Chapter 12
Hope stirred in the still night air. Something had awakened her, but she wasn't sure what it was. A buzzing sound. Where was it coming from. She looked over at the clock. 2:31 A.M. Again the buzzing. Hope twisted around in Bo's arms to face him and wrapped her arms across him laying her head on his bare chest. "Buzz, buzz." Hope lifted her head off Bo's chest. Just where was that sound coming from. And then it hit her. Her cell phone was on vibrate. It had to be about Alicia. Hope jumped up from the bed waking Bo in the process.
"Hope?" He was still groggy. "What's wrong? Is it Ciara?" Bo asked.
"No. Where's my phone? I hear it going off. Where is it?" Hope searched desperately for her phone. Bo was still rubbing sleep out of his eyes, but he got up and searched with his wife.
"I think it's coming from over here. Maybe if we turn on the light I can see where it is.' Bo reached over to the side table for the light switch, but sent the lamp crashing to the floor instead. "Buzz. Buzzzzz." And then the phone stopped.
"No!" Hope was panicking. "What if that was the hospital or Chelsea? What if something is wrong with Alicia? What…" The house phone ringing cut Hope off from saying more.
"Hello?" Bo had managed to get to the phone without stepping on any of the broken glass from the lamp. Hope found the wall switch and a flood of light illuminated the room.
"Dad, is that you?" Chelsea's voice came across the line. "I'm sorry if I woke you. I tried calling Hope on her cell, but there was no answer."
"Chels, what's wrong? Is Alicia okay?" He practically yelled into the phone. He was just as anxious as Hope to see his daughter wake up from the coma.
"She's fine, but I think you might want to get down here." Chelsea sounded happy.
"Is she waking up?" Bo looked over to see Hope's face looking back at him anxiously awaiting the answer to his question.
"I think she might be. There was some movement, but the doctors said it was to be expected. I don't know, Dad, but I think it might be more than just involuntary movement. Just come down here and see for yourself." Chelsea was practically singing on the phone. She was so excited to have a sister close to her age. She loved Ciara with all her heart, but Alicia would be someone she could relate to.
"Thanks for letting us know, kid. Hope and I will be there as soon as we can get someone to come stay with Ciara." Bo hung up the phone and was going to tell Hope the news, but she had already raced out of the room to get dressed. He grabbed the phone again and called his mother to come stay with Ciara. "Hey Ma, sorry to be calling so late. Do you think you can come stay with Ciara while Hope and I go to the hospital. Chelsea is there now and she seems to think that Alicia might be waking up." Bo was hanging up with his mother when Hope emerged from the master bath.
"Bo? What are you doing? Get dressed already. I want to get to the hospital. I wonder if Julie can come sit with Ciara." She was saying.
"I just called Ma. She's on her way as we speak." Bo walked past Hope kissing her on his way by to get dressed. "Why don't you go turn on the lights for Ma so she can see her way to the front door. I'm going to clean up this mess once I get dressed." He was hollering to Hope from the bathroom.
Hope left to check on Ciara. She eased the door quietly open and peeked in on her baby girl lying sweetly in her bed. Hope lifted the covers around her shoulders and tucked her back in under them. She bent down to kiss her on her head, brushed some straggling strands of hair from Ciara's face, and went to go turn on the outside lights for Caroline.
Bo was just coming down the stairs when the doorbell rang.
"Hey Ma. Glad you could get here so quickly and on such short notice." He told her as he hugged her.
"Thank you so much Caroline." Hope said pulling on Bo's arm to get him moving out the door. "Ciara is sleeping upstairs. I just checked in on her. If you need anything I'll have my cell on me." Hope pushed Bo to the door.
"Don't you worry about a thing, Hope. Just go to your other daughter. I'll be fine here with Ciara." Bo and Hope quickly left the house and jumped into the car.
"Bo can you hurry up?" Hope asked him for the second time.
"I'm already going over the sped limit as it is, Hope. We don't want to get into an accident on our way to the hospital." Bo reached over to take Hope's hand is his. He gave her a tight squeeze. "It's going to be okay. This is good news. You should be celebrating."
"Bo, we don't know anything for sure. It could just be an involuntary movement like the doctors told Chelsea. Why didn't the hospital call us?" Everything was running through Hope's mind all at once. She was afraid to be hopeful that Alicia might be waking up. She was afraid she would wake up and look at her with anger and resentment. She wasn't sure Alicia would accept them as her parents; allow them to care for her. Hope looked over at the speedometer. "Bo, you're barely doing 55. You can go faster than that."
