Dixie Brings Tia up to Speed (Part 4 of collaboration with Barb Carlson)

This is part four of a Tuesday WE collaborative effort of myself and Barb Carlson. In the previous installments, Dixie arrived at her Uncle's farm house, just in time to see a bear trying to climb in the backseat of Tia's car, where an injured Launa lay. If you missed part one or two of this tale, please go back and start  HERE. Barb and I both  I have index' to our tales of Launa and Dixie, so if you have missed the back story of either, please go check them out.

Launa closed the phone and was relaying Detective Benning's message to Tia as breakfast arrived.

Dixie had returned from the kitchen carrying a tray laden with hot steaming biscuits, homemade jam, canned peaches, raspberries, and coffee.

"Looks like we've hit the Mother load, ladies. I found some flour, evaporated milk and lard back there, and improvised on the biscuits. Sorry, there's no butter, and if you take cream in your coffee, evaporated will have to do, unless one of you is game to try milking the bear?" Dixie said with a grin, placing the tray on the bedside.

Launa and Tia grinned at the joke and made appreciative noises seeing what Dixie had cooked up.

"That's impressive!" Launa said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Tia echoed. "That looks really good." Tia beamed at Dixie, "We are so lucky you're here. No way could I have ever made anything like this. I need a mix!"

Dixie was surprised to find she felt better than she had in weeks. The recurring nightmare was nothing more than a bad memory at the moment, and for that she was grateful to her new found companions, regardless of the trouble they were in.

Grabbing a biscuit and settling on the side of the bed, Dixie asks suspiciously, "Did I hear you talking to a cop? I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but the term 'detective' is pretty high on my radar these days. I know it's none of my business, but you didn't mention my name did you? I kind of have issues with the men in blue lately. If you did, I hate to say, but I'm outta here."

Launa shook her head and said, "No, I didn't. I'm not sure I completely trust them, either. This Detective Benning seems sincere and honest, though. I didn't get any bad feelings about him when he came to see me in the hospital." Launa poked at a peach with her fork. "I'm concerned that the guard outside my door was somehow mixed up with the gang. If that's the case, I have no way of knowing if others in the police force aren't involved, too." She sighed and leaned back on the bed. "I don't want Tia anywhere near the city until I know who's who and that the gang isn't a threat."

Dixie frowned a little watching Launa toy with the peach. "Launa, quit picking at your food. I hate to sound like Nurse Ratchet here, but honey, if you don't eat you won't heal," Dixie implored. "Do you think you can drink a quart of water today? If not, we can run it through the IV, but drinking would be better for all of us."

Launa made a face. "A quart? Ugh." She sighed. "I'll try, but I can barely get this down," she said poking at the peach again.

As Dixie set about gathering supplies to change Launa's bandages, she asked nonchalantly, "By the way, do you know a Sister Eulalia?"

Launa smiled. "Oh! That's the connection!" she said. "Tia and I were talking about that earlier. I knew there had to be some reason we bumped into each other." Launa looked at Dixie speculatively. "Does this have something to do with your bad dream? I know Sister works with PTSD patients." Launa nodded and said, "Yes, I should be able to help you with that, as soon as I've recovered. I can't do much of anything like this," she said, gesturing at herself in the bed.

"Are you like a Psychotherapist or something? For the record, I'm not one of Lalie's head cases.  She's an old and dear friend from my early days as a nurse. There's no rush, since I think we're stuck here for a while. I've had some issues with some bad folks myself, but unfortunately, the 'bad folks' in my tale of woe are the cops. I seem to have gotten myself onto their bad side, even if I didn't actually commit a crime," Dixie explained while changing Launa's dressings and removing the IV.

"Damn, girl, you heal quick. I know those bruises on your back were purple as hell yesterday, and they're greening up today. The stab wound is healing in record time, too. You're really something special, aren't you? Visions, the bear, and now this, what else can you do, Launa?"

Launa smiled. "No degree, just an ability. I don't do anything unless you want me to," Launa said seriously. "If you have something you can't shake, I can help you banish the demons and be free. Not by learning to ignore or explaining things away, but by dealing with it in a safe, guided way." Launa turned to look at Dixie. "I can tell you're a good person and that you want to help others. I feel a lot of warmth and caring coming from you. I'd like to help you, if I can. You'll need to trust me, though. We can't do anything until you trust that I have your best interests in mind." She smiled warmly at Dixie. "You've been very kind to us and I'd like to repay your kindness. We'll have time to talk."

