Fonziebirds: Devotion

[Race's Girl]

Chapter 16: Wake Up!

It had been three weeks and Jennifer still hadn’t woken up. The morale on the island was at the lowest that Howard had ever seen. Potsie hadn’t left Jennifer’s side unless there was a call for International Rescue and then after each rescue, he would return to sit by her hoping that she would wake. Fonzie was up in Fonziebird 5 but he would call everyday to hear if there was any improvement on her condition. Ralph had buried himself into his music refusing to talk to anyone while Richie was always out of the house not wanting to be surrounded by the solemn mood. Chachi had been trying to occupy every waking moment in working on the Fonziebirds or exploring the island with Joanie. Lori Beth had been visiting frequently trying and help Howard cheer everyone up but lately she had been visiting just to keep Howard sane.

Howard walked into the infirmary to check on Jennifer like he did everyday and wasn’t surprised to see that Potsie was sleeping in one of the visitor’s chairs that Richie had recently painted blue and silver and labeled ‘Potsie’. Howard grabbed a blanket from one of the empty beds and covered up his son sighing as he watched as his eldest was becoming more detached from everyone and slowly sinking into depression with each passing day.

He walked over to Jennifer’s bed and gave her hand a little squeeze “So are you going to wake up for us today?” There was the usual beeping of the heart monitor for her answer and then Howard sat in another chair and told Jennifer how everyone was and what was going on in the world. He read somewhere that comatose patients could sometimes hear what’s going on around them so he decided to come in everyday and tell Jennifer everything that was going on so when she woke up, she wasn’t out of the loop of current events.

Just when he was about to leave the alarms went off, but it wasn’t the alarms for International Rescue. It was the alarms for when Jennifer’s heart stopped. Howard ran to the intercom. “Al, we have a code blue! Get down here now!” he turned to see that Potsie was already awake and attempting to revive her. He ran over to take over the chest compressions while Potsie breathed for Jennifer.

Just then, Al came running in with Ralph, Chachi and Joanie not far behind. Al ran over to grab the crash cart while Ralph ushered everyone out if the infirmary to keep them calm.

“Charging to 200,” said Al as he put the paddles on Jennifer. “Clear!” he yelled and Jennifer’s body convulsed from the shock. Nothing.

Howard and Potsie continued as Al was charging it again.

“Charging to 250…Clear!” nothing. “Charging to 300…Clear!” nothing.

After several minutes of trying to revive Jennifer, Al put a hand on Howard’s shoulder telling him to stop. Howard went to Potsie but Potsie wasn’t stopping and took over the chest compressions.

“Son, she’s gone.” said Howard sadly.

“NO! She’s not leaving without a fight!” he yelled and continued. “Come on, Jennifer, you can’t leave us! I thought you were a fighter so fight this!”

Howard gently put his hand on Potsie’s shoulder but Potsie shrugged it off and continued. “Potsie, please stop.” he pleaded.

After a few more minutes, Potsie started to openly sob but didn’t stop. “Please, Jennifer, come back,” he begged. “You can’t leave me…you mean everything to me…I couldn’t live my life without you beside me…I love you.” Then suddenly, his legs felt like jelly and he collapsed on the floor crying in defeat.

Howard went to the floor and held his son trying to soothe him. He looked up to see everyone, including Richie now, at the door with tears running down their faces and he beckoned them to enter. Soon, they were all on the floor hugging each other openly grieving.

Jennifer finally awoke from the darkness. She saw that she was in a dark hallway. At one end of the hallway there was a door with light streaming from the edges the other end had a staircase that went up into white light. Jennifer walked over to the staircase to look up and see where they went. The only thing she saw was the white light. She proceeded to go up the stairs but a figure came down the stairs blocking her. Jennifer backed up so she could see this person and had to shield her eyes from the intense light.

When the figure walked out of the light, she saw that this person was a beautiful tall woman dressed in white. She had shoulder length red hair and smiled at Jennifer like she knew her.

Jennifer stood there in awe. “Who are you?”

“I’m someone whose been watching over you for awhile, Jennifer!” the woman answered.

“Where am I?” Jennifer asked not wanting to ask any further about this woman.

“You're at a place where you choose to live your old life or continue in another!” she said.

“So you’re saying I’m dead?” Jennifer asked shocked.

“Yes…you are,” the woman said. “Your family's waiting for you.” she pointed up the stairs.

