The Ghost Cop: Chapter Seven and Eight

Chapter Seven

George walked into the office like he did every morning. It was a bright and sunny spring day. There wasn’t going to be much going on at the office today. Just sifting through some paper work and getting other thing in order. As George walked towards his office, Linda Haas sat quietly at her desk. She had been there for a few weeks now and by the looks of it, she enjoyed her job. Just like every other lady George passed by, he had flirted with her a little bit.
“Good morning Linda.”
“Good morning Mr. Dace.”
“How is my beautiful princess this morning?”
“I am doing good. There is no new business this morning Mr. Dace. I put the paperwork to be looked at on your desk.”
“Thank you, Linda.”

Linda was a very beautiful lady. She was really young and had to be right out of high school. George guessed the experience she had came from a job in high school. The experience she had is what landed her a job here. It wasn’t a lot of work, so for a young women like her it wasn’t hard to keep up. Plus George liked knowing he had an attractive blond blue eyed women right outside his door. Of course, who wouldn’t like the thought.
George went into his office and poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat his desk staring out the window. He felt so alone. All he wanted was someone who would be there any time he wanted. Someone who bent over backwards for him, just like he bends over backwards for everyone else. At home sat his wife. Yes, he loved her, but all she did was write or cook. When she got done with the kids, she was an exhausted although times with the kids had grown easier. They only had two children, now. George’s oldest was 17. He would be our of the house shortly. George’s youngest on the other hand was 13, she still had a few years to go, yet they was almost grown.
Over the years, George had seen several different women to keep him company over the last 20 years with his wife. Having a girl on the side was no new news. It had been a while since George had been seeing the last one, Anne. Anne was from Chicago. She had done little jobs here and there over the years, but she was a model. The idea of a model always caught George’s eye. She wasn’t as young as Linda was, but age didn’t weigh on his mind as long as it was legal. Plus they all knew he was married.
“Linda, why don’t you take a break and have a cup of coffee with me.”
“I would love to.”
Linda came in and poured herself a cup of coffee. This wasn’t the first time she had came in and sat with him on the couch. They enjoyed a nice conversation over the cup of coffee and then it was back to work. So when George invited her in, she didn’t think much about it.
“You make good coffee Linda.”
“Thank you. My dad was a big coffee drinker, so we was always making coffee.”
“I invited you in to have a cup of coffee to ask you if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Dace.”
“Call me George.”
“Okay. I really have other things I should be doing.”
“There is a little restaurant downtown I want to take you to. We will go right after work. Dinner should set everything else you have to do off to very far.”
“Okay.”
“Then dinner it is.”
George and Linda shared some more conversation while they finished their coffee, then went about as if nothing was happening. After Linda left, George picked up the phone and called his house.
“Hello.”
“Hi Mary, it’s George.”
“Hi George.”
“Listen, I am going to be late tonight. I have got another big case I really need to work on. I will try to be home as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”


On the other side of the phone, Mary’s eyes filled with tears. She knew he didn’t have any big cases, just a new secretary to take for a test drive. She went in to see him just the other day. While waiting for him to finish with a prospective client, she meets this new secretary of his. The typical young, pretty, innocent women he could easily sweep off her feet by a man who has perfected his ability in sweet talking. Something she learned to avoid years ago about the same time he started looking again. For twenty years, he always saw someone of the side. They had their fair share of arguments about how late he stayed out, but the always went the same way. After so many years of George‘s games, Mary had gave up and became happy with just being able to have food on the table, a roof over her head, and the ability to take care of her kids. Learning to be alone grew almost impossible for her at times, yet she managed to succeed after about 10 years worth of trying. She would put up with this one for a little while. When it would become ridiculous again, she would open her mouth and this time he wouldn’t be able to stop her.

