Disclaimer: This story is based on characters copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Production Company. It is meant for enjoyment purposes only, I retain the right to the plot and not the characters. Do not reproduce this without the authors consent.

Set in May of 1987, just shortly after the series ended…
 

Amanda awoke with a start. She bolted up in the bed, glad to be free of the abrupt, frantic dreams she had been having. It was like experiencing her life in a hodgepodge of flashbacks; or was it just a collage of dreams and wishful thinking? It took a few seconds before she realized that not only was she not at home, but she was in a hospital. Her mind was in a fog; at the moment she wasn’t even sure ‘who’ she was. She looked down at the hospital identification bracelet attached to her right wrist, it plainly read: Amanda King. She looked at her left hand, there was no engagement ring or wedding band.

‘Amanda King? Then it WAS all a dream… Lee and I are only business partners?’ she said to herself downheartedly. She continued to survey the situation. There was an intravenous line going into her left arm and her room was filled with cards, flowers and balloons. She turned to the right and saw Dotty, her mother, sleeping in a chair next to her bed with a book resting peacefully on her chest.

Amanda finally tried to speak, noticing that her mouth was dry as cotton and she still felt quite lightheaded, weak and dizzy. Her arms were heavy; every movement took great strength. "Mother," she said, but it came out in a whisper.

Dotty awoke with a jump. "Amanda!?" she exclaimed with relief.

"Mother, how long have you been here?" she asked, still confused.

"Oh, Amanda. We’ve been so worried about you. How do you feel?" Dotty rushed to her feet, her hand instantly reaching for Amanda’s forehead. "I think that fever has finally broken, you’re warm, but not hot."

"Fever?" Amanda queried, still woozy. She closed her eyes for a moment to try to make the room stop spinning.

Dotty coaxed Amanda back to a supine position. "Sweetheart, you really need to lie down. You’re very weak, you need to take things slowly. Now just lie back, that’s it. Let me tell the nurse that you’re awake. I’ll be right back."

Amanda didn’t argue. She was exhausted, still not sure what was going on. Why was she in the hospital? How long had she been here? Her mind was a cluttered jumble. Those dreams, they had seemed so real: she and Lee dating, dinners at Emelio’s, the ski trip to… she couldn’t quite remember where, but wasn’t it real or was it all just in her dreams?

A ring, he gave her an engagement ring. She opened her eyes again, her thumb gently rubbing her ring finger, but the hand was still bare: no ring. She reached for her necklace, was that gone too? Perhaps they had removed all her jewelry…but her hand clasped a small, heart shaped platinum pendant. A tear formed in her eye. It was all just a dream; merely a wish she had thought came true. She closed her eyes yet again.

Moments later the nurse came in, followed by Dotty chattering away a mile a minute.

"Mrs. King?" the nurse asked, seeing Amanda laying down with her eyes closed.

Amanda opened her eyes and turned towards the nurse. "Yes."

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Amanda shook her head slowly. "I’m, ah, I’m very tired, my mind is hazy."

"That’s not unusual, the fever, not to mention the medication will do that to you. It will probably take a few days for your mind to clear, but it will," the nurse replied knowingly as she examined Amanda, checking her temperature, pulse, blood pressure.

"How is she?" Dotty inquired eagerly.

"She’s doing much better, her temperature is almost back to normal. The doctor will be in shortly I’m sure; I’ve had him paged." She filled a pitcher of water for Amanda. "Fluids! You need to start drinking water. Short sips at first. You’ll feel better in no time," she encouraged as she headed out the door.

"Let me help you with that, dear," Dotty suggested as she poured Amanda a glass of water.

"Mother…" Amanda started to ask, but the doctor came in with the nurse again.

"Sweetheart, I’ll be right outside," Dotty suggested as the doctor began his examination. She headed out into the hallway.

Dotty had only waited in the hallway for a short time when she heard a familiar voice call to her.

"Dotty?" Lee called out from the end of the corridor. His paced quickened as she turned away from him.

"Dotty," he called again, this time with worry mired in his voice.

She finally turned towards him. "Nice of you to have the time to visit her again," Dotty snapped angrily.

Lee ignored the harsh comment. "Is she all right?" he asked anxiously.

