Chapter 2
Rick smiled as he watched Laurie playing with Mike in the patio, it was such a relief to see her up and around the ranch.
For the last six days they had been relieving almost fourteen years of memories. Starting very slowly in the hospital, Rick and Oscar and Rudy had walked her through her past. As soon as a name or event was mentioned, it was like a door had opened, and Laurie had almost instant recall of the time and the people involved. So far there had been no trace of what had caused her loss of memory, and Rudy was was pleased with how her strength was returning.
After four days of tests, Rudy and Doc pronounced her fit to go home, on the promise of someone being with her at all times. So far Rick hadn't missed the office, as a matter of fact it was amazing how much he enjoyed doing chores alongside his son, and going through albums and some of Laurie's books, just filling in the gaps. Barnabas Collins had been very helpful with helping her remember her background, and only left once he was certain she would be all right.
"Rick, where's Lightening?" Rick stiffened, he had been so caught up in being pleased with her progress, he didn't hear her come in. Now he had to face the fact that they hadn't dealt with all of the bad times they had both endured in the past.
"Sweetheart, come inside for a moment." he took her hand and led her to the living room.
Sitting down on the sofa, he pulled her next to him, then took a deep breath.
"Laurie, do you remember the tornado five summers ago."
She frowned, "Tornado?" Suddenly her face froze, and then she started shaking. "Rick, oh , I remember. The children, they were trapped in the tub, and I was under the spa,and you hurt your shoulder."
Alarmed, Rick put his arms around her and held her. "Darlin', it's all right. We found you, and Rudy fixed my shoulder. All our friends helped us rebuild the ranch."
"And Lightening got hurt, oh, poor thing.." she started to cry. "I had to shoot him, darling, I couldn't let him suffer."
Feeling helpless, he rocked her in his arms , comforting her. "I remember, my angel. Remember what Chief Joseph said, to remember all the good times you had on him. Remember what happened that was good that day?"
Rick felt her sobs quieting, then she looked up at him, the beginning of a smile on her face.
"Yes, Ricky was born, oh, he was the most beautiful baby." she said. Seeing his worried face, Laurie kissed him and put her tear-streaked face next to his.
"I love you so, you are the most wonderful husband, and friend and..." Rick kissed her, saying, "luckiest man in the world. I'm sorry I have to remind you of the bad things, darlin' but you bring so many good memories to our life. Everything has balanced out. If we didn't go thru the tornado, we wouldn't have met Ian, or gotten Brick back, or had a safer home."
"I know, my love. It's just so strange, like a movie or something. One moment it's a picture of someone else, the next it's me, and you and something fun or sweet or, well scary." Laurie sighed, then added, "sometimes I'm on the verge of remembering something so frightening, whatever it was that caused my blackout. Then it'll just be out of reach."
Abruptly she caught the edge of a grin on her husband's face and she snickered. "Speaking of my reach!" She threw herself at him and started tickling him.
Startled, Rick fell backwards on the sofa, laughing. "Darlin', that's not fair, oh, stop, I'm going to have to spank you if you, oh, now you're going to get it!" he threatened as he fell off the sofa, pulling her down with him.
Breathless with laughter, Laurie landed with an "oomph", then stopped her attack to kiss him.
Suddenly Rick realized this was the first time in almost a week neither of them had thought about her illness.
"Welcome back, Mrs. Simon." He murmured, reaching up and pulling her against him.
Laurie snuggled to his chest. "I'm glad to be back, Mr. Simon." She beamed up at him, then said, "and I think it'll be okay if you went to the office tomorrow, darling. I'm so spoiled having you home, but I think it's time," she kissed him again, "to get you and me back to a routine."
Just then the phone rang, and Rick had the feeling of déjà vu.
"Laurie, if that's A.J., I'm going to pick up, all right?"
He caught a look at her face and saw the meaning of his words register.
"Rick, that's right, that's what happened last week, oh, I wish I could remember." she worried, letting him push her up and then leveraging him up so he could take the extension.
"It'll come to you, sweetheart." He reassured her, then picked up the extension as the machine started to come on.
As he chatted, she got the idea he was trying to hide something, and immediately she smiled, guessing it was something for their anniversary.
"Okay, we'll go to the bank after lunch tomorrow, so don't make any afternoon appointments." she heard Rick reminding his brother.
At once she remembered her own plans, and a smile crossed her lips as she pictured her husband in his favorite characters dress suit.
"All right, Mrs. Simon, what are you smiling about?"
Startled, she realized Rick had been standing in the doorway while she was daydreaming.
"You." she blurted, then blushed as he came to her, then lifted her up from the sofa into his arms.
"My blushing bride." he kissed her, then headed toward their room. "We've got plenty of time before dinner for me to give you something else to smile about."
"I can't think of anything better to do." she murmured, leaning her head against his chest. "That's the idea." he chuckled, then kicked the door closed behind him.
