Crossroads
By CJ
Rating: PG
Email: Ardethsgal@comcast.net
Author’s Note: I do not own Frank Donovan, he his owned by someone else. I am only borrowing him because he’s so darn cute. I also invented the city of Lansford, CA.
The stinging assault came out of nowhere. One minute he was walking into the foyer of the main police station to deliver his report to the Chief and Deputy Chiefs of Lansford Police and the next moment a hand was slapping his face.
“I know who you are, Agent Donovan!” the pretty and very pregnant brunette insisted in a growl. “And I know exactly what you did to my family.”
When he finally regained his bearings and focused his eyes on the woman before him, his first instinct was to grab those delicate hands of hers, wring them behind her back and cuff her. She had, after all, just assaulted a Federal Agent. But he didn’t follow his first instinct, for the woman who looked to be about to burst with child at any moment was no physical threat to him.
“Do you realize what the stress you caused did to me? Do you? It’s been a horrible pregnancy…I’ve barely been able to keep myself out of the hospital and working my job. And it’s all your fault. I hope you rot in hell…very soon!” Her last words were yelled loudly enough for everyone around them to hear. Then without telling him who she was or just what it was he had done to her and her family, she stormed away.
“Laney!” a man in uniform called as he trotted out of an office and into the foyer. “Wait!”
The woman halted at the glass doors to the station, showed the man her middle finger and snapped, “Screw you too, Chief Whipple!”
She was out the doors before either man knew what had transpired.
Deputy Chief Chad Whipple sighed with frustration and ran a hand over his aging face. Frank knew the man from the recent case he’d been working involving an investigation into the Gang Unit of Lansford PD. It had been a sticky, messy case involving mishandling of money, bribes, murder and major civil rights violations. Because of the murder and civil rights violations, the FBI had been called in to handle the investigation of Lansford PD’s gang unit. Three of the officers from the unit had been indicted on a variety of federal charges and one had committed suicide right after his own indictment. Six months later, Frank was still collecting evidence for the Feds and had been sent to update the heads of Lansford PD on that which could be shared. It was important the FBI and the chiefs of Lansford PD keep in touch for both were conducting investigations into the mangled mess the corrupt cops of the gang unit had created and they were all trying to get to the bottom of the investigation and determine if the net they had thrown was wide enough.
“Hell, women,” Chief Whipple grumbled, shaking his head and then he looked at Frank. “She lay into you too Agent Donovan?”
Frank rubbed his cheek. It still stung. He was lucky the woman had only slapped him and not thrown a right hook for he was certain he would have landed on his butt from her rage.
“Something like that,” he drawled.
“Well, I guess I can’t blame her. She’s in a tight spot and if I were in her shoes, I’d hate us right about now too,” Chief Whipple commented. Then, before he explained anything further, the man nodded toward his office and said, “You ready?”
“Just a minute. I forgot something in my car,” Frank mumbled and raced out of the building. He wasn’t satisfied with Chief Whipple’s explanation and he sure as hell wasn’t about to allow that woman to simply slap him, accuse him of ruining her life and then walk away without further explanation.
He found the woman standing next to an older model Honda sedan, hands on her large belly and wincing. Her breath was coming fast and her eyes were shut as if concentrating.
“Leave me alone,” she griped as Frank approached. Her eyes had been closed so he wondered how she knew he was near. Then she added, “I told you, Chief, you suck and I won’t take your charity.”
“I’m not Chief Whipple,” Frank said and at his declaration, the woman’s eyes sprang open.
“Get the hell away from me,” she cried out, almost hysterical. She took a few steps back, pointed a finger at Frank and repeated, “Just get the hell away from…ahhhh!”
Her hands grasped her belly and she doubled over in pain.
“Damn it!” she whined. “Of all the days for this to happen and in front of you of all people.”
“Are you in labor? Now?” Frank asked, more concerned now than irritated.
“Not only are you a major son-of-a-dog, but you’re also quite dense. Of course I’m in labor! Why else would I be doubled over in the worst pain of my life?”
She was quite adept at handing out insults. The pretty woman with the delicate features, long light brown hair and swollen belly had a mouth that could rival the most seasoned sailor.
“Now move the hell out of my way,” she ordered like a General would to his troops, “so I can drive myself to the hospital.”
Being a man of the law and sworn to protect the citizens of the
“Not a chance, lady,” Frank drawled. “I’ll drive you.”
