Part Eleven:

Nora stood up and walked back into the penthouse when she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door surprised to see Viki standing on the other side, “Viki,” she quickly wipes a tear off her cheek, tying her robe, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting company.”

“I’m sorry to have stopped by without calling but I was here for a breakfast meeting and the last time I spoke with Renee she said she was worried about you.” She reaches out and lays her hand on Nora’s arm, “And just by looking at you, the red puffy eyes, and the tears that you quickly brushed away, I can see why she was worried. What’s going on, darling?”

Nora stared at her long time friend, the tears welling up in her eyes; she turned and walked towards the terrace. Viki followed Nora back out onto the terrace. Nora walked over to the table, turning around to face Viki once again. She walked over to where Viki was standing just inside the terrace doors.

Viki looks down at what Nora is holding in her hand. She looks back up at her, seeing more tears welling up in Nora’s eyes. Nora walks over and sits down on one of the couches. Viki follows her and sits down beside her, “You’re pregnant?”

“Apparently, I mean I haven’t gone to the doctors yet but,” holds up the box, “99.9% accurate they say,” she jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

“So”, pointing at her, “those tears; happy or sad?”

She looks down at the box sitting on her lap and then back up at Viki, “Yes;” she says, “mostly scared.”

“Well all of those feelings are understandable after every thing you’ve been through this past year.” She pauses for a moment, “Have you told Bo?” Nora stands up and walks over to the fireplace, fussing with the flowers on the mantle. Viki stands up and walks over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, “You are going to tell him, aren’t you?”

Nora turned to answer Viki’s question when there was a knock on the door, “Excuse me,” she says as she walks over to the door. She opens it, surprised for the second time that day, “Bo,” pausing for a moment to adjust her clothing once again, “I…I thought we were meeting for lunch.”

“We are, I mean we still can, in a couple of days. I came to let you know that…,” walking into the room, noticing Viki for the first time, “Oh, hi Viki,” turning back to look at Nora, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company. I can come back later.”

Viki grabbed her purse, “Nonsense, Bo you stay,” she looks back over at Nora, “It’s obvious you two have things to talk about.”

Nora walked Viki to the door, pausing for a moment before turning around and looking at Bo, “So you said you had something you wanted to tell me,” she walked over to the table and poured him a cup of coffee.

Taking the cup from her, “Thanks,” he walks over and sits down on the couch. She walks over and sits down across from him. He takes a sip of the coffee, “Sure beats station house coffee.”

She smiles, “Room service.” They just look at each other for a moment. Bo sets his coffee cup down and hands her the pad of paper that he had scribbled his notes on, “What’s this?”

“Our…my biggest lead yet. Apparently someone brought their car into Grady’s garage down on Mill Road, two days after your accident with extensive front end damage and requested a new paint job.”

“I don’t see the connection, it’s pretty circumstantial.”

“Always the lawyer,” he said to himself, “Neither did I at first, but after the lead mechanic skipped town, and his wife found out that he was living in NY with two million dollars in his bank account, she called Mr. Grady and he called me. Apparently Mr. Grady’s son was running the business while he was ill for the past year.”

“And you think this mystery person is the one that caused the accident?”

“Well, I mean I have no proof, but I’m definitely going to check it out.” He pauses for a moment, “I thought you’d be happier about this.”

“I’m happy that you’re so happy, it’s just that…,” she stands up and walks over to the window

He stands up and walks over to where she was standing. He lays his hands on her shoulders and turns her around, “What’s wrong?”

“What if this is just another dead end, Bo? I just don’t want you to be disappointed again.”

“If it’s a dead end then I’ll pull back and start again.”

Deciding to take a chance, she asks him the one question that’s been haunting her, “How long are you going to keep this up?”  

“Until I find the person responsible,” He knew where she was going with this, “I’m not giving up…ever,” He looks down at his watch, “Listen, I’ve got to get to the airport. I’m going to go to New York and track down this mechanic,” He leaned in and kissed her quickly, “I should be back in a couple of days.”

He walked over to the couch and picked the notepad up off the couch. She walked over to him, her hand in her pocket holding onto the pregnancy test, “Bo…”

He turns around and looks over at her, “Yeah…” he notices the look on her face, like she’s waging some sort of internal battle, “Hey, Viki said you had something you wanted to talk to me about. What was it?”

She tightens her grip around the test. His words begin playing back in her mind, ‘Until I find the person responsible. I’m not giving up…ever’” She drops the test back into her pocket, “Oh, that, you know Viki, always the peace maker. Listen, you better get going before you miss your plane.”

“Yeah, I’m going to be cutting it pretty close as it is,” He walks back over to where she was standing and kisses her once again, “I’ll call you after I check into the hotel.”

She walks with him to the door, leaning against it after she closes it. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the test. She walks over to the couch and sits down, just staring at the two lines in the small window. She sets the stick down on the table and picks up the phone, “Larry, its Nora. I need to see you.”

Nora arrives at the hospital an hour and a half later. She had to know for sure before she could even begin to think about the future. Whatever Larry tells her, whether yes or no, is going to change her life, change their lives forever. As she was walking through the hospital doors her cell phone rings. She pulls it out of her purse, turning back around and walking back out of the hospital, “Nora Buchanan.”

He sits on the bed in the small hotel room, a map of NYC spread out on the bed, “Hey, Red, I wanted to let you know I landed safely and just checked into the hotel.” In the background he hears sirens, “Nora honey, are you at the hospital?”

She closes her eyes for a moment, “Umm…yeah I’m meeting with a potential client.”

“Oh,” not sure whether he believes her, “Are you sure you’re okay, Red?”

“I’m fine, Bo. Don’t worry about me; you have enough going on right now.”

“You would tell me if there was something wrong, right.”

“Of course,” she bites her bottom lip, trying to keep the tears at bay, “Listen, Bo I’ve got to get to this meeting. Call me tonight and let me know what you find out.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you tonight, then.” He pauses for a moment, wanting to say those three little words that would naturally end their conversations, not knowing if he should, “Bye Nora,” he says instead.

She sensed his hesitation on the other end of the line as she was having the same battle with herself, “Bye Bo.”

“I love you, Red,” he says to himself.

“I love you, Bo,” she says to herself.

An hour later Bo was leaving the local precinct of the NYPD, after seeing a friend of his from Vietnam that was now a lead detective in NY. He had tried to get information out of the mechanics wife, but she was refusing to implicate her husband any further since they were working on reconciling. He decided instead of pressing her he would just look up his old friend and see what information he could dig up.

Bo stood outside the precinct doors, the humid August air already thick and unbearable, even at this time of the morning. Bo looked down at the address, deciding to find a small diner where he could get in out of the heat and look over his map.

At the same time back in Llanview Nora is sitting in Larry’s office waiting for him to return with her lab results. She couldn’t help but think back to the night of their anniversary party, and how for just that night she had felt at peace. It had been so long since she’d felt that way. She remembered how different their lovemaking had been that night, how intense it was, and if the earlier test was correct, now she knew why. They had conceived a child that night. She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Larry’s door opening.

She turned and looked at Larry, trying to get her answer from his facial expressions. When he didn’t give anything away she nervously shifted in her chair, pushing herself up to the edge, “So…what’s the verdict, Doc?”

TBC…