George and Linda sat in a corner booth of the restaurant in down town. There were no words to exchange, just a couple staring deep into each others eyes. George, being a pro, knew what he needed to do in order to get what he wanted. He gave her a single rose at the beginning of the evening and been the polite gentlemen your mother taught her boys to be.
“Order anything you want Linda.”
“Are you sure, George?”
“Don’t worry about it, tonight is your night.” George said watching Linda smile.
“May I take your order?” the waitress asked.
“Yes, I will have the shrimp pasta in alfrado sauce and a virgin Mary please.” Linda said.
“And you sir?”
“I will have the Lamb in very little mint sauce, baked potato with extra sour cream.”
“And what to drink.”
“How about a hot toddy to start.”
“Very well then.”
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Very much so.”
“So where are you from?”
“The Oregon coast line. A town called Lincoln City, but I spend most of my time in Newport.”
“So what brought you all the way out here.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I have heard some wild stories in my day. Try me.”
“I read a book a few years ago called Patch of Heaven. It did a lot of talking about the Colorado Rocky Mountains. So I came to Colorado. I am not to far from the mountains here, but it’s nothing like what the book talked about. If I get a little farther, maybe I can move deeper into the mountains instead of on the edge.”
“That’s not so unbelievable. Now if you told me you moved out here because of Rocky Mountain Oysters or something of the same effect, I might think differently.”
“I guess your right.”


George walked in the dark house as quite as a mouse as he did several times in the last several months. On one side, he didn’t want to disturb anybody. On the other, he didn’t want everyone to know how late he was getting in. He wondered down the hall and through the doorway of his study. There he turned the lights on to find Mary sitting in his chair.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I think the question should be is where have you been?”
“I had to work late.”
“Oh I suppose another big case your working on?”
“Yes, Mary, another big case. If I don’t keep them coming in, then I don’t have any money coming in either.”
“Keep lying George, maybe you will start to believe it yourself.”
“Oh don’t give me your excuses.”
“You can’t tell me the smell of perfume came from the paperwork, and your coffee was a little liquored up.”
“Mary, I put a roof over your head and food on the table while you sit in this house and do nothing but write.”
“If you call raising your kids alone, eating dinner alone, and keeping this huge house up nothing, then you have another thing coming. I make sure your clothes are clean and there is always dinner on the table for you if you would come home. Instead you spend all your time somewhere else doing things far more important then spending a little time with me.”
“Quit your complaining, Mary. You live good right now, and you aren’t going to leave it. Plus, with my reputation at stake, you won’t be able to leave.”
“So now you are going to go into how we have to keep this going because the business depends on your reputation.”
“I am glad you remember.”
“George, I am getting a job.”
“What? You don’t need any money. You have everything you need right here.” George said now in a sweeter voice. He walked up to Mary kissing her gently at first pressing his body up against hers.
“Don’t do this, George, especially while I am talking. I want out of this house. I want a little bit of spending money I can spend on myself. George I don’t want to, now stop. Now we have our money and you have your money. I don’t ask you about yours at all. So now I am going to have mine. George, stop it! Stop it!” Mary started screaming and tears filled her eyes.
“The job is not going to last long, Mary.” George whispered ripping off her clothes. There was nothing she could do to stop him, so she did the best thing and surrendered. There he did want he wanted how he wanted. After he violated and trespassed her, he sat in his office with his drink and she locked herself in her private room. There she would spend the night cold, alone, and hurt.

Mary had been working at Love’s Coffee shop for several weeks now. She had come to enjoy the conversations with a young man, Dan. He was a hard worker, yet everyday he would come in and order the same plate. She had joined him on several occasions during her breaks to enjoy his company where they loved to talk about the theater and Shakespeare, as well as, several other authors. For once in a long time, I was nice to have a friend outside of George’s reputation circle and to have someone actually enjoy the some things as she did. Today, they had plans to sit down when her shift was over and enjoy Romeo and Juliet together. Mary had told him the play had been her favorite, so he talked her into bringing it in to read together.
“Hi Mary.”
“Oh, Dan, I didn’t even see you come in.”
“Did you bring Shakespeare with you?”
“Yes, I did. George is working late, as usual, and the kids have other plans for tonight, so I have time to sit and read it this afternoon.”
“Good, because I took the rest of my afternoon off to sit with you.”



