Laura reached out a hand to touch the dark hair, smoothing it, nodding at his words.
"Um hmm," Daniel said, clearing his throat, then coughed a few times. "Could you get me some water, please?"
She found some, and brought a glass back to him, watching as he took a pill box from his pocket and swallowed two tablets, chasing them down with water. "You're ill, aren't you?" she questioned softly, placing her hand over Mr. Steele's.
"I've been better," he confessed. "Don't worry. Harry knows all about it. I've got an appointment with a local specialist tomorrow morning." His breathing became steadier. "Much better."
"Daniel -," she started to say, but Mr. Steele's hand moved under Laura's, and she quickly stepped to the end of the bed, where he wouldn't be able to see her if he opened his eyes.
"Ohh," the patient moaned softly. "Laura?"
"Laura's not here, Harry," Daniel said gently.
"Oh. Must have been dreaming. I hope someone got the number of that bus."
"What bus, my boy?"
"The one that ran me down."
Daniel smiled, patting his arm. "Let me get the nurse." He turned away with a glance of warning in Laura's direction.
She stood there, saying a silent prayer of thanks that he'd woken up at last. She took a step toward him, only to stop as Daniel and the surgical recovery nurse returned. The woman set about checking out her patient. "How are you feeling, Mr. Chalmers?" she asked as she inspected the IV setting.
"Bloody awful," he said, his speech slurred from the anesthesia they'd given him. "Never could sleep on my stomach."
Daniel saw Laura's grin, and returned it with one of his own.
"Well," the nurse informed him briskly, "You're going to have to try for the next twenty four hours."
He groaned again, and Daniel bit back a chuckle. "You find this amusing, Daniel?"
Daniel looked away from Laura and back to Mr. Steele. "Not in the least, Harry. But Dr. Carstairs DID warn you, if you'll recall."
"The man never said anything about my stomach. Damn I can't even-," he paused, his eyes narrowing. "Who else is here?" he asked.
Daniel's gaze moved around the cubicle, not stopping on Laura. "Just the nurse and myself, Harry. Why?"
"Imagining things," he muttered. "Nurse?"
"Yes, Mr. Chalmers?"
"When will I be able to go back to my room?"
"We'll wait an hour so," she told him.
"Daniel?"
"Yes, my boy?"
"How long was I in there?"
"Oh, nearly five hours. Dr. Carstairs was most encouraging. He said everything went without a hitch- now we just have to wait."
"Patience has never been high on my list, Daniel," he said.
Daniel raised humor filled eyes to Laura. "Oh, I don't know about that. You've been incredibly patient these last four years, wouldn't you say?"
"Going quietly mad in the meanwhile," Mr. Steele muttered. "You said he thinks it was successful?"
"I'm ninety percent sure of it, Harry," Carstairs said as he joined the little group. "It's just a waiting game now. And for the next twenty four hours, I'm going to have them give you a sedative. Between that and the anti-inflammatory medication we should see some kind of results by tomorrow morning."
"I don't like sedatives, Doctor."
"Well, you'll take these- it's for your own good, Harry. Any movement right now could undo all my hard work." He nodded to the nurse, who injected the sleeping medicine into the IV tubing. "There. You get some rest, and I'll see you later. Take him back downstairs in an hour, nurse."
"Yes, doctor." Laura knew that she couldn't stay there, so she slowly turned and followed Dr. Carstairs out of the recovery area. "I want to thank you again, Dr. Carstairs, for-."
"I had the feeling that you'd have been here no matter what I said, Miss- I still don't know your last name, you know."
"Holt. Laura Holt."
Carstairs nodded as if things had finally fallen into place. "I thought Harry looked a little familiar. He's Remington Steele, isn't he?"
"Yes. That's the name he uses- professionally, anyway."
"He's a lucky man, Miss Holt. Both physically and in having someone care about him as much as his father appears to do."
"Yes," Laura responded automatically, but her mind was just grasping what he had said. His father. Daniel Chalmers. "If you'll excuse me, Dr. Carstairs, I've just thought of something I have to do."
"If anyone asks, just remember that you're one of my surgical residents from County, here to do a follow up on some of my cases."
"I'll remember," she said, opening the door. She needed to call Mildred- and then she was going to have a long talk with Daniel Chalmers.
It took some doing for her to convince Mildred not to come running to the hospital, but in the end, Laura won out. "As soon as he's ready, Mildred, you can come down. As it is, I'm having to play hide and seek at the moment to keep him from finding out that I'm here."
"You're sure he's going to be all right, Miss Holt?" Mildred asked with a suspicious sniffle.
"I think he will be."
"I knew something had happened to him. I just knew it. And I won't even say I told you so, Miss Holt."
