| She Misses Him |
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*She Misses Him*
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[Country singer Tim Rushlow, who thought of it after witnessing his in-laws deal with the fact that the husband had Alzheimer’s disease, sings this song. That’s not exactly how my story works, but it is loosely based on the song.] She shaves his face She misses his gentle touch
And the way he used to make her laugh His children come on Saturday She misses his gentle touch And yes, they're still together
After all these years She misses his gentle touch Prologue The morning would be hectic enough without having Luis’ hands massaging her lower back. He was running late for work, as was she, and the kids had yet to be brought to school. They had to get moving and still he kissed her neck. “Luis, cut it out. We’re running late enough!” she pushed his hands off as she finished packing the kid’s lunches. Their five children needed lunch for school and rides, despite their oldest being eighteen. LJ, or Luis Jr., was their oldest and the spitting image of his father. Following him were their twins Kathryn and Katelyn, Kathy and Katie for short, who were identical twin girls. The fourteen-year-old pair was the spitting images of their mother with their father’s Latin temper. Next was their son, Tristan, was only ten and a computer genius. He looked like his mother but had his father’s deep brown eyes. Finally, their soon-to-be seven-year-old baby girl was named Trinity. She was Luis’ image with Sheridan’s eyes. She had been a surprise for both of her parents, but they loved her nonetheless. Luis sighed, knowing his wife was right. They could always continue this tonight. “Sheridan, I’ll be home at seven,” Luis walked into the kitchen and kissed her cheek. His promotion to Chief of Police had come only weeks after Sam Bennett retired from the force. Luis was offered a desk position as chief or retirement, but he wanted neither. He missed being out on the beat and, at only forty-nine, he couldn’t find any reason to retire or slow down. Sheridan turned and smiled. “All right, love,” she kissed his lips gently. “The kids and I are going to go shopping at the mall this afternoon, so call my cell if you’re lonely,” she winked. “Shopping?” he groaned, another big bill from the LF clan. “LJ needs new shoes. Kathy and Katie need dresses for their dance and Tristan wants me to get him a new computer game. We did promise him. Plus I need to get Trinity’s birthday gift.” Sheridan sighed. “We have her party this weekend.” “All right. I’ll see the pack of you at seven,” he kissed her cheek again and headed out. “Love you.” “Love you too,” Sheridan waved as he left. Luis and his posse of men surrounded the First National Bank on Oceanview and First: the scene of a hostage situation. He signaled for the men to start the necessary procedure, but before they could a shot rang out. “Back off, coppers, we’ve got hostages!” one of the thugs called. Luis stepped forward, hands up and gun on the floor. “We just want to talk this out, man. Let the people go.” “No way,” the guy laughed. “I ain’t quitting now!” “Come on!” Luis growled. “There’s got to be a way we can work this out without hurting anyone.” “LUIS! LOOK OUT!” Silvano called as another shot rang out. It ricocheted off of something, hitting Luis in the back. He went down onto his knees and landed on his stomach. “We need an ambulance!” Sheridan groaned as Kathy and Katie dragged her into a forth dress shop in the Harmony mall. So far, neither had found a dress they approved of or even liked enough to wear to the dance. In her arms, Sheridan carried a very tired Trinity and tagging behind were LJ and Tristan, who hated shopping with their sisters. Before Sheridan could even take another step into the store, her cell phone rang, bringing her to a halt. “LJ, grab your sister please, hun.” LJ took Trinity from his mother’s arms and Sheridan immediately picked up her phone, thinking it was Luis, she grinned and said, “Hey love.” “Sheridan?” Eve asked. “Oh, sorry Eve. I figured this was Luis. How are you?” Sheridan asked, shaking her head no at the two-piece dress Katie was holding. “I’ve been better. Sheridan, I was coming into the hospital for a committee meeting when I saw them rushing Luis into the ER. I don’t know if anyone notified you…” “What? Eve do you know what was wrong with him?” Sheridan asked, shaking. “Sheridan, I believe he was shot,” Eve replied sadly. “Oh my God,” Sheridan gasped, closing the phone. “Kids, let’s go,” she started for the car before the kids could question why. She sped down the highway to the hospital, praying that Luis would be all right. Sheridan had told LJ what had happened and he was more than willing to take care of his siblings while his mother was sitting with his father. However, when they got there, the reality of what was happening hit Sheridan all at once and she was afraid to leave the children. “Mom, just go. We’ll call Nana and Pops and have them come down with Aunt Resa and the gang. Go on, go,” LJ insisted. Sheridan still hesitated. She was worried about Luis and how the younger children would handle losing their father. She felt her eyes began to tear again, something they had been doing since they left the mall. “Mommy, is Daddy ok?” Trinity asked, looked at her mother’s red-rimmed eyes. “I’m sure he is,” Sheridan kissed her daughter. “All right, LJ go outside and use my cell to call Nana. Kathy, Katie, I’m trusting you two to watch Trin and Tristan. Ok?” “Yea, Mom,” the twins replied at the same time, turning to each other to giggle. Sheridan smirked. “All right, I’m going to go find Dad,” Sheridan headed to the nurses’ station to get directions to her husband’s room. He had been shot before. She was sure he was fine. Given directions almost immediately, Sheridan headed to Luis’ room. A tall aged man with wire rimmed glasses stopped Sheridan from entering Luis’ room. “Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald, I’m Dr. Hammock. I’m in charge of your husband’s case.” He shook her hand and tried to smile. “Your husband was shot in the back, just below the neck. He is breathing on his own, which is a good sign, but until he wakes we won’t know the extent of the damage done to his nervous system and the spinal column. We’ll be taking him up for a CAT scan in a little while.” Sheridan knew she must have paled because the doctor grabbed her arm and led her to a chair just as her knees began to buckle. “But he is alive?” Sheridan asked. “Yes, Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald, he’s alive,” the doctor patted her hand. ‘Alive,’ he thought, ‘but what kind of life he’ll have from hence forth is questionable.’ “May I see him?” Sheridan asked, forcing herself to stand despite her wobbly legs. “Yes,” the doctor nodded and opened the door for her. “I’ll let you know what the tests say as soon as I can.” Sheridan nodded and entered Luis’ room. She sat beside his bed and kissed his hand. “Come back to us, Luis, we need you.” Luis was taken to the X-Ray wing for a CAT scan while he still was unconscious. Waiting in the glass room with the doctors as they looked at the machine, Sheridan began to pace the room. