Chapter 13-- Transitions

Part 1--

Jeremiah woke up on his own around 8am, to be greeted by the doctor making rounds and a small group of medical students. Oh, hell no, he thought, just say hello and go away.

"You look as though you don't want us here, Mr. Donovan," the doctor said pleasantly.

"This is what you all need to know. I got shot, had surgery, I'll be gone by Christmas," Jeremiah said testily. "Now go away please?"

The group soon left and Jeremiah was alone. But not for long, because Julia, Ryan, Nik and Joe came to see him.

"So this is what you're doing instead of getting acquainted with your nieces, huh?" Joe said playfully. "I see how you are, brother."

"How are your new daughters, by the way?" Jeremiah said to Joe and Nik. "I can't wait to meet them, but it will have to wait until they spring me from this hellhole. Nik, is Sandrina bigger than some of Julia's doll babies yet?"

Nik laughed; "Sandrina is growing and is almost as big as that one doll Julia had...what was her name, Jules, 'Toya'?"

"Just 'Toy', thanks," Julia said, embarrassed. "I was two, give me a break!"

"This must have been before Joe and I got there," Jeremiah said. "Because I don't remember that one. The one I remember was 'Brownie'. And she was ug-ly!"

"Kiera gave me that doll when I was three, thanks!" Julia said. "It was a Native American doll she'd had since she and Peter got married, hoping to give it to a little girl one day. That little girl just happened to be me!"

"You have to admit, Jules," Joe said; "That doll was not cute."

Julia stuck out her tongue. "So what! She was mine and I loved her."

Ryan had not said anything beyond hello, and stood there looking amused as Julia was getting ribbed by her brothers.

"What about Danica, Joe?" Jeremiah now said; "How she doing since those pictures you emailed me after she was born?"

"She's outgrown all the newborn stuff we got for her already," Joe said. "Nik, is Sandrina ready for some hand-me-downs?"

"Newborn stuff is still a little too big," Nik said, "but we'll take them if Tracy will part with it. I know how all that first baby stuff works now. KateLynn still has all of Matty's newborn stuff!"

"Tell her to hold on to it," Julia said. "Mom says she and David are going to talk to surrogates after the New Year about having a brother for the twins."

"Cool!" Jeremiah said. "There needs to be more boys in this family! We're going to be outnumbered soon!"

"Both babies are adorable, Jere," Ryan said. "As an interested third party, you understand. You'll fall in love with them!"

"I'm sure I will, but now, I feel like a nap," Jeremiah said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"We just got here!" Julia said, laughing.

"He just had major surgery, Jules," Nik said. To Jeremiah, he said, "KateLynn didn't think we should come over and bug you so soon."

"She's a nursing student still, isn't she?" Jeremiah asked.

"She wants to go back soon," Nik said. "She's afraid she'll forget everything she learned so far."

"She's a natural at it, I'm sure she remembers more than she gives herself credit for," Jeremiah said. "But now, I need some sleep. I need to be rested if I'm going to survive Christmas at the Draimans! Those girls are too much!"

His siblings and Ryan took their leave, and Jeremiah was alone again. He fell asleep for what seemed like two seconds when someone was shaking him awake.

"Time for your meds, Mr. Donovan," a familiar voice said. Soft, sweet, and constantly in his head for months.

"Aw come on, can't a guy get some sleep here?" Jeremiah asked as he tried to pry his eyes open. Once he did, he saw the most beautiful brown eyes and the most beautiful face he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Good morning, Jere," Jasmine said. "Christmas came early for me."

"Jasmine!" Jeremiah said as he reached out to hug her. She returned his hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"You need to take these, Jere," said Jasmine, handing him his meds. Jeremiah did what he was told, then said,

"How did Christmas come early for you?"

"I knew when abouts you'd be home, and I was thinking of looking you up," Jasmine said. "Then, you land on my floor."

"It wasn't planned, I assure you," Jeremiah said. "I was going to call you when I got settled at the Draimans, but I never got a chance to even get my stuff out of the car!"

"I have so much I want to tell you," Jasmine said. "But I have to get back to work. I get off work at three. Could I come back and see you then?"

"Hell yeah!" Jeremiah said. "We need to catch up. I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch better."

"Me, too," Jasmine said. "Life got in the way."

"You'll be back at three, then?" asked Jeremiah.

"Yes, after my shift is over," Jasmine said. "I promise."

"I'll look forward to seeing you," Jeremiah said.

Jasmine said her goodbyes and went to complete her rounds. Jeremiah watched her walk away. Damn, he thought. It'd be my own damn fault if some other guy's snapped her up. How could I let her get away?

He laid back on the bed and contemplated that for a while.

----------

David was back at his office on the compound. He'd told the others about his and Jordan's "adventurous retreat" on the lake, someone staking out his house, and Jeremiah getting shot.

"So you didn't get much relaxing done, did you?" John asked.

"Oh we managed here and there, between two people trying to kill us and all the stuff that went on after we got home," David said.

"Sounds like one of Mikey's video games," Dan said. "Go on vacation, and prove you deserve to come back alive!" Everyone but Mike laughed.

"My video games aren't that dumb," he said. "But what happened to you, and to Jeremiah, isn't funny."

"No it isn't," David said. "Danny, can you find anything on anyone trying their damndest to get me killed?"

"I'll look into it, but you know it's probably the Committee and one of their ingenious plans," Dan said.

"I don't know how they stay in power," John said. "Their policies, their ideology, their leadership are so misguided. I guess stupid is as stupid does."

"Just look at the last legally elected President for that," Dan said. "Corruption and dead bodies followed him around. Then there was that intern thing..."

"When we win this damn war," David said. "Don't offer me the job as president. I don't want it. I have enough stress with dealing with little girls who will be two on their next birthday. The terrible twos started early for them."

"I think I'd take my chances with the two year olds myself," John said. "Let some politically minded person take the job."

"Just look at the current occupant of the White House," David said. "Sarah Kathryn Hope still had dark hair when she was installed, now it's almost pure white. The stress of that job is something I don't need. Jordan would kill me if I even considered it. And I love my wife more than I want to be President of the United States. You think I get death threats now..."

"Point taken," Dan said. "Let me go find some intel for you to contemplate on when you light the menorah this evening."

"Thanks, Danny," David laughed. "And if I don't like what I read, I'll use the candles to burn the motherfucker up!"

----------

The two new additions, and their parents, and Matty, were at the Draiman's house. Julia and Ryan were there as well. Jordan was having a dilemma. What were the offspring of her former wards going to call her and David? Matty had been calling them "Miss Jordan" and "Mr. David", and she really didn't mind all that much, but it was kind of weird to her that her own grandchildren (when Julia got around to having children of her own, which Jordan hoped would not be for a while yet) would call her Miss Jordan.

