Thankyou all for the great comments. I so appreciate them and they keep my going!

Continued! Slight filler of a chapter

As Richard drove back to the hospital, he thought about all the revelations he'd had. Darcy and Bea. That would work quite well. He thought about what Jane said. He wanted to make sure that absolute happiness was the only outcome without obviously pushing them to each other. They were adults, after all. After everything she'd done for him he knew, without a doubt, that he'd do this for her. And his cousin deserved no less, after all the sadness he'd experienced in his life.

As soon as she saw him, she beamed at him and he was so happy too. He kissed her on the forehead. "Now tell me, have you been good?"

She rolled her eyes at him. And he laughed.

"I'm fine. You really don't need to come check in on me."

"So, you're telling me to leave, just like Darce?"

"Neither of you need to come here." She looked anywhere but at his face. Not sure what her eyes would reveal.

He said, "but what if we want to. Isn't that our choice?"

She hated it when someone pointed out that they were exercising their right to make a choice. She just nodded, not saying anything else.

He needed to gauge her feelings first though. If he asked her whether she liked Darcy she'd deflect. He instead asked her the opposite. "Now tell me, do you dislike Darcy?"

She was surprised at the question but saw no harm in answering, "I mean at first. Yes, I did."

"Now?" he prodded.

"I'm not sure. He seems almost different than the person I met."

"He is. I came back to a changed cousin," he declared certainly.

Eagerly she asked him, "so what Ms. Reynolds and I said had an impact?"

He laughed, "impact? Love, you've changed his world, something about turning it upside down, though I'd say it was more you finally helped turn it right side up. He just needs some time to see it."

She nodded satisfactorily, now he could just leave her alone as he wanted to. "He'll stay away from Meryton now, right? I don't want him finding G. She's not ready for either of you."

He sighed, "I know. And so does he. We're both sad about it. But I probably understand it a bit better than him."

Pertly, she said, "well, you've known us long enough. I should well hope so."

He gently encouraged her to say more, "will you tell me more about what you and Darcy have been up to since I was away and tell me more about why you had to get Wickham thrown in jail?"

She wasn't sure what was underlying that question, so she said, "slowly. I'm sleepy right now. You should just ask him. Wickham - I can't. It's privileged."

"I asked Darcy, he told me his perspective. But I'd much rather hear yours."

She deflected by asking something else, "are you close to him?"

He nodded, "he's the closest thing I have to a brother. You know I don't get along with my family, but Darcy always accepted me. I spent more time with Darcy and his parents growing up than I did with my own."

She was put out, "why have you never mentioned him before? We welcomed you into our family, you never did the same, Richard. If he's that important to you, I'd have liked to have met him before all this."

Maybe he'd always known that Darcy would be perfect for her if he could get his act together, but that didn't mean he wasn't selfish every now and again. And here fate threw them together in a way that they couldn't negate easily. "I didn't want to share you, Lizzy. I already have to share you with so many people, your family, your friends, hell even my colleagues."

She was getting angry now, "that's not fair."

He agreed, "no, you're right it isn't. But you always knew I was selfish. Now I have no choice but to share you with Georgiana. With Darcy."

She laughed, "I doubt I'll see him again until G is ready to meet him. Don't worry about sharing me with him." She couldn't tell if she hopeful or sad at her own pronouncement.

He spoke to her sweetly, "darling, I know you had a concussion, but I just told you that meeting you was the domino piece that did change his understanding of the world. He understands you better than you think and I know he won't just disappear like that. Consider being less self-deceiving every now and then."

She didn't want to be called out like that. Even Jane had indicated the same thing, "I have no idea why he's been coming to see me."

"Do you really not? For someone who prides themselves on forming character judgments in her job and generally being good at that from what I know. You're being fairly obtuse."

She didn't hear the end of the sentence. She'd fallen asleep. He looked at her peaceful and wondered what she was thinking about. He knew it would take time for her to see what others already could. And he would have to be gentle. He had his work cut out for him then. He kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. He made sure that she was comfortable and then did what he'd resolved to do for a while. He messaged a friend in criminal prosecution that he'd consider it a big favour if she took over prosecuting Wickham and ensured that he'd get no bail. Lizzy might not tell him much about the situation with Georgiana, but he could damn well make sure that Wickham was no longer out in the world.

