Chapter Five                                                                                                                                         October 14, 1989 11 a.m.

And the greater shadows fall from the lofty mountains                                                                                                                   -Virgil

Amanda stood at the phone bank, talking to Francine. After being reassured that the girls were fine, she hung up the phone and walked back to where Dotty and the boys sat.

“The girls are OK,” Amanda sighed as she sat down. “Apparently, Billy came over to help them figure out what to feed them earlier this morning. They are playing in the living room right now.”

“That’s good,” Dotty said, putting her arm around her daughter. “You’ve got some good friends there. Where’s Lee?”

“He told me he had to take care of something. He’s probably on the phone with Billy somewhere. We’re going to need someone to cover the Q Bureau this week while we…” Amanda trailed off, not wanting to go into the details of the arrangements she was going to have to make.

Dotty nodded her head, then kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Darling, why don’t you go and get some coffee? It’d do you some good to walk around a little bit.”

“I don’t know, Mother,” Amanda wavered, looking at the boys who had fallen asleep again in chairs next to their grandmother.

“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. If news comes, there isn’t anything you can do, now is there? Go…you’ve got to take care of yourself if you’re going to be any good for anyone else,” Dotty said, pushing on Amanda’s back.

Amanda got up and walked over to the nurse’s station. “Sherry?” she said to the nurse. “I’m going to go to the cafeteria for a little while. Um, if anything…happens, could you wait until I get back to tell my family…I, uh, I need to be here for that.”

The nurse gave her a sympathetic smile. “Of course, don’t worry about a thing, Amanda. I’ll make sure of it.”

Amanda gave a glance to her family and her mother gave a shooing wave to her. She walked down to the elevators and headed to the main level. She felt like she was on automatic pilot as she headed to the cafeteria and found a coffee kiosk. She ordered a large coffee and some bottles of juice and water to take back with her. As she began to pay, she saw Lee enter the cafeteria and head towards her. She turned back around and ordered a second coffee, then paid. As she finished, Lee grabbed a coffee and walked with her over to a table.

“Everything OK?” Lee asked.

“I guess,” Amanda answered. “We haven’t heard any more about Carrie. I checked on the girls and Francine said everything was OK.”

“Good,” Lee said as he led his wife over to a table.

“Where’d you take off to?” Amanda asked as she sipped her coffee. The aroma helped wake her up and she sighed.

“Oh…uh…” Lee stammered. “Well…I…all right, Amanda. I asked the nurse who I needed to see about…um…making arrangements for the…for Joe…and Carrie…if she… I hope that’s all right. I called Billy and asked him to find out who we needed to talk to at EAO about contacting their attorney. I just figured…well, I just couldn’t sit any longer and…”

“I love you,” Amanda whispered, grabbing his hand. Lee looked into her eyes and saw she was about to cry again.

“I love you, too,” he soothed. “Please don’t cry. It’s going to be all right.”

“No, it’s not, Lee, not for a long time. But, I’m grateful beyond belief that you are here to help me through this. And…thank you so much for taking care of all that. I was really…dreading it.”

“I know,” Lee answered, kissing her hand. “We’ll deal with all of this together…just like we always do. We’ll get through this…I promise.”

Amanda smiled at him and knew that she could do anything, as long as he was by her side.

SMK SMK

A few minutes later, Amanda felt somewhat refreshed as she and Lee headed back to the ICU waiting area. As they reached the family, Dotty stood up and walked over to them. “I think I’m going to take the boys to the cafeteria for something to eat. What do you think?”

“I think that’s probably a good idea. They’ve got to be starving by now,” Amanda nodded. As the boys got up, she gave them a hug. “Fellas, try to eat something. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

Jamie hung his head and Phillip nodded. They followed Dotty towards the elevators. Lee walked over to the nurse’s station while Amanda walked over to the windows. A moment later, Lee joined her there.

“Any change?” Amanda asked, almost dreading the answer.“Not much…her organs are shutting down, but she’s still hanging on. Her status has moved to Grade Four Shock which, unless it can be reversed, is usually fatal. They can’t get her blood pressure stabilized and she’s too weak to go back into surgery. The nurse said it’s only a matter of time at this point.”

“Oh, Lee,” Amanda whispered as she leaned back into him. He wrapped his arms around her, wishing he could keep the world at bay. She closed her eyes and thought about the many changes that had occurred and were on their way.

They stood that way for quite some time, until they heard a throat clearing. Amanda opened her eyes to see Billy and Jeannie standing in the waiting area.

“Billy, Jeannie,” Lee began, “what are you doing here?”

“Well,” Billy said, “We thought we’d stop by and see if you needed anything. How are the boys handling everything?”

“Not well,” Amanda whispered. “I don’t think they can handle much more. I guess you heard about…”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Amanda,” Jeannie broke in. “I know that you all had remained close. How is Carrie?”

Amanda took a deep breath. Lee looked at her and answered, “It’s only a matter of time. She’s hanging on, but the doctors don’t hold out much hope.”

Billy shook his head and Jeannie put her hand on Amanda’s shoulder. “Is there anything we can do? Would you like for us to take the boys home with us? We were planning on heading to your house after here, to give Francine and Ephraim a break.”

Billy try to stifle a grin, but couldn’t. “I wish you could’ve seen them this morning. Francine looked like she’d been put through the ringer!”

