McGinty's
The door opened while the loud music and conversation filled the air and Connor held the door open so Dorothy, Louisa, Dixon and Murphy could go inside. Connor had noticed Louisa was quiet when they had gone to get her and Dorothy and he wondered what was wrong.
"Has that bastard done summat?" he thought while they walked to their usual booth and Dorothy and Louisa slid along the seat. Murphy sat next to Louisa while Connor sat next to Dorothy and Dixon settled down near the booth.
"Happy New Year!" Rocco said as he slid in next to Murphy and he placed the glass of beer he was holding on the table.
"Happy New Year, David," Dorothy said with a nod.
"Looks like you got a head start on us," Murphy said and Rocco laughed.
"Yeah," Rocco said when he noticed how quiet Louisa was and he frowned. "Hey, Lou. You ok?"
"Yeah," Louisa said with a nod.
"Why don't I believe you?"
"Leave her be," Connor said.
"Sure. Sure," he said then Rocco took a drink of beer.
"No, it's alright," Louisa said. Murphy slid his right hand over her left hand when he wrapped their fingers together and she squeezed his fingers.
"I think you should tell them," Dorothy said. Rocco, Murphy and Connor became concerned as Louisa pressed her lips together then she sighed.
"Dorothy got an email from my father today," Louisa said.
"Is he alright?" Connor asked.
"He's fine."
"Then what's wrong?" Rocco asked.
"He had been talking to some neurosurgeons about my eyes. Several of them said the damage was too extensive for treatment, but there was one who said he knew a treatment which might restore my sight or most of it."
"That's great!" Rocco said.
"Aye, that's great news!" Connor said.
"When are you gonna have the treatment?"
"She is scheduled to have it the second week in January," Dorothy said, but Murphy saw the look on Louisa's face. He carefully turned her so her sightless eyes locked with his and he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"What aren't you tellin' us?" Murphy asked. Louisa didn't speak as he nudged Rocco and Rocco got up. Murphy took Louisa's hand as he helped her out of the booth and they got up. He led her to the bar as Doc looked at them and Doc smiled.
"Ha-happy New Year," Doc said.
"Happy New Year. Uh, Doc, is there somewhere I can talk t'Lou in private?" Murphy asked. Doc looked from him to Louisa as he noticed the look in Louisa's eyes and he nodded.
"You c-can use my office."
He led them to the door when he unlocked the door and he opened the door. Doc turned the light on as Murphy led her inside and Doc closed the door. Murphy saw there was a small couch to his right while he walked her to the couch and they sat down.
"Why did you bring me in here?" Louisa asked.
"I brought you in here because Rocco doesn't know about Dillon an' I have a feelin' th'reason you don't want t'have th'treatment is because he's still out there," Murphy said.
"You're right."
"But whoever's lookin' after you would make sure he'd stay away."
"They promised me he wouldn't find me at the rehabilitation hospital, but he did."
Murphy cupped her face in his hands as he moved closer and his lips grazed against her.
"Now, I want you t'understand summat. From th'day I met you, I knew you were someone special. Someone I want t'spend every fuckin' day with. Someone I care so deeply about that you are always in here," he said, placing her hand against the side of his head. "An' in here."
He placed the palm of her hand against his chest and she could just feel his heart beating.
"I know I sound like some eejit from a romance movie, but I swear I would never allow that bastard anywhere near you. Even if that means Connor, Rocco an' I will have t'camp out in your hospital room."
He grazed his lips over hers again then he kissed her and she breathed deeply through her nose. He moved back as he moved her head forward until their foreheads touched and he smiled.
"I love you, Louisa O'Shea."
"I love you, too, Murphy MacManus," she said.
"An' you believe me when I say I will never let him harm you?"
"Yes," she said, nodding. He helped her to her feet as they headed out of the office and he closed the door after he turned the light off. They headed back to the booth when he helped her scoot across the seat then he sat down. Rocco and Connor had gone to the bar as Murphy looked at them and he felt sadness coming from his twin.
Rocco watched while Connor placed the glasses on the tray and he noticed Connor looked upset about something.
"Hey, I'm sure Murphy will find out why Lou doesn't want have the treatment done," Rocco said. Connor lightly shook his head as he sat on the barstool and he placed his forearms on the top of the bar.
"I know he will. It's jus'…," Connor said.
"What?"
"It's stupid."
