All Aboard (Part 4)
Last Time:
Nora was held hostage by her client, Steve, at Statesville
prison.
Bo drove the taxi, which took Steve and Nora away from the prison.
The car crashed, Steve escaped, Bo was handcuffed to the steering
wheel, unconscious, and Nora dragged him out of the burning car
just as it exploded.
********
The two bodies continued to lie on the side of the road by the burning shell of the taxi. The heat coming from the flames was intense and the fire lit up the evening sky. The police cars that had been following at a safe distance immediately radioed for fire and ambulance assistance when they saw the night sky begin to glow.
The rescue squad arrived only minutes after the first police officers. Two teams of EMT’s worked on both patients. Bo slowly started coming to as he was being loaded into the back of the ambulance.
Bo: (Groggy and his head throbbing, moaning) Red?… (They continued to secure his stretcher in the back as Bo became more and more frustrated. Mumbling) Red?… (Moaning) Where’s Red… (The two EMT’s frown at one another as they continue hooking up his IV and injecting something to help him relax. Bo tried to get up and the EMT gently pushed him back.)
EMT: (Looking down at Bo) Please, lie still. We’ll have you at the hospital in a few minutes.
Bo: (Lying back on the pillow, suddenly feeling exhausted) Nora?… How’s Nora?… Please tell me…
EMT: (Getting down close as Bo’s voice fades off) You’ll be fine… Just fine… (Bo’s world slowly turned black as he lost his struggle to keep his eyelids open.)
The other ambulance rushed down the road with its siren blasting. Nora was in serious condition and unconscious. She had been thrown to the ground by the blast of the explosion and hit her head on a rock lying nearby. There was also a large piece of shrapnel lodged in her upper shoulder. The first police officer on the scene gently rolled the unconscious woman from the man and actually had to pry her fingers loose from Bo’s shirt. She never gained consciousness even as the EMTs worked to bandage her wounded head and shoulder and transport her to the hospital.
********
Steve ran through the woods. He was concerned about Ms. Buchanan and he hated having to use her like that but he just had to get out of that prison. He would never have seriously hurt her and as he made his way from the taxi, he saw her getting up from the floor. Looking around frantically, he decided to make a run for it. The woods were thick and he ran and tripped his way through the brush. He could hear the sound of sirens behind him back at the car wreck. Pushing on, he could see headlights passing on the highway up ahead. His heart was pounding and he was out of breath as he made his way to the shoulder of the road. After a few minutes of thumbing for a ride, a tractor-trailer pulled to the side and the driver opened the passenger’s door. Steve raced to the cab, climbed up and the truck pulled away.
He found out that the driver was headed west. He would make his final stop in Flagstaff, Arizona tomorrow evening. It wasn’t Las Vegas but it was close enough. He could get a ride the rest of the way. He was going to find his conniving wife and even the score. He settled back into his seat and his eyes slowly closed as the highway signs passed by the window and the thoughts of seeing his wife beg for mercy flowed through his brain. The driver looked over and couldn’t quite understand the smile that was spreading across his face.
********
Nora was rushed into the emergency room and a team immediately began evaluating her condition. X-rays were ordered as emergency nurses rushed to stabilize her. The piece of metal or glass fragment that was lodged in her shoulder was very near an artery and an operating room was reserved so that this damage could be repaired immediately before she lost any more blood.
Bo’s ambulance pulled in just minutes behind Nora’s. He was slowly starting to come to as the lights from the emergency room hurt his eyes. As soon as his senses cleared he began asking about Nora again.
Bo: (Removing the oxygen mask from his face and reaching up to pull down the young emergency room attendant by the coat) Where is she?? (He looked angry and the attendant looked confused.) I want to know where she is, NOW!!
Attendant: (Prying his fingers from his coat) Um… Sir… Please lie still. (A nurse immediately came over to calm down the patient)
Nurse: (Gently pushing Bo’s arm down by his side) Please, lie still, Mister… (Looking at his chart) Um, Mister??
Bo: Buchanan. Bo Buchanan. I need to know the status of the woman that was in the car with me. How is she?? Is she here??
Nurse: (Nodding) She arrived just minutes before you. They are working on her in the next room. (Patting his shoulder) I’ll check on her and let you know, OK?
Bo: (Sighing) Yes, please!! (Saying a prayer to himself) Please, God, let her be OK. Please! (He closed his eyes as he anxiously waited to hear from the nurse. In a few minutes he felt a touch to his shoulder and he opened his eyes.) How is she??
Nurse: Mr. Buchanan, she’s still unconscious. Could you provide us with her name please?
