A Private Dance Ch. 09

Hey everyone! Time to wrap this story up. Thanks for reading and all the great feedback and your patience with my slow writing! I plan to write more soon. Enjoy!

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"An accident?!" Miranda shouted into the intercom's microphone as she scrambled to put her clothes on so she could rush down the stairs to meet the officer at the front door. She pushed the red button on the wall speaker for the automatic gate and heard the click of the strong iron clasps unlatching. "I'll meet you at the entrance!" Miranda exclaimed to the waiting officer. She quickly slipped on her white shorts and pink V-neck T-shirt that she'd been wearing earlier at the grand re-opening of Maxxy's, then found her sandals and stepped into them before racing out of the master bedroom and down the stairs to confront the policeman at the front door.

"What happened?!" Miranda said loudly as she opened the front door for the uniformed public safety official. "Is it David?"

"If you mean David Andrews, Mrs. Mason," the officer replied, "then I'm afraid the answer is yes. We responded to a call on Tarry Lane approximately two hours ago of a car-motorcycle accident. Upon arrival, we saw that the motorcycle had been struck by an SUV and the motorcycle's rider, Mr. Andrews, had been knocked off the bike and thrown several feet across the street where he struck the brick wall of a nearby apartment building."

"Is he..." Miranda couldn't bring herself to say the word. She had lost her first husband, Allen, to pancreatic cancer nearly four years before. As horrible as it was losing him, she had time to process his impending death. But if David had died suddenly, Miranda thought that she would never recover.

"Is he... Is he still alive?" Miranda asked the officer, finally finding a way around saying the word dead.

"He was as of ninety minutes ago, ma'am," said Officer Jenkins, whose first name Miranda saw was Michael. "Mr. Andrews was transported by ambulance to GRC-Mason Hospital. He is in critical condition and, at the moment, unconscious."

"Officer Jenkins," Miranda said through choking tears, "how did you know to contact me? David and I aren't married."

"Mr. Andrews was able to say two words before he lost consciousness: Miranda Mason." The tall policeman answered. "He said your name twice then went under. When the ambulance left, we confirmed your relationship through Mr. Andrews' cell phone contacts. You are listed as his emergency contact, ma'am. I was then dispatched here to appraise you of the situation and bring you to the hospital, if you so choose."

"Thank you, Officer," Miranda replied softly, "but I'll have my driver take me to the hospital..."

"As you wish, ma'am." Jenkins answered then took her hand in his. "He's alive, Mrs. Mason, I can almost guarantee that. That crash would have killed anyone else, but it's a testament to his physical condition that he survived and was able to speak your name before he went under."

Miranda looked at the tall policeman and began to cry once more. She instinctively fell into his arms and the officer held her while she cried for a brief moment. Then, as if a switch was flipped, Miranda removed herself from Jenkins embrace and wiped the tears from her face.

"He doesn't need to see me blubbering like this," Miranda said to Jenkins as she smoothed the wrinkles from her shirt. "He needs me to be strong for him until he can be strong for himself. Thank you, Officer Jenkins, for coming out and appraising me of the situation. If you'll excuse me..."

"Of course, Mrs. Mason." The lanky policeman said then tipped his patrolman's hat to her before he strode through the front door and back to his black and white cruiser.

Miranda grabbed her purse from the table in the parlor then rushed out the large front door of the mansion. She saw the security gates swing shut as Officer Jenkins drove away then she headed for the limousine.

"Johnathon," Miranda shouted to her new driver, "we have to get to the hospital right away!"

Once again, Miranda did not wait for her employee to open the rear door to the elongated car's back seat. She opened the door and quickly sat herself down as Johnathon fired up the engine and sped down the driveway. As the went through the gates, Miranda saw Officer Jenkins' patrol car waiting for her with its blue and red lights flashing. The astute policeman had anticipated that Miranda might want an escort to the hospital. The black and white cruiser led the way to the hospital that bore Miranda's last name, where her new love's life hung in the balance.

