The week passed uneventfully.  The equipment that Rollie had rented for his therapy arrived and was set up on Monday, which made it possible for Rollie to push himself even more than he had before.  It had been necessary for Joel to tell him to slow down several times, and he’d gotten more than a little grief from Angie about it.  But the Aussie’s efforts were being rewarded.  In just a few days’ time, the level of his mobility with the cane had improved noticeably.

Angie had said nothing about the partnership, and Rollie had chosen not to push her.  He had delayed doing this since the day Angie got out of college and began working with him full time.  A few more weeks weren’t going to matter.

Joel had just left when the phone rang.  “Blue, Speakerphone,” Rollie called as he picked up a towel to wipe the perspiration off his face.  “Tyler here.”

“Hi, Rollie.  It’s Linda.”

“Hello, Linda.  How are things at the center?”

“Doing good.  I just wanted to remind you to come visit us tonight and to find out exactly when we can expect you.”

“Would 6:45 be good?  That will give us forty-five minutes before your class begins.”

“That will be perfect.  We’ll see you then.”

Rollie went to take his shower.  When he came back out, Angie was there with lunch in hand.  She had been gradually reducing her restrictions on what the Aussie could eat, but not fast enough to suit him.  He’d been having dreams about pigging out on all the foods she wouldn’t let him eat.  All too often, though, the dreams turned into nightmares when Angie appeared, took all the wonderful food away, and left in its place a piece of dry toast or a banana, at which point, Rollie would wake up, starving.

“Linda called.  She’s expecting us at 6:45,” Rollie told Angie as they ate.

“It’ll be nice to visit with her and Mark.”  Angie smiled mischievously.  “I wonder if the ladies that come for the class tonight will give you as warm a welcome as the others did when you first arrived.”

“Just as long as it isn’t warmer.  I can’t run very fast yet,” the Aussie shot back.

Angie laughed.  “No, but I bet you could get up to a pretty good speed with that wheelchair if you were sufficiently motivated.”

“Har har.”  Rollie searched Angie’s face.  “Are you going to resume taking the classes?”

“I don’t know.  I’d like to, but. . . .”

“But what?”

“It wouldn’t be the same without you there,” Angie admitted, feeling rather silly.  It shouldn’t bother her to go to the classes by herself.  She wasn’t a child.  But she would miss seeing Rollie there, and she would miss his silent support.  Having him there had made it more than a self-defense class.  It had made it a place where the bond between them grew even stronger.

“Why wouldn’t I be there?  I told you that I’d be there in the class with you for as long as you wanted me to.”

“Rollie, you’re going to be too tired from work to spend time at the class afterwards.  I want you to get all the rest you can.”

“I’m not going to be taking the class myself, Ange.  I’ll just be sitting there in my wheelchair watching you and the others.”

“Wheelchair?  You’ll use the wheelchair?”

Rollie sighed.  “Yes, Ange, I’ll use the wheelchair.  I don’t think I could sit on one of those mats for very long.  The muscle tone in my lower body is pitiful.”

“It’ll get better.  You’re already getting your upper body back in shape.”  The truth was that Rollie’s upper body was looking even better than it had before.  He was gaining muscle definition that he didn’t have before in his arms, chest, and stomach due to all the strength exercises he’d been doing as well as having to support a lot of his body weight with his arms and shoulders during the first few weeks of his rehabilitation.  Of course, Angie would cut her own tongue out before telling him that she liked the new muscle she was seeing in his form.  And she’d die before admitting that she ran her eyes over him in appreciation every time he stripped his shirt off.

“So, will you start taking the class again?” Rollie asked.

“We’ll see.  I’ll miss our private sessions.”

“Yeah, so will I.”  Rollie remembered the emotions he’d experienced during those sessions while her body was so close to his.  He had a feeling that things would be even more intense now if they were to resume them.  His love was even stronger than it had been then, as was his desire to kiss her, hold her, make love to her.  The dream about them making love came flashing back into his mind.

Deciding that this was not something he should start thinking about, Rollie quickly got busy on his project of creating the plastic that would be used to make the walls of the tunnel.

Angie got to work as well.  She couldn’t help but think that if they did have one of their private sessions, she would not be able to stop herself from letting Rollie know how she really felt about him.  There were times when all he had to do was touch her, and she found herself battling the urge to kiss him and tell him how much she loved him.

Why couldn’t she just tell him?  Why couldn’t she just gather up her courage and take a chance?  She had told herself before that she would tell him after he got out of the hospital.  Well, he was out now, but she still couldn’t get herself to speak the words.  She kept making excuses, coming up with reasons why it wasn’t the right time to reveal her feelings.

The truth was that she was still too terrified to tell him.  As long as she didn’t, she could continue to dream in her heart that he felt or would eventually feel the same way toward her.  But if she spoke the words, and he told her that he didn’t feel as she did, then the dream would be gone.  Not only that, but a strain would be put on their friendship, making things awkward between them.  But things couldn’t keep going on like this forever, not when her love for him grew stronger with each passing day.  Sooner or later, he was going to see the truth.  It was inevitable.

They worked the rest of the day, Angie only insisting on a short break of an hour for Rollie.  He’d spent that hour watching her as she continued working.  They ate dinner out, then headed over to the self-defense center.

Angie opened the door and held it for Rollie as he wheeled his chair inside, then she followed him in, almost colliding with his chair when he abruptly stopped.  Then she saw why he’d stopped so suddenly.  The entire class was there, all the women who had been taking the class with Angie.  They were all looking at Rollie and smiling.

“Surprise, Rollie,” Linda said, coming forward with a grin.

“What’s going on?” the Aussie asked.

“Everyone wanted to see you.  I called them all and told them that you would be visiting the center.  They insisted on being here.”

“Is this why you wanted to set up an exact day and time that we’d be coming?” Angie asked, smiling at the nice surprise.

Linda nodded, her eyes twinkling.

The women all began coming up to Rollie, asking him how he was and telling him how pleased they were that he was getting well.  Teresa welcomed Rollie with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I cried when Linda told us that you were shot and might die,” she said shyly.  “I went to church and prayed every day for you.”

Rollie blinked back tears and gave the girl’s hand a squeeze.  “Thank you, Teresa.  That means a lot to me.”  He smiled at her.  “Did your father let you finish all the classes?”

The Hispanic girl nodded.  “He is happy now that I know how to protect myself.  The man who . . . who hurt me got out on bail and tried to hurt me again, but I kicked him in the, um . . .” she pointed down at her crotch area, “and he couldn’t do anything but whimper like a puppy and lay on the floor after that.”

The Aussie laughed with delight.  “Well, good for you, Teresa.”

Teresa grinned, pleased with his praise.  “He is now in prison.”

“I hope they keep him there for a long time.”

Linda’s son, Mark, came up to them.  “Hey there, Rollie.  How are you doing?”

“I’m doing good, better now that I’m out of that hospital.  So, have you retired the padded suit yet?”

The young man grinned.  “Nope, I still let the ladies beat up on me.”

Rollie shook his head and said with a smile, “You’re nuts.”

“Yep, that’s me,” Mark agreed, grinning.

Rollie’s eyes drifted past Mark to Eve, who was standing alone, looking nervous.  The woman met his gaze for a moment, then her eyes slid away.  Excusing himself, the Aussie wheeled over to her.

“Hey, Eve.”

“Hey.”

“How are you?  Did everything heal all right from the accident?”

“Yes, I’m fine.  I had to have a little therapy for my leg.”

Rollie made a face.  “I know what that’s like.  Therapy is a regular part of my life now.”

Eve’s eyes finally returned to his.  “How are things with you?  Do the doctors say that you’ll be completely well again?”

“They won’t say for sure.  I think that there’s some kind of rule against it or something.”  He smiled briefly, then became serious again.  “But I am going to get completely well again.  One of these days, I will be out of this chair for good, and I won’t need the cane to walk.  Count on it.”

Eve nodded, her eyes running over his face.  “I believe you.  I think that you’re someone who will accomplish anything you set your mind to, no matter how impossible it is.”

Rollie looked over at Angie, who was talking to some of the other women.  “I hope you’re right.”  He turned back to Eve and was surprised to see a touch of sadness in her eyes.  “What’s wrong?”

The woman shook her head.  “Nothing.”  She smiled, although, to Rollie’s critical eye, it looked somewhat forced.

“Have you been seeing a psychologist?” he asked.

“Yes.  He’s helped a lot.”

“He?” the Aussie said in surprise.

Eve nodded.  “I went to a woman at first, but after a few weeks, she suggested that I try going to a male doctor to get me past my inability to open up and let my guard down around men.  She was right.  Doctor Mills has been very nice, and he doesn’t push me.  Sometimes, all we do is talk about ordinary things.  He even invited me to lunch with his daughter once.”

“He sounds like a good guy.”

“He is.  He’s been a little bit like a father to me, except that he isn’t quite old enough to be my dad.  But then, my real father wasn’t anything like him.  Neither was my foster father.”  A trace of hatred and bitterness crept into Eve’s voice.

Rollie tentatively reached out and took her hand.  She did not jump or pull away from his touch.  Instead, she held his hand tightly, her eyes looking deeply into his.

“Thank you for helping me, Rollie,” she said.  “And thank you for just being you.”  She glanced at her watch.  “I have to go now.  It was nice seeing you and Angie again.”  Hesitating for a moment, Eve bent down and kissed his cheek.  “Take good care of her,” she whispered.  Then she straightened, retrieved her coat, and walked out the door without a backwards glance.

Angie saw the woman leave.  She then noticed that Linda had been watching, too.  She walked over to the self-defense instructor.  “Eve fell in love with him, didn’t she,” she said quietly, then was surprised at herself for coming right out and saying that.  That same surprise was on Linda’s face.  The woman then sighed.

“Yes, she did,” Linda admitted.  “I was afraid that was the case when you told me that she went to the hospital.  Then I found out that all during the time Rollie was in the coma, Eve called the hospital every day to check on him, and I knew that I was right about her.”  She looked closely at Angie.  “But I think she’s known right from the start that he could never return her feelings.”

Angie’s gaze dropped to the carpet, then went to the Aussie.  “I hope she finds somebody someday.”

“I hope so, too.”

Rollie came up to them.  “Did you ask Linda about continuing your lessons?” he asked Angie.

Linda smiled in delight and turned to Angie.  “You’re returning to the class?”

“I was thinking about it, though with us starting on a new movie come Monday, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to attend the classes.”

“Well, we’d love to have you.”  Linda’s smile broadened.  “Are you going to brave the wrath of another group of women, Rollie?”

The Aussie laughed.  “Yeah, I am.  I like to live dangerously.  Do you think they’ll take it easy on me since I’m in this thing?”  He patted the wheelchair.

“Don’t count on it,” the self-defense instructor said.

Rollie sighed.  “That’s what I figured.”

Linda chuckled.  In reality, she suspected that the women would be less hostile toward him because of his physical condition, especially after she told them how he’d ended up in the chair, which she intended to do the first chance she got.  She wanted to make it clear to the women that he was not like the men who had hurt them.

“Well, speaking of those other ladies, we’d better go before they start to arrive,” the Aussie said.  “They’ll get their fill of me soon enough.”

“When can we expect you to start taking the class again, Angie?” Linda said.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Great.  We’ll see you then.”

