Preface- Professional Lover
Danny Messer rolled over in silence, put his arms around his wife, and tried to recapture the fragments of his dream; long gone.
She had been in the dream; featured in it, none the less. She looked to be in pain. There was a lot of beeping in his dream, and Danny couldn't help but think that she was in the hospital. He was looking in on her, silence radiating from her. It was as if she were in a coma.
Her eyes, once blue, were shut tightly, as if she knew that something was wrong with her. Her toes were arched in a tight convulsion, and Danny moved to massage her until she relaxed, as she had once done for him. But, before he could get there, she opened her eyes. Their blue color was darkened by pain and fear. She was crying, but the tears were not clear. They were tears of blood. She reached for him, and Danny went to grasp her hand.
Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.
Briiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Danny shot up out of the bed and reached blindly for the phone. As he heard a faint, panicked hello, he turned to Lindsay's side of the bed. She snored on quietly, undisturbed by the loud ringing of the phone.
"Danny?" Mac Taylor asked from the other end of the line.
"I'm here. What's up with the early morning phone call? You almost woke Lindsay," Danny said, swinging his legs out of the bed and starting for the kitchen. He knew that Lindsay, as predictable as ever, would be up shortly, since she was so accustomed to his body heat near her. He was merely intent on starting breakfast, and warming a bottle for their young baby.
"Do you know a Constantine Manderly, Danny?" Mac asked softly, already knowing the answer.
Danny froze, his left foot on the ground in front of him, in mid stride. The kitchen door spun in front of him, and he reached out to grasp the dining room table. Quickly, he sat down in a chair. The only thought that passed through his mind, beside Don't wake the baby was She married him. She actually married him. Unlocking his jaw, he spoke. "She was Constantine Messer when I knew her," he said shakily. He still wasn't at all sure of his bearings, but the room around him had stopped spinning.
"Can you come down here, Danny?" Mac asked.
Oh, God. She's dead. He killed her. He finally killed her. "Yeah, sure, but I'm bringing Lindsay. I'm gonna need her with me, Mac."
"Have you spoken to her at all about your family, Danny?"
"No, but now is as good a time as any to start."