Chapter Three:
Vicki continues to pace back and forth; glancing every few minutes at the elevator; willing him to show up before it’s too late. She was looking through the window; lost in thought when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and immediately looked into his frightened blue eyes.
“Vicki, what’s wrong with, Nora?”
“Just go in and see her, Bo. The two of you need to talk.”
Bo nods and pushes open the door. Larry looks between the ex-spouses and knows exactly why Bo’s there. He pats Nora’s arm and stands up to leave, patting Bo’s shoulder on the way out.
Bo walked over to the side of her bed; their eyes never breaking the hold they had on each other. He sits down beside her; wanting to hold her hand, but not sure if it’s what he should do. Finally he just lays them in his lap and looks around the room; his eyes settling on the monitor beside her bed and suddenly everything is clear…
“So, how long have you known?”
“A week.”
“We’re you going to tell me?”
“Yes, of course I was.”
“When?”
“I really don’t know. I’m still trying to come to terms with it myself.”
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to suggest that you weren’t going to tell me.”
“It’s okay. (pauses for a moment) I’m so sorry, Bo.”
“Sorry about what?”
No longer able to hold back her tears, “For ruining your life again.”
Taking her hand in his; wiping her tears away with his other hand, “Don’t be sorry, Red. We’re in this together.”
“But what about Gabrielle?”
“Let me worry about Gabrielle, okay? You take care of yourself and our baby.”
Quietly, “Our baby…”, she said as the tears fell once again.
“Come on, Red. What’s with the tears?”
“We’re having a baby, Bo, you and me, but…we’re not together, you’re engaged to be married. We’ve made one hell of a mess out of our lives, Bo.”
“No, Nora, what we’ve made is a child and that child deserves to come into this world”, standing up and walking towards the door, “So we’re going to table the heavy discussion and I’m going to go get Larry.”
“Bo…”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for what?”
“I don’t know…for coming here today.”
“As soon as Vicki said you were in trouble and said you needed me there was something down deep inside of me that told me I had to come. I’ll be right by your side, Red. I’m not walking away this time.”
Nora just nodded as a batch of fresh tears wells up in her eyes; finally spilling over onto her cheeks.
“I’ll be right back.”
Bo walked down the hallway towards Larry’s office. All he could think about was the idea of having another child; and not just another child, but another child with Nora; thoughts of Gabrielle never crossed his mind…
Bo knocked on Larry’s open door…
Looking up from his desk, “Bo, come on in.”
“Thank you, Larry, for giving Nora and me some time alone to talk. As you can probably see this situation is a bit awkward and there are a few more people than just Nora and I to consider here.”
“Bo, you and Nora are like family to me and although I understand the awkwardness of this situation, I can’t say that I’m surprised at all that it was you who walked through that door today.”
“You weren’t? Why?”
“Bo, can you honestly say that you don’t feel the connection between you and Nora? It’s never left, and if you don’t believe me then I have proof right here in black and white”, handing Bo the small photograph, “That’s your baby, Bo, yours and Nora’s. You look at that image in front of you and tell me that you and Nora aren’t connected.”
Bo looks up with tears in his eyes, “I can’t.”
“I didn’t think so”, patting Bo on the back, “Let’s get Nora out of here and home where she’ll be more comfortable.”
“Larry, before we do that can you tell me what caused this? Why was she brought here? How close did she come to losing the baby?”
“Honestly Bo, I’m surprised she didn’t lose the baby. Nora was severely dehydrated and her blood pressure was a bit high. We’ve given her IV fluids and her blood pressure’s returned to normal levels. She’s extremely lucky that Vicki was able to get her here in time.”
“What does she have to do to keep this from happening again?”
“The dehydration came from her lack of appetite and morning sickness. Unfortunately the morning sickness is going to be hanging around for another month or so, she’ll need to make sure she tries to keep the fluids in her.”
“What about the blood pressure?”
“This pregnancy is at an extremely high risk due to Nora’s age. She’s going to have to try and remain as stress free as she can. She’s going to need a lot of support, Bo.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“No stress, Bo. I’m serious.”
“I understand, Larry. I’m going to do everything right this time, and I mean everything.”
Bo takes Nora home and helps her to bed…
Sitting beside her on the bed, “I’ll be back in a few hours. I’ve got to talk to Gabrielle.”
“Bo, please, don’t rush into any decisions right now. I don’t want you making any changes in your life that you’re going to regret later. Take some time to figure out what you want.”
Laying his hand on top of her which is lying on her stomach, “I know what I want, Nora. I want my family.”
“Bo…”
Placing his finger on her lips, silencing her objections, “I’m not saying we’re going to jump right into anything, but I’m going to be here for you and for our children. You have a guest room don’t you.”
“Bo...you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. I’m where I need to be, Nora, where I want to be. Let me be there for you, for our baby.”
“I do want you here, Bo. God, I know it’s wrong but I do.”
Kissing her softly on the lips, “Then let me do what I know is right. Let me set things right with Gabrielle. I do care about her…and maybe I even thought I loved her, but one thing I know for sure is I’m not in love with her. I know exactly who holds my heart; it’s just taken me a really long time to finally realize it.”
“Take your time, Bo. We’ll be waiting right here for you when you get back.”
He calls Gabrielle but she’s not home. He leaves a message on her cell phone, telling her to meet him at the station; they needed to talk. He knows what he has to do; he has to take care of his family. The first thing he has to do is tell Gabrielle the truth…the truth that he finally realized today...