Empty 2/3
Chapter Two:
Sunday Morning
"Charlie, you can't just break a window! That's against the law!"
"Don, her car is here and she's not answering the door!"
"That could mean a lot of things."
"You're in law enforcement. Can't you just break in?"
Charlie was checking all of the front windows, hoping to be able to see though them but all the windows appeared to be covered with thick drapes.
Don made an exasperated noise and shook his head. "I have to have probable cause, some reason to suspect there's something's amiss in there."
Charlie headed around the side of the house. "I'm going to check out the back."
"Technically, this is trespassing."
Charlie just kept walking. "Don, it's Amita's cousin's house, and she happens to be on a plane at the moment. I think trespassing is the least of my concerns right now."
Don followed Charlie to the back of the house, looking in the windows as he passed.
Charlie looked though each of the back windows in turn, rapping on them and calling out Amita's name. The kitchen was empty as was the dining room.
"I don't see her," Don said. "The place looks deserted."
Shielding his eyes against the glare of the sun, Charlie looked through a living room window and saw something that gave him a chill. He quickly pulled Don over to look at what he saw. "Is that probable cause enough for you?"
Inside there was a flashlight laying on the second lowest stair, its light still burning brightly despite the morning sun.
"Good enough for me."
Don got the back door open and Charlie burst through it, running for the stairs. He made it to the first landing, turned to go up the next flight, and instead froze in place.
"Charlie, what is it?"
The shock of his worst fears realized overwhelmed Charlie. He couldn't move, couldn't speak... Don followed him up the stairs to see for himself.
The deathly still form of Amita was sprawled out on the stairs before them.
Just as Charlie broke free from his trance, Don flipped open his cell phone and dialed 911.
"We need an ambulance..."
Charlie crouched down to touch Amita's neck gently. There was a pulse. Charlie let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding all weekend.
He quickly worked his way around her so he was beside her instead of below her.
"Amita? Can you hear me?" He cupped her face with his hand and she responded by turning into its warmth. She let out a small groan and Charlie felt his heart in his throat.
"Don't move her!" Don admonished him. "The ambulance is on its way!"
"Amita? Please say something..." Charlie was aching with the need to hear her speak, to know she'd be all right.
"Charlie?" Amita's voice was barely a whisper but Charlie latched on to that one word like a life preserver.
"I'm here... I'm here... It's okay..."
With Amita's feedback, Don went through a triage checklist on her and discovered her only injuries were a concussion and possible fractured tibia in her right leg.
Don brought a blanket in from the car and he allowed Charlie to gently lift her up and carry her downstairs where she could be warmed up and made more comfortable while waiting for the ambulance.
As Charlie carried her down the stairs, she fought to keep her eyes open. Something about the look on Charlie's face made her want to remember it forever, keep it in a corner of her mind to call up when things got rough. "I didn't think you'd miss me..." she admitted. "I figured you'd just forget."
Charlie choked down the knot that rose in his throat. "I could never forget you, Amita." His lips brushed gently across her forehead and she closed her eyes, secure in the warmth of his arms.
Sunday Afternoon
"Yeah okay, thanks..." Don closed his cell phone and turned to Charlie. "So I had the LAPD close out the missing person's report on Amita. Her roommate said she's called all her friends, but she's not calling her family in India yet. Apparently ratting Amita out back home is a crime punishable by death to her friends."
Charlie nodded. "I can imagine that. They'd be on the first plane out to come take her home with them."
"Her roommate is going to meet the cousin at the house and let her know what happened since she's expecting Amita to be there when they arrive from the airport."
"Thanks, Don. I just couldn't face doing all the phone calls and stuff."
"No problem, buddy. Has her fever come down yet?"
"Only to 103 from 104 when she was brought in. It's going to be at least a few hours until her fever breaks."
Don nodded. "I'm glad she's going to be okay. I'm sorry I doubted you, Charlie."
"The probability was in your favor but..."
"But your gut told you otherwise?"
"Yeah," Charlie admitted a bit sheepishly. It wasn't like him to go against the numbers.
Don gave his brother's shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "Welcome to my world, buddy. I guess you really have learned a lot from me."
"Yeah," Charlie agreed with a smile.
"Anything else I can do?"
"For Amita, no. The doctors told me it's just waiting the fever out at this point now that she's got her cast on."
Charlie walked his brother out into the hallway.
"But I do have a big favor to ask of you. It's for me, actually, and it involves your car..."
Sunday Evening
'Falling...No!'
Amita woke with a gasp and bolted upright. Pain slashed through her head and she cried out. Strong arms wrapped around her and eased her back down onto the bed.
"Charlie..."
"I'm here, Amita..."
She settled back down against her pillows, taking a moment to let the pain recede.
