AUTHOR'S NOTES: Finally an update! So sorry it's taken forever! I was gone for two weeks and I understand that while I was gone, the site was down, too. And since I've been back, I've been in gymnastics seven hours a day. So there's not a whole lot of time to write. I'm also working on a series for Phoenix Virtual Television that's taking up some time. I'm a very busy girl right now. But I still have the afternoons and weekends, so I'm using those to write. I know nada about the law regarding legal guardianship in either Maryland or Minnesota, so I'm making it up. Whether or not it's real, it makes a good story. I hope the wait for chapter five won't be quite as long.

A NEW LIFE – CHAPTER FOUR – RETURNING HOME

The weeks in the hospital passed quickly for Kaley. She had a steady stream of visitors. Gordon came by every night. Nurses were constantly coming in and checking Kaley's vitals. Every few days she had her leg, chest, and wrist x-rayed. Dr. Dantzscher assured her that soon she'd be able to go home.

Home. Kaley thought. It sounds so nice. But home also held a fair amount of anxiety. Kaley would have to live with Gordon twenty-four hours a day in her tiny apartment. There would be no privacy. Growing up in that small apartment, Kaley was used to a lack of privacy. But now she'd be sharing that apartment with a man. It was a bit unnerving.

"Kaley?" It was Kaley's nurse, Leah. "Time to go for x-rays."

"Ooh, what fun." Kaley said, trying to get out of her bed."

"Easy now." Leah cautioned. "We don't want to break anything.

"I know, I know." Kaley said. She had decided that it was everyone's personal mission in life to make sure that she didn't have any fun while she was here. Every time she turned around it was: "Don't move too much." "Stay still." Or her favorite: "Do you want to hurt yourself again?"

"If these x-rays come out well, you can go home." Leah said as Kaley sat down in the wheelchair.

"Define 'come out well.'" Kaley said.

"If your collarbone, breastbone, and wrist have healed." Leah said. "If they have, Dr. Dantzscher will probably give you crutches and you can go home in a couple of days."

"What about this?" Kaley pointed to her leg.

"That'll come off in about two more weeks." Leah said. "Then you'll have physical therapy for about a month. Then you'll be good as new."

"Can't wait." Kaley said. "I'm so sick of being covered with plaster."

Leah laughed slightly. "Here we are." She said, wheeling Kaley into the x-ray room. Leah helped Kaley onto the table and said, "I'll be right outside."

"I want you to stay perfectly still." The x-ray technician, a blond woman with pinched, bird-beakish features said.

Stay perfectly still. Kaley thought. Man, how I'd love to hear someone tell me to move. "OK." She said to the technician. "I'm ready."

The technician started the x-ray. When she was finished, Kaley got back into the wheelchair and Leah wheeled her back into the waiting room. After a few minutes Dr. Dantzscher summoned Kaley into another room.

"Gosh, I'm so sick of being wheeled around everywhere." Kaley said as Leah pushed her down the hall and into a room where Dr. Dantzscher and Gordon sat waiting for her. "Hi, Kaley." Gordon said. "How you doing?"

"Fine." Kaley responded.

"Mr. Bombay, Kaley." Dr. Dantzscher began. "Here are Kaley's x-rays from today." He put four x-rays on a lighted panel on the wall. "Congratulations, Kaley. You're making excellent improvement. As you can see here, your wrist has completely healed." He tapped the first x-ray, which showed Kaley's wrist being perfectly intact. "I'd say we can remove that cast right away. And everything else…" He motioned to the next two x-rays, "is looking good as well. The collarbone is like new. You'll notice the gap in your breastbone has almost completely closed up. And this," Dr. Dantzscher pointed to the last x-ray, "is your leg."

"It looks better." Kaley said.

"It is." Dr. Dantzscher confirmed. "I'd say come back here in another two weeks and it'll be perfectly healed.

"OK." Kaley said. "Wait. Come back here in two weeks. That means…"

"Yes." Dr. Dantzscher said. "Leah, get this girl down to cast removal right away. Kaley, we'll take the cast off and you'll be discharged in two days."

"All right!" Kaley couldn't contain her excitement. "Thank you, Dr. Dantzscher!"

Leah laughed and took hold of Kaley's wheelchair. "Come on, darling." She said. "Let's get that cast off."

The place where all the casts were removed wasn't far from the room where Kaley and Gordon were talking to Dr. Dantzscher.

