"Chad, how could you? How could you do this?" Norma cried running over and kneeling by Jack's prostrate body. "If you've hurt him, so help me, I'll press charges! I'm glad I found out what a jealous temper you have before I went any further with you. I'm through with you! It's off…get it? Now get out of here. I don't want to see you ever again!"
Chad scowled, then made a disparaging gesture at the two people on the floor and stormed out.
Norma turned her attention to the unconscious man. "Jack! Jack! Are you okay?" she asked patting his face gently. "This would happen on Sunday when the doctor isn't here," Norma lamented to herself. Suddenly she wondered where Greg was. As if on cue, Greg ran in, huffing. He was shocked to see the debacle that had taken place in his absence.
"Ho-lee cow!" he exclaimed in his trademark way.
"Where were you?" Norma asked petulantly.
Greg explained what had happened that morning.
"A woman was here?" she said sadly, thinking what it might mean.
"Yeah, kinda pretty, too. That's where I was. I had to call them. They should be here any second."
Just then, Grace and Will came hurrying into the mission. They stopped short on viewing the scene. They quickly knelt alongside Norma and tried to assess Jack's condition. Will felt for a pulse. It was strong and steady, but he quickly made a call for medical aid on his cell phone. As they waited, Grace realized that Norma was the woman that they had encountered near the alley and the one she's noticed in the restaurant last evening.
"Did you find his picture in a restaurant on 72nd Street?" Grace inquired.
"Yes, here it is," she said opening her purse and handing Grace the photo. "Is he your husband?"
Grace would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious. "No, just good friends, like Will here, too," she said. He disappeared sometime Friday night or early Saturday morning. We've been trying to find him since yesterday afternoon."
Norma related what had happened from her perspective.
"Oh, poor Jack!" Grace gasped. "Mugged twice in forty-eight hours!"
It was Norma's turn to gasp. "Jack? Is that his name?"
"Yes. Jack McFarland. He appearing at the Cabaret Club up the street," Will offered.
"The Cabaret Club? But that's a gay bar," Norma exclaimed, then suddenly the realization hit her. "Oh," she mused. "He just…he just…didn't seem…like that…" she trailed off.
"Jack…not seem gay?" Grace almost laughed again. "Norma, he the biggest mincing queen east of San Francisco!"
Norma looked as if she was going to burst into tears at any second.
"Oh, oh," Grace suddenly realized that Norma and Jack might have started something since Jack hadn't been in his proper mindset. That's what brought on the jealous rage of the offended boyfriend.
Just then, an ambulance with its siren blaring pulled up in from of the mission and two paramedics rushed in.
Jack awoke to the sharp tang of ammonia. He was startled to see Will and Grace waiting anxiously behind the medics who were working on him.
Wh-where am I?" he asked dazedly.
"Sir, do you know who you are?" one medic asked.
"Of course…Jack McFarland…entertainer extrodinaire. No autographs, please!"
Grace stifled a snigger. Will smiled broadly. Norma groaned.
"Can you move your legs?" he was asked again.
Jack flailed his legs.
"Can you stand up?"
Jack was helped up. He had no trouble except for the pain in his left arm.
"Looks like he's okay, but you should take him to a doctor tomorrow to get that arm checked out," advised one paramedic.
"Yes, we will. Thank you." Will said. "By the way, if he had amnesia before, how come he's back to normal now?"
The medics just shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe him getting knocked around again just reversed what happened before. The mind is a strange and delicate thing," one explained as they exited.
As Will turned back to the group, he saw that Jack was now sitting on a chair as Grace and Norma hovered over him.
Norma was bleary eyed an lamenting that two days ago she had a fiancé and a dear new friend, now she had lost both.
"You're better off without that lug, Chad, anyway," Grace tried to console.
"And you're still my friend, Norma. I have girl friends…like Grace here, and Karen and Valerie."
"Val is a nut job," Grace hissed under her breath.
"Oh yes, what a dear," Jack sighed. "Oh, and what a dear…Greg is it? Jack inquired now turning his attention to the other mission worker, batting his eyes suggestively.
"Not that dear," Greg mumbled as he headed back to the kitchen.
Jack stuck out his lower lip in mock disappointment.
"Don't forget your things, Jack," Norma reminded.
"That's right. Thank you, Norma. Will, you owe Norma…what is it…about fifty dollars. She had to pick up a few things for me."
As Will sighed and reached for his wallet, as usual, he felt the extra billfold in his pocket. He pulled it out. "Here, we found your wallet. I gave it to you on your last birthday, and here I am again giving it to you again on your re-birthday," Will said, handing it out to his friend.
"Thank you, Will. I will cherish it always," Jack gushed as he slipped it into his own pocket. Will put the fifty dollars in the donation basket on the kitchen counter.
Jack, Grace and Will all hugged Norma, waved goodbye and said thank you's to Greg.
The next day, Norma walked up the street to the Cabaret Club. She stood outside and started at the poster. It was true. She would have liked to see Jack's act, but being a mission worker prevented her from patronizing a gay cabaret. If only she had noticed it when she had passed by before, would things have gone differently? And would they if Chad hadn't assaulted Jack, she wondered.
A few days later, Norma received a piece of mail at the mission. She tore it open. It was a flowery thank you card. When she opened it a check fluttered out - she read the slanted curly script:
Dearest Norma,
I just wanted to thank you again for the wonderfully kind help and comfort you and the mission provided for me during my difficulty. Will and I - well Will - is sending another donation to the mission. We know you can put it to good use, otherwise it would just be sitting in Will's bank account collecting interest. I lost my job at the club, but I can't blame the manager. He needs somebody there this weekend and I'm not really up to performing yet. My shoulder was dislocated again, so I'll be in the sling an extra week now, but considering what could have happened, it isn't so bad. We're all so sorry about what happened between you and Chad, but just trust that it was for the best. You'll find the right guy for you one of these days; someone who deserves you. Grace and Will send their love and hugs, too. Say hello to that darling Greg from us, and especially me.
Your friend forever,
Jack McFarland
P.S. There, you now have my rare autograph. Hold on to this card any maybe someday you can auction it on eBay when it's worth a zillion dollars!
"Hmm…Greg…I wonder," Norma smiled as she dropped the check into the donation basket and tucked the card into her blouse next to her heart.