"Hey, slow down – I can't understand what you're saying Erica – you want to come around now? Umm yeah sure. Bridget and I are in, right okay see you both soon." I hang up the phone and walk in to the Livingroom, where my wife is giving Olivia her last feed for the night. Things have gone back to normal since last week thankfully – I feel really awful for behaving the way I did but I'm just glad we've been able to put it behind us now.
"Who was that on the phone?" Bridget asks as I move to sit down next to her.
"It was Erica – her and Maura want to come over – said they have something to tell us." I say, curious myself as to what it could be.
"Hmm, after 10pm on a Sunday night? That's unusual – oh well, guess we'll need to wait and see, any clues?"
"None at all, she was talking very fast and I could barely make out what she was saying, then more or less as soon as I said okay to them coming around she hung up."
"That's odd – even for her." Bridget laughs and so do I.
"Yeah, just a bit!" The doorbell rings seconds later, I get up off the sofa to answer it, letting both Maura and Erica inside.
"Hey guys – Bridget's through in the Livingroom, just feeding Olivia before bedtime." I say, as they follow me towards my wife and daughter.
"Hi Bridget, sorry for the late night intrusion but we have some news!" Maura says happily from Erica's side.
"We're engaged!" They both announce at the same time. My mouth drops open, as I look between the couple and my wife, Bridget is the first to speak.
"Congratulations you two! That's lovely news." Luckily Olivia is finished feeding so Bridget is able to stand up and embrace the two of them. It's as I'm watching this unfold I suddenly realise I've yet to utter a word of congratulations towards them myself.
"Wow – you guys! That's huge! When? How? Tell us!" I say, after getting over the initial shock.
"Okay – well we've been talking about different things recently, we basically already live together – Erica has her entire wardrobe in my closet. We're not getting any younger either so we've decided that the next step is to get married. I mean, I'm 40 next year, Erica will be 37, we've had the talk about kids and it's something that we both want to try for in the not too distant future. We know it seems sudden, we've only been dating for six months, but it just feels right." Maura finishes, planting a kiss to Erica's lips.
"Oh my god! I'm so happy for you both – this is so exciting!" I say, pulling both of them into a hug, much like my wife did.
"Yeah we can't wait, we're thinking a September wedding, just something small and then if all goes to plan – hopefully we'll start on the process to have a child early next year." Erica says, excitement so clear in her voice.
"That's great, well if you have any questions about the processes, Franky and I might be able to help – when the time comes of course." Bridget says to the couple.
"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind – anyway, we'll let you get to bed since you both have work in the morning, we were just far too excited to keep this to ourselves!" Maura says as they make a move to leave.
"Oh – we should celebrate this weekend coming, why don't you come for dinner? We can invite the others as well." I say walking them to the door, Bridget and Olivia right behind me.
"That sounds lovely, if you're sure you don't mind." Erica says.
"Not at all, we would be happy to." Bridget replies as we bid them farewell and I shut the door, leaning my back against it before looking at my wife in shock.
"Tell me I'm not dreaming and that actually happened?" I question as Bridget just laughs.
"Yes sweetheart, that was very much real – wow I can't believe it, really I'm happy for them, just talk about fast."
"Yeah I know what you mean – but seems like they have it all figured out anyway." We move to the nursery to put Olivia down for the night.
"Sweet dreams baby girl." I say, kissing her, as Bridget does the same.
Once we both get ourselves ready for bed, we snuggle together like we always do.
"So Booms is coming for 7.30am to watch Olivia, I'm in court so I need to leave super early babe – you'll probably still be asleep so I won't wake you. I can't believe tomorrow is your fifth session with Red! Crazy. I'm seeing her next week to see how she's getting on with her statement."
"Good, I'm sure she's doing fine. Well we're making progress, but I think tomorrow will be a difficult session." I look down in concern to where my wife's head is rested on my shoulder.
"How so Gidge?" she just buries her face further into my neck as I wait for her to reply, but she's gone very quiet. I brush my hand under her chin, picking her head up so I can see her face, instantly greeted by her tear stained cheeks.
