Chapter 125: Izzy Stays – Mikeya Leaves

Sunday, June 13, 1971

“I don’t know what to do. I cannot represent you ... now. And I am going to cry the rest of the day when I leave here. I decided last night that I’m tired of playing their stupid macho games. And I’m really not naïve enough to let them lure me to their hunting lodge, no matter how bad I want to become a partner, so I don’t know what I’m going to do.

“Do you have any time off coming?” I asked.

Izzy shrugged. “I’ve probably got three or four weeks coming,” she replied.

“Good! Call your office and tell them you’re taking a few weeks off. Tell them you’ve been invited to the White House for a State Dinner, and you’ll see them after the Fourth of July,” I told her excitedly.

“The White House? I can’t lie like that to them,” she replied.

“Who said it was a lie?” I asked, pulling away so I could look in her eyes. “Miss Miller, Prince Michael would like you to accompany him to the White House for a State Dinner on the evening of June 29^th,” I stated formally. “Will you accept the Prince’s invitation?”

She blinked those gorgeous eyes several times, as she asked, “So it’s really true? You all have not just been pulling the wool over my eyes? They really are princesses? And you really are a prince?”

I nodded, smiling at her.

“What do I do?” she finally asked.

“In a little while, we are taking Mikeya to the airport and then headed to the de Menils for lunch,” I told her. “Why don’t you take Karla, and drive back to your place and pack a bag? Bring whatever you think you’ll need for a couple of weeks of vacation, then meet us there. After the State Dinner, you can decide what you want to do with your life. And as for a job, the offer is still on the table, regardless of anything else. I really do need a good attorney.”

“You make it sound so simple, Michael,” she said, pulling me to her again.

I lifted her chin so I could see her eyes as I said, “No. You make it complicated. It really is simple. I’m falling in love with you!”

She didn’t argue this time because I sealed her lips with mine.

“Mr. Palmer said you would like to go to Colorado tomorrow. Unfortunately, that’s not a Southern Pacific route. The best thing would be for us to get you up to Albuquerque on Santa Fe. It will probably be through Amarillo. You should be able to pick up a D and RG to Walsenburg from there,” the yard supervisor informed me. “We have two freights going that way tonight. Do you have any idea what time you’ll be ready to head out?”

“Thank you. I think we can be ready any time after dark,” I told him.

“Okay then, I’ll set it up. There’s a consist pulling out after midnight. They have to make a brief stop in Amarillo, but should be in Albuquerque by early Tuesday morning,” the yard supervisor said. “And you’re welcome to use the phone in my office.”

Anna, Vickie, and Grace had walked over to the yard office with Adriana and me. They all gathered around us as Adriana told me the number to call. She leaned her head close to mine as we waited to be connected. She was anxious to hear her adopted mother’s voice.

Jeannie Petrowski, my grandfather’s former assistant was home, and answered on the second ring.

“Mrs. Petrowski?”

“Yes?”

“This is Michael Wagner. Your daughter asked me to call you because she has something she wants you to hear. Are you ready?” I asked as I handed the receiver to Adriana.

“Hur-um Mur-phumrmph!” Adriana said, trying as hard as she could to be understood.

“Adriana? Is that you?”

“Humphh! Mur-phumrmphr,” she said.

“MY baa-by! You made a sound! I can hear you darling! Oh my baby!” Jeannie cried.

They continued like that, as we all stood around her. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one with blurry vision.

Finally, Adriana handed me the receiver.

“Tell her that I love her!” Adriana said as she burst into tears of happiness. The other girls all crowded around her as I spoke.

“Mrs. Petrowski, Adriana has asked me to tell you that she loves you,” I repeated Adriana’s message.

“Mr. Wagner, you had better tell me exactly what is going on. What have you done to my daughter?” Jeannie said to me bitterly.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this! I simply handed the phone to Anna without an introduction. However, I did quickly replay the exchange for Anna, so she was ready for Adriana’s mother.

“Mrs. Petrowski? This is DOCTOR Carter, and I am a head trauma specialist on staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I am currently seeing after Michael’s medical care at the request of the Pentagon. When I met Adriana, I became interested in her case. I did some extensive research, and with her permission, I designed a simple noninvasive treatment program to see if it would help. It cost her nothing, and has little or no side effects. It was simply a shot in the dark to see if there was anything that could be done to help your daughter. So far, all indications are positive. The nerves just need time to make their connections and Adriana has the difficult task of learning to use her larynx for the first time. All of us are pulling for her.”

“But ... but what if it doesn’t work? You seem to have gotten her hopes up so high, and I just don’t want her to be hurt!” Jeannie replied.

“Would you rather her ignore a possible cure, just because she could be upset? That seems mighty selfish of you Mrs. Petrowski!” Anna chastised the poor woman.

“But ... I mean ... I just don’t want to see her get her hopes up too high. She has suffered her whole life,” Jeannie cried.

“It seems to me that she is still suffering. Suffering because she cannot speak. Then along comes a young man who is responsible for this golden opportunity, and you treat him like dirt. Catherine’s right. You really are a piece of work!”

Adriana grabbed a pencil and began writing on the back of an old envelope she had found in the trashcan.

“Mrs. Petrowski, I am going to read you what Adriana just wrote. Quote: Mom, I will talk to you again when I can talk, close quote,” Anna read. “I might add that she underlined ‘will talk’ several times.”

“Please, let me speak to her!” Jeannie Petrowski begged. “Please, let me talk to my baby!”

Anna held out the phone to Adriana who looked at it like it was radioactive, before taking it and reluctantly putting the receiver to her ear.

After only a few moments, a disappointed Adriana sadly handed me the phone thinking, “Tell her we have to go. I won’t bother calling her again.”

Whoa! I hadn’t expected this. Obviously, neither had Adriana.

“Ah ... Mrs. Petrowski, we have to go now. We’ll be in touch. Bye,” I told her quickly as I hung up the phone.

“Why did she have to say those things? Why couldn’t she just be happy for me?” Adriana cried. The Doctor in Anna took over as she comforted her new patient.

As we walked back to the train, I could sense that Anna understood what was happening and seemed to know how to handle things. I told Vickie to stick with them and make sure Adriana could communicate with Anna or anyone else when she needed to.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her,” she replied.

When we boarded the train, I made sure to tell Penny and Kip what the Yard Foreman had said.

“Okay, so we leave by midnight. Just don’t go getting yourself arrested again!” Penny teased. “Now everyone else is ready. Go get your swimsuit and let’s head for the airport.”

Ileana and I, along with a half dozen of the others, escorted Mikeya and Tommy all the way to their gate. I had thought we would just say goodbye after I got their tickets, but they didn’t have any of the security checkpoints in 1971 they would have later. When we got there, we found out that their flight was delayed, but Mikeya insisted we get on to the luncheon. “The de Menils will be waiting,” she said. “Tommy and I will be just fine here. Besides, if we drag this out, I might not be able to leave.”

I escorted them down the wide corridor to the First Class lounge, instructing the attendant there that the Crown Princess and her bodyguard were not to be disturbed. Then I waited as the girls all told Mikeya goodbye. Ileana was last and she hugged her sister tightly. I suddenly realized that this was the first time they had ever been apart like this.