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that nothing good would come of this scan. “What do you see, Art?” Dr. Hammock asked. Pointing to his spinal column, he showed the damage done by the bullet. “I think he severed the spinal nerve.” Dr. Hammock looked at the monitor and sighed. Luis had indeed severed his spinal nerve and would probably never regain any feeling in his lower body. “Do you think he’ll only be paralyzed?” Art asked. Dr. Hammock looked over at Sheridan and sighed. “Yes, Art, I do believe that he’ll be paralyzed, but we won’t know where he lost sense until he wakes.” “I feel bad for his family,” Art whispered. “Go on, take him back down.” Luis woke later that night, looking around and attempting to lift his arms so he could wipe his eyes. “Sher?” “I’m here, sweetheart,” Sheridan sat on his bed and took his hand. “How are you?” “Ok, I can’t feel my legs…” “I know,” Sheridan kissed his head. “Do you remember what happened?” “Yea,” was all he replied. “Want to tell me?” “No.” Sheridan nodded. “Can…can you move your arms, Luis?” He tried to move them again, praying they would. When they didn’t, a tear rolled down his cheek. “Sheridan.” “I know, baby, I know,” she wiped away his tear, feeling a dozen of her own pool in her eyes. One week later, Sheridan was ready to bring her husband home. The hospital had done all they could and promised to notify Sheridan of any options they found. When she walked into his room, she saw him lying there. He had been pushing her away more and more and yet, she wouldn’t let go. On more than one occasion he had asked Sheridan to leave him and never return, but she couldn’t let that happen. “The doctor says you can go home tomorrow, love,” she sat beside him, taking his large blistered hand into hers. He didn’t reply, merely stared at the wall. He had been like this since he woke, answering her only when forced to. “Luis, darling please don’t push me away again,” she made him look at her. “I’m not your darling anymore, Sheridan. I’m not even half the man I was when we got married.” “So? I love you, Luis, more than anything in the world; nothing will ever change that fact.” “Look, why don’t you just go to Tristan’s soccer game this afternoon instead of sitting around here,” Luis looked down at the sheets. “You’re not doing any good here.” Sheridan sighed. “What if I don’t want to go?” “I just can’t see you right now, Sheridan. It reminds me of things I can’t do…” “Stop feeling sorry for yourself!” She screamed. He glared at her. “Look, Sheridan, just go…I don’t want to be with you anymore.” “But…but I love you.” “Too bad. I want a divorce, Sheridan, it’s only fair to you.” “For better or worse,” Sheridan replied, staying seated. “For better or worse.”
April 2038 He sat by the window of their home, looking out at the well-maintained grass that his son, Luis Jr., would come and cut for them whenever Sheridan called him for help. Their oldest child was almost thirty-nine-years old and had four children of his own, but he still came to help Sheridan with the chores in the house. Sighing, Luis wished he couldn’t remember what it had been like to be the one on the ladder to paint the shingles or the one pushing the lawnmower on a hot summer day. Yet he did. He also remember what it was like to make love to his wife and yet, he hadn’t done it in twenty years. Before she even entered the room completely, he knew she was there. She had been there for the last forty years and she would be there for the next forty. Had it really been almost twenty years since the accident? Thinking back now, he wished that he would have listened to them and retired at fifty when offered the chance: too late to think about that now. “Luis?” Sheridan pushed a piece of her platinum hair back behind her ear. “Would you like lunch now, darling?” He shook his head no; reveling in the feel on the one movement he was allowed anymore. “No,” he replied. “You didn’t eat breakfast either, love. Are you in any pain?” It was a stupid question, and she knew it. Luis hadn’t been able to feel anything from the chest down in almost twenty years. She watched and he used his fingers to push against the joystick that moved his wheelchair. This was the only movements his hands and arms made in twenty years; the only thing he was able to do alone. “Have I been in *any* pain in years, Sheridan?” he growled. “Have I been able to do anything that would make me *feel* in twenty years?” Sheridan shook her head no, looking at the floor. She would be sixty-eight this month and on that same day she would be married to Luis for forty years. Sheridan never would have guess all those years ago that she would be taking care of her husband like he was a child. She knew he hated it; heck, at times she even hated it. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. He looked at her, feeling miserable for what he had said. Sheridan had tried her hardest. Over the last twenty years she had used the money and power from the Crane family to try and bring her Luis back. It just never happened. No matter how hard she tried, Sheridan knew there was no bringing the Luis she missed back. How had they gotten to this point? “I…I’m going to call Kathy and ask her to bring me some things from the store, Luis. Is there anything in particular you want?” “I’d like to see the children, Sherry. It’s been nearly two weeks since they last came.” “Because you yelled at Christian about playing with your old badge. You frightened all of us, Luis. It was unnecessary.” He didn’t reply right away. “Fine, I don’t need anything anyway,” controlling the chair again with his fingers, he turned it back to the window. Sheridan fought a sob. This wasn’t the man she married forty years ago in an impromptu wedding on the beach at Harmony Cove. This wasn’t the man she had fallen madly in love with while working at the Youth Center some forty-two years ago. Going back into the kitchen, she remembered the day that had changed their lives forever. Luis had promised to see them for dinner at seven. That would have given her plenty of time too cook and get things done. But Sheridan and the children wouldn’t have to wait to see Luis at seven because they would get a phone call from Eve Russell, who was on the hospital board. Eve would tell Sheridan that Luis was rushed in having been shot while trying to handle a hostage situation near the wharf. She wasn’t able to control the panic as she loaded the children into the car and zoomed off towards the hospital. LJ had promised to watch the kids in the waiting room while Sheridan went to see her husband. Sheridan sighed and sank into the nearby kitchen chair. When Luis had woken early the next day, he complained that he couldn’t feel his legs and that his arms refused to move. The doctor had already done a CAT scan on him and discovered the damage was bad. Amazingly, Luis was able