke the two up.
Once broken apart Steve ran out the door for his car. He had to hurry to
get to the beach house that he was sharing with his dad and Sara. The
word "was" ran through his head.
* *
Meanwhile, Mark walked into the door of his house ready to spend
a couple of hours relaxing with his son and Sara. It was already 8:30 at
night, so he figured that they would be back from the basketball game that
they had gone to. He flipped on the light switch only to realize, to his
dismay, that no one was home. Normally this would worry him if Steve
wasn't home, but not tonight. Mark was ready to kick back his feet and
relax and hope that Sara was having a good time. He went to the kitchen
to grab a box of crackers off of the shelf to eat. Since Mark knew where
they were, he didn't even bother to turn on the light in there. As he walked
out of the kitchen though, someone grabbed him from behind. The man in
black held Mark with a very tight grip. Out of fear Mark began to kick and
try to get away. The man began to throw Mark all around the room. He
couldn't defend himself from the man.
Sara walked in the door to see the man throwing Mark down. It
was as if everything was going in slow motion. As Mark went down his
head hit the coffee table in the room. The man was going to keep beating
on Mark, but Sara ran up and started a struggle with him. She screamed,
but couldn't be heard, because no one was even close by. The man beat on
her and beat on her, but she wouldn't give up the fight.
Steve pulled up to the beach house. As he quickly jumped out of
his car a single gunshot rang from the house. He sprinted up the stairs and
threw the door open. Steve looked around the demolished room. He
didn't notice the two unconscious bodies laying on the ground until after he
saw blood on the cushions of his father's couch. Detective Sloan then
proceeded to go after the man in black, the partner from "Purple Heart."
Steve grabbed the gun trying to break it away. The men pushed and
punched, but neither would let go of the gun. They tumbled to the floor.
Suddenly three shots rang out.
Steve pushed the body of the man in black off of him. The
unknown man had been shot twice in the heart. Steve, on the other hand,
had been shot in his shoulder. He made his way over to where his dad was.
Slowly, Mark was beginning to stir. His son grabbed him and carried him
over closer to Sara. Sara looked as if she was dead. Blood covered her
face and she had been shot in her chest. By some miracle she was still
breathing. Steve lay her head in his lap, and held Mark between his arm
and chest. Sirens could be heard from all around. Steve prayed that all of
them would live and that nothing else like this would happen again while
waiting for the help.
* *
A touch of light flowed into the dark hospital room. Young Sara
was lying down in the only bed in the room. Mark was sprawled out,
asleep, over several chairs he had put together to create a makeshift bed so
he could be in there with her. A large patch covered the spot where he had
hit his head on the table. One of his fingers had been broken, and he was
sore throughout his body.
Steve sat next to Sara's bedside all through the night. She had gone
into surgery as soon as her unconscious body arrived at the hospital. They
said she would live, but Steve was still weary because of the condition she
appeared to be in. He didn't sleep all night, and had his right hand holding
her right hand while his left rubbed her forehead.
Mark woke up to see his son watching over Sara.
"Now you know how I feel every time that you end up in the
hospital," he started out immediately saying. Mark could tell from his
perspective that Sara would be alright, so he added a small smile afterward.
Steve looked up at his dad. He was very relieved to see that Mark
was okay. "Dad, do you really worry about me this much? I thought
nothing could be scarier than the times you were in the hospital, but now,
I'm worried about her more than I have ever been for anyone before."
Sara began to move. Her eyes weren't opened, but she squeezed
Steve's hand and her head shook slowly back and forth. Slowly her eyes
fluttered open. Everything was hazy, and she had a hard time thinking.
Sara, could, however, make out a person to her right. It was the person
that was holding her hand. In her mind she knew it was Steve.
"Dad?" she asked.
Steve thought she said that because she was still groggy, but Mark
knew in his heart that she thought of Steve as her dad. He began to smile,
and almost cry remembering what she had said earlier about the difference
between fathers and dads. Mark knew that things were all going to work
out for the three of them, and when she said that, he knew how much Steve
meant to Sara.
"How are you feeling, honey?" Steve asked.
"I hurt really bad," she answered drearily. "Is Dr. Sloan alright?
He hit his head on the table."
"He's just fine. In fact, he's standing..."
"Shhh, Steve. She went back to sleep." Both of the Sloans looked
down at her in silence and then peered at one another with small smiles on
their faces.
* *
Two weeks later_
Steve pulled up to the beach house. He had been coming back and
forth between there and the hospital for two weeks now. The car was
parked, and Steve unfolded his legs out of the car. As he walked to the
other side to open the passenger door a big grin graced his face. The door
opened and Sara appeared on the inside. He bent over and helped Sara to
get out. One of her legs was badly broken during the attack and for the
last two weeks she had been going through rehab attempting to be able to
walk on her own. She was guided by Steve to the back of the house.
Slowly they made their way up the stairs to the deck.
"Surprise," Mark, Amanda, and Jesse shouted once Sara had made
it up to the top. A huge banner hung above that had "Welcome Home
Sara" printed on it. Balloons of various colors blew around from where
they were tied on the patio. Crepe paper was draped and twisted to add to
the festivity of the deck. A large cake sat in the middle of the table.
"I... I... I don't know what to say," Sara replied. She really didn't
know how to react to all of this attention since she wasn't used to it.
