Dad
By:  Dawn Brown
DiagnosMur@aol.com

************************************************************
Disclaimer: This story is one that I wrote.  I am borrowing the characters
from the creators and producers of the TV show Diagnosis Murder to write a 
story.  No money has or will be made from this.
************************************************************

	"...and may he rest in peace," the preacher finished saying as the 
body was laid to rest in the ground.  The grass was green and the sky was 
as blue as the ocean.  Many of times this would be a day to go to the 
beach or have a picnic with family and friends, but instead it was one of the 
saddest days that Steve Sloan had ever experienced.  Thoughts raced 
through his head.  His best friend since childhood, Lt. John Embers had 
been murdered a week earlier.  It was hard for Steve to see the glossy 
white, gold-trimmed casket go into the ground.  He had never felt his heart 
sink so low in his life.  Steve's dad stood next to him, observing the 
disappointment in his son's eyes throughout the whole service.
	"That was a nice funeral, wasn't it, Steve?" Mark said, with a small 
tremble in his voice, trying to break his son's silence.
	Steve's face lifted from the ground and gave a quick glance to his 
dad.  As his face looked back at the ground, he quietly and hesitantly 
answered, saying, "Yeah, dad, it was."  Steve didn't notice John Embers' 
teenage daughter, but Mark did.  Seeing that she was alone, he grabbed his 
son's arm and guided him over to her.
	"Hello, Sara," Mark greeted her as pleasantly as he possibly could 
under the conditions, "It was a beautiful service, it really was."
	"Hello, Dr. Sloan, and thank you for coming," her voice quivered as 
she held back the tears that wanted to pour like rain.  "Hi, Steve.  How are 
you holding up?"
	Steve's head raised, just now gathering his thoughts in his head and 
noting Sara's presence.  By this point a tear was rolling down Sara's cheek 
and it made Steve's heart hurt more.  "Sara, I'm so sorry about your dad.  
He was such a good person."  He then proceeded to embrace her as a 
stream of tears flowed down her face.  Mark's hand rubbed his son's back 
trying to comfort him in the matter.
	"Steve," Sara said as she backed away from the hug, "my father 
told me to give you this if anything happened to him.  He said that you 
would know the real meaning that was behind the reason he had it."  She 
reached into her purse that was only being carried to hold on to the item.  
A purple heart was pulled out and with her cold hands Sara placed it into 
Steve's sweaty palm.  He looked at it and was puzzled by what was meant 
by the real meaning.
	The strong silence at the moment was then broken by the call of her 
best friend.  "Sara, come on, we're leaving."
	"Well, Steve, Mark, thank you for coming.  Both of you meant a lot 
to my father throughout his life.  He always had a story about everything in 
life that would bring your name into it, Steve."
	"Sara," Steve started a sentence, but was too choked up to finish.  
Sara saw more pain in his eyes than she felt in her own heart.  It was hard 
for her to not break down, but she knew that would make Steve hurt even 
worse.
	"Sara," Mark said trying to continue, "things will all come back 
together in time.  The police are doing their best to find the person that 
killed your father and justice will be served."  Sara began to walk away 
when Mark said something else.  "Oh, and Sara, if you ever need anything, 
Steve and I are just a phone call away."
	"Thank you, Mark," she said in a shaky voice as she went back over 
to give him a big hug.  Then she walked back over to Steve and gave him 
another comforting embrace and a kiss on the cheek before running to 
leave for her friend's house, where she was staying until a new permanent 
residence was found for her.
	"Dad," Steve said, "how is she able to cope with this, but I'm not 
able to?  If it were you that something happened to, there is no way I could 
keep as much composure as she just did."
	"Well, son," Mark said in reply, "she realizes how much he meant 
to you.  Sara is a person that thinks of others before herself, and doesn't 
want to cause any more pain to anyone than has already been experienced.  
You remember when her mother died?  Sara was only eight, and realized 
what had happened, but she was a little ball of sunshine that kept John 
sane.  When we stayed at their house at the time of the funeral, she ran 
around cleaning as much as she could and as high as she could reach with 
her little arms and made breakfast for everyone the morning her dad 
wouldn't leave his room.  Sara then announced to everyone that her dad 
would be hungry too, so don't eat everything.  After piling up the food on a 
small plate she plowed into his bedroom and said "you have to eat a good 
breakfast to stay strong an healthy, just like mom always said."  John took 
her into his arms and walked out of the room with a big smile on his face.  
For that moment you would have never guessed something tragic had 
happened to the family."
	Steve let it all sink in and a small grin was forced onto his face.  
Memories filled his head of when he and John had been younger and when 
they had gone and done things with Mark.  Then the memories flashed 
ahead to how he and John had taken Sara to football games and the times 
that he spent with them.  "Thanks for reminding me," he said looking into  
his dad's eyes, "and always remind me of past memories and how good life 
has been for you and me."
	"I will, son, I will," Mark answered back, forcing a smile and 
choking back tears, "Now, let's go home."