++++++++++

Two Hours Before

David rocketed away from Maxxy's on his Honda, aimed at the shortest route to his apartment. David hadn't spent much time at his own home in the past three weeks. Most of his time was spent with Miranda at the mansion either in the gigantic swimming pool or in the equally-impressive master suite as the two lovers explored one another. Unseen by the people he passed on the street, David had a smile on his face, hidden by his full-face helmet, that would light up half the city. He was in love! David had never cared for a woman as much as he did for Miranda. He felt incomplete when they were apart and yearned for their reconnection.

David pulled into his regular parking spot at his building and rushed up the stairs to his apartment. As he fumbled with his keys to unlock the front door, David's neighbor, the smoke-laden Lynette, opened her door and walked toward David.

"Hello, David," Lynette croaked, a half-smoked Pall Mall perpetually pinched between two fingers on her right hand. David thought she may have been born with a cigarette stuck in her digits and thanked Providence that he never took up the habit. "I haven't seen much of you for the past couple weeks, David." Lynette wheezed as she brought the burning cylinder to her lips and took another long drag.

"Yeah, hi, Lynnette," David answered as he glanced in her direction. "Been pretty busy... uhhhhh... looking for work since Maxxy's closed down, yknow."

"You must have really been pounding the pavement, David dear." Lynette replied as more smoke poured from her mouth and nose. "You've been gone for four days and you've only been back to your apartment three times in the last three weeks. People are beginning to talk."

"Yeah, well... Yknow, a guy's gotta do what he's gotta do to pay the rent..." David responded as he desperately tried to open the door to his home.

"We never got to finish our conversation about payment for the use of my Wi-Fi, David." Lynette said as she moved closer to David and placed her hand on his muscular back. Smoke wafted up from her fingers and trailed into David's nose, causing his breath to catch in his throat.

"Lynette, I do apologize for that," David answered, stifling a smoke-induced cough. "My situation at the time wasn't good but now I can repay you for it. How much did you figure?"

"Oh, my payment won't consist of money, David." Lynette replied, moving her hand from David's back down to his denim-clad ass. I think you know what I want. And I think you know that I've wanted it for some time now."

David turned to face the groping Lynette. The older woman let her hand slide from David's butt to his crotch as he turned, cupping his ample package as he faced her.

"That's not going to happen, Lynette." David sternly answered as he removed her hand from his private area. "If you want some money for the Wi-Fi then I'll pay you. But there's no way you and I are getting... close." David turned to enter his apartment when Lynette spoke once more.

"Maybe I'll just have to tell the landlord about this. Maybe you'll find yourself out on the street. He and I have become quite... close."

"David turned once more to face his smoky neighbor. "That's fine, Lynette. You tell him all about it. You see, I'm moving out of here just as soon as possible anyway. My girlfriend has asked me to move in with her. You may know her: Miranda Mason? That's right. THAT Miranda Mason. I'm moving out of this shithole, away from you and that loser landlord and never coming back. You can send the bill to the big mansion on top of the hill on Old GR Road!"

David found what he was looking for then quickly exited his apartment, locking the door behind him. A stunned Lynette stood in the hallway mouth half-agape as David delivered his parting shot.

"Maybe if you didn't smoke 4 packs of cigarettes a day then your skin wouldn't look like my old bomber jacket from high school and you could get a decent man to fuck you once in a while, not that little pipsqueak of a FORMER landlord. See ya around!" With that, David strode confidently down the hall and out of the apartment building. He planned on only returning once more to gather what belongings he wanted then spend the rest of his life with Miranda.

David's smile returned as he felt the cube in his jacket pocket. He couldn't wait to get back to the mansion to be with Miranda again. Slipping the helmet over his head once more, David fired up the Honda and pulled out on to the street. The last thing he would remember was seeing the light turn green and patting the cube in his pocket once more as he twisted the throttle. As he crossed into the intersection, David's world suddenly went black and murky.

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Miranda had called Leslie and Anthony from the limo and told them what had happened. Leslie told Miranda that they would leave Maxxy's and meet her at the hospital right away. Miranda, with Officer Jenkins as her temporary bodyguard, was led to David's room. Miranda's hand went to her mouth when she saw David lying in the hospital bed. His head was bandaged from the top to halfway around his forehead. Both of David's eyes were blackened and his nose horribly broken. His bottom lip was split and puffed out. His left arm was in a cast from just above his elbow to his fingers and immobilized. Another large cast covered David's left leg entirely from hip to toes. He was hooked to a heart monitor and the incessant beeps came every two seconds, a haunting metronome. But as banged up as David was, Miranda thought he looked very peaceful in his unconsciousness.

