A Series of Unfortunate Events

Chapter 37

Andy woke with the feeling that he was being stared at. The first thing he did was look at his alarm clock, which said 3 am then he looked over at Sharon. Who was awake and staring at him intently, her cheek and chin resting on his shoulder. "Well, good morning, Beautiful."

"Hmmm, you're blind, but I love you for saying that," she said kissing him.

He slid his fingers through her hair. "I'm not blind at all. You are beautiful. In my eyes, the sun, moon, and stars don't compare to your beauty."

"Hmmm, it's starting to get deep in here," she said skeptically.

Andy asked in mock indignation. "What? I can't tell my wife she's beautiful?"

"Technically, I'm not your wife yet, Andy." Sharon had to look away from the intense emotion in his eyes before saying, "and… I'm not… beautiful."

"Church wedding and everything aside it's only a formality. You are my wife in my heart and you are the most beautiful woman in the world to me," he said stroking her cheek and raising his head to plant a kiss on her lips. "You're awake early. What's wrong? Can't you sleep? Did you have another nightmare?"

"Hmmm. The answer to your question about not being able to sleep is no I couldn't. Obviously, I mean, I did sleep for a while but woke up at 2:00. I heard the baby starting to wake up so I changed her and gave her a bottle. She's back to sleep now."

He asked, worried, "You lifted her? Sharon, what about…"

Sharon cut in, "Andy, she's only as big as a newborn. She's barely 8 and a half pounds. She's gained two and a half since we got her and started her on the new formula but she's still very small." He stared at her skeptically. "Okay," she said a little sheepishly. "It hurt a little to lift her and when I turned toward the chair to rock her, my eyes got a little blurry. I stopped, took a few deep breaths and then, once I sat in the rocking chair with her. I was fine, really." She took a deep breath and then asked, "Listen, Andy, can we talk?"

"Sure, Sweetheart. What's up?" Andy was pretty sure he knew. Her pensive tone of voice and body language made it impossible not to know what was coming, especially after last night's nightmare.

With a sigh , she explained, "Andy things are about to get really complicated. Stroh is back here in LA."

Andy didn't blink. "Well yeah, we knew he was on his way, right? We've known it since early this past March." He reached out to push a lock of hair behind her ear and stroke her cheek.

"Wait, you're not surprised. You knew?" she asked, surprised, although she knew she shouldn't be. He was a good detective after all. Andy nodded. "Who told you, Emily?"

Sharon looked like she was about to get mad at Emily, so he answered her quickly. "No, you did."

"I did not." She said indignantly"

"Well, not directly. Actually, I figured it out last night during your really bad nightmare. You said and I quote, 'Rusty he's behind you! Shoot him like Andy and I taught you! Andy, take care of Olivia!' Hold on, you told Emily about Stroh, and I had to find out by hearing what you said during a nightmare?" Andy asked a little perturbed.

Sharon patted his chest, to calm him down. She looked down, as her eyes got blurry. She took a few cleansing breaths. Her chest felt tight, which frightened her. This was new and scary. She squeezed her eyes shut and then looked him in the eye, with a look of sheepishness. "Andy, I didn't mean to tell her. I was feeling sad and overwhelmed with grief. I guess I was mourning my old self and worried that my endurance for physical activity is so low and all these new symptoms are manifesting themselves and I was wondering if I was ever going to be the same again. Then Fritz called right before I got in the shower to tell me Stroh is here in LA and it was just the proverbial straw... Emily heard me crying in the shower and she came to talk to me and find out was wrong. We were talking about why I was crying and I started out by telling her about being sick of being sick and feeling like an invalid not to mention being treated as one. I blurted out the part about Stroh being in LA and how worried I was that there were too many of my loved ones here to protect and she needed to go back to New York, her brother needed to go back to San Francisco, and my parents needed to go home as well. When I told her, Andy it was purely by accident, but once it came out of my mouth, I decided to go with it in the hope it would convince her to leave, but it backfired because she no longer has a place to live in New York," Sharon said with sadness, as she told Andy about the inauspicious end of her daughters dancing career.

"What about the apartment she's lived in for the last thirteen years?" Andy asked, understandably confused.

"It belongs to the ABT and since she no longer works for them she can't live there anymore."

"Wait, what? Since when?"

"I'm not sure of the timing exactly but Aileen Reilly the assistant to Keven McKenzie who is the creative director of the ABT is in a coma. He, the creative director, Keven is apparently out the country. Anyway, Aileen's son, whose name is Keven Reilly, decided to proposition Emily saying she needed to sleep with him to keep the part of Sleeping Beauty. She refused and kneed him in the groin to cement her answer. In her exact words, things went downhill from there." Sharon hinted a smile of her being proud of her daughter. She shrugged saying, "He fired her and evicted her as well."

