Bette runs through the open doors of the hospital and into the reception desk. A nurse was chewing on her bubble gum and looking very distracted so Bette slammed the desk and looked at her like she could kill her.
-My wife, Tina Porter-Kennard, she was in a car accident a few hours ago.
The nurse typed on her laptop and stayed calm but Bette couldn't, she paced the floor for a couple of minutes until the nurse stared at her: she is in surgery; she has a bad concussion and a lot of broken bones. Go to the waiting room two, a doctor would see you when they finish the surgery.
Bette goes to the waiting room and now she can understand why people in here always seems so stressed, her wife was in a car accident, she could die and every memory started passing in Bette's mind.
"-Excuse me Bette, this is my girlfriend Tina Kennard she works at Alphaville –Eric said smiling at me and then say my name –this is Bette Porter.
I shake her hand but get lost in her beautiful hazel eyes and while his boyfriend is talking I continue looking at her and smiling, she is one of a beauty; I would fuck her right here right now. I can't wait to get rid of Henry so I can show Tina the gallery.
-Tina is from Christina right?
-Yep, my mom had something with the Cs, kind of an obsession.
And when she giggled I found myself giggling too and realize that I want to know this woman, and maybe date her and kiss her and do everything with her. "
"-Oh, you lost your earring –I pick the earring and put it on the palm of her hand, she smiles at me and I get lost in that smile again, she is so beautiful and so positive about everything, I want her in my life and Bette Porter always had what she wants."
"White shirt. Blue jeans. No earrings. Curly blonde hair. Black heels. Beautiful eyes. Sexy collarbone.
I want to kiss her. So I stop her form picking the earring and when her face is inches form mine I kiss her, I am the only one moving my lips but she didn't pulls back. I give her the earring and my card after that and she just left, smiling and blushing.
The game just started"
"After a month of texting and calling each other and have friendly dates she came to my house and kissed me.
-I broke up with Henry last week; I am so into you, your eyes, your smile, your body, your intelligence, your silly comments and your friends. I want you and I want to be with you.
And my smile was the biggest smile I have had in all my life.
-I am the happiest girl alive right now and I promise you would be the happiest girl in the planet"
"After three months of being together she is naked in my bed for the first time, I am top and she is bottom, she is nervous but her eyes are darker than normal because of passion and nervousness. She looks beautiful and I told her again.
-I am the happiest girl alive right now and I promise you would be the happiest girl in the planet, I love you.
-I love you too"
She cry, she is crying on the floor because she broke that promise when she cheated on her, when she let herself get lost in other woman curls and smells. Even before that she was not the happiest girl, but she was happy.
Before she can continue reviving their moments a doctor asked for Bette Porter Kennard.
-ME! IS ME!
She runs to the doctor and tried to find answers in his face but he has a poker face so she became more anxious than in the past two hours.
-Your wife is stable but I have some kind of bad news….-before Bette can say anything he put a hand on her shoulder –she is in a coma and I am afraid she would be for at least a week, her brain suffered a lot of damage so it needs rest.
-O…ok, but would she be ok after that? When she woke up?
-If she wake up she should be fine but we can't assure you anything.
-She would wake up.
But after two weeks Tina is still in coma and Bette and their children had been in the hospital every day, talking with her and watching movies. She never loses hope. Today they are talking about the boys' day in school and about Angie's piano recital in a week when Bette feel Tina's hand move, touching her own hand.
-T! T! –Bette presses the help button and touches Tina's face while she opens her eyes –T, are you ok?
-Bette? What happened? Why aren't you working?
Bette smiled at her and kissed her lips but before she can answer her the nurses enter the room: she woke up just now, she is talking.
-Hello Miss Porter-Kennard
-Er…we are not legally married ma'am, is just Kennard I am afraid.
Bette looks at her wife confused, what is she talking about? Angelica sat on her mother bed and the twins in Bette lap and while answering the nurses questions she looks confused at Bette.