to breathe on his own, but he had lost all use of his extremities as well as his arms. He was completely paralyzed. Over time, he would learn to use his hands again. It had been a week before Luis was able to come home, which gave Sheridan time to make the house wheelchair-accessible. It hadn’t been easy and it cost a pretty penny to fix the house, but for him she would do anything. That week had been miserable. She had been at his bedside every night, yet he rarely acknowledged her. The phone ringing brought her back from the past and she lifted the phone from the cradle. “Hello?” “Sheridan, it’s Theresa,” the younger woman’s voice sounded as cheery as ever. “How are you?” “Fine,” Sheridan lied. It was the same emotionless words that she had been saying for years. She always gave the same excuses when they were invited out, the same words were said when people questioned how they were. Luis rarely left the house. He hated the sympathetic looks he received and the words of encouragement that had lost meaning years ago. “Good,” Theresa’s enthusiasm faltered. “How’s Luis?” Sheridan sighed and looked through the doorway to where her husband sat in the living room. “How do you think he is?” Sheridan replied snippily. “I’m sorry. This has just been very stressful. You would think that after twenty years it would get easier, Theresa, but it seems to get more stressful every day.” “I’m sorry,” Theresa replied honestly. “So am I,” Sheridan sighed. “No matter what, I never would have left him, Theresa. The harder he pushed me away, the harder I clung to him. Sometimes, everything seems all right, but other times…he gets in a mood.” “Today is one of those days?” she asked. “Yea,” she sat back down at the table where a photo album sat open to their wedding day. She traced his face: the thousand-watt smile that lit up her life, the soft brown eyes and the lips she loved to kiss. “Do you remember the day that Luis and I got married?” “Yea,” Theresa smiled. “You wore your mother’s dress on the beach at sunset…” “We had a rose covered trellis and a trail of rose petals between metal folding chairs. Luis brought a radio and played classical music as I walked down the aisle…” “It had been wonderful,” Theresa smiled. “Sher, I’m getting hungry,” Luis’ sad voice came from the doorway. Sheridan smiled at her husband. “Theresa, I have to go. Lunchtime. I’ll call you tomorrow and catch up on the kids, ok?” “Sure, talk to you soon, Sheridan. Send my love to the kids and Luis.” “Ditto to yours and Ethan’s,” Sheridan smiled. “Bye, Terry,” she hung up. “What did my sister have to say?” Luis asked, moving his chair to the table. “Just hello,” Sheridan kissed his cheek. “Feeling better, baby?” “Kinda,” he sighed. “What made you stay, Sher?” “The fact that I loved you,” she went and started lunch. “Our vows said for better or worse, Luis, and I don’t take those lightly.” He sighed. “Sometimes I wish you wouldn’t have. Maybe then I would have been able to give up.” Sheridan walked over to where he was, kneeling to be able to look into his eyes. “Would you have given up on me, Luis? Would you have let me give up on life just because of an accident?” “No,” he whispered, wishing so much he could reach out and touch her face. Sheridan lifted his hand to her cheek, knowing it was what he would have done. She held his hand close, running it over her soft skin, closing her eyes to remember a time when he could do this himself. She kissed his palm and opened her eyes to look into his sad brown ones. For the first time in forty years, they reminded her of the eyes from the man she loved. “The children will come this weekend, Luis,” she kissed his lips lightly. “I can’t wait to see them, Sheridan. I’m sorry about this morning.” “Don’t be,” she kissed his nose and placed his hand back on the arm of the wheelchair. “I better check lunch before I burn it.” He nodded. “I do love you, Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald.” “And I love you, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald.”
On Saturday morning Sheridan rose early. She would need to help Luis bathe and then eat before the children arrived. Sighing, she sat up and looked over to her husband. One thing they hadn’t stopped doing was sharing a bed. She loved lying near him, even if she couldn’t lie in his arms. Climbing out of bed, she changed and combed her hair before returning to wake Luis. “Baby?” she caressed his cheek. “Hm?” he moaned. “It’s Saturday, my love.” Sheridan sighed. “Sponge bath this morning and then the kids are coming at eleven.” He opened his eyes and looked at her, blinking to clear the sleep away. “All right.” Caressing his cheek she smiled. “You’re still as handsome as you were forty years ago, my love.” “You’re just saying that,” he looked away from her. “You don’t really mean it, Sher.” Kissing his lips lightly, she made him realize just how much she loved him. A tear ran down her check, landing on his. It was hard. Twenty years of pain and torment were buried deep inside. So many nights she had cried herself to sleep as he lay beside her in a medicated daze. So many times she had watched him stare out the window while she sobbed silently in the kitchen doorway. Lord, she missed him. She missed the Luis she remembered and she let him know that in her kiss. When she drew away, his eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy. “God, Sher, it’s been a long time.” “I know,” she sniffled, running her hands through his gray hair, still as thick and full as the day she met him. “I love you, baby.” “I love you too,” he whispered, feeling his own tears begin to pool. “This wasn’t the life I wanted to give you, Sher.” “That’s all right. I love you just the way you are,” she kissed him again. “I think you need a shave too,” she teased. “Suddenly you’re a facial hair critic,” he grinned. “Yup,” she went off to get their supplies. He watched her leave. Luis knew she wasn’t happy with their marriage. She hadn’t been the same since he was shot all those years ago. He had tried to explain to her that she could leave, that he would understand if she wanted to find someone else. At forty-seven, Sheridan had been just as beautiful as she was at twenty-eight. She had maintained her figure, even with the five pregnancies, and taken good care of herself. Her body still looked good, even at sixty-eight. Sighing, he heard the male nurse that was living with them, Joe (such a bland name), taking to Sheridan about helping her lift her husband. Sheridan had tried not to need the nurses that were sent to them, but she learned very quickly that lifting Luis was a challenge. They had hired a nurse that lived away from them, but after a certain amount of time the man aged and found it hard to lift Luis as well. Another nurse was hired; he lasted ten years and was replaced by Joe. Joe was with them for six years now. He lived with them, almost like a son, and helped them in any way he could. Sheridan peeked her head in. “Joe’s going to help you into the shower and we’ll take one together,” she winked. He