She decided to wait and ask David about it later.

Meanwhile, both babies were awake, and Sandrina was fussy. She was still considerably smaller than Danica, but KateLynn had faith that Sandrina would catch up eventually.

"Sandrina doesn't like this tube up her nose," KateLynn said, "but it helps her breathe until her lungs catch up in the growth department. The baby nurse changes it every other day. She'll change it tomorrow and the 26th, so I don't have to worry about it during Christmas."

Jordan was taken with Danica's big blue eyes. They seemed to work with her light caramel coloring. And they were always fixed on one of her parents. She still found it hard to believe that Joe, still three months from his eighteenth birthday, was a father. But he was good with his daughter, and Tracy adored him.

Jordan asked Joe how Jeremiah was when they visited him in the hospital that morning.

"He was pretty testy," Joe said. "Like he woke up before he wanted to."

"He hates inaction, especially his own," Nik said. "He's always been that way. I remember he broke his leg when he was nine, so he couldn't go out with the rest of us to learn to shoot. He was just like he was this morning. Perpetually pissed off."

"I think he's going to be more pissed off about the eight inch scar from his surgery," Julia said. "I think it should be a badge of honor to have it."

"You'll think differently when it's you, Julia," Jordan said. "Then I'll freak out."

"You and me both, Jordan," Ryan said, laughing.

"Oh, hush," Julia said.

----------

Three o'clock couldn't get there soon enough to suit Jeremiah.

He tried to distract himself with the television, but was on that interested him; he then asked a nurse for some magazines, and got celebrity and gossip magazines; then he tried to draw on a pad of paper he found in a drawer, and not even that helped. All he could think about was seeing Jasmine.

He remembered the party where they met. Julia and Ryan had dragged him along one night shortly after Joe went to the Elochai Center to get off the drugs he was being programmed with by the Illegals. "You need to get out of here and stop worrying about Joe, Jere," Julia had said. Jeremiah went reluctantly, determined to not have a good time. Instead, he met Jasmine.

It was her house that she shared with three co-workers who had gotten their LPNs about the same time. One of the roommates was a mutual friend of Ryan's, and that's how he, Julia and Jeremiah got invited. Jeremiah saw this coffee and cream colored beauty across the room and went to talk to her. They hit it off pretty well and Jeremiah asked her for a date. She accepted, and they spent the whole summer dating.

When it came time for Jeremiah to head back to Northwestern at the end of July, they promised to keep in touch. They did for a while, but Jeremiah's studies, and Jasmine's job at the hospital got in the way and soon lost touch. Jeremiah dated another girl at school, but soon broke it off because she just wasn't his type. The girl still texted him. He never answered, but she kept it up.

Now, fate had brought them back together. He only hoped that she wasn't seeing someone else. He wanted another chance to win her.

----------

Jasmine did something she almost never did: watched the clock. She couldn't wait until her shift was over so she could go back to Jeremiah's room and visit.

She couldn't get him off her mind. That first night they met at that crazy party she really didn't want to host. She hid in the kitchen, occasionally leaving to refresh the sandwich tray or put more beverages in the coolers. One of those times, she saw a mixed race man across the room making his way in her direction. When he reached her, he said hello. "I'm Jeremiah," he had said.

"Jasmine is my name."

"Is this your house?" he asked

"Yes, it's my parents actually, but they're letting me live here while they're living in Oklahoma," she had said.

"Wild party," Jeremiah said.

"A little wilder than I thought it would be," Jasmine said. "I can't wait for it to be over and all these people go the hell home! I don't know most of them."

"You know me," Jeremiah said.

"Yeah, for all of five minutes!" Jasmine thought that sounded rude and apologized.

"No problem," Jeremiah said. "I didn't want to come, but my sister and her boyfriend insisted."

"Who's your sister?"

Jeremiah had pointed out Julia to her, and Jasmine said, "Jordan Terranova's daughter is your sister?!"

"She, my brother Joe, another kid, Nik, and I were all raised together," Jeremiah said. "We considered ourselves siblings. Joe is my only biological brother."

"Oh, okay," Jasmine said. "I was going to say you have a freaky family tree!"

They had kept talking throughout the entire evening, then Jeremiah asked her out. She was going to say no, but she'd taken a liking to this kid who didn't want to be at a party she didn't want to host.

Now, though, Jasmine watched the minutes until three tick away. She had finished her duties for the day and was itching to clock out. As soon as the clock struck three, she swiped her badge under the sensor and went to the locker room to change out of her uniform. Once in regular clothes, she headed over to Jeremiah's room.

----------

Part 2--


When Dan said to David he wasn't going to like what Dan had to tell him, David's curiousity was piqued. What is it that's going to be so bad, David thought.

"Okay, here's your intel," Dan said; "It's not the Committee who has been sending out people to eliminate you."

"It's not?" asked David. "Then who is?"

"Just Jed McClayne," Dan said. "He got impatient one day after all the other attempts on your life failed and contracted assassins on his own. The Committee, no doubt, was pissed off."

"Jed McClayne is the Puppetmaster," David said. "He tells everyone from the President on down what to do."

"Speaking of the President," said Dan; "Word is that she's depressed about something, possibly that her husband checked himself in rehab for some reason. It's going to be a lonely Christmas at the White House living quarters."

"Her son and his family aren't coming to visit?" David asked.

"Nope," Dan said. "They're spending the holidays with his wife's family instead."

"Better than being around his depressed mother," David said. "I know I wouldn't want to be around 'Debbie Downer' either if it were me."

"Have you ever met Jordan's family, David?"

"No," David said. "Her father disowned her when she got involved with Julia's father. Even her beloved brothers turned their backs on their baby sister."

"That's cold," Dan said. "After all this time, you'd think that there'd be some sort of agreement to disagree."

"Jordan tried to contact her brother, Matt, last Christmas," David said. "He's the youngest of the four older brothers; All she was able to get from him was that their oldest brother died of cancer about five years ago, both their parents were gone, and that Matt's wife doesn't know that Jordan even exists. Needless to say, Jordan was pretty upset about what she found out. Matt was the one she was closest to. It kills her to hear Nik and KateLynn refer to their son as 'Matty', because that was her brother's nickname."

"Man, David, I'm so sorry to hear that," Dan said. "I had no idea Jordan's family was so fractured."

"That's why she tries to put together all these family functions," David said. "Family has always been important to her, but even more so since her family has esentially denied her existence."

"She always has family in us, David, just as you do," said Dan.