*	*

	A knock at the door came at the Sloan beach house around eight 
o'clock the next morning.  Mark had been awake for a couple of hours.  He 
had finished his walk on the beach and had been sitting at the kitchen table 
reading the newspaper when he heard the visitor's rapping on the door.  
Steve, on the other hand, was still sound asleep.  While looking through 
things to remember John and the good times they had in life, he had lost 
track of time and didn't get to sleep until five that morning.  Mark stood up 
from his seat and opened the door to see a tall man in a suit with dark 
brown hair, and young Sara.
	"Well, hello!" Mark greeted when he saw Sara was standing there.
	"Hi, Dr. Sloan," she said quietly while staring at his feet.  The tone 
of her voice was the first clue that something was happening that she was 
very unsure about.  Mark decided that maybe he needed to break the ice.
	"Well, Sara, do you like my shoes?  I just got them a couple of days 
ago at that new "Shoes-for-Less," he said.  She looked up at him and 
shook her head.  A little smile managed to appear on her embarrassed face 
for him noticing that she was looking at his feet.
	"Dr. Sloan," the man said, "is your son here?"
	"Why, yes he is, sir.  May I ask who you are, first?"
	"Sorry for not introducing myself," the man said as he offered his 
hand and Mark shook it while he answered.  "My name is Joshua Stern.  I 
am Mr. Embers' attorney."
	"Well, nice meeting you.  Oh, go ahead and come in."
	"Thank you," Mr. Stern said.  He guided Sara in by placing his hand 
on her back sort of to comfort her as the uncertainty became more 
apparent on her face.
	"Steve," Mark shouted down the stairs, "Steve, wake up, we have 
some visitors."  The shouting scared Steve so much that he fell on the floor 
before getting up.  He didn't want to yell back to his dad, so he grabbed his 
robe and put it on rapidly.  Steve dragged himself up the stairs and then 
peered around the corner to see Sara and the attorney.
	"Hello, Sara," Steve greeted with a bit of surprise in his voice.  
Then he looked at the man.  "Who are you?"
	Mark interjected, "Steve, this is Joshua Stern, John's attorney.  He 
needs to speak to you."
	"Let me run back down and change into something more 
appropriate," Steve said as he began back down the stairs.

*	*

	Steve walked onto the deck to see Sara and Mr. Stern already 
seated.  Mark had grabbed a pitcher of tea and was pouring it into tall cups 
for everyone.  Steve and Mark both pulled up chairs to sit in.  Sara still 
looked down, but they could not guess why she seemed so distraught.
	"Mr. Sloan," Josh began, "About a year ago, Mr. Embers came to 
me about making a will.  The thing is, there was only one thing he wanted 
to put in his will, and he wanted to leave it to you."
	"Why do you sound so concerned about this?" Steve questioned.  
He could tell that whatever it was must be important just because of the 
concern.
	"Well, the 'thing' happens to be here today," Mr. Stern answered 
back.  He still had the tone of concern in his voice.  When Mr. Stern said 
'thing' again, Sara's head sank even more giving more of a look at the top 
of her blonde head.  Mark crinkled his forehead as in thought trying to 
figure out what this thing was all about, while Steve was trying not to lose 
his patience with Joshua for not telling him what was in the will.
	"Just tell me what you are talking about, Mr. Stern," Steve 
demanded.  "If it is as important as it sounds, maybe the sooner I know the 
better things will be."
	"Well," Stern started, but took a big gulp then spit it all out, "Mr. 
Embers believed you were the best person that he knew, and he knew you 
are responsible and have many values.  Therefore, he decided to leave you 
his daughter in his will."
	Steve's eyes popped out of his head!  The thought of him having to 
take care of a daughter along with his dad, Amanda, and Jesse, was just 
unthinkable.
	"Steve," Sara said, "you don't need to take me in.  I'm so sorry.  I 
didn't know that he had decided to do this.  I... I..."
	Mark cut her off with a question to the attorney.  "What will 
happen to Sara if Steve decides not to take her in?"
	"Well, she will automatically be put into an orphanage or placed in 
a foster home.  If placed into a foster home, her home will probably change 
every few months."
	Steve heard this and his heart broke.  She was his best friend's 
daughter, and he was being asked to do this for him.  If he didn't take her 
in, it would be as if he was breaking a promise to John.  That was 
something he would never do.  Then he glanced at his own dad.  What if 
this had happened to him as a teen?  Would he want to be moving around 
or would he want to stay somewhere that felt a little more secure?
	"I'll do it," he announced with confidence to the table.  Sara's eyes 
went back and forth between Steve and Mark.  They had been so good to 
her father and she knew this was what he would have wanted.  Her eye 
peered over at Mark and a great big smile decorated his face.  Steve looked 
at his dad and was able to catch the smile, too.  It was obvious that Mark 
was happy with the decision which gave him more confidence in agreeing 
to do this.  The silence was finally broken by Mr. Stern.
	"There are some papers that do need to be signed, but we can hold 
off on those for the moment until you all get your arrangements 
straightened out and some of the emotional points of this change are 
fulfilled.  I will allow her to stay here, but we cannot let her get all of her 
things out of the house until what is needed out of the house for the murder 
investigation has been collected."  With that, he stood up, and walked 
away.  The three of them that were left all stood up.  No one really knew 
what to say.
	"Get over here," Mark said as he motioned her over.  He put his 
arms around her to reassure her spot in the home.  "Welcome home," he 
then added with a huge smile on his face.
	Steve tried to maintain his composure as he realized that there must 
be a lot more stress on Sara than on him.  "Now, you realize you are part 
of one of the zaniest families out there.  This means that things will never 
be normal, and a lot of unusual things will happen."
	With that being mentioned, Sara began laughing and her face lit up 
like the ball of sunshine Mark had mentioned at the funeral.  It was 
amazing to Steve, that she still had that little girl face and she wasn't the 
grown-up that she had fooled him into believing.

