Through the Hardest Times

Rita grumbled as she read through the files. She was glad that the case was finally over. Not only was it gruesome, but having her and her partner in each other’s constant presence brought on tensions she had never felt between them before. As much as she hated the paperwork, she was relieved at the time apart from Chris. Working with him had definitely become uncomfortable. Ever since Jillian announced her move to Boston he’d been a bear to those around him. Especially to Rita.

He had clearly stated that he refused to leave his life in Palm Beach to follow to Jillian, at the same time Rita knew that Chris was weighing it all out on his mind.

Whether or not he would in the end was something Rita was now uncertain of. As much as she would miss him, he had to move on with his life. She knew that she would rather see him happy from far away than to see him miserable right before her eyes. The amount of times he’d snapped and been testy with her in the last week was beginning to cause a huge friction between them. As much as Rita was trying to be sympathetic and was quite willing to make allowances to try and be understanding, her patience was running low and fast. She wasn’t about to put up with it for much longer. Either he finally decides and live with it or she throws a punch to knock some sense into him. The fact that she had bared with it for as long as she had was purely for the friendship that they had shared, but even that was on its last legs. She’d had enough.

She looked up just in time to see Chris walk in. His face scrunched up into a frown, like a dog ready to bite whoever gets in their way. Rita sighed as she anticipated the disastrous day ahead. As he approached his desk Rita kept her eyes on the files in front of her. Without a word Chris sat down in front of her, leafing through the paperwork on his side of the desk. The silence that fell before them began to annoy Rita. It had become too familiar in the last week and she had enough. She had passed the point of understanding. She had grown tired of his heavy sighs, frowns, pouty looks and his need to bang things around him. Most of all she was tired of feeling as though he was resenting her for his stay. After all it was he who decided that his life belonged in Palm Beach. Sure she was glad that he decided to stay, but not like this. She’d rather he leave before she lost respect for him completely. Before she lost her best friend completely.

Rita watched him as he sat there staring at his computer, at the same time drumming his fingers on his desk. The rhythm was driving Rita mad. She knew that her patience was fast coming to its end. Rita pulled her chair back and stood up. She knew that if she continued to look at him she’d inevitably throw a punch. She decided to wander over to Diana’s office to visit her in hope that she cools down before returning.

Harry watched what had evolved from his office. The growing tension between his homicide team was beginning to be a problem. He had watched Chris as the week passed and he knew it was only a matter of time before Rita exploded. Lorenzo was acting like a resentful child. He had made his choice and he wasn’t willing to take responsibility for it. He unconsciously blamed Rita for his staying. Harry could see it, and most of all Rita felt it. Before Rita could walk out the double doors he called out to them.

"Lance, Lorenzo, in my office now."

"Great. Just what I need." Rita muttered to herself as she threw her jacket back on her desk before heading towards Harry’s office. Chris followed behind in an almost catatonic state. They sat next to each other on the chairs before him. He could see both of them leaning towards opposite direction. He had never seen them so out of sync with each other for as long as he’d known them.

"Alright you two. Take the rest of the day off. Think of it as a long weekend. In that time you two sort our your differences. For the last week I have watched you and it’s driving me nuts. Sort it out. I don’t care how you do it, or how long it takes but I don’t want to see you till it’s all settled. You got me?"

Rita let out a huge sigh."Well Cap, I believe I could do that for you right now. Chris go to Boston. If you don’t I’ll get transferred out of here. Just go to Boston and grow up"

With that Rita stood from her chair and walked out. She grabbed her belongings and stormed out of the department. Shocked Chris watched her leave. Harry wanted to applaud Rita. He knew if anyone could knock sense into him, it would be her. Chris got up from his chair and ran after her.

He caught up with her just as she was about to climb into her jeep. He grabbed her by the arm to try and stop her. Furious Rita turns to face him. "Get you hands off me Lorenzo." As she said the words he could hear the coldness in her voice and saw the anger that blazed in her eyes. Taking the hint, he let go.

"What the hell was that?" he asked in a whisper. What she had said was like a slap on his face. As Rita looked at him she realized that he had no idea what he’d been like for the last week. She was almost sympathetic.

Rita continued to look at him as she leaned against the jeep and began. "Chris, I meant what I said in there. Go to Boston. Go be with Jillian. You have a real chance for happiness there. A chance to build that family you have always dreamed of. As much as I want you to stay here with me, it’s never going to happen. You’ll end up resenting me....”"

