By:  Lee Vibber                     Date Written:  April 1993
 

Lee Stetson sat at his desk in the Q Bureau, sorting through the dispatches that had arrived overnight. It was a dreary and chilly winter morning, the kind that promised slushy snow before the day was over, and he was looking forward to spending that day indoors, even if it meant doing paperwork. The thought brought a smile to his face. Now, there was a change in outlook! Did that mean he was getting old? he wondered. Nah. Probably just Amanda's influence. She was a great one for keeping up with the paperwork.

The only real case he had on his calendar involved a suspected weapons dealer named Carl Anderson. Anderson looked clean on paper, and so far none of Lee's questing had turned up anything suspicious, but Lee had a gut feeling that the man was up to no good. While it was beginning to look like there might be something to this "détente" business with the Russians -- so said some of Lee's friends in the business, anyway -- there were still plenty of smaller trouble spots where a few well-placed superweapons could do tremendous damage to American interests, not to mention the cause of world peace. And something about Anderson just didn't smell right. But, the case wasn't urgent unless something happened to give Lee more to go on, or to indicate that something was going to happen soon.

Lee heard familiar footsteps in the hallway outside, and smiled even before he heard the quick knock on the door. The door opened before the sound of the knock had died away, revealing a smiling Amanda King. This morning she was wearing a tailored skirt and blouse that suited her slender form nicely.

"Hello," she said as she swept into the room, and Lee grinned back at her. "Good morning," he told her, and then added, "Though I don't see what's so good about it. There's nothing new on Anderson, it's freezing outside, and the heater doesn't work in my car." It was funny the way his day didn't really come alive until Amanda arrived.

"Why am I not surprised?" she replied with a mischievous grin. Lee grimaced, and she said contritely, "Have you dropped it off at the shop yet? I could give you a ride."

Lee shook his head and tossed his hand, dismissing the matter. "Nah. I'll take it in tomorrow morning." That was another change. In times past, the smallest problem with the car would have demanded his immediate attention.

"I'll pick you up then," she offered, setting her purse down in the file drawer she had appropriated for her own. She pulled up a chair in front of the desk and sat down.

"That'd be great, Amanda," he said. "Thanks. Did the boys get off to school okay this morning?" Amanda's sons had contrived to be late to school two days running, by some arcane method that Lee, having been raised an only child in his uncle's military household, didn't really understand. Amanda had been most unhappy when the attendance office called.

"Yes, thank goodness. I had to drop them off, so I know they got there on time. We finally finished Phillip's science project at 9:30 last night, and there was no way he could carry it. And Jamie's still not very happy about his braces, it was all I could do to push him out of the car." She sighed.

Of all the partners Lee had had in this business, Amanda was definitely the strangest. She was also the best, he had recently come to realize, part-time and half-trained though she was. She had brains and instincts, loyalty, and sheer determination, and he would trust her with his life. In fact, he had done so, more than once, and she had always come through. They were partners, and best friends, and, maybe, something more. Maybe. But that wasn't something Lee was prepared to think about -- today. He smiled and said, "Well, give him a little time. Eleven isn't an easy age."

"You're right, I know. But it makes him really hard to live with sometimes, you know? Actually," she said, struggling to be fair, "Phillip has his moments, too. I think thirteen is even harder than eleven!" She smiled ruefully and changed the subject. "So, what have we got on the agenda today?"

"Not a whole lot, really. There's nothing happening with Anderson, unless you dug something up?" he asked, somewhat hopefully. Apparently the itch that something was wrong was somewhat stronger than Lee's desire to stay indoors out of the weather.

"Not a thing. I finished going through all the computer records a few minutes ago before I came up here, and there's just nothing suspicious." She shook her head apologetically.

"That's what I expected," Lee said. "I wish we could get something on this guy!"

At that moment the telephone rang and Lee picked it up. "This is Stetson," he said, in response to a query. "Uh-huh. That's right. What? Where? Who is this?" He held the phone away from his ear and looked at it as if it might bite him. Amanda could hear the dial tone. "He hung up," Lee said unnecessarily. "Too short for a trace even if we'd been trying."

"What did he want?"

"He said if I wanted to know the truth about Carl Anderson, I should go out to Rockville Park this afternoon and take the Wilderness Falls trail as far as it goes."

"That's about 2-1/2 miles," Amanda said. "I hiked it once with the Junior Trailblazers," she added by way of explanation. "It's very pretty in the spring." She didn't bother to point out that it was definitely not spring now.

Lee considered the problem. "It's a pretty flimsy lead," he said.

"Uh-huh," Amanda said, "and it might be a trap."

"It might. And it might not." Lee thought again. "I'm going out there," he announced abruptly.

"We're not dressed for hiking in this kind of weather," Amanda pointed out.

"You are going home."

"You need me. I know the trail. And you don't know what's out there, you need backup," Amanda said firmly.

It was a testament to human blindness that in two and a half years Lee had never consciously realized that emphasizing the danger to her, and by extension, himself, would only guarantee that Amanda came along, with or without permission. Lee did, however, recognize that tone of voice. There wasn't any point in arguing, and really, he'd be happier having her along. "All right," he said, giving her a look. "He said be there this afternoon. We'll go change into something more suitable for the outdoors and get some lunch before we go. At least that way if this is a wild goose chase we won't be hungry."

"Right," said Amanda.

Lee logged the anonymous tip and they headed out.

In the parking lot they had another argument. Lee wanted to take his car, and Amanda objected. "Oh, come on," she said. "It's freezing outside, and getting colder all the time, and your heater doesn't work. I'm willing to go hiking in the cold, but I don't want to freeze to death once we get back to the car!"

He knew she was right, but sometimes still found himself trying to assert his authority. "Amanda, my car is a lot faster than yours, and I've got the car phone in case we need backup."

