Mystery Woman

Cory collapsed with relief. The rest thanked the surgeon for his great work. After the doc told them it would be at least twelve hours before the patient could receive visitors, the crowd broke up and went home.

It was a quiet ride back to the apartment. Everyone was simply too mentally and emotionally exhausted to say anything. Morg took one look at the couch when they walked in and decided to sleep in his bed. He really needed a decent night's sleep. Everyone was out like a light five minutes after their heads hit the pillow.

The morning light was just starting to glow when Cory awakened with a start as the events of the previous night came rushing back to her. Her first thoughts were of Jerrod, but seeing Spinoso's face not only brought back her memory of being shot but everything else as well. She rolled over onto her back and pulled the sheet up to her neck in an effort to feel secure as the story of her life played out in her head.

Doctor Wahlburg was right, she'd had a hard life. She was now able to put the flashbacks into context. It was indeed her mother who was being beaten, and it was her dad doing the punching. He'd sometimes come home drunk and mean.

She remembered one night when she was only about five or six, her dad backhanded her because she wouldn't stop crying. Evidently, that was the last straw for her mother. The next day she packed a bag for the two of them, took all the money she could find in the house and took off with Cory in hand. They grabbed a bus and got as far away as they could.

Her mother wasn't an educated person, but she was a damn good waitress and made good tips. Life was still tough, but they squeaked by. Then tragedy struck. Her thirty-five-year-old mother died of cancer. Cory was just sixteen. She remembered being at her mother's bedside as she took her last breath.

She had no relatives and knew no one who could take her in, so Cory quit school and talked the restaurant owner into letting her take her mother's place. She had watched her work many times and learned a lot about waitressing. She had also watched her mother make out bank deposit slips and write checks for the bills, so she just continued by forging her mother's signature.

She had her first sexual encounter just after turning seventeen when she was raped while walking home from the restaurant one night. The trauma messed with her head and sent her on a self-destructive path for years. She experimented with drugs and bounced from one bad-boy, boyfriend to another until she met Harley. He wasn't very nice to her, either, but at least he wasn't into drugs. They lived together for almost two years. She thought she was happy until she caught him with another woman. That's what the fight was all about.

The sound of voices brought Cory back to the present. As she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, tears ran down her cheeks. It wasn't until she remembered her past, that she really recognized that life was giving her a second chance. She thought about the two people who had given her food and shelter all this time, and the other who had given her hope. Not since her mother passed away, did she have anyone in her life that meant so much to her.

Cory threw her robe over her nude body and tightly tied the sash around her waist. These people don't know how lucky they are, she told herself. With that thought in mind, she opened her bedroom door and charged into the kitchen.

"Morgan Johnson, don't you dare throw your marriage away over a damn silly mistake," she roared. "Do you have any idea how rare love like yours is? Yes, what she did was foolish, but it was without malice and without any thought of betraying you.

"And you," she howled, looking at a shocked Brea, "don't you EVER take this man or his love for you for granted. Why do you think he was so badly hurt by your little ploy? Because YOU are his world, his entire fucking world, and don't you ever forget it. And if you ever, EVER disrespect his love again, I'll personally kick your ass from here to Texas.

"Now," she continued after taking a deep breath, "I'm going to shower and get dressed, then I'm going to the hospital so I can be there as soon as Jerrod is allowed visitors." She poured herself a cup of coffee-to-go and headed for the shower.

The two stunned subjects of Cory's tirade just looked at each other. "What the hell was that about?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I don't know, but I think she made a lot of sense."

"Oh, you do, do you?" He waited a moment for effect. "Me too."

"Really? Then you're not still considering divorce?"

"No," he said shaking his head, "but..."

He never got a chance to finish his warning. Brea jumped in his lap and showed him with kisses. Cory smiled at the sounds of makeup sex coming from the bedroom as she left the apartment and grabbed a cab to the hospital. The woman behind the check-in desk said it would be a couple hours before Jerrod could see anyone.