"Kaley?" A young man with dark blond hair said, peeking out of a cubicle.

"Right here." Kaley waved her good arm.

"I was told you were coming." The man said. "I'm Dave, I'll be taking your cast off. You and your dad can come on in."

Leah wheeled Kaley in and helped her onto the bed. "I'll be outside." She said.

"So what exactly does removing a cast involve?" Kaley asked, suddenly nervous.

"Well, we just rev up this circular saw here," David said, holding up a sharp, round blade, "and cut through the cast."

"You're gonna cut off my cast with that?!" Kaley exclaimed. "No way!"

"Don't worry." Dave said. "I haven't lost a patient yet. Now which cast is coming off?"

"The wrist." Kaley said.

"Don't be too scared." Dave said. "You'll feel the heat, but I promise not to cut your arm off." He plugged the saw in. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kaley said. Gordon took her hand and held it tightly.

Dave started the saw. Kaley heard it biting into her cast, and then felt searing heat on her skin. "It's too close!" She screamed.

"It's just the heat from the friction!" Dave assured her.

Kaley squeezed her eyes shut and turned away. "I can't look." She whimpered.

Suddenly the terrible noise ceased. "There." Dave said. "All done."

Kaley opened her eyes. "All done?"

Dave held up her cast to confirm it. "Finita."

Kaley looked at her arm. "It's hard to move." She said.

"It will be for awhile." Dave said. "You haven't used those muscles for six weeks, remember. Use this." He handed her a stress ball. "Squeeze it every now and then. It'll make the muscles stronger."

"Thanks." Kaley lowered herself off the bed. "Leah!" She called.

"Right here." Leah wheeled the chair in. "How does it feel to have that cast off?"

"Good." Kaley said, trying to squeeze the stress ball. "It's hard to move the arm, though."

"Don't worry about that." Leah said. "Squeeze that ball."

Kaley kept squeezing the ball all the way back to her room. When she got back to the room, Gordon said, "Kaley, I have to run, OK? I'll be back in two days to take you home.

"OK." Kaley said. "And when you come back, could you bring me some clothes to change into? Anything would be fine."

"You got it." Gordon said. "See you soon, Kaley."

Gordon signed his name to the last of the papers. Finally. He thought, putting the pen down. "Kaley! You ready to go?" He called, sticking his head in Kaley's room. 

Leah pushed Kaley's wheelchair out of the room. "I was born ready." She said.

Gordon laughed. "Good. Let's go."

Leah wheeled Kaley down to the main entrance, where Gordon's little rental car was parked. "That's your car?" Kaley asked.

"For now." Gordon said. "I figured since I'll be running you all over creation, it'd be cheaper to rent a car than pay a cabby."

"True." Kaley got out of the wheelchair and used her crutches to hobble to the car.

"You've been a pleasure, Kaley." Leah said. "Remember, you need to come back here for physical therapy and x-rays on Tuesday at two PM."

"I won't forget." Kaley said. "Thanks, Leah. You've been a big help."

Gordon shook Leah's hand. "Thanks for taking such good care of her."

"She's a joy." Leah said. "Take care of your arm, Kaley."

"I will." Kaley said. "Bye!"

Kaley waited nervously while Gordon unlocked her apartment. If she could have hopped from one foot to the other, she would have.

"There." Gordon opened the apartment door. Kaley eagerly hobbled inside, but then stopped dead. Nothing had changed. Everything looked the same as the day she and her mother had been in it last.

"Kaley?" Gordon asked. "Are you all right?"

"Nothing's changed." Kaley said. "It all looks the same." She stopped for a moment. "Hockey practice." She said.

"What?" Gordon asked.

"Mom was taking me to hockey practice." Kaley clarified. "I wasn't feeling very good, but we had a game soon. Coach Evans always told us to never miss practice before a game. What if I'd told Mom? What if I'd told her I wasn't feeling good? I could've skipped practice and everything would still be OK!"

"Kaley, don't think about that." Gordon said gently.

"I can't help it!" Kaley cried. "If I'd just said 'I don't feel good, I'm not going to practice today' the accident never would have happened!" The tears Kaley had held back for a month and a half were finally freed, flowing like rivers down her face.

"Kaley." Gordon knelt down next to her. "Listen to me. It's better not to think about those things. You can't change the past. Thinking about those 'what ifs' will cause you nothing but pain."

