The End Of The Road | HEROPHINE

Chapter 28

Hero's Pov:
I don't recognise the room around me at first, but it doesn't take long to realise I'm in a hospital bed. I feel tired and a little achey, but on the whole I'm doing okay. I guess it's not every day you get shot in the leg while searching for your missing wife.
The door opens and I pray to see Jo but it's the nurse.
'Morning.'
'It's the afternoon.' She corrects me.
'It is?'
'Yep. Good news is, you're healing up nicely.' The nurse says, 'you can call me Alex by the way.'
'Thanks Alex.' I reply, weakly.
Just then, the door edges open and I see that beautiful blonde hair and those stunning eyes.
'I'll leave you two with some privacy.' Alex says with a brief smile, before exiting the room.
'Hey, soldier.' Jo says, perching on the edge of my bed. She runs her hands through my messy hair.
'John.. John- is he okay?' I ask frantically.
'Yes, Hero he's absolutely fine. Your Mum will bring him here to see you later.' She assures me, and the tension inside me wears thinner.
'I'm so sorry this happened to you on my watch.' I hang my head in shame. I can't believe my wife went through this.
'Hero. There's something I have to tell you.' Jo says, taking my hand.
'What? What's wrong?' I ask, noticing her eyes are somewhat puffy and lifeless.
'When I was being held there.. the guy working for Roger.. he..' She starts to cry.
'He what, babe?' I ask, rubbing her back, my heart sinking.
'He attacked me.. he made me do things.' She sobs.
'He raped you?' I ask in disbelief.
She immediately leans into me, tears streaming down her perfect face, my wife totally broken.
'I promise, Josephine. We're gonna get you the best therapy around. You're safe now okay. We're going to live the rest of our lives together with our perfect son. That fucker is dead, and Roger is locked up.'
She hugs me tighter.
'I'm just glad you're okay. We'll get through this together, right?' She asks.
'Of course, Jo. Of course.'

...

Josephine's pov:
A few days later, Hero is discharged from hospital and I pick him up in my car. I'm still shaken from what happened, but I'm trying to be strong for my family, and I have some therapy sessions booked in to deal with my trauma.
'So how did you do it anyway?' I ask Hero as we roll down the road towards our home.
'Do what?'
'Well, you must have let the police know where you were going somehow.' I speculate.
'Okay, you got me. Your husband's a fucking genius.'
Out of habit I roll my eyes at him for swearing, before remembering it's not in front of John, so I let it go.
'You see, Roger thought he had it all worked out, bugging our phones and tracking our every move. But I was one step ahead.'
'Hero, you're making it sound like you're a secret agent or some shit.' I interrupt him, laughing gently.
'No seriously. I played him at his own game. I bugged my own phone. That's how the police had my location and followed the signal to find us.' He explains.
'Wow. That's actually like very smart.. for you.' I joke, and he shakes his head with a smile.
'You're damn lucky I watch so many crime documentaries.'
I hope we can get back to our old selves soon, and move past this. I've missed our conversations like these.
Eventually we arrive home, and I spot my Mum and Martha stood by her car, John in his stroller beside them. Hero's eyes widen.
'Your son has missed you.' I tell him with a smile. Without another word he gets out of the car and rushes over to his mother, kissing her on the cheek before taking John into his arms.
'I missed you, little man.' I hear him say as I walk over to join them.
I've missed my family so much. I'm so glad we're all alive, well and can move on from this nightmare.
'It's okay, John. We're all together again now.' Hero soothes our baby, holding him tight to his chest.
'Well. I should get going. My flight's in a few hours.' Martha says.
'Is it really Tuesday already?' Hero sighs.
'Don't be silly, I'll come back again in a few months time.' She says, leaning into her son for a hug. 'I'll give you a lift.' Mum says to Martha as they head towards their car.
Hero says his goodbyes to his Mum and we take John inside.
It honestly feels like years since I've been home. The house is messy, but I'm sure I can get it tidy again.
'I'm sorry about the state of the place. It's just all I could think about was..'
'Me. I know.' I say, jokingly smiling angelically.
'It's fine babe.' I tell him, 'right now, I just want to relax.'
Hero nods in agreement and sets John down on his play mat with a few of his toys.
He pulls me in for a much-needed hug.
'We'll be okay.' He assures me.