Are You Lookin' At The Same Moon?

Sam was able to move very quietly, once he got the hang of the crutches. Sometimes getting past Beth was a trick, as she woke instantly the second he tried to get up, but this was different.

Sam:  She's still up, Baby.

Beth:  This is ridicuous.

Sam:  I'm gonna go see what I can do.

Beth:  Hang on, I'll come with.

Deb was moving around the spare room, gathering up her few things and 
stuffing them into her dufflebag.

Sam:  What do you think you're doing?  It's one o'clock in the mornin'...

Deb:  ...what the hell you want, I know.  Did I wake you up?  I'm sorry.  
I'm going home.  This isn't working.

Sam:  You weren't gonna tell us?

Deb:  So you could get that look on your face?

Sam:  What look?

Beth:  The one you have right now, dear.

Sam:  Forget my face...

Deb:  I was going to leave a note.  All I am is under foot, Sam, and under
foot is the dead last thing you need.  I'm not eating, I can't sleep...and
there's nothing here of Billy.

Sam:  I hope to hell not!

Beth:  I think I know what she means, Sam.  Sometimes your things are a
comfort to me when you're gone.

Sam:  So you're gonna go sit in that house alone?

Deb:  Unless Billy's back and didn't tell me.  Sam, bless you, but you can
just shut down.  I'm a grown woman, I'll be fine by myself.  Maybe I can
sleep...if I go home and lay down on his side of the bed.

Beth:  Another one of my tricks.

Sam drew a deep breath.  He had been hoping he wouldn't have to make his 
next planned statement.

Sam:  Little girl...he dumped you.  Get used to it...

Sam was under attack from two sides before he got the words out of 
his mouth.  Beth had a death-grip on his arm, and Deb was two inches from 
the end of his nose.

Deb:  No, he didn't!  Don't you say that!  He'd have sent me away!  He
wouldn't have left me behind!

Beth:  Sam, don't.

Sam:  He might just be waiting for you...to get your things together...and
go.  People...might be watching the house.

Deb:  Why would you be so mean, Sam?  If I didn't know better, I'd be scared
half to death right now.  I said something that brought back a lot of bad
memories and tough emotions for him.  And he's not used to dealing with 
that.  He just runs...now he can't, but he hasn't figured it out yet.  He'll
come back.  I need to be there when he does.  I want to be the one to tell 
him that there's nothing wrong, it was just a scare and everything will be 
fine.

Beth:  You did get the results back, then.

Deb:  Just this morning.  I'm fine, just 38 and stressed.

Sam:  You're 38?  No!

Deb:  Nice try.

Sam:  I'm still in the doghouse.

Beth:  Good place for a Dawg to be, wouldn't you say.

Deb:  You know what they say...you lie down with Dawgs...

Beth:  You don't wanna get up again.

Deb:  So you lie down with your Dawg and I'll go on home.  Tell you what, 
you two come on over for dinner tomorrow night.  I'll show you how good I
feel.  Okay?

Beth:  It's a deal.  But no slabs of cow.

Deb:  Alright...how about barbecued bones of hog?  Igor here can cook them.
I'll even fix him up with a chair.

Sam threw his hands in the air, forgetting the need to balance.  Both
women quickly reached to catch him before he could topple over.

Deb:  If he goes, I'm goin' with him.

Beth:  Like trying to catch a damn old redwood.

Sam:  Revenge is sweet.

Deb:  Revenge is mine, saith the Lord.

Sam:  Well, I'm Lord of this Manor.

Deb:  Take it up with the Boss...

She jerked a thumb at Beth.

Deb:  ...I'm outa here.  In case Billy's home.  I'll see you two tomorrow,
five thirty the meat goes on whether you're there to tend it or not, Gerard.

Beth and Deb hugged each other briefly, then Deb got Sam in a fierce
grip around his waist.

Deb:  Shut up, Sam.  I love you dearly, bro, but shut your damn mouth.  One
gimp to another, okay?

Before Sam could caution her, she was gone.  They listened as she let 
herself out, and stood together in the little guest room long after she had
driven away.

Beth:  It's her choice, Sam.  You can't make her choice for her.

Sam:  I know.  But it's such a goddam waste.

Beth:  I don't think so.  There's something there, Sam.  He'll never go
straight, but he's acting more like a man than I've ever seen him manage.
She needs...and she makes it worth it to him to give.  Stay out of the way,
man.  I mean it.

Deb let herself into the house, and she knew right away that Billy was
nowhere in it.  She wasn't particularly upset.  She was as certain that he
would come back as she had been the day she discovered he was gone.  Sam
had packed her up and brought her to the home he'd bought for Beth the
very first night.  He'd been convinced she was too devastated to stay alone
and he had been right, for mostly the wrong reasons.  For the past week she
had been worried sick about Billy, wondering what foolishness he was getting
himself mixed up in to forget what she had said.  Now she was home again,
she could wait peacefully for his return, because the news was good.  She
had shaken him up, and she would have the opportunity to calm him down.

Deb:  Billy...come on home.  It's okay...

Sometimes she was ready to swear he heard her when she did that, spoke 
out loud to him.  There'd been more than one time that she'd done just that
and then, a few short hours later he turned up.  She would ask what he was 
doing back and he'd say - ya wanted me, didn'tcha?

She felt able to sleep, finally.  In fact, the week of sporadic catnaps and
sleepless nights staring out the window was beginning to catch up quickly.
Most of those nights, clear and chilly, she had stared up at the man in the
moon.  She'd wondered if Billy were looking at the same moon, then doubted
it as soon as she had the thought.  Knowing Billy, he was probably out
picking fights or drinking himself into insensibility.

Deb:  Mind if I borrow one of your t-shirts, big guy?

The shirt she took from the drawer, one of the few he'd left behind, was
a faded number he'd probably had from his Academy days.  There was some 
faded lettering on it, and it was soft and thin as old paper.  It was also 
stretched out and hung halfway to her knees, perfect for sleeping in.  As
with any of his t-shirts, it made her feel that much closer to him, knowing
that the thin cotton had once encased his broad shoulders and deep chest.

Deb:  You looking at that moon, Billy?  Come on home, son...I miss you.  I
know I shot my mouth off, I'm sorry.  I can make it better.

She slipped between the cool sheets, unused now for a week but still
smelling faintly of Billy and of the last time they'd lain together between
them.  Deb breathed deeply, concentrated on Billy's face, sent out her mind
to him in love and longing...and dropped off to sleep for the first time
since he'd left.

TO BE CONTINUED...