Speed paced in the waiting room of the ER of National Hospital for the umpteenth time, worry furrowing his brow as he tried not to watch the minutes, then hours tick by. When he had carried Trixie in, she was barely conscious and her wound had begun bleeding again, further staining the eyelet lace of her blouse, and turning the white to dark crimson. The blood on her side had frightened him more than anything ever did before in his life because it seemed like it didn't want to stop flowing out of her. He had raced in the Mach 5 to the hospital like he was on the track, all the time talking softly to her to keep her conscious because having lost quite a bit of blood she had appeared in a daze, but not quite in shock. Her face bore a mottled hue of purplish blue swollen bruise where Slyme had hit her and there was dried blood on her lip. Speed had to quash his fury at the sight so he wouldn't upset her any worse than she was already but he was livid at her being so abused. It made him want to go back to her place just so he could finish off the scum. As he thought about Slyme again he noticed his hands had balled into tight fists and he ached to put one of those fists through the wall in abject frustration.
Speed continued to pace nervously when the door to the ER waiting area opened and Pops strode in. He rushed up to his son.
"Speed, I came as soon as I heard. How is she?"
"Doctor's in with her now. He's been in there for about an hour and a half," Speed said dully, his face wan and his eyes bleak.
Pops clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, son, he'll take good care of her. Thank goodness you got there when you did."
Speed snorted and turned away abruptly. "That animal wanted to kill her. I swear if I could go back in time I'd finish what I started. I should've ended his miserable life when I had the chance," he growled.
"I know you want to, son but calling the Inspector was the best thing. He'll put the creep behind bars, where he belongs."
"Yeah, sure, Pops. But what if the guy gets off and tries to get to her again and I'm not there to stop him?" Speed closed his eyes, the thought too gut wrenching to consider.
Pops sighed and patted his son on the back to offer solace while they waited. After what seemed like forever, the door to the ER swung open and Dr. Casey Kildare, the emergency room senior physician stepped out and addressed the waiting men.
"Are you gentlemen Trixie Shimura's family?"
Speed opened his mouth but Pops answered for him. "Yes, we are, Doctor. How is she?"
The doctor was a severe looking man who was coolly professional. "Lucky. If that assailant had gone any deeper, she'd be in surgery now with a punctured lung." At those words, Speed felt his blood run cold. "But she just needed stitches and some blood. We're going to keep her overnight for observation, just to be safe."
"Can we see her?" Speed asked anxiously.
The doctor nodded. "She's been admitted to room W214. They're just getting her settled so give them about twenty minutes. Excuse me." He turned and went back through the ER door.
Pops took Speed aside and guided him to a chair. Speed was dazed, like he was in a trance, staring blankly into space, the doctor's words ringing in his head. She could've lost a lung! That SOB, if I ever see him again I'll kill him with my bare hands.
The glass door that was the entrance to the emergency room opened and Interpol police Inspector Detector strode in and approached the Racer men. He was a tall, barrel-chested, bearded man who fit the profile of the quintessential career police officer, with strong serious features and a stern manner that hid a warm heart underneath. He stopped before Speed.
"Speed, Sparky filled me in on the basic story. So now you tell me, what happened?"
Speed cast his eyes at the Interpol inspector. "As far as I know, my girlfriend Trixie was attacked by that reptile we had tied up at her place," he said flatly. "I busted in after I heard someone getting hit and her scream. He was crouched over her so I grabbed him and tried to waste him."
The inspector nodded. "You put quite a beating on him. He's been admitted to the police ward here. He's got a couple of broken ribs and a fractured jaw, as well as a bruised collarbone."
"Who cares? Wait till you see what the bastard did to Trixie. I'm sorry I didn't kill him," Speed muttered, arms folded obstinately, totally indifferent.
"Speed," his father warned but Speed was furious and beyond caring. He whirled in the chair to face his father, eyes flashing.
"Pops! You heard what the doctor said. Any deeper and she'd have lost a lung!"
"But she didn't," Pops reminded him. "So now you've got to pull yourself together. For Trixie."
At Pops words, Speed slumped down in the chair exhausted and disheartened. Inspector Detector pulled up a chair and sat beside him as he took note of the way Speed had buried his face in his hands, his anguish plain. He cleared his throat and spoke softly to the distraught young man.
"Speed," he began. "I have to talk to Miss Shimura, get a statement from her. Do you think she'd be up to it?"
"They said they're keeping her overnight for observation. We're waiting for them to let us know she's ready for visitors," Speed replied dully.
At that moment, a nurse came from the ER and approached the group. "I came to tell you that Miss Shimura is in her room and can receive visitors. I'm heading to the wing she's in now if you gentlemen would like to follow me." She headed down the hall.
