Chapter 4
"Laurie! Laurie!" Rick "called" for her, then tried to reach Captain Ron, who was coordinating the ground units. Frantic, A.J. kept driving in the direction of the transmitter coordinates, as Rick got a somber reply from their friend.
"Rick, our air unit just saw the van go out of control, it's crashed into some trees just south of Flagstaff. The copter's going to have to set down, it's starting to storm. You guys meet us at the turn off to interstate 40." he relayed.
"Did they see anyone come out of the van, Ron?" A.J. was desperately trying to stay focused, but the violent wind that began to blow them around and the picture of the crashed van was too vivid in his mind.
"Negative, A.J.. It exploded in a fireball. If the girls were in it...." The detective didn't want to say it, then regretted it when Rick shot back "No, Ron. Laurie said they were going to jump out of the van; I heard her struggling with Carlson, then nothing. If they were in the van when it.. well, I would have felt it!"
"All right, Rick, all right. Are you still getting a reading from Laurie's pendant?" Ron changed the subject.
"Yes, about 5 miles due north on 40, whoa, what was that?" Rick saw a bright flash up ahead, then suddenly rain came down in sheets.
"Pull off the road, guys, it's a thunderstorm, I've got trees down before me, try to turn around so you don't get blocked in." Ron told them, driving into a turnabout and stopping.
Suddenly a loud bang sounded ahead of them, and Rick swerved to avoid a fallen tree.
"Rick, we're going to have to get to the side of the road, it won't do the girls any good if we don't have a way to get to them." A.J. told him, then yelled, "look out!" as another tree just missed the truck.
Seeing the road ahead nearly impassable, Rick managed to go another mile before finally pulling into a turnout. Instantly a tree crashed behind the truck, effectively blocking them in. Both brothers groaned, "Guess we'll have to spend the night until the storm lets up." Rick said, shaking his head.
Calling into his son's transmitter, Rick found his son had picked up his sister and taken her to Chief Joseph, who was watching over Ramona and Andy.
"I'm going to try to meet up with you and Uncle A.J. as soon as it gets light, Pop. I'm going to check on Uncle Oscar and Rudy right now. Grandma just called me and let me know Rudy was there but he's gone to the hospital to be there if, well when you bring Mom and Aunt Linda in." Robbie quickly changed the tense, to Rick's relief.
"It's okay, son. I know she's out there and that we'll find both of them. You stay at the hospital with Oscar as long as you can, let him know we're not giving up, that at first light we're going in to find your mom and aunt, all right?" Rick assured him.
"Thanks, pop. I know they're okay, I heard Mom telling Auntie Linda to jump on the transmitter. They must be a mile or so from the crash scene if they did it before it rolled." The young deputy yawned, and his father gave a reluctant laugh.
"Go get some rest, son. Your mother'll swat me if she sees you all tired out." Rick told him, then felt his brother squeeze his arm. "Robbie, we'll see you in the morning, it's going to be okay." A.J. added.
"Thanks, Uncle A.J. I'm going to keep my transmitter on, though, just in case. Call me if you hear or see anything." Robbie replied, then signed off.
After checking in with both Rob Gomez and Ron, the brothers realized it was too dark and wet to try searching in the dark. "I'll take the first watch, Rick, you get some sleep. In case Laurie tries to reach you, I'll keep checking your transmitter." A.J. said, forestalling any arguments.
Reluctantly, Rick put a rolled up blanket behind his head, then closing his eyes, whispered "Night, A.J. we'll find em' in the morning."
"Night, Rick, I 'm counting on it." His brother answered, checking Rick's watch for any movement.
After a moment, a loud snore came from Rick and brought a smile from A.J
"We'd better find our wives, there's no way I'm going through this again." A.J. sighed.
Down the road, the objects of their search were huddled together under a fallen tree, wet and injured.
Linda had landed on her ankle, and despite the disabling pain, had managed to drag herself to the base of a large tree. Looking up the slope, she had caught a glimpse of her sister-in-law hurdling down the slope, then heard a scream and lost sight of her.
"Laurie!" she called, then started crawling and hopping until she reached Laurie's crumpled figure, resting against the underside of a boulder.
"No, Laurie, honey! Wake up, please be all right." Linda cried, lowering herself next to her. Suddenly a huge clap of lightening sounded, causing Laurie's eyes to snap open in terror. "No, let me go, I won't let you hurt them!" she said incoherently.
