Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

Megan watched horrified when her partner and the man fell onto the tracks right in front of the train. Screaming, "Tony…" she was on her knees in a second leaning forward, her upper body protruding over the tracks holding out her hand for Tony to grab. Before Tony even saw her, she was roughly lifted to her feet and jerked back by someone who had grabbed her around the waist. Fighting wildly, her mind imprinted with an image of her partner pinned beneath the man on the tracks, she yelled desperately, "Let me go!" But the screams of people who saw what happened had attracted the attention of the transit police, and her sight was blocked when they started pushing people back.

All she could hear was the screeching of metal against metal when the brakes were slammed on.

"STOP IT," THE stranger said harshly. "You could have been killed."

Megan stopped struggling. Turning her head to look at the stranger, her voice conveying a calmness she did not feel, Megan said, "Please let me go."

The moment he released her, Megan began pushing through the crowd, her heart pounding painfully, please let her be ok, but knowing it would be a miracle if she was. Pushing past the transit cop, afraid to look but having to know, she stood at the edge of the platform and forced herself to glance at the tracks.

When Tony felt herself begin to fall, her mind automatically registered that the ground was too close to do anything but ready herself for the impact. Adrenaline and reflexes honed by years of training took over, and the instant Tony landed she wrapped her arms around the man on top of her. Freeing her left leg, she drew it up until her knee was bent at a 45-degree angle. Using it to propel them, Tony shoved off rolling both of them over the track and out of harm’s way. On the far side of the tracks, she watched the train finally come to a stop several feet beyond them.

Tony lifted herself off the man and slowly stood up, her mind assessing the damage to her body. Her right thigh was throbbing, but she could detect nothing serious. Ignoring the stinging of the scrapes along her arm and hands and the pain in her leg, she held out a hand to help the shaken stranger to his feet, asking, "Are you ok?"

Grabbing her hand, and heaving himself up, he said, "Yeah. I’m ok. I think," and then added, "thanks."

"Then would you mind telling me why you were shoving so hard? You could have killed us both." Tony said, her voice hard.

The man looked at the woman standing there glaring at him and was suddenly very afraid again. He had just narrowly escaped death and this woman looked like she was ready to kill him herself. "Someone behind me pushed me. That’s why I lost my balance. I was trying not to fall into you. I’m really sorry," he sputtered.

Tony looked for any signs of deception and found none. It didn’t make sense anyway. He wouldn’t have lost his balance if he was just trying to push forward. "Did you see who was behind you?"

"No. First thing I knew I was falling into you," he said, anxious to convince her that he wasn’t responsible for their fall.

Just then, transit personnel spotted them and began shouting. "Over here! They look ok."

Megan heard shouts, but amidst all the chaos on the platform, she couldn’t hear what they were saying. Yanking her arm out of the grasp of the transit cop who had ordered her back, she jumped down onto the tracks. Crossing in front of the train to the opposite side, she saw several people making their way up the far side of the tracks, and one was unmistakably her partner. Megan broke into a run, never noticing the tears of relief that were steadily streaming down her face.

Tony saw Megan come around the front of the train and begin running. Separating from the group, she opened her arms to meet her partner.

Megan threw her arms around Tony and felt her partner’s arms encircle her. In Tony’s comforting embrace it impacted on Megan how close she had come to never knowing this feeling again, and she began crying harder unable to say anything. Tony held her tightly saying, "Sshh.

It’s ok."

The other victim and the transit workers stood around uneasily. Tony looked up, her eyes hard, and asked in a tone that indicated there was only one answer, "Could you give us a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," one answered, and they turned and resumed walking up the side of the track.

Tony continued to hold Megan, both comforted by the contact. Megan gained a semblance of control and looked up at her partner. "I thought you…" and stopped, unable to continue.

Raising her hand to Megan’s wet face, Tony wiped some of the tears away with her thumb. "So did I," Tony admitted.

Taking a hold of the dry bottom of her tear soaked T-shirt, Tony lifted the edge to Megan’s face wiping it off. "We better go before they come looking for us."

Tony unlocked the door and pushed it open letting Megan enter first, and then following her. She was tired and her leg was protesting angrily, but she was worried about Megan. Her partner had been uncharacteristically quiet.

The paramedics had checked Tony over when she refused to go to the hospital. Since some of the passengers on the incoming transit train had been jostled when the driver slammed on the brakes, total chaos had reigned. There were no serious injuries, but it took over an hour before the police had completely established order allowing time for some of the local reporters to appear. When the police finally took her statement, Tony had been questioned for over an hour about the bizarre accident. It was just good to be home.

Megan was exhausted. The emotional anguish she had endured for those few minutes tonight had taken their toll. It had driven home again just how important a part of her life Tony was.

Turning and hugging Tony, Megan’s mind was still coming to grips with the fact that her partner was safe, that against incredible odds, she was right here. The familiar feel of Tony’s arms around her, and her chin resting on her head, began melting some of the tension out of her body.

"You ok?" Tony asked, softly.

Looking up at the concerned blue eyes watching her, Megan felt a twinge of guilt. Tony had hurt her leg and her arm was scraped up pretty badly, and yet she was still worried about her. She should be taking care of Tony.

Smiling wanly, Megan said, "Yeah. How does your leg feel?"

"It’s a little sore," Tony admitted. "Nothing serious though."

"I want to look at it."

Tony kissed her saying, "Ok." She was willing to do anything to make Megan feel better. Removing her jeans she watched Megan examining the bruises on her legs. The largest was on the outside of her right thigh extending from just below her hip halfway to the knee. Tony knew that was where she took the brunt of the weight of the man when hitting the tracks.

Megan’s trained eyes and hands were closely checking over her partner. "Ooh. This is really nasty," Megan said, looking at the angry gray and purple discoloration. The skin was swollen and warm to her touch.

Megan stood up and said, "We need to get some ice on that. It’ll help with the pain and swelling."

Tony kissed Megan on the forehead, and said, "Ok. But I want to take a shower first."

Megan raised her hand to Tony’s face and softly stroked her cheek, reaffirming that her lover was indeed safe, before saying. "I’ll get the ice ready."

When Tony went to take a shower, Megan got out a bottle of peroxide and some square cotton patches. Getting a zip lock gallon size baggy she went to the freezer and poured the contents of the ice cube bin into it. Closing the bag, she put it in the freezer along with the ice cube trays she had refilled.

Tony stood under the soothing warm water, an unbidden curse escaping her lips when it hit the raw skin on her arm and leg. Washing the dirt from her body, being particularly careful with her arm and leg, she thought about the unusual accident.