Chris was about to protest but she gave him a look that pleaded for him to let her finish.

"You already are. This last week, you have barely spoken to me. When you did it was only to snap at me. You have snapped at everyone. Face it. You’re not happy. I would rather know that you’re happy from far away than to see you miserable and resentful right before my eyes. As strong as I believe our friendship is, it won’t survive this Chris. If we keep going the way we are I’m afraid we’d end up hating each other. So you have a choice. You go to Boston and be with Jillian or I will get a transfer out of here because I refuse to be partners with you. Time apart is probably what we really need."

Chris stood there in silence letting her words sink in. Without a word Rita got into her jeep and drove off. As much as it hurt her to say what she did, she needed to. She had never lied to him before and she wasn’t about to start. She knew in the end he would go to Boston. He wanted to. Tears began to roll down Rita’s cheeks. She didn’t want to lose her best friend, but it was a no win situation. Either way she believed that she would lose him and her choices were to lose him and keep the memories. Or keep him for a short time before he began to resent her even more till their memories begin to stain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris drove to the beach after she drove off. She was right. Unconsciously he was blaming her. After all she was the main reason why he stayed. He didn’t want to lose her. She was the best friend he had and leaving her was unthinkable. Yet if he stayed he would just continue to hurt her. He hated himself for what he had put her through. He didn’t mean to. As much as he wanted to stay in Pam Beach he couldn’t help but think Jillian may be the one. What if he had made the wrong choice telling her that he wouldn’t go with her? Then again was he willing to leave everything behind for that chance? His career, his friends, Rita? He knew his first reaction was a no, but Rita had made him think. As much as he didn’t want to lose her either, she had a point. He didn’t want to ever make her feel as though he was blaming her. She was so angry with him. It scared him to see that look of betrayal on her face. The look of hurt in her eyes was a look he had put in there and he hated himself for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile Rita was at home with a monstrous headache. Her head had been pounding since she left Harry’s office. Actually the headache had surfaced a couple of weeks back, but its intensity grew through the stress. She was thankful for the weekend off. Though she knew their weekend was supposed to be spent ironing out their differences, Rita hoped it would be a weekend away from each other. She was in a fetal position on her couch trying to keep still to stop the pain and it wouldn’t. No matter what she did it hurt. She broke out in sweat, as the pain grew worse. She had taken an aspirin and it hadn’t worked. She tried to take her focus away from her pain, she turned the TV on, still didn’t work. She heard a knock on the door but couldn’t get up to answer it.

"Hey Sam it’s me. I know you’re there. Come on Sam. I’m sorry I was such a jerk. Sam." Rita could hear him but she couldn’t move. The pain was paralyzing.

"Chris..." she called out.

Chris heard her voice. It seemed strained.

Worried he felt his pocket for his keys and let himself in. He found her on the couch her hands on her temple. Chris rushed to her side.

"Sammy...what happened?" Rita couldn’t answer him. It hurt so much to move. Chris grabbed the phone and called 911. When he finished he saw that Rita was beginning to fade.

"Don’t you leave me Sam." he yelled but Rita was already slipping away from consciousness.

The paramedics found Rita in Chris’ arms. They pried him away and began to work on her. Chris told them about the headache and informed them about her aneurysm. He watched them work fast to stabilize her. He had never prayed as hard as he did at that moment.

Chris rode in the ambulance with her, he spoke to her continuously on their way to the hospital, whispering words of love and concern. The guilt oozing from his whole being.

"Come on Sam we promised each other never to leave the other. I’m sorry if I was such a jerk about Jillian. You can throw me your best punch when you get better. Come on Rita, hold on. Don’t leave me."

Chris was left in the hospital lobby as they wheeled her away. He paced up and down as he waited. He called Harry to tell him what happened. Within the hour Harry rushed into the emergency room. He gathered Christopher in his arms as Chris began to cry.

"Cap, this is all my fault."

"Shh. No it isn’t." Harry tried to comfort him but his words fell on deaf ears. Chris wasn’t listening. He had convinced himself that he had caused that bubble in her head to burst.

"Listen Chris. It’s been coming for a while now. I should have seen it too. She’d been suffering from these headaches for the last couple of weeks now. Every time I’d nag her about them she’s assure me that she was fine. She never was one to complain about anything."