"Laurie, it's all right, it's just a thunderstorm, shhh." Linda tried to soothe her.
Awareness came slowly to Laurie, then she remembered what had happened. "Linda, are you all right!"
"I think I broke my ankle, honey, but I'll be all right. You did something to your arm on the way down, it might be broken. Let me splint it and then we can try to get to the road for help when it's light." Linda replied. Helping her friend to sit up slowly, the former nurse gave her a hand in her removing her wet overblouse, then turned it into a makeshift sling. Checking her over, Linda was astonished to see she had suffered only a slight bump on the head.
Once her arm was taken care of, Laurie took a look at Linda's ankle, and winced to see the swelling above her foot. "Honey, I don't know how you were able to move with this, I'm sorry."
"Laurie, you have nothing to be sorry about. You saved us both. I was terrified what they were going to do with us." Linda assured her. "How does your stomach feel, any cramps or pain?" Laurie asked. "No, thank God. I'm just hungry, what else is new!" she grinned.
Her sister-in-law looked up at the rain now coming down, then shook her head. "Our poor guys, I can't imagine them driving in this rain. We'd better take cover out of this storm and quick."
Spotting an overturned tree against some rocks, the two women slowly made their way to it, then after Laurie swept it for bugs, they crawled underneath it and huddled together for warmth.
"Let me try reaching Rick, honey, then we'll call for help in the morning." She told her sister-in-law, then concentrated. Not feeling anything past the headache she had, Laurie managed to pull out her transmitter, then realized the stem wasn't moving. "No way, Linda, it's jammed, it's only sending our location."
"It's okay, nobody's going anywhere until it gets light and this rain lets up!" Linda sighed. Trying to get comfortable, Laurie and Linda finally fell into an uneasy doze.
The sound of footsteps woke Rick, and instantly he looked up to see a tired and forlorn looking Chief Johnson approaching the truck.
"A.J., wake up, it's Ron." He shook his brother, who came instantly awake and wiped his eyes, realizing he'd been crying in his sleep.
"It's okay, little brother, I'm ready to do that too!" Rick said quietly, patting his back.
Smiling weakly, A.J. greeted their friend as he came to Rick's side of the truck.
"I'm sorry guys, there's no sign of Laurie or Linda. We searched what remains of the van at first light, and there's, um, at least two bodies in there. Unless they somehow got out of the vehicle before it crashed....." he looked away.
"Ron, I'm telling you, Laurie said they were going to jump and I believe her. If we can get to the place where her transmitter says they are, I think we're going to find both of them. Now, is there any way we can get around these trees?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, if I direct you around this batch here, it's clear almost to where the accident was. I don't want you guys going off though. If we don't find them, I'll need you to step back and let me get a search party in, agreed?" Ron told them
The brothers looked at each other, then A.J. reluctantly said "Okay."
Climbing in, the detective guided them around the worst of the obstacles, then they drove slowly, calling out their wives' names as they went.
A few miles ahead, Laurie was trying to loosen the stem of her pendant. Afraid to break it, she was gently turning it as far as it would go. Finally she heard it click, then she called out, "Rick, A.J., can you hear me?"
Static greeted her, so she closed her eyes and concentrated "Steve, Rick, answer me, we need help. Darling, please hear me!"
Rick 'heard' Laurie's call about the same time the transmitter crackled, and he snatched it up.
"Laurie, sweetheart, I hear you. Where are you?" he shouted.
Laurie raised her head, suddenly hearing a faint voice, not in her head, but from her pendant.
"Rick." she murmured, then hearing his voice again, cleared her raspy throat.
"Rick! Rick, it's me, Laurie!" she said into her transmitter. "Laurie, oh thank God, darlin'!" Both women clutched each other, then Linda spoke breathlessly, "Rick, I'm here too, where A.J?"
"Linny! Honey, where are you two, are you all right?" A.J.'s voice came over the pendant, sounding as if he had been crying."
"I have a broken ankle, love, and Laurie's arm is broken too. We don't know where we are, in the mountains, I think. Laurie, tell him." Linda handed Laurie back her transmitter.
"A.J., we're off the highway someplace, I don't know where, we had to jump. We're down a slope through lots of broken trees." she said, wanting to cry with relief. Ron immediately pointed ahead to a curve on the map. "They're probably down there."
