Epilogue
Valor
“
Uncommon valor was a common virtue. ”
- Admiral Chester Nimitz, after
the capture of Iwo Jima
"Amanda?"
"Yes,
Lee, I'm here."
"I
missed you."
"I
know, dear one."
"Are
you really here?"
"Of
course not…."
"I
love you."
"I
know."
* * *
* * * * * * *
It was
finally spring, even in Massachusetts.
Magnolias and crabapple trees bloomed along the Charles River and a warm
breeze brought the scent in through the hospital window. 'Scarecrow' awoke without knowing what had
awakened him. Voices, maybe?
He
rolled carefully, cautiously onto his side.
There was pain, especially in his arm and shoulder, but it wasn't
unbearable. For once, his head felt
clear, and the ophthalmologist who had been in to see him yesterday had
informed him that while damaged, his eyes would heal. It should take no more than two or three weeks.
He'd
have the casts on longer than that. For
convenience and flexibility, they had recast his right arm in two
segments. One ran from the back of his
wrist to just below his elbow, and the other from his shoulder to just above
it. His elbow miraculously had escaped
without serious damage.
He
could walk with the use of a cane. He'd
proven that to himself yesterday. He
couldn't go far yet, but the physical therapist, a very classy looking little
redhead, had informed him that his endurance would improve with time.
He was
sick of being sick. He was tired of
hospitals and hospital food. He wanted
badly to go home. Of course, he
realized on one level that he no longer had a 'home of his own' to go back
to. Still, the feeling that he should
be able to return to a place that was 'his' persisted.
The
insurance company had been generous. He
could afford to live pretty much wherever he chose. Maybe he could stay with Amanda for a while.
*Amanda?* He remembered a piece of his dream. He thought it was a dream. It had seemed so real. He smiled at the memory.
"Hi,
Lee!" The real thing stuck her
head in through the partially closed hospital room door. "How are you doing today?"
"Amanda!" He greeted her with a broad smile. "Better, thanks. A little better every day." And, she had been here for him every day. She hadn't missed a single one. He had no idea how she'd managed it, but she
had and he was grateful.
"How
are you really?" she didn't let him get away with the 'pat' answer she
knew he was parroting from his physical therapist.
"Okay. The therapist says it'll just take time and
patience."
Amanda
laughed. "That's not one of your
strong suits."
"No,
it's not," he replied ruefully.
Changing
the topic quickly, he began anew, "I talked to Francine…last night. She tells me you're getting a
commendation."
Amanda
looked away and nodded her head, her cheeks gathering more color. "I really didn't do all that much. It was a lot of people working
together. That's how we found you…time,
patience, lots of cooperation."
"I
know, Amanda, but…you never stopped believing, did you?" Her chin was down and her eyes hidden
beneath feathered bangs. He knew there
were tears in her eyes.
"Never."
The
tears didn't fall. She didn't let them,
but the soft rasp in her voice as she answered told him everything he needed or
wanted to know.
"Thank
you." He wanted to hold her, to
draw her close to him. He wanted so
many things…half-resolved desires…diaphanous dreams
"I
hear you're going home tomorrow."
She tried to defuse the mood; she almost succeeded. "Well, back to DC anyway."
"Yeah,
can't say I'll miss this place."
He looked around the hospital room…Boston General's finest. It was warm and clean and had working
plumbing: all of which were positives, but it was a long way from where he
wanted to be.
"I've
talked to mother and the boys," Amanda began, and Lee wondered if she'd
been reading his mind.
"They'd…that is, we'd…I'd like it if you'd come and stay with
us. Until you're better. Until you can get a place of your own."
"I'd
like that very much." Hazel eyes
met brown ones. "Thank you."
She
was never sure what answer she'd expected, but his calm acceptance and obvious
gratitude left her surprised and a little breathless.
"It
really won't be any trouble. Jamie can
bunk in with Philip. They've done that
before when Aunt Agnes came to visit over the holidays. It worked out very well and it's good for
them to learn to share. You'll have some
privacy, a room of your own that way."
She blushed deeply, feeling the warmth spread all the way to the top of
her head.
"Thank
you." He couldn't think of
anything else to say nor could he imagine exactly what had embarrassed her so
completely, but it was amusing, sincere, and a completely 'Amanda' reaction.
"I
really appreciate everything you're doing for me." Lee finally continued. "I hate to put you out. Hopefully, it won't be for too long."
He
wasn't sure if she looked relieved or disappointed at that news.
"I'm
sure we'll manage just fine, no matter how long it takes."
"I'm
sure we will."
Carefully,
he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.
A part of him would have put it to his lips in a flirtatious gesture,
but somehow this wasn't the time or the place.
He sensed that time was coming but it was still 'out there' on the
horizon somewhere amidst all the other 'somedays' of his life.
* * *
* * * * * *
*'Someday,'
his search would be over.*
*'Someday,'
he would find the woman of his dreams…or,* he added to himself, *admit he'd
found her.*
*'Someday,'
he'd settle down.*
* * *
* * * * * * *
"Amanda?"
"I
know."
The
End of "In Search of…"
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