"Easy for you to say." Kaley managed. "You have no idea how this feels!"

Gordon paused for a moment. "Yes, I do." He said quietly.

Kaley looked up in surprise. "Y-you do?"

Gordon nodded slowly. "When I was ten, my dad died of a heart attack. It was very sudden; nobody expected it. Dad drove me to hockey practice that day. I told him I'd see him when practice was over."

"But you didn't." Kaley said.

Gordon shook his head. "No. I didn't."

Ten-year-old Gordon Bombay slung his gear bag over his shoulder and darted out of the hockey rink. He was surprised to find his mother, Janet, standing on the curb waiting for him. "Hi, Mom!" He said. "Where's Dad?"

"Gordon, honey…" Janet's eyes began to water. "Let's talk in the car."

"Is he OK?" Gordon asked, panic rising in him. "Mom? Is Dad OK?"

Janet got into the car, and Gordon followed. "Mom? Say something!"

Janet closed the door and turned to her son. "Gordon, while you were at practice…I'm so sorry, baby…"

"Mom, what?!" Gordon was now in a full-blown panic.

"Dad had a heart attack, honey." Janet said.

"Is he OK?" Gordon managed, although he already knew the answer.

Janet shook her head. "He died, honey." She croaked out.

"What…no!" Gordon cried, shaking his head. "No, that's impossible!"

"I am so, so sorry, Gordon." Janet reached over and lovingly took Gordon in her arms.

"I just saw him." Gordon sobbed. "This isn't possible. I just saw him two hours ago. He was fine."

"I know, baby, I know." Janet said, stroking Gordon's hair. "I know."

"That's awful." Kaley said, sniffling. "That's exactly how I feel. One second I was a normal kid headed to hockey practice, and then in the next second Mom was dead, I was in the hospital and you showed up. You know what I mean?"

"Sure do." Gordon said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I never really lost a family member before." Kaley said, wiping her eyes. "Well, except for my Grandma Ferrell. She died when I was three."

"Grandma Ferrell?" Gordon asked.

"My mom's grandmother." Kaley clarified. "She was the reason we moved to Baltimore. My mom's parents kind of kicked us out when I was born, and Mom needed some help with me. So we came to Baltimore."

Gordon leaned over and placed his arm around Kaley's shoulders. Kaley turned and leaned on his chest. "I miss her." She said, the tears beginning to come again.

Gordon pulled his other arm around Kaley. "I know." He said. "Oh, believe me, I know."

"I think she's been through enough lately!"

Kaley woke up slowly. Who was that? Gordon?

"No! I am not bringing her halfway across the country…Because she barely knows me, that's why!"

Kaley sat up. She was in her mother's bedroom. She must have fallen asleep and Gordon had placed her in there. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was six-thirty PM. No wonder she was hungry.

"Look, Davis, we can argue until all eternity, but I am not changing my mind!" Gordon railed. He must have been on the phone with someone. Either that or he had gone completely crazy.

"Gordon?" Kaley yawned, padding out of the room.

"No, you listen to me!" Gordon was saying into the phone. "Kaley has been through enough for the past six weeks. Even if she didn't still have a broken leg, there's no way I'd move her to Minnesota now. She doesn't need any more change."

Bring me to Minnesota? Kaley thought. Whoa, what's going on here? "Gordon?" She asked, louder this time.

Gordon whirled to face her. For a moment, he just stared at her open-mouthed, then said, "Davis? I gotta go, OK…yeah." He hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Kaley asked. "Are you planning to move me to Minnesota or something? Cause if you are-"

"Look, Kaley-" Gordon started.

"You go through all that about how I don't need any more change right now and you're taking me to Minnesota?" Kaley continued.

"Kaley, please let me explain." Gordon said patiently.

"Fine." Kaley crossed her arms. "Explain away."

"Right before I was notified about you and your mom, I was in a tryout for minor league hockey." Gordon explained. "That was the owner of the Minnesota Waves, the team I was accepted to. We have a little…issue…going on."

"What kind of issue?" Kaley asked.

"The coach wanted me back in six weeks or I was off the team." Gordon continued. "I got the owner, Davis, to make an exception since there was no way I could be back in six weeks and the situation was totally beyond my control. But now Davis wants me back in a month."