"Just keep talking, honey, Ron's reading your location as just being a couple of miles. Hang on, we're coming." He assured her, prompting Linda to start sniffing.
"Linny, it's okay." A.J. added, hearing his wife. Laurie handed her the transmitter as she "called" to Rick. "Rick, darling, hurry please."
Suddenly they heard voices from the road above, and Laurie let out a cry as the familiar truck pulled alongside the road. "There they are, we're down here, guys!"
Immediately all three men got out and grabbing a length of robe from the truck, Rick tied off a length to the truck. Playing it out, he looked at his brother. "Can you handle Linda, maybe she can ride piggyback."
"I can do it, Ron can you spot us." A.J. asked. "Sure, just let me do the pulling." he returned, feeling guilty about having given up hope on finding their wives.
Rick went down first, and as he came down the slope, Laurie helped Linda sit on a log, then they watched as A.J. slid down the rope to his brother, then ran through the storm's debris to his wife.
When Rick had secured the rope, he turned and rushed to Laurie, as she held out her good arm to him. Suddenly she was in his arms and he kissed and said her name over and over.
"Laurie, sweetheart, you're safe now, I'm never going to let you go," he told her, tears in his eyes.
"Rick, darling." she said, weak with relief as he held her, carefully avoiding her injured arm. Feeling tears on his face, she gently kissed them away. "Don't cry, my love, you found us. You never gave up." she sniffed, resting her aching head against him. Making sure she could walk, Rick led her to the foot of the slope.
A.J. greeted her as Rick hugged his sister-in-law, then pulling a couple of bottles of water from his pack, he handed one to Rick who gave Laurie a couple of sips. Helping get Linda onto his brothers' back, Rick tied the rope around the two of them, then Captain Ron pulled them to safety.
As soon as A.J. and Linda were loaded into the truck, Ron threw the rope back down to Rick. Picking up his wife, she put her good arm around his neck as he tied the rope around the two of them.
"Here we go, darlin'." he said, then holding her tightly, walked them up to the road. As they reached the pavement, the chief of detectives untied the rope then hugged Laurie, saying "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have let this happen to you."
Laurie, seeing how upset Ron was, told him "You didn't do anything wrong, you saved Rick and A.J. from Carlson. Plus you came with them to find us, that's what's important!"
"No, you and Linda are what's important. You helped take out those two monsters, now we'll get you to the hospital so Rudy can take care of you." Ron replied, touched by her faith in him. .
Seeing his wife swaying from weariness, Rick picked Laurie up and carried her to the truck cab, where he squeezed her into the front seat as A.J. and Linda occupied the back. As Ron climbed into the driver's side, another car came weaving into sight, and Laurie lit up when she saw it was Robbie.
"Can you drive them to Phoenix General, son, I need to go to headquarters, then I'll bring your car there." Ron asked, as Robbie leaned in and grabbed his mother's hand.
"Sure, I found a safer way down the hill, Ron. Just follow me, Uncle Rudy and Oscar are waiting at the emergency room already." Robbie said, beaming at his parents. "That's my boy." Rick smiled, then saw Laurie start to tear up.
"Is, is Dad all right. I saw him shot, Carlson was going to kill him unless I went with him," she quavered.
"Sweetheart, he's okay, it was just a flesh wound. Is that what's upsetting you?" Rick comforted her as she nodded. "I was afraid he was badly hurt." "Mama, he's fine, just worried about you and Aunt Linda, Doc practically was ready to kick him out of the hospital, he was so worked up." Robbie added.
"Thank you, my loves." Laurie gave them a watery smile, then grinned when Linda passed her an already wet handkerchief. "Thanks, sis." As she blew her nose, both brothers laughed, prompting Laurie to stick out her tongue at the offenders.
Shaking his head, Ron sighed as he traded places with Robbie. "You Simons, what am I going to do with you?"
A.J. laughed, cuddling a worn-out Linda against his shoulder. "Make the most of what you got, Ron!"
A couple of hours later, Rick sat holding a sleeping Laurie, scarcely able to believe the last 24 hours.
Arriving at the emergency room, they were met by their very worried family, including Oscar and Rudy, who became very emotional when they saw the two women. Whispering "my brave girl", Oscar held Laurie in his good arm as she wept over his wounded shoulder.
"Baby, I'm all right now that you're safe. I'm sorry they frightened you so much." he soothed her, then she looked up at him. "The thing that made me so afraid was seeing you on the ground, I was so angry."
