Dinah paused in the hallway outside the ICU. She'd been hurried off the day before by an annoying nurse, but today, the coast was clear. She knew his name. The temptation to go through his wallet had been too strong to resist. Tyler Harrison Jones. He was 23 and his license said he was from Pennsylvania. That was all she knew. She didn't even know if Tyler Jones had lived through the night.

Galen had commended her on quick thinking but wouldn't tell her anything about his condition. She just wanted to know what she had done wasn't in vain. Was that so much to ask? Ducking around a corner, she narrowly missed Galen as he stepped past her, a pretty nurse attached to his side. He would not be happy if he saw her here now. Looking around, she saw another nurse that her mother was friendly with and hurried to her.

"Hi Jackie! How are you?" Dinah asked, hoping it sounded casual enough. The nurse looked up and smiled brightly.

"Hello there, Dinah. What are you doing in the ICU? Looking for your dad? I think he's on 8 today in the cardiology wing."

"Oh? I was hoping he was down here. I wanted to ask him about a patient," she said, giving her best disappointed expression. That always worked with people she didn't know well. It made her look so sincere.

"Do you have a friend here in the ICU?" Jackie asked, concerned at once. Dinah nodded sadly.

"My friend Tyler...he was in a motorcycle accident last night," she whispered confidentially. "Galen wouldn't tell me anything."

"Well, Dr. Gennaro was right not to. That's patient confidentiality after all," Jackie said as a doctor passed by. She looked around after he had gone and lowered her voice to add, "What's his last name? Maybe I can tell you a little something about your friend."

"Jones, Tyler Jones. He came in last night," Dinah whispered back. Jackie typed his name into her computer and stared at the screen for a moment.

"Hm. Looks like he was in surgery all day but he's in recovery now. Looks good so far. Recovering well," Jackie added clearing her screen. "That's all I can tell you though."

"That's enough! I'm just glad he's alive! Thank you so much! I owe you a big favor," Dinah added. "I better go before Galen shows up and gives me the third degree. Thank you again Jackie!" She hurried off to the elevator just pleased that the man was alive. She had done well, she thought joyfully. The doors slid open and she stepped inside, pushing the button for the lobby. She leaned back against the wall with a pleasant smile on her face, oblivious to even the muzak that played overhead. At the lobby, the doors slid open and she stepped forward, coming face to face with Noah of all people.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Dinah grinned and stepped closer to him.

"Noah, I have good news! I've just declared my major." She stood on tip toes and kissed his cheek.

"What's that?"

"Pre-med." She smiled again. "Isn't that great? We'll be doctors together!" Whatever reaction she was expecting from Noah, she didn't get it. Instead, his mouth twitched at the corners as he held back a laugh.

"That's a good one, Dinah. You had me for a minute there," he said at last.

"You think this is funny?" Dinah took a step back from him and stared at him.

"Well, you're joking right?"

"No. I'm not. Thanks Noah. Thanks a lot." She walked away from him. There was a small part of her that wanted to hear him call after her but when that didn't happen, the rest of her, the angry part of her took over. If he wanted to be a jerk, he could just be one.


Scene 2:

"Joanie, I don't care how short handed we are. I'm not calling Noah on his day off," Maura repeated. "And we are not that short. Piper's here for another hour and I think that is enough people." Joanie opened her mouth to protest but Maura held up her hand, silencing her. "No. I am not paying Noah overtime. Besides, he has a job interview at the hospital today and I am not interfering with it. Now go back to work."

She was in a really bad mood. She'd slept very little, tossing and turning until she finally fell asleep at the relatively early hour of four a. m. Luckily, Kevin had offered to open up the diner and she managed another hour before dragging her butt into work. Joanie was being far too needy today and every one else around her was annoying and whiny as well.

She dropped down into her chair and buried her face in her hands. She hated that she felt this way! Life was so much simpler before she met Jude. Before, she was resigned to a life at the diner and her father. Now, she saw so many possibilities. Saw - past tense, she reminded herself. Until he was over this feeling sorry for himself phase, any ideas she had about the two of them would be on hold.

"Knock knock." Startled at the voice, she looked up knowing immediately that it was Rick. She still knew his voice. "May I?" He gestured inside the room waiting for her approval. Oh what the hell, she thought, waving him inside. Her day couldn't get much worse.

"Hi Rick. What brings you by? Jillie? Haven't seen her," Maura greeted him.

"I didn't come to see Jillie. I can see her anytime," Rick said taking a seat across from her. "I came to see you. I was wondering how you were doing. Nothing wrong with that is there?"

