Chapter 70

After revealing her attacker’s identity, it had taken Allegra only a short time before she began to nod off, exhausted from the night’s events.  Jon and Matt had both slipped away with a quiet goodnight, once they’d helped make sure she was settled in comfortably. 

Before closing the door, Jon met Richie’s eye meaningfully, and he understood the intent behind it.  They needed to talk.  His acknowledgement came with a slight incline of the head.

Richie spent the next hour lying close and holding her hand, every labored breath echoing in his ears, until she became twitchy and pulled away.  It seemed as though his presence was no longer soothing, so he slid quietly from the bed.  Dressed in only a pair of jeans, he padded soundlessly to seat himself in the chair Matt had occupied earlier.  After sitting and watching her carefully for a few moments, he was assured that she was resting as comfortably as she was able.  Restless, he crept from the bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar in case she needed him. 

Checking his watch, he realized that it was still a somewhat reasonable hour in LA, and he had a compelling need to hear Ava’s voice.  He needed to call and reassure himself that she was safe.   She picked up almost immediately, squealing, “Daddy!”  He couldn’t get a word in edgewise for the next ten minutes, as she excitedly chattered about the show.  ‘It was the coolest thing ever, there were so many people there, Mom was sitting right on the front row taking pictures, I felt so grown up.’

That last comment had him shuddering, but overall, the knots of tension between his shoulder blades eased. 

Before ringing off, Richie assured his daughter that she’d looked beautiful and that she’d made him so very proud.  At least one part of his universe was spinning normally.

He sat staring at the phone in his hands for long minutes afterward, willing back the hands of time - hours, days, years.  To a time when everything was easier – or at least to a time where everything didn’t have to make sense.  When he could just accept whatever happened and go on without all the ‘whys’, ‘what ifs’ and ‘what nows’.  Those questions were eating him a live tonight.

Quietly peeking his head in , he confirmed that Allegra was still sleeping before moving back to the sofa for his next call.

“Couldn’t sleep, huh?”  Jon’s very alert voice greeted him.

“Doesn’t sound like I just woke you up, either.”

That earned him a soft snort of derision.  “How is she?”

“Sleeping.  She doesn’t seem to be in too much pain,” Richie told him with a deep sigh, reclining on the sofa.  “What am I gonna do, Bro?” he asked after putting the cushion under his head.

“Do about what?  You got something specific in mind, or are you talking about the whole fucked up mess?”

“All of it.  Any of it.”  He dragged his hand over the lower part of his face, bringing it rest idly on his bare chest.  If someone would just tell him what to do, he could do it.  The decision of WHAT to do was beyond him though.

“What little patience I have has been spent already tonight, so I’m just gonna cut to the chase here, Rich.  If ya love her, you will convince her to take that pill.  It’s the best thing for everyone involved.  If the two of you decide you’re in love and want a baby, you can do it the right way later.”

The words all made for good, sound reasoning.  Jon had taken all the pieces of this mess and put them back together in the most logical pattern, just like he always did.  It’s what he was best at, really.

So why did he stomach tie into a huge, ugly knot at the thought?

“Richie?”  His tone confirmed that he had, indeed spent all of his patience.

“I’m here.”

“And yet you’re not telling me ‘Yeah Bro, you’re exactly right’.  What’s the problem?”

“The problem is we’re talking about potentially killing my child.”

Richie heard the clink of a glass hitting the table, and assumed that Jon had sought solace in a good bottle of wine.  If he still drank, he’d be tempted to do the same.  As it was, the Scotch had been beyond his self-imposed and legal limitations. 

“Rich, do ya love her?  Are ya completely, totally, forever in love with her?  Because if ya are, and you’re willing to embrace the possibility of raising a rapist’s child, then you do whatever you think is best.  Just make sure you can live with the consequences.  She’s not going to listen to me or anybody else about this – YOU’RE the only one who has a shot in hell of getting through.”

Richie knew it wasn’t a decision that could be made with pure logic, and it wasn’t his to make alone.  He understood what Jon was saying, but Allegra had a very opinionated mind of her own.  He might be able to offer a little influence, but that was it.  Whatever she got stuck in that mind was what they were all going to have to live with.  It was better to let the subject drop before the two of them got angry.

