This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “Proof of Life”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

Full Length Of The River

©2008 by: Darrin

Chapter Five

An hour later, Stephanie was still asleep, breathing evenly.  Terry had closed his eyes but couldn’t sleep, replaying the scene in his head wishing he’d been able to stop it from happening.

He heard a soft knock on the door and opened his eyes to see Dino standing there.

“Goddam, Dino, what the hell?” he whispered vehemently, trying not to wake Stephanie but needing information from his partner just the same.

“Christ, Ter, I dunno.”  Dino walked in and leaned against the bed.  “She’d gone crazy on the tarmac like I told you, but I had no idea she blamed Steph.  David is mortified.  He’s been on the phone with me for the last half hour apologizing, said he’d told her about Stephanie because she saw the ambulance leave and was convinced it was Daphne who’d been put inside.  Apparently his mother lied to him, said she wanted to visit, see if there was anything she could do for Stephanie.  David didn’t think anything of it; his mom’s always been generous that way.  But when they got here and Charlene saw Steph, well, you were there.”

“That woman is not allowed anywhere near this hospital until after Stephanie is safe with me in New York, you got that?”

“Already done, Terry.  David swore to me that he wouldn’t fall for any more tricks now that he knows his mother’s real motive.”

“I promised her, mate.  That bitch broke my promise.  I have to keep all my promises to Steph, end of story.  You know what could happen if I don’t.”

Dino smiled.  Instead of launching into the lecture of not making promises like that in the first place, he just nodded.  “We’ll work it out, Terry.  Stephanie’s gonna listen to reason, she has so far.  It’ll be okay.”  Terry nodded once, tightly and stroked Steph’s hair again as Dino continued.  “I also got out of David that Daphne was on a similar cruise ship that Stephanie was reported being on, so these assholes are targeting single females on this package tour.  I guess they were too stupid to know the difference between ransomable cargo and girls who’ve scraped together enough cash to have a once-in-a-lifetime fling.  Or maybe the splinter group didn’t care about that.”

“Given that piece of info, I’d say you’re right.  Daphne’s was a professional kidnap, Steph’s wasn’t.  If Steph’d had money, there’d be someone here now, looking for her.  But unfortunately, Daphne ended up in the same camp as Stephanie and they chose Steph over Daphne.  Christ, so David’s mum comes to the conclusion that if Stephanie hadn’t been there, her daughter would’ve been ransomed.  And blames Stephanie instead of the cunts who killed her daughter.”

“That’s just fucked up, man,” Dino agreed.  Terry nodded, seething.  He kissed Steph’s temple and tried to calm down.  Dino was giving him an odd look again. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fall this hard, this fast, pal.  What gives?”

Terry shook his head, as bewildered as his partner.  “I have no idea, Dino.  But it’s a good fucking thing because she has no one else and no idea about her history.”

“What?”

“She told me she doesn’t remember anything from before being kidnapped.”

“No way.  She’s been too lucid for amnesia.  How the hell does that happen?”

“I dunno.  But that’s what she says.  So I’m committed.  I’m taking her back to New York to live with me, we’re gonna get her in to see the doc that Forsythe told me about and we’re gonna get her well.  I don’t know how much face time I’ll be able to put in at the office – ”

“Don’t worry about that,” Dino interrupted.

Terry looked up at him gratefully, acknowledging his statement with a nod before continuing, “But nothing is more important to me now except getting her well.”

“Okay, Terry.  We’ll make it happen.  How long does she have to stay here, do you know?”

“No, I was hoping to ask Bass that when he stopped by.  I’d reckon he’d be the one to discharge her.”

“Okay, then, let me go find him.  You want me to find Forsythe too?”

“I thought you were chasing some California tail tonight,” Terry said.

“Hey, Cali girls party all night long.  I can take care of a few errands for my partner before dinner,” Dino said, with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Terry chuckled quietly and Dino stood up from the bed.  “I’ll be back in a little while.  Meantime, I brought some more clothes for you and picked up a couple things for Princess Stephanie, too.”  Dino indicated the second gym bag he’d brought.