Rollie and Angie said goodbye to all the women from the old class, thanking them for coming to see the Aussie.  Several of the women gave Angie their phone numbers or e-mail addresses, telling her and Rollie to keep in touch.

On the way back to the loft, Angie noticed a little smile on the Aussie’s face.  “What are you smiling about?” she asked.

The smile became a grin.  “I was just wondering if I’d be able to manage to get myself in that football uniform--for protection.”

Angie got this image of Rollie sitting in his wheelchair dressed in all that football gear.  The image made a snort of laughter break through, which turned into a full-throated laugh.  Rollie joined in, and they laughed the rest of the way home.

The next evening, Rollie and Angie returned to the self-defense class.  As they came in, the Aussie looked around at the unfamiliar faces, bracing himself for their reaction.  He was shocked when not one of the women glared at him with hostility or even nervousness.  In fact, a couple of them even nodded their head at him cordially.

“Hello, you two,” Linda said, coming forward.

“Hi,” Rollie responded, still looking at the others.  “Um, this is not the greeting I was expecting.”

Linda looked back over her shoulder at the class and shrugged.  “I guess this bunch doesn’t hate men like the last one did.”

“Uh . . . yeah, I guess.”

“Or maybe it is the wheelchair.”

“Well, if it is, this will be the first time that I’ve actually been glad that I’m in it,” the Aussie commented.

Linda smiled.  “Well, I think you know what to do now.”

“Yep, go park myself somewhere and be as inconspicuous as possible.”

As Linda started introducing Angie to the other women, Rollie rolled his wheelchair to a place where he would not be in the way.  He closed his eyes for a moment.  He was tired.  He’d done a lot of work today, more than Angie knew he had.  He’d woken up very early and had gone ahead and gotten started with his project.  By the time Angie arrived, he’d been at it for over four hours.  She didn’t know that, though.  If she had, she’d have skinned him alive, then insisted that he go to bed early tonight rather than come with her to the class.  He wasn’t about to let that happen.

Rollie heard a sound and opened his eyes to see a woman in a wheelchair beside him.

“Hello,” she said hesitantly.

“Hello.” Rollie smiled.  “I’m Rollie Tyler.”

“Charlotte Bates.”  The woman held out her hand, and Rollie shook it.

“Are you with the class?” he asked.

“Yes, for about a week now.  I thought that I’d come over and say hello to you.  As you can see, we sort of have something in common.”

“Yeah.”  Rollie wondered if whatever had brought her to these classes was also what put her in the wheelchair, but he wasn’t about to ask.

“The answer is no, Mister Tyler,” Charlotte said.

“Excuse me?”

The woman smiled.  “You were wondering if the guy who attacked me put me in the wheelchair.  No, he didn’t.  I was in this chair long before I was raped.”

“You mean he. . . .”  Rollie didn’t finish, wondering how low a person could go as to rape a disabled woman.

“Yeah.  It didn’t make a difference to him whether or not my legs worked.”

“I’m sorry.”

Charlotte shook her head.  “Don’t be.  You had nothing to do with it.”

“How long have you--  I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have asked that.”

The woman smiled.  “That’s all right.  No harm done.  I’ve been disabled for five years.  I was shot.”

Rollie’s eyes widened.  “Shot?”

“Yes.  I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, a bank holdup.  I was one of the luckier ones, though.  Three others died.  The bullet shattered my spine and damaged my spinal cord.”

“I’m so sorry,” the Aussie said, feeling sad over what had happened to her.

“I understand that you were shot, too.”

“You do?  I mean, how did you know that?”

“Linda told us all about you and your friend, Angie, last night.  She wanted to let us know in advance that a man would be watching the classes.  She also told us why and how you got shot.”

“Oh.”  Rollie shook his head.  “Well, that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“Why I’m not being visually dissected by any of the women here.”

Charlotte chuckled.  “I gather that it was different when you came before.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Well, Linda was very clear that we were to treat you nicely or at least civilly.  But then, after she told us that you threw yourself in front of a bullet to save a woman, most of the ladies here wouldn’t have dreamed of being mean to you, especially when she told us what you’ve gone through with your therapy.”

Rollie’s gaze dropped from Charlotte’s, feeling embarrassed that she and the others had been told so much.

“If you don’t mind me asking, did the bullet damage your spine?” the woman asked.

“Linda didn’t give you all the details of my injury?”

Charlotte shook her head.  “Only that you nearly died, were in a coma for a while, and have been in rehab for several months.”

“Oh.  No, my spine wasn’t damaged.  I was shot in the heart.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened.  “In the heart?”

Rollie nodded.  “I also suffered some brain damage from loss of blood.  That’s the main reason why I’m still in this chair.  I need to relearn how to walk on my own.”

“Then you’ll eventually be out of it?  That’s nice to hear.  I’m glad.”

“Yeah.  I don’t know if I could take it if I was going to be in it permanently.”

“You’d be all right,” Charlotte said softly.  “When I was first hurt, I went through the depression and the belief that my life was over, but, in time, I realized that I could still have a good life.  And I do.  I met a wonderful man and got married, and we now have two lovely children.  Life goes on.  It may be different from the way it was before, but it can still be just as good, if you let it.”

Linda called everyone to take their places on the mats so that the class could begin.

“It was nice talking to you, Rollie,” Charlotte said.  “We’ll have to talk some more at future classes.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

As the woman wheeled away, Angie came up and sat on the floor beside him.  “I see that you met Charlotte.”

“Uh huh.  Nice lady.  I found out from her why I don’t have to fear bodily injury in this class.  Linda told them about me and what happened.”

“Yeah, I know.  I found that out from some of the others.”  Angie grinned.  “I guess she wanted to keep you healthy.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Rollie said, returning the grin.

The Aussie sat quietly watching the class.  When it was Angie’s turn, Linda first took her back through some of the things she’d learned before, then moved forward with some new stuff.  Angie did very well, earning a lot of praise from Linda.  Next came Charlotte.  The disabled woman’s training was quite a bit different since it focused exclusively on how to use her arms, hands, head, and upper body to defend herself, as well as how to use her wheelchair to her advantage.  It was fascinating watching Charlotte maneuver her wheelchair in different ways to knock Mark off his feet.  Rollie could tell that she’d had lots of practice in using the chair.

As the evening progressed, Rollie’s eyelids grew progressively heavier.  He had to stifle a yawn several times.

“Come on.  I’m getting you home and to bed,” Angie said as soon as the class was finished.

Rollie didn’t argue.  The thought of curling up in his nice soft bed made him wish that they could fly home to get there quicker.

They said goodbye to Linda, then headed for the truck.  Rollie swayed as he got to his feet, and Angie instinctively grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.

“Rol, are you all right?” she asked in concern, thinking that he shouldn’t be this tired.

“Yeah, I’m fine.  It’s just because I’ve been up since f--  Uh . . . it was just a long day.”  He quickly got into the truck, knowing what was coming.

“Up since when?” Angie said, her eyes narrowing.

“Um, I woke up kinda early and knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, so I just got up.”

“How early?”

The Aussie paused.  “Four.”

“Four in the morning?!”

“Well, yeah, Ange.  It wasn’t four in the afternoon.”

The blonde ignored the remark.  “And just when did you start working?”

“Um, a while later.”

“Rollie,” Angie said warningly.

“Five.”

“Damn it, Rollie.  That means that you worked almost nonstop for twelve hours, including the time you were in therapy.  Why are you doing this to yourself?  Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that you have to take it easy?”

Rollie sighed.  “I just want things to be the way they were before the accident.  I used to work twelve-hour days all the time, and it didn’t bother me.”

“Well, before is not now.  Before you weren’t fresh out of a hospital after having been shot in the heart.  Before you weren’t going through rehabilitation to learn how to walk again.”  She hit him on the side of his head.

“Ow!” the Aussie said, though it hadn’t really hurt.

“What’s it going to take to get it through to you that you can’t expect things to be like they were before?  Not this soon.”

Rollie didn’t answer her.  He just stared through the windshield.  With an exasperated sigh, Angie shoved the wheelchair into the bed of the truck, then climbed into the driver’s seat.  The trip back to the loft was made in silence.  Pulling up to the old brewery, Angie shoved the truck into Park and turned off the motor angrily.  She turned to Rollie.

“What. . . .”  She stopped and looked at the Aussie.  He was asleep, his head leaning against the window, his mouth slightly open.  Angie sighed, shaking her head.  “Oh, Rollie.  What am I going to do with you?”  She gently shook his shoulder to wake him up.  “We’re here.”

The Aussie blinked and looked around owlishly.  Then he rubbed his face with his hands.  Angie got the wheelchair and helped him into it.

“I don’t think you’re going to make it up the stairs, Rol, not without risking a fall back down them,” Angie said once they were inside.

The Aussie looked at the staircase wearily.  “Maybe you’re right.  I’ll just sleep on the couch.”

As Rollie lay down, Angie fetched a blanket and a pillow.  By the time she returned with them, he was asleep again.  In spite of herself, a smile curved her lips.  She tucked the blanket around him, then carefully lifted his head to put the pillow under it.  Angie then stroked his forehead.

“You are the most pig-headed, aggravating man I have ever known, Rollie Tyler,” she said in a low voice, then paused.  “And I still love you.”  She kissed his forehead, then quietly slipped out the door.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN -- BACK TO WORK

Rollie gazed about the studio like a big kid, grinning happily.  Angie looked at the Aussie in amusement.

“You’re acting like you’ve never been in a movie studio before, Rol.  It’s only been four months.”

“It seems like four years to me,” he responded.  “You have no idea how much I missed this.”

“Well, come on.  We need to get to the set.”  The two F/X artists entered the set, which was of an apartment that would soon be in flames.

“Rollie!  It’s great to see you out of that hospital,” said Elizabeth Wright, the director of White Light.  She came forward and shook the Aussie’s hand.

“Hey, Beth.  It’s great to be out,” Rollie told her.

“Come with me.  I’d like to introduce you to the creator of our little movie.”

Rollie and Angie followed the woman over to a young man in his mid-twenties.

“Brian, I’d like you to meet Rollie Tyler and Angie Ramirez.  Rollie, Angie, this is Brian Adderly.”

The young man looked at Rollie, hesitating a moment before shaking his hand.  “Mister Tyler, Ms. Ramirez.  Everyone tells me that Tyler F/X is the best independent F/X company in the business.  I hope this is true.  I want the best for my movie.”

“We’ll do our best to please you, Mister Adderly,” Rollie said.

Brian looked at the Aussie’s wheelchair.  “Are you, um, up to working?”

“I’m fine.  The chair may make it a bit awkward at times, but I’ll work it out.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Hey, Rollie!” called another voice.  The Aussie turned to see Jack Traber striding toward them.  The producer clasped Rollie’s hand heartily, a big grin on his face.  “Man, it’s good to see you here!” he exclaimed.

“It’s great to be here, Jack.  It’s great to be working again.”

The producer turned to Brain Adderly.  “Well, now that you’ve got Tyler F/X onboard, you can be certain that the effects of White Light will be topnotch.”

“Yes, that’s what you’ve told me,” the movie’s creator said.  “I guess we’ll see.”  He looked at his watch.  “Well, if you will excuse me, I need to get to an appointment.”

“Don’t mind him,” Jack said after Brian had left.  “The kid’s had too much money and too much responsibility put on him all at once, and he’s trying too hard to act like he knows what he’s doing.”