"Hold on. Are you jealous over him finding the woman he loves and you haven't?" Rocco asked with a grin. The grin faded as he frowned and he sat on the barstool. "Oh, come on! That's it?!"
"No, that's not really it."
"Are you worried he'll stop hanging out with you now that Lou's in his life?"
Connor lightly shrugged his shoulder as Rocco snorted a laugh then he rolled his eyes.
"Man, you gotta be kidding me! I have never known any guys or brothers who are as tight as you two are. And it doesn't matter if you're twins or not. You two will never have to worry about losing each other. Hell, you two might end up dying together. Not that you are going to do that."
"So, I'm actin' like a real eejit?"
"Yeah," Rocco said with a nod. Connor picked up the tray as they headed for the table and he placed the tray on the table. He passed out the glasses then he sat down and Rocco sat next to him. Connor noticed the blush on Louisa's cheeks as he glanced at his twin and Murphy gave him a warning look.
"So, did you find out what's wrong or did you take Lou somewhere for some, uh, private time?" Rocco teased then he yelped after Murphy kicked his foot.
"Before I answer that, I need to tell you something," Louisa said. She told Rocco about Dillon and Norman as a look of anger moved over his face and he growled.
"That fucking son of a bitch!" Rocco said.
"Now you understand why I am reluctant to have the treatment. Even with the police protection, he will find a way to get to me," she said with a sigh. "I'll never be free of him."
"You can't know that for sure," Dorothy said.
"Dorothy's right," Connor said.
"An' I told you Connor an' I would be there t'make sure you're safe," Murphy said.
"Count me in," Rocco said.
"I told her you'd be there, too."
Louisa felt tears rolling down her cheeks as Murphy slid his arms around her and she leaned back against him.
"So, are you gonna get th'treatment?" Connor asked.
January, 1999
The door to the hospital room opened while Dorothy walked by the security guard standing near the door and Sean and Lilliana O'Shea looked at her.
"Where is our daughter!?" Lilliana asked. Suddenly, a sound of laughter came from the hallway as Louisa, Murphy and Connor appeared and Lilliana gasped. Louisa was in a wheelchair with Connor and Murphy ran while pushing it and Louisa held on tightly to the arms of the wheelchair.
"Murphy! Connor!" Dorothy called as they stopped, turned and looked at her.
"Uh oh," Connor said.
"Sorry," Murphy said.
"What happened? Louisa asked.
"We missed your room," Connor said. They backed up the wheelchair when Connor steered the wheelchair in the room and Sean and Lilliana looked at them.
"Who is this?!" Lillianna demanded.
"Mother. Dad. You remember Connor and Murphy MacManus, don't you?" Louisa asked.
"No, I don't."
"Well, it has been ten years," Connor said.
"Aye," Murphy said while he leaned on the back of the wheelchair and Louisa reached back to touch his cheek. Sean looked at them when an image of Connor, Louisa, Murphy and Norman appeared in his mind and Sean smiled.
"Oh, yes, now I remember you," Sean said as he looked at his wife. "These are those young boys Norman and Louisa hung around with while we were in Ireland."
Lilliana frowned when she remembered something and she gave them a blank look.
"Ah, those two," she said. Murphy and Connor looked at each other while Murphy stood straighter and he placed his left hand on Louisa's left shoulder.
"I thought Louisa was supposed to be kept in seclusion," Sean said, looking at Dorothy.
"Yes. Well. That is a long story," Dorothy said.
"I'm sure Detective O'Dale will love to hear it," Lilliana said with a cold tone to her voice.
"Right," Connor said as he lightly pushed Murphy out of the way and Connor steered the wheelchair toward the bed. "Let's get you settled in."
"Aye," Murphy said as he removed the strap to the overnight back which was hanging over his right shoulder and he placed the overnight bag on the bed. Connor helped Louisa stand up as Murphy unzipped the top of the overnight back and he reached inside. He pulled out Louisa's bathrobe as he held it up and he titled his head to one side. "Uh, Lou, you only brought your bathrobe."
"Well, she's gonna be wearin' a hospital gown. So, she won't be needin' her nightgown."
"Put it on the chair, Murphy," Louisa said. Nodding, he placed the bathrobe on the back of the chair near the bed then he removed her slippers and the small toiletries case from the overnight bag.
"Connor, catch!" he said, tossing the small toiletries case at him and Connor caught it.