“Ta, mate.  I could do with a long fucking shower, I’ll tell you that.”

“Well, you should take one while she’s asleep.”

“I need to be here if she wakes up.”

Dino grinned.  “You’ve got it bad, pal.  Damn.  Terence Thorne falls hard for rescued Princess, film at eleven.”

Terry chuckled.  “Shut up, ya bastard.  You’ve had your share.”

Dino sighed, remembering a redhead of his own, many years ago.  “Yeah, I have at that.  See ya in a few then.”

Dino took off and Terry kissed the top of Stephanie’s head, glad she was still asleep.  “Princess Stephanie.  Dino has a way with words, luv.”  He knew by that teasing little title that Dino was fully on board and between the two of them, Stephanie would be the best protected “royalty” the world had ever seen.

He started mapping out an itinerary of things they’d need to do once they got to Manhattan.  Contact Stephanie’s boss, find out as much as he could, hopefully a residence address too and follow up any leads from there.  Take Steph to both places and see if it brought any memories back.  Make sure Dino stayed on top of the investigation now that they had the solid lead of the cruise ships.  That’s usually an inside man kind of job and that meant the FBI would have crew to interview.  And that meant that T&M could start researching as soon as the FBI had a bloke they suspected.

At that point he was torn.  He’d want to go on the mission with Dino and David, but would he really be able to?  At this point, there was no way Stephanie would let him go, let alone on a mission that might get him wounded or worse.  He could hope for possibly being home base operator at best.  Terry sighed.  He wanted to fucking kill these cunts with his bare hands but he had to choose between revenge and caring for the girl he wanted vengeance for.

Well, he did hate field work.

He turned his head to observe the sheila in his arms, breathing evenly, long black hair tumbled down across his arm, her face turned towards his.  One hand was laying on his chest, the other holding his shoulder behind her head.  There was still mottled bruising across her skin, just about everywhere, but they were fading already and in the half light of the darkening room all he could see was her black lashes laying softly on her cheeks and her full lips parted slightly in sleep.

A sudden flash of her lying in bed with him, looking like this in an afterglow jerked him awake.  Jesus Christ, Thorne! he thought, way too fuckin’ wrong!  He took several deep breaths, calming himself down from the adrenaline rush that thought had given him and forced himself back to what he should be thinking about.  I must be tired, he concluded, purposefully ignoring thoughts of attraction and how sometimes you just had no control over these things.  Well, he did, dammit.  And now was not the time.  But maybe later, a voice whispered in his mind and he allowed himself a nano-second of yeah, maybe, before shutting that voice down and hard.  While he wanted to think about taking care of her so she’d never associate being with him with what had happened to her, he also knew that would be a breach of epic proportions that would cause him to lose her permanently.

Softly, mate, was the last he allowed himself to think about that before wrenching his mind back on the here and now.

Get ahold of the bloke Dr Forsythe had told him about and set a routine.  He could do that.  He’d miss work, but with today’s technology, he could still be there for Dino and the firm and keep Stephanie safe with him.

The question that had been repeated to him several times already today flitted through his mind.

Why are you doing this?

Who knows why anyone does anything?

You do.  You always know why.

Yeah?  What about Tecala?

No one else was going to take her case, you said so yourself.

And no one else is going to take care of Stephanie.

You don’t know that for certain.

I know it.  They’d be here, they’d’ve contacted us somehow.  I don’t know how or why a sheila as beautiful and sweet as she is, is alone, but she is and she’s crossed my path.  I have to do this.  And what’s more, I want to do this.

Finally his mind shut up and let him live with his decision.  He sighed.  Everything was moot until she woke up and let him know if he was still someone she wanted protecting her.

A short while later, Dino was back, Bass in tow.

“Hey, Terry, how you holdin’ up?  You know, you need to take care of yourself as well as Stephanie.  She can’t rely on you if you’re not operating at a hundred per cent.”

