Chapter 4: Reality Check

When Luke woke up, he was barely able to open his eyes.

"Mr. Braun? Are you awake?"

He forced one eyelid up to see a man in a white coat.

"I'm Doctor Waintree. Mr. Braun, you were assaulted and you suffered blunt trauma, mostly to your face. Nothing was broken, but we'd like to keep you for observation."

Luke managed a nod.

"Your father is here, and your sister. Do you wish to see them?"

Again, Luke managed a weak nod. With only one eye barely open, he saw his father and Anna bend over the bed. His father looked a bit ruffled.

"Jee'. Wha' happen?" he mumbled through swollen lips.

"That batshit crazy woman almost broke my nose when I pulled her away from you," Erwin Braun stated with much indignation. "What the hell did you do to her?"

It was painful and slow, but Luke recounted that other Halloween night, seven years ago. He ended saying that he never was able to contact her.

"That's not a reason to go Loreena Bobbitt on you," Anna protested. "You should see you face! Oh, well, better not."

"Where is she now?" Luke asked.

"Two doors down. They had to put her hand in a cast. Must have broken it on your thick skull," Anna answered with a certain satisfaction. "The police have her cuffed to her bed."

Luke shook his head slowly. What was the reason for this furious attack? Okay, he had stood her up, but why did she want to kill him?

A little while later, a uniformed cop showed up.

"Mr. Braun, I'm Officer Quentin of the SJPD. Is it true that you were assaulted by Miss Kate Monahan?"

"Is that her name? Kate Monahan?"

"Yes. Miss Monahan refuses to talk to us. Can you give us any information as to the reasons for the assault."

Luke shook his head. "Not really. I haven't seen her in seven years. We ... We spent a night together then. I promised to be back later when I left her, but there were circumstances ... I didn't make it. I never saw her again after that."

"Mr. Braun, do you wish to press charges for assault against Miss Monahan?"

"Damn well, he'll press charges!" Erwin butted in, still steamed.

Luke held up his hand. "Is there a chance to speak to her before I decide? I really need to know first why she hates me so much."

After some negotiation and strong objections from his father, Luke was put into a wheel chair and pushed down the corridor and into an empty office. Before the door was opened, he could hear an angry male voice.

" ... out of control! I don't have favors for my staff. You're facing assault charges for this. As of immediately, you're suspended!"

The speaker almost ran Luke over when he left the room. He stopped and looked at him.

"Mr. Braun, I want to assure you that my office will prosecute regardless of Miss Monahan's affiliation."

"And you are?" Luke mumbled.

"David Magruder, Deputy DA. Miss Monahan is a junior Assistant DA. She was suspended from her duties pending the outcome of our investigations."

Assistant DA. Katie was a lawyer, Luke noted, and now she was in trouble. The nurse pushed him in, and there sat Katie in a wheelchair, her right hand in a plaster cast. Her eyes stared at him accusingly.

"Care to tell me why you beat the crap outta me?"

She was about to blow up again he could tell, but she controlled herself.

"What do you want?" she rasped.

"Look, the police want to know if I'll press charges. My swollen face says yes, but I want to know if there's maybe an explanation?"

"You're asking for an explanation?" She almost shrieked. Breathing deeply, she lowered her voice. "That's rich! Do you have any idea what you did to me?"

"Look, I know I vanished into thin air. I ... I didn't have any say in it. I'm sorry if that hurt you. When I was finally able to get somebody to visit you, you had dropped out. Nobody knew where you'd gone. Why did you drop out?"

"You have the nerve to... ?"

"Kate, please explain!" he pleaded.

"You met the reason," she returned giving him a icy look. "She's six now, and up until today all I could tell her about her father was that he was a wizard and that he disappeared the next day. That'll hold for about two more years, tops."

It took a few seconds for the information to penetrate Luke conscious thinking. The girl with the green eyes, was she really his daughter? How could ... Of course, thinking back, it was likely that neither of them had thought about birth control. That would make her a little over six years old. Possible.