Chris watched his Captain speak. The guilt in his voice was evident. “" couple of weeks?" He hadn’t even noticed that she was suffering from headaches. It was then it became clear. A week before Jillian announced her promotion he and Rita were hanging out at her apartment as usual when Rita disappeared into the bathroom for a little while. He thought nothing of it. He did however notice the paleness of her face when she emerged from the bathroom. She shrugged it off as a bug. The week later her headaches had intensified but everything had begun to change that week after Jillian broke the news. He hadn’t seen her except when they were on the case. Then feeling light headed he remembered. They had just solved the last case and they were headed towards their separate cars. He saw Rita stumble and lean against her car. He asked her what was wrong and she said nothing. Chris remembered losing it with her so many times that day and she took it all in stride, just as she had the days that came before that and the days that followed. Misery and guilt filled him. If he had been in a normal state of mind he would have pried and pried until she saw someone about them. He realized then that he had failed her as a friend. He bowed his head in shame and cried.

Harry kept a fatherly arm around Chris, he knew that Chris was beating himself up for not picking it up. Heck they both were. Rita and Chris had become the children he and his Fran were never able to have, and now Rita’s life was compromised.

Rita was still in the operating room when Fran found them. Tears rolling down her eyes as she approached her husband.

"Oh Hesch. I know you told me to wait at home, but this is Rita." Harry didn’t have the heart to scold her. In all honesty he was grateful for her presence. Fran sat between Harry and Chris. Chris buried his face in his hands praying that she would be all right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doctor emerged from the double doors. Chris stood up to speak to him. "Are you her husband?" Chris shook his head.

" No, I’m her partner." He glanced at Harry and Fran.

"Are you the parents?" Harry gave him a small nod.

"Closest thing to it Doc. How is she?"

"Her aneurysm burst. She was lucky that she was brought into the hospital as quickly as she was. Her life was in grave danger. During the operation Miss Lance slipped into a coma. We’re uncertain if she will awaken and we won’t be certain of the extent of damage till she regains consciousness. The next 48 hours are quite critical. If she can hold on for the 48 hours then we have every reason to believe that she will wake up, now how long that would take, we are still uncertain."

The color from Chris’ face drained as the doctor spoke. He nearly lost her. He could still lose her. "Can I see her? Please!" he begged.

Dr. Reed sensed Chris’ determination and agony.

"She’s still in post op. But as soon as we transfer her to the ICU I’ll get someone to take you there. In the meantime I doubt you guys are going anywhere so if you have any problems have me paged. I’m Dr. Theodore Reed."

Harry thanked him as he shook hands with the man who saved Rita’s life. Gratefulness flowed through all three of them. Chris sat down to wait for the go ahead to see Rita.

"She’s a fighter Chris. She’ll get through this." Chris hoped he was right. There was so much he wanted to say to Rita. He hoped and prayed to get the opportunity to do so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris sat by Rita’s bed and refused to leave her side. The doctor encouraged them to talk to her. Chris held her hand as he spoke to her.

"Come on Sam, we made it this far. Wake up. Open your eyes. Yell at me. Hit me whatever it takes. I know what kind of a jerk I was and I’m sorry about that I really am. If you wake up I guarantee you the first punch. It’s all yours. Now wake up Sammy. Heck I’ll even buy you lunch for the rest of the year. Don’t leave me Sam. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Please open your eyes"

Still Rita made no move. Harry placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Chris go home, at least for a little while. You’re no good to her burnt out. Take a shower. Shave. I’ll be here, she won’t be alone."

Reluctantly he agreed. Harry took over from where Chris sat. He took hold of Rita’s hand and kissed it.

"Well Lance. You now have my undivided attention. Trying to get your partner to leave was definitely a hard task. He really loves you Lance. I know the last week proves otherwise but I know deep inside you, you can’t deny it. The kind of love the two of you share is so rare and hard to find. So wake up and embrace it. Don’t you know there are many of us here for you, that love you. Rita you and Chris are the closest thing to children Fran and I have ever had or will ever have. You know that I love you don’t you."

His voice pleaded for her to wake up. He wasn’t talking to her as a Captain. He was talking to her as a father. Harry stared at her hoping for some form of acknowledgement, but she remained still.

Fran walked in and silently asked for some time to alone with Rita.

"Well doll, it’s just you and me. What do you say to a woman to woman talk?"

Silence.