Steve turned to her and gave her a great big bear hug. As he let go
he looked at her and said, "Welcome home." He then proceeded to help
her over to a seat to sit and relax in.
"Steve," Jesse began, "May I talk to you privately for a second."
Steve walked over to Jesse and they both entered the house. Amanda
followed wondering what on earth they could be talking about. Mark
stayed outside with Sara.
"What is it you want to know Jess?"
"Well, what did the police decide about everything that has
happened?"
"It turns out that, Lt. Embers had been a long time crack user. He
was buying from the second largest dealer in LA. When he originally began
buying, it was cheap, but as his addiction became worse, it was costing him
more. Eventually he couldn't pay up, because he owed approximately
one-hundred grand."
"One-hundred grand?" Amanda looked at Steve with shock in her
eyes.
"That's about the reaction I had. John had made a deal originally
that if at any time he couldn't pay off, they could take his life along with the
rest of his family."
"My, goodness! How could anyone do that to their family,
especially if they only have one child," Jesse said astonished.
"Apparently, after talking with Sara, she didn't know that he was
using drugs. It sounded, though, as if he got worse as far as beating her, as
his addictions became worse. I can't believe I never noticed how he
changed."
Amanda cut in, "You loved him as if he were your own brother,
and as they say love is blind."
"You have a point there, Amanda," Steve said. "I guess as long as
I do my best to help Sara get better and move on, I'll feel better about the
whole thing."
"You'll make a great dad Steve, just because you've had so much
training from the best one out there," Jesse explained with a huge grin on
his face as he placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.
Amanda reluctantly put in her two cents worth and said, "I can't
believe I'm saying this, but Jesse's right. Everything will end up great and
everyone will be happy."
"Thanks for the encouragement, both of you." The trio walked
back onto the deck. Mark and Sara were standing by the camera on it's
tripod. They had been working with the timer so they would be ready for
the group picture to be taken. Sara hobbled back to her seat. Mark began
to place everyone else.
"Okay, Steve, you stand right here behind Sara. Amanda, stand to
his left. I'm going to be to the right of him. Jesse, you stand right here,
and make sure that there's enough space for me to get in between you and
Steve." Mark walked over to the camera so he could begin the timer. A
bee buzzed around Jesse and he began to swat at it. Trying to get away
from it he inched over toward Steve. The bee went in between the two of
them and while trying to hit the bee, Jesse slapped Steve in the face. Steve
turned and gave Jesse a little shove. Jesse tripped on the leg of the chair
Sara was sitting in. Amanda turned away from the two covering her face.
Steve looked down at Jesse as he tried to get back up and Mark ran back
over for the picture. He threw his arms in the air and Sara turned and
looked back at them. Let's just say that the camera didn't get your "usual"
family photo.
By: Dawn Brown
DAB42782@aol.com
************************************************************
Disclaimer: This story is one that I wrote. I am borrowing the characters
from the creators and producers of the TV show Diagnosis Murder to write a
story. No money has or will be made from this.
************************************************************
"...and may he rest in peace," the preacher finished saying as the
body was laid to rest in the ground. The grass was green and the sky was
as blue as the ocean. Many of times this would be a day to go to the
beach or have a picnic with family and friends, but instead it was one of the
saddest days that Steve Sloan had ever experienced. Thoughts raced
through his head. His best friend since childhood, Lt. John Embers had
been murdered a week earlier. It was hard for Steve to see the glossy
white, gold-trimmed casket go into the ground. He had never felt his heart
sink so low in his life. Steve's dad stood next to him, observing the
disappointment in his son's eyes throughout the whole service.
"That was a nice funeral, wasn't it, Steve?" Mark said, with a small
tremble in his voice, trying to break his son's silence.
Steve's face lifted from the ground and gave a quick glance to his
dad. As his face looked back at the ground, he quietly and hesitantly
answered, saying, "Yeah, dad, it was." Steve didn't notice John Embers'
teenage daughter, but Mark did. Seeing that she was alone, he grabbed his
son's arm and guided him over to her.
"Hello, Sara," Mark greeted her as pleasantly as he possibly could
under the conditions, "It was a beautiful service, it really was."
"Hello, Dr. Sloan, and thank you for coming," her voice quivered as
she held back the tears that wanted to pour like rain. "Hi, Steve. How are
you holding up?"
Steve's head raised, just now gathering his thoughts in his head and
noting Sara's presence. By this point a tear was rolling down Sara's cheek
and it made Steve's heart hurt more. "Sara, I'm so sorry about your dad.
He was such a good person." He then proceeded to embrace her as a
stream of tears flowed down her face. Mark's hand rubbed his son's back
trying to comfort him in the matter.
"Steve," Sara said as she backed away from the hug, "my father
told me to give you this if anything happened to him. He said that you
would know the real meaning that was behind the reason he had it." She
reached into her purse that was only being carried to hold on to the item.
A purple heart was pulled out and with her cold hands Sara placed it into
Steve's sweaty palm. He looked at it and was puzzled by what was meant
by the real meaning.
The strong silence at the moment was then broken by the call of her
best friend. "Sara, come on, we're leaving."
"Well, Steve, Mark, thank you for coming. Both of you meant a lot
to my father throughout his life. He always had a story about everything in
life that would bring your name into it, Steve."
"Sara," Steve started a sentence, but was too choked up to finish.
