Chapter Seven:

Nora walks out of their bedroom and makes her way down the hallway to wake Matthew up for school. She knocks on his door, “Matthew, sweetie time to get up.” She was met with silence. She opened his door and walked over to where he was sitting, staring out the window. She laid her hand on top of his head, “It’s time for school, champ.”

Matthew continued to stare out the window, overlooking the back yard, “Dad never finished our tree house. He promised me he was going to finish it.”

Nora fought back the tears, “I know he did…” she leans down and kisses the top of his head, “I’m so sorry, honey.”

“Why did this happen to us, mom? Why did God take him away from us?”

“I wish I knew, baby. I wish I knew.”

*~*

Bo sat up, grimacing; the pain in his side taking his breath away, “Excuse me, but are you going to answer my questions?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t have the answers you’re seeking.”

Bo dropped his head back onto the pillow in frustration. “Why can’t I remember?”

He slowly swung his legs off the bed, grabbing his side. He stood up and slowly walked over to the small window. He looked out trying to see if he could figure out where he was. He looked to the left and to the right, seeing nothing but a field full of wildflowers. He sighed and walked back over to the bed, carefully climbing back up, positioning himself against the pillows.

Out in the hallway the woman opens an office door. She walks over and sits down in front of the desk. She waits patiently for him to finish up his phone call. He places the phone back in the cradle and turns his attention to the woman sitting in front of him, “Is he awake?”

“Yes, and he has no idea who he is.”

“The doctors were afraid of this.” He slams his hands down on the desk, “Damnit!”

“He wants answers.”

“What am I supposed to tell him, Bridget, huh? I have no answers for him. The only thing I can tell him is that I found him passed out in the fields in the back of the house, seriously injured.”

“Then tell him that. You can’t tell him what you don’t know,” she walks around and wraps her arms around his shoulders, “This was supposed to be a quiet vacation for you…for us before we returned to Ireland. You’re still recovering from your own brush with death. You can’t take on this man’s problems.”

“That could’ve been me, Bridge…I could be lying in a bed somewhere, not knowing who I am. Not knowing if I had a family out there, a wife…kids.”

“You’ve already done every thing you could to try and find out who he is, but you said that identifying him via fingerprints would be difficult with the extensive burns on his hands. You’ve…no we’ve given him a place to recuperate, and I’m glad we’ve been able to do it, but other than that, there’s not much we can do.”

He kisses her lightly on the cheek, “I’m going to go in and see him. Could you- bring him in something to eat? I’m sure he’s starving.” They make their way out into the hallway. She walks towards the kitchen and he makes his way to the room at the end of the hall. He knocks on the door, slowly pushing it open, “My wife tells me you have some questions.”

“You’re wife…I thought she was a nurse.”

“No she’s not a nurse.” Noticing Bo’s struggle he walks over to the bed, “Here, let me help you.”

Bo looks over at the man and nods, “Thank you.”

He sits down next to the bed and extends his had, “I’m Michael Taylor.”

Bo shakes his hand, “Nice to meet you, Michael, I’d introduce myself but unfortunately I have no idea who I am. I was kinda hoping you could shed some light on that subject.”

Michael shook his head, “I wish I could, but I have no idea who you are…I’m sorry.”

Bo nods; his disappointment evident, “Where am I?”

“This is my family’s summer home in New York.”

“New York”, he thought about that for a moment, “How did I get here?”

“I don’t know. I found you passed out in the fields out back. I have no idea how you made your way here or what happened to you. The doctor said that you had severe burns on your hands, which you had somehow had presence of mind enough to wrap in pieces of your shirt. You have a few broken ribs and a deep cut above your right eye.”

Bo raises a bandaged hand; touching the cut above his eye, “How long have I been here?”

“Three days.”

*~*

Nora walked back into the house after driving Matthew to school. He had run out of his room in tears that morning. She found him, lying on his back in the tree house, the tears streaking down his face. She held him as he cried for his father for the first time since his death. It had been an exhausting morning and all she wanted to do was shut out the rest of the world, even if just for a moment.