“No you….oooouch!” She almost sank to her knees and Frank caught her arm and held her steady.
“Yes, I am. And after you deliver your baby, you can yell at me all you want,” Frank said as he practically shoved her into his dark sedan parked next to her car.
Before he could close the door, the woman’s hand snaked out and caught it. “My bag,” she insisted and nodded toward her car.
Frank opened her car door, pulled out a blue nylon sports bag and threw it into the back-seat of his car. As he got in and asked her where she needed to go, he suffered no more jabs or abuse for it was obvious the woman was in serious labor and had something else to focus on aside from her hatred of him.
**
Laney Marks couldn’t believe her bad luck. Not only was she going into labor without medical insurance and without her husband, she was being driven to the hospital by the one man she despised the most. Of course, at this juncture in her life she hated several people. Every person who had anything to do with the framing of her husband was on her hate-list and she would seek her revenge one way or another.
Normally, she was an affable person, quick to laugh and look at the bright side of life. Most people she liked and she used to trust so easily. Perhaps too easily. But all that was gone from her personality now. Now, she felt only rage and bitter hatred for what had happened to her family. She was consumed by it and instead of wallowing away in depression and self-pity like her husband had, she was fighting it every step of the way. Of course, now that she was in labor, she would have to take a short break from her relentless path to clear her husband’s name and focus more on how she was going to care for this baby as a single and bankrupt mother.
“Where to?” the man next to her asked.
She swiveled her head and glanced at the handsome and dark-featured man she’d slapped silly in the police station. Boy had that felt good to do that! Images of doing just that to Agent Donovan had been festering in her mind for months now and as she’d seen him entering the police station she had simply acted on impulse. It had been a liberating experience to feel the sting of his cheek under her palm and if she weren’t feeling such miserable pain right now compliments of her baby, she’d do it again too. And it was a shame she wanted to hit him so badly for his face was quite the work of art with olive skin, short black hair and exotic features one rarely saw in the modest city of Lansford, California.
“Where? Why the hospital of course,” she quipped.
“Obviously,” he drawled with some frustration. “Which one?”
“The cheapest one,” she said and when he looked at her with confusion in those dark eyes of his she added with more sarcasm, “I don’t, after all, have any insurance…thanks to you.”
He furrowed his brow and she just knew he wanted to inquire further, but another contraction hit her and she groaned and leaned over her stomach in pain.
“I’ll take you to County General, then,” he said and they were off.
**
It hadn’t taken long to check Laney Marks into the maternity ward of County General. Though it was a large, bustling hospital, the obvious fact that the woman was in the worst kind of labor brought the wheel-chair and nurses out quickly. Despite the fact that she hadn’t asked and certainly never would if she weren’t in such a state, Frank assisted in filling out her paperwork for admission by asking her her name, address and such. When he heard the name Laney Marks, he wondered why it sounded so familiar to him. Of course, she had insisted several times that he had ruined her life, so at one point in time he had come across her name no doubt. Now, however, wasn’t the time to ask because as soon as he handed off the clip-board to the admission’s nurse, Laney Marks was squeezing his hand numb.
“Is there anything else I can get you or do for you?” Frank asked her as he tried to wrangle his hand free from her intense grasp.
“Yes, drugs,” the woman spat out. “I need drugs, now.”
Frank turned his gaze upon a nearby nurse in green scrubs and she said, “If you want the epidural, hon, you’re going to have to wait until the anesthesiologist is out of the OR. He just went up there for a C-Section.”
“What?” came Laney’s cry.
Hating that news and actually feeling rather anxious over the events that were unfolding around him, Frank stood, somehow pulled his hand free, approached the nurse determinedly and asked, “And just how long will that be?”
“A half-hour or so,” she answered.
Never one who took “no” for an answer or even willing to wait a half-hour for anything, Frank pulled out his badge and credentials and flashed them in the woman’s face.
“I’m Agent Frank Donovan, FBI. I suggest you find another anesthesiologist now, ma’am,” he ordered.
Unimpressed the plump nurse looked past him and his badge to Laney in the delivery bed.
“Ms. Marks, would you please tell your husband or boyfriend here that no amount of credentials will get that anesthesiologist down here any sooner?” the woman requested.
“He’s not my husband and he’s not my boyfriend,” Laney argued. “He’s….ahhhh….” The insult that was no doubt waiting to flow from her mouth never made it as another contraction ripped through her body.