“What about the door at the other end?” asked Jennifer.

“That doors leads you back to your old life.”

Jennifer stood there trying to remember her life and beginning to panic because she couldn’t. “I can’t remember my old life. How am I supposed to choose one or the other if I don’t know what I’m missing?”

“Nobody remembers their old life here but they remember when they go up the stairs!” said the woman reassuringly.

Jennifer nodded and started reluctantly for the stairs. When she reached the first step, she heard a man screaming her name from a distance and stopped.

“Potsie?” Jennifer said quietly. Her memories started flooding back as she turned towards the scream. She noticed it was emanating from the door at the other end. She stepped back from the stairs. “I can’t leave now…I have to go back.”

“You want to return to your old life where there is pain and suffering, hunger and disease, death and hate?” asked the woman getting annoyed at Jennifer's hesitance.

“There are just not those things. There’s family and friendship, beauty and freedom, love and…” she hesitated for a moment thinking what else there was.

The woman grinned seeing that Jennifer couldn’t think of anything else and would change her mind to go up the stairs.

Jennifer then looked at the woman. She stood up tall smiling and said with more confidence that she ever had “…and there’s the Fonziebirds.” The woman just stood there shocked at Jennifer’s answer. Jennifer continued “…the Fonziebirds make my life worth living. They actual help me make a difference in the world and I wouldn’t go up those stairs for any reason whatsoever if that makes me quit being a Fonziebird.”

The woman was nodding her head listening to Jennifer. Jennifer had one more thing to say. “There’s also a man back there that makes my life as a Fonziebird worth living and that’s Warren Scott Tracy also known as Potsie…I may have never acted like it but I need him more than life itself and I couldn’t wake up everyday and not see his face, hear his laugh or talk with him until the sun rises so I’m going back.” Jennifer then started walking towards the door at the end of the hallway.

“Jennifer!” yelled the woman.

Jennifer turned around with determination to not be persuaded. “Yes?”

“You made the right choice. Just remember they don’t blame you for the accident…and one more thing,” she said. “Can you say hello to Howard and the boys for me please?”

Jennifer looked at the woman as she walked back up the stairs. “I promise…Mrs. Tracy.” then she turned around and started walking towards the door. While walking there, she started to hear Potsie’s voice again.

"Jennifer, come back." she heard him beg. She started to walk faster.

"‘You can’t leave me…you mean everything to me…I couldn’t live my life without you beside me…I love you." That made her heart soar and she ran as fast as she could to the door. When she reached the door, she opened it…

Al got up from the group and went to turn off the heart monitor then he heard a blip. He did a double take on the screen and saw that Jennifer’s heart was starting to pump. He jumped in the air and gave a big yell of joy scaring everyone. “Mr. Tracy, help me get her hooked up again and get the oxygen back on.” Howard and the others jumped up from the floor and helped Al to stabilize Jennifer.

When she was stable, everyone was sprawled all over the infirmary exhausted. Potsie was holding Jennifer’s hand sleeping with his head on the bed. Chachi was cuddled up to Joanie on one of the beds. Richie and Ralph fell asleep on the floor sitting back to back while Al was sitting in a chair.

Howard woke up from his slumber and left the infirmary to tell Lori Beth, Marion and Fonzie about the situation. They were all relieved that Jennifer was stable. Howard asked Fonzie if he wanted to come back home for awhile and Fonzie agreed, also Lori Beth agreed to visit the island and help Howard to try and raise everyone’s spirits one more time.

[Race's Girl]

Chapter 17: Waking Up

Potsie woke up in the late afternoon to see the infirmary empty. He got up from the chair and walked over to the window which overlooked the house and the pool. He stretched and noticed Fonzie laying on one of the deck chairs watching Chachi, Joanie and Richie splashing in the pool. Ralph was on the deck with his painting easel painting another masterpiece with Lori Beth watching him in amazement.

Potsie walked away from the window and sat down in his chair beside Jennifer. He grabbed one of his old Aviation History magazines and settled down to some reading while holding Jennifer’s hand.

Potsie was half way through an article when he felt his hand being squeezed lightly. He dropped the magazine on the floor and turned to Jennifer. He saw her eyes beginning the flutter and prayed that she opened them.

Jennifer slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by her most favourite cobalt blue eyes. She saw that Potsie was all disheveled like he just woke up and that he was about to burst into tears. She tried to raise her hand to touch his face to assure Potsie that she was fine and to assure herself that this wasn’t another nightmare but she was too weak.