Sara saw more pain in his eyes than she felt in her own heart. It was hard
for her to not break down, but she knew that would make Steve hurt even
worse.
"Sara," Mark said trying to continue, "things will all come back
together in time. The police are doing their best to find the person that
killed your father and justice will be served." Sara began to walk away
when Mark said something else. "Oh, and Sara, if you ever need anything,
Steve and I are just a phone call away."
"Thank you, Mark," she said in a shaky voice as she went back over
to give him a big hug. Then she walked back over to Steve and gave him
another comforting embrace and a kiss on the cheek before running to
leave for her friend's house, where she was staying until a new permanent
residence was found for her.
"Dad," Steve said, "how is she able to cope with this, but I'm not
able to? If it were you that something happened to, there is no way I could
keep as much composure as she just did."
"Well, son," Mark said in reply, "she realizes how much he meant
to you. Sara is a person that thinks of others before herself, and doesn't
want to cause any more pain to anyone than has already been experienced.
You remember when her mother died? Sara was only eight, and realized
what had happened, but she was a little ball of sunshine that kept John
sane. When we stayed at their house at the time of the funeral, she ran
around cleaning as much as she could and as high as she could reach with
her little arms and made breakfast for everyone the morning her dad
wouldn't leave his room. Sara then announced to everyone that her dad
would be hungry too, so don't eat everything. After piling up the food on a
small plate she plowed into his bedroom and said "you have to eat a good
breakfast to stay strong an healthy, just like mom always said." John took
her into his arms and walked out of the room with a big smile on his face.
For that moment you would have never guessed something tragic had
happened to the family."
Steve let it all sink in and a small grin was forced onto his face.
Memories filled his head of when he and John had been younger and when
they had gone and done things with Mark. Then the memories flashed
ahead to how he and John had taken Sara to football games and the times
that he spent with them. "Thanks for reminding me," he said looking into
his dad's eyes, "and always remind me of past memories and how good life
has been for you and me."
"I will, son, I will," Mark answered back, forcing a smile and
choking back tears, "Now, let's go home."
* *
A knock at the door came at the Sloan beach house around eight
o'clock the next morning. Mark had been awake for a couple of hours. He
had finished his walk on the beach and had been sitting at the kitchen table
reading the newspaper when he heard the visitor's rapping on the door.
Steve, on the other hand, was still sound asleep. While looking through
things to remember John and the good times they had in life, he had lost
track of time and didn't get to sleep until five that morning. Mark stood up
from his seat and opened the door to see a tall man in a suit with dark
brown hair, and young Sara.
"Well, hello!" Mark greeted when he saw Sara was standing there.
"Hi, Dr. Sloan," she said quietly while staring at his feet. The tone
of her voice was the first clue that something was happening that she was
very unsure about. Mark decided that maybe he needed to break the ice.
"Well, Sara, do you like my shoes? I just got them a couple of days
ago at that new "Shoes-for-Less," he said. She looked up at him and
shook her head. A little smile managed to appear on her embarrassed face
for him noticing that she was looking at his feet.
"Dr. Sloan," the man said, "is your son here?"
"Why, yes he is, sir. May I ask who you are, first?"
"Sorry for not introducing myself," the man said as he offered his
hand and Mark shook it while he answered. "My name is Joshua Stern. I
am Mr. Embers' attorney."
"Well, nice meeting you. Oh, go ahead and come in."
"Thank you," Mr. Stern said. He guided Sara in by placing his hand
on her back sort of to comfort her as the uncertainty became more
apparent on her face.
"Steve," Mark shouted down the stairs, "Steve, wake up, we have
some visitors." The shouting scared Steve so much that he fell on the floor
before getting up. He didn't want to yell back to his dad, so he grabbed his
robe and put it on rapidly. Steve dragged himself up the stairs and then
peered around the corner to see Sara and the attorney.
"Hello, Sara," Steve greeted with a bit of surprise in his voice.
Then he looked at the man. "Who are you?"
Mark interjected, "Steve, this is Joshua Stern, John's attorney. He
needs to speak to you."
"Let me run back down and change into something more
appropriate," Steve said as he began back down the stairs.
* *
Steve walked onto the deck to see Sara and Mr. Stern already
seated. Mark had grabbed a pitcher of tea and was pouring it into tall cups
for everyone. Steve and Mark both pulled up chairs to sit in. Sara still
looked down, but they could not guess why she seemed so distraught.
"Mr. Sloan," Josh began, "About a year ago, Mr. Embers came to
me about making a will. The thing is, there was only one thing he wanted
to put in his will, and he wanted to leave it to you."
"Why do you sound so concerned about this?" Steve questioned.
He could tell that whatever it was must be important just because of the
concern.
"Well, the 'thing' happens to be here today," Mr. Stern answered
back. He still had the tone of concern in his voice. When Mr. Stern said
'thing' again, Sara's head sank even more giving more of a look at the top
of her blonde head. Mark crinkled his forehead as in thought trying to
figure out what this thing was all about, while Steve was trying not to lose
his patience with Joshua for not telling him what was in the will.
"Just tell me what you are talking about, Mr. Stern," Steve
demanded. "If it is as important as it sounds, maybe the sooner I know the
better things will be."
"Well," Stern started, but took a big gulp then spit it all out, "Mr.
