By Micki L. Bailey

When Roger hung up the phone in the loft, he put his hands together in front of his face and closed his eyes. Inwardly, he told himself that he would remain composed, that this episode would not end badly. He breathed deeply, his body feeling cold shock.

The rescue unit had phoned him as soon as they had located Maggie’s purse in the rain-soaked wreckage. All they could tell him about her physical condition was that she’d been transported alive and whole to the nearby hospital’s emergency room.

"Yes, there were casualties here. But your wife was alive when she left the scene 20 minutes ago, Mr. Lococco." Those words echoed harshly in his head. He refused to consider all the possibilities.

With his mind elsewhere, he grabbed a jacket from the bedroom closet and solemnly headed for the door. Almost as an afterthought, he snatched up the detailed note Maggie had left him when she’d gone out to see Earl Ray.

"Just a few short hours ago, she was standing right here," he thought sadly, "writing me this note. She was fine………And now she’s……….." Again he refused to let his mind wander off its deliberate course of self-control.

On his frantic, soggy drive to the hospital, Roger used his cell phone to call Earl Ray at the number on the note. All their past differences, including four months of no contact whatsoever, vanished as he filled him in.

"Damn, man! She was just here less than an hour ago!"

"Well, she’s at Regional now. And I’m on my way. Thought you’d wanna know," Roger said, concealing the fear he felt.

"How do I get there, Roger? I can’t fucking sit here by the phone." Roger gave him quick, yet coherent, directions and then hung up.

Inside the hospital, he paced impatiently up and down the corridors outside the waiting room. Maggie had been moved to surgery and was still being worked on.

All Roger could harass out of the staff was, "Your wife’s doing fine, Mr. Lococco." He was too anxious about missing action here to trod downstairs and find out what exactly had transpired in the ER.

Silent howls resounded inside him as he paced. He felt a confused and frenzied motion in his nerves, a dashing back and forth, as if he had little control.

When Earl Ray arrived in a rush, he realized right away that Roger was not coping with the tense situation as well as he wanted to. He felt unexpected sympathy for his old buddy now as he watched Roger tread methodically up the long, sterile hallway, his head down and his brow furrowed. Look at how damn far things have come, he thought.

"Hey, man. You heard anything yet?" he asked as Roger neared him.

Roger looked up at him with haunted eyes. "No………….just that she’s still in surgery." Earl Ray heard an icy clang in his voice and knew Roger was standing at the edge of something like turmoil. He probably wouldn’t be in the mood for renewing their friendship, or even for cute small talk.

Before he spoke again, he eyed Roger who was looking off down the hall now. "How’d the accident happen?"

Roger whirled around to him. "Some bitch ran the fucking red light. Plowed right into Maggie," Roger screamed quietly.

"Damn," Earl Ray said.

"If she hadn’t come to see YOU, Michaels, she’d still be home and well right now." Roger’s eyes flamed up, as if they’d been waiting for an excuse to do so.

But Earl Ray wasn’t caught off-guard. "If you hadn’t brought her way the fuck up here to this monsoon city of the damned, Lococco, NONE of this shit woulda happened."

Now all of Roger’s pent-up tension and anxiety melded into full-blown anger. He grabbed Earl Ray’s jacket lapels and pushed him backwards into the wall. "You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, asshole."

Earl Ray glared into his worried eyes, aware that Roger was reacting to the stress. "Let go of me, Roger. I know you’re upset."

Roger did not, however, unclench his fists. "She was SICK, Earl Ray. Why couldn’t you bring your ass over to see HER?" he snarled.

Earl Ray felt his tolerance fading fast. He tried to convince it to stick around a little longer. "She wouldn’t let me, man. She insisted on coming to the hotel."

Roger slammed him roughly against the wall a second time. "Fuck you, Earl Ray. I knew you’d bring trouble if you showed up here."

Then Earl Ray lost at least one firm grip on his temper. Through clenched teeth, he hissed, "You always think ya know everything, don’tcha, Lococco? Well, ya couldn’t see that Maggie’s pregnant could ya? THAT’S why she was sick, you sonofabitch! NOW who ain’t got a clue?"

