Title: Brother and Sister day 28: A Stitch in Time
Author: Kjiara
Author's E-Mail: kayjay@sunwave.net
Category: PJR
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to the end of season three.
Archive: Yes, just give credit where due
Feedback: Makes my day!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of 'em.

Thank you to Natasha for giving this a nice thorough go-over and 
for the very helpful comments, this story is better for her input.

Summary: An emergency prompts a call home.


A Stitch in Time
by Kjiara

"Good afternoon, Screenplay Video, Dawson speaking."  

"Thank God you're there!"  At the sound of Joey Potter's frantic
voice Dawson jumped up from his chair.

"Joey?  What's wrong, are you okay?"  His own voice just slightly
calmer than hers.

"No!  Do you know where Doug is?" she demanded.

"Doug Witter?  No, why would I know where Doug is?"  He tried to
return to his question.  "Joey, what's wrong?  Did something
happen, do you want to come home?" he asked hopefully.

"Dammit, Dawson, I need to speak to Doug.  Where the hell could he
be?"  She took a deep breath.  "Okay, um, Dawson, hate to ask you
this but I really need a favour.  Are you working alone?"

"No, but--"

"Good, could you see if you can hunt down Doug for me?  I tried
the apartment and the station but he's not on duty today.  I
really need to talk to him, Dawson and I already called
practically everyone in Capeside. . ."

"Glad to hear I'm still the first person you turn to," Dawson
griped.  "And I'm not moving until you tell me what happened,
Joey, what, did Pacey manage to get himself thrown in Jail?" he
asked snidely.  

The silence from Joey's end was frigid. "No, Dawson he's in the
hospital," she snapped, frustrated.  "And I need Doug to give the
doctor's permission to stitch Pacey's hand.  Listen, Dawson if you
won't help me just say so.  I'll try to find someone who will"

"What?  What happened to his hand?"

"He cut it, badly.  And now this stupid doctor is more worried
about a lawsuit than he is about Pacey's hand."  Dawson got the
feeling said doctor was within earshot of Joey's scathing tone.

"Why not call Mr. Witter?"

"Because, the Witters are gone for the weekend and -- never mind
that, I need to find Doug!"

"Fine, I'll see what I can do Joey.  I just have to --, oh, hang
on a sec."  Dawson dropped the phone and bolted out the door. 
"Doug, Doug, hold up," he called across the street. 

Doug looked up to find Dawson Leery hollering his name.  He jogged
across the street to the younger man.  "What's up, Dawson?"

"Joey's on the phone.  She's been looking for you.  Pacey's hurt
himself and the doctor won't treat him without permission." 
Dawson filled Doug in as he led him to the phone.

"Joey, what happened?" Doug asked as he picked up the phone.

"Thank, God!  I need you to tell this damn doctor that's its okay
for him to save your brother's hand," she practically snarled.

"Hello?  Mr. Witter?"  

"Yes, this is Doug Witter.  What's happened to my brother?" 

"My name is Alyce Simons, I'm a nurse here at Mercy Hospital.  Mr. 
Witter, your brother has suffered a rather severe laceration to
his left hand," she explained.

"And what are you doing about it?"

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Witter, but Dr. Lawrence doesn't feel he
should treat your brother until we have all of his information
available."  Her tone made it clear to Doug exactly what she
thought of Dr. Lawrence.

"You mean he wants to make sure he has enough insurance for the
good doctor to do a decent job."  Doug snapped.

"I'm sure that's not the problem, sir," she said professionally,
though her tone indicated otherwise.

"Fine."  Doug gave her all of the family's insurance information
then asked to speak to Joey again.

"Pompous ass."  Joey muttered as she took the phone.  "Hi, Doug."

Doug had to smile at her attitude, no wonder she and Pacey worked
so well.  "You okay, Joey?"

"I will be as soon as that self-important jackass in a lab coat
fixes your brother's hand."  She grumbled.

"What happened?" 

"It was so silly," she began.  "We were shell hunting on the
beach, Pacey saw what he thought was a particularly shiny shell,
turned out to be a particularly sharp piece of glass."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah, well, he opened his hand up pretty good.  Then this
supercilious moron, says he won't treat him until he has all his
*information*, just wants to make sure he gets his big fat cheque
from the insurance company."

"How bad is it?" 

"The nurse, who by the way also appears to hate Dr. Personality,
thinks it will take about twelve stitches, but that it should be
okay.  But it looked pretty bad to me, Doug."

"Im sure everything will be fine, Joey."

"There was just so much blood," she whispered, her voice now
quivering.

Doug was worried about Joey, afraid now that the immediate crisis
was over the shock might be settling in.  "It's going to be okay,
Joey.  Pacey's going to be fine.  You of all people know how tough
he can be.'

Joey laughed, "you should have seen him in the ambulance on the
way here.  He kept trying to make me laugh, telling me the
stupidest jokes in his repertoire.  Like I haven't heard them all
a thousand times before."  Her voice broke.  "He was just trying
to find me a pretty shell."

"Ah, Joey, shh.  If Pacey thinks I made you cry he'll make my life
miserable," Doug joked, trying to lighten her mood.