"Get in the station wagon," she said.

He got in the station wagon.
 
 
 
 

They left the car at the trailhead and walked in companionable silence to Wilderness Falls, casually holding hands as they went. The trail was muddy this time of year, and covered with fallen leaves. On such a miserable afternoon, they had it to themselves. The sky was still very overcast, and the temperature was near freezing. Despite the cold, they enjoyed the walk and each other's company, and the exercise kept them warm. At last they were standing in a clearing just before the Falls themselves. They both surveyed the area carefully.

Lee was never sure later what triggered his action, whether he had heard something, or whether it was pure intuition. Whatever the cause, he suddenly twisted around and threw himself at Amanda, shoving her over backwards to the ground. As he did so, a shot rang out.

The bullet slammed into Lee's chest as he was falling, and he landed without much control face down on top of Amanda. He grunted in pain. In the same instant, they heard another shot. Amanda felt the impact as the second bullet slammed into the back of Lee's thigh. He drew a sharp breath and moaned.

Amanda had had the wind knocked out of her when she landed on the ground, and the impact of Lee's falling body didn't help. As she struggled for breath, Lee hissed through clenched teeth, "Play dead!" and then lapsed into silence.

Amanda kept her eyes closed and did her best not to breathe noticeably. Her heart was pounding in fear, though, and she was afraid it would give her away. Listening in terror, she heard someone walk up into the clearing, boots crunching on leaves, and then stop. When that same someone ejected a cartridge from a gun, her heart nearly stopped. But then, he or she turned around and walked back the way Lee and Amanda had come. Amanda let her breath out sharply and began to think about getting up.

When the gunman had been gone for several minutes, and Lee still had not moved, Amanda got concerned. He was a dead weight on top of her, and though she could feel his breathing, she was worried. "Lee?" she whispered. When she got no response, she shook him by the shoulders. "Lee!" she repeated.

He stirred then and made the effort to roll off of her, landing in a heap on his side with a moan and a wince.

Amanda sat up, and helped Lee to a semi-sitting position as well. She drew a breath of surprise and fear as she looked at him critically. There was a lot of blood on his chest, which she had not expected, and he looked bad. But, before she could say anything, Lee looked her over in turn, and with fear-widened eyes, he asked, "Are you hurt?"

"What?" she asked blankly.

"Are you all right?" he asked again, gesturing towards her chest. She looked down and saw that inside her open jacket her shirt was covered with blood, quite a lot of it -- Lee's, she realized.

Seeing how frightened he was for her safety, Amanda made a conscious decision to stay calm for Lee, the way she had the time Jamie had fallen off his bicycle and slashed his arm open. She put on a little smile and said, "I'm fine, Lee, except for being covered in way too much of your blood." She reached for him then and asked, "Where are you hurt?"

Lee tried to rearrange himself and groaned again. "Back of the leg," he said, "and..." he trailed off, gesturing with his hands to indicate the right side of his chest.

Two bullets, two wounds, she thought with dismay. Whoever had shot Lee was far too good a shot! "All right," Amanda said soothingly, looking around the clearing. "Let's get the bleeding stopped and get some bandages on you."

As she thought furiously what to use for bandages, Lee said, "My shirt."

"What?" she asked with concern.

"Use my shirt. It's a total loss anyway."

"You'll be cold!"

"My jacket is pretty much okay, it was open. Help me get the shirt off, and I'll put the jacket back on."

Amanda did as he suggested, wincing inwardly every time he moaned or hissed in pain while she was removing his turtleneck and jacket. There was no sense in making him go through the ordeal of putting the jacket on twice, so she simply draped it over his shoulders to keep him warm while she tore the shirt up to make two pads as well as ties. "This probably isn't very sanitary," she said, "but it's better than bleeding to death."

Lee grunted in agreement.

"I want you to lay down while I do this, Lee, because of the possibility of shock. Okay?" She kept trying to remember her Cub Scout and Junior Trailblazer first aid. She knew that she should elevate an injury for bleeding, but couldn't think of any way to elevate both the chest and the leg, and gave it up as hopeless. Neither wound was actually gushing blood, though they were both still bleeding. Okay, time to bandage the wounds. "Lee, this is going to hurt. I'm going to check the one on your leg first so that I can get it bandaged right away. I think that will keep it cleaner."

"Okay," he said tersely.

She rolled him over on his side. After studying the hole the bullet had made in his jeans, she tugged carefully at the edges to enlarge it and give her access to the wound. She gently probed the wound, finding nothing obviously seriously wrong, no shards of bone or major bleeding. "The bullet is probably still in there," she told him. "I don't see any exit wound. But I can't find it, or figure out any good way to get it out even if I could find it, so I'm just going to try to stop the bleeding, okay?"

"Yeah," Lee managed to gasp.

Amanda decided not to waste time or breath talking, and bandaged the leg in silence, tying the strips over his jeans. "All right, let's get you turned over now and let me bandage the other one." She probed the chest wound with the same results, and went ahead and bandaged it, tying the bandage tight around his chest, under the jacket. Her bloody hands were icy cold in the wind, making it tough work.

By the time she had finished, Lee had himself under control. They got his arms into the jacket with less discomfort than either of them had expected, and Lee was able to zip it up part way before damage to the zipper forced him to stop. He watched Amanda as she stood up, wiped her hands on her pants, then dusted them off briskly and looked him over. She crouched down and reached out towards his jacket then, fussing over him, trying to get the upper edges of the jacket to stay closed. Without his shirt, too much of his bare skin was exposed to the elements for her liking and her concern was palpable. Finally Lee told her, "That's as good as it's going to get, Amanda, stop it." Afraid his tone was too harsh, he added softly, "Thank you."

