Regrets & Repercussions

~ Alex Romero refused to ride in the ambulance with his step son, Norman Bates. Not when there was the real possibility that he might kill the teenager right now. He would have gladly have left that monster to die in the gas filled bedroom if it hadn't been for Norma. If his wife had lost her son, her favorite son, she would never recover.

Alex knew this, and that was why he dragged the lanky youth out of the bed and into the hallway. His instincts and all his police training were telling him to rescue them both and sort out the details of who was at fault later.

"Sheriff, we need to ask you some questions." he heard a voice call to him before he followed the stretcher with Norma in it down the hall.

"It can wait." he barked back at whom ever was talking to him.

Romero looked down at Norma's pale face. Her perfectly formed lips were still blue, but her eyes were open at least. She seemed dazed by what had happened to her. Her chest rattling with each breath and the O2 mask obscuring her features to the point her new husband didn't recognize her.

"It's okay, baby." he whispered when the paramedics started to lift the stretcher down the flight of stairs. A chore that seemed to take forever to finish. Her fragile body tilting slightly as the handlers maneuvered her down.

Norma's eyes widened and her husband took hold of her hand. Her grasp was firm, but her fingers were shockingly cold.

"Norma, I'm here." Alex said again. He wasn't used to this. Showing affection to her in front of others. Proving to outsiders he wasn't made of stone after all. That carefully crafted facade as Sheriff; a man who found no joy or humor in anything. It was hard to let that guard down and make himself vulnerable.

With Norma, alone with her as his wife, it was easier. That facade seemed to break down with her. Like she could see right through him and wasn't fooled for a second. With her, he could smile and the ice around his heart would melt slightly. It was only with Norma tough. They both spoke each other's language. Words no one else could understand.

It was strange how easily they had given their hearts to each other.

Barely two weeks as a husband hadn't engrained in him all he needed to know to care for a wife. All he did know, was that he couldn't leaver her side. Not now. Not ever.

As soon as they were outside, he immediately cursed the fact that there was even more stairs to the parking lot. Norma had told him once, the night they were married in fact, that all the stairs had done wonders for her gluts. A charge he didn't argue with, but was extremely thankful for. It had been a long running joke between them that he could never keep his hands off her backside.

"We're just going to the hospital. Everything's fine." he was saying to her.

The paramedics finally reached the bottom of the hill and starting to load Norma into the ambulance.

"Sheriff?" someone was saying.
"I'm going with her." he said cooly.

He turned to the person in charge. A detective from a neighboring county and tried his best not to explode with rage.
"Her son stays away from us." Romero growled. "I don't want him anywhere near her."

"Why?" the detective asked suspiciously.

Romero tried to remain calm while he watched the paramedics hook Norma up to better machines.
"Because he did this." he said finally. "I don't know how, but he did this."

~ The hospital immediately put Norma into an oxygen tent and Alex was relived to see her color returning.

"She's going to be okay, right? I mean, there was no brain damage?" he asked the doctor.

"We'll know more in the morning, Sheriff. Carbon dioxide poisoning can be tricky. Another few minutes of exposure and she wouldn't have woken up at all." the doctor said. "She's very lucky you arrived home when you did."

"Lucky." Alex repeated.

Just now, his wife looked so breakable, he didn't feel lucky.

"I'll need to run some tests and get a complete medical history from you." the doctor said.

"Okay." Alex said feeling numb. "I don't want her son anywhere near her."

The doctor looked indifferent.

"Alright. Any drug allergies?" he asked.

Alex opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again. He wasn't sure if Norma was allergic to any medications.

"I… I'm not sure." he admitted.

"Is she currently on any medications?"

"I don't know."
"Any previous surgeries?" the doctor asked.

Alex shook his head.
"I don't think so." he said carefully.

"Who's her normal doctor?"

Alex felt embarrassed by his lack of knowledge.

"I don't know." he said.

"How long have you two been married?" the doctor asked skeptically.
"Two weeks." Alex admitted and didn't bother to explain.

"Well, I'll go ahead and do a complete work up. She'll be on your insurance, correct?" the doctor asked.

"Yes." Alex said. "Just… just make sure she's okay."

"We will, Sheriff. Her son Norman is already here. He's going to be fine. We have him in the room across the hall." the doctor said.

"I don't care about him." Alex snapped harshly.