"I thought he already made your life miserable."

"Yeah, well, not so much as he used to.  He has this new
girlfriend who seems to have had a positive influence on him." 
Doug smiled into the phone.  "You really have been good for him,
Joey."

"He's been good for me too.  He makes me very happy."

"So what's was supposed to be next on your agenda?" Doug asked,
changing the subject.

"We have never really had an agenda.  We just go with what we feel
like doing on any given day.  If we feel like solid land, we come
into port, if not we stay out.  It's very liberating, to not have
to answer to anyone except each other."  

Doug could hear her smile.  "Sounds nice."

"It is.  We do what we want when we want.  No friends no family-- 
Oops, sorry."

"No problem.  I can't say I can blame either of you for wanting to
run away for the summer.  Though you did leave a bit of a mess
behind," Doug admonished gently.

"I know we did, Doug.  But I think in order for anything to *ever*
work itself out, we all needed a break from the melodrama.  I
don't think the situation would have been any better had we
stayed.  I think it would have been harder on all of us. 
Especially Dawson."

"I'm not saying you made the wrong choice, Joey, not by a long
shot.  All I have to do is read one of Pacey's e-mails or hear his
voice, to know how very *right* your choice was."

"He talks about me?" she asked shyly.

Doug laughed softly.  "No, Joey, he writes me three page e-mails
about the joys and wonders of coastal America.  Yes he talks about
you."  He laughed again. 

"Oh."

"Joey," Doug began, trying hard not to laugh at the poor girl. 
"You're all he talks about.  How smart you are, what a great
sailor you've become, what a great listener you are, how much fun
you two are having just being together. You've made him very
happy."

"Oh."  Joey cleared her throat self-consciously.  "Well, I'm
having a pretty great time too.  He's amazing.  I'm learning all
these things about him that I didn't know before."

Once again Doug stifled laughter at her almost reverent tone.  She
was talking about his baby brother after all.  "I'm glad you two
are having a good trip.  We all miss you."

"We miss you guys too."  Joey hesitated a moment.  "Um, Doug?"

"What is it, Joey?"

"Um, well, before Pacey and I began our shell hunt this morning, I
called Bessie, to check in."

"Oh?"

"Yeah.  She told me she hasn't seen you in over a week."

"True."

"She didn't sound all that happy about it either," Joey said
rather sternly.  "What happened, I thought the two of you were
trying to rebuild your friendship?"

Doug sighed.  "Joey, it's complicated."

"What's complicated, do you want to be my sister's friend or don't
you?  She said you guys had been spending a lot of time together,
getting to know each other again.  What happened?"

"Joey, there are things about this you don't understand. . ." Doug
tried again.

"But if you're her friend you should work it out.  Your friendship
has to be worth at least that."

"It is, it is, but--"

"There are no buts , Doug.  She was so upset when I talked to her,
said it was just like the last time you left her.  Bessie doesn't
get this upset over nothing, I'm worried about her, Please, Doug,
at least talk to her.  See if you can work it out.  You guys spent
too much time apart.  Friendships like your's don't come along
every day.  Believe me, I know."

Doug sighed heavily.  "Fine, Joey, I'll call Bessie.  But I'm not
promising anything."  He agreed, then quickly shifted topics.
"Now, I should get off the store phone before Dawson here gets
into trouble, and you should go take care of Pacey.  And be
patient, he can be a bit of a baby when he's sick or hurt."

"Not a problem, I'm not above pampering the sick, he just better
not push it," she said, her warm tone belying the threatening
words.

"Okay, give him my best and tell him to call if he needs anything. 
That goes for you too, Joey, you need *anything* you call, okay?"

"Thanks, Doug, I will.  Now go talk to my sister.  Bye."  She hung
up before he had a chance to answer.

"Is she coming home?" Dawson asked the minute he hung up the
phone.

Doug turned to look at the young man who had been a part of his
brother's life for as long as he could remember.  "Why would she
some home, Dawson?"

Dawson shrugged.  "I just thought that with Pacey hurt. . ."

"Ah, I see.  Aren't you going to ask how Pacey is?"

Dawson shrugged again.  "He'll be fine, he always manages to come
out of everything practically unscathed."

Doug shook his head regretfully at the younger man's cold
attitude.  "Hardly.  But this time it would appear he'll be okay. 
So don't go worrying yourself sick about it."  He added
sarcastically.

"I'm just worried about Joey."  Dawson defended himself.  "If
Pacey's hurt, who'll take care of her?"

Doug laughed out loud at that one.  "The same person who has
always taken care of her, Joey.  Good-bye, Dawson."


