The Glass Slipper
(Epilogue to “Blind Tiger”)
By Sylvia
“Gertie, I don’t want to make a big deal of this. I just want to get my record cleared up. I want my civil service record to reflect the correct year I was born.”
What had started as a joke by the governor at Steve
McGarrett’s birthday party had turned into a bureaucratic pain. Steve had been waylaid by the attempt on his life, his blindness
and his hospital stay. Now that he was home, he was trying to get his records
straightened out. His Naval record had his correct birth date, including the
year. His records for the State of
He sighed. “OK, Gertie, thanks,” he said. “Bye.” He slammed down the phone – twice, since it fell out of its cradle the first time.
About a minute later, the phone rang again. “McGarrett,” he barked, thinking it was Gertie again.
“Steve, you’re supposed to be relaxing a few days before coming back to work,” Danny Williams said. “You sound like you’re in the middle of a case.”
“I am, Danno,” Steve said. “The case of how to get the right birth date into my civil service records.”
Danny chuckled.
“Well, I was planning to come over with some take-out,” he said.
“Well, come over, but leave the take-out behind,” Steve said. “I’ll make us a couple of omelets. After days of hospital food, I need something I know is homemade.”
“OK, I’ll be there in a while,” Danny said.
Within a half-hour, Danny was there with pastries from the office – “They’re from everyone,” he said – and Steve was cooking up the omelets.
“How’s your sight?” Danny asked.
“Much better,” Steve said. “The doctor said I might have moments of blurriness here and there, but they’d clear up. The hearing in my left ear has cleared up, too.”
“Good.” Danny said. “Any luck finding Nurse Lavallo?”
“No,” Steve said. “I called again; they said she’d taken the rest of the week off.”
“Well, you can be a difficult patient,” Danny said, with a grin. “You wore her down.”
“Danno, I’m not done with these omelets yet,” Steve said, waving the spatula he held. “There’s an unwritten rule that I can let my second-in-command go hungry.”
“I’ll back off,” Danny said. “How about that Nurse Feinberg? She sounds attractive.”
“I would have said she’s perfect for you, Danno, but she’s engaged to a Dr. Stein,” Steve said.
“Too bad,” Danny said, with a chuckle.
Steve served the omelets, and both men ate in silence for a while.
“It sounds like Cinderella,” Danny said. Steve looked up. “I mean, Nurse Lavallo. She just disappears.”
“Danno, I just wanted to thank her in person for the help she gave me,” Steve said. “That’s it.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Danny said, with a knowing glance at his boss. “Remember, Steve, Chin and I were in the room when she walked in with your tray. You noticed her perfume.”
“Part of my physical therapy,” Steve said. Danny burst into laughter.
“Yeah Steve….Just like she was using cologne to ‘freshen up,’” Danny said, still chuckling – until a glare from his boss quieted him down.
“Any word on when Masterson will go to trial?” Steve asked.
“It’ll be a while,” Danny said. “They can go on the little boy’s testimony of having seen him tinker with your car…..” he stopped for a second, lost in thought.
“What is it, Danno?” Steve asked.
“You didn’t see him, did you Steve, when he attacked you?” Danny asked.
“No, I was still without my eyesight,” Steve said. “You remember. You, Chin and Kono were all there.”
“So was Nurse Lavallo,” Danny said.
Steve looked at him. “Yeah,” he said.
Danny smiled. “Nurse Lavallo can positively identify him.”
“That’s right,” Steve said. “Danno, track her down and ask her to come to HPD to identify him in a lineup.”
“You bet,” Danny said.
“And Danno-“
“Yes, Steve?”
“You’re a genius.”
Danny beamed.
“Nurse Edith Lavallo?”
“Yes, who is this, please?” Edith said over the phone.
“This is Dan Williams of Five-O.”
“Oh, of course. How are you – and how is Mr. McGarrett?” she added carefully.
“He’s recuperating very well,” Danny said.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Edith said.
“We need your help on a police matter, Nurse Lavallo,” Danny said.