Embers believed you were the best person that he knew, and he knew you
are responsible and have many values. Therefore, he decided to leave you
his daughter in his will."
Steve's eyes popped out of his head! The thought of him having to
take care of a daughter along with his dad, Amanda, and Jesse, was just
unthinkable.
"Steve," Sara said, "you don't need to take me in. I'm so sorry. I
didn't know that he had decided to do this. I... I..."
Mark cut her off with a question to the attorney. "What will
happen to Sara if Steve decides not to take her in?"
"Well, she will automatically be put into an orphanage or placed in
a foster home. If placed into a foster home, her home will probably change
every few months."
Steve heard this and his heart broke. She was his best friend's
daughter, and he was being asked to do this for him. If he didn't take her
in, it would be as if he was breaking a promise to John. That was
something he would never do. Then he glanced at his own dad. What if
this had happened to him as a teen? Would he want to be moving around
or would he want to stay somewhere that felt a little more secure?
"I'll do it," he announced with confidence to the table. Sara's eyes
went back and forth between Steve and Mark. They had been so good to
her father and she knew this was what he would have wanted. Her eye
peered over at Mark and a great big smile decorated his face. Steve looked
at his dad and was able to catch the smile, too. It was obvious that Mark
was happy with the decision which gave him more confidence in agreeing
to do this. The silence was finally broken by Mr. Stern.
"There are some papers that do need to be signed, but we can hold
off on those for the moment until you all get your arrangements
straightened out and some of the emotional points of this change are
fulfilled. I will allow her to stay here, but we cannot let her get all of her
things out of the house until what is needed out of the house for the murder
investigation has been collected." With that, he stood up, and walked
away. The three of them that were left all stood up. No one really knew
what to say.
"Get over here," Mark said as he motioned her over. He put his
arms around her to reassure her spot in the home. "Welcome home," he
then added with a huge smile on his face.
Steve tried to maintain his composure as he realized that there must
be a lot more stress on Sara than on him. "Now, you realize you are part
of one of the zaniest families out there. This means that things will never
be normal, and a lot of unusual things will happen."
With that being mentioned, Sara began laughing and her face lit up
like the ball of sunshine Mark had mentioned at the funeral. It was
amazing to Steve, that she still had that little girl face and she wasn't the
grown-up that she had fooled him into believing.
* *
"Hi, Jesse! Hi, Amanda!" Mark exclaimed happily as he strolled
into the lounge at Community General. Amanda was puzzled because he
was late for work, but still in such a fantastic mood. Jesse was tired
from being awake all night that he didn't really notice.
"Mark, why are you so late? Actually, more importantly, why
are you so happy?" Amanda interrogated.
"Well, honey, something wonderful happened this morning," he
answered back. Amanda gave a questionable look.
Jesse decided he'd get in on the conversation. Drearily he added,
"Mark, Amanda wants to know exactly what happened to make you so
happy." Mark started laughing at Jesse and how he sounded so dead.
"You know about how Steve's best friend was murdered about a
week ago."
"Yeah, Mark, I did the autopsy," Amanda acknowledged while her
forehead wrinkled up, "What's so good about that?"
"He has a daughter named Sara. She is the sweetest young lady.
Anyway, this morning his attorney, Joshua Stern, stopped by with Sara.
We all sat and had a discussion. John had only one request if he died. It
was that he wanted Steve to take care of his daughter."
"Mark, you mean Steve's a daddy!?!?" Jesse was so excited that he
fell out of his chair when he said this.
"I guess you could say that in a way."
"And even better," Jesse adding his two cents worth again, "you're
a grandpa!"
Amanda gave Jesse a look that basically said, "you shouldn't have
said that." The thing was while she glared at him, Mark was engulfed in
laughter. Jesse followed while rolling on the floor. Part of his laughter
was due to Mark and the other part was because he was slaphappy from
his lack of sleep. Amanda let out a small laugh while shaking her head.
While they were all laughing Steve and Sara walked in. Steve had a very
confused look on his face while Sara stood silently not knowing how to
react. Mark was able to gain control of himself long enough to introduce
Amanda and Jesse to Sara. Sara remembered Jesse from the week before
when she came to the hospital to see her father for the last time.
"What is all of this insanity about," Steve asked.
"Jesse just said something that was so hilarious. It was no big deal,
really," Mark replied while trying to hold in his laughter.
"So, Sara, are you ready to attempt the impossible?" Amanda
asked, being met by eyes questioning what she was talking about. She
didn't answer to anyone's eyes, so Sara went ahead and asked.
"I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Oh, what I mean by attempting the impossible is living with Steve
and Mark."
"Hey," Steve snapped back, "what do _you_ mean by that?"
"Nothing. Sara, you are the luckiest girl on earth to be living with
the two of them."
"Thanks Amanda for the compliment... I think," Steve questionably
replied.
"Well, folks, I have rounds to make. Steve, I'll see you at home
later," Mark said.
"Okay, dad."
* *
Sara lay asleep in Steve's bed. Until they were able to clear the
extra room of all the junk that was stored in it, she would sleep there,
Steve was going to take the couch, and Mark would stay in his room.
Mark and Steve were awake still, though. They were sifting through
information that had been gathered about Lt. Embers' murder.
"Dad, there's nothing here to go on. So far it looks like the perfect
murder. Something has to be here, but not seen."
