regret in her voice. “Mom had a very hard time when Missy and I left. Having Jeri move into town was just what she needed to move on with her life. In a way, it made us feel less guilty about leaving home.” She relaxed her body against the vending machine and remembered the sorrow on her mother’s face when she told her she was moving to Los Angeles and then how happy her mother sounded when Jeri moved into town. “I really want to get to know your sister. She sounds like a great person.”
The coffee was finished and he punched in another order. “She is. She's the best sister I've ever had. Eric and I are lucky.”
“Eric?”
“Oh, he's our other brother, the oldest. He's a Marine now in the Middle East.”
"Aren't you guys scared?"
"Of what?"
"Of losing him. Or afraid you’d die when you were serving We always hear on the news reports of some soldiers killed or severely injured."
"It's a risk that we take."
He grabbed the second coffee, which he made for himself and placed it on the counter next to the machine. He took two lids from the basket and sealed the coffees. "You take risks like that with your stunt driving."
Anne looked at the choices on the vending machine. Coffee would make her already frayed nerves go haywire, and soda would have just the same effect. "That's different. It's a controlled situation and we always have medical personal on site."
She pushed a button and waited until a bottled water popped out.
"You still put yourself into dangerous situations. I'm sure your parents were thrilled to hear about you doing that."
He took out another bill and added it to the vending machine and pushed the water button.
Anne shrugged her shoulders. "They were able to get over it." Only after a couple of days of nagging and hours of pleading by them to reconsider. “Cars wouldn’t hurt me. They were more concerned about the people in Hollywood finding out about what I could do.”
"I'll get that," she said as she reached down for the other water.
“That’s a legitimate concern. How were you able to keep it a secret?” They started to walk down the hallway and out of the corner of her eye Anne saw a woman pointing her cell phone at her, clicking away. She sighed. Were people so bored with their own lives that they had to fixate on hers?
“Cars have become more and more automated. It was easy to explain how the light turned off or the car started by itself. No one ever questioned it.”
If Dean saw the woman, he didn't show it. They both quietly turned a corner and headed down the hallway.
"So how did you get into stunt driving?" he asked her as they moved aside for a patient on a gurney.
"It feels like such a long time ago. I was close to eighteen, I guess, and I usually would go to the race track here in town to let Hawk stretch his wheels, so to speak." They turned down another corner.
"Well, one day my manager came out on vacation and he knew the owner of the track. Jim, the owner, told him about my excellent driving and he had to come out himself to see."
"And that's how you ended up doing stunt driving."
"Yup, pretty much."
They stopped at the door to their personal waiting room and lowered his voice. "But who was really driving, you or your car?"
"Combination of both. He taught me what I needed to do in order to stay on the road and based on that I learned how to control him. Plus the other stunt cars were just as helpful."
She pushed open the door, walked over to Jeri and as she handed her the water she asked, "Anything?"
"No, not a peep," she told her as she graciously took the water and began to drink it.
"I'm so worried," Helen murmured as she slowly rocked back and forth. Kenneth leaned over to her and took her face in his hands.
"Missy's a fighter, Helen. We taught all our kids to be fighters. She'll pull through for us and so will Evan. We all just have to stick together, honey ."
Tears welled up in her eyes and Kenneth leaned over and kissed her gently. Jeri got up
The coffee was finished and he punched in another order. “She is. She's the best sister I've ever had. Eric and I are lucky.”
“Eric?”
“Oh, he's our other brother, the oldest. He's a Marine now in the Middle East.”
"Aren't you guys scared?"
"Of what?"
"Of losing him. Or afraid you’d die when you were serving We always hear on the news reports of some soldiers killed or severely injured."
"It's a risk that we take."
He grabbed the second coffee, which he made for himself and placed it on the counter next to the machine. He took two lids from the basket and sealed the coffees. "You take risks like that with your stunt driving."
Anne looked at the choices on the vending machine. Coffee would make her already frayed nerves go haywire, and soda would have just the same effect. "That's different. It's a controlled situation and we always have medical personal on site."
She pushed a button and waited until a bottled water popped out.
"You still put yourself into dangerous situations. I'm sure your parents were thrilled to hear about you doing that."
He took out another bill and added it to the vending machine and pushed the water button.
Anne shrugged her shoulders. "They were able to get over it." Only after a couple of days of nagging and hours of pleading by them to reconsider. “Cars wouldn’t hurt me. They were more concerned about the people in Hollywood finding out about what I could do.”
"I'll get that," she said as she reached down for the other water.
“That’s a legitimate concern. How were you able to keep it a secret?” They started to walk down the hallway and out of the corner of her eye Anne saw a woman pointing her cell phone at her, clicking away. She sighed. Were people so bored with their own lives that they had to fixate on hers?
“Cars have become more and more automated. It was easy to explain how the light turned off or the car started by itself. No one ever questioned it.”
If Dean saw the woman, he didn't show it. They both quietly turned a corner and headed down the hallway.
"So how did you get into stunt driving?" he asked her as they moved aside for a patient on a gurney.
"It feels like such a long time ago. I was close to eighteen, I guess, and I usually would go to the race track here in town to let Hawk stretch his wheels, so to speak." They turned down another corner.
"Well, one day my manager came out on vacation and he knew the owner of the track. Jim, the owner, told him about my excellent driving and he had to come out himself to see."
"And that's how you ended up doing stunt driving."
"Yup, pretty much."
They stopped at the door to their personal waiting room and lowered his voice. "But who was really driving, you or your car?"
"Combination of both. He taught me what I needed to do in order to stay on the road and based on that I learned how to control him. Plus the other stunt cars were just as helpful."
She pushed open the door, walked over to Jeri and as she handed her the water she asked, "Anything?"
"No, not a peep," she told her as she graciously took the water and began to drink it.
"I'm so worried," Helen murmured as she slowly rocked back and forth. Kenneth leaned over to her and took her face in his hands.
"Missy's a fighter, Helen. We taught all our kids to be fighters. She'll pull through for us and so will Evan. We all just have to stick together, honey ."
Tears welled up in her eyes and Kenneth leaned over and kissed her gently. Jeri got up
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