"Mrs. Mason?" a voice from behind Miranda called and she whirled around to face the announcer. She saw a young man in green scrubs with wavy black hair and three-day growth on his face. "I'm Doctor Daniels," the young man said as he extended his arm and took Miranda's hand in his, "but you can call me Mike if you want. I'm pretty informal."

"Doctor," Miranda began, not bothering with Mike's informality plea right away, "please give it to me straight: Is David going to live?"

"Mrs. Mason... Miranda..." the doctor answered, "my best prognosis right now is maybe. That accident in which he was involved was a doozy. You or I would not have survived it. But, because of his excellent physical condition, he just might live through this. But he'll need some help."

"What kind of help?" Miranda asked. "If it's a question of money then put that to rest. Everything will be paid for before he needs it."

"He'll need that kind of help too," Mike said, "but what he really needs is an operation. We did a quick PET scan which revealed some internal lacerations, most notably one on his heart from a snapped rib. Repairing that will be the test to see if he will survive. I can't even guarantee that he'll make it through the surgery. David has internal bleeding that we must stop. Without the surgery, he will definitely not live through tomorrow."

"You have to do the surgery then. Right now, Doctor." Miranda stated without a moment's hesitation. "What do you need?"

"Well, since his injuries are life-threatening, we don't need to wait for permission from his closest relative. We'll schedule the surgery for two hours from now. You may want to make payment arrangements with administration while we prep him."

"Not a problem. I'm sure my credit is good here." Miranda replied. "My name is on the front of the building."

"Y-you're that Miranda Mason?!" the doctor asked.

"Yes, Mike." Miranda responded, a slight smile struggled to her lips. She thought she would never get over the look on people's faces when they found out who she was. "So, as you can be sure, payment will not be an issue."

"Forgive me, Mrs. Mason," Mike replied, "I truly had no idea who you... I mean, I didn't think..."

Miranda laid a hand on the young doctor's forearm for reassurance. "It's OK, Mike. Let's just focus on getting David better. And call me Miranda, please"

"Of course, Mrs. Ma... Miranda," Mike corrected himself. "We'll start prepping him right away. You may want to contact his family as soon as possible and appraise them of his condition."

"Doctor... Mike..." Miranda said, clutching the doctor's arm tighter, "may I have a moment alone with David before you and your crew start?"

"Of course, Miranda," Mike answered. "I have a few things I need to do before the surgeon gets here. Take a few minutes for yourself."

"You won't be doing the surgery?" Miranda asked.

"No," Mike responded, "I've been on-call for going on eighteen hours now. Dr. Seeryinga will be performing the surgery. He's just about the best surgeon we have here. But don't worry, I'll be assisting him after I get a couple cups of coffee." The young resident gave Miranda a quick wink and a smile then strode out of the room, leaving Miranda alone with her unconscious lover. She walked to the hospital bed and sat in the chair next to David's right side. Clutching his good right hand in hers, she spoke to her sleeping soulmate.

"David," Miranda began, "I don't know if you can hear me. I've heard that sometimes people in... your condition can still hear those talking to them. If you can, even if you can't, I want you to know that I'm going to do everything possible to keep you here with me. But if you feel like you can't go on, then don't hang on for me. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, even Allen. And I don't want to go on without you, but you can't worry about that either. If it becomes too much for you, then please stop fighting and go... I'll be all right... I love you, my sweet David and I hope to see you in a few hours..."

Miranda stood from the chair then bent down to kiss David's swollen lips. She thought she felt a slight squeeze on her hand as she broke the kiss, but she would never be sure. Tears streamed down Miranda's face as the heart monitor continued its incessant two-second drone. Taking David's cell phone from the stand next to the bed, Miranda walked out of the hallway and began calling David's sister as the surgical staff entered behind her to begin prepping David for his big fight.