Dotty glared at him. In the past, she had thought that Amanda and Lee’s relationship had been moving towards marriage. But their ‘dating’ had never advanced into anything more. His actions over the last week concerned her. The first few days he hovered over her room night and day. Then he disappeared without word for four whole days while Amanda fought for her life. Two days ago he returned with a lame explanation that he was called away on emergency business. But Dotty wasn’t stupid, naïve or ‘in love’. She was starting to think that Lee was a married man; whether or not Amanda knew it, she wasn’t sure.

"She regained consciousness a few minutes ago," Dotty sighed in relief. "The doctor is examining her now."

"Is she all right? Is she lucid or still delirious?"

"She’s still a little woozy, but I think her fever finally broke," she answered sharply, still giving Lee the cold shoulder.

Moments later the doctor came out of Amanda’s room, nodding to Lee and smiling at Dotty. "The fever has broken, now it’s just a matter of time before she gets her strength back. The medication has her a little befuddled, but that should dissipate over the next few days."

"Oh, I knew it. I knew this nightmare was finally over. Thank you, Doctor, so much. We have you to thank," Dotty gushed happily.

"Actually, it was a team effort," the doctor smiled, reaching his hand out to Lee, who gladly accepted it and shook it heartily.

"I, we, can never thank you enough," Lee replied.

"You already have. Now, if you’ll excuse me." The doctor turned and headed down the corridor.

Lee stood with Dotty in the hallway, encompassed by an uncomfortable silence. He knew his disappearance for four days had driven a wedge in what had been a comfortable relationship. But he had to go. The virus Amanda had fallen prey to had been meant for him, not her. It took him four days to get the antibiotic. The cure for this devastating biological weapon had been deep inside Iraqi territory. If it cost him his life, he knew he had to find it. It saved Amanda, but in the mean time left a huge crevasse in his relationship with Dotty.

"I’m going to go home, get dinner for the boys, then bring them back here. Do you think you could spare the time and stay with her until we get back?" Dotty asked with more than a touch of irritation in her voice.

"Yeah, of course. Dotty, you know how I feel about Amanda…." Lee tried helplessly to make her understand.

"Lee, save it for Amanda. I don’t want to hear it," Dotty replied coldly, throwing her hands into the air as she started to leave.

Lee reached out for her arm. She pulled it away, turned and headed down the hall without giving him a chance to explain.
 
 

Lee headed into Amanda’s room. He smiled at the balloons and flowers that filled the room. She had spent ten days in the hospital; it had been a very long ten days.

He cleared his throat as he crossed the room. Her eyes fluttered, then finally those deep brown eyes were again looking into his. "Welcome back," he cheered, not knowing what else to say.

She pulled the thin sheet that was covering her protectively towards her. "Lee!" she whispered hoarsely with surprise.

He came over to the right side of the bed, bent down and kissed her forehead gently. "Hey, it’s OK, it’s only me," he said noticing how she held the sheet defensively.

Amanda felt unsure of what to say, "I, ah, I must look awful."

Lee smiled as he sat down taking her hand in his. "I think you look wonderful, you’ve been through a lot."

"Would you mind telling me just what I’ve been though?" she asked weakly.

"How about I give you the condensed version for now? Skip all the details until you’re feeling better," he suggested.

She gave him a tired nod and he continued with his explanation.

"About two weeks ago you were exposed to a virus. It was meant for me. You came down with what they’re calling ‘Iraqi Fever’. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for over a week. We finally got a hold of the antibiotics that can cure this thing. Looks like we’re finally winning this one," he said as he squeezed her hand tightly. "So how are you feeling?"

"Kind of fuzzy, I’ve been having some pretty intense dreams," she admitted uneasily, still not sure where her relationship with Lee stood.

He smiled warmly. "Any of them about me?"

Her heart started to beat faster. "Wh, what do you mean?" she stammered uncomfortably.

"Relax, I’m only teasing. You’ve been pretty sick, and the antibiotics you’re on are quite strong." He smiled and winked as only Lee could.

"Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. Where’s Mother? Wasn't she here a few minutes ago?" she asked quickly, hoping to change the subject.

"Your mother," Lee sighed uncomfortably. He didn’t want to worry Amanda about his strained relationship with her mother. "She went home to get dinner for the boys. She’ll be back with them in an hour or so."

Amanda nodded and laid her head back down on her pillow. "It will be good to see the boys."

"Amanda, you might hear some things from your mother about me. But just remember not everything you hear is true, OK?"

