"Yes. Bella got so angry with Bull, she decided to cheat on him. Bull buried himself in his work, and when he finally found out about the affair, it was too late to fix things. Bella asked him for a divorce, citing differences between them that were all Bull's fault. It wasn't true, but the courts believed her and granted their divorce four years ago. Bella told the police that Bull could come without an escort to get his stuff, so they allowed him to go. Unfortunately, nobody knew what Bella had in mind. Bull went to their home with the intention of packing his belongings, only to find that Bella's old friend was there with her. At first, he assumed it was just a precaution or she had changed her mind about having no escort for Bull. But, when he walked into the living room to head upstairs, Bella's friend grabbed him and started beating him up. Bull would have died that day…"
"How did he survive?" Cable whispered through her tears.
"I was going to help Bull. When I walked in, I saw what was happening. Anger took over, and, despite the guy's huge size, I jumped in and pulled Bull free. I think I frightened the guy, honestly, but I didn't pay any attention to him. I was so angry at Bella, and all I wanted to do was make her feel the pain she had just caused for Bull. Instead, I called 911 and told the police what I saw." Benny sighed again. "The police came to the hospital and took photos of Bull's injuries and everything, but he was unable to give a statement because of how badly beaten he was. It took a week before he was able to talk about it, and he had so much trouble, I had to stay with him just to translate what he was saying."
"What possessed her to do something like that?" Marissa asked.
"I don't know. Bull hasn't ever forgotten about it, but he learnt to put it behind him. She's just brought it all back again with that file."
"That's horrible… No wonder Bull's so hurt by it. We have to do something to help."
"You can't help, Rissa," said Bull sadly as he joined them.
"Like hell we can't," stated Danny. "I still have friends at the FBI. I'll call them and have her arrested."
"No, Danny. Izzy is still Benny's sister, and I won't let him lose the only family he has left."
"She's not the only family I have, Bull. You're my brother," said Benny.
"Thank you. I'm still not letting you lose her."
"Too bad. Danny, call your friends and have her arrested for slander and assault please." Benny glanced at Bull. "Make sure that she actually gets charged this time. We have enough evidence in that file to convict her."
"You're absolutely sure about this, Benny?" Danny asked as she pulled out her cell phone.
"I am." Benny turned to Bull. "She's going to pay for this. She got away with it the first time around. I won't let her get away this time."
With a sigh, Bull finally nodded his agreement. Sitting in Danny's now vacant chair, he put his head in his hands to hide his tears.
"Jason, you don't need to hide. We aren't going to judge you," said Marissa softly.
"Marissa," said Benny, "let him go. He'll be alright again in a moment. Just give him some space."
With Benny and Chunk looking after Bull, and Cable helping Danny gather as much evidence as possible against Isabella, Marissa retreated into her office. As soon as her door was closed, she let her tears fall. She didn't understand how someone could be so cruel to such a kind man, and she truly didn't get why Isabella would blame Bull for a miscarriage that he couldn't have helped if he tried. He was innocent in all of this, yet he was still suffering because of it. That wasn't right.
Marissa had taken the file with her. She was curious about Bull's injuries and why it wasn't obvious that he had been hurt so bad. Four years was plenty of time for recovery, but the injuries he had sustained made Marissa feel that there should have been some sign of a problem in his past. Knowing that the contents of the file were going to upset her again, she took a deep breath and opened the offensive item. She pulled out the list of injuries that Bull had sustained and read:
Jason Bull is lucky to be alive after the injuries he has sustained. The head injuries alone are enough to be fatal. Jason Bull is going to need physical therapy if he wakes up from his coma to help him learn to walk, talk and do things for himself. Here is a list of his injuries-
*Facial bruising
*Brain swelling
*Brain bruising
*Broken left forearm
*Broken left hand
*Ten cracked ribs
*Two bruised ribs
*Broken left femur
*Five broken toes
Marissa was shocked, but she pulled the next piece of paper from the file and read that too:
Jason Bull is a miracle. He woke up after only a day. We weren't expecting that. Jason has some difficulty speaking, but it is clear that he is going to great lengths to recover from his traumatic injuries. His physical therapist has said that Jason is doing well with walking and looking after himself, so we are hoping that this will also resolve itself in time- Doctor Kevin Thompson.
Marissa had to smile after reading the doctor's note. Of course Bull wouldn't let anything get in his way. She placed the note back into the file and whispered,
"I know you're tough, Bull, but this is just ridiculous. I'm so glad that you were able to recover."
"Excuse me, Marissa?" asked Bull quietly.
Marissa looked up after hurriedly wiping away her tears and hiding the file. "Jason. What can I do for you?"
"Why are you crying?" Bull sat on the empty chair next to Marissa.
"I'm not."
"I can see the tear tracks. Are you okay?" Bull had only really thought about his own pain lately, and thought he might have missed something important.
"I'm fine." Marissa tried to smile, but she found that she couldn't. "Okay, that's a lie. I'm okay, but you aren't. I hate seeing you so upset."
"Rissa…"
Marissa pulled Bull into a hug. "She had no right, Jason. None at all. You didn't cause that miscarriage, but she still blamed you for it. How is that fair? How can she say it was your fault?"
Bull had to smile. He really did have some amazing friends. "Riss, she was hurting…"
"But she isn't now. She has no right to keep hurting you!" Marissa looked up, tears flowing down her cheeks again. "And she brought up the worst memory you have for absolutely no reason at all. Why?"
"I don't know. I don't want to know, Marissa. I really don't."
"How can you not want to know?"
"Because, like you said, she just wants to hurt me. I don't need that."
"I wish we could help."
"Danny is helping by getting her arrested. I won't ever admit that in front of Benny, by the way."
"Poor Benny. She is his sister."
"That's why I didn't want anything to happen to Isabella."
"She deserves to go to prison, Jason."
"Not if it means that Benny is alone."
"He has us. He'll never be alone."
Bull nodded in agreement. "Trust me, Riss. I won't be letting him be alone after this."
"How long did it take you to heal?"
"Almost two months. It took longer for me to get my speech back up to scratch though."
"Why?"
"I don't know. The doctors ran test after test, trying to figure out what was happening, but they couldn't find anything. Everyone assumed that my brain had healed but that the damage was going to be permanent. I started going to speech therapy to see if that would help, and roughly a month later, I was talking normally again."
"How did Benny manage to understand you?" Marissa asked, remembering what the lawyer had told them.
"I don't have a clue. That guy is amazing. He's the best support I've ever had."