She understood, and accepted the apology, standing up again and looking down the path. She turned back to him and said, "Okay, Lee, we've got to get you to the car."

Lee shook his head. "No. You leave me here and go for help. I'll only slow you down." As she hesitated, Lee continued, "The shooter might be waiting at the car in case we make it out, but I don't think so." He took another deep breath. "He probably cleared out as fast as he could. You be careful, though." Fumbling inside his jacket, he added, "Look, take my gun with you, all right?"

Amanda looked at Lee, shivered suddenly as the cold air finally hit her, looked up at the threatening sky, and said flatly, "No. Don't argue with me, Lee. It's too cold, if I leave you here you'll freeze to death. Can't you feel how cold it is?"

With his attention brought to it, Lee shuddered from the cold. "It's already getting dark, and it's probably going to snow," Amanda emphasized. "Come on." To avoid giving him a chance to object, she didn't ask if he could walk. She helped him up. Supporting him with his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his back, she held on to him for dear life.

They headed off down the trail back towards the parking lot. Lee couldn't put a lot of weight on the injured leg, and the chest wound was also very painful with movement, so it was very slow going. After only a brief time, Lee stopped short. "Amanda, I really don't think I can do this. My leg just won't take the weight, and I'm too heavy for you to support."

"You've got to," Amanda said without giving the question a thought.

"I can't."

It was so unlike Lee to give up on something that Amanda was shocked into blind action. "All right," she said, looking around frantically. "We'll get you something else to lean on. You sit down here and let me find you something to use as a walking stick." She set him down on a fallen log, and moved off the path, pushing her way indiscriminately through brush and around rocks, until she spied a dead tree limb that looked like it was about the right size. Grasping one end as tightly as she could, Amanda tugged and twisted on it until it broke off with a sharp crack. With a sigh of relief, she ignored the cuts and scratches on her hands and snapped off the smaller side branches using her feet for leverage.

Satisfied with her work, she brought the stick back to Lee. He was sitting on the log where she had left him, his eyes tightly shut. Amanda reached out and touched him gently on the shoulder. "Lee?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her rather bleakly.

"Look, I've got you a walking stick. It will help," she said pleadingly. "Come on, let's try it."

With a resigned shrug, Lee allowed her to help him up, and took the stick with his free hand. Amanda continued to help hold him upright, and Lee was able to put more of his weight on the stick than on the injured leg, and so after a fashion they were able to keep moving down the path.

The terrain that had seemed reasonably level only an hour earlier now presented continual obstacles: Narrow spots in the trail, rocks sticking up out of the frozen mud, roots exposed by the winter's precipitation. It was a nightmare, but somehow they kept putting one foot in front of the other, slowly shortening the distance between themselves and the car.

As they moved along, Amanda worried that all the jolting was causing more bleeding in the two bullet wounds. There was nothing she could do about that possibility, so she tried not to worry. Occasionally, though, she put her hand on Lee's chest below the bandage, checking for leaking blood. It was hard to tell for sure, considering how numb her hands were, but it didn't seem to be too bad, and she could only hope that the leg was faring the same.

Lee was very quiet, apparently focused on keeping moving. Amanda, however, kept up a running patter, as much for her own benefit as for Lee's. "Come on, you can do it," she said. "You'll see, we'll get you to the car and then I can drive you to the hospital. I'll put the heat on in the car, and you'll be much warmer," she added. She wished it were warmer now. It could not be good for Lee to be so cold. However.... "You're going to be fine," she said in her most reassuring tone. "We just have to keep going, and we'll be at the car soon."

This time mention of the car frightened Amanda, as she realized for the first time that whoever shot Lee could have sabotaged the car. Well, at least it would be slightly warmer inside the car than it was outside, with their body heat confined, and she was pretty sure she had a blanket stashed in case of impromptu picnics. So if they couldn't drive away, Lee would be less likely to freeze. And the parking lot was a little more likely a place for someone else to come by -- maybe a park ranger. She firmly pushed the fear out of her mind, and started up the reassurance again.

Though some part of him appreciated her concern for his state of mind, Lee paid her monologue scant attention. He couldn't remember ever being so much in pain or so frightened. He'd been damned stupid to lead Amanda into a trap. He was still afraid he was going to get her killed. The shooter could be anywhere, waiting for them, and she was burdened with his crippled body.

As Lee struggled to keep moving forward, he was acutely aware of Amanda's arms around him, of her body next to his. Somehow thinking of her made it even harder to breathe, as his chest tightened. His ribs ached -- probably some were broken -- and he knew Amanda had been checking for continued bleeding from that wound. She hadn't said anything about it; did she know how scared he was?

It occurred to him as from a distance that he was rambling. He shook his head to clear it. The lightheadedness scared him, too. Was it possible he was dying? He tripped, and pain shot through both his torso and leg as Amanda caught his weight and his whole body twisted in her grasp. Panting, he clung to her as he regained his balance, and she clutched him silently. He could feel her strain to keep him upright. He thought briefly that it would be a lot easier on her if he just collapsed here. As if she had read his mind, Amanda said forcefully, "You can do it!"

The words penetrated, and he didn't dare disappoint her. When he had steadied, they started walking again, and Amanda once again began her cheerful reassurances. Lee couldn't believe she would go through all this for him. What a remarkable woman she was. How could he have denied his feelings for so long? He knew well that she cared for him. If he died without telling her how much he cared.... With a shudder, he forced himself back to awareness of Amanda's words as she said, "We'll make it, we're getting closer all the time. We just have to keep going...."

Lee broke into her stream of assurances, saying, "Amanda, will you stop."

Amanda froze. Instinctively, she knew he didn't mean the talking. She turned her body more towards him, asking with concern, "What's wrong?"