Andy tried to bite back a smile, trying to conjure up a visual picture of tiny Emily kneeing the guy in the groin to protect herself, but then he frowned. "Hey, wait a minute, that's sexual misconduct! She could have him arrested and or sue him."

She nodded in agreement, "I mentioned that she had options and that she could and should fight it. She said it wouldn't do her any good to fight it. That even if Aileen were to wake up, she'd take Keven's side. Emily says she's got a blind spot when it comes to Keven, but I honestly think Em is just ready for a change. I think she is feeling like she needs to get out of the ballet business, while she still loves it and before it starts breaking her body down. She's been dancing professionally for the last thirteen years and it could have gone longer, some dancers dance for as long as forty years, but by that time their bodies are breaking down. Thirteen years is a fair amount of time in that type of work. Plus, she misses us and wants to be closer. She talked about exploring ballet companies here, at first but then she started talking about being interested in the idea of going back to school to become a Physical Therapist so she could use her skills as a dancer to somehow help children with physical disabilities."

"Really? Hmmm." Andy wondered.

Sharon questioned back with her own, "Hmmm?"

"She is definitely her mother's daughter," he said smiling tenderly at her. She smiled back at him. "Getting back to Stroh, we're in this together Sharon. Whatever happens, it happens to us, not just you and Rusty. You don't have to protect your loved ones all by yourself. You have me, you have the Major Crimes squad, Cooper, SIS, Fritz, and SOS. We'll figure it out, together."

Sharon smiled through tears of gratitude both at the compliment and Andy's reassurances that she was not alone. She kissed him on the mouth, snuggling closer to him. Her eyes started to flutter closed, more able to relax and rest, now that she'd let Andy know about Stroh. She still felt a bit nervous, but it helped to know Andy was aware and that Cooper had people in place, watching the house.

Andy could hear her breathing even out within seconds. He was going to hate having to wake her up in less than two and a half hours, though.

6:00 AM

Andy got up when his alarm went off in spite of not having had much sleep the night before. They had an early morning appointment for Sharon to getting an MRI, EKGs, EEGs, and some blood tests. Sharon's primary care/internist, Dr. Elizabeth Evans wanted to make sure that Sharon was healing from everything she'd been through. She seemed to be healing slower than she should. Sharon's parents and children would have Olivia for most of the day since Sharon also had a Behavioral Science appointment with Dr. Joe as well as an appointment with Dr. Elizabeth Evans herself at 3:00, to go over the results of the tests. Next week Livvie would have her turn at the doctors. She would be getting her first hearing aid.

After using the facilities and starting the shower, he went to wake Sharon up. "Morning Sunshine, wake up it's shower time!" he said cheerfully.

Sharon groaned and turned on her back. She opened one eye and closed it again. Her eyes were blurry again. "What time is it?" she asked rubbing her eyes.

"6 am, your appointment at the lab is at 8:00 am then we hit Advanced Radiology at 9:00. Come on, Sweetheart the water for the shower is running."

You are too cheerful this early in the morning," she said pointing at him with a look of Darth Raydor.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway! Besides this is payback for all the times you did this to me when I was recovering from everything a couple of years ago. Not to mention staring me awake at 3 am this morning, for pillow talk about Stroh." He was teasing her and his tone let her know that.

"Hmmm."

Andy put his hand out for her to take. Sharon reached for him and groaned a bit as he helped her out of bed. They went at a deliberate pace towards the bathroom. Once in, Sharon used the facilities and then he helped her get her nightgown off. She hadn't bothered with panties after they made love, the night before. They went into the shower together and Andy helped her wash her hair and condition it. She still needed help with anything that required her to put her arms above her head. It was still entirely too painful to keep them there for more than two seconds. She'd had two physical therapy sessions, but then they had ended up in Cathedral City, which made it impossible to continue with the sessions. They hadn't been able to schedule another one because of insurance problems. Sharon had to be reevaluated and get another referral. The lack of consistent physical therapy was one of the reasons why she wasn't healing as quickly as she should be. The doctor was concerned about the other reasons that could be causing the slow recovery and wanted to explore possible causes.

Sharon washed her body with a little help in the hard to reach places. More for the intimacy of the physical connection then a real need for help. Then she helped him wash, lingering over his more private places, looking at him with a hopeful question in her eyes. Andy was surprised to see that look in her eyes but was able to correctly interpret it. "As much as I love the idea of shower sex with you, my love neither of us is up to a quickie in the shower today," Andy said regretfully.

"We managed it at The Three Palms and I don't know about you, but Little Andy looks very interested!" Sharon said, challenging him.