……
Bo and Hope raced into the Alicia's room. "Chelsea, how is she?" Hope asked. "Has there been anymore movement?" She shot off question after question. "Has the doctor been in to see her? What did he say about the movement exactly? Are you sure you saw her move? What exactly did she move? Her hand? A finger? Her eye?" Hope wouldn't let up with the questions.
"Hope would you let me get a word in?" Chelsea screamed at her. "She moved her hand. Yes the doctor checked her and told me some bull line about how it's an involuntary movement, that they come and go with coma patients. But Hope, she moved her hand. It wasn't just a twitch, she moved her hand up from the bed to her stomach. That's not involuntary if you ask me."
Hope went to Alicia's side. "Has she moved her hand since you saw her do it? Or anything else for that matter?"
"No. But Hope, I know what I saw and it wasn't involuntary. You have to believe me." Chelsea pleaded with her.
"Hope, Bo…what are you two doing here so late?" Kayla walked in the room to check Alicia's vitals. "I thought you went home for the night."
"We did. Chelsea called to let us know that Alicia had moved her hand. What are you still doing here?" Hope asked.
"I had to pull a double shift. Too many doctors out sick with the flu. You know you really didn't have to call them to come down here." Kayla told Chelsea. "Hope, I'm sorry you rushed down here. There really is no change. And I'm sure Dr. Monroe told Chelsea that the movement was involuntary. It happens with most coma patients."
"I told Chelsea to call me no matter what. Thank you sweetie." She gave her a small
smile. "Kay, Chelsea seems to think it might have been more than just a spontaneous movement. How can you be sure it wasn't?" She asked Kayla. She hoped Chelsea was right. She was worried about Alicia being unconscious for too much longer.
"If she were waking up, we would know. We have her hooked up to all these machines to monitor her. There's no change Hope. I'm sorry." Kayla wished there was more she could do for her niece. Waiting for someone to wake up from a coma was the hardest part for the family.
"Mm." Hope heard Alicia moan first and ran to her side.
"Alicia." She grabbed Alicia's hand and held it in her own. "Sweetie. It's okay. Mommy's here. Alicia?"
Kayla went to check the monitors. "I think she's coming to. There's a marked increase in brain activity."
"Alicia?" Hope called to her again. "Sweetie, it's time to wake up. Come on. Open your eyes for me. Alicia." Hope lovingly stroked her hair. She stopped when she saw Alicia's eyes moving beneath the lids. "Baby, open your eyes for me."
Alicia struggled to open her eyes. "Mom?" She said barely above a whisper.
"I'm right here." Hope cried out. "I'm right here, sweetie. I'm not going to leave you."
Alicia turned her head to the sound of her mother's voice. "Mom? You remember me?" She asked her.
Hope stroked the side of Alicia's face. "I remember that you're my daughter. That's all that matters right now. That and getting you better."
"Hope. I need to check Alicia. And then she needs some rest. I know what you're going to say." She held up her hand to stop Hope from saying anything. "She just came out of the coma, but she needs plenty of rest if she's ever going to get out of here." Kayla ushered her brother and his family out so she could examine Alicia.
……
Hope lay sleeping in a chair beside Alicia's bed. Bo was slumped over in a chair beside his wife. They had spent the night waiting for Alicia to reopen her eyes and talk to them again. She had barely said a few words to Hope before Kayla sent them out of the room so she could examine Alicia.
"Mommy." Alicia was crying in her sleep.
Hope jumped up at the sound of her voice. "Alicia, sh, it's okay. I'm right here." She held on to Alicia's hand lightly rubbing the back of it. "Sweetie, can you hear me?" Hope asked her.
Alicia was sobbing harder now. She continued to dream writhing in her sleep and calling out for Hope.
"Sweetie, it's okay. I'm right here." Hope brushed her hand across Alicia's forehead. She was burning up.
"Mommy." Alicia kept moaning.
"Bo? Wake up! Go get the nurse." Hope slapped at Bo's leg; trying to wake him.
"What? Hope? Is Alicia okay?" He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked over at Hope. He saw the worried look on her face. "Hope? What's wrong?"