All three men got up and followed until they came to the west wing of National Hospital. The nurse at the desk looked up. "Yes, may I help you?"
Pops replied, "Can you direct us to room 214?"
She indicated with her pen. "Down the hall, third door to your right. But you can only stay for a few minutes. She's just been sedated and needs her rest."
The trio headed down the hall and came to the door marked 214. Speed tentatively knocked on the door.
"Come in," Trixie called feebly.
Speed walked slowly to the side of her bed with a smile. "Hi, Trix, how ya doin'?" He took her hand and squeezed it affectionately, his eyes a soft blue.
"Anybody get the number of the truck?" she quipped. She shifted in the bed with some difficulty and peered past Speed and at her other visitors. "Pops, who's that with you?"
Inspector Detector came forward and removed his hat. "Miss Shimura, I'm Inspector Detector of Interpol working with the police department and I need to ask you some questions. Are you up to that?"
"Sure. If I pass out, just throw water on me. What's up?"
"I need some background information on you. Now, you have no family?"
"That's right. My father died about a month ago and my mother died when I was little," Trixie said softly, her eyes flickering slightly. Still holding her hand, Speed reached over with his other hand to gently caress her cheek, pushing her hair back. His tender ministrations were not lost on Pops or the inspector, who looked decidedly uncomfortable.
The inspector continued, "Miss Shimura, as I understand, you and your father own a charter air service. Is that true?"
"Yes, inspector it is."
"And you haven't hired yourself out to anybody since moving to the area?"
"Uh, no sir. We had just moved here and hadn't established ourselves when he got sick and then died."
"With all due respect, Inspector, why this line of questioning?" Speed inquired, curious.
The inspector glanced at him. "I'm trying to establish a motive for the attack. Balle mentioned in his confession that his employer had approached Miss Shimura about hiring her to fly for his company."
Speed's face twisted into a dark scowl. "What else did that lowlife say?"
Detector replied, "Nothing else much. That's why I need Miss Shimura to shed some light on the subject." He turned to Trixie. "Did Balle's employer contact you and who is he?"
Trixie nodded painfully. "Uh-huh. H-his name's Wiley. I met with him earlier today. He wanted me to fly as a part of his racing team."
The inspector nodded, understanding lighting in his eyes. "And you refused?"
"Yes, I did. H-he wanted me to do illegal things like change road signs. I told him no and our meeting ended."
"I see," Detector said thoughtfully. He stepped away from the bed but had one more question for her. "Was your meeting the first contact you had with Wiley?"
"Yes, aside from a couple of initial phone calls. He was quite persistent in getting me to agree to a meeting." Trixie replied, showing signs of growing fatigue.
Speed, ever alert to her weakened condition, leaned over the bed and asked, "Are you okay, honey?" as he gently, rhythmically stroked her hair back from her face.
Before she could answer, a nurse whose manner resembled that of a drill sergeant barged in and said in a commanding tone, "All right, everybody out! This young lady needs her rest. You can come back tomorrow." She began shepherding Inspector Detector and Pops out but Speed had for the moment eluded her.
"Thank you, Miss Shimura, I'll be in touch," the inspector called over his shoulder as he and Pops were hustled out.
"I better get going too before she realizes she forgot all about me and comes back. Good night Trix, get some rest." He leaned over and planted a tender kiss on her forehead. "I'll be up to see you tomorrow and I'll call you in the morning, okay?"
Trixie nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. "T-t-thank you for saving my life. Oh Speed, if you hadn't come when you when you did I-I-" She sobbed in fear, remembering the ordeal.
Speed put his finger lightly on her lips. "Shhh. Don't even think about it, baby. I won't let anyone ever hurt my girl." He gently ran his hand on her cheek as her eyes gazed at him gratefully through the tears. He grinned and began to sing the first stanza of "My Girl" softly.
The nurse chose this tender moment to burst in upon. "Okay, loverboy, serenade's over. Out. Now." She clamped a firm hand on Speed's shoulder and none-to-gently propelled him to the door. He shrugged and blew a kiss at Trixie as the nurse wrestled him out. She tittered at the picture of Speed being given the bums rush as she laid her head down at last drifted to much needed sleep.
Later, that night Speed was in his bed, trying to catch ever elusive sleep and was finding that he was failing miserably, tossing and turning restlessly, his mind full of the day's events. He sighed disgustedly as he gave up and reached for his robe to put on. He opened his door, crept quietly downstairs and made his way to the kitchen. Speed flipped the switch and the kitchen was lit with stark fluorescent light that made him blink, his eyes adjusting to the sudden illumination. He went to the cabinets and rooted around, not really knowing what he wanted. His search was interrupted by a soft swishing sound of her robe as Mom Racer joined him in the kitchen.
