*ARTURO*âOkay, I would like my toothbrush and some PJs, I am guessing I will be here for a little while yet, so maybe three sets, and underwear, hairbrush.âLena rattled off a whole slew of stuff, and you would have thought she was going to move in here permanently.I chuckled at the list.âBabe, our home is walking distance from here, I can go back and forth as you need, how soon do you need them?'âOh, I did not realize, um, today sometimeââOkay, I have to go to work, so after work, I will head home and grab some stuff and come back before dinner, Okay?ââSure, I guess Hank will be in soon, and give me instructions on my care, I have not seen a nurse, are we alone on this?ââSort of, do you have a nurse you would like to be the one to care for you?ââNo, um, I don't remember any nurses.ââThat is okay sweetheart, don't push your memory, it will come in its own time.âI leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, I would like to have kissed her on her lips, but I don't think she wo
*MILENA*I wish I could remember.Sleep took me again, and my brain seemed to just shut off.*******Felicia was sitting beside me when I woke.âHi, ready for a shower?âFelicia was a kind woman, I liked her the moment I met her, even if I did annoy her with my pies. Oh, a memory came, that is a good sign yes?Felicia helped me out of bed, all the drips and lines were off of me now, she just had to cover the plaster on my arm and remove the bandaging, around my chest, securing my broken ribs, they are what hurt to the most, other than my head. She made me sit in the wheelchair and wheel me into the bathroom, where she assisted me onto the toilet, I felt embarrassed that I had no strength to even go there by myself.The shower was the best, and soon I was back in bed, exhausted from that little bit of exercise, but I felt so better in my own PJs, she brushed my long hair and talked to me, asking me questions, mainly but how I loved sports and how shocked she was when I arrived at their
âShe told me some, after I heard her on the phone, not long after she moved here, and little bits have come up since.âIt is messy. Going back to me taking the job. The force kept my agreement to take the top job to be kept quiet as possible, the old head was under investigation and they came almost begging for me to take it over.Lena was my tipping point of taking the job, they wanted me to slip into the position and not let on that I was boss, most guys know me as a top cop and defer to me, none know how top I am now, and if you don't mind, I would like it to stay that way. We have a number of other officials we are looking at, and believe it or not,Mona and her little wedding club, are part of it. How it started is a mystery, but the more I dig, the wider the problems. As you may know, those arrested are out on bail, and we are monitoring the higher-ups, hoping they will lead us to more of the top people.âRio was so relaxed it amazed me, I already liked this man, but the more I tal
Rissa has been so demanding, and he is having a little trouble getting the information the police want from her, Dante had searched Rissaâs home for any clue, or paperwork left behind, but Rissa is the worst housekeeper, and anything the maid finds, she just puts it in a box, so there are several boxes with papers that are taking forever to sort through.Dante feels trapped with Rissa, who he now sees as a selfish demanding woman, he wanted to divorce her, but the police say to wait till she is in jail, the divorce would be easier.The police arrested a lot of people somehow they were connected to Rissa and her mother, it was a huge bust, including money laundering, and lots of fraud, protection rackets, even some high-up men were involved, it seemed that whatever they were doing, it involved not just our local people. but some criminals from another country were invited to come over and try to take over the city. How Dante was supposed to find more incriminating evidence, he had no i
*MILENA*Dad brought me my laptop from my office, so I can work on my research on the new heart I am building, now that I can stay awake for a few hours after my shower and physio, I am so exhausted afterward, that I sleep for about two hours, before I can work on my laptop now that my cast is off. I usually get a little work done before Arturo arrives but today he seems to be a little earlier than usual today.You see, after Arturo finishes his day's work, he comes back to me, he has put a bed next to mine and refuses to return to our place until I leave with him, and what surprises me is Gustavo is okay with us both sort of living here. I am not sure if something else is going on outside of here, I barely watch the television, only the sports when Dad or Hank is here we watch it together, tomorrow is Sunday and we are having another sports day, but here. Hank has Felicia making us some pies and by the sounds of it, this wing is going to get noisy with our screaming at the screen, I
*ARTURO*My day was good, had sat in two surgeries which were minor angioplasties, I know it is still not that minor if we have to do more than a stent of two, but on the whole, today flowed well and the doctors doing the surgery were getting really good at this side of surgery, just need a bit more experience to gain confidence, but overall, a good day.Deciding on takeaway for dinner, I quickly headed to our favorite place and grabbed a whole lot of Chinese food, a little of everything, hoping to build her eating back up, she is still not eating a lot compared to her appetite before the accident, but I understand why, it just saddens me a little seeing her so weak, after having such a vibrant happy person before this happened, twelve days she has been awake, and still no sign of her remembering me, I would have thought she would have had some memories come back, but alas, I am hopeful, when I get back today she might have had a small breakthrough.When I opened the door and showed h
*MILENA*Arturo was already up and dressed when I woke this morning, I was disappointed that I still needed so much sleep, but Hank kept saying the body needs sleep and rest to heal.I get that, but it is easier to tell patients to rest and heal than to be the one doing the healing.As of today, Felicia won't be in to help me bathe. Arturo had been doing it the last two days, as Felicia could not come in. I seem to have gotten over the shyness of him seeing my body, maybe because the bruising, bandage, and cast were gone, or maybe I am comfortable around Arturo and like how gentle and caring he is, his eyes take all of me in. He makes me feel special and wanted as he tends to my needs, I am no longer embarrassed that I need his help to do things and have accepted that if I need to do things, sometimes I need help, I won't be this way forever and Arturo wants to be the one to assist me, he was very persuasive, and he wore me down. Not that I minded too much, but I felt I needed to try