“Jack,” Elizabeth said, a faint note of objection in her voice.

“What?  Oh, come on, Beth.  I know that you think of him a bit like a nephew because you knew his parents for years, but be honest.  He doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing.  He’ll learn.  He’s a reasonably smart kid.  But, in the meantime, it’ll be up to us to correct the mistakes he makes and prevent him from making big ones.”

Beth remained silent, knowing that the producer was right, despite her personal feelings toward Brian.  She looked down at Rollie.  “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

“I’m fine, Beth.  Really.  This is the best kind of therapy I could get.  And, speaking of that, we’d better get started setting up this gag.”

Rollie and Angie got busy setting up the apartment set for the fire scene.  The Aussie had to get grips to help with the heavier stuff, and he had a bit of trouble maneuvering his wheelchair in tight places, but he managed.  Sometimes, he found it necessary to get out of the chair to do things.  He was careful only to do this when Angie wasn’t watching, knowing that she’d tear into him if she saw him on his feet more than a few seconds at a time.

By the time they had everything set up, he was pretty tired, a fact that he kept hidden from Angie--or at least he tried to.

“Rollie, stop right now and take a break,” she ordered.

“Yes, sir!  Right away, sir!  Any other orders, sir?” the Aussie said, saluting.

Ignoring his flippancy, she glared at him, “You’re overdoing it.  You need to get more grips to help you.”

“They’re all busy, Ange.  I can’t have them doing everything for me.”

“I don’t expect them to do everything, just more.  Look at you.  You’re perspiring, and I bet that your pulse is through the roof.  You have to slow down.”

Rollie sighed.  She was right, and he knew it.  He didn’t have the strength or stamina to do as much as he had been this morning.  There was still a lot of the day left, and at the rate he was going, he’d collapse from exhaustion before the afternoon was half over.

“All right, I’ll slow down.”

“Good.  You should lie down for a while.  We’re done setting up here, and there’s half an hour before the cameras roll.”

They went out to the truck.  Angie climbed into it and pulled out a cot from one of the cabinets.  Once Rollie was settled on it, she left, closing the door behind her, then went back to the set.

“Where’s Rollie?” Jack asked a couple of minutes later.

“He’s lying down.”

“Is he all right?”  There was concern on the producer’s face.

“Yeah, just tired.  He’s working himself too hard.”

“Angie, tell me the truth.  Is Rollie ready to come back to work?  I don’t want him putting himself back in the hospital.”

Angie sighed.  “To be honest, I wish he wasn’t working, not this soon.  If the doctors had any idea how much work making a movie is, they would never have cleared him.”

Jack shook his head.  “I wish I’d known this.  I would have just gotten someone else.  After we wrap today, I’ll tell Rollie that it’s too much for him and that I’ll get another F/X company.  I’m not going to let him damage his health for the sake of this movie.”

“No, Jack, don’t.  This project is very important to Rollie, more important than you can realize.”

“What do you mean?”

Angie paused.  “It has to do with what it’s about, the stuff about someone dying, then coming back and remembering their ‘death’.  That’s very personal to him.”

“What are you saying, Angie?”

“He died, Jack.  Rollie died, right in my arms.  No pulse, no respiration.”

“My God.  I had no idea.”

“He was dead for a good three or four minutes, maybe longer.  Then, somehow, he came back, though I don’t know how.  According to the doctors, once the heart stops, it won’t start again by itself, not without some kind of simulation, like CPR or a jolt of electricity.  Yet Rollie’s did.  He came back to life.  And now. . . .”  She took a deep breath.  “And now, he remembers dying.”

“He actually remembers?”  There was awe in Jack’s voice.

“Some of it.  It’s still pretty foggy.  But he remembers enough for it to really affect him.  He told me that it wasn’t like this, the tunnel of light and everything.  From what he said, it sounded pretty terrifying.  It’s because of all that, that Rollie wants to work on this movie so badly.”

Jack sat silently for several seconds.  “Wow.  That’s incredible.  I guess that if I were in his shoes, I’d want the same thing.  Angie, is there anything I can do to make things easier for him?”

“If you could get more grips to help us, then Rollie wouldn’t have to do as much.”

“Consider it done.  I’ll make sure that two men are assigned to work with you exclusively, and I’ll let the key grip know that he’s to give you people whenever you need them.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

Twenty minutes later, Angie went back to the van.  Rollie was asleep, and she was tempted to let him keep right on sleeping and take care of everything on her own during the shoot, but she knew that he’d be furious if she did that.  So she woke him up gently, and the two of them returned to the set.

It took three takes before Beth was satisfied with the main action sequence of the lead character, William Graham, fighting to get out of the burning apartment.  They then worked on the closeups, the stuntman being replaced by the star, Daniel Raithorne.  After finishing those, the director called an early lunch.

“Rollie, I, um, need to tell you something,” Angie said as they ate lunch in the van.

“What?”

“I . . . kind of told Jack about you dying and remembering it.”

“Why?”

“Because he believed that this was too much for you and was going to tell you that he’d find someone else to do the effects.”

“He was?”  Rollie stared down at the sandwich, his emotions mixed.  He was a little hurt that Jack had made that decision without talking to him first, but he also realized that the producer had made the decision out of concern for him.

“He made that decision because of me, Rol.  I told him that I wished you weren’t working this soon after your injury and that if the doctors had known what you’d be doing, they wouldn’t have let you come back to work.  Jack got worried.”

“I see.  So, you don’t want me to be working.”  The Aussie continued to stare at his sandwich.

“I don’t want you to work so hard that you’re on the edge of collapse, and I know how you are when you’re working.  You ignore how tired you are until you’re nearly falling down.”

“Then you think that I shouldn’t be doing this movie?”

“No, Rol, I know how important it is to you.  That’s why I told Jack about your ‘death’ and your memories.  I wanted him to see what it means to you.  He’s going to get some grips to help us full-time to take the load off you.”  Angie reached out and took his hand.  “I’m just worried about you.”

Rollie sighed.  “I know, Ange.”  He set the sandwich down, no longer hungry.  “I thought that . . . that I could do more.  I didn’t think it would be this hard.  What I did this morning was nothing, or it should have been nothing.  At one time, I could have done all that easily, without being the least bit tired.  I guess I haven’t come as far as I thought I had.  Maybe I shouldn’t have come back to work.”

Angie looked at Rollie’s downcast eyes, recognizing a recurrence of the depression that he’d suffered occasionally during his time in the hospital.  Though he was now out of the hospital, he was still dealing with the emotions of being far below normal in his health and physical condition.

Angie got up and sat beside her friend.  She took his hand again, holding it in both of hers.  “Rollie, think about how far you’ve come in so short a time.  You’ve done an incredible job with your recovery.  Yes, you’ve got a ways to go, but the biggest hurdles are behind you.  You’re walking!  Even if you do have to use a cane, it’s still a major accomplishment that you can stand on your feet and walk only four months after having gotten shot in the heart and suffering the brain damage you did.  I read a case history of a kid who was stabbed in the heart, and it took a year for him to get to the point where he could leave the hospital.  A year!  Even if it takes another two months or so for you to be completely back to full speed, it’s still a fantastic achievement.”

Rollie finally looked at her, his eyes full of doubt, but also acceptance of the truth and wisdom of her words.  Angie pulled his head down and placed a long kiss on his forehead.

“Everything is going to be fine, Rol.  You are going to be fine.  You just need to give it enough time.”

Rollie maneuvered his wheelchair between the mass of cables on the floor.  They were in the midst of building the tunnel, and the Aussie was watching the construction with a careful eye.  Certain things had to be done just so, or the effect wouldn’t work the way he imagined it.

“No, no,” Rollie called up to one of the grips.  “The lights have to be positioned in an arc, like this.”  He attempted to illustrate the positioning of the lights with his hands.  “Um, wait a sec.”  He turned to the F/X van.  “Angie?  Where are the CAD drawings for the tunnel?”  Three seconds later, Angie hopped out of the back of the van.  In her hands were the printouts from the 3-D CAD rendering of the tunnel.  He took the drawings and handed them to the crew member.  “Here, someone should have given you these.  We’ll make some more copies.”  The man thanked Rollie for the drawings, then got back to work.  Rollie continued to watch him for a while, then turned to Angie.  She was looking at him with an expression of disapproval on her face.

“Rollie, you’re overdoing it again.  You can’t do everything, oversee everything on this movie.  You’ll end up back in the hospital, if you’re not careful.”

Rollie sighed.  This topic was really getting old.  It had been nearly two weeks since they started working on White Light.  In that time, he had come a long way in his rehabilitation.  He was out of the chair as often as he was in it, his strength, stamina, and muscle control having improved tremendously.  He would do away with the chair entirely if it wasn’t for Angie’s insistence that he use it after he’d been on his feet for a few hours.  And every time he started doing more than what she had decided was enough for him, she would begin to fret.  He knew that she was only doing this out of concern for his health, but it was getting a little irritating.  She just didn’t understand that, when he was working, he felt stronger, more energetic.  His mind felt more alive.  Okay, so it was true that there were still times when he’d start to feel fatigued or a little light-headed, but it rarely happened now the way it did when he first started working, and it was no worse than what he’d sometimes felt after a hard day before he was shot.

“Nag, nag, nag.  You can be such a mother hen,” the Aussie muttered.  He immediately saw a look growing on Angie’s face, one that he’d seen many times before, and quickly added, “Not that I don’t appreciate the concern, Ange.  It’s just that you’re setting my limits too low.  I can tell when I’m doing too much.  I’m not ignoring the signals my body is sending me.  I feel fine.  Honest.”

Angie’s narrowed eyes continued to pierce him like a pin sticking a still-living bug to a display case.  Rollie squirmed like the bug, praying for escape or for someone to put him out of his misery.  Finally, she gave a loud sigh.

“All right, Rollie.  I’ll ease off a bit.  I just don’t want you to get sick.”

“I know, Ange.  Believe me, I don’t want that to happen either.”

Happy that he’d been given a reprieve, the Aussie returned his attention to the set.  The tunnel was beginning to take shape.  He’d used a few ideas from other similar projects, but there were things about this set that would result in something quite unique.

Rollie picked up a panel of the translucent material he’d created for the tunnel, holding it up to the light.  The opalescent, plastic substance caught the light shining through it and turned it into a cascade of luminous, multicolored particles.  It was incredibly beautiful.  To call it plastic seemed almost like an insult.  But the material did fall into that generic category, having been molded from a special synthetic resin.  Getting the resin to have the right look had been quite a challenge.  The opacity and iridescent quality had needed to be at just the right level to give the effect that they were looking for.

Once the inner frame of the tunnel was completed, its entire inner surface would be covered by the material.  The inner frame itself had taken more than a bit of planning and manufacturing, since almost the entire thing had to be made of clear plastic.

“So how does this thing work?” a voice asked, jarring Rollie from his thoughts.  The Aussie turned to Brian Adderly.  In the two weeks that they had known him, the young man had slowly lost the attitude that he’d displayed when they first met him and had started asking questions--about everything.  He was constantly showing up on set, wanting to know how this or that worked, asking how whatever Rollie or someone else was doing would fit into the movie.  It was rather irritating at times, but at least Brian was willing to learn what he didn’t know about the business he was in.

