As he watched Angie walk back towards the water's edge where officers
were searching for Loubar, Rollie was flooded with memories of his
and Angie's life together. He remembered the young girl he knew
so long ago, though it seemed like yesterday. He watched the woman
she'd become. He thought about his throbbing shoulder and about
Loubar. The pain he felt in his shoulder was nothing compared to
the pain and confusion he knew Angie was feeling. It was nothing
compared to his own confusing thoughts. Was he too late, would they
ever get past this nightmare? He knew Angie thought so, but he wasn't so sure.
"Detective Sanchez, we've found him." An officer called to Mira
as two officers in dive gear drug a body up on to the grass. Rollie
got up, ignored the shooting pain in his shoulder, and hurried to
the water's edge. He stood behind Angie and Mira who had already reached the officers.
"Is it him?" Rollie asked, hoping at least part of the nightmare was over.
Angie turned to Mira, her face unreadable. They both turned to Rollie,
Mira's face grim, but pleased. "Yeah, it's him," she said, "He's
dead." She squeezed Angie's shoulder, nodded to Rollie, and turned back to the officers.
Angie took a deep breath and one last look at the man responsible
for not only violating her body, but endangering, if not destroying,
her relationship with her best friend and partner. She knew in her
heart that even though she had told Rollie nothing had changed between
them, it had. She just didn't know what would happen next. At least Loubar was gone.
As she ran her hands over her face, drying the tears that had never
come, Rollie walked up and placed his arm over her shoulders. He,
too, took one last look at Loubar before gently turning Angie away
from the water. "Let's go home," was all he said.
They walked back to the truck in silence. Wordlessly, Angie sat
behind the wheel, as Rollie made himself comfortable in back. They
rode back to the loft without saying a word, but the silence said everything.
"Blue, lights." Angie grimaced as she said those two words she had
said so many times before, but this time she remembered the last
time she had said it, and what had happened. Was this how it was
going to be from now on? Simple innocent everyday things causing the most pain?
"You should lie down. Do you want anything?" Angie tried to make her voice light and normal.
Rollie smiled gratefully as he sat down heavily on the couch. "No,
I'm fine. You should rest, too. Why don't you sleep on the couch
tonight?" As Angie started to shake her head no, Rollie smiled and
said, "Please, I'll feel better knowing you're here."
Angie sighed. She didn't feel like arguing. As she sat down on
a chair across from Rollie, she said, "You should rest tomorrow,
so I'll get started on the prep work for our next project. Don't
worry, I'll leave all the fun stuff for you." She half-smiled at
Rollie, "Maybe I'll get started tonight. I really don't feel like
sleeping." She didn't know if she'd ever sleep again. As she got
up and walked towards the computer, Rollie stopped her. "Ang, wait."
She turned and looked at him. "Come here a minute." As she stood
her ground, Rollie took a deep breath and started in anyway. "I know
you said things are the same as before for you, but they're not for me. I. . ."
Angie broke in, "I understand. If it's too much, I'll go. I don't
want to make your life uncomfortable."
"Dammit, Ang, that's not what I'm trying to say." Rollie sighed
and stifled an urge to scream in frustration. He knew how much turmoil
Angie was feeling right now because he felt it, too. "At the park
tonight, while we were waiting for them to find Loubar, and even
before, after you told me what really happened last night, I started
thinking about us. All of these memories of you as a scrawny little
kid with your dad. About after your father's death. About you coming
to work with me. All of our adventures with Leo, Francis, and Mira."
Rollie paused a second to collect his thoughts. "I know I can never
erase what Loubar did to you and maybe you will never be able to
look at me without seeing him and what he did, but I have to believe
we can get past this. Loubar's revenge was to cause a rift between
us, but his plan backfired." Rollie took a deep breath and kept
going, Angie stood motionless next to the computer. "For years,
I've looked at you and seen that same scrawny kid I first met so
many years ago. But you're not that kid anymore. Somewhere along
the line, you grew up on me." Rollie stood up and slowly walked
towards Angie. "This may be too soon, maybe the pain you're feeling
now is too fresh, but I'm afraid if I don't say it now, you'll disappear
from me forever." As he stood only inches from the still motionless
Angie, he continued, "You are my best friend and my partner. We
both know that, but until tonight, I never faced the truth. I guess
because you were always there and I didn't have to face it. Somewhere,
along the way, I fell in love with you. Or maybe it all just grew
into love. Whatever it was, whatever it is, I love you, Angie."
A single tear rolled down Angie's face and she angrily wiped it away.
Rollie pleaded, "Don't say anything right now, just think about
what I've said. I will wait however long it takes until you are
ready to let me in again. No matter what, you will always be my
best friend." He turned and started up the stairs. "I'll see you
in the morning. There's a blanket in the closet, if you want to get some rest later."
"Wait." Angie called to Rollie. He turned, not knowing what to
expect. "Mira got rid of the sheets from your bed. You'll never
be able to put on new ones with your shoulder. I'll get the bed
made up for you." Angie looked away as she spoke. Rollie's face dropped almost imperceptibly.
"It's okay, I'll make do." He knew she really didn't want to go
upstairs. Why was it always the mundane things which caused the most pain?
"It's no big deal. It's just a bed." Angie hurried up the stairs
past Rollie. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, she had
already begun putting new sheets on the bed. He walked over and
tried to help, but soon realized he was just in the way. As he stood
back and watched her, he marveled at her strength which was both
an asset and her downfall. "Good night," was all she said as she walked back down the stairs.