Amanda smiled. “She sounded exhausted on the phone a little while ago. I had a feeling she wasn’t giving me the whole story.”

“Well, they’ve done their best…and the girls looked fine when I left. Ephraim seemed to be taking it all in stride. I thought they were working pretty well together, believe it or not!” Billy shared.

Lee looked at Amanda and gave her a small smile. Amanda looked at Billy and said, “I don’t know if the boys want to stay or not. I’m not going to pressure them either way. They’re in the cafeteria, though. You’re welcome to ask them what they’d like to do. This has been so hard on them, losing their dad and preparing to lose their stepmother.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Jeannie soothed. “We’ll check with them and give them a choice. We’ll head over to the house either way. If they do decide to go, we’ll just stay with Francine and Ephraim, if that’s OK with you.”

“Jeannie, I can’t tell you how much this means to us. I really appreciate it,” Amanda sobbed, unable to hold her emotions in any longer. The older woman embraced the younger one as Lee led Billy off to the side.

“Billy, we’re going to need at least this week off. With funeral arrangements and dealing with all the legal stuff, our hands are going to be pretty full,” Lee confided.

Billy nodded. “Take whatever time you need. What’s going to happen with Sarah?”

“Back in July, we agreed to be her guardians if anything were to ever happen to them. God knows I never expected this. I don’t know what all it’s going to entail, but…” Lee expressed. He took a deep breath. “Anyway, I was thinking that maybe Francine and Ephraim could handle the Q Bureau for a few days…” Lee gave a knowing look to Billy.

Billy grinned. “So…you think they’ll go for it? I mean…Francine has never been subtle in her opinion of Beaman.”

“Amanda talked with him about the Q Bureau last night before…and thought he was interested. I think they’d make a good team, and Amanda and I trust them implicitly. Why don’t you mention it to them and feel them out? I have a feeling it’ll turn out all right,” Lee confided.

Jeannie and Amanda walked over to them. Billy gave Amanda a hug and whispered, “Don’t worry about anything, Amanda. We’re here for you.” Lee and Amanda smiled as the older couple left.

SMK SMK

Dotty returned to the waiting area with the boys. They’d eaten very little for lunch and had decided not to go with the Melroses. About an hour later, Dr. Peters walked up to the exhausted family.

“Mrs. Stetson, may I speak to you?” he asked.

Lee and Amanda stood up. “Yes, doctor?” she croaked.

“I’m afraid that Mrs. King has succumbed to her injuries. They were just too extensive and her heart gave out a few minutes ago. I’m so sorry for your loss,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Um, thank you, doctor,” Amanda sobbed, then turned to let her mother and the boys know.

Lee remained with the doctor. “Dr. Peters, I’ve, uh, been making arrangements…”

“I understand. Go with your family, and the hospital will be in touch with you.”

Lee shook his hand, then walked over to his family. Jamie was standing off to the side, with his head hung down. Lee went to him and put his arm around his shoulder. “Jamie? You doing OK?”

“Sure,” Jamie responded.

“It’s going to be all right, son. We’re going to be all right,” Lee comforted.

Amanda looked over at Lee and shrugged. This was going to be difficult for all of them, but Jamie always seemed to take everything so hard. She remembered how he’d reacted to her injury in California, and this was so much worse.

“Why don’t we all head home…I’m sure Katie and Sarah would love to see their brothers,” Dotty suggested.

“Mom, what’s going to happen to Sarah now?” Phillip asked. “Where’s she going to go? Are we ever going to see her again?”

“Of course you are, Phillip. She’s your sister. She’s going to stay with us…as a part of our family. She’s not going anywhere…I promise,” Amanda answered, wrapping her arm around him.

“But, she’s not…yours, Mom. I mean, she was our sister, but she’s not…” Jamie stammered.

“Well, you and your brother aren’t mine, are you?” Lee asked with a half-smile. “Do you think I love you any less than I love Katie?”

“No…” Jamie responded.

“Well, then, don’t you think we can love Sarah just as much as we love all of you?” Amanda asked. “I promise you…it’s all going to be just fine.”

Jamie and Phillip looked at their mother, then Dotty, then Lee. Jamie sighed as if a burden had been lifted and gave his brother a look. Lee wrapped his arm around Jamie and said, “Come on…let’s go home.”

Amanda followed behind. She thought to herself how different life was going to be. Her family had just been dealt a tragic blow and now had difficulties lying ahead. Although she still didn’t understand how two good people could be gone so quickly, she was grateful that they hadn’t suffered much.

Now, she would have a new daughter to take care of. Four children…it was going to be difficult, but she knew that, as long as she and Lee were together, they would be able to handle anything life dealt them…even something as difficult as adding a child who’d suddenly been orphaned.

As Lee led the boys into the elevator, he gazed at Amanda. He realized that he now had more in common with Sarah than anyone else in her life. He alone knew what it was like to lose two parents in an instant. He knew what it was like to be all alone in the world. But, he promised himself in that moment, unlike him, Sarah would never feel lonely. He would do everything in his power to make sure that Sarah felt loved and wanted every single day of her life. Sarah would be his daughter from this day forward, just as much as Katie was, and loved as much as his sons were.

He looked again at Amanda and she nodded. As always, they were on the same wavelength. Although they would never replace Joe and Carrie, Sarah would never be alone. She had family.