Rollie suspected that the young man had hopes that the movie would be so successful that it would spawn a series of sequels.  The potential was there.  The script was first-class, and the actors chosen were both popular and talented.  Beth Wright was known to have a talent for getting the best out of her actors and had a rare eye for picking the perfect camera angles.  And as for the special effects. . . .  Well, if things went as Rollie envisioned, they wouldn’t be too shoddy either.  So far, they’d been working on mostly the mundane stuff, explosions, gun battles, fires, and the like.  The big effects were yet to come.

“Well, you see this plastic?  It’s going to cover the entire inside of the tunnel,” Rollie said in answer to Brian’s question.  “On the outside, completely surrounding it, there will be huge panels of lights.  The bulbs will be arranged in small banks.  Each one of these banks will be controlled by a dimmer that will dim and brighten the bulbs in a random pattern, causing a pulsing, rippling effect.  The light panels will be completely encased within the outer structure so that we won’t get any glare from the bulbs.”  Rollie pointed to the two massive towers on either end of the tunnel.  “These structures attached to the outer rim at either end will slowly rotate the tunnel.  The only part of the tunnel itself that won’t rotate is a pathway at the bottom.”

“Why is the frame made out of plastic?  Wouldn’t it have been easier to use metal?”

“A lot easier, but we had to use something that wouldn’t block the light or cause a shadow.  You see, only the tunnel itself will rotate.  The light panels will remain stationary.  That’s the only way we can get the effect we want to achieve.”

“This path you’re talking about.  It won’t show on camera?”

“No.  The fog will hide it.”

Brian looked over at something sitting against the far walls.  “What are the, uh, green screens for?”

“Those are to set up on either end of the tunnel.  The tunnel has to be left open at both ends for the cameras.  Whatever end is being filmed from, on the other end, we’ll place a green screen, which is ‘invisible’ to the cameras we will be using.  Later, with the computer, we will generate an image that will make the tunnel look as if it is much longer than it actually is.  This image will be added to the live action.  Because of the way parts of the scene are going to be shot, we will sometimes need a green screen covering both ends of the tunnel.  That will be for the shots filmed from inside the tunnel, of course.”

“Of course.  Well, you seem to have everything well in hand.  I’ll let you get back to work.”  Brian walked off in search of someone else to pester.

Rollie shook his head, chuckling softly, then turned back to the tunnel.  He glanced over at Angie.  Tonight, she would be graduating from the self-defense class.  Even though she had missed a lot of classes because of work, she was still going to graduate at the same time as some of the other women who were in the class when she restarted her lessons. Charlotte would be graduating tonight, too.

The Aussie had come to like Charlotte a great deal.  She’d been a big help to him at times.  She, more than anyone, could understand the feelings of frustration, anger, and depression that he’d felt over his condition.  He’d found himself calling her on the phone several times to talk about things.  Early on, he had been surprised to learn that Charlotte was not entirely paralyzed.  She was able to move her legs to some extent, but she was incapable of walking, not even with support.  Through therapy, continual exercise, and electrical stimulation, her leg muscles had been kept from completely atrophying.  She could bounce her baby on her lap and had enough sensation in her legs that her husband could tickle her feet and make her laugh.  Rollie smiled at how Charlotte had told him those things.

The woman had been thrilled by the progress in his therapy.  Every night that he and Angie went to class, Charlotte asked how things were going.  She’d smile at his victories and give him encouragement when he talked about his failures.

Up until now, Rollie had gone to each class in his wheelchair, but tonight would be different.  Tonight he was going to walk through the door standing on his own two feet, with the help of his cane, of course.

Fortunately, everything went as scheduled throughout the rest of the day, so Rollie and Angie were able to wrap early enough to grab more than just a quick bite for dinner before heading to the center.  Angie parked the truck, then got out.

“Angie, wait,” Rollie said.

“What?”

“Don’t get the wheelchair.  I’m not going to use it tonight.”

The blonde studied his face, then nodded.  She went around to the other side of the truck and watched as Rollie got out, cane in hand.  Walking with him to the door, she went through first, holding it open for him.  As Rollie stepped inside, murmurs of surprise arose from the women.  One by one, they all turned to him.  His eyes searched for Charlotte and saw her just as she turned in his direction.  The woman gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.  Tears filled her eyes.  When her hand dropped, Rollie saw a joyful smile on her lips.  He slowly walked up to her.

“Look at you,” she said softly.  She laughed.  “You’re so tall.”

Rollie grinned down at her.  “I’ll be even taller when I’m not leaning on this cane.”

Charlotte took his hand.  “It is so good to see you walking, Rollie.”  A tear brimmed over and slid down her cheek.  Rollie knelt before her and wiped the tear away.

“Hey, what’s this for?” he asked gently.

Charlotte shook her head and laughed again.  “I’m just happy.  To see you standing there and walking, it’s just so wonderful.”  She laid a hand on his bent knee.  “You should be very grateful for this.”

“I am, Charlotte.”  His eyes went to her legs for a moment. “I just wish that--”

“No, Rollie,” the woman interrupted.  “I’m all right.  I’m happy with my life.  Yes, of course it would be wonderful if I could walk again, but I don’t need it to feel complete.  I’m still a whole person.  My life is still meaningful, more than meaningful.  I have been blessed in so many other ways.”

Rollie leaned forward and embraced Charlotte in a tight hug.  “You’re quite a woman, you know that?” he whispered.

“And you’re quite a man,” she pulled away from him and smiled, “whom I expect to see happily married before the year is out.”  She nodded in Angie’s direction.

“Charlotte!”  Rollie exclaimed softly, blushing.

“Oh, come on, Rollie.  You didn’t think I wouldn’t see that you’re head over heels for her, did you?  I know you told me that you’re just friends and coworkers, but that didn’t change what I saw in your eyes every time you looked at her when she wasn’t watching.  So, when are you going to stop looking and follow through on your feelings?”

“Soon, Charlotte.  I swore to myself that I wouldn’t tell her until I could stand before her without support.  The day I put this cane away is the day I tell her how I feel.”

The woman nodded.  “I’m going to hold you to that.  And I expect to be invited to the wedding.”

Rollie laughed and shook his head.  “You’re assuming that she’ll return my feelings.”

“Am I?  Who says it’s an assumption?”

Startled by what she’d said, Rollie opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but just then two other women came over to tell him how nice it was to see him out of the wheelchair.  From then on, Rollie was busy with being congratulated by everyone.  Then the class started.  He watched as all the women who were graduating were given their final lesson.  After the lessons were over, each of the graduating women were presented with a certificate to honor their achievement.  Rollie clapped with each presentation, very enthusiastically when Angie was given hers, then again when Charlotte got hers.

Afterwards, Charlotte came up to Rollie and Angie.  “Congratulations, Angie,” she said.

“Congratulations to you, too,” the blonde responded.

“I’d like to invite both of you over for dinner tomorrow night.  Lee is dying to meet Rollie after all the things I’ve told him, and the children simply love company.  I hope you won’t mind having them crawl all over you.”

“I won’t mind a bit,” Rollie said, smiling happily.  “We’d love to come for dinner.”

“Yes, we would,” Angie agreed.  She liked Charlotte a lot, and she knew that the woman had been a source of emotional support for Rollie.

“Wonderful!  Shall we say seven o’clock?” Charlotte asked.

“Seven it is,” the Aussie replied.

Angie drove Rollie home.  She wheeled the chair behind him as the Aussie walked into the loft.  She watched his movements with a critical eye.  He leaned far less heavily on the cane now than he had when he first began using it.  It was more a means to steady him than anything else.

“You’re doing really well with that cane,” she commented.  “Pretty soon you won’t need even it anymore.”

“In fifteen days,” the Aussie replied.

“Fifteen days?  Oh, yeah.  It’ll be the twenty-third.”  The fifth month anniversary of the day she almost lost him.

Rollie nodded, settling on the couch.  ‘And in fifteen days, I will tell you that I love you,’ he told her silently, his heart beating a little faster at the thought.

Angie sat beside him.  “You’ve really got your heart set on that date, don’t you.”

“Ange, I promised you that if it turned out to be too much for me, I’d settle for June.  Well, I haven’t collapsed yet, despite all your dire predictions that I would with the way I’ve been pushing myself,” he smiled to let her know that he was teasing, “and I’m now doing without the chair a lot of the time.  So, yes, I’m still set on that goal.”

Angie nodded.  Then she smiled.  “Just don’t go falling flat on your face in your rush to walk without the cane that day.”

“Well, if I do, I’m sure you’ll be around to pick me up and dust me off, laughing yourself silly the whole time,” Rollie said, grinning back at her.

“You can count on me, Boss--to do all those things.”

“Gee, thanks.  I appreciate it.”  He sobered.  “Angie, have you, um, thought about the . . . partnership?”

“Yeah, I have.  If I accepted, what would it mean, for us and the business?”

“You’d get a bigger paycheck, for one,” the Aussie said with a grin. ‘Though not as much of an increase as you might think,’ he added silently.  Angie didn’t know it, but he was already giving her a sizable chunk of the net profits and had been ever since she started working for him full time.  Though she took care of keeping all the business files in order--much to his frustration at times--Angie never looked at the books.  He made sure of that.  When she started working for him full-time, they had agreed upon a certain percentage of the net profits for her salary, but the truth was that he was giving her twice what they had agreed upon.  He had been putting half of the extra money in a savings account in her name.  There was now a pretty sizable sum in it.  The money was there for her in case anything ever happened to him.  It would be enough to keep her living comfortably until she could get Tyler F/X going again or whatever she chose to do.  If Angie became his full partner, she would find out about the account.  There was no way that he’d be able to keep it hidden.  How she would react was something he didn’t know.

“A bigger paycheck is always nice,” Angie mused.  Money was not something she ever had to worry about.  Her portion of the business’s profits was always more than enough to pay all the bills, plus giving her plenty left over for other things.  She’d often thought that what she was getting seemed like too much, but Rollie had insisted that there was no mistake in his math.

“You’d be involved more in the decision-making,” the Aussie continued.  He grinned.  “And you’d be involved in the lovely job of doing the taxes.”

“Oh, joy,” Angie responded, making a sour face.

“The name of the company would change.”  As he said that, Rollie thought about how he wished that they could be partners and still have the company name stay just Tyler F/X--that being both of their names.

“Tyler & Ramirez F/X?  Hmm.  Not bad,” Angie murmured, thinking that Tyler F/X for both of them sounded much better.

“We’d . . . probably end up spending more time together,” Rollie said more softly.  He smiled again.  “You can get sick of the sight of me that much quicker.”

“I suppose I could live with that,” Angie replied with a dramatic sigh, knowing that she could never get sick of seeing him.

“Some things would be different, but a lot of stuff would stay the same,” Rollie concluded.

Silence fell between them for several moments.

“Let me think about it a little more, okay?” Angie finally said.

“Sure.  Take all the time you need.”

Angie got up from the sofa.  “Tomorrow is Saturday.  I don’t want you doing any work, Rollie, you hear me?  If I come over here and catch you working--”

The Aussie held up his hands.  “I got it.  I got it.  No work, I swear.”

“Good.”

Angie said goodnight and left the loft.  As she drove home, she thought about Rollie’s partnership proposal.  She wasn’t quite sure why she was delaying in making her decision.  Maybe it was because she kept hoping that he’d make a proposal of a different sort of partnership, one that had nothing to do with work.  But that might be something that would never come.  At least as his business partner, she would be sharing a bigger part of his life and the business that meant so much to him.