"I know, Laurie, I saw you had him at bay until the van moved. I'm proud of you for watching over Linda and taking out those monsters." he praised her, and she beamed through her tears.
Rudy and Dr. Lindstrom examined Linda, and other then her broken foot, found that she was relatively unhurt and her baby wasn't affected by the ordeal. "It's a miracle, A.J.." Rudy told the younger Simon, as he held his wife. Linda looked up at her husband, then told their friend, "No miracle, Rudy, just a husband who wouldn't give up. If I've learned anything, honey, "she kissed A.J. "it's that no one is ever going to take away what we have." Clearing his throat, Rudy managed "No one will, my dear." Telling them to get some rest, the doctor went out into the corridor to compose himself, then went to check on his other patient.
Unfortunately, Laurie had a concussion as well as her left arm being fractured and Rudy had to give her a local just so he could set her arm. Prescribing a day of bed rest and monitoring, Rudy saw her reach for Rick and moved a bed in next to her so she'd feel more secure.
After everyone had gone to rest, Rick settled his wife against his shoulder and whispered, "go to sleep, Laurie. I'm here."
"I know, you're always there when I need you. I will always fight to stay with you, darling." she promised, then kissed him as he stroked her hair.
"I'll hold you to that, sweetheart. Now close your eyes, angel." he said. Smiling up at him, she cuddled against him and slept. A soft "ahem" sounded at the door, and Rick was relieved to see Rudy checking on his wife.
Quietly looking at her vitals, their friend cleared his throat, then told him "Everything looks good, just the concussion and her fractured arm. I think if Laurie gets a good night of sleep, she can go home tomorrow. Same thing with Linda, that should make your brother and mother happy."
"Mom will spoil both of them rotten as it is!" Rick grinned. Saying good night to Rudy, he got ready for bed and settled in next to Laurie.
"I love you, Rick." he heard, then looking down, saw her eyes gazing up at him. Pulling her carefully against him, he murmured, "I love you, too, Laurie. I'll always be with you." Watching her go back to sleep, Rick decided that his anniversary gift paled in comparison to what he had just received, his wife's unconditional faith in him.
"Laurie! Laurie!" Rick "called" for her, then tried to reach Captain Ron, who was coordinating the ground units. Frantic, A.J. kept driving in the direction of the transmitter coordinates, as Rick got a somber reply from their friend.
"Rick, our air unit just saw the van go out of control, it's crashed into some trees just south of Flagstaff. The copter's going to have to set down, it's starting to storm. You guys meet us at the turn off to interstate 40." he relayed.
"Did they see anyone come out of the van, Ron?" A.J. was desperately trying to stay focused, but the violent wind that began to blow them around and the picture of the crashed van was too vivid in his mind.
"Negative, A.J.. It exploded in a fireball. If the girls were in it...." The detective didn't want to say it, then regretted it when Rick shot back "No, Ron. Laurie said they were going to jump out of the van; I heard her struggling with Carlson, then nothing. If they were in the van when it.. well, I would have felt it!"
"All right, Rick, all right. Are you still getting a reading from Laurie's pendant?" Ron changed the subject.
"Yes, about 5 miles due north on 40, whoa, what was that?" Rick saw a bright flash up ahead, then suddenly rain came down in sheets.
"Pull off the road, guys, it's a thunderstorm, I've got trees down before me, try to turn around so you don't get blocked in." Ron told them, driving into a turnabout and stopping.
Suddenly a loud bang sounded ahead of them, and Rick swerved to avoid a fallen tree.
"Rick, we're going to have to get to the side of the road, it won't do the girls any good if we don't have a way to get to them." A.J. told him, then yelled, "look out!" as another tree just missed the truck.
Seeing the road ahead nearly impassable, Rick managed to go another mile before finally pulling into a turnout. Instantly a tree crashed behind the truck, effectively blocking them in. Both brothers groaned, "Guess we'll have to spend the night until the storm lets up." Rick said, shaking his head.
Calling into his son's transmitter, Rick found his son had picked up his sister and taken her to Chief Joseph, who was watching over Ramona and Andy.
"I'm going to try to meet up with you and Uncle A.J. as soon as it gets light, Pop. I'm going to check on Uncle Oscar and Rudy right now. Grandma just called me and let me know Rudy was there but he's gone to the hospital to be there if, well when you bring Mom and Aunt Linda in." Robbie quickly changed the tense, to Rick's relief.
