Fugue, Part 10
By Jillian

Chapter Ninety-one

Bob picked up the radio mic, keyed it on and said, “Suspect turning north on Oak. Units take parallel positions and await further instructions.” Returning the mic to its cradle, he looked toward Sergeant Parker and asked, “What do ya think, Sarge?”

Without taking his eyes off of the road Parker queried, “About?”

Bob clarified, “Our chances?”

The sarge briefly stared at the dark street thinking. Eventually, he cleared his throat and replied, “This ends tonight. Whether he leaves in cuffs or a body bag is up to him.”

For a moment Bob thought about his partner’s statement before responding, “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but…” He drifted into thought before silently turning back toward the road staring into the darkness. After a few seconds he shook his head and returned his attention to the computer screen displaying the tracking signal. While studying the screen he mumbled, “What was I thinking asking my own blood to do this?”

Parker knew his partner’s question wasn’t intended for his ears, but couldn’t help responding anyway saying, “You’re a cop. Your father was a cop. Your grandfather was a cop. It’s in your blood. And in,” he paused momentarily before continuing, “Hers too.”

“Thanks,” Bob responded. “I understand how difficult it is to refer to her like that, believe me. But that doesn’t make me feel any less guilty about risking her life.”

“I think I can understand that,” Parker said.

“Oh,” Bob interrupted as he returned his attention to the tracking receiver. “They’re turning again.” He then picked up the microphone and after opening the line stated, “Heading west on Eleventh. Maintain distance and stand by.”

“Not much longer now…I hope,” Parker commented as he turned onto Eleventh Street.

Chapter Ninety-two

Tanya blankly stared ahead trying to keep her rapidly expanding anxiety from pushing her into a full blown panic attack. As she calmed herself, her thoughts went to the tracking device she had concealed in the side of her bra, thinking, ’Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but I hope it’s at least working.’

Her thoughts were interrupted when Charlie said, “Almost there. We’re gonna have a lot of fun.” He then let out an eerie chuckle that sent chills down Tanya’s spine.

Doing her best to disguise her discomfort she asked, “What do you have in mind?”

“Oh, that’s a surprise,” he replied through what struck Tanya as an incredibly evil grin. He then reached around and pulled her closer to him as he came to a stop at a traffic light. At first he just rubbed her shoulder trying to get her to relax, but before the light had turned green his hand had migrated down to her side where he happened to touch the tracking device she had hidden in the side of her bra.

“Speaking of surprises,” he said as he traced the device inside her bra. “What’s that?”

“I…I don’t know,” she stammered nervously.

A honk from behind alerted Charlie to the fact that the light had once again turned green, so he drove through the intersection ordering, “Get that thing out!”

She tried to play innocent asking, “What thing?”

As anger overtook him, he roughly pulled her tight to him and hissed, “This was going to be fun, but now I’m too mad to enjoy it!”

Shoving her angrily into the passenger door, he growled before turning his attention to the road. “Just wait,” he murmured cryptically.

As he pulled to a stop at the next light he once again grabbed her roughly and pulled her tight to his body. Once he had her firmly in place he brought his hand around her front where he gruffly reached down the front of her dress and inside her bra where he grabbed hold of the device and pulled it out. Holding it up in front of her face, he barked, “This thing!”

She looked at it wide eyed as her mouth opened and closed a couple of times without any sound coming out. Charlie looked at the device for a moment before raising his voice asking, “It’s not a microphone, so what is it? Some sort of tracking device?”

Before she managed to respond, he shouted, “Well?” When she didn’t respond he cracked his window open and tossed the tracker out onto the street. To press his point further, he struck her across her mouth causing her to yelp. She raised her hand to her lips and when she pulled her fingers away saw the blood on them.

Tears began to well up and streak down her cheeks as the severity of her situation became clearer to her. She began to sob, but through the tears she managed to ask, “Why?”

The moment the light turned green he stomped on the accelerator, causing the tires to squeal as he pulled away from the light. Speeding down the street he snarled, “By the time they figure out where we’re going, it’ll be too late for you, bitch!”

Chapter Ninety-three

Bob tapped the screen on the tracking receiver and said, “Crap! He must’ve found the tracker.”

“What?” Parker asked.

“The signal’s stopped moving,” Bob responded. “In fact, we’ll be coming up on the location in just a second.”

“So you think he found the device?” Parker asked as he slowed the car down.