"Where's th'bathroom?" Connor asked.
"It's over there," Sean said, pointing to the door. Nodding, Connor opened the door as he went into the bathroom and Dorothy went to help him set up Louisa's things. Sean noticed how careful Murphy was with helping Louisa get into bed after Lilliana helped her put the hospital gown on and Murphy sat on the end of the bed.
"There. You're all set," Connor said as he and Dorothy came out of the bathroom and Louisa smiled.
"Thanks, Connor," Louisa said.
"Excuse me," the nurse said after the security guard allowed her to enter the room and Murphy quickly stood up. She had noticed how he was looking at Louisa as she looked at the others and she held the chart against her chest. "I need to examine her."
"Have you been approved?" Lilliana asked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"All medical staff must be approved before they are allowed any contact with our daughter."
"Lilli, relax. The guard wouldn't have allowed her to come in here if she wasn't," Sean said and she glared at him. The nurse walked to the bed while Lilliana followed her and Murphy went to stand next to Connor. They had a silent conversation as they watched the nurse examine Louisa, but she nearly tripped over Lilliana's feet.
"I'm sorry, but you have to move," the nurse said.
"No," Lilliana said and Louisa sighed.
"Mother. Move," Louisa said with a curt tone and Murphy and Connor softly laughed.
"Lilliana," Sean said and his wife walked to him. After the nurse examined Louisa, wrote the information in the chart then she left the room, Murphy went to sit on the edge of the bed and Louisa reached out for his hand. He took her hand as he wrapped his fingers around hers and she smiled.
"Hey, Lou, do you know when you're gonna have th'treatment?" Connor asked.
"The doctor said she'll be having it on Friday," Sean said while the door opened and the security guard allowed a serious looking man with short black hair and hard gray eyes to enter the room. Detective Collin O'Dale was wearing a dark gray suit jacket over a white shirt and a black tie, a black leather belt, dark gray pants, black socks and black, hard leather shoes and he glared at Connor and Murphy.
"Who the hell are you?" O'Dale asked.
"These are my friends, Connor and Murphy," Louisa said.
"Friends?!" he asked as he turned to look at Dorothy. "She was supposed to be in isolation."
"I was. But that didn't mean I was going to stay there."
Connor, Sean and Murphy tried not to laugh as she squeezed Murphy's fingers and she rubbed his index finger with her thumb.
"Why are you here?" Sean asked.
"We have just received word that Dillon Brady was spotted in Boston."
"How did that happen!?" Lilliana demanded. O'Dale watched Murphy move toward Louisa as Murphy held her and Louisa buried her face in the left side of his neck.
"We had the airports, bus and train stations and taxi companies covered. It appears he arrived on a boat."
"I knew it," Louisa mumbled while Murphy rocked her and he gently carded her hair.
"What do we do now?" Sean asked.
"We are going to have to move her," O'Dale said.
"What about her treatment?"
"We will find another hospital for her to have it."
"But the specialist I talked is only associated with this one."
"We will find her another specialist."
"He's the only one who can do it!"
"Uh…," Connor said while he looked at Murphy and Louisa and Connor scratched the back of his head. "Maybe we should ask Lou what she wants t'do."
"Aye, she has th'right t'say what's t'be done," Murphy said. Louisa moved back as she placed her hands on his shoulders and he brushed the hair out of her face. Her sightless eyes locked with his and he wanted to take away the fear he saw in her eyes. "What do you wanna do?"
"I want to stay here," she said then she turned her head toward where she thought O'Dale was. "He couldn't know I'm in the hospital, could he?"
"Only if someone told him." O'Dale said, looking at Dorothy."
"Hey! What's with th'death glare? Dorothy wouldn't do summat like that," Connor said.
"Aye! She wouldn't betray Lou," Murphy said.
"She allowed her to associate with you," Lilliana said.
"An' what is wrong with that?" Connor asked.
"Where should I start?!"
Louisa felt Murphy's shoulders tensing up and she heard him breathing hard through his nose.
"Connor, I think you and Murphy need to go," Louisa said as Connor felt the rage coming off his twin and he walked to the bed.
"Come on, Murphy. Let's go home," Connor said. Murphy glared at him then he looked at Louisa and she moved her fingers along the right side of his neck after she moved her right hand over his shoulder.