She walked over to the couch and picked up the blanket laying it across the arm of the couch. She picked up her pillow and put it away in the closet at the bottom of the stairs. She walked into the kitchen and over to the cabinet. She reached for a mug, accidentally bumping into another mug, causing it to crash to the floor. She picked up the broken pieces of ceramic; the tears welling up in her eyes as she held them in her hands. Susannah ran into the kitchen when she heard the crash, “What happened?”

Nora turned, holding the broken pieces, “It…It was his favorite, Matthew made it for him in school. He drank out of it every morning; lopsided handle and all.”

Susannah rushed over and helped her over to the kitchen table, “Here let me take those from you,” Nora shook her head and squeezed her hands tighter around the broken shards, only releasing them a few moments later, when she felt the blood trickle down her hand. Susannah took the broken pieces from her and set them down on the table, “You’ve cut yourself; here let me take a look at your hand.”

She pulls her hand back, “No…its fine.”

“No it’s not, now stop being so stubborn and hold this towel over the cut and keep your hand elevated. I’m going to go get the first aid kit.”

Nora raised her hand up and while she waited for her sister to return, her mind slipped back in time…

Nora turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder, “What…I’m sorry did you say something?”

“Didn’t you hear me calling you?” Nora shook her head, “What were you thinking about just now?”

“Nothing…just remembering.”

Susannah just nods, “Here let me look at your hand.”

They sat in silence while Susannah cleaned her cut, carefully wrapping it with gauze. She kept looking up at Nora who was staring straight ahead at the wall behind her, her eyes were so empty. Susannah had seen that look in her eyes once before; the last time she lost Bo. She laid Nora’s hand back down on the table. Nora looked down at the bandage and stood up, walking over to the counter, her back to the table.

Susannah picked up the pieces of broken ceramic and the tube of glue. She glued the pieces back together and placed the mug back on the counter, “Look, it’s not so bad. I knew this could be fixed. Things always seem worse than they are.”

She looked over at her sister, the emptiness that was in her eyes before was now replaced with anger, “Worse than they really are, how can you say that Susannah. My children just lost their father, I’ve just lost my husband; the only…the only man I’ve ever truly loved! This is as bad as it gets, nothing is worse than this kind of loss.” She turned and stormed out of the kitchen into the living room.

Susannah walked out into the living room. She found Nora standing in front of the window, her arms crossed in front of her, “Nora, it’s only been two weeks since Bo’s death. No one is expecting things to be normal. I’m not going to stand here and say that things are ever going to be the same. You’re husband was killed, you’re still trying to come to terms with it…”

“I’m never going to come to terms with it, Susannah, never. My husband was murdered, do you understand that…he died for no other reason than because he was trying to do his job.”

“I know, that honey.” She paused for a moment, “Listen I’m sorry I wasn’t trying to compare how you’re feeling with a broken mug…anyway…I’m sorry.”

She turns to walk away; Nora reaches out and grabs her arm, “I’m sorry for jumping down your throat. I…I’m just so angry, Suze. I just don’t know what to do with all this anger. I feel like I’m drowning in it.”

“That’s understandable, Nora. You’ve had to put on a brave front for Matthew; you have to find an outlet for your feelings, before they take over your life.”

“You’re right, and I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

*~*

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the answers you were looking for.”

Bo nodded, “So, since you can’t tell me about me, why don’t you tell me about you.”

Michael laughed, “Well there isn’t much to tell really. I grew up in this small town, left when I was 18, served two tours in Vietnam, came home, got my masters in criminology from NYU, spent 10 years as a cop for the NYPD, and now I’m a DEA agent.”

“Not much to tell, huh?” Both men laughed, “You said you were married, any children?”

“We have a son, he’s seven. We’re expecting another child in a few months.”

“Congratulations.”

Both men look up when the door opened. Michael walks over and takes the tray from Bridget, “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You’re welcome, Red.”

Bo looks over at Michael, “What did you just say?”