"It depends on what ulterior motives you have," she replied crossly.

"I don't have any, Maura. Can't I drop by without having a reason other than you are a good friend and I care about you?"

"You can't, no. Any other friend, yes."

He shook his head forlornly. "You've grown cynical in your old age, Maura. I remember when you were happy to get a surprise visit from me. Do you remember that diner you worked at in Chicago? The one with the turquoise wallpaper?"

Maura's eyes lit up at the memory. "Wisniewski's! Yes, I remember it. Those people...Mr. Wisniewski called me Shamrock. I hated that!" She smiled at the memory. "And he called you Bug. I never knew why he called you that."

"I'm sure he had his twisted reasons," Rick laughed. "That was a good time though. When you worked there and I was working at that car lot. I hated selling cars."

"Oh yeah, you were the worst salesman ever!" Maura found herself laughing at the memory again. She hadn't thought about that in ages. Those had been good times. But then there had been that day she had found out she was pregnant. That changed it all. Clearing her throat, she picked up a stack of papers and carried them to the filing cabinet. "Did you come to reminisce?"

He leaned back, watching her file. "No. But if it makes you smile, I can reminisce forever." He stood and moved closer to her, hovering over her. "Are you okay, Maura? You seem a little down. Is there something you want to talk about?"

She looked up into his eyes, remembering how blue they always seemed before. They were a lighter shade now. Oh what was she doing? Not ten minutes ago she was miserable over Jude and here she was staring up into Rick's eyes thinking about all the fun they once had. She was certifiable after all.

"I'm fine Rick," she choked out coming to her senses.

"Are you?" He leaned in closer, peering into her face intently. His hand reached out to her arm and for a fleeting moment, she knew this was a dangerous situation. She knew she should shrug his hand off and make him leave. But her moment's hesitation was all it took for him to make a move, sweeping her into his arms.

"Rick..."

"Shut up Maura," Rick said softly. "I've waited for a long time for this moment and I'm not going to let you ruin it."

"What moment?" She asked weakly, feeling dizzy at the very closeness of him. This was most certainly not happening, she thought. Just last night she was ready to give herself to Jude and here she was in Rick's arms? No this was wrong...even if Jude had rejected her. "Rick..."

"Maura, I meant it. Keep quiet," he ordered, pressing his lips to hers. She flinched momentarily at the directness of his kiss, her conscience doing her the favor of reminding her about Jude. But his insistence won out and she felt the years falling away. She returned his kiss fervently, letting the moment take over and damning the consequences.


Scene 3:

He hated women, Noah decided, kicking his tire. First Dinah with her ridiculous news and then that doctor who interviewed him. All he wanted was a job, not to be her little boy toy, he thought angrily. She had eyed him all through the meeting and even suggested she needed to be further convinced of his abilities. He'd rather keep working at Connie's. At least Maura never made a move on him. He gave the tire a final kick for good measure just as his stomach grumbled angrily.

Maura would let him have a free meal, if she was around, he thought, climbing back into his car. It wasn't that he was broke, but any time he could talk her into feeding him, it meant getting that CD he wanted or a new shirt. It was a little on the sly side, but he had a feeling Maura knew his game anyway.

The drive was short and he found a parking spot right in front. It wasn't too crowded, he saw, locking his car. Just as he reached the door, it opened on him, hitting him squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He stumbled backwards, looking up as he did and locked eyes with Piper. "Hey," he gasped, trying to breathe normally.

"Oh my gosh, Noah!" Piper cried, watching the familiar figure hunch over. "I'm so sorry!" She stepped closer to him, trying to see if he was okay, forgetting for a minute the distance she preferred to keep between them. "Are you okay? Oh, dumb question, I just hit you with the door, I'm so sorry!" Rambling, she did that often around Noah.

"I'm okay," he said trying not to laugh at the look of panic on her face. "Really, it didn't hit me too hard," he added with a grin.

"Are you sure?" she asked, backing away slightly, suddenly aware of their close proximity to one another.

"Yes. I'm fine. I promise. I'm too hungry to notice pain right now anyway." He looked past her inside the restaurant searching for Maura . "Is Maura here tonight? I was hoping for a freebie meal and you know, Joanie is just a scrooge with those."

"She's in the office but I think she's having an argument with Jillie's boyfriend. She'll probably leave in a few minutes to hang out with Jude anyway," Piper explained.  

Noah raised an eyebrow in surprise. He knew they were dating and everyone in town had heard about the Mason family secret. "Wow. I guess it's serious then. About time," he added to himself. "Damn. No free food. You know what I really want though?" He asked, turning away from the building.

