Vengeance of the Freeway Phantom

Chapter 18

Back at the hospital, after finishing her lunch, Stephanie returned to Ponch's room--only to find him playing with his food. "What's the matter, no appetite?" she asked him, rather concerned that something was wrong.

"Huh?! Oh...sorry, Steph'…didn't hear you come in."

The woman realized that she must have startled Ponch, because he was holding his ribs--and his handsome face was scrunched up a might--in pain. "Ponch, you're not going to gain your strength back that way. Your food's stone cold by now," she meant it as a reprimand, but her voice softened upon seeing his pain-filled face.

Ponch pushed the tray aside and admitted, "Guess I'm just not hungry."

Stephanie stood there, quietly, a moment. She saw the distant look in her friend's dark eyes and couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about. She knew it wasn't any of her business, but, still she was worried. Ponch appeared to be upset about something. Since he was determined he wasn't going to eat, she rolled the little table that contained his food tray out of the way and said, "Ponch, I think I should head on out so--"

"No!...No! Don't go!…Please?" Ponch pleaded, his eyes filled with panic.

Since she didn't really want to leave, and since Ponch most definitely seemed to want her to stay...Well, it wouldn't take a college graduate to figure out which way she'd go. In the end, those pleading eyes of his won out. "Okay, Ponch. If you want me to stay, I will," she promised and then added, "Maybe you're just tired? Why don't you rest a bit?"

"No…no. I'm not tired," Ponch assured her. Then he turned rather serious, "Stephanie, can we talk a minute."

"Ah, sure," she said, sounding somewhat uncertain. For the life of her, Stephanie couldn't fathom what Ponch had meant by that. After all, they'd already been 'talking' most of the morning.

"I don't mean to intrude on your privacy," Ponch continued, carefully choosing his words. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her in anyway. Then he started to say what he had been thinking about while she had been out of the room for lunch.

Meanwhile, Jon--who also had the day off--had arrived at the hospital to visit Ponch. He was anxious to see his recuperating partner--especially after the phone call he'd just received from Bonnie. Baker had promised her that he wouldn't say a word to Ponch. Now, Jon just hoped he could keep that promise. When he reached the doorway of Ponch's room, he stopped. The conversation he almost interrupted seemed a little emotional and--with Ponch as one of the parties involved--Baker wasn't surprised that the person his partner was conversing with was a woman. Only, in this case, the woman was Stephanie.

"You see, Ponch," Stephanie was saying, "the past few months have been a real struggle for me. First--my husband's death. Then--moving here and having to deal with this Phantom creep. And, finally--you…you almost getting--"

"Hey," Ponch interrupted, "For starters--you've been trying to deal with your husband's loss all by yourself. I know you had a lot of friends, er, fellow officers back in Sacramento that could have helped you through this."

"But, I--"

"Uh uh, Steph'," Ponch interrupted again, "You've got 'friends' here now, too. And we won't--I won't let you handle this alone...not anymore. But you've got to be willing to let me help you, Steph'! Please don't shut me out. Okay?" Ponch paused for effect before continuing on to another issue. He wanted to allow her some time for that to sink in. "As for the Freeway Phantom...You know we're gonna get the guy. It just may--"

"Just may what, Ponch?!" Stephanie wondered, interrupting him for a change. "Take more time? How much more time?! How many more officers are going to be injured…or killed...before we--" she stopped herself, this time and stared sadly down at him, "Look at you…you were nearly--"

"Hey! I'm okay," Ponch assured her, but then added, "Well, I will be. Look Steph', maybe we should just change the subject. The topic of this conversation isn't helping you at all."

"Ponch, seeing you in this hospital bed just reminds me of how very close you came to being another statistic. I already lost my husband…I just…I just don't think I could have handled losing a very good, very close friend, too..." Stephanie confessed, a tear rolling down her cheek. Ponch slowly reached out and took her trembling hand in his.

Jon decided he had been standing out in the hallway long enough. He knew the woman was on the verge of tears, because he had distinctly heard her the crack in her voice. "Hey, Stephanie…Ponch, old buddy. How yah doing?" Baker declared, as nonchalantly as he could. He wanted to give the impression that he'd just got there. Stephanie quickly turned away--to brush 'something' from her cheek, before turning back to face him, and Jon pretended not to notice.

