Three more weeks had passed, with Allie and Liz only being allowed to visit once more, Liz as a peer worker, and Allie through constant badgering. Maxine had been allowed a few solo visits whilst she was at the hospital for chemo and check ups.
Today however, Bea was being allowed back to Wentworth. Four days ago she had her fecal bag removed. And had been managing well with the pain killers. Yesterday her catheter had been removed, allowing her for the first time in months to get up and walk. She had been given a zimmer frame type contraption, which she wasn't happy about, but the medical team had warned her of the importance of not falling or over stretching and putting too much stress on her healing wounds.
She was healing well, but the next few weeks would see her taking it easy and resting and allowing her body more time to recover.
She packed her bags as Will Jackson carried things over to the bed. He had talked the governor into allowing Bea to take a few items back to the prison to help her with her memory. Bea had refused to take any precious items into jail and risk them being stolen or destroyed and so she had packed everything back up with Frankie two nights ago, Frankie taking with her a list of photos to get copies of before putting Bea's belongings back in safe keeping.
Will pulled the pictures and get well cards from the cork board behind the bed, smiling at the image of Bea's H1 visitors three weeks ago as the group crowded around Bea pulling faces. In the center, Bea was pulling a face, her body tilted towards the blonde girl that Will now recognized as Bea's partner. Allie had her hands together to make a heart shape as she kissed Bea's brow.
"good photo" Will commented, handing it to Bea who looked over it affectionately for the thousandth time since Frankie had gotten it printed and brought it for her.
"yeah" Bea smiled.
"You nervous?" Will asked carefully.
"Shitting myself" Bea admitted. Will had visited a fair few times, always bringing in a magazine and a small bar of chocolate, he took the time to fill her in on Wentworth gossip. He had used his bank card to subscribe to hospital TV to help Bea relieve the boredom, and when he was on guard she invited him to sit guard in her room and watch TV with her, the pair had rekindled their bond, Bea was sure that this screw was one of the good ones.
"don't be. Your going to be in your unit most of the time, the girls will be around you, you won't have to face anyone you don't want to, and if you have any issues you just get hold of me, or Bridget, and we will sort things out. Its going to be ok Bea" he soothed, his huge hand rubbing against her shoulder.
"Thanks Will… I guess I should get used to calling you Mr Jackson" she smirked.
"yeah that would probably be a good idea" he winked. Picking up her now zipped bag.
"time to go home" Bea said nervously.
"Allie has been bouncing off the walls the last few days" Will confided, hoping to take Bea's mind off her nerves. "She has had the girls cleaning every inch of the unit, and pestered the governor into getting a new mattress for your bunk. And new sheets, convincing the governor that if you got infections, you would be suing for a lot more than some bedding would cost." Will smirked, remembering the mutterings of Vera as she announced the changes to Bea's room to the other officers.
Bea let out a soft laugh. "Right well. Im to escort you down to the van. There's a shop on the way if you wanted to stock up on anything let me know and I will grab it and push it through inspection back at Wentworth" Will smiled as he held the door open for Bea to shuffle through slowly. She had been handcuffed to the zinmer frame, much to her annoyance.
An hour later, and Bea had experienced her 'first strip search. Vera had denied the other officers to do it, choosing to do it herself to allow Bea as much privacy a possible. She struggled to contain her shocked gasps as she viewed the still healing wounds across Bea's abdomen.
"it looks worse than it feels" Bea had admitted.
Vera had shaken her head in annoyance, apologizing once again for what Bea had suffered at the hands of the freak.
"Welcome Home!" chorussed from the unit as Bea slowly entered her home, glancing around it and trying to place it but failing. She looked at all the faces before her, only recognizing 4 of the 40 or so people. She felt a little overwhelmed, but Will's hand… Mr Jackson's hand, she corrected herself… on her lower back teased her forward into the waiting mass.
Everyone looked so happy to see her, filling her with confusion. She has been told she was top dog, a position she had fought hard for and was feared amongst the other criminals. These women looked relieved to have her back, not scared to have her back, it didn't make sense.
She felt her head swimming a little, her knees beginning to buckle beneath her. Just as gravity began to do its thing, she felt a strong pair of arms swoop her up and carry her towards a small room. Once inside she saw that there was a single bed against one wall. A sink at the end of the bed with a mirror on the wall above it.
Opposite the bed was a toilet, a large wooden unit for her clothes and not much else.
Mr Jackson lay her down softly on the bed, Allie and Maxine rushing in behind him to take over.
"Thanks sir!" Allie smiled sweetly at him as she placed the zimmer frame against the back wall before moving to fluff up Bea's cushions as Maxi eased Bea forward.
"No problem. Just shout up if you need me or have any issues" he nodded, did one last sweep of the room to satisfy himself that his friend would be looked after, then exited into a crowd of expectant faces.
"The queen is back on her throne" he announced, receiving a round of applause, he grinned at the absurdity of the situation.
"please remember that Bea is still recovering and she still hasn't gotten her memory back. Don't overload her… and for god's sake, don't everyone ask her what she remembers…. She remembers nothing, so don't waste your breath repeating the same question to her" Mr Jackson ordered, satisfied when the crowd of women nodded their understanding, he left them to it.
"hey beautiful" Allie smiled softly, enjoying the few moments of privacy Maxi had provided them whilst she went to remind the group of well wishers of the ground rules.
"Hey Alliecat" Bea grinned, happy to be in the company of her beautiful friend.
"Hey…. You remember?" Allie grinned.
"remember what?" Bea asked confused.
"oh… you always used to call me Alliecat" Allie stated sadly.
"sorry… it just felt like the right thing to say" Bea reached out her fingers to cup Allies face. Her fingers trembling.
"god your shaking so bad, do you need anything?" Allie commented.
"its just nerves… being this close to you, it kinda makes me nervous, but in a good way… like the anticipation of touching you, or you kissing my forehead…. Or you holding my hand, it's like anytime that might happen I get butterflies all over my body and I can't control the shaking" Bea admitted nonchalantly.
"wow… well so you know you can touch me whenever you want and for as long as you want. You can always hold my hand, and I will kiss your forehead as often as you need" Allie smiled warmly.
"Your very sweet you know… before the stab… the accident, there were times when it was like getting blood out of a stone, getting you to open up and relax and be yourself. You seem different now… more laid back… confident… relaxed almost" Allie confided.
"I'm just trying to act on how I feel, everything just feels so…. New. And confusing. And my mind struggles to keep up with it all sometimes, I can't trust my memories… all I can trust is how I feel… does that make sense?" Bea asked as she eased herself into the taller woman's embrace instinctively. Allie wrapped her arms around Bea, careful not to touch her wounds and cause her any pain.
"you can trust me too babe, whatever you need im here" Allie promised.
"I hear I have you to thank for this comfortable bed" Bea smirked as she saw Allie flush slightly.
"I wanted to make sure you were comfortable and weren't at risk of infection" Allie defended.
"I really appreciate it, I can't tell you what I was expecting to come back to. Thank you baby" Bea smiled sweetly.
"I like you calling me that" Allie grinned.
"it just slipped out" Bea confessed shyly.
"well feel free to let it slip out more often" Allie grinned cheekily. Kissing Bea on her temple as a knock resounded around the room and the well wishers began to take turns in welcoming Bea home.
Allie moved to a chair she had talked the governor into allowing her to put in Beas room, her heart pounding happily when Bea reached out to take her hand, squeezing it softly in support of the redhead as she interacted with the women of Wentworth