Chapter Three
Zane awoke to the scent of fresh coffee. He rubbed his eyes and checked his watch. It was just after eight am.
Sleepily he made his way to the kitchen and found Zoe sitting at the counter, hunched over a mug of coffee. She didn't notice him.
"Zoe?" he called.
She looked up slowly and seemed to take a moment to focus on him.
"Oh, hey, Zane."
"How are you feeling?"
Zoe shrugged and resumed staring at her coffee. Zane frowned with worry. He considered telling her about Pilar but knew he should check that she was still okay first. Jo hadn't sounded very hopeful last night.
"I'm gonna use the bathroom, I'll be right back."
"Sure," she didn't bother to look up as she spoke.
Zane locked the door behind him and made his way to the toilet bowl before a thought occurred to him.
"Uh, SARAH?"
"Yes, Zane?"
"Can you see me in here?"
"No, the Sheriff disabled my cameras."
"Good." When he was finished he washed his face and cleaned his teeth as best he could with toothpaste and a finger. It wasn't perfect but it would do.
"SARAH?"
"I'm still not looking, Zane."
Zane smiled at her comment. "Actually I was wondering if you had the phone number for the infirmary at GD?"
"I can connect your PDA for you, if you'd me to."
"That would be great." He took his PDA out and watched as the number dialled itself. It was slightly unnerving. "Don't read my texts, okay?"
"I wouldn't dream of it."
The phone was answered with a brisk, "Infirmary."
"Is that Doctor Blake?"
"Yes?"
"It's Zane."
"Zane?" she sounded puzzled to hear from him which made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't like asking people for things, even if it was just for information. He reminded himself that he was calling for Zoe, not himself.
"Yeah. I was wondering how Pilar is doing?"
"Oh. Um, I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss that with you," she said, though not unkindly.
Zane forced himself not to utter the quip that immediately came to mind.
"Okay, I get that. The thing is Zoe was asleep when Jo stopped by last night and I don't want to tell her Pilar is okay now if she isn't. Zoe's pretty torn up about the whole thing."
"You're with Zoe?"
Zane rolled his eyes, this was like the Spanish inquisition.
"Yeah, I'm at the Sheriffs house with her."
"Jack isn't there?"
"I haven't seen him, but then I've only been awake a little while." He wanted to ask if she also needed to know his collar size and childhood pets name before she told him anything but somehow he managed to hold his tongue.
"Oh. Well I suppose there's no harm. Pilar is stable at the moment and I'm hopeful. Her injuries are serious but she's responding well to our treatments. I'm keeping her sedated for the moment but if Zoe wanted to stop by, a friendly voice might do wonders for her."
That was more than he'd been hoping for and Zane was glad he'd shown restraint.
"Thanks, Doctor Blake. I'll tell her the good news."
"You're welcome, Zane. You might also want to tell Zoe that if it hadn't been for her performing CPR until we got there, Pilar wouldn't have made it, certainly not with her higher brain function in tact."
"I will. Thanks again."
Zane hung up and headed back to Zoe, who didn't appear to have moved at all since he left.
"Zoe? I just spoke with Doctor Blake. After we left the accident last night, they were able to revive Pilar."
Zoe looked up, frowning, as though she couldn't understand what was being said to her.
"She's in a serious condition but they're hopeful; and she's sedated but you're welcome to stop by and see her later, if you want."
"What?"
"Doctor Blake also said to tell you that you saved her life by performing CPR until they arrived."
"She's okay?" A smile began to form on Zoe's lips.
"She's stable, not okay," Zane amended. He wanted her to feel better but he didn't want to give her unrealistic expectations.
"That's great!" Zoe launched herself off her chair and into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Thank you," she said. It seemed to Zane that she was trying to squeeze the life out of him but her happiness was infectious and he couldn't help but grin and hug her back.
"Can we go and see her now?" she asked. "I need to stop by a shop though, get her something nice, like flowers. No, flowers are boring. Chocolates? No, everyone gets flowers or chocolates." She let him go and skipped around the breakfast isle, clearing her mug away as she passed it.