“Ta, Bass.  I know.  But I’d rather go without sleep than disappoint her again by not being here when she wakes up.”

Bass nodded and did a cursory check of her back while she was in a good position to do so.  As he checked under a couple of the bandages with the small pen light he had, he spoke quietly.  “I heard what happened.  You didn’t disappoint Stephanie, I can promise you that.”

“You and I know that, mate, but she’s been through too much already to ask her to take human fallibility into account.  She has every right to expect me to keep all my promises, regardless of how unreasonable that expectation might be.”

Bass stood up and grinned at him, then Dino.  “Stubborn, you were right.”

Terry gave Dino his most annoyed ‘brow and Dino laughed.  “Toldja,” was all he said.

“Bloody drongo,” Terry said.

“What’s a drongo?” came the slightly slurred whisper from someone who was supposed to be sleeping.

Terry looked at Stephanie in surprise.  “Luv?”

Stephanie rubbed her eyes, reminding Terry of Henry many years ago.  She finally focused on Terry with a small smile.  “Hi,” she said.  Then sat up a little and noticed Dino and Bass staring at her.  “Hi,” she said to them as well then turned back to Terry.  “Is that bad lady gone now?  You said a very bad word to her.  Lots of bad words.”

Terry could only laugh, his delighted shock at her lack of stutter rendering him speechless.

“He does that, Steph.  He’s got a mouth on him you wouldn’t believe.  Offends my precious virgin-like ears.”

Terry found his voice then.  “Pah, you bloody goblin!  You swear far worse than I do!”

Bass was chuckling at the obvious friendship between the two men.  Stephanie was still smiling, but pulling closer to Terry.  He could feel her heart beating a little harder than normal, a clear indication she was getting nervous.

Terry pulled her a little away from him to look into her eyes properly.  “You okay, luv?  That was a pretty bad scare.”

“Yeah, it was,” she whispered in a little voice that made Terry’s heart ache.

Terry held her close again and whispered, “I’m sorry she scared you, luv, but she’s never coming back.”

“That’s right, no one comes near Princess Stephanie unless we say so.”

Stephanie grinned shyly and buried her face against Terry’s neck and whispered softly, “You protected me, just like you said.”

“I tried, luv.  I’m sorry about the needle.”  Stephanie’s arms tightened around his neck and was that a kiss he felt on his skin?

“It only hurt a little.  Like before.”

“I’m glad, I don’t want anyone hurting you.”

Stephanie nodded and tried to wrap herself around Terry more than she already was.

“I guess you’re still on the job then, hermano,” Dino said quietly.  Terry beamed at him.  Dino laughed.  “Okay, I’m getting outta here.  Bass, a pleasure meeting you, take care of my Princess.  Ter, I’ll catch you later and Steph,” she turned to look at Dino when he said her name, “give the old man as hard a time as you can.  He needs it.”  Steph shook her head and curled around Terry again.  Dino left with a laugh.  Terry hoped Dino would find himself a limber gymnast who specialized in sucking Marines dry.

“Okay, if you can let go of Stephanie for a little while, I’d like to check her other dressings too,” Bass said, closing the door for privacy.

Terry could tell Steph just wanted to hold him but knew the doc had limited time.  “Just two ticks, luv, okie dokie?”

She finally let herself be pulled from her hold on him and got onto her bed reluctantly.  Bass turned on the light in the room then returned to the bed, undoing the back of her gown and letting it fall forward.  Stephanie looked away at the ceiling as he peeled back the dressings on each breast for a brief look, confirming the infection was abating.

“Well, those are healing up nicely,” he said as he helped get her gown back onto her.

“When do you think she’ll be able to be discharged, Bass?”

Bass looked at Stephanie with a smile.  “Maybe another day?  Just to make sure you’re okay to travel.  I want to get the test results back too so I can give you that information.”  Bass looked to Terry who nodded, then back to Stephanie.

Steph nodded and then shared a smile with Terry who was thankful the mention of test results went over her head.