The next day seemed to fly for Rick, with two client meetings and a very satisfying lunch with Robin. "A.J., the next time you tell me I eat too much, remind me to remind you about the three helpings of seafood salad you just ate, not to mention the tortas." Rick snickered as they walked back to his truck.
"Can I help it your daughter's a great cook, Ian's going to be lucky to be able to ride a horse, let alone train one!" A.J. teased as he climbed in the passenger side.
"Keep talkin' like that, little brother, and you'll be lucky to get a carrot stick from her next time!" Rick shot back, a half-grin on his face.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the bank, the two brothers continued needling each other about their lunch, too busy to notice how quiet the bank was when they walked in.
Abruptly Rick stopped, a funny feeling in his stomach, as he saw no one in line, and no tellers at the windows.
"A.J., go outside and call 911." He whispered, then caught sight of a figure moving behind one of the desks. As his brother turned to go, Rick saw the movement again, and the telltale click of a hammer being drawn back.
"Now!" he yelled, pushing A.J. through the door, then diving behind a desk himself.
"Get him, shoot him!" a gravelly voice sounded, then a little boy's yell, "no, don't!" came from the back of the room.
Immediately Rick crawled behind the loan officer's desk, only to find the bank guard slumped in the chair, bleeding from a wound to the shoulder. He pulled him to the floor and put pressure on the hole in his shirt, slowing the stream of blood to a trickle.
Suddenly he heard a shaking voice, "Come out or the lady dies!"
Peaking around the desk, he saw a curly haired man holding a woman, her face twisted in pain. Without hesitation Rick barked, "Release her and I'll come out."
The gravelly voice yelled from behind the teller stations, "Leo, let her go to her son."
Nervously Leo dropped the woman's arm, and she rushed to the back of the bank, where Rick saw a small boy come to her.
Reluctantly, Rick stepped out from behind the desk, then seeing the security guard attempting to crawl toward the door, walked toward the teller stations.
"Hold it right there, mister!" the one called Leo said, then anxiously called, "Mack, no, we might...."
Rick didn't wait, he dove to the ground, then swore in pain as a bullet caught his leg as he went down. "Don't move, or the next one's at your head." "Mack" yelled. Rick froze then heard footsteps, then felt rough hands patting him down.
"Grab his wallet and find out who he is, then tie him up and put him with the others." the trigger-happy robber ordered.
"Mr. , Mr. Simon, is that you?" Rick looked up at the curly haired man, then had a flash of recognition.
"Martin, you're Bill Martin. You were in my class this spring." Rick remembered the quiet boy who'd been one of the few to stay with his 'Investigations" class. A recent Juvenile Hall grad, Rick had looked forward to seeing him turn himself around.
"I'm sorry about this, Mr. Simon, you and your wife were really nice to me, but, well, times were tough and.." Hey, Leo, do as I say or you'll join him!" Mack demanded.
"All right Bill, help me up and I'll sit with the lady and her kid til' you figure it out." Rick groaned as he got a hand up, then limped painfully to the back of the bank, where he eased into a chair next to the woman whose life he'd saved and a frightened child of about seven.
Nervously "Leo" took a piece of rope and tied the older Simon's hands together just as one of the bank phones rang.
"Grab the phone, man. Let's find out what they'll give us in exchange for the kid and his mother." Mack smirked as Martin left the hostages and went to the front of the bank.
Picking up the phone, the younger man spoke for a few minutes with someone on the other end, then walked the phone back to Rick.
"It's the police, they want to verify if everyone's all right. You have 30 seconds, Mr. Simon." Martin told him.
Rick took the receiver in his bound hands and said, "This is Rick Simon, who's this?"
"It's Chief Branson, Rick. Who else is being held with you?" the usually calm voiced Police Chief betrayed a certain anxiety in his tone.
"Uh, a lady and her son, "Rick looked at her, then realized it was Bill Branson's ex-wife, Fran. "It's Fran and Matty, Bill." At that Mrs. Branson leaned forward and whispered, "Tell him we're all right."
"Fran says she's all right, Bill. Is the guard all right?"
"Yes, thanks to you, Rick. Just stay put, no more heroics or your wife'll will kill me." Branson sounded relieved. "Now let me talk to whichever one of those guys who sounds reasonable."
"Sure, Chief." Rick smiled at the boy then started to hand the phone to his former student, only to have the gravelly voiced Mack tear it out of his hand. Walking up to the front of the bank, he smirked through the windows at the line of police and media behind yellow caution tape. "Listen, I want Chief Branson on the line and I want him now!"
As the robber waited for the Chief of Police, Rudy Wells was driving Laurie to meet Rick for lunch. As they drove past the media and the lines of police cars, Laurie suddenly gasped.
"Rudy, pull in, something's wrong."
