Classification: TRHA

Rating: R, for a few unmentionables in the beginning.

Summary: Juliet finally learns what happened to Byers...and maybe to herself. Lots more Byers angst.

Spoilers: None.

Disclaimer: Still belongs to 1013 Productions and Fox Television. But we hire out these guys a hell of a lot more, so they should be rightfully ours.
 

"After this voyage god grant I find my own wife in my hall
with everyone I love best, safe and sound!"

Homer, "The Odyssey," Book 8, Lines 83-85. Fitzgerald Translation. Used without permission.
 

Diaporeuomai
 

February 1, 2000
 

We slept the sleep of the dead.

I had been a bit apprehensive about lovemaking after having recently had surgery-a D&C is not the world's most comfortable procedure-but it turned out to be intensely restorative. Langly's not the most patient guy on the planet, but you'd never have known it from the way he responded the night before. He was willing to go very slowly, and very gently, letting me decide what felt comfortable and what didn't. It was very needful lovemaking, but very tender, and I had wanted it to go on forever.

I woke before he did, and watched as he slumbered peacefully, small, soft noises in rhythm, slow heartbeat, even breathing. He looked like a little kid, securely tucked in, dreaming sweetly. I wanted him again, but had no desire to interrupt what could very well be his last decent sleep for a while. Real life was about to encroach shortly; he needed as much restoration as he could grab.

The bathroom had an amazingly huge clawfoot tub in it, and I filled it with hot water, enjoying the luxury of a long soak. I hadn't done that since I'd broken my arm; the idea had been to get as clean as possible as quickly as possible without letting the cast get wet.

I'd been basking in the steaming water, eyes closed, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I blinked and found a yawning, tousled Langly standing there.

"C'mon in. Plenty of room," I invited.

"You didn't put anything weird in there, did you?" He was allergic to nearly everything but Ivory soap.

"Nope. Just lots of hot water and myself."

"I can do that."
 

After a long, intensely restful soak, we packed up our gear and headed downstairs. A glance out the window told me it was still snowing, but very lightly. It probably didn't matter if there was a blizzard at this point; we had to get back to Virginia, soon.

Genie'd made coffee and bacon, eggs, and grits. I'm not much for Southern-style breakfasts, being a Jewish California girl and all, but it had a taste-me odor that was irresistable. I passed my bacon what I thought  was discreetly to Langly.

"What was I thinking? Your'e a Jewish girl. I'm sorry."

"No, no, don't be. I don't keep kosher. I just don't eat pork." I didn't think I'd told her what my religious orientation was, but, after last night, I probably didn't have to.

"Bad times comin' for your people." Her eyes were half-closed again.

I had to laugh. "Name a time in history when it's been good to be Jewish."

"You gotta be careful."

"We are-well, usually." I looked down guiltily. Why did I still have this stupid residual guilt? Langly must have plugged right into it; he wore an expression way too similar to mine.

"You gotta not worry 'bout that." Genie's voice interrupted us. "Wasn't meant to be." We were silent. "Sometimes it just works out that way."

We finished eating and gathered our duffel and my purse.

"Benny says you take Visa," Langly said.

"Not today I don't," she said shortly.

"Uh-I think we've got enough cash," I added, grateful I'd been to the money teller yesterday.

"No, I ain't taking that, either. Not today."

"Uh-what do we pay for our room with, then?" Langly looked utterly baffled.

She looked up sharply at us, and this time, her eyes were clear and wide open.

"Go see your kids. See your friend. And make some phone calls. I'll see you at the weddin'. 'Course, I gotta charge for that," she added.

"That's cool. Eleanor's paying," Langly laughed.
 

The drive back was slick and icy, in spite of the fact that the snow had slowed considerably from the night before. Drifts of white piled up beside the rural roads. It was an enormous relief to get back on to the Beltway.

"So what do we do? Byers or the kiddies first?"

"I need to see the kids," I decided.

"Okay. Kiddies it is. Can you call up and see how he's doing?"

I punched in the speed dial that Langly had programmed into the phone. I reached Martha.

"He's holding on quite well, actually. He's managed to wake up a few more times, and each time, he stays awake a little longer," Martha explained. "Temp is still higher than we'd like-103.7, only down one-tenth, but BP is on the rise, and that's good."

"And God, he is sexy," I heard a loud female voice from behind her that even after only two days I recognized as Gizzie's.

"I'm sorry, Gizzie's just about to go off shift here. Will you be here today?"

"In a little while. I need to see my kids first."

"I'll be here all day. I'll talk to you when you get here."

I gave Langly the rundown of Byers's condition when we hit the bridge into Virginia. Going over the Potomac River in icy weather is scary. The bridge is horribly slick, and we skidded a couple times before we got to the Virginia side. I felt my breath catch in my throat. Langly didn't seem too disturbed, however.

"Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore," he laughed. "Ally, it snows here. Get over it."

