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Crisis & Catharsis -- Part VIII Paige walked to the nurses’ station, studying a chart, not watching where she was going. She ran right into someone. She started to apologize until she realized it was Spencer. “Dr. Truman,” Paige greeted curtly, trying to sidestep him.   “What’s the rush, Dr. Miller?”   Paige again tried to move around Spencer but he blocked her way. “I don’t have time to deal with you, Spencer.”   Spencer leered at her. “I think you can make time.”   Paige gave him a nervous smile. “What do you want, Spencer?”   “Can’t a guy congratulate you on your new position? It will be a pleasure to serve under you, I’m sure.”   Paige looked around before smiling back at Spencer. “Cut the crap, Spencer. What do you really want?”   Spencer smiled menacingly at her. “Okay, I’ll get to the point. It’s time for you to make good on our little deal.”   Paige shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”   Spencer lowered his voice. “Sure you do. You get the position at the hospital, I keep my mouth shut.”   Paige looked around, making sure no one was listening. “I’m not going to keep playing this game with you.”   Spencer played his trump card. “You don’t want Bo to know what you’ve been up to, do you?”   Paige blanched and the smile nearly left her face. “Leave Bo out of this.”   Spencer shook his head. As he did, he caught a glimpse of Bo approaching out of the corner of his eye. “No can do, Paige.”   Bo stopped and watched Paige with Spencer. She appeared very agitated by their conversation. “What do you want?” she hissed at Spencer.   “Cash. Lots of it,” Spencer said with a sly grin.   Paige shook her head. “I don’t have lots of cash, you know that.”   “Your boyfriend does.”   Paige stared at him incredulously. “You think Bo is going to give me money? How am I supposed to manage that?”   Spencer nodded, lowering his voice. “If you want to keep your boyfriend and his companion son as your perfect little family, you’ll think of a way.”   Paige was about to respond when Spencer looked over her shoulder. “Commissioner, how are you doing?”   Paige spun around to see Bo leaning against the desk of the nurses’ station watching them. He pushed off and approached them. “I’m fine, Spencer.”   Spencer nodded. “I’ll let you have the new Chief of Staff’s attention.”   Bo shook his head. “Don’t leave on my account. Looks like you two were having a pretty intense discussion.”   Paige turned to Spencer with a smile. “We’re finished, right Dr. Truman?”   Spencer nodded. “I’m sure you understand my position on this case. I’ll leave you two alone. Good day, Commissioner.”   Bo watched Spencer saunter away. “What was that all about?”   Paige smiled, putting her arms around him. “Hospital business. I’d much rather talk to you. Where have you been all day?”   Bo evaded her question. “Here and there. I’m looking for Michael. Have you seen him?”   Paige was immediately alarmed. “Why are you looking for Michael?”   Bo looked at her curiously, surprised by her question. “It’s for a case, Paige.”   Paige shook her head. “I know you’re not on the force at the moment, so it’s not official business.”   “Who told you?”   “Nora,” Paige practically spat her name at Bo. “Why didn’t you tell me?”   Bo looked away, evading the question. “It’s just a temporary leave of absence to help Matthew. I have to focus on his needs at the moment.”   Paige noticed that he ignored her question but didn’t call him on it. “That makes sense,” she said quietly, smiling at him.   Bo nodded. “He has to be my priority right now. Which reminds me, we’re going to have to cool it on the ‘family outings’ with Matthew for now.”   Paige shook her head, smiling. “What do you mean?”   “I mean Matthew sees you and our outings as my attempt to replace Nora in his life,” Bo said curtly.   Paige tried to brush it off. “He’s young, Bo. We just need to reassure him, but we can’t give him the message that by pouting, he can get his way.”   Bo glared at her. “Matthew is not pouting. He has legitimate fears for his mother right now and if what he needs is for you to back off, that’s what we’ll do.”   “But I want to help him too,” Paige whined.   “You want to help him? Figure out what’s wrong with his mother. That would be the most important thing you could do to help him,” Bo said impatiently.   Paige was about to continue her argument but Bo cut her off. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to find Michael.”   Bo started to walk away. “When will you be home? Would you like me to get dinner?” Paige called after him.   Bo barely turned to respond to her. “I can’t say. I’ll grab my own dinner and call you when I get a chance.”   Bo disappeared down the hallway. Paige sighed and went back to her charts.   “Trouble in paradise?” Paige turned to see the smug grin of Dr. Truman again.   Paige sighed impatiently. “What do you want now, Spencer?”   Spencer grinned at her. “We didn’t finish our discussion about my fee.”   Paige shook her head, smiling at him. “There is no fee, Spencer. I don’t have money to give you and I am not going to ask Bo for money. If you need a loan, find a bank.”   “You might want to reconsider your strategy, Ms. Chief of Staff. We both know I have the power to blow your happy little life with Bo wide open. I’ll be in touch.”   