See Disclaimers in Chapter One
A/N: This story is NOT for profit... a friend was nice enough to point out that i left that out in Chapter One. Thanks Ginger and enjoy all!!!!
2 weeks later
Betty sighed as she heard her sister Hilda moaning again in her sleep. The nightmares were less frequent than they had been since Santos had been shot, but Betty knew that even though Hilda hadn't been there when the shooting took place, she was envisioning it every day. Betty was bone-weary and exhausted of hospitals. Santos had been rushed here, in critical condition. Betty remembered the horrible feeling of having to interrupt Justin's debut to pull Hilda out into the hallway and deliver the news.
"Hilda.. there was a gun..."
Betty's own voice echoed in her head as she remembered Hilda's face; the anger at thinking he ditched Justin's play turning into anguish as she realized what Betty was trying to tell her.
"No...no Betty...NO!!!!!!!"
Betty holding Hilda; falling to the floor with her, she temporarily forgot Henry. As her sister cried for the love she thought she'd lost, the police had shown up to the auditorium for Hilda. They assured her he was alive, but in surgery and not looking very good. Betty cleaned up Hilda's face, pulled Justin out of his cast party, and hurried them all to New York Hospital in Queens. They had just arrived at the hospital, Hilda and Justin hurrying in when Betty's cell rang. It was MODE. Alexis and Daniel had been in a bad car accident and were heading to the same hospital and Claire Meade had escaped from prison. Betty collapsed into a hard plastic hospital chair, phone still in her hand when Hilda had come from the nurses station.
"Santos is in surgery, they're trying to remove the bullet." Hilda sniffed, "he's lost a lot of blood and..."
"Hilda, Santos is going to be fine." Betty said shakily, "you guys have come to far together to lose what you've got."
Hilda looked at Betty through red-rimmed eyes. She knew that something had happened with Betty and her little geeky boyfriend Henry, but until now she hadn't bothered to ask. She turned to Betty.
"Hey what happened with you and Henry?" Hilda asked, "he was such a nerdy little thing."
Betty sniffled as tears welled up in her eyes. Hilda drew her arm around her little sister as Betty poured out the tale. Charlie, her pregnancy, the kiss and his farewell to her. Tears were streaming out from behind Betty's glasses and her breath was hitching as she told Hilda the worst: Betty found out from Diane, the dental assistant, that Charlie had cheated on Henry with her orthodontist Dr. Farkas and the baby might not be Henry's. Hilda calmed Betty down as best as she could then asked:
"So what are you going to do Betty? You just going to let Charlie win like Gina Gambarro did? Huh?" Hilda asked, "I know you're not going to let her go out like that!" Hilda snapped.
"Hilda, I called Henry and asked him to call me. That was two weeks ago. I don't want to let him go, but what else can I do? I can't compete with a baby, and if i really love Henry..." Betty said.
"If you REALLY love Henry, you'll get your butt on a plane and tell him about this little cheating tramp and let him make his decision." Hilda said firmly as a doctor approached them.
"Ms. Suarez, Santos is out of surgery. The bullet penetrated him in the chest and it was touchy, but we recovered the bullet. He's in recovery now, but he's not out of the woods yet." The doctor said, "the bullet missed his heart, but it's going to take a lot of time and rehabilitation for him to get back on his feet."
"Thank you so much Doctor!" Hilda exclaimed. "Can we see him?"She asked, motioning to Justin.
"Only for a few minutes." The doctor said with a smile. "He's not going to be awake any time soon, but i think it would help if he heard you both in his room." The doctor ushered Hilda and Justin down a hallway to the darkened rooms, leaving Betty alone with her thoughts. Betty thought about what Hilda, her father, and even her grandmother had told her. Wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath, she flipped open her cell phone.
"Diane, it's Betty. Will Dr. Farkas be in tomorrow? Good, can you schedule me an appointment with him? ONLY him and can you be there too? I need to tell him a few things and let him make his decision?"Betty asked.
"Oh, you are so totally going Lara Croft on me!!" Betty heard Diane shriek through her phone, "what decision is that?"
"Whether or not he's getting on the plane with me to go to Tucson." Betty said firmly.
Betty heard a squeal of delight as she almost envisioned Diane on the other end, doing her version of a touchdown/cheerleader dance in her living room.
"Oh, this is so Sleepless in Seattle Betty!" Diane gushed, "you're just like that Meg Ryan. You won't be able to live with yourself if you don't go and meet him. I'm going with you!!"
Betty chuckled weakly as she imagined the look on Charlie and Henry's faces when the three of them piled off the airplane. She told Diane she would see her tomorrow as she closed the phone and sighed. She wondered how close this would bring her to her "really wonderful life" that Henry had wished for her as she made her way down the hall to Santos' room.
TBC...