*	*

	"Hi, Jesse!  Hi, Amanda!" Mark exclaimed happily as he strolled 
into the lounge at Community General.  Amanda was puzzled because he 
was late for work, but still in such a fantastic mood.  Jesse was tired 
from being awake all night that he didn't really notice.
	"Mark, why are you so late?  Actually, more importantly, why 
are you so happy?"  Amanda interrogated.
	"Well, honey, something wonderful happened this morning," he 
answered back.  Amanda gave a questionable look.
	Jesse decided he'd get in on the conversation.  Drearily he added, 
"Mark, Amanda wants to know exactly what happened to make you so 
happy."  Mark started laughing at Jesse and how he sounded so dead.
	"You know about how Steve's best friend was murdered about a 
week ago."
	"Yeah, Mark, I did the autopsy," Amanda acknowledged while her 
forehead wrinkled up, "What's so good about that?"
	"He has a daughter named Sara.  She is the sweetest young lady.  
Anyway, this morning his attorney, Joshua Stern, stopped by with Sara.  
We all sat and had a discussion. John had only one request if he died.  It 
was that he wanted Steve to take care of his daughter."
	"Mark, you mean Steve's a daddy!?!?"  Jesse was so excited that he 
fell out of his chair when he said this.
	"I guess you could say that in a way."
	"And even better," Jesse adding his two cents worth again, "you're 
a grandpa!"
	Amanda gave Jesse a look that basically said, "you shouldn't have 
said that."  The thing was while she glared at him, Mark was engulfed in 
laughter.  Jesse followed while rolling on the floor.  Part of his laughter 
was due to Mark and the other part was because he was slaphappy from 
his lack of sleep.  Amanda let out a small laugh while shaking her head.  
While they were all laughing Steve and Sara walked in.  Steve had a very 
confused look on his face while Sara stood silently not knowing how to 
react.  Mark was able to gain control of himself long enough to introduce 
Amanda and Jesse to Sara.  Sara remembered Jesse from the week before 
when she came to the hospital to see her father for the last time.
	"What is all of this insanity about," Steve asked.
	"Jesse just said something that was so hilarious.  It was no big deal, 
really," Mark replied while trying to hold in his laughter.
	"So, Sara, are you ready to attempt the impossible?"  Amanda 
asked, being met by eyes questioning what she was talking about.  She 
didn't answer to anyone's eyes, so Sara went ahead and asked.
	"I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly do you mean by that?"
	"Oh, what I mean by attempting the impossible is living with Steve 
and Mark."
	"Hey," Steve snapped back, "what do _you_ mean by that?"
	"Nothing.  Sara, you are the luckiest girl on earth to be living with 
the two of them."
	"Thanks Amanda for the compliment... I think," Steve questionably 
replied.
	"Well, folks, I have rounds to make.  Steve, I'll see you at home 
later," Mark said.
	"Okay, dad."

