Follow You, Follow Me...

...through all of the days and nights that we know will be/ I will stay with you will you stay with me/ Just one single tear through each passing year...

Beth:  Bill...Bill!

Beth came tearing down the hall from her bedroom, brandishing the phone
like some sort of existentialist's idea of an Olympic torch.  Billy jumped
up and caught her as she slipped on the throwrug and I scrambled up from
the floor to get out of the way.

Billy:  What's up, girl?  slow down...talk to me, what's he say?

Beth:  I'm to report that he's down.  He thinks he was blown east of his
filed flight path by the storm he ran into...

Beth was flipping madly through the telephone book to find the 
government pages and the number to the local office of the NTSB.

Deb:  How is he?

Beth stopped her fussing and clutched the phonebook to her chest.  Her
eyes were wide.

Beth:  Not...not so good.  He says his leg is broken and there might be
something wrong with his hip.

Billy:  That's one cop gonna have to stop.  Where's he keep his
flightplans.  We'll want it for the NTSB.

Beth:  He might have filed it from the computer.

Billy:  Then you get in there and find the bastard.  I need to know where
to tell people to look for the old Dawg.  I'd be worried about exposure if
I were you, kiddo.  Bones they can fix...look at Long John Silver over 
there.

Deb:  My life would be so empty if you weren't constantly reminding me how
important I am to you, William.

Billy:  All part of the service, Punk.

I grabbed a pillow off the floor and sailed it at him.  He caught it in
midair and flung it back.  Beth was looking at the pillow with a strange
expression, and I remembered that there had been no pillows on the floor
when she'd last been in the room.  I scrambled to pick them all up and
replace them on the sofa under the window.

Beth went to Sam's computer and booted it up...the Marshal's Service had
provided him with a monster when he went up into the Panhandle.  She
noodled around until she found where he filed his flightplans.  He must have
filed the same one over and over for the trip back and forth between Lubbock 
and San Antonio because there was only one so labeled in the database.  She
emailed a copy of it to Bill, who could send it as an attachment to the
NTSB.

Billy was already busy pulling up NOAA radar loops from the last twelve 
hours in an attempt to see where, if anyplace, a storm had crossed the
Dawg's path.  The only one he saw had been much nearer to San Antonio, the
Dawg might actually have been stupid enough to take off into the storm,
been blown off the flightpath and gone down when he ran out of fuel.  If
Bill was any judge of puddle jumpers, he could make a rough guess where
Gerard might have gone down and he didn't want to say anything to the
women.  They'd just start gulping and slobbering over that old boy in San
Saba and Billy wasn't in the mood for that.

Billy was, however, like a bat, just as Sam had been saying.  It seemed he
never needed sleep.  He sent Beth back to bed and forced me to lie down on
the couch under the window while he kept watch.  At noon he awakened me
with a thunderous slap on the ass, looking as fresh as though he'd had a
full night's sleep.

Deb:  WHAT???  How many times have I asked you not to do that, ya 
scare the crap outa me!

Beth was standing behind Billy, nervous and fidgety.  She kept looking
at her watch and heading for the door, only to drag herself back to wait
for me.

Beth:  They found him, Deb...about seven, but they waited to call until he
was out of surgery and stable.  We can leave as soon as you're ready.

That was a thinly veiled plea to move.  It never occurred to me to give
Beth the shit I wanted to give Bill.  She was so transparently eager to
get to Sam it would have been criminal to delay her.  I started to sit up,
was dragged the rest of the way by Billy.

Billy:  Move your ass.  Quicker we get down there the quicker we get back.

We said very little until we were well on the way to San Saba.  Billy
made us stop for breakfast - actually lunch - when we really wanted to be
on the way.  Once we had got a fair piece down the road, and Beth was
reasonably certain that Billy wasn't going to figure out some excuse to
stop again, she relaxed enough to talk to me.

Beth:  I think he thought I might be ready to leave him.

Sam:  Why didn't ya?  Woulda saved me a damn mad dash to San Saba.

Deb:  Shut up.

Beth:  Drive.

Deb:  Could you have?  Were you really as mad as you sounded?

Beth:  I was disappointed, overwhelmed...and mad because of it, but not
mad enough to leave.  I just had to get his attention.  Leave Sam?  Only
if I wanted...Only if I didn't care...

Beth sat back, hand to her mouth.

Beth:  Only if I didn't care what happened to me afterward.