Bob replied by asking, “Can you think of a better explanation?”

The Sarge thought for a moment before saying, “Not really, but what do we do now?”

Bob glanced at the screen again and said, “Stop!” When they were stopped he jumped out and ran around the car, starting to look at the pavement with the small Maglite he pulled out of his jacket pocket. After a moment, he bent down, picked the unit up off the ground and ran back to the passenger side of the car.

Once he was again sitting in the car, he picked up the radio mic and keyed it open saying, “All units, suspect’s last known location near Central heading westbound on Eleventh. Suspect driving a black early 1970’s Cadillac Coupe De Ville. Pursue and apprehend.”

Replacing the microphone, he turned his attention to Parker and mused, “This becomes the highway further on, doesn’t it?”

Parker didn’t say anything, so Bob took his partner’s silence as agreement and eventually ordered, “Hit it. Let’s see if we can catch up to this guy.”

“You got it, boss,” the sergeant said as he put the car back in gear and stomped on the accelerator.

Chapter Ninety-four

Tanya looked at Charlie, terrified as he drove into the night. They sped along, approaching the edge of town before she managed to find her voice and asked, “What are you going to do with me?”

He laughed as he responded, “You wouldn’t want me to spoil the surprise.”

Courage began to swell within her as she defiantly said, “I don’t really like surprises.”

He continued to hold onto her tightly as he laughed heartily before replying, “That’s rich coming from a goddamned tranny who’s working with the cops.”

She struggled trying to free herself from his grasp, but he held on too tightly. Snarling she countered, “They know what you look like. They know your car too. You can’t get away with this.”

“Oh, really?” he mused as he turned off the main drag they’d been on and started down a barely noticeable country dirt path. “And what makes you think that?”

“They’ll be coming,” she responded with far more certainty than she actually felt.

He cut her off yelling, “They won’t find you until it’s too late! And they won’t find me at all! Once I’m done with you, I’ll be disappearing.”

“It’ll never work, you know,” she argued, hoping to delay his plans.

“Keep telling yourself that,” he commented as he continued to drive along the dark country road.

The road became more difficult to traverse and while her captor’s attention was drawn away from her Tanya discreetly reached into her purse and found her cell phone. Quietly she flipped it open, knowing that she had left the text messaging app open when she had put the phone away earlier. From memory of the keypad she typed ‘GPS’ and hit send, assuming that her brother would understand the somewhat cryptic message.

Chapter Ninety-five

Sargent Parker slowed the vehicle as they drew near the city limits. Turning toward Detective Taylor he asked, “What’s the next move, boss?”

Before he could respond, Bob’s cell phone signaled the arrival of a new text message. He looked at the screen and after reading and then re-reading the message he slapped his forehead and muttered, “Of course.”

Hearing something but unsure what had been said, Sgt. Parker asked, “What you say?”

Rather than responding to his partner’s question, Bob took the radio mic in hand and after keying it on spoke into it saying, “Dispatch, car 213. Track location for cell phone number 645-329-7015 and let me know ASAP.”

The dispatcher’s voice came over the radio in response saying, “10-4 car 213.”

“What was that about?” an obviously confused Parker asked.

Holding up his own cell phone, Bob stated, “GPS. She still has her phone on her.”

Parker responded, “Oh yeah, cell phone location tracking for 911 calls.”

“Exactly,” Bob answered as he put his phone away.

“Think it’ll work?” asked Parker.

“It has to,” Bob replied.

Noticing his partner’s concern, Parker offered, “We’ll get there in time.”

Bob looked back at his friend and said with far more conviction than he thought, “I know.”

Following a brief silence Sarge started, “You know, I’m almost afraid to admit this, but your brother…”

Cutting off his friend, Bob interjected, “Sister.”

“Okay, sister,” Parker responded. “Anyway, I was just gonna say I’m impressed. She’s got some guts.”

Indignantly Bob asked, “What did you expect?”

Sarge hemmed and hawed for a moment before finally responding, “I don’t know what I expected, to tell you the truth.”

“Yeah, well…” Bob said before his thought faded to nothing. Eventually, he managed to say, “Listen, thanks.”

“No problem,” Parker responded somewhat shyly.

At that moment the radio came to life as the dispatcher’s voice came through the speaker saying, “Car 213, the requested number is on Morton School Road approximately 2 miles east of highway 32.”

