Al was looking right at her. "Agnes," he rasped.

"Hi," she squeaked, fighting through her tears.

He looked at Rachel, who'd just returned from catching the cat and turning him over to Joe to return to the car. "Rachel," he rasped.

"Here, you can have some ice chips to help your throat," one of the nurses said. She spooned some into his mouth, and he savoured it as if it were a medium rare steak. She was literally bouncing on her feet, so excited was she to see her patient awake and lucid. A doctor would be by soon to check him over, she'd informed them, so they had to get their greetings in now.

He swallowed, then looked at Mrs. Mackenzie, who was weeping openly now. "Mom."

Mrs. Mackenzie touched his face and said, "We didn't know if you'd ever come around."

He didn't reply to that, just looked at the three of them. "Agnes. Rachel. Mom. All in the same room. Are you sure I'm not still dreaming?"

"Still?" Agnes asked, wiping her eyes.

"I was remembering our time together before I woke up," he said.

"Oh," she breathed, touched beyond words.

Rachel frowned at that. "And me? Did I figure into these dreams?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, smiling weakly. "A couple of times. When we were nine, and you hung out in my room listening to my Charlie Brown Christmas record--"

"Oh, yeah," Rachel said, chuckling and wiping her eyes.

"--and then when we were thirteen, but we were rowing to Poplar Island at the time, and you could summon wolves, and Sunny was Luke Skywalker, Joe was the Hulk, and Lauren was a samurai, so I don't think that was a real memory."

Rachel burst out laughing. "No, I don't think that was," she said. "That sounds more like an acid trip."

She stopped laughing when she saw Mrs. Mackenzie's face. "I've never taken acid," she clarified.

"Who's taken acid?" Lauren asked when she hobbled into the room on her crutches.

Rachel looked at her and said, "No one. Al was just recounting what he experienced while comatose. He mixed up our Halloween that time you were a samurai with our pretending to be pirates rowing to Poplar Island."

Lauren's face suddenly crumpled, and she hobbled over to Al and placed a hand on his cheek. "Hey, buddy," she said as tears ran down her cheeks. The way she looked at him, Agnes wondered uncomfortably if there was something between them too. She looked at Rachel, but Rachel didn't appear annoyed or angry.

"Lauren," he said in amazement. "What happened to you?"

"You don't remember?"

"No."

"Same thing that happened to you. We were in the accident, remember? The Highlander rolled over. You've been in a coma for weeks."

His eyes widened. He looked down at himself. He patted at his head, as if just realizing it was wrapped in gauze, and fumbled at his nasal cannula.

"Don't worry about those right now," the nurse said, gently prying his hands away. "You've just woken up and are getting your bearings. You're safe, that's all you need to know."

"I'm so sorry," Lauren said, suddenly sobbing. "It's my fault, I took the turn too tight--"

"Hey," Al said weakly. Everything about him was weak right now. He touched Lauren's hand, which still rested on his chest. "Don't. Don't do that. Not your fault."

That just made her cry harder. Rachel placed an arm around her shoulder and said, "Babe, let's get you some air."

"Your husband must be bored sitting in your car," Mrs. Mackenzie said, rifling in her purse. She pulled out a set of keys and said, "Why don't you go with him to bring Samson back to my house, and then you can come back and see Al again before we all go." 

Lauren wiped her eyes and gave Mrs. Mackenzie an offended look for a second, as if Mrs. Mackenzie had somehow intuited something unsaid here; the way the older woman purposely reminded her she had a husband didn't escape Agnes' notice. Once Lauren thought about it, though, she nodded and took Mrs. Mackenzie's keys. "You're right. It's a little crowded in here, anyway."

Rachel read out Mrs. Mackenzie's address, which Agnes vaguely remembered because it used to be Al's, for Lauren to input into her phone and get directions. "Come back as soon as you're done," Rachel said as she opened the door for her. Once Lauren was out, she turned back to Al. "Sunny and Tej are both waiting to say hi to you too."

"Everyone's here?" he said, smiling.

"Don't get a big head about it. It's mostly been me and Emma visiting, and your mom. The others came when they could."

"Emma!" Al exclaimed in alarm. "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"At home with the rest of the kids, relax. This is an adults only day."

He grabbed Rachel's hand and said, "I think I saw you once. You and Emma."

Rachel laugh-cried and said, "You did. You opened your eyes once, but you went back under pretty quick."

"Once when Joanie and I were here, you opened your eyes too," Mrs. Mackenzie said, as if this was a competition.

Al suddenly turned back to Agnes. "How are you here? I still don't understand."

Agnes shrugged sheepishly. "I moved back from the Okanagan. I got a job at VPL."

"You did?!" he asked, and the happy grin on his face tugged at her heart.

"Yeah. As soon as I was able, I looked for you, hoping you were still there. Your colleagues told me you were here and... well... I was lucky enough to meet these people, the old friends from Queensborough you told me about."

Al stared at her open-mouthed for a little longer than was decent. She flushed and looked at Rachel. "Well, maybe I should make room for Sunny and Tej to say hello."

"Thank you. That would be great."

"Good thinking bringing Samson. It seemed to do the trick."

"It did," Al said in awe. "I felt his purr, and I felt him clawing my chest. It's too bad he couldn't stay. I haven't seen him in a while."