"You go right ahead, Mildred," Laura said. "I deserve it. I have to go."
"Keep me informed, okay? And I'll try to put clients off as best I can."
"Thank you, Mildred." Laura hung up and turned to find Greg Fiske standing nearby. "I thought you'd gone to the office."
"I was about to leave. Wanted to say good bye." He looked at her for a long moment. "It is good bye, isn't it? Now that Steele's back, I guess you and I won't be having dinner together anymore."
"Greg, I-," she began, putting out a hand.
He took it in his. "Don't apologize for the way you feel. I knew when I started this that I was fighting a losing battle. And after seeing the way you were while he was in surgery- well, that just confirmed it."
"We can still be friends, can't we?"
"Maybe- after a little while. Right now, I think I need to bow out of your life, let you get on with the one you've planned with him. I just hope he knows how lucky he is." Releasing her hand, he turned and walked rapidly out of the hospital.
Laura watched him go, then realized that she was being watched- by Daniel. "He seemed a decent enough chap," he commented. "For an FBI agent. He IS the one who was in that news photo with you, wasn't he?"
Laura nodded. "How did you know about that?"
"Oh, Harry showed it to me. He was more than a trifle upset that you'd taken that kind of risk, by the way."
"He- saw it?"
"That- and all the rest of the news articles that followed."
"He did?" Laura asked, surprised by that news for some reason. Suddenly, she remembered what Dr. Carstairs had said. "Are you REALLY Mr. Steele's father, Daniel?"
"I told you before that I believe Harry wants to explain all that to you himself, my dear," he said with a worried smile.
"You can at least tell that much," she insisted.
"And you'll leave it at that? Not ask anymore questions?"
"Not a one."
"Yes, I'm Harry's father, Laura."
"How did he find out? Why hadn't you told him before?"
Daniel smiled at her. "I should have known. Why don't we have some coffee and I'll see what I can tell you that won't compromise Harry's news too badly." He held out an arm, and Laura took it, still in shock at his admission.
"I should have known. You as much as told me the truth that first time, only I wasn't listening."
"No. You were more concerned about your mother's emotional health than what I was saying about Harry. How is Abigail these days, by the way?"
Laura insisted that Daniel go back to his hotel for awhile to get some rest after he had another coughing spell and was forced to sit down for several minutes. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on him," she promised. "From a distance," she added when he would have mentioned the need for her to keep out of sight. "You need your rest, Daniel. I can catch a few minutes in the lounge. After all, officially, I'm working here, remember?"
"What about your clients?" he asked.
"Mildred was taking care of that. I talked to her a few minutes ago. Now go."
"I'll be back around five. I believe that's when Dr. Carstairs said he was going to check on Harry's progress."
"Okay," she said, walking toward the door with him.
"And you'll call if-?"
"The very second," she promised.
The hallways were quiet as Laura moved toward Room 16. The night nurses, some of whom Laura had heard talking about Mr. Steele, were all busy elsewhere, so she opened the door of the room quietly, closing it behind her and resting against it until she gained her bearings in the dark room.
He didn't like lights on while he slept. She knew that. At last she could make out the white sheets of the bed, and moved cautiously across the floor until she stood beside him. She placed a hand on his wrist, then moved it to his back in a light touch. His breathing revealed that he was still asleep. The drugs that Dr. Carstairs had ordered, most likely. She was safe, there was no chance of his knowing she was here, looking at him.
Laura put her hand on his neck, then began to use her fingers to gently comb the dark hair on the back of his head. She bent to place a kiss on the sensitive skin of his neck.
"Laura?" he murmured, and she froze, backing away as quietly as she could until her back found the door again. She waited until she was sure he'd fallen asleep again, then left the room.
In the hall, she leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. That had been close. TOO close. Oh, but it had been worth it, she decided. And no harm had been done, after all. He probably thought he'd dreamed the entire thing.
Laura stayed near Dr. Carstairs as he lifted the sheet from Mr. Steele's legs. She ignored the curious look that the dark haired nurse from the day before kept giving her as she pretended a professional interest in the patient. "Thank you, Millie, that will be all," Carstairs told the woman.
Daniel stood at the head of the bed, and Laura could see the effects of the stress on him. She wanted to tell him to sit down in the chair, but she couldn't. If she said a word, he'd know she was there.
Carstairs took a needle like instrument. "Now I want you to try and remain totally still, Harry," he warned. "If you feel this, your first instinct will be to try and move your feet or legs. Don't."
"I understand," Mr. Steele said in an anxious voice.
Laura winced as Carstairs placed the tip of the instrument into Mr. Steele's right foot. Not deeply, since it wasn't sharp enough to break the skin, but enough that she would have felt it immediately. "Do you feel that, Harry?"