"It's okay, son. I know she's out there and that we'll find both of them. You stay at the hospital with Oscar as long as you can, let him know we're not giving up, that at first light we're going in to find your mom and aunt, all right?" Rick assured him.
"Thanks, pop. I know they're okay, I heard Mom telling Auntie Linda to jump on the transmitter. They must be a mile or so from the crash scene if they did it before it rolled." The young deputy yawned, and his father gave a reluctant laugh.
"Go get some rest, son. Your mother'll swat me if she sees you all tired out." Rick told him, then felt his brother squeeze his arm. "Robbie, we'll see you in the morning, it's going to be okay." A.J. added.
"Thanks, Uncle A.J. I'm going to keep my transmitter on, though, just in case. Call me if you hear or see anything." Robbie replied, then signed off.
After checking in with both Rob Gomez and Ron, the brothers realized it was too dark and wet to try searching in the dark. "I'll take the first watch, Rick, you get some sleep. In case Laurie tries to reach you, I'll keep checking your transmitter." A.J. said, forestalling any arguments.
Reluctantly, Rick put a rolled up blanket behind his head, then closing his eyes, whispered "Night, A.J. we'll find em' in the morning."
"Night, Rick, I 'm counting on it." His brother answered, checking Rick's watch for any movement.
After a moment, a loud snore came from Rick and brought a smile from A.J
"We'd better find our wives, there's no way I'm going through this again." A.J. sighed.
Down the road, the objects of their search were huddled together under a fallen tree, wet and injured.
Linda had landed on her ankle, and despite the disabling pain, had managed to drag herself to the base of a large tree. Looking up the slope, she had caught a glimpse of her sister-in-law hurdling down the slope, then heard a scream and lost sight of her.
"Laurie!" she called, then started crawling and hopping until she reached Laurie's crumpled figure, resting against the underside of a boulder.
"No, Laurie, honey! Wake up, please be all right." Linda cried, lowering herself next to her. Suddenly a huge clap of lightening sounded, causing Laurie's eyes to snap open in terror. "No, let me go, I won't let you hurt them!" she said incoherently.
"Laurie, it's all right, it's just a thunderstorm, shhh." Linda tried to soothe her.
Awareness came slowly to Laurie, then she remembered what had happened. "Linda, are you all right!"
"I think I broke my ankle, honey, but I'll be all right. You did something to your arm on the way down, it might be broken. Let me splint it and then we can try to get to the road for help when it's light." Linda replied. Helping her friend to sit up slowly, the former nurse gave her a hand in her removing her wet overblouse, then turned it into a makeshift sling. Checking her over, Linda was astonished to see she had suffered only a slight bump on the head.
Once her arm was taken care of, Laurie took a look at Linda's ankle, and winced to see the swelling above her foot. "Honey, I don't know how you were able to move with this, I'm sorry."
"Laurie, you have nothing to be sorry about. You saved us both. I was terrified what they were going to do with us." Linda assured her. "How does your stomach feel, any cramps or pain?" Laurie asked. "No, thank God. I'm just hungry, what else is new!" she grinned.
Her sister-in-law looked up at the rain now coming down, then shook her head. "Our poor guys, I can't imagine them driving in this rain. We'd better take cover out of this storm and quick."
Spotting an overturned tree against some rocks, the two women slowly made their way to it, then after Laurie swept it for bugs, they crawled underneath it and huddled together for warmth.
"Let me try reaching Rick, honey, then we'll call for help in the morning." She told her sister-in-law, then concentrated. Not feeling anything past the headache she had, Laurie managed to pull out her transmitter, then realized the stem wasn't moving. "No way, Linda, it's jammed, it's only sending our location."
"It's okay, nobody's going anywhere until it gets light and this rain lets up!" Linda sighed. Trying to get comfortable, Laurie and Linda finally fell into an uneasy doze.
The sound of footsteps woke Rick, and instantly he looked up to see a tired and forlorn looking Chief Johnson approaching the truck.
"A.J., wake up, it's Ron." He shook his brother, who came instantly awake and wiped his eyes, realizing he'd been crying in his sleep.
"It's okay, little brother, I'm ready to do that too!" Rick said quietly, patting his back.
Smiling weakly, A.J. greeted their friend as he came to Rick's side of the truck.