Bass walked over to the door.  “I saw Ben in the hallway downstairs and he’s going to stop by after you two have your dinner.  I gotta get back downstairs, but don’t hesitate to have one of the nurses call me if you need anything.  I’ll leave orders for a bandage change sometime this evening, so be aware of that.”

“Will do, mate.  Ta for coming by.”

“All part of the job, man.”  Bass smiled at Stephanie then shook Terry’s hand and left.

Terry went over to the bed where Stephanie was looking a little forlorn and took her hand.  “It’s just part of getting you better, luv.  You are feelin’ better, right?”

“Yes,” she answered softly.

“And you know, your stutter’s gone.”

Stephanie looked surprised then realized it was true.  She ducked her head down, blushing and Terry chuckled.  Just then there was a knock on the door and dinner had arrived.

Terry was amazed by the vast improvement in Stephanie since she’d awakened.  Her stutter was completely gone and her hands were no longer shaking.  He wondered distantly if Charlene’s attack had hit some kind of weird “reset” button in Steph’s brain, like when you scare someone who has the hiccups.  That made him smile to himself which he was glad Stephanie didn’t notice as her focus was on dinner.  She’d placed her little bear on the table in front of her tray as if he was joining her and ate quietly, stealing looks to Terry every now and then as if to make certain he was still there.

As a soldier used to eating at breakneck speed, Terry finished before Stephanie and dug into the gym bag Dino had just brought to see what presents he’d gotten “Princess” Stephanie and her caretaker.  Another change of clothes, his full shaving kit from the hotel and his laptop for Terry, several blouses and jeans for Stephanie with a full complement of underwear and everything a girl could possibly need for the bathroom whether she wanted it or not.  Terry pictured Dino at the local super store, tossing anything that he could vaguely remember from all the bathrooms he’d gotten a view of during his many exploits.  He’d also managed to get proper pajamas for Stephanie and that particular purchase he made a mental note to be sure to take the piss with him about.  Dino had never gotten “full coverage” pj’s for a sheila in his life.  Terry had no doubt all the clothing would fit Steph.  Dino had an eye for the female form almost as good as Terry’s.  Probably better, he thought with a chuckle.

He was sure there’d be a full suitcase back at the hotel for Stephanie too that she could take with her for the trip home.

Home.  Terry liked thinking of his place being Stephanie’s home, too right.

Terry turned to Steph and saw she was just finishing the last of her chocolate pudding.  “Dino’s been shopping for you,” he said with a smile, holding up the pajamas.  They were a soft pastel blue complete with chaste little bow at the neck.

“Those are pretty,” Stephanie said with a shy little smile.  “Is it okay?  I mean, I don’t have any money…”

“No worries, luv.  Money’s something you don’t have to worry about.  Just getting better.”

Stephanie seemed to accept that and slid out of the bed, taking the top from Terry and holding it up to herself.  “We probably both need showers, huh?”

“I know I could use one,” Terry admitted with a chuckle.  “But with your bandages, I reckon you’ll need to rely on Gretchen a bit longer.”  He reached out a hand to caress her cheek.  “That okay, luv?”

Stephanie nodded, looking unsure.  “But… y-you don’t have to.”

Terry left his hand on her cheek and answered very softly, “No.”

She looked around the room, her eyes lighting briefly on her bear and out to the hallway where nurses and patients could be seen, then back to Terry.  “C-can wait… maybe?  Until I’m asleep?”

Terry smiled and smoothed his thumb over her cheek, “That was my plan.”

That got him the shy little grateful smile again.  “Okay.”  Stephanie sighed with relief and Terry helped her back into her bed.  Just then a nurse came in, introducing herself as Brenda and said she’d be the one taking care of Stephanie for the night shift.  After checking Stephanie’s vitals and IV, she told Terry she’d been fully briefed, everything was taken care of and Dr Forsythe was on his way up.  Terry thanked her and after she’d left, got his cot set up before taking his post in the chair again.  The orderly arrived to take their dinner trays away, then Terry and Stephanie settled in to watch a little television until Ben arrived.

