“As much as you had.Tommy told me how he’d been shoved under the table and didn’t get out until his mom took him out of the place.He couldn’t even remember if his parents had been shot or not.I’m assuming that they were, but it must not have been all that serious.”Stamos told him that most of the others who were shot had superficial wounds.“That’s what makes it so weird that the couple that were shot were murdered.They were singled out, obviously, but why?Other than the fact that they were servicing whoever came in, there isn’t a thing to indicate that they were doing anything wrong.Would the church really have done this to them, you think?”
“Back then, who knows.Nowadays, you’d have so much information on the shooting that it would take a couple of files to hold it all.Not to mention lawsuits against the place for not having any kind of provisions in place to keep guns out.”He agreed with him.“I only called to see if you’d gone to see Tommy.I’m sorry that it didn’t pan out the way that you hoped.But I didn’t expect too much as he’d only been about five when it happened.It might have been something that he would have remembered, but it’s doubtful after all this time he’d have much in the way of details.”
He was glad that his brother gently bullied him into having dinner with him.He didn’t want to have cold cereal again tonight when he could have a nice cheeseburger and fries.He was suddenly starving for a good meal and was glad that he’d be able to have it with his best buddy.Stamos was a good man, and he loved to hang out with him.
Getting ready to go, he was glad that he was going to pick him up.He didn’t mind driving himself, but sometimes it was fun to be carted around.When Stamos picked him up, they talked about the other files on his desk as well as the upcoming trial of Jacobson.He hoped that she got a lot of jail time for hurting such a good kid.
“I agree.She’s had this coming for a while now.I think that when I was in her class, she didn’t much care for me, but since I was getting good grades, there was no reason to ‘tutor’ me.I’m sure that I would have told Mom and Dad about it had I been a victim of hers.They would have done something about her then.”He told his brother that he’d heard the rumors as well, but never put much stock in it, as the kids were usually goof-offs as well as getting terrible grades.“That’s more than likely why she chose them.They wouldn’t have been believed over her and that was what she was counting on.”
“You think?That makes sense.I never thought of it like that.”He said he usually thought of the worst-case scenario when it came to writing a story.“I would imagine.You’d have to have a very open mind about things as well.”
“I do.”They finished their meal and had a nice visit.On his way home, he talked about how he was going to turn the file over to the boss and tell him there wasn’t anything he could do about it.There had just been too much time that had passed since it had happened.“I’ll see what I can find out about the newspaper articles that might have been run then.I’ll give you a call if I find anything.”
After saying good night, they parted ways and knew that tomorrow they’d be talking again.It was nice to have a good friend as a brother, and he was going to make sure that he told him that every day.He loved all his family, but got along best with Stamos.
~*~
Kahana was finished for the day at six-thirty.It was a little later than he would normally be in the office, but it had been a good day.No one was hurt today, and there had only been a couple of people that he’d had to send to the hospital for more tests.He could do a lot of things in his office, but x-raysweren’t one of them.
The two of them had been walking around town after dinner.The first night they’d done it, they had stopped for ice cream, but had since stopped doing that.It was bad for Debra, and he didn’t need the extra calories either.So they met people on their walks and got to know the town better that he’d grown up in.The people started looking for them when they went down the main street in their town.
“I’ve been thinking about my office at home.I’m going to make sure that I don’t spend all evening in there unless I have a large case.I don’t want to miss out on time with you when I’m holed up in the office.”He said he loved that plan.“You just want to be able to get laid more often.Though I don’t know how that would work since we make love twice a day as it is.You’re wearing me out.”
“I’m glad you said that because I’ve been thinking the same thing.I sleep like the dead when I go to bed, but it’s not enough.I’m worn to death, and I don’t think that I’ve ever been more in love with you than I am right now.I’m betting that tomorrow I’ll love you even more.”She thanked him, and they held hands.“Tomorrow I have to go to the hospital to take some tests of my own.I had a mole removed a few months ago, and they want to make sure that it’s healing well and that I don’t have any trouble with it.It wasn’t cancer, but I’ve learned to take better care of watching my body for things that I didn’t before.”
“I’m glad to hear that.I didn’t know about the mole.I’m glad that you got it tested.”He said that he was as well because it worried him a great deal.“Then I’m doubly glad that you got it tested.You must have worried your family when you did that.”
“I messed up with that.I didn’t tell anyone that I was having the test done until it was over.The doctor pointed out that they’d not trust me with not telling them something so important again if I didn’t come clean.He was right, they were hurt about it, so I’ve learned a valuable lesson in that.I’m going to make sure I keep up with my body and tell my family when I have something that worries me.”She asked him if he’d been able to find anything else on his body.“No.Thank goodness.I had a patient who had a mole that they let go, and it turned out to be cancerous.It has spread to her lymph nodes, and she had to have chemotherapy to combat the illness.She’s doing much better now, but it had been scary back then for the two of us.”
