Note: Hi folks it's me again, I got to reading the reviews you all left for chapter 34 of Filling In the Blanks and the guilt hit me head on – it really feels like I short changed you all by ending it the way I did. Truly it was meant as a filler between scenes but as one reviewer pointed out there was a major blank left unfilled. So I did a little thinking and came up with this, an early Christmas present to all you wonderful Minx fans out there.
Disclaimer: AMC does not belong to me, I'm merely borrowing some of its lovely characters to feed an addiction. My name is Ela Roy and I'm a Minxaholic!
Filling In The Black
The sound reverberated inside Bianca's head, she knew it so well, too well and had someone else's scream not followed it she would have thought it another of her nightmares. It seemed the scream more than the gunshot itself sent people flying towards the ground; a harried effort to take shelter from the possibility of imminent danger. But Bianca didn't throw herself at the ground, she didn't think of herself or the likelihood that someone somewhere might be trying to shoot her; no Bianca's mind, just like her body, turned to her lover, turned to the one woman in the world who had made her feel whole again. What Bianca saw brought her to her knees.
/
The gunshot had startled Marissa, the sound hitting her ears before the bullet made it to her body. She had been trying to tell Bianca that Erica had moved, trying to speed the effort at which it would take to get them out of the mansion and back to their bedroom. Marissa had sensed something amiss, something menacing and she had wanted to take Bianca away from it; when the searing pain hit her she knew she was too late.
/
Another shot rang out in the room sending the small crowd into a panic. Jackson Montgomery stood near the exit but he made no effort to leave instead he turned to the wall closest to him sure that he had heard something more than the gunshot. Above the din of the shocked crowd there was a clatter, a rumbling that suggested the wall might cave.
"Quiet. Everyone be quiet."
His voice bellowed above the hysterical whispers and whimpering, the normalcy of his tone causing enough of a silence for him and several others to hear the clattering behind the wall. Adam Chandler crawled across the room, Jessie Hubbard following close on his heels with Zach Slater, Ryan Lavery and David Hayward making the same movements. They were prying open a secret door when Bianca's voice tore through the room, the grief and despair in it so terribly reminiscent of that hospital waiting room years ago, where the people of Pine Valley had gathered after the storm that had taken her daughter.
"Marriissssa. Noooo! Marrissa!"
/
Bianca hovered over her fallen lover, her eyes seeing the blood and her mind threatening to close in at the sight. Marissa was pale, horribly pale and her beautiful lips had formed a strangled whimper.
"Baby…."
The brunette watched in despair as hazel eyes slowly closed.
"Noooo Marissa nooo. You can't leave me. You can't do this. I love you don't leave me. Don't do this. Please God don't do this."
/
David Hayward's heart, frozen from years of pain and loss, cracked a little as he heard the emotion in Bianca's voice. He pushed past people to get to his daughter. Dr Joe Martin was already hunkering down trying to help the fallen redhead but David pushed him aside.
"Get your hands off her, you're not taking another of my daughters."
Krystal Carey moved closer afraid of what she would see but more afraid of the rage and hatred in David's voice. She looked beyond his huddled form to see the paler of their daughter's face.
"Save her David, you have to save her."
The desperation in Bianca's voice brought the crowd closer. Everyone watched as David Hayward placed a white handkerchief to his daughter's upper arm, its colour instantly changing to a vibrant red.
"I need to stem the flow."
"A tourniquet, you need a tourniquet."
David was too busy ripping off his tie to pay heed to Joe Martin's voice.
"She's alive right, David she's alive isn't she?"
Krystal words were met with a hushed silence.
/
Bianca was clutching at Marissa's free hand trying to ignore how cold it had turned. David was muttering something about arteries and vessels and blood loss but Bianca couldn't really hear him, her eyes were on Marissa's chest watching the slow rise and fall, praying it wouldn't stop that it would never stop. Brown eyes rose to her lover's face, to the ghastly paleness of that soft skin and the fading pink of those wonderful lips.
"I love you. I love you so much. And I know I should have said it sooner than today, that I should have said it months ago in that hotel room because that's how long I've been feeling it. But I was afraid because love and me we never work, no matter how much I want it to we never work. So I didn't say it, I didn't want to tempt fate and tell you how much and how deeply I love you because then something would happen. Something always happens. And I didn't think my heart could risk losing you, not after you mended it. You mended me Marissa. No maybe mend isn't the right word, I don't think I was broken I think I think maybe I just wasn't whole. Something was missing and that something was you."
