32 Time Flies …

The Red Rose case had disappeared from the front pages of the Los Angeles newspapers; the magazines no longer ran articles on how to escape a serial or signature killer. Instead there were the annual serious and frivolous features aimed at new college students and graduates and how they could survive in their latest reincarnation as freshman or business person.

The revelation that the wife of one of the richest men in Texas had been arrested on suspicion of fraud, identity theft and murder had first appeared in the financial press, but was soon splashed across the front pages of every mainstream newspaper in the country and, once the link was made between Debbie Walters and Jo Sloan, then the shooting of Daniel Sloan was suddenly of interest again, and the life and times of the Walters family was a very hot topic. Jo had instructed Gilbert to issue a no comment to every article or quote that was requested and had told Juan to direct everything to her lawyer. So far, apart from the reporters on the sidewalk and an increase in the number of begging letters received, she had managed to keep the ruckus away from her convalescing family.

Steve had stayed in the hospital for a week, speaking with Lauren, visiting with his son and trying to face up to the realities of his limitations. When Jo had arrived one morning with a very pretty young woman as well as their youngest son for company he had been confused and not at all gracious.

"Good mornin', Honey, how are you doin' today?" It had been a little after eleven and Steve had begun to wonder whether or not his wife was going to visit with him at all.

"Ok, I guess." Now, with hindsight, he knew that he had been abrupt, verging on rude, most of the time as he spoke with friends and family but, feeling the way he had, it had been an effort to even make conversation.

"This is Lorraine Mitra, she's here to help you lose your kinks an' stiffness." He must have looked totally astonished because Jo had laughed aloud, and the woman next to her had joined in for a moment before taking pity on him.

"Captain Sloan, I'm a masseuse and yoga instructor. I'm going to try and teach you some relaxation exercises as well as give you a massage every other day for a couple of weeks."

"Oh." He hadn't been able to think of anything else to say at the time; in fact he wasn't sure he would have been able to say anything more whenever she had told him.

"I am off for my mornin' visit with Daniel, he is goin' to physical therapy in an hour so I want to see him before that. You can go after his siesta can't you?"

He had just nodded and then found himself alone with a virtual stranger who was about to pummel his muscles.

That had been almost a month ago, and he was feeling so much better now than he had been then. Just the previous day he had gone into his office, groaned at all the paperwork on the desk, but enjoyed being back in charge again. Jesse had told him that there was no way he could go right back to the pace he had set himself before, and so he was starting slowly, one day, quite literally, at a time.

Daniel had arrived home from the hospital after a stay of ten days. He was still in quite a considerable amount of pain, but Lorraine had helped him as well, massaging the muscles which hadn't been damaged but had been affected by the immobility his injury had caused.

As Steve had promised his son in the hospital they had recuperated together. At first neither of them had the interest or inclination to do anything very much except sit and enjoy being together. Lorraine had come to the house most days and he had got used to the fact that apart from his wife, his dad and his best friend, she had probably seen more of him than anyone else.

The massage table that she brought with her was set up in the gym and he would have an hour's yoga class before taking a quick shower and then, with a small towel wrapped around him to cover his dignity would walk towards the centre of the room before making himself comfortable for what had rapidly become one of his favourite times of the day.

To begin with Daniel had come into the gym with his dad so as to be able to stay close, but after a couple of days he had asked Lorraine if he could also try the relaxation exercises and have a massage, just on his upper back and, ever wary of his still healing shoulder, she had helped him a great deal.

Lorraine had also taught Jo and Steve how to massage Jayden and he had begun to sleep more peacefully and seemed to be far happier during the day. The young woman, who initially had been such a concern to him, had become an essential part of their lives, and by the time his two weeks of treatments were over Steve had, to his surprise, arranged twice weekly sessions for not only himself but Daniel and Jo as well.

ooo

Cheryl was thinking of getting a new desk; maybe one that had two storeys. That way she might just be able to have a little clear patch to do her work on.

The Red Rose Killer case was, for the most part, filed away. The interviews with Nicholas were over, he was now waiting for his day in court, which, if she were lucky, would happen before she retired.