"Hi Jon!" Ponch greeted, sounding genuinely delighted to see his partner again.

Stephanie cleared her throat, smiled weakly and replied, "Hi, Jon."

Baker suddenly recognized the other patient in Ponch's room. The guy was one of the paramedics who had treated Ponch at the accident site. "Hi. You're a paramedic, aren't you?" Jon said and strolled over to stand at the fireman's bedside.

"Yeah. Hi. John Gage..." Johnny introduced and extended a hand, "We met briefly--downstairs in the doctor's lounge--about a week ago."

"Right," Baker shook Gage's hand, "Jon Baker. I remembered you from the accident scene. You helped save my partner's life..."

"Yeah, and now, we're roommates," Johnny told him with a grin.

Jon smiled, "I don't know which of you I should feel sorrier for. I'm sure Ponch has been enlightening you--"

"Um, Jon?! Get over here man!" Ponch requested. He knew exactly where his friend was headed with that --and he didn't want to give him the chance to go there.

Baker gave Gage a smile and a shrug and then strolled back over to Ponch and Stephanie.

The three friends talked for some time, about various things. Naturally, the number one topic was how Ponch was doing. Baker intended to keep the conversation light and--most definitely--as far away from the Freeway Phantom as possible. Well, that was Jon's intention anyway.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Ponch's. "Any more action by the Phantom?"

Baker panicked. What was he going to say? He didn't want to lie. Yet he had promised Bonnie that he wouldn't say a word about the Phantom's arrest.

Ponch took Jon's hesitation wrong and anxiously exclaimed, "Don't tell me another officer's down?!"

"No, Ponch! No! Um, actually he's been pretty quiet since your accident. He must be tied up on something else." Yeah, that was good, that should suffice.

"I just hope he doesn't crawl under a rock some place. If he goes into hiding, we may never get the chance to take 'im down."

"Don't wor--" Jon caught himself--just before he blurted out the good news. Baker wiped the smile from his mouth and then shut it. He hoped neither Ponch nor Stephanie would question him further.

Ponch and Stephanie had caught the slight smile that had crossed Baker's face, but they just took it as a sign that he was just glad to find his friend's condition improving.

As time went on, Jon kept wishing that someone, anyone, from Central would step into the room, so that some of the 'heat' could be taken off him. Baker didn't want to take away Baricza's right to give Ponch the great news, and he knew Bonnie, Grossman and Turner would make sure Bear got there. He just wished they'd hurry it up.

"Hey, its shift change time," Ponch finally spoke up, breaking through his partner's thoughts; "I sure hope some of the other guys will stop in. It's great seeing all of you."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get some visitors today," Jon reassured him, "We just have to take turns. We don't want to tire you out too much."

"Ahh, it's not like I have anything else to do," Ponch replied with a smile. Then, realizing that Stephanie had been quiet for some time, he gave the hand he was still holding a gentle squeeze and asked, "You okay, Steph'?"

She started a little, "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Ponch. Did you say something?"

Ponch smiled, "Yeah. Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah. Sure. I guess I was just day-dreaming a little," she confessed with a shy smile.

Ponch wanted to ask what was on her mind that was troubling her, but thought twice about it--since Jon was still there. Also, he hesitated to ask because he still wasn't sure it was any of his business.

Jon hadn't missed the faraway look in the woman's eyes, either. Baker also couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be some sort of chemistry going on between the two. Jon knew that Ponch was trying to establish a relationship with the woman. But Stephanie still seemed so unsure about what she should do. He felt that Ponch would be careful not to press her. Baker just hoped that neither of his friends would end up getting hurt.

Stephanie was grateful that Ponch had taken her hand in his. It was most comforting. How could she tell him that she was willing to start anew--but couldn't forget the past? The love she felt for her husband was still there in her heart--and would always remain there. That didn't mean she couldn't make room for someone else. For now, maybe it was just too soon after losing him. Yes, she was willing to become involved in a new relationship...but was she ready? Stephanie didn't know where--or when--to begin to live--and love--again. That's what had been on her mind when Ponch had interrupted her troubled thoughts.

