"Hey." Bo said as he opened the door for Roman and Daniel. He stood to the side to let them into the warmth of the cabin. "Thanks for coming."
"It's no problem."
Daniel looked around the small room his eyes finally settling on a woman who was lying in the only bed, propped up on the pillows. If he wasn't head over heels in love with Chloe Lane then he would definitely make a play for this woman. Other than Chloe she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"Carly, the doctor is here. Don't terrorize him."
"Very funny, Bo." Her words were betrayed by the hint of laughter in her voice as Bo chuckled.
"Daniel, meet Dr. Carly Manning. Princess, this is Dr. Daniel Jonas."
"It's nice to meet you, Doctor." Carly put her hand out to shake Daniel's.
"The pleasure's mine, Doctor." Daniel replied taking her proffered hand. "And now that the polite niceties have been observed, let's take a look at you, Dr. Manning." He turned to look around the room, wondering how he could examine her privately in this little one room cabin. It was too cold to ask Bo and Roman to wait outside.
"Bo can stay." Carly said, correctly interpreting Daniel's silence. "I trust him." 'Not to mention the fact that I slept with him when I was 17 and I just remembered, and he doesn't remember.' She thought to herself.
Bo whispered something to Roman who nodded his head in understanding and walked into the small bathroom to wait as Bo sat down at the little dining table. There was a comfortable silence in the cabin as Daniel started with the basics of an exam. He checked her pulse and her blood pressure and then listened to her heart beat and her lungs.
"Well, your pulse is good, heart sounds strong and steady, lungs are clear, but your blood pressure is a little higher than I would like it to be."
"Yeah, I think that may be as a result of waking up and not knowing where I am and then being told that I don't remember the last 20 years of my life. That could be the reason my blood pressure is high." Carly said sarcastically.
Daniel just smiled and replied, "Yeah, I guess that could do it." Carly smirked at him as Bo just grinned and shook his head. "OK, I'm going to check your ribs, let me know…"
"When it hurts." Carly cut him off.
Daniel reached over and gently placed his hands on either side of her waist and pressed lightly, slowly moving his hands up her rib cage. When his hands had moved about half way up her sides, they heard a sudden intake of breath and her emerald eyes winced in pain.
When Bo saw her discomfort he had to fight the swift, overwhelming urge to punch Daniel for touching his princess and for hurting her. But he knew Daniel was just doing his job.
"OK, well, sorry if I hurt you, but your ribs seem to be healing well."
"I'm okay."
"How does you head feel?"
"Umm, it hurts, but it's bearable."
"What kind of pain is the headache?"
"It's dull. It was really bad when I woke up but it's gotten better."
"Good, that's good. OK let's take a look at those eyes." He took out his pen light, and shining it in her eyes, he asked "Can you see that?" Carly didn't answer. Daniel stopped trying to look into her eyes and looked directly at her face only then noticing that she was no longer listening to him. She wore an expression of someone who was daydreaming.
When Daniel shined the light in her eyes, Carly's mind drifted and she was suddenly in that long dark hallway of memories again. She reached out and tried to open the closest door but it was locked. She went to the next door which was also locked. She continued down the hallway trying the doors until she found one that opened.
She looked through the door. She was in a garden. "What the hell am I wearing?" she asked herself. She looked like a giant marshmallow in a white wedding gown, her dark hair pulled up into a netted snood covered with pearls. Before her stood Bo, looking devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo. She couldn't hear what they were saying but as she watched he grabbed her and pulled her into what looked to be a very passionate kiss. Carly closed the door with a smile.
She continued down the hall until she came to a door that seemed to be screaming 'OPEN ME!' She reached for the door but before she could touch the handle it creaked open. She peeked inside. She was looking into a small room. The walls looked to be constructed from bamboo, a door fashioned from plywood, and a thatched roof. The room was lit by candle light and contained only a small table and a bed. Carly blushed at the memory as she saw herself and Bo entwined in the bed holding one another.
"What? What's wrong?" She heard Bo ask.
"I don't know. I can't describe it." Carly replied pulling herself out of his embrace and sitting up, drawing the sheet up to cover herself. Bo also sat up, his legs wrapped around her and moved closer to her as she continued speaking.
"I have never felt this way in my entire life. I mean, I knew I loved you, but I never knew how much until just now when you touched me for the very first time. I mean, really touched me. I've been waiting for this moment my entire life."
