(In a stairwell of the hospital, Dr. Dimi is sitting on the stairs, tears streaming down her face. Dr. Vorelli comes up a set of stairs to her.)

DR. VORELLI- (Sitting next to her…) “There’s nothing you could have done. We knew the follow-up test results could have gone that way.”

DR. DIMI- “And you think stating the obvious to me will help?”

DR. VORELLI- “It’s sort of difficult to come up with something intelligent to say when your mentor, a renowned surgeon who is about the only person in the world who could save this child, is devastated because the child is dying and she can’t do a damn thing.”

DR. DIMI- “This is weird. Poetic justice I suppose.”

DR. VORELLI- “Sorry?”

DR. DIMI- “About seven years ago, my mentor was sitting on a bed in the doctor’s lounge, in the condition you find me now. We had almost the exact conversation you and I are having. I know Jimmy, patients die and sometimes we simply cannot do a damn thing about it. I’ve never gotten used to it.”

DR. VORELLI- “Well, no surprise there…it’s like a wise old woman once told me…ahem…a wise, beautiful, brilliant older lady… ‘don’t ever get used to it, you’re a healer, you’re human…if you get used to it you’ll just be another scientist and your heart will wither and die along with your soul.” (She smiles as she recalls her own words.)

DR. DIMI- “That look in the mother’s eyes when I tell them…it never changes. All of who she is is bound to that child…all of her.”

DR. VORELLI- “You know after you left she came up to me with her husband. She thanked me for all our efforts. That’s the look that I remember. She then said to me that she was touched at our ‘loving’ way and how we treated her child. She said, ‘please tell Dr. Dimi that God couldn’t have sent us a better doctor or human being to help our child than her. Thank you for all you did.’ I think she’s right. We couldn’t save her life…all we could do was be loving. (Dr. Dimi cries more fluidly, and knowing better than to put his arm around her, Jimmy squeezes her shoulder and keeps his hand there to comfort her.) “You’re just a doctor maybe, but remember what you told me once…you, all of us, we’re also instruments of God. So, Dr. Theophania Dimi, along with them brass ovaries, you carry hope…always…because you walk with God’s Grace.” After a few moments, she breathes in and out deeply. She cleans herself up with some tissue.)

DR. DIMI- “Look at you getting all religious on me.”

DR. VORELLI- “Yeah well…a certain girlfriend and a certain mentor kind of rubbed off on me.” (She smiles.)

DR. DIMI- “Well, little Angelica needs her incision examined and the test results from imaging. Looks like it was a clean excising, which will bode very well for her. Let’s not keep the little lady waiting. Upwards and onwards then.”

DR. VORELLI- “Upwards and onwards doctor.”

(In New York, Julie is sitting on the couch, watching Lily sleep. The conductor is slowly coming out of her slumber and a little worried to see Julie.)

LILY- (She supports her self onto her elbows…) “Julie…you ok?”

JULIE- “Hey sleepy maestro…yes, I’m fine.”

LILY- “Can I get you anything? Do you need anything?”

JULIE- “I’m fine. Can I get YOU anything? How about some coffee? It’s evening, but you look like you need to awaken just a bit.”

LILY- “Mmmm…I think you’re right. Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll fix you some herbal tea and you can make me that special coffee you do so well.”

JULIE- “Special coffee? You mean when I use the cappuccino coffee maker?”

LILY- (She smiles…) “That machine hates me…whenever I try using it I get splattered with boiling water. It’s too fancy. I like the older type of machines.”

JULIE- “Right…the five dollar tin container you use to boil your strange exotic brews?”

LILY- “Hey that stuff is good.”

JULIE- “Come on maestro, let’s get some real coffee.” (Lily gets up and they walk over.)

LILY- “Are you feeling a little bit better?”

JULIE- “Yes, as little as can be expected I suppose. Lily…I had a dream. I had goose bumps and several tears when I woke. In the dream, she was sitting with me, on the bed. I guess the subconscious works in mysterious ways. She held my hand and rested her head on my shoulder. Our hands intertwined, caressed…for what seemed like the longest time. Then she got up, kissed me, touched my face,” (Julie put her hand on the side of her face as she spoke…) “and then said ‘I better go, Lily’s waiting…big concert thing…’ I asked her to stay longer but she said she couldn’t keep you waiting.”

LILY- “Sorry…”

JULIE- “She said ‘it’s ok, you know I can’t leave you for long or ever really leave you entirely…ain’t gonna happen,’ she said…putting her hand on my chest, right over my heart… ‘goodbye and don’t forget…’ ‘Forget what?’ I said. She kept her hand on my chest and looked at me… ‘it’s farewell but I reside with you, you’re a part of me always…here…in here…it’s ours…ours…a part of it will always be ours, of me and you…’ She looked at me and smiled and said, ‘Like Lily says, ‘meum et tuem’…’” (Lily’s eyes are tearing…) “I don’t understand…Lily, what does that mean?”