"Thanks, brother," David said. "It means a lot to me that you guys care about her."

"Why wouldn't we?" asked Dan. "She snagged the most eligible bachelor on the planet. We thought you'd never find the right girl, and she was right in front of us all along."

"Indeed she was," David said.

----------

Jasmine tried to be cool about walking over to Jeremiah's room, but she felt like she was failing miserably at it. C'mon, girl, snap out of it! she chided herself. He's probably got a girlfriend waiting on him at school. What makes you so damn special?

She arrived at his room, where a nurse friend of hers was putting up additional IV bags. "Oh, hey, Jas," she said. "He's sleeping. I know he's a friend of yours, but he's been really testy today."

"I suppose that being in the hospital isn't much fun when you'd only been home a few hours prior," Jasmine said.

"Yeah, I heard about that."

The nurse left and Jasmine was alone with Jeremiah. "Hey, sleepyhead," she said softly, poking him; "Wake up! It's three o'clock!"

Damn, I fell asleep?! Jeremiah thought to himself as he opened his eyes. There sat Jasmine on the edge of his bed. "Hey, there," he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You're in the hospital, and there isn't much to do here as a patient but sleep," Jasmine said.

"True that," Jeremiah said. "So, Nurse Cantrell, shall we play catch up?"

"I'd like that, Jere," Jasmine said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you as well, Jasmine," Jeremiah said. "I wouldn't mind waking up to you poking me more often. I'd never get tired of seeing your face!"

Jasmine blushed. "You've always had a knack at saying things like that!"

"I wouldn't, though," Jeremiah said. "But there's something I have to know."

Jasmine felt herself stiffen, then relax. "What is it?"

"It'd be my own damn fault if you said yes, but are you seeing anyone currently?"

"No," Jasmine said. "I haven't dated since you went back to school. I was going to ask you the same thing."

"I'm not either," Jeremiah said. "There was one girl, but she wasn't anything special. I ended it after a few dates."

"Why?"

"Because there was this girl," Jeremiah said; "This cute girl who works as a nurse. I couldn't get her out of my mind. But I was a terrible correspondant and didn't keep my end of the promise to keep in touch."

"Oh," said Jasmine. "And this girl, she didn't write back, either, did she?"

"No," Jeremiah said. "She got busy with working, and I got busy with school, and we lost touch. Until this morning, when she magically appeared at my bedside with some pills to take."

"My early Christmas present," Jasmine said. "To have the handsome Jeremiah Donovan as a patient on my floor."

"My early gift was to have the beautiful Jasmine Cantrell as my nurse," said Jeremiah. "Jasmine, I'd like another chance to win your heart, if you think I'm worthy of it."

"You've already won my heart, Jere," Jasmine said. "Back at that party where you came and introduced yourself." She leaned over and kissed Jeremiah. He responded. Their kissed deepened, then Jeremiah grimmaced when he tightened the muscles in his thigh. "Oww! That hurts!" he said.

"Well be careful, Jere," Jasmine said. "You aren't Superman you know."

Jeremiah winked. "I could be...once this heals."

"Always the confident one, aren't you?"

"Can't help it," Jeremiah said. "I was raised in a positive environment where all of our strengths were emphasized."

"That's what I like about you, Jere," Jasmine said. "You stand up for what you believe in, and know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to."

"Can we pick up where we left off last summer?" asked Jeremiah.

"Yes," Jasmine said as he kissed her again.

----------

He only wanted one thing for Christmas this year: to take Marysa away from her life as a high priced whore.

For the first time since his wife died a decade earlier, Josiah Enoch Daniel McClayne was in love. With a woman not much younger than his own daughter. And, what amazed him was... she was in love with him, too.

Their relationship was built on mutual trust and respect. Marysa told him she felt safe with him. But it was the breaking away from "the life" that was a stumbling block.

"You don't need to sell yourself anymore, Marysa. I can take care of you," McClayne had told her.

"You wrote the laws that keep people like me from having any other jobs besides domestics in this town," Marysa said.

"I was wrong." And he confessed to her that all he wanted was power. He wanted to be President, but Sarah Kathryn had beaten him in almost all of the major primary states. So he agreed to be her Vice President. Then the bitch replaced him with someone else. Since she wasn't a politician, he knew she needed guidence, and that's how the Committee came into existance.

When Sarah Kathryn lost the election to a more seasoned opponent, McClayne and the Committee hatched a plan to assassinate the winner and take over the government, installing Sarah Kathryn Hope as President for Life. The name change to "The Republic of America" and turning the states into regions was his idea, too.

Then, his wife died six years into the New Government, and that was the first time McClayne questioned his commitment to it. Then, in an attempt to forget his pain, he threw himself into his work. The only thing he wasn't able to accomplish was eliminating David Draiman, his government's main opponent.

But, the power hungry McClayne could be tamed. One night, he was looking for a bitch to fuck, and ran across a beautiful mixed race Southern belle named Marysa. He took her to his home and she serviced him. He paid her more than she asked, only because he was so grateful she saw him as more than a dick with money. She gave him her private number, and all of their trysts after that were when he called her. Sometimes he called every week, then she wouldn't hear from him for months.

Until a few weeks ago. She'd been spending more and more time with him. She saw the tortured man he'd become, and knew that if allowed, the Southern gentleman he really was would show himself instead. And he did, but just for her.

"You wrote the laws that make relationships like ours illegal," Marysa told him. "How can you break your own laws, Jed?"

"Because I'm a narrow minded and bigotted fool, Marysa," he'd told her. "I don't want to be that fool anymore. I just want to be happy. What I do doesn't make me happy. It's turned me into someone I wasn't raised to be. Mama and Daddy taught us to have respect for everyone, and I haven't been doing that."

"How do I know you're just not saying that?" asked Marysa. "How do I know you're not going to have me arrested and thrown into one of those prisons where women are treated like shit?"

"Marysa, my dear," McClayne said. "I want to retire, go back to my hometown, and be forgotten by all the people here in the Capitol. And I want to take you with me. Because you make me happy. I couldn't hurt you if I wanted to. You've been too patient with an old coot like me."

"I like being with you, too, Jed," Marysa said; "But I don't know how this relationship thing is going to work. We couldn't be seen together. We couldn't get married. There are a lot of things we can't do because of the laws you helped write."

Marysa began to cry, and McClayne knew it was because of him, his damn laws, his damn addiction to power. He finally saw the light and he wanted out. He would do anything to make Marysa happy. If that meant defecting from the government he helped create, he'd do it.

He just didn't know how.

----------

Part 3--

"I'm done."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Marysa said. "I'm done."

"So you're not going out on any 'dates'?" Illya said.