"Babe? What is it? Please tell me, you're scaring me." I do my best to wipe the tears, but more keep running down her face.
"You know how I have to go through her prison records? Tomorrow we need to discuss her escape from the hospital when she killed Brayden Holt, and also the circumstances that led up to that. I need to read about all of your injuries from the fight Franky.." Ah, it all makes sense now.
"Hey, we've talked about this Gidge, I'm fine now – it's in the past." I say, trying to comfort her.
"No Franky! It's because of fights like this you couldn't carry our child – you were so badly injured at Wentworth, and you could have so easily been killed."
"Shh, I'm sorry – none of it should have ever happened – I hate that you need to read about it all." I say, tears in my eyes now seeing how much pain my past is causing my wife.
"I'm sorry too Franky – I'm such an emotional mess whenever this stuff comes up, I'll be fine in the session though, I know your injuries anyway and surprisingly you got off rather lightly with Bea that time around."
"Have you looked at what Reds were? Did you read what happened?"
"Only briefly – she was very severely injured – her forehead and wrists were slashed in the struggle." Bridget says, and I just look at her waiting for more.
"Oh – you don't know then?" I say, assuming she would have heard.
"Know what Franky?"
"Gidge, do you not think it's strange how she became Top Dog? You just said yourself I got off lightly, well that's because the wrist injuries?" she just nods at me to continue.
"They were self-inflicted, she wanted to make sure the screws couldn't cuff her so it would be easier to escape, those weren't part of the struggle. She stood over me, box cutter in hand and cut her own wrists, I've never seen anything like it and I'll never forget it – that's when I instantly felt like such a fool, she played me, like you know, I was just collateral damage for the endgame – Brayden Holt." Bridget looks shocked at what I've just told her.
"Oh my god – but how? She should have bled to death with those injuries, she would have known that for sure – why would she do that? There were so many and most were quite deep."
"You'll need to ask her that babe, get into her head with what the hell she was thinking. Anyway, I think we should get some sleep, early starts tomorrow." I say, getting into the 'big spoon' position, holding my wife tightly against my body.
"Night Gidge, love you."
"Love you too, Goodnight."
Bridget POV
The next morning, true to her word – Boomer arrives sharply at 7.30am, ready to watch Olivia for the day.
"Thanks so much Boomer, I need to go now but as always help yourself to anything you want and just phone if there's any issues." I say grabbing my bag.
"No worries Bridget, Olivia and I will be fine." I give Olivia a kiss goodbye, Franky left an hour ago for her court day.
"Bye, see you tonight!" I throw over my shoulder as I rush out the door, jump in the car and set off to Wentworth.
At 10am, what has now become our regular slot, Will drops Bea off at my office.
"Good morning Bea." I say as she sits opposite me.
"Hey Bridget – so what part of the file are we on this week?" she says, getting straight to the point as usual.
"Umm, we're going to be looking at the murder of Brayden Holt – and the events leading up to that." I say calmly, however, her eyebrows raise at this.
"Is that not going to be a slight conflict? I mean, the fight that landed me in the hospital was between myself and your wife. I like you Bridget, I really do, same goes for Franky now we've put all our shit behind us, the last thing I want to do is say anything that's going to cause you upset." I smile at Bea, appreciating her caring nature.
"Well thank you – that means a lot, but it's my job to hear about this, I won't lie to you and say it won't be painful to hear, but it's all in the past now." I nod, almost trying to convince myself.
"Well, if you're sure – where should I start?"
"Just from the beginning." I say simply.
"Right – umm well after my attempt to kill Brayden in the visitor area, I discovered this drug from another inmate – basically it was a blood-clotting pill – I knew if I was to fight Franky I would probably get seriously injured so I took them each day for weeks, checking my progress each day by cutting my finger and wiping the blood, seeing how much of a trail it left. Franky was desperate to fight me – she thought I was interested in the position of Top Dog, only in reality she couldn't have been more wrong." Bea takes a breather at this point, gathering her thoughts.
"You're doing good so far." I say, offering a weak smile.
