Chapter Twenty Five:

Bo’s Room:

Bo is hooked up to every machine possible and the beeping and whirring of the machines send shivers down Nora’s spine. He still hasn’t woken up yet and it’s been two days. Larry comes into the room just before midnight.

“Nora, honey I told you to go to bed two hours ago.”

“I know Larry, I just can’t pull myself away from him.”

“You need to rest. It’s important.”

“I’m resting.”

“No you’re keeping yourself awake when you need to be sleeping.”

“But what if—“

“But what if, what?”

“What if he wakes up and looks for me and I’m not here. What if he—what if he dies and I’m not here to say goodbye?”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about Nora. His vitals are holding steady right now. But you need your rest. You have to take care of this baby, and that means taking care of you.”

“I hear ya, I’m going.”

“Thank you.”

Nora walked into the next room and climbed on the bed. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow. All she wanted to do was lose herself in her dreams…and dream she did….

“Look, it’s a shooting star.”

“Did you make a wish?”

“Yep.”

“Tell me.”

“Okay, I wish your tofu on rye would turn into a chili dog and fries.”

“No, come on! Tell me, tell me.”

“This is a serious wish. I wish that, no matter what happens between us, we never hurt each other.”

“I don’t see that happening. What are you afraid of?”

“When I first met you, you were in a very dark place in your life, you know, your wife had just died in a very tragic way, and you didn’t have much of a will to live.”

“But I’m way beyond that now. And you helped.”

“I know. I kinda get the feeling you think you owe me one.”

“If I felt that way, I’d send you a big bunch of flowers and a card, and then that’d be it. I wouldn’t be thinking about you the first thing when I wake up in the morning and I do. Nora Gannon, now there’s a reason to get out of bed, you old son of a gun. You’re gonna see Nora Gannon today. And it really does make me feel good, and I hope it’s the same for you. You know, this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day, this kind of connection. And I don’t want to wreck it by moving too fast. I think we really got a shot at something here.”

Bo’s room….

Asa is sitting with Bo giving him all the reasons why he needs to open his damn eyes. (Gotta love, Pa…blunt and too the point LOL)

Subconsciously Bo is also remembering all the reason’s he should wake up….

“There are a lot of traps out there, Buchanan. There are speed traps, sand traps, and bear traps.”

“And then there’s me—the tender trap. No, come over here and just help me with my stroke. Come on, come on.”

“Just easy.”

“Oh, yeah. This straightens me right out.”

“Oh, forget it!” (she walks away)

“No, come on-you put, you put and I’ll watch. Shouldn’t your right hand just be a little…” (he wraps his arms around her)

“Bear trap.”

“What?”

“Definitely a bear trap.”

Nora tosses and turns as memories from the past flood her mind….

“Excuse me, bailiff, could you please push the pause button? I’d like to ask Mr. Buchanan if he recalls precisely the words he said, addressed to his father, and if not, I’d like to read his testimony back to him.”

“I think I’d like to be sworn in before I talk.” (he raises his right hand…she places her hand against his)

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

“I will if you will. I swear.”

“So help me, God.”

“So help me, God. I told my father, Asa Buchanan, to stop insulting the woman I love.”

“Oh, yes, well, is this woman present here?”

“Is she ever.”

“Could you point her out to me, please?”

“With the court’s permission, I’ll do better than that.” (he takes her in his arms and kisses her)

“Are you positive that this is the woman?”

“Absolutely. I know by the scent of her hair, by the way that her eyes sparkle; by the way that she feels when I’m holding her against me. Her name is Nora Gannon, and I love everything about her, from her incredibly sharp mind to her incredibly bad eating habits.”

“And there’s never a chance that you’re mistaken?”

“IM.POSS.IB.LE. But I’d like to testify just a little bit more. Not only did she save my life and restore my faith in humanity, she did something even harder than that-she made me happy again.”

“Case dismissed.”

Asa is still sitting by Bo’s bedside.

“And every time you look at me…”

“I am looking at you, right now, and I see the woman that I love with all my heart, even the part that still hurts for Sarah.”

“And it will always hurt for her.”

“Wounds heal, and we can heal them. When I look at you, I don’t see someone who was responsible for that accident. I see a very brave and beautiful woman that I love very much. Now you look at me.”

“It’s no use.”

“Nora, look in my eyes, (tilts her chin up) look in my eyes. Now, tell me what you see.”

“I see love.”

“Then come home.”

Larry walks into Nora’s room and covers her up. He walks next door and checks on Bo, while Nora continues to dream….

"A few minutes ago, we were gonna call the whole thing off because something felt wrong and we're not used to that feeling when the two of us are together. It's the one thing we've always had. One thing that was never wrong, not for a minute, was this love we have.... You just make everything so easy, easier than I ever thought love could be. I promise you, Bo Buchanan, with all my heart and all my soul that I will love you and cherish you for as long as I live."

"Yeah, it's been some dance though, hasn't it? My life's never felt so full. I’ve never felt so alive. I hope the music keeps playing for us as long as it possibly can, because as long as I got you, that dance can just go on forever.

After kicking Asa out, Larry checks Bo’s chart, marking down readings from the various machines. He looks down at Bo and sees his expression change. His brow creases as he dreams….

“Now the only question is, now that we’ve both lied to each other, and we’ve both paid the consequences, the only thing that counts is, in your heart are you still with me?”

“Am I with you? My heart is you. But maybe that’s not enough.”

“You know when I couldn’t find you; you know what kept popping into my head? The way that we can’t even pass close to each other without making contact. (he takes her hand in his) I was-I was afraid we weren’t going to make contact again.”

“Well you’re wrong because I’m here. We’re both right here.” (they embrace)

Next door she tosses and turns as more memories take control of her dreams…

He pushes her hair away from her forehead “What’s the matter?”

She runs her hands under his suspenders “I don’t know. I mean, it’s just... so much has happened.”

 

”Yeah, and Rachel’s plea bargaining is set for tomorrow. I know.”

Shakes her head ”No, that’s not it. It’s been a long time since you and I were alone together.”

”Yeah. So long. It’s been tough too. But we made it. Here we are.”

”Here we are.”

“I think we’re even stronger now. I think we’re more together than we were before.”

They embrace and kiss, they break away from their embrace. He kisses her lightly on the lips and then his hands move to either side of her face.

”You know, it’s funny. That light’s still there in your eyes.”

”What light?”

”I remember the first time I ever really looked at you. It was the darkest time of my life and yet, there you were. Like a beacon and you still are.”

“I have made so many mistakes.”

”Yeah, so have I but it doesn’t have anything to do with how much we love each other.”

”No, I think we made them because we love each other.”

”I’ll give you that one. And there were also other people involved. But we’re not going to even think about them tonight, we’re going to forget about them. Okay? Georgie Phillips, Rachel, Drew, Todd Manning... (Nora looks down and then back up) yeah, him too. Because we’re just here in our bedroom, our bedroom, and none of them are invited, ok?”

”Good.”

 

“Yeah, this is our whole world right now. Four walls, a bed, pillows, blankets, us holding onto each other, (they kiss) and you... with that light still shining in your eyes.” 

All of his visitors are gone and Bo is left with his dreams and his memories…..

He watches her as she stands up and walks towards the podium to accept her award. All he could think about was how happy and how proud he was of her….Moments later his world was turned upside down…

Over the hospital PA System…”Code blue room 103…Code blue room 103”