LILY- “Mine and thine…meum et tuem…mine and thine. I was telling her one day about the story of two lovers and their hearts and the notion of being linked in body and spirit…you were there, it was when we were at the reception after the Mahler concert last year. I guess you don’t remember the discussion.”

JULIE- “Well, someway, somehow, I guess I DID remember.” (Julie wipes Lily’s tears with her hand.) “Interesting way for her to say goodbye, though it sounds like her point is…and it’s well taken…that trite and cliché though the notion may be about being a part of one another and the timeless memories and feelings of the heart… she doesn’t want me to forget it nonetheless. Well…I guess perhaps my subconscious was reminding me in my time of great need for her what I desire and what I wish and what I miss.”

LILY- “And what you’ll always have, somehow always have.” (They embrace.)


(Next to Angelica stood her mothers, not having budged much. Drs. Dimi and Vorelli stood on the other side of the bed, checking the incision, the sutures, Nurse Judy looking on.)

DR. DIMI- “Looking good, very good. I don’t think the scar will be too pronounced. See, Angelica, nothing to worry about…you’ll still be able to wear bikinis.”

BETTE- “Try berkas…”

TINA- (To Dr. Dimi…) “Bette has decided she’s going to be cloistered until her thirties…”

DR. DIMI- “I think not…this little woman is a free spirit…better get used to it Mamma B…”

BETTE- “Uh huh…we’ll see…”

TINA- “Great, her other mother is a fascist parent…”

BETTE- “A protective one…”

TINA- (To Dr. Dimi…) “Help!” (They laugh…)

DR. DIMI- “Don’t worry, she will be putty in her hands…”

BETTE- “‘Will be’? Damn, I’m pretty much putty now…”

DR. DIMI- (To Tina, smiling…) “You see, it’s just all talk…bravado…I know the type…”

BETTE- (Her eyes widen and she smiles…) “The type????? Ganging up on me huh?”

DR. DIMI- “Just an observation…” (She smiles.) “All right. Now. Ms. Angelica, your wait is over…it’s time to rise up.” (Angelica looks at her smiling with her eyes and her outstretched arm, patting Dr. Dimi’s nose.)

BETTE- “Careful, she’s been known to land punches that way…” (They laugh.)

DR. DIMI- “Angelica! Did you punch Mamma B?” (Angelica coos and such…) “Well slugger, let’s not harm Dr. Dimi’s nose…I take pride in this large protuberance of mine…Okay then…easy does it…” (She and Dr. Vorelli maneuver Angelica to her side while cuddling her gently. Through a slow and meticulous physical process, aided by the raised front part of the bed lifted by Nurse Judy, they raise her, while Bette faces her from a short distance the whole time, to a sitting position. Bette and Angelica share a complex gaze, accompanied by smiles, giggles and softly spoken words.) “Ah, there we go…very good…” (She turns to Dr. Vorelli…) “no crying, no puffing, no complaining….and thank goodness no vomiting…” (Looking at Tina…) “She’s a trooper…”

TINA- “Takes after the fascist here…” (They laugh…)

BETTE- (To Angelica…) “Hey…they making fun of us? Eh? Hmmmm…” (She moves in for a quick kiss on Angelica’s nose…) “Look at you Boo…eh?” (Angelica smiles and giggles.)

DR. DIMI- “Keep her up for a bit. When she starts to get tired, down she goes. The nurses will show you how. Judy…” (Nurse Judy approaches and they discuss medication dosage and the like. Tina stands right next to Bette, holding her around the waste while stroking Angelica’s arm. The gang enters.)

KIT- “Hey…is that my angel?”

ALICE- “Angelica…hey there…”

HELENA- “Princess…you look stunning…”

SHANE- “Hey kiddo…” (The all gather around, blockading the doctors…)

DR. DIMI- (Smiling…) “Ladies ladies…one at a time…” (They step a bit back and Bette and Tina move a bit to the side as Angelica sits on the bed looking out towards the exit. Dr. Dimi stands a few feet in front of her…and then another guest enters…causing Angelica’s face to almost light up…)

PEGGY- “Angelica Kennard Porter I presume…” (She approaches with hands outstretched and when she’s close to her, Peggy brings her hands slowly together to pat both sides of Angelica’s face and kiss her forehead.) “Well my courageous little friend, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” (Angelica coos and giggles…) “Yes, I know, I am too…” (She looks around at everyone…) “Quite the motley crew you have amassed here. A woman after my own heart…already up and ready to hold court…look at her…” (She’s smiling, almost beaming at the little one…)

DR. DIMI- “She seems to like you almost as much as she likes me!”