Lugging her schoolbag on her shoulder, Piper asked, "what?" She thought high school books were bad. Jeez.

"I want a great big double order of fries and a cheeseburger from The Strike Zone," he said, staring off down the street towards the bowling alley. "I think that's what I'll do. I haven't been there in ages." He paused and turned back to Piper, sizing up her book bag and the look on her face. "Want to come? I mean, if you have studying or a paper or something, I understand. But I'll buy the fries if you're game."

"I do have studying...," she said trailing off. "But, I haven't been to the Strike Zone in forever. Chase refuses to go-," she ended her sentence abruptly. She shouldn't have brought up Chase. Shifting her bag, Piper offered a smile, "yeah, let's go, I'd like to kick your butt."

"You've never kicked my butt, Piper," he said looking at her with disdain. "But if you think you can, bring it on."

"Oh, whatever, you're so in denial!" she said with a roll of her eyes.

"That's it. Get in the car, I'm driving," he said digging for his  keys. "I am going to kick your butt all the way to Richmond."

"Bring it on baby. We'll see who's the bowling queen here," she said tauntingly, sticking her tongue out at home before obediently hopping into the car.

"Don't call me a queen," he said climbing in the car himself. They drove in silence for a bit. The Strike Zone was on the other side of the industrial park almost in the middle of nowhere. Which was good since it was so loud with music and cheerful drunks. . This was nice, he thought. No
nagging, no rude comments, no demands to talk. Just him with his thoughts and her with hers. This was heaven.

Chase was out of town, so she didn't have to worry about him calling  and demanding where she was. It was a Friday, so schoolwork could always wait. It felt nice, just to enjoy the silence with Noah.

"Get ready to eat my dust Wallace," she warned, hopping out of the car  on their arrival. Surprising to some, Piper was highly competitive, she hated losing at games. She always won bowling though.


Scene 4:

For as little sleep as Jude had gotten in the last few weeks, he had plenty of energy today. He'd thought long and hard about what Maura had said before she left him and he had come to the conclusion that she was right about moving on with his life. He'd spent enough time feeling sorry for himself and it was high time he did something about it.    

After a morning of dealing with phone messages and e-mail correspondence, he stepped into ME for the first time in a month. Every one who worked there knew why he was away, he was sure, but they greeted him as if he had just been on an extended vacation. The only person who said anything at all was his personal assistant, Darren. And even he was discreet about it, offering to intercept anyone at all, including Jamie, who might want to intrude on his work time.  
Apparently though, Jamie couldn't be bothered with him. Jude knew that his brother was aware he was in the building, but as Darren relayed, "He just didn't seem to care." If that was how Jamie wanted to behave, far be it from Jude to spoil Jamie's day with his presence. At four, Darren appeared with a message from Don Morrison, head of foreign operations, who was currently working in London.

"He says he's been asked to give his proxy over to Mrs. Mason for today's board meeting," Darren said reading the phone message in his hand. "He asks if you plan to be there and if so what your opinion is."

"Call him back and tell him I will be there and to use his own judgment with giving Gwen his proxy. When you're done there, find out why there is a board meeting and I'll be back to attend," Jude instructed. He picked up his coat and left ME, determined to make sure his day went the way he wanted it to. That, of course, entailed giving Maura the best apology he could offer.

Connie's was in the midst of the dinner rush. Not a table appeared to be empty and what was worse was there didn't seem to be enough help to wait on all the tables. He paused at the bar where Joanie was taking an order. She glanced up at him, acknowledging his presence briefly.

"Have you seen Maura?" He asked, when she was done taking the order. Joanie jerked her head towards the office and went to answer the phone. He wound his way through the restaurant to the office and opened the door without knocking. His stomach lurched at the sight that met his eyes. Maura's back was to him, but what she was doing was obvious. Her arms were wrapped around Rick Upton's neck, his fingers wound themselves in her hair possessively. Jude's mind went blank, his feet frozen to the spot watching in horror.

"Maura." He found his voice and used the only word his mind could grasp. He saw Maura's back stiffen as Rick pulled away and glared at Jude. She turned slowly, the color draining from her face, meeting his eyes with a horrified look. "I seem to have interrupted you," he choked out. "My apologies," he added stiffly before finding his movement again and turning on his heel, disappearing into the dining area. He heard Maura calling after him, but kept moving, his anger and hurt pushing him out the door away from Maura, the one thing he had been certain of...until today.

On the next Episode of Secret Horizons...

Episode 77