Part 54

At Brenda's door, Zander's phone rang. "OK," he said. He hung up. "Mom says don't move, Brenda's coming up."

The elevator opened, and Brenda came out. "Wow!" She exclaimed, "What did I do to deserve this? Two really gorgeous men at my door."

"Flattery will not improve your grades," Zander said, kissing her. "You went by Mom's? That's nice."

"Yes, and she looked like she'd seen a ghost, and said she had, and it has something to do with you talking to Cameron."

"You think she's all right?" Zander asked.

"She said so," Brenda said.

"She's fine, Zander," David said. "You gotta quit worrying about the forty-somethings. It's their job to worry about you."

Brenda unlocked the door. "Yeah, you worry about Ginny," she said to Zander. "And anybody else that comes along that way."

"Come in," Zander said to David.

"No, I'll go. Good night."

"OK. See you later."

"Sure."

When Donna got downstairs, she saw Cameron talking to a strange woman in the bar. She went up and ordered a drink. In the background, an old song played. "Against the Wind." It bothered her. She thought she might be up all night anyway, and she was terrified of her memories.

The woman got up and went back to a table.

Donna went over to Cameron. "Oh, I wondered when you'd show up," he said. "You're the only one who hasn't."

"The only one of what?"

"The group you made into some type of twisted - family, I guess you could call it? I told Alexander he could talk to me when he wants. I don't need you. I don't need your sometime lover."

She started to respond to that, but then realized he had gotten her off track. "Did you mean it?" she demanded to know. "Telling Alex you took some responsibility for the accident? Or were you being sarcastic? Because he may have missed it."

"None of your business."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"He's an adult, and it's between him and me, the one who raised him. You and your sperm donor didn't, and suddenly you think you can be the mediators. Well, you can't. I'm not talking to you about this, no matter what you say. And you can drop the self-righteous attitude."

"I'm trying to help him! I was there and I raised him as well as I could! Shut up, Cam! Now tell me if you really meant it, or were you confusing him somehow?"

He didn't answer her. He just looked at her.

She stared at him hard, willing him to say or do something. He just sat there, maddeningly calm.

Finally, she took her drink and flung it at him.

He didn't flinch. The same woman he had been talking to before was suddenly there, asking him if he was all right.

"Quite," he said, staring at Donna frostily. A small bit of alcohol dripped from his hair onto his face. Donna put the glass down, and stormed out.

"Your ex-wife?" Jackie asked him.

"Yes," he said, getting up. "How'd you guess?"

Later that week, Jackie was flying back to Pine Valley after a deposition in Washington.

Walking back to her seat from the lavatory, she noticed Cameron on the plane.

"Hello," she said, "what a coincidence you've been in Washington, too."

"I was in Florida and only stopped with this flight there. Did you go for work or for fun?"

"For work. I had a deposition there. You know, I have an idea for your situation. We do it in divorce cases, to settle the property. Since you don't want to go to court; it's a good alternative. You can use lawyers as mediators, too. Anyway, what we do is have a meeting of the clients and their lawyers. Four people. The lawyers help the clients talk without getting emotional."

"It's worth a try. I don't know who his lawyer is, though. I could try asking him."

"I could talk to him directly, that would start the whole process, in fact. Give him an idea of it that he might find helpful. I'd have to find him, though."

"I'm an expert on that. I can show you how."

Zander and Brenda were on a plane, flying to Pine Valley.

"If you're going to study, I'm going to study," Brenda said. "I can't believe you beat me for that summer session. Even if it was only a tenth of a point."

"You must have let me win. With that stay in the hospital, it's absurd."

"Well, you had nothing to do but stay in bed and study. But Economics didn't thrill me. And this is going to be tough. Chemistry. I'm not very scientific."

"You're trying to throw me off with false confidence. It won't work. I'm going to understand this chemistry as well as you will if it's the last thing I do!"

"Go for it," Brenda said, giggling.

They had been reading for a little while when Brenda said, "Whoah, I feel sick." She grabbed the airsick bag and went back to the lavatory.

"Flying never made me sick before," she said when she returned, sitting down and taking a deep breath.

"It's not making you sick now. Dum-dum. I'm going to win for this semester too - I can feel it!"

They looked at each other, and smiled, and then kissed.

David came out of the operating room. Two other doctors were coming towards him.

"No way," he said. "I'm going to the airport to pick somebody up. I'm leaving now."

"Can I walk to the car with you to ask you about this case? It's in emergency," said one of them.

"Mine can wait," said the other.

"OK."