Scarecrow and Mrs. King is the registered trademark and copyrighted property of B&E Enterprises/Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Brothers Television. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for this item, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.

The Energy of Sun Rays

Lee: Not This

Amanda was completely silent in the car.

She didn't cry. Didn't ask a million questions. Didn't ramble about minutiae the way she did when she was nervous. In fact, her face was composed and her demeanor completely calm, except for the fact that she continually twisted her hands in her lap. It was so out-of-character as to be scary, but he didn't have time to worry that much about it as he sped around and through traffic. Lee pushed the car as fast as he could get it; let the cops ticket him for speeding later, if they wanted.

Despite her silence, Amanda was clearly aware of everything around them, as evidenced by the fact that she was out of the car before he even finished parking it. She sprinted toward the emergency room door as fast as he'd ever seen her run, heedless of the fact that her skirt was flying up or that she'd broken a heel.

He wasn't far behind, crashing through the door of the waiting area just in time to see a nurse leading her back. But when he followed, the doors closed in his face, locking and preventing him from going any further.

"Sorry," said the receptionist. "Family only."

"I am family!" It took a second to realize he'd shouted it, and he fought for control. Now wasn't the time for explanations or arguments. "Please. Please. She'll want me there. They both will." And he wanted to be there. Needed to be there, for her, for him, for all of them. Maybe even for himself as well.

There was a long pause as she considered him, but there must have been something in his face or the way he was standing, because she buzzed him back. Lee was running before his second step, rounding the nurse's area at full speed before he came upon Amanda in the middle of the hallway, her shoes kicked off and her face stark white.

"Lee," she choked. "Lee, it's Mother, she —"

He pulled her close. "Okay. Okay, I'm here. What —"

"She — she —" She clung to him as if her life depended on it, and finally, finally, he felt her shoulders begin to heave. "The doctor — the paramedics — she —" Her hands flexed on his chest, twisting the shirt fabric so hard that he was surprised it didn't tear. "In the — in the ambulance — they tried but — but she — she's not — she didn't make it to the hospital."

At that statement, her legs gave way and she crumpled. There weren't any chairs or tables nearby, so the best he was able to do was support her as they slumped to the floor together. She was crying hard now, and he could feel her tears on his neck. A huge lump had lodged in his throat, and when he reached up to loosen his tie he felt wetness on his own cheeks. Their tears mingled as they slid under his collar, trickling down to soak into his undershirt.

It took three tries before he could speak. "And Phillip?"

She visibly fought for a breath, and when it came, it was shaky. "Sur — surgery." The word set her off again, and he just held her, there on the floor, for what seemed like forever.

This wasn't the way things were supposed to be. They were supposed to be planning a way to tell Dotty and the boys their good news. Not...his mind trailed off, refusing to finish the thought. Not this, it finally came up with instead. Definitely not this.

"Sir."

He looked up to see a nurse standing above them.

"Sir, I'm so sorry. But you can't wait here." Her eyes were filled with sympathy. "There's a separate waiting room, one with more privacy, a few doors down. Can you —"

Nodding, he turned Amanda slightly. She moved with him, trying to arrange her feet underneath her but without succeeding. Sliding a hand under her knees, he staggered to his feet and carried her down the hallway as the nurse led them to a quiet room containing two couches and a chair.

"There's a phone in here," said the nurse as he settled onto one of the couches, cradling Amanda's head against his shoulder. "But if you need me to call anyone for you…"

"No," he answered, voice still thick. "I'll do it." He looked down. "Amanda?"

Her eyes were wet, glassy, and haunted. She didn't seem to be all the way present.

"Don't do that," he told her. "Stay with me."

In response, she re-tightened her hands on his shirt and buried her face back against his neck. Swallowing, Lee eased the purse strap off her shoulder and then began to root around inside, looking for her address book. It was a good thing she was as organized as she was, because right now she was in no state to even think about what needed to be done next.

She had fallen into a fitful doze by the time he finished the third phone call, but she sat straight up at the sound of the receiver clicking into the cradle. "Jamie!"

Lee had moved to the other couch to make the phone calls, but he was back by her side immediately. "It's all right. Joe and Carrie are picking him up." Probably already had, in fact. "They'll be here soon."

She took a long, shaky breath, one that ended with a hitch. "Thank you."

"I called Billy, too. We're both to take whatever time we need."

"The Middle East transcripts —"

"Francine's got them." He took her hands. "Amanda, did they tell you what happened?"