"I'll wait," Cory replied.

It was after twelve-noon when a nurse found her in one of the waiting rooms. "Are you the lady waiting to see the patient in room three-twenty?"

"I'm not sure what room he's in. His name is Jerrod Ashwood. He's the cop who was shot last night."

"Yes, you can go up and see him now."

She thanked the nurse and almost ran to the elevator. There were already two cops in his room when she came bursting in. One was Janet, the officer who stayed with her in the motel.

"There she is, Jerrod, see, safe and sound," Janet commented. "He's been worried about you," she told Cory.

With a big, wide smile on her beautiful face, she walked up to the side of his bed so he could see her. "Yes, honey, I'm fine, thanks to you."

He looked up at her with a big, silly looking grin. His right arm was in a cast that went all the way up and wrapped around his shoulder, but other than that, he still looked like the man she'd fallen in love with.

Janet gave her partner a light elbow in the ribs. "Well, we were on patrol and figured we'd stop in and see how you were doing, Jerrod, but we have to get back out there, so we'll leave you in Cory's capable hands."

Jerrod thanked them for stopping by and told them to inform everyone at the station that he would be just fine, but apparently they didn't get the message. Over the following week, the aroma of fresh-cut flowers almost became overpowering and he had more visitors than a Stones concert, including the police commissioner.

Cory only went home to shower and sleep, the rest of the time she spent at his side, talking and laughing the hours away. She also saw to his every need and took care of him so well that the nursing staff made her an honorary member.

The day before he was to be discharged, they had a more serious discussion. His arm would be in the cast for another five weeks, and after that, would be pretty useless for another few. Cory offered to move in with him.

"It's going to be a while before you can use that arm again. I can help with the cooking, I can help you get dressed, I can be your chauffeur, I can do a number of things to make your life easier while you're recuperating."

"It's only a one-bedroom apartment," he said, "with only one bed," he added after a slight hesitation.

"That's not a problem for me if it's not for you," she told him with a smile.

Thanks to Cory's testimony, the police were able to tie Tony Spinoso to the murder of Johnny Ricci. Unfortunately, there was no evidence that Vito Generissi ordered the hit. The three that raped Cory were currently doing time for their crime, so The Case of the Mystery Woman, as the men and women of the eighteen district called it, was closed.

Morgan dropped the dime on his nemesis, Bob Castens for possession of a controlled substance. When they raided his apartment, they found enough GHB to charge him with intent to distribute. He pleaded guilty in turn for a reduced sentence, which left three golfers looking for a fourth for the next three to five years.

Jerrod Ashwood surprised himself. After his very contentious divorce, he thought it would take years, if ever, before he was ready to give his heart to another woman, but there he was only a year later, standing a the altar, watching his beautiful bride-to-be walk up the aisle. Standing in for her father was her good friend, Morgan Johnson, and completing the circle was the other half of the happy couple, Brea Johnson, as her matron of honor.

Fourteen months after getting married, Jerrod was made commander and given his own district station. Over the years, he, Cory, Brea, and Morgan became inseparable, along with their kids.

Never failing to recognize and appreciate the second chance she was given at a new life, Cory, with the help of her husband and friends, founded a charity for lost and battered women, and opened three more shelters in the city of Chicago.

*****

Cory sat on the edge of her bed, looking at the garment. Though it had been ten years since that night, her memories were as vivid as if it had been yesterday. After the dust had settled, she felt terrible about ruining Brea's beautiful dress. She still had money left from what she was given when she left the hospital and offered to pay for it, but Brea wouldn't hear of it.

She couldn't bear to throw it out. It was his blood staining the elegant fabric, the blood he sacrificed for her, so she found a secret hiding place. Not that she really needed to, but every so often, Cory remove it from its hideaway, just to remind herself of how lucky she was, and to make sure she never, ever, took Jerrod's love for granted.

The End