Chapter 18

Monday, June 8, 1987 -Afternoon

After setting an appointment to see Sean, Donovan called Maggie to check on the whereabouts of Ham. She gave him no information and he guessed Chris had ordered her not to reveal the Fixer's whereabouts, or she didn't have a clue.

Donovan's blinking answering machine beckoned him to hit the playback button. After listening to several messages from KDHB News Director Mick Pierce, begging him to check in with them, he found an unexpected message from Steve Maitland, demanding he call. But there was no answer at Maitland's. When Donovan called the ICU and asked for Maitland, the nurse stated he wasn't there. She offered to put Julie's mom on the phone instead, but Donovan declined, reluctant to arouse Connie's suspicion.

Donovan returned to work that afternoon. All eyes were on him as he walked into the newsroom.

"How's your friend?" asked John Nicholson.

Ignoring him, Donovan slipped into Pierce's office.

The plump, middle-aged News Director sat with his feet propped on the desk, revealing worn leather soles.

"Mike. I didn't expect to see you. Did you get my messages?"

"Yeah." …All ten of them.

"How is Dr. Parrish?"

Mick was one of the few staff who'd been with the company during Donovan's employment for KDHB a few years ago. Donovan brought Julie to several company parties, sometimes introducing her as his future wife, though their engagement was never official.

"Critical."

"I'm sorry. I know it has to be hard for you. Do you plan to work this evening? I didn't know whether to give you an assignment?" Pierce asked.

"Might as well."

"How do you feel about discussing Julie?"

"On the air?"

Pierce gave a slight nod.

"I'm not certain her family would approve of that." Donovan considered Steve and Connie's objection to the story KDHB ran last evening.

"You don't have to mention your prior relationship with her, Mike." Pierce sat again, folding his hands behind his head. "Just speak of her as a person. I know our competitors ran some malicious stories about her involvement with the Red Dust. You knew her when she created it. You can tell people the truth, if she's not really the monster they're making her out to be."

Julie, a monster?

"And I've met her," Pierce added. "I know she's not a monster. She seemed like a very intelligent woman."

"She is. She's smart… beautiful."

"If you're willing to talk, Mike, I'd like to make it the feature story of our six o'clock broadcast tomorrow. I'll have Melissa interview you on the set."

"Uh, I'll pass."

Sitting up straight, Pierce smiled. "Are you still having problems with Melissa?"

"Is my son home yet?"

Am I still paying her medical bills?

Pierce arched his eyebrows. "You can't blame Melissa for what the Visitors did to your kid."

"I won't be interviewed by her. Not about Julie. Get someone else."

"All right, then. I'll have Nicholson do the interview."

#

Swab testing of Pico's prescription bottle revealed residue from the psychoactive drug, Lithium, commonly prescribed to individuals suffering from bouts of mania and depression. Steve speculated as to what other facts regarding Pico would surface.

While home that afternoon, he'd called the hospital several times inquiring about Julie's condition, and found it remained unchanged. She still struggled with fits of coughing and congestion. Later that evening, Steve returned to the hospital. Julie was sleeping again. He didn't get the chance to talk to her. Instead, he drove Connie back to his house.

Connie sat across from him at the small kitchen table puffing on a cigarette. "They said she is self insured, and the insurance is limited. I'm supposed to call the company about her coverage tomorrow."

"Can you phone from the hospital?" Steve poured a glass of Sangria. When he offered Connie one, she refused.

"Yes. Do you carry the same insurance?"

"No. I enrolled in mine two years ago. It's premium coverage. I intended to sign her up when we wed."

"Do you have any idea why she left you?" Connie asked.

He knew the question was going to come up again, and was uncertain if he wanted to share the answer with Connie. "I wanted children."

"So?"

"She doesn't desire to have them." He gulped the wine then wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin.

"What are you talking about, Stevie?"

"Because of prenatal mutations stemming from maternal exposure to the toxin," he explained. "We've been to NICU Units throughout the nation. Julie's witnessed things. She's frightened."

"You could have adopted instead, if she felt so strongly about not carrying a baby. You know, Julie used to love to babysit."

"She's changed so much since college."

"Oh, I doubt that," she smiled. "Maybe when she's better again, if you try to work things out with her, just don't bring up having kids right away." She placed her hand on his as the phone rang.

Donovan… Steve snatched it up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me," Donovan said. "I tried to get back with you earlier. Is Julie okay?"

"About the same. I can't really talk right now." He turned away from Connie's glare. "Can you meet me tomorrow morning?"

"At the hospital," said Donovan.

"Perfect."

"Our usual hangout, 9 A.M. sharp?"

The waiting room. "Affirmative."

"See you then."

The phone clicked in Steve's ear. Fine, don't say bye. Steve could only speculate as to what had sparked that ill-mannered behavior. After all, he'd been amiable.

"Was that Donovan?" Connie flicked her ashes in the bowl.

"How long were they lovers?"

"What?"

"You said you were familiar with Donovan. They must've dated a while." Steve swigged his wine.

"Who knows what Julie did during the first war, Stevie. I know one thing for certain, she didn't call me."

"Because the Visitors controlled telecommunications?" The statement was more of a reminder than a question.

"But you'd think with the connections she had, she would've at least sent word to let me know she was okay. You know, her father passed away that first year, and I had no idea where she was until I saw her on TV that night."

"Did she ever tell you what happened after that?" he asked.

"After what?"

"When she exposed the Supreme Commander on TV."

Connie took a drag. "Kept working with the Resistance, I suppose."

"Not immediately," he said, recalling Julie's brief, horrendous account of her imprisonment by Diana. "She was captured."

"By the Visitors?"

"She doesn't really like to talk about it."

"Wh-what did they do to her?" Her eyes turned glassy.

"Tried to brainwash her… On several occasions, I woke up in the middle of the night and had to console her because of nightmares."

Connie's breath hitched. "I had no idea, Stevie. She didn't tell me about this when I saw her last year."

"I tried to persuade her to seek psychotherapy, so maybe she'd quit having those dreams, but she'd just tell me not to worry. How could I not worry? I loved her."

Connie caressed his hand.