Bob once again grabbed the microphone and responded, “10-4 dispatch. Car 213 in route.” He reached out to replace the microphone and looked toward Sarge, who was putting the car back in gear.

They sped along for several minutes until they reached Morton School Road, where Sergeant Parker turned off the highway without slowing down, nearly winding up in the ditch before he regained control of the vehicle.

Bob looked at his partner and croaked, “In one piece, if ya don’t mind?”

“Yes boss,” Parker replied.

Chapter Ninety-six

Charlie turned off the dirt road and pulled up beside an obviously abandoned farmhouse, turning toward Tanya and growling, “Don’t even think about trying to get away.” He quickly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her across the seat as he climbed out of the car.

Stumbling as she tried to get to her feet as he dragged her out of the vehicle, she struggled to ask, “What are you going to do?”

He chuckled as he replied, “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Once he had her on her feet, he began pulling her toward the house.

Struggling against his grip, Tanya argued, “You don’t have to do this!”

“What,” Charlie countered, “You think I can let you go now? Not a chance.” Again he began dragging her toward the house while she struggled to escape his grasp.

“No!” she argued as she tried to pull away yet again. Despite her efforts, the harder she struggled to free herself, the tighter his grip became.

As they drew near the front porch he snickered, “You might even enjoy this!” He quickly mounted the steps and wrangled his captive toward the door.

“Somehow I doubt that,” she responded as they reached the door. Making yet another effort to fight against her captor, Tanya tried to grab hold of the door frame to prevent being dragged inside. Unfortunately, her efforts proved to be for naught as with one final tug he pulled her inside and slammed the door closed behind them.

Throwing his captive to the floor, he began to chuckle evilly as he loomed over her. She looked up at him with terror in her eyes as she waited for whatever was to come next.

As he removed a switchblade knife from his pocket and clicked it open he said, “Now the fun begins.” Tanya began trying to back away from her captor to no avail as he closed in on her while brandishing the knife.

Chapter Ninety-seven

As they neared Tanya’s last known location, Parker began to slow the vehicle so they could scan the area hoping to see a clue as to her location. After a few minutes Bob pointed to their left at an old abandoned farmhouse and asked, “Is that car the same one?”

Parker looked in that direction and replied, “Could be. Should we call for backup?”

The question hadn’t even been completed before Bob grabbed the radio mic and said, “Dispatch, car 213 requesting backup approximately 2 and a half miles east of Highway 32 on Morton School road.”

The radio squawked, “10-4 car 213.”

Bob replaced the mic as the Sarge pulled the car to a stop behind the Cadillac in question. Once they’d come to a halt, Bob ordered, “You take the back, I’ve got the front.”

“Aren’t we gonna wait for the backup?” Parker asked as they both exited the vehicle.

“That might be too late,” Bob replied. They both removed their weapons and chambered rounds as they approached the house as stealthily as possible.

Bob quietly ascended the stairs and tiptoed across the porch as he approached the front door. He paused for a moment at the door to allow his partner a chance to get to the back door before kicking the front open and leveling his weapon into the room.

The sight that greeted him was that of their suspect kneeling over Tanya, one hand lifting her skirt while the other held a knife to her throat. Without even taking a moment to identify himself as a police officer, he took aim and fired a round into the side of the man’s head. His body fell to the floor, the knife clattering onto the hardwood.

As she moved away from the body as quickly as she could, Tanya cried, “Bobby!”

“Are you all right?” he asked as he approached her.

She jumped to her feet and flung her arms around his neck as she replied, “Yes! You got here just in time!” As the words left her mouth, she dissolved into tears.

Parker came rushing into the room from the back, trained his weapon as the suspect before realizing the man was dead. He looked toward his partner and asked, “Everything okay?”

Bob looked at the sergeant and replied, “Yup. Thanks, Sarge.” Both men then holstered their weapons while Bob continued to hug his sister.

The moment was disturbed by the sound of approaching sirens, prompting Parker to say, “I’ll give them a heads up and request a meat wagon.” Without a comment in reply, the sergeant went out the front door to meet the new arrivals.

Once Tanya was able to regain some control over her emotions she loosened her grip on Bob’s neck and said, “Thank you, Bobby.”

“I think I should be thanking you,” he replied. “Are you sure you’re all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“A bruise here and there, but nothing worth mentioning,” she answered.

“Still,” Bob responded, “I think we should get you checked out at the hospital anyway.”

The sergeant returned with several other officers in tow, saying, “M.E.’s on the way, along with an ambulance.”