Speed turned around and addressed his mother. "Gee, I'm sorry, Mom. Did I wake you?"
Mom Racer smiled fondly at her son. "No, darling, you didn't wake me. I heard your door open and I had a feeling you were having a hard time sleeping."
"Mom radar, huh?" Speed asked with a sheepish grin.
"Speedy, I carried you in my body for nine months. Anytime you're hurting about something, I hurt. You'll realize that fact for yourself one day when you're a parent." She reached and caressed her son's face, brushing his coal black waves out of his eyes. "Pops told me about what happened to Trixie. I'm sorry, son."
Speed nodded woodenly, misery plain on his face. "She could've died, Mom. If I hadn't--"
"But you did, Speed and she's alive," his mother interjected. "Be thankful for that."
"I almost killed a man tonight, Mom. The guy who attacked Trixie, I almost killed him. And what's worse is that I wanted to, more than anything." Speed's broad shoulders were slumped, his head down as he felt the weight of the implication and his admission of it. Never in his life could he remember wanting to take a man's life. Mom reached out and took her son in a comforting embrace trying to ease the burden his young shoulders seemed to be bearing.
"How about some hot cocoa?" Mom said softly after a while.
Speed's eyes lit up like they used to when he was a little boy. "With marshmallows?"
Mom smiled indulgently. "Of course."
She retrieved the cocoa and marshmallows from the cabinet while Speed got the milk out of the refrigerator and poured enough for two in a saucepan. He handed the pan to Mom and she set it on the stove to heat as she reached the above cabinet for two mugs. Speed leaned on the counter and watched while the milk frothed as it got hot and his mother mixed in the cocoa, blending it to perfection as only Mom could do. She poured the steaming cocoa into the two mugs then dropped the marshmallows in. She handed one mug to Speed and they went to the kitchen table to sit and sip contemplatively.
After a while of silent enjoyment of the cocoa, Speed spoke. "Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, honey. What's on your mind?"
Speed took a deep breath. "Mom, how did you know Pops was the One?"
Mom Racer's eyes, the exact same pure cobalt blue as Speed's sparkled in fond remembrance. "I guess the first sign for me was that the world seemed to be painted in brighter colors. My heart would pound when I knew I was going to see him, and when I saw him, I was utterly enthralled. His voice became like music to me and I'd think about him constantly. And today, nearly 30 years later, he still makes me feel the same way."
Speed grinned lovingly at his mother. "That's so groovy, Mom." His eyes became softer as his grin faded to a faraway smile. "That's exactly how I feel about Trixie. I know I've only known her for a grand total of 3 days but if I live to be a hundred I don't think I'll ever meet anyone else that makes me feel like she does."
Mom gazed at her son. "She must be truly wonderful. Your father was certainly impressed when he met her."
"Oh Mom she is! She's not like the bubble brained race groupies who hang out before and after races. She's smart and independent, gutsy, and so pretty. I think about her all the time and I want to be with her when I'm not racing," Speed answered with a dreamy expression on his face, his cocoa forgotten.
Mom smiled knowingly. "Seems to me that you're quite smitten, Speed."
Speed looked at his mother in surprise. "I guess it's pretty obvious," he admitted, shrugging bashfully.
Mom nodded, "I'm looking forward to meeting the girl who's captured your heart." "Yeah." Speed's expression became clouded. "She needs to mend now after what happened. But especially after what happened I really have a bad feeling about her going back to her place when she gets out of the hospital." He sat there frowning thoughtfully staring into his now cold cup of cocoa.
Mom looked intently at her middle child. "We do have a guest room, you know," she suggested softly.
Speed's eyes brightened. "You mean it, Mom? Trixie can stay here? I wanted to ask but I was afraid that you and Pops would have a problem with my girlfriend staying here."
"I think we can trust you to being the upstanding young man we know you to be. Just leave Pops to me. I think that he'll see that we raised you to have respect for our home and high moral standards, regardless of your age." She looked at the starburst clock on the kitchen wall. "We'd better head up to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day," Mom Racer said briskly as she and Speed rose and put their cups in the sink. He followed her out of the kitchen and turned out the light.
They quietly made their way to the stairs to head up and Speed tapped his mother's shoulder.
"Mom?"
"What?"
"Thank you." Speed embraced his mother in a bear hug of gratitude.
Mom Racer returned her son's hug. "You are very welcome, my love. Now let's go to bed."