“Is Adrian okay?” Tommy's face clouded up with worry, but Bill nodded quickly.

“She's going to be fine. She was worried about you. She took kind of a beating trying to rescue you. Which reminds me, young man, what were you doing out of the swimming hole without the others?” The boy's eyes got huge in his face and brimmed over with tears. He knew exactly what part he had played in it, and he was old enough to know that it was his fault that he and Adrian had almost drowned, and he felt deeply remorseful.

“I'm sorry, Daddy …honest …”

“I know you are, son.”

“Can I see her yet?”

“Maybe tomorrow. She's pooped. Hopefully they'll let her out and we can take her back to the hotel with us.”

“Can I go tonight?”

“We'll see.” He would have liked to spend the night with Adrian, but he didn't want to leave the boys alone in the hotel, and even in the hospital, Tommy would have expected his father to sleep with him. And they had already said that Adam couldn't spend the night since he wasn't a patient. So Bill had no choice but to take them to the hotel, and come back for Adrian in the morning.

But she didn't seem to mind when he went back to see her. She was so exhausted from the perils of the day that she had barely woken up to talk to him before she was asleep again, and the nurse suggested that he leave her.

“She won't even know that you've gone, and I'll explain it to her when she wakes up,” the nurse promised, “and if she wants to, she can always call you.” He left the number of the hotel, and the hotel room, and he went back to get the boys, and an hour later they were jumping on the beds, and watching TV, and Tommy wanted to order chocolate ice cream from room service. It was difficult to believe that he had almost not survived the morning.

Bill gave him a bath and put them both to bed, and then he stretched out in the room that was to be hers, feeling completely exhausted. He couldn't remember a day in his entire life that had been as traumatic. And all he could think of was the hideous vision of their two bodies with the rangers and the paramedics struggling over them …the sirens …the sounds …the looks on their faces. He knew he would have nightmares about it for years, and as he thought of her, he found himself missing Adrian, and wanting to hold her close. There was so much he wanted to say to her now, so much for them to find out, to do together, to discover …and then there was the baby. He didn't even know exactly how pregnant she was. All he knew was what the doctor had guessed, but he had no idea when it was to be born. It was remarkable how suddenly a whole new being had come into his life … a whole new prospect of happiness for the future. He had loved her before, but now he knew that he loved her doubly. And as he thought about it, lying on her bed, the phone rang.

“Hello?” His voice was hoarse from just lying there, thinking of the emotions of the day, but he smiled as soon as he heard her voice. It was Adrian, calling from the hospital. She had woken up, and wondered where he was, and she was missing him, just as he was missing her. A whole new bond had formed between them since that morning.

“Where are you?”

“Here in your bed,” he said, smiling, “wishing you were here with me.” Given the chastity of their relationship, it seemed a rather forward thing to say, but he suspected she wouldn't mind after everything they'd been through. He almost felt as though they were married and she had just told him they were having a baby.

“Can you hear any bears?” she teased, she still sounded croaky, but a lot stronger.

“No bears and no coyotes.” Given the price he had paid for the suite, with the view they had of the lake, there should only have been the sounds of minks and Rolls-Royces. “But it's lonely without you,” he told her.

“It's lonely here too.” She hated being in the hospital and she really missed him. “How are the boys?”

“Asleep, I hope. I put them to bed an hour ago. And if they aren't asleep, I don't want to know it.” He was almost as tired as she was. And then, with a tender smile, “How's the baby?”

“Okay, I guess.” It embarrassed her a little bit talking to him about it. It was all so new to her. For all these months, she had pointedly ignored it, and now it was suddenly the focus of their attention. “It's all so strange. I'm not used to it yet.”

“You will be eventually. When's it due, by the way?”

“The beginning of January. The tenth.”

“Just in time for my fortieth birthday. My birthday is actually New Year's Day.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“So does the baby,” he said softly. “It's been so long since I've even thought of little ones. It makes me think of when Adam and Tommy were small. They were so cute. And this one will be, too, if it looks like you.” She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The man who had fathered it had left her in a fury, and this man, this almost total stranger, whom she had known for a mere three months, was excited about her baby. It made her feel so protected suddenly, and so happy and so much less lonely.

“Why are you being so good to me?” What did he want? And when was he going to hurt her? It just wasn't possible that he was this kind. Or was it?

“Because you deserve it.”

And then suddenly, she laughed. “You're just using me as research for the show.” And she laughed, too, remembering the absurdity of the parallel between the illegitimate pregnancy on the show, and her own baby.

“You certainly do keep things lively, Mrs. Town-send. Or should I call you by a different name?” He wasn't sure if she was going to change it.

“My maiden name is Adrian Thompson.” And eventually she would have to go back to that, since the baby couldn't use Townsend anyway, but that was all a long way off. “I can't wait until tomorrow. It's so depressing here.”

“Wait till you see our hotel room.”

“I can't wait.” She felt as though she were about to leave on her honeymoon, except that she still had an IV tube in her arm, and they were still giving her oxygen through two tiny tubes just beneath her nose, and her face and hands and arms looked as though she had been in a cat fight, and she still remembered that some of the scratches had been inflicted by Tommy. It had been an incredible day, a miracle that had touched all of them, and they all felt more than a little awed by the happy outcome. And some good had come of it after all. Bill had found out about the baby.And he hadn't sent her away …and …she smiled to herself … he had even told her he loved her.

“I'll see you tomorrow. Now get some rest,” he told her in a gentle whisper. It was late, and it seemed as though the whole world had gone quiet. “I'll miss you….”

“I'll miss you too, darling, good night,” she whispered from her hospital room in Truckee.

“And don't forget,” he reminded her with a smile, “how much I love you.”





BILL PICKED ADRIAN UP AT THE HOSPITAL THE NEXT day, and he brought the boys with him. They brought flowers and balloons and a big THANK YOU sign that Tommy insisted on carrying himself, and as they helped her to the car, it looked like a jackpot at the casino. She was still pretty shaky when she was discharged, and they went straight to the hotel so she could rest. And Bill set her up with pillows in a chaise longue on their terrace. She was impressed by how fancy their quarters were, and she admitted to Bill confidentially that it was a lot nicer than camping. He laughed in answer and told her that some people would do anything to avoid sleeping in a tent, and she certainly had. In one day, she had managed to almost lose her life, save Tommy's, and admit to the fact that she was pregnant.