Chapter Fifteen:

Marty poured them both a glass of iced tea and settled down on the couch beside him, “The beginning, well that takes us back quite a few years, back to 1992 to be exact…”

“Thirteen years…Nora and I have known each other that long?”

“Yes, actually you met because of me?”

“You?”

“Yeah,” she laughs, slightly embarrassed to be reliving this part of her life, “Nora was my lawyer and you were the key witness for the prosecution.” He looked at her eagerly awaiting more, “I was a real hell raiser back then, mixed up with drugs along with lots and lots of alcohol. On a dare I drove my motorcycle through the window of The Banner, the town newspaper, where you worked. You were the witness to my crime.”

“So was it love at first sight…you know for Nora and me?”

She laughs, “Definitely not, I mean don’t get me wrong there was an immediate connection, and boy could the two of you argue, but you were engaged to someone else at the time.”

“I was? What happened?”

“The two of you were on your way back from the airport and there was an accident. Your car went off the bridge and into the river. She died instantly.” She paused for a moment, letting that sink in before she continued, “You were grief stricken for a long time, but Nora was there through it all. She brought you back from the edge, literally.”

“What do you mean?”

She took a sip of her drink before continuing, “Nora had a feeling one night, a feeling that something wasn’t quite right with you, and when she stopped by your house and found it empty she stopped by the newspaper. She spoke with Viki, your sister-in-law at the time, who is the owner of the paper, and she found you out on the ledge of the 24^{th floor. You wanted to end your life.”}

“She saved my life.”

Marty nodded, “Yes she did. You’re connection became stronger after that night. You started out as client/lawyer, but quickly became friends. That friendship grew and well you fell in love.”

“So we fell in love and got married?”

Marty laughed, “Oh no, not right away. The two of you were probably the two most stubborn people I have ever met.”

“Tell me about it.”

She leaned back on the couch, remembering in detail all the things that Nora had told them about their life together...about their love story. “You started out working together to find the person responsible for driving you off the road that night and killing your fiancée.” She paused for a moment, “For a little while you even suspected me.”

“But it wasn’t you?”

She shakes her head, “No it wasn’t me. After you found out that I wasn’t the one you gave up the search and concentrated on building a life with Nora. Things were going well in your relationship and you moved in together.” She stands up and walks over to the window. She turns back around and looks over at him, “Something horrible happened to me during that time,” she pauses for a moment, “I…I was raped one night and mistakenly accused your nephew, Kevin of being on of the men that raped me. Nora represented Kevin and three of his fraternity brothers. During my testimony I remembered the night more clearly and I realized that Kevin wasn’t guilty but his fraternity brothers, Powell, Zach, and Todd were the ones that raped me. Halfway through the trial Nora also realized they were guilty and she threw the case, causing a mistrial.”

“Hmm…well I may not remember much but I do know when I lawyer does that, the consequences aren’t pretty.”

“No they’re not but Nora was lucky. She was censored instead of disbarred. She put her career on the line to put my rapists away. That’s one thing I’ll never forget.”

“So what happened to them?”

“They ended up going to prison, but…”

“But what? What happened?”

“Well let me back track a bit before getting to that.” She picked up her ice tea and took another sip, “After the trial you and Nora continued to grow closer, close enough that you decided you were going to ask her to marry you, but the night that you were going to ask her she told you some devastating news.” He sat up, a million different emotions playing across his face, “Ever since Nora came to Llanview from Chicago she’d been having migraines, really bad migraines. After the rape trial these migraines became more severe to the point where she was blacking out; losing minutes at a time. She began to grow suspicious about these blackouts and began investigating the accident that killed your fiancée on her own. All the evidence she was able to recover pointed to only one person being responsible for your accident.”

Cutting her off, “Nora…”

She nodded, “Right, she gathered the evidence and came to the conclusion that she had had a blackout that night on the way to the airport and she ran your car off the road.”

“So we broke up.”

“Yes, you did, and it was devastating for both of you.” Marty chuckled, “The two of you were so miserable and God you were so stubborn, especially Nora. When she digs her heels in she’s very hard to convince. You were the one that finally proved that she wasn’t the one that killed Sarah, it took some convincing but she finally believed you. You eventually proved that it was a truck driver, the one that had pulled you out of the river, who killed Sarah while driving under the influence.”

“Did we get back together?”

She smiles, “Yes you did and that night you asked her to marry you.” Bo smiles a warmth coming over him, “You two were so happy and you even started to plan, well talk about your wedding, but your love was about to be tested again.”

“Again…she had already been through so much. What happened?”

“The migraines turned out to be the result of a brain tumor and Nora went into surgery…alone.”

“What do you mean alone? Where was I?”

“She decided not to tell you. She didn’t want you to be there if something went wrong. Like I said she was stubborn.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to get that. So what happened next?”

“Ultimately you found out about the surgery from her daughter, Rachel. You stayed by her side until she woke up. There was a chance that she would wake up permanently blind but fortunately that didn’t happen…well not right away.”