"No. I'm going back home to Mississippi and reclaim my son."

"Why the change of heart?" Illya asked.

"I'm tired," Marysa said. "I've been working for you since I hit this town at nineteen. I got married, had a child, got divorced. I'm almost thirty one years old. I think it's time I became an adult in attitude as well as in age."

"If that is what you want, Maryska," Illya said. He could never say "Marysa" without the added letter K; "I will not stand in your way. There are younger girls who take your place."

"That was too easy, Illya, and you know it," Marysa said. "You're not going to threaten me like I've heard you do to some of the others who have left?"

"Why? Like you, Maryska, I have gotten older," Illya said. "I have a child, too, and pretty wife. I may give this up soon to a younger man. You have served me well, my dear. Go on, leave, before I change my mind."

Marysa left after that. A younger man came into Illya's office. He asked,

"Boss, should I kill her?"

"No." Illya said. "Leave her alone. Don't hurt her, don't follow her, don't prevent her from living her life. They all leave eventually. There are more girls, always more girls. Maryska knew it was time for her to go. Leave her be. Because if you don't, I will kill you."

"Yes, boss."

----------

That was too easy, Marysa thought as she took the convoluted route back to Jed's house in Georgetown. I should watch my back.

She put her hood over her head to protect from the frigid temperatures. A scarf hid most of her face. She slipped into the back alley and entered the house through the kitchen. Only then could she take off her disguise.

She knew Jed wasn't home. He was always working on something. But she called after him anyway.

There was no answer, so she made her way upstairs to the bedrooms. She was always wary of people being in places they shouldn't be. For that reason, she always kept a small calibur handgun in her purse.

She had moved out of the apartment that Illya provided her after Jed asked her to move into this place with him. This palace of a home she always felt like a stranger in. No one was supposed to know she was here. Those who had noticed her assumed she was the domestic help. What else could a quadroon girl from Mississippi be in this town besides a call girl?

She certainly couldn't be the mistress of a high ranking government official, that's for damn sure.

But that's what she was.

----------

McClayne received a report from one of the assassins stalking David Draiman and his family. He knew what the report contained: a moment by moment account of the goings on at their home, and at his office on the compound.

He read the report anyway. He was surprised with how personal it was. The stalker notated that Draiman and his wife celebrated both Christian and Jewish holidays, that their daughters were not identical twins and were cute little girls.

But it was this passage that got McClayne:

"The Draiman's are not afraid of showing affection to each other and to their children. This evening, Draiman taught his daughters a game with a top with Hebrew markings on it. Mrs. Draiman was putting the finishing touches on their Christmas tree.

"They are confident enough to be who they are, and not hide their beliefs. They are passing this legacy to their young daughters. I almost can't bring myself to take their father away from them. I know what growing up without a father is like. I envy this family, because they're the kind of family I wish I had growing up."

Usually, McClayne would have seen this as a sign of weakness, but he knew exactly where this young man was coming from. The Draimans loved each other despite their religious differences. They made their relationship work.

Lord, I am weak, McClayne prayed. Please give me the strength to do what is right. I know I am a sinner, and I beg Your forgiveness.

He then picked up the phone and called off the hit on Draiman.

----------

"You're never going to get to go home, Jere, if you don't learn to use those crutches!" Jasmine said. "You have to keep off that right leg until the doctor says it's healed enough to put weight on it."

"But, Jas, I'm notoriously right handed," Jeremiah complained playfully.

"Do it again, Mr. Donovan," Jasmine said.

"Yes, Nurse Cantrell," sighed Jeremiah.

Jeremiah used the crutches flawlessly going across the floor in his room. Jasmine seemed pleased.

"Now let's go out to the hall," Jasmine said. "Do one lap around the nurse's station."

Jeremiah manuvered to the hallway, and with Jasmine behind him, made one lap around the nurse's station.

"Looks like someone really wants to go home tomorrow," said Berta, the head day nurse. "Miss Cantrell is pretty tough, isn't she?"

"Yes, ma'am, she sure is," Jeremiah said.

"Do another lap, Jeremiah," Jasmine said. "Alone."

"What?"

"You heard me. Alone."

Jeremiah sighed audibly, and started out on his solo trip around the nurse's station.

"This is the boy you dated last summer, isn't it?" Berta asked.

"Yes, he is," said Jasmine.

"He's kinda sweet on you."

"I'm kinda sweet on him, too, Berta."

Jeremiah successfully made the trip around the nurse's station. "Can I rest now, mistress Jasmine? My arms are screaming at me!"

"A strong man like you, Jeremiah?" Jasmine said, smiling. "I know you can lift more than you weigh, so quit yer bitchin', or I'll send you on another lap."

"I think you just like to watch me suffer!" Jeremiah said, laughing.

"No, Jere, I want you to be able to walk without crutches one day soon," Jasmine said. "You and your badge of honor needs to get back in bed."

"Yes, ma'am..."

Once Jeremiah was resituated in bed, Jasmine came in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then said, "Shhhh, I'm not supposed to do that while I'm on duty."

"Oh, well then I won't tell," Jeremiah said. "When do I get a real kiss?"

"When my shift is over in two hours. Then I have the next five days off," Jasmine said.

"Can I spend part of that time alone with you?" Jeremiah asked.

"I'd like that, Jere," Jasmine said. "Now, be good, and I'll be back soon. I promise."

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Part 5--

At the Committee meeting that afternoon, after McClayne said that he'd called off the hit on David Draiman, the rest of the Committee went balistic.

"You did WHAT?" Carl Parks exclaimed in disbelief. "This was your idea alone and you got us to go along with it, now you're telling us it's off?"

"Yes, Parks, that's exactly I'm saying," McClayne said.

"For what reason?" Sizemore asked.

"Two little girls who shouldn't be deprived of their father," McClayne said.

"Since when did you care about that?" Parks asked. He was practically foaming at the mouth.

"Let me ask you something, Carl," McClayne said. "Did you have a father when you were growing up?"

"Of course I did!" Parks said. "Until just last year, in fact."

"Do you think your life would have been different if you had not had your father during your formative years?" asked McClayne.

"My father was the breadwinner," Parks said. "Without him, my family would have probably been on welfare. My life would have turned out very different."

"Now think about those two little girls of Draiman's," McClayne said. "Do you think that they should be deprived of their father and the influences he will have on them growing up?"

"Why should I care about what happens to two little girls I've never met, will probably never meet, if we kill their father," Parks said. "He's our opposition, after all."

"Maybe you should," McClayne said. "Think of them at five, or twelve, or seventeen. Living without a father."