"Hey, I'm not as wimpy as I was last year!"

"Just remember to get a scraper," he laughed more.
 

It seemed like a thousand years since I'd seen my kids. It had actually been less than 48 hours, but it was time enough-and enough of a break-that I was thrilled to see them again. They were happy enough to see me, but apparently Mrs. Scully had been keeping them happily occupied. I sat and talked with them for a while, Miranda curled my hair in a different way, and
then we took off to see what was happening with Byers.

"I got Juliet's phone number," Langly announced to me as we took off for Northeast Georgetown.

"Did you call her?"

"Figured I'd let you do that, you talked to her more when she was here."

"All right." I wasn't thrilled with this idea, but I did have more conversation with her when she had been here during the holidays. "I'll call her when we get there. Batteries are almost dead in the cell. Hey, Langly?"

"Yeah?"

"The other day...when I was out getting lunch...there was that creepy dude with the rank cigarettes. Now, before you jump on me, I didn't talk to him at all. He was on the other side of the street. For all I know, it wasn't me he was watching. You wanted to know. I'm telling you."

"You're sure it was him."

"I think I recognize the bastard after all this time, yes."

"Fuck. He's just not gonna give it up, is he?" He turned to me for a moment. "Just be careful, Ally. Don't talk to him. Do what you did this time: run like hell and get away from him."

"How'd you know I ran?"

"You're a redhead, Ally. I can tell."
 

Frohike, Kat and Michael were all in the waiting area. The TV had been tuned to yet another basketball game. I hoped we weren't here for March Madness.

Kat looked exhausted, but she smiled at us as we came in. Then a frown creased her face.

"I was trying to sleep at John's last night, but I got about five phone calls from this woman called Juliet-"

"Yeah, his girlfriend," Langly clarified.

"I figured as much. She was frantic. Apparently, she and John were trading e-mails several times a day, and she hadn't heard from him since Thursday night."

"What'd you tell her?" I asked.

"I told her he wasn't available...and that I'd have him call her as soon as he was able. I just didn't know what to do in this situation. I did tell him I was his sister; she definitely sounds like the type to hold a grudge if she gets the wrong idea." Sounded like what I knew of Juliet.

"We gotta tell her," Langly told Frohike.

"I think we should wait until Dana and Dr. Ying have run their tests on some of his students," Frohike maintained.

"I don't. She's probably freaking out seven ways to Sunday. I say we call her." Since I'd been appointed, I'd do the dirty work. Might as well get it over with.

"Y'know, there is the possibility that she's gotten infected, too," Langly pointed out. We all paused. "I mean, they've, you know, been together..."

"True. He probably has known the lady in the Biblical sense," Frohike contemplated. "I guess she should be notified." He looked at me. "Ally, I think you're in the best position to make this call."

I just eyed Langly, and he shrugged. For once they agreed on something.
 

"Julie, this is Ally. Remember, from Alexandria?"

"Ally, what's going on?" Juliet's voice was sharp and nervous. "I've been trying to get hold of John for three fucking days now! Where is he?"

"Whoa, back up there. You talked to him when?"

"Last e-mail is Thursday night, 11:10 p.m. my time."

"Did he say anything in it?"

"Nothing weird, just that he was really busy at work and he thought he was getting the flu, which, by the way, I feel like I'm getting now."

Shit. Shit. Shit. "Julie. I need to tell you. John's really sick. Really, really sick."

"How sick is really, really sick, Ally?" I should have expected a computer science prof would want better definition.

"He's...unconscious." I thought I could hear her intake of breath on the phone.

"What's wrong?!" Her voice was nearly a scream now.

"We don't know." I felt horrible saying that to her.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" She wasn't shouting at me, I knew, but it was hard to stay calm under this woman's tension. "When did this happen?"

"Friday morning."

"Ally, it's Sunday! What the fuck took you so long?!"

"Look, we didn't-"

"I don't care what you thought! Where is he?"

"Northeast Georgetown Medical Center. Julie, he's quarantined. You can't see him!"

"Like hell I can't! I'm getting on the first plane out of here, Ally. And some people have some serious explaining to do when I get there!"

"Julie, did you say you felt sick?"

"I don't care if I'm dying! I'll see you in a few hours!" She hung up the phone with a slam that reverberated in my ears. Thanks, Julie, I thought. I don't need to hear for the work I do.
 

"How did Miss Juliet react to the news?" Frohike asked.

"Other than reading me the riot act, fine. She's coming."

"When?"

"No idea. Said she was getting on the first flight she could."

"Well, it may take her a while. She'll have to connect through Detroit, and the weather''s vile there," Frohike announced.

"I got the impression Julie might part the Red Sea again if she has to." I stared down at the floor. "We should've told her sooner."

"I don't think so," Frohike held his position.