All expression, as well as color, drained from Roger’s face. He released the lapels from his tight clutches and backed up a step, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "She told you that?"

Instantly sorry he’d spilled the news, Earl Ray said sympathetically, "She just found out, man. And she was scared to death……………..She was gonna tell ya tonight."

This bombastic assault on Roger’s senses was taking its toll. He felt the hot anger rekindle itself.

"Why’d she tell YOU, Michaels? That’s pretty damn personal information, if ya ask me………….You weren’t screwing my wife in that hotel room, now were ya?" He peered at Earl Ray through narrowed slits.

Earl Ray saw a huge wall of bright red in his mind, but he chose to look the other way. Calmly, he said, "Ya know, Roger? I should kick the shit outta you right now…………not for suggesting that I’D do something like that…………but that Maggie would. I hope she never finds out you said that shit. It would crush her."

"Mr. Lococco?"

A doctor in green scrubs was walking out a side corridor towards them.

"Yeah."

"Your wife’s gonna be fine."

"Good." Roger let out a deafening, relieved sigh.

"That was a nasty little accident she had. She’s a very lucky girl."

"What’s the damage, doc?" Despite trying not to, Roger sounded impatient.

"She has several broken ribs and some stitches in her scalp. And there was internal damage to one of her kidneys, which we fixed in there. She’ll be sore for awhile, but she’ll be okay………….Oh…………and………….we couldn’t save the baby………It’ll be some time before we know if she can conceive again."

Roger had sucked in his cheeks looked down. He said nothing. "I’m sorry for the loss…………but Maggie’s doing great," the doctor added, patiently.

Roger collected his thoughts and looked back up. "Thanks, doc, for all you did. When can I see her?"

"As soon as she’s awake back there in recovery. Shouldn’t be long now. Somebody will letcha know."

"’Preciate it."

As the doctor and a nurse walked away, Roger ambled exhaustively over to a waiting room chair and sat down. He pushed his hands through his hair and looked at nothing in particular. Earl Ray joined him, sitting down opposite him. Strangely, they were alone. Except for the thick tension that filled the atmosphere.

"Sorry, man…………’bout the baby."

Roger then glanced up at him, moving only his eyes. "As long as she’s okay, I can live with it."

"I hear ya. I was worried sick too"

Roger was still staring at him. "Hey, Earl Ray……………I shouldn’t have said that shit to ya over there………’bout you and Maggie."

"Don’t worry ‘bout it, man. You were stressed," Earl Ray said.

"Yeah. You got that right……………And Maggie woulda slapped the shit outta me if she’d heard." Roger’s voice was quiet and breathy.

Earl Ray’s eyes twinkled. "Exactly………….She’s ain’t much on hiding her feelings, is she?"

"She’s kinda like water…………….sometimes ice, sometimes steam." The breathy, soft voice again.

"Yeah," Earl Ray said. Age-old memories were marching through his head. "I hope losing that baby doesn’t get to her, man."

"Ah, if it does, I’ll fix her……..She’ll get through it…" Roger faded off.

"Good," Earl Ray said quietly.

"Say, Earl Ray, whatever happened between you and your old lady?"

"Don’t do it, man. That bitch ain’t important enough to drag out into the light now………..I don’t wanna talk about it."

"Whatever you say…………Maybe next time, man, you’ll hook up with the right one," Roger told him.

"Nope. No more next times. I’m done with all that shit. For good." They both chuckled a tension-releasing laugh.

Just then, a nurse came into the room. "Which one of you is Roger?"

"I am." Roger stood up quickly.

"Maggie’s asking for ya."

And Earl Ray was forced to sit there and sadly watch him leave with the nurse. How could he have pointed out to Roger that he’d long ago found the right one?

* * *

As Maggie relinquished her hold on the blissful oblivion, the doctor updated her on her condition. Including the loss of the baby. And she suddenly realized in her fog that Roger, somewhere outside this room, had been given the same update. Including the baby news. So, in her foggy perception, she suddenly became desperate to see him.