~ "This wasn't an accident." Alex told Detective Chambers in the empty hospital dinning room.

"You told me the furnace was broken." Detective Chambers reminded him.
"We had that repaired." Alex explained. "I didn't smell gas in any other part of the house. Just her… our bedroom."

He looked away at the slip up.

"How long have you two been married?" Chambers asked. She was a nice looking blond woman in her early forties. Her voice was very kind and Romero found in hard to believe she was in law enforcement. She looked more cut out to be a doctor, or therapist. Someone who listens to other people.

"Why does that matter? She's my wife." he said.

"It matters." Chambers said calmly. She handed Romero a piece of paper in an evidence bag.

Alex immediately recognized Norma's girlish handwriting. His heart ached at the sight of the ring, his wife's ring, carelessly placed in the clear evidence bag along with a folded note.

The detective allowed the Sheriff to remove the note. Alex looked over the feminine swirls and big loopy writing that could only belong to his wife. The note was a tad dramatic. Even for Norma.

"Did you know she was leaving you, Sheriff?" Chambers asked.

Romero felt the walls around him rise up. Felt himself barricade against an enemy attack.

"No, she wasn't leaving me." he said sourly.
"That note suggests otherwise." Chambers said.
"She wasn't leaving me. We had an argument. We would have worked it out." he growled.

"Did your wife make any threats of suicide?" Chambers asked.

"She didn't do this!" Alex snapped.

His voice echoed in the empty dinning hall and Chambers leaned away from him.

Romero had to tell himself to calm down. Had to remind himself now was not the time to lose control. He wished Norman Bates, that little shit, was here right now. He would shoot him right between the eyes.

"My wife wasn't like that." he said calmly. "Her son… Norman, he has issues. He was at Pine View for two weeks and was allowed to come home. He didn't like the fact his mother and I had gotten married."

"You think, the son, Norman Bates wrote that note?" Chambers asked.
Honestly, Romero knew Norma had written this letter of farewell. He could picture her writing it, carefully taking off the ring he'd given her, and leaving it behind for him to find. Yet, he also knew Norma's temper was soon eased with time and his own refusal to let her stay mad at him. She would have come back to him within hours anyway.

"We found that the old boiler was lit." Chambers explained. "Every vent in the house was shut off expect for the one in the master bedroom."

"He must have waited till she was asleep." Romero reasoned. "Norma and I…" he felt his voice quiver slightly at saying her name. "We, um… we were going to fix the house up together. She wanted to fix the house up. It was going to be… like our project. Something to do together."

"I see." Chambers said and wrote something in her notebook.
Romero tipped out the impressive ring from the evidence bag into his hand. He wanted it back on Norma's finger immediately.

"That's evidence." Chambers explained.

"No, the note is evidence." Romero argued. He could feel his resolve becoming stronger again. Some of the steel returning to him. "My wife is keeping her ring."

~ Norma opened her eyes and prayed she wouldn't throw up again. She felt as if her entire body had been poisoned. As if everything inside her was soured and dying.

It was a sickness that was nothing like morning sickness had been when she was pregnant. That kind of sickness was hot and quick. When it was over, it was done. Her skin sweating, her body feeling bloated and sore.

No, this kind of sickness was like she was rejecting something. Like she was trying to expel something toxic.

'Not again.' she thought and leaned over just as the foul smelling vomit bubbled out of her mouth.

"It's okay, Mrs. Romero." said a nurse holding her hair back. "Lets get it all out."

Norma gasped and threw up again.

"I'll get you some water. You can rinse your mouth out." the nurse was saying when Norma tried, but couldn't make herself throw up again.

She was vaguely disturbed that her vomit was black. What had she eaten to produce such a thing? What was wrong with her? What had happened?

Norma's body felt cold and clammy, even to herself. Her sweat wasn't from being too warm, but from her body trying to cast out whatever toxic thing was in her.

The nurse gave her some water, Norma rinsed and spat it out. Her mouth still feeling gross. The nurse was kind enough to dampen a wash cloth and clean her face. Norma lacking the energy to do such a thing on her own.

"I'm sick." she finally complained.
"You're not sick." the nurse said calmly. She dried Norma's face and started work on cleaning her hands. Norma, childlike, allowing the nurse to tend to her.