"I'd rather not, thanks," Parks said. "Why have you all of a sudden changed your mind about eliminating your main opponent? You've wanted him dead for years!"

"Maybe there are other ways of bringing him down," McClayne said. "Ever think of that, Carl?"

Parks said nothing.

McClayne adjourned the meeting soon after and left the meeting room. The other men just looked at each other.

"McClayne's not well, I fear," Parks said to the others. "I'm going to reinstate the order to kill Draiman. Then we'll see how we can get McClayne declared incompetent and replaced."

The other men nodded in agreement.

They wouldn't get a chance to do anything against their Chairman. He would do it for them.

----------

McClayne had a plan to get out of the Capitol for good, and take Marysa with him.

It started with him sending Marysa home to Mississppi to spend Christmas with her son and her family.

"You're not coming with me, Jed?" she asked.

"No, honey, I have work to do here," McClayne said. "I have some things to work out, then I'll join you in a few weeks."

"Like what?"

"Making sure no one follows me," McClayne said. "Lull everyone into thinking I'm still working on their side. Then I'm just going to disappear. Hide in plain sight."

"How are you going to do that, Jed?"

"It won't be easy, but I'll get it done, honey, then I'll be with you," he said.

"You aren't ditching me are you?" asked Marysa, suddenly feeling scared.

McClayne looked at her, thinking, how could she think that? But he knew how, and he wasn't that kind of man.

"Marysa, you mean the world to me, and I'd never do anything to hurt you or put you in harm's way," he said; "You have to trust me."

"I do trust you."

"Good," McClayne said. "There will be a one way ticket to Biloxi waiting for you at the airport. Once you arrive in Biloxi, someone will pick you up and take you to your mama's house for Christmas. After New Years, you'll head to my hometown. And one more thing..."

"What's that?"

"When I join you," McClayne said; "You'll call me by my proper Christian name and not 'Jed'." He explained what the plan was and the reason she was to call him by his given name, and not by his nickname.

"I see," Marysa said. "So I'll have to call you Josiah from now on."

"Yes, my sweet," McClayne said. "Starting right now, so you get used to doing it."

"I do say, Mr. Josiah," Marysa drawled. "I believe I can do that for you."

"Now go get packed, Marysa," McClayne said. "It's two days before Christmas. Think about how thrilled your kin will be t'see ya."

Marysa hurried off to get packed.

McClayne smiled. Soon, Jed McClayne will be dead to him. And to the vultures who run this town, he thought.

----------

Fitful night's sleep, strange dreams, strange voices...

He approached the unconscious girl, laying naked in the floor. Her nose was bleeding, barely breathing.

He turned her on her side, and saw more blood. The blood was already clotting.

Then, something else. Not a blood clot, but something familiar looking. Attached to the girl laying on the floor. He pulled what looked to him like a bloody string, and something else emerged from between the girl's legs.

He knew what it was immediately. He knew he was responsible for why it was outside the girl's body and not inside. He knew that the girl didn't know that this was here. She would have said something to him about it.

He got up and looked for a box to put this in. He found one in a drawer just big enough to contain it. He tore off his tie and laid it in the box. Then he placed what he'd found inside the box on top of the tie.

He heard a voice. A crying child's voice. A little girl's voice asking, "Why, Daddy...? Why?"

"I don't...know...why..." he replied.

He didn't know what to do about the girl. She didn't appear to be any better than she was when he first came in and found her laying there.

She then stirred, and seeing that she'd be all right, took the box and left.

Then he was driving. The box laid next to him in the passengers seat. He drove to a clump of trees he knew about just outside of town.

He took the box, and got a small shovel out of the trunk of his car. After picking a place away from the road, he began to dig. He dug a hole about four feet deep, then placed the box, and some dead leaves, in the hole and filled it in. He tamped the disturbed earth with the shovel, then covered the site with fallen branches.

A marker to his greatest sin. And he sat near it for hours and cried, asking forgiveness for the wicked things he had done to make this happen. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

He then got up and went back to where his car was hidden. On the way out, he threw the shovel away. He tried to get the image of it out of his mind, but he couldn't. He couldn't get the girl out of his mind, either.

He drove all night to forget. It tortured him. Taunted him. Asked again, "Why Daddy...? Why?"

It was all a bad dream. That had to be it. None of this really happened. Everything will be fine in the morning.

Then the girl didn't show up for work. No smiles for him. No familiar face to greet him.

He saw the bloody stains on the carpet and asked what happened. He didn't know.

But now, it all came back to haunt him.

"Why Daddy...? Why?"


Neil Hope awoke screaming. The nurses couldn't make out what he was saying because he was incoherent. He fought them; he needed to make amends for his wickedness. Soon, the attending doctor was there, giving him a shot of tranquilizer.

Then he called the White House to give the President the news he'd been dreading.

Her husband had a nervous breakdown.

----------

Part 6--

The next day, Jeremiah was ready to get out of that hospital and go home. Or, at least to the Draiman's, to celebrate Christmas. When David asked if Jeremiah wanted David to pick him up, Jeremiah said,

"No, David. Thanks, though. Jasmine is going to bring me back to your place."

"Jasmine?" David asked. "I almost married a girl named Jasmine, a long time ago."

"I dated her last summer when I was home," Jeremiah said. "She's a nurse here at the hospital."
"Oh, okay," David said. "I seem to remember that now. So she's bringing you by here?"

"Yes, David," Jeremiah said, grinning as Jasmine walked into the room. "She's here now, waiting on me to get off the phone."

"We'll see you in a bit then," David said.

"Yeah, after I get some real food," Jeremiah said, laughing. "This hospital food is one step above a cardboard box!"

"Gotcha," David said. "See you when you get here."

Jeremiah hung up the phone, and turned his attention to Jasmine. Using his crutches, he got up off the bed and said, "Let's go. I'm already checked out."

"Good, I was going to ask you about that," Jasmine said. "But you still have to go downstairs in a wheelchair. Hospital policy, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Jeremiah said as Jasmine pulled a wheelchair into the room. "Now sit your butt down in this and let's get out of here!"

When they were downstairs, Jasmine said, "Let me go get the car, and then we'll load you into the front seat."

"What am I, baby? Cargo?" Jeremiah joked.

"Yes, the only kind I want in my car," Jasmine joked right back. Then she walked out into the parking lot to get her car.

Soon, she returned in the sunny yellow Volkswagen New Beetle he remembered. "Why do they call these cars 'New' Beetles?" Jasmine asked. "What did the old Beetles look like?"

"I think they were smaller and more compact," Jeremiah said as he put the brakes on the wheelchair, then stood up using his crutches. Jasmine opened the passenger side door for him.

