Becca (28 page)

IX

Dr. Morris brought his chair
closer to Bert and Becca. He remained silent.

“Josh, baby, tell me who
this girl is.” Becca reached out and gently pulled Bert’s hands from his eyes.

“Oh, Becca.” Bert mumbled.
“Oh,
God,
Becca. This guy—this…Charlie. He tried to kill me. I had to
kill him—I hit him and hit him, and hit him. But he shot me.” Bert touched the
left side of his chest. “I thought he killed me. But I killed him.” He rubbed
his face with his hands again. He did not seem to notice it when Becca took one
of his hands in hers. “Then…then there was somebody else—right
there in
front of me! 
I…thought...I thought I was going to die, so I attacked. I
attacked
and I put my hands around his throat and I squeezed so
hard.
And he
fought and kicked and scratched me—”
He shook his head and touched his
cheek with his right hand. He pulled his hand from Becca’s and used the heels
of his hands to rub away his tears. “And…she
cried
, and I kept
squeezing
and she stopped
crying.”
He blinked away his tears and wiped them
with his hands again. “I killed her, Becca. “

“You had just fought for
your life,” Dr. Morris said.

“Yes.”

“And this girl suddenly
appeared. You saw her—no, you saw
somebody
and you thought that person
was going to kill you. You did what anybody else would have done.”

“But…she was a
kid,”
Bert
stammered. I’m so
sorry.”
He buried his face in his hands, his tears
flowing freely.

Becca soothed him. “It’s
okay, Josh. It’s okay.” Becca broke into sobs.

Bert shrugged. “It’s…horrible.
What I’ve done.”

“You saw the enemy,”
Doctor Morris said. “You were wounded, your heart was throwing adrenaline into
your blood stream, and you were losing blood. You
saw
the enemy and you
reacted as you
should
have.”

“But she wasn’t
going
to
kill me.”

“You didn’t know that. You
reacted on instinct. You can feel remorse for what you did, but not guilt.”

“Oh, Becca, how I need
you,” Bert said and he pulled at her until she got up from her chair and
planted herself on his lap.

“
You
need
me?
Well Bertram Leslie Martin Junior, I have been suffocating for the last year.
Now I can
breathe
again.”

“Becca, it’s cramped back
there.”

“Yes.”

Bert pulled off the road
into the hatchet man parking area. There were no other cars. He turned off the
engine and rolled down the driver’s window slightly. “Are you sure?”

“You don’t
want
to?
Tell me you don’t want to, Bertram and I’ll kick you out of this car and
leave
you here.”

“And what’re you going to
do, drive away?”

“Damn right.”

“You can’t drive the car,
Becca. You can’t reach the gas pedal.”

“Ooh, there you go again,
insulting me. I have a mind to just get out and
walk
home. You can take
care of yourself.”

Bert reached behind the
seat and grabbed Becca’s crutch. He rolled the window down and tossed the
crutch out of the car, then rolled the window back up. He stared at her
defiantly.”

“When I get my leg, you
won’t be able to do that.”

“I’ll pull it off you and
toss it outside also.”

“
Twice
you insult
me.
Twice.
And I sit here and take it.”

“Why
do
you sit
there and take it?”

“Because, Bertram Leslie
Martin Junior,” Becca said leaning forward in her seat and taking Bert’s hand
in hers and putting her lips within kissing distance of his, “I love you.”

“You keep saying that,”
Bert said after a pause.

“Ever since that first
night when we talked. You—you just—. I’m going to marry you.”

“I haven’t asked.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” She
smiled. “And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, I believe this is
where the boy tells the girl he loves her.”

“What boy?”

She poked him in the
chest with her finger. “
This
boy.” Becca sighed and puckered her lips,
causing them to brush against his. “Please say it, Bert.”

“Say it?”

“Don’t start.”

He smiled at her and
leaned toward her, his lips touched hers. “Let me speak and don’t
you
say
a word.”

She smiled and tears
formed in her eyes. Bert cleared his throat. “I cannot
tell
you how much
I love you because I don’t know the words. I simply
adore
you, Rebecca
Abigail Smith. I am…I am
blessed
that you love me.”

“Really?” Her face
displayed her astonishment. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He cradled her face in
the palm of his hand. “I prayed you’d make it, Becca. I did. Hundreds of times.
I prayed everything would be okay. And look,…it’s worked out. For once God was
on your side.”

“Thank you for that.”

“Don’t mention it.” He
paused. “I don’t know why I didn’t say it before—I
felt
it. I should
have
said
it.”

“S…say it now, Josh.” She
brushed her lips against his, her eyes filled with passion and adoration.

“I love—”

Becca’s mouth took the
rest of his word. She was against him, her one hand cupping the back of his
head as she pushed him back against the window. Her other hand had grabbed the
front of his shirt and balled it up in her fist. Her breath was hot and wet in
his mouth. She kissed his neck and with what seemed like a great effort, she
let him go and then started moving, trying to get into the back seat.

“Becca,” Bert said, “we
don’t have to do—”

“Oh, yes we
do
, Josh.
We
have
to. Right
now
. I’m like so
ready!”

She pushed her seat all
the way back and maneuvered around the shifter. Her firm buttocks slid across
Bert’s face and she bent over so her head and hands were in the back seat. “Give
me a push will ya for Christ’s sake.”

Bert placed his hands on
her buttocks.

“Come on one-two-three,”
she said and started to giggle as Bert gently but with mixed purpose pushed her
buttocks and Becca wound up lying on her side in the back seat. She was
laughing as she sat up. “Not bad for a girl with one leg, huh.” She pulled her
blouse out of her shorts and opened it as Bert watched her. Then she slid the
zipper of her jeans down. “Hey, you, don’t watch. Get back here.”

Bert sighed and managed
to maneuver himself into the seat beside her. She threw herself at him, taking
his hand, and placing it on her breast.

She moaned. “Now, Bertram
Leslie Martin Junior,” she said, her voice a husky drone, “where did we leave
off?”

                                                                        The
End