"So go." Kaley said. "I'll be OK in a month-"

"No, Kaley, no." Gordon said. "It's a lot more complicated than that. I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to take you to Minnesota."

"Why wouldn't you be?" Kaley asked. "I mean, you're my dad and all."

"Biologically, yes." Gordon said. "But the law doesn't care about that. Legally, I'm just your legal guardian. In Minnesota, a legal guardian has the same rights as a parent. But I don't know about Maryland."

"So what's gonna happen?" Kaley asked.

"Kaley, let's not worry about that now." Gordon said. "OK? I've still got Jameson trying to keep me on the team. And I can't take you anywhere with that cast on your leg."

Kaley made a face. "Don't remind me."

Gordon laughed slightly. "I'll bet you're hungry."

"I am." Kaley admitted. "But…I wouldn't trust anything in the fridge by now. Or have you been restocking it?"

"Just cold cuts." Gordon said. "What do you say to…pizza?"

"I always say yes to pizza!" Kaley said, swinging herself over to the door on her crutches.

Two weeks later, Kaley's cast had been removed and she was receiving physical therapy. Since the session was so long, Gordon figured he'd have time to go back to the apartment and do a little research. Actually, he needed to call someone who would do research for him.

Once inside the apartment, Gordon picked up the telephone and dialed a number. After one ring, a voice answered with "Good afternoon, Law Office of O'Brien, Larissa Cates speaking."

"Hi, I'd like to speak with Stella O'Brien." Gordon said.

"One moment." Larissa said. A minute later, a voice came on with "This is Stella."

"Hey, Stella, it's Gordon Bombay." Gordon said.

"Gordon!" Came the rather roughneck Boston accent that Gordon had never thought fit the delicate attorney. "To what do I owe this call from way out west?"

Gordon had to smile. He'd told Stella many times that Minnesota wasn't "way out west." But when you lived in Boston, Gordon thought, New York City probably seemed like "way out west." "Well, actually, I'm calling from Baltimore." He said.

"You moved to Baltimore?" Stella asked.

"Well, yes and no." Gordon said. "It's a very long story, Stella. Do you remember Ashley Heller?"

"Yeah, from college." Stella said. "What about her?"

"Remember how she got pregnant and had to drop out?" Gordon asked.

"Remember?" Stella said. "It was the hot topic for months. None of us ever heard from her again, but she was a legend around the sorority house."

"Yeah." Gordon said. "Stella, I was the guy who got Ashley pregnant. When the baby, Kaley, was born, they relocated to Baltimore because Ashley's family basically disowned her."

"Yeah, they were real strict Catholics." Stella said. "So, where's all this going?"

"Ashley and Kaley were in a car crash two months ago." Gordon said. "When that happened, I became Kaley's legal guardian because she had no other family."

"And her mother never planned for something like this?" Stella asked.

Gordon looked around the apartment. "From what I've seen, it was all she could do to keep herself and Kaley from living on the streets."

"OK." Stella said. "So what do you need my help on?"

"Find out if Maryland state law will allow a legal guardian to take a child out of state." Gordon said.

"Got it." Stella said. "What's the number?"

"Number?" Gordon asked.

"Phone number." Stella clarified. "You know, so I can reach you?"

"Oh!" Gordon said. "Right." He had known Stella long enough to know that the woman never spoke in complete sentences. "It's 321-555-6760."

"321-555-6760." Stella repeated, writing the number down. "OK. I'll call you as soon as I have info."

"Thanks." Gordon said. "Talk to you later, Stella."

"Bye, Gordon."

Two days later, Gordon and Kaley were eating lunch when the phone rang. "I'll get it." Gordon said, silently hoping it was Stella. "Hello?"

"Gordon, good news." It was Stella. "Yes, Maryland state law will allow you to take a child out of state."

"Great!" Gordon said. "Great, awesome!"

"Glad to be of service." Stella laughed. "Talk to you later, Gordo."

"Thanks again, Stella." Gordon hung up the phone.

Kaley looked up from her sandwich. "What's going on?"

"I'm allowed to take you to Minnesota." Gordon said with a smile.

Kaley looked crestfallen. "So we are leaving."

Gordon's grin faded. "Oh, Kaley, I'm sorry, hon." He said. "I didn't think-"

"No, it's OK." Kaley cut him off. "Really. I've kind of been expecting it."

Gordon nodded. But something in Kaley's voice told him it wasn't OK.