AN: Again, apologies for the lengthy delay in updating. We are almost at the finish line but as I said I have plans for a sequel or two although I probably won't start on anything new until real life settles so as not to disappoint my wonderful and ever so patient readers :-)
Without further ado, here is the next chapter...hope it is okay.
Tanith
Chapter 63
Pat. Pat. Pat. The raindrops descended from the grey clouds that blanketed the congregating crowd with their shields of black umbrellas raised above their heads.
Pat. Pat. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.
Lieutenant Michael Stone stood on the damp grass, his steel blue gaze seemingly focused on the proceedings in front of him. His eyelids twitched uncomfortably but he was too afraid of closing them, even for the briefest of moments because every time he did, he was transported back through a time and place he wished he could alter. And each time, his ears would fill with his daughter's screams and the sound of gunfire, the thud of bodies thrown to the ground and the rushing of footfalls heading toward him. Then the sirens blared, and the crying replayed like a distorted recording.
What he wouldn't do to travel further back through time? Back to when two teenagers' blossoming relationship began. To the age of innocence when all that mattered to them was the prom. What could he, as a father, have done differently to change the course of events that led to such a tragic end?
Finally, the discomfort became too overwhelming to ignore and the aging detective blinked several times. A stray teardrop escaped, followed by another and another as he watched his daughter cast a single red rose down the open grave onto the casket. With her head bowed, Jeannie walked back to her place by her father's side.
Mike reached down and took Jeannie's stone-cold hand in his. She squeezed his fingers a little too tightly and knew that she was drowning in a sea of pain. What hurt Mike the most was that he felt completely powerless to ease her anguish. He was a father. Her father. It was his job to protect her from all the bad in the world. He failed to protect her from the pain and suffering that came with grief when Helen died and now he failed her again.
When at last the melancholy melody of Amazing Grace faded away and the funeral proceeding ended, Jeannie allowed her father to lead her back to the car. Several people offered condolences as they past and Jeannie struggled to maintain her composure.
The drive to San Francisco General was spent in silence. Inspector Bill Tanner sat behind the wheel while the Lieutenant was in the backseat beside his daughter.
Throughout the journey, Jeannie kept her gaze fixated on the passenger window, her piercing blue eyes watched the rain drops rolling down the glass as she drifted down memory lane.
"No!" Jeannie barely recognized the sound of her own scream nor did she recall launching herself forward. No matter how many times the memory replayed, she was never fast enough. By the time she reached the space between Whitney and Steve, two shots had already sounded, and the damage was done. Whitney's legs gave out as he was propelled to the ground by the impact of the bullet entering his body. Jeannie hesitated and looked to where Steve had been standing a moment ago. He, too, was on the tarmac, but unlike Whitney, he was already being rising to his feet. Jeannie made her choice and rushed to Whitney's side. She dropped to her knees and saw to her horror his hands clutching his chest but no matter how tightly he held them there, the blood continued to flow freely through his fingers. Jeannie let out a choked cry of anguish and cupped Whitney's face in one hand while she pressed her other hand over his in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Jeann…Jeannie, I'm…" Whitney gasped.
"Sshhh, it's okay," Jeannie tried to soothe the dying man.
"No, please…I have to…"
Jeannie nodded, tears brimming as she watched Whitney's life slowly ebbing away. His hands were no longer applying any pressure to the wound and the colour had completely drained from his face.
"I'm sorry, Princess. I just wanted…for you to be happy. I love you...always have..." Whitney professed one last time, all the while he held her in his gaze, pleading for her to say the words he longed to hear.
The car rolled to a stop in the parking lot of the hospital.
"Jeannie?" Mike called softly. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sweet-heart?"
Jeannie turned to face her father and mumbled an apology.
"Maybe you should wait in the car," Mike suggested. He had been delaying Jeannie from seeing Steve ever since the shootout. His daughter had been through a traumatic experience and the drugs that were found in her system had affected her memory. For the last three days since her release from General Hospital, she had been persistent in her quest for answers to fill in the gaps and Mike was concerned that Jeannie was not emotionally ready to hear the whole truth about the man she was engaged to marry. He felt she needed time for her memory to return on its own and had even taken her to see a psychiatrist as her doctor had recommended. The appointment was a disaster with Jeannie walking out angrily and Mike was left at square one.
Jeannie locked eyes with her father. "Mike, I'm fine."
Those three words became a mantra and Mike felt at a loss as to how to respond to them without creating a bigger rift between them.
Steve signed his release papers, packed his overnight bag and waited in the waiting room for his ride to arrive. His extended stay at the hospital came as a result of an infection to his injured kidney and a gunshot wound to his upper arm that he sustained during the shootout at the airport. The shootout. Jeannie. The memory of Whitney Holden pointing the gun at him and pulling the trigger haunted him but what terrified him most was when somehow Jeannie ended up between them in the midst of gunfire. What if she had taken a bullet? Mike's bullet. The thought made him ill to his stomach.
"Steve?"
The familiar voice of his mentor pulled Steve out of his dark thoughts. He looked up and almost did a double take when he saw Jeannie walking toward him alongside her father. He hadn't expected Jeannie to show up and truth be told, he wasn't sure he was ready to see her. Not after what happened.
Oh, shoot, what the hell am I gonna say to her?