laughed, which was music to her ears. Joe entered the room and helped Luis into his wheel chair to bring him into the completely remodeled bathroom. The bathroom was a combination of two rooms so that it could fit Luis’ chair as well as the nurse to help him move around. He helped Luis strip down and then placed him in a special chair built for the shower. Sheridan dismissed Joe and joined her husband so they could bathe together. After a shower and breakfast, Sheridan watched Luis retreat to the living room to watch for the family. She sighed; this morning had brought on memories she had tried to bury. Times when they would make love in the shower and then fall into bed, completely exhausted from the passion they shared. Closing her eyes, she could almost feel his hands caressing her skin with the soap as he placed kisses on her wet neck. She could feel the way his hands pleased her with soft strokes that reached her soul. Shaking her head, she opened her eyes to find Luis watching her. “Lost in memories?” he asked sadly. “Sorry,” she whispered. She had refused to let her guard down around him. Sheridan didn’t want her husband to feel even worse than she knew he did. After his shooting, she refused to share her feelings with them if she thought it would hurt him and most times she felt it would. “You don’t have to hide it, Sheridan, I think about the past too,” he sighed. “Remember the time we brought the kids to the park to feed the ducks and Kathy fell into the lake?” Sheridan laughed. Kathy had been five and thought that she could walk into the lake after a duckling she had wanted to catch. She had been unhappily surprised to find that it wasn’t so easy and she was soaked in the water. “She refused to speak to you for a week for not telling her she couldn’t do that and for laughing.” “So Katie would pretend to be her to get extra presents,” Luis laughed. Sheridan sank into a nearby armchair and laughed. “She tried so hard to convince you that you had their birthmarks confused.” “Yea,” Luis smiled. “How about the time LJ played baseball with them and tried to blame Katie for breaking the window to my new car?” “Oh, do you remember the look on his face when you told him you watched the entire game from the garage? He looked like he had just seen a ghost…” “Hey, it wasn’t my fault that Dad had to be in the garage,” LJ replied from the doorway, his wife and kids with him. On the porch waited LJ’s siblings and families who wanted in to see their grandparents. “LJ!” Sheridan ran over and hugged her son. “It’s nice to see you guys so happy today,” he commented, letting the rest of the family in. Sheridan was so glad that her children and grandchildren could be here this particular day. Luis needed a pick-me-up and she knew the children would be perfect. Her only regret was that the children didn’t realize what kind of grandfather they had. “Hey Poppy,” Sabrina ran to him and hugged his waist. Sabrina was the second oldest in Tristan’s family. She had red hair like her mother and brown eyes liked her father. Sabrina loved Luis and found his wheelchair interesting. What she would never know is that Luis had planned on climbing trees with his grandbabies, something that Sabrina loved to do. “Hey, Brina,” Luis wished he could hug her back. Sheridan sighed and Kathy came over to hug her mother. “Hey, Mom.” “Hey, Kid,” she smiled. “How’s the family doctor?” “Busy,” she laughed, motioning to her own set of twins in her husband’s arms. McKenzie and Galen were a year old and enjoying their new found freedom in walking. “Think I can talk to you for a little bit, Mom?” “Yea, no problem,” Sheridan smiled and followed her daughter into the other room to talk. “What’s up?” “There’s a new spinal cord doctor at the hospital. He and I have started a partnership and…well…we’ve discovered something that worked on a patient that is similar to Dad’s.” “Which means?” “We think we could give Dad his ability to move back…” Sheridan looked at Luis and wished it could be true. In the living room, Luis watched as his grandchildren ran around playing tag or sat at his feet flipping through a photo album of their parents, aunts and uncles. He wished he could settle on the floor with them and help them understand what each picture was about. They barely paid attention to Luis and when they saw pictures of him out of his chair, the only thing they knew him in, they would look up at him strangely and then back at the book. Sabrina crawled into his lap. She had always found something comforting in her grandfather’s lap. “Poppy?” “Yea, sweets?” “If you could have one wish, what would it be?” Sabrina asked. “I wish I could climb trees with you,” he told her. “I wish you could too,” she nodded and leaned back against him. “I love you Poppy.” “I love you too, kiddo.” Sheridan continued to watch Luis and their granddaughter. “Kathy, get me all the info you can…maybe, just maybe, we can bring your father back.”
He could only watch them. Luis hated watching the kids run around playing a game of tag or sitting on the floor playing with cars and Barbie dolls. They enjoyed themselves, every so often looking up and waving before returning to their toys. None of the children knew him the way he wished they had. He was just their Grandpa: the man that had been hurt before they were born and now they had to visit him every Saturday. It was killing him to know that they didn’t know his heart. They didn’t know how much he loved each and every one of them. His grandchildren didn’t know that he used to love baseball and basketball. “Poppy?” Sabrina brought over her favorite photo album from the shelf. “Will you tell me a story?” “From the photo album?” he asked, wondering what kind of story she could want. “Yea, I want you to tell me about all the fun in the pictures,” Sabrina replied, pushing herself onto his lap. Luis was hesitant. He had often caught his wife looking through these same albums trying to remember the Luis within them. Obviously, he had changed: physically and mentally. He remembered arguing with her twenty years ago. They had put him on an oxygen tank when his breathing became erratic. He could hear the doctor in the hall telling Sheridan that this could be temporary or it could be permanent. They would monitor Luis’ progress and let her know. As of right now, it seemed that Luis just wasn’t getting enough O2 and the tank would supply that. She entered the room, her eyes filled with tears. She looked at her husband, his mouth and nose covered with the plastic cup that was forcing oxygen into his lungs. Sighing, she neared him. When the cup fogged, she realized he wanted to ask her something. Removing the plastic only slightly, she asked, “What is it darling?” “Let me die.” “Luis?” she gasped. “Please, Sher,” his raspy voice begged. “Let me die. I don’t want to be like this for the rest of my life. Please.” “No, I won’t let you die!” she growled, replacing the mask. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Luis. You’re alive and I love you. That should be enough!” Shaking his head, Luis saw Sabrina watching him. “Going to tell me a story now, Poppy?” Sheridan was about to intervene when Kathy grabbed her arm. “Let him try, Mom. If we’re going to tell him about the operation, he’s going to need to be able to adjust. That starts with admitting there was a past before he was paralyzed.” Sheridan sighed. “All right.” Luis smiled. “Sure kiddo. Flip it open and let’s see what we’ve got in there.” “All right Poppy!” Sabrina giggled happily, opening the album. “Ohh, look at grandma!” Luis laughed. It was a picture of a very happy Sheridan with a bright red wig on. It was labeled: “One Good Moment: Here is a Halloween Photo From My Boarding School.” “That’s when Grandma was Annie for Halloween at her boarding school. Wasn’t she pretty?” Luis’ voice was filled with emotion at seeing his beautiful wife so young and happy. In fact, it was one of the only childhood pictures he had of her. “Yea, Poppy, she was! I think Nana should have red hair instead of her white one,” Sabrina traced the red curls in the picture. “Red’s much prettier.” “Yea well, don’t tell her, but I love her white hair,” Luis smiled. “See that picture below it?” “Yea?” Sabrina looked at the picture of a little boy with the goofiest smile on his face. “That’s me.” “No way,” Sabrina laughed at the picture. “You look silly.” “Do not.” “Do so,” Sabrina replied. “Just look at that hair! And that smile. Poppy, striped shirts are so twentieth century,” the child rolled her eyes and for a minute, Luis was reminded of Theresa. “I’ll have you know, Sabrina, that striped shirts were very cool when I was that age. In fact, that was the coolest shirt in the world.” “Yea, whatever. Too many horizontal stripes make you look fat,” Sabrina nodded. “You’ve been talking to Great Aunt Theresa again, haven’t you?” Luis chuckled. “Yea, how’d you know?” “Lucky guess,” he smiled. “What is all this writing?” Sabrina asked. “Nana’s way of putting the story together for you so that you don’t have to flip too much.” “Oh,” Sabrina nodded. “What about this page?” “Well, the top one is when Nana and I decided to start dating instead of fighting all the time.” “Is that the story she tells about the night after the mine shaft?” “No, this is before that. This is when we returned home from delivering some lady’s baby.” “Oh,” Sabrina nodded, pretending she had a clue. “What about this?” She pointed below it. His favorite picture! “The wharf…” “Huh?” Luis pulled Sheridan into his arms for the most passionate kiss any woman could dream of. Their tongues mated as Sheridan began to float on cloud nine. This was amazing. Pulling back, Luis disappeared while her eyes were closed. When he returned, she was confused. He was nowhere around… “That’s the first time I really kissed your Nana.” “Really kissed?” “Well, yea,” Luis blushed, just thinking about the other times: their first kiss at Pilar’s party when he had mistaken her for his mother; the kiss in the office at the Crane estate when they were snooping; a simple kiss on the cheek and the one when she was hallucinating in New Mexico. “I was working on the wharf and kissed her, pretending we were a couple in love so I could catch this bad guy.” “Didn’t it mean anything?” she asked. “Yea, it meant the world to me,” he smiled. “Good,” She grinned. “NO! JACOB PUT DOWN MY DOLL!” Sabrina spotted her cousin playing with her toy. “Sorry Poppy,” she hopped off his lap, dropping the album there as she took off for the boys outside. Luis looked down at the pictures in his lap. They all had one thing in common. They were all from a time when Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald was a real man, a man that could walk and move and take care of himself. Sheridan entered the room with a drink for Luis, helping him sip it through a straw and wiping away the drops that leaked from the corner of his mouth. “Stop,” he growled. Sheridan jumped back. “Just leave me alone,” he wheeled the chair out of the room, the album falling from his lap. Sheridan just watched. “Where did that come from?” she asked, bending to lift the album. She saw the picture from years ago. “All you have to do is turn away from me…” No one moved or spoke for a moment as both realized what was going to happen. “You’re not turning away.” “My feet won’t let me,” she replied breathlessly. “God, I love those feet,” he pulled her into his strong arms and kissed her. She could see the fireworks on the inside of her eyelids and could feel the love warming her veins. This was the best choice in her life, to forget what she had seen on the wharf and move on with Luis. “Mom?” Katie placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder, looking at her twin sister for help. “Yea, Mom, what’s wrong?” they could see Sheridan’s eyes tear as she hugged the album close. “Why did this have to happen to us?” she cried, looking down at the man in the photo. He was so proud and so strong. “Why?” “Oh Mom,” Katie pulled her mother into her arms, rocking in attempt to soothe the older woman. She shot her twin look that said, ‘go find dad.’ Kathy nodded and disappeared. “Come on, Mom. Don’t cry. Everything will look better tomorrow.” “But will it, Kates? Will it really?” Sheridan shook her head. “It hasn’t looked better in twenty years and I don’t think it’s going to start looking better now,” she dropped the open album on a nearby table. “I’ll be outside if anyone needs me,” Sheridan walked out the front door and into the warm spring air. Life hadn’t been the same in twenty years and seeing those pictures reminded her of the Luis she had lost then and the shell of a man she had left inside. She missed his gently touch on her body, the corny jokes he would tell to make her smile. Sheridan missed the Luis that was in the colored photos she proudly displayed for their family. He was so wonderful: smart and kind. Luis had taken her heart with a look on a dark night when she smashed into the side of his patrol car. The tears rolled down her cheek continuously and Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald admitted something she would never say aloud. She missed him. She missed Luis and the man in her house just wasn’t him.