Everyone in the room turned towards the door as Bonnie, Grossie and Turner came in, escorting Baricza. "Hey, guys!" Ponch declared with a grin, "It's great to see you!"

"How yah doin' Ponch?" Bear wondered, as he was literally shoved up to Ponch's bedside.

"Not bad, Bear...Not bad. Hey! I want to introduce you guys to my roommate. Barry Baricza, Bonnie Clark, Ted Turner and Artie Grossman, this is Johnny Gage. He's one of the paramedics that treated me at the scene." The newcomers exchanged greetings with Ponch's roommate.

Then Bonnie wanted to get down to the main reason for the visit, "C'mon, Barry," she urged, "Spill it!"

Bear turned his full attention back to Ponch. He saw the questioning look in his friend's eyes, "Ah, Ponch, speaking of your accident, I think you'll want to know that our arch nemesis, the Phantom is now in jail!

But it was Stephanie who reacted first, "You what?!"

Bear grinned, "Yeah, the four of us nailed him earlier today" he very happily told their prone friend and colleague.

Ponch just lay there. He was--almost--too stunned to speak. But he finally found his voice, "What…how…when did this all happen?" the Phantom's last victim finally stammered.

Bear explained everything. He told Ponch all about the Ford Mustang...his state of paranoia...his accurate judgment and quick reaction and how it saved him from being the Phantom's next victim. Baricza finished with a detailed account of how the Freeway Phantom was finally taken down.

Even though Jon had been told that the Phantom had been finally caught he wasn't really told all the details. So actually hearing all the particulars--firsthand from Bear--even made Jon shake his head in amazement.

"Bear, you know what even scares me even more about this?" Ponch asked, trying not to show any sign of what he was about to hit Bear with.

"What's that, Ponch?"

"You think too much like this Phantom guy," this time Ponch smiled.

"Huh?" Bear questioned. Being compared to this nut was the last thing Bear thought his friend was going to say.

"Well, look, first of all, you figured out that Grossie was about to become one of his victims and saved his neck. Secondly, you were able to correctly assume that this guy had something in mind for you," Ponch had that toothy grin as he pointed directly at Bear.

That revelation also struck everyone else so the banter began, but then came back to a bit of seriousness.

Stephanie at the moment wasn't listening to what was going on around her. She was just so tremendously relieved. She felt she could finally breathe freely again, knowing that their arch nemesis was finally behind bars. Then finally she was able to concentrate on those around her.

Naturally, Ponch needed to know more, "So, why was he doing this? I mean, other than out of a hatred for cops? I mean, what could possibly make a person hate so much that he'd do something like this, and keep on doing it?"

"From what we managed to get out of him," Bear continued, "the guy said, 'Because you guys killed my brother.' Yeah, Ponch, I gave him that same look," Baricza admitted, after seeing the confused look on his bedridden friend's face. "He said that his older brother was being pursued by a CHP motor officer. And this guy was also in the car at the time. They were traveling at a high rate of speed when his older brother lost control of the car. His brother was killed and he was severely injured in the accident. The guy spent quite some time in the hospital."

"Apparently long enough to come up with the idea of injuring or killing a cop or two as pay back," Jon added.

"Apparently so," Ponch replied disgustedly.

"Well, at least he's behind bars now--and no more officers are in danger...well, at least not from him," Stephanie commented. Her fellow officers smiled and nodded in agreement.

Ponch's friends could tell that he looked pretty tired, happy it was finally over, but tired. They said their goodbyes and left.

All except for Stephanie, that is. "Hey, you've had a long day. Why don't you rest a while now? It's almost dinner time. "

Ponch was suddenly feeling the effects of all his visitors. He was too exhausted to argue, so he just told her, "Yeah. Okay. I think I do need some rest, now. But Steph, you stay here, okay?" he requested with a tired smile. He still wanted to have that little talk he'd wanted to have with her. He was very happy at the news he learned tonight but he was also very tired. He wasn't sure he'd have the strength to be as convincing as he felt he would have to be. He just needed to find the courage to speak to her.

Stephanie looked into those dark, pleading eyes of his and smiled back, "Sure, Ponch. If you'd really like me too..."

Ponch answered her by reaching up for her hand. He took Stephanie's hand in his and then closed his tired eyes.

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