This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “LA Confidential".  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.

Shadows

©2007 by: KC

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ed raced into the building, nearly stumbling over Wanda's prone figure in the hall; guided by the screaming voice coming from the far end room, he got to the entrance just in time to see Wendell White raising the tire iron one more time over Bud.

"Bye, sonny boy," he was yelling, "go join your whore of a mother--"

A bullet slammed into his back; he crashed down on top of Bud, impaling himself on the knife Bud was managing to hold in his slippery hands.

The last clear thought Bud would have for a while was, if the final sound heard was the gurgling sound of his father's death rattle, he would die a happy man.

~*~

Ed pulled a semi- conscious Bud from beneath the shattered corpse and rapidly checked him over; he was relieved not to find any bullet holes, but he needed that ambulance --and now!  He hurried back down the  hall to find Wanda, trying to sit up.

"Don't move," he said, "just stay here, I’ll be back."

She was trying to tell him something but he had no time.  He got back out to the squad car where Lynn was still frantically pounding at the window.

"Call for ambulances," he ordered, curtly, "as many as--"

"I already--"

Screaming sirens blasted through the air just as he yanked the car door open for Lynn.  He reached for her arm; she shook him loose.

"I hate you," she screamed.

Ed stayed calm.  "Bud's alive--I'm gonna take you to him."

This time she let him lead her as they rushed back inside.

~*~

"Oh my god, Bud!" Lynn sank down beside him, cradling his bloody face in her hands; his breath was coming in short, painful hitches.  He moaned.

"What is it, honey--"

"--gone?"  Was all he could manage.

Lynn looked at the mangled remains of what had been Wendell White and shuddered.

"Yes Bud, he's gone.  Just lie still--"

"W--Wanda?"

She looked around, confused.  "What?"

"Lynn," she heard, "over here.  She's okay.  Tell him!"

All of Lynn's concentration had been on Bud, but now she looked over at Bud's Aunt who was sitting up, dazed, resting against the wall.  She had no idea what to make of this at the moment, but all she said to Bud was, "She's okay, Bud, she's okay."

And then a rush of police and ambulances arrived.  Ed hurried out and directed them inside.

"Officer down," he yelled, "Officer down!"

~*~

Once he had informed the men of what to do and saw Bud being carried on a stretcher to the first ambulance, with Lynn right behind him, Ed went back to the car where Joy was standing there, motionless and pale.

"Is he going to be all right?" she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.  "What happened in there?"

"Wendell was in the hotel when Bud got here," Ed replied in a flat, emotionless voice.  "With Wanda.  He had her tied up in one room.  But she got away.  And she got a shot at him with Bud's revolver.  He's alive because of her."

"Oh my God, that brave woman."

They watched as Wanda was wheeled out into the next ambulance.  Joy started to go to her; Ed held her back.

"There's more.  We--we found Scarlett.  That's how Wendell lured Bud to the hotel.  She's dead."

As he said that, the last two gurneys were wheeled out, carrying the bodies of Scarlet and Wendell.  Joy just shook her head in horror; she couldn't speak.  Ed put his arms around her.  His eyes were cold with fury as he jutted his chin in the direction of Wendell's corpse.  "Some things are just an aberration," he said, "just a fuckin, goddamn mistake of nature."

~*~

In the emergency room, Lynn and Ed sat in hard chairs, next to each other.  Ed wanted to hold her, to comfort her, but her stony, silent demeanor told him otherwise.  Joy came walking towards them.

"How is she?" Ed asked.

"Remarkable, under the circumstances," said Joy.  "They put her back in her room and gave her something to help her sleep.  She never properly checked out, so she's still a patient."

Lynn spoke for the first time since they had been in the waiting room.

"I should go see her--"

"Not now, Lynn, we should let her rest--"

But Lynn ignored Joy and started to stand up.  That was when the floor slid out from under her.

~*~

Lynn woke up less than five minutes later to a sea of concerned faces looking down at her where she lay in the gurney.

"Wh-what happened?"

"You fainted, honey," said Joy.

"Just take it easy, Mrs. White," said a nurse, "and lay still.  We paged your doctor--"

"--don't be silly."  Lynn struggled to sit up.  "My husband--how is he?"

"Lynn," Ed ordered, "be still."

"You shut up," she replied angrily, "you're not ordering me around anymore--"

Joy glanced at Ed.  He looked stricken, but stood his ground.

"I kept you safe.  I did my job, what Bud would have wanted."

"Bud could have died in there.  Without me.  I'm never speaking to you again!"

Ed said nothing more, just stepped back as the nurse took charge.

"When was the last time you ate something, Mrs. White?"

"I--I don't remember--I'm not hungry--"

"Well, your baby is."  At those words, Lynn stopped struggling.  "That's better.  Now, just sit here, we're going to get you some juice and toast.  We need to get your blood pressure back up."

"I'll uh--I'll go see if there's any word on Bud," Ed said quickly, and disappeared, closing the curtain behind him. Joy and Lynn were left alone.  There was silence between them for the moment; Joy spoke first.