Then a huge wave of guilt washed over Luke. Six years! He'd been a father for over six years, and he had shirked his responsibility, leaving Katie alone with her pregnancy and with raising a child. No wonder she went batshit crazy when she recognized him.

He looked up and saw that she had watched him, her beautiful face in an angry frown.

"What's her name?" he croaked.

"Amelia. Amy," Katie answered curtly.

"Wha ... Where is she now?"

"My father picked her up."

"I remember her crying. Shouldn't you be with her?"

With a smirk, she lifted her left hand. It was cuffed to the armrest.

"I have to wait for the arraignment tomorrow before my father can post bail."

Luke shook his head angrily. "That's bullshit! They can't hold you unless I press charges which I won't."

A snort was all the answer he got.

"Look, if I refuse to press charges, can they still suspend you?"

"Heard that, huh? As a matter of fact, they can. Disciplinary measures are not dependent on charges."

"Would it help if I pleaded with your bosses? When all is said and done, it's my fault, too."

She flared up. "Damn right it's your fault! Why did you ... You said you'd be back."

"Kate, can we please table that for now? I'll get you all the documentation, and I'll explain the reasons, but not tonight. Could we perhaps meet somewhere, so I could tell my side, and you can tell yours? There's just so much we need to discuss. There's the support I owe you and the legal stuff. Kate, did you list me as her father?"

"How? Father: Doe, John?"

"I told you my name."

"Only it was fake. I searched all the senior and junior classes, hell, even sophomores. I searched the support staff. There was no Luke Brown, there was no Brown at all."

Luke eyes opened wide. "Wait! You said you searched for me. How did you spell Braun?"

"B-r-o-w-n."

"Oh, fuck!" he moaned. "I'm spelled B-r-a-u-n, like Wernher von Braun, the rocket guy."

"Now you tell me!"

"I know! Look, I never found your number again. The cops claimed they never arrested me. All the stuff I had in my pockets was gone."

Her eyes narrowed. "What cops?"

"Campus cops. I did something stupid."

Then, in spite of everything, he had to tell her the story of his arrest, his escape, and the subsequent discovery of the bidding fraud. All the time, she stared at him, and when he finished, she gave him a hard stare.

"I'll check your story, and if you've just fed me another load of crock, I'm gonna find you where your father can't save you."

"Check it out, be my guest," Luke answered. "I can show you all the paperwork of my civil suit against the campus police. I can also bring copies of my agreement with the feds."

"It's outlandish!" she stated, shaking her head. "It's so far out left, it may just be true. I mean, who'd dream up a story like that?"

"It's hard to believe, but you can easily check it. Look, they want me back in my bed, and you should go and be with Amy. Let's find Officer Quentin."

He knocked on the door, and a nurse brought him back to his room. Officer Quentin was sitting in a chair, a cup of coffee in his hand. He stood.

"So, what's the deal?" he asked. "You wish to press charges for assault?"

Luke tiredly shook his head. "No, Officer. It's just a huge misunderstanding. I forgive her and bear her no ill will. Given what she knew and had to assume, she had every right in the world to punch my clock."

His father came out from the room. "Dad, I have news. Remember the little girl she had with her? The little witch? She's my daughter."

"Did ... Did you know?"

"Not a clue. Katie and I spent just one night together. I went home, and those asshole campus cops arrested me. I even lost the note with her phone number. I had no idea..."

"You sure she's your daughter?"

"I believe Katie."

"She's the girl you kept moping over, right?"

Luke nodded unhappily. His father gave him a lopsided grin.

"Seems like your search is over."

°°°

Katie called four days later. Luke was at home treating his bruises with ice packs, and he answered the phone himself.

"Mr. Braun?"

"Yes."

"It's Kate Monahan."

"Kate?"

"Mr. Braun, would you kindly agree to visit the District Attorney's office? We can have an unmarked police car pick you up and bring you back home."

"Sure. When should I come?"

"Would you be available around 4 p.m. today?"

"Okay. I'll be there. Is there anything I should bring?"

"No, really not. I appreciate your cooperation, Sir."

By now Luke was sure that Kate was not alone on the other end of the line.