"I'm sorry guys, there's no sign of Laurie or Linda. We searched what remains of the van at first light, and there's, um, at least two bodies in there. Unless they somehow got out of the vehicle before it crashed....." he looked away.
"Ron, I'm telling you, Laurie said they were going to jump and I believe her. If we can get to the place where her transmitter says they are, I think we're going to find both of them. Now, is there any way we can get around these trees?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, if I direct you around this batch here, it's clear almost to where the accident was. I don't want you guys going off though. If we don't find them, I'll need you to step back and let me get a search party in, agreed?" Ron told them
The brothers looked at each other, then A.J. reluctantly said "Okay."
Climbing in, the detective guided them around the worst of the obstacles, then they drove slowly, calling out their wives' names as they went.
A few miles ahead, Laurie was trying to loosen the stem of her pendant. Afraid to break it, she was gently turning it as far as it would go. Finally she heard it click, then she called out, "Rick, A.J., can you hear me?"
Static greeted her, so she closed her eyes and concentrated "Steve, Rick, answer me, we need help. Darling, please hear me!"
Rick 'heard' Laurie's call about the same time the transmitter crackled, and he snatched it up.
"Laurie, sweetheart, I hear you. Where are you?" he shouted.
Laurie raised her head, suddenly hearing a faint voice, not in her head, but from her pendant.
"Rick." she murmured, then hearing his voice again, cleared her raspy throat.
"Rick! Rick, it's me, Laurie!" she said into her transmitter. "Laurie, oh thank God, darlin'!" Both women clutched each other, then Linda spoke breathlessly, "Rick, I'm here too, where A.J?"
"Linny! Honey, where are you two, are you all right?" A.J.'s voice came over the pendant, sounding as if he had been crying."
"I have a broken ankle, love, and Laurie's arm is broken too. We don't know where we are, in the mountains, I think. Laurie, tell him." Linda handed Laurie back her transmitter.
"A.J., we're off the highway someplace, I don't know where, we had to jump. We're down a slope through lots of broken trees." she said, wanting to cry with relief. Ron immediately pointed ahead to a curve on the map. "They're probably down there."
"Just keep talking, honey, Ron's reading your location as just being a couple of miles. Hang on, we're coming." He assured her, prompting Linda to start sniffing.
"Linny, it's okay." A.J. added, hearing his wife. Laurie handed her the transmitter as she "called" to Rick. "Rick, darling, hurry please."
Suddenly they heard voices from the road above, and Laurie let out a cry as the familiar truck pulled alongside the road. "There they are, we're down here, guys!"
Immediately all three men got out and grabbing a length of robe from the truck, Rick tied off a length to the truck. Playing it out, he looked at his brother. "Can you handle Linda, maybe she can ride piggyback."
"I can do it, Ron can you spot us." A.J. asked. "Sure, just let me do the pulling." he returned, feeling guilty about having given up hope on finding their wives.
Rick went down first, and as he came down the slope, Laurie helped Linda sit on a log, then they watched as A.J. slid down the rope to his brother, then ran through the storm's debris to his wife.
When Rick had secured the rope, he turned and rushed to Laurie, as she held out her good arm to him. Suddenly she was in his arms and he kissed and said her name over and over.
"Laurie, sweetheart, you're safe now, I'm never going to let you go," he told her, tears in his eyes.
"Rick, darling." she said, weak with relief as he held her, carefully avoiding her injured arm. Feeling tears on his face, she gently kissed them away. "Don't cry, my love, you found us. You never gave up." she sniffed, resting her aching head against him. Making sure she could walk, Rick led her to the foot of the slope.
A.J. greeted her as Rick hugged his sister-in-law, then pulling a couple of bottles of water from his pack, he handed one to Rick who gave Laurie a couple of sips. Helping get Linda onto his brothers' back, Rick tied the rope around the two of them, then Captain Ron pulled them to safety.
As soon as A.J. and Linda were loaded into the truck, Ron threw the rope back down to Rick. Picking up his wife, she put her good arm around his neck as he tied the rope around the two of them.
"Here we go, darlin'." he said, then holding her tightly, walked them up to the road. As they reached the pavement, the chief of detectives untied the rope then hugged Laurie, saying "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have let this happen to you."
Laurie, seeing how upset Ron was, told him "You didn't do anything wrong, you saved Rick and A.J. from Carlson. Plus you came with them to find us, that's what's important!"