"Well then I take it you don’t have any arguments. Good. Listen Rita there are two guys outside that door that think the world of you. One loves you like a daughter. The other I have to say is madly in love with you. Now don’t act shocked or surprised to hear it. I know you’re in love with him too. And don’t even bother denying it. I’m old but I’m not blind. Anyone who has any form of sense can feel the unconditional love that flows from the both of you. Why do you think neither one of you has ever kept a steady relationship? It’s because your hearts belonged to one another. It’s about time you two are honest with each other. You know Hesch and I were never able to have children. I want you to know that I consider you the daughter I was never able to have. You’ve become such a huge part of our lives. Don’t leave, not now. We haven’t had enough time. I love you doll."

With that Fran began to break down into uncontrollable tears. Harry put his arms around his wife attempting to console her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris didn’t go home. He found himself in Rita’s apartment. He walked in to see that the TV was still on. He lay on the couch that she was in nights before. He could faintly smell her floral perfume. After an hour he got up. He fed her fish and ran upstairs to take a shower. Thankful that he kept a spare change of clothes in her linen closet for the times he would end up sleeping the night on her couch.

Chris took a quick shower and borrowed a new razor to shave. After he was done he gathered things from her apartment that would make the hospital room a little brighter. He grabbed the throw blanket on her couch; the bear he had given her, a couple of frames a couple of change of clothes and her favorite sweatshirt, which happened to be his.

He threw them all in one of her overnight bags he found in the closet. He rushed back to the room passing by the gift shop to pick up a bunch of flowers. When he returned he looked at Fran and Harry for some form of good news, but they shook their heads.

Chris set up the flowers by her side table. Placing the frames next to them. There were two frames; one with her and Chris while the other was one with Fran, Harry, Chris and Rita. He took the bear out of the bag and the sweatshirt. He handed the sweatshirt to Fran.

"Fran, could you?" Fran nodded and shooed them out of the room.

"See doll, he knows you so well."

Fran stripped Rita off the hospital gown and put Chris sweatshirt on her. Being rather large it was like a nightgown on her. Fran rummaged into the bag and found satin boxer shorts and slipped them on top of Rita’s underwear. After 10 minutes she called Harry and Chris back in. Rita looked so peaceful. Chris went to her side and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"Hey sunshine. So you still refuse to open your eyes. I should have known you’d be stubborn about this. I know I was a jerk, I admit it. There, I’m saying it. I was wrong. I accept defeat. Come on Sam. Quit trying to prove a point and wake up. I want you to open you eyes and fight with me dammit. You were never a quitter don’t you dare start now. You never gave up on me so don’t think that I’m ever going to give up on you. I’m going to keep nagging you until you wake up. It’s up to you. Hearing me nag for hours on end is a painful experience. You can make it harder for yourself or give in now. Like I said as God, Fran, and Harry as my witness you are entitled to throw me a punch. Punches if you’d like, just open your eyes Sammy. Please."

Harry and Fran smiled. They both hoped that Rita would open her eyes, but she didn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night Chris sat by her bed with her hands in his. Rita stirred slightly and glanced down at her hand. She gave his hand a squeeze and Chris woke up startled. He broke into a smile when he saw that she was awake.

“Hey there sunshine. It’s about time. Hang on, let me get a nurse.” Chris ran back into the room and hovered over her. He placed a kiss on her forehead, whispering words as he stared deep into her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re awake Sammy. Don’t you ever do that to me again, I’ve missed you.” All Rita could manage was a smile. She tried to talk but it hurt. The tube was only in her throat was only removed that morning. Dr Reed walked in and grabbed her charts.

“Well Miss Lance welcome back. You had us all worried there. Now I know it hurts but can you tell me your full name?” Rita cleared her throat.

“Rita Lee Lance”

“Very good. And who is this man here?” Rita glanced at Chris and smiled.

“Christopher James Lorenzo. He’s my partner. He’s my best friend.”

Chris beamed with pride. He mouthed the words I love you and Rita grinned at him.

“Okay Miss Lance, what was the last thing you remember?”

“Well I was working on a case with Derek McNeil, George and I were discussing why they never took the bait. Then we walked towards my car; someone in a van pulled out a shotgun and started shooting. Is George alright?” She asked worried looking at Chris.

“George is just fine Sam.” he threw Dr Reed a look that said they needed to talk.

“Sammy why don’t you rest for a little while, while I talk to Dr Reed.”