"Yes, but that was before everything that happened to you, happened and we didn't need a quickie we had plenty of time. This morning we have an early appointment to make. So poor Little Andy will have to have a cold rest of the shower."

Sharon pouted but then got a wicked grin on her face. "So, I um guess that means you won't be picturing Provenza naked anymore?"

Andy made a face. "Good grief, no. Last night when I finally got to sleep, I dreamt about him! Flitting around the murder room in his birthday suit, his junk hanging out for all to see and he was blaming me for it!" Andy stated loudly.

She snort laughed, but then feeling a bit dizzy she leaned against Andy for support. Unfortunately, she grabbed Andy's still soapy member as if it were a handle to hold onto and she almost slid under him. Luckily he caught her in time and eased her onto the bench. "Good grief woman What are you trying to do to me? You scared the crap out of me. Are you okay?" Andy asked with an amused, albeit pained and worried expression on his face.

Sharon only laughed harder, but it almost sounded like a sob. She didn't seem to be able to make up her mind whether she was amused or sad. "Yes, I'm okay. I'll admit It didn't help my situation any, but it didn't make it worse either. I… I don't think. What about you, did you hurt anything? I'm so sorry, Andy, I forgot that quick that Little Andy still had soap on him. In any case, thank you for saving me," she chuckled. The ridiculousness of the situation making her laugh again.

Loving to hear her laugh even if it was at his expense, Andy laughed with her. "What's got into you? Hmmm, you've been really… um…interested the last two days," Andy asked curiously.

"Interested, hmmm? Is that a euphemism for horney?" asked Sharon impishly.

Andy let out a bark of laughter hearing her say the word horney and seeing her blush. "I'm not sure but I believe it's the other way around."

"Andy, I've never stopped being interested. Even when I was in the hospital the first time, once I woke up that is. Every time I would open my eyes and see you sitting beside me or after the guys made you leave, rest, and come back. When you walked into the room looking so handsome and happy to see that I was awake and you'd smile at me with that hundred watt smile, I wanted to jump you and make wild passionate love with you!" She ducked her head in embarrassment at the admission. Then she looked up and went on. "It's just that my body wasn't able to cooperate," she sighed ruefully. "That's been the story of my life since all this happened, except for the occasional moments we had In the shower at The Three Palms and… and... last night," Sharon smiled up at him.

"What do you think changed?" Andy asked.

Sharon smiled saying, "for starters, somebody named Andy Flynn wouldn't let anybody wake me up from resting, for three hours yesterday, instead of the half hour I asked for."

"Have to say this Andy Flynn sounds like a great guy and was just trying to take care of you." He winked at her. "Well, I'm glad this Flynn did that, the extra rest seemed to have done you some good," he said smiling back at her.

"At least for last night," Sharon said, wistfully. Then, having woke up sufficiently she was able to process what Andy had said about appointments, Sharon looked at him with a hint of Darth Raydor. "Andy, who made the appointments at the lab and the other appointments?" She didn't like having control of her own health management taken out of her hands.

Andy knew this was coming, so he was prepared with an answer for her. "Elizabeth called me yesterday while you were asleep. She said that the numbers from your last blood tests were not what they should be and she wanted them done again. She said she had made an appointment for you, for a full work-up at the lab and I was to make sure you got there. She also said that she wants to see you this afternoon around three because she'd put a rush on the results. She assured me that Patrice was going to be doing the tests, but she needed them done at the lab that's attached to Cedars hospital so they could be processed quickly." Andy took her hand as he admitted, "I may have mentioned that I noticed you were getting dizzy at times, having trouble catching your breath at times and that your eyes seemed out of focus even when you are wearing your glasses and the dizzy spells happened. She mentioned that she'd already made arrangements for you to get an MRI, an EKG, and an EEG, after the blood tests, based on Patrice's observations the last time she saw you."

Sharon processed what Andy had told her and realized that she wasn't as good at hiding the dizzy spells as she thought. They had been coming on with increased regularity recently. They had started after the bomb blasts and her bout of pneumonia but they had only been brief and intermittent for a long time. Then everything that happened in Cathedral city happened and the dizzy spells had started coming a little more often. She hadn't mentioned it to Andy because she hadn't wanted to worry him. However, she realized that she'd been foolish to think Andy wouldn't notice. She swallowed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mention being dizzy to you, but I kept hoping it would go away or that it was a side effect of everything that's happened. It was just something I'd have to deal with until I was completely recovered, but they've been increasing instead of decreasing," Sharon said ruefully.

"Hmmm. What, I can't believe is that you thought I wouldn't notice," Andy said with a little hurt in his voice.

TBC...

Thank you to all that have taken the time to leave a review they are truly appreciated. A special thank you to my devoted readers and repeat reviewers. Reviews really do help keep the motivation flowing.