Billy:  So what the hell am I?  Chopped liver?

Beth:  Shut up.

Deb:  Drive.

Beth:  He watches out for me in so many different ways it can be maddening,
but it's wonderful to be loved so much.  I mean, there I stood hollering at
him and even though I knew I was right I was asking myself...what the hell
are you doing?  Sam's the best thing that ever happened to you, there has to
be another way to make him understand this...

Billy:  Foot up the ass.

Beth:  Shut up.

Deb:  Drive.

Beth:  He's...become my life.  I couldn't look at another man even if I
wanted to.

Deb:  He's definitely a piece of work.

Billy:  Say what?

Deb:  You're just a piece.  Shut up.

Beth.  Drive.

Billy:  Couplea skirts around here could sure as hell use a little 
maintenance.

Deb:  Maintain this, big fella.

Beth:  When I think about it I'm amazed.  I've had Sam Gerard...how can I
improve on that?

Billy:  Now, dammit...!

Beth:  Shut...

Billy:  ...up.  Drive.  I know, damn women.

Deb:  Ssssh, now.

Beth:  I never wanted anybody to be quite as important to me as he's
become.  I expected someday I might share my life with a man but this...
this surrender isn't anything I counted on.  I wanted to keep some part of
myself...detached, I guess because I worked so hard to become who I
am that losing definition to a man wasn't going to be part of the bargain
I wanted to strike.  But, Sam...he won't settle for less than all of it, 
and for the most part I give it willingly.

Billy:  That's willing?

The two of us ignored him completely, guaranteed to get a rise out of 
him.

Beth:  There isn't anybody in my life to compare to Sam.

Billy:  Now I like THAT shit...who's goin' to all this trouble to 
find the damn old Dawg...?

Best bet was to keep on ignoring him.  We did that.

Deb:  Not even Tommy?

Beth:  I don't know about that...Tommy is to die for, but Sam looks every 
bit as good...

Deb:  There's just...something...about Tommy...

Billy shot me a look.  Then he slipped out of his jacket so that I could
watch the muscles ripple under the t-shirt.  I kept pushing.

Deb:  That boy could park his boots...

Billy reached out and clamped a hand down on my arm.  He didn't want to
know where Tommy could park his boots.

Deb:  But he won't...and it doesn't matter in the least to me, considering
who does park his boots at the foot of my bed.

Smooth finish, I congratulated myself.  Beth had a serious giggle on her
and this was good, considering the state she'd been in from the time we'd
come on the run.  Billy gave my arm a final hard squeeze and returned to
driving.  As a response, I leaned over close to him and lightly bit his ear.
He showed no reaction beyond an infinitesimal tightening of the jaw, still
I knew from sweet experience that he liked it.

Billy:  Beth, get some rest, pipsqueak...it'll be an hour or two yet.

Beth decided to take Billy's advice, figuring that sleep would kill 
time on the way to Sam.  When Billy was sure she was out, he pulled into a
roadside rest and hauled me roughly across his lap.

Billy:  Shut up.

Deb:  So, drive, then.

We blew into San Saba in midafternoon.  Billy grabbed Beth by the elbow
and hustled her inside the County Hospital, leaving me to gimp my way around
to the handicapped ramp.  When I finally caught up with them, Billy was
browbeating a male nurse.

Billy:  Gerard, Samuel. P.  Where ya got him?

Nurse:  We have instructions to restrict his visitors.

Billy:  Restrict this, junior.  I've come clean from Lubbock with his wife...

Beth jerked in surprise, but said nothing to correct Bill, because to
correct Bill would be to be kept from Sam.  Sometimes a person just had to
trust that there was a method to Strannix' madness.

Nurse:  Mr. Gerard's chart says nothing about a wife.

Billy:  Damn, another one who believes everything he reads.  I got her
right here, Ben Casey.  Mrs. Samuel P. Gerard, Beth Gerard, even...

Beth's chin went up and she stood silently alongside Billy.  Even so, I
knew the need to get to Sam was so strong she was nearly vibrating with it
and I wanted to tell both of the children to quit with their goddam macho
posturing and semi-authoritative stonewalling and let the woman get to her
man.

Billy:  Now, Dr. Kildare, where'n the hell'd ya put the boy?  She's a wreck
and I'm damn tired of chasin' around after her old man.

Nurse:  He already has a visitor.

