Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

Briefly glancing at the drawn face of his friend, and wishing he had something positive to tell her, Brian said, "Not much. The patrolman on the scene is still in the ER and I didn’t want to wait for him to call me."

Megan took a deep calming breath and looked at Brian. His short hair was disheveled from sleeping, and his unshaven face showed heavy stubble. Suddenly realizing just how quickly he had arrived, she said, "Brian, thanks."

Hearing the emotion in the young woman’s voice, Brian said, "No thanks are needed. You two are friends. I’m just glad you called me."

Brian sped through the streets, the siren blaring and the blue and white light on his car creating strobe effects in the darkness.

For Megan the ride lasted an eternity, her mind tormented with the thought, she would have called if she could.

Brian, in an attempt to make Megan feel better said, "You know Tony’s a real tough customer."

Megan smiled ruefully, "Yeah. I know. But this doesn’t make sense. Lately she’s had the worst luck. Two days ago she got pushed in front of a rapid, and now she’s in a car accident."

"It is unusual," Brian agreed, his mind processing the information and not liking the direction his thoughts were taking.

Tony looked at the lights overhead. With her neck secured in the uncomfortable collar, that was about all she could do. At least she was on a regular gurney now instead of the hard board the paramedics had insisted on moving her on. She knew they had only been doing their jobs, but all she had done was rub her neck and comment that she had a headache when they had finally freed her. It had taken them half an hour and the Jaws of Life to get her out of the car. Who wouldn’t have had a headache?

The emergency room team examined Tony and determined there were no obvious injuries. They told her they would take an x-ray just to make sure her neck was ok. If the films were negative, they would take the collar off.

Tony felt ok all things considered. She had already checked herself out and could move her arms and legs without any pain. She figured she probably sported a few bruises from the airbag, but other than that she had come out relatively unscathed.

Her thoughts turned to Megan and she fervently hoped her partner did not know she wasn’t home yet. It would worry Megan too much.

Please be sleeping, Love.

Once the x-ray technician had finished taking the x-rays, Tony told the nurse, "I need to notify someone I’m here."

"Whom do you want me to call, and what’s the number?" the nurse asked.

Tony gave her the information and the nurse said, "It may be a little while because we’re really busy right now."

"Just make sure she knows I’m all right," Tony said. It was bad enough she couldn’t call Megan herself, and she wanted to let her partner know everything was ok.

An hour passed and no one had been back to her cubicle. Tony’s thoughts had alternated between the accident and her partner. She was tired of trying to figure out why that idiot had swerved his truck into her. All I want to do is get out of here and go home. Her thoughts turning dark, she thought, I’d like to get a hold of the guy driving that pick up.

All of a sudden Tony’s patience ended. She was sure there was nothing wrong with her neck. She felt fine. Megan should have been here by now. It would never have taken her this long, and she wanted to see her partner now. No matter how crazy her life had become lately, the one thing that was sure and comfortable and right was Megan.

Tony slowly sat up. Feeling no pain, she swung her legs over the side of the gurney and slid to the floor. Standing next to the gurney for a moment she decided her first instinct had been right, and she had somehow escaped serious injury. Walking over to the privacy curtain, she pulled it opened and looked down the aisle. There was a desk centered in the middle of the row of cubicles and it was there that Tony saw a phone. While walking to the desk, the doctors and nurses were busy with other patients and did not notice her. So far so good. Picking up the phone, she began dialing.

"What are you doing up?"

The high collar prevented natural movement, and Tony had to turn sideways to face the woman talking to her. She was confronted by the irritated face of a very angry nurse.

The nurse's reaction never even fazed Tony, and she said, quite reasonably, "Sorry, but I need to let someone know where I am. I gave the number to the other nurse an hour ago and since Megan is not here, my guess is it was never called."

The nurse said emphatically, "You need to lie down right now. You have not been cleared. Do you know the damage you could be doing to your neck?"

Tony’s persona began changing. In a low assertive voice, she said, "I will lay down once I call Megan," ignoring the nurse who continued to berate her for being on her feet.

She had to dial the number over again and this time tried nine first to get an outside line. The phone began ringing. On the fourth ring the answering machine picked up. Tony hung up the phone, thinking, Megan must be on the way, and followed the frustrated nurse back to her cubicle.

Brian parked in the emergency room parking lot and they entered the hospital together. Hurrying over to the information desk, Megan said, "I’m looking for Antonia Viglioni. She was brought here after a car accident."

"Are you a relative?" asked the woman behind the glass partition in a bored tone of voice.

Megan narrowed her eyes and said, "I’m her doctor."

"Oh. Come on back," she said, releasing the lock of the door that led to the emergency room bay.

Brian said, "Go on. I want to talk to the cop that was at the scene."

Megan quickly walked to the cubicle she had been directed to. Taking a deep breath, not knowing what to expect, she pushed aside the curtain entering the private cubicle. She saw the tall form of her partner lying flat on a gurney with a c-spine collar around her neck.

Walking over to the gurney she looked down at Tony, her mind quickly processing the fact that there were a few bruises on her arms but otherwise no obvious signs of injury except for the cervical collar. But that could be very serious. She looked into the deep blue eyes gazing up at her.

"I’m ok," Tony said smiling ruefully. "This is just a precaution," she said, knowing Megan would think the worst.

Megan placed a hand on her lover’s forehead and breathed an audible sigh of relief, the tight control she had put on her emotions finally dissolving.

Tony watched the expressions of fear, worry, concern, and relief flicker across Megan’s face. Her stomach tightened at the thought of all the anguish this had caused her partner. Taking hold of Megan’s hand, and looking into the concerned hazel eyes, she said, "Sorry, Love. I wanted to call you myself and let you know I was ok but they wouldn’t let me. When I finally did, you had already left."

"It’s not your fault," Megan said. "I just can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you and lately… " Megan stopped and looked at Tony questioningly, "No one called me."

Tony’s brow furrowed slightly, "Then how did you know?"

"I woke up, you weren’t there and I just knew something was wrong. So I called Brian, and he found out you’d been in an accident and were brought here," Megan answered.

Megan’s simple answer left Tony speechless. She just knew? Looking at her partner, Tony’s words conveyed the depth of her feeling, "You just knew?"

"Well, yeah," Megan said, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile.

Tony looked into the hazel eyes watching her. Megan was always surprising her with her insight on things, but this was really unbelievable. I am so lucky. Squeezing her partner’s hand, she said, "You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m so lucky I found you."