Author's note: I'm not a doctor, and I make no pretense about knowing much about heart attacks. So if I've gotten this wrong, please forgive me and put it down to dramatic license. -NE
Daniel did indeed feel better when he woke later that morning. After taking a shower, he got dressed and went in search of Harry. His son's bedroom was empty- the bedclothes twisted, half off of the king size mattress, evidence of Harry's restless night.
Continuing on toward the kitchen, he caught sight of Harry standing on the redwood deck, a cup of coffee in his hands as he stared at the surf rolling into the shore. Daniel went into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee, and then went out to the deck as well. Joining his son at the railing, Daniel sipped the hot liquid and surreptitiously surveyed Harry. He looked sadder than he'd ever seen him. His hair was uncombed, blowing in the sea breeze. And he hadn't shaved. "Have you had breakfast?" he asked. Harry shook his head. "Why don't I make something? French toast, perhaps?" he suggested, hoping to get a smile at least. Harry hated French toast. Always had.
"I'm not hungry, Daniel," Remington replied, looking down into his now cold coffee.
Daniel placed a hand on his back. "Harry, I'm sure once Laura has had a chance to think things through, she'll see that-"
Remington shook his head. "No. I'm through fighting, Daniel. I can't handle it anymore." He put the cup onto the rail. "I'm going for a walk. I need to think about things."
"Harry," Daniel said. "If you leave, you'll just be proving Laura right."
Remington finally smiled, but it wasn't a smile that gave Daniel any pleasure at seeing. "Who said anything about leaving?" he asked, and then continued down the steps to the beach below.
Daniel watched Harry step out of his shoes at the bottom and then start walking along the stretch of beach, hands in his pockets, his head down. Then he went in to the house and picked up the telephone to dial Laura's number. Her answering machine picked up on the fourth ring. "Laura, it's Daniel. I really think you should come over here now." He waited in case she was listening. "I'll see you later." Hanging up, he put the telephone down and rubbed at the ache in his left shoulder. He turned back to the windows, watching as Harry stood in the water's edge, letting the waves curl around his ankles. Hearing a car's engine, Daniel opened the front door, hoping it would be Laura arriving.
But instead of her white Rabbit, he saw Mildred's dark sedan pulling into the parking area. His disappointment must have been obvious even to her, because when she got out of the car, she looked at him. "Sorry I'm such a let down," she told him with a laugh. "You did invite me over, remember?"
"Of course," he said, peering down the drive as though he could make Laura appear out of thin air.
"Daniel?" She touched his shoulder to get his attention.
"Laura's not here yet," he told her. He stepped out of the doorway. "Come in. Please forgive my distraction, Mildred," he said, closing the door behind them. "You're early."
"I was worried about the Boss," she told him, looking around. "Where is he?"
Daniel nodded toward the glass wall. "On the beach." Harry was sitting on the sand now, just staring out to sea.
"He looks like he doesn't have a friend left in the world," Mildred sighed, joining Daniel at the window.
His shoulder was aching again, and he lifted his hand to rub it. "If Laura doesn't get here soon," he said, trying his best to hide the pain. Lifting his own half empty cup as he turned toward the kitchen, Daniel offered, "Would you care for some coffee?"
"Sure," Mildred agreed. "What did you say to her that changed her mind?" she asked, her attention still on the scene outside.
"I don't- quite recall at the moment," he said, sitting down in a chair after handing her a cup of the liquid. He put his own cup on a table quickly before he dropped it onto the sand coloured carpet. Hearing the soft clatter of china against wood, Mildred turned to look at him. "Mildred-" before he could say anything more, the sound of another car's arrival caused him to stop. "That's her. Thank God," he sighed, trying to ignore Mildred's look of concern.
"Are you all right? You don't look-"
"I'm fine," he assured her, slowly standing up to open the door for Laura. "I was beginning to think you'd changed your mind," he told her.
"No. I got caught up in traffic," Laura explained. "I think everyone decided to head to the beach today. Hello, Mildred." But her eyes were on Daniel. "How are you this morning?" she asked.