…

When Richard got back to Darcy's apartment, he found him in a distinctly more chipper mood than before. Something had happened between now and then, but he wasn't sure what it was.

Before he could even collect his thoughts, Darcy asked him, "you said that she gave you something you never thought possible. What did you mean?"

Richard smiled, "she saved my life, Darce. She was my salvation when I most needed it. And I can't ever repay her for that."

He smiled, "she's doing that for Georgie too. More than you or I ever did, ever could. She refused my money when I offered."

Richard nodded, but said, "you can't repay what she did anyway. There's no compensation for what she did."

Will smiled slightly and then asked, "do you think I can visit her tomorrow. I understand a bit more than I did I think."

He agreed, "you'll have your work cut out for you. She's fairly certain now that you're convinced your sister is safe that you won't need to see her anymore until Georgie is ready to see you. She's fairly obtuse when it comes to her own feelings. When she has to sketch the character of a criminal she does so in a cool collected detached way. Here she can't see the forest for the trees. Tread lightly. Just be her friend for now."

He didn't understand his cousin, "Richard, why are you doing this for her? For me?"

He smiled at his cousin, knowing he needed to hear this, "she's too important to me to let all this end in misery. You both deserve happiness. And I know where you live if you hurt her, Darce. I won't hesitate to get you sent to St. Helena, no amount of money would stop me."

Once again he expressed his doubts, "you sound like a man in love, but you keep denying it. I'm not sure it makes sense to me."

He shrugged, "it doesn't have to make sense to you, Darce. Only to me and her."

The next morning, Will and Richard went together to the hospital together. She was happy to see Richard, but seeing Will made her feel odd and confused. She didn't understand why he was here. Ruff, Jane, both of them had said that she was missing the obvious. Maybe he wanted to be friends. Yes, of course. That must be it, with everything they'd spoken about he must want to continue that. Maybe he wanted to thank her for what she did for G. She hoped he didn't feel indebted. She didn't want that.

Richard went to her and kissed her cheek taking her hand and settling by her cozily. "How's the head, kid?"

She answered simply, "it's fine. Seems my rib isn't healing as it should. They're worried about the lung getting punctured. I'm not allowed to move much. I might even have to stay for a few more days." She let out a soft moan, hoping no one heard that she was in so much pain.

He quirked his eyebrow, "And you're sticking by this no opioids thing? I can tell you're in pain, love."

"Yes," she didn't respond to the rest of it.

Will couldn't help himself now, "why? I heard you don't want them. But if they'll help then why not?"

"It's my choice," she said defiantly.

He wanted to be patient rather than create a misunderstanding, "no, I understand that. What I don't understand is the choice itself. Why are you choosing this? I'd simply like to understand if I could."

She was speechless. It was Richard who responded, "so, Bea, what's the reasoning?"

"Last time…" she stopped and looked at Richard as if for reassurance. He smiled gently at her. "Last time, they made me feel loopy and terrible. I didn't like it."

He understood then, "oh, I see. But they might give you a lower dose. You could try to have a little to take care of the pain?"

She thought about it. Anyone who knew Lizzy knew she wasn't one to reconsider her choices. She was just too stubborn to do that. Richard looked from her to Darcy, wondering if he actually had any role to play to push these two together. These two might well be on their way to something wonderful. He smiled.

Richard got up quickly, "let me go talk to your doctor or nurse. One of them might be able to answer questions about this."

He left the room, leaving Will and Elizabeth alone. Both of them looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something.

He stated the obvious, "it must be quite painful."

She agreed but lightened her response, "it's not so bad. I've a high pain threshold."

He knew he had to say what he'd been thinking for a while now, "what you did it was unbelievable, Elizabeth. Your bravery, your courage, all for Georgiana. I don't know how to thank you."

She smiled softly at him, "don't worry about it. I was happy to do it. I just wish I didn't have stupid cracked ribs."

