Part Five

Gabby

"Gabby honey, telephone!"

I sigh, probably mom again. I drop my book and slowly roll off my bed. My leg is better today, not so much limping, less pain. That's always a plus. Apparently all that walking I've been doing around the lake is really paying off. Not to mention I'm down a dress size.

"Who is it?" I ask my grandma as I take the cordless phone and sit down to take the call.

"Ms. Gordon again," she says with a smile, wipes her hands on her tea towel and heads back into the kitchen to give me some privacy.

"Ms. Gordon," I say happily into the receiver. "Is Dinah ok? Is she home? Last time you said she'd be home? She came home right?"

There's a bright laugh and I shut up immediately to let her talk.

"She's fine Gabby. She know who she is, the date and the president. She's eating better, seeing her psychiatrist and taking less medication," is the doctor like opinion that comes as a reply.

"And now tell me what Barbara Gordon's opinion of Dinah's health is and not what Dr. Philips said," I say with my own giggle.

"She's doing really well Gabby. She's asked for you."

"She has? Does she know what happened yet?" I ask.

"Not all of it. It seems to be coming back."

"Good. I'll be home in a week or so…schools been calling around looking for me. They want me to do work while I recover. What kind of inhumane torture is that?"

The bright laugh on the other end of the line is foreign to me. Even when she was teaching me the finer points of Hamlet I never heard Ms. Gordon laugh like that.

"You're feeling better to?" I ask.

"Of course Gabby, having her at home has really helped. How about you? How's your therapy going?"

"Really great, the legs doing really well…"

"That's not what I meant."

I stand and switch legs a few times, I know exactly what she means.

"I'm glad your leg is getting better but I meant your other therapy…that is, if you don't mind me asking."

"Of course not. You go through something as terrible as what happened to us and you form a family bond with the other people involved…you have something in common, a familiar ground to.."

"Dr. Weis is doing well then?"

I think for a second then laugh, "Yes, Dr. Weis is getting through to me…Grandma's home cooking is as well."

There's a silence on the other end of the line then I hear a thin voice, "who's that?"

"No one Dinah, Alfred left dinner in the kitchen," is the muffled reply.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Ms. Gordon says as she comes back onto the line.

"Maybe I could just speak to her for a second?" I ask softly. I have the sinking feeling that she's going to tell me to get lost, that I'd just make things worse then she clears her throat. "Ok, just a second."

The phone is muffled again and I can hear nothing except for the wild erratic beating of my own heart and breath. There's more muffled sounds then a slightly squeaky, tinny voice is on the line.

"Gabby? Gabby oh my god! Gabby are you there?"

She sounds so happy…

"Hey D," I say as I clear my throat and try to stop the tears welling in my eyes.

"Oh Gabby it's so good to hear your voice."

"Yours too D."

I can hardly control what I'm saying. That's probably why it sounds so stupid, like I don't want to talk to her. But god do I want to talk to her and hold her and kiss her.

"Look D, I'm sorry I gotta split…I'll catch ya up later. Bye." I slam the phone down into it's cradle a little to hard and my Grandma appears in the doorway.

"What's going…" she starts to say but when she sees my face she stops. She reaches down and uses the corner of her dish cloth to wipe away tears.

"Oh Gabby," she says softly as she helps me to my bed, "What has this girl done to you?"

For a second I wonder why she's asking. Then what she's asking.

I turn my face up to face her and a tiny grin trails along my lips. "She didn't do anything. It's my fault…I accidentally fell in love with her."

That old face convulsed for a second before a single tear drops from her eye. "Oh Gabby Andrews how could you love someone who has done such terrible things."

"You know, when I told you that I fall in love with girls and not boys you told me that it didn't matter what gender it was love was love and there was nothing I could do about it. I'm in love with her and there's nothing I, or she, can do about it. It's that simple."

Tears fell down both our faces as we sat on my bed and hugged tightly.

"There's a bus heading out in half an hour you could be back in New Gotham in an hour and a half," she whispers to me, "I think she's going to need someone who loves her."

"How did you…?"

"You aren't the only one with something extra…special about them you know kiddy. Oh honey, what you do when you sleep, it's completely normal and a gene that's passed down from me to your mother and now to you."

I blink slowly, information overload.

"But how did you know?"

She ruffles my hair affectionately, "I'm your grandmother, it's my job to know."

Dinah

"She hung up on me," I whisper into the empty clocktower.

"What was that Kid?" Helena asks from the balcony as she sweeps in shaking her coat and stripping it off at the same time.

"Gabby just hung up on me," I repeat.

Helena stops suddenly and drops her jacket. "You were talking to Gabby?" she asks but doesn't turn around.

"Well, no. She hung up on me," I snap.

Helena suddenly relaxes and keeps walking towards the couch and the sanctuary of the television. "How'd you get Gabby's number, I thought she was at her Grandmothers?"

"Barbara was talking to her I think," I say, still staring at the phone as if it might jump up and bite me at any second.

"Why'd she hang up on me?" I ask.

"Dinah, I wanted to scream, 'Dinah Redmond I love you…" Gabby's voice filtered around in my head. "I'm in love with you Dinah Redmond, Zipper Girl. I've been standing here waving my arms and screaming…"

A roof top, I think.

Some place old.

"Helena I'm going out," I say quickly as I grab my coat from the rack and head for the elevator.

"Bar-ba-bra said…curfew," Helena mumbles in her sleep.

I shrug. Barbara's gone god knows where and Helena's asleep. They'll never know I'm gone.