Daniel managed to hide the pain in his chest behind a wide smile. "Fine," he said. "Harry's- on the beach," he told her. "Why don't you go on down and talk to him?"
"Might as well," she agreed, clasping his hand for a moment before disappearing through the doorway and across the deck.
Daniel moved stiffly back to the chair and sank into it, aware that Mildred was torn between watching Laura's approach Remington and looking at him. "I'll be all right," he told her. "Just - indigestion. Shouldn't drink coffee on an empty stomach. Especially not that strong brew that Harry prefers," he assured her, trying to smile.
"That doesn't look like indigestion to me, Daniel," Mildred noted. "You're pale-" she placed a hand on his wrist. "And your pulse is rapid. What's wrong?"
"I- think that I might be- having a heart attack," he told her, then grabbed her wrist as she started to turn away. "Where you going?"
"To get Mr. Steele."
"No," Daniel said, shaking his head. "Not right now. Those two need to get this settled."
"But Daniel you need to see a doctor-"
"Fine. Leave them a note that we're going for a drive and you can take me to the hospital." He nodded toward the kitchen. "There's some paper and a pen on the cabinet."
Mildred quickly wrote the note, and then grabbed her purse. "Come on. You're not looking too good."
"I'm sure I'm overreacting," he insisted. "Too many late nights. Out of practice-"
When he winced again, Mildred slipped his arm across her shoulders and hustled him out to her car.
***
Laura stood there, watching the way the sea breezes ruffled Remington's hair. She fought the urged to run her fingers through the dark locks to bring some order to them. He looked so lost and lonely, sitting there in the sand that way. Finally she closed the short distance and sank down at his side. "See?" she said. "I came back." When he didn't respond, she looked up at the house, but couldn't see Mildred or Daniel. "Come here often?" she asked, hoping to break the ice. Still no response. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I was just- surprised. You came out of the blue with-"
"It's not important, Laura," he told her. "If you'd prefer to continue as we have been, then we will. We can forgot that I ever asked-"
"I don't *want* to forget it!" Laura told him, scrambling back to her feet. "Honestly, I don't know why I even bothered-"
He looked up at her then. "Why did you?" he asked. "Just so you could run away again?" he asked.
"You are the most aggravating man!" Laura declared and forward to grab his head in her hands and give him a long kiss. "When you're finished sulking," she said, releasing him, "I'll be at the house."
But Remington wasn't ready to let her go. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down into his arms, returning her kiss with one of his own that left her breathless and dizzy. "I'm glad you came back," he told her at last, his blue eyes searching her face. "I missed you last night. I've never thought of myself as the type of person who needed someone else. But I've made a startling discovery."
"What's that?" Laura asked.
"I don't sleep worth a damn without you beside me." Their foreheads together, they sat there in silence for a moment. "Why *did* you come back?" he asked.
"We need to talk," she told him. "I owe you an- explanation, I suppose."
"No. I've resigned myself to the fact that you don't want things to change. But- at the risk of your taking flight again- I would ask that we choose one place. Either here or your loft. We can- work our way slowly towards the rest of it," Remington suggested.
"The last time I tried living with a man-"
He sighed and loosened his hold on her. "There you go again, not trusting me. Afraid I'll just vanish one day like your father and Wilson."
"I *do* trust you," Laura insisted. "It's me I'm not sure of."
"Their leaving had nothing to do with you," Remington told her. "Your father left because he wasn't happy with his life. Wilson- Wilson was just too blind to see what a treasure he had in his hands," he said, framing her face with his hands.
She smiled at him. "You do say all the right things."
"I try," he said, finally smiling himself, brushing the hair from her face. "We're together most of the day," he pointed out, "and almost every evening. What's a few more hours a day?" he asked. "I think we're already more than aware of any irritating habits-"
"What irritating habits?" Laura asked.
"I wasn't talking about anything specific," he assured her quickly. "Just- in general."
"Ah," Laura said, unconvinced, as she turned her eyes toward the ocean.
"So, wanna do it?" She looked at him. "Move in together. Doesn't matter if it's here or the loft, as long as it means we wake up together every morning," he told her, brushing his lips along her cheekbone.
