Chapter Fourteen:

Susannah walked over to the couch and found Nora fast asleep, the fire in the fireplace having been put out hours before. She sat in the chair across from her and turned on the small lamp. She took out her book and started to read, glancing over at Nora every once in awhile. Susannah sighed, “At least she’s sleeping for once,” she thought to herself.

Susannah felt herself growing tired once again. She turned off the light and curled up in the chair. She was awoken a few hours later when she heard Nora scream his name. Susannah rushed to her side, holding her while she tossed and turned in her sleep, the nightmare invading her peaceful sleep. Suddenly Nora sat up, her breathing heavy, her body covered in perspiration, “No…please no.”

Susannah held onto her arms, trying to wake her without startling her, “Nora…Nora, honey wake up.”

Nora’s eyes fluttered open, her heart beating so fast it felt as though it would burst through her chest, “I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry”, she helped her settle back down on the couch, “I’ll be right back…”

Sitting up again, “Where…where are you going?”

“I’m going to go get a cold cloth for you face. You’re soaking wet.”

Nora nodded and settled back down on the couch. A few moments later she felt a hand on her shoulder. She sat up and saw Matthew standing beside her, “Did you have another bad dream, mom?”

“Yeah baby,” she gestures for him to sit down on her lap, “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

“It’s okay; it’s almost time to wake up anyway.” Matthew leaned back against Nora’s chest. He held up the picture of him and Bo. He looked at it for a moment and then took his mother’s hand, placing the picture in it, “Here you can have this for now. It helped me stop having bad dreams.”

Nora tried to fight back the tears as she kissed the back of his head, “Thank you; sweetie. I know this will do the trick.”

Susannah had walked back into the room just moments after Matthew did. She gave them their moment alone. Nora had exactly what she needed to get through, sitting there in her arms.

*~*

“Home…That’s exactly where I hope they take me, Michael,” Bo turned his attention back to the computer, “Here it is,” Bo ran his finger along the screen while he read, “In a tragic turn of events our very own Commissioner Buchanan was killed last night when the bomb that had been placed in his car exploded around 10:15 pm outside the Palace hotel. The Palace hotel is owned and managed by Renee Devine Buchanan, step-mother of the deceased. Also killed in the explosion was Agent John McBain, FBI. There were other minor injuries reported including the Commissioner’s wife and step-mother. Sources tell us that the bomb was sent as a message by the Marcellano crime syndicate.”

“I heard about that case. A few of my fellow DEA agents were involved in bringing them down.”

“Nora was hurt…”

“Her injuries were minor, Bo; and so were your step-mother’s.”

“I know, but just seeing in print that she was hurt felt like a kick in the gut.”

“That’s love, my friend.”

“Love…I just hope I can remember that love”, Bo thinks to himself. He sits back in the chair and continues to read the articles about his memorial service and the subsequent bringing down of those responsible. He pinches the bridge of his nose, his eyes burning from staring at the computer for the past five hours, “So if I was “killed” in Llanview how the hell did I end up in Westchester, NY, two weeks later?”

“You’re the only one that knows the answer to that question. Now it’s just a matter of unlocking it.” Bo stood up and grabbed his jacket off the chair, “Where are you going?”

“To Patrick and Marty’s, it’s about time I start unlocking those memories.”

*~*

Nora walks into her office just after seven that morning. Susannah had taken Matthew to school on her way to the University where she was now teaching a class. She walks over to the window behind her desk and flips open the blinds. She looks out over the city, still blanketed in snow. She never hears him walk into her office, “Amazing…”

Nora jumps at his voice and turns around, her hand resting against her beating heart, “Hank…” She walks over and throws her arms around his neck, burying her head in his chest.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” She lifts her head off his chest. He takes her face in his hands and wipes the tears away with his thumbs, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be here until now.”

She looks up at her ex-husband and can see the pain of losing his best friend; the pain he’s trying so desperately to hide from her, “I wish you had been here too, Hank. It was a beautiful service.” She can tell he’s trying to fight back the tears. She reaches out and lays her hand on his cheek, “Its okay, let it go, Hank, you lost him too.”

