Journey
a UFO story by Amelia L. Rodgers © 2001
All rights reserved.
Sequel to Church On The Hill -- Part six in a series of non-canon stories that began with Magic Fairies.)

In memory of Sheelagh Hathaway, whose bravery always inspired me, although she lost her battle to live. Sleep well, Sheelagh, we all miss you. And I continue my tradition to hurt Straker, and I feel you gently chiding me, but reading with enthusiasm all the same. Also dedicated to my Write Mice, no mother mouse had a finer group of mice than all of you.

Ed making up a story about a familiarly named dragon was a suggestion from chief piranha Anny. Thank you Anny : - )
My thanks as always go to Commander Edward Straker, who generously allowed me to fictionalize these events in his life. Well, okay, I did have to bring him a slice of lemon cake and a cup of coffee, sweet and light, before he agreed to let me do it--

"Leave me alone, I can manage by myself!"

"Stop being an idiot and let me help you!"

"I don't need your help. Now, set the brake, help me with the footrests and stand aside."

"Fine. Go ahead. Goes and has hip replacement surgery seven days ago because he's too damn impatient to go through rehabilitation, and now he thinks he's a superhero. Go ahead you damn stubborn jackass."

"I don't need that attitude from you. Do I have to have an audience? Don't all you people have something better to do?"

"You're going to fall, Ed."

"Be quiet, and hand me the crutch."

"Five pounds says he gives in and allows her to help him."

"Ha! I've known Ed Straker a lot longer than you. Fifteen pounds he does it without help."

"You're on."

"My word, that's terrible betting on Edward's mobility like that! I'm ashamed of you, Stanley! I'm ashamed of you too, Alec!"

"I hope you fall and injure your other hip."

"Just give me that blasted crutch!"

"I'm married to a complete idiot. Horse piss! Here! I should stick it where it would do the most good."

"Now stand back."

Ed put his weight gradually on the crutch, and raised himself slowly out of the wheelchair. Standing. Come on now, you can do this. One inch. Two. One foot after the other. Move the crutch. You've done it hundreds of times in pt. That's it.

He moved, stepped up on the treadmill, handed Dr. Folsade the crutch with one hand and took the treadmill bar with the other.

"There." Ed allowed himself a triumphant smile.

"Damn. I'm out fifteen pounds. I'll have to rob the collection basket."

"Stanley! Don't even joke about that. And stop cursing it isn't very Christian of you. Edward, you poor thing, as soon as you are well, I'm going to make you some lemon cake with a brand new recipe my e-mail friend sent me from Wales."

"Frances, quit spoiling my husband. That's my job."

Ed listened to the conversations behind him with veiled amusement and enormous relief.

"I must say, Mr. Straker. I have heard stories about your resolve and will power and determination, but it was very rewarding to see it for myself."

"Thank you, doctor. Now, shall we get this over with?"

"Yes, of course. All right, my assistants will be attaching electrodes to you, and during the test I will be monitoring your heart activity. The pace of the treadmill will gradually increase, and the incline will be raised every three minutes. If at any time you begin to be uncomfortable, experience chest pain or pressure, become dizzy or tired, let me know right away and I will stop the machine. If there is any problem with your heart, the monitor will beep out an alarm. All right, you seem to be all prepared, everything in place. Shall we begin?"

"Yes. Whoa."

"Ed?" Mags said, frantic.

"Nothing, just started sooner than I figured. Nothing to it, piece of cake. Piece of lemon cake."

"Ed, how do you do it?"

"Do what, Alec?"

"Have all these females eating out of your hand."

"Good blue blooded Bostonian genes, I guess."

Ed walked for several minutes.

"You all die back there?" he inquired into the silence.

"We're here, Edward, you just concentrate on what you're doing, you poor baby."

"Frances, stop calling that strange man your poor baby."

"He isn't a strange man, he's our Edward."

"I'm hardly a baby. Whoa."

"Ed, you all right?" Alec said, alarmed.

"Fine, fine, incline went up, caught me by surprise. Nothing to it. Walk hills steeper than this all the time when I'm playing a round of golf. Sun, sky, fresh air, open spaces, no problems."

Mags looked over at Folsade. She was frowning at Ed.

"Mr. Straker, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. How much longer?" Ed's voice sounded as if the exact opposite was true. Mags mouthed shut it off' to Folsade. Folsade nodded.

"Mr. Straker, I'm going to turn off the treadmill now. Get ready to stop and cool down."

"Is the test ov-ov"

The monitor beeped loudly.

Before anyone else reacted, Alec dashed over as Folsade switched off the treadmill, and he caught Ed before he collapsed to the ground.

***

"Why is everyone staring at me? What the hell happened?"

"You passed out. You're in your hospital room. Here, you look cold, let me button your pajama top buttons. Shall I raise the head of the bed for you?"

"Stop fussing over me, Maggie, damn it. Passed out? That's ridiculous, I was fine."

"Sure. The Ed Straker definition of fine. You had a classic episode of arrhythmia, Dr. Folsade said, and she even thinks that's why you passed out before the wedding when you saw the Cooper woman." Alec growled at him.

"Nonsense. Maggie, I told you, I can-what the hell is this on my chest?"

"You had minor surgery after you passed out. Dr. Folsade sedated you and implanted-"

"Surgery? Without my consent? God damn it, nobody had the right to-"

"Shut up, Ed! I gave the consent. I'm your wife!"

"Damn you! What right did you have to stand there and let them cut me up again! What did they do to me?"

"Will you shut up for a second? They implanted something called an insertable loop recorder. Now if you have an irregular heart beat and you pass out, all we need to do afterwards is use this little activator gadget that we'll attach to your robe, and you'll be able to save the info for Dr. Folsade to analyze. She said she didn't want to trust you with one of those 24 hour Holter monitor things again, you kept pulling off the leads deliberately or in your sleep."

"Okay. Everybody out but my wife. Now." Ed snapped.

"Oh oh. I recognize that tone. I hate to leave you with Mr. Personality here, but I guess I have no choice."

"Oh shut up, Alec!" Mags snarled.

"That's the thanks I get for catching him. I should have let him crack his head open on the floor." Alec muttered to Mags. Both of them weren't doing the greatest job of concealing their worry over Ed. Angel came over, and patted Ed's hand.

"You're going to be okay, son. You'll see. You're in my prayers. You listen to your doctors now. God will bless you. Come on, Frances, tears won't help."

"Thank you, Angel." Ed waited until the door swung shut behind them. He stared into space.

"Damn it, Ed, if you want to hit me, go ahead. I'm worried about you. I love you, and I can't stand to see you hurt." Mags implored him.

Ed was silent for a while.

"I passed out."

"Yes. Syncope is what she said it was. You look cold, do you want me to get you your comforter?"

"You spoke with Dr. Folsade?" There was a strange edge to his tone.

"Yes. Are you all right? Ed, for the love of God, talk to me!"

"Maggie."

"Yes, sweetheart. I'm right here, I'm right here."

"Give it to me straight. I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"Horse piss! I don't want to ever hear you say that again! You are not going to die. I won't let you!"

"Hold me, Maggie."

"Oh Edward. Damn it. Now you listen to me. You're going to get well, and before you go back to that studio of yours, you and I are going to have a week in San Francisco and the surrounding area, we're going to have the honeymoon to end all honeymoons." Mags sobbed, and held him close.

"We may not have that much time."

"Stop it!"

"Oh Maggie. I'm going to die at a time when I finally started to live again. This is the end result of all the decisions I've ever made, all the mistakes, everything in my life I've ever done that I regret. I always told myself my work was my refuge, and I didn't need anything else. But you know what? I'm frightened. I'm scared. That day I was in hospital, sick, not speaking to anyone, not caring, not feeling. Running away. And then you came in, and smiled at me, and something cracked in me, something gave way. "

"Do you know how gorgeous you were that day, Ed Straker? Tubes and all. I came in, and I just figured it was another case, and I looked at you, and I couldn't take my eyes away from you. And you spoke, and there was such desolation in your eyes, such pain. I think I actually fell in love with you right then. I made up my mind I was going to make up for all the pain and sorrow I saw on your face. I love you, Ed."

"Oh Maggie. I can't stand it. I never should have done this to you. Stuck you with a invalid, you're young, you have your whole life ahead of you. Go while you still can. I won't blame you. Go now. I don't want to wake up one day and you're not there. I don't want to be the object of your hate. I don't want to be why you ruined your life."

"Horse piss! I just can't get over how a man with university degrees up the wazoo can be so dense! Aren't you hearing me? Do you honestly think I'm going to walk out on you now? Jesus! What am I saying? You were saddled with that Mary bitch, and Marsh, of course you do! You can't help it. They screwed you over! Listen to me! I am not leaving you! I love you! Hate you? How could any woman in their right senses hate you? "

"Maggie, it's so funny. I rarely allowed myself to cry. Not even in the solitude of my own flat. And now I don't have much control over the tears these days. I'm scared, Maggie. I don't want to die."

"Ed stop it! You are not going to die! If that creep in the black hood and robe with the scythe even thinks about coming anywhere near you, I'll kick him right straight in his fucking balls!"

Ed was silent for a moment, as they clung to one another.

"Maggie?" Ed finally said.

"What darling?"

"Funny, I've never thought of the Angel of Death as having genitalia," Ed said in a somber, scholarly fashion.

Mags started to giggle, and Ed chuckled softly.

"You crazy man, you. I love you."

"Prove it to me. Go and ask the others to smuggle me in some real food for a change and tell Frances to grease her bundt pan. I'm obviously going to be stuck in this Godforsaken hospital a lot longer, and I want my lemon cake. Tonight."

"My darling tyrant. Yes, sir. Right away, sir." Maggie saluted, he saluted back, she bent and kissed him lovingly and went out.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly for a moment, wiped away the tears roughly with the back of his hand.

I'm going to die. Well, I better get it right, then. Die in the best way I know how, the way I've tried to live my life. How do I say goodbye to them? What's going to happen to Alec? Is there a man alive who ever had a better friend and champion than Alec Freeman? Where would I have been, how would I have survived without him? Man with the appearance and disposition of a grizzly bear, yet possessing the warmest, most human soul of anyone I have ever met. How proud I am to have been your friend for all these years.

Frances, so proper, yet so improper, feisty, so caring, so compassionate. Angel, someone who personifies a authentic hero under that clerical collar, a loyal man of unwavering faith to whom I owe my life.

And Maggie. My Maggie. My wife, my whole world. My beloved, precious Maggie. My darling, no matter what we do, I am going to die. I promise you, I give you my word, that I will not go gentle into that good night. I will rage, Maggie. I will rage against the dying of the light.

The door swung open and the misery on the face of the man blurred into the customary mask of poise and control of the SHADO Commander.

"So basically, Doctor, you're saying it all depends on what kind of problem he has?"

"Yes, Alec. You don't mind me calling you Alec, do you?"

"Not at all. Look, I've known Ed a long time. A long, long time. When he has a cold, I sneeze. I know it's killing him to be so weak, and stuck here. Just look at what he did. You told him he has to wait around and go through physical therapy for that hip of his, and that it might take several months to a year for it to go back to normal."

"Yes. He hit the ceiling, as I recall, and asked me if there was any alternative. I happened to mention they are doing miraculous things with hip replacement, with patients up and around and walking normally only days after the operation. With no physical limitations at all. The Commander demanded it. You know the Commander." Folsade chuckled.

"Oh I know Ed all right. Leaps before he looks. I tend to think the moment he was born the doctor hit him on the rump, Ed hit him back, and then crawled out the door and enlisted in the Air Force."

"Where would they have gotten that small a uniform?" Folsade laughed.

"Ed would have had one made. Or maybe they pinned the eagles on his nappies. The point is, what are Ed's chances to beat this bloody heart thing? How serious is it?"

"Alec, he has not made it easy for me to do the tests. The arrhythmia could be atrial or located in the ventricles, much more serious. It could be easily corrected, or the Commander may have to have a pacemaker inserted. I will not know until I get more analysis completed. He has not made it easy for me. I have tried to give him as much freedom as I could, allowing him to adapt to the hip replacement, and hoping his adjustment to that proved encouraging. However, he has gone from absolute denial to absolute stoic resignation. It is not unusual for people with heart problems to have clinical depression. I know he is frightened. I also know he does not want anyone to know it. What is needed is something to raise his morale for the time being, and I can't think of anything better than the companionship of his wife. I was on my way to see him, would you care to accompany me?"

"Sure. I was headed there when I spotted you. Mags and the Brisbies have something special cooking this morning to surprise Ed. You can join us. Besides, I'll do anything to get away from Colonel Foster. He's in command, and he changed from beauty to the beast overnight from the sheer stress of Ed's job." Alec grinned.

"Alec, will you be on duty later today?"

"Yeah, for as long as Paul needs me. Then I always say good night to Ed. Why?"

"I could do with a nice glass of wine, and some dinner, and I was hoping you'd accompany me. I'm buying."

"Are you asking me out on a date, Dr. Folsade?"

"I understand that you aren't exactly unfamiliar with dates, Alec. So, yes. I am. It seemed to me, that with all the fuss over Commander Straker, and having your job of looking after him be taken by Margaret, you were being neglected."

"So is this your prescription for me?"

"Nothing so dull as that."

"Dr. Folsade?"

"Must you call me that? Must you be so formal?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I hate to admit it, but I have no idea what your first name is."

The ebony skinned doctor laughed.

"Yetunde. I was born in Nigeria, Alec. My name means the mother has come back. I was born hours after my grandmother died, so my mother gave me that name, believing I was her mother reincarnated. Yetunde Folsade."

"Bloody hell. I'll call you Jane."

***

"Margaret, are you sure? I mean he was laughing, and he actually ate everything on his plate last night, and he had two helpings of my cake. "

"Trust me, Frances. He's depressed, and he thinks he's going to die. Last night was an act for our benefit. Leave it to my idiot husband to put everyone else's needs before his. So until Folsade can pin down what's wrong with him, we have to try and cheer him up. He needs hope more than anything else. He needs family. Give me the veil, would you?"

"We're all going to be a bit overdressed for visiting a patient," Angel grinned, parking the station wagon in the Mayland Hospital parking lot. He was dressed in a tuxedo and bow tie, while Frances was wearing the sheath she had worn to the wedding. Mags was in the now repaired wedding dress, and fastened the veil to her hair.

"So what? Ed and I didn't even have a reception, so we'll have one right in his room. How are we going to get all the packages in? And the wedding cake you made for us to replace the one that went stale?"