“What do you think we should tell the guys?”

Jon hesitated, clearly trying to decide whether to push for a continuation of the topic at hand.  Apparently, he came to the same conclusion Richie had – it was better to let the subject drop.

“Tony will have to know the truth because Matt’s involved.  It’s a family thing.  As far as everybody else goes, when she was leaving, the elevator was temporarily out of commission, so she took the steps.  At the top of the landing, she slipped in a puddle of – coffee, water, something – somebody spilled.  She took a tumble down a full flight of stairs.”

It would effectively explain her injuries, and nobody would think to question it too much.  But again, it was subject to  Allegra’s agreement.  He couldn’t imagine that she’d want everyone to know what happened.  but she had a special relationship with Dave and Tico – Dave especially.  He’d have to wait and see what she wanted to tell them specifically.  The poor woman was going to have a lot of decisions to make in the next day.

“We’ll see what she has to say about it, but it sounds reasonable to me.  Now.  What about the real problem?”

They both knew what he was talking about.  The same thing they’d been mulling over in their minds since they’d heard his name.  `

“The detective gave Matt his card to get in touch when she was able to talk.  I called the guy and he’ll be here in the morning.”

“And that’s it?”  Richie couldn’t fathom that Jon was going to allow the wheels of justice to turn unaided.

For good reason. 

Jon’s voice was cold as steel when he asked, “Do you THINK I’m going to sit on my hands and wait for the Detroit Police Department to find this fucker?”  He heard an agitated tapping through the line.  A pen on the desk, perhaps.   “I’ve got a coupla calls out.  They’ll have plenty of assistance tracking his ass down.  He just better pray to God that DPD finds him first.” 

He paused, and Richie knew that he was mentally working through all the particulars, making sure all their bases were covered.

“Rich, I’ll take care of this – of him.  You know I will.  But you have to promise me you’ll take care of HER.  I don’t think she’s gonna anybody else close enough, so do what you do and get her through this in one piece.  Be what she needs.  Please.”   

Richie had asked Jon’s advice, knowing his expertise with handling unpleasant situations in the most effective way possible.  Jon could make the hard decisions, with the bigger picture in mind.  It was something he’d always done with great pride and efficiency.  It’s what he brought to the organization. 

Now he was appealing to Richie’s expertise – the human side of the equation.  He had uncanny intuition when it came to what those around him needed, and Jon had been the grateful beneficiary on more than one occasion.

“Jon, she’s mine.  Of course I’m gonna take care of her.  But I want her to stay with me until we get to Philly.  That means security with her whenever we can’t be.”

There was no hesitation whatsoever.

“Done.”

♫  ♥  ♫

Allegra maneuvered herself out of bed as quietly as possible to deal with her insistent bladder.  She’d felt Richie get up and down the last few hours, and didn’t want to disturb him now that he was finally sleeping. 

She shuffled slowly toward the bathroom with the pleasant realization that her head was feeling much better.  The conga line had dulled to a bunny hop, making it almost possible to have a complete and coherent thought. 

The image reflected in the large mirror over the sink temporarily distracted her from the notion of a shower. 

Oh my God, I can’t believe that’s really me. 

She tentatively inspected her face, lightly poking at her lip and cheek.  It was really a miracle that the guys hadn’t said more about it, seeing as she resembled the Elephant Man.  If Felix looked half this bad she may feel a little sense of vindication.

The business of heeding nature’s call was more of a challenge than expected, but she was proud of the fact that she did it alone.  That feat accomplished, she mentally evaluated her physical status and eyed the shower speculatively.  It would be nice to feel clean and smell like something besides a hospital. 

Leaning gingerly in the tub, she twisted the chrome handle that would start the water flowing.  As she waited for it to warm, she awkwardly slithered out of the sling they’d strapped her into, wincing at the movement.  The next effort was to strip herself of the now icky feeling hospital scrubs.  The pants fell easily to her feet, but the top was a little more difficult.  How did they get her arm into this thing?  With a muffled grunt of pain, she finally extracted the injured limb and pulled the top over her head, only to look with disgust at the elastic wrapping her ribs. 

I’ve come too far to go back now.