“I’m glad she’s doing better and that you are too.I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life.”He said that he felt the same way about her.“Good.Then we make sure that we never lie to each other ever.Omission is as much a lie as the actual lie.Let’s make sure we never do that to each other.”
“I agree.”They were nearly home when they were stopped by some of the neighborhood kids.They were wondering if there was going to be a tournament this year for the best-decorated house.“You’ll have to talk to Gilman.He’s the one who is in charge of that part of the family.I know that he’s working late tonight, but he should be around tomorrow if you want to hit him up for an answer.”
“We’ll do that.Last year he had the best house display.”He was the only younger brother with a house, too.And since he was an electrical engineer, it stood to reason he’d have the best house.
However, he never participated in the contest.He only gave out the prize of five hundred dollars for the best house.It wasn’t really all that much when you thought of all the work that went into doing it every year, but it was fun, and people really got into decorating their homes for the holidays.
“It’s still so far away until Christmas.Do they really start decorating their homes already?That seems like a lot of work if they’re doing it now.”He said that he’d bet that Gilman already had his display all mapped out and ready to be put up.“I guess I have a lot to learn about this family.Have any of you ever won?”
“No.And it’s probably a good thing too.The people in town really love it, and we have long car lines of people coming from all over just to see the displays.It’s really a big thing.”She said she was getting excited, too.“I’ve never decorated before being in a condo, so I’m looking forward to having a house that I can go all out in.We don’t participate either, but it’s fun watching things go up around town.Even the storefronts get in on it.”
By the time they were home, they’d walked three miles.It was a good walk too, and since the weather had cooled off during the evening hours, it was quite pleasant to walk.During the hottest partof the evening, they wouldn’t walk so far, but they did tonight.
“I’ve got some paperwork to work on in the morning, so I have to leave first thing.”Kahana said he had rounds in the morning, so he had planned to leave earlier, too.“Good.That way, I don’t have to get out of a warm bed with you still in it.I hate that more than you know.You look so warm and cozy that I simply want to go back to bed with you and forget the day.”
“I know that feeling.When I get called out in the middle of the night, I feel the same way.Being a doctor had never been so hard before you came along in my life.”They decided to watch some television before heading to bed.They didn’t watch any shows that they had to watch, but they did enjoy the occasional show when they turned it on.For all the channels they had, they didn’t watch all that much.“I have to get to bed.I’m exhausted tonight.Dinner was good, and I’m still full from it.”
“I know what you mean.I feel the same way, but not a stuffed kind of full.Just full because I ate well.I think that made more sense in my head.”He told her that he understood what she meant.“Good.I can always depend on you to know what I’m trying to say.It’s so nice to have you around all the time.”
As they headed up to bed, his cell phone rang.It was the hospital, and since he wasn’t on call, he told the service to call the doctor on duty.She told him how she had tried, but he wasn’t answering, and it was an emergency.Pissed off a little, Kahana got dressed again and made his way in to see what was going on.If it were a delivery, he was going to be all right with that, but nothing else.When you’re on call, you’d better answer the phone, damn it.
“Doctor Hathaway, I’m sorry that you had to be bothered, but we tried to call the doctor on duty several times without any luck.I know we have the right number as we’ve had to call it before.”He didn’t take it out on the staff and told them that he was all right.“Mrs.Sheppard came in with chest pains.We’ve run an EKG on her, and it doesn’t show anything.But she wanted a doctor to tell her that instead of us nursing staff.”
“I’ll take care of it.”He went into the cubicle and saw that the woman was hooked up to the monitors and was doing fine.She was eating a cheeseburger while sitting in the bed.He asked her how she was feeling.“You look good.I’m to understand that the nurses said that your monitor showed that you’re not having a heart attack.However, if that’s the way you eat all the time, it’s no small wonder that you have chest pains.It might be just heartburn you’re having.”
“I want tests done that show that I’m all right.”He told her that he’d do that, but her insurance might not pay for extensive testing since nothing was showing up so far.“I don’t care.I’d rather be safe than sorry.You run the tests and let me decide if I’m having heart trouble or not.”
“I can do that.First of all, you’ll have to wait a few hours because you’ve something on your stomach right now.”That wasn’t true, but he’d been told that she does this sort of thing all the time when there was nothing wrong.He’d heard that she was lonely and that was why she’d make her way into the emergency room about three times a month.“I can run blood tests on you to see what I can find in the meantime.”