She shook her head. "All I know is what you told me. A car accident."

"Okay." He kissed her forehead before standing up. "I'm going to go see if I can find out some more."

As if on cue, the waiting room door opened and a uniformed man stepped in. "Mr. and Mrs. King? Phillip King's parents?"

"Stetson," Lee clarified. "Mother and stepfather." The word felt like ash in his mouth. It was another first that shouldn't be happening like this. "His father and stepmother are on the way. What happened?"

The policeman, who had sergeant's stripes on his sleeves, sat down. "We're still trying to figure that out. Right now, it's looking like there was a front left blowout and Mrs. West lost control of the vehicle. It rolled over into oncoming traffic, right in front of a delivery truck. There was no time for the truck to stop or even swerve."

Amanda frowned. "Mother's too cautious of a driver to go that fast."

"Sport utility vehicles have a higher center of gravity, and it looked like this one was relatively new?" She nodded. "If she wasn't aware of the difference in profile, she easily could have jerked the wheel too hard by mistake."

Lee showed his ID to the sergeant. "I'd like to be read into the investigation."

"Mr. Stetson, it's likely nothing more than a routine traffic matter."

"My family isn't routine to me." He paused for a breath. "And we have enemies. Both of us, actually, since we both work for the Agency." At that, Amanda sat up, reaching into her purse to retrieve her own ID and show it.

"Yes, but —"

The waiting room door slammed open and two voices shouted at once. "Mom!" "Amanda!"

She stood, dropping the ID back into her purse. "Joe. Jamie." Her arms went around her younger son, holding on as if she might not ever let go.

Joe wrapped his arms around both of them, but his gaze slid over. "Lee."

"Joe." He squeezed Carrie's hands, guiding her toward the other couch. "How much have they told you?"

"Nothing," replied the other man as he stepped out of the embrace. "The receptionist just directed us back here, so I don't know anything other than what we discussed on the phone. What happened?"

The police sergeant offered a hand. "Mr. King, I'm Sergeant Moore with the Metro Police. As I was explaining to Mr. and Mrs. Stetson here —"

"Mr. and Mrs. Stetson? They're not married!"

Lee felt his hands clench into fists, but he made the effort to unclench them. "Yes, we are. But what's important right now is getting some answers."

Joe nodded, although his eyes flashed a clear message: that particular bit of information was definitely going to come back up, and not necessarily in the most pleasant manner. "Okay. But first, how's Phillip?"

"In surgery. I don't know for what, or how much longer it'll be."

He went as white as Amanda had.

In contrast, Jamie's face flushed. "But he's going to survive. Right? He'll make it? And what about Grandma? Is she in surgery too?"

Lee opened his mouth and then closed it, not sure how to start. They had just managed to establish a tenuous connection, which was likely going to be strained by the revelation about his and Amanda's marriage. Having to deliver the next piece of news might push things into another breakdown.

Joe sat on the couch next to Carrie, pulling Jamie over to stand in front of him. "James, this isn't going to be easy for you to hear. But —" He glanced up at Lee, a different question in his eyes now, and Lee shook his head slightly. "But there's no other way to say it. Your grandmother didn't survive."

"No!" The word was a cry. "You're lying! Don't —" He turned toward Amanda. "Tell him he's wrong, Mom!"

She pulled Jamie backwards against her. "Sweetheart, nobody's lying. Your grandmother…" her voice broke, and she had to take a deep breath. "She died before they could get her to the hospital to fix her."

His wordless scream was high-pitched and ear-splitting, but nobody, not even Sergeant Moore, moved to stop him or even clap their hands over their ears. Instead, Amanda turned him around as he began sobbing and struggling. But when his fists began pounding against her shoulders, hard enough to bruise the scar tissue underneath, Lee grabbed him. "No, don't! You'll hurt —"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do! You're not my father! You're not even my stepfather, no matter what you say!" Now the fists were pounding on him, but when Joe moved to intervene, Lee shook his head. Better to let him get it out, and it was no worse than he'd taken from any number of adversaries over the years. That said, he held Jamie close in an effort to get him to be still. There were still too many questions to be answered, questions that couldn't be asked until he was back under control.

Feeling a hand wrap around his, he looked down to see Carrie's concerned eyes. Her other hand had begun to rub Jamie's back, and he realized that Joe and Amanda had left the room with Sergeant Moore. Good; in addition to getting more information, they would also have a chance to check on Phillip. In the meantime, the two of them could handle this.