Rescue Me

Stephanie's heart was beating fast now, and her mind was swirling with emotions. He clearly did want to make love with her, but he didn't want to just have sex. It almost sounded like it might be the start of a relationship, and she wanted to hold back in case that's not what he had in mind.

"As I told you, Shaun, I haven't exactly done anything the last three years or so. Hooking up or otherwise."

"I just don't want to ruin my chances with you, Stephanie. It's not that I don't want to um, be with you, it's just that I want more than that. A lot more."

"I like the sound of that, Shaun," she said very sweetly. "But I do want to be with you, too. Like...that."

"Really?" he said, his voice perking up.

"Well, yes. Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, and I don't even want to talk about that just to avoid giving you some reason to not want to...be with me. And not just...."

"Sex?" she said with a big, happy smile.

"Yeah. That," he said. "So...are you still wearing that old house coat?"

She slid it off and let it fall to the floor.

"No. No house coat."

Three hours later, one of which was nothing but hot, steamy pillow talk, they finally said goodnight.

When he hung up, Stephanie set her phone down then lay there and started kicking her feet up and down on the bed as fast as she could for two or three seconds out of sheer happiness. Moments later she was fast asleep.

Claudia arrived at her normal time on Friday morning, and wanted to know all about this big, non-romantic date.

"I don't know anything," Stephanie told her truthfully. "It's something he doesn't do with other women or something. It all sounds very mysterious."

Stephanie finally shared her two nights of steamy phone sex so Claudia knew Shaun couldn't be referring to making love as the thing he didn't do with other women.

"Well, you look great, again, Stephanie. I don't know what that boy has planned, but I'm am sure enough envious about whatever it might be!"

They chatted until the door bell rang right at 9:30. Stephanie went to get up, but Claudia was 'spring loaded' to answer it.

"I want to meet Mr. Cutie Pie all by myself!" she announced halfway to the door.

Claudia smoothed her dress then put on her best smile and opened the door.

"Well, I do declare! Aren't you something to see!" she said.

Shaun immediately loved her and said, "So you're the angel who takes care of Stephanie's mother."

Claudia let him in and told him, "I'm usually only just a saint, but if you want me to your angel, I'm all yours, handsome!"

Stephanie had walked up and heard them talking. She also noticed how Shaun's eyes locked onto hers the moment he caught sight of her.

"She might have something to say about that," Shaun told Claudia as he smiled at Stephanie.

Claudia signed audibly and said, "I suppose you've got a point."

Everyone laughed politely before Claudia excused herself to go check on her patient.

"She is a saint," Stephanie said once Claudia was out of the room.

"I heard that!" Claudia called back.

"Well, it's true!" Stephanie hollered back.

The...couple?...smiled at one another before Shaun moved closer and said, "Would it be okay if I kissed you hello?"

Stephanie slid her arms around his neck then said, "It would be very okay," just before he kissed her softly.

"Mmmm. That was very okay, all right," she told him when their first kiss ended.

"Yeah. It was pretty amazing," Shaun agreed.

"So where are we going today?" she asked. "And can I get you anything before we leave?"

"No, I'm fine," he told her.

"You didn't answer my other question," she reminded him with a smile.

"Buckley."

"Buckley? As in out-in-the-sticks Buckley?"

"That's the one," he said with a smile.

"Hmmm. I've been through there several times, but never stopped. Now you have my curiosity peaked."

Shaun got serious then said, "There's someone I want you to meet."

It was way too early to meet his parents, and the thought alone made her feel silly. And yet they weren't going to see some thing but some...one. In Buckley.

"How cold is it outside?" Stephanie asked.

"Not bad. Well, to me, anyway."

"I should probably bring a jacket then, huh?" she said with a smile.

"You look beautiful, by the way," he told her as she reached for her coat in the foyer.

"Thank you," she said as he helped her with it as she lifted her long, silky hair up high.

As they headed southeast, the two of them began talking. At first it was about work. Then it switched to growing up and where they went to school, and that's when Stephanie found out.

"You're a college graduate?" Stephanie asked, trying not to sound too surprised.

"I am," he said without any hint of bragging. "I couldn't find anything in the so-called professional world, and an uncle of mine said I should consider this."

"And the rest is history, right?"

"So they say," he replied.

