Chapter Twelve:
“I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do that Nora.”
“You’re going to have to figure out a way, Larry. I can’t deal with what happened to me with him, not with him.”
“Why not, he’s your best friend, and he’s worried about you.”
“I just can’t. I can’t do it to him I lo….”
“You what, Nora?”
“Nothing.”
“No, you were about to say something, so say it.”
“I love him, Larry. My God, I’ve fallen back in love with my ex-husband and I can’t tell him how I feel.”
“Why, why can’t you tell him?”
“Because he doesn’t feel the same way about me, and I don’t want him to feel like he has to go through this with me because of Matthew. I want him to be happy, and all I do is hurt him.”
“I think you’re wrong about Bo’s feelings, Nora, but if it’s what you want I’ll keep him out.”
“Thank you, Larry.”
“I still say you’re making a mistake.”
“Well then it’s my mistake to make.”
Bo and Matthew found Asa, Renee, and Vicki sitting in the sunroom, waiting on news about Nora. Matthew ran up to Asa and climbed up on his lap.
“I just saw my mom, Grandpa, and I was really careful about hugging her.”
“I bet you’re mom feels better after getting one of your special hugs.”
“Mommy said the same thing.”
“Well you’re mommy’s one smart woman.”
“Pa, Renee, I need to ask you a favor.”
“Anything, darling.”
“Can you guys take Matt back to Nora’s and wait with him. Rachel is flying in tonight and Hank said she was coming straight here from the airport. If you guys could just stay with Matt until she gets back to the house I’d really appreciate it. I need to stop by the station and finalize the reports and then I want to come back here and sit with Nora for a while.”
“Sure we’d love to spend the day with Matthew.”
“Thanks Renee, I really appreciate it.”
“Can we go to your house first, Grandpa? I want to see your horses, please can we?”
“Sure we’ll do whatever you want.”
“Don’t spoil him, Pa.”
“Pfft…I’ll spoil him if I want to, boy.”
Bo just rolled his eyes and kneeled down in front of Matthew…
“Okay son, make sure you’re a good boy for Grandma and Grandpa and I’ll see you tonight before you go to bed.”
“Okay daddy. I’ll see you later.”
Asa lifted Matthew up onto his shoulders and Matthew laughed all the way to the elevator. Bo smiled and walked down the hallway towards Nora’s room. He looked in the window and saw that she was asleep. He decided to go back to the station and finish up the paperwork he knew was piling up on his desk.
He arrived at the station twenty minutes later. A few of the officers asked about Nora and he filled them in on what he could. He nodded towards Antonio who walked into his office and waited for him. He walked into his office and called Hank. They needed to discuss the case with Hank, just so there weren’t any surprises once the shooting was investigated.
“Hey buddy, what’s up?”
“I just wanted the three of us to go over what happened and what led up to me shooting Nick.”
“Okay, shoot.”
Bo told Hank everything that transpired from the moment he kicked the door in and pulled Nick off of Nora up until he was shot and killed. Bo could see the rage building in Hank as he looked over Larry’s medical report. Bo could see his shoulders fall forward when he discovered exactly what Nick had done to Nora. Hank looked up at Bo and both men had tears in their eyes. They both loved her, although in completely different ways, she was the mother of their children, but for Bo it was something more, and Hank could see how much his best friend was hurting.
A few minutes later Hank had left to go pick up Rachel from the airport and Bo drove back to the hospital. When he got there Larry was coming out of Nora’s room.
“How’s she doing, Larry?”
“She’s sleeping right now. She was in quite a bit of pain after the tests we performed, so I gave her something to help her sleep. She should be out for a while.”
“What kind of tests?”
“Just some blood work so that we can run another tox screen and some more x-rays on her shoulder and pelvis. She had been complaining of pain in her pelvis so we wanted to make sure she hadn’t re-injured herself. He really did a number on her, Bo.”
“I’m going to go in and sit with her for a while.”
“Actually I need to talk to you about that. Nora…Nora doesn’t want you to come by except to bring Matthew.”
“Why?”
“I can’t really tell you, it’s just the way she wants it.”
“There’s no way I’m letting her go through this alone, Larry.”
“I’m sorry Bo, but it’s the way she wants it and I have to respect my patient’s wishes.”
“Okay, okay. I understand. I’ll stay away, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be sitting right outside her door and I am going in there right now and saying good night to her.”
“Fine, she’s sleeping anyway. Just make it quick.
He slipped into her room for a moment and walked over towards the bed. He leaned down and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, careful not to wake her.
“I love you, Red. I just wish I knew how to tell you, and if you need me to stay away, I will. But I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”