Lee took a deep breath, trembling with the pain of expanding his chest, and leaned the improvised walking stick against the nearest tree. He reached with his free hand to stroke Amanda's cheek. "Nothing's wrong," he said, looking into her eyes, "except that I should have done this a long time ago."

Amanda searched his eyes, and, realizing his intentions, felt her heart beating faster. Of its own volition, her hand reached out and caressed his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, Lee leaned forward and kissed her. The moment was electrifying. Amanda felt the world drop out from under her feet, and felt a similar response in Lee's body. Pain, fear and cold forgotten, they surrendered to the kiss.

When at last it was over, and they could breathe again, they looked into each other's eyes, and saw the same feelings mirrored there: Satisfaction, nervousness, tenderness, love. Love....

Lee took another breath and said, "I love you, Amanda King."

"I love you too, Lee." The words were out before she could even think of stopping them as she had too many times before. But then she found her eyes unexpectedly filling with tears, and hurriedly buried her face in his shoulder, mindful of jostling his chest. She didn't shed the tears, but found herself sniffling softly.

Puzzled, and a touch dismayed, Lee stroked her hair as he felt her shake.

Amanda struggled to get the unexpected emotion under control, and to find its source. It was only a moment before she realized what had made her cry. Lee must really be afraid he was going to die. She didn't for a moment doubt the emotions Lee had expressed. She had sensed the emotional connection between them almost from the start, and in the past few months, as they'd spent more and more time together outside of work, they'd come closer to acknowledging how much they cared. But this was hardly the time or place to say such a thing, especially after all their stalling, unless he did not expect to have another chance.

The realization was enough to bring out her stubborn side. She simply wasn't going to let him die. Amanda blinked away the unshed tears and straightened up, just as Lee started to say, "Amanda, I'm sorry...." He trailed off as he saw that she had, unaccountably, a smile on her face.

"Come on," she said with some bravado, "we've got to get moving. It's getting dark, and the sooner we get you to the car, the better." She picked up the stick and handed it to him.

Unsure despite her smile what she was thinking or feeling, but afraid to push her for more response than he'd already had, Lee nodded and shifted his weight in preparation to move. He grunted in pain as they started up again and fire shot through his leg. The chest wasn't quite so bad now, more of a dull ache. Was that good or bad? Lee didn't know. And what did Amanda really think of his sudden declaration of love? There had been no mistaking the passion in her kiss, and she'd told him that she loved him, but she'd also cried.

After they'd walked a moment in silence, Amanda said, deliberately keeping her eyes on the path in front of her, "Don't think you're going to get out of this by dying, Buster!"

Lee stumbled and nearly fell as his body relaxed in relief. He let out a short laugh, followed by a wince, and shook his head. She turned and looked at him then, with wide, innocent eyes, and he grinned. "Amanda, Amanda. What am I going to do with you?"

Amanda grinned in return but made no reply.

They walked along the path in a silence broken only by periodic groans and gasps from Lee. Their halting stride kept their progress slow. The long-threatened snow began to fall, and Amanda once again began to worry about the condition of the car and how Lee's bandages were faring. It was such a long walk and so jarring; Lee had to be bleeding... She checked below the bandage on his chest again, found it not too wet, and finally decided to ask Lee about his leg as they made their way along the path.

"I don't think it's bleeding too much," he said. "But between the cold and the wound, the leg is pretty numb now, so I don't know how much I'd be able to feel anyway."

Amanda nodded. "We'll have to hope for the best, I guess. The faster we get you to the car, the better."

Between the cold, and the dark, and the sheer effort involved in moving, they had no more energy left for conversation. Even the running patter of encouragement Amanda had kept up during the first part of their trek was just too much effort. Lee concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, while Amanda concentrated on keeping him upright and staying on the trail. The moonlight helped, and at last Amanda caught a glimpse of the parking lot.

She sobbed in relief. It was only about a hundred yards ahead of them.

"Lee, look! We're almost there! Come on, you can do it," she urged, as Lee looked up and tried to concentrate on the spot in the distance where the moonlight was glinting off the windshield of her station wagon. Now, if only the car was still intact.

With their goal in sight, even Lee got a fresh burst of energy, and soon they were leaning against the side of the car, panting.

"All right, Lee, let me get the back open here," Amanda said as soon as she caught her breath, knowing she had to get him off his feet. She opened the back of the station wagon and dug in the storage compartment for the blanket, then hustled around to the side doors, putting down the back seats to make more space. Lee managed to stay upright until Amanda got back to him. It was obvious he didn't have the strength to walk even the short distance to the back of the car by himself, so Amanda ducked under his arm to support him, and helped him around to the door.

She sat him down on the edge, hoping that none of his weight was on the leg wound, and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "Look, you sit here for a second, okay? I'm going to go start the car and get the heater going so we can get it warmer in here faster, okay?"

"Good thing we have your car," he said, and she felt a stab of guilt for arguing with him earlier, even if events had proven her right.

Well, this was the moment of truth for the car. Had it been sabotaged in any way? Amanda stood back a few feet from the driver's door, weighing the keys in her hand. Impulsively, she crouched down to look under the car, even though she would have been hard pressed to recognize anything out of the ordinary, even assuming she could see it in the dark with only the light of the moon to see by. She stood up again and thought. Let's be reasonable, Amanda, she told herself. Whoever lured us out here intended an ambush with guns. Even hired killers don't carry around car bombs on the off-chance they might need one. So, the only likely problems would be simple mechanical damage. She made up her mind abruptly, opened the door, and slipped behind the wheel. She turned the key in the ignition, and was rewarded by the roar of the engine, cold as it was. She gave a deep sigh of relief, flicked the heater controls up to high, and got back out of the car again.