"I don't mean to be nosy, but what was meant by that purple heart
that Sara gave you yesterday? John never did serve, did he?"
"You never mean to be nosy, do you dad?" Steve had a little smirk
on his face and a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he said that to his dad.
"Well, I really haven't figured that out yet. And, you're right he was never
in the service."
"Do you think it could be a hint to his murder? You may need to
talk to Sara more about it. Who knows. There could be something that
she knows that would help."
" I really don't want to do that to her yet. She already did a lot for
me at the funeral, and now I realize why she was so upset when she first
showed up here earlier today." As soon as Steve finished his sentence a
loud scream came from Steve's room. Steve got up and sprinted down,
with Mark close behind in his tracks.
"Don't hit me, again, please, father, don't!" Sara screamed in her
sleep.
Steve looked at his dad in terror. Could it have been that John beat
his daughter? The best friend Steve ever had do something this cruel! In
his mind he tried convincing himself that it wasn't true, but that is all he
could think that was meant by it.
"Sara! Sara! Wake up, honey," Steve frantically attempted to
awake her. Sara awoke once he said the same words again. She snapped
up and started crying.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that. I... I..."
"It's okay. Go ahead and lie back down." Tears streamed down
her innocent face. Steve cradled her in his arms. She couldn't close her
eyes. Her fear was expressed through this.
"Steve, really, I'm sorry. You two can go back to what you were
doing. You know, nightmares will catch you off guard any time." Mark
crossed over to Steve and whispered something to him.
"Sweetheart," Mark said, "could you sit up real quick for me,
please?"
"Yes, sir," she answered immediately, with a little quiver in her
voice.
Mark lifted up the back of her shirt to do a quick examination.
Neither he or Steve were prepared to see what was there. The beatings her
back must have taken over the years had left numerous scars deep in the
skin. Her back was still scraped and bruised from whenever her last
beating had been by him. Steve closed his eyes to focus quickly and to
hold back tears from the betrayal of his best friend and the scarred life of
Sara.
"Sara, honey," Mark asked, "how often did your dad do this to
you?" Sara choked up and tears swelled her eyes. Steve gave his dad a
'how dare you' look for asking the question.
"It was... It was... He beat me almost every day. Please don't hurt
me for that. I promised him I wouldn't tell, so I wouldn't get beat worse,
and if you are planning on hitting me for this interruption, I promise you
that I won't tell..."
"Honey, no one is ever going to do that to you again," Steve swiftly
assured her. He gave her a hug to make sure she knew he meant it. Mark
was almost in tears that a father could be so cruel, while Steve was
wondering the same thing.
"Sara, tomorrow, I don't want to scare you or anything, but I want
to look over your back and try to make sure everything's okay with it at the
hospital, if that's alright with you?"
"Yeah, that'll be fine, thanks." After a long pause Sara said, "I don't
think I'll be able to get back to sleep for a while."
"I have an idea," Mark said with a smile, "Up in the freezer there is
some vanilla ice cream and I have chocolate, nuts, and cherries in a
cabinet. We can all go up and make huge sundaes since none of us can
sleep anyway. Does that sound good?"
Steve looked at Sara, then back up at his dad. He thought this
should calm some of Sara's fears of him and his dad. "That does sound
really good, dad, don't you think so Sara." Sara couldn't say anything, but
she nodded her head with a little bit of a smile forced on her face. The
three then proceeded up the stairs.
* *
""Okay, honey, we're finished," Mark said after he finished the
close examination of the cuts and bruises on Sara's back.
"Thanks, Dr. Sloan," Sara chimed back. She was very happy this
morning. The time that had been spent the night before chatting and eating
those sundaes really had helped her. As she got off of the examination
table, Dr. Bentley and Dr. Travis entered.
"Well, hello, you two," Mark greeted cheerily, "Did you get any
sleep last night Jesse?"
"I slept for twelve hours," he happily said quickly changing the
smile on his face to a frown, he then said, "but now I have to work for the
next twenty-four."
Everyone laughed at him. Steve wasn't there because he had some
cases to catch up on, so Sara was going to stay at the hospital with Mark
all day. She had decided that maybe she could permanently volunteer
there. One of the other hospital nurses stepped in.
"Well, hello Margie," Dr. Sloan greeted, "This is Sara. She's the
new volunteer I was talking to you about earlier."
"Hi, Sara," Margie with a smile said to the girl.
"Hello," Sara said back with a little bit of uncertainty in her voice.
She would have to wait for Margie to prove her trustworthiness to her.
"Well, let's get started!" Margie exited the room with Sara after
Mark gave a nod of reassurance for her to follow.
"Okay, gang, let's get started," Mark spoke to Amanda and Jesse.
"Mark, please forgive me if I missed something, but what are you
talking about?" Amanda asked.
"Oh, we have to solve the murder of Sara's father, Mr. John
Embers. There are so many pieces of this puzzle that have to be placed
carefully together, and I know that Steve isn't totally up for this whole
investigation, so I figured we could do it for him."
Mark opened the door and left the room. As usual Jesse and
Amanda followed close behind as they went to Dr. Sloan's office to insure
the privacy of their conversation.
* *
"So, Mark, what do you have so far," Jesse wanted to know for
curiosity's sake.
"Well, there's a purple heart and any information Sara has. I haven't
asked her anything about her father's death, but I do know that the abuse
that she suffered over the years will probably provide some clue," he
answered with a little bit of a shake in his voice during the abuse part.