He was glad that she wasn't brushing off what he said. "I understand that you were happy to do it for her. But that doesn't mean I can't thank you."

"You're welcome." After a few moments of silence, she said, "you seemed very confused and agitated yesterday. You look better today."

He wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't well tell her his feelings. "I think I was just surprised that Richard never told me about someone so important to him. What the two of you are, I admit I don't wholly understand it. But it was one shock after another. A truly confusing 2 days."

She giggled, "I know it's difficult to understand. I suppose we are what we are. He's my best friend. I wouldn't give that up for anything."

"He said you saved him."

She rolled her eyes, "he exaggerates."

"From what he said, I'm sure that's not true."

She changed the topic of conversation then, "we never did finish the conversation about Ms. Reynolds. What did you tell her?"

He smiled. He knew the answer and he couldn't tell her that. But he did vow to tell Harriet. "Why don't you rest, we can talk about that another day."

She was surprised, "another day? You don't have to keep coming back, Will. You needn't feel indebted to me. Come back as a friend if you wish, nothing else."

"While I do feel indebted to you, it's not transactional, Elizabeth. I'm here because I want to be. Wickham and I had a transactional relationship. I can't do that." Friends was a far cry from what he wanted. But he knew he had to go slow with her. It was a step in the right direction.

…

At Lizzy's request Gardiner went to view the proceedings for Wickham's bail hearing. Margaret Woods was a spitfire lawyer a decade older than Lizzy, she'd already helped him this morning. Wickham had a defence Counsel appointed to him, John Whitmore. A young barrister, looking to get his sea legs in court. Eventually, Wickham was detained for trial, with no bail until trial was over as he was deemed a flight risk. It was a temporary solution, but it would work. The hard part would start now, thought Gardiner, looking at the paperwork in his hand. Lizzy had worked a miracle this morning, even in her condition. She'd done most of the work before her injury and appended the criminal case against Wickham in the documents as additional evidence that he was extremely violent. All he'd had to do this morning was print out the documents, ask Margaret for the criminal petition and evidence. He attached that all in one packet and filed it at the divorce centre deciding to take the application with him to court. He handed the paperwork to Wickham, letting him know about the divorce explaining the situation. Once Wickham signed as acknowledgement that it had been received, his job would be easier. If Wickham didn't respond in 2 weeks, Gardiner would complete the documentation to make sure a conditional divorce was quickly granted.

Wickham had no idea how he had landed himself in this position. She should've been easy to intimidate and if not that she should've been easy to hurt. Instead, he'd been knocked unconscious and was being treated like scum. Even his defense counsel seemed to cower when he saw that he'd assaulted the Bennet slag. He needed a way to get back at that bitch lawyer and find his wife. He didn't know what he was going to do. And on top of that this fucking divorce paperwork. He needed to find a way to make sure that it wasn't granted. When he opened the divorce packet, he saw all the evidence in the case, his violent tendencies, documentation from hospitals all over England of Georgiana's beatings, proof of her miscarriage, and the evidence from the run in with that bitch. He was stunned that she'd done all of this. How was he ever going to get out of it? He needed to think and find a way, else he was screwed.

…

Richard and Jane stood outside, somewhat incredulous as to what had just happened. "How exactly did he get her to change her mind?" asked Jane.

"He just asked her why she made the choice to have no opioids. And when she said it made her feel loopy, he asked why she couldn't have a smaller dose then? And now she's on morphine."

Jane's eyes narrowed, "that is surprising."

He whispered to her so no one else would overhear, "you told me misery or absolute happiness. I plan for it to be absolute happiness between those two. I think it can actually work."

Will left the room and walked towards them, wondering what they were talking about. Jane saw him approach, "thank you, Will."

"I'm glad I could help." He shrugged.

Richard smirked at his cousin explaining why they were thanking him, "she's stubborn. Getting through to her can be a real task, especially when she's so certain she's right."

"I was just worried about her. I can't imagine the pain she's in."

Hi friends - I'm travelling next week and so won't be putting up a chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories as I complete this story!

Comments are very appreciated.