There was a knock at Georges office door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Linda.”
“Come on in Linda.”
Linda stepped into the room. Her eyes were swollen from the tears in her eyes. Her face was red from several hours of weeping. She had missed a couple days of work claiming she was sick, but George really did mind.
“What’s wrong sweetie?” George asked walking over to give her a hug. She brushed him off refusing to let him touch her.
“I have some news for you.”
“Okay.” he said expecting the conversation where the women tell you they can no longer see you unless you leave your wife. In tears, a women would tell you she loves you too much to just be your mistress anymore. Continuing to cry, she would beg you to stay with her. Followed by icing it up with how she can take care of you so you wouldn’t have to have any more mistresses. He had heard it so many times before the conversation became a walk in the park.
“I am pregnant.”
“What?”
“I am six weeks pregnant, George. I am going to have your baby.”
“Oh god.”
“I have enough money to travel farther into the mountains. I am going to stay with one of the friend I have found.”
“Well, what do you want from me?”
“I just wanted you to know.”


Three years passed by. Mary continued working in Love’s coffee shop and George continued to see his mistresses on the side. For years nothing changed more then time passing by. George sat at he office one morning working on a large case when the phone rang.
“George, it’s Linda.”
“Hi, Linda. What more can I do for you?”
“I need you to take your son.”
“And just how am I going to take him and explain him to my wife.”
“Listen George, I am in a bad spot. I cannot take care of Tom anymore. So either you take him willingly or they will hunt to down to take him. And we wouldn’t want your wife to find out now would we.”
“You can’t do go about this legally with me, Linda.”
“George, I worked in a law office for a long time. I know what I am talking about.”
“Okay Linda, I will take him. Just give me a few days to talk to Mary about it.”
“I don’t care what kind of story you make up for her, but this child will be better off in your house then with me.”
“Okay.”

“Mary we need to talk.”
“What about?”
“There is this child. He is a three year old orphan. I know how much lately you miss having the kids in the house and he really needs a home.”
“I have never known you to be so generous. So is this your ploy to get to me quit my job?”
“I was hoping you would quit your job for him.”
“I see. Give me another kid, make me stay at home, so you have control. Right now you don’t have control over my money or even who walks into the coffee shop.”
“How about we meet in the middle?”
“Something’s not right, George.”
“Just listen to me.” George said pulling his check book out. “I will write you a check right now for $2,000. You put it in your check book before the child comes home. Then I will make sure you have money enough to do whatever you have been doing with it.”
“Okay. Bring him home.”
So, at the age of three, Tom joined the Dace family. Being a lawyer, George took care of all the paperwork involved. Mary put in her notice at work and told Dan she would no longer be working. From there, Mary had gone to a few movies with him, but she didn’t get to spend as much time as she had done before. She didn’t mind too much. She had a small child in the house again. Once again time went by.

Mary ran the vacuum through the house from room to room. She tried to stay out of Georges rooms as much as possible, but she had to do some kind of cleaning in there. It’s not like George would be doing any cleaning anyways. She never moved anything around, but stuck to vacuuming and dusting. Mary ran the vacuum in the office, in and around everything. She leaned over pushing the vacuum under the couch when it bumped into something. Turning the vacuum off, Mary leaned over and peaked under the couch. There sat a box label in big red letters “IMPORTANT.” Pulling the top off, Mary sifted through the papers finding letter after letter between George and Linda Haas. Letter of the times they spend together, dirty letters, and letter about their son.
“Their son.” Mary said out loud. The shock of the world fled through the room as fast a fire when introduced to gasoline.
She continued down through the stack of papers. Towards the bottom she found legal papers. Inside, they contained information on custody issues between George and this Linda. The explained George’s responsibilities of taking full custody of their son, Tom.
“That dirty little bastard.” She said, as she glanced in the bottom of the box. From there she could see a corner of newspaper article.