Wayne McCaulay had pulled a rabbit out of his hat in more ways than one. Debbie Walters was in jail in Austin, Texas, but, once the formalities were completed, would be extradited to California to face a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of Marmaduke Fox.

With the benefit of hindsight Cheryl realised that it should have been obvious, to her at least, that anyone who was linked in any way to the Sloans was likely to end up in trouble sooner or later. She should also have realised, she guessed, that with just a little work and diligence joining all the instances together would be a snap.

Marmaduke Fox was Jo's accountant, or at least he had been until someone had blown his brains all over his car windshield in his company parking lot. Although the man had had quite a few well known as well as disreputable clients none of them, apart, it had to be said, from Jo, appeared to have a reason to kill him and very quickly the case had been forced, by pressure of work, to the bottom of the pile.

When Wayne McCaulay had finally been granted limited immunity he, as the saying went, 'sung like a bird'. An assistant D.A., called Georgina Steinberg had taken over his case and, by the time he finished his singing, there was a warrant out for a woman that Cheryl knew Jo disliked intensely.

She herself had no feelings on the matter, having met her only at weddings and Jo's bachelorette party when she just noticed a woman who maybe liked to drink a little more than she should and who was slightly ingratiating. After her visit to see her in jail in Texas though Cheryl's feelings were slightly stronger. She had wanted to force the woman through the air conditioning duct. Debbie's statement, or diatribe, with a lawyer present, but seemingly unable to stop the tirade that was Mrs Walters, had consisted almost totally of an attack against her husband, sister-in-law, Daniel and also Steve, who, Cheryl knew, had been nothing but pleasant to her in all the time he had known her.

Debbie had still been insistently informing anyone who would listen that the Walters' millions were rightfully hers, that she had proof, not with her, but proof nonetheless, that would be produced at her trial. What she didn't know and Cheryl had no intention of informing her was, thanks to Daniel Sloan, which she knew would irritate the prisoner no end, that knowledge was already available to the police, and more importantly to Jo, who also had enough information of her own to counteract any claims made.

More by luck than judgement Cheryl had actually been at Steve's house when the discovery was made. She had visited her friend as often as possible as he recovered from his, what could only be described as mini-breakdown. On this visit he had been relaxed, sitting out in the back yard, watching the gardener mow beautifully straight lines back and forth across the grass.

"Hi." She had sat down in the chair across from her ex-partner and smiled.

"Hi, yourself, lemonade? It's homemade." He had paused for a moment to pour her a glass before speaking again. "You know I never realised just how therapeutic watching the grass being cut was. But somehow I feel far more relaxed now than I did just ten minutes ago."

"Well, I guess you never had a chance at the beach to even know what a lawnmower looked like, and it beats watching paint dry."

The smile she got in return for her comments was, she noticed, far more peaceful than even a week earlier. "You're doing good, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am, and I get to go into the station next week, begin to pace myself back into a working regime that suits me, well as much as being a cop ever suits you."

"Oh, I think it suits you just fine, but now you have a wife, children, your own family, a beautiful home, your priorities are changing. It's only natural that you should need to reassess." Cheryl experienced a slight pang, she had Martin, who she loved dearly, but no children, she had a feeling that she would remain childless, but the home and the partner had made her look at things in a different light, and she could see Steve was, finally, allowing himself to do the same.

The quiet general conversation and the sound of the lawnmower in the background had been therapeutic for her also and, for the next half hour or so, they had talked about nothing in particular, catching up as all friends need to now and then. The lemonade had gradually been drunk and they had just begun discussing the need to go and get some more when a commotion was heard from inside the house, and then the sound of Jo's laughter.

"Steve! Steve! Hi, Cheryl, I knew you were here, I'm sorry I didn't come an' say hi." Jo's eyes were sparkling, and Cheryl had known instantly that she had important news to impart.

"That's ok, looks like you were having a fine time and were busy." She could see a pile of papers in her friend's hands, and wondered what they were.

"Actually, it's a good thing you're here, we've found out just what it is that Debbie thinks she has on us." As Jo said 'we' Cheryl had noticed that Daniel, his left arm in a sling, and still looking pale underneath his dark hair, was standing next to his mom.

Steve moved the tray with the jug and glasses off the table and onto the ground and carefully Jo had spread out a section of what looked at first glance like copies of old letters.