Potsie saw how weak she was and held her hand against his cheek. They both smiled and he decided not to fight the tears any longer. “Hey, Baby, you decided to return to the land of the living?” he asked. Jennifer nodded and started to shed some tears of her own.

Potsie bent down and kissed her gently on the forehead then touched his against hers feeling blessed that he was able to get lost in her beautiful brown eyes again.

“I guess I should tell everyone that you’re awake,” Potsie said. He walked over to the intercom making sure that he wasn’t leaving Jennifer’s side and called Howard. “Dad, I need you in the infirmary.”

Howard arrived in the infirmary in record time thinking that it was another emergency and already called Al to meet him there. When he arrived, he wasn’t prepared for what he saw.

Potsie was sitting on the bed holding Jennifer’s hand. He looked up and Howard saw that his eyes were red from crying but he wasn’t sad. He actually was barely able to hide his smile. Howard walked over and saw that Jennifer’s eyes were open and she was smiling back.

“Look who's finally decided to join us.” said Potsie.

Howard stood there speechless for a moment in shock as tears ran down his face. He bent down and gave her a gentle hug. “I can’t believe you’re awake.” She smiled back at him regretfully not being able to talk yet.

Then Al came rushing in and saw what was going on and sighed in relief that everything was fine. Al walked over and greeted Jennifer with a huge smile then proceeded to check her vitals.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Howard spoke up. “So is everything okay?”

“I still want to do an EEG, CT scan and blood work to make sure everything's all right,” informed Al. “After 24 hours, we can remove the catheter tube. Then if Jennifer can swallow and eat, we’ll remove the feeding and Tracheostomy tubes.”

Howard, Potsie and Jennifer nodded in accord at Al’s precaution. Howard gave Al the okay to start the tests immediately and left to tell everyone the news but not without giving Jennifer’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

Potsie turned to Jennifer. “Do you want me to stay during the tests?” Jennifer slowly shook her head and looked at him appreciating the offer though.

“Jennifer’s right, Potsie, maybe you should tell your brothers the news and get something to eat. By then, the tests should be done.”

Potsie nodded and gave Jennifer a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be back.” She smiled but her eyes darkened a bit seeing that Potsie had faint dark circles under his eyes knowing that he has probably exhausted himself to the fullest.

When Potsie left, he saw that Howard was outside waiting for him. “I still can’t believe she’s awake.” said Potsie letting the realization truly sink in as they walked towards the living room.

“I honestly thought she wasn’t going to wake up.” said Howard which made Potsie do a double-take at his father’s doubt.

“Well…she’s awake and soon she’ll be back being just as bad as the rest of us.” said Potsie clapping a hand on his father’s shoulder. They both laughed and went to walk outside but Howard stopped. He turned to Potsie with a mischievous glint in his eyes and Potsie smiled back in understanding. Howard magically made his smile transform into a sad frown and walked outside.

They came out to see Richie and Chachi tossing Fonzie off the deck chair into the pool. He came up sputtering and glaring at the two young Tracys.

“You’re both dead!” he yelled.

Chachi and Richie laughed and went to run away but stopped in mid-step when they saw Howard and Potsie outside. Everyone else noticed Chachi and Richie’s hesitance and saw why they were frozen in place.

“What’s wrong?” asked Richie with Chachi nodding in eagerness.

“I want everyone to gather around!” said Howard sadly.

“What’s wrong, Dad? Is everything a okay?” asked Fonzie just climbing out if the pool.

“Potsie, do you want to tell them or should I?” said Howard looking at his second eldest and very quiet son.

“I…I’ll do it. Guys…” Potsie turned towards the group frowning. “It’s about Jennifer.”

“What about her?” asked Ralph hoping it wasn’t what he was thinking seeing the two older Tracys extremely depressed.

“She’s…” Potsie sighed trying to control himself. “She’s…” then he couldn’t control it anymore and smiled. “She’s awake.”

It was the biggest up roar Howard had ever seen in his entire life. Lori Beth ran and gave Howard a hug while everyone else started yelling with joy and jumped up and down hugging one another. By the time they calmed down, Howard could see that there were some tears that were shed during the little celebration.

“That’s great.” said Lori Beth.

“Can we go see her?” asked Joanie.

“Not yet. Al's just running some tests to make sure everything's okay and then you can go see her tomorrow.”

Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement then went back to what they were doing to get rid of their nervous and excited energy.

“Hey, Pots! You want to join us?” called Fonzie getting ready to jump in the pool.

“Maybe tomorrow, I’m a little tired!” he replied and left to return to the house. Potsie went to his room and had his first long shower in awhile. When he was done, he went to the kitchen and ate a quick dinner before anyone else and returned to the infirmary to check on Jennifer. When he entered, Al was just finishing up packing away some equipment.

“So, how is she?”

“Jennifer's completely healthy as can be, besides her requiring some physical therapy to strengthen her muscles and her injured leg!” answered Al.

Potsie smiled and hugged Al gratefully which surprised him. “Is she awake?” asked Potsie after breaking off the hug.

“No, she’s resting now,” he replied. “As you should too, Potsie!”

“I will, I just wanted to see how she is before I went to bed.” he smiled.

Potsie walked over to Jennifer’s bed. She appeared to be in a fitful sleep and Potsie saw that Al already removed the feeding and Tracheostomy tubes from her, guessing that she was strong enough to have them removed after the tests. Potsie bent down gently tracing her jaw line with his finger and lightly kissed her. She mumbled something Potsie couldn’t comprehend and settled back down softly snoring which made him smile.

Right when Potsie was about to leave, he noticed that the heart monitor was beeping faster than normal. He turned to see that Jennifer was beginning to toss and turn in her bed. Al ran over to see what was going on and Potsie looked at him seeing that she was starting to have a nightmare.

“I’m sorry.” she mumbled.

“Jenny, wake up.” Potsie said lightly shaking her shoulders, she wasn’t responding.

“It...wasn’t…fault.” she said softly.

“What wasn’t your fault?” Potsie thought out loud.

“I…didn’t…want…Mrs. Tracy…die,” she said beginning to thrash. “Noo! Potsie…don’t hate me.”

Potsie sat down covering his mouth in shock. “I don’t hate you, Jen.” he whispered.

Al stood on the other side of Jennifer’s bed looking concerned at Potsie.

Potsie looked at Al. “That’s the fear the Candy Man used against her, wasn’t it?”

Al nodded slowly. “I should of informed you but I thought this was something Jennifer should say n…n…not me.”

“Oh, Jennifer,” said Potsie stroking her hair. “After all of these years of you being there for me for my nightmares, I was never there for you.”

“Don’t say that, Potsie,” said Al. “You've been there for her and even if you feel l…like you haven’t, you're here for her now.”

“Thanks, Al,” said Potsie smiling at his friends viewpoint. “I’ll watch her tonight so you can go and get some rest.”

Al nodded and tried to stifle his yawn but it won and he smiled apologetically. “You call me if she starts having another nightmare though.” and left.

Potsie grinned at Al when he left and then turned to Jennifer now in a peaceful sleep. “I guess it’s going to be my turn to bug you about your dreams now.” he said aloud. Then he went to the empty bed beside Jennifer’s and snuggled down to get comfortable. He watched Jennifer sleep and until he succumbed to his need for it.

[Race's Girl]

Chapter 18: Confession

“Come on, Jennifer, just one more set.” encouraged Joanie.

It had been two weeks since Jennifer woke up and she had been going through rigorous exercises to get her muscles strengthened again so Joanie had been helping Jennifer with her exercises and the two were currently in the Tracy weight room.

With the Tracys having to be physically fit for their careers, they had to have their own weight room with every piece of equipment available to stay in shape due to the nearest one being several hundred miles away.

“I can’t do it, Joanie.” gasped Jennifer working on the leg press.

“Sure you can. It’s just five more reps, now come on!” she ordered.

Jennifer grunted as she finished the set. While setting the safety bars back in place, she said “God, you’re grueling.”

“I know, I guess that’s what I get for growing up with five ‘brothers’.” she smiled.

“I know what you mean.” said Jennifer grabbing for her crutches. The rest of Jennifer’s body was back to peak performance it was just her injured leg that was taking it's time to heal.

“Now it’s time to cool down, let’s go to the pool.” said Joanie.

Jennofer rolled her eyes and smiled at Joanie’s relentlessness. She went to her room and changed into her black bikini. She also slipped into a pair of black and gray feminine knee length swim trunks overtop of the swimsuit, very self-conscious of the scar running along the side of her left leg from her mid thigh to knee. When she came out, Joanie was already in the pool floating on an air mattress waving to her that the coast was clear of any Tracy brothers.