"Like what?" Amanda asked, her mind wandering, thinking of Lee and his ‘playboy’ ways.

"Don’t worry about it now. I’ll explain everything in a few days when you’re up to it."

"Yeah, OK." She nodded sleepily as her eyes drifted closed.

He stroked her hand gently, so happy to have her with him again. "Just remember you’re the only woman in my life now. I love you, Mrs. Stetson."

But Amanda had drifted off to sleep again.
 
 
 
 

A little over an hour later, the boys arrived. The noise of their entrance into the room woke Amanda. She smiled brightly at them and then hugged them each in turn. Both of them clamored at her, telling her how much they missed her and what was going on in their lives. Dotty looked on with a smile. But the commotion brought the nurse into the room.

"Four visitors? Mrs. King needs her rest," the nurse ordered.

"But we just got here," Phillip argued pointedly.

"They’re her sons. The best medicine any mother could have. Surely they can stay." Dotty suggested to the nurse. Then she glared over at Lee, as if he was an unwelcome outsider.

Lee felt her eyes baring down upon him.

"I guess I’ll get out of here so the boys can stay. I’ll see you tomorrow, Amanda."

"Night, Lee. Thanks for visiting," Amanda answered inattentively as she continued her conversations with her sons.

Lee backed out of the room, feeling very left out and somewhat hurt. But then he scolded himself for such a selfish attitude, ‘She’s been sick for ten days, Stetson, she misses her sons just as much as she misses you.’

End Part 1

***

Dreams: Part 2

Lee called Amanda at the hospital early the next morning. "Good morning," Lee greeted as she picked up the phone.

"Morning," a groggy Amanda replied.

"I um, woke you up, didn’t I?" he asked guiltily.

"Lee? Is that you?" she asked, still confused.

"Yeah, I’m uh, really sorry. I should let you sleep. You, um, need your rest. I’ll talk to you later," he stammered uncomfortably.

"OK, later would be better," Amanda mumbled incoherently as she hung up the phone.

Lee arrived at the hospital later in the afternoon only to find her room empty. After the usual hospital run around, he was advised that she had been discharged just after lunch.

He drove over to her house and noticed the car wasn’t in the driveway. He quietly walked around back, peeked into the windows, but didn’t see anyone. Using his key, he let himself in and stealthily headed towards Amanda’s room upstairs. Gently he pushed her door open and whispered her name.

"Amanda, are you awake?"

A startled Amanda answered accusingly, "Lee, what are you doing here?"

"I went to the hospital to visit you, but they said you had already gone home. Why didn’t you call me? I would have gladly picked you up," he asked, feeling somewhat dejected.

"Mother was already there and you were working. I would have called you tonight to let you know I was home. I didn’t want to put you out," she explained softly.

"Put me out?" he said loudly, then started to calm down. He reasoned logically, Dotty was at the hospital; it was just a convenience. "I just wished you had called to let me know."

Amanda shrugged, a little confused by his tone and level of concern. "I’m sorry, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the phone number at the office. My mind is still a jumble. Mother went to the drugstore to pick up my prescriptions; all that medication leaves me kind of frazzled."

Lee smiled as he sat down on the bed next to Amanda. She scooted over giving him ample room.

"Hey, where are you going? You’re not contagious," he complained sternly as he lifted her chin and gently kissed her on her lips.

"Lee?!" Amanda protested weakly, her heart starting to pound, her emotions swelling.

He pulled away, confused and upset. "What?"

"Just what do you think you’re doing?" she asked in alarm.

"I was trying to kiss you. I thought that was kind of obvious."

"I don’t think you should be doing that," she said nervously, reaching for her bathrobe lying at the edge of the bed. She pulled it towards her.

"I’m sorry, I just miss being close to you."

"You’re plenty close to me right now!" Amanda observed nervously.

"Is something wrong? Did your mother say something to you about me? I told you not to believe everything you heard. I promise you there’s a valid explanation for what happened last week, just not one for ‘her’ ears! You know that," Lee tried valiantly to explain.

"Nothing’s wrong. Mother hasn’t said anything to me about you, but you sure sound like you have a guilty conscience," she snapped at him. Her confusion about their relationship was growing exponentially.

"I don’t have anything to be guilty about. I just wanted to spend a few minutes alone with my wife, OK? I haven’t gotten to spend a whole lot of time with her lately," Lee snapped back. He knew she was tired and sick, but he too was emotionally exhausted.

