Lost & Found Ch. 03

"Mr. Dolan, how exactly did this occur?" he asked, and Steve scowled and began to speak but Angie spoke up first.

"He fell on the driveway, isn't that right dear?" said Angie, and Steve mumbled agreement.

The doctor looked skeptical, but accepted their explanation, even though he could see it couldn't possibly have resulted from a simple fall. The ulna showed a displacement fracture, while the radius showed a rotational fracture. Tellingly, there was no injury or evidence of fall or impact to the Olecranon, the 'point' of the elbow characteristically damaged when falling on the arm with sufficient force to break one or both of the bones. Additionally, the wrist fracture was an almost textbook Colles' Fracture. Taken together, both injuries pointed to a lateral twisting force, as though someone had tried to wring his arm off, a combination he'd previously only ever seen in child abuse cases. The strength needed to do this to an adult male would have been enormous.

However, they were adults, and they were both adamant it was caused by a fall, so the Ortho filed it under the 'none of my business' heading and went ahead describing the treatment. Steve was not best pleased. Because of the misalignment and displacement of the fractures, the ulna and radius bones would have to be screwed back in place with a plate and titanium screws. His arm and hand would then be immobilized in a solid cast from shoulder to fingertips for six to eight weeks to prevent further injury to the fractured bones while they knitted again.

Steve was admitted and scheduled for surgery the following morning, so Angie followed the orderly as he was wheeled from ER to Surgical One for pre-op checks, and waited until he was settled in his room.

"When I get out of here, I'll...!" he began, but Angie cut him short.

"No, you won't. You'll leave your children alone, all three of them!" she snapped. "You won't touch them, contact them, talk about them, nothing. I'm sick of this, Steve, and I'm sick of you. Today was the last straw. You were never going to tell me about the Anderson boy, were you? How many other bastards are you hiding from me around my home town?"

Steve scowled at the memory of Robbie throwing him across the yard like he weighed nothing, and glared at Angie.

"There aren't any! How can you believe that pack of liars over your own husband?" he snarled, but his eyes told a different story. Angie looked him over, comparing him with Robbie, physically so similar, so many facial features in common and yet Robbie made such better use of his. Steve seemed to possess two expressions; sullen deviousness or cocky arrogance, and nothing in between. Angie was remembering the open smiling face she'd seen earlier that afternoon, the realization that her son was handsome suddenly dawning on her. Robbie hadn't changed that much, she realised, what had changed was her perception of him. And with that realization came another one; she didn't want to be with this man any more.

"Shut up Steven Dolan, just...shut up! Don't bother lying to me anymore; I know about the girl in Pueblo, and the girl in Santa Fe, and the girl in Topeka, shall I go on? Did you also promise them that you'd leave me for them, or was that just the girl in Pueblo? Melanie or Melody, or whatever her name was? Did you manage to knock up any of the others as well, or was it just her? What was the money for, an abortion? Because it wasn't enough for child support; is that what it was? If you're going to play around, you should know better than to play with your own employees. Prime rule of cheating, Steve; never shit on your own doorstep!"

Angie stood up, gathering her stuff.

"I want a divorce, Steve. Today I finally saw what you're capable of; you attacked your own children; I should have let Joey beat you after what you did to my daughter..."

"Daughter? She's fucking her brother, she a fucking little incest-slut!" burst out Steve, and Angie stepped closer to prod him on his broken arm, causing a lance of pain to shoot through his body, making him groan.

"She's my daughter, and yours, so you keep a civil tongue in your head. I still don't fully understand this thing with Robbie, and I don't like it, but there's one thing I do understand; she's with the one man on this planet I'm absolutely certain would never hurt her or make her cry, and she loves him. We drove that boy, our boy, away; we made him into Sarah Anderson's son, and now we have no right to judge him. Sarah was right, we stood by and watched him slowly disintegrate, and we never once found any time for him; our own son! I saw Robbie smile today; do you know how it makes me feel to realise that I've never seen my son smile, that I never once gave him anything to smile for? Can you even imagine what it feels like for your own son to stare you in the face and call someone else mom? I carried him under my heart for nine months, and he looked at me today like I was nothing to him; I did that to him, and so did you, you bastard! Now I need to find a way to apologise to him for never giving him anything of me. We should burn for what we did to that boy, and one day I'll have to stand before my maker and explain myself, and so will you; what are you going to say?"