"Okay – so I tried to protect myself as best I could, I taped old magazines together and used them for around my midsection, effectively protecting my organs from being punctured. During the fight I screamed out in pain every time Franky's shiv hit the magazines, wanting everyone to think Franky had the upper hand and I was indeed being stabbed. I had a box cutter, but I never once used it on her, I really never wanted her to get seriously injured because of me. At one point, I ran at her, pushed her so hard into the dryer that it broke, just before I did that she had sliced my forehead open." She pauses again at this point, a faraway look in her eyes.
"Then, I guess I just lost it soon after, I threw her to the ground, sat on her and punched her repeatedly in the face, pinning her arms above her head until she dropped the box cutter." I'm quite shocked by how much detail she can recall – especially considering I thought her mental state was compromised.
"The next thing I know, I have the knife again – right against her throat – and I look her straight in the eye and say "are we done?" and she looks right back at me, and after a few seconds pass she nods her head. I tell her to say to everyone what she means. That's when she yells out "It's Bea's."
"You seem to remember the entire fight in very vivid detail." I say to her, waiting to see what comes next.
"Oh, I do – after Franky told them I had won, I stood up, standing over her laying on the floor – pulled the sleeves of my hoody up and started stabbing and cutting my arms and wrists – knowing the drug I had been taking would prolong the time I had to receive medical attention. I then walked over to the duress button, pressed it and waited. That was it – I was the new Top Dog, an added bonus I guess – and phase one of my plan was a success."
"That's a lot of information to take in – why did you decide to cut your wrists? You're other injuries, especially your forehead would have warranted a hospital visit anyway." I ask, already knowing but wanting to hear how she knew.
"One of the girls in the unit slashed her wrists a few months prior – I was with her at the infirmary and heard the screws say it was against protocol to cuff slashed wrists – I knew it would make the escape I had planned that much easier." I knew Bea was smart before, but hearing all of these details astounds me.
"You really did think of every last detail – you were absolutely determined to get him." I say to her, she looks at me intently for a second before looking away, tears starting to pool in her eyes.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand Bridget – and I hope more than anything you and Franky will never need to feel the pain I felt – at being told my perfect little girl was dead – I failed her, I couldn't protect her – that bastard injected her with pure heroin, in her childhood bedroom, and left her to die – while I was locked in here, unable to do a damn thing. I asked for help – god, I begged Franky to help me keep her safe but no one believed Jacs was going after Debbie – and why would they? I'd never done anything to her – except exist in this shithole. It still baffles me why both Franky and Jacs instantly seen me as such a threat. Sometimes, I think if I'd just kept my head down, my little girl would still be here, but it's too late now. The ironic thing, I was only on remand back then, even found not fucking guilty of those charges – this place – it's poison. Be thankful Franky got out when she did." How am I supposed to reply to that?
"No, I can't begin to understand what you went through, the pain you felt and still do feel, trying to deal with all of that on your own and in a place like this. As a mother now myself, I'll be honest with you – if anyone even lay a finger on my Olivia – I'd kill them too, and I know Franky wouldn't think twice as well. We'd both die for her." I say, tears in my own eyes.
"I prayed I could swap places with her – more than anything I wanted to be the one Jacs killed, it was me she had the issue with – but no, she was a monster – the very worst, my Debbie was just an innocent kid and she took her life to prove a point. How I wish she was still alive when I put a bullet in that bastard's head – I got two for the price of one with that bullet anyway – I single handily took down the most feared crime family in Melbourne."
"I presume you mean Vinny? Heart attack or something wasn't it?"
"Yep – just wish it was a more painful way to go. Bridget, I hope you understand from all this – I'm not crazy, not at all, I was just a pissed off mother, seeking revenge, but I'm finished killing people now – and I'm not going to hurt myself again – that was just necessary that one time."
"I don't believe you do have any mental health issues, nor do I believe you ever did – you're one of the most balanced inmates I've ever worked with – it's just going to take a bit trying to convince others – because you must admit – on paper, it does look pretty crazy." She laughs, and so do I, it's true – it's a ridiculous situation, if it was anyone else they'd be in psych but everything she says is, as far as I'm concerned 100% the truth, we can only hope when I present my findings they'll be taken seriously.