"I can go and get us some wheelchairs, and pile everything on them. I must say I am curious about what Lily Marsh gave Edward. Speaking of Lily, have you heard anything from Yolanda?" Angel said.

"Alec said they traced a purchase she made on her bank card, at some store in Albany, so they have a lead, at least. I swear I will kill her for thinking anything would be different because she loved me or had fantasies about me. I don't know what's worse. Her running off on me, or Dad sticking his nose in my life with Ed."

"I'll be right back, you two." Angel said, and handed Frances the keys to the car. She began pulling things from the back of it.

"You and Edward can finally have your first dance as husband and wife, and feed each other cake, oh dear. I promised myself I wouldn't cry again. Margaret, we can't let Edward die, we just can't."

"Frances, believe me. If Ed Straker dies on me, I'll kill him."

***

"Angel. Where's Frances and Mags?" Alec said.

"You're just the man I wanted to see. We need help carrying things in. Good morning, Dr. Folsade."

"Good morning. I must say you look very impressive, Reverend. What's the occasion?"

"We're going to have a wedding reception. Margaret's idea. Come on."

Within a few minutes, Folsade had suggested borrowing a trolley from the hospital kitchen, and they set down the cake, fingerfood, punch and champagne on it. Alec had a second trolley piled up with still unopened gifts. They took the lift to the floor Ed's private room was on, ignoring the stares that Mags was getting from being in her bridal gown.

As soon as they got outside Ed's room, Alec grinned.

"Ready?" he whispered.

"Let's do it!" Mags exclaimed. She pushed open the door.

Ed's bed was empty.

***

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! When am I going to learn? The fool checked out, I know he did! Horse piss! I swear I'll kill that moron!"

"Margaret, his clothes were still in the wardrobe, and the nurse insisted-" Frances started to say.

"Fuck the nurse. I don't care if she swears no doctor signed him out. He sneaked out in his pajamas and robe. Right under her nose, and the guard's. Damn him!"

"Mags, listen, Ed did not have any money. I gave him a couple of pounds, left it at the desk in case he wanted anything from the gift shop. He wouldn't have had enough for a cab, and nobody issued him a car. His wheelchair is still in the room, but the crutches are gone. That doesn't mean he left the premises." Alec said. "I've got people looking for him, and I'm having his flat watched. We'll find him before-"

"Before what, Alec? Before he goes and does something stupid because he believes he's going to die? He had that damn gun of his, Alec. I saw it in his night table drawer last night. Now it isn't there. He thinks he's a burden to me. He thinks I'm going to walk out on him like all the other people that he's loved have. Horse piss! I can't take this! "

"Margaret, if he was agitated before he left, he may have another episode of arrhythmia and syncope. I am sure he could not have gone far." Folsade said, with a sigh.

"You don't know him. He's stubborn, he could be anywhere!"

"Margaret, getting all worked up isn't going to help matters. I know the Lord watches out for Edward. He'll be safe, you'll see." Angel told her.

"He should be with me. I should have stayed with him. I never should have let him talk me into going home with you guys. What kind of wife am I? I abandoned him after I promised I wouldn't. " Mags sobbed. Frances took her into her arms, and hugged her.

"That's it dear, let it all out, you poor thing. You poor, poor thing. We won't let you go through this alone," Frances assured her. Alec and Folsade and Angel exchanged worried looks.

***

Ed Straker walked into the lift, stabbed one of the buttons at random. He stared at the wall, and then looked irritably down at the gadget clipped to his silk robe. Damn prisoner, he thought. That's all I am. Couldn't stand it any longer. Had to get the hell out. That damn way everyone looks at me, like I'm made of porcelain and I'll break any minute. You'd think I was a corpse already. Why don't they just stick me in the coffin now and get it over with? Had to get away. Do anything to get away. Paul's running SHADO. They don't even need me. Wrote me off. Finished. Oh go ahead Straker. Feel sorry for yourself.

Ed looked at his crutches. He scowled and dropped them on the floor of the lift as the doors opened, and stepped out. I'm not going out a cripple. I can walk. He wedged past a couple of technicians in white lab coats, and didn't see their astonished looks, nor did he see one pull out her mobile phone, and talk into it rapidly.

Legs are fine. Don't hurt anymore. Months to a year? Not on your life. Not me. Been in this damn hospital hundreds of times. Never been up here. What floor is this anyway? Hell. Lost. Stupid gadget I have to carry around. Lousy thing. Damn. Going in circles. Walking not bad though. What the hell is this ward anyway?

"Hi!" a small voice said.

Oh that's terrific. I'm hearing things now. Losing my mind.

Someone was tugging at his robe. Ed looked down. The thin, taut line that his mouth was pulled into slowly drew into a grin. A little girl, he put her age at about six or seven, stood there looking up at him with a smile the size of London. She had on ballet slippers, a denim top and skirt embroidered with flowers, and her ears were pierced with pearl studs. She was completely bald.

"Hi yourself. I didn't see you down there. I'm Ed."

"Do you have cancer too, Ed?"

"Nope. Bad heart. What's your name?"

"Chloe. Wanna play? I like to play with my paper dolls."

"You have a room somewhere around here?"

"Yup. Come on, I'll show you." She slipped her tiny hand around his, and pulled him.

"Best invitation I've had all day." Ed declared, following her.

"Is that a beeper?"

"This? No. It's a machine that records the way my heart is beating."

"Do they give you shots and stuff?"

"Yeah, I hate them, how about you?"

"They're icky. Look! I've got lots of flowers and balloons and stuff."

Ed chuckled.

"So this is where they've been ending up." Ed said in amusement, looking at an arrangement of orchids Alec had sent him.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Who's your friend there? Hi." Ed waved at a second little girl who lie in her hospital bed, quietly talking to her teddy bear. She was equally bald, and where her right arm should have been, there was a stump.

"That's Patsy. This is Ed and he's gonna play with us."

"Hush, my teddy's sick."

"Oh? Well, you're in luck. I'm an expert on sick bears. What's his name?" Ed asked, adopting a professional bedside manner.

"Teddy."

"Of course. I knew that. So what seems to be the problem, Mr. Bear?"

"He's sick. He has a cough."

"I know just the thing for him." Ed unclipped the activator from his robe and passed it over the stuffed animal, then clipped it back on. "There you go. All better. I'll send him my bill tomorrow."

"Is he better, Patsy?" Chloe asked, climbing up on the bed to inspect him.

"He's all better. He wants a kiss though."

"Okay." Chloe kissed the bear on the head.

"Not from you, silly. From him." She pointed straight at Ed. Ed widened his eyes in alarm.

"Wait a minute, you want me to do mushy stuff with a bear? I don't know about this. I got married not too long ago, and my wife gets jealous easily."

Patsy and Chloe giggled.

"Come on! Or Teddy will get sick again."

"All right, all right. I can't believe I'm doing this." Ed picked up the bear and kissed it, making a loud smooch sound. "Blech ! I have furry lips now!" The two girls giggled at him.

"Who is your new friend, you two?"

Ed turned around. A woman in a lab coat with a stethoscope around her neck stood there smiling. She wasn't a member of the Mayland staff he recognised, and she didn't seem to know him.

"Hi Dr. Masters. He cured Teddy."

"Did he? Oh good. It's time for your chemo, Patsy."

The little girl broke into tears.

"I don't wanna go, I don't like it."

"It's okay, Patsy. I'll go too, and we can play with my paper dolls after." Chloe said.

"Actually, why don't I go too? I can tell you both a story, and it'll be done before you know it. You can sit in my lap."

"That's very nice of you, Mr.--?" the doctor said.

"Ed."

"Ed then. Does that sound okay with you, Patsy?"

Patsy sniffed a little.

"Okay."

"Right." Ed lowered the bedrails, and lifted Patsy up. She snuggled against him.

"You smell nice." she commented.

Ed grinned.

"Cologne my wife gave me. After you, doctor. Come on, Chloe, let's go."

***

"And finally the terrible dragon named Henderson stomped up to the princesses named Chloe and Patsy, and breathed out fire." Ed disguised his voice to give a credible, if overdramatic imitation of the general's. "I'm going to eat you all up unless you give me your castle, he roared. But the princesses weren't scared at all, because they had a friend named Alec, who was a good and noble knight. He took out a spear, and he killed the mean dragon, and he roasted it for dinner. And everybody in the kingdom rejoiced. The end."

"Tell us another story," Chloe demanded enthusiastically. Ed chuckled at her.

"I'm running out of stories. Besides, I better go back to my room, or my wife will be mad at me."

Ed had stayed with the two girls throughout Patsy's chemotherapy treatment, and then had taken them back to their room. Patsy was curled up in her bed, drowsy from an injection they'd given her, but Chloe sat on Ed's lap, wide awake.

"Aww, do you hafta go, Ed?"

"I'm afraid so. Come on, I'll get you settled in bed, and then I'll have to go."

"Will you come back and visit us?"

"Sure! You bet. Come on now. Upsadaisy. Ooof! You're heavy!"

Chloe giggled. Ed set her down in her bed, and started to tuck her in. He suddenly gripped the guardrail, hard. The room had begun to spin.

"What's the matter? Are you sick?" Chloe asked.

No, he thought. No, not again. Oh God. He sank down, unable to hold on any longer, hit ground, his hands fumbling for the activator. Come on, damn it, you can do this. He pushed his robe open, tugged at his pajama top, held the activator over the raised area of skin on his chest where the machine was, and hit the button.

"Honey, call the-call the-"

Ed slumped sideways and lie still.

***

"Dr. Folsade, if I had had any idea that your case was missing, I would have told you right away, I had only to look at his wrist ID to see what ward he was from. But he was doing so well with my two medulloblastoma and leukemia cases, that I didn't think about it."

"They have names, Dr. Masters, they are not just cases. Perhaps you would do well to look at Chloe and Patsy through the eyes of Mr. Straker. Besides, two of your radiation technicians recognized him and had me beeped." Folsade said. She and the other doctor were speaking on the telephone.

"Straker? I seem to have heard that name somewhere. How is he anyway?"

"I performed minor surgery on him a while ago, he is stable and in his room. I trust he will be awakening soon, grouchy as usual, because his wife is handling things for him. How long have you worked here?"

"Four months. Why?"

"Four months on the brand new pedatric ward, and you did not look at the bronze plaque on the wall to see the name of the person who made it possible? But then anyone who designates children by what they have instead of who they are, I would not expect it of such a person."

Folsade hung up.

"Black bitch." Masters said, hanging up. And then, curious, she walked over to the plaque by the nurses station to read it.

It read : John Straker Memorial Pediatric Oncology Unit Made possible by a private donation from Harlington-Straker Studios ***

***

Ed Straker gave a little sigh, and his eyelashes fluttered, then he opened his eyes. "Maggie, are you there? Am I dreaming?"

Mags sighed with great relief, as did everyone else in Ed's room.

"That's it, you worthless moron. Open your eyes. And stop looking so innocent."

"What happened?" Ed said quietly.

"I'll tell you what happened. Mere matter of days after the wedding, and you go and cheat on me with not one, but two females. Dr. Folsade told us all about it. She talked with Chloe."

"Oh. Chloe and Patsy. You can hardly blame me, after all, they didn't call me a worthless moron. Besides, you forgot the bear. I cheated on you with the teddy bear too."

"Never would have figured you to be into bestiality, Ed." Alec said gravely.

"Never would have figured you to know what it is, Alec. Okay, so what happened to me this time? I remember getting dizzy, and turning on this thing, uh, why is my-oh not again. They performed surgery on me again, didn't they?"

"I'm afraid so, son. You passed out again. But you activated the device, and now Dr. Folsade will be able to finally find out what's wrong with you." Angel said. "She sedated you and took it out for analysis, and told us where you were. We've all been waiting here for you to wake up."

"Oh you poor baby, we were so worried about you. We thought you left the hospital!" Frances wailed, tucking the comforter around Ed.

"Why did you think that? I just needed to walk. Stop fussing, Frances, I'm alright."

"Why did we think that, he says." Alec rolled his eyes.

"Where's your damn gun?" Mags demanded.

"Under the pillow, where I always keep it."

"You had it in the drawer!" Mags yelled.

"I always take it out at night and put it under the pillow. I only leave it in the drawer during the day. Why?"

"Horse piss! I thought for a moment, you were so upset, but you insisted on having that stupid thing-"

"My God no, no. Maggie, why are you in your gown? Why is everyone dressed up?"

"Because, you damn idiot, we were going to have our reception right here to surprise you. Cake and everything. I thought it would cheer you up. And we show up, and you're not there, and that idiotic security guard swears he just left for two seconds, and you worry us all to death, and I thought you were hurt, and damn you! Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"A reception here?" Ed asked, smiling at her.

"Ed have you heard anything I said?"

"You got worked up over nothing. I just took a stroll. I'm walking fine now. Walking normally."

"That's it. Never mind the heart problem. I'm killing him now." Mags said.

"That would be rather counterproductive. Besides, I needed to get away, the walls of this place were closing in on me. So we're having our reception here? Are you sure you want your new husband to celebrate in pajamas and robe?"

"I want a live husband. Who cares what he's wearing? Hey, hey, don't get up so fast. You fainted again, remember? "

"Quit fussing, I'm okay. Hand me my slippers, will you? Thanks. Frances, that's a beautiful cake, and that punch looks tempting. Maybe we can share what's left over with my new friends, Chloe and Patsy."

"I go to all the trouble of arranging this, and he's only thinking about the other women in his life," moaned Mags. Ed chuckled at her, leaned over and kissed her. They held each other tightly.

"Don't forget the bear." Angel grinned. "Dr. Folsade told us that the children said you made an utter romantic fool of yourself with the bear."

"Only to save its life. Funny, I knew that unit was up there, of course, but I'd never seen it. " Ed shrugged, taking the ladle of the punch bowl and getting himself a drink.

"You usually are riddled with holes and full of tubes when you're here, Ed. Puts a damper on touring this place." Alec pointed out, amused.

"Well, I see our star patient is up and around. And without crutches." Folsade said meaningfully, coming into the room, a chart underneath her arm.

"Yeah, I sort of forgot them. Somewhere."

"Really? Our maintenance people discovered someone had left a pair of crutches in a lift, blocking the doors from shutting."

Ed involuntarily gulped the punch a little too much, wiped his mouth.