Young Mother Takes Her Life
A young mother was found to be dead in her apartment early this morning. A neighbor called the police after they heard gunshots coming from the apartment next door. The police pounded on the door for several minutes before entering the apartment. Inside they found Linda Haas sitting on her couch with a shotgun wound to the head. Linda Haas was a citizen of Colorado now for 4 years, she left behind one son, Tom Dace, 3 years old, who is now in his father custody. Family and friends stated no sign of Linda in any emotional distress, so the cause is still unknown.

“Guess I need some time to my self. Maybe Dan would like to catch a movie, get my mind off of everything George thinks is going to go right under my nose.” Mary stated, trying to hold back the tears. “I should have never married a worthless…”














Chapter Eight

They pulled up in front of the address she gave to him earlier. He noticed the house laid across the street from the cemetery where he visited his father a few days earlier. “Just a few days ago, I was standing in the cemetery just across the street from them. I could have never known.”
“Amazing how life is.” David replied. “I will pick you up later.”
Andrew stepped up on the step reaching up to knock on the door. He realized this door lead to the first people actually excited to see him. Draw in a deep breath, he moved his wrist to knock, but before he touched the door it swung open. Standing in the doorway, a tiny woman who reached in her sixties, awaited Andrew. She looked like the sweet grandmother everyone wished for. Judging from the smell in the house, Andrew came to the conclusion she grew excited to see him by the smell of baked cookies. Just the smell of the cookies made him hungry.
“Andrew?”
“Yes, grandma. It’s me.”
“Oh my god did you hear that?” She hollered back behind her. “He called me grandma. You don’t know how long I have waited to be called grandma.” She wrapped her arms around him giving him 18 years worth of hugs followed by a kiss on the cheek.
A tall older man walked up behind her. “You will have to excuse her. We have both waited a long time to see you.”
“You must be Grandpa?”
“Yes. Bob Wells, and this is…”
“Grandma.”
“Laura.” He said, giving her a look. “Come on in son.”
He stepped into a small nicely decorated and cozy house. Upon the walls, picture after picture hand of who he guessed to be his dad. Every age could be seen hanging from the wall containing Adam in costumes, in sports, as well as several family pictures.
“I only have one question I have to ask. Was it you visiting your father a couple of days ago?”
“Yes.” Andrew replied.
“See, bob, I told you.”
“No, you told me you thought you saw Adam visiting his own grave.”
“Well, okay, at least I saw someone. See, Andrew, when you look out this window you can see your father from here. After you father passed away, we moved into this house in order to be closer to him. Try to make up for all the years, he didn’t want to have anything to do with us.”
“Why?”
“Oh, never mind. I have so much to show you.” She walked across the room to a box on the floor. She started to pull photo albums, toys, and school items out of the box, when a timer when off in the other room. “I almost forgot about my cookies. Every young man likes cookies.” She said as she walked out of the room
“Andrew?”
Andrew turned looking at his grandfather.
“While your grandmother is out of the room, I will tell you about why your dad quit talking to us. She won’t talk about the circumstances now. We never told you father he was adopted for so long. When he was a junior in high school, he found the papers about his adoption. Being very angry with us, Adam refused to talk to us for a while. Against our word, he went looking for his biological mother. When he found her, she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. He never found his father…”
“To the day he died, he wouldn’t talk to us because he blamed us because of the situation. He said if we would have told him sooner, they would have been able to be apart of his life too.” Laura finished as she walked across the room to the desk and picked up a small shoebox. “A few years after he graduated and moved away, we received this letter in the mail.”
Dear mom and dad,
I am writing you to let you know I am married now and I am expecting a child soon. I wanted you to know I am sorry for some of the things I have said and done. Even though I can’t completely explain why, maybe in time we will understand, but I do love you very much. On the other hand, I am still coming to terms with what happened. In time, you will get to meet your grandchild on his terms, not mine, for I will see you in heaven.
Love,
Adam