-Bette, who are these people? Why am I in the hospital? Why are those kids exactly like you?
Bette opens her eyes big and look at Angelica that with nine years old she can understand a lot of things and watching her features Bette knows that her pumpkin knows her mother don't remember them. Tears started to form in Angie's eyes so Bette let the twins on the floor playing with their cars and hug Angie, kissing her forehead.
-Why don't you go with the nurses and your brothers to the waiting room and play with them or draw something?
She just nodded and kissed her mother's cheek but before leaving the room she blow a kiss to Tina. Bette smiles at her and close the door, one of the nurses still in the room.
-Bette? Can you explain?
-Miss Kennard, what is the last thing you can remember? –Tina is focusing on her last memory but everything is flowing in her head and when she remembers she start crying- Miss, you have to tell me, even if is hard.
-Losing my son, being in Bette's arms crying while losing our son.
Bette just gasp and let some tears run down her face, she can't believe that's the last memory of Tina, in her mind Bette did not cheated, she was not with Henry or Bette with Jodie and the worst part is that she thinks that she doesn't remember Angelica or the twins birth.
-What is happening?
-How many years she has lose Bette?
-10 and a half
-WHAT?! I WHAT?
-Shh, Miss Kennard, I need to talk with your partner, excuse us a moment.
At the other side of the room, in the hall, Bette has a break down and five minutes later the nurse is hugging her. Bette composes herself.
-Sorry, is just that in ten years happened a lot and I don't know how I am going to tell her.
-Doctors always say to let the patient remember from herself and that the only thing you have to do is show her things about her past that could maybe make her remember.
At hearing these words Bette was thinking how she can make Tina remembers and she knew how she can make her remember Candance and Henry even if those are the worst part of her life she has to do it.
-Ok, can I start now? Explaining things to her?
-Yes, just…one thing a time please.
-Ok, I need to see my kids and do some phone calls.
Bette goes to the waiting room and her kids run to her and while playing and drawing with them for fifteen minutes she does the phone calls.
First Peggy
-Hi Bette, any news?
-Yeah Peggy, a lot actually: Tina woke up but her memory is in 2005-2006 so she doesn't remember our kids or our wedding or Helena or Tasha or Jenny's death...Are you in New York?
-Yeah, I am here and I can stay with the kids, I am ten minutes away.
-Thank Peggy
While waiting for Peggy she calls Kit and tells her everything.
-Oh baby sis, what can I do for you?
-Can you come here with Alice so she can have familiar faces when she hates me tomorrow?
-Why would she hate you tomorrow?
-Kit, the next think she has to remember is me cheating. I am going to show her the wedding bands she threw to my face, a photo of Candance if I found one and the photo of the Provocations exhibition.
-Ok, talk with Peggy, ask her if we can go in her private yet this evening and we would be there by night sis.
-Oh, thanks, I would text you her answer.
-Love you Bette and please be calm.
-Yeah, love you too
-BETTE!
-Peggy, hey, can I ask you a favor?
-Of course and I am going to say yes. I know what you want and casually my yet is in L.A because Helena flew there last week from Maldives.
-How do you..?
-Oh well, you need company and Tina needs to see familiar faces so I suppose you want Alice to fly here, right?
-Yeah, with Kit
She thanked her again, hug and kiss her children and Peggy and goes to Tina's room. She has her eyes closed but Bette knows that she is not sleeping because she looks so uncomfortable.
-T?
-Nurse told me you would explain everything to me but she told me that we just got back together five years ago?
-Erm…yeah
-Explain, please, because I can't imagine left you so I suppose you were the one leaving me…
-Actually you did, twice, but the first time with a good reason, it was my fault. After we lose our son you shut yourself out and felt into a depression and I just was broken and saw myself as a failure so when this woman seduced me and kissed me I let myself do it because I wanted to feel and to be in power and yes, I fucked her, for two weeks.
Tina's face is one of disbelieve and has tears in her eyes.
-You actually…? Fuck Bette! But I still don't remember a thing.