"These were sent to one of my ancestors by her friend. Her name was Elle, an' she had a fiancé called Robert. She also had a secret love, an' she got pregnant by him. I know this because everythin' she wrote to her friend, whose name was Victoria, was mentioned in the replies."

"And this has what to do with Debbie?" Steve had seen the letters, he knew Rae had too. His friend had read them through a few times, but hadn't, as far as he knew, found anything.

"It has to do with Debbie because the secret love was called Diego Jardinero, or to be exact, by the time Elle knew him, he called himself James Jardinero or JJ for short." Daniel was sitting down now, but Jo wasn't, she was moving about, excitedly, her voice animated and Cheryl had enjoyed her good news even though she had no idea what it was yet.

"How's your Spanish?" Jo looked at her husband and saw him shrug.

"Well, it's a long time since I was in school, and if I ever arrested someone who spoke Spanish instead of English I'd get an interpreter."

"Hmmm, thought as much. We had Spanish servants, still do, I guess," Jo smiled again, and Cheryl could see that she was having trouble not grinning inanely, "but they spoke to us in English, an' whatever I learnt with my tutor I've long forgotten. However, we have a Spanish buff in the house, thank goodness."

"I have a real good teacher, Miss Beatty is nice, she does cooking sometimes, even hides the ingredients around the school and we have to go find them using clues written in Spanish, and then when we have them all we can cook ourselves a meal. It is just so cool." Daniel had a little more colour now he was sitting down and his enthusiasm levels were rising as well.

"JJ, was a bit of a cad, a sinvergüenza to use the correct Spanish term," Jo seemed a little sheepish, "I looked it up before I came out. Robert, on the other hand, appears to have been a real gentleman. One of the DallasWinchester's accordin' to some papers of my grandmamma's. He was prepared to still marry Elle, but she had to leave town have her baby an' then return. Once that was all done then they would be wed an' presumably live as happily ever after as couples did in those days."

"What happened to the baby?" Cheryl was getting an idea of where this was leading, but she had no intention of spoiling it for either Jo or Daniel.

"Her family disowned her but Victoria found a house to rent in Austin an' Elle went there until the baby was born. Her friend was now married, to James Jardinero no less, an' so they adopted the baby raisin' the boy as their own an' callin' him James Junior."

"Dad, Jardinero is the Spanish for gardener. Or, in this case, Gardiner."

"And Gardiner was Debbie's maiden name. She thinks she's the heir." Now Steve had gotten it too.

The rest of the day had been spent going through endless packets of papers and journals. In the end it was Steve who found the legal document showing that Elle had paid the Jardinero's a handsome sum for taking on her child, even though James Senior was the natural father, she renounced all entitlement to call the boy her own, and he became, for all time, a Jardinero. There was also a signed letter which stated that neither Victoria nor James would contact the Winchesters regarding their new son, and understood that he was no longer legally or in anyway a responsibility of the woman who would, in modern terms be known as, his birth mother.

The entire set of documents, including the letters had all been copied again and the originals taken by Juan to Gilbert Sholte to be kept safe until they were needed to refute any claim that Debs thought she had.

Cheryl shook her head, letting herself get lost in thought was a pleasant pastime, but it wouldn't help her clear her desk, and so with a deep sigh she began to look through the pile of papers directly in front of her, hoping that at least half of them would be no longer of interest and could be got rid of.

ooo

It was a little after two-thirty in the morning when Alex had a chance to make his way towards the cafeteria to grab a half-decent cup of coffee and a Danish. Taking a slight detour through the Intermediate Care Unit where he had two patients he was pleased to note both of them sleeping soundly. Once he had made himself comfortable at a table by the window, where he could see the lights of the nearby streets and buildings brightly illuminated he thought back to the previous night, when, at almost the same time, he had made a similar journey, but with different results.

As he had passed Rae's door he'd looked in to see, to his surprise, that she was sitting wide awake staring at the wall. As he stood there, unobserved, he noticed a single tear make its way down her cheek before disappearing under her chin to be soaked up by the sheets. He knew that ever since Steve and Daniel had been discharged his patient had felt alone. The fact that two of her friends had been in the same hospital had somehow made her feel less isolated, even though Steve still hadn't been to visit with her. She had however spoken to him on the phone, briefly once or twice, but at least contact had been made.