The silence in the room was deafening as Bianca closed her eyes letting the tears finally break free and flow down her face. A hand settled on the brunette's shoulder and Bianca knew without looking that it was Kendall. Her sister had always known when to offer a quiet support and when to rush in with words. It had been Kendall's words, her sisterly advice that had given Bianca the courage to tell Marissa of her attraction all those months ago. And it had been the best, the greatest decision of her life. Marissa had taken a little time but it had all been worth it, every shy glance, every nervous second, every hopeful moment had been worth what they had together.
"We're meant to be together Marissa. Remember?"
/
"To…get..her….toget..her."
Hazel eyes slowly opened and found glistening brown. Marissa watched the grief on Bianca's face gave way to shock and then finally be replaced by one of those smiles; one of those Bianca Christine Montgomery smiles that made all kinds of strange things happen in Marissa's body. Even now with blood still ebbing from her, her pulse weakened and her body in partial shock she could still feel the power of Bianca's smile.
"I….love…you…too….remember?"
There was a chuckle from Krystal who recognised the teasing in her daughter's weak voice. The sound brought a sigh of relief around the room. Bianca caressed her lover's cheek her eyes brimming with emotion as she lowered her face to Marissa's.
"I remember absolutely everything you've ever said to me."
The kiss was interrupted by David who cleared his throat several times to no avail and was forced to gently grab Bianca's arm.
"We need to get her to a hospital, she needs blood."
"I've got loads she can have mine."
Bianca's hurried words made Marissa laugh but its effect brought a strangled moan to her thinning lips.
"Honey take it easy, you've been shot."
Hazel eyes met David's.
"Duh….Dad."
The shocked smile on David's face was the last thing Marissa saw before she finally gave in to the need to close her eyes.
/
Bianca's heart was doing something very strange in her chest, fluttering maybe or floating. She wasn't sure, she just knew she didn't think she had ever felt so happy as she did when those hazel eyes had opened. Marissa was alive, they were okay, everything was going to be just okay. Wasn't it?
"David she is going to be okay isn't she?"
David's features softened as he turned from muttering something terse to Joe Martin, his hand squeezed Bianca's arm in reassurance.
"As long as she gets some blood, she'll be as good as new in no time."
Bianca caught a slight waver in his voice and knew he was holding back.
"What aren't you telling me?"
David shook his head.
"Let's just wait for the ambulance Bianca."
The brunette wanted to press for more but another voice interrupted her, its urgency hard to ignore.
"We need a doctor over here!"
/
Ryan Lavery's voice sounded like it was coming from another room and yet he was still stood in the parlour. His upper body was turned away from the crowd, his head hidden behind the door frame which led to a secret passage. There was an expression of horror on his face as he turned back to the parlour.
"A doctor now!"
Jake and Joe Martin rushed across the room disappearing from view into the secret doorway.
"Lights someone get some lights in here. Jesus!"
The voices rose and fell, mayhem ensuing until the first of the paramedics arrived. Joe Martin stepped from the secret doorway his hands covered in blood.
"Over here. We've got a gunshot wound to the head."
The paramedics turned from Marissa. David's face was like thunder when he looked to the elderly Martin.
"Not on your life old man. Whoever you have in there tried to kill my daughter and I'll be damned if I let you finish their job."
Joe Martin looked beyond David Hayward's sneer and met Bianca's worried gaze.
"Doctor Joe?"
Bianca wasn't sure what was going on and for once in her life she didn't care, she didn't care about anything other than getting Marissa the help she needed.
"I can't lose her."
The old man shook his head at the paramedics who turned back to Marissa getting her onto a stretcher and out of the room.
"If my son dies because of this I'll have you for murder."
Adam Chandler's voice echoed in Bianca's head as she rushed out after the paramedics.
/
Marissa was floating somewhere between bliss and hell. Her arm ached, in fact her whole left side ached and she was sure she had an egg on the back of her head. But then euphoria would rush into her and she'd forget her own name.
"Bloody drugs!"