Tanya looked at the new arrivals and said, “I don’t need an ambulance.”

Bob responded, “That’s not open to debate.”

Parker added, “You go with her. I’ll take care of things here.”

“Thanks, Sarge,” Bob said as he began leading his sister out of the house.

When they reached his car, Bob commented, “I’m proud of you, sis.” In response, Tanya again flung herself at her brother and began crying anew.

A few moments later the ambulance arrived followed closely by the captain, who immediately made his way to Bob’s side.

“Hey Cap,” Bob greeted his commanding officer.

“Taylor,” he responded, “I’ll need to see you in the morning, but for now take our hero here in and get her checked out.”

“Yes sir,” Bob smiled. He turned to Tanya and asked, “Ready?”

“I told you,” she argued, “It’s not necessary.”

“You heard my boss,” Bob responded. He cracked a smile as he continued, “I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

They started toward the ambulance, but Tanya pulled up short and said, “My purse! I left it in his car.”

“I’ll get it,” Bob offered as he quickly headed toward the old Cadillac. Opening the passenger door, he reached in and picked up her bag from the floorboard then ran back to his sister’s side and presented it to her saying, “Here ya go.”

As she assumed possession of her purse she reached out and gave her brother another hug, offering, “Thanks, Bobby.”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied before leading her toward the back of the ambulance, saying, “Up you go,” when they arrived at the door as he offered his hand to help her up into the back of the vehicle.

Once they were seated in the back, Tanya turned toward her brother and said, “Thank you, Bobby. If you hadn’t got there when you did…” allowing her voice to trail off without completing her thought.

“I should be thanking you,” he countered, “But I’m glad I got there in time too.” As he again grinned he continued, “Otherwise Mom would’ve killed me.”

She slapped his upper arm as the ambulance attendant closed the door in preparation for heading out.

Chapter Ninety-eight

The peace of the night was broken by the ringing of a telephone, which was joined a few seconds later by a bedside lamp being turned on before the phone was answered, “Hello?”

“Hey Mom,” Bob’s voice came through the receiver. “ I know it’s late, but figured you’d want to hear that Tanya’s fine but on her way to the hospital to be sure.”

“Oh my god!” Mom wailed. “What happened?”

Bob replied, “She got a little beat up while on the undercover, but we got the guy and I just wanted her to get checked out to make sure there’s nothing wrong.”

“I’ll be there in less than a half hour,” she responded.

“You don’t have to,” he argued.

“Are you serious? My baby is on her way to the hospital? There’s no way I’m not coming,” she stated.

Reluctantly Bob joked, “Okay, but if she gets mad it’s your fault.”

“See you there. Thank you for calling Bobby,” she ended the call.

Rolling over to look at his wife, Pop sleepily asked, “What?”

“We need to get to the hospital,” she answered.

“Why?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Bobby’s taking Tanya to the hospital,” she replied. “He says she’s fine, but we need to be there.”

“Okay,” he grumbled as he crawled out of bed.

As he made his way to the closet she continued, “Don’t take too long.”

He opened the door and started pulling items of clothing out, then stopped and turned back toward his wife and replied, “Gotcha.”

She then joined him at the closet and pulled out something for herself to wear. As they both started pulling clothes on she added, “And please try to be nice to your daughter.”

He grumbled under his breath, “Whatever,” but then a little louder he replied, “Yes ma’am.”

Chapter Ninety-nine

Bob led Tanya into the emergency room, heading directly toward the sign in desk. The young lady behind the desk looked up at them and asked, “May I help you?”

Bob spoke first replying, “My sister needs to be checked out.”

“And what seems to be the problem?” the girl asked.

Tanya jumped in saying, “Nothing.”

Before she could continue Bob pulled out his identification and showed it to the nurse as he interjected, “She was involved in an incident this evening and needs to be looked at to make sure there’s nothing wrong.”

Handing Tanya a clipboard, the girl said, “Please fill this out and return it to me, then we’ll get you in to see a doctor.”

As Tanya took it from her, Bob responded, “Thank you.”

When the girl turned her attention back to her computer screen Bob led his sister toward the waiting room chairs where they took seats and Tanya began filling out the paperwork. After filling in the basic contact information she paused with the pen hovering over the paper.

Bob looked at her and noticing her hesitation asked, “What’s wrong?”

Looking up from the clipboard she replied, “No insurance.”