She dashed back to Lee, feeling more hopeful than she had at any time since he had been shot. He was sitting where she had left him, barely aware of his surroundings but still clutching the walking stick to help hold himself upright. "Okay, now, we've got to get you to a hospital, but it's a long drive, so let me make sure these bandages are still tight," she told him. She started with the chest, repacking the wound and tying it up again, then moved on to the leg. Lee didn't really react to what seemed to Amanda must be a painful procedure, and she got concerned again. "Lee? Lee, are you there?" she asked.

With a big shuddering breath, Lee returned to the here and now. "Amanda," was all he said. It wasn't very reassuring, but it was the best she was going to get. At least he recognized her....

"All right, Lee, let's get you into the car here," she said with more calm than she felt. She took the stick away from him then, and tossed it aside. He was able to stir himself to crawl into the back of the wagon. Amanda tried to decide which side would be better for him to lie on, when Lee settled the question by groaning and flopping on his stomach. She didn't think that would be good for the chest wound, but at least he wouldn't roll much as she drove. Amanda urged him to crawl far enough into the car that she would be able to close the back door, then tucked the blanket around him. After she closed the door, she went around to the side door that was nearest Lee's head.

"Okay, Lee, we're going to go now," she said. Lee didn't respond. She leaned forward and brushed his hair out of his face. His skin was like ice despite the warm air that was beginning to find its way to the back of the car. In the moonlight that streamed through the open door he looked very pale, and his breathing seemed very shallow. Probably shock, she thought in fear. I've got to get going... Impulsively she bent down and kissed his forehead, then closed the door and climbed into the driver's seat, pulling on her seatbelt. "All right, Lee," she said firmly, though she knew he probably couldn't hear her. "We're on our way now. We'll be at the hospital soon." She turned on the lights, checked her rearview mirror and started out.

At first, as she drove, Amanda kept her awareness centered behind her. An occasional moan as she made a rough turn reassured her that Lee was at least still alive. Feeling more secure now that they were on their way, she almost relaxed, and was enjoying the sensation of having warm hands for the first time in hours. But before she had driven very far, the fall of wet snow turned heavier and began to pack down on the road almost as it landed, making the surface nearly as treacherous as driving on ice. "No!" Amanda whimpered in frustration, fighting to keep the car on the road.

She slowed down to a near crawl. Her headlights showed trees and boulders lining the road, and she was terrified that she would lose control of the car and slide into one of them. Then what would happen to Lee? It wasn't fair! Her world narrowed to the slippery road in front of her. She tried once to increase her speed, but could feel the loss of traction immediately and eased off the gas instantly. Shaken, she resolved to be a tortoise rather than a hare....

At last the slow and steady pace brought her beyond the area of snowfall, and she was able to pick up some speed on roads that were wet but not icy. As she reached the edge of civilization, she briefly contemplated stopping at a pay phone and calling an ambulance for Lee. But she decided that given the weather conditions, it would probably take nearly as long for an ambulance to reach her as it would take her to continue driving to the nearest hospital, and so she continued on. Lee was ominously quiet in the back of the car. At long last she was screeching to a halt in front of the hospital emergency entrance. She flung the door open, and with only a brief backward glance at Lee, she ran into the ER entrance.

"Help," she shouted. "Somebody help me, please! I've got a Federal agent in the car. He's been shot!" One look at Amanda, bloodstained as she was, brought quick results. Medical personnel materialized rapidly and they rushed a gurney out to the car.

Amanda followed, frantically trying to explain. "There are two wounds, one in his chest, one on the back of his leg. He's lost a lot of blood, we had to walk about two miles through the woods, and he's unconscious now, I think it's shock, but he's still breathing, I'm sure of it." She trailed off as they started looking for a way to open the back of the station wagon. The keys! She had left them in the ignition -- recent habit in case of the need for quick getaways. She ran to the front of the car, yanking open the side door as she passed it. One of the techs climbed in and began checking Lee's vital signs.

Amanda reached in and grabbed the keys, then rushed to open the back of the car. Quickly they eased Lee onto his back and then out of the car, laying him face-up on the gurney. It was the first time Amanda had seen him in the light since shortly after the shooting, and he looked terrible, deathly pale, with sunken eyes.

Amanda rushed along beside him as they moved Lee into the hospital, and would have followed him into the treatment room, but a nurse took her firmly by the arm and guided her to the waiting room. "His blood type is O positive," she called after them frantically as the gurney disappeared into the ER.

Amanda stood forlornly staring at the doors, her hands clasped together and jammed under her chin. She couldn't bear to think of losing him now, not after everything they'd been through -- and not after admitting how much she loved him. What were they doing in there?

After about ten minutes one of the admitting nurses came up to Amanda and said, "Excuse me, are you Mrs. Stetson?"

Amanda looked at her in surprise, even as her heart beat faster at the thought. "No," she said, "No, I'm not -- He's not married. I'm a friend. A good friend," she added defiantly.

"Well, we need to get these admitting forms filled out. Does he have insurance?"

"Of course he has insurance, it's the same as mine, we work at the same place." She began fumbling with her purse, looking for her IFF insurance card. Her vision blurred, thinking of Lee's pale face, and suddenly she stopped and glared at the nurse. "Wait a minute, Lee's wallet was in his pocket and you must have seen it, otherwise you wouldn't know his name, because I never mentioned his name. His insurance card must be in his wallet, where else would he keep it? So why are you sitting here asking me stupid questions when he could be dying? Why aren't you doing something?" Amanda stopped her tirade, on the verge of tears.

The nurse had waited with remarkable patience, and now said, "I'm sorry, Miss -- ?"

"Mrs. King," Amanda said automatically. "Amanda King."

"Mrs. King," the nurse continued, "I know you're upset, but the doctors are doing everything they can right now. However, the hospital also needs to have Mr. Stetson's records complete and correct, and to be honest, I think you need something to do besides wait."