"Rae?" He spoke softly, aware of the lateness of the hour, and when she didn't turn to greet him he moved closer to her. "Honey, whatever is it?"

"Nothing, I ok." Her words, still clipped and shortened to the bare minimum, were quietly spoken as well, but somehow Alex knew that it was her emotions keeping them that way. She had done very well over the past few weeks. The physiotherapy on her shoulder had worked wonders, and her speech therapist was also extremely pleased with her. Lauren was pretty sure that the change in regime had kept the depression that they had all worried about at bay, and most of the time Rae was regaining her positive attitude to life and coping well with what was happening to her. The only real problem was with her legs, and Alex knew that in two days there would be a meeting between himself, Rae and her orthopaedic surgeon to discuss what to do next.

Sitting down in the chair beside the bed he gently took her left hand into his own and held it just firmly enough that she knew not to remove it.

"You know, for a cop, you're a lousy liar!" Alex realised that his words would get a reaction; he just wasn't sure if it would be a positive or negative one.

"Yeah, well, good job I retire then." There was still no visible emotion in her voice and Alex appreciated that he hadn't allowed for a neutral answer.

"Rae, you shouldn't be awake in the middle of the night, I can order you a mild sedative if you like, or you can talk to me and then maybe sleep naturally. You've only just come off all your medication, apart from the antibiotics, I don't think you want to go back on any of it do you?"

"No, no, I don't." She closed her eyes for a moment, and Alex could see his patient weighing up the options. Finally, she looked at him, her dark brown eyes full of unshed tears and she spoke. "Do you think I lucky?"

"Lucky? In what way?" Alex was confused, he thought that the meeting about her legs would have been at the forefront of her mind, but he was obviously way off track. He wished that the tears he could see would fall, she hadn't cried for herself since the day that Chief Masters told her about her accident and she had dealt with everything since then almost unmoved.

"People keep tell me I lucky. I … I don't feel lucky. 'Mrs. Travis, you lucky you survive' … 'Mrs. Travis, you lucky you husband doctor' … 'Mrs. Travis, how lucky you arms still work' … 'you lucky you hit that way', 'you lucky you so strong', 'you lucky, lucky, lucky!' I not feel lucky. I have cards, with luck in, I don't want luck and …" she averted her eyes but continued to speak, "and that bad."

"No, it isn't bad, it's a natural reaction. The ones who are lucky are us," he saw her confused look and smiled, "we're lucky we still have you here and, even with all that's been done, we can see the old Rae there." Alex paused for a moment to let his words sink in before continuing.

"Honey, we all love you, and that day … that first awful day …" his voice trailed off, in his mind he could see her, somehow alive when she shouldn't have been, with injuries which could have still killed her. But she and the medical team had fought, long and hard, to get to the point where they now were, and he knew it was only natural that she should be feeling anything but the way they did. "I guess, because we feel so fortunate to still be with you, to be able to make you well enough to go back home to your family, we think you should be feeling exactly the same. I'm sorry."

For a moment Rae considered his words once more, and then, running her hand shakily through her hair in a gesture which reminded him so much of what she had lost, she began to speak again. "When I woke up, when I not know what wrong, I wish … I dead. Things bit better since then." She moved her arms, both of them, up and over her head, a new movement which had only recently been accomplished. "I was scared, still scared, but this, this good." She slowly rested her hand back into his and smiled.

"I know and the scans all show no damage to your Brachial Plexus this time. And I hate to say it, but you were …"

"Lucky? No," she shook her head, another movement he knew she was glad she could do, "it just was."

"Yes, I guess so." Alex suddenly understood, in those three words she had explained everything to him. She was the way she was because that's how it should be. In her eyes, luck, good or bad, had nothing to do with it.

He watched as she raised a hand to her face, tracing around where the bones had been broken and then she spoke again. "I couldn't see, could hear, you, Jesse, then … then I would have died. I could feel …" She searched for a word, but in the end shrugged, "nothing, could feel nothing … could see nothing. No point."