Seeing that the old battle-ax couldn’t be bullied, Frank then asked, “Then is there anything else you can get her for the pain that doesn’t require an anesthesiologist?”
The nurse was about to answer when a very brisk and professional looking doctor walked in. Her nametag read Doctor Hubble and her light blonde hair was pulled up in a tight bun, showing off her very pointed and pronounced facials bones. She was tall and lanky, the thin frame of her body matching the pronounced features of her face, but when she smiled down at Laney Marks, she seemed rather kind and not nearly as severe as her face first appeared.
“Let me check you over first, Ms. Marks, before we decide about drugs,” Doctor Hubble said. “Now, tell me, who is your OB?”
“I didn’t really have one,” Laney answered. “I got regular check-ups at the Women’s Clinic on 4th Street.”
“Ah, then you probably saw Doctor Jones,” Doctor Hubble said.
“Yes.”
“He’s wonderful. I’ll have Nurse Haywood call over and get your records faxed over. In the meantime, could you tell me a bit about how this pregnancy has gone?”
It was then that Frank noticed just how crystal blue Laney’s eyes were as she stared daggers across the room at him.
“It’s been a complete disaster. I’ve been under so much stress, that I’ve had a few health conditions that almost put me in the hospital. And now, to top it all off, I’m two weeks early!” Laney groaned and rolled to her side. The doctor immediately put a hand to Laney’s face and insisted she breathe.
“Don’t fight it, Laney, just breathe through it.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Laney muttered and it seemed to Frank that the pain went on for a very long time.
He was a tough and determined man, but watching this, he suddenly felt a bit weak; weak physically from the intensity of it all and weak emotionally as he found himself drawn into this woman’s dilemma.
“Now, what sort of stress are we dealing with here? And what complications did you have?”
“Ask the FBI over there about my stress. They know exactly what I went through.” Laney again nailed her eyes to Frank and he felt rather naked under her intense scrutiny. It only worsened when the doctor looked at him with concern.
“Is this patient in any trouble with the law, sir?” Doctor Hubble inquired of Frank.
“No, ma’am. Not that I’m aware of,” Frank informed her.
“Then why are you here and in what capacity?”
Before Frank could answer, Laney said, “He’s my ride. And since he’s here, he’s also going to be the hand I squeeze to death until this kid is born. Isn’t that right, Agent Donovan?”
“Look, Ms. Marks, isn’t there someone I can call for you?” Frank asked, almost sounding like he was pleading with her.
What was wrong with him? Usually nothing got to him. Usually he was ice. But this woman…since she had slapped him silly, he’d been someone else and certainly not his usual self.
“There is no one else. I’m all alone in this world.” Then Laney looked at the doctor. “I’ve suffered quite a bit of hypertension during this pregnancy. Also there was some unexpected bleeding. But Doctor Jones did an ultrasound and assured me the baby was normal. It was me who was suffering the effects of my life, not my baby.”
“Tell me, Laney, have you done anything that is…unhealthy for your child?” the doctor carefully asked.
Laney shook her head adamantly. “No. Heck, I even gave up all forms of caffeine for her. But…well, my world fell apart about six months ago and I’ve just been trying to keep it together. You know?”
The doctor patted Laney’s arm and stood. “I understand. Let’s take a look and see just how close you are.”
As she moved to the end of the bed, Frank quickly walked out of the room. He heard Laney’s devious laugh as he left and he knew once his feet hit the hallway that he should just keep on walking. But this woman was suddenly a mystery, and being a man who did what he did for a living, that mystery had to be solved. So, he wasn’t going to leave until he knew just why she had slapped him and just what it was he had supposedly done to ruin her life.
Doctor Hubble emerged a few minutes later and stopped next to Frank. She looked him over as he stood there in his dark slacks and blue button-up shirt. His black Glock was holstered up against his lower-back and he almost cursed as the doctor’s eyes landed on it next for he had rushed out of his car so quickly to get Laney inside he had forgotten to pull on his jacket to cover it.
“Does she really need an armed guard, Agent Donovan?” the doctor asked with sarcasm.
“No. Like I said earlier, she is not here under my watch, I was merely her ride.”
“Well, it’s good to know she has someone here, because I’m afraid it’s going to be a long wait.”
“Why?”
The doctor smirked at him with a condescension only a woman could pull off. “Because, babies come only when they’re ready.”
“I know that much,” Frank quipped and crossed his arms over his chest. “But is she going to be all right otherwise?”