"Well, how do you expect us to get anything from just those at this
present moment?" Amanda snapped back. She really wasn't in the mood
for all of this to be happening right now. At this point Steve walked in
hearing Amanda's snappiness.
"Aren't we in a good mood today," he said with grin while giving
Amanda a sort of mischievous look. His joking quickly ended when he
realized that it was just Mark, Amanda, and Jesse with no sign of Sara
around. "Where's Sara at?" he questioned frantically.
"Calm down son. She decided that she would like to do some
volunteer work since she has to be up here anyway. Sara is just fine right
now. The bigger question is why are you here?"
"Okay. Sorry I snapped like that, but after the conversation last
night, I wouldn't want anything worse to happen to her than what already
has. All of my cases are now caught up on so I decided to see if Sara
wanted to do anything. I don't know why I'm so worried."
Jesse thought this was the perfect opportunity to add his two cents
worth. "Well, well, aren't we Mr. Mom now. You better be careful, or
next thing you know you'll be wearing a dress. Wait, you've already done
that" Jesse began laughing hysterically. The dress reference was to an
undercover assignment that Steve had done a couple of weeks earlier.
Amanda gave Jesse the I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look, because she
knew Steve was truly worried about Sara. Mark stood laughing at Jesse
while looking at his son.
Steve glared over at Jesse acting as if he was mad. Then he said,
"Ha, ha, Jess. As I remember you helped me with that assignment and
wore a cute little flowery dress that you chose yourself. AND, you had an
overwhelming response from men that wanted your phone number." By
this point, Mark had begun the hysterical laughing followed by his son.
Amanda let a small smile broaden her face. Jesse turned red and started
looking at the floor.
"This investigation needs to continue now, boys," Amanda
announced.
"I agree with her," Jesse said as he slowly lifted his head up.
"What are you guys investigating, may I ask, or is it something I
shouldn't know about," Steve queried since he had just come in.
"We're trying to find out exactly who murdered John Embers,"
Jesse said to Steve, "We don't have any leads yet, but we just got in here to
start."
"Didn't you say, son, that he never served, but had that Purple
Heart? Also, he left that to you, and you have no clue what the meaning is
behind it?"
"Yeah, dad, but I guess there could be something behind it I don't
remember. I have no clue what it could be though." At that moment Sara
slipped in silently. She almost went unnoticed except the creak of the door
hinges moving gave her away.
"Sara, are you alright?" Steve asked with concern.
"I'm doing just wonderful today, Steve," she said with the brightest,
most angelic smile on her face. "The volunteer stuff will be fun once I go
through all of the training. There was an emergency, so I was told to come
here since everyone else is busy down there."
"Well, perfect timing, Sara," Mark preparing to question her if
possible. "Are you up to answering a few questions about your dad,
honey?"
"Please refer to him as my father. I'm uncomfortable with the term
'dad' being used for him."
"Why don't you want him to be called dad?" Jesse inquired.
"One time I read somewhere that anyone can be a father, but it
takes a special person to be a dad, and I never thought that he lived up to
that title." Everyone looked at one another astonished that she said that.
Sara broke the shocked air in the room, "What do you want to know about
my father?"
"Well, first of all, did he have any enemies?" Mark was the one
questioning as the others sat and listened.
"A better question would be who wasn't his enemy. Steve was the
only person that he never did back-stab," her voice sounding strong and
fading as she looked up at Steve. "He wanted to be a good person, he
really did. The problem was his past followed him, and he kept leading it
onward."
Steve's face expressed dismay. Mark knew that Steve's thoughts of
his best friend kept getting worse, but there was no way to avoid the truth.
Amanda sat quietly with an inquisitive expression on her face while Jesse
was listening, but playing around with a pencil to stay entertained.
"Sara," Steve began, "please tell us anything you know. I don't
want anyone else getting hurt - especially you. If there is anything else that
you're not telling, I'm pleading with you to tell me or my dad."
Steve looked straight at her hoping that she would have something
to help out. She stood there quietly, then spoke up and said, "I've already
made a list of all the people that I know hated my father. I honestly don't
know anything else, Steve."
Steve looked over at his dad. Mark shook his head and shrugged
his shoulders.
"Well, I guess we can go ahead and leave for the Lakers/Bulls
game, since we have no other business here," Steve said as he pulled two
tickets out of his jacket's pocket. He knew that she was a big Lakers fan,
because she, her father, and Steve used to go to the games together.
"I thought they were sold out!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen
them play the Bulls before!" Sara then ran over to Steve and they started
out the door.
"Bye, everyone," Sara said.
"Bye, everyone, see you tomorrow. Dad, I'll talk to you tonight
about all of this."
"Okay, Steve, see you later."
Steve and Sara left. Mark paced back and forth in the room
holding his chin with a worried look on his face.
"Mark," Amanda began her question, "is something wrong. You
look worried."
"The problem is, I believe that Sara doesn't know anything, but if
she doesn't know anything, there goes our only clue, besides that Purple
Heart."
Jesse finally lost interest in the pencil and joined in the
conversation. "I agree with you Mark. I think that Sara is telling the truth,
because she has so much trust now built up between you and Steve, that
she wouldn't want to let you two down."
"I'm just going to have to talk to Steve. After this afternoon's game
he probably will investigate some more."