When he finally appeared, sitting on her bed beside her, she relaxed and smiled. A writer would call his visage "disarming" and "dazzling," she thought. He was her singular solace for everything.

"Howya feeling, baby?" Roger caressed her neck, just under her jaw line.

"I must be in Heaven already. There’s a magnificently beautiful angel here with me."

He smiled. "Always with the funny lines, aren’t ya, Maggie? You gave me a real scare, ya know."

"Sorry ‘bout that………….The light turned green……….I thought it was my time to go…………It was raining so hard I could hardly see, Roger."

"I know, baby. They say you’re lucky to be alive………..The woman that hit you isn’t."

Maggie gasped. "Omigod. She bought the farm?"

"Yep…….The cows, sheep, the whole shebang…………But let’s just concentrate on you………..I’m glad you’re here……talking to me……….So how do ya feel?"

"A little groggy……….and my head hurts……but I’m okay." Then Maggie took his hand in hers without glancing down for it. "I’m sorry."

His eyes told her that he knew exactly what she meant. "Don’t fret ‘bout it now, sweetheart. It’s done. You couldn’t help it."

"I coulda told ya sooner…………….before you hadda hear from the doctor that it was dead," Maggie said.

"Earl Ray told me." He squeezed her hand.

"He’s here?"

"Out in the waiting room. I called him on my way to the hospital." Roger shrugged. "It was the decent thing to do."

She raised his hand to her mouth and kissed his fingers lovingly. "Thank you, Roger………..my love………….And I’m sorry you hadda hear it from anybody but me. I shoulda told you as soon as I found out."

"Why were ya scared, Maggie? Am I that horrible?" He leaned closer to her now and almost whispered.

"It just seemed like the wrong time and all…………..I don’t know…………We hadn’t planned it."

Now he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her open palm. "We’ll plan the next one. Okay?"

She grinned. The kiss had tickled a little. "If I can even manage it again……..…The doctor said—"

"Shhhhhh……..Not now. We can discuss it later. I think they wanna get you to a room ASAP………and I know Earl Ray wants to see ya too."

"I told him first ‘cause he woulda guessed it eventually in that hotel room, Roger. That’s why he came up here………to check on me."

He put his index finger to her lips. "I said not now, baby. It’s okay how things went down…………as long as you’re gonna be fine." Then he cupped her face in his hand.

"I’m fine now that we’ve talked," Maggie told him.

"But you’ve been so blue………….Was it the baby thing? Or do ya hate it here that much?"

"No, Roger. I don’t hate it here. It was partly the baby………but that’s taken care of now, isn’t it?……... I just need to get settled and comfortable and all. This place is as good as any other…………as long as you’re around."

"Don’t start sweet-talking me, Maggie."

She laughed. "But I love you!" Her head was still a little cloudy.

"Hey, here’s an idea…………What if I ask Earl Ray to hang around Portland for awhile? Would you be okay with that?"

She stared at him, open-mouthed. "Are you serious? You’d do that, Roger?"

"Why not, sweets? You’d have a friend. And I’m guessing he wouldn’t mind."

"What would he do ‘round here?"

"What does he do in Tucson? Hmm? He’s a smart boy, Maggie. He could find work…………Hell, he could even help me out with the damn cars if he wanted to."

Two tears fell down her cheeks. He was comforting her, she knew instantly. Providing solace for the accident, the lost baby, the abrupt uprooting, everything. "You’re some kind of amazing."

"No, I’m not. It’s just taken me an ungodly amount of time to find someone to be kind to, baby." He kissed her warm, waiting mouth, lingeringly. The sparks they gave off were definitely blue-flamed.

"I really do love you, Roger. You’re always taking care of me."

"What the hell else am I supposed to do? You’re my life now."

She let two more tears fall. "In case you missed it the first million times, I love you."

He wiped her cheek. "Yeah, yeah, sweets. Me too."

* * *
On to the Conclusion