The doctor frowned them. “I’m not sure. Her blood pressure is through the roof and its putting the fetus in some stress. Her contractions are very intense and close together and yet she’s not dilating as quickly as we’d like. I’ve ordered a dose of a drug that will help hurry along her labor and as soon as the pain meds can be arranged, we’ll get her some. Then, we’ll watch her for a few hours and see how we need to progress.”
Frank nodded. He liked how this doctor said things straight and to the point.
“In the meantime, I hope you don’t have anywhere to be.”
“No, I’m…free,” Frank said, hesitating as he wondered why in the hell again he was volunteering for this.
“Good. Get her whatever she needs. And please, try and make her as comfortable as possible. Make her breathe through the contractions. I’m afraid something has her so wound up that she’s fighting everything her body is trying to do for her.”
“I have a feeling she’s that type of person—the type who fights,” Frank drawled, a hand instinctively going to his face where Laney had slapped it earlier.
“Do you know much else about her? Anything that could help us help her?” Doctor Hubble inquired.
“All I know is that she’s seemingly mad at the world right now. I have no idea why and I have no idea where any of her family is.”
“Try and find out. After all, isn’t that what you FBI guys do for a living?”
With that, Doctor Hubble walked off and Frank took a deep breath before he walked back into the room with Laney.
**
It was agony, pure and simple. At that moment, she wanted to back out, call it quits and decide not to have the baby. But this had been hers and Drew’s dream. Well, hers anyhow. She still wasn’t sure if Drew had wanted the baby or not. He’d never told her one way or another and in his usual cop demeanor, he had hidden all his emotions from her as well.
Of course, she and her husband had not been married for very long. In fact, they hadn’t even known one another for very long. They’d met by sheer chance in court one day, he’d hesitantly asked her out, they’d dated off and on for four months then married. Three months after the marriage she’d discovered she was pregnant and three months after that Drew was dead. And one of the reasons why he was dead was this man who had just walked back in the room.
“Ms. Marks, I’ll ask you again, is there anything or anyone I can get you?” Frank Donovan inquired in that deep insistent voice he possessed.
“No,” Laney said wearily. She was already worn out and the doctor said it could be a long road to delivery.
Agent Donovan stared at her from the foot of the bed for a long moment, then surprising her with his hesitation he asked, “Would you like me to leave then?”
If his hesitant manner surprised her, her own determined answer shocked her even more. “No.”
She offered no other explanation and he didn’t ask for one. What it boiled down to was the fact that she was tired of being alone. She’d been alone for the last six months of this pregnancy and she certainly didn’t want to be alone for the delivery of her baby. She had no idea what would happen once she delivered and went back to her small apartment but the one thing she did know was that she wanted someone with her now, even if it was a man she despised.
**
Doctor Hubble’s prediction had come true. The labor had been several long and intense hours. Frank had been patient and tried to stay out of the way when doctors and nurses came in and then attempted to comfort Laney once everyone was gone. The spit-fire of a woman had endured everything and he marveled at her endurance for the drug medication that they had given her had been minimal due to the hypertension she was suffering.
While she sat up, trying to breathe through another contraction, Frank sat beside her on the bed and rubbed her lower back. She’d stopped flinching each time he came near her and he’d stopped feeling so self-conscious a long time before that. These were unusual circumstances and because of that, he felt he had formed an attachment of sorts to Laney. Of course, when he spoke to her, he still addressed her as Ms. Marks.
“When are you going to quit calling me Ms. Marks, Agent Donovan?” Laney asked. “After all, you have seen me at my absolute worst.”
“When you stop calling me Agent Donovan,” he returned.
“All right, Frank, when are you going to quit calling me Ms. Marks?”
“I suppose right about now, Laney.”
“Good, because I would hate for us to still be on such formal terms as I deliver this baby in front of you. It would seem too awkward. And speaking of delivery…”
“What? Now?” Frank asked with sudden fear.
“Yes, now! Would you rather I wait until you’re ready?” she quipped.
“Hell,” Frank mumbled and raced to the door to look for Doctor Hubble.
He found her and by the time she and the nurses arrived, the baby was indeed just about ready to be delivered. It was odd, though he had only a minor connection with this woman and no connection whatsoever with her baby, he felt a strange sense of anticipation as they waited for the birth. He held Laney up and encouraged her and not five minutes later, a slippery, slimy screaming—and most importantly, healthy--baby girl was born.