*	*

	Sara lay asleep in Steve's bed.  Until they were able to clear the 
extra room of all the junk that was stored in it, she would sleep there, 
Steve was going to take the couch, and Mark would stay in his room.  
Mark and Steve were awake still, though.  They were sifting through 
information that had been gathered about Lt. Embers' murder.
	"Dad, there's nothing here to go on.  So far it looks like the perfect 
murder.  Something has to be here, but not seen."
	"I don't mean to be nosy, but what was meant by that purple heart 
that Sara gave you yesterday?  John never did serve, did he?"
	"You never mean to be nosy, do you dad?" Steve had a little smirk 
on his face and a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he said that to his dad.  
"Well, I really haven't figured that out yet.  And, you're right he was never 
in the service."
	"Do you think it could be a hint to his murder?  You may need to 
talk to Sara more about it.  Who knows.  There could be something that 
she knows that would help."
	" I really don't want to do that to her yet.  She already did a lot for 
me at the funeral, and now I realize why she was so upset when she first 
showed up here earlier today."  As soon as Steve finished his sentence a 
loud scream came from Steve's room.  Steve got up and sprinted down, 
with Mark close behind in his tracks.
	"Don't hit me, again, please, father, don't!" Sara screamed in her 
sleep.
	Steve looked at his dad in terror.  Could it have been that John beat 
his daughter?  The best friend Steve ever had do something this cruel!  In 
his mind he tried convincing himself that it wasn't true, but that is all he 
could think that was meant by it.
	"Sara!  Sara!  Wake up, honey," Steve frantically attempted to 
awake her.  Sara awoke once he said the same words again.  She snapped 
up and started crying.
	"I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that.  I... I..."
	"It's okay.  Go ahead and lie back down."  Tears streamed down 
her innocent face.  Steve cradled her in his arms.  She couldn't close her 
eyes.  Her fear was expressed through this.
	"Steve, really, I'm sorry.  You two can go back to what you were 
doing.  You know, nightmares will catch you off guard any time."  Mark 
crossed over to Steve and whispered something to him.
	"Sweetheart," Mark said, "could you sit up real quick for me, 
please?"
	"Yes, sir," she answered immediately, with a little quiver in her 
voice.
	Mark lifted up the back of her shirt to do a quick examination.  
Neither he or Steve were prepared to see what was there.  The beatings her 
back must have taken over the years had left numerous scars deep in the 
skin.  Her back was still scraped and bruised from whenever her last 
beating had been by him.  Steve closed his eyes to focus quickly and to 
hold back tears from the betrayal of his best friend and the scarred life of 
Sara.
	"Sara, honey," Mark asked, "how often did your dad do this to 
you?"  Sara choked up and tears swelled her eyes.  Steve gave his dad a 
'how dare you' look for asking the question.
	"It was... It was... He beat me almost every day.  Please don't hurt 
me for that.  I promised him I wouldn't tell, so I wouldn't get beat worse, 
and if you are planning on hitting me for this interruption, I promise you 
that I won't tell..."
	"Honey, no one is ever going to do that to you again," Steve swiftly 
assured her.  He gave her a hug to make sure she knew he meant it.  Mark 
was almost in tears that a father could be so cruel, while Steve was 
wondering the same thing.
	"Sara, tomorrow, I don't want to scare you or anything, but I want 
to look over your back and try to make sure everything's okay with it at the 
hospital, if that's alright with you?"
	"Yeah, that'll be fine, thanks." After a long pause Sara said, "I don't 
think I'll be able to get back to sleep for a while."
	"I have an idea," Mark said with a smile, "Up in the freezer there is 
some vanilla ice cream and I have  chocolate, nuts, and cherries in a 
cabinet.  We can all go up and make huge sundaes since none of us can 
sleep anyway.  Does that sound good?"
	Steve looked at Sara, then back up at his dad.  He thought this 
should calm some of Sara's fears of him and his dad.  "That does sound 
really good, dad, don't you think so Sara."  Sara couldn't say anything, but 
she nodded her head with a little bit of a smile forced on her face.  The 
three then proceeded up the stairs.