The now-familiar Santa Claus shaped form filled the doorway to Stephanie’s room a short while later.  Once again, he made sure to not overwhelm Stephanie with his presence by keeping a discreet distance between them.  Terry gave up his chair and took a seat at the end of Stephanie’s bed and after pleasantries, filled the doctor in on what had happened in the lobby and Stephanie’s inability to remember anything prior to the kidnapping.

Stephanie for her part, remained under the covers in her bed, instead of crawling behind Terry.  It felt to Terry like each stranger had to be met and approved by him before she would accept his or her presence without any extra caution.  As always, his quick mind surged into the future and he wondered if, or rather how long it would be before she would be able to meet strangers in a more normal manner and on the heels of that if he’d miss being her layer of protection between her and the rest of the world.  But Ben was speaking and he needed to focus.

“…know your partner already spoke with the son, but I called Mrs Masters on behalf of the hospital and told her that her behaviour was completely unacceptable and she may have caused extensive damage to ongoing therapy I was performing.”  Ben winked at Terry then turned to Stephanie, “That was a little fib but I figured it was worth it to keep her from scaring you again.  But you seem much better now, yes?”

Stephanie nodded, but Terry could see in her eyes a slightly haunted look and knew she did not need to go through anything like that again.

“Well,” Ben continued, “that settles that then, hopefully and you can have another afternoon in the patients’ quad tomorrow.  But this amnesia is giving me some concern.  You say you don’t remember anything from before the kidnapping?”  Steph shook her head, the haunted look deepening in her eyes.  Ben’s brow furrowed as he spoke, “What about the cruise ship?  I understand you were abducted from a South American cruise ship?  No?  No recollection at all?”  At Stephanie’s continued denial, Ben shook his head.  “Well, that is a mystery.  One my colleague will certainly rather enjoy solving.”  Ben smiled at Stephanie.  “Well, you must not worry, my dear, he’s an excellent doctor and he’ll help you in your recovery, I promise you that.”

“Okay,” Stephanie said quietly.  Terry was chuffed she’d finally spoken and squeezed her hand that had found its way into his.

“That’s good then.  All right, I’ve prescribed a mild sedative to help you sleep tonight and I’ll let Bass know that as soon as he’s comfortable with releasing you to travel, I’ve cleared you as well.  The nurse has my number if anything arises, but for now, just rest up to be fit for your trip home.”  He smiled at Stephanie, shook Terry’s hand and then left.

“Well, luv, I reckon it’s just you, me and the telly then for tonight.”

“Cuz Dino’s chasing California tail,” Steph replied with a grin and a blush.

Terry laughed out loud.  “Well, look who’s been doing some eavesdropping!  Yeah, some sheila’s gonna get supremely lucky tonight.  So, you wanna change into your new pajamas and get comfy before we find something to watch?”  At Steph’s nod, Terry fetched the clothes in question and handed them to her as she went into the bathroom to change.  She didn’t close the door, but Terry turned around out of habit, thinking it was odd she was so very trusting but only of him.

After Stephanie was back in bed, Terry shucked his jeans, changing into the track pants Dino had brought and pulled off his polo shirt, leaving his singlet on and stretched out on the cot.  It only took Stephanie a few minutes to decide on a show that Terry said he liked and for awhile they just laid watching telly in companionable silence except for the show.

An hour later, Brenda returned to change Steph’s bandages.  It took a little while, but holding Terry’s hand kept Steph relatively calm.  Then Brenda produced the sedative Dr Forsythe had prescribed and injected it into Steph’s IV line.  “You’ll fall asleep in just a little while, Stephanie,” she told her and reminded both of them she was just a call button away.