Angie paused in the doorway, and looked back at Steve.

"I'm going now, I'll move your stuff into the pool-house, when you get out you can stay out there until you can make alternate living arrangements, but I don't want to see you again. I'm sorry Steve, I need to see my children, and I need to try and apologise to Robbie for what I did to him. You should think about what I said, Steve, it's not too late to try and find your kids again."

Steve stared at her.

"Angie, please, at least wait until I get out of here, we can talk about this, please, we've been together for nearly twenty-four years, since we were kids in school, surely another few days won't hurt...?"

He broke off as Angie slowly shook her head. "No, Steve, in a few days or a few weeks or a few months, I'm still going to want the same thing. We're over; we have been for years. All your little 'adventures' in Topeka and Pueblo, and Santa Fe and everywhere else, all of them, they meant so little to you, but they carved me away from you piece by piece. If you'd only ever learned to keep it in your pants maybe we wouldn't be here right now. But you lied to me, constantly, you cheated on me endlessly, and I looked the other way, for what? For a new car every year, and a pool? Or maybe some jewellery when you remembered our anniversary?"

She paused to gather her thoughts.

"But you forgot one thing, Steve, you forgot about our kids; you locked one out of your life, and today you lost the other one forever; I helped you do that, and I don't know how I can ask my children to forgive me, but I'm willing to try; are you? And what about Joey Anderson, did you ever do anything for him? You left your son and his mother to fend for themselves, you never once put your hand in your pocket and said 'can I help, what do you need?' It would have been a shock, and it would have hurt me, but I would have respected you for trying to do the right thing by your oldest son; but you never once tried to be a stand-up guy; instead you just swept it under the mat and hoped it would never surface. Goodbye Steve, you'll be hearing from my lawyer."

Angie called her lawyer on the way to the car, gaining a march on Steve; she wanted him served as soon as possible, while he was still in hospital. She had his cell, so he wouldn't be making any furtive calls to his lawyers and accountants just yet;

Angie was determined to make sure that she got what she was due, and that her children, both of them, would benefit. She pondered Sarah's words, the truths that she had been forced her to face, and wondered how she could ever repair a lifetime of neglect with her son.

Her eyes pricked with tears as she finally confronted the memories of the look on his little face every time he'd held his arms out to her to pick him up, or hold him, or just let him be with her, and she'd pushed him away or ignored him in favor of Casey.

Hot shame flashed through her as she remembered the countless occasions when they'd abandoned him in his playpen, left alone and isolated in another room day after day while they fawned and fussed over Casey. Then there were the times they'd looked right through him when they knew he needed them, and most shameful of all, the spiteful, nasty little pranks and tricks they'd played on him, just because they could.

Angie climbed into the car and absently started the engine, still thinking about what Sarah had said; they'd fed him, clothed him, and ignored him his entire young life, and she suddenly froze as she realised she couldn't remember his birthday; her own son, and she'd forgotten when his birthday was! They'd put their perfect daughter and their supposedly less than perfect son side by side, and chosen one over the other, and so they'd deleted him from their lives for reasons so trivial that she now had trouble believing they could have done it; but they had, and now she had to pay for it.

Without knowing she was echoing her daughter all those years ago, Angie slumped against the steering wheel, resting her forehead on the wheel as she cried at last for her son, for the little boy she'd wronged for so little reason, and for the man he'd become, the man she would never know.

As Angie was driving Steve to the ER, Robbie was tending to Casey, who was still trembling with reaction after being assaulted by her father. Sarah, Joey, and Karen orbited around her as she clung to Robbie, her face stinging where Steve's hand had landed squarely across her cheekbone. A reddened bruise was already appearing despite the ice-pack. Karen sat down next to her and started dabbing some soothing ointment on the bruise, and Casey's self-control finally broke.

Karen held her as her fright and pain manifested itself in shaking and crying and Karen held her like a small child, smoothing her hair as she sobbed against her. Robbie looked on helplessly, sensing that now was one of those times when Casey needed another woman, not him. He and Joey backed away as Sarah took her away from Karen, and held her close. Sarah caught Robbie's eye and looked upwards, indicating his old room, and he nodded in understanding.