After that statement, Jesse was paged to the operating room. Mark
had to make his rounds and check up on some patients. Amanda needed to
go and check out a body that was brought into the morgue only about an
hour earlier.
* *
Steve dropped Sara off to an empty house, so she decided to go
walking on the beach. He had to go check out a lead in the Lt. John
Embers case.
While at the game, he had found a matchbook on the ground for a
nightclub called "Purple Heart." This made him think of the Purple Heart
that Sara had handed him the day of her father's funeral. His thoughts
started to go astray again, and he began thinking of the good times he and
John had shared. Before he knew it, though, he was at "Purple Heart."
The building was the color of a royal purple crayon. The front doors were
trimmed in gold with glass in them. Steve entered to see some of the
waiters and waitresses cleaning off the tables and preparing for the night's
crowd. He noticed that each one wore replicas of the infamous Purple
Heart as part of their uniform. As he looked around he spotted someone
that looked to be in charge.
"Excuse me, sir," he started out, "may I ask you a few questions."
The man looked at Steve with his face full of disgust. "I don't have
time right now. Unless you are here to get some stuff, I don't want to talk
to you right now."
Detective Sloan became mad at the attitude the man had. He pulled
out his badge and snapped back, "Detective Sloan, LAPD."
"You have my attention, now."
"Good. Did you ever meet a guy named Lt. John Embers?"
The man turned around and started doing something. He acted as
if he was ignoring the question, which just kept feeding Steve's anger.
"I could take you into the station for questioning," Steve said very
sternly.
"No, I have never met John Embers."
"You've never met him, but have you heard the name before?"
"Yeah, my partner did business with him. He always complained
about how Mr. Embers couldn't pay for the stuff that he bought. That
really angered him."
"Well, sir, what kind of stuff did he buy?"
"You know, the usual drugs. None that are legal," the guy told
Steve with a sly smirk on his face.
"Where's the guy that was selling the drugs to him?"
The guy stood there with a look of evil in his eyes. The
conversation became abruptly quiet.
Steve asked again, "Where's the guy that was selling the drugs to
him?"
The man ran up to Steve and knocked him down. One of the
employees called for the police to come and stop this nonsense. They
wrestled around on the floor and knocked some tables over. After both
men were bleeding from cuts suffered, Steve finally pinned him down.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, before I kill you, where's your
partner?"
The guy in a very calm voice started to talk. "He won't let anyone
associated with John Embers live."
Steve worried asked, "What exactly are you talking about?"
"You know, Sara _was_ a sweet and pretty young girl. Too bad
her father couldn't pay up."
A couple of officers walked into the club and broke the two up.
Once broken apart Steve ran out the door for his car. He had to hurry to
get to the beach house that he was sharing with his dad and Sara. The
word "was" ran through his head.
* *
Meanwhile, Mark walked into the door of his house ready to spend
a couple of hours relaxing with his son and Sara. It was already 8:30 at
night, so he figured that they would be back from the basketball game that
they had gone to. He flipped on the light switch only to realize, to his
dismay, that no one was home. Normally this would worry him if Steve
wasn't home, but not tonight. Mark was ready to kick back his feet and
relax and hope that Sara was having a good time. He went to the kitchen
to grab a box of crackers off of the shelf to eat. Since Mark knew where
they were, he didn't even bother to turn on the light in there. As he walked
out of the kitchen though, someone grabbed him from behind. The man in
black held Mark with a very tight grip. Out of fear Mark began to kick and
try to get away. The man began to throw Mark all around the room. He
couldn't defend himself from the man.
Sara walked in the door to see the man throwing Mark down. It
was as if everything was going in slow motion. As Mark went down his
head hit the coffee table in the room. The man was going to keep beating
on Mark, but Sara ran up and started a struggle with him. She screamed,
but couldn't be heard, because no one was even close by. The man beat on
her and beat on her, but she wouldn't give up the fight.
Steve pulled up to the beach house. As he quickly jumped out of
his car a single gunshot rang from the house. He sprinted up the stairs and
threw the door open. Steve looked around the demolished room. He
didn't notice the two unconscious bodies laying on the ground until after he
saw blood on the cushions of his father's couch. Detective Sloan then
proceeded to go after the man in black, the partner from "Purple Heart."
Steve grabbed the gun trying to break it away. The men pushed and
punched, but neither would let go of the gun. They tumbled to the floor.
Suddenly three shots rang out.
Steve pushed the body of the man in black off of him. The
unknown man had been shot twice in the heart. Steve, on the other hand,
had been shot in his shoulder. He made his way over to where his dad was.
Slowly, Mark was beginning to stir. His son grabbed him and carried him
over closer to Sara. Sara looked as if she was dead. Blood covered her
face and she had been shot in her chest. By some miracle she was still
breathing. Steve lay her head in his lap, and held Mark between his arm
and chest. Sirens could be heard from all around. Steve prayed that all of
them would live and that nothing else like this would happen again while
waiting for the help.
* *
A touch of light flowed into the dark hospital room. Young Sara
was lying down in the only bed in the room. Mark was sprawled out,
asleep, over several chairs he had put together to create a makeshift bed so
he could be in there with her. A large patch covered the spot where he had
hit his head on the table. One of his fingers had been broken, and he was
sore throughout his body.
