Chapter 52 - Love Me Back To Life

 

Jon checks on the twins, reaching down and touching their hands, making sure they weren't cold and making sure that their swaddle was still tight.  With them tucked in and sleeping like babies, he takes his iphone out of his pocket and calls Tony. 



Walking around the suite and checking out what Beth had done just for him, he waits for his brother to answer.  When he hears him say "Hello?"  He grabs his cigarettes and goes out onto the deck.

"Hey."

"What's up?"  Tony asks his older brother, surprised to hear from him at this hour.

"I'm in Napa with Beth and the twins, have you talked to her lately?" Jon asks his brother, sitting in a patio chair looking out over the vineyard.   He inhales the smoke from his cigarette, deeply and says, "Have you talked to her in the last two days?"

Tony is quiet, not wanting to answer the question.

"Tony, did I lose you?"

"No, I'm here.  Why are you asking?"

Jon starts to feel his heart race, he can picture the woman that he has adored for years, with bruises and stitches on her face, "She's hurt.  Do you know what happened?"  He gets up and paces, trying to remain calm, but he has a bad feeling.

"What did she say?  Didn't she tell you?"

Pacing faster, with his fingers through his hair, "I've been here about an hour, she has me and the twins in a suite in the hotel and she won't tell me what happened.  All she'll tell me is that it happened the day before yesterday, that's it."

"Wait till morning and talk to her, maybe she's tired." Tony tries to diffuse the brother that has the tendency to go off on things when it comes to Beth.  He wants all the answers and he has a very hard time waiting for them.

"When is the last time that you talked to her or seen her?" Jon asks again, knowing how close that Tony and Beth are.  "Have you seen her since she was hurt?"

"I have.  I was up there yesterday."  Tony admits, and waits.  He knows what's coming.

Jon stops dead in his tracks and throws his cigarette off of the deck, "You seen her like this and didn't call me?"

"Jon...."

"How in the fuck could you not call me, Tony?  She looks like that and you couldn't let me know she was hurt?"  He kneels down and starts a little deep breathing, "Why didn't you fucking call me?"

Tony lets out a sigh, hating that his brother felt entitled to know everything, when he in fact doesn't think that he needs too, "Jon, it's for her to tell you, not me."

"Who did that to her?"

"Again, for her to tell me and not you.  You really need to talk to her."

"God damn it Tony, you're my brother.  Without me, you wouldn't have any of the shit you do.  WHAT HAPPENED TO BETH?"

Tony sighs again, and Jon can hear Lily, Tony's daughter in the back ground, "Jon you are my brother, and Beth is my friend.  From what I understand, those two things are separate.  You two are no longer a couple and her life is her life, it's not for me to tell you."

The call goes dead.  Jon knew that Tony wouldn't break Beth's confidence.  He sat on the deck a while longer and imagined every possible scenario, he needed a drink.  Just a glass of wine.  In the mini bar, he took out a bottle of Bongiovi/Adams and popped the cork.  Best wine he has ever had, but it doesn't help with what he's thinking and feeling.  One glass turns to two and he starts to relax a little bit.  After a while, he decided to put on some comfortable pants and lays on the bed to read a while, to try to refocus anywhere else.

Almost asleep, he hears a key in the door.  He waits for it to open and sees Beth walk in and lock the door behind her.  He sees that she has either still crying or has started again, and he can also see that she has showered.  "Hey."  He gets up and meets her at the door.

"Can I stay with you?  I'm lost without my babies." she looks him in the eye and he can see just how bad she really looks.  Slowly, he walks toward her, cupping her face in his hands, and he can feel her hesitation.

"Of course you can."  Letting her go, he draws back the covers on the bed and let's her climb in.  making sure that she's covered and warm enough, he kisses her forehead.  She reaches up and touches his face, her hand shaking.

"Thank you."  She starts to yawn, and closes her eyes, nodding off to sleep. He sits next to her, and let's her sleep.  But there was no way he wasn't sleeping anywhere but right next to her.  He eases himself into bed and moves in close to hold her.  His first touch made her flinch, but once she seen it was Jon, she easily fell back asleep.  His scent was all the comfort that she needed, and him arms were and added bonus.

The two of them were sound asleep, when Beth is startled awake by a reoccurring nightmare.  When she bolts up in bed, Jon can feel that and he too is startled awake.  "Are you okay?"  he reaches over and rubs her arm, "What can I do for you?  Beth lays down on his chest and starts to cry.  He can feel her shallow breathing and knows that she is on the verge of letting go.  "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing."  The water works start and she begins to tell him whatt happened just a few days ago.  Her head is on his chest and he's holding her with both arms, as tight as he can, hoping this wasn't the last time that he would get to.

"I'm here."  he assures her, with his heart racing.

"Dalton found me."

Jon had been kicked in the stomach, he held his breathe and buried his face in her hair.  "What did he do to you?"  Assuming the worst had happened all over again.  "How did he find you?"

She shruggs her shoulders, and through the sobs she tells him, "He was waiting at my car in the parking garage when I was leaving work the other day."
"What did he do?"

She cries even harder when she tells him, "My worst fear was that he was going to rape me again.  I guess he thought it would be better to just beat the shit out of me and leave me for dead."

"I'm going to kill him." he states and Beth can hear how pissed he is.  "Did he get caught?"

She shruggs her shoulders again and proceeds with, "My back was to him as I opened my car door, and when he called my name - I looked back and he punched me in the face."  She takes a deep breath and continues, "That knocked me off my feet, and once I was on the ground, he jumped on me and kept punching me."  She sits up and reaches for tissues that were on the night stand.  Jon can see that she's sore and every move is an effort, wit his hand he reaches over and rubs her back. 

Looking back at the man that she loved more than anything in the world, she tells him, "When he beat me enough on the ground, he stood up and kicked me a few times before running off to a car."

"What did you do?"

"I grabbed my phone from my bag and called the police."

"You obviously went to the hospital?" he sits up and they are now face to face, "How bad are you hurt?"

"Other than my face and my pride, a couple of cracked ribs and a bruised spleen."  She pulls the blanket off of her legs and shows him the scrapes on her legs.  She sees his face drop, as he reaches down to rub her legs gently.

"Why didn't you call me?" he questions, nowing most likely what her answer is going to be.

She gives him a look and adds, "What were you going to do?"

"Been here for you and the twins."

"You had kids back home to take care of, Jon."

"Why did you tell Tony?" he ponders, "Why my brother and not me?"

"Tony and I are friends Jon, and he doesn't always want to run in and save me."  she sort of snaps, knowing that Tony will do whatever she asks.

"Did Dalton say anything to you?" he leans over and kisses her bare shoulder. 

She leans her head on his and takes a deep breath, "He told me that he wasn't done with me and that he would be back."