"I'll tell you, I felt terrible lying to her," Kat shook her head wearily. "But I really don't know the...status of her relationship with John. We don't talk about those sorts of things. He's always been very private in that way. I'd never even heard of Susanne until after the wedding." She closed her eyes. "I haven't told my girls how sick he is. They know their Uncle John is sick, but they don't have any idea how bad it is. And my father doesn't know yet. I don't want to have to call him, but..."

"He never speaks of his father," Frohike looked surprised. "I knew your mother was deceased, but I had no idea..."

"Dad is very much alive and well, and he and John haven't spoken in years." She sighed. "I'll admit that my relationship with Dad is not the best, but we're at least still speaking."

"Call him." The words were uttered from Frohike.

"I don't know that that's a good idea," Kat frowned. "They really fell out."

"Call him." Frohike repeated the dictum. "He'll want to know. Trust me." He looked knowingly at Michael.

"I'll think about it." I had a feeling she wouldn't think about much else for a while.
 

Langly and I headed out for a smoking break. We stood in the cold, feeling the soft snowflakes, and interspersed drags on Marlboro Lights with coffee we'd grabbed from a nearby Starbucks. It was starting to get dark. We hadn't seen nor heard from Juliet yet.

"Think she's gonna come?" Langly asked.

"If she has to walk here, she'll be here."

"You're sure of that."

"It's a she thing, Langly. Trust me on this." I took a long drag. "I think I'm going home soon. I really need to spend some time with the kids."

"They're fine, Ally."

"No, I need the time with them. I miss them. And I need to get ready to go back to work tomorrow."

"Your students happy to see you?"

"Based on their e-mails, ecstatic." I was getting almost daily "when are you coming back?" requests from both Paul and Iris. I don't think the interpreters they were working with were poor interpreters; it's that you form a bond when you work together so intimately. Like Dana and I had. I was looking forward to working with her again.

"Yeah. Hate to leave Frohike holding the bag, but I got a bunch of stuff to do. And if we don't get a February issue out, we're gonna have a lot of pissed-off readers."
 

"You'll be happy to know that I found a caterer," Frohike caroled as we entered the room.

"You did?" I felt alarmed, remembering Genie's words.

"I got an e-mail from Benny's mom. Looks like she already talked to you."

"Benny's mom's got e-mail?" I was astonished.

"And more. I set up her system for her," Frohike couldn't understand my surprise.

Martha walked into the room. "Shift change is in an hour. He's at 103.9, which, unfortunately, is a bit of a rise. BP is elevated more than we'd like to see; we're trying to stabilize him. He is more wakeful, which is good, but with the elevation in BP and the raise in temperature, Dr. Ying is concerned about the possibility of anyeurism or stroke. We're trying to balance out the medications-"

"Let me talk to somebody, now!" The tall, attractive figure of Juliet Parker raced into the room at a hundred miles an hour and top volume, nearly knocking Martha over.

"Julie, sit down, come here," I jumped up to try and lead her to the sofa.

"I want to see him NOW!" Juliet had become nearly irrational. Of course, if she'd left right after I spoke with her, and she'd been trying to get here all this time, it was understandable. Nothing like air travel in the deregulated '90s to get your nerves up.

"Ma'am, you can't see him. He's quarantined." Martha did not raise her voice; in fact, she didn't even seem unnerved. She must see a lot of this, I thought.

Juliet tried to say something, but no words would come out. She sank down into my arms and started sobbing. I led her to the sofa and smoothed her dark, satiny hair.

Her skin felt like it was on fire.

"Martha, please get Dr. Ying."

"She'll be out as soon as she can."

"No, it's important. I think she needs to come out now."

"Any particular reason why?"

"This woman is Byers's girlfriend. She might have been exposed."

"I'll get her immediately."
 

The tiny figure of Dr. Ying came out. "I understand I might have another patient," she said quietly.

"I don't know, but she's definitely feverish," Frohike had come and touched her face and confirmed what I suspected.

"Ma'am, you are?" Dr. Ying asked softly.

"Juliet Parker. John and I are...lovers."

"Ms. Parker, are you suffering from a sore throat?"

"Yes."

"Headache?"

"Yes. You'd have one, too, if you had to make two connecting flights from Ann Arbor to DC."

"No doubt. Have you been extremely tired?"

"Only this weekend."

"I'm afraid I'm going to need to draw some blood," Dr. Ying told her gently. "Martha will be out in a few minutes."

"It's freezing down here," Juliet complained.

"Here." Kat took one of the blankets from the sofa and wrapped it around the young woman. "Juliet? I'm Kat. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you over the phone. I really didn't know what I should do. I'm John's younger sister." Juliet blinked at her with dazed, tired eyes. Kat put her arms around her gently. "I'm glad you came, Juliet. I just pray you're not sick." Juliet leaned into Kat and began to sob again. Kat made soothing, murmuring noises to her, embracing her like a small, frightened child.

Sometimes we are just children. And we are just so helpless.

Kat turned to the rest of us. "My father will be here soon."
 

END OF PART 60