Relief
4247 Maplewood Dr.
Friday, January 30 1993
10:30 PM
The ringing of the phone jerked Lee out of a fitful sleep. His hand
shot out, grabbing the cordless from the nightstand and pressing the
button.
"Hello?"
"Lee?"
"Oh Amanda thank God. Where are you? Are you hurt? Where's Jenna?"
The questions spilled out of Lee's mouth, the relief at hearing his
wife's voice washing over him.
"Calm down. She's okay—we're both fine. We're at Shady Grove Adventist
Hospital in Rockville."
"The hospital? That doesn't sound fine to me. What happened?"
"There was a little accident."
"A little accident?" Lee's voice rose, his hands clutching the
cordless tightly. "You leave to take Jenna birthday shopping and I
don't hear a thing from you for over 24 hours. What the hell happened?"
"Lee, please calm down."
"Okay," Lee sat on the edge of the bed, fighting to bring his
breathing and heartbeat back under control. "I'm calm. Now tell me
exactly what happened."
"Well we were heading north on 355 when a car sideswiped us and ran us
off the road into a ravine. I blacked out and then when I came to we
were trapped in the car. Jenna was crying for me for hours and I
couldn't even get to her no matter what I did—I couldn't get to my
baby." Lee could hear the tears in Amanda's voice as she rambled. "If
it hadn't been for ANNE I don't know what might've—"
"Hold on a minute. Who's Anne?"
"A truck driver—she noticed the broken guardrail and went down to
investigate. Anne phoned for help and she even sat there with us and
held Jenna's hand – kept her entertained until the paramedics arrived."
"Well remind me to thank her personally." Lee ran a hand back through
his hair. "So you and Jenna are really all right? Not seriously hurt
or anything?"
"I told you, we're both fine." Amanda repeated what she'd said
earlier. "I just have some bruises and Jenna has a gash on her
arm—they had to give her a few stitches.
The Windstar is totaled—we were lucky to walk away from this one."
"I don't care about the car, Amanda—the car is replaceable. You and
Jenna aren't." A nasty thought began to take shape in his mind. "Are
you sure it really was an accident and not—"
"At this point I'm not sure about anything," Amanda said. "But I don't
think so—it wouldn't be like him to leave a job half-finished. I think
he would've made sure that we were gone."
"True." The thought of that man harming his wife or his child made
Lee feel physically ill. He tried to push those feelings to the back
of his mind and concentrate on the here and now.
"Any luck on decoding that disc?" Amanda asked.
"Not yet," Lee said. "But ERMINTRUDE and TERA from cryptology are
working on it—I'm sure they'll—" suddenly a high-pitched voice broke
in on the conversation.
"Daddy?"
"Hold on," Amanda told him. "I think someone here wants to talk to you."
"Hey there munchkin," Lee said. "How are you?"
"Fine," Jenna said. "But I was scared. I miss you"
Lee swallowed hard. "Daddy misses you too, Jenna—but I promise I'll be
there real soon to pick up you and Mommy and take you home and
tomorrow you'll have a big party for your birthday. Doesn't that sound
nice?"
"Uh-huh. With cake?"
"All the cake and ice-cream you want." Lee said. A long silence
followed. "Jenna, are you there?"
"CHERYL and STEPHY gave me stitches in my arm," Jenna said. "I didn't
cry and I got a lollipop."
"I'm very proud of you," Lee said. "Can you put Mommy on the phone
again?"
"She's here," Jenna said. "I love you."
"I love you too, munchkin."
"Okay. Here's Mommy."
"Lee how are mother and the boys?" Amanda asked.
"Worried sick—Jamie's on his way home from Georgetown and Phillip and
Dotty are already here." Lee said. "Look--I'll make a few phone calls
and then I should be there to pick up you and Jenna within the half
hour." He paused. "I love you, Mrs. Stetson."
"I love you too, Mr. Stetson."
The End
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