Chapter 5
Even if it was hospital coffee, the coffee which Bo had found in Salem U tasted more like home than anything else he had drunk over the last few years.
The warm liquid warmed him through and gave him a much needed caffeine hit as he tried to work out when he had last had a decent night's sleep. The real answer of course was the last time he had slept next to Fancy Face. Either because of the sleep deprivation or for another reason he was not yet ready to admit to himself, he was not quite sure how long ago that was.
Of course due to the fact that he was enjoying his drink, he found it ended far too fast. He was going to be able to get more where that had come from now he was home he comforted himself. In fact, when morning came he was going to be able to go to the Brady pub and have a coffee with his mom.
That he had dreamt of.
But even more than the rest of the family he had dreamt of seeing his little girl and her fancy fancied momma.
He had to go home to them now.
That was brought home to him more than ever when he stuck his head round the door of his sister's hospital room. He had been planning on saying hello, but he had soon decided that disturbing her and Steve was a bad idea. They had been back no more than an hour, and his best friend was curled up with his sister as if they had never been apart. It was as if no time had passed for them.
Images of holding Hope that very evening the way that Steve was holding Kay ran through his head…
And they caused him to want to all but run home…
The sun was coming up as he headed back through the familiar streets a few hours later. Part of him said he should have just got a cab home but that was no way to get reacquainted with the town he called home.
Salem. The feel of it, the look of it… the very smell of the place hadn't changed at all.
Everything that had ever been of any great significance in his life bar a few occasions, had happened here. This was where he and Fancy face had dated and courted and fell in love. This was where they had got married, though they had done that a few other places as well.
This was where they had had their babies. He took in a deep breath as he remembered this was where they had also buried their babies.
The miscarriage… then there had been Zach.
The need to hold his little one in his arms over came him and he pushed on through the town.
He could take in the sights and the sounds once he had checked in with those who mattered the most.
It was only when he got to the house he realised it was just gone six. Though he had his key in his pocket, for the first time it occurred to him he probably shouldn't use it.
If Fancy Face heard someone moving about down stairs before time then she was going to freak out and that was not going to help his cause.
And so he sat across the street, by some bushes and waited.
And told himself things were going to be ok. Soon enough he was going to be with his family again.
As for Kayla, she had Steve to lean on and they were going to get to the bottom of what happened to her. What was important was that they were home and they were safe.
And soon enough they were going to be all gathered in together. The Brady's would reform.
And this too would pass.
X x x
Kayla awoke to her brightened hospital room about seven thirty. For the first time since she had been admitted she felt as if she had had a half decent sleep.
But that also meant she forgot where she was for just as second. She thought she was at home in her own apartment with her little boy sleeping just down the hall. Realising that wasn't the case was both pleasant and unpleasant.
While her memories of before the accident remained somewhat confusing to her, as soon as she realised where she was the memories of the night before rushed in to her mind.
Steve.
The fact that she could feel the space in the bed next to her empty panicked her but as she looked frantically around to the window, she saw she had not been dreaming the night before… and the bed was probably only empty because he had woken before her.
There he stood and for just a moment, she had the chance to observe him.
Part of her, the young, romantic Miss Kayla Brady would always see Steven Earl Johnson as the smart mouthed punk Patch who she had seen through.
He would always be in light washed old jeans, an old T Shirt and leather jacket.
The young Mrs Kayla Johnson, who was still very much part of her too, would always see him as he was when he made good when he crossed over in to respectability…
She remembered him as he was the day he proposed to her for the… third time. In his trousers and his shirt with a goatee and being nothing short of utterly devoted to her and their beautiful daughter.
And then she remembered him as he was when he had found his way back to her after all those lost years. A little older, a little leaner… but still her beloved Steven Earl.
He seemed to be all of things wrapped in to one now. Of course those parts of him hadn't left him any more than they had vacated her memory.
A leather jacket hang on the back of the chair by her bed. His hair was a little closer to grey than before. He was still wearing old washed out jeans.
And he also still had the eye patch he had had nearly all along, from which he had earned his name.
Despite all the time they had lost of late, there was one other big similarity to the man she had known for her whole life long too.
She was in trouble. Real trouble.
And he had come running to her side.
'Morning'. She was so lost in her thoughts she had almost missed the sign.