"I was wondering why you seemed so...."

"So....?" Shaun asked as he glanced over at her.

"I...I don't know. You're kind of...enigmatic."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure I can explain that. For starters, even though you're a college graduate, you're not...pretentious. I mean no offense to anyone, but sometimes people who are book smart aren't...I don't know. Genuine, maybe? You have so many different sides to you, and each time I learn of a new one, I like you even more."

Shaun held out a hand and without hesitation, Stephanie took it.

"I feel the same way about you, and that's why I feel like I can share this with you."

"I have no idea what this big secret is, but I trust you. Whatever it might be."

"It's not a secret, per se. It's just not something I talk about or share with anyone who isn't family or a best friend."

As they traveled along the Enumclaw-Auburn Highway, Stephanie said, "I've always loved it out here. The farmland, the dairy cows."

And just as she was speaking, a farmer was spreading manure in a field, and the overpowering smell hit them.

"And the lovely smell of cow shit?" Shaun joked.

Stephanie was trying to cover her nose but couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, that part I could do without."

Several minutes later they were crossing the White River and entering into both Buckley, Washington, and Pierce County, at the same time.

Shaun took a couple more turns and Stephanie found herself somewhere she'd never been before.

"Okay. I give up. What's out here?" she had to ask.

"Just a little farther, okay?" he said as he squeezed her hand.

And in less than two minutes, Stephanie saw a series of buildings and then a sign that read 'Rainer State School'.

"Is this a university?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Shaun replied. He found a parking space and shut off the car.

He looked over at her and said, "My brother, Derek, lives here."

"He lives here?" she asked, having no idea what this place even was.

"Come on. I want you to meet him."

He went around and opened her door then offered his hand to help her out. It was raw and cold and Stephanie pulled her coat around her as they walked toward the entrance.

As they got closer, she got her first glimpse of what kind of school this was as two men, who obviously had Down's Syndrome, waved wildly at them.

"Hello! How are you!" they both called out.

Shaun smiled and said, "Good. How are you guys doing?"

"We're fine!" they both said at the same time.

"Shaun? Is your brother...."

"Yes. That's why he lives here. My parents would love for him to live at home, but like your mom, he needs 24-hour care. Derek can feed himself, although that's not easy for him. Beyond that, he pretty much needs help with everything."

Stephanie stopped him, turned toward him, then said, "Thank you trusting me enough to share this."

"Your the first and only person I've ever brought here. I...I knew you'd understand and wouldn't judge."

"Judge? Oh, my goodness. Never. Who could be so cruel as to judge someone for something beyond their control?" she said, her eyes wide with compassion.

"You'd be surprised," he told her. "Come on. It's getting close to lunch time, and I want you to meet Derek alone in his room."

They signed in at the front desk, and the woman sitting there said, "Haven't seen you for a few weeks, Shaun. New job keeping you busy?"

"In a big way," he told her.

"He's in his room. Go ahead on down. He's gonna be so glad to see you. He asks about your all the time."

Shaun thanked her as Stephanie signed in then he took her hand again as they walked down the hall.

"These places are so...clinical," she said.

"And the smell is so strong," he replied as they both noticed the antiseptic-smelling odor at the same time.

"I should warn you Derek is a hugger, and when he hugs, he really hugs. Is that okay?"

"I'm glad you told me, but yes, it's definitely okay."

The stopped in front of a room that had a small nameplate on the side which read 'Derek Patterson'.

"You ready?" he asked.

Stephanie nodded as Shaun opened the door. She saw a man about his age sitting on the bed. The television was on, but he clearly wasn't watching it. He was spinning his head around and gesticulating with his arms until he turned and saw his brother.

When he did, he sprang off the bed and tried to balance himself as he called out, "Shah!" in a voice she could barely understand.

He let go of her hand then moved toward his brother who bear hugged his sibling so hard they both nearly fell down.

"Hey, buddy! You doin' okay?" Shaun asked.

"I...uv...u, Shah," Derek said.

Stephanie was fighting back tears as the brothers held one another.

"Derek? I have a friend I want you to meet."

"O...ay," he said, letting go of his brother.

"Derek? This is my friend, Stephanie. Stephanie, this is my...."

Derek pulled her in so hard it took her breath away as she tried to say, "I'm happy to meet you, Derek!"