"No, you and Linda are what's important. You helped take out those two monsters, now we'll get you to the hospital so Rudy can take care of you." Ron replied, touched by her faith in him. .
Seeing his wife swaying from weariness, Rick picked Laurie up and carried her to the truck cab, where he squeezed her into the front seat as A.J. and Linda occupied the back. As Ron climbed into the driver's side, another car came weaving into sight, and Laurie lit up when she saw it was Robbie.
"Can you drive them to Phoenix General, son, I need to go to headquarters, then I'll bring your car there." Ron asked, as Robbie leaned in and grabbed his mother's hand.
"Sure, I found a safer way down the hill, Ron. Just follow me, Uncle Rudy and Oscar are waiting at the emergency room already." Robbie said, beaming at his parents. "That's my boy." Rick smiled, then saw Laurie start to tear up.
"Is, is Dad all right. I saw him shot, Carlson was going to kill him unless I went with him," she quavered.
"Sweetheart, he's okay, it was just a flesh wound. Is that what's upsetting you?" Rick comforted her as she nodded. "I was afraid he was badly hurt." "Mama, he's fine, just worried about you and Aunt Linda, Doc practically was ready to kick him out of the hospital, he was so worked up." Robbie added.
"Thank you, my loves." Laurie gave them a watery smile, then grinned when Linda passed her an already wet handkerchief. "Thanks, sis." As she blew her nose, both brothers laughed, prompting Laurie to stick out her tongue at the offenders.
Shaking his head, Ron sighed as he traded places with Robbie. "You Simons, what am I going to do with you?"
A.J. laughed, cuddling a worn-out Linda against his shoulder. "Make the most of what you got, Ron!"
A couple of hours later, Rick sat holding a sleeping Laurie, scarcely able to believe the last 24 hours.
Arriving at the emergency room, they were met by their very worried family, including Oscar and Rudy, who became very emotional when they saw the two women. Whispering "my brave girl", Oscar held Laurie in his good arm as she wept over his wounded shoulder.
"Baby, I'm all right now that you're safe. I'm sorry they frightened you so much." he soothed her, then she looked up at him. "The thing that made me so afraid was seeing you on the ground, I was so angry."
"I know, Laurie, I saw you had him at bay until the van moved. I'm proud of you for watching over Linda and taking out those monsters." he praised her, and she beamed through her tears.
Rudy and Dr. Lindstrom examined Linda, and other then her broken foot, found that she was relatively unhurt and her baby wasn't affected by the ordeal. "It's a miracle, A.J.." Rudy told the younger Simon, as he held his wife. Linda looked up at her husband, then told their friend, "No miracle, Rudy, just a husband who wouldn't give up. If I've learned anything, honey, "she kissed A.J. "it's that no one is ever going to take away what we have." Clearing his throat, Rudy managed "No one will, my dear." Telling them to get some rest, the doctor went out into the corridor to compose himself, then went to check on his other patient.
Unfortunately, Laurie had a concussion as well as her left arm being fractured and Rudy had to give her a local just so he could set her arm. Prescribing a day of bed rest and monitoring, Rudy saw her reach for Rick and moved a bed in next to her so she'd feel more secure.
After everyone had gone to rest, Rick settled his wife against his shoulder and whispered, "go to sleep, Laurie. I'm here."
"I know, you're always there when I need you. I will always fight to stay with you, darling." she promised, then kissed him as he stroked her hair.
"I'll hold you to that, sweetheart. Now close your eyes, angel." he said. Smiling up at him, she cuddled against him and slept. A soft "ahem" sounded at the door, and Rick was relieved to see Rudy checking on his wife.
Quietly looking at her vitals, their friend cleared his throat, then told him "Everything looks good, just the concussion and her fractured arm. I think if Laurie gets a good night of sleep, she can go home tomorrow. Same thing with Linda, that should make your brother and mother happy."
"Mom will spoil both of them rotten as it is!" Rick grinned. Saying good night to Rudy, he got ready for bed and settled in next to Laurie.
"I love you, Rick." he heard, then looking down, saw her eyes gazing up at him. Pulling her carefully against him, he murmured, "I love you, too, Laurie. I'll always be with you." Watching her go back to sleep, Rick decided that his anniversary gift paled in comparison to what he had just received, his wife's unconditional faith in him.