- 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...
- Back Home CaseBook
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