Chapter 12 – What now?
When she gets home she draws herself a steaming hot bath, check the windows, and locks the bathroom's door. Then she gets in to soak.
On the drive home, her thoughts couldn't focus, the feeling of living a nightmare has returned, but she hasn't been able to think about the test results. She put her radio really loud and listened to a popular talk station, completely absorbed in the topics being discussed, even laughing at the conversation some of the callers had with the show's host. She couldn't think of her own messed up life, she didn't want to.
The bathroom is quiet, with nothing to distract her thoughts. She refuses to let her mind wander. All in all, she feels scared and lonely, she needs comfort, she needs a man. Oh, not on a physical level, she needs strong arms to hold her, gentle hands to stroke her head, and soft words whispered into her ear. She wonders if Bo is back in town. He left with Abe to go to New York, working on Chelsea's case and is due back any hour now. This trip of his gave her enough time to do that stupid test. That stupid test that brought more questions, instead of answering any.
She finished her bath, dried and put on the softest and bulkiest and coziest tracksuit she could find, then looking for distraction, popped a DVD into the player, cradling a cup of hot chocolate.
Bo stops on the porch to look inside the window at Hope. She's all bulked up in a cozy white tracksuit, her shoulder length, dark, silky hair framing her face and the soft glow of the television set enhances her beautiful features as she sleeps. She looks like a glamorous woman of the world, yet he knows that that is only an image she presents to the world. Inside she is a soft hearted woman with compassion for all, and she's his, his own Fancyface. He smiles, proudly and with love, then rubs over his chin, feeling a couple of days worth of stubble and feels the exhaustion in his limbs. What he needs right now is a warm shower, and then a good nights rest, holding her in his arms.
He opens the door, walks in and shrugs off his coat, then smiles again as he looks at his wife. She has been through a lot, it's time to make things up to her.
After a hot shower and a shave, he goes downstairs. She's still sleeping. He kisses her on the mouth and her sleepy eyes open and smile at him.
"Come to bed." he whispers as he picks her up and carries her up the stairs. He then puts her in bed, and gets in himself pulling her closer for a long, lingering kiss. Sleepily she looks up at him and smiles.
"I love you, Brady."
They kiss again, and then he smiles down into her eyes.
"I love you to Fancyface, always, no matter what."
"Really?" he misses the frightened note in her voice.
"Really." he kisses her on the nose, and then gives her another knee-bending kiss. He pulls her closer, and she snuggles into his body, closing her eyes.
As she drifts of to sleep, she thinks to herself.
"I hope you mean that, Brady, I really do..."
A tear slowly slips from her eye down on to the pillow...
