Intersection (55 page)

Rose could not contain her emotions as Cassidy and Alex walked through the door. She immediately embraced her daughter with her tears flowing freely. “I’m all right, Mom… really,” Cassidy assured her mother.

The older woman looked at the agent and then took her into a hug. “Alex…Thank you…thank you for…”

The agent was still wrestling with her own guilt. “I don’t deserve any…”

“Yes you do,” Rose said stepping back and looking at the agent and her daughter. “I’m just so glad you are safe.”

Cassidy smiled and looked at Nick. “He’s upstairs,” the man answered knowingly. “Alex…he wanted to sleep in the bunk beds with Cat. He did pull the bottom.”

Alex shook her head and smiled. She took Cassidy’s hand. “Come on.” Alex opened the door to the room. A night light gave off a slight glow and the light from the hallway peeking in highlighted a small face in the lower bunk. She felt Cassidy’s body begin to tremble and she tightened her grip on the woman’s hand. Cassidy took a deep breath and quelled her mounting emotion as they approached the bed. “Hey… Speed, wake up,” Alex gently called to him. Seeing small eyelids begin to flutter she continued. “Someone wants to say goodnight,” she said.

“Mom?” He woke and wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck.

“Hey, sweetie…I’m sorry it’s so late… just a crazy day.” She held him tightly to her. “I had to wait for Alex to come and pick me up.”

“Why? Where were you?”

“You don’t need to worry, sweetie…Okay?” In the light she could see that her young man was not so convinced. Dylan was a bright and intuitive boy. Cassidy ran her hand over his small head and ruffled his hair affectionately. Dylan looked at Alex; questioning her with his eyes. Cassidy watched and continued, “Alex is home now, Honey… We’re all okay.”

Alex smiled and took a seat next to her two favorite people on the edge of the bed. “Get some sleep, Speed Racer. It’s late. Tomorrow we’ll all have breakfast together. Okay? We’ll spend the day here with Uncle Nick.”

“I have school,” he looked at his mother.

“Well,” Alex said, “not tomorrow.” She smiled. “Tomorrow, we have other things we need to do.”

“What?” He asked.

“Ah…. That’s tomorrow, Speed. Get some rest.” Alex kissed him on the head.

Dylan looked at his mother who smiled broadly at him. “I love you, Mom,” he said grabbing onto her again and sensing in her that she was somehow sad.

“I love you, too Dylan, Alex is right…get some sleep. Okay? We’ll be here when you wake up.” She held him for another minute and then tucked him back in. Slowly she made her way back to her feet where Alex’s arm swiftly wrapped around her waist and guided her to the door. She turned back and looked at the small boy already being reclaimed by his dreams. “God, Alex….”

“It’s okay. We’re all here now,” Alex said closing the door and pulling Cassidy to her.

“I just want to…” Cassidy struggled to speak. “I don’t think I can…”

Alex understood. “You don’t need to go back down there, Cassidy. Come on.”

“My mother…. and I should really thank Nick and…”

Alex shook her head and lifted Cassidy’s chin. “No. YOU should follow me. I will run you a bath. You relax. I will get our things. I will talk to your mother and you can see Nick and Barb tomorrow. They live here, remember?”

Cassidy couldn’t help but smile. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Alex kissed the woman’s forehead. “I think you have that backwards….Come on.”

Cassidy got out of the bath and found sweats and a baggie T-shirt laid out for her. Alex was still downstairs. She was certain the agent was answering questions to keep Cassidy protected. The teacher smiled and climbed into the bed. She was exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally, but she was so grateful to be here. There was no way, she realized, that she could sleep in her own house right now. She didn’t even want
to walk back in there. A hotel would have been cold. Alex thought of everything. She rolled to her side and hugged her pillow, closing her eyes. The toll from the day captured her and her body gave over to sleep. Alex walked quietly into the room and threw on her long T-shirt and shorts. She slid under the covers next to the small figure in the bed and nestled her face into the long blonde hair. She inhaled deeply; the faint scent of Cassidy’s shampoo invading her senses. “I love you, Cass,” she whispered.

“I love you, Alfred,” a voice barely managed.

“You’re awake?’

“Not really,” Cassidy admitted but rolled to face the agent next to her.

Alex ran her hand through Cassidy’s hair and tucked it behind her ears. She was lost looking into the woman’s eyes. Finally, they were completely alone. “Cass… I’m sorry that I…”

“Shhh…” Cassidy kissed the lips before her. “Don’t you dare, Alex Toles.” Alex had planned on comforting Cassidy. Now, holding the woman she loved, the agent began to tremble. Losing Cassidy frightened Alex in a way she could not fathom. She had held her emotions together all day. She had tabled her anger. She had buried her fear. She even fought to sequester the relief she felt when she saw Cassidy. There were so many emotions pouring over and through her now and Cassidy brought out every possible one. The feel of Cassidy in her arms was more than the agent could handle and her tears began to escape. All she wanted was to love Cassidy; to protect her. “Alex, I’m all right now.”

“Cassidy….I’m sorry… I shouldn’t be…”

“You shouldn’t what? Have been scared?”

“What you went through…”

Cassidy closed her eyes and stilled herself. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t go through something too. You had to deal with so much. Alex…I don’t even know how you knew… How did you even get back so quickly?”

“Doesn’t matter,” the agent answered. “I would have stolen a plane if I had to.”

Cassidy laughed. “I believe that, you know.”

“You should.” Alex kissed Cassidy’s forehead.

“Alex? I don’t think I can go back there…”

Alex already knew that. Unbeknownst to the teacher that was what she had been talking about downstairs. “You don’t have to.”

“Alex… It’s home… I mean there’s….