“Oh,” he started. “Don’t worry about tonight’s visit. The PD should pick up the bill. After all, this visit is directly related to your work assisting us.”

Slowly she responded, “I wasn’t expecting anything like that.”

“I know,” Bob said. “Even if the department wasn’t picking up the tab tonight, you wouldn’t need to worry about it. I’d pay it out of my own pocket before I let your wallet take the hit.”

A grin began to appear on her face as she said, “Careful, people might start to think you cared or something.”

“Well, you are my sister,” he replied.

Putting down the clipboard in a chair beside her, Tanya reached out and gently hugged her brother saying, “Thank you.” Once she had released him she returned to the papers she was working on filling out and filled out the rest of the forms.

After completing the paperwork, she returned the clipboard to the nurse behind the desk, commenting, “Probably takes longer to fill out the papers than it does for the rest of the visit.”

Glancing at the papers, the nurse joked, “You may have a point there.” More seriously she continued, “The doctor will be with you in a few minutes.”

Returning to her seat, Tanya asked, “When they take me back, could you go up and tell Cynthia that we got the guy?”

“Why don’t we go up together after the doctor checks you out,” he countered. “I bet your friend would rather hear it from you.”

“Uh huh,” she responded skeptically. “I think you’re just afraid to go see her on your own.”

“Not afraid,” he countered. “Just not all that comfortable.”

Appearing hurt Tanya asked, “Why?”

“Well,” he started, “She’s…well…you know…”

“Bobby, I thought we were past this,” she whined.

Indignantly he responded, “Past what? It’s just that…”

Cutting him off she asked, “Like me?”

Defensively he said, “No!” More calmly he continued, “You’re different.”

“Different how?” she probed.

“You’re my sister. That’s how,” he responded.

Smiling at him she said, “Thank you Bobby, but really there’s no difference between me and her.”

He stared at her for a moment before pointing to his head and saying, “Maybe up here.” Moving his hand to point toward his heart he continued, “But here?”

Looking him in the eye she asked, “Small steps?”

Nodding he replied, “Something like that.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the nurse calling, “Tanya Taylor?”

Standing up, Tanya stepped toward the desk and asked, “Yes?”

Walking around the desk toward the door leading to the exam rooms, the nurse offered, “Come this way.”

Bob stood up and asked, “Do you want me to come back with you?”

Waving him back to his seat she responded, “That’s not necessary.”

He returned to his seat as he watched his sister go through the door. Even before the door had closed behind her, the entrance opened and in rushed their parents.

“Is she okay?” Mom asked as they made their way to the waiting area.

“Yeah,” he answered. “They just took her back for the doctor to check her out.”

Sitting down on either side of their son, Mom asked, “What happened?”

Taking a deep breath he responded, “She went in as the ‘bait’ in a sting operation. Our target took the bait and we were tracking them, but somehow he found the tracking device and disposed of it en route.”

Anxiously she asked, “Then how…?”

“We used her cell phone to track their location,” Bob started. “It took a little while to find them, but we got there before anything happened.”

Smacking his arm, Mom said, “How could you risk your sister’s life like that?”

Dad jumped into the conversation saying, “Now Mary, don’t be too hard on the boy. He was just doing his job, plus this is the first time Tommy’s ever shown any real guts.”

She barked, “Tanya. She’s your daughter now. Don’t forget it.”

Feeling chastised, he replied, “Yes ma’am.”

Turning her attention to the nurse Mary asked, “Is there any chance I can go back and see my daughter?”

“Certainly ma’am,” she replied as she moved toward the door. Opening it she directed, “Straight ahead, third room on the left.”

“Thank you dear,” Mary responded as she walked through the door.

After watching his mom go back to check on Tanya, Bob turned his attention toward his father and said, “Pop, are you gonna be able to deal with Tanya’s change?”

“You mean Tommy?” he asked.

“Pop,” Bob responded, “Whether you approve or not, I don’t think you’re gonna have much choice other than to accept this. And for the record, I’m not so sure this is a bad idea after all.”

“What?” Pop countered. “You can’t tell me you’re okay with all this turning into a girl stuff?”

“I didn’t say that,” Bob answered. “However…and this is a big one here…my little brother never showed any real courage or backbone his entire life.”

“That’s not true!” Pop argued.

“Yes it is and you know it,” Bob said. “The difference is, she just risked her life to catch a really bad guy and she did so voluntarily. She practically begged me to let her do it.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I gotta admit that maybe this isn’t such a bad thing.”

