Chapter Sixteen:

Matthew was so excited when he found out that Nora was coming home and that they would be staying with Bo. Rachel was supposed to be in town for six weeks but after her second week there her boss called and told her they had an emergency and she was needed at home. She wanted to stay with her mom, but deep down she knew she would be fine with Bo and that this “arrangement” was exactly what the two of them needed in order to find their way back to being the family they should’ve been so long ago. She knew her mother was going to give Bo a hard time, especially since she was being forced to rely on someone else for her recovery, and then that someone being Bo made it even worse. Rachel is in Nora’s room saying goodbye…

“I’m sorry I can’t stay longer.”

“It’s okay. You can’t risk your career for this. I’ll be fine.”

‘Yeah you’ll be in good hands, Bo’s hands.”

Nora looks at her daughter and rolls her eyes.

“You better come over here and give me a hug before you leave here and I’m mad at you.”

Rachel walked over and gave Nora a hug and kiss goodbye. She took her mother’s hand and looked at her….

“Don’t blow your second chance at love just because you’re too stubborn to accept help or admit the truth.”

Nora gave her daughter’s hand a quick kiss and just nodded. Rachel kissed Nora’s cheek once more and left for the airport.

Matthew was back at the Garret with Renee. He filled the living room with balloons and a huge sign saying “Welcome Home Mommy!!” Matthew wanted to have pizza for dinner and of course Renee agreed.

Back at the hospital:

A nurse tried to help Nora get dressed in the clothes that Rachel had brought for her. She fought with the nurse about getting dressed on her own and by the time Bo showed up to take her home the nurse had had enough.

“She’s all yours, good luck.”

“Giving the staff a hard time on your last day here?”

“I don’t know what her problem is. I’m a grown woman I can get dressed by myself.”

Bo stood back and watched her struggle as she tried to untie the back of her gown with one hand. As he watched her he fell more and more in love with her every second, if that was even possible. She was so damn stubborn.

“Why are you still here, Buchanan? If you’re going to stick around you might as well help me with this.”

“Oh, now you’re going to ask for help.”

“Just get over here and untie this in the back and then you can leave.”

Bo walked over and untied the back of her gown. The sides fell open just as she looked up at him. She saw the rage in his eyes as he looked at what that monster had done to her body, but when he realized that she saw his anger he quickly tried to cover.

“Um…there you go. I’ll just go wait outside. Let me know when you’re ready.”

Nora just nodded and waited for Bo to leave. She took the gown off and looked down at her arms and stomach. Her bruises were healing but they were still there. It took her almost ten minutes to put her bra on but she finally did. She reached for her sweater, that took another 10 minutes. She looked over at her jeans determined to finish dressing on her own. She tried to swing her legs around. The pain almost made her pass out. She fell back onto the pillow and swore under her breath. She looked at the door and back down at her jeans.

“Buchanan!”

The door swung open and Bo peeked his head in.

“You bellowed.”

“Very funny. Make yourself useful and help me with my jeans.”

“Not until you say please.”

“Please”, she said as she rolled her eyes.

“No, not good enough, I think you need to admit you need my help first.”

“Fine, she said through clenched teeth, I need your help.”

“That’s better.”

Bo walked over and picked up her jeans. He sat down on the bed next to her. He reached around and slipped one leg on and then the other. He slowly brought them up to her hips, neither one of them taking their eyes off the other. He saw her wince and one tear slowly rolled down her cheek, as she lifted her hips so that he could finish putting her jeans on. He reached up and wiped the tear away then zipped and buttoned her jeans.

“Thank you, Bo”, she said quietly.

“Anytime, Red. All you have to do is ask.”

The silence that fell between them was interrupted when Larry walked in.

“I’ve got your discharge papers.”

Larry saw the look on their faces and knew something had just happened between them. These two he thought, they’ll never learn.

“Anyway, here you go. If you’re ready to get out of here all you have to do is sign.”

Nora took the papers and signed all the forms. She handed the papers to Larry with a smile.

“Thank you Larry.”

“You’re welcome. Now remember what I told you. You have to stay in bed. As soon as the bones heal, which should take about 4-6 weeks (thanks Trace lol), we’ll set up the physical therapy. You’re looking at a minimum of three to four months worth of recovery time.”

“I remember from the last time, Larry.”

“Okay well good luck, and make sure you make all your follow up appointments.”

“I’ll make sure she’s at every one of them.”

“Okay. I’ll talk with the two of you later.”

Larry kissed Nora on the cheek and shook Bo’s hand before leaving them alone again.

“So you ready to go home?”

Home….they both secretly liked the sound of that.