“Stop,” the agent said. She understood that this would be part of Cassidy’s process. It was easier to deal with facts and realities than feelings after going through a trauma. But, Alex also knew that the less facts Cassidy had to confront or deal with, the less arrangements she became involved with; the sooner the teacher could begin to deal with her feelings. The sooner she did that, the better her recovery would be. “That’s tomorrow’s problem. And, I think I have some ideas.”

“Is that right?” Cassidy asked.

“It is.”

“Alex… Dylan has already missed so much school…. And my classes… I…”

The agent stroked the teacher’s cheek. Cassidy was amazing. The most amazing person Alex had ever met. This was not a diversion. Cassidy was worried about Dylan, about her students, and even about the agent. She always put everyone else first. “You are the most incredible person I have ever met, Cassidy O’Brien.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You…worried about everyone else.”

“Dylan needs stability… and those kids are…”

Alex ceased the woman’s words with a tender kiss. “For once…. Let someone take care of you.” The words cracked the wall that Cassidy had been building all day and her sobs followed. Alex held her close and rocked her gently. “Let it go….I’m right here, Cass….I promise you….I am not going
anywhere.” Cassidy let herself go completely. Her body quaked with the fear and the anxiety that she had been holding in. Alex understood, completely. “You don’t worry about all of those things. Let me take care of what I can…Okay? Please?” Cassidy nodded her head into the agent’s chest. “I will take care of you and Dylan. I promise.”

Slowly Cassidy’s release of emotion began to calm and she looked back at her lover. “Alex?”

“Yes?”

Cassidy struggled to catch her breath. “I need to tell you something.”

Alex went numb. She wondered if Fisher had done something Cassidy had not shared with anyone. Cassidy saw the agent’s face contort and realized immediately what was passing through Alex’s thoughts. “No…no…nothing about him, honestly. I told you everything.”

Alex swallowed hard in relief. “What is it?” She asked softly.

Cassidy’s voice broke as she began, “I need you to know,” she hesitated.

“What, Cass? You can say anything to me…you know that.”

“I do….I just,” the smaller woman gathered her courage and continued. “I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of there.”

Alex closed her eyes, “Cass…”

Cassidy lifted a finger to Alex’s lips, “Alex, please let me say this…Please?” The agent nodded. “I thought about you. I tried to picture you and Dylan; to hear your voice.” She paused and took Alex’s hands. “If anything ever happened to me. I would want you to take care of him… of Dylan.” The teacher’s nerves again took hold. “I know that’s crazy and I have no right to….”

“Now
you
are rambling,” Alex kissed Cassidy’s nose.

“But, Alex, I understand…”

“Stop,” the agent said firmly. “I know Dylan is not my son.” Alex saw Cassidy’s face drop and promptly moved to lift her
face back to look at the agent’s. “I love him. I love you. Both of you. You never have to worry about Dylan. I would do anything for him….anything.”

Cassidy looked into Alex’s eyes and knew that was the truth. “I can’t lose you, Alex.”

“Lose me?” She laughed and pulled Cassidy to rest on her chest. “That will never happen. I want you to try and sleep, okay? We have the rest of our lives to talk…about everything.”

“When I saw you walk in today….I’ve never felt that way…I just…”

“I know…me too. Get some sleep. I promise it will be better tomorrow.”

“Mmm…it’s better now,” Cassidy confided, feeling safe in Alex’s embrace.

Alex chuckled. “I love you, Cass. I’m sorry if I keep saying that.”

“Don’t ever apologize for loving me, Alex. I don’t know where I’d be any more if you didn’t.”

“Well, that’s okay because I’ll be wherever you go. Go to sleep.”

“Je t’adore,” Cassidy kissed the agent’s chest and held onto her tightly.

“And I adore you,” Alex smiled. Silently she thanked everyone she could think of, even God, for the gift in her arms.

“NO!” Cassidy screamed and sat up straight. Her body was shaking uncontrollably.

“Cass,” Alex gently put her arms around the woman. The agent was no stranger to nightmares. It had taken some time for her own nightmares to grab hold of her, but she had always suspected that was due in large part to all the medications she was on after the incident in Iraq. Cassidy had come home with a prescription for some anxiety medication but Alex was fairly certain that the teacher would avoid taking it if she could. The
small woman collapsed against her and the agent could feel the thumping of the teacher’s heart. “Cassidy, it’s all right. Try and breathe.”

The smaller woman shook her head and put her face in her hands. All she could see was her kitchen and
him
. Then she would shake that off and see the news trucks as Alex led her to the car. She was having difficulty catching her breath now. “Alex, I can’t go back to that house. I can’t be there. What am I going to do? How am I supposed to face my students?” Cassidy stopped and sighed. Alex was gently rubbing her back; listening and allowing her lover to release what was in her mind and her heart. “Those kids will be worried about
me
. I am supposed to be taking care of
them
.” The woman let out a groan of anger and frustration.

Alex continued tenderly caressing the woman she loved. She spoke as quietly and as reassuringly as she could. “I know. We will figure it all out tomorrow. You need some sleep.”

Cassidy’s anger was rising. “I can’t sleep, Alex. How the hell am I supposed to sleep? I start to sleep and he is there. Then I start to wake up and all these questions play in my head. Sleep?” Alex rubbed her temples and Cassidy’s temperament and voice began to soften. “I’m sorry,” Cassidy said as she stroked the agent’s cheek. “You didn’t deserve that.”

The agent smiled. “Cass, it’s all right. As I recall you’ve experienced my nightmares.” Cassidy nodded and closed her eyes. “Listen. I know… I do. If you want to talk about this now; we will,” Alex said.