TITLE: PICKING UP THE PIECES-CHAPTER TWO
AUTHOR: CTL (AugieSwan2@AOL.com)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I told Cindy I'd handle the alternate chapters of this story. We're going to basically Round Robin off of each other. It looks like I get to start off with Mike.
CHAPTER TWO-Los Angeles, Spring
of 2001
Mike slammed his cell phone down on the desk after talking to his son. Now he knew why his brother had always referred to his ex-wife as 'The Anti-Christ.' Michael had told him that Jill was taking him and Shelby to the coast the next week for spring break. He was excited as he told Mike about the indoor swimming pool at the hotel they usually stayed at.
Jill called later that night, sounding calmer than she had during their previous conversation. "I'll call you when I bring the kids back to town if you still want to fly out."
"Yeah, I'd like that," he responded.
"We're leaving Sunday and we'll be back Wednesday afternoon. I'll call you as soon as we get back home," she told him once again as she started to hang up.
"Jill, I'd like for us to have dinner together," he started to say.
"No, Mike," she interrupted quickly. "I already told Michael that it wouldn't be right or fair for us to pose a false front. I have to go. I'll call you Wednesday," she said as she quickly hung up.
Mike hung up once again and sighed as he rubbed his face wearily. He looked around the living room of Ryker's lake house. He'd been staying there off and on for several months. He'd sold the house after the separation. It wasn't like it had been much of a home, anyway. It hadn't been since the accident.
What Jill didn't understand was that she couldn't punish him any more than he was already punishing himself for the past four years now. He'd probably continue to do so until the day he died. The only thing he had left to live for was living fifteen hundred miles away. He made it a point to see Michael as often as he could, but it didn't make up for the fact that they were no longer living together as a family.
He still couldn't shake the images of that cold January night, right after New Year's, 1997. Michelle and Mary Kate had just returned to college following the Christmas break. Michael was five years old and the joy of their lives. Jill was working the evening shift that night. Savannah was 16 years old and seven and a half month's pregnant. The father of the baby was a young man named Troy Gallagher. When he and Jill had first met Troy, he'd told them he was 18 and had graduated from school the previous spring. They hadn't liked it but they hadn't objected to it.
Savannah and Troy had only been dating a few months when Savannah came up to Jill one warm summer day with the revelation that she was pregnant.
"Oh, Savannah, are you sure?" Jill groaned in disbelief.
"I bought one of those pregnancy tests. It had a plus sign on it. I don't know what I'm going to do!" She exclaimed as she burst into tears.
"What do you want to do?" Jill asked her in a gentle voice as she pulled the girl close to her.
"Mom, I just turned 16! I can't have an abortion and I can't take care of a baby! I want to finish school! I want to go to medical school! I can't do that with a baby!" Savannah reasoned.
"When daddy gets home, we'll sit down and talk about this. Have you told Troy?" Jill asked as she stroked Savannah's hair tenderly.
"Not yet," Savannah told her.
"Okay, you also need to talk
to him and his family. It's going to be okay, Savannah. It'll work out,"
Jill promised her.
It was only after Savannah got pregnant that Mike and Jill learned through the grapevine that Troy wasn't 18, he was 21 and this wasn't his first child. Mike wanted to have him arrested for statutory rape but Savannah got so upset over it that he relented and didn't pursue it any further. Savannah always managed to have him wrapped around her little finger.
The adoption scenario quickly flew out the window when Troy informed Savannah that he had a say in what happened to his child and he'd fight her in court to prevent her from putting the baby up for adoption. Savannah was too tired to fight him.
After they'd discovered that Troy had lied to them about his age, they forbade Savannah from seeing him. It was only later that Mike found out she was still seeing him. He'd kept it from Jill, knowing how ballistic she'd be when she found out. That had been the beginning of the end of his marriage. In 25 years of marriage he'd never kept anything from Jill and it seemed he picked a bad time to start.
It had been Savannah's idea to invite Troy to dinner with Mike and Michael that night. He had already had a few beers before he got to the house and a couple more with Mike during dinner. He was in no condition to drive home, so Savannah had offered to drive him home in Mike's car and Troy could pick his car up the next morning.
"Savannah, how are you going to explain Troy's car being here to your mom?" Mike asked.
"I don't know. I guess I'll have to tell her the truth. Don't worry, daddy, it'll be fine," she assured him, smiling that gorgeous Savannah smile. The one that always made Mike smile. It was the last conversation he'd ever have with her.
It was a 15-minute drive
to Troy's house and back. When Savannah hadn't arrived back home within
an hour Mike started to worry. It was only when the car pulled up outside
with the red lights flashing that the real fear sank in. He didn't want
to answer the door.