“Oh?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Danny said. “Mr. McGarrett knows, of course, what Masterson looks like. But he still couldn’t see while Masterson was attacking him in the hospital rehabilitation room.”
“That’s right,” Edith said.
“You got a good look at Masterson,” Danny said.
“Yes, I did,” Edith said.
“Would you be willing to come to the Honolulu Police Department and identify him from a lineup? You’ll be well protected; he won’t be able to see you.”
“Of course I will,” she said.
“Tomorrow, then?” Danny asked, and got an affirmation on the other end of the line. “Good. Thank you, Nurse Lavallo.”
He hung up the phone and grinned. Not exactly Cinderella and the glass slipper. And Danny didn’t think he was anyone’s idea of a fairy godmother, but at least he was trying to help his friend.
The next day
Edith Lavallo walked into the main lobby of the Honolulu Police Department. She was about to ask the officer on duty where she could find Detective Williams, when she heard, “Nurse Lavallo?”
She turned and saw Danny and uniformed officer coming toward her.
“How are you, Detective?” she asked.
“Nice seeing you again,” Danny responded. He turned to the other officer. “This is Officer Paul Wang. We’ll be taking you to identify Masterson in a lineup.” As they walked, Danny explained the full procedure to her.
“You helped Steve a lot,” Danny said. “He credits you with helping to save his life by turning out the lights.”
“He helped himself a lot, too,” Edith said.
They walked down a hall to a room with a window. “Now, just stand in front of the window,” Danny said. “Again, nobody on the other side will be able to see you or hear you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Danny pressed a button and spoke into a microphone. “You can bring them in now,” he said.
Edith watched through the window as five men walked into a room. At a police officer’s order, they turned facing her. She immediately recognized Masterson, the third man in the line, and pointed him out to Danny.
“That’s him, Detective Williams,” she said.
Danny looked through the window. “You’re sure?” he asked. Actually, they were both sure, but he still had to follow proper procedure and ask.
“Yes,” Edith said.
“Thank you, Nurse Lavallo,” he said. Then, he pushed the button and said, “OK, take ‘em out.”
Then, Edith heard a deeper, familiar voice.
“Thank you, Edith.”
She turned to see Steve McGarrett in front of her.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hello,” she said, clutching her purse as if for dear life. “Do you always make sneak attacks on witnesses, Mr. McGarrett?”
“No, not always,” Steve said, and smiled. He turned to Danny and said, “Thank you, Danno.”
Danny looked from Steve’s smiling face to Edith’s slightly annoyed one and decided he’d better exit in a hurry. “Excuse me,” he said quickly.
Steve took Edith by the elbow and led her down the hall. “Don’t blame Detective Williams for anything,” he said. “We really did need to have you come down here to identify Masterson.”
“I know you did,” Edith said. “Is Detective Williams to blame for anything more?”
“I’ll take full responsibility for wanting to see the nurse who saved my neck,” Steve said.
“I didn’t-“ Edith began.
“Yes, you did,” Steve said. “You turned out the lights and confused him. You made sure I knew where he was at all times.”
Silent, Edith walked next to Steve. He stopped and turned toward her.
“At the very least, I’d like to repay you with lunch,” he said.
She thought a moment.
“All right,” she said.
“How did you decide to become a nurse who works with the blind?” Steve asked. He and Edith were sitting in a small café.
“I remember, as a child, sitting in the front seat of my
father’s car. We lived in
“I’d already decided I wanted to become a nurse,” she continued. “But that day, I became determined to learn all I could about blindness. When we got home, I raced into the library and took out my father’s books – where I didn’t learn very much.”
“Not much written?” Steve asked.
“Not for a 7-year-old,” Edith said. Steve laughed.
“My father took out some newspapers and showed me articles about Helen Keller, and the life she led,” Edith said. “I started to be inspired by that. To not see or hear, and be able to overcome that-“
Steve nodded in agreement.