Deb:  Whoever's in there won't be as important to Sam as she is.  Where's
Deputy Gerard's room, son?  His wife is anxious to see him and the sooner
we get her there the sooner I can get off this foot.

Beth agreed, nodding her head anxiously and casting eager looks at the
small bank of elevators down at the end of the hall.

Nurse:  I shouldn't...he's in room 207.  But he already has somebody in 
there and he's not up to a lot of excitement.  It seems to depress him.

Billy:  Well, we'll un-depress 'im.  Now get the hell outa the way while
ya still can.

Billy gave the Nurse a not-quite-gentle smack on the cheek.  This
shifted the nurse just far enough to the side to allow Beth to make a
break for the elevators, with Billy hot on her heels.  Beth was touchingly
eager to get to Sam, while Billy was in heavy guardian mode.

Deb:  Hey!  I can't keep up!

Billy:  Then we'll wait for ya when we get there, Gimpy.

Deb:  You're pissing me off, Strannix.  You're really starting to piss me
off.

Something about the tone of my voice and the sight of me trying to
shift myself down a stretch of hall Billy had sprinted down without a second
thought seemed to get to him.  He stopped in the hall to wait for me, 
keeping an eye peeled for Beth.

Billy:  You got me shakin' in my boots here, Punk.

Deb:  So long as somethin' shakes in that damn thick head of yours.  This
is her moment, let her have it.  Stand behind her like some damn old
gargoyle.

Billy grabbed me around the waist and spun me around.  He never seemed
to get tired of watching me do my human top imitation.  Once I was
sufficiently disoriented, he dropped me into a conveniently abandoned
wheelchair.

Billy:  Hang onta your socks, baby.  I'm drivin'.

Beth had already made it upstairs and hotfooted it down the hall to
Sam's room, to hell with Bill and me.  She wanted Sam.  She wanted to see if
he was whole.  She needed to see.  What it boiled down to was that she
needed Sam, no matter what had gone between them and how many feathers had
to be smoothed...Sam Gerard had become the core element in Beth's life.
She heard voices in the room and stopped in the hall.

Sam:  ...they tell me the hip is just dislocated and it'll be fine with a
little physical therapy.  It's the leg, I'll be off that for a while.  Deb
and I can trade war stories about pin implants.

Tommy:  I have been out of the loop.  Deb has pins in her leg, what
happenend there?

Sam:  Long story, nothing you'd wanna hear.  Happened when some mutts with
a grudge against Strannix...

Sam stopped, choked up and unable to continue.  Beth slid her hands into
her pockets and stared at the floor.  She didn't see it.

Tommy:  Sam?  Y'gonna be okay, boy?

Sam:  Fine, Tom...it's just my girl.  I had 'em call her and she's not here
yet...I hope she doesn't think I hung up on her last night.  My cellphone
got wet and shorted out in the middle of something.  I was trying to tell
her something.  I...I don't know if I'll ever see her again, is all.

Beth was resting her head against the wall and it rolled helplessly
from side to side.  Her eyes filled, overflowed.

Tommy:  Well, hell, Sam...if she's through with you what's she doin' in the
hall?  Come on in here, Darlin', don't let me stop you.

Beth managed a weak smile for Tommy before turning a hungry look on Sam.

Sam:  Beth?  Honey?

Beth came hesitantly into the room, but with each step, she quickened
her pace to Sam's bedside.  She completely ignored the face that Tommy was
standing there, and didn't stop until she had reached Sam's arms.  She
cried very quietly but with deep, wrenching sobs against Sam's shoulder.

Sam:  Honey, I'm okay.  I'll be fine.  Thank you for whatever it was you 
did, they found me not three hours after I talked to you...don't cry, not
for me...I have everything I need now.

Beth's sobs continued unabated.  She had what amounted to a death grip
around Sam's neck.

Sam:  Baby...ssshhhh...you'll make yourself sick...it's okay, fine, believe
me...

Billy pulled up in the doorway like Bo Duke at the wheel of the General
Lee.  Luke Duke, riding shotgun, looked terrified.

Deb:  I've already got a broken foot, you maniac, you workin' on my neck?

Billy:  Tom!  I'll be damned!  Howzit hangin', boy?

Tommy:  Not now, Bill.  Something goin' on, here.

Deb:  Darn skippy there is.  Shut up, William.  Beth, you alright?

Beth's silent sobbing had finally begun to abate.  She straightened up a
bit, smiled blindingly and touched a hand to Sam's jaw.