"Brady, she's burning up. Go get someone." Hope held on to Alicia's hand. "Alicia, sweetie. It's okay. I'm right here." She said trying to soothe her.
"I need the two of you to leave now." Dr. Monroe had come into the room with Bo and went over to examine Alicia. "Now please." Bo half dragged a reluctant Hope out of the room.
Hope paced outside the room wondering what could be wrong now. What was taking the doctor so long. Bo tried holding on to her to comfort her, but Hope kept pulling away going back to the door and pacing back up the hall.
"Hope. The doctor's going to do everything he can for her. This is the best place for her to be right now. Come here." He pulled her into his embrace again and kissed the top of her head. Dr. Monroe opened the door and motioned for them to join him inside.
"Your daughter has a fever which usually points to an infection. I've started her on some antibiotics. All we can do now is wait and hope for the best." Dr. Monroe left them then.
"Wait and hope for the best. I'm sick of waiting, Brady." Hope put her arms around Bo's waist. "I just wish she was home safe and sound with us."
"Soon. We just have to let the antibiotics do their job and then Alicia will be fine and we can take her home." Bo tried reassuring her.
"From your lips to God's ears." Hope walked over to Alicia's bed and reached out to take her hand. "I just want to take her in my arms and tell her that I love her."
"Hope. You'll have plenty of chances to do just that. We just need to wait a little while longer." Bo massaged the back of Hope's neck. He could feel how tense she was. "Hope, why don't you go home and get some rest. I'll stay here with Alicia."
"No. I told her I wasn't going to leave. I want to be here in case she wakes up looking for me. I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."
"I know how tough you are." He wrapped his arms around Hope. "I just want you to take care of yourself. Those chairs aren't that comfortable to sleep in. You've spent a couple nights here now."
"I'm fine, Bo. I just want to be here with Alicia." Hope stroked Alicia's hair lightly running her fingers through the strands. She felt a little cooler to the touch. Maybe it was a good sign. The antibiotics were helping.
…Salem Precinct…
Bo sat at his desk going through paperwork. He couldn't concentrate on the job. What he wanted was to be with his wife and child. But he was the commissioner and he had a job to do. Higley had been taken to maximum security after the fight they had the day before. Abe didn't want anymore inmates to be given the chance to attack an officer of the law. Bo chuckled remembering how he was the one who left Higley in such bad shape. 'What Abe doesn't know won't hurt him.' He thought to himself. It was up to IA and the courts to decide Higley's fate now.
"Hey Buddy. Any news on Alicia?" Roman poked his head in.
"Hey Roman. I just talked to Hope a few minutes ago. Alicia is resting and her fever has dropped. Looks like she'll make a full recovery."
"So what are you doing here?" Roman asked him.
"I got to finish this paperwork. I would give anything not to have to push papers and attend all those crazy meetings. Why did I agree to this job anyway? Oh right; to try and put Dimera behind bars. Look how that turned out." Bo never hated anyone as much as he did Dimera. He doubted he'd ever get the pleasure of seeing him hung for all his crimes.
"We'll get him one of these days. Besides, isn't Shane and the ISA still working on cracking the codes on that disc? With any luck we might get something we can use to bring the old man down." Roman looked a little too confident.
"I haven't heard from Shane in a few days. I should give him a call and find out what's going on." Bo was reaching for the phone when it rang. "Hello?"
"Bo, it's Shane. I have some news for you. When can we meet?" He asked.
"Are you psychic man? I was just calling you to find out if there was anything new." Bo was laughing. "How about we meet at the pub? In say half an hour?"
"I'll see you then." Bo hung up the phone. "Looks like we might have a break after all." Bo said smiling.
…Alicia's hospital room…
Alicia's head was pounding. She could barely keep her eyes open. She looked to her right and saw her mother sleeping in the chair. Where was she? This room didn't look familiar to her. She glanced around surveying the room and realized she was in the hospital. What was she doing here? How did she get here? "Ouch!" Her head hurt just thinking about it.
Hope stirred from her nap. She glanced over at Alicia and saw her looking back. "Hi sweetie. Did you just wake up?" Hope asked. "I must have dozed off. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts." Alicia wondered why she was being so nice to her. How many times had she run out on her mother? How many times had she yelled at her mother saying she couldn't help her and yet here she was sitting by her bed watching over her. "What happened?" Alicia wondered.