It wasn’t too long after that when Terry saw Steph was fully asleep and grabbed his kit and went out to the nurse’s station to see if there was a shower stall he could borrow.  Brenda directed him to the staff locker room where there were several showers and Terry trotted there quickly, wanting to get back to Stephanie as fast as he could.  And truth be told, he was feeling the effects of too little sleep in the last forty-eight hours and looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

Once under the hot, refreshing spray, though, he indulged in a few minutes of hard pulse massage that the adjustable showerhead afforded him, letting the tension leave his shoulders and back first, then dialing it back and letting the water sluice over his head, resting his hands against the shower wall and breathing slow and deep, relaxing further.  Terry had learned how to get more tension released under a shower than almost anything else, except for a full body massage.  He grinned at the memory of the most authentic one he’d ever received that had ended in a night of geisha delight back when he and Dino were still fresh off the Force and looking for all that adventure the Army had once promised them but had never delivered.  Dino could find debauchery in any city and had treated Terry to a few months’ R&R that he’d never forgotten.

Those were the days, he thought, not unhappy they were over; there was a limit to the amount of fun an almost forty-year old man should have.  Not that that would ever stop Dino.  As Terry washed his hair, then soaped up a flannel and washed himself, he wondered if Dino would ever settle down.  Not likely, he thought with a chuckle, but I hope when it happens she’s a wildcat for him always.

Rinsed off, dried and redressed in fresh clothes, Terry felt like he could take on the world again, despite still needing a good night’s sleep.  He thanked the nurse when he saw her on his way back to Stephanie’s room and she smiled a response that turned into a concerned frown as one of her monitors started beeping.

“Mr Thorne, that’s Stephanie’s, we need to check on her.”

She’d barely finished speaking and Terry was already on a run for the room, the nurse following closely behind him.

He flipped the switch for the light in the room and saw the bed was empty, monitor connections and IV needle dangling on or around the bed.  He heard a small whimper from the corner of the room and strode over to where Stephanie was curled against the wall exactly as she had been in the galley barely twenty-four hours earlier.

“Steph!” Terry cried out and hunkered down near her, trying to take her hand.  At first she drew back from him, not seeing him for who he was and he saw her almost react as she had in the hut.  “No, luv, it’s me, it’s Terry, you know me, you’re not afraid of me.  Take my hand.”  He held out his hand to her and she stared at it, trembling but Terry could see the debate in her eyes of whether to believe him or not.  Her eyes darted about the room and finally Terry could see the truth of her current situation coming back to her and she looked up to meet his eyes with a sorrow-filled but hopeful gaze.

“S-Safe?”

Terry captured her hand in his and held it firmly.  “Yes, Stephanie.  You’re safe.  You will never be there again.  You just had a nightmare.  That’s gonna happen, but it’s not ever gonna be real again.  You have to remember that.”

Terry sighed as she slowly climbed into his embrace and let out a shuddering breath.

“They hurt m-me.”

“Yes, they did.  And they’re going to pay for that.  Dino and I are gonna make sure of it.”  Stephanie nodded against his neck and he stood up with her in his arms, wrapped around him again, walking her back to her bed.  “The nurse needs to hook you back up, Babygirl.  Okay?  Just a little pinch again, but you need to stay hooked up to your meds.”

Stephanie nodded and let go when Terry did.  Brenda bustled about getting everything hooked up and making such swift work of the IV needle, Stephanie didn’t even flinch.  When she was done, Brenda whispered to him that she’d call the doctor and see if she could give Stephanie something stronger, to which Terry nodded and then pulled his chair close to the bed so he could hold her hand and gentle her back to sleep, his fingers caressing her temple and brushing her hair back from her face as Stephanie’s breathing calmed down.

A few minutes later, Brenda returned with a syringe and fed the contents into Steph’s IV line.  She fell asleep almost instantly.

“She should sleep through the night now, this is a much stronger sedative than the first one.”

“Thank you, Brenda, I hope you’re right.”

The nurse left, turning off the light and Terry stretched out onto his cot.

He fell asleep almost as fast as Stephanie had, once his head hit the pillow.  His last thought before sleep claimed him was that he actually missed the feel of her in his arms.

Chapter Six