Chris bent over and kissed her forehead before following the doctor out the door.

“Doc she’s talking about a case she worked on almost a year ago.”

“Well Mr. Lorenzo your partner seems to be suffering from a mild case of amnesia the odd part of this is that she has only blocked out a small part. It seems almost like selective amnesia.”

“Are you trying to say she’s faking it? That she’s choosing to forget.” Chris asked bewildered.

“Not exactly. Selective Amnesia in terms of her brain chose to forget a certain period of time. Time that may have caused her most pain.”

Chris felt his legs weaken and sat on the nearest chair. It occurred to him why her brain had chosen the period she had.

“Is it permanent?” he asked.

“No, but I can’t give you a time frame. It can be triggered off by anything. And if the situation in which she is subconsciously running away from is still unresolved her coming to would be very upsetting for her.” Chris nodded understanding. He asked the nurse to call the Lipshitz’s before going back into her room. Rita was waiting for Chris to come back in. She greeted him with a smile as he walked in.

“Hey Sam. What was that all about?” she asked.

“Just talking about your prognosis.”

“What happened to me Chris?” Rita moved to give him space to sit next to her on the bed. Chris her hand in both of his as he began.

“Well Sammy we knew the day would come and it did. That bubble finally burst in that big head of yours.” Rita laughed but then grew serious.

“I’m going to be alright aren’t I?” she asked.

“You sure are.” he said confidently.

“So what was that little private meeting for?” she questioned not missing a beat. Chris hesitated, but the Doctor said it would be okay to tell her that she was missing a few memories.

“Well we’re just a little worried because what you last remember was something that happened many months ago.”

“I have amnesia?”

“A very mild one. But we can work through it. You and me against the world remember?” Rita smiled satisfied with the answer. Harry and Fran walked in shortly. They smiled at the sight of them in each other’s arms.

“Hey Cap, Fran. Thanks for coming.” Rita said greeting them. Fran threw her arms around Rita and hugged her.

“It’s nice to have you back doll.” Touched Rita hugged her back. Rita doesn’t realize that they could have lost her. Harry followed from Fran and gave Rita a firm and fatherly hug.

“You gave us quite a scare there Lance. Don’t do it again.” He said sternly. Rita noticed the mist that was beginning to form around his eyes.

“I promise Cap.” She looked up at Chris.

“So partner, you look like hell!” she said affectionately. She saw the dark circles under his eyes.

“Well sleeping in the chair beside you does that,” he said defensively with a smirk. Overwhelmed Rita wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and hugged him. Chris held her possessively in his arms, enjoying the closeness he was able to have once again.

“Thank you Sam.” she said sincerely.

They spent a couple of hours talking till Rita declared that she was hungry and refused to eat hospital food.

“Well why don’t Cap and I grab you something.... A pizza perhaps?” Rita’s eyes lit up at the thought.

“Alright, we’ll be back. Cap?” Harry nodded. Chris placed a kiss on his partner’s forehead and headed out the door with the Captain in tow. Fran knew that Rita couldn’t remember the last months so she was treading carefully.

“How are you feeling Rita?” she asked.

“Tired. A little sore. Most of all glad to be alive and surrounded by people I love and who love me.” Rita gave her a small smile.

“Fran, I wanted to tell you. I love you too. That I do consider you and Harry as my parents.” Fran’s head snapped up to look at Rita. Rita gave a small laugh at the look of shock on Fran’s face.

“I heard you. I heard Harry and I heard Chris. Fran, why did Chris keep apologizing and who’s Jillian?” she asked.

“You heard?” she asked. Trying to buy time so she could come up with a response. Rita nodded. Fran threw her arms around Rita and hugged her again.

“I meant every word doll.”

“So who’s Jillian Fran?”

“Just a girl Chris dated.” she said nonchalantly.

“Why was he apologizing for something he did concerning her?” she pried.

“Well...you two had a small misunderstanding about her. He never got the chance to apologize to you, and he felt guilty thinking he wasn’t able to apologize.” Rita seemed as though she was satisfied with the answer so Fran dropped the subject.

At that moment Chris and Harry walked in with a huge pizza and a six pack of soda. They ate, talked and laughed. After they had left Chris stayed behind to spend some time with Rita. Rita wanted to bring up the girl named Jillian but she didn’t want to spoil the moment between them. It seemed ages since they’d been together like they were. Rita looked down at her shirt and around the room.