“Well, I can’t agree with that at all,” Pop replied.

Bob’s face fell as he said, “Obviously nobody can force you to think differently, but I really think it would be a good idea if you at least remembered to respect her right to pursue the life she wants whether you agree with that choice or not.”

“I’m trying, son,” he responded.

Chapter One Hundred

Tanya had been playing with her cell phone when she heard the door open, prompting her to look up just in time to see her mother entering the exam room. Surprised she asked, “Mom? What are you doing here? I mean, I knew Bobby called to let you know what was going on, but…”

“You didn’t really think I would allow you to go through this alone,” she replied.

Dismissively Tanya said, “It’s nothing, Mom. A couple of bruises, that’s all.”

“I never should’ve let you volunteer to do this.”

“It’s not like you had a choice,” Tanya countered. “This was my choice and for the first time in my life I’ve managed to do something that Bobby respects.”

“It’s not the first time,” Mom started, “But I know what you mean. Your father is proud of you for this as well.”

Anxiously she asked, “Did he say so?”

Mom responded, “You know him better than that. He’s very old school; keeps his feelings to himself. But I can tell.”

“Well, I hope you’re not just saying that, but…” Tanya’s thought faded as she found herself unable to voice it.

“I’m not just saying that,” Mom responded. “Give him some time, sweetheart.”

A knock on the exam room door brought their conversation to a halt as it opened and in walked a young man wearing scrubs and a lab coat. Approaching the exam table he introduced himself, “Hello, I’m Dr. Hamel.” Looking down at the file he held in his hand he asked, “And you’re Tanya Taylor?”

“Yes doctor,” she shyly replied.

“Are you sure you’re old enough to be a doctor?” Mom blurted out before realizing she’d actually said it out loud. She quickly retracted her question, offering, “Sorry.”

Grinning, the doctor responded, “I swear to you, I am old enough, but thank you ma’am. Are you her mother?”

Offering her hand Mom said, “Yes, Mary Taylor.”

He shook her hand before returning his attention to his patient, asking, “What seems to be the problem?”

Without allowing Tanya a chance to respond, her mom started, “She was attacked…”

Tanya cut her off, chastising, “Mom!” Redirecting her attention to the young physician, she responded, “I was in a little incident earlier and my family insisted I come get checked out to make sure there’s nothing big wrong.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” the doctor started, “What kind of incident?”

“I was helping my brother,” she stated. “He’s a police detective and had asked me to assist him with an investigation.”

“Sounds intriguing,” the doctor chuckled.

“Yeah well, I was the bait in a sort of sting operation,” Tanya attempted to downplay.

Again Mom interrupted, stating proudly, “They caught a serial killer.”

“Mom!” Tanya whined. Returning to her attempt to understate things she continued, “I was in a bit of a tussle when we caught him. Picked up a few bruises here and there, nothing serious, but my brother and his commanding officer wanted me to be checked out to make sure, that’s all.”

“So, a bona fide heroine,” the doctor said, seeming impressed.

“Not really,” Tanya said humbly.

“Well,” the doctor began, “Let’s have a look at you so we can get you home to get some rest, shall we?”

As he started looking at the bruises on her forearms, Tanya said, “I should probably tell you, I’m transgendered.”

“Really?” the doctor asked, seeming surprised.

“Yes,” she replied. “I hope that doesn’t change the way you treat me, but I figured I might as well be up front about it.”

“Well, as your physician it makes no difference to me,” he offered. As he continued his examination he asked, “So what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a musician,” she replied.

“Cool,” he responded. As he finished looking at the marks on her arms and legs he asked, “Now, are there any areas of soreness other than your arms and legs?”

“No,” she started. “They got him before he had a chance to do anything more than wrestle with me a little.”

“Well good,” he stated. “If you find you’re stiff or sore, I’d suggest taking some ibuprofen. I don’t think you’ll need anything stronger than that.”

“Thank you doctor,” Tanya said as she shook his hand once the exam was over.

“Yes,” Mom added. “Thank you very much.”

“It was my pleasure,” he responded as he then shook hands with Mom.

They watched as he left the room before Tanya stood up from her seat on the exam table. Before she’d managed to even take a step toward the door, her mom stated, “He was cute.”

Giggling, Tanya replied, “Yes he was. Now, can we get out of here?”

To be Continued…