All disclaimers in Ch.1 apply
Sorry this has taken so long to get out. I meant to get it done sooner, but then term papers, finals, and moving all wound up taking over my life for several weeks. Thank you to all those who submitted reviews, they were greatly appreciated!
Rachel immediately noticed Jason's discomfiture. "Are you all right?" she asked, concern showing in her dark eyes.
Jason coughed. "Yep," he got out. "Swallowed wrong."
Rachel nodded, her blonde hair tumbling around her face. Tucking it behind her ears, she looked at Jason. "So what's your fiancée like?"
Jason could not resist the grin that came over his features at the thought of Kat. "Well, her name is Katherine, Kat for short, and she just finished getting her qualifications to be a physical therapist. She's a kind, loving woman. As far as what she looks like, Kat's a gorgeous, graceful blonde, tall, studied classical ballet for a number of years, and she's just…" Jason trailed off.
"Perfect?" supplied Rachel.
"Basically," said Jason, smiling.
"Wedding jitters?" inquired Rachel.
Jason nodded. "I don't even know why," he admitted sheepishly. "I know that Kat's the one for me - I love her more than life itself…but I just can't shake the what-ifs right now."
Rachel's face went serious. "I think everyone gets pre-wedding jitters - I love Jason very much, but I still couldn't resist going out and walking off the butterflies in my stomach," she said softly, "at the same time though, I think it's more because I'm a sort of stressed out with all the planning and preparations. I would be more nervous," she went on, "but I've seen my parents all these years. They've been great role models. Dad would always tell Mom how beautiful she was every morning and how much he loved her. Mom's always done little things for Dad - sometimes she'd fix something special when she knew he was having a bad day, or she'd leave little notes in his gym bag telling him how much she loved him."
"So getting married was definitely worth it for your parents" said Jason softly. At this point, any good stories about marriage were consoling to him.
Rachel nodded. A soft smile crossed her face, tinged with just a slight amount of sorrow. "Yeah. Not that they haven't had their share of difficulties. My Mom got sick a few years ago with ovarian cancer, and Dad never left her side. I've never forgotten him carrying her from the car into the house after a chemotherapy session when she was too weak to walk. When her hair started to fall out, Mom just sat and sobbed. She felt ugly, but when she told Dad that, he just looked at her and said he'd never seen anyone more beautiful than she was. He was there during the whole thing, took care of her and all."
"That was one of my 'what-ifs'" Jason admitted quietly. "I had sort of wondered if I'd have the strength to take care of Kat if she got sick or if I'd just not be able to deal with it. I think I would, but what if…"
"I don't think any one really knows what they'll do," said Rachel thoughtfully. "But I guess if the situation comes up, you deal with it. I know my parents weren't sure what to do at first, but they did their best. Mom was declared cured three years ago, and while the whole ordeal was horribly difficult on both of them, they just kept going. They had told themselves from the beginning that they were going to be together no matter what, and they stuck to that. When Mom got sick, it wasn't a question of whether or not my father would severely reduce his class load when Mom needed someone around pretty much full time - he was going to."
"How?" asked Jason, surprised. "I mean, financially and all?" "Well, first of all, my parents had good medical insurance - with Dad being a Karate instructor, they couldn't take the chance that he'd get injured, and then not only would they be out of his income, but have hospital and doctor bills to pay as well. Apparently, one of Dad's good friends had thrown out his back when he was younger and had to quit martial arts. Then they'd saved money since they'd first gotten married, so when Dad quit teaching for the year except for his very advanced class, it was a little tighter than usual, but he knew he'd have a job to come back to - Uncle Thomas made sure of that - and Mom needed him. Dad would just tell anyone that asked him how he could just take a year off that Katherine - my mom - came first."
"Wow," muttered Jason. "There's dedication for you."
"Yep," replied Rachel. "When they said 'For better or for worse' they meant it."
Feeling mildly uncomfortable, Jason decided to change the subject. It was all too coincidental. A mother named Katherine? Jason had seen some strange things before, but he just couldn't believe that… He cleared the thought from his mind and went on. "What's your fiancé like?"
"Jason's wonderful. It was a little weird when we started dating, considering how close our parents are. He's my 'Uncle' Thomas' son, named for my father actually, and I think it seemed a little crazy to both sets of parents." Rachel laughed. "It's been murder explaining that we aren't actually cousins. By the time that Jason and I started dating, we were eighteen, and he'd been calling my dad "Uncle Jason" and I'd been calling his dad "Uncle Thomas" for so many years that it was a pretty much unbreakable habit."
"Uh, huh," said Jason, the strange prickling on his spine coming back in force. As he was about to open his mouth again, he heard the door open.
"Jason!" One of the police officers Jason vaguely remembered as Kevin greeted him. "This the young lady?"
Jason nodded. The officers went over to Rachel. "We'll have to take you down to the station for questioning, but it shouldn't take too long. Heard you have a wedding tomorrow - congratulations, by the way."
"Thanks," replied Rachel. Walking over to Jason, she offered her hand. Jason took it, and as he did, he felt her squeeze it lightly. "Good luck," she said softly. "I know you and Katherine will be happy together."
Jason heard the note of authority in her voice, and as he released her hand, he said "Good luck to you too, Rachel - I didn't catch your last name."
Rachel smiled slightly. "Rachel Scott," she said quietly. Turning, she walked toward the waiting policemen and just before she was escorted out the door, turned back to Jason. "Thank you, Jason Lee."
Before Jason could stop her, she was gone. Now the tingling that had been racing along his spine caused him to sink into the nearest chair. He knew he'd never told her his middle name.
~*~
"Owwww" moaned Rachel softly, feeling hands helping her up.
"Rachel, are you all right?" asked someone.
"I think so," muttered Rachel, touching her aching head.
"You're a very lucky young lady," came the voice again. "You don't seem to have been hurt too badly. Hell, I've never seen a mugger run so fast, actually."
"Huh?" said Rachel, suddenly recollecting what had happened. "Where's Dad?"
The police officer sighed. He knew Rachel Scott from having taken several classes at her father's dojo, but he wondered at her words if she had been hit harder in the head than he'd previously thought. "Rachel, what are you talking about?"
"Dad! He was here! He was much younger but he stopped the mugger…"
The officer sighed, feeling a tearing at his heart. Jason Scott had been a good man. "Rachel, your father, God rest his soul, died nearly a year ago."
~*~
"Good grief" Jason heard someone chuckle, "Sleeping in the dojo, huh? You're going to have to cut that out - you'll have a wife to go home to after tomorrow."
Opening his eyes, Jason, squinted at the bright light, and then focused on Tommy, who was continuing to laugh. Without a word, he suddenly grabbed the telephone that was lying beside him. Dialing, much to Tommy's bemusement, Jason heard the person on the other end answer.
"Angel Grove Police Department, this is Brian."
"Brian, good morning. I just wanted to check that the young woman who got mugged outside my dojo last night was all right."
"What?" asked Brian.
"Rachel, her name was Rachel Scott. I called in to report that she had gotten mugged."
"I don't know what in the world you're talking about. We never were out by your dojo last night. It was a madhouse all last night - a bank robbery and all, but I know we never had anyone named Rachel Scott come in."
"Are you sure? Tall, blonde, dark eyes? Getting married today?"
"I'd remember that," chuckled Brian, "but we definitely didn't have anyone by that description come in."
"Thank you," muttered Jason, and hung up.
"What was that all about?" inquired Tommy. "And what's the phone doing out here?"
To be continued
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