++++++++++

David died at 10:23pm that night. He was brought back to life on the operating table four minutes later. He died again at 11:12pm and was once more brought back after a seven-minute non-existence. After David was stabilized, the surgeon repaired the internal damage from the horrific accident and finished the operation. Dr. Daniels spoke with Miranda, now accompanied by Leslie, Anthony, and David's sister, Danielle, and gave them the post-operation prognosis.

"He lost more blood than we thought," Mike explained, "and we nearly lost him twice. Just when I thought he was going to slip away the second time, he came back. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. It was like his will to live was stronger than his injuries. Of course, there are no guarantees. Dr. Serryinga still gives him a 50/50 chance. But any man that can withstand what he did and come back, well, I'd put my money on him to pull through."

"Can we go see him, Mike?" Miranda asked.

"Yes, but just a couple at a time right now," the doctor replied. "I'll take you to him."

Miranda and Danielle followed Mike to the ICU where David had been taken after surgery. An oxygen tube sat on David's upper lip and the ever=present beep of the heart monitor filled the ears of both women. With tears in their eyes, both Miranda and Danielle took chairs next to the bed and sat. Miranda once more took David's hand and lightly kissed his fingers. The squeeze from David's fingers was no phantom this time. Miranda looked at his hand clutching hers then looked to David's face as he opened his eyes for the first time in almost two days. David's lids fluttered then squinted as the light from the fluorescent overhead bulbs hit his pupils.

"David!" Miranda exclaimed as she and Danielle rose to their feet. "David, can you hear me?"

David first nodded slightly, then opened his mouth to speak. He paused as the pain in his jaw and lips hit him. His tongue slipped out between his lips and it was then that Miranda realized that the accident had knocked out David's front teeth, top and bottom. David wetted his lips then cleared his sore itchy throat.

"Miranda... Danielle..." David croaked, barely a whisper, but both women heard him loud and clear. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Miranda began crying again, but her sadness was replaced with profound joy. Too struck with emotion to speak, Miranda let Danielle explain the last forty-eight hours of David's life to him.

"David, you were in an accident." Danielle said. "Do you remember anything from it?"

David shook his head lightly. "Nothing..." he whispered. "But I have a vision of a dream. I couldn't see much but I could hear a woman's voice telling me that she loved me and that it was OK to stop fighting if I thought I couldn't go on..." David stopped for a moment to catch his breath as the mere act of speaking was like rigorous calisthenics to him. When he regained his wind, he continued. "I realized it was Miranda's voice I was hearing. But I couldn't see her face. The last thing I remember from the dream was thinking that I wasn't going anywhere until I saw her face one more time..."

"Rest, my love," Miranda said through choking tears. "You're going to be just fine. You just need to rest, OK?"

David was back out before Miranda had finished speaking, so she and Danielle left the room to give David his time to sleep. When they entered the hallway, Danielle turned and embraced Miranda.

"You saved him, Miranda..." Danielle told her through her sobs. "It was your voice... your words that saved him. Thank you..."

Miranda and Danielle left the ICU and walked to the surgery waiting room to give their family and friends the good news. David was going to live.

++++++++++

Although the doctors and nurses told him that he would be in the hospital for roughly six weeks, David had other plans. He amazed the staff by first getting out of bed and walking, with the help of a walker, less than a day after major surgery, then by doubling his therapy and leaving the ICU in just over a week, then gaining his outright release from the hospital three weeks after that. When David's casts were removed, the only signs of trauma on his fractured limbs were the slight scars from surgery. It would take months for David to walk unassisted. He knew his dancing days were most likely over, but that did not concern him. There was only one woman David wanted to dance for now and she sat next to him in the black limousine as they sped away from the clinic where his casts were finally removed.

"You really didn't lose that much muscle in your arm," Miranda observed while running her nails up and down his bicep. "You're still as sexy as the day I met you. And I plan to show you just how sexy I think you are when we get home." Miranda laid her head on David's shoulder and held him tight as the stretch car arrived at the familiar iron gates that guarded the Mason mansion.

David hobbled from the back seat of the limo and steadied himself on the cane Miranda bought for him. With Miranda holding his other arm, David slowly made his way up the marble stairs and through the front double doors. David sat in the large leather chair in the parlor where David had first danced for Miranda months before. Miranda went to the kitchen for a moment and returned with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.