Beth:  I am now.

The look on Sam's face, in his eyes, was one of great uncertainty.  He
had no idea where he stood anymore.  He didn't know if the only way he
knew how to live his life was acceptable or even tolerable to Beth  
anymore.

Sam:  What, Honey?

Beth picked up his hand, wove her fingers between his and held the
back of his hand to her lips.  She kissed it lightly and then just held it
there, eyes closed, trying to take in every sensation that, in combination,
was Sam.

Sam:  Baby?

Tommy:  Think it's time I stepped on out.  Be by tomorrow, Sam.

Sam's voice was distant, his eyes riveted on Beth with loving intensity.
He might have been speaking to someone on a telephone for all he knew.
Tommy smiled indulgently and turned for the door.

Sam:  Sure, Tom.  Baby?

Beth:  Yeah, Sam?

Sam:  I was afraid...you were...you didn't come home and I couldn't wait
anymore, I had to go.  If you've moved out, I understand.

Beth replied in a voice that was barely a whisper.

Beth:  No, my Sam...I haven't moved out.

Sam's eyes closed, and in that instant...he looked old.  Beth bowed her
head once again, wondering how in hell she might have had any part in
bringing him to this.

Beth:  Are you okay?

Sam:  I don't know.

Billy wanted in.  He started trying to shove the wheelchair through the
doorway.  I put my good foot against the doorframe to resist, but it was a
losing battle.  Tommy bent over the arms of the chair to help me.  Billy decided I needed a reminder upside the back of the head more than he needed 
get inside.  Tommy pushed the chair out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

Sam:  Do you still want me, Beth?  I was tryin' to ask you that when the
phone died.  Do you still want me?

Beth:  I've always still wanted you, Sam.  Otherwise it wouldn't
hurt this much.

Sam:  I refuse to be my father, Baby, but I honestly didn't know.  I thought
that's what you did for the woman you loved.  I'm so damned sorry.  I'll
try to change.

Sam started crying again, the second time for this kind of breakdown in
less than a week.  Beth reached forward and, with gentle fingers brushed
away the tears.

Beth:  I'm sorry, too.  You don't have to work for my love, Sam.
You've already got it...lock, stock and a barrel of rum.

Billy:  Damn barrel o'rum'd go over good right - AAAHH!

Deb:  Quiet down!  Hospital zone, you ape!

Sam:  I can't seem to stop this.  I thought my life was gone.  You left me
and I really didn't give a damn what happened.  Now...it's all mine again.
I'm so damned sorry you're seeing me so weak.

Beth:  But it's not weak, Sam.  It's not weak to show how you feel, or to
be helpless in the face of a situation.  And it's not weak to let go when
you think you ought to hang on.

Beth could hear Billy muttering savagely.  I was guarding her privacy.
Big brother was one thing, this was something else entirely.

Sam:  You're so wise, little girl.  And I'm such an idiot.

Beth grinned at him, smoothed a stray hair back away from his forehead.

Beth:  You're right...you are...but it doesn't matter.  I love you anyhow.

Sam:  Stupid is as stupid does, baby.  Would you mind crawling up here with
me now you're here?  I can't sleep when I'm away from you and I'm beat.

Beth:  I thought you'd never ask.

Beth let the siderail down on the bed and eased up next to Sam.  She was
mindful both of his injured hip and cruelly broken leg.  She looked away 
from the heavy plaster cast - she could see the ends of the pins embedded in
the sides.  She rested her head on his chest, just underneath his chin.  
She felt him sigh like a child, and then there was the indescribable comfort
of feeling his arms rise around her.  The door creaked open and she raised
her head just high enough to see Bill and Tommy peeking into the room to
see if the reunion had gone off.  She smiled, raised her index finger to 
indicate that they should be quiet and lowered her head back to Sam's chest,
closing her eyes.

She heard stumbling footsteps and the door chunk shut firmly.

Deb:  Turn my back and what happens?!  Bill, you're a pure-d fool but I'd 
hoped for a little better out of you, Tommy!

Beth listened for a minute while I read Bill and Tommy the riot act,
and she dropped off to sleep knowing she was totally safe.  She was back in 
Sam's arms and heart, with a fucking one-legged Amazon on the other side of
the door guarding her rest.  She was able to let go entirely.

TO BE CONTINUED...Deputy, heal thyself?...