"It's only the beginning, Princess." Bo said as he stroked her cheek with the thumb of his left hand which was placed on the side of her neck and jaw, cradling her face. "Only the beginning."
"I feel like a whole new person, living a whole new life."
"That's because you are. So am I."
"I had the most beautiful wedding today."
Bo laughed and kissed her passionately. For her part Carly tuned out the end of the conversation between her past self and Bo as she watched them kiss and touch in between the words they were saying. The Bo, kissing her again, drew her down on top of him as he laid back on the bed, beginning the love making process again.
"CARLY!" She heard a man's voice booming in her ear.
"Carly!"
"What?" Carly said startled out of her reverie.
"I asked if you could see this." Daniel once again directed the pen light into her eyes.
"Yes, I can see it."
"Come on, Carly, you know the drill. Tell me what you see."
"The light is bright, it hurts to look at it directly and it is blurry."
"OK. Can you differentiate colors when you look at something?"
"Yes, but not they aren't very clear. And I can make out general shapes."
"OK. Well that's good. It looks like your optic nerve has been weakened by the head trauma. We can try some glasses. And maybe later we can determine if there are any surgical options." He looked at Bo. "This is just an educated guess on my part, I'm not an Ophthalmologist, so this is the best I can do."
"That's OK Daniel, thanks." Bo replied with a nod while Carly said nothing. Bo noticed that she was looking at him, or in his general direction, with an odd look on her face.
"I'll get a few pairs of glasses together, different strengths and all, and send them to you. You can try them and see which strength works the best. But," Daniel turned his attention back to his new patient, "if they don't work then the problem could be much more serious and you will need to see an eye specialist."
"I understand." Carly said quietly.
"Good. Well, Bo, it seems that whatever it is you've been doing is working. You, Carly, are definitely on the road to recovery. When you feel able, you should get up and start trying to get around."
"Thanks, Daniel." Bo said as he got up from his chair and shook Daniels hand.
"No problem. Glad I can help. Did you need anything else?"
"Nope, just the glasses."
"Yeah, I'll get them together and send them to you."
"That'd be great. Oh, and one more thing…"
"What's that?"
Bo took a look at Carly and pulled Daniel over to the corner next to the bathroom door.
"I need your promise that you won't tell anyone about this. Not about this place or about Carly." Bo whispered.
"You have my word. No one will hear about any of this. I told Roman that as far as I'm concerned this falls under patient-doctor confidentiality."
"Thanks. Her life depends on it."
"I understand."
Bo nodded and gently knocked on the bathroom door to let Roman know that Daniel was done with the exam.
The door opened and Roman stepped out. He nodded silently at the front door. Bo and Daniel both nodded.
"Princess, I'm going to walk them out to the car. I'll be right back."
"Okay."
The three men stepped out the front door into the frigid cold. Bo closed the door behind them.
"Well, how is she?" Roman asked.
"From what Daniel here said, she's getting better. As long as you told us everything."
"Yes, Bo. I told you everything." Daniel responded. "She is healing well from what I can see."
"Thank God." Bo voice was full of relief.
"Thank God is right. I'll be offering up an extra prayer of thanks tonight." Roman said looking at Bo, knowing how much his little brother loved the woman inside that cabin. Then he looked at his watch. "In the mean time, we should be getting back to town before either of us is missed."
"Yeah. Thanks for coming out here tonight."
"You don't have to thank me, little brother. You know I love that lady in there. She may not be blood but she is family. She is as much a sister to me as Kim and Kayla are. I would do anything in the world for her just like I would for them."
"I know, Roman, but thanks anyway."
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot…" Roman opened the car door and reached in to retrieve the letter from the family court and handed it to Bo. "Hope this is what you are waiting on."
"I'm sure it is one of them." Bo said with a big grin on his face.
"Well, doc, let's hit the road." Roman said.
"Okay. You take care of yourself Bo."
"I will, Daniel, and thanks again. You guys be careful driving back. The roads could ice over anytime."
Roman and Daniel both nodded as they got in the car.
Bo went back to the cabin's front door and stood there until Roman's car had disappeared from sight before going back in. When he went back in he was surprised to see tears running down Carly's cheeks. He quickly laid the envelope in his hand down on the table and hurried over to her.
"Princess, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Why didn't you just tell me, Bo?"
"Tell you what, Carly?"
"Why didn't you tell me we are married?"