Frank was elated and Laney was completely exhausted. She moaned a “thank goodness” and collapsed back against Frank. He kissed her sweaty forehead, told her how wonderful she’d been and then watched as the pediatric nurses wiped the baby down, sucked out its mouth and made it cry even louder.
“That, Laney, is the sound of a happy, healthy baby,” Doctor Hubble told her.
“Well, I suppose that’s everything that matters,” Laney said. “Isn’t that right, Frank?”
He didn’t answer because he knew there was a lot more that mattered to her and a lot that had certainly been taken away.
**
The baby had indeed been pronounced healthy and once it had been scrubbed clean, checked over and given to mother for a time, the nurses whisked it away to the nursery. Laney then fell asleep. She said nothing to Frank and slipped into a deep sleep she no doubt greatly needed. He too felt he could sleep and so he slumped into a nearby chair, sprawled his feet in front of him and closed his eyes. There was no way he could walk himself down to his car. He was more exhausted than he’d ever been.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d slept before he heard the quiet sounds of Laney’s voice. He opened his eyes and focused on the woman in the bed. Her hair had been brushed and pulled into a ponytail on her head and she held in her arms her new baby girl. She was talking to her quietly and Frank almost felt as if he were intruding on their bonding time.
“I swear, little one, unlike your father, I won’t abandon you.” She smiled wistfully at the baby, then whipped at a tear and said, “God, you look so much like Drew.”
Like a bolt of lightening illuminating the dark, all was suddenly revealed to Frank. Drew Montgomery had been her husband! She was Laney Marks-Montgomery and Frank had come across her name during the investigation of Lansford PD’s Gang Unit. Her husband had been one of the cops they’d been investigating for the civil rights violations and murder charges and six months ago he’d killed himself. No wonder Laney had slapped him silly today. He glanced at his watch, it was one in the morning, so actually, Laney had slapped him silly yesterday.
“Laney Marks-Montgomery,” Frank announced quietly. “I never got it until now.”
“Oh, so you do know who I am,” she said, not looking at him, keeping her eyes on her baby. “I suppose that means you’ll appreciate all my insults now.”
Pushing up in his chair, Frank drawled, “Well, at least I’ll understand where you’re coming from now.”
“You have no idea where I’m coming from, Frank.”
“I can imagine.”
She laughed something evil sounding, then started to cry. She wiped at her face with one hand and said wearily, “Damn these hormones! You’re the last person I want to cry in front of.”
Standing and taking the baby from her, holding it carefully and looking at its angelic face Frank felt an intense connection with the child. He had watched this little thing come into the world and that somehow made him feel responsible for her.
“Do you have any idea what your accusations and investigation did to my life?” Laney then asked, her voice not nearly as vile as it had been yesterday morning. “Did to my baby’s life?”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Laney, but it’s your husband you should be angry with. Not me. I only did my job and as far as my job goes, I was right. Drew Montgomery was dirty. He was a dirty cop.”
“No, he wasn’t!” Laney argued back. “He was framed.”
Frank sighed with frustration. He was too tired, too emotionally drained to have this conversation with her now.
“I know he was your husband and therefore you’re going to want to protect his name and reputation, but…you don’t know everything, Laney. You don’t know the bad things he did. I’m sure he hid it all from you.”
Obviously refusing to believe him, Laney shook her head adamantly and defended, “He was a good man. He was good to me. He never yelled, never threatened, never touched me in anger. He was…good.”
“Did he love you?” Frank suddenly inquired because the way she described her husband made him sound like a loyal dog, not like a best friend or a lover for life.
“He said he loved me enough,” Laney admitted.
“And this baby?”
“I’m sure he would have been a capable father.”
Frank shook his head for it was obvious Laney had not known her husband the way Frank did.
“This little girl needs more than capable,” Frank insisted. “She needs wonderful and kind and loving.”
“Well, she won’t have any of that from her father now because he’s dead. And when you got him suspended from the department, we also lost our paycheck and our medical insurance and our life insurance. Then Drew died and I have nothing to give my daughter. Nothing!” Her anger was rising again and Frank felt for her. But his investigation had been right and had been necessary for justice.
