Chapter 74: Separation

October 17, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"What am I going to do?" I sobbed as Elyse and Kara helped me back into the house.

"Shh," Kara said lovingly. "Let's go to the Indian room."

I let the girls lead me back inside, where my sister stood glaring, with her arms crossed.

"What the fuck is going on?" she asked.

"Stephanie, NOT NOW!" Kara replied firmly. "We'll handle this."

Elyse and Kara led me past her and into the Indian room. Kara shut and locked the door behind us and Elyse maneuvered me to one of the basket chairs.

"She left me!" I sobbed.

"No, she needed time to think," Kara said. "Let her process this."

"She's not coming back," I sobbed.

"Steve Adams!" Kara snapped. "Quit being a damned drama queen. She needs some time to think about this. You've had all day to come to terms with it! Let Jessica have some time alone!"

"No!" I wailed. "No!"

"Steve, if she needs space, you have to give it to her," Elyse said.

I sobbed louder and harder, pulling my legs up to my chest and hugging them tightly. My wife was leaving me over something that had happened long before I met her. Something I hadn't known about until today. She wouldn't even talk to me about it!

"Snuggle Bear," Kara said gently. "Stop crying and let's talk about this."

I felt soft hands on my shoulders and slowly managed to get control of my sobs. Tissues were pressed into my hand and I wiped my eyes and blew my nose.

"I need to go after her!" I insisted.

"Not now; not tonight," Kara said. "I'm sure she'll talk to you tomorrow. She just needs to think it through."

"But it happened a long time ago!" I protested.

"Yes, it did. But that doesn't make it any less shocking," Elyse said. "YOU nearly fainted. I almost totally freaked out, but you didn't notice because you were so shocked. I told you Kara would remain calm through the whole thing, didn't I?"

"Yes," I sniffed. "But for Jess to walk out without talking to me?"

"She's upset," Kara said. "And doesn't know what to think. I told her pretty much everything you told me."

"What am I going to do?" I sighed.

"First, you're going to eat dinner," Kara said. "Then we're going to take a sauna. Then you're going to bed and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is another day, Snuggle Bear. Meet her at the hospital at 4:00pm as you usually do. I'm home on Tuesday afternoons, so I'll come with Birgit. Everything will be fine! We'll work it out."

"How can you be so optimistic?" I sighed.

"How can you be so pessimistic?" Kara snapped. "What happened when I walked out on you? What did YOU do?"

"I ran away to Chicago and refused to talk to anyone," I sighed.

"Because you needed time alone," Kara said. "Tomorrow, you'll tell her how much you love her, we'll all talk it through, and then we'll work through it together."

I nodded, but I didn't believe her. I didn't believe it would be that easy.

"What did she say to you?" I asked.

"Not much," Kara said. "She listened to me, then packed a bag and said she was going to her cousin's house. I don't remember that we met this cousin."

"We did, once, at the wedding, but it was just a quick intro. I don't even remember what she looked like. That's who Jess stayed with when she visited Chicago before we got engaged."

"What are we going to say?" Kara asked.

"Nothing about the baby," I said. "But I'm not sure what to say about Jess. Stephanie knows that she left. And she saw me crying."

"If we tell her, she's going to freak out and want to do something to this girl."

"I don't know how we avoid telling her," I said.

"Let me do it," Elyse said. "I think I can keep her calm without resorting to being stern like Kara has to be with her."

"OK," I agreed. "But she has to keep it quiet."

Elyse nodded and went to find my sister. She was back ten minutes later.

"She's fit to be tied and ready to kill Carla, but she agreed to keep it to herself. She does want to talk to you."

I gave a wan smile, "Oh, I'm sure. And I'm also sure that the words 'dumb boy' will pass her lips at least once."

I had calmed down enough to eat, though I wasn't very hungry. When we finished, Kara and Elyse took me down to the sauna, while Leila, Alejandra, and Jorge cleaned up. It had been a bit awkward, but Kara said that Jessica had a minor family emergency to tend to. Because the others hadn't seen my breakdown, the excuse worked, despite being lame. After the sauna, Kara took me upstairs; we had a shower together and then climbed into bed.

"Just get some sleep," Kara said. "Everything is going to be OK tomorrow."

I didn't think that was the case, but Kara was so sure that I was comforted enough by her words and her embrace to fall asleep.