Setting the decision aside for another time, Angie continued the drive home to her lonely apartment.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT -- A NORMAL LIFE

“Rollie!  What are you doing?!” Angie yelled, making the Aussie jump an inch out of his chair.  She had just walked into the loft.

“Bloody hell, Angie!  Are you trying to give me heart failure?” Rollie exclaimed.

Angie came up to him.  “I told you no work today.”

“I’m not working, so chill out,” Rollie responded, irritated.

“Then what’s this?”  Angie waved her hand at the components on the worktable that he was hunched over.

“I’m doing this for fun, leisure, entertainment, not work.”

“This isn’t what I meant when I told you to relax today,” Angie said disapprovingly.

The Aussie turned to her, crossing his arms over his chest.  “You didn’t tell me to relax, Angie.  Your exact words were, ‘Tomorrow is Saturday.  I don’t want you doing any work, Rollie, you hear me?’  Well, I’m not working.”

Angie pressed her lips tightly together.  Though she hadn’t specified that she wanted him to relax, she was certain he knew that’s what she had meant.

“Well, I want you to relax.  You need to just sit and rest your body.”

“Angie, I spent weeks in the hospital doing nothing but rest my body.  Before you brought the computer and other things, I was going stark, raving mad.  Now that I can, I want to do things.  I don’t want to just sit and watch the spiders build webs in the corners.  All I’m doing is sitting here quietly in this chair, working on this.  I’m not bouncing around the room doing aerobics.”

Angie sighed, realizing that she was being unreasonable.  Rollie Tyler was someone who could rarely just sit and do nothing.  His mind was always active, forever on the go.  Even when he was relaxing, his brain was usually busy cooking up some new idea.  Just because he wasn’t in perfect health, she couldn’t expect that to change.  And it was true that he was resting his body to a certain extent.

“All right.  I guess this is okay,” the blonde said reluctantly.

“Oh, thank you so much.  I am soooo relieved,” the Aussie said sarcastically.  He turned back to what he was doing.

Angie wandered around the loft.  “How did your therapy go this morning?”

“Good.”  Rollie turned back to Angie.  “Joel says that I’m ready to pretty much dispense with the wheelchair,” he said, watching her reaction closely.

“Really?  That’s great.” Angie said, happy to hear the news.

“Which means that I’ll be leaving it at home on Monday,” the Aussie added, preparing himself for her reaction.

“No.  Absolutely not,” Angie said firmly.  “You still need the wheelchair for when you’ve been working for a few hours.”

“Joel doesn’t agree.  I’ve explained to him the things that I have to do while working, and he told me that just as long as I take fifteen-minute breaks every three hours or so and don’t do more than I should, I’ll be fine.”

Angie stared at him.  She didn’t like the idea of Rollie working on his feet all day long, but what could she say if even the physical therapist believed that he could handle it?  Angie sighed again.  Apparently, the time had come for her to stop reining him in.  He was getting very close to being back to normal with his strength and stamina.  So, how did that make her feel?  She was happy to see Rollie nearly back to the way he was before, but at the same time, him being completely back to normal meant that she no longer had an excuse for being with him almost all the time.  There would be no reason for her to spend her weekends at the loft with him.  When his physical condition was poorer, she could say that she wanted to be there to help him.  But the truth was that he didn’t need her help much anymore, not physically.

“I see.  Well, if Joel says so, then it must be all right.”  She moved toward the door.  “It looks like you’re doing fine on your own today, so if you don’t need my help for anything, I’ll just go and take care of some things.  I’ll be back at 6:30 to pick you up.”

Rollie watched her move away.  He didn’t want her to leave.  He liked having her with him most of the time.  He wanted her to be with him all of the time.

“Angie, wait,” he said.  She turned to him.  “Would you, um, like to go do something?” the Aussie asked hesitantly.

“Do something?”

“Yeah.  We haven’t gone out and had any fun since you and I went ice skating.  Well, except for when we hit the mall with Luce.”

Angie came back to the workstation, trying not to beam from ear to ear with delight.  “Yeah, that would be nice,” she said, keeping her voice calm.

“Great!”  Rollie grabbed his cane and stood.  “What would you like to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Angie grinned.  “I think that ice skating is out of the question.”

“Yeah, I’d say so.  I wasn’t that good even before I got shot.  How about if we go to the park for a walk?  Or we could go for a bike ride.”

“Bike ride?  Would you be able to handle that?”

“I think so.  I’ve been building up the strength in my legs, and we won’t be climbing any hills.  It’ll be an easy ride.  I’d probably last a lot longer than I would walking since I won’t be supporting my weight.  Besides, I won’t need the cane on a bike.”

“Okay.  That would be fun.”

Rollie grinned happily.  Since Rollie’s bicycle was in storage because he rarely ever used it, they decided to just rent a couple of bikes at the park.  As they walked out to the car, Angie noticed Rollie glance longingly toward the driver’s seat.  Smiling, she tossed the keys toward him.  He stared at them in surprise.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Angie said as she got in on the passenger side.

Grinning even more broadly, Rollie got behind the wheel.  He quickly started the car and drove it out of Brewery Lane.  They made their way to the park, the Aussie smiling the whole way.  It felt good to be behind the wheel again, really good.  He had the urge to step on the gas and go screaming through town like a maniac, but he kept it to the speed limit.

At the park, they rented two bikes and took them for a ride on the paved paths.  They soon reached the artificial lake.  Rollie stopped and looked out across the water, remembering the last time he was there.  He looked at Angie and could tell that she was thinking about the same thing.  So much had happened since that night in December.  Their lives had been changed forever.  No matter what happened, they could never go back to the way it was before Victor Loubar stepped back into their lives seeking revenge--and Rollie didn’t want them to.  He would do anything in the world to change what had happened to Angie, but he treasured what had grown between them in these five months as a result of those events and what occurred afterwards.  Even if she never came to love him as he did her, he would always be grateful for knowing what it was like to love someone this way, to feel that every breath he breathed, every beat his heart took was not as important to him as being with this woman beside him.

“I haven’t been here since that night,” Angie said in a low voice.

“Are you all right?  Do you want to leave?” Rollie asked anxiously.

Angie shook her head.  “No.  It’s just a place.  It had nothing to do with what happened.  I’ll always have the memories when I come here, but it’s in the past now.  They can’t hurt me.”

Rollie rested his hand upon hers where it lay on the handlebar of her bike.  Angie looked up at him, giving him a smile.

“What about you?  Are you okay being here?” she asked.

The Aussie turned back to the lake.  “Yeah, I’m all right.  I still can’t help but wonder if. . . .”

“If he’s down there somewhere?”

Rollie nodded.

“I hope he is,” Angie said, her voice quiet yet full of emotion.  “If he is, then he’ll never come back to hurt us again.”  She gave herself a little shake.  “Come on, Rol.  I want to have fun today.  I don’t want to think about these things.”

Rollie smiled gently, then they both turned away from the lake and resumed their ride.  After a while, they began to grow hungry.  Rollie headed straight toward a hamburger stand.  He ordered a double cheeseburger and fries for himself, ignoring the look on Angie’s face.  As they sat down to wait for their order, Angie subjected him to one of her disapproving glares.

“Rollie--” she began, but was interrupted by the Aussie lifting a finger.

“Not a word, Ange,” he said.  “The last time I went to see Mark Langford, he said that I can eat anything I want to as long as I don’t let my cholesterol levels get too high, which my doctor has always warned me about.  So, no more food restrictions.  Got it?”

Angie met his gaze for a long time, then nodded.

When their food arrived, Rollie dug in with relish, his eyes closing with pleasure as he bit into the hamburger, making “mmm mmm” sounds while he chewed.  Angie watched him as he appeared to have a religious experience while eating his hamburger.  Laughing silently, she began to eat her own lunch.

After every bite of the hamburger was gone and every fry had been consumed, Rollie leaned back and patted his belly contentedly.  “That was delicious,” he said.

“Really?  Gosh, I would never have guessed that from all those loud mmm’s and the slobbering sounds you were making as you inhaled your food,” Angie responded.  “By the way, you’ve got ketchup on the corner of your mouth.”

Rollie wiped away the ketchup, then licked it off his finger.  “So, how about dessert now?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.  How can you eat dessert after that huge hamburger?”

“I just open my mouth, put it in, and chew,” the Aussie replied with a grin.

Angie shook her head.  “I’d tell you that you’re going to get fat, but I know that’s impossible.  You can eat dessert if you want to, but I’m stuffed.”

“No, that’s all right.  I’m fine.  Shall we ride some more?”

“Are you getting tired?”

“No, not at all.”

“Okay, then we’ll ride some more.”

They spent a couple more hours riding, then returned the bikes to the rental place.  Rollie retrieved his cane from the attendant.  They went to the car and spent the next hour just driving around, Rollie again behind the wheel.   The Aussie was feeling a little tired when they finally returned to the loft.

Angie noticed that Rollie was leaning a little more heavily on his cane than he had been this morning.  “You should lie down for a while.”

“I’ll just stretch out on the couch and watch some TV,” the Aussie told her.

“Okay, but you have to promise me that’s what you’re going to do, no getting up and going back to the workstation.”

Rollie crossed his finger over his chest.  “Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said.  An odd look came to his face as he thought about those words.  He met Angie’s eyes.  “I’ll stay right here until it’s time to get ready, Ange.”

Angie nodded and said goodbye.  True to his word, Rollie remained on the couch watching TV until it was time to get ready for their dinner with Charlotte and her family.

At 6:30, Angie arrived.  Following the directions Charlotte had given them, they made it to her house a few minutes before seven.  The door was opened by a stocky man a little older than Rollie.  Clinging to his pant leg was a cherubic little boy who looked to be around two or three years old.

“Hello!  You must be Rollie and Angie,” the man said.  He shook the Aussie’s hand heartily.  “I’m Lee.  Lottie’s told me a lot about you.”  He stood back and motioned for them to enter.  “Come in, come in.  Lottie is in the kitchen finishing up.”  He led them into the living room.  “Can I get you anything?  Iced tea, soda, beer?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Rollie said.

“Some iced tea would be good,” Angie told him.

“Coming right up.  Just make yourselves comfortable.” Lee headed for the kitchen.

Rollie and Angie settled on the couch.  The moment the Aussie sat down, the little boy promptly crawled into his lap.

“Well, hello, little man,” the Aussie said, grinning.

“Hewow,” the child replied around his thumb.

“What’s your name?”

“Anphony,” was the response.

“Anthony?”

The boy nodded.

“I’m happy to meet you, Anthony.  My name is Rollie, and this is Angie.”

“Rorrie and Angee?”

Rollie laughed.  “That’s close enough.”

Anthony picked up the cane and looked at it.  “What this?”

“That’s a cane.  It helps me walk.”

“Mommy can’t walk,” the boy said seriously.

“Yes, I know,” Rollie replied quietly.

“Wanna pway?”

“I’d love to play with you, but I think we’re going to eat dinner pretty soon.  Maybe we can play later.”

“Okay.  We pway ‘ater.”

Just then, Charlotte came out of the kitchen with Angie’s iced tea, smiling brightly.  “Hello!  Has my angel been keeping you entertained?”  She gave the tea to Angie.

“Yes, he has.  He’s been the perfect host,” Rollie told her.