Bo: (Beginning to panic) Why?… What’s happened??.. How is she? (Trying to sit up) Please, tell me… How is she??
Nurse: (Trying to calm him) She’ll be fine, Mr. Buchanan. She’s hit her head and she has something lodged in her shoulder. She’s not regained consciousness, which has the doctors a little concerned, but her vitals are all good. Now, to help with our records… Do you know her name?
Bo: (Sighing with relief and reclining into the pillow) Yes… It’s Nora… Nora Buchanan.
Nurse: (Raising an eyebrow) Buchanan? You’re related??
Bo: She’s my ex-wife.
Nurse: An ex, huh? (Writing on the form and looking down) Hmm…
Bo: (Looking up at her with a questioning gaze) What??
Nurse: (Smiling and patting his arm) Nothing, nothing at all. It’s just I don’t think my ex-husband would be so concerned if I was lying unconscious somewhere. (Laughing) He’d be celebrating I think.
Bo: (Smiling) I’ll celebrate when I see that smile of hers again.
Nurse: (Feeling a strange sense of emotion and wondering why she was now envying this couple. There was something in his eyes, the way he said her name… Sighing to herself and realizing that she and her ex-husband never had that, even when they were married.) I’ll let you know how she’s doing as soon as I hear. Right now, we need you to just lie back and be a good boy, OK?
Bo: (Nodding) Yes Ma’am. I’ll be good, but I’m not a patient man, so don’t make me wait too long. (The nurse chuckled as she pulled back the curtain and left the area.)
Nora’s surgery lasted about 2 hours. The large piece of glass was lodged in the bone of her arm and very close to a main artery. The waiting was killing Bo. The Doctors worked on his cut and put ten stitches to close the gash on his forehead. While he waited for word on Nora’s condition he heard the details of the accident scene from one of the rescue workers who showed up.
Seems Nora saved his life. As he sat in the waiting room, the thought of that warmed his heart. How many times in their past had she brought him back from the brink. Chuckling to himself, “Too many times to count.” There’s not a time he can recall that she wasn’t there for him. This hit him like a ton of bricks. She was always there for him, could he say the same. Here he was again, rehashing that one moment that he allowed his pride and the pain of her betrayal to push away the most precious love he had ever experienced.
Bo: (Rubbing his sore forehead) I have to stop reliving that moment. It really is time to just move on…
After her surgery, Nora was wheeled into recovery. She kept hearing someone saying her name. “Ms. Buchanan…” “Ms. Buchanan…” She frowned as the pain in her head was matched by the pain in her shoulder. She couldn’t figure out where she was or how she got there. Her attempt to open her eyes was met with a stabbing pain.
Nora: (Groaning and bringing her hand up to shield her face) Ow… (Again attempting to open her eyes as the voice next to her kept urging her to do. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus on the smiling face looking down at her. Who was this woman, she wondered)
Nurse: Ms. Buchanan? (She watched Nora fight with the left over effects of the anesthesia. Slowly Nora’s gaze became more clear and the nurse smiled) Well, hello there! We’ve been very worried about you. (Checking Nora’s chart) I’ll let the Doctor know that his patient has decided to join us. (Leaning down closer and smiling) There’s also another handsome gentlemen who’s been waiting to see your smiling eyes. (She winks as she turns to leave.)
Nora: (Watching the nurse leave and then looking around the small room. She couldn’t recall how she got to the hospital. The last thing she remembered was trying to pull Bo from the burning taxi. Immediately turning to the door, the fear and concern showing in her face) Bo?… (She tried to rise from the bed and the pain was too much. She slumped back onto the pillow as the Doctor entered.)
Doctor: (Frowning) Whoa there!! Where are you trying to go? (He steps over to the bed and looks down at Nora’s worried face.) You need to stay put or you are going to tear your stitches.
Nora: (Frantic) How is he??? Is he OK??
Doctor: (Smiling) I’m guessing you are referring to Mr. Buchanan? (Nora looks at him pleadingly and nods) He’s fine. He has a pretty bad cut on his forehead. (Laughing) Kind of matches the one you have. (Nora reaches up and touches the bandage that was covering the side of her forehead.) You got a pretty good cut there too and we needed to do some surgery to remove a large piece of glass from your shoulder. How are you feeling?
Nora: (Softly) Kind of groggy. A little fuzzy. When can I see Bo?
Doctor: (Laughing) He has been chomping at the bit since we brought you out of surgery. (Looking again at her chart) Looks like you’ll be in here over night and perhaps… (Pointing at her) If you behave yourself…. We’ll let you out of here tomorrow evening. (Placing the clipboard under his arm and turning), Now I’ll see if Mr. Buchanan is available. (He laughs as he leaves the room.)