"That's better.  Just take some deep breaths--"

"--Joy, not you, too," Lynn snapped.  "Everybody keeps telling me to take it easy!  How can I take it easy when I don't know if my husband--"

The curtain slid open again.  A very welcome face came over to Lynn.

"Your husband's going to be fine, Mrs. White.  Just fine."

Lynn's mouth dropped open.  "Oh my god, Dr. Conroy!  I'm so glad to see you!"

He gave her a tired smile.  ''Yeah.  I heard my former patient was once again availing himself of our facilities.  I got down here as quick as I could."   He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Like I said, he's going to be fine.  It's nothing--like last time."  As Lynn shuddered at the memory, he continued, "he has a concussion, that's why he was unconscious for so long.  And a couple of broken ribs.  But he should make a full recovery."

"I'm so glad you're taking care of him," she said, in a faint voice.

"Seems to be a habit I can't break," the doctor said, with a smile.

It took a moment but he got a small laugh from Lynn.  "Can I see him?"

"We're taking him for x-rays, just in case, and we're going to wrap those ribs.  I'll let you know when he's in a room.  Meanwhile, I hear congratulations are in order?  And that you're giving these lovely ladies a bad time?"  He gestured toward the nurses.

"I've been worried about Bud," Lynn muttered.

"It's time to worry about yourself.  I want you to eat something and rest and take care of that little someone in there."

"You're sure Bud's going to be all right?"

"I've always told you the truth, haven't I?"

"Yes."

"Then get yourself down to the cafeteria and eat something.  And not just tea and toast.  Doctor's orders!"

~*~

"What do you say we go for broke," Joy said.  "Let's get desert!"

Standing at the cafeteria counter, Lynn eyed a tired piece of apple pie and scowled.

"No thanks.  If I'm going to look like an elephant, soon, it has to be something worth-while."

Both women laughed.  They each settled for chicken-salad sandwiches, milk for Lynn and coffee for the both of them.  At the last minute Lynn grabbed a small bowl of jello.

They found a booth and settled in; Lynn started immediately on her sandwich while Joy took a more leisurely sip of coffee and smiled at her.

"You're hungry, after all."

"Yes--I guess I am," Lynn said, between bites, "I didn't think so, but--now that I know Bud's going to be okay--"

"You have a lot of faith in that doctor, don't you?"

"Of course.  He saved Bud's life a few years ago.  You know about that, don't you?"

Joy nodded.

"I don't think he even left the hospital for ten days," Lynn remembered.  "Even when it looked hopeless--he kept telling Ed and me not to give up.  He was wonderful."

"He seems like it.  Is he married?"

Lynn gave her a startled look.  "Yes, he is--why do you ask?"

"I don't know, he's kind of cute.  I thought if things don't work out with Ed--"

"Joy!"  Lynn pretended to be horrified.  ''You're terrible!"

"Why?  A girl has to look after herself, you know!"

The two women laughed for the second time in ten minutes.

"So--how do you know he's married?"

"Because--" Lynn took another bite of her sandwich.  "We invited them to our wedding.  They were the only guests--besides Ed, of course."

"Sounds small."

"It was very small, but that was fine with us.  We just wanted to get married."

"Tell me about it," Joy said, her face alight with enthusiasm.  "When did he propose?"

"Well--we'd been apart for a while," Lynn said, pensively, "but that's another story.  A very long one.  It was horrible."

"Now, now--only happy things, remember? The wedding?"

"You're right, you're right--anyway.  Once we were back together, we knew.  We just knew--it was for keeps.  We both understood things about each other that we didn't know, before."

"Go on, go on!"

"It was spur of the moment.  One day, he took me to the park, pulled out this," she said, showing Joy the ring, "and said, "how about it?"

"How about it?"  Joy gave an amused scoff.  "How romantic."

"I didn't care.  I was so happy."

"I'll bet you were--"

"--and we wanted to do it right away.  Just get married.  We were going to get married by the Justice of the Peace, but then Ed heard about it and made a couple of calls and arranged for an old friend of his father's, a judge--to marry us in his office."

"That was sweet of him," Joy said softly.

Lynn cocked her head. "You think I don't know what you're doing?"

"Doing what?"

"Getting my mind off everything, and stop playing Miss Innocence, you don't do it very well, Joy."

"I guess I'll have to work on that."  She reached for her purse and pulled out a small bag.  "Here.  This might help, too."

"What in the--"

"I visited the gift shop on my way back from checking on Bud's Aunt.  I thought you might like it."

Lynn was looking at a little yellow teddy bear, her eyes already misting over.

"Oh my god, Joy."

"Well, it's not a Doodle Bear, but--"

Lynn grabbed her hand.  "This is so sweet.  I've never had a friend like you--"

Joy patted her hand back and said, quietly, "Don't be mad at Ed.  He was just protecting you."

There was a beat of silence.

"I know," Lynn said, quietly.  "And now I've hurt him, I'm such an ungrateful bitch."

"You're not.  He'll understand--" She saw Lynn's face change to disgust, as a very unwelcome person approached their table.

"Speaking of bitches," she muttered.  "Hide this!"  She thrust the teddy bear back in Joy's hands.

Chapter Sixteen

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