Mike tried to stop his train of thought. He had nightmares every night. That is...when he slept. He heard the front door open and Willie Gillis walked in. "Did you talk to Jill about seeing Michael for spring break?" Willie asked.
"Yes and no," Mike groaned as he leaned the chair back. "Yes, I talked to Jill and no, Michael can't fly out for spring break. It seems that Jill's taking the children to the beach."
"In March?" Willie asked in amazement.
"Apparently, there's no such thing as winter in South Texas. I'm going to fly out there next week and spend some time with him," Mike told his friend.
Willie nodded as he looked at the case files in his hand. They had a ton of cases that they were all working on 24/7, but in the last year and a half, Mike had basically given up working. He didn't even have a permanent residence any more, living part of the time at Willie's house with his wife, Jennifer and their teen-age son, Eric, and the rest of the time at the lake house.
Savannah's death had devastated all of them, but it had destroyed Mike and Jill. From the moment Jill found out that Savannah had been seeing Troy after she had forbidden it, life as everybody knew it ended. With the hostilities came the division of friendships. Sometimes Willie and Jennifer felt that they were the only people who understood the pain Mike was going through.
Willie and Jennifer had been home watching TV when the phone rang. Willie looked at his watch before looking at Jen. It was almost eleven o'clock.
"Hello?" Willie answered the phone.
"Willie, it's Mike. There's been an accident. I need to bring Michael over there," his old friend told him in a toneless voice.
"What kind of an accident, Mike?" Willie asked in confusion
Jen sat up and wrapped her arms around herself as she felt a cold chill sweep through her. The tone of Willie's voice and Mike calling at this ungodly hour couldn't mean anything good.
"The highway patrol was just here. Savannah was driving Troy home. She lost control of the car and smashed into a telephone pole. They're taking her to UCLA."
"Mike, have you called Jill?" Willie suddenly asked.
"God, Willie, I haven't called anybody!" Mike exploded in frustration. "Jill, Michelle, anybody! Look, man, I have to go! I can't even think right now!"
"Bring Michael over here and get to the hospital. Jennifer and I will call everybody else who needs to be called," Willie assured him.
"I think . . . I think the highway patrol was going to go to the hospital to tell Jill in person. She . . . she shouldn't hear this over the phone," Mike faltered.
"Okay, then we'll call Michelle. Do you want us to call Mary Kate?" Willie asked patiently, noting that it was almost two in the morning in New York City.
"No, I'll call her if I need to. Look, I really don't want to wake Michael up. Can you and Jennifer come over here to sit with him? I know you'll have to wake up Natalie and Eric . . . " Mike's voice suddenly broke off.
"Mike, Natalie's 16 year's
old. She's more than capable of keeping an eye on her brother for a few
hours. We'll be right there," Willie promised as the connection went dead.
"Hey, Mike. Why don't you come out to the house and have dinner with us? Who knows? Michelle and Thomas might even pop in," Willie suggested.
"No, thanks. I have a ton of paperwork I need to catch up on. Thanks for the offer, though," Mike smiled as Willie nodded.
"Where's the old man at, or is he in his 'not talking to you' phase, again?" Willie asked.
"Oh, he's talking to me, if you call monosyllabic answers talking. I think he's staying in town. I have a tendency to make him nervous," Mike admitted half-jokingly.
"Why? You're not drinking and smashing things any more. At least not when I'm around," Willie joked, but Mike didn't return the smile.
"He thinks I made a mistake. Hell, maybe you all do," Mike groaned as he stood up and stretched.
"Mike, we've been through this a thousand times. You did what you had to do and so did Jill. If you made a mistake, then that's life. We've all been there and all done that," Willie sat down on the couch and watched his friend.
"I should've told her, Willie. All I had to do was say 'Jill, I've been letting Savannah see Troy because I feel that this baby needs a father.' And to involve all of you in it was. . . .crazy. Now I've lost my wife, I've lost my son, I've lost one of my daughters, I've lost my granddaughter and I've lost good friends," Mike sighed bitterly, trying to keep control of his emotions.
"And if you keep beating yourself up over it, you're going to kill yourself. And, Mike? You haven't lost your son. He might be living in an another state but that kid is crazy about you. You haven't totally lost Mary Kathryn. She sees you when she's in town. She's just divided," Willie said as his voice dropped.
"There have been so many things I've screwed up in my life that I was able to go back and make right again. This time, no matter what I do, I can't make this right," he choked out as he buried his face in his hands.
Willie walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're right. You can't make this right. What's done is done. What you can do is go forward and do something with the life and the family that you have left. The rest of them are either going to come around someday or they won't. So...go to San Antonio next week and visit your son. I'll take care of Las Vegas"
"Shit! I forgot about Vegas and the Perkins case!" Mike exclaimed ruefully as he slapped his head. "Willie, I'm sorry. . . ."
