The Aftermath

43

Teri Mast wakes to the sound of her phone ringing. Checking the time as she picks it up from nightstand, she slips out of bed and into the hall. It is 3:20am Friday morning. "Hello?" she lies.

"Teri it is Tom." And with that simple sentence her stomach clenches.

Trying to hold the excitement out of her voice, she walks quickly into the living room so that she doesn't wake up her wife, Julia. "What's wrong?" She turns on the lamp beside the couch, and then heads for the kitchen to make coffee.

Tom starts his story from the email Thursday afternoon. By the time he reaches breaking into the building, Teri has ran back to the living-room, opened her iMac, and started typing as fast as she could to keep up with him.

When he reaches describing Charlie as he found her, Teri's fingers stop, and all she feels is cold. She shakes it off and decides that cup of coffee was a good idea after all. "So she's at the Mercy trauma unit? She's still alive, right?" her voice is hollow and she's not sure which answer would be preferable to hear at this point. Would Charlie really want to live after being stripped of everything? She only met the woman a couple of times, but she liked her. Charlie was powerful, and formidable. Having someone open you like you were a dead body, a nothing -- Teri shivered and poured a mug.

"What's wrong baby." Julia says behind her.

Teri lifts her finger to her lips and then give her a small smile. "She was dead for two minutes?" Tom's voice is automaton. He's empty. A husk. "Tom, do you have anyone there with you? A friend or your wife?" She listens to his empty voice. "Kemp? The guy that helped you rescue her? Alright, that's good. You shouldn't be alone Tom." She walks back to the living-room, Julia follows.

Julia sits down next to her on the couch and leans over to look at her notes. Teri reaches over and closes the iMac shaking her head. "No, its alright. I'm glad you called Tom and if you need me up there I'll come." She tries to avoid the scowl on Julia's face. "Bye Tom."

"What is it? Are you alright?" Julia presses, as soon as Teri breaks the connection.

"Why aren't you in bed? It's just work, is that alright?" Teri says getting up and heading to the kitchen again for more sugar. She shudders as her mind flashes with Charlie on that table, opened up.

"Are you coming back to bed? You know it's only three o'clock."

Teri is shaking her head, pouring sugar and trying to get back to a detached focus. "No, I have to go in. It's a big story. I need to move now so I have the exclusive."

"Now? Right now?" Julia brushes her long blond hair out of her eyes, "I needed to talk to you this morning. It's important."

Coffee spills on her hand out of the mug, "You aren't breaking up with me, are you?"

"No, no, nothing like that --"

"Well baby, if it is nothing like that, I really have to go. This is six months living expenses, maybe more. It's what we've been waiting for, a chance to get out and see the world."

"I want to have a baby."

Teri goes ridged, "No, you are not doing this right now. Right now? Are you serious? You can't be doing this right now." She heads for the bedroom, more to get away from the subject than to get her clothes on. "Have you been talking to anyone about this?"

"Just Debra and Vi."

"Vi? Shit, then everyone knows about this, how could you talk to them before talking to me?" Teri squirms into Levis and grabs some socks.

"I wanted to know how you would react."

"Vi? You told Vi to get a read on me? Debra maybe, but never Vi."

"But I wasn't sure, ya know? I needed someone to talk it out with."

Teri shrugs into a t-shirt and grabs her laptop bag. "We talked about this! We talked several times about this and never, ever did you mention or hint or sigh that you might want a baby some day. Never. Not once. Am I right?"

"You are going to work in a t-shirt without a bra?"

Teri gives her a look, "Whatever." And pulls off her shirt.

"I didn't know this would come up, it just smacked me, ya know?"

Teri shrugged back into her t-shirt, and starts to rush out of the room but stops, "Look baby, my life was shit before you. Now its whole. Ok? So if you want to talk about this when I get home I will talk with you. We'll talk all night long. I love you. But right now, I have to take care of us as well. I have to go."

"Alright. I love you too."

Teri gives her a quick kiss and then hurries into the living room.

"When will you be back? I have to go in at noon today."

"I'll be back before you then. You want to go out, maybe to Brian's? You like their food, right?" Teri is at the door, "I'll call you around nine-ish. Bye!"