I Hate the Way...

Part 57: "Where's Your Wife?"

"That's lovely," Hope hears a vaguely familiar voice say. But all she can see is a canvas in front of her, the blue tones matching the water surrounding her as she feels her lungs beginning to compress.

"Mom says you like to paint too," she hears herself say, her voice sounding so young and delicate.

"I do, very much."

—---

Josie stirs from her sleep at the sound of soft knocking on the door of the beach house. She rubs her eyes sleepily, glancing over toward the opposite side of the bed to see nobody there.

Concern washes over her for a split second, before she realizes Hope probably just went for her usual early morning swim. While it's a routine that Josie knows, there's still a nagging feeling of worry that settles at the back of her mind.

Another knock on the door breaks her out of her thoughts, and with a sigh, Josie slides out of bed, wrapping a robe around her body and slipping on some shoes.

She gets to the door and swings it open, revealing the person on the other side. "Raf?" a smile finds her lips, as she opens the door wider for him to enter, "What are you doing here?"

He smiles at her as he walks in, holding up a bag in his hands, "I brought breakfast. And I was hoping to talk to Hope about the engagement party for me and Ethan."

Josie nods her head. "I'll grab us some plates. Want some coffee?" she asks as she's already making her way into the kitchen.

Raf chuckles as he sets the food down on the table, "Do you even have to ask?"

Josie returns only a minute later, with two mugs carefully balanced in one hand, plates in the other.

Raf takes his mug gratefully as he notices Josie wrapped up in her bed robe, "I'm sorry, I should've called instead of showing up unannounced."

Josie shakes her head with a polite smile as she sets the plates down, "No, it's okay. Hope and I just kind of had a long day yesterday and a late night last night."

Raf raises an eyebrow at her, pulling his mug away from his lips, "Late night, huh?"

Josie averts her gaze as a blush tints her cheeks, "Not like that..I just felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster all day, and Hope spent most of the night making me feel better. A bath, a movie, our date,...she even took me to the lighthouse..." She looks up when she says that, trying to gauge Raf's reaction.

Raf wears an expression of disbelief, both eyebrows raised as his jaw gapes slightly, "She took you to the lighthouse?"

Josie nods, her blush deepening, "Yeah, she did." Josie and Raf both know how private Hope can be about things like that, so they both know it's a pretty big deal Hope would share that with Josie.

"Wow," Raf says, not really knowing what else to say.

Josie tries to change the subject to stop herself from blushing so much about the Tribrid, "So where's your fiance?"

Raf takes a bite of his food before answering, "Ethan is with MG and Lizzie doing some suit shopping for the engagement party."Josie nods, remembering that she saw Lizzie's bedroom door was left open, so she figured they left earlier. Raf aims the same question back at her, "Where's your wife? Must've been a really long night if she's still in bed. She never sleeps late."

Josie chuckles, shaking her head, "No, she's just out for her usual morning swim."

Raf's head shoots up from his plate as his expression shifts to one of grave concern. He drops his fork on his plate. "What did you just say?"

Josie's eyebrows furrow and her own worry hits her from Raf's reaction, "She's swimming..."

Her words fade as Raf's eyes flash gold in and instant and he stands abruptly from his seat, "Fuck!" Raf bolts towards the door, and Josie mind races as she hurries to catch up to him, her heart pounding with a sudden sense of dread.

She follows after him as they run towards the shoreline, though he's much faster than she is. And before she ever reaches the sandy beach, she sees Raf diving into the water.

—

"That's lovely," Hope hears a vaguely familiar voice say. But all she can see is a canvas in front of her, the blue tones matching the water surrounding her as she feels her lungs beginning to compress.

"Mom says you like to paint too," she hears herself say, her voice sounding so young and delicate.

"I do, very much."

Her younger self reaches for a blank page, setting it on the table beside her.

She can't see his face as he joins her at the table, grabbing a brush of his own, but she can see as his brush begins to meet the page with light strokes, and she can tell that he was happy to be her father, proud that his daughter had inherited his passion for art.

She can feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, she can hear the gentle lapping of the water against the shoreline of the small stream. She can feel her heart beating in anticipation, aching for relief. Her breath gets caught in her lungs as she looks at his canvas, and the colors begin to melt together into darkness. In the middle of the darkness, she catches a glimpse of a figure, a silhouette emerging from the blue tones.

In her desperation for some sort of recollection or memory from the moment in her childhood, she pushes through the pain of the pressure against her chest, constricting her breath, suffocating her.

But as the figure draws closer, the darkness begins to consume her, just as she feels a tug against the ropes binding her wrists.

Raf pulls her from the depths of the water quickly, and they both pant for entirely different reasons as he tries to hold her up, but she pushes him off, her chest heaving as she struggles to catch her breath and control her sudden frustration, "What the hell are you doing?!"

He gives her an incredulous look, "Saving your life, Hope! What the hell are you doing?!"

"I have to remember, Raf!" Hope shakes her head, her voice laced with anger and desperation. She holds her hand up, her thumb and pointer finger only separated by a millimeter of space, "I was this close to unlocking a memory of my father."

"What?"

Hope's heart drops as she turns around toward that voice and sees Josie standing there, eyes filled with concern and confusion, hurt and anger.

She swallows hard, literally frozen in place for a moment. She has no idea what to do or say, or how she's going to explain this one to the brunette.

"Josie..."

-----

Let me know what you think! What's gonna happen next??;)