SMK Chapter 26 – Day 15

"She's awake, Mr. Stetson."

Lee's head jerked up; he hadn't heard the nurse approach. This all felt so surreal – he'd just been in this same situation four months ago, and now it was happening all over again. "How is she?"

"She's awake, and she's going to be just fine." Lee closed his eyes, overwhelmed by relief. "Would you follow me, please? We're about to take a listen for the baby's heartbeat, and she wants you there." Like he would be anywhere else?

He stepped inside her room and found her laying on the hospital gurney. If he never saw her on one of those things again, that'd be just fine.

She offered him a soft smile and reached out for his hand. "I feel like we've been here before."

"Yeah," he smiled and took her hand as he sat. "We really need to stop meeting this way."

Her smile grew bigger, but then she winced. "Ouch. Don't make me smile; my whole face hurts."

Before he could respond with more than a smile, the nurse came carrying something he assumed she was going to use to listen for their baby's heartbeat. Amanda squeezed his hand. "I'm just a little bit scared."

"Try not to worry, Mrs. Stetson. You lost some blood, and you're dehydrated, but you suffered no physical trauma to your abdomen." Amanda felt cool gel slather over her and something smooth run across her skin. "Let's just see what we can find here. Where are you, little one? Come out, come out wherever you are…"

Amanda held her breath and waited as Lee's gaze held hers. Suddenly, there it was. The unmistakable sound of a quick, small heart. Their gazes held a moment longer, but then laughter burst from both of them. Their baby was alive.

Lee would never in a million years be able to describe the joy he felt at hearing the heartbeat of his child. As he gazed at his precious wife, unexpected tears pooled in his eyes. He lifted her hand, brought it to his lips, and gently kissed the back of it. The nightmare was over.

Day 17

Lee startled awake as panic thrummed through his veins. He looked around, confused and disoriented. An incessant beeping entered his consciousness, and his vision began to clear. Right. He was in a hospital room, and he'd been using Amanda's hospital bed as a pillow.

Lee sat up and ran the fingertips of both his hands back-and-forth over his scalp. He looked down at his wife sleeping in the bed. She looked a helluva'lot better than yesterday.

The doctors had assured them last night that the drugs Fred and June had used to keep her knocked out were relatively harmless, though they would want to keep an eye on the baby's development. Amanda's body had been through quite a strain, but she was healthy and relatively young; they should both be fine. Thank God.

He reached out to brush her face with the backs of his fingers. She stirred, moaned, and reached a hand up to rub her eyes. "Hey Beautiful."

She turned her face toward his voice and opened her eyes. "Lee?"

"I'm here, Sweetheart." He brushed her hair back from her forehead.

"We're in a hospital." Though she stated the obvious, she looked a bit confused. "What happened?"

Concern flashed through him. "Don't you remember anything that happened over the past several days, Manda?"

Amanda sighed, closed her eyes, and moaned again. "Yes." She squeezed his hand. "I wish I didn't, but yes. I do." Her eyes opened and she looked up at him. "Is it really over, Lee?"

Lee continued stroking her hair. "Yes, it's really over," he reassured her. "We've got all the proof we need that David collaborated with Fred, and Fred has been cooperating, giving us all the details of his history with Davy."

"A lot of history there, huh?"

"Yeah, it seems that Davy's been using Fred to do his dirty work in exchange for protection since their time in the children's home." Lee shook his head sadly. "It's tragic, really. Davy arranged with Patsy Peters to get their records purged so Fred could get a job at the Agency, but it was all so Davy would have someone at the Agency he could control."

"Wow." Amanda shook her head. "What's going to happen to him?"

"To Davy? Or to Fred?"

"Both, I guess."

"Well, Davy's going to end up in maximum security. Maybe even solitary."

"Yikes."

"Yeah, well. He kind of earned it for himself, Amanda."

"Yeah, I know." She reached for the button that would lift the head of the bed, allowing her to sit up more. "What about Fred?"

"Fred." Lee sighed and helped Amanda adjust her pillows. Fred had never been his favorite co-worker, but he'd never wished ill on the man. "Well, he'll get a little bit of a deal because of everything he's giving us on Davy, but that fact is he was going to kill all three of us. At best, he'll avoid the death penalty, but he's probably looking at a life sentence."

"Wow." Amanda shook her head. "And June? What's going to happen to her?"

"Right now, June is in a psychiatric ward."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She totally lost it at the house when she was arrested – went absolutely berserk."

"Lee sat back down, and Amanda reached for his hand. "Do we know what triggered all this for her?"

"Only what Fred has told us about how they found out about her family medical history. Her grandmother died in a psychiatric ward."

"Oh my gosh."

"Yeah. They wanted to bring her to this hospital, but I protested rather loudly."

"I can imagine."

"Can I take a moment and tell you just how much I love you and how thankful I am that you're okay?"

She smiled softly. "You can tell me how much you love me anytime you want."