Amanda blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, I'm just so worried. If he hadn't been protecting me..." She took a deep breath and said, "All right, what else do you need to know?" They spent some time filling in names, phone numbers, and the like.

When the forms were finished, Amanda looked down at her hands where she had been twisting them in her lap. Her palms were full of scratches and gouges from her efforts with the walking stick. For the first time, too, she saw that both hands were still covered with dried blood, in between the fingers, under the fingernails, and anywhere else her cursory wipe back in the woods hadn't reached. She asked the nurse where the nearest restroom was, and went in and stood at the sink, washing her hands slowly and carefully, wincing a little as the soap and water stung the cuts. She looked at her haggard form in the mirror, and told herself Lee wouldn't want to see her looking so bedraggled. There was nothing to be done about the blood and dirt on her clothes, but she tucked the shirt into her jeans and straightened her jacket, then ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tidy it.

After that she took the time to wash her face, and as she was patting her face dry with paper towels, she realized with a shock that she hadn't called the Agency. Feeling slightly more alive after the familiar ritual of freshening up, she went to a pay phone and was patched through to Billy Melrose's office.

Francine answered the phone, and after hearing Amanda's tired, strained voice, she handed the phone to Billy. "It's Amanda. She says Lee's been shot."

"Amanda," Billy said, taking the phone, "We've been looking for you and Lee. What happened? How bad is it?"

"We were out in Rockville Park following up a lead on Carl Anderson, and then someone started shooting. Lee was hit twice. I got him back to the car, and he's in the ER now, but I don't know how bad it is." She stopped for a second, then started again in a more worried voice, "I don't think the bullets hit anything vital, but he's lost a lot of blood, and I know he was in shock by the time we got here." She stopped abruptly, feeling her composure slipping.

"Amanda, where are you?" Billy barked, hoping the demand would snap her out of her fear.

It worked. "We're at Parker General, Sir. It was the nearest hospital I could think of...." She trailed off and then started up again more emphatically. "Sir, this is a gunshot wound, so the hospital will have notified the police. They'll probably be here soon, and they'll find Lee's gun if they haven't already. What do I tell them?"

"Francine and I are on our way, Amanda. In the meantime, just tell them what happened."

"Yes Sir, thank you, Sir. Goodbye Sir," Amanda said.

Billy listened to the click on her end of the line, and hung up his phone. Francine, who had been watching anxiously, asked, "How bad?"

"Bad enough," Billy said. "We'd better get going. I think Amanda's just barely holding on."
 
 
 
 

Amanda hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and willed herself to calm down. She told herself she'd been working with Lee for nearly three years, and had been through enough tough situations to know that there was no point in giving in to her fear. The hard part was being alone while she waited. Well, Mr. Melrose and Francine were on their way. And she should call her mother.

She fished in her purse for some more change, dialed the number, and said, as her mother picked up the phone, "Hello, Mother, it's me, Amanda. Yes, I know I missed dinner again, and I'm sorry. I'm at the emergency room with a friend from work. Yes, Mr. Stimson. He's had an accident, and I drove him here, and now I'm waiting to hear how he is. Well, I hope it's not too bad, but he's lost a lot of blood, so it's kind of scary. Thank you, Mother, I hope so too. I'll be home as soon as I can. Kiss the boys goodnight for me. Uh-huh. Goodbye, Mother." She hung up the phone feeling oddly comforted.

Amanda crossed the room to sit down as near the ER that Lee was in as possible, and sat in silence until Billy & Francine arrived. She stood up to greet them, and they both took in the blood all over her clothes.

"Amanda, are you all right?" Billy asked with concern.

She looked down at the blood, and gestured vaguely. "It's all Lee's," she said.

Shaken, Francine blurted the first thing that came to her mind: "You're lucky that wasn't an expensive outfit." She flushed with embarrassment. Amanda and Billy both ignored the comment, and Francine hurriedly continued, "Is there any news about Lee?"

"There's nothing yet, Francine. I haven't heard a thing," Amanda said in frustration. "I don't know what they're doing!"

Billy looked at Amanda and commanded, "All right, tell us about it." The three of them sat down while Amanda told the story, omitting the personal moment of truth. When she finished Billy said reassuringly, "Good work, Amanda, you did the right thing. Now it's up to the doctors to --" He broke off as a medic emerged from the ER and approached them.

Looking at Amanda, the medic asked, "Is your name Amanda?"

"Yes, I'm Amanda King," she said, looking up at him nervously.

"We have a problem," he said. "Mr. Stetson is asking for you --"

"Lee's conscious?" Amanda exclaimed, her face brightening considerably.

"Yes, he is. We've gotten him stabilized, and we're trying to clean the gunshot wounds. But he's asking for you, and he's becoming quite agitated. It's interfering with our work, and we don't want to sedate him until we know the extent of his injuries."

"What do you want me to do?" Amanda said, standing up.

"We'd like you to come in and speak to him for a minute. See if you can get him to relax."

"Of course," Amanda said. She turned back to Billy and Francine and said, "I'll just be a minute."

She followed the medic into the ER, and as soon as she was past the doors, she could hear Lee's strident voice. "Where's Amanda? Is she okay? Where is she?"

"Lee," she called as she picked up her pace to reach him, "I'm right here. I'm fine." She pushed past the doctors gathered around him, and could see that he was struggling to sit up, while the doctors were trying to hold him down. "Lee," she repeated urgently, stepping up alongside him.

Lee stopped struggling, though he didn't lie down, and he turned to focus on her face. "Amanda?"

