Nerves of Steele, Will of Iron and Dreams of Gold
Part 9
by SteeleChic 1999



......The agency had just signed a consulting contract with Vigilance Insurance which had indirectly made them the superiors of a nasty little man named Norman Keyes.

Resentful and vindictive, Keyes had taken offence to this and alerted Immigration and Naturalization Services to the questionable nature of Remington Steele's presence in the United States and Remington had been actively dodging INS for the last few weeks, searching for every possible way to remain in the country with minimal impact on Laura and the agency.

Finally his time had run out and he was left with only one option, to marry a US citizen, for love and not mere convenience, before 6pm on May 10 or be deported, when the Unidac case came up.

The chapel was booked, the priest arranged, the rings bought, his tuxedo was being delivered sometime that day and all that remained to be done was a doctors appointment late that morning to finalize the blood tests and a trip to the county court house to pick up the marriage licence before everything was organized for their wedding.

He'd even rented his bride for the occasion because he wasn't marrying Laura, no, he had made plans to marry Clarissa, a high class call girl they had met through Mildred's nephew Bernard on a previous occasion.

She was a nice enough girl, he supposed, all too willing to go along with the deal, for the right price of course, but she wasn't Laura and never could be. He'd convinced himself that what was best for Laura was to make this mess with INS go away as quickly as possible without involving her in anything even remotely shady or suspicious, never mind what was best for him.

At first it seemed highly inconvenient that Alessandra Henry, a Unidac employee, had found her boss dead in his office, but then it dawned on Remington that at least it would keep Laura occupied until 6pm when he would have completed all the necessary arrangements, married Clarissa and been allowed to stay in the United States and continue working as Remington Steele.

He hated lying to her but, at the time, he'd thought
it was the only way. To her credit, Laura had been suspicious from the start. During their first visit to Unidac she'd caught him out checking his watch but had seemed to buy his lame explanation that it had been running slow and she'd given only a fleeting thought to his hasty departure to the doctors as soon as they arrived back at the office.

Her mind was caught up in the case and where the presence of Norman Keyes and Estelle Becker had failed to tip her off, the sight of him climbing into a car with Clarissa certainly didn't. If she wasn't suspicious she was almost surely hurt and definitely angry.

True to form, Laura threw herself into the case. Armed with some new information, she stormed back to Unidac with little more than a terse instruction to a puzzled Mildred to tell Remington where she was, if he cared.

In the now empty office, Mildred went back to searching for information on Project Omega and red flag files
but before she could get too engrossed, the telephone rang.

"Remington Steele Investigations," she answered in a professional tone of voice.

"No, he's not in right now, may I take a message?" she responded to the polite request to speak with Remington.

"His what will be delivered in an hour?" she asked, confused.

"His tuxedo?" she repeated, "All right, I'll tell him." She held the receiver out in front of her and gazed at it, puzzled, before hanging it up.

Talking aloud she wondered
, "What in heck is going on around here? Miss Holt suddenly asks about Bernard's friend Clarissa, after goodness knows how long, then she leaves in a huff, Mr Steele is rushing off to doctors appointments and having tuxedos delivered and Norman Keyes is hanging around like a bad smell with that broad, whatshername, Becker, Estelle Becker," she turned back to the computer, "Estelle Becker, eh?" she mused, typing that name into the machine.

Just then, Remington returned, sailing into the office with his usual air of confidence and sophistication, "Mildred, I'm back," he announced, "Any messages for me?"

"You tuxedo will be delivered in an hour," she turned to face him, looking him up and down suspiciously, "How was your doctors appointment?"

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about Mildred, just a routine blood test," he answered nonchalantly.

The computer beeped, signaling the results
of her search. Turning back to the screen quickly, Mildred read three words which caused alarm bells to start ringing. She mouthed them incredulously, "Immigration and Naturalization Services."

Turning swiftly back to Remington, who was
headed for his office, she launched into a steady stream of questions, "Wait just a minute buster, you've got some explaining to do! What does INS want with you, what are you doing organizing blood tests and tuxedos, why is Miss Holt so upset and, if the two of you are getting married, why wasn't I involved?"

"What on earth makes you think Miss Holt and I are getting married?" Remington asked, taken aback by how close Mildred had come to the truth. Right scenario, wrong bride.

"Boss, I can add 2 and 2 together as good as the next girl and come up with 5. Something doesn't add up here and I want to know what. INS, blood tests, tuxedos...." she trailed off.
"Mildred, Mildred, calm down, Miss Holt and I are not getting married. In fact she doesn't know anything about
this so I'd appreciate it if you could keep your voice down," he pleaded.