Immidiately he turned into the parking lot, then parked the car as Laurie started to breathe heavily. "Missy, honey, it's okay, let it go, honey." Rudy urged her, "just breathe, what do you see?"
"I remember, Rudy, Rick's in the bank, he's in danger. We've got to help him."
Without hesidation Laurie opened the car door, then jumped out, telling her friend, "Call Dad and Robbie, Rudy, I'm going to see what happened."
"Wait, honey, don't go, it's not safe for you!" Rudy yelled after her, fearing for her safety.
Rushing through the assembled media, she was met just before the police tape by Chief Branson. "Laurie, go back. Rick is safe for the moment, they also have my ex-wife and son in there." He told her.
"Chief, one of the robbers is on the line." Ron broke in, then saw who the Chief was speaking to. Just then Mack got his attention.
"You've talked to them, now I want everyone to back off, and I want a car filled with gas parked in front of the bank in one hour or we start shooting people." he vowed.
"We'll talk." Ron tried to humor him. "But first you need to let the hostages go."
Rick guessed it was Ron Johnson the vicious robber was talking to, as Mack laughed then sarcastically replied, "Tell you what, you bring sandwiches and beer in here and I'll let them go. Say, how about...." Mack walked to the front door, then snickered.
"I want the lady next to your Chief, yes her. She looks harmless. You've got five minutes to have her come to the door with some beer and sandwiches, or I start with the kid." the man snarled, then hung up the phone.
Rick heard the small boy whimper, then looked over at him in the semi-darkness. The child's hair was matted down already with the humidity in the room, and he was pressed up against his mother.
"Mrs. Branson, are you all right, did they hurt your arm?" he asked tentatively, having heard of the woman's tart disposition.
"Yes, when they grabbed me out of line, the nasty one pulled Matty away from me and I hit him." The weary mother sighed, then added reluctantly, "I called him a couple of names and that's when he wrenched my arm. I knew my temper would get me in to trouble one of these days. I just don't want my son to suffer because of it. He already has."
"Mrs. Branson, you have nothing to be ashamed of. My wife, that's something she would have done. Nobody hurts a child around her either." Rick reassured her, thinking of his Laurie, of the way she was so protective of all of them.
Just then Rick felt his wife's presence, then recalled with a pang that Laurie had planned on meeting him and the two of them having dinner with A.J. and Linda.
"Sweetheart, I'm here, where are you?" he "called". Suddenly it occurred to him that she was starting to remember how to reach to him.
"I'm in the parking lot of the bank, are you okay?" she responded, a worried tone in her thoughts.
"Just a flesh wound, darlin'. Is A.J. all right?" Rick was anxious that he hadn't gotten any signals on his watch.
"Yes, Rick, just worried about you. Just a moment." she replied. Suddenly he heard the man up front yell out the door, "Sixty seconds, cop, or I start firing!"
At once Rick saw Matty Branson's face full of fear, and he tried to comfort him in a tough guy way. "Hey, Matty, it's going to be okay, soon your dad will come in and get you and your Mom. He's been so excited to take you camping, I bet you even get to see a bear."
The blue eyes, so like his father's lit up. "Are there bears in Arizona? I saw one in a zoo once, but he was in a cage."
"Sure, kid, there's lots of them in the wild." Rick felt like cussing out the woman holding her arm, maybe the Chief wasn't such a good husband, but what kind of upbringing did she give a kid who didn't even know bears were wild animals?
As if reading his mind, Fran Branson looked at him, then sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Mr. Simon. Guess I neglected a few things for my son. If we get out of here, I promise I'll try to talk things out with Bill. Matty does need him in his life."
"Atta girl, Fran." Rick grinned, then heard his wife's thoughts, telling him something he didn't believe.
"Rick, I'm coming to the door. I'm bringing some sandwiches and beer in exchance for Mrs. Branson and Matty." she "told" him.
"NO!" he felt himself "shouting" back to her. "Laurie, you will not do this. I won't let you put yourself at risk, listen to me!"
Too late, he heard the older robber yell at the silent man sitting in front of them. "Leo, bring the woman and the kid up front, we got ourselves a trade!"
The young man stood up, then helped the injured woman to her feet, her son clinging to her hand.
"Don't move, Mr. Simon, or everyone dies." his voice quavered.
"I don't think I'm going anywhere in my condition." Rick replied sarcastically, looking at his wounded leg.
Staring toward the front of the bank, he surrepticiously turned his transmitter on, then whispered, "Ron, Chief, can you hear me, don't let Laurie come in! The guy's a killer."
"We don't have a choice, Rick, they demanded Laurie herself come to the door with the food for Mrs. Branson and Matty. It's all right, we sent her in with some protection." Ron replied, sounding anxious himself.
"I don't care, she is not coming in....." Rick started to say, then fell silent as he heard a familiar voice in the front of the darkened bank.
"I'm not armed, here's the beer and sandwiches. Let them go."