"That rules stuffed animals out too," Zane added, enjoying her jubilation.
"How about a real animal? She's always wanted a puppy."
"Yeah... that's probably not the best idea."
"Okay. I know, a robot helper. Someone to do the things she can't, and it'll be company for her.
"I don't think GD just loans robots out," he cautioned.
"Then I'll see if I can borrow Virtual Vincent."
"Zoe," he didn't want to bring her down but he had to. "She's sedated. I'm not even sure she'll know you're there."
"Oh. Right," she frowned. "But at least she's alive. I can make it up to her."
"Wait, you didn't say anything about growing apart, did you?"
"No, but I still want to make things right." She walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Thanks."
As she reached up to kiss him, Zane took her hands in his. She wasn't going to like what he was about to say but it had to be said.
"Zoe-"
Before Zoe could kiss him or Zane could stop her, Jo walked in. She looked mortified to have caught them in such an intimate moment and turned around to leave.
"Jo," they both called her. She stopped and slowly turned back to them. Zane could see her pain, though she was doing a god job of hiding it.
"Don't go," Zoe grinned. "I'm sorry, I was just excited. Did you hear, they revived Pilar."
"Yeah, I heard," Jo's smile was completely fake but Zoe didn't seem to notice. "It's good news."
"It's fantastic news! Zane's going to drive me over there now."
"I am?" This was news to him, mainly because he didn't have any way to drive her there. He doubted the loan of the Sheriff's car would extend past taking his daughter home.
"You should stay here," Jo cautioned. "Your Dad needs to speak to you about what happened."
"Oh," Zoe's face fell.
"It's okay, she'll still be there when you're finished," Zane assured her.
"Right, of course she will, she isn't going anywhere. We'll go later," she smiled at Zane.
"Uh, actually, I should probably be getting to work," Zane suggested cautiously.
"You're not going to come with me?"
Zane didn't know what to say. If things were different, of course he'd go with her, if only because this drastic mood swing was worrying him slightly. As it was though, he didn't want her growing any more attached to him.
"I..."
"Fargo's been on his case a lot," Jo butted in. "He wasn't at work yesterday-"
"Yeah, because my Dad put him in jail!"
"-and I think he could get in trouble if he misses any more work."
"Oh, come on," Zoe argued. "They're not going to fire him, he's one of the brightest people there."
"Probably not," Jo agreed. "But Fargo can make life very difficult for him if he chooses."
Zane watched the women argue back and forth, feeling very conflicted. Of course it was nice to have people fighting over him, just not these two women.
"Okay, if I might have a say in my own life!" he looked from Jo to Zoe and both became quiet. "Thank you," he turned to Zoe. "Jo's right, I do need to get to work but after you've seen Pilar, you're very welcome to come find me. Does that satisfy everyone?"
Zoe smiled and Jo nodded.
"Good. Now, Jo, can I get a ride in with you?"
Jo hadn't counted on spending time with him but after arguing that he needed to go to work, she couldn't really say no.
"Uh, sure. You want me to drop you at home?"
"Nah, work is fine. I keep a change of clothes there."
"Of course you do," she muttered. "I'll be ready in five minutes, don't keep me waiting."
III
The ride into town was tense and although Zane tried to initiate conversation a few times he only got one word answers or, if he was really lucky, a grunt.
She pulled up out side Cafe Diem and cut the engine.
"I wont be long," she said, getting out of the car.
"I'll come in with you."
Jo rolled her eyes but didn't reply. Once inside they both placed an order for coffee and Zane added a muffin to his.
"Let's grab a table," Zane suggested quietly so Vincent wouldn't hear.
"I'm fine here," Jo sat down at the counter to illustrate her point.
"You sure about that?" Zane smirked, making Jo suspicious.
"Why?"
"Because I have your car keys," Zane grinned. "I know you don't want to, Lupo, but we need to talk and I'd really rather do that somewhere with witnesses."
Jo checked her pocket to find that her keys were indeed missing.
"Now, you can throw me down and search for them," he grinned. "Which, I admit would be fun but I almost can guarantee that you're not going to want to look where I've put them. Or you can sit down and talk about what happened like the reasonable, rational people that we are."