October 18, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"Are you OK?" Jacquelyn asked when I met her on Tuesday morning for our run. "You missed karate last night, and you seem to be a bit off."

"Just some issues at home," I said. "Nothing for you to worry about. How are you this morning?"

"Great! I think we can extend our run by another five minutes!"

"Let's stretch, and then you lead off," I suggested.

The run through the cool Autumn air gave me a chance to think. I'd forgotten to change the alarm, and it had gone off at 3:00am. I'd been tempted to walk to the hospital and wait for Jess, but Kara had gently discouraged that, saying it would be better to wait until the end of Jessica's shift to try to talk to her so we wouldn't be rushed. I'd reluctantly agreed and climbed back into bed after resetting the alarm. Not finding Jessica in bed with me had made me upset, but Kara had cuddled me and we fell asleep until the alarm went off again at 4:30am.

One thing I wanted to do immediately was talk to Gwen and find out how long it would take to get the DNA test results. The sooner we had those, the sooner we could get on with whatever came afterwards. It would be strange to see Carla after all this time, and I also wanted to see Rachel. Somehow, I felt that looking at her would tell me everything I needed to know, long before we got any DNA testing results.

Jacquelyn and I finished our run, including the extra five minutes, and then we walked slowly back to her house as part of our cool-down.

"How much longer will we be able to run?" she asked.

"As long as the temperature is at least 40°F, I think we'll be fine. Once it starts dropping much below that, we'll have to consider meeting at the dojo to do exercises and kata."

"My mom thought we might be able to run at the Y. They have an indoor track and my mom and dad have a family membership. I could take you as a guest."

"I'll leave it up to you. We can run there or get in some extra karate practice."

"Could we do both? Run three days and practice twice? I mean, once I reach my goal."

"That would work," I said. "The forecast for the rest of the week is pretty good, so we'll keep running outside. We'll decide what to do next week on Saturday, OK?"

"Yes! Thanks so much!" she said.

I watched her bound up the steps and into her house, then turned to head for home.

"Just keep your wits about you today," Kara said when I got out of the shower.

"I'll do my best. Are you going to come by the office this afternoon?"

"Yes. I'll be there about 3:40pm, so we can walk to the hospital together."

I finished getting dressed, kissed Kara and Birgit, and then headed to the office. Jeri was waiting for me when I arrived.

"I figured with you having to leave by 3:45pm every day, I'd switch my hours to be closer to yours. Alonzo was cool with it and Dave approved. Is everything OK at home?"

"Yes," I lied, though I had a fervent hope that by 4:30pm today, everything would be much better. "Let's get to work!"

Diving into my work took my mind off the issues with Jessica and Carla, and before I knew it, it was lunch time. I'd asked Kimmy to have our lunch brought in, and Jeri and I worked through lunch. About 2:00pm, Gwen called, and I asked Jeri to step out for a few minutes.

"I filed our response, as well as the two motions we discussed. I had them served on Miss Rizzi's attorney as well. I spoke directly to the Judge's clerk when I filed the motions and arranged for an expedited hearing date — a week from tomorrow."

"That's expedited?"

"Yes. Normally it would be anywhere from three to five weeks. Our motions don't qualify for an emergency hearing, which would have occurred as soon as her attorney was available. There's no risk of immediate harm that would qualify for an emergency hearing. I expect to hear from her attorney soon. I had the papers hand-delivered to him. I need to provide you with copies. Do you want to come get them, or have me messenger them, or mail them?"

"Send a messenger. I'll give him the retainer check to bring back to you, if that works."

"It does. Hang in there, Steve. This is just getting started."

"I know," I sighed. "How long will the DNA test take?"

"Assuming our motion is granted, and I know of no reason why it shouldn't be, then the three of you will go to a lab where they'll take DNA samples. That's usually done with a swab on the inside of your cheek. Once that's done, they do the tests. They'll also draw blood at the same time and do that screening. I assumed you'd rather not wait for the blood typing and then go back a second time for the DNA test."

"Good assumption!" I said.

"Also, I made sure that Jamie has copies of all the legal filings. We spoke earlier and we both agree that there is very little risk to your company, to the point where you probably don't need to do anything formal. Jamie will call you later once he reviews everything."

"Thanks," I said. "I appreciate it. Can I come to the hearing?"

"You can, of course, but it's likely to last only a couple of minutes. The motion for the expedited paternity test will almost certainly be granted. If her attorney objects, he risks an outright dismissal per the statute. There might be a bit of argument on the motion to dismiss the separate maintenance claim, but I doubt it. I researched it further, and as I said, that motion should be granted as a matter of law."