"We didn't know if things would change, the brain is amazingly complex, it constantly surprises us with what it can do. Jesse understood that, but he had already changed his mi …" Alex stopped, realizing too late that he had spoken thoughts which should never have come out.

The silence which hung between them was so heavy that for a moment neither of them could move, but finally, the fear evident in her voice, Rae spoke, "Tell me."

Alex couldn't make eye contact with her, knowing, without a doubt, that he had let down one of the two men he admired most in the entire world, and also knowing that he could be about to do irreversible damage between a man and his wife.

"Alex, please, it be ok." She looked at him; her brown eyes still having the affect of making him comply.

"That first day, after surgery, he'd seen you, in the ER, and then in your room, he came back to the doctors' lounge, and said …" Alex paused, still not wanting to say anything and he felt her remove her hand from his and then gently wrap her fingers around his palm.

"Go on."

Alex nodded, but still he couldn't look at her as he spoke. "He said … that if it was time to … to let you go, then … that was what we would have to do." He couldn't lift his head to see her, the brown eyes, he knew, would be filled with pain, but then, in the silence, he heard her.

"Thank you."

In the light of day, just before he had finished his shift Alex had found Jesse and explained to him what had happened. He should have known his ever generous friend wouldn't have blamed him, should have known he had nothing to worry about, but seeing the warm smile, hearing the voice, which lacked even a hint of condemnation, had made him feel whole again, and he knew just how lucky he was to have both of them as his friends.

ooo

Rae carefully put her book down on her nightstand, next to the photos of family and friends, sighed and smiled at the image of her husband's face. In the two days since Alex had told her how Jesse had considered letting her die if her injuries had been enough to warrant it they had talked a lot. They both, she knew, felt better for the discussions and she was also far more relaxed than she had been and was finally sleeping for more than a few hours at a time without her memories invading her dreams.

She hadn't had the opportunity to sit and read for such a long time that she knew there was a chance of her overdosing on literature. So far she had read childrens' books, favourites such as Winnie the Pooh and The Tales of Toytown, but her understanding of the written word hadn't been diminished at all and she had moved onto new books, ones she had always wanted to read but never managed before. She had just completed Frankenstein and The Dairy of a Nobody. She was currently on page twenty-five of The Odyssey and needed to get Jesse to bring in another notebook so that she could write down the parts she didn't understand. She had a feeling though that even before her accident she would have had to do that.

As she relaxed back into her pillows Rae heard a light tapping on the door and turned with a smile. It amused her that none of her friends ever came in without knocking, but it also made her feel appreciative of their good manners, this was, after all, her home right now, and they wouldn't walk through her front door in Beverly Hills without knocking first and being invited to enter.

"Hi, Texas." Her smile was instant and sincere as she saw her best friend standing just outside in the hallway. "Come in, please."

"Are you sure, you looked as if you were gettin' ready for a sleep."

"No, I just finished reading, I fine."

"Well that's good, because I have a little visitor for you." Jo turned just for a moment and then came into the room with her baby son in her arms.

"Oh!" The one word, almost a sigh, told Jo that she had done the right thing by finally bringing her baby in to see her friend. "Oh, thank you."

For a moment the two women locked eyes, and then carefully, almost reverently, Jo held her arms out for Rae to take Jayden from her.

"Help me; I don't drop him." Her spatial awareness, her grip, still wasn't good, but she so wanted to be able to feel this little bundle in her arms.

"I know, I don't want you to drop him either, but I'm right here, an' you will be fine!" Jo watched, anxiously, but did no more than just keep herself close by in case the unthinkable happened, and then, once Rae was settled with the little boy safely held, she sat down.

"Oh, hi, Baby, you beautiful, yes you are, and big." Rae cooed, her voice taking on the singsong manner that only mothers can really accomplish, and then Jayden, his eyes darker now they had taken on the brown hues of his mom, looked up at her and smiled.

"Oh, he perfect." Carefully she bent her head and placed a kiss on the soft skin of Jayden's forehead, before smiling at him once more.

"You have you momma's eyes," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "not you grandpa's nose, you daddy's mouth an' chin. You han'some man, yes." She paused, talking and holding the baby at the same time had left her a little breathless.