"Gosh, who would do a thing like that?" Ed asked innocently. "How are my two girlfriends on the pediatric unit, Doctor?"

"You mean the one you funded personally and named after your late son?" Alec said casually, getting himself some champagne.

Ed threw Alec a less than appreciative look . Mags looked at Alec then Ed, surprised then amused.

"So, doctor. Did I operate that little toy properly?" Ed finally said, determined to change the subject.

"Hey, Ed, do you know Dr. Folsade's first name?" Alec suddenly asked. Frances and Angel and Mags looked at Alec in a puzzled manner.

"Yetunde. Why? What's that have to do with anything?"

Alec groaned loudly and Folsade laughed.

"Never mind." Alec sipped his champagne.

"And he says it so perfectly, Alec." Folsade said, to add to the Australian's misery.

"Yeah, right, anyway, did Ed use that thing you took out of him all right?"

"Yes. I have the analysis with me, and that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mr. Straker. I have a diagnosis and-"

"I'm beginning to wonder why they don't just sew a zipper on me, that would save time with all these surgeries. Hey, looks like we got a decent amount of presents. Anything from Henderson? I was expecting at least a Venus fly-trap plant from him. Look, there's one from Lily. Shall we open that one first?"

"Psychiatry is your field, Margaret, but I'd say Edward is avoiding having to hear what the doctor is going to say."

"Shut up, Reverend." Ed said. "Okay, fine, spit it out, what's wrong with me?"

Mags went and held Ed's hand, biting her lip. He raised his chin defiantly, and his lips pulled into a straight line.

"Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In English, this is the sudden onset of a very fast heart beat, which may or may not be regular. There are different ways of treating this depending on what sort of abnormal rhythm is caused. Pacemakers, drugs and even surgery can be used. So we have some options. However, knowing you, Mr. Straker, I would like to do some final blood studies tonight, and schedule you for a radiofrequency catheter ablation in a couple of days. The procedure is not without risk, however, if successful, it would cure you completely. To put it simply-"

"Dr. Folsade, did you say the word cure?" Ed asked. Mags hugged Ed tightly, excited and relieved and he smiled at her.

"It might require more than one ablation procedure, but yes. There is some risk of you dying during the procedure, and there is a risk of you needing a pacemaker if we destroy a certain part of your heart. But yes. I said cure. You are not going to die, Edward. You will probably outlive all of us." Folsade chuckled. "Do you have any questions?"

"One. How soon can you do it? I have a flight to San Francisco to catch."

Folsade chuckled. The others rolled their eyes and Mags groaned.

"I will be assisting the electrophysiologist, a friend of mine, Dr. Banning. One of the best in the United Kingdom, but not without a few eccentricies. I spoke with him right after I looked at the EKG results. He said the earliest he can come is Friday. I trust you can wait three days?"

"If I have to." Ed nodded.

"He will be placing catheters into your groin, and neck, possibly your arm and collarbone area. Then he will deliberately stimulate arrhythmias, locate the area of their origin, and use electricity to destroy that area of the heart. You will be awake during the procedure, slightly sedated. You may have a syncope during the procedure, but you will be surrounded by the cardiac team, and if you should need assistance, we will be ready."

"Sure beats the angioplasty I had done a few years ago. Back when I was sixty-two and in the full bloom of youth, son." Angel grinned. "I'm still around at seventy-four."

"You don't look a day over sixty, Stanley." Alec grinned.

"You never told me you had a heart problem, Angel." Ed said in surprise.

"No sweat. Sugarplum here nursed me back to health." Angel put an arm around Frances' waist.

"I worked as a nurse back then. It's how I met Quentin, my first husband." Frances smiled.

"Mr. Straker, when you wake up from the procedure you may have some pain for which you will be medicated, and you will not be able to move. I will be putting you in restraints as a precaution, and a sandbag on your leg to keep pressure on the wounds. You will have to stay in bed for a while. I trust Margaret and the others will keep you occupied? "

"Yes. Sounds good. Thank you, Dr. Folsade."

"Call me Yetunde, Mr. Straker. You say it so prettily." Folsade winked at Alec. Alec folded his arms and grunted. "Now, if you don't mind, I will have some of that wedding cake after you do. I'm starving." Folsade said.

"Not before Ed opens Lily's present. I'm dying to see what it-"

Angel was interrupted by the tall Jamaican guard coming in, which he remembered from Ed telling him was named Nate.

"Just wanted to tell you I'm glad you're okay, Mistah Straker."

Ed grinned at him.

Mags, however, quickly made her way over to the guard and poked him in the chest several times. The height difference between the two resembled the dimensions between an Limoges box and the Eiffel Tower.

"You! You let my husband go! What kind of security guard are you anyway? Two seconds, horse piss! You weren't supposed to leave your post!"

"I'm awfully sorry, Ma'am, but I--"

"Bull manure. That's Ed Straker! You don't leave Ed Straker alone!" Mags poked Nate in the chest again. It was like David telling off Goliath, Ed observed, enjoying it immensely. Reluctantly enough, he figured he better interrupt it before she could launch her slingshot.

"Maggie, dear?" sweetly intoned Ed.

"Shut up Ed, I'm doing what you should be doing, telling the hired help off. Leaving his post like that! Disgraceful. Flake!"

"Mr. Zouri didn't leave his post, Maggie." Ed declared gravely.

"You know, guard jobs are hard to come by, and Ed could have been hurt, and I just don't see how you possibly could hav-huh?"

The Jamaican sighed, and looked down at the floor.

"Mistah Straker hit me, Ma'am. Told me to come in and get him some water, and I turned, and he hit me. With the judo. So he could go out. Lay me on his bed, and left."

Alec and Angel and Frances started to laugh, Mags gaped, and Folsade chuckled. Nodded.

"I told Nate to say he had stepped away for two seconds. He was too embarrassed to admit Mr. Straker knocked him out." she said, with a laugh.

"It would travel, Ma'am, and I'd be the laughing stock of my brothers."

"Sorry about that. Not bad for a boss with a heart condition though, huh?" Ed asked Nate. "Stay and help us celebrate our reception." Ed rose and patted him on the back. He had to reach up to do it.

"No suh, thanks, suh."

"Uh, guard, uh Nate, I'm sorry I told you off."

"No harm done, Missus Straker."

"Now that his sin is out, what did Lily give you, Ed?" Alec insisted on knowing. Ed grabbed the package and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Looks like a frame. Shaped like it anyway. To Ed and Margaret, so they won't forget me. How nice. Pretty paper. Hate to tear it, maybe we can--oh my G-G- God." Ed flushed as if he'd been sunburnt on the Caribbean. Mags hurried over to him, worried.

"What? What? EDWARD STRAKER! We are not keeping that!" Mags shrieked.

Angel, Frances and the others came over behind Ed to look. Alec dissolved into hysterics, the guard whistled, Frances hid her mouth with her hand, blushing, Dr. Folsade raised her eyebrows, and Angel grinned.

"Excellent likeness," the reverend said thoughtfully. Frances slapped his forearm.

"Stanley, stop looking at it this minute, it isn't very Christian of you!"

"But sugarplum, that's the way we all come into the world."

"Stanley, you're going to be leaving the world if you don't stop looking at her that way." Frances snapped.

"Isn't it, though?" Ed nodded at Angel. "Terrific likeness. Look at that. I remember with particular fondness how sexy that mole on her ample right brea-" Ed started to say, innocently. Mags grabbed the oil painting out of his hand, and threw it into the trashbin decisively. She folded her arms, irritated, while everyone but Ed guffawed.

"Now, now, Maggie, that wasn't very nice." Ed whinged, desperately concealing his amusement.

"Shut up, Ed Straker, and come dance with your wife." Mags turned on her portable CD player, searching through tracks until she found a suitable melody.

"Shouldn't I be writing her a nice thank-you note? Or maybe I should have a similar painting of myself done so that she won't-"

"Keep it up, Straker, and I'll go borrow a Foley catheter. You remember the Foley catheter, don't you, darling?"

"Ouch.Yes, dear." Ed grinned widely.

"Now come over here and dance with your new bride."

"Since they don't want it, sugarplum, I thought we could hang it up in my office?" Angel said hopefully.

"I'm sure that they have more than one catheter in this hospital, Stanley." Frances said meaningfully. Angel swallowed nervously, and winked at Ed. Ed laughed then got up, bowed very gallantly to Mags, and took her into his arms for a dance.

"Speaking of a dance, I thought you and I had a dinner date." Folsade said to Alec. Alec grinned at her and handed her a roll stuffed with shrimp.

Ed and Mags paused in their slow dance to look at them and grin, then started swaying slowly again. Ed suddenly spun Mags away from him and twirled her dizzily, smiling playfully. Ed then dipped her, held her there, his ice blue eyes shining.

"I married Ed Astaire?" Mags said, bent back and looking up at him. God. That smile could halt gravity, she thought deliriously. And he's all mine.

"Let's show em our stuff, Ginger." Ed said, pulling her up while she laughed in delight.

"Sweet on the doctor, are you, Mistah Freeman?"

"I think it's time for you to take a break now, Nate." Alec grumbled.

"Not before he has something to eat and drink. Punch is great, and anything Frances makes is heaven. Go ahead, cut the cake. Enjoy yourselves. Nothing about the way we got married was normal anyway so the fact we aren't doing it first doesn't matter. Nice song. Pretty song. Who is that singing?" Ed asked Mags.

"Cherish The Day? Sade, you dolt. You have to get out more." Mags contentedly lay her head on Ed's shoulder again and rocked with him. Ed chuckled.

"Nice voice, I'll have to pick up some of her records."

"CD's, Ed. " Mags grinned up at him. " We've come far since the gramophone."

"I understand she is releasing another album soon. She is half-Nigerian, you know." Folsade smiled. "Enough cake for you, Alec. I will buy us dinner. Mr. Straker, as I mentioned earlier, I will order your blood tests and EKG for this evening, so for now you can enjoy your reception."

"Thank you, Dr. Folsade. Thank you for everything."

"Thank me when we know you are going to be well for certain, Edward." Folsade took Alec by the hand and led him out. He wiggled an eyebrow suggestively in Folsade's direction, and was gone. Ed grinned at them.

"Aren't you going to open the rest of your presents, son?" Angel said, licking the frosting off his fingers with Frances looking on disapprovingly.

"He's opened enough presents already. I don't even want to see what his other women gave him. Probably panties and their hotel keys. Or in the case of Chloe and Patsy, their crayons." Mags complained.

"Yes, yes, and there's something about the aroma of the vivid tangerine crayon that drives me just wild. Speaking of my two little mistresses, let's go bring them some of this cake." Ed said enthusiastically.

"You flake! You want to feed your mistresses right in the middle of our wedding reception? Horse piss! I married a cheating weasel!"

"Come on, Maggie." Ed chuckled. "Besides, I know they'll love your wedding gown."

"Okay, okay, but don't be surprised if I cheat on you with the bear. I have to have some fun in this marriage. Let me wrap up some stuff to bring them."

"Maggie?"

"What, weasel?"

"I love you with all my heart. Even my screwed up ventricals." Ed smiled tenderly at her.

God, Mags thought. That smile again. It could melt the polar caps.

"Yeah yeah, that's why you're forcing me to bring food to your underage mistresses. You're disgusting."

"Oh Stanley, everything is going to be all right, " Frances said happily. She had been dancing with Angel.

"Remember our wedding reception, sweetheart?" Angel said full of nostalgia.

"Yes, darling. And you still dance as poorly as you did at our reception." Frances tittered. "You just stepped on my heel again."

"Shame on you for exposing my faults like that." Angel scolded, and kissed her.

Ed laughed at them, while Maggie got finished with packing some food.

"Try not to eat all the cake, Nate." Mags grinned.

"Yes, Missus Straker." Nate grinned.

"Okay, weasel. Let's go see these two babes of yours. Here, you carry this plate."

Ed popped a shrimp roll into his mouth, accepted the plate, and followed her out.

"How come you didn't tell me about this unit you dedicated to your son, Ed?"

"No particular reason. Like I said, I knew it was here. They wanted me to cut the ribbon and everything, but I hate the press. So I sent Alec to face them. Didn't want them putting my name on the damn plaque, but Alec insisted, saying the studio could use the publicity. I wasn't happy, but he agreed to take my place, so I let him do what he wanted."

"What other things are you hiding from me, husband?" Mags said. "That is, besides the underage mistresses."

"Oh I don't know. Maybe the news that Yolanda is on her way over here finally. Alec talked to her last night. I told him not to tell you, that I wanted to surprise you."

"Ed!"

"Heh, heh. Figured you'd be happy about it. "

"Edward Straker, you're wonderful!" Mags kissed him tenderly.

"Does this mean you've forgiven me for the bear?"

"Don't push your luck," chuckled Mags.

Ed snapped his fingers in mock disappointment. He and Mags walked down the corridors of the unit. Some of the children were gathered in the playroom, engaged in games, or reading, or watching television. Most of them were hooked up to IV's leading to plastic bags hanging from poles.

"Not in there. Okay, let's see, retrace my steps. Ah, I remember seeing that thermostat, here we are." Ed pushed the door open. Chloe was sitting in her bed, pushing peas around on her dinner tray. Patty's bed was made up, but she wasn't there.

"Ed! I thought you might not come. I got scared you went to heaven cause they put you on the stretcher and went away. Who's that?"

"Hiya Chloe! This is my wife, Maggie."

"Hiya Maggie. You got a pretty dress. Want to play with my paper dolls?"

"Maybe later. Ed brought you guys some cake." Mags smiled at her.

"Oh wow! Yummy."

"Where's Patsy? She having her chemo? I've got cake for her too." Ed said, setting his plate of cake on Chloe's tray. She took off the wrapper happily, and dug in.

"Uh uh." Chloe said through a mouthful of cake. " She went to heaven. Her mommie gave her Teddy to me so he wouldn't miss her and be sad. See?." Chloe reached over and patted the stuffed animal.

Ed looked at the vacant bed, lost in memory. You smell nice, she had said to him. The feeling of her single tiny hand clinging tightly to his neck. The way she had bravely not cried as they had forced the chemicals into her wasted little body. The way she had giggled when he'd kissed her bear. Her little eyes widening as he made up the stories he'd told her and little Chloe.

"Ed." Mags said very softly, watching the shock and pain sweep over the SHADO Commander.

"Excuse me a moment." Ed said curtly. He vanished out the door.

"I'll be right back." Mags said. She pushed the door open.