“Thanks for the shirt, and everything. Fran told me you brought all of it from my place.” As she looked up at him she could feel her heart skip a beat then beat faster. It was like a pattern. She had heard everything Fran said. Including how she thought Chris was in love with her. Moment of truth had come. She was in love with him too. All she needed to do was find the right time.

Chris insisted on staying the night with her. Rita wasn’t about to protest. Rita was alone in her room while Chris went to the bathroom. His cell phone began to ring, it was in the pocket of his jacket. She looked to see if he had finished but he was still no where in sight. She grabbed the phone thinking it may be work related.

“Hello.” she said answering the call.

“Rita, is that you? How are you?” The voice gave a tinge of familiarity but she couldn’t pin point.

“It’s me Jillian Dupree. Is Chris there?” Rita’s whole body tensed up. She began to remember. She remembered Chris getting shot and the feelings that erupted from that moment on. She remembered Eric, and the hard times she went through. She remembered the death of her friend Gina. She remembered Jillian and Boston. She remembered it all. The anger, the resentment, the argument. It all came flashing back.

“Hello Rita...”

“Oh, sorry Jillian. He’s in the bathroom. I’ll be sure to tell him you called.”

“Thanks Rita. Good luck with your recuperation.”

“Thanks Jillian. All the best with you too.” Rita hung up and placed the phone in front of her on the table. When Chris walked in he found her staring out the window. Rita’s mind was overloaded with the memories her subconscious tried so hard to forget.

“Hey sunshine what’s so interesting out there?” he asked teasing. Rita didn’t move. Immediately he sensed that there was something wrong. He walked towards her and took a hand in his. As he did, he felt Rita’s whole body go rigid. With her other hand she handed him his cell phone.

“Jillian Dupree would like you to call her back.” Rita whispered. At that moment Chris knew that she had regained her full memory.

“You remember?” he asked quietly. Rita nodded.

“You resented me,” she stated, the hurt lingered in her voice as she spoke. It tore out Chris’ heart.

“No, Sam.”

“Yes you did.” she said accusingly. Chris hung his head down low. Knowing that, that’s what he projected.

“I didn’t mean to Sam. I was just so confused about everything. I wanted so much to talk to you about it, but I could never find the right words. In the end I just stepped back from you. It was easier to snap at you. I’m so sorry Sam. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you.” Rita remained silent as he spoke. She didn’t know what to say. As much as she wanted to believe Fran’s words she couldn’t help but doubt them now. She had no answers, just feelings.

“Look at me Sam. Please.” Rita turned her head and looked at him. As he stared into her eyes, they were empty. As though someone had closed the door to her soul. He took both her hands in his and kissed it.

“I now know why I was the way I was. I realized while I sat here not knowing whether or not you were going to live or die that my confusion and frustration didn’t exist because I was confused about Jillian. I was confused about you. About us. For as long as we’ve known each other its as though we had an instant connection. From the first moment we met we loved each other. No one could ever understand the closeness we shared. Every relationship we ever had felt threatened by the closeness we had. If you think about it, they had every right. No matter who we were with, we were willing to drop whatever it was we were doing to be at the other’s side. We made sure that our friendship was never compromised. We always said that we loved each other but we weren’t in love with each other. I think that was true, but through it all, while loving you. I fell in love with you.” Rita listened to him as tears began to flow from her eyes as she watched Chris become teary eyed too. Her whole face lit up as she began to respond to what he had said.

“Oh Christopher. I’m in love with you too. I always have been. The reason why my mind chose to forget this particular period of my life was because it was the time I thought I had nearly lost you. When I thought I lost you, I realized that I loved you more than I was ever willing to admit, till that time. I swore I was finally going to tell you that I loved you. But Jillian came along. Then Eric, it seemed to make more sense to stay the best of friends than to pursue whatever it was. I feared I’d lose you. When it seemed as though you were mad at me because you decided to stay, I couldn’t bare it. It hurt Chris....” she was about to go on but Chris sealed her last words with a gentle kiss.

Surprised Rita responded to his kiss, she closed her eyes and cherished the moment she had dreamt of for so long. After they pulled apart Chris held Rita’s face with both hands. They stared deeply into one other’s soul, it was then they knew then that the past no longer mattered, nor did the future, the present held the key to their happiness. The present was the most precious gift of all and they cherished it. The present was all that mattered.

The End

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