“And what about your work? Your insurance, your…”
Laney cut him off sharply. “My work as a court clerk was taken from me when they found out I was married to a cop under investigation by the FBI. I was a liability, they told me, and so I was fired. I’ve been working temp jobs when I could to feed myself and keep a run-down apartment roof over my head. I had to go to a free clinic for check-ups during my pregnancy and I’m one step away from the streets. All our savings were frozen by you, my house was taken away by the bank because I couldn’t make the payments without my job and now I have a baby. So tell me, Agent Donovan, what am I supposed to do now? The last thing I’m worried about is having a ‘wonderful, kind and loving’ father for my daughter. Right now, all I need is a paycheck.”
Frank felt sorry for Laney and all that had been taken from her because of her husband. Yet what was he supposed to do? That investigation had to take place and Drew had been dirty. Unfortunately, the collateral damage of an investigation like that were the families. But Frank couldn’t help it if people decided to go bad and lead their family into ruin.
“I’m sorry, Laney, that you’re in this situation,” Frank said in a controlled, reasonable voice. “But don’t you have family or friends to call?”
“My only family is a brother who’s in the Navy traveling who knows where right now. He’s in no situation to help me. And as for friends…they used to all be cops’ wives or court employees who now, of course, don’t want to go near me for fear of being branded ‘bad” and investigated by the FBI. I have nothing and I have no one.”
Hearing that story nearly broke Frank’s heart. He’d heard such stories from people before but never one quite like this and never one in which he was so personally connected. And as he cuddled the baby girl up on his shoulder and listened to her soft breathing, he wondered just what would happen when Laney got home and tried to live her life. She was a smart, capable woman, but she had no help and seemingly no way out of the hole her husband had dug for her.
“I’m sorry,” Frank said again, for once at a loss for words.
“And you should be. You should be very, very sorry! I hope you have nightmares about all this and I hope you remember what it felt like when I slapped you. I hope you remember what it felt like for the rest of your sorry life.” The venom was back in her voice and the daggers were back in her blue eyes. Holding her arms out toward Frank she insisted, “Give me my baby and get the hell out of my room, Agent Donovan.”
Frank looked at Laney for a long moment. He suddenly didn’t want to leave and he didn’t want to give up the baby. But if he didn’t, Laney would more than likely jump up out of that bed and give him a good beating. So reluctantly, he handed the baby over, watched as mother protectively cradled the baby against her and said one more time, “Just get the hell out of here, Frank.”
“What are you going to do, Laney?” Frank asked.
“Does it really matter to you what I do? If you were truly concerned about that, you never would have gone after an innocent man in the first place and left me in this condition.”
“I didn’t leave you in any condition, Laney, Drew did. And he wasn’t innocent.” When Laney wouldn’t look at him, Frank left. His obligation to her was through and he couldn’t wait to get back home to his own life. The day spent in the hospital had been surreal and some fresh air and change of scene would have his emotions back to normal. All he needed was to distance himself from the situation and all would be fine. His guilt would be gone and his feelings of connection to Laney and her baby would disappear.
Yet if that was all he needed, why then, did he still feel that same way a week later? He had heard nothing from Laney and had only heard through the grapevine via Chief Whipple that Laney had been released from the hospital and was at home. Chief Whipple had said they had money for her hospital bill, a collection they had taken up for her around the department. But that day when she’d slapped Frank in the police station, she’s also refused the money. Her anger and her pride would not allow her to take anything from anyone in anyway associated with the police department. And so the money sat there, waiting for her, and Frank hope she found a way to release some of that anger and denial she was harboring—for her own sake and her child’s.
Another week passed and Frank still hadn’t heard any word. His work on the Lansford PD case was practically through and he was ready to move on to something else. There were always lots of cases to investigate that came through the FBI office. On his way out the door of his apartment to start one of those new investigations with his team, he nearly ran into a person standing with a bag, a suitcase and a baby. It was Laney and all he could do was stop and stare.
“Hi, Frank,” she said with some hesitation in her voice.
“Hello,” he replied slowly, unsure of what this visit meant and not really sure how to start a conversation with her.
“Remember when I told you I was one step away from the streets?” she began.
He nodded.
“Well, it’s no longer one step away. All I have left is what’s in these bags and my car. I need a place to stay and since you created this situation for me, I figured you could help me out. How much room do you have?”
Frank paled as he imagined exactly what all this meant. Then he looked at the pretty face before him, crystal blue eyes that were so afraid and so saddened by all that had happened. They were rimmed with exhaustion and uncertainty and when the little pink bundle in her arms shifted and cooed, he had only one answer for her.
“I have enough room.”
The End