A Long Time Coming

"And what would that be?"

"Something to do with a hit and run car accident where the victim ended up as a quadriplegic."

"You're right, but I have to ask that you sit on it for at least a couple of weeks. I haven't quite finished with him."

"Any hints?"

"No. I'll tell all when we get back."

"When you get back, where are you?"

"This is going to sound far fetched, but we are in a secret location for the next two weeks, funded by the government no less."

Steve took the phone from me. "Daddy, please don't try to find us, please."

"All right, now the two of you, don't do anything that I wouldn't do, have fun."

We didn't know what he wouldn't do, so we don't know whether we did them or not. What we do know is that we got to know each other so much better and, more importantly, like each other, love each other, so much better.

We arrived back on Friday afternoon with two major goals in mind, the first was, having made the decision that we loved each other too much to allow the impediment of her ex to bother us and we would live together. I packed as much of my crap, from my crappy flat, into my car and took it to Steve's house. Goal one complete. Having found storage space for my crap, we gave the bed a workout. It didn't collapse so we decided that it didn't need upgrading or replacing.

Having resolved our domestic arrangements we prepared ourselves for our return to work. Our first task was to arrange an appointment with our ex-boss, the former Minister. What reason could we use to request this meeting?

As it turned out we needn't have bothered, he was there waiting for us. "I was told that you would be returning to work this morning, I need to talk with you."

"Sure, come with us." He followed us down the corridor to our office. "How can we help you?"

"Firstly, I have to apologise for my outburst."

"You have to, or you wish to? You've been ordered to apologise to us, haven't you?"

"Well, yes. I would have anyway."

"Okay, your apology is accepted. Is there anything else?"

"I have to know something, was it my imagination or do you have an ulterior motive behind what you did?"

"Let me ask you one thing, having served three terms in parliament, you qualify for a lifetime pension and entitlements that mean that you don't have to work again, why are you upset about losing a job that you didn't like?"

"What do you mean, I didn't like?"

"If you had liked the job you would have put more effort into understanding it."

"There's another reason, isn't there?"

"You're right. This has been a long time coming. Cast your mind back seven years." His expression changed, he was having trouble breathing. "You were involved in a car accident." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "You fled the scene rather than face the consequences of your action."

"How...?" I held up my hand.

"The other person involved suffered extensive injuries and wasn't expected to live. Her husband approached you and told you that she was not expected to live and urged you to do the right thing and go to the police. He also told you that a witness had come forward who positively identified you as the driver of the other vehicle. Instead of admitting responsibility, you used your influence to ensure that the investigation would get shut down, didn't you?"

"I couldn't, it would be the end of my career."

"You thought only of yourself!" I was now angry, I slammed my hand down on the desk in front of him, he jumped. "You didn't think of the life that you destroyed, the career that you destroyed!" Steve put her hand on mine. I took several deep breaths. "That woman was a University Professor with a prominent academic career ahead of her. You took that from her. She was an active vibrant person, with a loving husband and a teenage son, who enjoyed life and her family. She survived, if you can call being a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair and needing full-time care, living. Her husband is now her full-time carer because he can no longer afford the cost of a full-time carer. He has no life other than the care of this once intelligent, vibrant human being. He too has lost his life. That teenage son worked his way through University and is now employed in a government position. That son is me, you took my mother from me, my father is no longer the man that I knew and loved, he's a hollow shell of a man. you took that from me, and all that you worried about was the loss of the job that you didn't like. What have you lost, really? In the overall scheme of things you've lost nothing."

"I didn't know." He said in almost a whisper.

"You know now. I must ask you to leave and don't come back until you are ready to apologise to me and my parents and to make some sort of restitution for their loss. And for your information, I will give you one week, if you do not comply, I will go to the media with my story. The story of a drunken member of parliament who caused an accident and walked away from it and his responsibilities. I have finished, you are free to leave."

He said nothing before getting to his feet and leaving. I was glad that he didn't look back and see me slump over the desk in tears. Steve took me in her arms, rocking me like a mother rocks her wounded child. "Thank god that's over. I came close to losing it with him."

"Ssh darling, I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you. Let it go, it's over, you've done all that you can for now." She went to her desk and spoke to the Director, asking him to come down to speak with us.

The Director came in and Steve spoke to him for several minutes. I couldn't hear what was said, but he nodded his head several times before he said. "Leave it with me." And left.

The shit hit the fan. The first we knew of it was late in the day we had a visit from a member of the AFP (Australian Federal Police). The PM had directed the police to investigate the circumstances of the case. Because the case had never been solved, the NSW police were ordered to reopen it. Three days later, a press release stated that the former Minister for Prim Minister and Cabinet had been arrested in connection to a hit and run accident that left the victim paralysed.

He was found guilty of dangerous driving, leaving the scene of the accident without rendering assistance to the injured driver and interfering in the investigation. He would spend a minimum of ten years in gaol, and, because he had committed a criminal offence, he was deemed to have been intelligible to be a member of parliament from the date of the offence. He forfeited the rights to his pension and ministerial entitlements.

He was fortunate that he was convicted when he was. Shortly after the trial, Mum died. It was as if she stayed alive long enough to see justice done, and having achieved that she reasoned that it was time to go. Dad tried not to show it, but we could see the burden being lifted from him.

We were pleased about that because he will make a great grandfather. Steve and I plan to get married as soon as her divorce come through, hopefully, it will be before our child is born, but if not, no biggy.