"Okay." Chloe smiled.

Ed wasn't out there. He was nowhere to be seen.

Oh God. He wasn't ready for this. Oh Ed, where are you? When are you going to learn you don't have to hide your misery from me? Damn. What if this agitates him enough to start having a rapid heartbeat again? What if he faints? Damn it, Ed, where are you? Mags thought frantically.

"Nurse, did the man that was with me get on the lift?"

"Mr. Straker? No. He went through the exit door to the stairs, I think."

"Thanks!"

Mags quickly went through the door, and breathed a sigh of relief. Ed was leaning against a wall, eyes closed, breathing hard. He opened them, hearing Mags' footsteps. He stared out into space.

"Ed, darling, she had medulloblastoma, Dr. Folsade told us about it, it's a cancerous tumor in the brain, and she'd already lost an arm to bone cancer. She was high risk, Ed."

"She was a little girl, damn it! What was she? Five? Six? Now she's gone. It isn't right, Maggie. It isn't right for someone as small and as precious as her to have to suffer like that!"

"Edward, you made her laugh. You made it possible for this place to be here, so that they could take care of her as well as they could. You made her last moments on earth happy. She's at peace now."

Ed sighed. He rapidly blinked back tears. Mags approached him and gently took and held his hand, and held it against her cheek.

"I read to John like that, the way I read to her. I held him like that. I remember the sound of his laughter, and the way he begged me for more stories. I remember the way he looked when every month I would have to tell him I had to go. I remember what it was like having to turn my back on him, turn my back on my own son. Now he's gone. And Patsy's gone. And I-and I-" Ed broke down, no longer bothering to fight his tears.

"And you what, darling?" Mags said softly to him. "Tell me."

"I never--- said goodbye. I never said goodbye. To either of them."

"Say it now, Ed. I believe they can hear you."

"You sound like Angel now," Ed sighed. "He and Frances keep telling me John still can hear me."

Mags smiled a little.

"So say it." Mags whispered to him.

"I can't. I can't." Ed's voice trailed off almost to the point of being too soft to be heard. "Don't you see?" Ed whispered back, tormented. "I can't."

"Why, Ed?" Damn, this is tough, she thought. Be professional, Mags girl. Pretend you don't know this man suffering with grief for his lost son. You can do this. You're trained in grief counseling. Horse piss. He's my husband, the most incredible man in the world. I want to take him into my arms and hold him forever, and protect him for the rest of our lives. My heart is breaking to see him suffering this anguish. He has to do this himself. I have to help him get through it. Be professional, Mags girl. For his sake.

"If I say goodbye, that means I really lose him." Ed said brokenly. "Forever. Stupid, isn't it? I know he's dead."

Mags took Ed into her arms, stroking his hair lovingly as he cried.

"It isn't stupid at all. You'll be able to say goodbye someday, and you won't have to do it alone. I'll be with you. Come on, Ed. Chloe's waiting for you. And I want to find out just how passionate a kiss you gave that bear. "

He pulled away from her and smiled a little, and she gently wiped his face.

"I suppose you'll have me and the bear followed by a detective?"

"No, but I might have you and Chloe followed. I don't know how I'm going to compete with that babe in there. I guess I'll have to learn to share."

"I love you, Maggie."

"I love you, Ed."

"No way!"

"Yes way, I won."

"Yeah because you cheat."

"Uh uh!"

"Well somebody's cheating. Must be the bear."

"Bears don't cheat, silly."

"Chloe, he's stupid, don't even try to reason with him." Mags announced.

Chloe giggled.

"Hey, don't call the bear stupid."

"I was calling you stupid, Ed."

"Remind me again why I married you?"

"The drugs and torture." Mags replied.

Ed grinned.

"Yeah, that was it. Drugs and torture. Okay one more game of tic tac toe."

"Uh uh I wanna play paper dolls." Chloe said.

"Paper dolls? Right, paper dolls it is. Oh hi, Alec."

"Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"You have frosting on your mouth."

"Damn it, Alec, did you have to tell him? He looked so cute that way. How did your date with Dr. Folsade go?"

"Alec, meet Chloe."

"Hi! Wanna play paper dolls?"

"I'm so pleased to make your acquaintance," Alec said, taking Chloe's hand and kissing it. She giggled.

"He does that with all the beautiful women. Don't let it go to your head." Mags said.

"Did you really eat the terrible dragon?"

"Huh?" Alec said. Ed flushed and quickly interrupted.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Wanted a private word with you, yes."

"I'll be right back. Chloe, make sure Maggie doesn't kiss the bear."

"The bear is better looking than you are, Ed. And I bet it stays in bed when it's sick." Mags picked up the bear and batted her eyelashes at it. Chloe giggled, and Ed grinned at Mags.

"Fine. I'll divorce you on the grounds of infidelity with a stuffed animal. That should make the papers." Ed grinned. He rose from where he'd been sitting in a semi-yoga position on Chloe's bed, smoothed down his robe, and followed Alec out.

"Trouble in paradise?" Ed asked when he and Alec had reached Ed's room.

"The E-1 on Adam Fielding and Miyako Usami came through. It isn't good, Ed. I took the liberty of skimming through it." Alec handed Ed an slim envelope from inside his jacket.

"Summarise it for me." Ed said, frowning, accepting it and taking out the report.

"When Adam Fielding had that accident which ended his career as a steeplechaser, and disfigured his face, it's true that Miyako left him. But not because he'd lost his good looks. Because he turned into a impossible to live with, control freak. Fielding had his wife followed, her movements reported to him, her every expense noted, she couldn't sneeze without it getting back to him. He was waiting for her to slip up, for her to finally cheat on him. And when it didn't happen, he orchestrated it. He had his people lure his wife into first drugs and gambling and finally paid sex. Fielding then demanded a divorce. Someone fathered Margaret, and Miyako fled to San Francisco after Margaret's birth, pretty much penniless after the ugly divorce. In the meantime, Fielding painted her as the heartless wife who had left her poor helpless husband when he was no longer the champion rider and had lost his looks. "

"Jesus." Ed said quietly. "Go on."

"Gets worse, Ed. Some of Miyako's family and friends in San Francisco who knew what really was going on, helped her get her life together and loaned her enough money to start her little business. She thought at last she'd gotten away from him, and she began to build a new life with her little girl. Fielding would call, and she'd just hang up, but she was too afraid of him and his well-paid, obedient goons to try and make a complaint about him. Finally, Fielding threatened her with telling Margaret what kind of person Miyako really was, and that he wasn't her father. So Miyako took all she had left, sold her business, paid her debtors, took what little was left and put it into a trust fund for Margaret, and killed herself."

Ed's hand balled into a fist. His eyes of icy blue seemed to blaze.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. Fielding's had Margaret watched all these years, the same as Miyako. He made several threatening calls to Yolanda Belsing, calling her a filthy degenerate, telling her he'd ruin her, that kind of thing. Yolanda is made of sterner stuff than Miyako. She threatened to have him arrested if he kept it up. Yolanda never told Margaret, and it's been a stalemate all these years. I spoke to Yolanda over the phone, she should get to Gatwick in the morning. Her flight's due at 9 am."

"Good work, Alec. I'll handle Adam Fielding." Ed stuck the envelope inside his robe.

"Like hell you will, Ed. You're still ill."

"Alec, Margaret is my wife. I owe this to her."

"Yeah and she'd be the first one to tell you that this is her matter to handle, not yours. When you're on your feet, and that procedure you're going to have fixes your heart, then you can go with Mags and she can confront her father. More accurately, who she thinks her father is. But not a day sooner, Ed. You can't screw up your health over this, no matter how badly you want to teach Adam Fielding a lesson. It has to stay the way it is, at least for now."

"Alec-"

"No, Ed. You know I'm right. Dr. Folsade said that your condition could be triggered by agitation, and I can't think of anything more agitating than a war with Adam Fielding."

"I should have thrown him through his own damn window the day I met him." growled Ed. Alec grinned.

"That's more my style."

"Oh? I thought you were the more reasonable, kinder gentler one." Ed grinned a little.

"You're sicker than I thought, Ed." Alec grinned back.

"Okay, you win. For now. Thanks Alec. I owe you one."

"Actually, you could repay me now."

"Oh? Name it."

"Dr. Folsade. I'd really like to make an impression on her."

"Why, Alec. Is that moonbeams and starlight I see in your eyes?"

"Shut up, Ed." Alec chuckled.

"Shut up Ed, Sir." Ed folded his arms.

"Right. Anyway, I was surprised you knew her name."

"Do you recall those sightings in Africa back in 1989 or thereabouts? Dr. Folsade witnessed a UFO incident, and the destruction of that same UFO by a South African Air Force Mirage jet. Well, it just so happened that the pilot also worked for our HQ in Pretoria. You might remember the studio made that huge, over budget costume epic "The Last Wilderness" there that year. We even picked up some awards and good reviews for it. While that was going on, I met cardiologist Yetunde Folsade, was impressed by her determination and courage, and her English, which was a great deal better than the horrid way I botched the few words of her language she taught me." Ed chuckled. "We got to be friends, she completed and I recruited her for SHADO, and had her assigned to Mayland. So yes, I knew her name. Why?"

"I'd like to learn a little of her language, make an impression on her. I figured you would bring me up to date on her, and teach me to say her name correctly." grinned Alec.

Ed looked at Alec.

"One of your conquests?" Ed teased.

"Lay off, Ed. Okay, okay, lay off, Ed Sir." Alec grinned.

"Sure, Alec, I'll be glad to help." Ed nodded.

A few minutes later, Ed put the report under his mattress, informed Nate no one was to go in there, and went back to see Chloe and Mags.

"Well, it's about time. What did you do? Cheat on me with every good looking underage patient you could find?"

"On every floor of hospital," nodded Ed, settling down and giving Chloe's head an affectionate rub, then tickling her, drawing delighted chuckles from the little patient. Mags watched with a fond grin. "So Chloe, did she cheat on me with the bear?"

"Uh huh. It loves her." Chloe giggled

"How does one compete with a teddy from Harrods, I wonder? Maggie, you have that cellular phone of yours?"

"Yeah, sure, what are you going to do? Call up your lawyer and see if you can cancel the pre-nuptial agreement you signed giving me half your lemon cakes from Frances?"

"I know there's a bear clause in that agreement somewhere. Get it? Bear clause."

Maggie groaned at the pun then laughed.

Ed grinned widely, pleased with her reaction.

"Actually, I want to do something really horrible to Alec Freeman. Lend me your phone."

"I've never understood the relationship between you two." Mags said with a smile, handing Ed her bright yellow Nokia.

"Don't worry about it. After I do what I'm about to do, there won't be a relationship," Ed beamed playfully, punching out the number Folsade had given him in case of an emergency.

"Edward, you are terrible, but I must confess I will enjoy the look on Alec's face. He will kill you, you know." Folsade said over the phone with a light chuckle.

"He'll wait until after my surgery, so that my death won't be that easy," chuckled Ed. "So you'll do it? When are you two seeing one another again?"

"Tomorrow at one, for lunch. And yes, you terrible man, I will do it."

"Right. Okay, this is what I want you to do--"

* * *

Early the next day, Ed awakened, and reached for the report under his mattress. He flipped through each page, reading and digesting it with his customary speed, nodding to himself, frowning at some parts. Then he drew his finger down the report until he came to a group of phone numbers. He dialed one in San Francisco.

"Herro?" a timid voice said in fractured English.

"Good morning, is this Samuel Usami ? I'm sorry to have awakened you, but I'm Margaret Fielding's husband , Ed Straker, and I wanted to ask you-"

"You Straker? I am how you call brother to Miyako. I hear you marry Margaret, good man, Yolanda say. We very sorry miss wedding. Why you call?"

"I want for Miyako to rest in peace, and for Adam Fielding to get what's coming to him. However, I need your help."

"He important man, no can do, we try lawyer, he call Miyako lot, very bad thing. How can help now?"

"If I have the case re-investigated, and I support the Usami family, will you be willing to fight with me and Margaret to give your sister justice?"

"Fielding very important, you understand? Could make problem for me, very bad. Lose everything."

"I happen to have some connections that are more important than Mr. Fielding's. You'd be fighting on equal ground."

Ed was treated to roughly a minute of what sounded like rapid Japanese, and different voices of different genders. He waited. Finally, Usami responded.

"You are policeman?"

"Not exactly. However I do believe that an injustice was done. And my people did a investigation into what actually happened, as opposed to what Sir Adam Fielding wanted people to believe. My one sadness is that I haven't told Margaret about any of this yet, and I know it will be sad for her to find out that Fielding is not her father."

"Not father? Who say? Is not true, Straker."

Ed furrowed his brow.

"I spoke with Adam Fielding before I found out any of this, and he told me he had gotten the tests--"

"Miyako say he father, but not let know. She say give not right test so he not take baby away, she want something her own, you understand? Baby is his, he not know it. Doctor feel sorry he not like Fielding, not trust, so he give someone else test, how you say? Paternal. Baby is his. He father."

"Do you know this doctor's name?"

"Please to wait. I ask."

Ed shook his head. The whole thing was getting more like something out of Lewis Carroll. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Straker, great grandmother say not know you, not safe. She say come, she see you, see if you speak truth before say much. She read head. Many generation, she see truth. You understand?"

"I'm due for surgery in three days, I can't travel, I have heart problems, but I can arrange for someone to come pick you and whoever is involved up at my expense, fly you here, and I'll speak to her directly. Will that be suitable?"

"She say hai. Yes. But we pay half, or lose face. You understand?"

"Doumo arigatou gozaimasu, Mr. Usami."

"Dou itashimashite. You speak Japanese?"

"Hai, sukoshi hanashimasu. Few phrases to get by. Not very much anymore, I'm afraid." Ed chuckled. "I look forward to meeting you, Mr. Usami. Sayonara." Ed hung up the phone. The door opened.

"Good morning, handsome. How did you sleep?" Mags said. "Oh oh, I know that look. What's wrong? God, Ed, did you have another syncope episode?" she asked, alarmed. Ed rose up and kissed her, the report under his arm, his expression solemn.

"Sit down, Maggie. I have a lot to tell you, news that will be upsetting. I read some reports on your father and mother, and I just spoke to your uncle. Yolanda should be arriving in England soon, I asked Alec to pick her up at Gatwick this morning, have her things brought to a hotel and bring her directly here. Maggie, darling, this will be difficult."

"Ed, you're scaring me." Mags bit her lip.