Robbie took over from Sarah, and dabbed at Casey's eyes.

"I think you'd better come lie down for a while, Case," he said, helping her to rise, "You can use my old room, come on."

So saying, Robbie took her upstairs and urged her to lie down, making her as comfortable as possible. He sat in silence with her for a while, stroking her hair while she hugged him, until he noticed she was crying again, but silently, the tears rolling down her cheeks. He sat with her, gently wiping her tears away, being careful of the large bruise appearing on her left cheekbone.

"Casey, don't please, it's over now, they know about us, so it's all done now. Now it's you and me. Your father paid for doing that to you, now he knows what the score is, and we're free. Casey, I know this seems like a weird time to talk about this, but now that there's no more to say, will you do one thing for me?"

Casey smiled at him, wincing as she stretched her bruised cheek.

"Ouch! Of course, baby, anything for you!" she grinned, "including taking a punch!"

Robbie grinned. "I'm sorry about that, I took my eye off him for just a second, I guess I just never thought he'd do something like that to you, of all people!"

Casey grinned smiled a little wistfully.

"I guess, at bottom, I still believed he'd be dad enough to stop and listen to me. Mom almost did, I almost got to her, but him, I never..." She shook her head, and smiled back up Robbie.

"What did you want to ask me, baby?"

Robbie flushed, and knelt down by the bed, to put his head on level with hers, so he could look into her eyes.

"Casey, you know how I feel about you, and you know more than anybody what we've got, and I wanted to ask you if, when you're ready, you'd consider...maybe...I don't know, umm...marrying me, perhaps?"

Casey was thrilled, moved, and almost overwhelmed by the rush of love and trust she felt for him, tinged with amusement at how quickly he'd changed from being her confident and competent defender to this tongue-tied blushing teenager.

She sat up and cupped his face in her hands, to speak directly to him.

"Baby, thank you for asking me. I would be honored to marry you, to be your wife, and have your children!"

Robbie smiled slowly, his smile transmuting into a wide happy grin. He leaned in and kissed her once, softly, and took her left hand. "Mom gave me this ring, it was her grandmother's ring, and she told me I should give it one day to the girl I marry, so now I'm giving to you, for you to wear as my wife to be. I love you Casey Roisian Dolan!"

"And I love you too, Robbie Anderson!" she grinned back.

Robbie slid the antique diamond engagement ring onto Casey's ring finger, watching as she smiled wistfully.

"I used to daydream about this moment when I was younger," she smiled, "I just never dreamed I'd be saying 'yes' to my hottie big brother!"

Robbie grinned and leaned in for another, longer kiss.

"Joey and I were planning on taking you, Karen and Mom out to dinner, I'll tell Joey to go ahead without us, unless..." said Robbie, and Casey grimaced.

"I don't think I want to be seen looking like this, if you don't mind; my face hurts, but you go, Sarah wants to have dinner with both her boys, I'll be fine."

Robbie shook his head. "I'll tell them to go ahead, we'll order in, or raid the fridge; besides, we'll have her to ourselves later tonight and tomorrow morning anyway, so no harm, no foul!"

Robbie went in search of Joey, to tell him of the change of plan, while Casey lay back down and stretched her hand out, admiring her ring.

Shortly he was back. "All arranged, Joey and Karen will bring mom home, and we'll order in, or you can have a dig through the fridge later, see what turns up. You rest now, I need to go and talk with Joey for a few minutes, don't go away!"

Joey was lounging on the porch, idly watching the street when Robbie caught up with him. Joey looked up at him and grinned.

"So tell me, butthead, how did it feel, kicking daddy's ass for him? I hope you got as much out of it as I got watching it!"

Robbie grinned. It had been kind of satisfying, but in a small, mean way, and he didn't want to go there or get to liking the feeling; that was kind of how this all started in the first place. He decided instead to change the subject, he had something important to think about, and he needed advice.

"Joey, I needed to get a smart opinion, but I couldn't find anyone local, so I thought you'd do!" he smiled, plumping down onto the porch seat next to Joey

Joey grinned and lazily flipped him a finger.