When the brothers were in the pool while Jennifer was trying to do some exercises it always ended with rough-housing resulting in Jennifer’s knee being a little bit sorer the next day. Today, the girls were safe with the boys working on their Thunderbirds or some Tracy Industries paperwork thanks to Howard.

Jennifer slowly slipped into the shallow end of the pool and started immediately on her exercises. After ten minutes of silence, Joanie finally decided to speak.

“Are you okay, Jenny? You seem to be kind of distracted lately.” She thought about how much Jennifer had been drawing away from the Tracys and isolating herself since waking up.

“Yeah, I’m okay…I just have a lot of stuff on my mind!” she answered.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Joanie glancing over top of her sunglasses.

“No, it’s nothing important. I just can’t wait to get better and get back to rescues.” said Jennifer rather quickly.

“Okay but if you want to talk I’m here for you” said Joanie letting Jennifer’s lie slip under her radar this time.

“Thanks, Joans.” she smiled back.

Twenty minutes later, Richie, Chachi, Ralph and Richie jumped in the pool flipping Joanie off her mattress. Not to Jennifer’s surprise, Joanie enacted her revenge quickly and the rough-housing began, this being Jennifer’s cue to get out and work on her tan for awhile.

She started climbing up the stairs in the shallow end and slipped. She hit the stairs with her full weight on her bad leg and screamed in pain clutching it. She started to struggle to get up when a strong grip formed around her arm helping her up. She turned to see it was Potsie and company in the shallow end.

“Are you okay?” he asked worried reflecting in his eyes.

“I’m fine!” she said a little too curtly grabbing the handrail to get up.

Potsie looked at the others and nodded for them to return to playing around. He turned his attention back to Jennifer. “Here, let me help you.”

“I said I’m fine, Potsie! I don’t need to be treated like a baby.” she said annoyed.

“Look, I’ll I’m trying to do is help you out but if you don’t need anyone then that’s fine.” he replied just as curtly and turned around to join everyone else leaving Jennifer behind.

Jennifer managed to get out of the pool on her own and left leaving the very confused younger Tracys behind.

“What was that about?” asked Chachi before getting dunked by Joanie.

“She said that she has a lot of stuff on her mind. My guess is that she’s getting frustrated with not helping out with the rescues.” replied Joanie when Chachi came back to the surface and they continued with the dunking until dinner.

When they were at the table, Jennifer was nowhere to be found. Howard sat down and looked where Jennifer should be and looked at everyone puzzled.

“Where’s Jennifer?” he asked.

“I thought I saw her walking towards the beach a little while ago.” answered Richie before digging into his mashed potatoes.

Howard called Jennifer’s com-link with his but there was no answer. “She must have turned it off, I’ll go get her.”

Potsie bolted to his feet before his father. “You sit down and eat, Dad, I’ll go get her.” and he left the table to search for Jennifer.

Potsie went to the beach and followed her tracks all the way down to where they ended at some large boulders that overlooked the ocean and the setting sun. He saw Jennifer sitting on the rocks clad in a skirt and blouse. She was hugging their good knee and had her injured one dangling over the side. He began climbing towards her taking a glance at her crutches that were resting in the sand at the foot of the boulders and wondered how she was able to climb with her bad leg. As he approached her, she spoke.

“Whoever it is, go away.” she said sadly.

He stood up behind her and said “Well that’s not going to happen.” He sat down beside her and was surprised by how depressed she looked. He saw that her eyes were red from crying and noticed that she had dark circles under them from lack of sleep.

“I just want to be left alone.” she said resting her forehead on her knee wishing that he would go away.

“I bet you do, but I’m here because you need to talk to someone,” he said. “So…you going to tell me what’s going on with you?”

“There’s nothing going on, Potsie, I’m fine.”

Potsie sighed, now understanding how his brothers feel when they try to get him to talk. “Jen, you’re not fine. You look like you’ve been crying for God knows how long and you’ve been becoming distant with the family especially me and I don’t know about you but it’s getting old and boring.”

Jennifer looked at Potsie, her vibrant brown eyes burning with anger, sadness and guilt. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes. “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way.” she said hurt and turned away to look at the ocean.

Potsie sighed again in frustration and decided for another approach “Jennifer, I know that you haven’t been sleeping,” he said quietly. “Don’t forget our rooms are right beside each other and I can hear you just as much as you can hear me.”

