Disclaimer: I don't own very much. DVD's…and that's it!
A/N: Well, now you'll find out about the shadow. I hope it's everything for which you've been hoping. It's not too exciting, but it's a nice P/D moment…which have kind of been lacking in this story so far. Enjoy!
Della let out a deep sigh after she closed the door. She leaned her forehead against the door, squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to cry. This was ridiculous! She had been close to crying way too many times tonight. This was not her! She shook her head in exasperation at herself. The last time she had cried was when Perry left, and even then she didn't let herself wallow. It must be him. That man was always making her cry.
The memory of Perry that was playing just on the edges of Della's mind had appeared in full force many times since he left and she wasn't sure why it was having such an effect on her tonight. She supposed it was being here in San Francisco, being so close to Perry, and yet so far away. Also, Paul had just taken all of her emotions about Perry leaving and scrambled them around. It was going to take a while to put them back in order and she supposed that was why this memory was making her want to cry.
Della tried. She tried so hard to push the memory from her mind, but it wasn't going anywhere. Little pieces kept showing up and finally, for the third time that night, she surrendered. She flopped down on the bed, closed her eyes, let her tears fall and let herself drown in the memories.
"It isn't fair!" Perry exclaimed. "Paul calls you 'Beautiful' and you let him! You're not even his girl."
Della rolled her eyes. She wanted to remind Perry that she wasn't anyone's girl, nobody owned her, but she let it slide for now. She was even going to indulge him for a minute or two. "Perry, it doesn't really matter what anyone else calls me, because I'll always be your girl."
Perry smiled. "My beautiful girl. That's what I'll call you."
Della rolled her eyes again at his child-like manner, but she had to smile too. His excitement at deciding that was just too cute.
From then on, he only called her his beautiful girl when he was being promiscuous or when he was teasing her. A month later, all that changed.
Della sighed. She was sitting by Perry's hospital bed. He had gotten shot and was, at the moment, unconscious. He had been this way for at least three hours. Paul had been here, but he went home after about an hour. He didn't want to think about what might happen, and being there didn't exactly help him forget.
Della suddenly heard a sound come from the bed. She shot up out of her chair and went over to the bed. "Perry, was that you?"
He opened one eye to look at her. "Della."
She smiled, so glad he was awake. She quickly pushed the call button, which she realized was a mistake. Nurses and doctors filled the room so fast. They were all pushing her back trying to check on Perry and making sure he was okay. Finally the room cleared out and the last doctor left telling Perry he was lucky.
Della moved back over to the bed and looked at Perry through narrowed eyes. "How do you feel? Are you sure you're okay?"
Perry smiled at her concern. "My shoulder hurts like hell, but other than that I promise, darling, I'm fine."
Della's eyes narrowed even more. "You do realize that if you'd gone and died I would've killed you, right?"
Perry almost laughed at the impossibility of that statement, but she really did look mad and he didn't think she would appreciate his amusement, so he managed to stifle the laugh. "Why?"
"Because you were being an idiot!" Della exclaimed. "I can't believe you would be so stupid!"
"I was trying to make sure you didn't get hurt," Perry reminded her.
"Yeah, by jumping in front of a bullet that went wild," Della said. The shooter hadn't been aiming for her. In fact, she still wasn't sure that the crazed man who came into the courtroom carrying a gun had been aiming at anyone. They weren't even working on a case connected with him. The case he was angry about had been tried a day before and he was angry at the judge, angry at lawyers in general and just angry at the world. He'd come into the courtroom and just started shooting. One of the bullets was heading for her and she felt herself being pushed to the ground, Perry being the driving force behind the push. In making sure she got to the ground, the bullet hit him in the shoulder. Della shook her head. "I just don't understand why you did that! Do you know what it would've done to me if you died!"
Perry suddenly became very serious. "Do you know what it would've done to me if you died?"
Della closed her eyes and sighed. "Not fair. I'm supposed to be mad at you right now."
"Mad at me for saving your life?" Perry questioned.
"No, mad at you for being stupid," Della informed him opening her eyes. "The bullet wouldn't have killed me."
"Maybe not," Perry agreed. "But seeing you hurt would've killed me."
Della felt the tears she had been holding in spill out of her eyes. She leaned over the bed and kissed him hard. When he tried to deepen it, she pulled back. She whispered, "I could've gotten out of the way in time…but thank you."
Perry smiled with a small twinkle in his eye. "Anything for you, my beautiful girl. You know that."
Della smiled and kissed him again. This time, when he tried to deepen it she let him and got lost in his kiss, so thankful he was alive.
Della sighed as the memory faded away. Her tears had only multiplied during the recollection and she was getting annoyed. She swiped at her face angrily and turned to lay on her side. She thought about taking her robe off and actually getting under the covers. She also thought about grabbing her book, maybe that would distract her, but before she could act on either of those thoughts, she was sound asleep.
-%
Perry rushed to the doorbell. He smiled when he saw Paul and his family, but his smile quickly faded noticing Della wasn't with them. Perry ushered the family in and hugged Eve and Little Paul. Little Paul and Even then went to explore the house and other guests.
Paul noticed Perry's sadness and quickly whispered, "She said she'd be here around noon."
"Who?" Perry asked trying to be the picture of innocence, but not really pulling it off as well as he had hoped.
Paul rolled his eyes and just walked away.
How did you feel? I realize it's probably virtually impossible for a crazed man with a gun to get into a courtroom nowadays…but I feel like back then, maybe not? Even if it was…we'll pretend. And next…Della will arrive at the party! Get excited. Oh…and I'd appreciate it if you'd review. Thanks for reading!