She narrowed her eyes at him, letting him know just how much she disliked him at that moment.
"Fine!" she agreed and when Vincent gave them their coffee's and the muffin, she followed Zane over to a table. Thankfully the café wasn't too busy, most of the patrons were just popping in for a morning coffee on their way to work.
Now that he had her where he wanted, Zane grew serious but suddenly he didn't know where to start.
Jo just sat there, waiting for him to begin. She wasn't going to make this easy for him.
"Okay look, I'm not really sure what happened last night," be began. He watched as she folded her arms defensively across her chest. "But I do know it was something... special."
Jo still didn't respond or relax, though her expression did soften slightly.
"I don't know who this other Zane was, or why you changed but I do know there's something between us now that wasn't there before." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. "What I'm trying to say is... I feel like we could be great together, and I know I've screwed things up, repeatedly. And I know should never have started anything with Zoe but I'm asking you, Jo, to give us a chance."
"I walk in on you two almost kissing and you want me to give you a chance?" she asked.
"No, that's isn't what happened. She tried to kiss me, I was about to let her down when you walked in on us."
"That's not what it looked like."
"I don't care what it looked like, Jo. I like Zoe, a lot. She's a friend and I don't want to hurt her, but I don't want to be with her. Not like you."
"Zane," He could tell he was getting through to her as her posture was relaxing. "I don't know if I can trust you."
"You obviously took a gamble on me once, Jo. All I'm asking is that you give me than chance again. Let me prove to you that I'm serious."
Jo didn't answer for a long while and Zane began to think that she would say no. Finally she looked up at him.
"No. I'm sorry, Zane, but it's too complicated," she said, though he could hear the sadness in her voice.
"What's complicated?" he asked. "I like you, you like me."
"But I don't like you," she said with a sigh. "I love you. But not this you, my you, and I can't tell where he ends and you begin. And however much you think you might like me, you're clearly in a very different place to me."
"Wow. That does sound complicated," Zane agreed with a frown. "But are you really going to throw away what we might have because it's difficult?" Zane asked.
Jo licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak but she couldn't find the words.
"Anything worth having is worth fighting for, Jo Jo."
Jo shook her head as though she was clearing it.
"It's not that simple."
"Isn't it?" He asked. "Or are you just afraid to give us a chance?"
Jo sat in silence for a few moments as she considered his arguments and her own feelings. Finally she leaned forward and looked him in the eye.
"I can't date you, Zane, not right now. It's too painful and... I just can't do it."
Zane looked down at the table top. He really thought he'd been getting through to her, though the 'not right now' gave him hope.
"But I would like to be your friend."
Zane looked up, puzzled.
"I don't really know who you are and right now I'm mad at you for not being my Zane and crazy about you because you look like my Zane. I think maybe it's time I got to know you."
Zane considered her words, a slight smile playing at his lips.
"Okay, I think I'd like that. Just one quick question. How would you feel about being friends with benefits?" he quipped. "Because last night was hot."
"No! No benefits," she sounded stern but she was trying not to smile. That was something she could hear her Zane saying. She missed his sense of humour but she was beginning to realise that perhaps she didn't need to, not any more.
This Zane's life would have followed the same course as her Zane's until he came to Eureka. What difference could a few years really make to someone's life and deep down, how different could they really be? But she meant it about not jumping into things with him, she needed to get over him first, then she could consider dating him. Until then it wouldn't be fair to either of them.
"Well, come on then, buddy," Zane grinned. "We'd better get to GD."
They stood up with their coffee's and headed back to the car.
"If we're late, I am totally blaming you," Zane told her.
Jo looked incredulous. "Ha! Me?"
"Yep, you're driving."
"You stole my keys!"
Zane held the door open for her and grinned. "Check your breast pocket."
Jo felt in the pocket and found her keys. She wasn't the sort of person who was unaware of her body and she was amazed and a little impressed he'd managed to slip them in there without her noticing.
"How did you...?"
"Trade secret," Zane winked as he followed her out to the car.