“He left no return address and no way to find him. We assumed no return address was his way of being in control of when he would invite us back into his life. About a week after we received the letter, we read in the paper he was killed in a car accident. We went to the funeral. I saw several people I didn’t know, but some of the faces did stand out. The lady in the picture you pointed out was at the funeral. I guess I remember her so well, because the look on her face. She said to us she knew we loved him and did a very good at raising him to be a fine young man. She was sorry about the way things turned out. She turned and walked away. I didn’t think about the woman being his biological mother until today. I guess since I was unwilling to see him as someone else’s son; I figured she was a friend, a co worker, or someone else important. I saw her several times afterwards alone at his grave. Along with your mother. I didn‘t say nothing to her. I just got to look at you from a distance. You mother put together everything for your fathers funeral. I figured if Adam wanted us to meet you and your mother, something else would have happened while we were at the funeral. Instead I think he gave us the feeling of not wanting to meet you mostly because she had been through enough. He just gave me the feeling like we needed to leave her be and in time we would meet you on your terms, not ours. Just like the letter said. Sometimes I get the feeling like he knew he was going to be killed, and he was telling us his goodbye.”
Andrew opened the box up to find several different items.
Officer Adam Dace Dies in Hit and Run September 14, 1982
Officer Adam Dace died early this morning due to a hit and run on the east bound side of Highway 34. “Adam was on his way home to take his wife into the hospital when he stopped to help a young lady with her tire. Adam was never the kind to just leave anybody. Afterwards, a drunk driver in an overly large blue Chevy pickup came over the hill hitting Officer Dace’s cop car. Reports state Officer Dace was then hit by his own car while standing next to the car.“ Officer Downs stated from the hospital where the late Officer Adam Dace spent a couple hours in ICU before passing away. The blue Chevy has not been found. Anybody with information of the hit and run driver is encouraged to go to the Colorado State Patrol Office. There is also a fund set up for Officer Dace’s wife, Angela and their healthy newborn baby boy at the Colorado State Patrol Office.

Officer Adam Dace Is Laid To Rest September 22, 1982
Officer Adam Dace was laid to rest yesterday afternoon after a tragic car accident. Officer Dace was standing along his cop car last week when a Chevy pickup crashed into him and then passed away a couple of hours later at Puder Valley Medical Center. Officer Dace received a full officer salute at his funeral funded by the Colorado State Patrol. Accompanied by the full salute was all have the foothill Colorado State Patrol and Fort Collins Police Force, was his wife, Angela Dace, and their newborn son. A fund has been set up in Officer Dace’s name for his family at the Colorado State Patrol office. The driver of the blue Chevy pickup has not been found. Any leads to the discovery of the driver are encouraged to go to the Colorado State Patrol office.

Andrew then flipped through the Adoption papers, which lead to nothing except an unusual request. Under one section, Mary requested the baby be named Adam, but no reason came listed below.
“Still to this day,” she finished, “We still don’t know why she wanted him to be named Adam. Before we get started looking at all the papers and picture I kept over the years. I want to show you his room. Other then picking the room up, everything was left the way he left it.”
Andrew stepped through the doorway of the room where his father slept so many years of his life. On the shelves, stood trophy after trophy. Some Adam earned while in school and other from sports he played outside of school. Pinned to a board on the wall hung pictures of what Andrew figured to be friends and girlfriends. A mirror hung from the closet door next to the desk. Andrew ran his fingers along the top of the desk knowing how many hours his dad sat doing homework. A twin bed sat on the other side of the room against the wall.
“The covers on the bed are the same blue as one my mom’s bed. The rooms where mom spends most of her time are lined with the blue.” Andrew turned with a tear in his eye. “I never knew how much of my dad survived in my own house until I came to Colorado. Just the simplest things, such as a color, hold the ability to remind us of some of the greatest things to ever touch our lives. I spend several nights now wondering how my mother could just forget my father and move so far away with another man. Now I see she hasn’t forgotten my father, he lives within our walls by the simplest things.”
“Sometimes Andrew, people can do powerful things by ways most don’t think of. It‘s not just something between heaven and earth, but even between two people in the same house. Always keep the little things in mind when you think of who you love.”