Amanda was almost in tears. Not only were her dreams not true, it was turning out to be a nightmare --- Lee, the man she loved was married! Somehow in her dreams she had switched his wife with herself.

"Then why don’t you go home to your wife?" she sobbed with little control.

Lee pulled back from her, staring at her with his mouth wide open. Finally, a small grin started to form on his face. He realized what she had been trying to tell him for the last two days. Between the fever and the medication, she wasn’t sure what was a ‘dream’ and what was ‘reality’. Their mystery marriage was more of a mystery to her than anything else was at the moment.

"Amanda, I think we need to talk," he said softly.

"I think I’d rather be alone right now," she snapped back, trying to hold in her injured feelings. "Just leave me alone; go home to your precious wife."

"Amanda, I AM home with my precious wife. Although I’m not sure she remembers all the details at the moment," he replied tenderly, his hand slowly, gently caressing her emotion torn face.

She looked at him with glassy eyes. Trying to steady her short, choppy breathing she finally managed to ask, "We ARE married? So my dreams, they, they were real?"

Lee nodded with a broad grin.

"But my ID bracelet at the hospital said ‘Amanda King’ and my wedding ring? Where is it?"

He sat back on the bed with her, pulling her close into his arms. "We were married in February. We kept it a secret to protect your family, remember? Our rings are where they always are, in my apartment, our marriage certificate is locked away in the safety deposit box at the bank."

"Oh my gosh! I thought I was just dreaming it all, but it was real."

"I promise you, it was all very real!" Lee smiled as he kissed her, feeling the tension in her body gradually fade away.

"Married huh?" She smiled and sighed with relief. She snuggled against him, finding comfort in his strong arms.

"Yup, afraid so, you’re fooling around with a married man," Lee teased.

With that, the bedroom door flew open. Dotty was standing there with a package from the drugstore in her hand. But her red face told that she had overheard part of their conversation.

"I knew it!" she raged angrily. "But couldn’t you have waited a few more days before you dropped a bombshell like that? She’s only been out of the hospital a few hours. Damn you, Lee Stetson!"

"Mother! It’s not what you think!" Amanda tried to argue realizing she had misunderstood.

But Dotty was angry, she yelled at him from the doorway, pointing down the stairs, "Get out of the house! Get out of our lives! I knew when you disappeared last week that you had to be married. Amanda, how could you not know?"

"Dotty, sit down," Lee said calmly as he got up from the bed and reached for her.

"Don’t touch me, you cad!" she said as she pulled away hastily.

"Mother, please. Let us explain," Amanda argued.

"So you did know? You knew he was married and you still carried on with him? The boys think of him as a second father. They love him almost as much as they love Joe. How are you going to explain this to them? What kind of example are you setting for them anyway?" Dotty fretted.

"Mother, sit down," Amanda demanded with all the strength she could muster.

The tone of Amanda’s voice stopped Dotty’s tirade. She sat in the chair in the far corner of the room. She still clutched Amanda’s medicine almost as if she could somehow protect her daughter by holding it to her tightly. She wanted as much distance from Lee as she could manage and glared at him with loathsome eyes.

"I’m listening," she snarled hastily.

"You want me to explain all this, or do you want to try?" Lee asked quietly.

"I think you better; at the moment I’m not sure I have the strength to," Amanda answered with nervous exhaustion.

Lee sat down on the bed next to Amanda. While he gently caressed her hand he started his explanation. "Dotty, it’s true. I am married. I’m married to Amanda. We eloped just over three months ago. We were out celebrating our three-month anniversary when this nightmare started. Amanda drank from my champagne glass, which just happened to be laced with the ‘Iraqi Fever’ virus. The virus was meant for me, not her."

"You expect me to believe this?" Dotty grumbled distrustfully, rolling her eyes. "Do you really think I’m that gullible?"

Lee paused for only a moment. "When we finally traced what the virus was, I caught the first plane to Iraq. That’s why I disappeared for four days. The antibiotic that would cure this thing was there. When I finally got hold of the serum, I flew right back home. It’s as simple as that!"

"Amanda has told me some whoppers in the past few years but, Lee, this one takes the cake. I’m supposed to believe that you two secretly married three months ago, Amanda gets infected with some virus meant for you, and you fly off to Iraq to save her life like a knight in shining armor. None of this makes any sense." Dotty continued to shake her head in disbelief.

