Sorry for the delay... more will follow!

Chapter 17

Beth felt miserable. Alone and abandoned. She was lying on her side, caressing her swollen belly, taking some comfort in the little kicks that ensued. "It's just you and me right now, kiddo", she whispered. A wave of sadness threatened to engulf her once she uttered those words. Big fat tears trickled slowly down her cheeks.

Suddenly the door opened, and a nurse entered. Beth sat up awkwardly feeling like a beached whale, turning her face slightly so she could wipe away her tears.

"Mrs. Boland… you have a visitor" said the nurse with an awkward smile. She then exited the room, pausing to smile briefly at the person just out of sight behind the door. Beth cleared her throat and with a croak said, "come in".

A teddy bear appeared playfully at the doorframe. Beth wrinkled her brow, wondering who it could be. It's Dean, she thought, feeling a little deflated – and then guilty – because she knew she had hurt his feelings last time they spoke. She arranged her face into a smile and even gave a little chuckle. He could be very sweet, after all.

But to Beth's surprise it wasn't Dean who stepped through the doorway. It was Agent Turner.

Dean paced the floor in his apartment, still scowling and filled with rage. "Well spit it out then! This is the mother of my children you're talking about!"

Rio calmly took another sip of his scotch. "Sit down", he said in a quiet voice. It sounded calm but had a distinct don't fuck with me edge to it.

It stopped Dean dead in his tracks. He looked as if he was considering arguing with Rio, but finally decided against it. He sat down opposite Rio and poured himself some more scotch. Silence fell and remained, hanging stubbornly in the air a like heavy raincloud.

Several minutes passed.

"A'ight lemme just say… I have nothing personal against you, Dean", began Rio.

Dean scoffed and looked away.

Rio stared at him, waiting for Dean to speak. Dean could feel Rio's gaze like a tractor beam. He turned to look at him with a sigh. "You beat the fucking shit out of me, man – but hey – it's nothing personal", replied Dean with a sneer. Part of him was shocked he'd spoken to Rio like that. The bitter combination of scotch and rejection was making him feel reckless – cocky even. Or maybe just resigned.

Rio nodded slightly, eyes narrowing. "Yeah. I did beat the shit out of you. That was business though. Nothing personal. We live in – err – what you might say very different worlds, you and me. You threaten my business, I threaten you."

Dean scoffed again and looked down at the table. He felt tired. Depressed. Sick of it all.

Rio interrupted his wallowing with "It's not like I enjoyed it… ya know? Well. Not really, anyway". Rio glanced at Dean with a twinkle in his eye.

"Ha. Ha." said Dean theatrically. "Oh ha ha ha. Very funny. It's hilarious how you ruined my life isn't it, Rio? And now you turn up for what? To torment me? You come here and blurt out that Beth is in danger yet you won't fucking tell me why… "

"I'll get to that", interrupted Rio. "First – you and me – we need to have it out. We need to clear the air".

Dean scoffed again "you mean you want to beat the shit out of me. Again."

Rio looked down at the table, lifted the glass to his lips and drank deeply. "No", he replied. "We need to have a conversation. About this". With that, Rio reached into his pocket and placed Dean's engagement ring on the table.

Beth felt faint, the sense of panic rising. "Agent Turner" she said as neutrally as possible, with a smile thrown in as an afterthought.

"Mrs. Boland", beamed Agent Turner, "you look positively radiant. Congratulations! I just heard the news."

You're so full of shit, thought Beth. "Why, thank you. To what do I owe this… pleasure?", Beth replied, trying not to grit her teeth at that last word.

"Well I was in the neighborhood… I went to see Mrs. Hill. Ruby. About Stanley. And I heard the happy news", replied Turner casually.

Beth tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in response.

"I mean about the pregnancy… not the err… hospital stay, of course!", continued Turner.

Full. Of. Shit, thought Beth again. Outwardly she put on a coy smile and said, "well yes, it was a surprise, but a welcome one".

"Dean must be over the moon", smiled Turner. The smile did not reach his eyes.

Beth felt taken aback. And Turner noticed. His grin grew larger.

Fuck you thought Beth. "Well… yes", smiled Beth. "I suppose you could say our relationship is a work in progress, but this baby certainly gave us both a lot to think about. He's a great co-parent". Beth felt quite proud of herself. Her entire statement was of course completely true.