Laura sat on the couch, wiping the tears from her face, next to Andrew and began sifting through the items in the box.
“This here,” she began, “is Adams first day of school. Him and the blue jacket. Adam wouldn’t go anywhere without the jacket.”
“My mom used to put me in a blue jacket.”
“The jacket was probably your dad’s since it’s one of the few things he took with him. This here is pictures of him at prom. Bob, what was the name of the girl?”
“Wasn’t her name Lilly?”
“Maybe. Adam dated so many girls making it hard to keep track of them.”
“Dad had lots of girlfriends?”
“Sure he did, but to him no girl ever topped your mother. When he found her, other girls didn’t exist.”
“I thought you didn’t talk to him anymore.”
“No we didn’t. Some of his high school buddy’s and their parents we kept in touch with, though. Look at this one. This is the picture of your father first step. He was a stout boy all his life.”
“I am realizing now being stout was given to me.”
“He gave you lots of his looks. Sitting here with you today though, I can tell you has a lot of your mother’s personality.”
“Do you have any pictures of dad playing football? I was over at the high school already.”
“Lots.” She said digging around a little bit more. “These two albums here are pictures of your dad just playing football. Here is the first championship he won. Here you see some of the boys dumping their Gatorade over their heads. Even though your dad was a good player and won most of the time, he was still a good sport. Some place in here is several pictures of him shaking the hands of his opponents, even if they was bad ravels.”
“Wait, wait, wait, grandma. Go back.”
“What is it?”
“This picture right here. See the lady standing in the background?”
“Yes.”
“The lady is Mary Dace and dad’s biological mother. Wait a minute.” Andrew said flipping through more of the pictures. “Do you see this?”
“She is in all of these pictures.”
“You mean she was in the background the whole time.”
“Unless I am wrong, looks like she went to all of his games. She had to have just stood in the background and watched.”
“Adam must have meant a lot to her for her to be there. I don’t ever remember seeing her there.”
“He did. I don’t know how much, but I know the story behind him.”
“There are just some things that should be left unsaid.” Bob said, changing the subject.
They continued to look through photo albums, telling stories of Adam before school, elementary, and all the sports he played in high school. They talked about all the girlfriends Adam picked up over the years, and how many of them he took to dances. Time flew by in the laughter and the tears.

They all gathered around the diner table digging into dinner.
“You don’t know enough to answer some of my questions, like the request for naming him Adam.”
“I am sorry grandma, I don’t. I don’t know why she wanted him called Adam. I don’t know why he did the things he did. I wish I could tell you more.”
“Well, son sometimes people hold reasons why, whether you find out why a few days later or you never find out.” Bob said from across the room. “Just as some can find peace with the past and other can’t.”
“Like her husband.” Laura said
“Why do you say that?” Andrew asked knowing it was true, but how would Laura know.
“Because one day we were in the grocery store. Adam had just found out about his biologically parents. He demanded we change his last name, because he wanted their name, not ours. He didn’t want the name of a liar, as he would put it. He was very friendly kid in general. He watched as an older lady stumbled with her groceries, and he offered to help. He introduced himself as Adam Dace. I remember the look on the lady’s face hearing the name Dace, and mumbled out she was Mary Dace. They just stood staring at each other, until the young man walked up. He asked who it was and when he found out he flipped. He told the lady they needed to be going now and kind of pushed her out the door. He turned taking the groceries from Adam. I remember what he told Adam so clear. ’Just leave her alone you freak.’ and walked away. Devastated, Adam just followed me around the store like a lost puppy. Nothing was ever said anything more about it until we received court papers stating a restraining order between her and our family was placed.”
“A restraining order. For some reason it don’t surprise me now. Their nature, I guess.”
“We told Adam he could keep their name, and we would drop the argument for it if he just leaves them alone. As far as we know, he never saw them again. At least we never got any more court papers. Adam received a letter from her. It was short and sweet along the lines of how handsome he was and how she was glad to meet him. There was no address just her name at the bottom. Along with the note came a single daisy. It had to be her favorite. The rest of the time Adam lived with us, we walked on rocks. It was touch for all of us.”
“Your not the only one on rocks.” Andrew said
“Andrew, hasn’t said anything yet, but I need to tell you why we came out here. Andrew has leukemia. We have to find a genetic match. We are down to it being life or death.” Amy said
“We knew something was wrong, but I can’t imagine.”
“It’s okay. I got to see you and that what counts.” Andrew said
They finished up dinner and gathered their things to go. Andrew started not feeling so good, so they called David to have him pick them up sooner. When David arrived, Amy helped Andrew gather all the things they gave, said their goodbyes, and walked out the door. Andrew leaned on Amy down the walk with Laura and Bob following. David had gotten out of the car to grab what they was carrying and within moments of taken it, Andrew collapsed.
“Andrew!” Amy yelled
“Call 911.” David yelled and dropped everything in his hand. He ran up the sidewalk to Andrew. Dropping to the ground, he placed his ear against Andrew’s chest. “He is still breathing.”