Spencer walked away, leaving a seething Paige behind. She shook her head with a smile. “What am I going to do now?”   Rachel wandered out of the kitchen looking for Nora. She found her mother sitting on the sofa lost in thought. Rachel walked in front of her, startling Nora. “Rachel, I didn’t hear you come in. Where’s Matthew?”   Rachel plopped down beside her mother on the couch. “He went next door to play with Stevie. He’ll be back in a little while. Where were you?”   Nora shook her head. “Oh, I was just thinking.”   “About…”   “Everything really. Life has been pretty crazy the past few months. I’ve been trying to hard to pretend it didn’t happen but it did. I used such poor judgment when it came to Daniel. I wasn’t in love with him. Not really. I just so desperately wanted to be in love and in a secure relationship that I made myself believe that I had found that with Daniel. All the signals were there that things were wrong with him, and I chose to ignore them. I got what I deserved…”   “Don’t say that!” Rachel cut her off. “No one deserves the way you were treated. Not by Daniel and not by Bo.”   Nora shook her head sadly. “I set in motion the events with Daniel when I cheated on Bo. I realize that. I will never forgive Bo for how he relished humiliating me but he was equally humiliated at the Woman of the Year banquet when my actions came to light. I understand that now.”   Rachel took her mother’s hand. “Mom, that was years ago. If Bo can’t get over what happened, it’s his problem, not yours.”   Nora nodded, tears filling her eyes. “That makes sense on an intellectual level, but from an emotional standpoint, it’s easier said than done.”   “I know that too. Mom, there’s something I wanted to ask you. And I want you to think about it before you say no.”   Nora looked at her curiously. “What is it, Rachel?”   Rachel took a breath and said it quickly. “I think you should move back to Chicago…”   Nora shook her head fiercely. “I can’t do that, Rachel. It wouldn’t be fair to Matthew to take him away from his father.”   “Bo is rich, mom. He could fly out to visit Matthew any time he wanted. Or Matthew could fly here. There are certainly plenty of school holidays to provide opportunities to see each other.”   “My life is here, Rachel.”   Rachel spoke quietly. “And so are the bad memories. A change of scenery would give you a chance to put it all behind you, get a fresh start. You wouldn’t have to be reminded every day of your past mistakes – Bo, Troy, Daniel. Plus, you have family in Chicago. We could help you. You don’t have that kind of support here.”   Nora shook her head slowly. “Running away isn’t the answer, Rachel. This is the only home Matthew has ever known. It wouldn’t be right to take him away from his home and his father. He would think he was being punished for my bad choices.”   “He loves you, Mom. And I know he wants you to be happy. He’s young, he would adjust to the new atmosphere. Just think about it, okay?”   “Think about what?” Matthew asked as he slammed the front door.   “Matthew, what have I told you about slamming that door?” Nora snapped.   “Sorry, Mom,” Matthew said as he dropped into the chair across from her. “What are you going to think about?”   Rachel jumped in. “Um, I was just suggesting to mom…”   Nora cut her off. “That we should have pizza for dinner. Even though I pointed out that we have had pizza twice this week already.” Nora turned to Rachel and shook her head with a warning look in her eye.   “Right,” Rachel said, looking at Matthew. “You’re with me on this one, right?”   Matthew laughed. “Good luck, Rachel. Mom never lets me have pizza even twice a week, let alone three times.”   Nora chuckled. “That’s right, Matthew. Thank you. Why don’t we check out the kitchen and see what we can find?”   Matthew laughed. “There’s nothing in there, Mom. But we can look!”   Matthew jumped off the couch and headed toward the kitchen. Nora gave Rachel a stern look and shook her head as she followed Matthew. As Nora was walking through the door, she was hit by another dizzy spell and grabbed the doorframe to keep herself from falling.   Matthew heard her gasp and turned to see her steadying herself. “Mom!” he yelled, rushing to Nora’s side.   Matthew’s cry brought Rachel running as well. “Mom! What is it?”   Nora took deep breaths as Rachel helped her to a chair in the kitchen. Matthew looked at his sister, fear shining in his eyes. “This is what she does, Rachel.”   Rachel nodded at her brother. “I get it, buddy.” She watched her mother closely. “Do I need to call Paige?”   Nora shook her head. “I’m okay, Rachel. It’s passed now.” She reached out and touched her son’s cheek. “Really, Matthew. It’s not like it was last time.”   Rachel was furious. “We are going to find a competent doctor who can figure out why this is happening. I think you should see a specialist in New York and stop playing guinea pig for the incompetent hacks here in Llanview.”   Nora shook her head. “Relax, Rachel. Michael has some ideas. He did some extra blood work when I was in the hospital. Let’s see what he comes up with before we rush off to New York, okay?”   Rachel frowned at her mother and was about to argue when she saw the frightened look in her brother’s eyes. She nodded – for his sake. “Okay, Mom. We’ll do it your way.”   Nora smiled at Rachel as she gathered both her kids in her arms, staring over their shoulders, allowing the fear to show in her own eyes.   TBC