Suddenly the penny dropped and a light went on behind Mildred's eyes, "You don't mean......Clarissa?! I wondered why Miss Holt had mentioned her, but......why?"

"Mildred -" he began vaguely, his finger to his lips.

"Miss Holt's not here so you can drop the secrecy and just spill it," she interrupted, "And don't try to get out of it either, I didn't work for the IRS for nothing, I can smell a fraud a mile away!"

It was against his better judgement to tell her but, on the other hand, it had been
very wearing trying to dodge INS and organize a wedding in secret by himself and maybe Mildred could be sworn to secrecy and even help him keep Laura in the dark at least until the agency was out of danger. Speaking of Laura, he really didn't have time to argue right now as she was probably expecting him to join her, wherever it was she's gotten to.

"All right Mildred, but I want you to promise not to repeat any of this to a single soul, not even Laura, especially not Laura," he cautioned.

"I'm not promising anything until you tell me why you're planning to marry Clarissa and not Miss Holt," Mildred argued, dismay and disappointment evident in her voice.

"Miss Holt and I have no claim over each other's personal lives," Remington said.

"That's not true," Mildred objected, "You two kids are in -"

"What, Mildred?" he asked suddenly
, glancing at his watch, "If you have some insight into our relationship I'd be only too happy to hear it, it's got to be one up on me."

"But why didn't you go to her when you first ran into trouble?" Mildred wondered aloud.

"Well, the agency would hardly profit from Remington Steele being deported," he explained quickly, "Nor did I wish to involve Laura in anything less than completely legitimate. If we were to be found out, it wouldn't do either of us any good to have both our names sullied. So, faced with my only option, I've tried to do what I thought was best for the agency and of course for Laura."

He hoped Mildred didn't notice the catch in his throat, but of course she had. She was like a mother to them both and very little escaped her attention. It was for that same reason that she was determined to try and fix this before it turned into a god-awful mess. Her eyes and voice softened.

"But what about what's best for you?" she queried gently, "You know, a life without love is no life at all."
"Ah, but a love without trust Mildred, what is that, eh?" he returned sadly, "She doesn't trust me."

"I think you're wrong about that Boss," Mildred responded, "she trusts you with her life."

"But not with her heart," Remington mused, "and if I ask her to marry me now she'll think I'm only doing it because I need to dodge immigration and not because I really want to."

Armed with that piece of knowledge, Mildred chose her next words carefully, "You trusted me not to tell Miss Holt about any of this, right?" she began, "Well I'm trusting you to go and fix this mess. She's at Unidac. Go!"

More confused than ever, Remington moved towards the door, muttering under his breath, "Easier said than done, Mildred, easier said than done."

Mildred watched him leave, still very concerned about her two "kids". She'd promised not to
tell Miss Holt anything but there'd be no harm in trying to figure out exactly what Miss Holt knew, and if Miss Holt just happened to force it out of her, then that wouldn't be breaking her promise now, would it?

He was so confused. He felt sluggish and weighed down, strangely abandoned and bereft. Swimming through the confusion, Remington slowly surfaced from his all too vivid dream.....

Groaning he opened his eyes and winced in pain as he worked a crick out of his neck. He noticed his fingers still gripped Laura's limp hand and he realized worriedly that she hadn't so much as stirred.

Squinting at his watch, Remington saw that it was close to 11am. He couldn't believe he'd slept that long. Surely Dr Barnett would be checking in soon and, dammit, why wasn't Laura waking up?

Standing he released her hand and braced his own hands either side of her head. Leaning down he placed a kiss on her forehead and another to her lips as if she were Sleeping Beauty and that was all she needed to awaken, returning then to his chair and lacing his fingers through hers.

It was this loving gesture that Daniel witnessed as he approached her room, rested and refreshed, but with renewed concern over Remington's well being. Never in all the years he had known him had Daniel ever seen the man he now knew as Remington Steele in such a state of distress, disquiet and despair.

Uncaring of the rule of only one visitor at a time, Daniel entered Laura's room. His only greeting was a blank gaze from a partially turned head.

"Have you even moved?" Daniel asked, placing himself deliberately in Remington's line of sight.

"Daniel, I have to stay here with her," he argued weakly.

"No, Harry, my boy, you have to snap out of it!" Daniel returned swiftly and sharply, "I've never seen you like this. What's happened to the man who never needed anyone else? Are you so consumed by this woman that you can't function without her? Because that's too bad! You've got a baby daughter up there who needs you. Have you even been to see her yet?"