"If you move into your new house, maybe you can have him back," Mrs. Mackenzie said, but she didn't look happy about it.

"Oh, yeah," Al said. "We're still at Joe and Lauren's."

Agnes squeezed his arm one last time and left the room. She found Sunny and Tej in the waiting room and said, "You can go in and see him now."

Sunny smiled and said, "You'll stay here, won't you? Then we can talk."

"Of course."

After they went inside, she wrapped her arms around herself and sat in one of the chairs, staring blankly at the news on the TV. This day was tearing her to pieces. When Al first saw her, she was sure he was horrified, and it had nearly destroyed her; but then, after they'd established that he thought he was still in his comatose state and she was an element of that state, the misunderstanding was cleared up and he seemed happy to see her, if a little incredulous. That was a good sign, right?

But now what? It wasn't like he was going to do anything now that he'd seen her. There was a whole wall of friends and family between them.

Agnes' phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and looked at the screen. Mom. She considered not answering, but she knew it could have been her kids using the same land line.

"Hello?"

"Mom?" Patrick asked. "Where are you? I thought you were done working at six."

"Sorry, buddy," she said. "I had to meet someone after work. I forgot to tell your grandma about it." She didn't forget, but she didn't tell her because she'd have to explain what she was doing, and she wasn't ready for that yet.

"Who are you meeting?" he asked. "Is it Dad?"

"No. He's still back home." That was a lie, too, or she wasn't entirely sure it was true. That email he sent didn't say one way or another, but it was threatening enough that she had to assume he was close, just to be able to react if necessary. 

"Who, then?"

"Patrick," she said, sighing in exasperation, "can you just tell your grandma that I'll be another hour or so? I'm taking care of adult things, and you don't have to know everything I do."

"Fine," he said stiffly. He was angry, but she couldn't do anything about it but add it to the long list of things he was angry about, first and foremost bringing him and his sister out here, away from his father.

"Look, I'll be home soon, and then we can do something fun, okay? Maybe go to a movie?"

"Okay. Melissa wants to see the new Despicable Me movie."

"Oh, yeah?" She thought furiously to remember which one that was. "The one with the little yellow guys?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, deal. See you soon. Bye, buddy."

He hung up without saying a word, and Agnes put her phone away just as Sunny and Tej emerged from Al's room. 

Sunny walked over to her and said, "It looks like we have a little privacy here. Would you prefer if my wife takes a walk?"

Agnes shrugged. "It's up to you. I don't mind, as long as she can be discreet."

Tej smiled. "I'm well versed in confidentiality, both in my and my husband's professions. I'll just sit over here and not make a sound."

Agnes nodded. Sunny pulled up a chair across from her and sat. He pulled out his cell phone and said, "Mind if I record this conversation? My ability to take notes is hindered somewhat by my injury. We'll get it all on paper eventually."

"Sure, no problem."

"Now," he said. "You're still married, correct?"

"Yes."

"Spouse's name?" Sunny closed his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry, that's my standard intake question since same-sex marriage was legalized. You already said you have a husband."

"That's right. Patrick. He's an RCMP officer."

Sunny looked up sharply. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. My legal surname's actually Marinville, but I'm planning to change it back as soon as I can get a divorce."

"Sorry, I..." Sunny shook his head and stopped the recording. "Don't mind me. My friends and I have had dealings with the RCMP, good and bad. We have a friend who's a sergeant in the RCMP."

"Oh, have I met him yet? Is he one of the Queensborough friends?"

"It's her, actually, and she's not. She and our friend Lauren went to school together at the Justice Institute of B.C., but Lauren went the P.I. route, while Joanie became a cop."

"Oh! Mrs. Mackenzie mentioned Joanie just before. Wait, the woman on crutches, Lauren, she's a private investigator?"

"Yes. In fact, my firm uses hers in divorce cases, where we need to prove adultery and other improprieties. Rachel works for her firm as a forensic accountant."

Agnes shook her head in amazement. "Wow, it sounds like you all lead pretty interesting lives."

"Sometimes. Mostly it's pretty domestic. Anyway, I digress." He turned the recorder back on and said, "Now, what are the circumstances that led to you wanting a divorce?"

She shrugged. "Oldest story in the book. He cheated."

"Okay. Still, why leave everything you knew in the Okanagan? Why not file for divorce over there? Was there abuse? Are you in fear for your life and the lives of your children?" He stopped the recording, leaned in and said, sotto voce, "I ask this because, as much as I'm rooting for you to leave a bad marriage, if you took your children away from the family home without his knowledge or consent, that technically counts as kidnapping."

She sighed in resignation and said, "He's never laid a finger on me or the kids. It's not that I'm worried about myself or them, necessarily, even though I'm sure he's not happy we left."

Sunny's brow furrowed. "Okay, so, what are you worried about?"

"The woman he cheated with. She had a husband. He killed him, and his buddies helped him cover it up." 

Well, that was unexpected, wasn't it. Thanks for reading this far! If you liked what you just read, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. You might also have noticed that this chapter sort of happened a little before the last one, in that it shows Lauren visiting Al before she gets into the car with Joe. I wanted to illustrate that Lauren wasn't entirely truthful with Joe about her exchange with Al, which is only to be expected with Lauren. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

To see how Al is adjusting with being back in the waking world, and an uncomfortable conversation he has with his mother, click on "Continue reading."