Jeremiah manuvered himself to the car and carefully lowered himself inside. Jasmine helped him get his injured right leg in the car and closed the door. She got in on the driver's side and asked, "How do I get to where the Draiman's live?"

Jeremiah gave her directions and found the house easily. He had her park next to his car, which, to his knowledge, still has his duffle bag inside.

Jasmine helped him out of the car, then went back to the driver's side to get in. Jeremiah asked,

"Aren't you going to come in with me, Jas?"

"Would it be okay?"

"I'm sure it would," Jeremiah said. "They love to have company! Besides, where are you going to spend Christmas, huh?"

"I was going to see my parents in Oklahoma City," Jasmine said. "But Dad said that the airport is closed because it's snowing like crazy there. So I really have nowhere to go."

"Come with me," Jeremiah said as Jasmine joined him. "They'll be treating you like family in no time!"

----------

"Jer'miah's here! Jer'miah's here!" Niki said excitedly as she saw Jeremiah and Jasmine through the window in the living room.

"Who the girl?" Kimber asked her sister.

"His girlfriend, silly."

David, hearing this exchange between his daughters said, "You don't know that, Niki. She could be a friend."

"She's a friend who's a girl, Daddy. Didn't you know that?" Niki said. She thought that made perfect sense.

David looked back at Jordan, who just rolled her eyes. Nothing her daughters said surprised her anymore.

"Must be nice to be 20 months old and know everything," Jordan said, laughing.

There was a knock at the door and Niki and Kimber rushed to be the first to answer the door. Niki may have had all the "answers", but Kimber was faster on her feet. Their father was trailing behind.

"Now remember, you two, that Jeremiah hurt his leg so he can't play with you like you'd like him to," David said. "You have to be gentle." As soon as that was out of his mouth, he knew it had fallen on deaf ears because the next thing that happened was Kimber opening the door, and both girls chattering, "Jer'miah! Jer'miah!"

Jeremiah laughed. "Now I know what it feels like to be a rock star!" He introduced Jasmine to everyone as they sat down in the living room. Jordan convinced her daughters that Jeremiah had enough excitement for one morning and took them to take their naps.

"I hate naptime," Kimber said. "I miss all the fun."

Hearing this, David said, "She always says that, but she's always the first one to fall asleep, too."

"How old are they?" asked Jasmine.

"Twenty months," David said. "The terrible twos came early."

"I have nieces about that age," Jasmine said. "I'm the youngest of four, and I'm the only girl."

"You and Jordan have something in common then," Jeremiah said. "Jordan aren't you the only girl in your family?" he asked as Jordan came back into the living room.

"Yes, and I, too, was the youngest," Jordan said. "I'm sure my mother wondered at times if she had four boys or five. I was such a tomboy when I was young. I was not treated like a princess. My father treated me the same way as he did my brothers. He wanted HIS girl to be able to fend for herself in the big wide world."

"We're a military family," Jasmine said. "The OLD military, not the jackbooted automatons they have now; We moved everywhere. I think I'd been in five schools before I was in third grade!"

"It's a rough life, I know," Jordan said. "My oldest brother was in the Old Army, and he had a family. Had he not passed away six years ago, he'd have three grandchilden."

David noted a hint of sadness in her voice. He knew that Jordan had never met any of her nieces and nephews.

"You have to see Jeremiah's nieces, though," Jordan said. "They are adorable!"

"I've seen Nik's daughter," Jasmine said. "But I haven't met Joe's little girl, and met his girlfriend briefly."

"Well," Jeremiah said, "they'll all be here for Christmas! You'll meet everybody!"

"I'm looking forward to it, especially since my holiday plans got snowed out."

"Where were you going, Jasmine?" David asked.

"Oklahoma City," Jasmine said. "My parents live in a town called Midwest City that's near the old Tinker Air Force Base. That was Dad's last duty station before he was forced to retire when the New Government came into power."

"It snows in Oklahoma City?" Jordan asked.

"They're having a blizzard now, which has closed the airport," Jasmine said. "It's been snowing there for nearly a week."

"So that's why we haven't gotten any snow," David said, laughing. "It went south for the winter. So Austin gets a white Christmas, and we don't."

"Sure cold enough for snow, though," Jeremiah said.

"That it is, Jere," David said. "That it is."

----------

The Draiman house was soon filled with family, the other band members and their families, trusted associates, new babies and new friends. Jasmine took all this in, and felt blessed that Jeremiah thought enough of her to share his family with her.

"I didn't realize there were so many people, Jere!" said Jasmine. "I'm so glad you convinced me to stay."

"Everyone loves you, Jas," Jeremiah said. "This is what I grew up with. People who never met a stranger. I wish you could have met Peter and Kiera. They would have loved you, too."

"Can we go outside for a minute, Jere?" asked Jasmine.

"Sure," he said.

He manuvered himself towards the door and Jasmine followed. Once outside, Jasmine said,

"Jere, I have a confession to make."

"What about, Jas?"

"Last summer," she said.

"What about it? I met this beautiful girl, and..."

"Jere, please let me get this off my chest."

Jeremiah noticed that Jasmine was near tears. "What's wrong, baby? I have done something to upset you?"

"No, you haven't. I don't know why I'm getting all emotional," Jasmine said. "But I wanted to tell you something I've had on my mind since you went back to school."

She paused, then said,

"I've been in a couple of bad relationships, and I'm a little gunshy when it comes to my heart. There is one man who has truly deserved my heart and my devotion, and I never got to tell him."

Jeremiah wasn't sure where this was going, but he let Jasmine continue.

"So I wanted to tell him now. Jere... I fell hard for you last summer. It hurt when we lost touch. I hoped against hope that I'd get another chance with you. Then when you were admitted to the hospital after you were shot, I wanted to tell you..."

"Jasmine," Jeremiah said. "I fell hard for you as well. I always kinda knew how you felt, because you can't hide it. Not from me. I should have said something first though."

"Said what?" asked Jasmine.

"That I love you."

Jeremiah leaned up against the wall, put his crutches aside, and took Jasmine into his arms. "Baby, you know you feel it too. That's what you wanted to confess, isn't it?"

"Yes, Jeremiah, it is."

"And it's Christmas eve, and everything is magical," Jeremiah said. "I couldn't have gotten a better present than being with you. And if I didn't have this bum leg, I'd carry you back into that house, into my bedroom, and make love to you all night long. Because I've missed you. Missed your smile. Missed holding you against me."

"We could go to my house for a little while," offered Jasmine.

"Your roommates..."

"...are gone," she said. "I asked all three of them to move out after that party where we met. Their friends trashed the house, and none of them wanted to help me clean it up. So I served them all with eviction notices. They weren't too happy."