****


   FROM: Pwitter@yehaw.com
   DATE: July 7, 2000
   TO: DWITTER@Capeside.net
   SUBJECT: Greeting from True Love

  
  Hey Dougie,
  
  
  How's things?  Things are almost unbearably perfect here.  We
  are having the most incredible trip.  For the first time in my
  life I don't have to answer to anyone for my decisions, well,
  Joey, but she's been pretty lenient, and I think I could get
  used to this.  I know, I know, don't bother, but it would be
  nice.  Jo and I are getting along great.  She even more amazing
  than I thought.  We can just talk about anything.  I mean for
  the last year we've spent a lot of time together but there was
  always that thing between us.  We were both so damn scared to
  open up to each other we spent half our time hiding.  Not so
  much now, I'm telling you, it's incredible.  She tells me
  everything.  What makes her laugh what makes her cry, what
  she's afraid of. . .  And she listens!!!  Can you believe it,
  she can sit there and just listen to me talk for hours (Shut
  Up) and the most amazing thing is she actually *hears* what 
  I'm saying.  
  
  We spend most days at sea.  We take turns at the helm and she
  has been doing a lot of painting, she is so good, you should
  see her work.  We go fishing, search for other boats, play
  silly word games, (she cheats), we've already been through one
  deck of cards, (she's a bit of a sore loser) and we read.  We
  hit the used book stores when we're in port and stock up on new
  reading material, as a matter of fact that's where I'm writing
  this from.  I think the best part though is the evenings, we
  set up my scope and look at the stars and we talk.  I know I
  shocked her when she saw the telescope.  She had no idea I had
  a thing for astronomy.  I don't know why I never told her, I
  guess I thought it didn't fit the image she had of me.  I kinda
  like being able to teach her things too.  About the stars and
  planets and about sailing.  She's a great sailor, a natural, I
  think a big part of it is she loves the water and she seems to
  enjoy sailing so she's taken to it like a pro.
  
  Well I should go, just wanted to let you know we're still
  afloat.
  
  later
  
  Pacey. 
  
  
  
Doug closed the e-mail.  He'd received it the week before and it
had made him smile then.  Pacey sounded so damn happy, now he knew
Joey was just as happy, that was a good thing.  His musings were
interrupted by the door.

"Hi, Doug."

"Bessie."

"Can I come in?" Bessie asked uncertainly.

"Of course, of course."  He closed the door behind her and said,
"I was just about to call you."

"Joey?" she asked smiling.

"Joey."  They stood staring at each other for a moment.  "This is
crazy, B, sit down we need to talk."

Bessie settled on the couch.  She fidgeted with her hands for a
moment before pulling a cushion into her lap.  "We really screwed
things up didn't we?"

Doug shrugged, not meeting her eyes.  'We were young. . ."

"Not so very.  We were twenty-one."

"That's pretty young."

"How is it my sister and your brother have their act together
better than we did?  They're only seventeen."

"Pacey and Joey ran away from home for the summer because their
mutual best friend has some pretty serious issues about their
relationship," Doug said dryly.

"True, why didn't we think of that?" Bessie asked, smiling.

"Okay, so maybe we weren't so much young as we were stupid."

"And scared," Bessie whispered.

"Yeah, can't forget scared."  Doug took a deep breath.  "So. . ."

"I talked to Bodie."

"What?" 

"I talked to Bodie.  After Joey called me and lectured me about
going with what I felt would make me happy and that it is up to me
to decide what and who I need, I knew that there were a few things
he needed to know."

"Bessie what did you do?" Doug asked, apprehensively.

"We decided that maybe he should move out for a while."

"Bessie, no--" Doug stopped when she held up her hand.

"It's what we both need right now, Doug.  When Bodie asked me
again, whether or not I was still in love with you I couldn't tell
him no."

Bessie--" once again she interrupted him.

"I couldn't lie to him, Doug.  Not any more."  She got up and went
to the window.  "I've been lying to him for five years, to myself
too.  When I left you, I thought I was going to die it hurt so
much.  I had thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with
you.  You were everything to me.  When I thought that you didn't
love me, that you were never going to marry someone like me, I
wanted to die.  Everything I had ever wished for, vanished into
thin air.  And there was Bodie.  Waiting on the sidelines, being
my best friend, just like he'd alway been.  Telling me I was too
good for you and if you were to stupid to see how amazing I was
then it was your loss.'  She choked back her tears.  "I don't
think he was intentionally malicious, Doug, I think he really
believed you didn't love me."

Doug stared at the floor for a moment, he knew Bessie was wrong,
Bodie had known exactly how Doug felt about her, and he had
*chosen* not to see it.  "Bessie, you and Bodie, you have a life
together.  You have a home, a business, and most importantly you
have a son."  Doug cleared his throat carefully.  "You can't just
throw all that away."

"I know what we have, Doug, don't you think I've been killing
myself over all this.  It was so much easier when I thought you
didn't want to have anything to do with me.  When I let myself
believe that you had gone on with your life and were living
happily with out me.  But now, now I know that you're not, that
you still have feelings for me too."  She turned to him, tears
steaming down her face.  "I still love you, Doug.  I tried to
stop, I really did, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried I
just couldn't. . ."  She stopped unable to continue.

"Ah, Bess."  Doug gathered her into his arms, his heart breaking
as he felt the sobs wracking her frame.  "Shhh, Bess, it'll be
okay, we'll figure something out.  I promise."


The End 

Sorry this one took so long to get out, it put up a valiant
struggle but I won eventually.

I would love to hear what you think.

kayjay@sunwave.net