“Tell her that when you learned that Christina survived the shooting you were so upset…I mean, so happy…that you began jumping up and down, hit yourself on the head and got a temporary amnesia…”

“Yeah, and my memory was conveniently restored when Kit got better,” Tina added sarcastically.

“It could happen, you know,” Alice replied, “I’ve seen weirder things. But seriously, let me think…” she added pensively, rubbing her temples.

“I’ve got it,” Alice finally said triumphantly, “How about you tell her that I had barely found that entry in Maxine’s diary and you told her as soon as you learned about it?”

“It’s a good idea, Alice, but…I don’t want to lie to Bette. To hide it from her is one thing but to lie deliberately…no, if she finds out the truth, she’ll never forgive me. Bette hates lying and cheating.”

“And how is hiding different?”

“Hiding is simply withholding the information I know; lying is willingly giving false information when asked a question. If Bette would ask me right now, ‘Do you know what happened to Christina?’, I wouldn’t lie to her.”

“What about your documentary?”

“What about it?”

“How are you going to end it?”

“I actually thought a lot about it. Since the documentary is based on facts and real life events I can’t end it with Christina’s death. But what should I do, Alice?” Tina asked, frustrated and worried. She began pacing back and forth in the waiting room, looking at the door and her watch every minute.

“Well, if you want my advice,” Alice said, watching Tina’s movements, “I would end it with the shooting and a close-up of Christina, lying under the tree and covered in blood. Then I would show Elizabeth and her very cute and faithful maid, Alicia, running towards Christina and then stopping because they realized that someone was after them as well. Then do a close-up on their frightened faces and fade out. And this is when the narrator comes in and says, ‘Did Christina die? What happened to Elizabeth and her gorgeous maid? Stay tuned for the next episode of ‘Unsolved mysteries’,” Alice finished with a dramatic voice.

“Alice…that is brilliant,” Tina said excitedly, giving Alice a hug, “If the network will go for it, I’ll have more time to film another episode and tell Bette the truth…if they reject it, then I don’t have to do anything.”

“See, I told you I’m a genius,” Alice beamed happily.

“Yes, you are…” Tina said just as the doctor walked into the room. Tina and Alice rushed to his side, “What’s going on, doc? How’s Kit and Bette?” they both began asking questions.

“Calm down, ladies. I’m Dr. Taylor and I’ve examined Bette Porter. She’ll be fine. She’s resting right now. When she lost her consciousness, she hit her head on a ground pretty hard but it’s only a minor concussion and no other problems were detected. We had to give her sedatives, though, because about 10 minutes ago she came out of it and became a little violent with the nurse.”

“Violent? Why?” Tina asked, worried about Bette’s state of mind.

“Actually, I don’t know. You said that she fainted at the news about her sister being in a car accident but she was screaming about someone named Tina who was shot to death.”

Tina and Alice looked at each other with wide eyes, “Are you sure she said Tina and not, perhaps, Christina?” Tina asked.

“Well, it’s the same name, isn’t it? But I’m positive she said Tina,” Dr. Taylor replied, looking at his watch.

“Well, I’m Tina and as you can see, I’m alive and well. I think it might be emotional stress from the news. How’s Kit doing?”

“I can’t release the full information about Kit Porter’s injuries but since Bette is indisposed and she’s listed as Kit’s next of kin, I can tell you in general. Kit’s in critical condition. She was in a head-on collision and at this time she remains unconscious. You can’t see her yet because she’s in the ER right now but you can visit Bette if you like.”

“Yes, please,” Tina exclaimed, anxious to see her girlfriend and comfort her when she wakes up.

TBC…