My-Serendipity.net - Echoes in the Silence

Their bodies pressed tightly against the other…his hands held her face as he stared deep into her eyes. ‘Oh god how I’ve missed you,’ he whispered as he closed the small distance between his lips and hers…and then in a flash he was gone.

"What the…?" Melissa muttered while fighting her way out of the comforter cocoon she’d gotten wrapped up in. Barely getting her senses about her she heard what had woken her up. Was that the doorbell? No one ever rang the doorbell. Of course, generally people didn’t visit at this hour. Glancing at her nightstand, she groaned and pulled herself up, twisting her robe while trying to find a sleeve. The doorbell rang several more times as she made her way across the room, nudging Kona. "Come on oh great protector. Someone is at the door and they seem to have a death wish."

Having found both sleeves, she wrapped her robe around her as she plunked lazily down the stairs, Kona leading by a few feet and yawning. No doubt about it, she thought, that doorbell was getting disconnected in the morning. Grabbing the handle, she opened the door and her mouth fell open.

"You didn’t close the gate," Danny offered innocently, as if he had been over at a normal hour and told her there was a new issue of the daily paper today.

"What?"

"You didn’t close the gate. With Hayden gone, you really should close it, especially at night."

"Danny, its 3am."

"Yeah…ok, morning then."

She waited for him to say something but only heard the very familiar chirp of crickets. "Did you drive all the way over here to wake me up and tell me my gate is open because, honestly, I really couldn’t give a damn."

He tried to stand still but he couldn’t. Fidgeting like she’d never seen him he turned to leave, but turned back, only to turn to leave again all the while mumbling under his breath.

"For heavens sake," she sighed. "Come in."

Danny looked relieved but only for a moment and then he started pacing around the living room. Turning to follow him, she saw Kaylen on the stairs. "Everything alright?" she asked rubbing her eyes.

"It’s Danny. He is apparently concerned because the gate is open." Kaylen merely rolled her eyes and went back up the stairs to the guest room. The young man was still pacing around confusing Melissa and annoying Kona, who had crawled up on the couch to get back to her own dreamland. "Whatever it is you came here for, are you going to get it out before the sun comes up?"

He spoke abruptly, the gears in his mind finally engaged. "I spent the week thinking about what you said to me. You told me to go home and think about it and it just made me even more pissed off." Never looking at Melissa, he paced wildly around the room. "I mean, you basically said I had no place on the team after all the work I’ve put in – all the hours and the sacrifice! All I could think was – how dare you and what gives you the right to decide MY future…"

At this hour, at this point, in her own living room, she was in no mood for this. "Get out." No statement could have been clearer or more succinct. He stopped pacing and finally looked at her. "I mean it Danny. Get out of my house."

"No wait," he pleaded. "Alisha has a cold."

"What?!" It was way too early for this.

"She’s fighting a cold actually, so if the kids wake up during the night, I get them so she can get some rest."

"Ok…but what does that have to do with…"

"I listened to what you said, I swear I did, I just didn’t understand. But this morning, they both woke up and I did what you said. I smelled their heads and played with their fingers. Once they dozed off, I watched them sleep."

While she never thought she would see the day, it happened right there before her eyes. Her ultra macho, can’t do anything wrong, can’t be emotional apprentice began to crumble and the reality hit her. He wasn’t here to tell her she was wrong.

"You said every search would be for them and to think about who I’d send to find them..."

"Danny?"

"It wasn’t me," his muffled voice cracked as he sank into the sofa. "It wasn’t me."

‘Thank god,’ she thought, but waited for the rest to come.

"I still don’t understand." I’ve taken all the classes, passed all the courses, read all the books. It should be me dammit!" As his voice rose in anger, frustration, and disappointment, it lowered quickly again when his emotions turned to resolve. "I want it to be me. Tell me what I’m doing wrong, please… I’ve wanted this for as long as I can remember and it’s right in front of me and I can’t get it."

She tugged at the ties on her robe as she sat down next to him, nudging Kona slightly out of the way to make room. "When you found out Alisha was pregnant, what did you do?" It was a challenge, but she kept her voice calm. They had had this conversation in different forms at least a dozen times, but she hoped tonight would be different. "Did you take the childbirth classes and pass them? Did you read the books about what to expect?"

"You know I did," he groaned.

"Did any of those tell you how it would feel the very first time you saw Bailey? Did they explain the terror you would feel when Bronson didn’t cry right away?" She let that sink in and he offered nothing snarky in return, so that was at least some progress. "Danny, where’s Buster?"

"I came here to tell you I get it. I came here for help. I asked you what I’m doing wrong…"

"And I heard you," taking every ounce of patience she could muster and channeling it to her vocal cords. "Now, I’m asking you where Buster is."

"He’s home."

"When you left the house, did he want to come with you?"

"Melissa, what does this…"

"Did he want to come with you?" she interrupted.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"…and there it is. This is the part of your training that I can’t hand you a book for. It’s nothing I can train into you. I can provide you opportunity, but the result has to come from inside. You have to do this part on your own, but not alone. Buster isn’t your dog, he’s your partner. He wants to be with you 24/7 to watch you, protect you, and to be there if you need him. Do this part with him.

"You realize the gravity of the search now, you have every technique so memorized its automatic. What you need now is the same thing you’ve always been missing. Your bond with Buster should be so close that when you’re apart, you feel like part of your body is missing."

The young man stayed quiet for a while, thinking of his tangible world, one where hard work and determination would win out over everything. That world was rolling away from him, left in the past with other obsolete ideals proven wrong. Thoughts swam through his head like cartoon bubbles, he read each one waiting for the right one to respond with. "How do I start?"

"You listen. You ask questions but don’t argue. A lot of the stuff we ask you to do will seem silly – trust us to know what we’re doing."

"I can do that. I can Melissa, I swear."

"I hope so Danny. We could use you and Buster, but not as two solo acts, as one cohesive team who are willing to work together with us." The more hopeful Danny nodded eagerly. "I leave tomorrow…uh…today for two weeks. I will call Garry and tell him exactly what I want you doing. You’re out of second chances on this"

"I know."

"Good, now go home, kiss those babies, talk to Buster, and get some sleep."

As he walked out to his car and opened the door, pausing before he got in. She was still there, leaning on the front door frame. "You won’t regret this"

"Do me a favor?" she called back and he flicked his head in response. "Close the gate on the way out." He waved to her as he went down the driveway. Things might finally be looking up.