"No," Remington admitted with a guilty sigh. He knew Daniel was right.

Daniel softened his tone, "She'd hate to see you like this, you know that don't you? She needs you to be strong for your daughter because she can't do it herself." Maybe that would get through to him.

Remington cleared his throat, "Yes, of course," he muttered, running a hand across his face and standing slowly. Chalmers was right again. Just one of the reasons he'd been his mentor and very good friend for many years.

God, how could I have been so selfish? He realized suddenly, My daughter, my tiny, defenseless, little daughter, all alone up there. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

"Shall I stay with Laura?" Daniel offered.

Remington nodded vaguely, grateful to have his old friend nearby in their time of need. While he wanted nothing more than for Laura to wake up, he rather hoped she would wait until he returned. She and Daniel had always been somewhat of adversaries in fighting for his affection, although less so since their marriage. If only she had realized that the fight had been well and truly won in her favor long ago.

He was greeted in the neo-natal ward by the same nurse who had spoken with the family the evening before.

"Good morning Mr Steele," she said, "Come and meet your little girl. We've been expecting you." She led him over to her crib where he peered down at the tiny, but perfectly formed, little human being.

He gasped at the sight of her, tubes running from her minuscule nose, nourishment flowing into er little arm intravenously, and suddenly the vision before him swam as his eyes filled with tears.

The nurse placed a gentle hand on his arm, "We've all been very happy with her progress," she told him , "She seems to get stronger every hour. Touch her, let her know you're here."

Remington slid a shaking hand into the crib and trailed unsteady fingers over her arm and shoulder before ever so gently touching her cheek and then her forehead. She was beautiful, just as beautiful as her Mommy .

Love welled up inside him and squeezed at his heart. Love for this tiny bundle of joy and love for Laura for giving him this precious gift.

"Is she still...?" the words got caught in his throat.

"On oxygen?" the nurse finished, "Yes. Her lungs are still very weak. It's OK for now but soon we'll have to take her off it and se if she can breathe on her own."

"What are the odds of that?" Remington inquired.

"Well, if she keeps improving at this rate, I'd say very good," she answered optimistically, "I'll leave you with her."

"Good morning little one," he murmured, "Hi there precious." He touched her and talked to her for hours, completely smitten with his daughter and with a whole new appreciation for Laura.

Oh, God! Laura! He realized in alarm, he'd been away from her for so long. Pressing a kiss to his fingertip, he gently touched it to his baby's rosebud lips and quickly returned to ICU where Daniel sat patiently beside a ghostly Laura.

"Harry," Daniel greeted him, "There's been no change."

"What if something's wrong," Remington wondered in panic, "It's been almost 24 hours, surely she should have woken by now." He turned, intending to go and find Dr Barnett but there was no need.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Remington demanded fretfully as Dr Barnett moved to examine Laura, "It's been 24 hours."

"I know Mr Steele," she answered, "That's why I'm here. I had hoped she'd wake up before now."

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Harry, let the poor woman do her job," Daniel suggested , moving off the chair and out of the way.

"Mr Steele, eclampsia carries with it the risk of coma," Dr Barnett began, "but," she straightened, done with her examination, "That doesn't seem to be the case here. Mrs Steele's vital signs are fine. Her body simply needs more time to heal."

Remington dropped into his chair with relief.

"Keep talking to her, maybe your voice will coax her back," Dr Barnett suggested, "Although I have to ask you to remember our one visitor rule." She glanced at Daniel pointedly as she left.
"I'll phone the others with an update, eh?" Daniel offered and left Remington and Laura alone in the room.

He took her hand again, tracing random patterns over it as he spoke quietly and coaxingly.

"Come on now, Laura," he murmured, "Come back to us. I've seen our baby, I've touched her. She's so beautiful, Laura, and strong, just like you. She needs you."

Through the fog, Laura could hear her husband's voice, the most beautiful sound in the world.

"But you'll have to forgive me, Laura, if I can't love her with all my heart. I could never love anyone as much as I love you." He stopped and she felt him press a kiss into the palm of her hand.

"She needs a name Laura. I want to name her after you, the strongest, most beautiful woman in the world. Come on Laura, come back to me, please."

I'm trying! She wanted to scream but couldn't. Blackness threatened to envelope her again. No, she pleaded silently to no-one in particular, I won't lose him now, not after what I went through to hold onto him in the first place, not after almost losing him before.

She managed to squeeze his hand before deep sleep claimed her back and vivid dreams filled her mind.........
 
To Be Continued...
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