Told in a Garden
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, concepts, or names in here. The only thing I own is the idea expressed in this story. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Suppose one random decision gives rise to two separate but parallel universes. What might happen in those two universes?
Calleigh closed her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to tell her daughter what she had kept locked up inside her for so many long lonely years. Finally, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking at her hands as she spoke.
"Well, that stubbornness I told you about was one of your father's best tools, but sometimes it made things harder than they needed to be. Sometimes he'd get an idea in his head and not want to let go of it, even when there was no reason to hold on to it. The worst times that happened were the few times we argued. And what happened was one of those times." She sat for a minute, collecting her thoughts.
"It was right after your fourth birthday, I don't know if you remember that. He'd slept badly, he'd had nightmares about something. We both got up with bad moods that morning, and had an argument over something stupid, probably who had used all the margarine and put the empty tub back in the fridge..." She quit speaking as a tear flowed over and down her cheek.
"Oh, mom, I'm sorry. You don't have to finish. It's okay."
Calleigh reached over and patted her daughter's hand comfortingly, then left her hand there, as if human contact would help her finish her story. "No, you deserve to know this. Anyway...we had an argument that I don't even remember, and he said he'd rather go in to work early and be hungry than stay home and argue with me all morning. So he grabbed the keys and slammed out the door. And about an hour later, Tripp came and knocked on the door just as I was getting ready to take you to the sitter."
The memory of Tripp's hesitant, sad face that morning came back to her as she sat there in the shade of the tree, and destroyed the last shreds of her composure. She bent forward, burying her face in her hands, her forehead nearly touching her knees, and rocked back and forth in her grief. As if from a distance she felt Lisabella's arm go across her back, the girl's other hand rubbing her arm in a comforting rhythm. The same rhythm, Calleigh realized, that she herself had used so many times to soothe her child. Now her child was using it to soothe her. She took a deep breath, and sat back up.
"Instead of going straight to work, he had stopped off at this little flower store along the way, and gone in to get a huge bunch of yellow tulips. He came out, stepped off the curb, and was hit by a speeding driver going the wrong way down a one-way street. The florist heard the squeal of brakes, then heard a car accelerating away, and went outside to find Horatio lying in the street. There was nothing that could be done."
"But did they find the guy?"
Calleigh let out a bitter laugh. "We found the 'guy,' honey. They wouldn't let us work the site while he was there, and they wouldn't let Alexx do the autopsy, but the other team processed everything to do with him and then turned it all over to us. There was a bank right down the street from the florist, and they had a security camera that showed some of the street. So we got the license plate and the make of the car, and Speed matched the skid marks to a specific tire type. Eric analyzed the paint chips left on your father's clothes and matched them to the same model car as the one in the bank video. All of that came together into a watertight case that Horatio would have been proud of. We didn't even have to take it to court."
"Did the guy confess?"
"Actually, her mother turned her in. The 'guy' was a 16-year-old girl who had just gotten her driver's license the day before. She'd been given the car as a present, and was on her way to school. She had a debate team meeting before her classes started, and she took a wrong turn, went the wrong way down the one-way street, and figured if she drove faster she'd get down it faster and not get in trouble. She was so afraid of what she'd done she just kept driving. And all I can think of is that it didn't have to happen at all. If we hadn't argued... God, kiddo, I am so sorry. I took your father away from you..." Calleigh dissolved in tears again, her blue- green eyes filling up before the wracking sobs claimed her again.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, concepts, or names in here. The only thing I own is the idea expressed in this story. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Suppose one random decision gives rise to two separate but parallel universes. What might happen in those two universes?
Calleigh closed her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to tell her daughter what she had kept locked up inside her for so many long lonely years. Finally, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking at her hands as she spoke.
"Well, that stubbornness I told you about was one of your father's best tools, but sometimes it made things harder than they needed to be. Sometimes he'd get an idea in his head and not want to let go of it, even when there was no reason to hold on to it. The worst times that happened were the few times we argued. And what happened was one of those times." She sat for a minute, collecting her thoughts.
"It was right after your fourth birthday, I don't know if you remember that. He'd slept badly, he'd had nightmares about something. We both got up with bad moods that morning, and had an argument over something stupid, probably who had used all the margarine and put the empty tub back in the fridge..." She quit speaking as a tear flowed over and down her cheek.
"Oh, mom, I'm sorry. You don't have to finish. It's okay."
Calleigh reached over and patted her daughter's hand comfortingly, then left her hand there, as if human contact would help her finish her story. "No, you deserve to know this. Anyway...we had an argument that I don't even remember, and he said he'd rather go in to work early and be hungry than stay home and argue with me all morning. So he grabbed the keys and slammed out the door. And about an hour later, Tripp came and knocked on the door just as I was getting ready to take you to the sitter."
The memory of Tripp's hesitant, sad face that morning came back to her as she sat there in the shade of the tree, and destroyed the last shreds of her composure. She bent forward, burying her face in her hands, her forehead nearly touching her knees, and rocked back and forth in her grief. As if from a distance she felt Lisabella's arm go across her back, the girl's other hand rubbing her arm in a comforting rhythm. The same rhythm, Calleigh realized, that she herself had used so many times to soothe her child. Now her child was using it to soothe her. She took a deep breath, and sat back up.
"Instead of going straight to work, he had stopped off at this little flower store along the way, and gone in to get a huge bunch of yellow tulips. He came out, stepped off the curb, and was hit by a speeding driver going the wrong way down a one-way street. The florist heard the squeal of brakes, then heard a car accelerating away, and went outside to find Horatio lying in the street. There was nothing that could be done."
"But did they find the guy?"
Calleigh let out a bitter laugh. "We found the 'guy,' honey. They wouldn't let us work the site while he was there, and they wouldn't let Alexx do the autopsy, but the other team processed everything to do with him and then turned it all over to us. There was a bank right down the street from the florist, and they had a security camera that showed some of the street. So we got the license plate and the make of the car, and Speed matched the skid marks to a specific tire type. Eric analyzed the paint chips left on your father's clothes and matched them to the same model car as the one in the bank video. All of that came together into a watertight case that Horatio would have been proud of. We didn't even have to take it to court."
"Did the guy confess?"
"Actually, her mother turned her in. The 'guy' was a 16-year-old girl who had just gotten her driver's license the day before. She'd been given the car as a present, and was on her way to school. She had a debate team meeting before her classes started, and she took a wrong turn, went the wrong way down the one-way street, and figured if she drove faster she'd get down it faster and not get in trouble. She was so afraid of what she'd done she just kept driving. And all I can think of is that it didn't have to happen at all. If we hadn't argued... God, kiddo, I am so sorry. I took your father away from you..." Calleigh dissolved in tears again, her blue- green eyes filling up before the wracking sobs claimed her again.