Ed pulled up a chair opposite his wife, and began to relate the story of his first visit to Margaret, and then he summarised, as Alec had, what had been in the E-1. Mags' expression turned to disbelief, anger, shock, pain, and she shot up, screaming. Ed shot up with her, and tried to calm her down, but she pushed him away.

"NO NO NO NO!" she sobbed, and finally let Ed envelop her in his arms.

Nate threw open the door, gun out. Ed shook his head slightly at the Jamaican guard.

"Mr. Zouri, don't allow anyone in here except Dr. Folsade and Alec. He'll have Miss Belser with him." Ed ordered quietly.

"Yes, sir." Nate said, and quietly closed the door. Mags hung on to Ed, weeping, burying her head on his shoulder.. Ed stroked her hair. She looked up at him, eyes reddened.

"Why? Why? I would have loved her no matter what, Ed! She was my mother!"

"I know, Maggie. But your mother was under incredible pressure, she felt helpless, and unable to fight back. Fielding ruled her life with a iron hand. There's even evidence in here that Fielding prevented you from being raised by her surviving family."

"Ed I want his fucking head on a stake. I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him."

"That would leave me only conjugal visits to your gaol cell, Maggie. I'm afraid you'll have to leave this to me, Alec, and your family. " Ed smiled gently at her.

"No way, Ed. This is my fight, not yours."

"When I made those vows to you, it became my fight, Maggie. And my boxing gloves are larger than yours."

"I want to be there, Ed."

"You will be. And you better get ready to translate for me. My Japanese is rusty, and your uncle, your great-grandmother, and some other Usami family members will be on their way here soon."

"They never had much to do with me before. They didn't even come to my wedding." Mags said angrily, folding her arms.

"They were following your life through Yolanda, they seem to think a great deal of you."

"Through Yolanda? What do you mean?"

"Yolanda was being harassed by Fielding too."

"WHAT?"

"Maggie, she's been very protective of you over all these years. She was obviously in your corner."

"She knew? She KNEW? And didn't tell me? I'll kill her! Horse piss! FUCK! Did everybody know about this but me?"

"Maggie, everything's going to work out. I'm going to have that surgery, be cured, and we'll bring your father to his knees, and then we'll go have fresh crab at Fisherman's Wharf, ride a ferry underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and eat fresh sourdough french bread, and be happy newlywed tourists."

"Ed, why can't we have a nice quiet married life like anyone else?" Mags sighed.

"Because we aren't like anyone else, dear." Ed grinned. "Now tell me about your grandmother."

"Ryoko-sama? She's actually coming?" Mags shuddered. "I used to visit her with my mother. She drove everyone nuts. She must be at least three-hundred by now. Everyone in my family is scared of her."

"Heh, heh, she sounds pretty formidable. Apparently she is coming to judge my trustworthiness in person, before she would agree to give the name of the doctor who gave the false paternity results to your father. It wouldn't be all that difficult to trace him or her down, but this Ryoko sounds interesting."

"Interesting? Ed, she still reads cracks in tortoise shells to tell the future and does other flaky things. She's whacked! She made my entire family a hostage to feng shui, and she's not even Chinese. Nobody does anything before asking her. She's a tyrant. She makes Adolf Hitler look like Mother Teresa." complained Mags. Ed grinned at her.

"Your uncle said she reads heads." Ed remarked mildly, amused.

"Ed, yeah, she feels people's heads and tells their future. Horse piss! I'm telling you, she's certifiable."

"Since you're a psychiatrist, I trust your diagnosis of her, but I want to meet her anyway." Ed laughed, and sat on the edge of his bed.

"You'll regret it. Although she did tell Miyako she'd make a bad marriage because of bad karma, and that I would marry a rich, powerful man." Mags sighed.

"Now I'm really looking forward to meeting this woman." Ed said with a smile. "Ah here comes my tasteless, low-calorie unappetitizing breakfast, come share it with me." Ed said, watching Nate carry a tray in. Nate grinned at him.

"I agreed to marry you in sickness and in health, I didn't agree to help eat your lousy hospital food for you." Mags finally smiled a little, sat on his lap and kissed him.

Ed sighed.

"I knew I should have married the bear."

***

"You know, I'm starting to get used to this airplane business. They even gave me this cute little pouch full of free stuff." Yolanda Belsing told Alec, as he pulled the studio jeep out of the parking lot of Gatwick airport. "And the food was great."

"You've obviously never flown executive luxury class before, compliments of Ed Straker," Alec grinned. "The important thing is, you'll be with Mags at a time she'll need you. "

"She's gonna be pissed at me." sighed Yolanda.

"Let me give you some advice. I've been in some situations like this before. I've done things without Ed knowing, and when he's found out about them, he was pissed at me too. The trick is, don't stand too close, he's been known to throw things, and to be patient. He soon realises that I was right." chuckled Alec. "But it's that first five minutes that is scary."

"You two have fights?"

"Sure. We've had rows that have made WW2 look like a child's argument over a toy pail in a sandbox. I've resigned, hmm, let me try and remember, about five times now. I always wind up going back. Ed doesn't always know what's best for himself. Nine times out of ten, he'll choose the devil he knows instead of the devil he doesn't. He's as bloody-minded as hell. But there's no finer man in England, or , for the matter, anywhere on this planet than Ed Straker. I wouldn't want not to be on his side. Adam Fielding may be a powerful man, but then he's never come against Ed Straker."

"Mags seems to have tamed him pretty well." joked Yolanda.

Alec looked at Yolanda for a second, then turned his attention back on the road ahead, merging with morning traffic.

"Trust me. That's because he let her. If you think anything else is the case, then you're a fool."

Yolanda grinned. Alec's car phone buzzed.

"Freeman."

"Hi Alec, it's me. Have you picked up Miss Belsing yet?"

"She's right with me. Got all the amenities of traveling first class, and now is a seasoned passenger. How is Mags handling the news?"

"Good, good. Maggie? Pretty much what you'd expect. I need you to do a few things for me, Alec. First, stop at my flat and get me some more of my clothes, I need something suitable to greet -Maggie, do you mind, I'm on the--Maggie, that's enough, I'm trying to talk to Alec. Go play paper dolls with Chloe or something. Quit giving me that look. Alec, you still there?"

"I don't know what Mags is doing, but it can hardly be good for that busted heart of yours, Ed."

"Very funny, Alec. First, I need some of my clothing, the Usamis are going to be coming here, and I'm not greeting them in my pajamas and robe. Second, before you drop Miss Belsing off, stop by a restaurant and get me something suitable to eat for breakfast, they wouldn't feed a stray animal what they put in my food tray this mor-shut up, Maggie, I may die during surgery Friday and I'm not going to have the autopsy with pablum in my stomach. I want ham and fried eggs and toast and marmalade and real coffee, not that awful caffeine free muck they pretend is coffee in Mayland. Then you and Dr. Folsade have an hour for lunch, after that you can go spend some time with our overworked friend Paul Foster, Nate was telling me last night that Henderson is riding Foster pretty hard. I don't think Henderson's gotten over losing one to me, thanks to you. So naturally he's taking it out on Foster. Then I need you to get in touch with the Usamis, and arrange for them to fly out here. I assume you can pull a few strings here and there to get their visas and passports cleared, so that they could be out here sometime tomorrow night?"

"Do I have a choice, Ed?"

"Frankly, no." chuckled the SHADO commander. "And Alec, I trust you didn't forget the romantic African phrases I taught you, so that you can woo Dr. Folsade properly?"

"I practiced them, and I'm ready to go. Ed, the hour might just develop into, oh, maybe two, any objection if I'm a little late relieving Paul?"

"Just don't overtire Dr. Folsade, Alec, she's due to assist that specialist when I'm operated on Friday morning. I wouldn't want her to stumble with a instrument at a crucial time because Romeo wore out Juliet." Ed answered mildly.

Alec laughed. He could just make out Mags' laughter in the background on the phone.

"Ed, get your arteries ready, I'm going to bring you the most calorie laden, fat dripping, E-ticket to cardiac hell breakfast you ever laid eyes on, and a light, sweet cup of coffee so strong the spoon will melt in it ."

"Alec, you're a saint. See you soon."

Ed Straker sat quietly in his bed, with Maggie's CD player tuned to a light jazz channel, thumbing through the hardback copy of the novel "Takeover" that Lieutenant Nate Zouri had given him. Another Rodgers book. There has to be something fundamentally wrong with me for being addicted to these things, Ed thought. All her plots are the same. Boy loses girl, boy finds new girl, boy gets injured in some way that involves a new procedure in medical science to put him back together again, boy finds happiness until the next novel, when the pattern recycles. The hero has to have so many scars by now, I don't know how he could have any skin left that doesn't. Maybe the new plot will involve a skin graft, just so he has more skin to tattoo the hard way, with a few slugs. I'm not sure I'd want to personally know a author that apparently loves yet hates her hero at the same time. Writers. All the same. How does this woman do her research anyway? Maybe she just blindfolds herself and points at some new disease in a medical dictionary, and hey presto, the hero comes down with it. Stupid books. I'd like to have the option of having the studio work with her to turn it into a screenplay, but I'm not sure I want to meet this woman. Oh well. I'll save it for after the operation. Damn quiet in here. Maggie goes off with Yolanda to have lunch, Frances and Angel are still struggling to adjust their parishioners to that new prayer book, and seemed to have forgotten I exist. Alec is about to get the surprise of his life, heh, I should have asked Yetunde to take snaps of his facial expressions. Hmm. Too damn quiet in here. Too peaceful. Okay, Straker, shall we set the pretense aside? You're scared. Damn scared. You need some air.

Ed threw the book on his bed. He turned off the CD player, with a faint grin at the memory of Maggie telling him he needed to go high tech in sound sometime. He put on his robe and pushed the door open. Nate Zouri turned and smiled at him.

"You read it already, Commandah Straker?"

"No, no, I never waste those speed reading and comprehension courses I took back in the Air Force on muck like that." Ed grinned. "I decided to keep it for later. Listen, Lieutenant, I'm going to take a walk. Any objection?" Commander Straker, Ed mused to himself sourly. Well at least somebody remembers my rank. I swear if Alec tells me one more time that Foster's handling everything just great, and I'm not needed, I'll be facing court martial for punching a fellow officer. Not that any punch of mine would connect with that craggy Australian face of his. "I've been cooped up in my room too long."

"Not as long as you have no objection to my company."

"Lieutenant, you wouldn't want to look the other way for, shall we say, a nanosecond? Maybe two nanoseconds. I'm older now, and can't run that fast."

"Come on, Commandah. Colonel Freeman would strip my skin and then Missus Straker would roast my bones if I let you sneak away. Fancying seeing that little miss of yours?"

"Anything to keep my mind off Friday morning." Ed nodded. "When our liquid breathing little friends make an appearance, I have all of SHADO's technology and equipment and personnel at my fingertips." Ed nodded slightly at the two nurses on staff at the nurses' station as he and Nate passed by. "I know pretty much what to expect from the bad guys. But when your own body is suddenly the opponent, the odds don't look so good. Some patients don't get up and walk away from this procedure, they just get zipped into a nice plastic bag like yesterday's leftovers. I don't want to be one of them. I don't want to be a statistic. Tell me, Lieutenant, how would you handle it if it was you going under the knife on Friday morning?" Ed smiled, entered the lift that would take him to the children's oncology unit. Nate ambled behind.

"Gospel be told , Commandah, the only way I like going under a knife is if I'm in combat practice or I'm fightin for mah life. I sweat more being beaten in chess by Colonel Freeman than I do with a crazed man aimin' a wicked blade at my throat. Goin' under a scapel for surgery, that's somethin' else altogether." Nate shuddered. They left the lift and walked to Chloe's room.

"Good to know someone understands the differences. Well, Lieutenant, tell me, when's the last time you played with paper dolls?"

"Sir?"

Ed grinned and opened the door.

"Hiya Ch-"

Ed blanched, and his mask caved in.

Both beds were made up immaculately, and nothing had been left that suggested that a child had ever even been there.

***

"You know Ed. I've been trying for eons to get him to switch to one of these electronic Palm pilot things. It's like trying to thread a needle with a baseball glove on. He still carries his little black leather memo pad and address book, and his Filofax, both worn out from time. I think Mags is right. I think he needs to be convinced that change is inevitable and change is good."

"And tell me, Alec, do you think Ed is that way?" Yetunde swirled her fork elegantly in the spaghetti alfredo, studying the Australian in the flickering candlelight on their table.

"What way?" Alec attacked and defeated a piece of steak, swallowed it and studied the Nigerian cardiologist with equal fervour.

"You think he is worn out with time?"

"Now wait, I never said that."

"It is troubling, people don't treasure old things like they used to. We live in a fast paced, now now now society. Survival of the fittest. Edward is like old wine, he becomes better with age, no wait, I see him as a leather bound novel, which becomes more treasured each time one reads it. And the more one reads it, the patina of the leather shines far more brighter like the sparkle in his eyes when he looks at Margaret. Ah ah ah, love. It is glorious just to watch them together. Tell me, Alec, have you ever been in love? Do you know anything of romance?"

"You sound like you're half in love with Ed." Alec chuckled, perhaps a bit nervously.

Folsade studied her glass of wine in a peculiar manner.

"When I saw him for the first time in my village, I must confess I thought he would be just another white, who did not understand my love for my country, and who would also mock what I saw that day in the skies. I was a young woman with a head full of dreams. But I must admit he was and still is like a pretty piece of glass that catches your eye, and then when you take the time to look more closely, you discover it is a diamond. But we had our jobs to do, he was very gallant, but there was no, how do you put it, no chemistry there. We became good friends. But there was no romance. I like Margaret very much. So the loss is easier to bear. Tell me, Alec, did you think you would woo me into your bed tonight?"

Alec had been sipping his beverage, but he sputtered a few drops of his Glenlivet at that, and she hid her grin well.

"Of all the women you and Foster have taken to bed, and believe me, it is almost legendary between you and Foster, have you ever loved any of them? "

"I think we ought to go back to talking about Ed."

"You are not going to answer my question?"

"Jane, the women I have-"

"My name is Yetunde."

"Yetunde."

"Ah so you have been practicing my name. Splendid. I am flattered after all, Alec. It seems that at least you went to the time and trouble to learn that before you wined and dined me and finally deflowered me. What else have you been practicing?"