Steve sat next to Sara's bedside all through the night. She had gone
into surgery as soon as her unconscious body arrived at the hospital. They
said she would live, but Steve was still weary because of the condition she
appeared to be in. He didn't sleep all night, and had his right hand holding
her right hand while his left rubbed her forehead.
Mark woke up to see his son watching over Sara.
"Now you know how I feel every time that you end up in the
hospital," he started out immediately saying. Mark could tell from his
perspective that Sara would be alright, so he added a small smile afterward.
Steve looked up at his dad. He was very relieved to see that Mark
was okay. "Dad, do you really worry about me this much? I thought
nothing could be scarier than the times you were in the hospital, but now,
I'm worried about her more than I have ever been for anyone before."
Sara began to move. Her eyes weren't opened, but she squeezed
Steve's hand and her head shook slowly back and forth. Slowly her eyes
fluttered open. Everything was hazy, and she had a hard time thinking.
Sara, could, however, make out a person to her right. It was the person
that was holding her hand. In her mind she knew it was Steve.
"Dad?" she asked.
Steve thought she said that because she was still groggy, but Mark
knew in his heart that she thought of Steve as her dad. He began to smile,
and almost cry remembering what she had said earlier about the difference
between fathers and dads. Mark knew that things were all going to work
out for the three of them, and when she said that, he knew how much Steve
meant to Sara.
"How are you feeling, honey?" Steve asked.
"I hurt really bad," she answered drearily. "Is Dr. Sloan alright?
He hit his head on the table."
"He's just fine. In fact, he's standing..."
"Shhh, Steve. She went back to sleep." Both of the Sloans looked
down at her in silence and then peered at one another with small smiles on
their faces.
* *
Two weeks later_
Steve pulled up to the beach house. He had been coming back and
forth between there and the hospital for two weeks now. The car was
parked, and Steve unfolded his legs out of the car. As he walked to the
other side to open the passenger door a big grin graced his face. The door
opened and Sara appeared on the inside. He bent over and helped Sara to
get out. One of her legs was badly broken during the attack and for the
last two weeks she had been going through rehab attempting to be able to
walk on her own. She was guided by Steve to the back of the house.
Slowly they made their way up the stairs to the deck.
"Surprise," Mark, Amanda, and Jesse shouted once Sara had made
it up to the top. A huge banner hung above that had "Welcome Home
Sara" printed on it. Balloons of various colors blew around from where
they were tied on the patio. Crepe paper was draped and twisted to add to
the festivity of the deck. A large cake sat in the middle of the table.
"I... I... I don't know what to say," Sara replied. She really didn't
know how to react to all of this attention since she wasn't used to it.
Steve turned to her and gave her a great big bear hug. As he let go
he looked at her and said, "Welcome home." He then proceeded to help
her over to a seat to sit and relax in.
"Steve," Jesse began, "May I talk to you privately for a second."
Steve walked over to Jesse and they both entered the house. Amanda
followed wondering what on earth they could be talking about. Mark
stayed outside with Sara.
"What is it you want to know Jess?"
"Well, what did the police decide about everything that has
happened?"
"It turns out that, Lt. Embers had been a long time crack user. He
was buying from the second largest dealer in LA. When he originally began
buying, it was cheap, but as his addiction became worse, it was costing him
more. Eventually he couldn't pay up, because he owed approximately
one-hundred grand."
"One-hundred grand?" Amanda looked at Steve with shock in her
eyes.
"That's about the reaction I had. John had made a deal originally
that if at any time he couldn't pay off, they could take his life along with the
rest of his family."
"My, goodness! How could anyone do that to their family,
especially if they only have one child," Jesse said astonished.
"Apparently, after talking with Sara, she didn't know that he was
using drugs. It sounded, though, as if he got worse as far as beating her, as
his addictions became worse. I can't believe I never noticed how he
changed."
Amanda cut in, "You loved him as if he were your own brother,
and as they say love is blind."
"You have a point there, Amanda," Steve said. "I guess as long as
I do my best to help Sara get better and move on, I'll feel better about the
whole thing."
"You'll make a great dad Steve, just because you've had so much
training from the best one out there," Jesse explained with a huge grin on
his face as he placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.
Amanda reluctantly put in her two cents worth and said, "I can't
believe I'm saying this, but Jesse's right. Everything will end up great and
everyone will be happy."
"Thanks for the encouragement, both of you." The trio walked
back onto the deck. Mark and Sara were standing by the camera on it's
tripod. They had been working with the timer so they would be ready for
the group picture to be taken. Sara hobbled back to her seat. Mark began
to place everyone else.
"Okay, Steve, you stand right here behind Sara. Amanda, stand to
his left. I'm going to be to the right of him. Jesse, you stand right here,
and make sure that there's enough space for me to get in between you and
Steve." Mark walked over to the camera so he could begin the timer. A
bee buzzed around Jesse and he began to swat at it. Trying to get away
from it he inched over toward Steve. The bee went in between the two of
them and while trying to hit the bee, Jesse slapped Steve in the face. Steve
turned and gave Jesse a little shove. Jesse tripped on the leg of the chair
Sara was sitting in. Amanda turned away from the two covering her face.
Steve looked down at Jesse as he tried to get back up and Mark ran back
over for the picture. He threw his arms in the air and Sara turned and
looked back at them. Let's just say that the camera didn't get your "usual"
family photo.