Turner returned her smile "well – aren't all relationships? A work in progress, I mean".

Beth felt puzzled. Where is he going with this?

"Well, look at our relationship and how it's changed. Evolved. And I think we might see it change yet again", said Turner, carefully placing the teddy bear on the windowsill.

"I'm not sure I follow", said Beth, feeling like her mind was in a pregnancy fog and she might be missing vital clues here.

"Well, we've been both allies and adversaries. But now – and I hope you agree - I'd like to think of you as an ally. I think I mentioned I'd been to see Mrs. Hill. It's just terrible that poor Stanley has suffered so because of our – earlier misunderstandings".

Beth didn't know what to say, so she just nodded, all the while her brain was furiously trying to think of what to say.

"May I?", asked Turner, gesturing towards a chair.

Beth nodded again, feeling dismayed that this visit warranted him sitting down and getting comfortable.

Turner sat back, looking very pleased with himself. Then he leant forward and said in a low voice "I know you've been seeing Rio. He seems to have a certain knack for worming his way back into your life, doesn't he, Mrs. Boland?"

Beth stifled a gasp. Now what do I do?, she thought. Lie came the answer. "He has… shown up a few times. I wasn't sure what to do. It came as a surprise seen as I'd been informed that he had been killed", she said as smoothly as she could, giving Turner a hard stare.

"By you, if I remember correctly", Turner interjected, gesturing towards Beth.

Beth looked at Turner, wishing that looks could kill. "Yes", she replied, trying to maintain her composure. "We talked about it, and we've worked through it. We parted ways as friends. Initially he assumed that the baby was his, so… I had to put him straight on that, of course".

"Of course," agreed Turner. "But – forgive me – I'm finding it hard to believe a guy like Rio would just forgive you and move on. In your condition I would be careful. It would not surprise me if he was working on something – somehow to make you pay for what you did."

"What I did was save your life!", hissed Beth. She could hear her heart monitor betraying her inner rage, increasing in frequency, the beeping getting faster and faster.

"Of course," said Turner soothingly, holding his hands out in a placating fashion, "and I am eternally grateful for that. Which is why I have come to warn you. Rio started working for me as an informant once he recovered. I couldn't tell you he was still alive for obvious reasons. But lately… he has become more… unhinged. More… like the old Rio. And he is obsessed with you – about making you pay for what you did to him. And like you said, he does seem to think that this baby is his. I think he's just biding his time until you give birth… to maybe take the child and get his revenge. This is why I am here. I think we need to work together again. For you and your baby."

Beth sat and stared open-mouthed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt confused. Scared. Angry. This fucker knows exactly how to push my buttons, she thought.

Suddenly the door opened, and the nurse came in wearing a concerned frown. "Mrs. Boland, your blood pressure and pulse is through the roof! she said casting a scowl towards Turner's direction. "I must insist that you rest now – visiting time is over".

Turner gave the nurse an apologetic smile and then turned to Beth again, "of course, I must let you rest. You must look after yourself… and your little one." He stood up and made his way swiftly out of the room.

When Beth was sure he had left she shuddered and sobbed like a child, the nurse stroking her head in an attempt to soothe her. She was too upset to see her phone light up with Dean's number calling.

Meanwhile, Annie entered the hospital with a bag of grapes, wearing sunglasses and a hat, looking round suspiciously. She paused and gestured with her hand, beckoning someone to follow. Noah sauntered up, stood beside her and sighed, "is all this necessary? You know you are actually drawing more attention to yourself right now".

Annie shushed him "Turner could have people watching the hospital, you know".

Noah sighed, gazing off in the distance, and then suddenly froze. "Or… ", he began, "he could just turn up here himself". Noah looked on as Turner exited the elevator and appeared to be heading straight towards them.

"Wha..?" hissed Annie, but quick as a flash Noah pushed her towards the giftshop, so they had their backs to Turner, both of them suddenly developing an intense interest in the price of balloons.

"What is he doing here?!" hissed Annie. Noah frowned and looked lost in his thoughts. At first, he thought Annie had just been acting paranoid… but Turner being here… something didn't feel right. In fact, it felt all wrong.