*	*

	""Okay, honey, we're finished," Mark said after he finished the 
close examination of the cuts and bruises on Sara's back.
	"Thanks, Dr. Sloan," Sara chimed back.  She was very happy this 
morning.  The time that had been spent the night before chatting and eating 
those sundaes really had helped her.  As she got off of the examination 
table, Dr. Bentley and Dr. Travis entered.
	"Well, hello, you two," Mark greeted cheerily, "Did you get any 
sleep last night Jesse?"
	"I slept for twelve hours," he happily said quickly changing the 
smile on his face to a frown,  he then said, "but now I have to work for the 
next twenty-four."
	Everyone laughed at him.  Steve wasn't there because he had some 
cases to catch up on, so Sara was going to stay at the hospital with Mark 
all day.  She had decided that maybe she could permanently volunteer 
there.  One of the other hospital nurses stepped in.
	"Well, hello Margie," Dr. Sloan greeted, "This is Sara.  She's the 
new volunteer I was talking to you about earlier."
	"Hi, Sara," Margie with a smile said to the girl.
	"Hello," Sara said back with a little bit of uncertainty in her voice.  
She would have to wait for Margie to prove her trustworthiness to her.
	"Well, let's get started!" Margie exited the room with Sara after 
Mark gave a nod of reassurance for her to follow.
	"Okay, gang, let's get started," Mark spoke to Amanda and Jesse.
	"Mark, please forgive me if I missed something, but what are you 
talking about?" Amanda asked.
	"Oh, we have to solve the murder of Sara's father, Mr. John 
Embers.  There are so many pieces of this puzzle that have to be placed 
carefully together, and I know that Steve isn't totally up for this whole 
investigation, so I figured we could do it for him."
	Mark opened the door and left the room.  As usual Jesse and 
Amanda followed close behind as they went to Dr. Sloan's office to insure 
the privacy of their conversation.

