Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 85

Theo POV

Bob won the bet, and though we were happy that one of us did. The most significant part is that Bethany was awake, and some of her memory was there. She seemed to be foggy and, of course, tired. Staying awake for the whole game surprised us all. The amount she did remember told us there was no permanent brain damage, and she was able to eat, though only a little, and seemed to have good movement, all good signs. We were worried about any brain damage that could have caused difficulty in many areas, including motor skills, which would be the hardest if Bethany could not use her arms or legs or even her hands, but it seems all that was working fine so far.

'Don't worry, son. She is strong. Her memory will come back, and she will remember you. It is not unusual to lose part of your memory at the beginning! 'But she remembers you and Mum, but not me. It is hard, Dad; I was so hoping...

'I know, son, give it time! Dad patted me on the back and left, coming back in the morning to check on her.

By the time I had finished cleaning the kitchen, Bethany was asleep. I walked over to her bed, kissed her lips gently, and brushed the back of my fingers across her cheek.

'We all waited patiently for you to wake, my love, but my heart broke a little when you did not recognize me. I kissed her lips again, moved to the other bed, and climbed in. Tomorrow will be a long day if Bethany does not remember me again, and I have to tip-toe around her.

My sleep was not the best. My nightmares about the accident still plague me, and now, having Bethany not recognizing me has made the nightmare worse. She was mocking me for not saving her, yelling at me for not having better protection; all the guilt and kicking my own butt came out at night when I tried to sleep. I had failed to protect my girlfriend and felt it was my fault. I did not take the threat seriously enough. Even though I did everything I could think of to protect her, it was still not enough; they even surprised Scott with how far they were prepared to go to fulfill this contract.

I took a shower, and when I returned, Bob was seated beside Bethany, looking at her with such love; he looked up when I entered.

'Morning.' He was a good Dad, devoted to his daughter.

'Hi, care for coffee?' Bob nodded, and I headed to the kitchen to make some. When I returned, he moved to the small table and opened some bacon and egg burgers for us. I smiled. He had been doing this since Bethany arrived here, and it was lovely. 'How was her night?'

'She has not woken since you left. I replied softly, placing the coffee on the table and taking a seat.

'Good, I had not expected her to be awake much over the next week or so.' 'What about you?'

'Less than I would like, I received a call; they have let all of them out on bail. I have spoken to a friend of mine, and it seems our judge is on their side. Some of the rejections of no bail should have been addressed. I am motioning for the main trials to be here in our city and with our group of judges.

'That sucks. Bethany was not safe then. I had hoped things would improve now the men were arrested.

'Nope, I have asked Robson to increase security around the hospital again; even Scott is getting on board. We must have missed some people involved in this. Bob looked tired, and this was really getting to him.

'Those police officers have been stood down and won't be returning to the force, so that is one consolation. The Gutter boys are laughing at us, but we will have the last laugh; the tunnels are full of cameras with sound, and we have tapped everyone's phones and emails; we have stated they are flight risks and got the approval for them to happen. I wanted to GPS them, too, but was turned down. It's a pity, but seeing where they go would have been interesting. Scott has put more men on the job, watching all the top men and women; even Wendy and her group have extra surveillance.

'What about the man that tampered with your phone?'

'He was paid to turn it off but knows nothing about why; when a top cop asks you to do that sort of thing, the juniors rarely question them!

'You believe him, actually?

'Yes, he is a recruit and is easily manipulated by the senior officers. Bob sighed. Little can he do with most of the problems that are arising from all the arrests. All that has been accomplished is that they know we are on to them, and they need to lie low and change tactics. There is going to be a challenging few months till we can get them in jail.

'It will be a while before Bethany can leave here anyway, so we need to take as many precautions as possible. Robson is worried it will come to his doorstep. There is little I can do to stop it, and the media is going to have a field day with all of this! 'That won't go down well with Robson. Maybe we can get our media man in here and do something about the top heart researcher being victimized or something!

'I know where you are going with this. Deflection might be good, but it would be too dangerous with Bethany not yet recovered!

We talked for a bit longer, and it was hard to plan anything until Bethany was on the mend. Even the artificial hearts had to go on hold. There was little we could do but keep an eye on everything while trying to get the scum to jail. The lower-level men will go to jail quickly or barter for lower sentences by assisting the police with their inquiries, but I know little of this, so leave it to all those specialists. I want my girl back in one piece and hold her in my arms again.

We had only just started our relationship, and I felt it had been taken away from me before it had a chance to grow. At least I have Bob's approval, and that means a lot to me. I have to return to our apartment and get Bethany a change of clothes. She will want some of her own things soon, but I loathe leaving her yet.

After work, I will make a quick visit.

Bethany groaned, making me rush over to her. She was starting to wake up, and I wondered if she was in pain for her to have groaned like that. Her eyes opened and then closed, then opened again.

'Morning.' I whispered to her, grabbing a glass of water and ready to offer it to her once she woke properly.

'Hi.' She replied, looking at me and not shying away this time.

'Water?' I offered, feeling a bit lame, but I felt like a fish out of water, not knowing how to act around her yet.

She took the glass from me, and her hands shook, so I placed mine over her hand and helped hold the glass steady. She took a sip using a straw I had placed in it.

'Thanks. Do you think I could have a coffee?'

'Sure, sweetheart.' I left her there and made her a coffee. When I returned, I placed a straw in the cup and took it to her lips. She took a long suck on the straw and a sigh of satisfaction.

'Has Dad been over today?' She croaked out.

'Yeah, he came by. He left about an hour ago. Do you need anything?' I could get the world for her.

'I would like some of my own PJs and a few other things!'

'Tell me what you need, and I will get them for you; I need to go to our home and get some of my things, too. Her eyes widened when I said this, and I wondered if I had said something I should not have. I did not want to trigger a problem. 'We live together?' She asked softly, almost a whisper.

'Yes, we do.' I watched her face, waiting for her to say something else.

I

'Okay, I would like my toothbrush and some PJs. I am guessing I will be here for a little while yet, so maybe three sets, underwear, and a hairbrush. Bethany rattled off a whole slew of stuff, and you would have thought she was going to move in here permanently. I chuckled at the list.

'Hey, sweetheart, our home is within walking distance here. I can go back and forth as you need. How soon do you need them?'

'Oh, I did not realize, um, today sometime?'

'Okay, I have to go to work, so after work, I will head home, grab some stuff, and come back before dinner, Okay?' 'Sure, I guess Hank will be in soon and give me instructions on my care. I have not seen a nurse. Are we alone in this?' 'Sort of. Do you have a nurse you would like to be the one to care for you?'

'No, um, I don't remember'

'That is okay, sweetheart. Don't push your memory; it will come to its own time.' I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. I would have kissed her on her lips, but I don't think she would have liked that yet.