"I'll bet not," Jeremiah said. "But me and Julia and Ryan were at the party too."

"And you're the only ones who actually threw your trash away," Jasmine said. "Everyone else just dropped it on the floor. It took me a couple of months to restore everything to normal."

"Some friends, huh?"

"But let's not talk about them, Jere," Jasmine said. "Let's spend a little time alone."

"Just let me get our coats and tell someone we'll be back in a bit," Jeremiah said.

Soon he returned with the coats and they got into Jasmine's car and went to her house.

Where Jeremiah loved her all night long.

----------

Part 7--

With the holidays over, it was time to concentrate on organizing the big rally in Chicago's Daley Plaza. Except the New Government gave it a new name: Chicagoland Plaza, though residents stubbornly referred to it by its old name.

Jordan was in charge of the public relations as she always was, and everyone else had their jobs to do. There would be a lot of security because of threats to David's life, and those of the other band members.

Morbus was training an elite group of Security Forces to neutralize the threats against the band. Nik was part of this group, though Julia and Jeremiah were not.

Jeremiah was walking without his crutches, but he hadn't been cleared by either his doctors at the compound, or at Northwestern, to go back to work. Just getting back to school after the holiday break was a challenge in itself because with the injury, he couldn't drive.

Julia, it was decided, was not going to participate in any bodyguard activity. Julia didn't take this well, and got permission to carry a gun at the rally anyway.

"I wish everyone would quit treating me like this fragile creature," she said to Ryan one evening after Morbus told her that she wouldn't be part of the security detail. "I can outshoot every one of those people he's training!"

"I think it has more to do with your age than your ability, Jules," Ryan said. "Morbus stated that anyone who would be chosen to participate had to be over eighteen. You're not even seventeen yet. There will be other opportunities, I'm sure."

"At least they're going to let me carry a gun," Julia said. "I should be happy with that."


David was busy preparing the speech he would deliver at the rally. The other guys in the band would be speaking, as well as other speakers recruited by Jordan. It was to be an all day event, with Disturbed playing their first live show in years after the speeches were done.

Everyone has a task, so that kept them busy. Dan was still monitoring intel, and Mike and John were still monitoring news feeds about the key members of the illegal government.

They had learned that Neil Hope had a nervous breakdown while in rehab for undisclosed problems. Dan got intel to back that up, and held meetings daily to update the rest of the band about Illegals movements and plans.

"Neil Hope is pretty fucked up I'd say," Mike said. "Can't say I have much sympathy for the man after everything he did to that poor girl."

"No one deserves that kind of misery though, no matter how wicked they've become, or how addicted they've become," David said, remembering that girl from his youth who killed herself over him.

"I wonder who McClayne is going to get to replace the old SOB," John said. "They must have someone in mind."

"Word is that they're going to replace McClayne himself," Dan said. "Carl Parks, the Co-Chairman, thinks McClayne is 'not well', and wants to take his place and have his boss declared incompetent."

"Carl Parks is ten times worse than McClayne ever was!" David said. "He's the one who thinks up all the gruesome ways to kill me."

"Sounds like someone wants a little more power," Mike said.

"No shit," John said. "What makes Parks think McClayne is incompetent?"

"Apparently, McClayne called off a hit he arranged for David," Dan said.

"McClayne's wanted me dead for years!" David said. "Why the change now?"

"He got intel about your daughters, and apparently didn't want to deprive them of their father."

"That doesn't make him incompetent, though," David said. "Maybe he thought better of the circumstances surrounding the rally. Lots of people, lots of security..."

"Parks reinstated it behind McClayne's back," Dan said. "As far as he knows, someone isn't going to try and kill you."

"Then we'll have to be especially careful," David said. "If the Committee can't agree on anything, and their members are going crazy or senile, then who knows what will happen at the rally we aren't expecting."

----------

Since he sent Marysa home to Mississippi at Christmas, McClayne had been busy on a number of projects. The main one was trying to make himself disappear. After speaking to someone who could arrange to make it look like the Committee Chairman had been robbed and murdered, McClayne warned that if word of this leaked out, he would deny everything.

"When do you want this to happen, Mr. McClayne?" he was asked.

"January thirteenth."

"You mean ten days from now, sir?"

"Yes. I don't have to remind you about not talking about this to anyone, do I?" McClayne asked.

"No, sir," the hit man said; "We've actually done this for a couple of other 'late' government officials who wanted out."

"Walton and Burns? I know both of them were allegedly murdered."

"I'm not saying," said the hitman; "but I can make you disappear, Mr. Chairman."

"Very good. I'll be leaving town on the 12th," McClayne said. "I look forward to reading about my own death in the papers on the 14th."

"And you shall," the hitman said.

----------

McClayne didn't want to go to the Committee meeting. If he had his way, he would have gotten in his car and kept driving until he got to Pass Christian. Marysa was there now, so he had something to look forward to.

Damn this keeping up appearances bullshit, he thought. I am so ready to go right now.

When he walked into the meeting, Parks, Sizemore, Varney and Carter were all there. Also in attendance was Rick Sasser, who would be nominated to take Neil Hope's place on the Committee.

"Shall we begin, gentlemen," McClayne said. "Mr. Sasser, thank you for being here today. As you know, you're being nominated to take the seat of Neil Hope, since he will not be back anytime in the near future due to his incapacitation. Carl, any new business?"

"Yes, Mr. Chairman," Parks said. "After you left our last meeting, we overruled your decision to call off the hit on David Draiman."

"And why was that?" McClayne could feel himself get angry.

"Because despite the reasons you gave, the man still gets in our way and needs to be eliminated. So his little girls won't have their daddy anymore. I don't care."

"Fine, you don't care."

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Chairman," Sizemore said; "but we thought you'd be pissed."

"Oh, I am, Sizemore," McClayne said; "but my doctor thinks my blood pressure is too high and I need to learn to relax. My daughter gave me a certificate for Tai Chi classes for Christmas, and I do believe that is the reason I'm not jumping down your throats with both feet."

"Are you okay, Mr. Chairman?" Parks asked, and McClayne could hear the sarcasm in the man's voice. He knew Parks wanted to be Chairman. So be Chairman, he thought. By the time the next meeting rolls around, I'll be a dead man anyway.

"I'm fine, Parks, thanks so much for your concern," McClayne said.

After voting on Sasser to take Neil Hope's place and other assorted business, McClayne said,

"I think we're through here for now. See you fuckers on the 17th."

When McClayne left, Parks said, "On the 17th, we'll vote to impeach him. He's not himself anymore. He's one step above Neil Hope if you ask me."