They held each other for a few minutes; each taking comfort in the other. Hank broke their embrace and looked around the office, “I like what you’ve done with the place,” he says trying to lighten the mood.

Nora looks around wiping the tears from her cheeks, “Yeah, well it needed an updated look.” She thinks back for a moment to the day that Bo had given her the nameplate that sat on her desk. She shakes it off and smiles up at Hank, “How long are you in town for?”

“I have to go back to London on Thursday.”

She takes his hand and leads him over to the couch, “So how are things with Sheila?”

“Things are good, we’re taking it slow. You know one step at a time. There’s a lot of stuff to get past.”

“Well Bo and I were able to put the past behind us, so if we were able to do it, I know you and Sheila will be able to do the same.”

Hank could see the pain return to her eyes, “You’re going to make it, Nora.”

She nods, “Some days it doesn’t feel that way but I just have to push the pain aside and concentrate on what’s important, and what’s most important is our three children.”

Hank looks at her in confusion, “Three?”

Nora smiles, “I’m pregnant again; can you believe it?”

“I would’ve never been able to tell.”

“Well, I’m still not ready to tell too many people, so you know,” she shrugs, “baggy clothes help.”

“How far along are you?”

“Five months, well 22 weeks to be exact.”

“Just before…”

She looks down at her hands that had instinctively gone to her stomach, “That weekend actually. We had spent the weekend at the Palace. It was our pre-honeymoon.”

“Pre-honeymoon?”

She laughs, “Yeah, we were going to go on a real honeymoon this summer, take the kids; just get away after the craziness of the past year. We just never imagined…” She looked down at her watch, needing to stop thinking about Bo, “Listen, I have an arraignment in twenty minutes,” she walks over and opens her purse, “Here are the keys to the house, go there, make yourself comfortable. Maryanne may or may not be there. Sometimes she takes Destiny to the park across the street. I’ll call her on my way to the courthouse and let her know you’ll be there.”

Hank kissed her on the cheek, “Go be the defender of Justice and I’ll see you at the house later. We’ll catch up.”

Nora grabbed her briefcase and ran out the door. Hank watched her leave, his heart breaking for his ex-wife, his best friend. He had seen how hard she was trying to put up a brave front. He walked over to her desk and picked up the phone, “Shelia, hey baby…yeah I saw her…She’s trying so hard to live her life without him…Listen, honey, I really think she could use your support…Yeah she has her sister but she needs all the love she can get…She’s pregnant, Sheila, and I don’t think she’s dealing with it all that well…Okay, I’ll let her know you’re coming…we’ll just tell her that you had already made plans to come for a visit. Okay, I’ll see you this evening…Love you too, baby.”

Hank hung up the phone and picked up the picture of Bo, Nora and the kids, “Miss you buddy. He put the picture back down on the desk and left her office.

*~*

Bo walked up to the front door and rang the bell. He stood there waiting anxiously; shifting his weight from one foot to another while he waited. He was about to ring the bell again when the door opened and a young woman, with long wavy hair answered the door. She reached out and took him in her arms, “Bo…” He felt comfortable in her embrace, as though it was the embrace of a long time friend; to her it was, to him she was still a stranger. She stepped out of their embrace and smiled, “When Patrick told me you had shown up at our door I couldn’t believe it.”

“Yeah, Patrick had the same look on his face that you do.”

She smiled and stepped aside, “Please come in.”

Bo nodded and walked passed her into the small living room. A little girl, about eight came running into the room. She stopped when she saw Bo sitting on the couch. She looked up at Marty, “Who’s that?”

Marty took her by the hand and led her over to where Bo was sitting, “This is Bo Buchanan, he’s a friend of mine and your daddy’s,” She looks up at Bo, “Bo this is our daughter…NoraLynn.”

Bo looked up at her, “You named your daughter after her?”

Marty looked down at NoraLynn, “Hey my angel, why don’t you go run along upstairs. Ms. O’Connell is waiting to take you to the park.” They both watch the little girl as she runs up to find her nanny. Marty walked over and sat next to Bo, “Yes, we named her after Nora, Nora saved my life on more than one occasion; you did too, Bo.”

“Can you tell me about her…about our life?”

“I’d love to. Where do you want me to start?”

“At the beginning…”