Jennifer looked at Potsie, her eyes softening for a second then consumed by the hard gaze once more. “I have know idea what you’re talking about.”

“I understand what you’re going through, Jenny, but…”

Her eyes blazed with more fury than he has ever seen before. “No, you don’t know Potsie!” she yelled. “You weren’t helpless when the Candy Man tried to make you kill your closest thing to a family! You weren’t helpless when the Candy Man broke open your deepest darkest fear that you were to blame for killing the person that you love as much as your mom! And you weren’t the one who lost his entire family and couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it! So no, Potsie, you have no idea what I’m going through!” she started to sob in her hands letting all of her pent up emotions finally show.

Potsie sat there in utter shock looking at a mere shadow of the woman he loves. “Jennifer, look at me,” he said calmly tilting her chin up so she would be looking right in his eyes. His heart broke seeing her eyes darkened with so much grief “I knew that you blamed yourself for my mom’s death since you woke up from your coma but you have to believe me that my dad and brothers have never blamed you for her death and I would rather shoot myself in the butt than ever, ever, blame you. It was an accident and you should never feel like it was your fault.”

Jennifer looked into his eyes, while tears constantly streamed down her face, and saw that there was nothing but truth about what he said. “I’m so sorry for being selfish.” she sobbed.

“Jennifer, you’re not being selfish, you just went through a traumatizing experience and you’re not going to be fine right after.” he said and pulled her into a tight embrace not wanting to let go.

After several minutes, Jennifer’s sobs died down and Potsie looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. He was taken aback by how fragile and vulnerable she looked in his arms rather than the headstrong and independent woman she always appears to be in front of everyone. He gathered her up in his arms and started for the house remembering to grab her crutches on the way.

When he made it to the house, the stars were beginning to come out in the night sky. He walked into the living room and was greeted by the worried gazes of Chachi, Joanie, Ralph and Richie. He nodded at them, silently telling them that everything was all right and left to take Jennifer to her room. After tucking her into her bed he left to retire for the evening in his room.

Later on that night, Potsie was startled from his sleep by a scream. He knew that scream and burst into Jennifer’s room. He saw Jennifer sitting up in her bed covered in a sheen of sweat and shaking. He rushed over to her and sat beside her seeing that she appeared to be staring off into space.

“Jennifer?” he said placing his hand on her shoulder.

She snapped back into reality and looked into his eyes with her fearful ones “P…Potsie?”

He nodded and she pulled him into a tight hug and started to cry.

“What happened?” he asked wrapping his arms around her.

“I just had a bad dream,” she replied shakily “I’m okay now.”

“Are you sure?” he asked pulling away so he could see right into their eyes.

“Yeah…” she said quietly. “But can you stay until I fall back to sleep? I just don’t want to be alone.”

“Sure.” he answered seeing that she was still shaking.

She pulled back her covers and he crawled in her bed covering them both back up. Jennifer cuddled up to Potsie as he slipped his arms around her. Soon they were both asleep not noticing the watchful eyes of Chaci, Richie and Ralph.

“Finally.” whispered Chachi.

“We know” said Richie and Ralph.

Someone cleared their throat rather loudly making the three young men jump. They turned around to a sleepy Howard with his arms crossed his chest. The brothers pointed at one another not wanting to get the blame.

“You three are worse than a bunch of girls,” chuckled Jeff. “Now off to bed.”

“Yes, dad.” they quietly said slowly walking back to their rooms.

Howard just smiled and shook his head at his retreating sons. He turned to go back to bed but his curiosity got the best of him and he looked inside at the two sleeping figures. His smile broadened and he returned to his room for the remainder of the night.

Jennifer woke up very early in the morning to hear rain hitting the windows and thunder booming outside. She went to move when she realized that there was a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her. She slowly rolled over and saw Potsie quietly snoring and smiled at how young and innocent he looked when asleep.

Jennifer carefully slid out of bed trying not to disturb Potsie and limped to the washroom to shower and change for the day. When she finished she saw that Potsie was still sleeping so she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and grabbed something out of her closet that she hasn’t touched since she returned home. She slung the object over her shoulder, grabbed her crutches and went downstairs to not disturb the rest of the sleeping household.