"Good night," Rollie replied, but she was already halfway down the
stairs. Sighing deeply, he eased off his pants and gently eased
into bed, taking care not to lie on his wounded shoulder. His thoughts
racing, he thought he'd never get to sleep, but exhaustion eventually won out.
Downstairs, Angie gave up on getting any work done. She succumbed
to her need for sleep. As Rollie's words echoed in her head, she
thought about how simple it had all seemed at the park when she told
him nothing had changed. She was willing to pretend nothing had
happened, but he wasn't. Was she ready to move forward? As she
drifted off, she thought about her life with Rollie before this nightmare
started. Where would she be without him?
It wasn't long before she was there again, in Rollie's bedroom, as
before, sitting on the bed watching Rollie come and sit next to her.
Then, Rollie beside her, leaning towards her to kiss her once again,
his face changing into Loubar's just before his lips touched hers.
As she felt her stomach tighten and her heart pound, she caught
a glimpse of herself in a mirror hanging on a nearby wall. As her
eyes met her own in the mirror, she felt her strength return. "YOU
WILL NOT HAVE ME THIS TIME!" she screamed as she pushed Loubar away.
Suddenly, he was gone and Angie sat alone on the bed. As she took
a deep breath, she caught sight of someone out of the corner of her
eye. As she turned to look, she saw it was Rollie standing at the
foot of the bed, his eyes kind and understanding and full of pride.
Their eyes met and Angie wordlessly got up and walked into his waiting outstretched arms.
Angie smiled as she awoke. She became aware of the distant sounds
of the Manhattan morning--cars going by and the occasional horn honking.
A few rays of sunlight had been captured by the window and drifted
into the room. Angie gathered up the blanket she'd taken from the
closet just a few hours ago, and headed up the stairs. As she sat
in a chair next to Rollie's bed, watching him peacefully sleep, she
thought once again about his professing his love for her.
Rollie woke, feeling a dull ache in his shoulder and with a sense
he was not alone. As he opened his eyes and struggled to get past
the fogginess of sleep, he smiled as he recognized who was watching
him. "Good morning, sleepyhead," Angie smiled back at him, "How'd you sleep?"
"Fine. How about you? What time is it anyway?" Rollie struggled
to sit up without triggering waves of pain in his shoulder.
"It's almost eight. I had an interesting dream last night." Angie
told Rollie about her dream. "You were right about Loubar's plan
backfiring. It's going to take me a while to get over what he did
to me, and I know I may never feel completely safe again, but I do
know I'm going to be okay." Angie got up from the chair and sat
down next to Rollie on the bed. She looked down at her hands. "That
night, when we got to the loft and he made his move, I had no idea
until the moment the conversation shifted from joking to seriousness
just how much I really wanted things to change between us. I mean,
I guess I knew, but I'd never really thought about it. Like you
said, we're always together anyway so there was no real reason to
think about it. Maybe I was just afraid you wouldn't feel the same,
so when I thought you did. . ." Angie took a deep breath and looked up at Rollie.
"We're quite the pair." Rollie smiled and nudged Angie. She smiled
and looked back down at her hands.
"I can't promise you anything, Rol, " Angie looked back at Rollie.
"I know Loubar's gone and that makes it easier to move on, but I
can't promise you that I'll be the same as before. I thought I could,
but now I know I can't. My biggest fear was that I'd look at you
and see him, but I look at you now and I know it's you."
"I don't want any promises. I just don't want to lose you." Rollie
ran his hand down Angie's face, careful not to touch her bruised
cheek. "Together, we can work it out."
"Then, you won't lose me," Angie whispered, her voice full of emotion.
"I love you, Rollie, more than ever."
Rollie leaned forward and gently kissed Angie on top of her head,
on her cheek, and then on her lips. As she responded to his kiss,
it became deeper. Their arms encircled each other, bringing them closer to one another.
"OW!" Rollie yelped.
"What is it?" Angie asked, her voice full of concern.
"My shoulder."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Rollie," she tried to stifle a smile.
"So, you think this is funny. Just wait 'til I tell our kids how
you shot me!" Rollie tried to look mad.
"Kids? Who said anything about kids?" Angie mockingly demanded.
"Oh, just shut up and kiss me." Rollie smiled and pulled Angie closer.
"Whatever you say, boss." Angie smiled back and closed her eyes
as their lips met once again and for always.
ALTERNATE ENDING -- AN EPILOGUE (After rewatching Red Storm -- without
"snow" as the TV I watched it on last time didn't get good reception
of the channel the episode was airing on -- I've come to the conclusion
that while I sort of like my previously written ending, I may have
been incorrect in my assessment of Rollie's and Angie's feelings
for each other. Really being able to see their faces this time has
prompted this alternate ending. . .)
After weeks of tiptoeing around each other, awkwardly trying
to put their relationship back to some sense of normalcy, but happy
in the knowledge that Loubar was dead, Rollie and Angie gradually
came to realize that their friendship and partnership had endured
yet another crisis. Though they loved each other more than they
loved anyone else in the world, it was a love borne of friendship
and family, not of passion. Though neither would rule out the chance
of their relationship ever being more than what they had now, both
were glad that they had each other and were able to continue on with
their lives. Their relationship was stronger now and their bond
was even closer. Loubar's plan had backfired. He had not counted
on the strength of their committment to each other nor on the resilency of the human soul.