"Aye," Murphy said with a nod. She let go of him as Murphy got up then he walked to Connor. They headed for the door as the security guard opened the door and they left the room. Lilliana was about to sat something to the security guard, but she stopped after the glare from Sean and she crossed her arms over her chest. Sean saw the look on his daughter's face as he sat on the edge of the bed as he held her and Louisa buried her face in his left shoulder.
Later that night, Dorothy walked down the street as she headed for the apartment building after she had gone to McGinty's, but the anger she felt was still burning inside her. O'Dale had put her on suspension pending an investigation into what he called her "derelict of duty". She knew she risked her career when it came allowing Connor and Murphy's association with Louisa, but she also knew having the twins interact with Louisa had brought her out from behind the walls she had built around her.
"Asshole," she grumbled when she saw someone standing in the light from the streetlamps standing in front of the apartment building. She was close enough to recognize the young man with shoulder length black hair and a muscular build and he was wearing jeans, a hoodie sweatshirt and white sneakers. O'Dale had shown her a photograph of Dillon and the anger she felt burned brightly in her chest. She noticed there was no one else around as she carefully crossed the street then she slowly moved toward the young man.
Dillon Brady looked up at the windows as he tried to figure out which window belonged to Louisa's apartment and he crossed his arms over his chest. He had spent a lot of money to track her down and he was surprised they would hide her in such an obvious place.
"You'll never be free of me," he whispered. His mind replayed the attack as he heard Norman calling her name and he saw Louisa crawling across the floor.
"You son of a bitch!"
He was surprised how fast Norman was as Norman tackled him to the floor, but he was able to kick him off of him.
He didn't remember pulling the gun he had brought with him out of his jacket, but he did remember the shocked look on Norman's face when he took aim and fired the gun. He watched Norman's body falling in slow motion when he turned and he walked to Louisa. He placed the gun to the back of her head as he slid his finger over the trigger and he remembered smiling at her whimpering. The only thing stopping him from killing her was the scream of the woman in the hallway and he had mentally kicked himself for leaving the door open.
He took a step forward when someone put him in a choke hold and he started gagging. Whoever it was appeared to be stronger than he was, but he fought to get free then he felt someone breathing in his right ear.
"Hello, Dillon," Dorothy said while she tightened her grip on his neck.
"Wh-who a-are you?" he said, feeling his throat closing.
"Someone who is going to make sure you never harm anyone ever again."
With one swift motion, Dorothy snapped Dillion's neck as the body fell to the sidewalk and she checked to see if anyone had seen her. Carefully, Dorothy picked up the body as she headed toward the alleyway and she walked to the dumpster. She slid the body onto the ground when she removed some gloves she had in her purse and she placed the gloves on. Picking up the body, she slid the body inside the dumpster when she closed the lid, checked to see if she left any incriminating footprints and she walked down the alleyway.
The security guard opened the door while O'Dale walked in the room then he stopped when he saw Murphy sitting next to Louisa on the bed and Connor was sitting on the chair next to the bed, Murphy held the glass of soda for her as Louisa took a drink and Connor placed a dumpling in his mouth.
"Hello," O'Dale said and they looked at him.
"Hullo," Connor said after he swallowed and Murphy nodded at O'Dale.
"Did something happen?" Louisa asked.
"Yes," O'Dale said as he stood at the foot of the bed and he placed his hands in front of him. "Dillon Brady is dead."
"He is?" Connor asked.
"Yes. We received an anonymous phone call last night and the caller told us where we could find the body."
"Where was the body?" Louisa asked.
"It was in a dumpster in the alley to your apartment building."
Connor, Murphy and Louisa looked at each other as O'Dale saw the confusion on their faces and he sighed.
"Why do I have a feelin' you think we did it," Connor said.
"You two were the first ones I thought of, but someone turned themselves in earlier this morning."
"Who was it?" Louisa asked.
"It was your nurse."
"Dorothy killed him?!" Connor asked.
"Yes. She made a full confession."
"Did you tell my parents?" Louisa asked.
"Yes, I did. But I told them I wanted to be the one to tell you what happened."
"Thank you," she said. Murphy smirked at O'Dale nodding his head then O'Dale left and the security guard closed the door. Murphy moved closer to her as Louisa slid against him and he slid his left arm around her. Connor went to the other side of the bed as he sat down then he took her hand and she wrapped their fingers together.