There was a familiar chuckle at Marissa's slurred words that brought hazel eyes open to see Bianca sitting at the bedside smiling at her.
"Hello there."
Bianca's chuckle turned to a full out laugh; the redhead sounded like she might be a little high.
"Hello."
Marissa watched the brunette in silence for several long minutes before scowling.
"Don't I even get a kiss?"
Bianca started to laugh again making the scowl deepen. A soft hand came to rest on Marissa's cheek soothing gently, the lawyer made to lift her hand so that she could take Bianca's but her breath caught at the pain that burned through her left arm.
"Maybe you should try not moving that arm."
Those hazel eyes did not look impressed with the brunette's cajoling words.
"We were discussing a kiss not my arm."
Bianca was giggling as she bent her lips to scowling ones and kissed Marissa reverently.
"I love you."
Marissa smiled.
"Em yeah I remember."
The brunette giggled again and Marissa decided she'd much rather listen to that lovely giggle than find out what was going on with her arm.
"How do you feel?"
Marissa smiled.
"A little high, a little low."
Bianca's face creased with concern.
"A little low?"
"Yeah I much prefer waking up with you in bed with me not sitting beside it."
The blush that suffused the brunette's cheeks made Marissa smile.
"I remember you saying earlier that you thought I was more beautiful when I blushed but you Bianca are simply stunning when you blush."
Brown eyes filled with emotion.
"Are you seriously flirting with me from your sick bed?"
Marissa grinned.
"Can't help it it's the effect your beauty has on me."
Another blush rushed across the brunette's cheeks making Marissa smile with pride, she closed her eyes to that beautiful vision and slipped back into sleep.
/
"Any change?"
Bianca had barely closed the door to Marissa's room before Kendall was by her side. All it took was a smile and the older Kane was wrapping herself around Bianca.
"See I told you she'd be good. You need to have more faith in your big sister."
The younger Kane's arms tightened in response to the teasing words. There were two women in Bianca's life that she had nothing but faith in, one was lying in a hospital bed recovering from the surgery needed to stem the damage of a gunshot wound, the other was now hugging her; a life without either was not a life Bianca ever wanted to think about.
"I do Kendall but this is Pine Valley and things sometimes go a little crazy here."
Kendall snorted and pulled away to gaze at her pale sister. It had been a long slow 24 hours and each seemed to show on Bianca's face.
"You need sleep Binks, why not go home and take a nap I'll stay here?"
Bianca shook her head.
"I'll nap in the room, I don't want Marissa hearing the news from anyone but me. Did you send Mom home?"
Kendall shook her head.
"No she's in the restroom."
"And uncle Jack?"
"Is right behind you princess."
Bianca turned to the smiling man whose arms opened instantly. The brunette stepped into the hug feeling the gentle kiss Jack placed on the top of her head.
"Uncle Jack you and Mom….."
Jackson Montgomery pulled away to stare into worried brown eyes.
"Are old enough and wise enough to sort out our own messes."
When Bianca's brow arched Jackson smiled.
"Maybe wise enough is stretching it a little but my point is we're not something you need to think or worry about. Marissa is all that matters right now, getting her better and you both back to that lovely home you have made together."
Bianca tried to object but another voice silenced her.
"Jack is right Bianca you, Marissa and your beautiful children are what's important right now. Everything else can wait."
Erica Kane glanced briefly at Jackson Montgomery before pulling her daughter into a bone crunching hug.
"Everything will be fine sweetheart, I promise."
/
David Hayward quietly opened the door to Marissa's room and found his daughter wide awake watching her partner sleep. Marissa was smiling and it didn't dim in its usual way when she turned to look at him, instead she beckoned David forward with her good arm.
"Come in, I think she'll be out of it for another while. She was exhausted."
Bianca lay curled up on the seat next to the bed, her arm stretched out so that her hand was lying flat across Marissa's tummy. David smiled at the sight, Bianca wasn't going to let go not even in sleep.
"She had a pretty rough time of it last night."
Marissa nodded.
"So I heard, a five hour surgery was not how we'd planned on ending our night. Thank you by the way."
David sighed.
"It's not over yet Marissa, you have a long road of physical therapy ahead of you. And there is the risk of permanent nerve damage."
To the doctor's surprise Marissa smiled.