*	*

	"So, Mark, what do you have so far," Jesse wanted to know for 
curiosity's sake.
	"Well, there's a purple heart and any information Sara has.  I haven't 
asked her anything about her father's death, but I do know that the abuse 
that she suffered over the years will probably provide some clue," he 
answered with a little bit of a shake in his voice during the abuse part.
	"Well, how do you expect us to get anything from just those at this 
present moment?" Amanda snapped back.  She really wasn't in the mood 
for all of this to be happening right now.  At this point Steve walked in 
hearing Amanda's snappiness.
	"Aren't we in a good mood today," he said with grin while giving 
Amanda a sort of mischievous look.  His joking quickly ended when he 
realized that it was just Mark, Amanda, and Jesse with no sign of Sara 
around.  "Where's Sara at?" he questioned frantically.
	"Calm down son.  She decided that she would like to do some 
volunteer work since she has to be up here anyway.  Sara is just fine right 
now.  The bigger question is why are you here?"
	"Okay.  Sorry I snapped like that, but after the conversation last 
night, I wouldn't want anything worse to happen to her than what already 
has.  All of my cases are now caught up on so I decided to see if Sara 
wanted to do anything.  I don't know why I'm so worried."
	Jesse thought this was the perfect opportunity to add his two cents 
worth.  "Well, well, aren't we Mr. Mom now.  You better be careful, or 
next thing you know you'll be wearing a dress.  Wait, you've already done 
that"  Jesse began laughing hysterically.  The dress reference was to an 
undercover assignment that Steve had done a couple of weeks earlier.  
Amanda gave Jesse the I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look, because she 
knew Steve was truly worried about Sara.  Mark stood laughing at Jesse 
while looking at his son.
	Steve glared over at Jesse acting as if he was mad.  Then he said, 
"Ha, ha, Jess.  As I remember you helped me with that assignment and 
wore a cute little flowery dress that you chose yourself.  AND, you had an 
overwhelming response from men that wanted your phone number."  By 
this point, Mark had begun the hysterical laughing followed by his son.  
Amanda let a small smile broaden her face.  Jesse turned red and started 
looking at the floor.
	"This investigation needs to continue now, boys," Amanda 
announced.
	"I agree with her," Jesse said as he slowly lifted his head up.
	"What are you guys investigating, may I ask, or is it something I 
shouldn't know about," Steve queried since he had just come in.
	"We're trying to find out exactly who murdered John Embers," 
Jesse said to Steve, "We don't have any leads yet, but we just got in here to 
start."
	"Didn't you say, son, that he never served, but had that Purple 
Heart?  Also, he left that to you, and you have no clue what the meaning is 
behind it?"
	"Yeah, dad, but I guess there could be something behind it I don't 
remember.  I have no clue what it could be though."  At that moment Sara 
slipped in silently.  She almost went unnoticed except the creak of the door 
hinges moving gave her away.
	"Sara, are you alright?" Steve asked with concern.
	"I'm doing just wonderful today, Steve," she said with the brightest, 
most angelic smile on her face.  "The volunteer stuff will be fun once I go 
through all of the training.  There was an emergency, so I was told to come 
here since everyone else is busy down there."
	"Well, perfect timing, Sara," Mark preparing to question her if 
possible.  "Are you up to answering a few questions about your dad, 
honey?"
	"Please refer to him as my father.  I'm uncomfortable with the term 
'dad' being used for him."
	"Why don't you want him to be called dad?" Jesse inquired.
	"One time I read somewhere that anyone can be a father, but it 
takes a special person to be a dad, and I never thought that he lived up to 
that title."  Everyone looked at one another astonished that she said that.  
Sara broke the shocked air in the room, "What do you want to know about 
my father?"
	"Well, first of all, did he have any enemies?" Mark was the one 
questioning as the others sat and listened.
	"A better question would be who wasn't his enemy.  Steve was the 
only person that he never did back-stab," her voice sounding strong and 
fading as she looked up at Steve.  "He wanted to be a good person, he 
really did. The problem was his past followed him, and he kept leading it 
onward."
	Steve's face expressed dismay.  Mark knew that Steve's thoughts of 
his best friend kept getting worse, but there was no way to avoid the truth.  
Amanda sat quietly with an inquisitive expression on her face while Jesse 
was listening, but playing around with a pencil to stay entertained.
	"Sara," Steve began, "please tell us anything you know.  I don't 
want anyone else getting hurt - especially you.  If there is anything else that 
you're not telling, I'm pleading with you to tell me or my dad."
	Steve looked straight at her hoping that she would have something 
to help out.  She stood there quietly, then spoke up and said, "I've already 
made a list of all the people that I know hated my father.  I honestly don't 
know anything else, Steve."
	Steve looked over at his dad.  Mark shook his head and shrugged 
his shoulders.
	"Well, I guess we can go ahead and leave for the Lakers/Bulls 
game, since we have no other business here," Steve said as he pulled two 
tickets out of his jacket's pocket.  He knew that she was a big Lakers fan, 
because she, her father, and Steve used to go to the games together.
	"I thought they were sold out!" she exclaimed.  "I've never seen 
them play the Bulls before!"  Sara then ran over to Steve and they started 
out the door.
	"Bye, everyone," Sara said.
	"Bye, everyone, see you tomorrow.  Dad, I'll talk to you tonight 
about all of this."
	"Okay, Steve, see you later."
	Steve and Sara left.  Mark paced back and forth in the room 
holding his chin with a worried look on his face.
	"Mark," Amanda began her question, "is something wrong.  You 
look worried."
	"The problem is, I believe that Sara doesn't know anything, but if 
she doesn't know anything, there goes our only clue, besides that Purple 
Heart."
	Jesse finally lost interest in the pencil and joined in the 
conversation.  "I agree with you Mark.  I think that Sara is telling the truth, 
because she has so much trust now built up between you and Steve, that 
she wouldn't want to let you two down."
	"I'm just going to have to talk to Steve.  After this afternoon's game 
he probably will investigate some more."
	After that statement, Jesse was paged to the operating room.  Mark 
had to make his rounds and check up on some patients.  Amanda needed to 
go and check out a body that was brought into the morgue only about an 
hour earlier.
*	*
	Steve dropped Sara off to an empty house, so she decided to go 
walking on the beach.  He had to go check out a lead in the Lt. John 
Embers case.
	While at the game, he had found a matchbook on the ground for a 
nightclub called "Purple Heart."  This made him think of the Purple Heart 
that Sara had handed him the day of her father's funeral.  His thoughts 
started to go astray again, and he began thinking of the good times he and 
John had shared.  Before he knew it, though, he was at "Purple Heart."
The building was the color of a royal purple crayon.  The front doors were 