“She went blind?”

Marty nodded, “You took Nora to a beach house on the Jersey coast to relax and recuperate but a few days later you had to leave on business, an emergency involving the radio station you owned.”

“I left her there, alone.”

“She didn’t really give you much of a choice, according to what she told me, but she did compromise and her daughter came to stay with her.”

“Why do I have a feeling there’s a “but” coming soon.”

“A really big one…named Todd Manning.”

“One of your attackers, but I thought you said he was in prison.”

“He escaped and somehow found Nora alone at the beach house. Shortly after Rachel left to go back to Llanview to celebrate Christmas with her father, Nora began to experience some sight loss, which soon turned into total blindness. Todd had by that time snuck into the house and set out to avenge his conviction, which he blamed her for. He stalked her and he attempted to assault her.”

“Did he…”

“No, she fought him off, even stabbed him in the shoulder with her scissors. That’s when you came in and restrained him, but he escaped from the restraints and disappeared.”

Marty could see the anger in his eyes. He may not remember her or the love they shared but he felt their connection, he knew in his heart he loved her, even if his mind didn’t, “What happened to her, did she regain her sight?”

“She did. They operated once again and she made a full recovery.” She saw him release the breath she knew he had no idea he had been holding, “Life eventually went back to normal or as normal as things could with the two of you. Eventually you would be asked to become Police Commissioner after you rescued another girl from Todd.”

“The Police Commissioner and a defense attorney; that must’ve made for some interesting cases.”

“It sure did but you weathered them, and each time it seemed as though you came out of it stronger than ever.” She walked over to the hutch across the room and pulled out a photo album. She opened it and removed a newspaper clipping she had stuck in between the pages. She handed him the clipping, “That’s the announcement for your first wedding.”

He looked at the picture and smiled, “We weren’t traditional were we?”

Marty laughed, “Traditional and Bo and Nora do not go hand in hand.”

He read the article that accompanied the photo, “Little Richard was at our wedding?”

“You and Nora objected to your own wedding because according to the two of you the wedding that your friends planned for you,” he looked at her curiously, “the two of you just never got around to planning your own,” he nodded, “well you said it just didn’t feel right so you were going to postpone until it was right. You were just about to leave the church when your friend Max Holden sprung a surprise on you.”

“Little Richard.”

“That’s right. You see you and Nora are just old fashioned rock-n-rollers. You love to dance, and believe me the way the two of you dance is amazing. You two have actually won contests.”

“It sounds like we like having fun.”

She smiles, “Fun was what the two of you were all about. You always found a way to laugh at yourself or the situations that you were in.”

He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the busy street. He turned around and looked back at her, “But the fun ended didn’t it?”

“Yes it did. Patrick and I were in hiding by then but we eventually read about what happened between the two of you.” She walked up to him and laid her hand on his arm, “Bo, are you sure you want to hear this?”

He looked at her and nodded, “I need to know it all, Marty, the good as well as the bad.” He walked back over to the couch and sat down.

She sat down beside him, “Now I don’t know a lot of details about what happened between you or what caused you to split up.”

“Just tell me what you know…please.”

“You had a grown son, Bo. He was a cop who was killed in the line of duty. According to what I read you took off one night in a hurricane, on your boat. You eventually came back, but what brought you back and what happened after that I don’t know. I just know that eventually the two of you divorced.”

“When was that? Do you know?”

“I believe I read that the divorce was in 1999, you two had been married almost four years by then. I also remember reading about Nora having a child in early 1999, a little boy, but you weren’t the father.”

Bo stood up and walked over to the window once again, “That must’ve been what broke us up. She had gotten pregnant and the baby wasn’t mine.” He turned back and looked at Marty, “I need to go, I came here to get some answers, and I did, but I still have so many questions.”

“There’s only one place you can get those answers, Bo.”

He shook his head, “I…I can’t go to her, without my memory.”

“Bo, listen to me, if not as your friend but as a doctor. You may never get your memory back,” he looked at her ready to interrupt. She help up her hand, “Please, let me finish. I’m not saying that you won’t remember bits and pieces or that you won’t fully regain your memory, but there is that chance you won’t. Are you willing to live the rest of your life without her? She deserves to know that you’re alive, Bo. She needs to know that you’re alive. Your children need to know that their father is alive.”

“But what if I never remember them?”

She walks over and lays her hand on his cheek, “You start a new life, and you fall in love with your wife and children all over again.”

He leans in and kisses her cheek, “Thank you, thank you for being a friend to me, even though your friendship is something I don’t remember.” He walks over and picks up his coat.

“You saved my life, Bo Buchanan, both of you, and I will forever be grateful for the two of you. Without you Patrick and I wouldn’t have the life we have. Your and Nora’s story is amazing, Bo. The love the two of you have, the connection the two of you share is something that most people only dream about having with their spouse. Please don’t give that up.” She helps him on with his coat, “What are you going to do?”

He turned to her and smiled, “I’m going home.”

TBC…