Chapter Nineteen

"I wanna take my wife to Hawaii."

Dr. Bradley Pilford looked at Ed Deline. After Ed's tirade into Dr. Meadows, he threatened to sue the hospital if another doctor wasn't put on his wife's case. Word of the angry man in the womens' clinic spread like a wildfire throughout the hospital and most doctors avoided the chance altogether, not wanting to put themselves in jeopardy of the wrath of Ed Deline. It was Dr. Pilford who decided to roll his sleeves up and take on the case.

"Mr. Deline, I don't advise that, Mrs. Deline is quite ill."

Ed sighed in irritation, "I know, which is why I want to take her. I've been promising her for thirty years that I'd take her and she's already expressed to me that that is where she wants to..." He stopped himself... He couldn't say it. Sighing again, the weary man ran a hand through his thinning hair, "I just want to do this for her."

Dr. Pilford studied Ed's face. Sighing softly in defeat, he nodded, "Fine, but not without a few conditions. First off, since I have a feeling that you will fight me on hospitalization on the islands, I want her to have a full-time hospice nurse there. A brilliant doctor, Deborah Cox, works in Maui and I will contact her and she will take over Jillian's case. Mr. Deline, you are to keep Dr. Cox involved in your wife's case at all times. Do not go island hopping, it will only tire Jillian and will cut her life shorter than it is if she gets too tired."

Nodding, Ed extended a hand, "Read you loud and clear, doc, thank you."

The doctor shook Ed's hand and nodded, "I just want to be clear that I do not support this, however, your wife's life is fading and we want her to enjoy whatever life she has left."

The other man quietly sighed, "I know... So do I."

That said, Ed turned and headed back to his wife's room.

Samantha Jane pulled up in front of the Belvedere Elementary School and cut the engine. Turning to look at the girl sitting in the passenger seat, Sam flashed her a smile. "This is a really nice school, Jasmine, so you don't have to be afraid." Reaching out, Sam straightened the girl's collar on her new dress. "Are you ready?"

Jasmine's wide eyes were fixed on the old brick building, whispering softly, "It looks spooky."

Sam smiled softly, "I promise you there are no ghosts or goblins. It's just a school. And besides, you want to make lots of friends, don't you?"

The girl grinned a little despite herself and nodded. Matching her grin, Sam got out of the car and swung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, "Let's go then, mademoiselle."

Giggling as she got out, Jasmine reached for Sam's hand, "I'm ready."

---

The school was relatively quiet when they entered. Glancing at her watch, Sam figured that everybody was already in class, which was good because the last thing she wanted to do was try to enroll Jasmine during a chaotic time. Heading into the office, Sam got her settled with a book in a chair and walked over to the counter and smiled at the elderly woman behind the desk.

"Good morning, I'm Sam Marquez, I have an appointment with Mr. Fredricks this morning regarding enrollment."

The woman smiled as she nodded, "One moment please, Mrs. Marquez."

Not bothering to correct her, Sam merely walked over and sat down next to Jasmine and looked at the book that was resting in the girl's lap.

"What are you looking at?"

Jasmine smiled up at Samantha, "Alice in Wonderland."

Sam couldn't help but grin as she looked at the pictures with Jasmine, recalling comical memories to the little girl about her own childhood as they passed the time.

"Any word on the status of Mrs. Big Ed?"

Danny glanced up as Mike entered the surveillance area and sat down at his desk. Since Ed had been away so often, Danny took it upon himself to talk to personnel and have Mike transferred to the security department, something that Ed had been meaning to do anyway.

Giving his friend a quiet smile, Danny sighed deeply, "I haven't talked to Ed this morning yet, but last I heard last night, he was going to take her to Hawaii for her final days, even if he had to, to quote Ed, 'throw her over my shoulder and take her out of the hospital, Tarzan style.'"

Mike couldn't help but laugh softly as he pictured Ed throwing his wife over his shoulder and stomping out of the hospital. "Well that's cool... I know that Mrs. D had wanted to go there. It's a beautiful place."

Danny nodded sadly, "Yeah, too bad she won't be able to enjoy it long."

"What are you talking about? She's going to have a blast there and be there for a few months."

Danny and Mike whipped their heads up to look at the blonde standing in the doorway, leaning against the door jamb. Everybody knew that Delinda had been in denial about the severity of the mother's illness. Ed had tried in vain to get his daughter to understand how serious it was and that the sand in Jillian's hourglass was running low and at a quick rate, but she refused to accept it. In defeat, Ed drafted Danny to try and get the girl to understand the graveness of the situation, and, in exhaustion, he too admitted defeat. Smiling softly at his ex-girlfriend, Danny rose to his feet. "You are probably right about that, Delinda."

Ed had told his staff just to, in short, humor her. To allow her to think that her mother was getting better. Despite the protests of all the grief books that Danny has read, deep down, he knew that at the time, this was the best recourse to take, knowing that when the time came, he would be there for Delinda.

Smiling softly, Delinda ran a petite hand through her lemon locks, "Mom is going to look great in a fuchsia lei, and Dad... well... I can picture him in a bright blue one." She grinned softly, "Dad in flowers... That will be a picture worth taking."

Danny and Mike just smiled softly, they both had the vision of Ed wearing an electric blue lei around his neck, and they both had to admit that it was a rather comical vision. Walking towards his friend, Mike kissed her cheek and gave her a hug. "I need to get going, D. I have to go and attend a seminar. God, I can't wait till these things are over."

As a part of his transfer procedure, Mike had to undergo several hours of training for his new job. Training that included weapons handling, how to spot a cheat, how to approach someone who has been cheating without drawing much attention to the situation and how to extract the cheater from the table with as little public display or damage as possible.

Delinda merely nodded and smiled, "Take it easy."

Mike gave her a wink and then flashed a look of concern at Danny, both men knew that they were facing an uphill battle with Delinda.