No sooner had the Doctor closed the door then it was being pushed open again. The look of relief on Bo’s face was overwhelming and brought tears to Nora’s eyes. He looked so good!
Bo: (Smiling and walking slowly to her bed, never taking his eyes away from her face) Hi ya, Red.
Nora: (Fighting with the moisture in her eyes.) Hi ya, Commish. (Chuckling) Quite a night, huh?
Bo: (Standing by her bed and taking her hand in his) Yep. Not exactly what I had planned.
Nora: (Laughing) Me either!!
Bo: (Fiddling with her fingers and glancing nervously down at her hand) Seems like you’ll be in here over night. (Nora nods and glances down at their hands as Bo continued to rub her fingers.) I don’t know how to thank you, Red.
Nora: (Frowning) For what?
Bo: (Looking up, surprised) For saving my life!
Nora: (Shaking her head) You saved mine, Bo. Although I don’t think that Steve would have really hurt me, you never know what a man might do in a desperate situation. (Bo’s gaze in her eyes was making her slightly uncomfortable and Nora fidgeted in her bed slightly) Well…. I guess we missed our train, huh?
Bo: (Looking again at his broken watch, totally oblivious to the exact time.) So it seems. (Looking intently into her eyes) Oh, Red… (Shaking his head at the thought of what might have happened tonight) I don’t know what I would have…
Nora: (Shaking her head and slowly raising her hand to stop him) Bo, please… I’m fine. (Looking lovingly at his face and seeing the bandage on his forehead) and I’m so glad that you are too. (Trying to lighten the mood) You know I couldn’t let you have a stylish scar on your forehead without my having one too.
Bo: (Laughing) What you’ll do for attention. (Nora smiles.) So what time tomorrow is the Doc gonna let you out of this joint?
Nora: Looks like tomorrow evening, sometime.
Bo: (Looking disappointed) Oh… Hmm… Evening, huh?
Nora: (Frowning) What is it?
Bo: Well… I was hoping we’d ride back to Llanview together. You know… On the train… together…
Nora: (Feeling disappointed) Oh… So, you gotta head back earlier??? (Not waiting for him to answer, laughing nervously) Of course, you have to get back! (Pulling her hand away from his) I mean… I don’t need a baby sitter. I’m fine…
Bo: (Frowning) Nora…
Nora: (Putting on her best smile) No, no, Bo! (Patting his hand) Don’t you worry about me. (Tapping herself on the head) It takes more than a little car explosion to crack this noggin. I’ll catch the later train. (Straightening up her covers) Hey, maybe I’ll see you back in Llanview.
Bo: Nora, wait…
Nora: (Fighting again with the tears building in her eyes and wanting desperately to be alone.) You know Bo… (pretending to stifle a yawn) I’m really very tired. (Forcing a smile) Look at this face… (pointing to her own face) Is this not the face of someone who could use all the beauty sleep they could get…
Bo: (Shaking his head) You look beautiful…
Nora: (Waving at him) Stop. You’re just being nice. Really, Bo… I’m very tired. Would you mind terribly if I got some sleep.
Bo: (Reaching to pull over a chair) No, no. I’ll be right here…
Nora: (Stopping him) No! No, I won’t hear of it. You need to get some rest before your train ride tomorrow. I’m fine, really.
Bo: You keep saying that.
Nora: (Smiling) Well I am.
Bo: But I want to stay…
Nora: (Shaking her head, finding it tough to say the words) I really need some time alone, do you mind?
Bo: (Feeling left with no other options.) No… Sure… I’ll see you before I go home tomorrow?
Nora: (Shaking her head) No, that’s not necessary. I’ll catch up with you in Llanview.
Bo: But…
Nora: (Looking into his face.) Really, Bo. I’ll see you in Llanview. (Pulling the covers up across her chest and laying her head back on the pillow.) Bye Bo, have a safe trip.
Bo: (Feeling dejected. This was not how he pictured things working out) Good night, Red. (He slowly bends down and places a sweet kiss on her cheek, just brushing the side of her lips with his own. The fire began to burn in his stomach.) Red, look…
Nora: (Briefly wiping at the tears) Bye, Bo…
Bo: (Taking a deep breath and deciding to take on this conversation at a later time) OK, Red… You sleep tight. (Walking to the door and then turning to look back at her in the bed) Bye, Red…
As her hospital room door closed Nora turned her head away from the last image she had of Bo and gave up her battle with the tears and allowed them to fall down her face unheeded.
To be continued. . .
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