“I see he’s taken a shine to you.  How long did it take him to get on your lap?”

“About two seconds.”

Charlotte smiled more broadly.  “Yes, he definitely likes you then.  The average is about four or five minutes.”

At that moment, Anthony crawled from Rollie’s lap to Angie’s.

“Hi, Anthony,” she said, smiling.

“Hi.”  The boy put his finger on the necklace that Angie was wearing.  “Pwetty,” he said.

“Thank you, Anthony.  Rollie gave this to me as a present a long time ago.”

“Careful, Angie.  He’ll try to get it from you,” Charlotte warned.  “He loves shiny things.  He’s like a little magpie.”  She held her arms out to her son.  “Come here, Anthony.”

The boy crawled off Angie’s lap and toddled over to his mother, clambering up into her lap.

“Is everyone ready to eat?” Charlotte asked.

“I am,” the Aussie said, looking forward to a home cooked meal.

They all went into the dining room.  Lee was setting the last dish of food on the table.  Anthony was placed in a high chair, then everyone took their seats.

“Do you mind if we say grace?” Charlotte asked, looking at the two F/X artists.

“No, go ahead,” Rollie told her.  Everyone bowed their heads.

“Dear Lord, thank you for this food before us and for the blessings of this day,” Lee prayed.  “Thank you for the fellowship of good friends.  Please watch over all who sit at this table and their loved ones.  Please strengthen Rollie in his struggle to get better from his injury and keep him safe from further harm.  In your Son’s name, amen.”

Rollie gazed at Lee, deeply touched by the man’s prayer.  He cleared the lump from his throat and looked down at the food.  “Wow!  This looks fantastic.”

Lee grinned.  “I always love it when we have company.  I don’t get fed nearly this well normally.”

Charlotte slapped his arm.  “Lee!”

Her husband laughed.  “The truth is that I’m a lucky man.  As you’ll soon discover, Lottie’s an excellent cook.  She can’t be equaled in the kitchen.”

Lee was right.  The food was delicious.  Rollie was in heaven with every bite.  Charlotte watched the Aussie in amusement.

“Don’t you let this guy eat, Angie?” she asked, laughing.

“Angie has been keeping me on a rather strict diet,” Rollie told her.  “Today was the first day I’d had a hamburger in almost five months.  This is a lot better than the hamburger.”

Charlotte smiled more brightly.  “Well, I’m pleased that you approve.”

“It really is good,” Angie said, enjoying the meal almost as much as Rollie was.

“Thank you.  After I got out of the hospital, I started taking a whole bunch of cooking classes to keep busy.”

“Now, she has people begging her to open a restaurant,” Lee told them.

“You should,” Angie said.  “This is as good as anything I’ve ever tasted in a restaurant and better than a lot of it.”

“She’s right,” Rollie agreed.  “I’d sure recommend a restaurant you had.”

Charlotte blushed faintly.  “Well, thank you.  But I wouldn’t want to take that much time away from my babies.  Perhaps when they’re a few years older, I’ll think about it.”

At that moment, the sound of a baby crying could be heard coming from down the hall.

“And speaking of my babies, there’s the other one,” Charlotte said.  She excused herself and left the dining room.  A few minutes later, she came back with a little girl around six or seven months old.

“This is Elise,” she said.

“She’s beautiful,” Angie remarked, looking at the baby’s big blue eyes and black hair, which was a match to her brother’s and mother's hair.

Charlotte smiled warmly.  “Yes, she’s my little doll.”  She kissed her daughter’s forehead.  The baby grabbed hold of her blouse, making her mother smile knowingly.  “And I believe that she wants her dinner now, too.”

Draping a baby blanket over her shoulder, Charlotte began unbuttoning her blouse.  Realizing that the woman intended to breast feed the baby, Rollie quickly shifted his eyes to his plate, blushing.  He kept his gaze there, eating in silence for a couple of minutes.

“So, how is the movie coming along?” Charlotte asked.

“Good.  We’re working on the tunnel now,” the Aussie said, his eyes still fixed upon his plate.  Suddenly, he heard Charlotte laugh.

“It’s safe to look now, Rollie,” she said, laughter in her voice.

The Aussie cautiously lifted his eyes.  The baby was cradled in Charlotte’s arms, her head hidden beneath the blanket.  One tiny hand was clutching the woman’s open blouse.  The faint sound of suckling could be heard coming from behind the blanket.  Rollie blushed again, but did not lower his eyes.  He looked up and met Charlotte’s gaze.  She was looking at him with warmth and tenderness.

“From what Charlotte has told me about this movie you’re working on, it sounds like it’s going to be very interesting,” Lee said.  “Do you believe in those near death experiences?”

Rollie stiffened slightly.  He met Angie’s eyes for a moment.  “I . . . don’t know about the stuff like what is in this movie, but . . . I believe there is something to it,” he said in a low voice.  He glanced at Charlotte and saw that she was looking at him in concern.

“Well, I’ll be looking forward to seeing it when it comes out,” Lee told him, exchanging a look with his wife.

They finished their dinner.  Elise finished at the same time as they did.  Rollie looked away again as Charlotte buttoned her blouse back up.  They all moved into the living room.  Anthony was back in Rollie’s lap as soon as he was sitting.  Charlotte laughed.

“If I ever need a babysitter, I know who to call,” she said jokingly.

“Pway now?” Anthony asked the Aussie.

“Sure.  We can play now.  What would you like to play?”

Anthony slid off his lap and ran off.  He returned a short time later with a big container of plastic building blocks.  He dumped the container out onto the floor at the Aussie’s feet.

“Make tings!” he cried happily.

Grinning, Rollie got down on the floor with the boy.  He began putting blocks together as he and Angie chatted with Charlotte and Lee.  He finished his construction a few minutes later.  Anthony’s eyes widened in delight at the robot.

“I’m a big, bad robot, and I’m gonna get you,” Rollie said in a deep voice, moving the toy toward Anthony.  The boy giggled, then squealed as Rollie brought the robot up to his face, then back down again.

“Again!  Again!” Anthony laughed.  Rollie pounced with the toy again, bouncing it up and down on the child’s head.  One of the legs fell off.  Rollie put the robot back down on the floor.

“Oh, my leg!  Where’s my leg?” he said in the same deep voice, making the robot hop around on its remaining leg.

Laughing, Anthony picked up the lost leg.  “Here it is!” he cried.

“Oh, thank you, thank you!” ‘the robot’ said.  Rollie took the leg and put it back on.  Suddenly, Anthony reached out and pulled off one of the robot’s arms.  The robot screeched.  “My arm!  My arm!  Give me back my arm!”

Laughing even harder, Anthony handed the arm back to Rollie.  No sooner had he reattached it, then the boy pulled off the robot’s head.

“Iyeee!” the robot cried.  “My head!  Where’s my head?  I can’t see!”  Rollie made the robot collide with the leg of the coffee table, then bounce off the side of the couch, groaning and moaning the whole time.  By this time, Anthony was rolling on the floor, laughing as hard as he could, and the rest of the adults were laughing , too.  Finally, Rollie retrieved the missing head and put it back on.

“I can see again!” the robot said.  “Now I will turn myself off and sleep.”  It fell to the floor.

“More!  More!” Anthony exclaimed excitedly.

“Not tonight, sweetheart,” Charlotte said.  “It’s beddy bye time.”

“No, wanna pway wif Rorrie,” the boy said.

“We can play again another night, Anthony,” Rollie said.

Charlotte rolled her wheelchair over and stood her son on his feet.  “Come on, sweetums.  Give Rollie and Angie a kiss goodnight.”

Rollie received a hug around the neck and a kiss on the cheek, then Angie was gifted with the same.  Charlotte then picked Anthony up and wheeled away to his bedroom.

“How would everyone like some dessert?” Lee asked, standing.

Rollie grinned widely.  “Dessert would be great,” he said as he got off the floor and settled back on the couch.  Angie watched him, smiling on the inside over how he had played with the little boy.  Rollie had always been great with children, but she seldom got to see him really get the chance to play with them.

Rollie looked around the living room.  Pictures on the mantle, toys here and there on the floor, Elise in her playpen, furniture that was well-used, but not shabby-looking, all the things of a normal life, something he’d never really had.  For a moment, Rollie regretted that the circumstances and events of his life had denied him these things.

“You okay, Rol?” Angie asked, seeing a faint expression of melancholy on his features.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking about what it would have been like if my life had turned out more like this.”

“I can’t really picture you with a life like this.”

“No, I suppose not.”  The Aussie sighed softly.  “But, sometimes, I think it would have been nice.”

Lee came back out balancing four pieces of Dutch apple pie in his hands.  Angie quickly stood and took two of the pieces.  She gave one to Rollie, who wasted no time taking a bite.

“Can I get anyone some coffee?” Lee asked, setting the other two pieces of pie on the coffee table.

Both Rollie and Angie accepted the offer.  As the man went back into the kitchen, Charlotte returned from putting Anthony to bed.

“Well, you’ve made a friend for life, Rollie,” she said.  “Anthony now wants to know when you’re coming to visit again.”

The Aussie grinned.  “Anytime, Charlotte.”

“Good!  I’m happy to hear that.  We’d love to have you over again.”

Lee returned with the coffee.

“This pie is fantastic,” Rollie said after another mouthful.

“Thank you.  It’s my mother’s recipe,” Charlotte told him.  She smiled.  “You are simply wonderful with children, Rollie.  You will make a terrific father.”

“Thanks.  I hope so,” the Aussie replied with feeling.  He’d always sworn that if he ever became a parent, he would not be the kind of father that Dingo was.

“That poor robot of yours sure took a beating,” Lee said, chuckling.

“Yeah, it did,” Rollie agreed, laughing.  “I think I’d better keep Anthony away from Bluey.  Poor Blue might not appreciate having a leg removed.”

“Who’s Bluey?” Charlotte asked.

“He’s the real robot that Rollie has at home,” Angie replied.

“A real robot?  You have a real robot?” Lee asked in amazement.

“He’s kind of a pet,” the Aussie explained.  “But he’s more than just that.  We use him a lot in our work and, um, for other things.  He also controls the security system at home.”

“Wow.  That’s fascinating,” Lee said, leaning forward in his chair.  “Where did you get it?”

“Rollie built him,” Angie told him.

“You . . . built it?”  The man’s eyes had widened.

“Uh huh.  That’s part of what I do, robotics, mechanics, electronics.  Angie here is the computer genius.  I take care of that other stuff.”

“Well, I’m impressed,” Lee said, sitting back in his chair.  “It sounds like quite an interesting life.”

“Yeah, it’s interesting, all right, and pretty exciting at times.”  Rollie looked over at Elise.  “But there can be some drawbacks,” he added.

Charlotte nodded, understanding what he meant.  “But even with such a busy professional life, it doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a family.”

“No, perhaps not.  Maybe someday that will happen,” Rollie said, careful not to look in Angie’s direction.

They spent the rest of the evening in pleasant conversation.  Rollie was sorry when it came to an end.

“We had a really good time, Charlotte,” Rollie said.  “Thanks for inviting us.”

“It was wonderful to have you here,” the woman responded.  “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

“That would be great.”