Potsie woke up to flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. He looked outside to see a tropical storm raining down on the island. “Oh great.” he mumbled quietly looking out the window seeing that the storm went as far as the horizon. Falling back into the pillows he sighed always hating the miserable weather. He wanted to go back to sleep, but something was nagging for him to stay awake. Then the memories of last night flooded back and he sat up noticing that Jennifer wasn’t with him.

Potsie jumped out of bed and went to check around the house searching for Jennifer. He started to panic playing the worst case scenarios through his mind remembering how upset she was the night before. While running down the hallway, he slowly became aware of music coming from the living room.

One night with you
Is what I'm now praying for,
The things that we two could plan
Would make my dreams come true

Just call my name
And I'll be right by your side,
I want your sweet helping hand,
My loves too strong to hide

Potsie stopped in his tracks listening to the words softly floating through the house. He walked into the living room seeing Jennifer sitting against the wall staring out the window at the storm quietly listening to Elvis Presley's One Night and softly singing along.

Always lived, very quiet life,
I ain't never did no wrong
Now I know that life without you
Has been too lonely too long

One night with you
Is what I'm now praying for,
The things that we two could plan
Would make my dreams come true

Jennifer poured all of her emotions into the song wanting to tell Potsie how much she loved him, but too scared. She was afraid that he would not feel the same way and even reject her entirely.

Always lived, very quiet life,
I ain't never did no wrong
Now I know that life without you
Has been too lonely too long

One night with you
Is what I'm now praying for,
The things that we two could plan
Would make my dreams come true

Potsie slowly started walking towards her being drawn to the music and forgetting about everything around him and the reason he came rushing into the living room. Jennifer turned the radio off and limped towards the window watching the rain fall on the ground. She leaned up against the wall sighing heavily and pinched the brow of her nose staring at the ground, looking like the entire world was on her shoulders.

“I should tell him today,” she said quietly to herself. She turned around to leave and jumped seeing that Potsie was standing behind her clad in his blue plaid pajama pants and his hair sticking up everywhere. If she wasn’t so worried she might have laughed at his appearance. “Potsie! I…umm…sorry I woke you…I…uhhh”

“Who do you have to talk to?” blurted Potsie not fully awake.

“Well I…I have to talk to you actually.” she stammered thinking that it was too early in the morning to be having a serious conversation.

“Is something wrong?”

“No!... No, nothing’s wrong. I just want to apologize to you…you know…for the way I have been behaving the past couple of weeks…and I want to thank you.”

“Thank me for what?”

“When the Candy Man was controlling me, I was trying to fight him with all my strength but he was too powerful. Then I heard your voice and it gave me more strength than I could ever have to break his will…and I’m grateful.”

“Jennifer, there’s no need to thank me, you’re family and I would do anything for you…even more.” he said mumbling the latter under his breath.

Jennifer nodded holding back her tears and went for her crutches to leave but Potsie stopped her by placing his hand on her arm. “Jennifer…I…” he started wondering why he was having a hard time telling her about how he felt now. It seemed so easy when she was in a coma and even controlled by the Candy Man but now that she was here right in front of him he couldn’t muster the courage.

“It’s okay, Potsie. It’s a little too early in the morning, we can talk about this later.” she said starting for the weight room.

“That’s it,” Potsie mumbled to himself and grabbed Jennifer’s arm spinning her around and stared right into her eyes. “I love you, Jennifer.” he said and their lips met.

When they broke away, Potsie was expecting to get a slap in the face. Instead, Jennifer looked at him surprised for a moment trying to comprehend what just happened and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss but more passionately. He wrapped his arms around her waist wishing that the moment could go on forever.

When they slowly broke apart, Potsie saw that Jennifer’s eyes appeared to have their sparkle that had been missing for far too long. He lifted her off her feet and carried her back up to her room their lips never parting.

When Jennifer woke up for the second time that day, she saw that the storm was pouring down even harder than before. She looked over at her clock seeing that it was nine in the morning. Groaning she rolled back over and gently kissed Potsie. “Time to get up, Sleepy head.” she said quietly.

“Just five more minutes.” he mumbled snuggling into her shoulder.

She giggled. “No, we both have to get up or everyone will start getting worried.”

Sighing, he sat up rubbing his eyes and running his hands through his hair. “Okay.” he whined making Christine laugh.

She threw his boxer shorts to him as she wrapped her housecoat around herself limping towards the shower once again. Before stepping into the washroom, Potsie tiptoed up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist kissing the back of her neck sending tingles through her body.

“I’ll see you at breakfast.” he whispered into her ear and left for the door.