Amanda nodded and said, "Uh-huh. I'm right here, Lee. I'm fine." She wouldn't have said he was a pretty sight, hooked up as he was to IV's and monitors. And he still looked very pale. But he was conscious, and lucid, and that was a big improvement in her book! She reached out and touched his face, smiling. "And you're going to be fine, too, if you just lay back and let these doctors do their job."

All the tension went out of his body then, and he lay back down on the table. "Amanda," he said with a smile, and closed his eyes.

Amanda sighed with relief and then looked up at the doctor who had brought her in. He mouthed, "Thank you," and Amanda whispered, "I suppose you want me to go now?" When the doc nodded, "Yes," she bent down again to Lee and touched his arm gently. "Lee," she said, "I have to go now so the doctors can work, okay?"

His eyes opened and he said plaintively, "You're leaving?"

Her heart broke at the thought of leaving him alone in the formidable medical setting, knowing how he felt about doctors and hospitals, but she knew she couldn't do otherwise. "I'm only in the way here," she said soothingly. "You've got two bullets in you the doctors have to remove," she added with practicality. "Besides, the sooner they get the bullets out, the sooner you'll be in your own room, and I can sit with you." Amanda saw his mouth twitch in a tiny smile at her promise, and felt better about going. "I'm not leaving," she said, "I'll be right outside in the waiting room. It's all right, Francine and Mr. Melrose are there with me."

"Billy and Francine," Lee murmured, drifting a little, but now relaxed.

"Right," Amanda said. "I'll be right outside," she repeated.

"Right outside?" he asked.

"Right outside," she repeated once again, and when Lee responded, "Okay," she whispered, "Everything's going to be fine," then squeezed his arm and let go, backing away self-consciously.

As the doctors turned back to probing Lee's wounds, she saw that the one who had brought her in was looking at her with an odd expression. "He lost his parents when he was little," she said, nodding towards Lee. "Sometimes he just needs a little mothering." She spread her hands in a "What can you do?" gesture.

The doctor's expression turned to a knowing smile. "It looked to me like he just needed to know you were here," he said, ushering her out of the room. Amanda blushed furiously, but was nonetheless very pleased with the observation.

"Now, he is going to be okay, isn't he?" she asked as the doctor pushed the door open for her, and they emerged into the waiting room.

"It looks like it," the medic agreed cheerfully, and Amanda's happy smile erased any traces of her earlier embarrassment.

Billy and Francine came over to them, encouraged by Amanda's grin. The doctor elaborated, "As I said, we've stabilized him, and now it's just a matter of cleaning the gunshot wounds. He'll make it."

"That's wonderful," said Francine with relief, and Billy clapped a hand on Amanda's arm and said with a huge grin of his own, "All right!" The doctor took his leave of them, and the three agents went back to sitting in the waiting room.

Despite the good news of Lee's condition, time passed slowly. It was late, after 1:00 a.m., and for Amanda, especially, the day had been exhausting. No one said anything until Francine suddenly stood up. "I'm sorry, Amanda, I just can't keep my eyes open any longer. I've got an early appointment with the Minister from Zimbali tomorrow. Tell Lee I'm glad he's okay, will you?"

"Of course, Francine," Amanda said. "I understand, and so will Lee. Thanks for staying so long," she added with sincerity.

Billy stood up to say goodbye to Francine, and as she left, he stretched sore muscles. Amanda, too, stood up to stretch, and at that point the police finally arrived to investigate Lee's gunshot wounds.

Billy stayed alongside Amanda as she repeated her story for the police, confirming Amanda's and Lee's identification as two of his agents, and also confirming their assignment. Amanda agreed to take police investigators to the scene of the shooting the next morning, and then produced her car keys so that the officers who were there could examine her car for "evidence."

"The car," she said to Billy as the officers left on their errand. "Lee probably bled all over the back of it. How am I going to explain that to my mother?"

"Didn't you tell her that you had to take Lee to the hospital?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "How could I have forgotten that? It is late, isn't it?" She rubbed her hand over her forehead and through her hair in an unconscious imitation of Lee under stress. "What's taking them so long?"

As if in answer to her question, the leader of the surgical team came out to talk to them. "You're with Mr. Stetson?" When Amanda and Billy nodded emphatically, he continued, "He's just fine. We've cleaned and dressed both wounds, and were able to remove the bullets cleanly. I don't think either wound will give him any trouble once they've healed."

Amanda let out the breath she had been holding. "Thank goodness," she sighed. "Can I see him?"

"We're sending him up to his room now. He's probably pretty groggy, but I'll see what I can do." He paused and added, "I appreciate your help getting him to settle down."

Amanda ducked her head shyly and said, "Well, I practically carried him all the way out of the forest, I wasn't going to let him die from being stubborn!"

Billy gave her a quizzical look, but the doctor laughed. He started to leave, then paused and turned back to Amanda. "By the way, are you the one who bandaged him up?"

Amanda nodded and said, "Yes. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, actually. I just thought you'd like to know you did a good job under the circumstances. He couldn't have stood to lose much more blood."

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, and the doctor went on his way. Billy patted her on the arm and said, "Don't doubt your instincts, Amanda. Lee would be the first to tell you that."

"I guess so," she said. "I know so. But I was so scared this time. I just did my best."

"That's the most any of us can ever do," Billy said soothingly. "Come on, let me get you a cup of coffee -- or whatever they call it -- from this machine over here."

The two of them sat sipping the metallic-tasting brew until a nurse came and directed them to Lee's room on the sixth floor.

When they arrived, Lee was sitting up in the bed, one leg bent to keep his weight off the bandaged leg wound. He looked considerably more alert than they had been led to expect. He broke into a delighted grin and held his arms out to Amanda, gesturing her to come to him. Amanda needed no more encouragement than that. She ran across the room and flung her arms around him, mindful of his chest, burying her face in his neck. He enfolded her in a tight, happy embrace, his head folded down on hers.