He and Angie said their goodbyes and walked out to the car.  The Aussie turned back to the house for a moment, then got in, thinking about what might have been as they drove away into the night.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE -- TUNNEL

Rollie stood back and looked at the tunnel.  Construction on it had been completed, and it was now time to see if his and Angie’s ideas were going to work as they and Brian Adderly had envisioned.  Several of the crew had gathered to watch the show, curious to see how the tunnel was going to work.  The Aussie looked at the crowd, hoping that they wouldn’t be disappointed.  He was now waiting for one more person to arrive.  Just as he glanced at his watch, he saw her enter.

“Charlotte!”  Rollie walked toward her with a grin.  “I’m glad you could make it.”  His smile grew even bigger.  “And who’s this you have with you?”

Anthony held his arms out to Rollie.  The Aussie picked him up.  “Hi, Anthony,” he said.

“Rorrie pway?” the boy asked, hugging Rollie’s neck.

“No, I can’t now, Anthony.  I’m working.  But would you like to see something pretty and shiny?”

Anthony nodded his head enthusiastically, his thumb back in his mouth.

“Well, then you just sit on your mum’s lap and be a good boy, and I’ll show you a very big pretty, shiny thing.”  He gave the boy back to his mother.

“Thank you so much for the invitation,” Charlotte said.  “I wish Lee could be here, too, but he’s busy closing a sale on a house.”

“Where’s Elise?” Angie asked.

“With my sister.  She takes care of the kids from time to time.  I was going to leave Anthony with her, too, but when he found out that I was going to see Rollie, he wouldn’t let me leave without him.  I hope you don’t mind that I brought him.”

“No, not at all,” Rollie assured her.  “Besides, there’s someone I’d like him to meet later.”  He turned to Angie.  “So, shall we see how this thing looks?”

She nodded and went over to the Ambler, activating the motors.  The tunnel started slowly rotating.  Rollie ordered the stage lights turned down.  Darkness descended.  Keeping his fingers crossed, Rollie turned to Angie and murmured, “It’s show time.  Hit the lights.”  The huge panels lit up.  Immediately, the dimmers began cycling, randomly dimming and brightening the banks of lights.

Movie crew members are accustomed to seeing all kinds of movie magic.  Most went without comment.  For that reason, it was a high compliment to hear the murmurs and gasps of appreciation that spread throughout the set.

The tunnel was . . . breathtaking.  The iridescent panels glowed as if lit from within.  The shimmering, rainbow-hued particles in the resin caught the light and reflected it back, looking like tiny multicolored fireflies.  They seemed to move and dance within the walls, as if possessing a life of their own.  The entire tunnel looked as if it were pulsing, rippling.  It appeared not to be solid at all, but rather like some incredible liquid substance held suspended against gravity by an unseen force.

“Oh, Rollie.  It’s beautiful, even better than I imagined.”  Angie’s voice was hushed with awe.  She turned to her coworker.  In the dim light they could just make out each other’s faces.  “You really are a magician, Rol.”

Rollie smiled warmly at the compliment.  “I couldn’t have done it without you, Ange, as always.”

Brian had moved up beside Rollie.  His eyes were glued on the tunnel, his mouth hanging open.  “I never thought anyone could do it.  It’s perfect, absolutely perfect.”  He turned to the F/X man.  “I have to be honest with you, Mister Tyler.  When I found out about your injuries, I wasn’t sure you would be able to handle this job.  I thought. . . .  Well, I’d heard about the brain damage and. . . .”  The man’s voice trailed off uncomfortably.  He cleared his throat, then continued.  “But Jack Traber kept insisting that you were the only man for the job.  He’s quite a fan of yours, you know.  I am very glad I listened to him now.”  He turned and shook Rollie’s hand.  “On any future projects I have, you can be sure that I’ll be calling you first.”

“Thank you, Brian.  I appreciate that.”

The tunnel was turned off, and the stage lights came back on.  Rollie looked over at Charlotte and Anthony.  There was awe on the woman’s face.

“Rollie, that was . . . that was indescribable,” she murmured.  “I had no idea that it would be like that.”

“Thank you.”  Rollie looked down at her son.  “Did you like that, Anthony?”

The boy nodded.  “Do again!  Do again!” he said, bouncing on Charlotte’s lap.

Rollie laughed.  “I’d love to, Anthony, but it will have to wait for another day.”  He turned back to the tunnel, his smile fading.  “It wasn’t like that, not for me,” he said in almost a whisper.  Then, as if only just realizing that he had spoken aloud, he glanced down at Charlotte uncomfortably.

“Rollie, what are you saying?  Are you saying that you died?” she asked, her eyes full of worry.

“Yeah.  And now I remember it, at least parts of it.  It’s not. . . .”  He took a deep breath.  “It isn’t a pleasant memory.  But I still wish that I remembered all of it.”

“Why?” Charlotte asked.

The Aussie looked over at Angie, who was checking one of the panels of lights.  “I just have this strange feeling.”  He shook his head.  “Have you ever had this feeling that you’d forgotten something vitally important, but didn’t have a clue what it was?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s how I feel.  I don’t know why, and I don’t know what it is, but it’s causing this feeling of dread in me.  I know that there’s something buried somewhere inside my head that I need to remember.”  He shook his head again.  Pushing away the disturbing thoughts, Rollie looked down at Anthony.  “Hey, buddy.  Would you like to meet a special friend of mine?”

The boy nodded.

“Then let’s go outside.”

Rollie, Angie, Charlotte, and Anthony went out to the F/X van.  The Aussie turned to the two visitors.  “Okay, I want you both to close your eyes.  No peeking!”

Giggling, Anthony covered his eyes with his hands, while Charlotte closed her eyes, a smile on her face.

Rollie opened the door.  “Remember, no peeking!” he repeated.  “He might not come out if you peek.”  He motioned to Bluey to come forward.  When the robot was within reach, Rollie picked him up and set him on the ground.  “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

Two pairs of eyes opened and immediately spied the little robot.

“Anthony, this is Bluey.  Bluey, say hi to Anthony and Charlotte.”

The electronic dog barked, his tail wagging.  He walked toward mother and son.  Anthony’s eyes were as big as saucers, a look of wonder and delight on his face.  He started squirming on Charlotte’s lap, wanting to get off.

“You can let him down, Charlotte,” Rollie told her.

“Are you sure?  I don’t want him to break it.”

“He won’t.  Blue’s pretty tough.”

Charlotte let Anthony off her lap, and the boy made a beeline for the robot.

“Be careful with him, Anthony,” Rollie told him gently.  “He’s like a doggie.  You want to be nice to him.”

Anthony sat on the ground beside the robot.  “Buey,” he said, then started petting Blue like he was a puppy.  Bluey whined, then barked again, his tail wagging more enthusiastically.  Anthony giggled and smiled hugely.  “Buey!”

“Rollie, you are a wonder,” Charlotte said.  “Bluey is adorable!  When you said you had a robot at home, I was thinking of something like what you would see in a sci-fi movie, not this.  He really does all those things you said?”

The Aussie nodded.  “And more.  Blue’s a versatile little guy.  He’s a tough one to beat at chess, I tell you, and he hates to lose.”

Charlotte laughed.  She looked back down at her son, who was now lying on the ground, his face right up to Bluey’s.  He was patting the robot on the head.  Bluey, not quite sure what to do about this miniature human being, was just standing there, his tail wagging, whining from time to time.  Rollie laughed at the sight.

“This is Blue’s first experience with a small child,” he explained.  “They look to be getting along just fine.”

Anthony stood and picked Bluey up.

“Be careful with him, sweetheart,” Charlotte said quickly.

The child clutched the robot to his chest and ran up to his mother.  “Want Buey!”

“Oh, sweetie, no.  You can’t keep him.  He belongs to Rollie.”

“Want Buey!” Anthony said again insistently.

“I’m sorry, Anthony.  You can’t have him.  Give him back to Rollie now.”

The little boy clutched Bluey more tightly, his eyes tearing up.  Rollie felt his heart go out to the child.  He picked Anthony up.

“Hey there.  Don’t cry,” he said gently.  “You can’t have this Bluey, but what if I make one especially for you?”

The sadness instantly vanished from Anthony’s eyes.  His head bobbed up and down vigorously.

“Okay then, that’s what I’ll do.  Can you give me Bluey back now?”

The boy released the robot.  Rollie handed Blue to Angie, who put him back in the truck.

“Rollie, I can’t expect you to build a robot for him,” Charlotte said.  “I don’t even want to begin to guess what something like that would cost.”

“Charlotte, I owe you a lot for how you’ve helped me deal with things.  Besides, Anthony’s Bluey won’t be the same.  It’ll just be a toy.  Let me do this for him, okay?”

Charlotte hesitated.  “Okay,” she finally said, smiling.

Just then, the director’s voice could be heard calling people in.  Rollie sighed.

“Well, I’m afraid that we have to get back to work,” he said.  “It was great having you here.”

“We had a wonderful time, Rollie.  Thank you.”

The Aussie looked at Anthony.  “Give me a hug and kiss goodbye?”  He was immediately rewarded with a big wet kiss on the cheek and a tight hug.  Rollie gave the boy back to his mother. He helped Charlotte into one of the studio carts, then folded her wheelchair in the back.  He said goodbye to mother and son and watched them drive away across the lot.  When he turned back to Angie, he saw that she was smiling.

“You really are an old softie, Rol,” the blonde said teasingly.

“Who, me?”

“Yeah, you.  You take one look into those big brown eyes of Anthony’s, and your heart turns to mush.”

“What, and yours doesn’t?” Rollie asked, his eyebrows lifting.

Not answering, Angie pretended to become interested in something in the truck.

“Uh huh.  That’s what I thought,” the Aussie said, smirking.  “Come on.  Let’s get our mushy hearts and the rest of our bodies back inside.  We’ve got work to do.”

Rollie studied his handiwork.  The little robot looked similar to Bluey, except that it was built in a way that would protect it from damage sustained by being dragged around by a child.  It did not have most of what made Bluey the almost living creature that he was, but it did have a very simple computer brain that would allow it to recognize its own name and respond to simple verbal commands.  It barked like Bluey did and had a tail.  Rollie had been working on the robot just about every moment of his spare time since Charlotte came to visit.  He was eager to see Anthony’s face when he gave it to him.

It was now May twenty-first.  In two days, it would be Saturday the twenty-third.  Rollie looked over at the cane, which was sitting in the corner.  Though it had taken a lot of extra work, Rollie had reached the point where he rarely had to use it anymore.  Only when he’d been working extra long hours or had been a lot more active than usual did he find it necessary to rely on the support that the cane gave him.  He was still not back to one hundred percent physically and probably wouldn’t be for a while yet, but he was close enough to being there that most people who didn’t know about the accident were unaware that there was a problem.

Rollie’s therapy sessions with Joel had ended three days ago.  The physical therapist had told the Aussie that he could handle things on his own from now on.  Rollie had continued his exercise routine and would probably keep doing so even after he’d gotten fully back to normal.  It had become a regular part of his life, and he liked the fact that, in some ways, he was in better physical condition than he had been before the shooting.

With each day that passed, bringing him closer to the day that he had marked as the one where he would put the cane away for good and tell Angie the truth, Rollie’s nervousness had grown.  He had practiced a hundred times how he was going to tell her, trying to decide if he would just hit her with it or take her out to dinner and a movie first.