'Hi,' she returned.
'How you feeling?'
How was she feeling? Sore. As nice as it had been to be held by him the night before it had also meant, she could only guess she had been stuck in one position to long. She was going to pay for it that day.
'Not so bad.' She lied. And he knew she was lying.
She was bruised and battered and had been through something which he could not yet rightly name. She had also lost hear hearing and her ability to speak. She was a long way from 'not so bad'. But she had courage and spirit and that was what counted when it came down to it.
In the cold light of day, their communication, as easy as it was between them became stilted. More practical. The night before was not a moment to be regretted – it was to be cherished.
But things were possible under the cover of night that just weren't in the brood light of day.
'Do you need anything, sweetness?'
She shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips at the familiar endearment.
'Ok. I am going to go let you rest and catch up with Stephanie and Joey.'
As much as there was no way in hell she wanted him to go, that seemed a good idea. The two of them had tried to hide that they had been freaking out since everything had happened from her, but of course they had not been successful. She was their mama. She had seen the panic in their eyes and it had broken her heart.
But, perhaps, some time with their papa could soothe them a little.
'That's good. They need you,' she nodded. Then she bit her lip. Part of her knew she did not have to ask, but the other part of her needed to be sure. As long as he was not at the hospital then she was… well, she felt as if she was on her own. 'You're going to come back later, aren't you?'
Steve wasted no time in signing back.
'You try and stop me,' he said with a smile.
She nodded. That was what she had needed to see.
'Now… where's my little sweetness and my little dude?'
X x x
"And have we all got PE kits," asked Hope as they left the house.
"Yes," chorused Chase and Ciara as they headed towards her car. Aidan had a meeting that day and so Hope was on the school run.
She paused at the door, until Aiden followed them out, looking at his phone in frustration as he did so.
"Anything?" she asked.
"No… nothing. I don't get it, Grayson and Kayla were going well I thought."
"Well, so did I. But that doesn't change the fact no one has seen him since the night of Kayla's' accident. They were alone that night and presumably, he was the last one to see her before she got in the car. I need to talk to him." Hope stated simply.
It was hard to do though. This case was and had been emotional for her for obvious reasons. She had grown up with Kayla and she was Bo's sister… then there had been the few words she had heard Bo say when they had been in Daniel's office.
That she had actual proof her sweetheart was alive… that was a big deal, not that she would ever say it out loud.
"You can't think he had anything to do with it?" he said as his eyes went wide. Gray was a good guy, they had worked together for almost a year, Aiden knew that. He would never have suggested him if he had thought he would be a danger to Kayla…
"I do not know what to think right now. I can't ask Kayla for obvious reasons and even when Kimberly gets here, I don't want to pile any more pressure on her. She needs rest." She sighed, running a hand through her hair.
There was a pause for a moment before he stepped closer to Hope and placed a kiss on her lips.
"She is going to be ok."
Hope nodded. "I hope so. I – Joey and Stephanie need their mom, and I do not think Caroline could take it if something happened to her – I really don't think her heart could take it."
"Kayla will be home soon, you'll see."
Hope nodded, if only so she did not have to hear anything else which neither knew if they might be true.
But then she knew he was only trying to help her… he was a good man.
"Come here," she said as she wrapped her arms about him. If she was going to get through the day when she knew she may as well start it of right.
"I am going to be right here if you need me, ok? All you have to do is give me a ring."
She nodded. She wouldn't, but it was nice to hear it. He kissed her gently on the forehead.
"And I am going to cook for the four of us tonight. And I will pick up cake on the way home."
"That, Mr Jennings, is a definite plan," she said as she stepped out of his embrace. Lifting her hand to his cheek, she brushed it gently before she turned to the kids who expressions said it all.
She would have thought they'd be used to it by now.
"Come on, you two. In the car."
"Be good today, ok guys? Learn something," Aidan said with a smile as he kissed the kids in turn.
"You're so embarrassing," Ciara said with a long suffering sigh.
Aidan crossed to his own car, stopping only to wave to his son and the Brady women before driving off. Hope set out for St Luke's not so long after.
Neither had noticed the man standing some distance away, who now had tears trickling on to his cheeks.
Welcome home, Bo.
Please review!