The answering silence lasted so long, Danny began to apologize, for what he didn't know but then Michelle finally rolled her eyes, and answered, "Danny, how do you think I'm doing?" with a touch more vehemence than she'd intended.
He looked her up and down. He noted the jagged cut of her simply pulled back hair, the frayed cuffs of her once well-made clothing, and the chewing marks of her short, serviceable fingernails, and a dozen other little things. He remembered the depth of her sleep the night before, and hell, she was going to spend Thanksgiving in a foreign country alone without a turkey. It all confirmed what he'd known in the first instant he saw her again.
"Not well."
She should have been surprised by the concise honesty of his answer, but she wasn't. Instead, she leaned her elbow on the car window and rested her head in her hand, and wearily looked at him. "Danny, I've had a fine education, and I have a very rewarding career and a wonderful family who loves me. I really can't ask for more."
Absorbing her answer, he reversed course. "How has JR been?"
What was he doing? Cautiously, she worded her answer carefully, "Good, really good. Yes, it's been a great experience. I've gotten to work with a lot of great people from around the world."
"Are you specializing?"
"Yes, I'd been a resident in ENT- Ears, Nose, Throat," she translated. "I guess I'm pretty good at it. I'm giving a paper on Monday at the university in London on the restoration of hearing in children. That is, if I ever get the papers which are in my briefcase in my flat." She chuckled a little. "I'd really like to continue to work with children in that area. I've really enjoyed the time I've had to do it so far at JR."
"Children.... You'd be good with children." He smiled a little.
"Rick keeps telling me how long a haul it is." She lay her head back to rest on the headrest.. "He's also after me to come home, stop roaming the world, settle down have children of my own, yada, yada, yada..."
"And?"
She smiled the tiniest bit out of the corner of her mouth, and her dimple deepened ever so slightly. "I love seeing the world."
I would love to see it with you.
His heart stopped. And then he realized he had caught himself in time.
Fortunately, she continued in her stream of thought, "He's been trying really hard lately, though. Dr. Sloan has begun working with younger and younger patients with implants and other therapies. He mentioned last week that Dr. Sloan is looking for a fellow for next year in help in his research."
"It sounds like a great opportunity. Why don't you apply? I'm sure you're more than qualified."
"I don't know. It is a great opportunity. And I enjoy research, but I'd really like to work with patients full-time again. There's so much you can learn by working with patients day in and day out.... I have to think about it."
"You'd be with your family." He noted.
"Yes."
"It's not the same without your family around."
"No, no it's not. But I don't know if I'm ready to move back to Springfield."
He didn't ask why.
..................................................
Harmsworth Cottage, Scotland
"Danny, you have hauled me clear across the country in a car which if you had an ounce of compassion in your body, you would put out of its misery, on the run from goons who we have no idea who they are and HE'S NOT HERE!"
Peering through the frosted pane of glass, and knocking one last time, he answered, "Nope. Although it looks like he's been here recently. Maybe he's just gone for the weekend."
Reining herself in, she counted to ten, and asked the obvious, "Okay, what do we do now?"
Glancing downward at his watch, he shrugged his shoulders. "Lunch."