Message-Id: <199308191514.AA26736@dirt.cisco.com> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 93 10:13:31 CDT From: Gina Goff Subject: "Afterimage", part 5 "Afterimage" by Gina Goff Part Five Sam drifted into an uneasy sleep. He dreamt about Donna and Project Quantum Leap and his father's farm in Indiana. He dreamt about his brother's death, and then some part of him said, _But Tom didn't die. We changed that, we fixed it. And Donna... she wasn't mine when I first leaped. She stood me up at the altar. But we fixed that, too, Al and I. I have Donna and Tom because I leaped. And I can't be with them because I leaped._ Eventually, he found himself back at Al's Place, drinking a beer. "I have a question," said the bartender. "*You* want to ask *me* something?" Sam said. "Go ahead." "I thought you were headed home. What changed your mind?" "I... had to help someone. You know that. I mean, don't you know what I did?" "What did you do, Sam?" "I broke the rules." "Whose rules?" "My rules. His rules." Sam eyed the bartender warily and added, "Maybe your rules?" "Do you think your friend will be angry when he finds out?" "I'm not going to tell him. It's better he doesn't know." "Better for whom, Sam?" "Both of us, I guess. Wait a minute -- I never said I broke the rules for a *friend*." The bartender gave Sam an enigmatic smile that set off an unpleasant tickling in the pit of his stomach. "You aren't going... to... punish me? Are you?" The bartender laughed. "Me? I serve beer. I leave punishing to other people." After he woke, Sam spent a great deal of time thinking about Donna and Beth and Al. _I've been a hypocrite. I'm doing to Al exactly what he's done to me. I'm not telling him something about his marriage because I know he'd be upset._ _I've been horribly unfair to him. All this time, I've gone about my business, happily unaware of my marriage, but Al has known. Every woman I've kissed, or wanted, or actually slept with -- Al has known about all of them and thought of Donna. And he's said nothing, because I had a job to do. And because I... needed those women, needed someone to love, to love me, and Donna wasn't there._ _Why is it that God, or Time, or Fate puts us in impossible situations where we end up hurting the ones we most want to protect?_ _I've got to apologize to Al..._ Beth interrupted his thoughts. "Time for your bath." Sam chuckled to himself. _Al, I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier. And I think you should know I saved your first marriage by convincing Beth you were still alive in Vietnam. Oh, by the way, she just gave me a bath. Hope you don't mind._ Then Sam realized Beth really *was* about to give him a bath, and panic set in. "No. No, Mommy, I'm not dirty. I don't need a bath." Beth pulled him steadily and remorselessly in the direction of the bathroom, ignoring his protests. _What am I going to do? She's turning on the water. Maybe if I make a big enough fuss she'll decide it's not worth the trouble._ "No, I'm not going to take a bath, I don't need a bath, no, no, nooooooooooo!" An amused, gravelly voice spoke behind him. "I see we're in good voice tonight." Sam spun around and saw Admiral Calavicci standing in the doorway. "Did you expect otherwise?" said Beth, with a mixture of amusement and resignation. She reached for Sam's shirt, trying to remove it, but Sam took a quick step backward, out of reach. "I don't need a bath," he repeated. "So I've heard." The Admiral turned off the water and then said to Beth, "Your mom's on the phone. I'll take care of Maxine." Beth left, and the Admiral perched on the edge of the tub, watching Sam expectantly. "Well, go on. You've got my undivided attention. Tell me you're not taking a bath." "I'm not taking a bath," Sam said uncertainly. "Come on, kid, you can do better than that. Yell." Sam looked at him in puzzled silence. "Well, if you're through already, we can get down to business." He turned the water on. "I can wash my own hair." "No, honey, I don't want you to get soap in your eyes." "What if *you* get soap in my eyes?" Admiral Calavicci grinned. "You don't trust the old man, do you?" "Al?" Beth said, as she stuck her head in the bathroom. Sam dove for a toy to cover himself, while saying "Oh, boy" under his breath. "Maxine, come back here. Sit still, or you *will* get soap in your eyes. What is it, Beth?" "A miracle, I'd say. I thought we weren't going to take a bath." "We decided we were a big girl and could bathe ourselves. Did a good job of it, too. I'm just finishing her hair." "Donna called and said they won't be over tomorrow." "Don't tell me Sam's going to work." "No, she says they're going to stay home. Sleep late, that sort of thing." Admiral Calvicci smiled. "Well, I've always approved of `that sort of thing'". Hours later, the Admiral wasn't smiling. He lay awake, trying to banish disturbing thoughts. _Item: Maxine is too young to tie her shoelaces. I saw her do it today._ _Item: Maxine is too young to display body modesty. But when Beth came in, she grabbed that duck and used it for a fig leaf. And I think she said "Oh, boy"._ _Conclusion: That isn't my little girl. It's someone else in Maxine's body. Someone who is old enough to tie their shoes. Someone who is old enough to be embarrassed about being seen naked. Correction, being seen naked by a *woman*, which means that someone is a man._ _Calavicci, you have lost your mind._ He lay there for another twenty minutes. Then he got up and retrieved the Band-Aid he'd taken off Maxine's knee at bath-time.