Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 45

~Beatrice~

“Hey baby, wake up.”

The soft words tugged her from the deep, dreamless sleep she had fallen into. As sensation returned to her body, Beatrice felt the deep stabbing pain of her bullet wound and let out a quiet groan. She squirmed a little trying to ease the discomfort, but the stinging only increased in intensity.

“Bea, you need some painkillers.” Ava murmured sympathetically, “I’ll help you sit up.”

Beatrice opened her eyes, a couple of tears escaping as she looked over to see her girlfriend crushing a few pills up to mix into a glass of orange juice. As Ava turned back towards her, she frowned a little at the sister warrior’s wet cheeks.

“Pretty sore?” The younger woman asked gently, brushing away the tears with the pads of her fingers.

Beatrice leaned into the touch, nodding with gritted teeth, unable to speak.

“Okay, I’m going to put my arm under your shoulders and prop you up so you can take your meds. They're all in there so just knock it back. They won’t take long to kick in.” Ava promised.

She waited for the sister warrior to nod again before moving closer. The Halo bearer carefully pushed her arm under Beatrice’s upper back getting a solid grip and then slowly lifted her off the mattress. She gasped, pain radiating across her torso as her abdominal muscles flexed.

Ava softly whispered words of encouragement into her ear, continuing to lever Beatrice upright until there is enough room for the younger woman to sit on the bed directly behind her. The sister warrior rested against her while she caught her breath, her side throbbing in time with each beat of her heart.  

“Well done, babe. You did so good.” Ava pressed a couple of soft kisses to her temple before reaching out to pick up the pill and juice concoction, holding to her lips.

Beatrice downed the bitter liquid as quickly as possible, grimacing at the unpleasant taste before relaxing back into the Halo bearer’s chest, “Thank you, Ava.”

“Of course.”

~

Much later, after the pain had faded to a manageable ache, Beatrice was leaning against the headboard of the bed eating a slice of pepperoni pizza they had delivered after both of them realized how long it had been since they had last eaten.

Ava sat, back pressed into the wall, further down the bed watching the rom com she had found while channel surfing the hotel's modest TV. The sister warrior’s legs were in her lap, the younger woman absent-mindedly drawing patterns along her shins with one hand while she picked at her own pizza slice with the other.

Beatrice discreetly stole glances at Ava while they ate. She knew her girlfriend still hadn't slept since the incident in the bathroom, but whenever the sister warrior tried to steer the conversation in that direction, Ava deflected immediately. It was both incredibly frustrating and understandable, whatever the Halo bearer had been experiencing when she broke the mirror had terrified her.

Beatrice sighed quietly, all she could do was keep trying, when Ava was ready, she would share what was going on with her.

"Ahh!" Ava’s yelp nearly made Beatrice jump out of her skin.

"What is it? What's wrong?" The sister warrior asked swiftly, scanning her girlfriend for anything that could have caused the outburst.
"Ava!" She called sharply after a moment, when no reply was forthcoming.

The Halo bearer’s head snapped around to look at her, "Sorry…sorry Bea. Halo’s back. They just surprised me is all."

Beatrice let out the breath she was holding, relieved, "Oh, okay. You nearly gave me a heart attack…Welcome back Halo."