Jayden obviously a happy and contented four month old, made a giggly gurgly noise as he raised his fist towards her and entranced, Rae felt her entire body relax as she enjoyed the special moment and treasured gift that her friend had given her.

"Honey, I have to be takin' Jayden home now, but I will bring him back to see his Aunty Rae again real soon." Jo had been surprised to see that Rae had held her son for over ten minutes, and although it was a beautiful sight, and she had taken quite a few photos, it hadn't been the main reason for her visit.

"Oh." The disappointment in her friend's voice as she spoke the same word as she had when Jayden appeared was so evident that Jo almost changed her mind and decided to stay, but she knew she couldn't and so, gently, she took her son from Rae's arms and moved away from the bed.

"I know it's a short visit, but we didn't come alone, there's someone else who wants to see you." She had raised her voice just a little and Rae turned, wondering if it was Daniel, but saw instead her partner coming towards her.

"Steve? Oh, Steve." Rae couldn't believe that he was there, she knew he had been ill too for almost six weeks and had been unable to visit with her for a number of reasons, but now none of that mattered, and seeing that he seemed rooted to the spot in the doorway she held out her arms to him. "I miss you so much."

He stood, almost lost in amazement at how wonderful she looked, how normal. He had been so stupid not to have pictured her getting better, losing the bruises and bandages. Why hadn't he listened to Jo when she spoke of her visits with Rae? He didn't know if he would have come any earlier, but his pictures of her would have been so much easier to bear. The vision of her broken and battered body slipped away from the front of his mind as suddenly he was next to her and she was holding him in her arms, speaking softly to him and, unable to contain them any longer, he let his tears flow, soaking the shoulder of her nightclothes, as they healed him.

Jo looked on, tears in her own eyes, saw Rae nod, almost imperceptibly, and knew that she could leave. They needed time alone, and with a smile she placed her son back in his stroller, made her way out into the hallway and along towards the elevator.

"Shhh, it alright, it really alright." Her voice, soft but strong, finally began to make an impression on him and he raised his tear stained face to look at her.

"I'm so sorry, Rae, oh, God, I am so very sorry." His apology, heartfelt and desperate almost broke her heart but she forced a small smile onto her face.

"You not need be sorry, not at all." Her voice was firmer now even though her words were broken and short. She knew, without being told, that he blamed himself and that was the reason he had been unable to face her, and now he was here she didn't want to lose him again.

"How can you say that? I was there, so close I could almost touch you, and …" he closed his eyes for a moment, unable to continue.

"I still fell, yes. But if you save me he attack you. Steve, one person blame for my pre … pre … this, and he jailed." She reached a hand up and stroked his soft hair away from his face. "I not blame you for things happen to me."

His face, although now peaceful, with his eyes no longer full of tears, didn't show the belief and acceptance that she wanted to see and so she continued to talk.

"I trust you seven years, I still here, you not let me down. Please, Steve, let go, it …" She paused for a moment, knowing that the words she thought weren't necessarily the ones she spoke and, needing to get it right the first time, made sure she said it correctly. "He killing you too, don't let him. No more victim. I need you, you family, Jesse. Please."

"But …" Still he couldn't do as she said, couldn't let go of what had been eating at him for so long that it was almost scary to think of being without it.

"Steve, I pushed over fire escape I try stop, my grip was … was," she searched again for the right word, "gone by kicking hands. I sick because of hair I hold, I hit ground not, you fault."

"I … I guess so, but …"

"No but, you no blame, not to me, not … not Jesse, Texas … Mark, no one, please."

The words, although so clipped, using only those necessary to get her point across, said pretty much the same things that others already had in the past. She had been the victim though and that somehow made all the difference as he felt a load leave him and, fearing that he might pass out cold, he rested his head on her shoulder, shaking as he did so and saying just one word. "Yes."

"Good." She allowed herself a smile, knowing how much he had suffered, as she realised that he had taken a pace away from his guilt. "Honey, it over, he in jail, he not kill any more, and you, me, we recover, it over." After that Rae couldn't speak either and, holding onto each other, the two of them let their feelings dissipate as they enjoyed being together once again using their different strengths to help each other move towards the future, partners no longer, but friends forever.