Parks didn't realize that he'd never get the chance to take that vote.

----------

Jayme read the stories about Neil Hope's nervous breakdown in the paper, and wondered if it had anything to do with her demanding he get help for his anger and violence issues. He was no longer on the Committee, she'd read, and his law firm placed him on an indefinite leave of absense.

Oh, Neil, she thought, I'm so sorry. I had no idea this would hurt you. I was angry, I was scared, I was concerned. I hope that someday, you'll be able to forgive me.

"It's too bad about your boss, Jayme," Mrs. Crist said. "At least he was in a medical facility when his mind snapped."

"I don't know of any stresses he was under, Mama," Jayme said. "He always seemed so easygoing to me."

"I'm sure it's not easy being married to the President," said Mrs. Crist. "Powerful men don't usually do well when their wives are moreso."

"I don't know, Mama. The few times I'd met her, she seemed pleasant enough," said Jayme. Oh, yeah Mama, if you only knew what Sarah Kathryn was really like!

"You feel like going to the soup kitchen to volunteer with me today, Jayme?" her mother asked.

"Let me get ready, and I'll come with."

----------

Part 8--

The rally was in four days, and all preparations were going well. Security was in place, all the advertising and promotions work was done, the band and the speakers were all ready.

The band was rehearsing for their return to the stage. David sounded as powerful as always, and the others sounded like they'd never been away. David was pumped!

"I can't wait until we can go back out on the road! I've had ideas for songs swirling in my brain for years," said David; "I'll bet we could get five more albums out of it all!"

"Well our last tour was cut short because the Illegals were trying to kill you every time you appeared on stage," Dan said. "We got half of our last tour done before we had to stop touring for our own safety."

"So much for trying to live a 'normal' life under the illegal government," Mike said, "especially when they outlaw your music and we had to give secret concerts everywhere."

"That's when the rallies really began to take off," David said. "And shit started getting crazy! New Army troops would come in and kill or imprison people for no reason. Like what happened to Jordan and Morbus."

"Now, they just try to kill us instead," Mike said.

"Or all of us and our families with some harebrained scheme," Dan said.

"Well," David said; "This shit's going to stop. My speech for Saturday is going to inspire everyone who hears it to act! Not just support our cause now, but act to change things. I'm talking about marches, candlelight vigils, protests. I've had enough of this Illegals shit. The time is now, and it's time to act, God dammit!"

The other three clapped, and David made an exaggerated bow.

"Shit, Dave, if that's part of your speech, I'm ready to march on the White House right fuckin' now!" John said. "Show Madame President a little Texas style protesting!"

"Speaking of Texas," David said. "I'd sure love to take Jordan and the girls back to Austin with me when this is over. And maybe a son or two..."

"What?!" Mike said. "'A son or two'? What you and Jordan got up your sleeves now?"

"We talked to some surrogates last week," David said. "A couple of them are willing to bear us a child."

"No secrecy this time?" asked John.

"No. Jordan had this idea that we should know the woman we eventually choose for this and for her to know us," David said.

"Good luck explaining THAT to your curious daughters, man!" Dan said, laughing.

----------

Marysa loved the little town of Pass Christian. It was on the Gulf and still close to Biloxi where her family was from. She wasn't able to bring her son with her this trip, because she wanted to see what kind of mood Jed/Josiah would be in when he arrived.

Calling him Josiah actually turned out to be easy. She never really liked his nickname much, so when he said she had to start calling him by his Christian name, she was okay with it.

She had come down right after New Year's as Josiah planned. The house was large and less than a decade old. It had been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina came and practically wiped the town off the map. Josiah supervised the recontruction himself, so that it looked as close to the home he grew up in as possible, just larger. And this time, it sat on high ground so that perhaps the next big hurricane wouldn't destroy it.

It had a beautiful view of the Gulf, and she could see where Josiah and his brothers and sister played as children. They helped their father with his shrimp boat business.

All of Josiah's siblings were gone now, save for his sister who lived in New Orleans in a residential home for those with Alzheimer's Disease. Marysa thought that was so sad, that "Miss Joanna" had no memories of her youth. Josiah said she was a spitfire in her heyday.

No one in "The Pass" questioned her when she was taken to the house. She saw quite a few mixed marriages and relationships in the few weeks she'd been here. That made her feel at home, as Biloxi was the same way. The Gulf cities were an Undesirables safe haven.

Marysa only wondered what Josiah would think of the news she was dying to tell him. Would he be angry? Happy? That was the only damper to the happiness she felt, is that Josiah wouldn't approve.

He would be with her soon. She missed him. She never thought her life would turn out like this. Happy.

----------

Two more days, McClayne thought. Two more days and I'll be a free man. Jed McClayne will no longer exist. Josiah Enoch Daniels would be reborn without his father's surname.

Two more days to a new life with his beautiful girl, Marysa. They'd get married, maybe have a baby or two. Try, at sixty four years old, to get it right this time. He'd renounced his old life. A new future awaited.

----------

Jeremiah eagerly awaited the arrival of Jasmine. Since he hadn't been cleared to drive yet, he still bummed rides everywhere, took taxis and buses. And Jasmine said she'd come and pick him up at the bus station nearest the compound. "A taxi would be too expensive for a college student on a budget," Jasmine said when she agreed to take the day off and come get him.

He thought back to the Christmas holidays, when he held Jasmine in his arms after they made love. She was an exquisite lover. He never knew she had that kind of passion. He loved it! Often, he'd wake up earlier than she did just to watch her sleep. Even if it was at 3 in the morning before she awoke to go to work. He would marvel at her beauty, her grace, and that she loved him.

He loved her, too. He thought he knew what love was, but he finally realized he had the kind of love his siblings had with their partners. It was almost fate that he got shot and had to spend time in the hospital. It brought two drifting souls together who were meant to be as one.

Jeremiah was sure, at some point, he would marry her. He even thought about how he'd propose. Down on one knee, taking her hand in his and asking the magic question. And she would say...

"Jeremiah! Boy, you're in another world!"

He snapped out of his daydream to see a real life dream standing before him. He laughed, embarrassed. "Caught me again, didn't you?"

"What were you thinking about?" Jasmine asked.

"You," Jeremiah said. "About how I should thank the man who shot me."

"He could have killed you, Jere."

"He was kind of a cupid in a way," said Jeremiah.

Jasmine was going to say something else, but Jeremiah kissed her instead. She responded. Soon they were hearing whoops of "you better not let that girl get away!" and catcalls.

Neither one of them cared. They walked hand in hand to Jasmine's little yellow car. Then they drove off towards the compound.