trimmed in gold with glass in them.  Steve entered to see some of the 
waiters and waitresses cleaning off the tables and preparing for the night's 
crowd.  He noticed that each one wore replicas of the infamous Purple 
Heart as part of their uniform.  As he looked around he spotted someone 
that looked to be in charge.
	"Excuse me, sir," he started out, "may I ask you a few questions."
	The man looked at Steve with his face full of disgust.  "I don't have 
time right now.  Unless you are here to get some stuff, I don't want to talk 
to you right now."
	Detective Sloan became mad at the attitude the man had.  He pulled 
out his badge and snapped back, "Detective Sloan, LAPD."
	"You have my attention, now."
	"Good.  Did you ever meet a guy named Lt. John Embers?"
	The man turned around and started doing something.  He acted as 
if he was ignoring the question, which just kept feeding Steve's anger.
	"I could take you into the station for questioning," Steve said very 
sternly.
	"No, I have never met John Embers."
	"You've never met him, but have you heard the name before?"
	"Yeah, my partner did business with him.  He always complained 
about how Mr. Embers couldn't pay for the stuff that he bought.  That 
really angered him."
	"Well, sir, what kind of stuff did he buy?"
	"You know, the usual drugs.  None that are legal," the guy told 
Steve with a sly smirk on his face.
	"Where's the guy that was selling the drugs to him?"
	The guy stood there with a look of evil in his eyes.  The 
conversation became abruptly quiet.
	Steve asked again, "Where's the guy that was selling the drugs to 
him?"
	The man ran up to Steve and knocked him down.  One of the 
employees called for the police to come and stop this nonsense.  They 
wrestled around on the floor and knocked some tables over.  After both 
men were bleeding from cuts suffered, Steve finally pinned him down.
	"I'm going to ask you one more time, before I kill you, where's your 
partner?"
	The guy in a very calm voice started to talk.  "He won't let anyone 
associated with John Embers live."
	Steve worried asked, "What exactly are you talking about?"
	"You know, Sara _was_ a sweet and pretty young girl.  Too bad 
her father couldn't pay up."
	A couple of officers walked into the club and broke the two up.  
Once broken apart Steve ran out the door for his car.  He had to hurry to 
get to the beach house that he was sharing with his dad and Sara.  The 
word "was" ran through his head.
*	*
	Meanwhile, Mark walked into the door of his house ready to spend 
a couple of hours relaxing with his son and Sara.  It was already 8:30 at 
night, so he figured that they would be back from the basketball game that 
they had gone to.  He flipped on the light switch only to realize, to his 
dismay, that no one was home.  Normally this would worry him if Steve 
wasn't home, but not tonight.  Mark was ready to kick back his feet and 
relax and hope that Sara was having a good time.  He went to the kitchen 
to grab a box of crackers off of the shelf to eat.  Since Mark knew where 
they were, he didn't even bother to turn on the light in there.  As he walked 
out of the kitchen though, someone grabbed him from behind.  The man in 
black held Mark with a very tight grip.  Out of fear Mark began to kick and 
try to get away.  The man began to throw Mark all around the room.  He 
couldn't defend himself from the man.
	Sara walked in the door to see the man throwing Mark down.  It 
was as if everything was going in slow motion.  As Mark went down his 
head hit the coffee table in the room.  The man was going to keep beating 
on Mark, but Sara ran up and started a struggle with him.  She screamed, 
but couldn't be heard, because no one was even close by.  The man beat on 
her and beat on her, but she wouldn't give up the fight.
	Steve pulled up to the beach house.  As he quickly jumped out of 
his car a single gunshot rang from the house.  He sprinted up the stairs and 
threw the door open.  Steve looked around the demolished room.  He 
didn't notice the two unconscious bodies laying on the ground until after he 
saw blood on the cushions of his father's couch.  Detective Sloan then 
proceeded to go after the man in black, the partner from "Purple Heart."  
Steve grabbed the gun trying to break it away.  The men pushed and 
punched, but neither would let go of the gun.  They tumbled to the floor.  
Suddenly three shots rang out. 
	Steve pushed the body of the man in black off of him.  The 
unknown man had been shot twice in the heart.  Steve, on the other hand, 
had been shot in his shoulder.  He made his way over to where his dad was.  
Slowly, Mark was beginning to stir.  His son grabbed him and carried him 
over closer to Sara.  Sara looked as if she was dead.  Blood covered her 
face and she had been shot in her chest.  By some miracle she was still 
breathing.  Steve lay her head in his lap, and held Mark between his arm 
and chest.  Sirens could be heard from all around.  Steve prayed that all of 
them would live and that nothing else like this would happen again while 
waiting for the help.
*	*
	A touch of light flowed into the dark hospital room.  Young Sara 
was lying down in the only bed in the room.  Mark was sprawled out, 
asleep, over several chairs he had put together to create a makeshift bed so 
he could be in there with her.  A large patch covered the spot where he had 
hit his head on the table.  One of his fingers had been broken, and he was 
sore throughout his body.
	Steve sat next to Sara's bedside all through the night.  She had gone 
into surgery as soon as her unconscious body arrived at the hospital.  They 
said she would live, but Steve was still weary because of the condition she 
appeared to be in.  He didn't sleep all night, and had his right hand holding 
her right hand while his left rubbed her forehead.
	Mark woke up to see his son watching over Sara.
	"Now you know how I feel every time that you end up in the 
hospital," he started out immediately saying.  Mark could tell from his 
perspective that Sara would be alright, so he added a small smile afterward.
	Steve looked up at his dad.  He was very relieved to see that Mark 
was okay.  "Dad, do you really worry about me this much?  I thought 
nothing could be scarier than the times you were in the hospital, but now, 
I'm worried about her more than I have ever been for anyone before."
	Sara began to move.  Her eyes weren't opened, but she squeezed 
Steve's hand and her head shook slowly back and forth.  Slowly her eyes 
fluttered open.  Everything was hazy, and she had a hard time thinking.  
Sara, could, however, make out a person to her right.  It was the person 
that was holding her hand.  In her mind she knew it was Steve.
	"Dad?" she asked.
	Steve thought she said that because she was still groggy, but Mark 
knew in his heart that she thought of Steve as her dad.  He began to smile, 
and almost cry remembering what she had said earlier about the difference 
between fathers and dads.  Mark knew that things were all going to work 
out for the three of them, and when she said that, he knew how much Steve 
meant to Sara.
	"How are you feeling, honey?" Steve asked.
	"I hurt really bad," she answered drearily.  "Is Dr. Sloan alright?  
He hit his head on the table."
	"He's just fine.  In fact, he's standing..."
	"Shhh, Steve.  She went back to sleep."  Both of the Sloans looked 
down at her in silence and then peered at one another with small smiles on 
their faces.
*	*
Two weeks later_