"Forget about it," Willie said with a grin. " I owe my wife a vacation, any way. Who knows? Maybe I'll take her to see Siegfried and Roy at The Mirage."
"You'd better be out there trying to find out where Dale Perkins is," Mike warned with a shake of his head. "If Ryker sees anything about the Mirage on the expense report you'd better be ready to book to Mexico."
"Look, I've gotta get home. I'll see you in the morning," Willie said as Mike waved him out the door.
Mike walked over and turned his computer back on after Willie had left. He figured he might as well get some work done. Thinking was just making him crazy. He set his Instant Messaging to 'unavailable' so he'd have no distractions. He was busily working on the latest of their ever increasing current case loads when he heard the door open that led from the car port to the kitchen
Eddie Ryker walked in a few seconds later. He looked over at Mike as he went to the refrigerator.
"I thought maybe you were staying in town tonight," Mike commented as Eddie got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.
"Do you want me to stay in town, Danko?" Ryker asked, taking a swallow of his water
"Sir, if I recall, this is your house. . . ." Mike started to say.
"You're right, Danko. This is my house, which I'm graciously allowing you to stay in," Ryker interrupted in fury.
"As soon as I have some time I'll make other accommodations," Mike grumbled.
Eddie stalked back to his room and slammed the door closed. Once inside he looked at the framed pictures on his wall. Among the pictures of his late wife were pictures of the five young women who'd always meant more to him than anything in the world. Jill, Michelle, Mary Kate, Savannah and the little girl who looked so much like her mother...little Shelby. He couldn't believe it had been four years since the accident and nineteen months since Jill had decided that it was too painful to live in the same town with the man she blamed for ruining all of their lives.
"I love him, Eddie. Part of me is always going to love him, but I can't forgive him! Not now, not ever," Jill told him that day she came to the lake house to tell him she was leaving town.
"Where are you going to go?" He asked in shock.
"I've been applying to hospitals
around the country. I got a letter from University Hospital in San Antonio.
They have a position for a head nurse in the trauma center. They liked
my resume and they've offered me a great package. I'd be crazy to pass
it up. I have to make a new life for myself with my son and granddaughter.
That life can't include Mike," she admitted in a shaky voice as she started
to cry.
Eddie pulled out his cell phone and called Jill, noting the two-hour time difference. She answered on the first ring. "Hi, Eddie," he could hear the smile in her voice.
"I was wondering how you'd feel about putting up with an old man for a few days," he wondered in a cheerful voice.
"I'd love it," she declared happily. "When were you planning on coming out?"
"How about next week?" He offered as he heard nothing but silence. "Jill?"
"Next week isn't good, Eddie. Mike's planning on flying out here next week. He was upset that I wouldn't put Michael on a plane but I already had plans for him and Shelby," Jill explained quietly.
"When is he flying out?" Ryker asked, feeling slightly annoyed.
"I'm not sure. I'm taking the kids to the coast but I'm coming back Wednesday. Mike will probably be here Thursday or Friday. Why?" Jill asked.
"No reason, I was just wondering. Okay, how about I come out there to see you and Shelby after you send Michael up here for his summer visit with Mike?" Eddie suggested.
"That sounds wonderful," Jill exclaimed . "I know Shelby's going to look forward to seeing you."
"How is she?" Eddie asked, a tinge of concern in his voice.
"She has good days and bad days. We're seeing her cardiologist on Friday. I'll let you know what he says," she assured him.
"You do that. I'll let you get some rest and I'll talk to you later," he said as they said good night and hung up. Ryker walked back into the living room where Mike was typing away on the computer. "I thought you were flying to Las Vegas next week."
"Something else came up, so Willie's going to go instead," Mike replied in a low voice as he steeled himself for the explosion that he knew was coming.
"Does that something else have anything to do with seeing your son and your ex-wife?" Ryker snapped.
"Yes, I'm flying out to see Michael," Mike told him thru gritted teeth.
"Once upon a time I had three investigators in my employ. Two of them are doing a bang-up job, while the third, who I used to think of as the sharpest of the three, sits around here with his head up his ass! It's been, what? Let me see, nineteen months, 23 days, 12 hours and 14 minutes since your wife left and took your life with her! Danko, take it from someone who's been there! Get your act together!" Ryker shouted at him as he once again stalked into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him so hard that one of the pictures fell off the wall.
Mike sat back in his chair after his boss left the room. He knew Ryker was right, but how could you get your life together when your life was living in another state and flatly refused to have anything to do with you? Mike had to think of a way to get Jill to come back to him. Life was just too hard without her. Maybe he could enlist the help of his daughter and future son-in-law.
TBC