Brian and Marci stood where they were and watched Arthur pull into the parking lot across the street. He put his hand over his mouth and asked quietly. "Who all knows the truth?"
"Everyone in the cafe," she responded as she looked at the pavement. She scurried over to Arthur.
Arthur turned off the ignition and let out a heavy sigh as he sat real still for a moment. He lowered his head and was breathing so hard that he almost seemed like he was gasping for breath. He feebly lifted his hand to his chin strap and popped it off. Then he groaned as he forced himself to remove his helmet.
Marci saw a look of pain on his face that she had never seen before and started to panic. "Are you alright? Arthur?" She reached out to touch his shoulder.
Instinctively he raised his voice and said "Don't!" He apologized with more of a groan than he did his normal voice. "Sweets, I'm sorry but I'm in a lot of pain from my neck all the way down to my waist."
Marci's quivering voice snapped the men out of their conversation. "Bri-i-a-a-n, Ben, Tommy..... Somebody come here quick."
Brian rushed to the other side of the Harley and started giving orders, "Marci, you probably need to ask your Grandmother and your brother to leave. I don't believe this is going to be a pretty sight."
"Ok," she answered as she looked at Arthur, "but be careful with him." She scampered back to the cafe.
"Tommy, go to the door and keep it shut until we get there," Brian directed. "Arthur, give me and Ben your hands. We'll hold you steady while you get off your bike. Ben, there's no way that we need to even touch his back. So, Arthur, if we hold to you by your outstretched arms will you be able to make it across the street?"
Arthur held out his arms to the guys and groaned his answer, "I'll make it. Just keep me balanced. I haven't slept much in the past 36 hours and my adrenaline rush gave out a long time ago."
"I gothca man," Brian sympathized as he and Ben gingerly began walking him across the street to the cafe. "I've been on some tough cases with the DOJ and I know just what you're talking about. Ben, walk ahead, we'll turn him sideways as we walk through the door."
Marci, Grandmother Barton and Dennis were standing just inside the door. "Arthur, this is my Grandmother Barton and my little brother Dennis."
Brian and Ben were still on either side of him holding him up. He managed a smile as he told them, "It's a pleasure to meet you, both."
Grandmother Barton apologized, "I promised Dennis that I would get him some ice cream so we need to scoot."
As they walked out the door, Marci instructed her, "McGurdy's has the best ice cream and it's right across the street from the park."
Marci shut and locked the door and turned back around to Arthur. She began unbuttoning his shirt while Ben and Brian were helping him step out of his leathers. She slipped her hands between his chest and his shirt. "It's stuck, isn't it?" she asked as she looked into his eyes.
"They didn't have any gauze to wrap....."
Before he could finish, Marci slipped her hands up to the back of his neck and pulled him to her for a kiss. The room got quiet. Marci released his lips just enough to tell him, "That's my answer to the question in your eyes last month. And this is my statement to you that has been a long time in coming." She pulled him back and wrapped her arms around his neck this time with no intention of letting go for a while."
In his slow southern drawl, Leo suggested, "That's right, Marci. Hold him real still just like that while we take his shirt off of him. Somebody bring me a wet towel to dampen his shirt with. But take your time. He ain't goin' no where for a few minutes."
That brought enough giggles from everyone that Marci had to relinquish her hold. While Leo and Mr. Dunavant worked on his shirt, Marci fixed her eyes on him. There were no tears and no quiver in her voice. It was just a matter of fact statement. "Arthur Hollis, you will NEVER go anywhere else without me by your side. EVER!"
A smile played on her lips as she added, "Do you hear me?"
"I hear you loud and clear, Honey," he said to her softly. "I've waited a long time to hear you say something like that."
"I know it and I'm sorry it took so long for me to get my head straight," Marci agreed as she reached for her phone. "And, I know someone else who's waited a long time to hear me say something, too. And I promised I would call her when you got here anyway."
Before she hit the speed dial number for Olivia, she looked at her friends and said, "I'm going to put this on speaker phone so in case she screams like I think she will it won't bust my eardrums."
The phone rang a time or two before a female voice answered, "Marci, Marci....is Arthur Ok?"
She paused before she answered, "He's going to be just fine.........Mom."
The End
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