"So talk to me, butthead! What's so all-fired important you have to disturb my bout of medically-sanctioned lazing while I reminisce about daddy swan-diving face first into the sidewalk?"

Robbie looked pensive, his silence catching Joey's attention, causing him to slide upright and sit still, waiting for him to marshal his thoughts. At last, Robbie stirred.

"Joey, last week I had a conversation with Steve Vargas, about where I was going, what I wanted from GameStx, what I wanted out of life, and he kind of made me an offer I really need to talk to you about. He seemed to think I was getting ready to jump ship, although I don't know where he could have got that from; after you guys, Mom, Aunt Kat, everyone, I love that man more than anyone in the world and I wouldn't hurt him to save my own life. He's the one who gave me everything I have, and more, but he was so concerned I'd leave he offered to make me a partner with him and his brother, Elio. I would never leave Steve in the lurch, but I don't know if I could be a partner in what we look set to become; a software mill, just churning out this year's version of last year's hit, so I told him I'd think about it, and being here, with you, Mom, Karen, and Casey, has helped me to come to a decision."

Robbie paused, taking a deep breath.

"I'm going to accept his offer, not because of the money, you know me, I don't really need money, but I'll only accept on one condition; that you come with me as part of the deal. I think together we could turn GameStx into an innovator, instead of just a market responder, but we'd need someone like you to push us into the spotlight. I know I'm asking a lot, but before you say no, please, just think about it, talk it over with Karen, whatever you need to do. Steve's given me a month to give him an answer, and two weeks are up already."

"However things go, I'm not leaving Steve, but I think GameStx needs to move forward, and I know Elio is behind me on this; he sees the need for us to step up and start taking on EA and Activision and all the other big boys at their own game. If we don't, we disappear, and we do good stuff, too good to just disappear into the background. I think you can help us do that, but only from the inside, so please, a slow yes is better than a quick no, so think it over, please!"

Joey looked him over slowly, seeing the concern there, and the plea for his older brother to help him out, and to be honest, the idea appealed; the company he and Karen worked for had offices in San Francisco, if she agreed, she could transfer and remain in full employment while he took a chance with Robbie.

Joey stood up and stretched, and grinned down at Robbie's anxious, open face.

"Looks like I'm taking mom and Karen to dinner solo, so wait up for us, I think Karen will want to talk to you as well, this is a decision that affects us both, so you be up and around when we get back, OK?"

Robbie grinned.

"I'll be here, count on it! And...thanks, Joey! Now, I think Casey needs me, so if you'll excuse me...!"

He went back upstairs, to find Casey examining her reflection in the mirror, gently touching and mapping out the pain spots in the bruise forming on her left cheekbone.

She looked up as Robbie came in the room, and tilted her head back to look up at him.

"He really did a number on me, don't you think?" she half-smiled, making Robbie smile back. "I'll have to borrow some Concealer from Karen or Sarah tomorrow, but you know what, it's not that painful now!" She skittered her fingertips across the bruise and winced, giving lie to the words.

Robbie sat down next to her and pulled her close, examining her features, admiring her hair, her profile, her pale, translucent skin. He thought to himself how lucky he was that someone like her could want to be with someone like him. Casey meanwhile was thinking pretty much the same thing.

On impulse, she pulled his head down and found his lips, kissing him tenderly, happily while his arm tightened around her as he bore her backwards. He lay on his side, Casey in the crook of his arm, his head turned to her so he could continue to kiss and nuzzle her. Casey kissed him back with equal enthusiasm, her hands coming up to hold his face as he showered her with kisses.

Casey grinned and bit her bottom lip, something wicked dancing in her eyes, and she reached for his jeans, popping the button and tugging the zipper down in one move. Robbie's eyes widened, then he too grinned and returned the favor, his hands grasping the waistband of her jeans as he pushed them down and tugged them off her.

Casey slid her hand inside his open jeans and took hold of his burgeoning erection through the material of his shorts, squeezing him rhythmically as he began to rub and caress her panties where they stretched around her damp pussy lips, now clearly visible through the thin material. Casey moaned and shut her eyes at the pleasurable sensation, humping her crotch back against his fingers as he drew her close to lick and nibble and kiss her neck, her throat, her chin and her lips, his lips feeling like they were coated with fire as they burned and sizzled across her skin.