Chapter Fifteen

Edited Note...to Guest: Pete is VERY worried about Amanda and loves her A LOT.. My word, if he wasn't and didn't, he wouldn't have her moved to the LA hospital where he can keep a better eye on her. If I have failed to send that message, all I can say is i meant to send it. All I can hope is it will be clearer in the rest of the chapters.

The sun was just coming up when Amanda was moved from the ambulance into General Receiving. Pete, who was right behind the medical personnel, entered the hospital but headed for the registration office. As he did so, he could once again hear a portion of the conversation he'd had with Andrew just before leaving Arizona. The two had been standing outside Amanda's Kane County Hospital room.

"Why be so insistent on having her moved to Los Angeles? It's not like the two of you are actually married yet." Andrew had just learned what Pete planned on doing.

"If Jim and Jean had said they didn't have a room for her when I talked to them, I'd feel like I had no choice but to give in and leave her here with you. But, they do have the room." Pete let out a deep breath, the sound of frustration could be heard. "Andrew, I can't do my job, and drop in to see her, if she stays in this hospital." Pete took a deep breath, knowing that as much as he might hate it money was an issue as well. "When it comes to transporting her, I'm covering that cost. When it comes to hospitals, if you cover the costs here, I'll take over the bills from General Receiving." Pete paused and, once again, asked Andrew to accept his help when it came to the Mitchells staying in Los Angeles for at least a week. "I have friends I can talk to, ones who could take you and your family in. You may be doing okay only, paying for motel rooms for a family your size? For a whole week? It would cost too much. Now, will you stop fighting me on this? I'd like to go make the arrangements to have Mandi moved."

A good portion of Andrew Mitchell still wanted to argue only, he knew how much Pete and Amanda loved each other. He'd seen that in their eyes before the shooting started. For Pete to be willing to cover so much of the expenses being acquired, Andrew knew he hadn't been seeing things. "Fine, but we're going to California today. We'll find a way to cover the cost of a couple of motel rooms until you can talk to your friends. We're not staying behind."

Pete hadn't expected his friend to stay behind, and said as much. Now he did his best to keep his mind focused on getting the paperwork filled out, finding out which room Amanda had been put in and talking to the doctors. He stepped into the registration office, and was surprised to see Sally behind the desk.

"I thought you and your new husband were moving to New Mexico, and since when did a nurse sit behind this desk." He asked as he sat down in the chair that was in front of the desk.

"Our move has been delayed, and I'm only filling in for the day." Sally handed him some papers. "I couldn't believe it when I heard about what happened-or the relationship between the victim and yourself. Glad you finally found someone, I hope she'll be fine."

While Pete appreciated the sincerity he heard in Sally's voice, he could tell by the way she was looking at him while she spoke his ex-girlfriend was also fishing for more information. That part he chose to ignore, as he didn't feel like sitting around handing out a lot of details to just anybody. And, right or wrong, Sally had fallen into the 'just anybody' category a long time ago. That being the case, Pete wasted no time in filling out the required paperwork and leaving the office. Soon afterwards, he was talking to the doctors and, after being told what room Amanda had been given, made a call to the police station. The minute he was through talking to Mac, Pete went to check on his fiancee himself.

~oOo~

"He what?" Ed stood in front of Mac's desk, staring at the watch commander in disbelief. "With all due respect, Mac, you had to have misunderstood whatever it was that he said."

Mac didn't blame Ed for his reaction, though, he was in no mood to argue with the man either. "You heard me. Pete will be back on the job tomorrow morning. Until the casts come off Jim's legs, and he's released to back out on the streets, Pete's asked if it would be possible for the two of you to work together for a couple of days. I told him, yes. Until then, get back to work. There's still a community to serve, and a wanted man to keep an eye out for." Mac picked up his pencil and began working on the papers in front of him.

Ed, who could hear the 'don't argue with me' tone in his superior's voice, nodded his head. "Yes, sir." He then opened the door to the office and walked into the hallway, just as Jim wheeled himself around the corner.

Jim, who could see the dazed look on Ed's face, didn't have to ask what the problem was. Pete had called him from Amanda's hospital room and, among everything they'd discussed, Ed had been one of the first things they'd talked about. "Mac told you what Pete asked?" he asked as he stopped his wheelchair a few feet from Ed.

Surprised, Ed looked at Jim."You know?"

"Yes, Pete talked to me before he called Mac." Jim leaned slightly forward. "Remember when you told me you hoped the two of you could make peace with each other?"

"Yeah, I remember." Ed answered slowly. "Did you have anything to do with this?'

"No, but I'm all for it. Pete isn't blaming you anymore, Ed; this is his way of trying to show you that. As long as you keep any unnecessary comments about his fiancee and the age difference to yourself, everything will be fine. And, with any luck, who knows, maybe the two of you can help bring this Caleb Burns fellow down in the next couple of days." Jim wasn't about to add the fact that Pete had said he was sure a couple of days of working directly with Officer Wells would be almost too much time.

Ed didn't have to ask why Jim said what he did about the comments-as he'd already made a few. He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe," He started to walk down the hallway only to turn around. "Hey, Jim."

Jim, who had headed for the front desk, turned his wheelchair around. "What?"

"You think we need to chip in and buy Pete a dictionary?"

Jim's eyebrows turned slightly downwards. "A dictionary? What for?"

"I think he needs to re-learn the definition of the word VACATION." Ed said as he started walking again.

Jim chuckled as he turned his wheelchair around and headed towards the front desk once more.