-Ok, Provocations, Candace and throwing wedding bands across the room tell you something?
-Provocations, that was the show you were doing at CAC but…no…the rest don't.
Bette spend half an hour explaining to her every day from the loss of their son to the day she fucked Candace and when Tina see a photo that Bette found in her laptop from provocations where she is there with that blue dress and Candance is there also Bette focus on Tina's expressions, her eyes open and her lips turn into a thin line.
She is remembering.
-She was touching your necklace and looking at your tits and you were biting your lips and OH GOD, I was pregnant, I was going to tell you the next day.
-yeah, you never told me, I found out when you were five months pregnant but that's another story for another time now I want you to tell me how you feel.
Tina stay silent, deep in thoughts because she is now remembering Bette's distant voice when they talked over the phone when she was at Dinah Shore, their fight when she told her that Candance was working with her, the way she didn't kiss her or hug her for three weeks, the feeling of guilt when she inseminated herself without Bette knowledge and the anger, sadness and betrayal.
-I am angry, I am very sad and I feel betrayed, I…I can't believe this…you…can you go? I would call you when I need to see you.
-Ok, Alice and Kit would be here in a few hours and they would answer any questions you have. I love you T
-Yeah, I love you too.
Four hours later Alice was calling her and told her that she has hugged Tina while she cried and that she felt asleep before they could talk more so Bette told them to came home with her and her kids and go there at night.
For three days Tina didn't called her but one morning, while she was finishing work she received a call from Tina.
-Hey T!
-Bette, who is Helena Peabody and why I think I had sex with her?
-Because you did, I would explain to you but…how did you remembered?
-Well, Alice told me about my period living with her and then someone called her and she said "Hey Peabody" and her image between my legs came to me and I am so confused but I don't want her to explain, I want you to tell me.
-Ok, I am at work but in an hour I would be there explaining to you, I have to ask you something…
-Don't worry, I am not mad at you anymore because Alice told me to believe in you, that a lot of good things happened after our break up and that now we are way better. Is that true?
-Yeah, well, two bad things happened but that makes us stronger.
She finished her work as soon as possible and 45 minutes after Tina's call she was at the hospital with Tina. She was watching TV and smiling and she has her hands over her stomach. Bette smiled because she knows that she is thinking about when she was pregnant.
-Hey Tina!
-Bette!
Tina opens her arms and waved at Bette to hug her so Bette do it and smell at her hair.
-I missed you, they miss you.
-Who?
-Our kids, I know you don't remember them but they want to come see you this evening with the girls: Shane is here and also Helena.
-Wait, what? You are friends with my ex-girlfriend?
-Uh…yeah, kind of, is a long story.
-Ok, they can see me and I want you to tell me the story.
-Well, for months you were depressed and angry, of course but after five months we tried to be friends, you came live with me and suddenly the Peabody Foundation gave you lots of money and they wanted to do an interview and I was a jackass.
Tina focused on her memory, she felt exhausted, she has been having a lot of memories back and that make her tired. But she remembered.
-You were mad because they didn't give you money, right?
Bette smile was the biggest that she has ever seen: Yes, right and there I found about…
-About the baby.
-Yeah, you started flirting with Helena and fucking her, you moved out of the house again and rented your own apartment and I hated her a lot because she made my life at the CAC impossible. But you are stubborn and you continued with her, I felt like I deserved it because I was a bad person but then you became a bitch, really.
Tina tell her to stop because suddenly a lot of angry phone conversations with Bette, Tina fucking with Helena, meeting Helena's ex-wife, Helena's kids, feeling all the hormones of her pregnancy and how in love she was with Bette even after everything.
-I told you to have an open relationship with you?
-Yeah baby, very well, you told me that when they were giving you an awrd and I have to left because…because
Bette tears came to her eyes
-Your father died.
-Yeah…but that was a long time ago…at least for me and he was a bad man. Now I think we have to stop here, you have to meet with the girls and our kids and other day we would talk about Angie's birth.