Alec nearly choked on his drink when she reached the deflowered part, but rather admirably managed to drain the glass and call for the decanter. The waiter came, freshened their drinks, and left. Alec took a deep breath. Thank you, Ed Straker, for your curious wealth of interesting bits of information, which somehow included romantic phrases in some Nigerian language, Alec thought.

"It seemed to me someone as lovely and as intelligent as you should hear what I think of you in your native tongue."

How thoughtful of you, Colonel." Folsade smiled prettily.

Alec managed to get off a few phrases. There, he thought. Done. This one's got more colours than a opal, but no Sheila ever met Alec Freeman and went to bed alone. He sat back and reached for her hand.

She wasn't smiling.

Why wasn't she smiling? She was certainly not smiling. Matter of fact, she looked like she might pick up his steak knife and do some impromptu heart surgery with it. On him. Without the benefit of pain killers.

Is this a joke?" she snapped.

"Huh?"

"Is this your idea of a joke? Calling me the spawn of a blind elephant? Saying I smell like a monkey's arse at high noon? Is this how you drag your females to bed, Colonel? Are they overwhelmed by your sense of humor? You will excuse me. My appetite, even for a woman who knows what hunger really is, seems to be gone."

With that, Dr. Yetunde Folsade threw her dinner napkin at a stunned Alec Freeman and walked out. Alec sat there, looking for all the world like a cartoon character who'd just been hit by an anvil.

"Is everything all right, Mr. Freeman?" the waiter asked, alarmed. Alec regained his senses, threw some money at him and stormed out behind Folsade, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

***

"I'm really sorry, Sir." Nate said quietly. The Jamaican guard kept glancing nervously at his superior officer for any signs of agitation or pain. His job was to keep Straker safe and well, and the sudden death of little Chloe was a real threat to Straker's health. Straker seemed solemn, but not in physical distress.

Ed nodded soundlessly, and walked into the lift, Nate at his side. Just before the doors closed, a woman came up breathlessly, dashed toward the doors as they started to close and Nate hit the door open button for her. Ed eyed her with his mouth pulled into a thin line, his normally brilliant eyes deadened and empty. Nate smiled at her. She was in her thirties, dressed casually, and carried a shopping bag.

"Thanks so much. I was looking for someone, and didn't find him."

"Did you need to ask directions, Maam? I know hospital pretty well. I might be able to help." Nate smiled.

"Mr. Zouri, I did not hire you to be a guide to strangers." Ed said sharply. The woman frowned a little.

"Won't take but a moment, Sir."

"Well, I was hoping to find someone I know only as Ed." she chuckled. "A patient friend of my little daughter's."

"Ed? Ma'am, this is Ed Straker." Nate told her.

Ed had been staring into space, angry at the delay, but now he turned, shaking a little.

"You mentioned your daughter?" Ed said. "Tell me her name."

"Chloe. Chloe Polk. "

"Where is she?" Ed shouted. His desperate tone took her by surprise.

"Why, why, she's downstairs, we're getting ready to go. Except she wanted to give her friend her -are you all right? Oh!"

"SIR!" Nate yelled, and grabbed Ed as he started to sink. Ed held on to Nate, and Nate lowered him to the ground gently, feeling the pulse in Ed's neck.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, stop yelling at me, Zouri." Ed said weakly, hanging on to consciousness.

"Ma'am, hit the seventh floor button for me. I've got to get him to his room, and page his doctor."

The woman did as she was told, and Zouri scooped up Ed Straker in his arms almost effortlessly.

"Damn it, Zouri! I don't need to be carried!" grumbled Ed, but he looked ashen. He closed his eyes and didn't struggle. The doors opened. Dr. Folsade was at the nurses' station, talking with the SHADO staff on duty, and they were laughing uproariously.

"Ah ah ah! You should have seen Freeman's face! When he finds out what we did to-" Folsade stopped, saw Nate carrying Ed, and her laughter died and she hurried over, pulling out her stethoscope quickly. "Get him into his room, quickly. What happened?"

"I haven't died, if that's what you mean. Will you stop fussing over me?" Ed said, opening his eyes slightly as Nate laid him on his bed and under the covers.

Folsade ignored Ed's feeble protest, and pulled open his robe, didn't bother unbuttoning his pajama top, but tore it open. A button went flying. Ed gave her a imperious look, but said nothing. She put the stethoscope on his chest.

"That thing is damn cold, Doctor."

"Edward, quiet. Nate, what happened?"

"Mistah Straker wanted to go for a walk, and we went to go see his little girl who has the leukemia, and the bed was made up, Doctor. We thought she was dead, like the other little girl. Then we went to go back and we ran into the mother who was looking for him, and the shock of finding out the girl was alive, well, he started to collapse."

"She isn't my little girl, she's that woman's little girl." Ed corrected Nate.

"I told you to be quiet, Edward. One more word and I will sedate you." Folsade said calmly. Ed sighed in frustration, but went silent. Folsade continued to listen to his heart.

"Is he going to be all right?" the woman said awkwardly. She'd followed them into Ed's room.

Folsade finished with her examination of Ed, and strung her stethoscope back around her neck.

"It was a brief episode, his heart rhythm is returning to normal. All right, Edward you may speak now."

"Thank you so much Doctor, for allowing me back my constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech. Now, are you going to pay for ruining my pajamas?" Ed said in irritation. Folsade looked at Ed for a moment in amusement. She reached down and drew the end of a beautifully manicured nail a short way down Ed's chest, through the light layer of light brown hair upon it. Ed jumped, and his eyes widened. "Just what was that all about?" demanded Ed.

"I fulfilled a young Nigerian woman's dream." Folsade said, with a wistful smile. Nate spun so Ed wouldn't see him trying to suppress laughter. Ed looked at her in astonishment, blushed a little but then he relaxed.

"I could file a sexual harassment suit, Dr. Folsade." he told her with a slight smile.

"But you won't."

"But I won't. Can I sit up? Mrs. Polk? I would very much like seeing your daughter before she leaves. Is that possible?"

"Dear me, I almost forgot. She wanted me to give you this, so you wouldn't be lonely." The woman reached in the bag and brought out the teddy bear, and handed it to him. Ed smiled, obviously very touched, and sat up as Folsade drew the blankets closer around him. "And I'll get her. We didn't know where your room was. She'll be so delighted. You made quite an impression on her."

"And she on me. I am very fond of her. She's well, then?"

"Her leukemia is in remission. The doctors are hopeful." the woman smiled.

"Listen, if you need anything, please let me help."

"That's very generous of you, Ed." she smiled. "Let me go get her."

"I'll go with you," Nate offered. They went off together.

"Edward, I will order you some nutritious lunch." Folsade said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"The remark about the dream. Were you being simply facetious?"

"What do you think?"

Ed smiled.

"I'm flattered, Doctor." he said softly.

"I will get you some of that low-caloric, tasteless hospital food you love so much."

"You do and I will file suit and tell Maggie what you did. I want the largest, juicest well done hamburger in all of London. With everything to go on it. Incidentally, how did your date with Alec go?" Ed chuckled, stroking the bear. Folsade laughed sharply.

"Ah ah ah! You should have seen him, Edward. I thought he might have a stroke right on the-"

The door opened and Alec burst in.

"Ed, what the hell did you-oh. Sorry, Doctor. I'm the last person you want to see."

"Alec, I understand you insulted her at lunch. What's wrong with you?" Ed snapped.

"What are you talking about? You taught me to say those things! Damn it, he told me to-"

"Oh, I see, so you didn't bother at all to find some phrases to describe me? So you lied? So you lie to all the women you want to have sex with? So you not only lure them into your bed, but you lie too? Are you completely free of scruples? Edward, how long have you had this man as a friend?"

"Obviously too long. If he treats women like that, maybe it's time to end my relationship with him." Ed said somberly.

"Wait a minute, I never meant to insult you, bloody hell, I asked Ed for something to say to you so that I'd make an impression on you, if you must know! Ed, what the hell is going on here?"

"Alec, if you can do a thing like that, why, why, it must mean you are the spawn of a blind elephant." Ed said in quite believable disgust.

Alec stared at Ed. Suddenly Folsade started laughing. Ed broke into a grin.

Alec's mouth gaped open. Then he snarled at Ed like a dog with rabies.

"You filthy rotten bastard! You did that deliberately! You set me up!" Alec shouted.

"Alec, Alec, Alec, how can you possibly accuse me of such a thing? Oh, this is terrible. Why, I don't think my heart can take this. Why, I think I'm about to faint from the shock of my best friend suggesting I'd play such a dirty elaborate trick on him with the cooperation of my cardiologist. I may even die." With that, Ed fell back upon the bed in a melodramatic feigned collapse, eyes shut.

"Oh, you're going to die all right, Straker." Alec threatened, with Folsade still giggling. Alec pulled out one of Ed's pillows from under Ed's head and placed it over Ed's face and pretended to suffocate him. Ed pretended to struggle. And the door opened, and in came Mags and Yolanda. Mags saw Alec Freeman apparently suffocating her husband. And did what any woman who would find herself in that situation would do. She rushed up to Alec Freeman and hit him hard enough to knock him off his feet. He went flying, knocking over the food trolley and what was left of Ed's breakfast, including a carafe of fortunately cold coffee. Folsade and Yolanda gasped, and Ed removed the pillow to see what had happened. His eyes widened. He sat up.

"ALEC! What the hell are you doing?" Mags screamed. Alec was slowly picking himself up, unhurt but dripping.

"Uh Maggie?" Ed began.

"Ed, are you all right? Did he hurt you?" She hurried to Ed.

"Maggie, did you seriously think Alec would suffocate me?" Ed smiled.

"What the horse piss am I supposed to think? He had a fucking pillow over your head!"

Ed began to laugh, he just couldn't help it.

He pulled Mags to him and kissed her. "I missed you. Look." Ed remarked, showing her the bear.

"Boy, it's never dull here in England, is it?" Yolanda remarked.

"Could someone get me a towel? No, never mind the towel. Some whiskey. No, not some whiskey, the whole damn bottle." Alec said, laughing. Folsade chuckled and handed him a towel from the small private bathroom that adjoined Ed's room.

Folsade's cell phone rang and she drew it out, as Ed narrated the events, and Mags and Yolanda joined in the laughter. She spoke for a few minutes, and her mood rapidly changed. Ed looked up at her, noting her expression, frowned. The door opened again and Chloe came running in, followed by Nate and Chloe's mother.

"Hiya Chloe." Ed spread his arms to greet her with a hug.

"Hi Ed! Did you get Teddy okay? I get to go home today, it's so cool!"

"Will you look at that? He's kissing me one minute and now I don't exist since his underage mistress came in." Mags chuckled. Ed grinned at Mags and lifted Chloe into his lap tenderly.

"It's very cool indeed. Well, give me one last hug before you go home." Ed smiled. Chloe hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Ed gave her a soft peck back, and lifted her down again.

"Bye bye Ed!"

"Goodbye, Chloe. I'll take special care of Teddy. Alec, will you see them out and see that they get some free tickets for the studio tour, and some movie passes? Mrs. Polk, I'd like it if you kept me notified of how she is. You can write to me in care of the studio, if you wouldn't object?"

"Oh, not at all. I'm so glad you're all right, you gave me a fright falling like that." the woman smiled. "Goodbye now." Chloe and the woman followed Alec out.

"Falling? Ed, what happened?" Mags said, disturbed now.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Dr. Folsade, what's the matter? Is there a problem?"

"I'm afraid so Edward. Dr. Banning was in a car accident, nothing very serious, but he fractured two fingers. He will be unable to perform the procedure. I will have to try and locate someone who can do it. It will take some time, I fear."

"Wait, you've seen this procedure done, right? You've studied it. You do it."

"Edward, I am not a specialist, I have only watch-"

"No. No more. I'm not waiting. You do it, or I'll walk out of this place."

"Edward!" Folsade shouted.

"Ed, don't be an idiot." Mags said sternly.

"Don't be a dummy, Straker." Yolanda scolded. Ed ignored them all, his eyes and voice hard.

"Make up your mind, Doctor. I am not waiting. Either you do it Friday morning or I am gone. I have a lot to do and very little time in which to do it. Alec-"

Alec had come in again.

"Hmm?"

"Have you arranged for the Usamis to come?"

"All taken care of. They'll be picked up tomorrow around five PM. Why?"

"And the other things I asked you for?"

"Of course. I've got your clothes in the car."

"Good, good. Well, doctor?"

"Edward, don't you understand? One wrong move and you could be on a pacemaker for the rest of your life! Or worse. You could die! Do you really think I want to be the cause of your death?"

"You won't kill me, Doctor. You'll save me. Now, are you going to do it or not?"

"Damn you Edward. I will do it. And if you die, I will dig your grave personally. Margaret, he had a brief syncope. Order the imbecile some food and make sure he stays in bed and rests all day, and is not upset. He is not to be too long with the Usami family when they come, and he is to retire early. Where is Reverend Brisby and his wife?"

"Angel's busy with that new prayer book, and I understand Frances is working on a website for the church. Why?" Ed asked.

"Someone should say a prayer on Friday to guide my hand, or, if it becomes necessary, some prayers for your bloody minded, impossible soul." Folsade turned and headed for the door angrily.

"Yetunde, wait."

"I have rounds, Edward, what do you want?"

"Nothing," sighed Ed. "Never mind."

Folsade went out.

"What the hell was that all about?" Alec said.

"Ed, for God's sake!" Mags told Ed.

"No Maggie. No sweetheart. I've been here far too long. I need to have the procedure, get well, handle Fielding and then we'll go for that honeymoon in San Francisco for a whole, blissful week. Then I'll return to work before they forget who runs that blasted studio. Please don't fight me on this. Please. You know how I feel about being stuck in this place. Please. Please."

"Alec, go get his clothes and whatever he wanted. Yolanda, can you go with Alec and get Ed some soup or something?"

"No soup. To hell with soup. I want a cheeseburger. With bacon. Lots of it. Like the one I never got around to eating on the day we got to know one another. And fries. I'm starving, Yolanda, so don't be long in bringing it back."

"Come on, Alec, they need to work this out." Yolanda said, taking his arm. They went out.

"Damn it, Ed. If there was anything I could say that would make you change your mind." Mags said tearfully.

"Maggie. I need you on my side. I need you to be brave for me. I need you to understand. If I have to spend one more day in here beyond what I need to I swear I'll go insane, please, please, Maggie." Ed begged, eyes bright with tears.