"I...uv...u...Ste-u-ee," he said as he held her. "U ah ve-ee pri-ee."

"He thinks you're pretty," Shaun explained as he gently pried his brother's arms away.

"Oh. Thank you, Derek. You're a very handsome young man," she told him, although he looked nothing like his brother.

"I know," he said. "U...awn sum...pu'ing?"

"He wants to know if you'd like some pudding. It's his favorite thing in the whole world."

"Oh, no thank you. I'm good," she said sweetly.

"So tell me how you've been, big man," Shaun said as he helped his brother sit back down.

Stephanie listened very carefully to their conversation, and just before they left, she was beginning to almost understand Derek. He hugged her almost as hard when they got ready to leave, and the last thing he said made her cry.

"Don' go...Shah! U n'uh com bah."

"I will come back. I promise. My new job takes up a lot of time, but I promise I'll come back more often. Okay?"

"O...ay," Derek said as his brother slowly untangled himself from the hug.

Undaunted, Stephanie stepped right back in for another goodbye hug, and when Derek told her he loved her again, she said, "I love you, too, Derek."

"I...han'sum," he said.

"Yes. Yes you are handsome," she told him.

"U come ba, too?" Derek asked.

She glanced at Shaun who was smiling and nodding then said, "Yes. I'll come back. I promise."

"O...ay," he said. "Bye, Shah. Bye, Ste-u-ee."

As they walked back down the hallway, Stephanie was drying her eyes.

He waited for her to finish then took her hand again and thanked her for coming with him.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have missed this for anything! Thank you for asking me."

When they got back to the car, Shaun reached for the door then paused.

"What? Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's...perfect," he told her as he stared into her eyes. "Everything is just perfect."

On the way back they stopped at a Chinese food restaurant in Enumclaw called 'The Four Seasons'. It wasn't anything formal, but it was a very nice, quiet little place in a quiet little town.

Stephanie was having a wonderful time until the older woman who took their order asked if she was Shaun's mother. She knew the age difference was large and that people noticed, and yet, up until then, she hadn't really given it much thought.

The feeling she had disappeared when Shaun politely smiled at her and said, "No. She isn't my mother. She's the woman of my dreams."

The woman apologized profusely as Shaun reached across the table and took Stephanie's hand.

"It's okay," he told her. "As long as she's with me nothing else matters."

As the woman walked away, he saw Stephanie tearing up again.

"Hey. Don't pay any attention to that kind of thing."

She reached for a napkin then, as she dabbed her eyes, said, "I'm not. I'm just so happy with what you said to her."

"You are," he told her.

"Shaun. We really just met."

"I know. And yet I also know there's something about you I don't ever want to be without," he said quietly and as sincerely as he possibly could.

"And you're okay with people saying and...thinking...things like that?" she asked.

"I am. Listen, I don't care what anyone thinks or says. I really do only care about you being with me. Why? Does it bother you?"

Stephanie managed a smile then said, "No. Not as long as I know it doesn't bother you. I mean, you're the one who's young and hot while I'm the one who's...not."

He reached for hand again which she'd pulled away to dry her eyes.

"Young is relative and let me assure you, you are most definitely hot. Smokin' hot, I might add."

"I...I know that's not true," she said, "but it's very nice to hear you say that."

Shaun got up and slid around to her side, moved in close to her then put his arm around her.

"I meant what I said, Stephanie."

He waited for her to turn and look at him before continuing.

"You are so beautiful. How can you not know that? I think about you constantly. I...."

He lowered his voice then said, "I fantasize about you all the time."

"Seriously?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Seriously. All the time. I've never met anyone like you. I've never felt like this about anyone before. Ever."

She smiled sweetly then whispered, "Okay. Keep talking."

As he leaned in to kiss her, they heard the sounds of footsteps.

Shaun pulled away ending the kiss as their server said, "This is on the house. I am so embarrassed about what I said before."

"Don't be," Stephanie said with a smile. "It's not unreasonable to think that."

The woman seemed nervous as she said, "I...I have the strongest feelings for someone who's, well, a lot younger than me, and I'd do anything to make him feel the same way about me."

"Have you told him?" Shaun asked.

"Well, no. I mean, it's crazy, right?"