PEGGY- (Winking at Angelica and smiling…) “Oh, we’re tight you know, her and I…”

(The women continue their re-acquaintance with Angelica, though complying with Dr. Dimi’s orders to disband in five minutes so that Angelica can relax. Bette and Tina stay and the others watch the nurse show them how to clean the incision. The rest of the day goes by, with the mothers never far from Angelica or one another, and the other ‘mothers’ taking their turn with the little one and catching glimpses of Bette and Tina dancing a subtle dance of touches, gentle strokes looking as much accidental as they do meaningful, and gentle glances…looking loving at times and at others times just looking intensely familiar.

A little while later in the early evening, Helena, Kit, Alice and Shane are getting ready to change shifts after some dinner. They come into the room. Bette and Tina are sitting on either side of Angelica’s bed. Kit approaches Bette and pats her on the shoulder.)

KIT- (Looking at Tina across the way…) “You two can head home now. We got it covered.” (Bette looks at Tina who in turn looks back at her, nods, and then looks at Kit.)

TINA- “Thanks Kit. I think we will head off. She’s asleep now, so it should be ok.” (Bette and Tina touch Angelica softly, so as not to stir her, as they say goodbye. They then gather with the others a few steps away to say goodnight and embrace their motley brood. Tina completes her farewells and awaits Bette, who just finished hugging Shane when she comes to Helena.)

HELENA- (She smiles and pats Bette on the arm, speaking softly…) “Goodnight Bette.”

BETTE- (She smiles a rather large and suspicious grin, puts her hand on Helena’s arm and then plants a quick kiss on the unsuspecting Brit’s cheek…) “Thanks, you too.”

HELENA- (Helena’s eyes open wide and she smiles what felt like a million little smiles and impending uncontrollable giggles…) “Hello there…Porter…” (Tina chuckles…and the others look on smiling…)

BETTE- “I believe the expression is ‘OYE’…” (They both chuckle…and the ladies depart in fulfilling peace.)

(Bette deciding she was driving, despite her sensitive hand.)

TINA- “The hand ok?”

BETTE- (She turns to her very briefly…) “Just fine.”

TINA- “You sure?”

BETTE- “I’m sure.”

TINA- “Try not to strain it. Needs time to heal.”

BETTE- “I won’t strain it. I’ll be very careful. It’ll heal…in time.”

TINA- “What’s for dinner?”

BETTE- “The hospital food wasn’t filling?”

TINA- “Hardly…I didn’t have most of it.”

BETTE- “Mmm. Me neither. I think Shane replenished the fridge enough that we can get creative.”

TINA- “Sounds like a plan. But how about something light, like omelettes?”

BETTE- “Ok. Sounds good.”

TINA- “Bette…”

BETTE- “Mhm…”

TINA- “I feel like a long hot bath…ok?”

BETTE- “Mm…how about a short one? I’ll fix dinner while you’re bathing.”

TINA- “I dunno Bette…if you’re cooking, a really long bath might be in order.”

BETTE- “Hey, I can cook omelettes.”

TINA- “Mhm…okay…we’ll see.”

BETTE- “Unbeliever…” (Tina chuckles and her eyes sparkle.) “I think I’ll take a hot shower actually as well.”

TINA- “Good, then I can do some follow-up care on the omelettes while I’m waiting.” (She smiles…)

BETTE- “You’ll be eating those words when you taste them…”

TINA- “Mhm…we’ll see…” (The rest of the drive is quiet yet filled with something not bespeaking silence so much as a calm before an anticipated yet unknown storm…)

(Tina was relaxing in her bath as Bette tried her damnedest not to mess up the omellettes, laughing at herself the whole time.)

TINA- (Calling out from the bath…) “Bette, I’m done, you can shower now.” (Bette’s face, hunkered over the plate she was working on, lifts up as her eyes raise to sound of the announcement. She takes care of some the bits of food and puts things down so she can go to the shower. She enters the bedroom as Tina enters in a towel. A pleasant aroma precedes and follows Tina and surrounds Bette. Bette’s tingling spine wakes her to the need to get to the shower soon and not linger in the bedroom. She heads for the bathroom with her stuff as Tina gets her comfortable clothing. Just as Bette turns to close the door, she looks up and sees Tina a ways away next to the bed…the towel drops and Bette almost sighs as she feels a quiver or two. She coaches herself out of this… ‘omelettes…omelettes…yeah…ok…’ She closes the door and rushes into the shower, scrubbing furiously and thoroughly and quickly, using the forceful water to pummel her face a few seconds more than necessary for mere cleansing.