“Warren Scott Tracy, you are such a tease.” she laughed and he poked his head back in her room and smiled leaving her shaking her head and laughing.

When she finished her shower and changed, she noticed that her crutches weren’t in her room. Then she remembered that they were downstairs in the living room. “Crud, well I guess I need to walk on my own sometime.” and slowly walked out of her room.

Jennifer walked halfway down the hallway and stopped to rest for a second catching her breath. She couldn’t believe how long and how hard it was taking her to walk to the living room, but she was impressed that she got as far as she did. When she was about to start again, she was swept off her feet…literally.

“Need a ride?” winked Potsie.

Jennifer laughed. “You have to stop doing that; my heart can’t handle you constantly sweeping me off my feet.”

Potsie and Jennifer entered the living room laughing to see everyone sitting down for breakfast. Chachi and Richie stopped in mid bite looking at them quizzically. Jennifer and Potsie looked at each other and laughed again at how ridiculous they must look.

“I forgot my crutches downstairs.” she said smiling as Potsie placed her down to stand so she could get into one of the empty chairs.

“I spoke to Fonzie this morning and he said this storm's going to go on for two days.” said Howard trying to distracted the others from asking Potsie and Jennifer any more questions.

“Oh man, I just finished fixing my dirt bike,” said Chachi. “I was hoping to take it out today.”

“Oh well, Chachi,” said Richie taking a glance outside at the raging storm. “Hey we could always watch TV, there's a great Elvis Presley movie on.”

Potsie groaned. “Rich, don’t you know Elvis is my idol, not yours?”

“Hey, I recall someone who acts like Elvis…who was it again?” asked Ralph looking at Chachi.

“Potsie.” coughed Chachi.

“Oh yeah, Potsie knows all the words to all of Elvis's songs.” smiled Ralph making everyone laugh as Potsie blushed.

“Jennifer, do you have a favorite Elvis song?” asked Chachi.

“It's I Need Your Love Tonight!” she answered.

“Well, you can join us and we’ll go easy on you.” smiled Richie.

“Sure.” said Jennifer.

After breakfast finished up, Richie turned on the TV and Potsie, Ralph, Chacho and Joanie settled down on the couch and chairs. Richie then turned the sound up to hear the music.

Chachi was explaining what Elvis was going to sing. Jennifer listened to him intently and when Chachi wasn’t looking, she winked at Joanie, telling them she had a thing for Elvis.

Joanie grinned not being able to wait to see how the day was going to progress.

When the show began, they had to decided on wait until Elvis showed up on stage and sang Flaming Star. After the song was finished, it was decided that the gang really liked the music of the times.

When the show finished, Joanie and Jennifer were doing a victory dance in front of the others and laughing giving each other high fives. The Tracy brothers were just sitting there in shock that the girls had a crush on their favorite rock 'n' roll singer.

“But, I thought you said that you liked I Need Your Love Tonight.” said Chachi looked at Jennifer.

“I didn’t say that,” said Jennifer. “You asked me if I had a favorite song and I told you what it was.”

Chachi sat there playing through his mind the conversation at breakfast earlier and then smack his forehead with the palm of his hand in realization.

“How did you get so good?” asked Richie.

“In the officers’ mess at the base I stayed at, the girls used to sing the latest Elvis songs. We couldn’t get any reception on the radio and the TV so all we did was talk about singers like Elvis and Gene Vincent.” she said standing up straight with her hands on her hips in pride.

Everyone laughed and they got up to stretch their legs and grab something to eat. As they were walking away, Potsie jokingly said “You wanna watch King Creole later?” and took a deep bow.

“Aren’t you cute,” she said and jabbed him in the ribs making him laugh. “Oh is someone ticklish?” she asked poking him in the ribs repeatedly making him laugh harder. He then turned around and poked her in the ribs making her laugh just as hard.

“I see someone’s ticklish in the same spot.”

“No, please don’t,” she said and he started poking her on both sides. “What…do I have to…do to…make you…stop?” she pleaded in between bursts of laughter.

“Kiss me.” he said.

“You never have to ask me for that.” she smiled and kissed him wrapping her arms around his waist.

Unbeknownst to them, Howard stood at the top of the stairs watching. He smiled now knowing that everything was going to be alright. He then saw Jennifer tickle Potsie in the ribs and hurried off as fast as she could laughing with him running right after her smiling.

THE END