Kathy found her father in his room, looking out their window. He had become obsessed with windows ever since he was shot. It was as if he only wanted to be a spectator and never a player. She knew what he would say if she asked. “I’m not a player; I can’t play at all…” “Dad?” Kathy walked over to her father, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Luis looked up at his daughter. “I remember when we brought you home from the hospital. You and Katie were our angels. LJ hated the fact that you two came along,” he laughed, turning his gaze to the window. “I didn’t mean to snap at her, Kath.” “I know, Dad, I know this is hard on you…” “You haven’t a clue how hard this is,” he replied angrily. “None of you know what it’s like to become something that barely resembles what you were twenty years ago. My own mother couldn’t look at me when I left that hospital. She would cry every time I passed her by. My friends looked at me with pity in their eyes…pity that never belonged there, Kathy. I couldn’t walk you down the isle…I couldn’t walk my daughters to their husbands…” “But you did, Dad,” she whimpered, never having truly realized the extent of the pain her father was in. “You were beside me when I went down the isle…” And he had been. Luis hadn’t walked her down, but he wheeled down beside her, just like he had Katie and Trinity. “Not the same,” he whispered. “I missed out on everything. I didn’t get the father-daughter dance at you wedding.” “Dad, please…” He shook his head. “Katherine, don’t please. There’s nothing that can be done. I won’t get my hopes up on something because nothing will bring back everything I missed and nothing will fix the damage done to my marriage, my family and my soul. Look at her,” he watched Sheridan walk to the gate in the front yard and sighed. “I’ve ruined her. I wish she would have let me die back then like I asked. Maybe, just maybe, then she could be happy now.” Kathy allowed the tears she had been holding back to roll down her cheeks. She had been told many times over the years that her father had been a dignified man. She remembered what he had been like before the shooting; after all, she had been fourteen. It was Trinity that couldn’t really remember her father. She was only seven when it happened. “She loves you, Dad, and she would have been lost without you…dead in fact. You were her everything…” “You said it yourself, Kathy, I *was* her everything; past tense. Now she stays with me out of pity…She’s here for me because she feels obligated to be here.” “Never…” “Ask her yourself, Kathy. Why is she here? Love or not, she’s here because of a promise she made forty years ago, not because she really loves me anymore.” Kathy looked him in the eyes. “She loves you and you’re too damn stubborn to see it. You’ve been feeling sorry for yourself for the last twenty years, Father, and I hope to God that you stop acting like the ass you’ve been today.” Luis went to defend himself, but she continued. “I was going to tell you that there was a medical breakthrough recently at the hospital, Dad, and that they can operate on your spine and hopefully restore the movement to your limbs. Now I know that for the last twenty years, Mom has been doing the movement exercises with you so your muscles should be atrophied. There’s a chance that with some physical therapy and this operation that you will be able to walk again…” Luis just stared at her as if she had eight heads. Not only had his daughter disrespected him, but she had also given him a ray of hope in his dreary world. “Come again, Kath?” “I think we can make you back into the man you long to be…” Sheridan looked around and wondered how it had come this far. Leaning against the fence, she could look down the street where their friends live. Years after her marriage to Luis, Beth and Hank had married. They had two children and would come over for barbeques in the back yard. It was wonderful how everyone had gotten along. “But they stopped coming years ago,” she sighed. Luis had driven everyone away. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to be around him because of his physical disability; they had supported him through that. Luis had pushed them all away. He had made them all completely miserable when they were around, complaining that he was paralyzed and no one cared. He would make them feel guilty that they could walk and enjoy their children and, after time, they stopped coming around as often. Now they tried to visit Sheridan when Luis was napping. She looked back at the house and noticed him in the bedroom window. No matter how hard he pushed her away, she found herself pushing back twice as hard to get back to him. She loved him; that was undeniable. Sighing, she could see Kathy talking to him. Twenty years ago she remembered a similar scene when they first brought Luis home. “Guys, we’re here,” Sheridan pushed Luis’ chair in through the front door and into the living room where the carpet had recently been removed and the floors refinished. “Come on and see Papa.” “DADDY!” Trinity screeched as she flew into the living room, launching herself into Luis’ lap. “Hug me Daddy, please,” she begged, not really understand that he couldn’t. Luis’ heart constricted in his chest as his seven-year-old daughter begged him to put his arms around her. He couldn’t bear it one second longer. “Sheridan…” “I know,” she knelt beside Trinity. “Darling, Daddy was hurt and can’t hug you, baby. His arms can’t move like they used to.” “NO!” she wailed, not wanting to believe her mother. “Hug me, Daddy, show her!” Luis’ eyes teared and Sheridan merely lifted their daughter into her arms and left the room. Kathy moved to the space her sister had just been torn from and looked into her father’s eyes. “How are you, Daddy?” “I’ve been better, beautiful,” he smiled slightly at his daughter. “Get that dress for the dance yet?” “I’m not going…I…I don’t want to be away from you, Daddy. You need us now,” Kathy placed her head in his lap. “Oh Daddy.” Luis wished he could smooth her hair like he had done other times she cried with her head on his leg. He realized now just how impossible this was and started to feel depressed; he didn’t feel like himself at all. What happened to him? “You’ll go to that dance, doll, because you deserve it.” She looked back into his eyes, her own filling with tears. “Oh Daddy, what’s going to happen now?” she sobbed. “What are we going to do?” “We’re going to be brave, Kath. We’ve got to be…” Sheridan knew that this time her daughter wasn’t seeking comfort. Kathy was going to talk some sense into her father and Sheridan only hoped he didn’t explode; not that it would matter, he was a captive audience. “Nana?” Sabrina’s voice interrupted. “I just want to tell you that everything’s going to be just fine. Poppy will cheer up…he has to.” “Thanks Bri,” Sheridan smiled and her granddaughter. “Now go on and get that Jake.” “Okay!” she ran off. Sheridan watched her go. “Where has the time gone, Luis?” she sighed and headed inside. That night, Sheridan sat on the bed watching her husband as he slept. Somewhere inside had to be the man she fell in love with. Every so often, she would catch a glimpse of her Luis in the man beside her. Whether it be a look in his eyes or a tone of his voice, Sheridan could tell it was the man she love and wished he would return to her. “How can you be so similar to him and yet so different?” she wondered. “Where are you Luis?” she sniffled. “Where are you?” Lying down, Sheridan turned her back on the man in her bed. Tonight she felt as if there were a stranger in her bed and that made her feel even worse than she already had. Kathy promised to look into the operation and how soon he could have it. In the meantime, Sheridan had to continue on the way she had for the last twenty years and she wasn’t sure she could. Finally, she allowed sleep to claim her as she returned to the one place she could have the man she married back: her dreams.