"There was an explosion. You were hurt when the ceiling caved in on you. Do you remember any of it?" Hope asked.
"I…um…I think so. I remember going with Gran…"Alicia stopped. She looked at Hope to see if she had caught her slip.
"It's okay Alicia. I remember you. I know that you're my daughter." Hope pulled Alicia into a hug. Alicia was tearing up. "You went to Doug's place with your grandparents. There was an explosion. Do you remember?"
"Yes. Wait." She pulled away from Hope so she could face her. "Is Grandpa alright? He got hurt…before the second explosion. Is he okay?" Alicia asked worriedly.
"He's fine. He had a slight concussion, but he's okay now." Hope wiped away the tears that had fallen from Alicia's eyes. "Alicia…I…I'm sorry." There was so much Hope wanted to tell her, but she didn't know where to start.
"Sorry about what? Is there something wrong with me that you're not telling me?" Alicia was agitated.
"No. I didn't mean to upset you. There's nothing wrong now." Hope tried to soothe her.
"Now? But there was? Ouch! My head." Alicia grabbed her held and rocked herself. The pain was excruciating. "Mommy." She cried. "It hurts. It really hurts." Alicia was rocking back and forth. "Make it stop." She cried.
"I'll go get a doctor." Hope left to find some help. She saw Kayla walking in the hall and stopped her. "Kayla, it's Alicia. She's in pain."
Kayla and Hope went back to Alicia's room. Alicia was crying more loudly now. The pain was becoming unbearable. Kayla gave her a shot of morphine. "This should help. I need you to relax. Try lying back and close your eyes. Just relax and let the medicine do the rest." Alicia lay whimpering in pain. After a few minutes, she slipped back to sleep.
"I gave her a high dose. She should be asleep for awhile. You might want to go grab something to eat." Kayla was worried about Hope. She looked too pale.
"I can't leave her Kay. She needs me." Hope wouldn't leave her side.
"Okay. I can see I'm not going to win here. How about a compromise? I'll go down to the cafeteria and get you something to eat. That way there you can stay with Alicia and still take care of yourself." Kayla told her. "I know you're worried Hope, but you need to take care of yourself."
…Brady Pub…
"Shane. I have a table for us back here. Hope you brought an appetite. Ma's fixing us some chowder." Bo led Shane to a table in the back corner. "So what do you have for me?"
"We pulled some more video footage from the disc. There's some more of Hope and Alicia. I'm sure you'll both want to see that. How is Alicia by the way?" Shane asked.
"She's out of the coma, but she's been sleeping a lot. Haven't been able to talk with her yet." Bo was heading back to the hospital after his meeting with Shane.
"Sorry Bo. Is there anything I can do to help?" Shane asked.
"You are. Getting some answers helps keep my mind off going after Stefano and ripping his heart out. Not that he has one." Bo looked over at the file Shane had brought with him. "What do you have there?"
"This is a summary of everything we found on the disc. I don't know how to break this to you, but it looks like Stefano was training Alicia to be an assassin.""What?" Bo was stunned. "Are you sure? We are talking about Alicia? My daughter! You're telling me that my daughter is a trained assassin?" Bo lowered his voice to avoid anyone overhearing their conversation.
"Bo. We don't know exactly what he had planned for her. But the training he put her through is exactly the training of an assassin. You said yourself you couldn't completely trust her." Shane was whispering loudly.
"She hasn't exactly been to forthcoming with Hope and I. But an assassin?" Bo couldn't wrap his mind around the thought of it. This was a child made out of their love. She was a part of Hope who was the kindest most loving person he had ever known. This couldn't be true. Could it? "It can't be.. I won't believe that a child of mine could be a trained assassin. There's no way."
"Bo, I don't know for sure if she's actually killed anyone. But the training she was put through is that of an assassin. Remember, she was under Stefano's control the same way Hope was. We know what he had her doing all those years. Not to mention what John did for him."
"Man. I can't deal with this right now. I've got my daughter lying in a hospital bed that may or may not be an assassin. What am I supposed to tell Hope? How can I bring her into my home knowing that she could possibly be a killer. How…I." Bo was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to think. Alicia was running from Stefano's men. She was afraid of Stefano. How could she be an assassin? He got up from his seat. "I got to take off man. I need to find Hope." Bo left in a hurry.
"So much for the chowder." Shane packed up his briefcase and left.