"What about Daniel?" she asked, causing him to lift his head in confusion.
"Daniel?"
"You can't just abandon him by moving out," Laura said.
"Daniel can take care of himself, Laura," Remington told her. "He'll understand."
"But- he needs you," Laura insisted.
"Laura, I didn't expect when you invited him here that you'd use him as yet another stumbling block between us," Remington sighed.
"I'm not. You hate my loft," she pointed out. "Those stairs-"
"I'll adjust," he assured her. "Build up my stamina," he suggested, waggling his brows at her.
"I suppose that I could- move in here," she decided. "I'd really hate to think about Daniel out here all alone."
He looked at her, surprised. "You wouldn't mind his being here?"
"Of course not. Daniel's- growing on me," she said. "Besides, this is his home now. He did make the down payment on the place. We can't very well toss him out."
"He could move into the loft," Remington told her.
"With those stairs?" Laura asked, horrified at the thought, her eyes on the house. "No. I think this place is large enough for the three of us."
"Are we going to talk about why you ran away last night?" he asked as she stood up and brushed the sand from her slacks.
"Later. I think we should tell Daniel the news, don't you?"
"Why the rush?" Remington asked, standing up as well and following her up the beach. "You've never been this anxious to spread the word that we were together before."
"I just think he should know about it, that's all," Laura insisted, taking his hand to pull him up the steps behind her once they had retrieved their shoes.
"And after we tell him, we'll call Abigail and give her the good news," Remington suggested, grinning when Laura shot him one of those looks that said she was doubting his sanity. "Just a suggestion, Laura," he assured her as they entered the house. "Just a suggestion."
"Daniel?" Laura called. "Mildred?"
Remington found the note on the counter. "Good Lord," he muttered.
"What is it?" Laura asked.
"It's a note from Mildred," he told her, shoving it into her hands as he moved toward his room. "She took Daniel to the hospital," he called out as he grabbed some clean clothes out of the closet. "Something about his heart."
"Are you sure that's what it says?" she asked, moving toward the door to his room, frowning over the hastily scrawled note. On a good day, she had problems with Mildred's handwriting. This was impossible to decipher.
"Of course I'm sure, Laura," he told her, tossing his sandy slacks aside to don a pair of clean ones.
"You don't even know what hospital she might have taken him to," Laura pointed out.
"Then we'll check them all," Remington told her, grabbing his wallet and keys from the dresser and grabbing her arm as he passed her. "Come on."
****
Daniel heard the curtain move and opened his eyes to find a pale and worried Mildred standing there. "It's better," he assured her. "They gave me something." He lifted his hand toward her. She took it, wiping the tears from her face. "I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Have they said for sure that it's your heart?" Mildred asked.
"It looks that way," he said. "They're scheduling some tests right now. I've been trying to convince them that there's no need for me to stay overnight. I'd rather Harry not know about this if possible."
Mildred winced. "About that, Daniel- I- kinda left him a note," she confessed.
"Yes, that were going for a drive," he recalled. When she looked even more guilty, Daniel said, "That *is* what the note said, isn't it, Mildred?"
"Not- exactly."
"Oh, Mildred," Daniel said, laying back on the bed.
"I thought he should know. He's your son."
"It's possible that they haven't found it yet," he said. "I want you to go back to the house-"
"Daniel-"
"Get rid of that note and tell Harry-"
"Tell Harry what, precisely, Daniel?" Remington asked, pulling the curtain aside as he and Laura entered the cubicle.
"You *were* telling the truth," Laura said, drawing Remington's attention as she took in the cardiac monitor beside the bed.
"Apparently so," Daniel replied in a wry tone of voice.
"The truth about what?" Remington asked her, catching the look that passed between Laura and Daniel. "Are you saying that you *knew* about this, Laura?" he asked. "And you didn't bother to tell me?"
Laura looked at Daniel. "What do you mean 'apparently', Daniel?"
"Would someone please tell me what the bloody hell is going on here?" Remington asked.
To Be Continued---