"I'm alive, Bianca's alive and we're here together. When that bullet hit me and things started to turn black all I could hear was the pain in Bianca's voice, the grief and despair that I had promised never to bring her. I haven't broken my promise. I'm here and I'm never leaving her. Never."
Hazel eyes turned back to gaze at Bianca and David watched the smile grow deeper on his daughter's face.
"I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving to her that love and her do work. I love her and she loves me and we work."
David smiled and slipped onto the edge of Marissa's bed.
"She's a pretty amazing woman isn't she?"
Marissa turned back to her father with a smile.
"She's more than amazing."
"Did I ever tell you about the first time I met Bianca?"
The redhead shook her head and lay listening to David's calm soothing voice as he recounted some of the history between him and Bianca Christine Montgomery. Marissa fell asleep within minutes.
"There was a time when I loved her like the daughter I never knew I had."
David stared from one sleeping woman to the other.
"And maybe someday I can prove to you both that I still do. Maybe someday I can be the Dad you called me yesterday."
/
When Marissa gasped in pain Bianca came awake with a start. Hazel eyes glistened with tears as the redhead rolled onto her back. Bianca soothed a pale cheek with one hand and reached for the nurse's button with the other.
"Don't please."
Marissa's voice was full of pain.
"Sweetie they can give you something to help ease it."
The lawyer shook her head.
"I don't want more drugs they make me drowsy."
Bianca's fingers stroked along Marissa's cheek, the motion causing pain filled eyes to close briefly.
"Drowsy is good and sleeping is better."
Marissa opened her eyes to stare at Bianca.
"I don't want to sleep."
"Why?"
"Because I'd much rather be awake and looking at you."
Bianca knew her lover was avoiding the question.
"And I'd much rather you be asleep and letting your body heal so that I can take you home."
Hazel eyes began to glisten again.
"Marissa sweetie talk to me."
"I keep dreaming the same dream."
Bianca waited knowing her lover was trying desperately to hold back her tears.
"I can hear your voice, hear the pain and fear in it and I try to talk to tell you it's okay but the words won't come. They didn't come."
The brunette moved closer cradling Marissa's head against her chest as she tried to soothe her.
"But they did and it is okay, you're here and you're going to be fine sweetie. Everything is as it should be."
Marissa gulped back tears.
"I'm so sorry Bianca, I'm sorry I hurt you."
Bianca shook her head.
"You didn't hurt me, none of this is your fault. There is only one person to blame."
Marissa's body went rigid with tension and Bianca pulled away to gaze into hazel eyes full of anger. The lawyer's reaction had been the same every time JR's name was mentioned.
"I want him to wake up, I want him to wake up and pay for what he did."
Bianca sighed softly; David Hayward and Joe Martin were in agreement for the first time in years; both were sure there was no hope of JR Chandler ever waking from the coma he now lay in.
"There is a chance that might never happen."
Marissa's anger did not alter, if anything it only deepened.
"He could have killed someone."
Bianca's mind filled with the horrible image of Marissa lying on that floor, blood oozing from the redhead taking all of the colour and vitality from her face. A warm hand settled upon Bianca's bringing her away from that ghastly image and back to reality. There was no anger in the eyes that held Bianca's transfixed, there was no sign of the woman who wanted revenge, wanted to make JR pay for the damage he had done.
"It's over."
Brown eyes blinked in confusion as Marissa's lips formed a small smile. The lawyer caressed Bianca's hand, her touch soft and warm and full of love just like her eyes were. Marissa had recognised the look on Bianca's face, it was the same one she had seen yesterday when she'd fought her way out of darkness so that she could reassure her partner that they were together, that they would always be together. The past had tortured Bianca enough and Marissa would die ten times over rather than see her partner hurt any more.
"We've given JR Chandler enough of our time, he isn't getting one more second. He could have killed you, hell he nearly killed me. It ends there. We survived and we're not looking back."
Bianca wondered at the sudden change, ever since she'd told Marissa about JR anger had been her consistent response. Marissa's smile seemed to grow as Bianca continued to stare at her in confusion.
"I can be angry and bitter which will only make us both unhappy or I can leave the past where it belongs and spend the rest of my life making you happy, us happy."