Amanda looked up at Lee. "That’s what you call an explanation? Even I have trouble believing it the way it came out."

"Amanda, if you want to continue carrying on with a married man, that’s your business. But I think you’re making a tremendous mistake. Sooner or later you’re going to get hurt."

"Mother, Lee and I really are married. We were married back in February. When I got shot in California, we were actually on our honeymoon. That’s why Lee was there."

The room was silent while Dotty digested the latest piece of information. The pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. Finally she asked one question, "So why did you keep it a secret?"

"Dotty, my job, correction, our jobs aren’t what they seem. IFF, is not a film company, it’s really a cover for a covert government organization. I’m an intelligence operative, so is Amanda."

"You know, you almost had me believing your story for a minute. But I’m no fool. You do know how to tell some wonderful tall tales; imagine my Amanda, a spy?" Dotty rolled her eyes and laughed in disbelief.

"Mother, think back to not quite a year ago. Remember when Lee and I disappeared and this place was crawling with federal agents? You never really believed they were concerned about two people from a film company," Amanda reminded her mother of her very own words.

The look on Dotty’s face showed she was still wavering on not believing.

Lee got up and started pacing the room nervously, hoping they could convince her of the truth, "Dotty, remember when your friend Harry got into trouble gambling? We got Billy Melrose to come and help out…"

"That man…" Dotty started to say.

"Mother, Mr. Melrose is our boss. How else do you think we got him over here on a moment's notice to help Harry out?" Amanda reminded her.

Dotty squinted as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, that her eyes too were deceiving her. "My daughter’s a spy?"

"We don’t call ourselves spies, mother," Amanda laughed wearily. Wasn’t that what Lee had said to her so many years ago?

"See, Dotty, we kept this all a secret to protect you and the boys. But I’m not sure that’s entirely possible, and after what happened to Amanda last week, I know I can’t to go on living without her." Lee turned his attention from his mother-in-law, to his wife.

"Amanda, last week, I almost lost you and there wasn’t a person in this world who knew how much you mean to me. I know it’s a big risk and we’ll need to take precautions, but I want to live with you and our family as husband and wife."

Lee sat back down on the bed and took her hands in his. "Please give it some thought. These last two weeks were the longest of my life."

Dotty cleared her throat; she no longer doubted their story. "Lee, I’m sorry for what I said to you the other day, and what I’ve been thinking. I was just concerned about Amanda and the boys. You have to realize what it looked like from my point of view. It’s just, well you disappeared and all…"

"Dotty, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. We should have found some way to tell you, but we just didn’t know how. Forgive me. I love Amanda more than anyone else in this world, and I promise I’ll start taking better care of her."
 

"Excuse me," Amanda broke in bluntly. "This wasn’t your fault. With our jobs we both know that these things can happen: to you or me. And for your other question, there’s nothing to think about. The answer is yes; I think it’s time we start acting like a married couple." Amanda paused for a moment. She closed her eyes and rested her head against Lee’s shoulder.

She took a deep breath, opened her eyes again and continued. "Mother, if you can hold the rest of your questions until later, I’m kind of tired and I’d like to talk to my husband in private." She smiled at hearing those words roll off of her tongue for the first time in front of her mother. "We still have some things to discuss."

Dotty nodded, suddenly feeling like a fifth wheel. "Oh, sure, um, here’s your medication. I’ll be downstairs if you need me."

"Mother, when the boys come home, please don’t say anything. Lee and I have to discuss exactly how much we can tell them," Amanda asked softly.

"Amanda, that’s one conversation that I’d be more than happy to let the two of you handle. Lee, welcome to the family - it’s about time," Dotty winked as she closed the door behind her.

Lee took Amanda into his arms one more time, giving her a much-needed hug.

"Why don’t you get some rest? We’ll tell the boys tonight," Lee suggested with a kiss as he started to get up.

"Just where do you think you’re going?" Amanda complained.

"I think you need to get some sleep."

"Exactly!" She pulled him closer to her, "So where do you think you’re going?"

He winked at her. "I’m not going anywhere, not now or ever. I love you, Mrs. Stetson."

Amanda yawned as she closed her eyes, "I’ll see you in my dreams, Mr. Stetson…"

The end…

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