David, Laura, and Bob sat in the waiting room watching Amy pace the floor. She had called Angela to let her know what happened. Angela wanted to drop everything and fly out there, but Amy had told her to wait until they knew more. Angela had been reluctant to listen, but she trusted Amy’s judgment.
“Amy?” The doctors voice echoed through Amy’s head as if he was a thousand miles away. David placed his hand on Amy shoulder bringing her back.
“Yes.” Amy said looking up
“Andrew is going to be fine. He just overworked himself and got dehydrated. We are going to re-hydrate him and keep him overnight for observation.”
“Thank god.” Amy said turning to everyone else with tears in her eyes. David wrapped his arms around her as Sandy walked in the door.
“He is going to be fine.” He said, knowing she thought he was gone.
“There is one more thing. Early today we had Jerry and Daniel Dace come in and be tested on Andrew’s behalf. They weren’t matches either. I have already discussed this matter with Andrew. He told me he hasn’t found his grandfather yet. I told him with all the testing we have done and the way it lays out we will not find a match through his grandmother. He told me he hasn’t found his grandfather yet. I told him, at this point, his grandfather would be his only bet. You can go in and see him now.”
“I want to go in first. Give us some time alone before the rest of you come in.”
“That’s fine,” Sandy said. “I am going to go call Angela for you.”
“Thank you.”

Amy stepped into the room. Andrew lied in the bed with IV’s and oxygen. We were pale and fragile. He opened his eyes and smiled at her raising his hand up to wave her over.
“It’s okay. I am just tired.”
“I know I talked to the doctor.”
“Amy, I want you to know no matter what happens, I love you. I loved you from the first time we met and whether it is on earth or in heaven my love will not change.” Andrew said taking her hand as Amy’s eyes filled with tears. Andrew then reached up, taking the necklace from around his neck. “I didn’t plan on doing it this way. I wanted to do dinner and a long horse ride. In the sunset, I wanted to do this on one knee, but I can’t wait. So, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Amy said as the tears rolled down her face. Andrew took the small gold band with the heart shaped diamond on it and placed it on her finger. “I love you too, Andrew, so much.”

Amy picked up the phone. There was only one person to call now.
“Hello.”
“Melissa, this is Amy.”
“Hi Amy. What’s going on?”
“We had problems. Andrew went down hill. He got a little to exhausted and overworked. We ended up at the hospital but he is okay now. They are going to release him, though.”
“Geez, I knew it was going to come to this.”
“I got more bad news. Jerry and Daniel came down here and did the test. They are no matches either. Meaning, the only possible match is Andrew’s grandfather. We have got to find him.”
“I already knew about Jerry. As far as Andrew’s grandfather, nobody here knows who he is. There is only one possibility.”