When was the last time they had been to church? Sheridan honestly couldn’t remember going since the incident and they hadn’t gone the day before either. She couldn’t even remember seeing their friends together as a couple. Sometimes, she closed her eyes and dreamed of everyone welcoming them as they walked into a room of their closest confidants for some sort of party. In her mind, it was their fortieth anniversary, which was just over three weeks away. But there wouldn’t be a party like that in their future and she wouldn’t have everything she saw in her dreams. Sheridan sighed, looking out the window of the kitchen and into her garden, the one thing that had kept her sane when she started working from home. She had needed something that wouldn’t leave Luis alone all day and her boss had been more than willing to give her a position that could be worked at home. Not that it mattered now; retirement was such a wonderful thing. Too bad it was far too expensive to travel like she and Luis had planned back in their thirties. “Sher…Sher?” Luis called from the doorway of the kitchen. He was getting thirsty and he needed a drink badly. Part of the problem was that when he started to feel truly thirsty his voice became hoarse. Since Sheridan wasn’t a mind reader, if he didn’t tell her right away then he might sit awhile before getting a drink. Sheridan spun around and faced her husband. “What baby?” “I need a drink please,” he looked so vulnerable and for a moment Sheridan could see their son LJ there…and the man she loved. He smiled at her, that smile that he had always saved for her when they were alone. She melted. “What would you like? OJ? Coffee? Water…I think I have some lemonade…” “Water, please,” he wheeled himself closer to the table so they could sit and talk. He was actually in the mood to reminisce and Sheridan knew that she should take advantage of that good mood while he was in it. Heading to the fridge, Sheridan poured Luis a glass of ice water and then fished a straw out of the cabinets before joining him at the table. “So, Kathy says that if we can stop in this afternoon Todd, that’s the doctor she works with, will look at you and decide if your case can be repaired with the technique he’s developed.” “Do you really think this will work?” he asked, before moving his head so he could get the straw in his mouth and start drinking. Sheridan held the glass closer so it wasn’t quite so hard, ready to catch the beads of water that sometimes leaked from the side of his mouth. “I think we shouldn’t be closed minded to things that could get you out of that chair. I know you’re nearly seventy, Mr. Tough Man, but we still have quite a few good years in us, no?” “Definitely,” he stopped drinking to speak. “So we’ll go then? Me and you? Maybe we can go out for lunch even…stop in and see my sister…” Sheridan was surprised. “You…you want to go out today?” “I can’t make up for the last twenty years, Sher, but I can make the next twenty worth while, can’t I?” he sighed. “I screwed up…” Sheridan raised an eyebrow in question. “Ok, I screwed up a lot. I made a lot of our friends avoid seeing me because I was always such an…” “Ass?” she supplied. “Yea,” he chuckled ruefully. “I want to start making that up to people if I can, Sheridan. I want to make it up to you most of all. What I took from you was a lot more than you’re willing to admit.” “You didn’t take anything from me, Luis…” “Yes I did, Sher. I took everything from you. Taking care of me zapped the life from your big baby blue eyes. It slowly but surely ate at your soul seeing me like this and I hate that this has happened…” “What’s with the sudden change, Luis? I mean for twenty years you’ve retreated into that shell of yours…” “My daughter beat some sense into me,” he cracked a smile, “and those words she said made me realize just what I’ve been doing wrong, Sher. Last night, I thought about everything Kathy said and I realized that I love you and I’ve been hurting you so much. I’ve been hoping that if I hurt you enough, you’d leave and give yourself a better life…twisted, isn’t it?” “Yea,” she teased. Reaching out, she gently caressed his cheek. “So our daughter made you realize that you still love me?” “I never stopped loving you, Sher. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.” “I knew you loved me, you old fool,” she kissed him. “I love you.” “Love you too.” “Why don’t I go call Kathy and see what time she can see you with that partner of hers?” Sheridan stood and walked towards the phone. “Then we can go out for lunch and to see our friends…I kind of wanted to stop in and see Hank and Beth…maybe even Sam and Grace…” “Good idea, darling,” she picked up the phone. “Today we’re going to start our lives over again, huh?” “Yea,” he smiled. “Because in three weeks you and I will be married for the forty most wonderful years any man can have on earth, Sher. I want to make the rest of your life as wonderful as it started out.” Sheridan watched as he wheeled out of the room, a bright smile on his face. Something had changed and she couldn’t be happier about it. She only hoped that Kathy and her partner would be giving her good news this afternoon and that the meetings with their friends would be life changing. Perhaps today she would go back to having a normal life with her husband. Dialing Kathy’s work number, Sheridan prayed for the answers she had been denied for the last twenty years. All she needed was to know that her husband would be able to walk in the future.
When Katie had given them the news that Luis would be able to undergo the surgery and that it would be a success, Sheridan hadn’t known that they meant they would start it just days later. Sure, she wanted her husband back, but as she sat in the hospital waiting room, she had nothing to do but worry. Would Luis be too old to handle the strain this would cause? Did he realize that there were months of physical therapy to undergo before he could even take his first step? Sheridan doubted that either of them had truly thought this through and it worried her. But she did miss her husband. The Luis that danced the tango with her on their wedding day and that coached her through a birth in their car. She laughed when she thought about it now but back then LJ came seriously close to being an only child… They drove along the highway from Boston, having enjoyed seeing Antonio and his family there. Antonio had one child from a previous fiancée and a beautiful wife, ironically a woman they knew very well: Tina Alvarez of the Boston PD. It was odd finding out that Tina was now their sister-in-law with her own “sex on a stick.” Sheridan rubbed her extended belly soothingly, the spasms in her body coming closer than they were before. She was used to Broxton-Hicks and saw no need in worrying her husband if she was going to be fine. After all, she had about three weeks left before she was due. “Mmm,” she moaned, stoking her belly, whishing the pains would stop. “Are you ok?” Luis took a chance to glance at his wife. They were on a deserted strip of highway and the radio had gone out. He had assumed she was asleep, but obviously she hadn’t been. “Contractions, but I think it’s more false labor,” she smiled, taking his right hand when he offered it. “Luis, seeing Antonio was like seeing your shorter twin. He’s quite handsome. You should be happy I met you first,” she winked. “I would have had to steal you away, sweetheart,” he held her hand gently, controlling the car with his left hand. “I wouldn’t have let anyone take away my heaven on earth.” She smiled, placing the back of his hand against her belly. “Soon we’ll see our…Mmm.” He felt her stomach become rock hard beneath his hand and pulled the car to the side of the road. “Sheridan, how long have you been having the contractions, baby doll?” Waiting for the pain to cease, she whispered, “Since this morning.” “Sheridan!” “What? We’ve been having these false alarms for nearly a month.” “Have they gotten closer together?” She nodded. “How far apart are they?” “About three to five minutes or so…” He groaned. “Did your water break?” She went to deny it when she felt the liquid pour down her legs and her pants become wet. “Umm…yes.” Luis knew that they were pretty far out there and the nearest hospital was about an hour away. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t make it that long. With the radio not getting reception, he knew his phone would be useless. “Sheridan, it looks like we’re going to deliver our baby alone.” “No,” she shook her head. “Yes,” he looked into her eyes. “I guess he was conceived in the back seat and now he’ll be delivered there.” She laughed. “We were late for our reception,” she giggled. “I’m scared, Luis.” “We can do this,” he helped her into the back seat of the car. “We delivered Pat’s baby, I’m sure we can deliver our own.” She nodded and settled into the back seat of the car. Another contraction hit and she whimpered, the pain catching her off guard. “Luis!” He took her hand and met her eyes. “Breathe baby…just like we practiced.” She tried to focus on her breathing, enjoying the look of love in his eyes. In no time, she made it through the contraction and felt his hand slip away. “I’m going to check how dilated you are. Ok?” She nodded, feeling him removed her wet underwear and pants. “Will it be soon?” Luis nodded. “Baby, it will be real soon.” “Luis?” “You’re dilated to about nine, Sher! Looks like you’re going to be delivering before you know it.” He was right, by the end of the hour Luis told her to start pushing as her screams filled the air. She sat up, her back against the inside of the car and bore down as hard as she could. “One…two…three…four…” he counted until ten, telling her to relax when he was done. “Luis, it hurts so much,” she cried. He reached over and wiped away her tears. “I’m so proud of you, Sheridan. You’re doing great…” “Please, Luis, I can’t do this…” “Yes you can, Sheridan, you can. I love you *so* much.” Another contraction hit. “I love you…you can do this!” She hated him for saying that, but bore down, growling out, “You’re never touching me again!!!” “I CAN SEE THE HEAD!” He became excited. “Ok, relax.” She fell back slightly, rubbing her sides and whimpering. “Almost there?” “Almost baby, next one, hold to fifteen, ok?” She sniffled and nodded, doing as told when the next contraction hit. The head slipped free and Luis cheered. On the next she held until twenty, managing to deliver their son’s shoulders. Slowly, the rest of their son slipped free and Luis started crying. His eyes were teary and his voice was filled with awe, but Luis was so happy there wasn’t a word to describe how he was feeling. “Sheridan! We have a son!” he showed the wailing child to his wife. “A son!” Sheridan sobbed, reaching out for her child, which was now wrapped in Luis’ jacket. He handed her their son, using his shoelaces to tie the cord and his pocketknife to cut it. He then assisted in delivering the after birth. “Good thoughts?” LJ asked, sliding into the chair beside his mother. “I was remembering when I gave birth to you in the car,” Sheridan smiled at her eldest child. “The joy on your father’s face when he watched you enter the word was priceless…and when he held you up for me to see you he was in such awe that he cried.” “You never told us that before,” Katie sat on the other side of her mother. “He didn’t want to ruin his image,” she grinned. “But the look of pride on his face when we made it into the ER and they examined us made me fall in love with him all over again. I knew he wanted a son, though he said he didn’t care either way, but he wanted a boy so bad he could taste it. A little Luis Junior.” “Aww, LJ was special,” Katie teased her sibling. “Shut up dork,” he nudged his sister. Sheridan laughed. “I’m glad you were all here today,” she looked around at her children and their spouses. “I wouldn’t have wanted to be alone.” “We wouldn’t have let you,” LJ kissed her cheek. They settled into a comfortable silence for the long hours ahead. Kathy left the operating room and headed for her family some twelve hours after her father was admitted. She found them all sleeping, except for her mother who was there praying on her rosaries. “Kath?” Sheridan noticed her daughter standing there. “Hey, Mom,” she hugged her mother. “Everything went splendidly. Dad should be able to move when he wakes, but it won’t be anything significant. You have kept the muscles from atrophy, but he will need to relearn how to use them.” “But everything worked?” Kathy smiled and nodded. “It all worked, Mom, it all worked!” Sheridan laughed and hugged her daughter tight. She was going to get her Luis back! He was returning to her, slowly but surely. She looked over at the photo album she had brought with her as entertainment. Luis was coming home to her after twenty years of being away.
Luis was determined to be up and walking for their anniversary some three weeks away. Of course, he knew he wasn’t going to be walking long or without aid, but he was determined to be out of his wheelchair when they renewed his vows. With Joe’s assistance, Luis was able to spend much of his time doing the therapy routines that the physical therapist did with him twice a week. Now, as his wedding in the yard neared, Luis couldn’t control the grin on his face when he thought of his surprise. “Mr. LoFitz, there ready for you,” Joe entered the room with a smile. “Mrs. LoFitz is waiting for her groom.” “Thanks Joe,” Luis smiled, wheeling his chair out. He wasn’t walking just yet, well not for extended periods of time even with a walker. However, he was able to use his arms to wheel the chair and his legs supported his weight for ten minutes at a time. “Here he comes,” LJ grinned at his father, earning a smile in return. “Old man, you’re looking better than ever.” “I’m feeling better than ever, LJ. I’ve never felt like this before.” “Not even the last time we were married?” Sheridan’s sweet voice was behind him as he took his place. They had decided this wouldn’t be a formal wedding. They wanted to reaffirm their love with each other and nothing else. “Nope, I think even this time is more spectacular,” he winked. “Oh, you old coot!” He laughed. “Sheridan, I would have never imagined that phrase coming out of your mouth.” She leaned in and pecked his lips. “Lu, there are a lot of things you wouldn’t imaging coming from my mouth.” “Ok…ok! The innuendo is far too much!” Katie visibly shuddered. “Yea, we were found in a cabbage patch as far as we’re concerned,” Kathy replied. Sheridan shook her head and turned to Father Michael, a new priest at the church. “All right, Father, let’s get moving before my children leave.” The Father laughed and began the ceremony, reuniting two souls that belonged together. After the ceremony, Luis called attention to the family and friends there, wheeling himself into an opening. “Sheridan wouldn’t let me get her a gift saying that my smile meant more to her than any present. Yet after forty years together, I knew I couldn’t just not give my wife something…even something small.” “Luis?” He held up his hand to stop her. “Wait. This is something you really do want.” Joe walked over and locked the chair into position. “You’re all set.” “Thanks Joe.” Pushing himself up, Luis was able to stand. Sheridan’s eyes began to tear. She hadn’t been there to see him stand and she didn’t know just what her husband had managed to do. He smiled at her. “Ready?” She nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. He took a step forward and then another, closing the small distance to his wife in ten small steps. Sheridan was sobbing when Luis arrived at her side and put his arms around her. “Oh my God,” she cried into his shirt. “Oh my God. He brought you back…He brought back my Luis.” Luis rocked slowly, holding her close and rubbing her back. “I love you.” “Oh, Luis, I love you too,” she held him close. “I love you so much!” Everyone clapped, happy to see their friends so in love again. Luis was back and they knew that life was changing for the better. Looking up into her husband’s eyes, Sheridan offered a wavering smile as more tears filled her eyes. He smiled. “There are a few things I’ve wanted to do since I was able to move again.” “Yea?” “Yea,” he nodded, caressing her cheek and then leaning in to kiss her hard on the lips. The kiss lasted for a few minutes and then they pulled away, leaning their heads together. “Now that I missed.” She laughed, tears still rolling down her cheeks. “Welcome home, Luis.” “No place I would rather be, Sheridan, no place I would rather be,” he kissed her again. Sheridan realized then and there that she would never have to miss her Luis again because he was back and only getting better.
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