It was the healthier approach to the situation but Bianca could not help but worry about the future; what if Adam Chandler tried to take AJ from them?
"And if Adam decides he wants AJ?"
Bianca was a little shocked when hazel eyes flashed dangerously.
"Then Adam will have to finish what his son started because the only way another Chandler will get their hands on my son is over my dead body."
"Well that's not going to happen because I'm not losing you again. Ever."
Marissa grinned at her partner.
"Then we've nothing to worry about, right?"
Bianca smiled.
"I'm sure we've plenty to worry about, two girls and a boy with the possibility of more. I think we will be spending a lot of our later years doing nothing but worrying."
Marissa laughed.
"Sounds perfect."
Bianca smirked.
"I'll be reminding you of those words when we have two hormonal teenagers squabbling over whose turn it is to unload the dishwasher."
Marissa's eyes twinkled.
"Still sounds pretty darn perfect to me."
Bianca had to admit the lawyer was right, a future together with squabbling teenagers and more sounded like a dream come true.
/
Several hours later a nurse entered the room to lightly rouse a napping Bianca.
"We have some visitors outside who'd really like to see you both."
The brunette tried to stifle a yawn to no effect and turned to watch Marissa do the same.
"Visitors, what time is it?"
"4pm apparently they aren't prepared to wait much longer."
Marissa grinned at the nurse.
"They - how many are we talking about?"
"Three, two beautiful little girls and a charming little boy."
The redhead's grin threatened to pull muscles in her jaws.
"Send them in…."
"Marissa I think maybe we need to talk about what to tell AJ."
Bianca watched the frown replace that vibrant smile. The nurse read the tension and offered both women a temporary solution.
"We have a great playroom downstairs, I can tell their grandmother to take them down there if you need more time."
Bianca's eyes widened in confusion.
"Their grandmother? You mean Krystal."
The nurse looked at her oddly.
"You're Bianca Montgomery right?"
Bianca nodded.
"Yes."
"Then Erica Kane would be your mother."
The brunette nodded again.
"And your kids grandmother."
Bianca's eyes went like saucers.
"I don't think it would be a good idea to call her that."
The nurse turned from one woman to the other in confusion.
"I didn't she called herself that when she brought the kids in."
Marissa started to giggle as Bianca's eyes continued to widen, her mouth opening and closing in quick succession but no words coming out.
"Is something wrong?"
Marissa shook her head at the nurse.
"No no nothing is wrong you can tell our kids grandmother that we'd love if she took them down to the playroom, a half hour should be enough. Thanks."
The nurse left and Bianca stared at Marissa in shock.
"Grandmother? Mom would never say that, pinch me because I think I might be dreaming."
Marissa laughed and tugged at the brunette's arm with her good hand.
"Come here and I'll do something much more pleasing than pinch you."
Bianca was smiling dreamily as she pulled away from the kiss.
"Still feels like I'm dreaming."
Marissa laughed.
"You're not."
Bianca stared at her lover for endless moments, the smile only deepening.
"You're sure?"
Marissa laughed again.
"I'm sure. Come on baby let's get this talk over with so that we can spend some time with our family. I'm not going to tell AJ about JR until the doctors know for sure the damage is permanent."
Bianca bit her lip. Adam Chandler had called in specialists to reassess his son's condition but all had drawn the same conclusion as David Hayward and Joe Martin; JR Chandler would never regain consciousness, the damage the bullet had caused to his brain was too extensive.
"Marissa…."
The lawyer shook her head.
"Baby stop worrying so much, what's done is done neither of us can change it. When the time is right I'll talk to AJ and tell him what really happened but right now all I want to do is see him, hug him, tell him and the girls how much I love them, now go find their grandmother because I want some Gabby hugs."
Bianca gazed into hazel eyes full of love and hope and happiness and decided that Marissa was right, what was done was done. They had their future ahead of them, their family waiting to see them, their kids coming with hugs. She got to her feet.
"I love you."
Marissa smiled.
"And I love you. Always."
Bianca bent her lips to the redhead's feeling like maybe just this once love and her would work. From the very beginning things with Marissa had been different, Bianca now realised what that difference was - their love was for always.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this piece to all of you who have lost someone you love, especially to SN and Kate; my thoughts are with you both. Love never dies - it's for always.