"Should I call the doctor?"
"No, no... I just had a nightmare. I was falling... I fell..."
Suddenly the last few days came back to her and she looked up at Charlie abruptly.
"You did fall," he explained gently.
"Yeah... I remember now..." This time when she took a moment to clear her head, it actually did clear a little.
"Your fever finally broke about an hour ago," Charlie continued. "Your leg is in a cast. You have a fractured tibia and a concussion."
Amita ran the events of the last few days over in her head. "How did you find me? Jaya was the only one who knew about me housesitting for them."
"Let's just say that an unstoppable force met up with a resourceful FBI agent and we figured it out."
"You hacked my email?"
"Essentially."
Amita smiled.
"3637?" Charlie teased.
Amita almost blushed. "I was right..."
"Yes, you were," Charlie said graciously. "I was looking at it in too narrow a focus. I'm trying not to be so... so nearsighted any more," he said, looking at her with another expression she wanted to catalog away with the rest of her favorite sights in life.
Charlie looked like he was going to say more but when he didn't, Amita asked, "So that's how you found me. Why did you think to even look for me? I mean, sure, I missed our review session Saturday morning but I figured you'd just work on something else and forget about it until you saw me next."
"Is that what you thought? That I'd just get distracted by some equation and forget you were coming to see me?"
Amita nodded, feeling guilty even though it was the truth.
"Amita..." Charlie seemed to have trouble figuring out what to say. "I didn't forget you. I waited for you and you never showed, never called. I called your cell phone repeatedly. I tried to work on some equations but... The office just felt so empty without you there. So I just couldn't..."
"Charlie, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"What, that when I think of you I can't think about math?"
"Yeah," she said with a smile.
"Amita..." Charlie's expression seemed pained, as if what he had to say was very difficult for him. "When I saw you on the stairs..." Charlie stopped speaking as he got choked up, grasping her hand tightly as if to pull strength from the bond there. "I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I was so sure..."
Charlie hung his head, he just couldn't go on.
"Oh, Charlie..."
Charlie took a breath and pulled himself together. "I was so sure you were dead and that was it, you know? I was too late. There was so much I wanted to say to you, so much I had hoped for the future and suddenly... suddenly it looked like there was no more future. For you or for us."
"Charlie, please..."
"There were things I always planned on telling you. Once you got your doctorate and I wasn't just your thesis advisor..."
Amita reached up, pulled him down towards her, and stopped him with a kiss. Although startled at first, Charlie quickly warmed to the kiss, wrapping his arms around her and burying his hands in her soft hair. In the end, it was Amita's turn to be overwhelmed. She'd imagined his kisses for years, but the reality far outshone the fantasy.
When they broke apart, she whispered to him, "Charlie, you've never been just my thesis advisor."
Charlie paused for a moment then asked, "Amita, do you remember when you said that the direct approach works for the right guy?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Will it work for me?"
"Yes," she answered, breathlessly.
He pulled back enough to gaze into her eyes and spoke.
"Amita, I'm in love with you. There. I've said it out loud. I love you. I love you so much I thought I'd die myself when I thought you were dead. I love you so much I've purposefully buried my feelings rather than risk your doctorate being tainted. I love you so much I spent the last two days frantic, trying to convince the world you needed help when no one believed me. I wasn't able to think, sleep, or eat not knowing where you were. And if that makes some Hindu banker in Goa a very unhappy man then I'm glad."
He paused for a moment. "Please tell me that worked."
Amita smiled up at him. "It didn't have to. You had me already. I think I loved you before I even met you. I followed your work before I came to Cal Sci and came there partly because of your reputation. I'd have done anything to have you as my thesis advisor. Then to find out you're not just brilliant you're funny, sensitive and incredibly good-looking... I was lost. Charlie, I love you. I just feel bad my stupid thesis kept me from telling you all this time."
"Your thesis isn't stupid, Amita. It's actually quite..."
"Charlie?"
"Yes?"
"No math..."
"Right..."
They kissed again, slowly, gaining familiarity with each other with every passing second, almost as if they were merely remembering instead of learning each other anew.
"So for a guy who's better with numbers than with words, how did I do with the direct approach?"
"Charlie, I've heard wedding vows that weren't as romantic as what you said to me. I hope I'll never forget it as long as I live."
"That sounds more like a wedding vow," Charlie smiled.
Amita shrugged. "Some things require repeated experimentation before the final desired result is achieved."
Charlie smiled. "Some things... but when the experimentation is so enjoyable, what's the rush?" He leaned in and kissed her again.
"I meant the vows, Charlie," Amita chided when he let her come up for air.
"I've got mine," he said. "You just let me know how long you need to work on yours..."