Rollie was scared.  He had tried to psychologically prepare himself for Angie telling him that she could never love him in that way, but no matter how many times he told himself that he could handle it, he knew that it would hurt terribly.  He would never let Angie see how very much he’d be hurting, but deep inside, his heart would be bleeding.  But he had to tell her.  He couldn’t keep this secret inside him.  He had to take the chance that she wouldn’t reject him outright.  After he told her, there was a possibility that she would be willing to date him and see if she could come to love him in the same way.  Maybe, in time, she would.  It was the most he could hope for.  He didn’t dare let himself dream that she already loved him.

Tomorrow would be a short day at the studio, which was fine with him.  He was already so nervous and tense that he had a hard time concentrating on what he was doing.

That nervousness abruptly escalated as he sensed Angie’s arrival.  The strange sixth sense that he had gained after being shot had not faded in the months since then.  He could still feel her presence when she was near.  It had even developed to the point that he could tell almost exactly where she was in the loft at any given time without being able to see or hear her.  He tried not to think about this ability that he had gained.  He didn’t want to think about it.  It brought too many memories back to him of his time with the Aborigines, his mother’s death, and what happened afterwards, memories that he had spent years burying as deep inside his mind as he could.

Angie came in the door and walked over to Rollie’s workstation.  She looked at the robot on the table.  “So, that’s it, huh?”

“Yep.  It’s just about done.  Just a couple more tweaks.”

“You’re not going to paint it?”

“No.  Paint would just get scratched and chip off.  Besides, Bluey looks just fine the way he is, so why not this one?  Also, as you know, Anthony likes shiny things.  Well, I gave this little guy a good polishing, so he’s nice and shiny.”

Rollie set the toy robot down on the floor and picked up a remote control unit.  “Hey, Bluey.  Come here, Boy,” he called.  Blue came toward them, then stopped when he saw the other robot.  He growled softly.  Rollie made the robot walk toward Bluey.  Blue growled again and backed up a couple of steps.  The toy robot let out a bark and wagged its tail.  Bluey growled even louder.  Slowly, he approached the toy, growling the entire time.  He made a complete circle around it, his tail sticking straight up, never talking his ‘eyes’ off the thing.  Rollie could tell that if Bluey had teeth, he would have been baring them.  After going all the way around the toy, Bluey turned his hind end to it and walked toward Rollie, his head held as high as he could get it.

Rollie burst out laughing.  “I think he’s jealous!”  He picked his pet up.  “What’s the matter, Blue Boy?  Are you jealous of that little guy?”  Bluey whined.  “Well, don’t you worry.  It could never compare to you.”  The electronic dog let out a happy yip, wagging his tail.  “Besides, its not sticking around.  It’ll be going to a new home soon.”  This announcement made Bluey even happier.  He gave a series of barks, his tail wagging continually.

“When are you going to give it to Anthony?” Angie asked.

“I was thinking about going over there tonight if we don’t work later than what’s scheduled.  I’ll give Charlotte a call at lunch and see if it’s all right.”

Angie nodded.  “Well, speaking of work, we’d better get going.”

Telling Bluey to be nice to the other robot, Rollie left with Angie for the studio.

The day went mostly as planned with only a few minor hitches.  Rollie had called Charlotte at lunch and asked her if they could stop by that night.  She had been thrilled.  At first, she kept insisting that they come for dinner, but Rollie had convinced her that they would be arriving too late for that.

It was quarter to eight when they got there.

“Hi,” Charlotte said with a smile.  Then she noticed something.  “You don’t have your cane!”

“Nope, it’s at home.  I seldom need it now,” Rollie told her.

“Oh, really.”  Charlotte looked at him, an eyebrow lifting.

Rollie was saved from having to say something by the arrival of Anthony in the room.  The boy immediately spied him and Angie and ran up to them.

“Hey, there’s my little buddy,” the Aussie said as he knelt on the floor.  “I’ve got something here for you.”  He opened the box he was carrying, reached in, and pulled out the toy robot.  Anthony’s eyes opened wide with excitement.

“Buey!”

“No, this isn’t Bluey.  This is another robot, your robot.”

“My bot?”

“Uh huh.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Anthony swept the toy into his arms and started dancing around the room.  “My bot!  My bot!”

Rollie laughed, delighted over the joy on the child’s face.  “Bring it over here, Anthony.”

The boy came back up to the Aussie.

“Now, we have to give him a name.  What would you like to name him?”

“Buey!”

“There’s already a Bluey.  How about if we give this robot a new name?”

Anthony looked down at the toy.  “Bot!” he cried.

“You want to name him Bot?”

Anthony nodded.

“Then Bot it is.  Give him to me for a minute.”

Anthony handed the robot to Rollie, who reached underneath it and flipped a switch.  The robot was now turned on.  He brought the robot up level to his face.  “Your name is Bot,” he said, slowly and precisely.  The toy barked and nodded its head.  Rollie set it on the floor.  “Bot, forward!” he commanded.  The robot walked straight ahead.  “Bot, left!”  The toy turned left.  Rollie kept giving commands to the robot until it was standing at Anthony’s feet.  “Bot, speak!”  The toy let out two barks.

“This is wonderful, Rollie,” Charlotte said.

“It certainly is,” Lee agreed, smiling as Anthony got down on the floor and began playing with the robot.

The Aussie reached into the box and pulled out the remote control unit.  “You can control its movements with this as well.”  He handed Lee the control and a piece of paper.  “That is a list of the different commands it recognizes.  If you give it the ‘Random’ command, it will move around in different directions at random, occasionally barking and wagging its tail.  There’s a certain amount of flexibility in the programming so that it will still understand a command if Anthony gives it and doesn’t pronounce it quite right.  There’s also a motion sensor in there that will detect movement in front of it up to five feet away.  It will respond by wagging its tail and barking.  You can turn the motion sensor off.”

“Where’s the power source?  I don’t see a battery pack.” Lee asked.

“No batteries.  You see those panels on top?  Those are solar cells, the best ones I could find.  It will get enough power to operate just from the light in the house.  There’s a small power storage unit inside the body that will keep a charge for up to an hour if the robot is operated in little or no light.  As long as you turn it off every night, it will never run out of power.  The remote control does use batteries.  They’re rechargeable.  The charger is in the box.”

“Rollie, this is too much,” Charlotte said.  “It must have cost quite a bit to make, not to mention all the time you put into it.”

“It really didn’t cost all that much, not even a fraction of what Bluey cost by the time he was completed.  As for the time, it was my time to spend, and I chose to spend it on this.  Besides, it was fun to build.”

Charlotte gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.  “Thank you, Rollie.  This was so very sweet of you.”

As Anthony continued to play with Bot, the adults sat down in the living room and chatted.  It was soon the little boy’s bedtime.  He gave both Rollie and Angie a hug and kiss goodnight.

“Thank Rollie for giving you Bot,” Charlotte told him.

“Tank you,” Anthony said.

“You’re welcome,” the Aussie replied.

“Rollie, would you like to come with me to tuck Anthony into bed?” Charlotte asked.

“Sure.”  He followed the woman into the boy’s bedroom.  He watched as she got Anthony dressed for bed, then tucked him under the covers.  She spoke soothingly to her son, stroking his forehead gently until the child’s breathing deepened into sleep.

Charlotte turned to Rollie, who was gazing at the sleeping child.  “When are you going to tell her?” she asked.

“What?”

“You’re walking without the cane now.  When are you going to tell Angie how you feel?”

“Saturday,” Rollie said quietly.

“You say that like there’s something significant about Saturday.”

“It’s the anniversary of the day I was shot.  Five months.”

“Oh.”  Charlotte smiled.  “You look nervous.”

“Nervous?”  The Aussie gave a short, quiet laugh.  “I’m scared to death.  I’m afraid of what she’s going to say.”

Charlotte took his hand and gave it a squeeze.  “It’ll be all right, Rollie.  I know it will.”

“I hope you’re right.”

They went back into the living room.  Knowing that they had to get up early the next morning, Rollie and Angie left a few minutes later.

On the way back to the loft, Rollie kept glancing at Angie. Her face was turned toward the side window, her expression thoughtful.

“Ange?”

“Hmm?”

“You remember that secret, the one that said I would tell you someday?”

Angie turned to him.  “Yeah.”

“I’ll tell it to you on Saturday.”

“Saturday?  Why not now?”

The Aussie shook his head.  “No, it needs to be Saturday.”

“Is it because Saturday is the anniversary?”

“Yeah.”

“All right.  Saturday it is.  This had better be a pretty big secret considering how long you’ve made me wait.”

“It is, Ange.  It is.”
 

CHAPTER FORTY -- SECRETS

“So, this is the point right here when I start remembering what happened to me, right?”  The words of Daniel Raithorne, the leading man in White Light, shifted Rollie’s attention from what he was doing.  The actor was discussing the script with Beth Wright.

Beth was nodding her head.  “That’s right.  The hypnosis is taking effect, and your mind is traveling back to the moment you died.”

Rollie completely stopped what he was doing, thinking about what had just been said.  In his struggles to remember what happened when he was shot, he had never considered the possibility of hypnosis as a way to get to the hidden memories.  Would it work?  Could hypnosis really unearth memories of a person’s death?  There was someone here who could probably tell him.

The Aussie got to his feet.  “Ange?  I’ll be right back, okay?”  Seeing her nod, Rollie left the set and headed over to where the motor home dressing rooms were parked.  Knocking on the door of one of them, Rollie waited for the occupant to answer.  The door swung open to reveal a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair.

“Hey, Rollie, what’s up?” asked Jeremiah Hart.

“I wanted to ask you something, Jerry.  It doesn’t really have anything to do with the movie.”

The actor, who was playing the part of the psychologist who uses hypnosis on the hero, motioned for Rollie to come in.  The two men took a seat.

“So, what do you want to know?”

“You know what happened to me, the shooting.”

“Uh huh.  The news spread pretty quickly.  You know that we were all pulling for you, don’t you?”

“Yeah.  Thanks, Jerry.  I appreciated the card you sent.  Anyway, there are some details of the whole thing that you don’t know.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  You know this movie we’re working on, about a man who dies, then is revived, then starts to remember things that happened when he died?  Well . . . that’s me.”

“You’re joking.”  Jerry looked at the expression on Rollie’s face.  “You’re not joking.  Holy cow, Rollie.  You actually died?”

“For around three or four minutes I was clinically dead.  No heartbeat, no respiration.  Actually, I went into arrest more than once, but it was the first time that things got weird.”

“My God.  And you say that you remember dying?”

“More or less.  It was nothing like they’re portraying in the movie, though.  None of the white light stuff.  But what I do remember is strange enough.”

“So, why are you telling me all this?”

“Uh . . . you know something about hypnosis, don’t you?”

“A little.  Not nearly as much as this character I’m playing.”  Jerry’s eyes narrowed.  “Why?”

“There are some things I still don’t remember about what happened during the shooting, and I only remember bits and pieces of what happened afterwards.  I want to remember more.”

“No, Rollie, I really don’t think you do.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re asking to remember the moment you died, for heaven’s sake.  Memories like that could be very traumatic.  I have no idea what kind of psychological damage they could do.  I really couldn’t agree to do something like that.”

“Jerry, this is important.  It isn’t for me.  It’s for Angie.  The police think they’ve got this case solved, but there’s something nagging at me.  I know that there is something I’m not remembering, something I saw or heard just before I was shot, or right after, or . . . something.  And I have a terrible feeling that it’s something very important.&nb