	Steve pulled up to the beach house.  He had been coming back and 
forth between there and the hospital for two weeks now.  The car was 
parked, and Steve unfolded his legs out of the car.  As he walked to the 
other side to open the passenger door a big grin graced his face.  The door 
opened and Sara appeared on the inside.  He bent over and helped Sara to 
get out.  One of her legs was badly broken during the attack and for the 
last two weeks she had been going through rehab attempting to be able to 
walk on her own.  She was guided by Steve to the back of the house.  
Slowly they made their way up the stairs to the deck.
	"Surprise," Mark, Amanda, and Jesse shouted once Sara had made 
it up to the top.  A huge banner hung above that had "Welcome Home 
Sara" printed on it.  Balloons of various colors blew around from where 
they were tied on the patio.  Crepe paper was draped and twisted to add to 
the festivity of the deck.  A large cake sat in the middle of the table.
	"I... I... I don't know what to say," Sara replied.  She really didn't 
know how to react to all of this attention since she wasn't used to it.
	Steve turned to her and gave her a great big bear hug.  As he let go 
he looked at her and said, "Welcome home."  He then proceeded to help 
her over to a seat to sit and relax in.
	"Steve," Jesse began, "May I talk to you privately for a second."  
Steve walked over to Jesse and they both entered the house.  Amanda 
followed wondering what on earth they could be talking about.  Mark 
stayed outside with Sara.
	"What is it you want to know Jess?"
	"Well, what did the police decide about everything that has 
happened?"
	"It turns out that, Lt. Embers had been a long time crack user.  He 
was buying from the second largest dealer in LA. When he originally began 
buying, it was cheap, but as his addiction became worse, it was costing him 
more.  Eventually he couldn't pay up, because he owed approximately 
one-hundred grand."
	"One-hundred grand?" Amanda looked at Steve with shock in her 
eyes.
	"That's about the reaction I had.  John had made a deal originally 
that if at any time he couldn't pay off, they could take his life along with the 
rest of his family."
	"My, goodness!  How could anyone do that to their family, 
especially if they only have one child," Jesse said astonished.
	"Apparently, after talking with Sara, she didn't know that he was 
using drugs.  It sounded, though, as if he got worse as far as beating her, as 
his addictions became worse.  I can't believe I never noticed how he 
changed."
	Amanda cut in, "You loved him as if he were your own brother, 
and as they say love is blind."
	"You have a point there, Amanda," Steve said.  "I guess as long as 
I do my best to help Sara get better and move on, I'll feel better about the 
whole thing."
	"You'll make a great dad Steve, just because you've had so much 
training from the best one out there," Jesse explained with a huge grin on 
his face as he placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.
	Amanda reluctantly put in her two cents worth and said, "I can't 
believe I'm saying this, but Jesse's right.  Everything will end up great and 
everyone will be happy."
	"Thanks for the encouragement, both of you."  The trio walked 
back onto the deck.  Mark and Sara were standing by the camera on it's 
tripod.  They had been working with the timer so they would be ready for 
the group picture to be taken.  Sara hobbled back to her seat.  Mark began 
to place everyone else.
	"Okay, Steve, you stand right here behind Sara.  Amanda, stand to 
his left.  I'm going to be to the right of him.  Jesse, you stand right here, 
and make sure that there's enough space for me to get in between you and 
Steve."  Mark walked over to the camera so he could begin the timer.  A 
bee buzzed around Jesse and he began to swat at it.  Trying to get away 
from it he inched over toward Steve.  The bee went in between the two of 
them and while trying to hit the bee, Jesse slapped Steve in the face.  Steve 
turned and gave Jesse a little shove.  Jesse tripped on the leg of the chair 
Sara was sitting in.  Amanda turned away from the two covering her face.  
Steve looked down at Jesse as he tried to get back up and Mark ran back 
over for the picture.  He threw his arms in the air and Sara turned and 
looked back at them.  Let's just say that the camera didn't get your "usual" 
family photo.