See A/N from previous chapters.
Three weeks later
Betty sat on the couch at her father's house, her leg propped up in a chair. She listened as she got Henry's answering machine again, the same flat greeting.
"Sorry we're not home to take your call. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you soon."
Betty hung up the phone in frustration. Henry had not "been home" since she had been released from the hospital. She had been staying at her father's since the hospital absolutely forbid her to be alone because of her head injury. She was released only after promising Dr. Rochon she would stay with her family in case something happened. Betty had been cleared to start walking around on her leg only a few days before with crutches. Betty gave a small chuckle as she had quickly learned how to maneuver with them, her usual klutzyness gone. Hilda had called Daniel and the staff at MODE when she was in the hospital and since she'd been back at her father's, Daniel had called to check on her everyday. The last time she had talked to him, Daniel had told her that Marc and Amanda had asked about her. Betty's heart warmed at the thought of Marc and Amanda checking on her, albeit through Daniel. Betty had made Daniel promise that neither he nor anyone at MODE was to tell Henry where Betty was, should he come by and ask.
So far, apparently, he hadn't.
Betty looked up as Hilda walked into the living room, a glass of milk in her hand. Hilda handed it to Betty as she sat down next to her. Betty looked down at the glass for a moment, then set it down on the table angrily. Hilda jumped.
"Jeez Betty, what's wrong with you today?" Hilda snapped. The sisters at least were back to normal.
"I'm through listening to Henry's answering machine avoid me. It's time I did something about this." Betty said, her eyes glittering angrily behind her new glasses.
"Well it's about time." Hilda said, "what exactly do you plan on doing?"
"I'm going to go see Henry, and this time there won't be any running away. But I need your help. We need an ally Hilda.
And I'm going to tell you just where to find him." Betty said. Thirty minutes later, Hilda was on her way out the door as
Betty grabbed the phone once again. She dialed the familiar number for MODE.
"MODE offices, Amanda Tanen speaking."
"Amanda, it's Betty... I'm fine. Yes, I can walk on my leg now. No, I'm not trying out for Pirates of Penzance ...Amanda...AMANDA!" Betty yelled into the phone, "I'm seizing my inner MODE girl and I need your help. Can you come over here? Forty minutes...great. Oh stop by the closet and get me something seductive to wear... Amanda, I said seductive, not slutty..." Betty said into the phone. She gave Amanda her father's address and hung up with a smile on her face.
Operation Accountant Ambush had begun.
Hilda walked quickly to the spot in Central Park that Betty had told her to go to. She scanned the children's faces playing there until she found the dark headed boy she'd been looking for. She held up her hand and shouted;
"Aiden!" Aiden turned at the sound of his name and ran over to Hilda, wrapping his arms tightly around her legs.
"Miss Hilda!" Aiden squealed. He let go of her legs and looked up at her seriously.
"How is Betty?" Aiden asked, " Daddy won't talk about her. He just comes home from work and looks outside the window. Sometimes I hear him crying and last night I saw him throw a glass in the sink and break it." Hilda sighed. She'd been too hard on Henry. She smiled down at Aiden as she hugged him to her.
"Well, that's what I want to talk to you about."Hilda said as she bent down next to Aiden's ear, "can you keep a secret"
She whispered to him as he nodded.
"Betty's going to come and see your daddy." Hilda said as Aiden's eyes lit up, "but she wants to surprise him. Can you help me?" Hilda asked as Aiden giggled and nodded again.
"Ok then, here's what we're going to do..." Hilda said as she guided Aiden to Betty's spot on the grass.
Amanda's eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at Betty. They stood in Ignacio's living room, marveling at the transformation Amanda had given Betty. Amanda had brought a flirty lavender skirt, the hem falling to just below Betty's knees. She'd added a soft, silky white button down blouse tiny pearl buttons. Amanda had softly curled Betty's hair until it fell in soft waves around her face. Light flattering makeup had transformed Betty into a vision. Amanda sighed as she looked down at Betty's leg. She couldn't do anything about the big honking cast on her leg, but Amanda had a feeling Henry wouldn't even notice. She just hoped the little geek appreciated all her efforts.
"Betty, you look amazing." Amanda said truthfully.
"You think so?" Betty said with a smile.
"Yeah, your inner MODE girl is on!!" Amanda laughed, "Henry's going to lose his pocket protector when he sees you"
Betty let out a shout of laughter as her cell phone rang.
"The junior accountant is on board. The big auditor is on his way to pick him up." Betty heard Hilda say. Betty laughed.
"OK... meet you at MODE in thirty minutes." Betty said, closing her cell phone. Amanda walked to the door.
"Good luck Betty. I really mean that." Amanda said. Betty hugged her quickly as Amanda pulled away.
"Ewww...geekiness all over me." Amanda said with a wink as she left. Betty smiled as Amanda left, then grabbed the phone to call a cab.
Henry sat in his bedroom, staring out the window. He and Aiden had stopped and picked up hamburgers and fries for dinner. Aiden had been in an unusually buoyant mood. He smiled all the way home, as if he had some secret he wasn't sharing with Henry. Henry had noticed Aiden smiling a lot less lately, although Henry couldn't blame him. He didn't feel much like smiling either.
Henry missed Betty.
Henry didn't realize how much it would hurt to miss Betty. This time was worse than when he'd went to Tucson, since
Betty was as close as a phone call here. He'd called the hospital daily until he'd found that she had been released over
three weeks ago. The hospital wouldn't say where she had gone to stay, and calling her apartment had only gotten him a
continually ringing phone. Henry had contemplated calling Ignacio or Daniel to ask about her, but the shame of how he'd
left her in the hospital kept him from dialing either person. Henry could hear Aiden watching television in the living room.
Henry paused in his musings, thinking he heard a light knocking on the front door. He listened for a moment, then shook
his head. No one would be coming by tonight. Henry turned back towards the window.
Hilda knocked lightly on Henry's front door. Hilda and Betty held their breath as Aiden quietly pulled the door open.
Hilda held a finger to her lips at Aiden as Betty hobbled into the apartment. Hilda grabbed a post-it note and wrote
her address and phone number on it as Aiden dragged a small chair into the center of the living room. Aiden tiptoed to
his room and grabbed his backpack that he'd secretly packed when daddy had brought him home. When Betty sat down
in the chair, Hilda gave him a thumbs-up and shooed him towards Henry's bedroom. Aiden smiled at her and ran to Henry's
room.
"Daddy, I'm going to spend the night with Hilda. She's here to pick me up." Aiden said. Henry looked at his son, puzzled.
"Aiden, what are you talking about?" Henry demanded.
"I invited Aiden to spend the night!" Hilda shouted from the next room, "My address and phone number are in here on the coffee table. Come on Aiden!" Aiden sprinted out of Henry's room. Henry jumped up to follow his son. As he got to the living room, the door swung shut behind them as Henry's jaw dropped at who was left in his living room. Betty sat in one of the kitchen chairs, looking absolutely...
Pissed.
Her broken leg was straight out in front of her as he took in her posture; eyes glittering dangerously, arms crossed in front of her chest. His heart began to race and his mouth went dry as Betty pinned him with her gaze.
"Nowhere to run now Henry." Betty said.
TBC...