Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 34

~Beatrice~

Arriving at the Lithuanian convent in the early hours of the morning, an older nun, whom she assumed was a nurse, helped Beatrice lift the still unconscious Ava onto a waiting stretcher. The sister warrior scanned her surroundings tiredly, taking stock of all exits and entrances to the OCS headquarters.

Beatrice’s vigilant nature had served her well over the years and despite the weariness and worry swirling through her, the sister warrior was not going to skip her usual routine when arriving at a new location. Wheeling Ava across the courtyard, Beatrice spotted Niamh talking to another nun beside the van, occasionally throwing glances her way.

Why does she look so tense?

She puzzled over the red-haired woman's body language as they approached the huge oak double doors. The building they were entering really was beautiful, it had a similar gothic architecture to the Cat's Cradle, though it didn't appear to be as big as her home. From the entrance way she could see the convent’s main hall had grand high vaulted ceilings that Beatrice was sure were probably ornately painted, but in the dead of night, the candlelight didn’t quite manage to illuminate the lofty heights. Stained glass windows, taller than she was, decorated the walls, each one separated by intricate tracery. The sister warrior was willing to bet the interior of the hall was gloriously lit by a rainbow of sunlight during the day.

Distracted admiring the building's design, Beatrice didn’t notice the nurse had stopped at a door in front of her and nearly walked straight into the older woman.

“My apologies, I was just admiring your convent.” The sister warrior smiled, unsure why the other woman was looking at her with such a perturbed expression.

She began to gesture for Beatrice to wait in the entrance hall, the sister warrior frowned, that definitely wasn’t happening…

"No, I'm going with her." She placed a hand on Ava’s stretcher stopping it from being wheeled any further.

The nurse spoke rapidly to her in Lithuanian, Beatrice didn't have to speak the language to understand her tone.

"I'm not fucking leaving her!" Her anger lashed out; she had no patience left.

"Hey, hey, hey." Niamh, appearing from behind them, quickly intervened.
"What's going on here?" The Irish woman asked, looking between Beatrice and the nurse.

"Ava is NOT leaving my sight." The sister warrior snarled, knuckles turning white on the edge of the Halo bearer's stretcher.

"Of course not. Relax Beatrice." Niamh soothed before turning to the nurse and giving her what sounded like strict orders in Lithuanian.

The other woman tried to argue but the Irish sister warrior shut her down. The nurse gave in, nodding stiffly and motioned for Beatrice to follow her.

Niamh took her arm before she could, "I'm sorry about that, just please take it easy on them. It's not exactly standard procedure having the badly wounded Warrior Nun and her very protective girlfriend staying with us…"

Beatrice flinched a little at the meaning behind her words. Though her own sisters were entirely accepting and supportive of her and the Halo bearer’s relationship back at the Cat’s Cradle, it didn't mean the entire OCS would be the same. They were sworn nuns after all…and religion didn't have a great track record when it came to dealing with homosexuality. The sister warrior was suddenly feeling a lot more uncomfortable staying here. She realized that Niamh was still waiting on her reply, the other woman was giving her a sympathetic look, trying to convey her own solidarity.

"Understood." Beatrice muttered emotionlessly, spinning on her heel to follow Ava’s stretcher to the infirmary.

~

As the doctor closed the door behind himself, Beatrice finally allowed her body to relax. She placed a shaky hand on her freshly bandaged bullet wound, even with the very little English the doctor could speak, he made it very clear that the sister warrior needed to rest properly until the wound healed lest she do permanent damage.

Looking around the small, sparse infirmary room they had been placed in, her eyes lingered for a moment on the crucifix nailed to the wall above the door frame, she was still feeling uneasy from the earlier conversation with Niamh. It had been a very long time since the sister warrior had felt insecure about her sexuality, being with Ava made her feel safe and loved and accepted for who she was. The last time she had experienced anything that brought forth the suffocating self-doubt had been in Switzerland months ago while she was grocery shopping with Ava.

“Come on Bea! Hurry up!” Ava tugged her towards the confectionery aisle, the younger woman had been insistent on stocking up on movie snacks after finding out there was some movie marathon on T.V later that night.

“Yes, darling.” Beatrice smiled, allowing herself to be dragged through the store. The Halo bearer’s enthusiasm for the little things in life was infectious.

Standing in front of the rather impressive range of gummy candy, the sister warrior did her best to listen to what was quickly becoming a rant about the very important differences between gummy worms and gummy snakes.

“Oh yes makes sense…” Beatrice managed to interject when Ava paused for air, her eyes wandering further down the aisle, noticing a small group of teenage boys walking towards them.

The sister warrior had an odd feeling as she observed them, there was nothing particularly special about the group, they just seemed like your average Swiss teens.