"Why did I have to fall in love with a flake like you? All right, Ed. All right." Mags wept. "But if you die on me I swear I'll sue."

Ed chuckled faintly.

"Fair enough, Mrs. Straker."

"You're a tough man to love, you know that?"

"Oh Maggie, I love you so much. Don't leave me, okay? I love you." Ed whispered, gently caressing her cheek as her tears fell.

"I'm here, darling, I'm here. I know you're just as scared as I am." Mags told him and pulled him to her. "Aren't you, my precious husband?" Ed began to weep quietly. Almost too softly to be heard he answered her.

"Yes."

They clung to one another desperately in the uncertain silence.

***

"Hello?"

"Hello Daniel, it's me, Yetunde. How are you doing? I just completed my regular rounds, I'm having dinner by myself in the Mayland cafeteria, I'm miserable and I have a big problem."

"My beloved Jag is in worst condition than I am, and my hand hurts like Hades, and I'm the contusion poster boy, but other than that, I'm fine. I had to cancel all my appointments. What's your problem, Yetunde? That is, besides the fact you won't go out on a date with me."

"Daniel, you're the best cardiologist and electrophysiologist in the United Kingdom."

"But?"

"But you've been married five times."

"And your point is?"

Yetunde chuckled.

"I suppose you are going to get married repeatedly until you get it right?"

"Exactly. Now what's the problem? Nothing could be as bad as the pound amount of my alimony."

"My 53 year old male, Straker, the tachycardia case you were scheduled to do the ablation on this Friday morning."

"Yeah? The movie guy? What about him?"

"He asked me to do the procedure in your absence instead."

"Sounds like a nifty idea. I don't mind you grabbing some of my glory. You want me there to observe?"

"Daniel, I can crack a chest open and massage a heart back to life when a person codes. I know the heart muscle backwards and forwards and sideways. I have done transplants. I've implanted pacemakers. But guiding those electrode catheters, ah ah ah."

"Oh don't be a baby. You've done the same as that in tests where you've injected dye."

"Diagnostic tests, yes! But I have never actually done a ablation! I am not a electrophysiologist. And Edward does not seem to even be thinking about the numerous risks. He is forcing me into this."

"Sounds like a rich, arrogant SOB. Just tell him no. What's his lifestyle like? Does he drink, smoke? When was his last episode with syncope?"

"He is as bad a type A as you can get. Not at his ideal weight due to some recent surgeries, including hip replacement, he is as thin as a straw. He doesn't drink, gave up smoking, caffeine addict, suffers from migraines, and has been known to rely on sleeping pills. His last episode? Hours ago. He's a bomb waiting to go off. Sooner or later he may have an infarct and even if it doesn't kill him, it will devastate him." she sighed. "And he is claustrophobic, which does not make my job much easier."

"You have a personal interest in this guy, Yetunde?"

"Would it do any good to deny it?"

"Shit. Okay, look, I'll be right there with you when you do the procedure, and I'll get a hotel room later tonight and stay in the area until Friday. And I'll hire a car, drive out tonight to see him and talk to him. I should get there around ten or so. We'll pull this off, okay?"

"You were just in a car smash, how can you drive with your bad hand?"

"I'm okay. Beats sitting here in my bloody house with this damn cat shedding all over the place. I've grown attached to it. Blasted animal is the only thing I have left from my last divorce. And the way it keeps going out at night, it's probably getting a lot more sex than I am."

Yetunde laughed.

"I will go and tell him to expect you. I want to go and see him anyway, and apologise for yelling at him. It is the last thing he needs right now."

"This guy good looking? Handsomer than me?" Banning teased.

"Terribly good looking. Much handsomer than you."

"Shit. See you soon."

***

....a shot rang out, and Dave Chenault s body jerked as the red-hot bullet pierced his leg, forcing him down to the pavement. Heroically, despite his pain, he turned his head, and spit in the direction of his would-be killer, and the killer laughed, moved in, and lifted a gloved hand to take off a ski mask that hid the killer's identity. Chenault gasped in pain mingled with shock as long silky red hair spilled out......

Yeah, I figured that was coming, Ed Straker mused to himself. Bullet in the leg revisited. Here we go again. This guy's private secretary Diana was the killer. Maybe I better take a closer look at Miss Ealand.....okay, how are you getting out of this one, fearless hero Dave?

Ed raised the copy of "Takeover" again, which he had been reading after Mags went off reluctantly with Yolanda to get him a late lunch, but he heard a disturbance outside the door, and froze.

"I'm telling you, the Queen of England can't get in to see Mistah Straker unless I say so." Nate Zouri snarled loudly enough so that he could be heard by Ed.

"And I'm telling you, if you don't get the hell out of the way, I'll bash your black face in. I'm going to see Straker. One way or another." a strange voice said.

Ed lowered his opened book, tossed it aside, pulled his Glock out of the drawer, attached the silencer to it, and loaded it, and then he came up to the door, and opened it slightly, and aimed at the tall, pimply faced youth with the black greasy hair and the Liverpool accent.

"One more inch and you'll qualify for a bed in here, whoever you are." Ed announced, in a tone that a cobra might have possessed if it could speak.

"You're Straker." the youth said, greatly relieved.

"And?" Ed said coldly.

"Look, five minutes with you is all I need. Call off your dog here."

"You'll address him as Nathaniel Zouri. Or you can forget any hope of seeing me for five seconds, never mind five minutes."

Steely Bostonian blue eyes entered a competition of will power with dark brown, almost black ones. The blue eyes won their victory.

"All right, have it your way."

"Apologise to Mr. Zouri. Now."

"I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted. You sure you want to see this fellow, Mistah Straker?"

Ed nodded a fraction. Without lowering the pistol, he allowed the youth in. Nate moved behind him.

"No. I want to speak to you alone." the youth pleaded.

"Mr. Zouri, come in after precisely five minutes."

"Yes, sir." Nate moved out and reluctantly closed the door.

"You. Sit there. That's it. State your business." Ed ordered frostily.

"Adam Fielding doesn't like you." the youth said.

"That comes as no surprise. Who are you, and why are you here?"

"My name's Luke Harris. And anyone that fucking bastard Adam Fielding doesn't like is my friend. He's having you investigated, did you know that? He plans to ruin you and take over your studio. I know because I hacked into the beggar's private computer. Breaking the fucker's pitiful encryption was a snap. "

Holy cow, thought Ed. But none of it registered on his face.

"Go on."

"I've got a pile of shit on him, and I'll give it to you for nothing if you keep my nose clean. I want to bury that son of a bitch. I want to see him go down."

"What makes you think I believe you? He may have put you up to this to see what I'd do." Ed said calmly, his gun still poised on Harris.

"I've got a CD I burned with everything you need on it. I'm going to take it out of my pocket. Don't shoot me. See? Go ahead, take a look at it. You can have it. I want to see him rot in hell, if there is one."

"And why is that, Mr. Harris?"

To Ed's absolute amazement, the youth's tough facade popped like a balloon and he started to sob, dropping the CD on the ground.

"Cause..cause..cause he killed me Mum."

Ed watched carefully for a moment. If this kid is acting, then I better have Miss Ealand sign him up on the spot as an actor for the studio, Ed reasoned. Ed lowered the gun carefully. The youth took no notice, still sobbing. Ed put the gun aside, and walked to the youth, and tentatively laid a hand on his shoulder. The youth leaned against Straker, buried his face in Ed's chest and wept . Ed swallowed down the emotions that rose up in him. The youth was gripping him the way a son would hold on to his father. Ed embraced him, and allowed him to weep.

"Luke. Take a deep breath now. That's it. It's going to be okay. You've done the right thing coming here. Take it easy. Here, we'll overlook the mininum drinking age for a second, and I'll pour you a brandy."

"You married his daughter, didn't you?" Harris managed to say, calming down.

"That's right. She isn't anything like him, Luke. She didn't know what kind of man he was. Here. Sip this slowly."

"You're really Straker."

Ed chuckled a little.

"Well, I was the last time I looked in my shaving mirror, yes, yes, I'm really Straker."

"You're not like what I expected at all. How come you're here, in this fancy room?"

"I have heart surgery scheduled on Friday. So, you hacked into Fielding's computer, did you? You one of those notorious computer hackers people hear about in the news? "

The youth smiled a little with pride. God, Ed thought to himself. I have ties older than Luke is.

"Yeah, I am."

"Well, you're not like what I'd expect at all, either." Ed smiled warmly. "But then, who needs stereotypes?"

Nate poked his head in.

"I'm okay, Mr. Zouri. Any sign of Maggie and Yolanda yet? I'm starving. Why hello, Doctor Folsade. Finished with rounds?" Ed said coolly.

"Am I interrupting something important?" Folsade said, looking at the youth curiously.

"Come in, Doctor. Sit down." Ed picked up the CD from the floor and examined it for a moment. Then he reached for his attache case at the side of his bed, pushed back the E. STRAKER nameplate, and released the locks. The youth whistled. Ed opened it, and sat on the edge of the bed, and lifted a notebook computer out of it.

"Sweet! Top of the line notebook with all the toys that go with it. Trade my balls to own a thing like that!" Harris said. Ed grinned at him.

"Mr. Harris, you're in the presence of a lady." Ed scolded.

"Sorry." the youth said, rising tentatively to get a closer look at Ed's computer as Ed booted it up. Ed motioned for Harris to sit beside him.

"Is that what I am, Mr. Straker? A lady?" Folsade asked formally.

"After your performance this morning, I can't say I'm sure. Call it a educated guess."

Folsade laughed.

"Touche. Actually I came to give you some good news, and to apologise for my behavior today. Dr. Banning will be guiding me when I perform the procedure on you on Friday, and he's driving out tonight to take a look at you later on. Edward, I am sorry. I do understand how you feel about being forced to stay here."

Their eyes met. Ed smiled from his heart.

"Apology accepted, Yetunde. Now can you find that wife of mine and her friend and tell them I'm hungry?" Ed waited until the Harlington-Straker logo appeared on the screen, placed the CD into the drive slot, and his fingers raced over the keyboard.

"What OS is that?" The youth asked in amazement. "It isn't DOS, or Windows, it isn't Unix, or MacOS, it isn't anything I've seen before."

"Oh, it's a little programme I cooked up with the assistance of some pals. Back when I was in MIT." Ed said dismissively. Ed didn't bother to mention that it was the OS especially designed for SHADO by outstanding SHADO computer programmers from all over the world, and Ed had extensively assisted in its creation . "Ah here we go. Looks interesting, Luke. Looks very interesting, actually. Computer manna from the hard drive of heaven."

"I will leave you two for now. And yes, I will find out why you haven't been fed, Edward," Folsade smiled.

"Yetunde."

"Yes, Edward?"

"Ki Olorun Ki Ofu Li Emmi Gigun." Ed told her. Harris looked at him in bafflement.

"Edward is just showing off his impressive command of my language, Mr. Harris. He speaks quite a few languages."

"Not that many. And I know barely enough to get by in each." Ed smiled.

"Nevertheless, a skill that I must admit impressed me when I first met him, and that has not changed. May God bless you with a long life too, Edward. " Folsade said solemnly, and left.

"She's wild about you." Harris said wistfully. "And she's a looker."

Ed stared at Harris. Harris laughed.

"A guy knows these things." he shrugged.

"I'm very happily married. Besides, you are hardly old enough to know your left shoe from your right. What's the matter?"

"Contact lenses are killing me. Can I use the loo?"

"Sure. Right in there."

Ed watched the boy vanish into the bathroom, and waited until the door closed, and Ed heard him run the water tap. Then he entered a password into the computer. The text vanished and became the SHADO insignia. Ed typed in a request for a full g-6 on Harris, Luke, to go directly to Lieutenant Keith Ford. Then Ed downloaded a sample of the young hacker's voice which Ed secretly had been taping to his hard drive, and attached that to the request. He hit the send control. Then he punched in another code and the studio insignia came back up. Mags entered the room. Ed powered down the computer, removed the CD and placed both back in his attache case, and locked it, and slid the nameplate back into place.

"Hi beautiful." Ed said to Mags, shoving the attache under his bed

"What are you doing? Web surfing? Christmas shopping on line?" Mags went over and wrapped her arms around Ed contentedly.

"What took you so long, Mrs. Straker? Give me a kiss. Where's my food? Where's Yolanda?"

The door opened a little. Angel stuck his head in, waved, and opened it all the way, entered with Frances. Yolanda followed them in.

"You're looking good, Q-tip, son." Angel told him fondly.

"Hi Ed." Yolanda grinned.

"So lovely to see you again, Edward, and Stanley is right, you have more colour in your complexion than when I last saw you. How are you, dear?" Frances said happily. She was carrying a large wicker picnic basket.

Ed flashed a wide smile.

"What are you two doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working on that Common Prayer book?"

"Son, don't even talk about that thing. I've got less than a week to distribute it, most of my parish that already have seen it are complaining about the language in it, and to make matters worse, the computer froze up in the middle of downloading it. Curse that Gates fellow and his Windows." Angel groaned.

"Stanley! That isn't very Christian of you. Stop that immediately. And it isn't even Windows. We have a Apple at home, silly. Margaret called us and told us you missed us and were hungry, Edward, so I cooked and brought everything here."

"Heh heh. Sneaky. Wondered why it took so long. Thank you, Maggie, darling." Ed smiled lovingly at his wife.

"I figured they'd cheer us all up." Mags replied, pleased with herself. That sorrow is gone from your beautiful eyes, at least for the moment, and that is enough for me, she thought. God. How I love you.

"Something smells-" Ed started to say.

Luke Harris came out of the bathroom. Ed gawked at him. The black greasy hair was now neatly combed, and bright red, and the eyes were blue.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Ed told him.

"I tinted my hair and used contacts to poke around Fielding's place." Harris grinned, pleased with his deception. The Liverpool accent was replaced with a Irish brogue. Not that it would fool the SHADO computers, Ed thought, but pretty good.

"Who the horse piss are you?" Mags demanded protectively.

"Maggie, this lad is Luke Harris, a associate of mine. Luke, this is Right Reverend Stanley Brisby, but his friends call him Angel. And that is his wife Frances. Yolanda Belsing, my wife's best friend. And this is my thoughtful, wonderful wife, Dr. Margaret Straker nee Fielding."

"So you're the daughter." Harris said coldly. "Of the man I hate most in the world."

"That makes two of us, Luke, believe me." Mags said. "How do you know my Dad?"