"I love how you couch all of this with 'should' and 'almost'," I said.

"If I promised you something, and it went the wrong way, I could be in serious trouble. I'm sure Jamie couches his comments the same way."

"Oh, he does. And I give him grief about it all the time!"

"I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything," Gwen said.

"Thanks."

I brought Jeri back into the office so we could continue working. The messenger arrived about an hour later and I took the documents from him and handed him an envelope with the check for Gwen, and he left. Jeri had a look of curiosity on her face, but she didn't say anything. We kept working until 3:30pm, when Jamie called. I asked Jeri to step out again, which she did.

"Hi, Jamie. What do you think?"

"As your friend? I think you're a fucking idiot. As your attorney, I think you're in trouble."

"Gee, thanks," I said.

"You asked. I assume you talked to Gwen?"

"I did. Do you think she's taking the right approach?"

"I do. First off, she's one of the best family law attorneys that I know. Second, I reviewed everything, and she's doing it exactly right."

"Good. What about the issue of the Board of Directors?"

"Tell Joyce, and have her call me. That way, you've made it known. If something changes, she can tell the rest of the Board members, but for right now, I think the risk is small. We'll see what happens at the hearing next Wednesday. If the motion to dismiss succeeds, and there is no separate maintenance claim, NIKA is in the clear. You will want to update your wills if this kid is yours."

"I already talked to Gwen about that. Anything else?"

"One curious thing, and maybe you missed it. Did you see the name of the firm that's suing you?"

"No. I didn't pay any attention."

"Brandon Littleton and Associates."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I gasped. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Her attorney of record is an Eli Levinson, a partner at that firm. I don't know him, in case you're wondering."

"Did you mention this to Gwen?"

"No, because it's probably just a coincidence."

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action," I said.

"Huh?"

"A quote from Goldfinger, the Bond movie. Could this be some sort of weird revenge attempt?"

"Did the girls know each other?"

"Not that I'm aware of," I said. "I don't remember meeting Callie until a party at the end of the semester, and that was a couple of months after I last saw Carla."

"So it sounds like coincidence. That firm is well-known for aggressively pursuing claims, so it really doesn't surprise me that Miss Rizzi went to them. I don't recall meeting Miss Rizzi."

"She wasn't around the house much," I said. "Would you call Gwen and let her know about this?"

"Sure. How are things at home?" he asked.

"Jessica is pretty upset. Kara is as rock steady as she always is. She'll be here in a few minutes so we can go meet Jess."

"Good luck," Jamie said.

"Thanks."

No sooner than I'd hung up Kimmy buzzed me and let me know Kara had arrived. I grabbed my jacket and fedora, let Jeri know I was leaving for the day, and quickly walked to reception to greet Kara. We hugged, I kissed her, and then bent down to kiss Birgit.

"Da!" she gurgled.

"Hey, that's new!" I said. "Hi, Birgit!"

"And so it begins," Kara giggled.

"See you tomorrow, Kimmy!" I said.

"Bye!" she called after us as we left.

"She has a thing for you, you know that, right?" Kara said quietly as we walked down the sidewalk.

"I do. But forget that. It's the absolute last thing on my mind right now."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just wondered if you had noticed."

"I've noticed. But you know what? If Jessica were to come home with us on the condition that I never even looked at another female for the rest of my life, I'd buy blinders and fund research into glasses that filtered out the female form."

"Let's just talk to her and see where she is."

We arrived at the ER about five minutes before Jessica's shift ended and sat on the bench where we always waited. A few minutes later, a couple of the other Residents walked by, but Jess didn't come out. About a minute later, Alicia came through the doors.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi. Where's Jess?"

"Uhm, well, she saw you and told me she didn't want to talk to you. She asked me to wait one minute before I came out, and she went out the other way, towards the garage."

I bolted for the door, ignoring Kara's pleas to stop. I ran through the ER, colliding with a doctor, and after a mumbled 'excuse me', went through the doors and down the hallway that led to the elevators for the parking garage. When I got there, she was gone. I looked at the elevators and all three of them were on different floors, so I had no clue where she was. I pondered for a moment, then ran out the doors and turned right, heading for the garage exit. There were two of them, but I hurried towards the one that gave her easiest access to head west to the Dan Ryan.