"You mean other than the pain in my legs?"
"Is the pain in one area?"
"All the way from my back to -," he paused. "I felt that."
"Felt what?"
"Pressure. Against my right foot. In the arch."
Laura met Daniel's eyes, saw him take a deep breath of relief. "And now?"
"My- left calf."
"What about this?" Carstairs asked, putting the instrument back into its holder as he spoke.
There was a long pause. "I don't feel anything," he said, disappointment coloring his tones.
Dr. Carstairs moved to stand at the head of the bed. "Because I didn't do anything that time," he said. "I think it's safe to say that the operation was a success. I do want you to do one more thing for me," he said, going back to the end of the bed.
"What's that?"
"Very slowly, wiggle your toes." Laura could almost feel Mr. Steele's struggle to do as he was asked, and almost burst into delighted laughter when all ten toes moved. "Very good, very good," Carstairs confirmed, replacing the sheet.
"When can I get out of this torture chamber?" Mr. Steele asked.
"I said twenty four hours, remember? And even then, you'll have to take things slow for awhile. You'll probably be in some pain- I'll prescribe something for you. That area of your back is going to be a little weak for some time, Harry, but with therapy- I don't think you'll have any problems."
Laura left the room with Dr. Carstairs, going with him to the office he was using. "Thank you."
"Thank your Mr. Steele- or Harry, or whatever his name is. He's got a strong constitution. I expect he'll be back on his feet in record time. Once he's out of that `torture chamber' as he calls it, it's going to be a lot harder for you to stay around. I'm going to get him ambulatory as soon as I can."
Laura nodded. "You're suggesting that I go back to work, aren't you? Get out of here for awhile?"
"Something like that. I'm sure Mr. Chalmers would agree with me."
"You're right about that. I think I'll stay around through lunch, anyway. Daniel has a doctor's appointment of his own, and I don't want to leave Mr. Steele alone."
"Just be careful. I know that Millie's already suspicious, considering the amount of time you've spent with Mr. Chalmers."
"I don't understand why we can't tell him I'm here now," Laura said to Daniel later that day, just after Mr. Steele's restraints had been removed. "He's going to walk again, Dr. Carstairs said so."
"Harry's stubborn, my dear. You should know that yourself. I tried to talk him into calling you earlier, but he refused to even consider it. He'd determined that the only way he'll see you again is on his feet." Daniel placed his hands on her shoulders. "Go to the office, take care of business, and I'll keep you informed of his progress."
"Okay. But the minute he's able to walk, I want to know, Daniel."
"I'll call as soon as he's ready," he assured her.
For the next four days, Laura jumped every time the telephone rang. She was starting to direct clients to other agencies, intending to take some time off as soon as Mr. Steele was released from the hospital. Mildred was almost as nervous, and had taken to calling the hospital and talking with Daniel as often as she could manage. The three of them had lunch and dinner together several times, and he'd taken great delight in telling them that Dr. Johanssen was optimistic about his own chances. "So you might just have to put up with me for a bit longer than you thought you would, Laura," he'd told her.
Laura had laughed, assuring him that as long as he realized that Mr. Steele belonged with her, in Los Angeles, then he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted to.
The telephone rang, and Mildred came in a moment later. "It's Daniel, Miss Holt. He says it's time."
Laura grabbed her purse and headed toward the doors. Halfway there, she realized that Mildred was still standing in the doorway to her office. "Well, come on, Mildred. I thought you wanted to see Mr. Steele?"
Mildred smiled- the first real smile Laura had seen in days, grabbed her purse, and the two women left the office together.
Daniel met them at the front doors. "Dr. Carstairs is examining Harry at the moment," he told them.
"Okay, then," Laura began, turning in the direction of Harry's room. "Let's go."
Daniel placed a hand on her arm. "I have a much better idea, my dear. . ."
Moments later, Laura found herself in the solarium, while Daniel led Mildred toward Dr. Carstairs office.
"I'll send Harry this way as soon as I can," he had assured her.
Laura stood in the middle of the room, its interior brightly lit by the sun streaming through the glass wall across from the door. As she moved toward the light, she heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor and held her breath until they passed.
Forcing herself to breathe again, Laura went to the window and looked out at the calm serenity of the garden beyond.
Suddenly the door behind her opened, and someone came into the room. She could hear the tap of a cane on the polished floor and turned slowly. He was standing there, leaning heavily on the ebony walking stick that Daniel had bought for him. She thought to herself that she looked thinner, that he'd lost some of his color. "Laura?"
She smiled nervously. "Hello, Mr. Steele."
To Be Continued . . .