Dixie was intrigued by this enigma that called herself Launa. She had never in all her years saw someone who had the ability to heal as quickly as Launa apparently did. To top it off, she liked her immediately, which was an enigma in itself. Dixie didn't trust easily, yet she trusted this injured woman totally.

Dixie could see something akin to adoration in Tia's eyes, and couldn't help but wonder if this effect was yet another aspect of Launa's abilities.

After Launa settled herself under the goosedown comforter, Dixie ushered Tia into the kitchen to wash their breakfast dishes. Peering at them through the window was the big brown bear. "Hi sweetie...you shoo now. We're ok." Amazingly, the bear trundled off into the woods. Dixie grinned slyly at Tia. "You know, a couple weeks ago, my biggest problem was wondering if my mother would recognize me. Now here I am, on the run and talking to a Goddamned bear."

Dixie put the dishes in the sink. "So, what's the story with Launa? You two look pretty close. Are you sisters? Cousins? Lovers?"

Tia nearly choked on the sip of coffee she'd just taken. "Oh my God, no!" Coughing and laughing, Tia had to put the coffee cup down. "No, not lovers!" She blushed deep red for good measure. "We work together at Crazy Mocha. When that guy came in to rob the place, and he pointed the gun at me, I froze. Launa threw herself between us, and she saved me, but got shot twice." Tia shook her head. "I'll never be able to pay her back for that."

She paced back and forth in the kitchen. "Then," she continued, "when I was visiting her in the hospital ... um ... yesterday! -- it seems so long ago -- when I was there, she said she had a vision that someone was going to kill us both." She picked up her cup and took a sip. "I didn't believe her, but she said that either we left together, or she was going to call security and have me escorted out of the hospital!" Tia gestured with the cup, and the coffee sloshed around dangerously. "And then, as we got into the elevator, just before the doors closed, we heard gunshots!" Tia gestured emphatically and managed to slop coffee on the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry! I need to stop talking with my hands." She wiped up the spill and said, "So she's saved my life twice. And when we were working together, we talked all the time. She's a very nice person, and I owe her a lot." Tia's eyes misted up. "She and Janice, my boss, have been like moms to me. My real mom and dad died in a car accident last year." She wiped her eyes and said, "I can talk to her like I would talk to my mom. Or maybe an older sister." She chuckled and said brightly, "Oh yeah, and she's really nice to all the customers, even the mean ones!"

Tia looked at the stack of dishes. "Oh, I'm sorry! Here I've been talking and making you do all the work. Where is the towel? I'll dry these at least."



"Wow! That's quite a story, Tia. I'm sorry you both had to go through that. And Launa.."Dixie trailed off, feeling a deep sympathy for this woman who had been shot, stabbed, raped and beaten in the past few days, and still had the ability to laugh. "Amazing, just amazing. Kind of makes my tale a little pale in comparison."

(Tia asks about Dixie's saga)

Well, it started about a month ago when a girlfriend of mine showed up at my door in the middle of the night, having been beat up by her cheating husband. He was a cop, so she didn't feel like she could go to them, and she was afraid he would clean out their bank accounts, and leave her high and dry, because she was BiPolar, and had spent some time in  an institution. Anyways, I hatched a cockamamie scheme to trip him up by seducing him and taking pictures for her to use in court. It worked, but he went off the deep end. Do you remember the murder-suicide at Wally World a few weeks back? That was them. He saw her, and shot her point blank, and then blew his own head off. I had to testify before a judicial committee as to my part in all of it, but while I was not directly involved, it sure pissed off a lot of his buddies. See, I kind of left him handcuffed to a bed, with his own handcuffs, wearing my panties, and I called 911 before I skedaddled out of there.I guess the embarrassment sent him over the edge. I started having the nightmares, the night of Carol's funeral.  "

Dixie was on the verge of tears, and trembling, "I can't help but believe that if I hadn't stuck my nose in Carol's business, she would be here today."

"I went away for a couple weeks to regroup, and when I got back, I found this note", she said, pulling the note from her purse. "Now, what does that mean. I know a bunch of people are missing all over town, but I checked the papers, and not a damn word has been written about it. What's that about? I decided it was best to get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak.  Anyhoo, the original plan was to head to a friend's commune, but I thought that if I am some kind of target,I didn't want to bring my woes down on them too. So, here I am."

"Do you think it was fate that brought us all together here, or merely coincidence?"