"We'll get into all that later. In the meantime, something smells terrific. Luke, you're about to be introduced to the greatest food in all the world, and it comes right out of Frances' oven." Ed announced.

***

A mere mile away, eighty feet down in SHADO Control, Lieutenant Keith Ford yawned, and checked his timepiece. Thank heaven, duty shift's finally over. UFO activity is almost nil, and Ellis got that last UFO for us without breaking a sweat. Time to drive home, take a relaxing bath. Maybe stick a video into the DVD player. Put my feet up.

Ford reached toward the switch to turn off his computer console. A tiny light flashed. A tiny light that demanded nothing less than immediate attention, since it meant there was a incoming message from SHADO Commander Ed Straker.

Oh noooooo. He's supposed to be on medical leave for pity's sake! Foster's in charge! I don't have to do this. Oh sure, and Colonel Freeman would find out sooner or later, probably sooner, then he'd use my head for target practice. Why didn't I stay in journalism? I could be on BBC by now.

Ford hit the button. Text started flashing on his screen.

Ford, this is a personal request. Not a SHADO matter. I need you to do me a favor. I want a complete G-6 done on Luke Harris. Voice sample follows. Need results sent directly to my terminal before midnight tonight. STRAKER.

Ford sighed, and started feeding the voice sample into the computer. I wonder what he'd do if I refused, Ford thought. And shuddered at the idea. He quickly started processing the report.

***

"I've actually gotten the hang of using this newfangled thing now," Ed said with a wink at Mags, and he turned on the CD player. Sade's sultry voice began to fill the air.

....so if you want it to get stronger you'd better not let go.
you've got to hold on longer if you want your love to grow.
got to stick together, hand in glove.
hold on tight, don't fight.
hang on to your love...

"The more I hear this Sade, the more I like her." Ed confessed. He was curled up in his bed, an untouched plate of food on his trolley. Ed reached over and poured himself another cup of coffee, added his two cubes of sugar and a dash of cream. Lunchtime had blended into dinnertime but he hadn't touched his food, not even the hamburger that Frances had cooked or the lemon cake that was his favorite. The look of pain was back in his eyes, Mags noted, concerned. She decided to try and make him laugh.

"That's really encouraging. We've been married what, hardly a month? And he's already cheated on me with two underage babes, a bear, and a singer." Mags complained. Yolanda turned and grinned at her.

"You keeping count?" Ed asked Mags.

"Divorce is looking better and better to me. " the psychiatrist cracked with a wink.

"Don't waste your time thinking about divorce. If I don't survive after Friday, you stand to inherit pretty much everything I own, anyway." Ed said solemnly, looking hurt.

"Edward! Don't even joke about things like that, dear." Frances scolded Ed. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Joke? What makes you think I was joking? Everything looks delicious, I'll try it later."

"You worried about Friday, Q-tip, son?"

"I admit it's on my mind, Angel, yes."

"Why do you call him Q-tip?" Harris asked curiously, between bites of fried chicken.

"We met in Vietnam, found ourselves together in a POW camp. I was senior officer, the men called me Angel. They called Ed Q-tip because of his physique and his hair, so we used that name too. Ed helped in our rescue."

Harris looked at Ed in awe.

"Stop looking at me like that. I'm liable to fall off the pedestal real quick." Ed told him. "And wipe your mouth, young man."

"Is there anybody you don't give orders to, Ed? " Yolanda chuckled.

"Actually, yes. You. I look at it this way. Anyone who has a ring pierced through her eyebrow isn't able to take direction anyway, her capacity for intelligence has to be shot." Ed decided. He finally wore the faintest trace of a grin.

"Mags, your husband is picking on me." Yolanda laughed.

"I know. Don't mind him, he still had stacks of vinyl records in the new millenium. He's funky like that. Sign of old age. He's stuck in a 60's time warp." Thank God. He smiled, Mags thought with relief. You go, Yo.

"At least my bear loves me." Ed picked up the teddy bear and arranged him in what passed for a dignified position on the night table. Harris stared at Ed, trying desperately to figure out whether he was joking or not. He was about to open his mouth and ask but Frances erupted.

"Stop picking on Edward!" Frances huffed. " Edward, dear, do you think you should be having that much coffee right now? Why don't you let me pour you some iced water?"

"Water is for fish. I'm facing having parts of my heart seared with long, wicked looking instruments threaded through my neck, groin and God knows where else. I deserve to eat and drink what I want until Friday. I'll be stuck flat on my back unable to move after the procedure for hours, and that will be bad enough. I'm counting on all of you to keep me occupied, and take my mind off things." Ed downed the rest of his coffee in a gulp.

"Will you be in a lot of pain?" Frances sighed.

"Not if I wind up not making it back to this room. Alec may have to scour the florist shops for flowers to adorn my flag draped coffin if Yetunde sneezes, burns one of my ventricles and sends me to the pearly gates. Unless he steals Frances' award winning daffodils and roses. Where is Alec, anyway? He usually comes to see me around now." Ed looked genuinely worried, and banged his empty cup down on the table.

"Ed Straker, you're beginning to annoy me!" Mags declared to him.

"Why? Because I'm stating the actual possibilities of events on Friday?" Ed shot at her. She scowled back.

"Q-tip, son, tomorrow you see the Usami family, right?" Angel asked.

"Maggie's uncle, her aunt, and her grandmother, that's right."

"Frances and I wanted to know if you'd consider having Communion afterwards. We wanted to do the rites for the sick for you while you're still able to eat and drink."

"That sounds acceptable. Just don't expect me to make a confession. It would take me at least another millenium." Ed smiled a little again. He sighed suddenly.

"Are you okay, Ed?" Luke asked.

Luke was curled up on a chair next to Ed's bed.

"I'd be better if I knew why Alec is taking so long. Maggie, hand me my mobile phone."

Mags put down the plate of lemon cake she had sliced to give Ed, and pulled it from his drawer in the wardrobe and handed it to him. Ed punched out a number. Luke got up and poured Ed another cup of coffee and added ingredients in the precise manner Ed had. He handed it to Ed, and Ed took it unconsciously, sipped it. Mags gave Harris a look, and Harris shrugged and went back to his seat. Frances smiled at Harris and Harris beamed. Trying not to be conspicious, she pointed meaningfully at Ed's tray. Harris looked puzzled for a while, then a huge grin split his freckled complexion and he got up, took the burger, popped it into the small microwave that was one of the features of Ed's private room. After a few seconds, Harris took it out, grabbed a knife, cut the burger into four pieces, and held it in the general direction of Ed without saying a word.

"Damn you, Alec. Answer the bloody telephone!" Ed said, setting down his coffee. Ed took the portion of burger, punched out another number. Mags blinked. It had to be a hallucination. A guy they hardly knew was managing to get Ed Straker to eat? Her husband? Mr. Impossible? Horse piss! Yolanda whispered to Angel.

"Is that kid waiting on him hand and foot or what?" she asked. Angel smiled at her.

"I reckon Ed is beginning to think of him like a son." Angel whispered back. Yolanda nodded. Mags overheard, and recognition dawned. She offered Harris a tiny grin and he looked as happy as if she'd crowned him king.

"It's me Paul. Sorry to disturb you. I was just kind of worried about Alec. Isn't answering his car phone. Yes. Yes. Okay." Ed sighed, waited. He took a tiny bite out of the burger. Set it down. Swallowed. "Yes Paul, I'm still here. Go ahead." Ed's hand started to tremble as he listened.. Harris spotted it, frowned and watched carefully. Mags was grinning at everyone else and didn't see it, nor did anyone else, momentarily preoccupied with Harris' unexpected success with Ed. The door opened and Dr. Folsade came in with Dr. Banning, followed by Nate.

"Holy moses, what is this? A party? Some guys have all the luck." Banning said.

"I see my star patient is-" Yetunde caught the tremor immediately, took her stethoscope from around her neck and headed toward Ed.

"No Paul. There's no way. I know Alec Freeman, I've known Alec Freeman for more than thirty years. Why wasn't I called immediately? Give me the coordinates. I said, give me the coordinates. Not any more I'm not. Do I need to remind you who you're talking to? Okay, okay, got them. Expect me. Give me ten minutes." Ed hung up and shoved the phone in his robe pocket. His expression was as tightly locked as a safe vault.

"Edward, I want to examine you. Now." Yetunde said. Ed ignored her, got up, opened the wardrobe door, took out jeans and a sweater socks and his ankle boots and vanished into the bathroom. There was a loud click. Mags jumped up, but he'd locked the door.

"FUCK! What now?" Mags yelled.

"Trouble." Yetunde sighed. "Trouble."

Within seconds, Ed came out, dressed.

"Edward, I do not like to lecture you on your health-"

"Good. Then don't. Mr. Zouri."

"Sir?"

"Give me your shoulder holster, your Luger and your knife, also I need to borrow your jacket."

"Sir." Nate immediately obeyed Ed, but he looked worried.

"Hey, uh, what the hell have I walked into, a James Bond movie? That's Straker? The heart guy?" Banning asked Yetunde.

Yetunde had been quietly cursing Ed in all the Nigerian dialects she knew. She abruptly turned and went out.

"Angel?"

"Yes, Q-tip?" Angel ignored Frances, who was biting a good portion of her hand to keep from crying.

"Keep Luke with you at all times. Don't let him out of your sight until I get back."

"Count on it. Come here, son."

Harris looked at Ed for a long moment, sighed and went to Angel's side.

"Yolanda?"

Yolanda looked a little startled.

"Sir?" Then she blinked. I just called Mags' old man sir? What's gotten into me?

"Keep Margaret with you. She is not to follow me."

"DAMN you, Ed Straker!" Mags screamed. Yolanda nodded. "At least tell me what the fuck happened!"

Yetunde chose that moment to come in with a hypodermic.

"If you insist on being a fool and going on to look for Alec, let me give you this, it will strengthen your heart until you come back and stop any syncopes." she said quietly.

"Forget it, Doctor. That hypodermic is full of chloral hydrate meant to sedate me. Come near me with it and I won't hesitate to throw you across the room." Ed said, meaning every word of it. "Nate, your car outside? Good. I'm borrowing it. Your keys. Thanks. Stay here, and make sure nobody leaves. Understand? Banning, I'd advise you to keep your distance. Or else I will break the rest of your fingers."

"Try me, Straker." Banning tried to block Ed from going. It was like a clown punching bag threatening to take on Sly Stallone as Rocky. Harris sneered at him.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Daniel, stick your macho attitude in your buttocks. I assure you Edward could break you into half with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. Let him by." Yetunde growled. "Let the imbecile by, and go to his death if he wants!"

Ed went out.

Nobody said a word for several seconds, and the only sound was Mags slamming the bear several times against the bed in sheer frustration, and Frances' soft crying. Angel had a firm grip on a wide-eyed Harris, Yolanda watched Mags sadly, still amazed that she had called Ed sir. Banning pouted in a corner. Yetunde spun and hit the wall with her fist, causing a small abstract painting to crash down.

"Someday I am going to be like him." Harris said decidedly, awed. It earned him several angry stares.

"Angel?"

"Yes Yolanda?" Angel said. It was clear from his posture that his military training had come back with a vengeance.

"Why did I call Ed Straker sir like that?"

Angel chuckled.

"Because, hon, because he stopped being our Ed, and he morphed into the highly decorated United States Air Force colonel that he was and is. The man I know as Q-tip, the man who risked his neck to help me get my men out of the camp when he could hardly walk upright himself. And once you wear braid on your cap, hon, it never quite goes away completely. And when he gives a order in that uncompromising style of his, well, heh, people obey without knowing what hit them. Even if they're a civilian like you."

"That was spooky." she said.

"Wow." Harris said. "Straker's a hero."

"Who's the son of a bitch that he was talking to?" Mags demanded.

"Paul Foster. Paul Foster. A man I am going to kill with my bare hands." Yetunde said, and she sounded like a woman back on the plains of Nigeria, armed with a spear.

"Not until I do!" yelled Mags, livid.

"Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear. Does uh, does anyone want more coffee?" Frances squeaked.

The door opened, and a weary looking Lieutenant Keith Ford in a Burberry came in. He looked around.

"Where's Com- I mean where's Mr. Straker?"

"Hi Keith. Straker's gone on some personal business." Nate smiled.

"He wanted a report done. I have it for him."

"I'll take it."

"Thanks. Uh, have a good night." Keith handed it over and left.

"Yetunde, how in God's name is he doing all that? He's been passing out all week, and tonight he goes and turns into superman and acts like a jerk, and horse piss, how much more agitated could he get, and he didn't have one arrhythmia."

"Adrenalin. He'll pay for it. The bastard will probably drop of a heart attack. "

Mags started to cry. Yolanda stroked her hair.

"Oh my poor sister, I know, I know. The woman who opens her heart to Straker is a fool." Folsade went over, capped the hypodermic, slipped it into a pocket and hugged Mags.

"Were you really going to sedate him?" Angel smiled at Yetunde.

"I was a idiot to think I could get away with it, " sighed the Nigerian cardiologist.

Mags bit her lip.

"If I had known what lie beneath those beautiful eyes, that slim body, that voice that makes me feel like I've just been whacked by lightning, I would have run the fuck away!" she wailed.

The door opened. Mags gawked. Angel actually growled low in his throat. Frances narrowed her eyes, and for the moment didn't look very Christian.

"Hello my adorable Edward! It is your Lily here to surprise you! Where is my Edward? I have some-why is everyone staring at me?"

Mags picked up a large heavy beautiful leaded crystal shell that was one of the curio Ed kept on the windowsill and headed toward Lily Marsh with it, her intent clear. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view, Nate Zouri stopped her before she could bash Marsh's head in.

***

The two SHADO operatives spotted the car approaching and signalled for the driver to stop.

"Sorry, gas leak in a - Commander Straker, sir!"

"Move the roadblock. Before I drive through it." Ed snapped.

"Sir."

Only inches kept the young operative from being hit by Nate's sleek Fiat as Ed sped by him.

Finally Ed screeched the car to a stop and got out, wearing Nate Zouri's oversized jacket, and carrying enough weapons to bring any war to a standstill by himself.

"Foster." Ed acknowledged Paul curtly.

"The car is here, Ed."

"Head back to headquarters. I'm taking over."

"Ed, you're on medical leave--"

"Foster, listen carefully. I'm only saying this once. You are relieved of duty here. I'm the Commander of SHADO. I put her together with my own hands. I have run her longer than you've been alive. SHADO belongs to me and will belo