She unfastened the end, unfurling it from her torso a little at a time with her good arm.  By the time she was ready to step into the shower, Allegra was no longer sure she had the energy to do it.

“What do you think you’re doing?”  Richie’s quiet, sleepy voice came from the doorway.

Her head whipped up in surprise, and she yelped at the sudden movement.  He must have opened the door while she was focused on unbinding herself.

With a frown, she told him, “I was gonna take… a shower, but I don’t know… that I can do it by myself.”

His eyes inspected her from head to toe and the corners of his mouth pulled downward in displeasure.  Looking at herself, she realized there were a fair number of bruises that had been hidden by the scrubs.  “You’re not supposed to be doing that by yourself anyway.  Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because it’s five… o’clock in the morning and you slept less… than I did.  But since you’re up now… Will you please… help me?”

“All you had to do was ask, Sunshine.”  He rubbed his bleary eyes and stepped forward to take her hand. 

In deference to her injuries, showering was a long, tedious process, and Allegra was completely drained by the time the last bit of soap  had been rinsed from her body.  She didn’t have the energy to towel herself off, leaving Richie to gently pat her dry.  He then scooped her up and carried her back to the bed, depositing her carefully on the sheets. 

“I don’t guess you have your teddy bear shirt with you?” he asked. 

“I do, actually.  It’s in the bottom of my overnighter… since I didn’t expect to need it.”

Plunging his hand to the bottom of the bag, he plundered around until landing on soft, brushed cotton.  Holding it victoriously over his head with a tired grin, he returned to slip it over her head, gently pulling her arms through the openings. 

“How’s that?  Do you want panties too?”

“Mm.  I’m good.”  She gradually reclined backward until she was flat on her back, head nested comfortably in the fluffy pillow.  Richie circled to the other side and she felt the mattress dip as he crawled in, pulling the covers up and scooting close.  In seconds his body heat bridged the narrow gap between them, warming her.   He lay on his side, watching her tenderly.

“I have fond memories of that shirt, ya know.”

One corner of her mouth inched upward in a smirk.  “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.  You were wearing that the night I found out you could sing.”

“Not my finest… moment,” she observed dryly.

He laughed quietly.  “Maybe not, but I was drawn to you even then.  It took a helluva lotta willpower for me to keep my hands to myself that night.  If you hadn’t passed out, I don’t know that I could’ve done it.”

“We’ve had some interesting… obstacles.”  Was it ever going to be easy for them?  After tonight, she wondered if somebody wasn’t trying to tell them something. 

“That we have.”  He lifted her hand to kiss her fingertips.  “But we’ve gotten over, around and through them.   And we’ll make it through this too, baby.”

As she lay staring at the ceiling, her eyes pooled with unshed tears.  “Richie…  If you want to walk away…  I understand.”

His eyebrows pulled together in displeasure.  “Why would you say that?”

“Things happened.  Things you… didn’t count on.  I could be carrying… his child.”

The thought made her nauseous, but it was no less true for the fact.  She couldn’t expect Richie to understand or to accept responsibility for her decision to let nature take its course.

He quietly stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, searching for the right thing to say.   In the end, it was the question she knew would be voiced by someone, sooner or later.  “Why did you refuse the pill?”

Turning her head on the pillow she met his curious – not condemning – eyes with resigned ones of her own. 

“Was it because of me?” he asked before she could speak.  “If it was, then please reconsider.  Take the pill.  We can try again for a baby, if we want, when the time is right.” He wiggled his eyebrows and gave her a little grin.  “Think how much fun that would be.”

She smiled sadly, flipping her hand over to clasp his.  “The excitement on your face… from last night crossed my mind for… a minute… but it’s not the reason why.  Maybe it’s a lifetime of Catholicism… ingrained into me.  I just know… that I’ve already had a hand in… the death of one child.  I can’t knowingly kill… another.”

Richie levered up on one arm to look down at her with a look of near anger. “Baby, why can’t you believe that Tessa’s death wasn’t your fault?  I know you feel a sense of obligation to her, and I get that.  But the responsibility for what happened does NOT lie on your shoulders, no matter what you think.”

She closed her eyes and turned her face back to the ceiling.  “You can tell my head that… all you want, but my heart… isn’t listening.”