Forever With You

Chapter Twenty-Two

          Bridget turns off the car about ten minutes to nine and takes a deep breath. She's meeting Alan at the coffee shop down the street from Franky's workplace in regard to a letter Franky wrote her. She isn't sure how much Franky told her father about Saturday morning, so she is nervous in those regards as well. At five of, she gets out of her car and heads to the door of the shop. She sees Alan as soon as she steps in and walks over to greet him. "Bridget! I'm glad you could make it. How are you?" Alan asks while giving her a warm hug. She feels the tension release in his warm embrace and hugs him tightly. "I'm okay, all things considered. How are you?" He releases her and leads them to a small table away from the crowd. "I'm okay. Franky is still recovering from surgery and should be waking up some time this afternoon from the heavy sedation." Bridget feels tears burning the back of her eyes as they take their seats. Before they can continue, a waitress walks up to take their order. "Just a regular coffee, light and sweet please." Bridget says and Alan nods for the same. "Look Alan, I don't know how much Franky told you..." Alan holds a hand up to stop her. "It's all in the letter Bridget. But I think you really should read it for yourself." He takes the letter out of the inside pocket of his jacket; careful not to pull out the small note Franky left for him as well.

Fessler had heard the voicemail from Bridget early that morning and confirmed that she would be free for ten o'clock. She is putting the photos she has in chronological order and setting up the audio to be ready for play. She looks up at the time and decides to call the hospital for an update on Franky. "Sydney Medical." Fessler leans back in her chair. "Good morning. I'm calling for an update on a patient. Francesca Doyle." There is a pause and light tapping on a keyboard. "One moment please."

Joanne arrives outside of the hospital and walks into reception. She decides its best to use Franky's name as she will need to scope out the area getting to her room. Using any other may cause question when she's nowhere near the patients' floor. After talking briefly with reception, she clips on her badge and makes her way down the hallway to the elevator. She makes note as to how many security officers are stationed at the time and their locations. Once she arrives at the floor for ICU, she lingers in the hallway, nervous about Franky possibly seeing and or recognizing her. She scopes out how close the nurses' station is to her room and where security is located, then makes her way back to the elevator. She is stopped by a young male nurse who, coincidentally, begins to flirt with her. After fifteen minutes of small talk, she enters the elevator with a small smile. She learned more information about the shifts in those fifteen minutes than she could have in a day. Now to verify the evening shift information.

Erica's lackeys have dug up enough information on Joanne Ferguson to help put her Aunt in teal for decades. However, the only way to make it stick will be to convince Joanne to go against her Aunt. She picks up her phone and calls Fessler. "Good morning. I made the connection. I just need to get a court order to have the recordings of their meetings released." Fessler lets out a deep breath. "Joan will argue that as a violation of her rights." Erica begins to smile. "You still have contact with Maxwell?" Fessler smiles as she realizes what Erica is thinking. "For Franky." They both say in unison.

Bridget wipes the tears from her eyes and gently blows her nose in the tissue. "Oh Alan, what have I done?" Alan places a hand on hers and rubs his thumb across it. "There is no way you could have known about that night. And you know Franky wouldn't want you to worry about anything. She's stubborn like that, but she means well." Bridget sniffs and looks up into his eyes. "She told me she bought the ring before you returned from the conference. Being away from you...well, it really made her think. But she was so afraid you would think it was a cover up." Bridget thinks back to the way Franky had been acting from the conference up to today. How she seemed more intimate than her usual self. Riskier, like she had been back in Wentworth. And so much more passionate. She loved every bit of it, and she was wrong thinking it was all because of Erica. She wasn't turned on because of suppressed feelings for Erica, she was just trying to show her every ounce of love she felt for her...her Gidget. "I don't know how to face her Alan. I know how angry she can get. She'll hate me for this." Alan frowns and pats her hand again. "The last thing Franky could ever do is hate you love."