Bette returns to the bedroom and dries herself off. Like Tina, she gets comfortable, in her pajamas. She sits on the bed to put some cream on her legs and feels strangely relaxed…finally. She feels awake, strangely awoken…vibrant somehow. She gets up and walks into the kitchen and sees Tina waiting for her at the table.)

TINA- “Hey, all done?”

BETTE- “Yeah. You?”

TINA- “Not bad, your omellettes. I made some other stuff and we’re ready to go.” (Bette takes a seat.) “I really needed that bath. I feel so relaxed oddly.”

BETTE- “Why is it so odd? Long hot baths usually cause some relaxation.”

TINA- “Mhm, but I was feeling so riled up I thought it would take a marathon or several long hot baths to work the kinks out.”

BETTE- “Hm.” (She smiles and looks at the food.) “Wow, this looks good.” (Tina nods and they begin…eating, and chatting, and smiling, and savouring, and biting, and laughing. It’s as though all the talking they hadn’t done somehow propelled them to severe discourse, not on anything earth shattering, just on things…mainly Angelica, Dr. Dimi, their friends. On and on it went, for quite some time…until nothing was left to taste, to eat, to drink…)

TINA- “I can’t believe what time it is.”

BETTE- (Looking at the clock…) “What time are we in tomorrow?”

TINA- “I guess 9 or 10…should be ok.”

BETTE- “Sounds good. Shall I clear?”

TINA- “Yes you shall.” (She winks and smiles. She then rises and puts a couple of things in the garbage and heads off to the bedroom. Bette tidies up, puts everything away and nods in self-congratulation. She turns and walks to the bedroom. Bette enters as she tells Tina of her thoughts on the better made omellette…)

BETTE- “Actually, you know if you use four eggs with the cheese grated…” (she looked up…full stop…a slight gap between her lips…no thought or word come to them but a quick little sigh…Tina’s hand takes its place on the right side of Bette’s face…Bette’s mouth still agape, a small sigh re-alerting all who hear of what she sees…Tina decided to greet her a cappella…nothing to accompany her soft and supple self…not one article of clothing to obstruct the view…and oh what a staggering view, familiar though it was…) “I…” (Her flushed face harkens her body’s relinquishing tide…) “T…” (Tina strokes Bette’s lips with her thumb and brings her hand down Bette’s neck, down the middle of her chest to join the other hand in grasping hold of the shirt and removing it over Bette’s raised arms and onto the floor. Bette took care of the rest in short order and let Tina’s frontal form touch every part of her. Bette’s sensitive points, all along the melato landscape, almost burned with sensation as the requiting touches of Tina’s skin re-invented the ‘first contact’ they shared that long night so many years ago. Tina’s hands gently grasped Bette around her back and her forehead rested on Bette’s chin. Bette swirled her arms round Tina as her tears formed and descended. Tina pulled back a bit, her eyes revealing themselves to be in sinc with Bette’s.)

BETTE- “It almost feels like too much…like I can’t…I can’t even describe it…”

TINA- (Smiling and in tears…) “I was hoping you wouldn’t be so talkative actually…” (Bette chuckles and Tina smiles. Bette was sufficiently emboldened by the sound and feel of the little bit of laughter in this moment of almost too much awe…she ended her discourse and grasped the longed for lips and skin…and then slowly and gently taking Tina by the hand to the bed and covering her with as much of herself as she could. Tina was a sight for sore eyes and a feast for a hungry soul…Bette started kissing her on her forehead and couldn’t stop kissing…a marathon of kisses and parade of exploring touches all over and all the way down the soft terrain. Tina’s skin was on sensory overload, and her heart was falling apart in revelry and spreading much warmth and excitement most everywhere throughout her body. Bette couldn’t stay away from her…any part of her it seemed… she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t break to take in the long awaited sights and sounds or to so much as breath and ponder the source of her now drying tears and lit up eyes and soul. Raised again, head to head, she held her so very close and kissed her cheek incessantly, nibbling her ear and pressing her forehead to her face while letting the tide of sensation and movement coincide…rising, falling, upwards, downwards, with every move, every motion, no matter how slight or lovingly rough…it all somehow seemed orchestrated, somehow connected and yet unyielding and untamed…and the moments and movements united, growing more intense in their communion… two hearts and souls and their reverberating physical messages of oneness, marking the beginning of the end of a long and painful journey and a farewell greeting to the past now finally relegated to only the memories it would occupy…and thus, simply and most basically in the hearts of two lovers, the inauguration of a new lifetime took hold.)