Lee leaned over to brush her lips with his, but just before he made contact there was a knock at the door. He'd had enough interruptions when he wanted to kiss his wife to last a lifetime, so he kissed her, looked into her eyes, and kissed her again for good measure.

The knock sounded again. Without looking up, Lee answered. "Yeah, come in."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Joe hesitated at the door.

Lee looked over at Amanda's visitor. "Oh, don't be. I'm the one who said, 'come in'." He gestured to a chair on the other side of Amanda's bed. "Have a seat."

"Thanks," Joe sat and reached out to take her hand. "You okay? Jeeze. You look terrible."

She smiled at her ex-husband. "Yes, I'm going to be okay. I'm just really tired at this point."

Lee stood. "I'll leave you two alone for a few minutes." He bent down to give Amanda another peck on the lips, and headed for the door. "You want me to bring you back some crackers, Sweetheart?"

"Oh, Lee, that'd be great. I'm starting to realize how hungry I am."

He winked at her and shut the door behind him.

Joe watched him leave, then turned back toward Amanda. "Well, it looks like things have progressed some." He smiled, showing he had no hard feelings about the situation.

Amanda smiled back. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." She looked down at her blanket and picked at a string. Fatigue washed over her, and she suddenly just wanted to go back to sleep. "Joe, I need to talk to you about something."

"Alright," he squeezed her hand. "Go ahead."

Amanda took a deep breath and got right to the point. "I'm married. I mean, Lee and I are married."

Joe looked stunned. "I knew what you meant, Amanda." He smiled. "Married! Wow! I mean, I knew the two of you were in a relationship, but married! Since when?"

"Just a little over four months ago now."

"Wow! That's before Carrie and I got married!" He stopped and thought a moment. "Wait a minute…" A look of understanding spread across his face. "…that day we had lunch and I told you I was getting married…" He shook his finger at her. "…you said you had something you wanted to tell me, but then gave me some lame story about Philip getting a C in History." He snickered. "You were going to tell me you were going to get married, weren't you?"

"Guilty," She smiled at him. "But then you told me that you were getting married, and I didn't want to steal your thunder."

"Ah, gee, Amanda. You could have told me."

"There's more, Joe."

"What do you mean, 'more'?"

"I'm pregnant." Joe's jaw literally dropped. Amanda nodded her head to confirm he'd heard correctly. "I'm about two and a half months along and believe me; it came as a shock to us, too."

Joe smiled. "So, the boys are going to have a little brother or sister!" He chuckled. "I didn't see that coming in a million years."

"Yeah," Amanda muttered almost under her breath. "Neither did we. Now, listen…" Her voice went stern. "…the boys don't know – in fact, Mother doesn't know, so please don't say anything, okay? We have a lot of news we need to break to everyone, and we haven't quite figured out how to do it.

"Of course, Sweetheart," Joe patted her hand. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"

"I'm sorry Joe. That's classified."

"Oh, Agency business."

"Yes."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that Amanda," Joe frowned. "I mean, I know we're not married anymore, but you're the mother of my children, and I'm always going to care about you." Joe stood up and paced to the window. "But especially now… I mean, I know this baby isn't mine, but…" he turned around. "Do you really think it's a good idea to continue working for the Agency?"

"I know you mean well, Joe…" Lee's voice sounded from the door, and Joe looked up as he walked in. "…but I think that's a conversation for Amanda and me to have, don't you?"

"I would say I have a vested interest," Joe took a step closer to Lee. "She's the mother of my children, too, Lee."

Lee held up his hand. "Look, I get that; I really do. Especially now. And I'm not trying to pull some macho stake-my-claim stunt," he paused as he thought of the statement he'd just made. "Okay, well, maybe a little bit." He offered Joe a smile. "But the fact is, Amanda is my wife. And we may have only been married a little over four months, but we've been partners for more than four years." Joe's eyes widened at that piece of information. "This is something she and I need to discuss, and I'd appreciate it if you could respect that boundary."

Joe looked over at Amanda with raised eyebrows. "He's right, Joe," she said in response to his unspoken question. "I love you; you know I'll always love you. And your opinion is important to me," she looked over at Lee to emphasize that point. "But the fact is, Lee is my partner as well as my husband. He and I need to make this decision."

"Amanda…"

"Believe me, Joe," she interrupted him. "My children – all three of them – will be at the forefront of our consideration. I promise."

Joe looked at her for a long moment, then turned and looked at Lee. He sighed and walked toward Lee offering a handshake. "Alright, you two." He smiled as Lee accepted his offer of understanding. "I hear you, loud and clear."

Joe looked over at the woman whom he had loved more than life not all that long ago. He probably never should have left her, but he had; now he was living with the fall-out. "You take care of yourself and that new baby, you hear me?"

Amanda smiled. "I'm sure I won't have any choice in the matter." She chuckled and made an exaggerated glance at her new husband.

"And you," Joe looked back at Lee, "please take care of her, huh?" He glanced at Amanda. "She has a way of getting herself in trouble."

Lee chuckled. "Don't I know it."