“I studied at
“I saw too much of that,” Steve said. “I served in
“I was an Army nurse for a while,” Edith said. “I went to
“Did you?” Steve asked.
Edith shook her head. “No, I was lucky…I guess,” she hesitated.
“To avoid that kind of carnage, yes, you were,” Steve said.
“Yes, but….I feel like I missed something. Later, I’d speak to some of the nurses who worked for MASH units, and they’d tell me about the work they’d do. It was terribly stressful, but rewarding for them, I think,” Edith said. “Still, I was a specialist, and my specialty as a nurse is the eyes. I wound up working with many servicemen.
“After the war, I was reassigned to Tripler here. But then,
I left the military to come to
“You are devoted to your work, Edith,” Steve said admiringly.
“As you are to yours,” Edith said. She glanced at her watch. “Don’t you have to get back to it, by the way?”
“I’m still officially on medical leave for another week, but I can escort you to your car,” Steve said.
“I took a bus to the police station,” Edith said.
“That won’t do,” Steve said, taking out money to pay the bill for lunch. “Detective Williams drove me here. I’ll ask him to drive you home.”
“Steve-“ Edith started.
“For once, no arguments, huh?” Steve said, looking straight at Edith.
“All right,” she said.
***
“It was nice of you to do this, Detective Williams,” Edith said. She sat in the back of Danny’s car, while Steve sat in the passenger’s seat.
“It’s all right. There’s a light schedule today, and anyway, I’m doing a bit of chauffer duty for Steve too,” Danny said.
As he stopped, Edith said good-bye to Danny. Steve escorted her to the door.
“Thank you for lunch, Steve,” Edith said.
“You’re quite welcome,” Steve said.
“And goodbye,” Edith said.
“Oh, now wait a minute,” Steve said.
“You are a terrific police officer, Steve, and a nice man, if a little bit sneaky.”
Edith smiled as Steve chuckled.
“But we’re two very strong personalities,” she continued. “Too much alike. Too driven in our respective professions, and too committed to them to be committed to each other.”
“I won’t argue that point,” Steve said.
“But we’ll argue about pretty much everything else,” Edith said. “Won’t we?”
“Maybe not,” Steve said.
“Exactly my point, Steve,” Edith said. “We can’t even agree on whether we’d argue.”
Steve smiled.
“There’s something else…I’m not the kind of woman who can have a casual relationship with a man,” Edith continued. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you. But—“
“Goodbye,” Steve said.
Edith kissed him on the cheek. “Yes, Goodbye,” she said. “Thank you for lunch.”
“I’m sorry, Edith,” Steve said. “Maybe we’ll meet again sometime.”
“Perhaps,” she said.
“Good luck with your work,” Steve said.
“And good luck with yours,” Edith said. “Take care of yourself, Steve.” She walked into her house and closed the door.
“Too bad, Steve,” Danny said, when Steve was back in the car.
“Well, as the song said, Danno, it was just one of those things,” Steve said.
“No it wasn’t Steve,” Danny said. “She helped you a lot. You’ll see her again.”
“Perhaps,” Steve said, echoing Edith.
He sensed that Edith Lavallo was a person who didn’t like losing control of any situation. He could identify with that – more than she knew. He also knew hearts and minds could not be forced.
Ah, well….
Danny drove Steve back to his apartment. Before Steve had gone to HPD, he’d stopped by the Five-O office to get some mail. He was going through it now.
A letter from the Secretary of State’s office drew his attention. He opened it.
“Cheer up, Danno. There’s good news,” Steve said.
“What’s that?”
Steve held up the envelope. “They corrected my birth year.”
“Good,” Danny said. “Next year, we can get the right number of candles on your cake…..”
“And maybe a birthday that won’t end with an explosion,” Steve said.
“Hmmm…..maybe we should go for fewer candles, then,” Danny said, grinning.
(Note: Not quite a
crossover, but I included the name of Dr. Overman,
the doctor who treated Hawkeye Pierce in an episode of M*A*S*H when Hawkeye was
temporarily blinded.)