Billy stood in the doorway, watching bemusedly. This particular partnership never ceased to surprise him. Lee raised his head slightly and looked past Amanda's shoulder at Billy. He raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "She saved my life."

"Of course," Billy replied, as he walked into the room and came over beside the bed.

Hearing Billy's voice, Amanda disentangled herself from Lee and stood up, trying to compose herself. There were tears of joy running down her cheeks. She brushed them aside while taking a deep, steadying breath.

Lee smiled at her in open delight. "She saved my life," he repeated, this time looking into Amanda's eyes.

"Well, you helped," Amanda told him. "If you hadn't managed to keep walking, I could never have gotten you to the car."

"Good work, both of you," Billy said, in an attempt to stave off a contest. "Lee, you'll have to spend some time tomorrow briefing someone at the Agency on what happened today, and exactly where the Anderson case stands. I'm taking you off it." Lee started to protest, but Billy overrode him. "Don't argue with me, Lee. You're not going anywhere for a while, and you might as well accept it. If I have to set Amanda to watchdog you, I will."

"Yes, sir," Lee said meekly, and Billy raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I think you're not taking my threat very seriously?" he said. "Well, I'd better get home. Jeannie is probably wondering where I am." He looked at Amanda. "The police will probably put an impound on your car for a while, Amanda. Do you need a ride home?"

She looked at Lee, whose open expression spoke volumes, and then said, "No thank you, sir. I'll stay here a little while longer and make sure Lee is settled, and then I'll take a cab home."

"All right then," Billy said. "Lee, I'm glad you're okay. And -- We'll find your shooter."

"Thanks, Billy," Lee said. "See you later."

As Billy left the room, Amanda sat down on the bed next to Lee. In doing so, she jostled the bed slightly, and hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, did that hurt?"

"No," Lee said, and reached out a hand to take hers. They sat nervously for a moment, both of them watching in fascination as their fingers traced each other's hands. Abruptly, Amanda said, "Oh, I forgot, Francine was here until about an hour ago. She said to tell you she's glad you're okay."

Lee grinned, then said softly, "I'm glad she was here for you. It must have been hard."

Amanda nodded. "Just a little...."

They sat in silence again for a moment, and then Lee took a deep breath and searched her face. "Amanda," he said quietly, "I really do owe you my life." He hesitated for a moment, then went on, "In more than just the physical sense. The thing that kept me going during the whole last half of that walk was the desire to see you again, hold you again." He paused, and Amanda let him gather his thoughts. "And," he paused again, "to make sure you understand that I meant what I said. I love you."

Now Amanda let her happiness and her joy show. "I know you do," she said. "And I really do love you. I think we've been in love almost since the day we met, and we've just been too stubborn to admit it."

Lee beamed, then teased, "Well, I wouldn't go quite that far...." Amanda started to turn mock indignation on him, but couldn't hold the expression, even in jest, and they both started laughing.

Lee sobered first, though his eyes still shown with happiness. "Amanda, I don't know where this is going to lead us." He paused, and waited until he could see in her eyes that she understood he was offering her an out, if she wanted it, not that he wanted one for himself.

"It's certainly going to complicate our lives even more than they are already," she said cheerfully. "I guess I'm getting to like complications, when they involve you...."

Lee felt a wave of pure joy wash over him. How did he get so lucky? He certainly didn't deserve to have her love him. In an attack of honesty, he began, "Amanda...." He broke off and stared down at her hand, resting so naturally now in his. "Amanda, I don't have any experience with making this kind of commitment. I've never had to follow through on saying, 'I love you.'"

Amanda looked into his worried eyes. She could see the depth of his love for her, and she thought back on his behavior towards her over the past three years. He'd been following through on those words without ever saying them for most of the time she'd known him. "You'll manage fine," she told him, a rush of warmth and love for him lighting up her face.

Lee shook his head in wonder. "I love you."

"I love you too," Amanda said, delighted with being able to say those words herself, at last.

Lee let go of her hand then and gestured for her to come closer.

Amanda's grin couldn't have been any larger as she leaned forward to kiss him for the second time that night. It was as wonderful as the first, and neither of them wanted it to end.

Amanda finally leaned back reluctantly and broke the kiss. "Well, you've certainly got a lot of energy," she said with a smile, trying to keep the moment light.

"Try me again," Lee said.

Amanda laughed, and then stood up. "I don't think I'd better, if I want to get home tonight," she said. "And I don't mean that exactly the way it sounds, Hot Shot," she added.

"I know," Lee said. "I know. And you do need to get home. Your mother must be worried."

"Well, I hope she went to bed. I let her know I was with a friend who was at the hospital....But if she's awake when I get home and sees me looking like this --" and she gestured at her whole general appearance -- "she's going to be upset."

Lee took her hand and kissed it gently. "You'll come back in the morning?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" she told him. "I'll be here early, and then I'm going to have to take a break to lead the police out to where you were shot. Other than that, I'm sticking to you like glue!"

"Good."

"I'm glad you think so," agreed Amanda, "because you won't be getting rid of me...."

"Good," Lee reiterated. "And don't even think about losing me," he grinned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Amanda said, as she turned away and headed for the door. "See you tomorrow."

"You bet," Lee said happily.

It was funny how things worked out sometimes. If they'd stayed in as Lee had planned for the day, they would have enjoyed each other's company at work, maybe stopped for coffee on the way home, and then they would have started over again in the morning, still carefully distant. Now, despite his cautious words, Lee knew that they had a whole lifetime ahead of them, a whole lifetime to be together. If he were honest with himself, he knew that it would have happened sooner or later. But every day was precious, especially in their business, and it was worth a couple of bullet wounds, in Lee's opinion, to have changed the path they were walking sooner....

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