"I'm so cold." Norma whimpered.
"You have about four blankets on you, ma'am. Heat is turned to eighty. I can't get you any warmer." the nurse explained.

"Why?" Norma cried pitifully.
"Shhh." the nurse said at last. "You don't need to get all worked up. You're alright. Your husband is talking to the doctor now and then he'll be in to see you."

"My husband?" Norma panted slightly. "No, no."

"It's okay."

"No, there was a mistake. He's…" Norma tried to explain but she felt dizzy again. Even laying here in bed, trying to figure her world out was too taxing. She felt the light turn sideways and her head become too big and heavy.

She wasn't sure how long she was out, but she heard the voices first.

"She's talking some, Sheriff." a woman's voice said.
"She's sweating. She's too hot." a demanding voice accused.
"Sheriff, she's complaining she's too cold." the female voice explained.

"The sweating is normal just now. Her body is trying to get rid of the poison." a male voice, calm and collected, said.

"Norma?" a voice called to her.

"She's been throwing up?" another voice asked.

"Yes, doctor."

"Start her on an IV. Don't let her get dehydrated."

"Yes, Doctor."

"Norma, open your eyes." that demanding voice told her.

She did as the voice asked. A part of her wanting to purposefully ignore him, but a bigger part of her wanted to see what was happening.

She blinked back at the bright lights cutting into her eyes.

"Norma?"

She felt someone take her hand. Hands that were strong, calloused and surprisingly gentle.

"Norma, open your eyes."

She looked lazily up at whoever was speaking and saw him. His dark eyes and hair. His expression concerned, but far too serious. He would be a handsome man if he wasn't so angry looking.

"Norma?"

She blinked and her brain tried to work out where she had seen him before. Where she had felt those hands before. He was so familiar to her. She felt like she should know him. Should know all about him and was embarrassed she couldn't even remember his name.
"Are you real?" she asked him.

His serious face seemed to evaporate and she was rewarded with a smile.

"Yes, I'm real." he whispered. He leaned over her bed and kissed her forehead.

She flinched slightly and tried to move away. Long experience had taught her to be leery of men in general. Men always hurt you. Always. The man you loved the most, he would hurt you the worst.

"What's happening?" she gasped and looked around the room. She didn't know where she was. Didn't understand what was happening.

"It's okay." the man who kissed her forehead was saying. His hands were insistent upon holding hers.

"No." she cried weakly and tried to push him away.

"Sheriff, it's normal for there to be some mental confusion." a voice was saying. Norma squinted in another direction and saw a figure in white was talking.
"She should rest now. She'll be feeling more like herself in the morning." the voice was saying.
"I should stay with her." the man who wanted to hold her hands said. His expression was concerned and those eyes of his were always searching for something on her. Like he was looking for the real her.

"Sheriff, this is an oxygen rich room. We can't be in here for too long." the other man was saying.

Norma felt fear at the idea that this man would leave, at the same time, she feared that he might stay. She looked up at him and his hands were smoothing down her hair.

"Norma, you're going to be fine." he said. "Here."

He picked up her hand, her entire body feeling so weak she thought her bones might be made of lead. She watched him slip something shimmery onto her finger. The weight and feel of the object was familiar and pleasant.
"Thank you." she whimpered and felt her lower lip tremble with the sudden bubble of emotion.
"I'll be back in the morning." he was saying and she felt her heart speed up when his lips went back to her forehead.

She wasn't sure yet how she knew him, but she wanted him to come back. Wanted to be around him. A feeling deep in her gut telling her she could trust him.

"I love you." he whispered in her ear before leaving her alone for the night.

So, we closed on our new house on the 14th and are about 80-90% moved in now. We really love it here but the stress of moving is the worst. I don't know how people move across country. It's just us (hubby and I) and we moved within the same town! I can't imagine how people do it across country and with kids and pets and new jobs and schools.

But the worst is over with regard to moving and I hope to be back to writing more and more. I will work on my erotica for this story, but we will see. I've got some lovely Normero moments planned for the upcoming chapters.

I want to thank all of you for your support during this very difficult and life changing year.

It makes me feel very loved that total strangers are so supportive.

I'll be posting new pictures of the house on Instagram. You can find me at Angelofthemorning1978. I'll also do teasers for each chapter just like TSCB. I'll return to TSCB soon. I've got big plans.

Leah