Almost immediately the woman said, "Wow. I just stuck my foot in my mouth again, didn't I? I should probably go while I'm still only behind."

She went to turn away when Stephanie said, "If you don't tell him, you might never know that he feels the same way but thinks it's impossible."

Shaun laughed quietly then said, "She had to come visit me at work looking like a gorgeous model to get my attention, but after that...."

"Just let him know, okay?" Stephanie said again. "You might get the surprise of your life."

She looked at Shaun then said to the woman, "Like me."

"Well. Okay. Maybe I will let him know. Thank you for saying that, and...good luck to you both. You really do make a very nice couple."

After she left, Shaun said with his usual self confidence, "We do, don't we?"

Stephanie laid her head on his shoulder, squeezed his hand, then asked, "A couple. Is that what we are?"

"I hope so," Shaun said before he kissed her and then moving back to his side of the table.

When the left, Shaun laid a $20 bill on the table to cover the cost of the meal. He just couldn't let the woman lose that much due to an understandable mistake. He also scribbled a quick note that said, "Thank you and...tell him!"

Stephanie drew a little heart under it and wrote, "What my boyfriend said!"

Just being able to use that word for the first time in so very long made her so happy she wanted to shout, "This handsome, younger man is my boyfriend!" as soon as they stepped outside. She didn't, but she definitely wanted to.

As they drove home, Stephanie's newfound happiness was tempered by her visit with Derek. She knew there was nothing she could do for him anymore than Shaun could help her mother, and yet it still really bothered her.

"Shaun? Has Derek always been...."

She couldn't even ask because she didn't know the correct way to say it.

"There are many polite ways to say it, but when it's all said and done, Derek is considered 'severely retarded'. The only category that's lower is 'profoundly retarded'. But yes, he was born that way, and he's never known any other life."

"It's just so sad, you know? At least my mom lived a full life, had a husband, children, a job, and friends."

"No, it's not fair, but life isn't fair. But it can also be pretty wonderful."

He smiled at her then said, "Especially when you meet someone special. But it can also chew you up and spit you out. I don't think it's intentional or caused by anything. It's just the universe rolling along doing its thing."

"It makes us feel so small and powerless, you know?" Stephanie said after giving some thought to what he'd just said.

"All we can do is try and make a difference in some small way. I'm actually thankful I couldn't find a job that required me to wear a coat and tie to work."

Stephanie smiled back at him then said, "You'd be very handsome in a suit, but I love that you enjoy helping others so much."

"I just hope I get the hang of it before Joe puts me on probation."

"Joe really likes you. You know that, right?" she said.

"He does? You coulda fooled me."

"Come on. You can see by the way he talks to you, and I could tell by the way he talked about you. I think you remind him a lot of himself."

Shaun tilted his head, thought for a second then told Stephanie she might be right. After that, neither of them spoke until they were almost back to her house when she asked him to come in.

"No, I don't want to be a bother. I know Claudia has to leave, and you need to take care of your mom."

"It's not that," she said very quietly. "I want you to meet my mom. She probably won't remember it tomorrow, but every now and then she has really lucid moments. If you were to catch her during one of those times, you'd see why I love her so much."

"Then I accept," he told her. "In fact, I'd like that very much."

He shut the car off and went to get out when Stephanie reached for his arm.

He turned to look at her to see if she needed something when she said, "I think I might be falling for you, Shaun."

She waited for a second then added, "Hard. I know it's silly because we barely know each other, and I'm so much older than you, but...."

Before she could finish he turned her way, leaned over and kissed her. Not a quick peck but a very long, deep, passionate kind of kiss.

As he slowly pulled away, he told her, "It's not silly. I feel the same way about you, too."

These warm feelings Stephanie had for Shaun grew exponentially as she watched him patiently and lovingly interact with her mom that evening. He repeated things as often as needed and even managed to make her mom laugh several times. At one point, she had to excuse herself to again to dab her eyes as the emotion overwhelmed her.

They put her to bed around 10pm which was very late for her these days, and once she was asleep, Stephanie said she wanted to talk with Shaun.

"Uh-oh. 'We need to talk' are the four worst words any guy can hear his girlfriend say," he said with mock seriousness.

"Is that what I am, Shaun? Your girlfriend?"

He moved closer, put his arms around her, then said, "I want you to be. Is that too much too soon?"