*ARTURO*Rio had brought over some of his sports pendants and other stuff to hand around the room and so did my Dad, I had almost finished putting them up. hoping to surprise Lena, when I noticed she was already awake and watching me, I greeted her and had to watch her struggle to get off the bed and use the walker to go to the bathroom, it broke me every time she needed to use it, not because I wanted to help her, though that was part of it, but because she was so strong and vibrant and confident in herself, and now she is struggling to get to the bathroom and back, without falling over or tiring herself out.I was humming to myself as I prepared breakfast, it is amazing how fast you learn how to do stuff around the kitchen when you want to give your girlfriend the best you can do, I have had Mum give me tips when she was here, helping me learn to cook better food.Rio arrived with pies and we put them in the oven to stay warm, I now know how to do that too, and not burn them, I was
*ARTURO*“Can we do both Rissa and Mum's funeral simultaneously? I do not want to go through it twice. Plus, I have an operation booked for a few days; we need to avoid clashing with that.”Lena showed almost no remorse or hurt; it was as if she was now immune to it all, and that worried me.Rio looked at me with the same surprised look, but we needed to figure out how to proceed.“I will call the hospital and see when I can collect her body and notify the funeral service of the added change.”“Want to come home for coffee?”Lena asked Rio.“No, I need to head home, shower, and change. I have a busy day tomorrow.”Rio hugged Lena and shook my hand; I got to pay the bill this time.Lena was too far gone in her thoughts to even think of the bill; score one for me.**********The following two days were a blur. Dad said that Lena might have selective amnesia, not wanting to have that pa
*ARTURO*Being woken up with that news shook me a little; I had to be there for my girl instantly while my head was still foggy. I can honestly say I was awake when I heard those words over the phone and pulled Lena to me. She was shaking, and though her voice was clear, her heart was beating faster, and she was fighting tears. Once she hung up the phone, she cried for a little while. I asked why the tears, and she said because, in her heart, she had lost a mother and sister; even if they were terrible and caused much pain and sorrow, deep down, they were still her family.We headed to the kitchen for breakfast. All ideas of relaxing at home were gone. She will want to go to work and keep her mind busy. We had intended to have a late start; I had no surgery, and her work in the lab was still cooking.I did my rounds at the hospital and released more patients before heading to Lena’s lab. She was checking on the monkey and Mr Green's stats. I loved that she
*JACKO*Being called out to the Sun Valley Sanitarium with my team was not a pretty sight. We could not arrest the woman who did the stabbing as she was already there for life, being classed as a danger to society and never to be released. The two women were never meant to have been put in that wing with that dangerous woman. I am kicking myself for not checking on the woman when I got the news of the first beatings, but I had so much on my plate. I got the call on my way there to check on them that they had been stabbed. I was nervous calling Rio and relieved when his phone went to the message bank. I hung up on Lena, and she promised to tell Rio. I feel bad for interrupting his joy of his first grandson and the honor of being named after him. I will have to catch up later and have a congratulatory drink.Lena seemed to take it well, but then she most likely had a lot to handle lately, and this would be just another blimp on her already rocky road of life.Our team is
“Is that why your Dad is not here? He was at the hospital holding mini Rio?”Felicia giggled,Paula and Alma arrived in time for all the news to be repeated.The den was different without Dad there. It had been a while since I celebrated the game with others, which had not included my Dad being there. I genuinely hope he gets to spend more time with Diego and his little growing family; the three of us used to be closer and somewhere along the line. Mona chased him away. I am sad that I had not noticed her doing it. I was too busy at the time, getting my doctor's degree, and missed out on seeing my brother at a critical time in his life. I hope he knew I supported him with his life choices.“Lena, the lass, is out of hospital and back home. She has her family with her to support her, and the courts have put the man in jail. She can get a divorce from him. Now he is in jail. It has made it easier. I believe she will sell the house and move in with her sis
*RIO*âCome see our son.âJudy beckoned them in.Diego was the first to go to bed, while the rest were held back and watched. He kissed Judy on the lips and then kissed the newborn's butt, and we all chuckled.Lena then offered to let him cut the cord; she turned the baby over so we could see the little boy. Diego took the scissors and cut the cord, and we all cheered as Diego gathered the little one in his arms and kissed his head. I took a small blanket over to him to wrap the baby in and waited for him to.When the baby was wrapped,Diego wanted to give Judy his attention, so he handed the baby off to me. I was shocked he did not give the child to Nate, but then Nate was a mess and may not have been up to holding the little one.âHere, Granddad, take Rio for a while, will you?âI looked at him with shock, but his face was full of love and pride; there was no sign that he was joking about the name, and he broke into a broad smile as I took the little bundle in my arms and almost wept a
*JACKO*The court hearing was underway. It was a Saturday, not a typical day for a court hearing, but it was the only time we could get it heard. The judge slotted the day in for us, as we promised it would only take the day. The courtrooms were booked out for months, and we no longer wish this case to be drawn out. The courtroom was closed, and no public, including the media, was allowed in. We tried to keep out who was going to others; it looked low-key. If someone wanted to push, they could dig further and find out, but it's been so good so far. When I arrived, I had yet to investigate.I sat in the audience watching as our prosecutor tore strips off the first few men from the Gutter Boys gang to pieces, and the four of them went to jail. The first three guys tried were the ones that hit Lenaâs car and were also the ones that fired the tranquilizer darts at Scott's team. They had a good lawyer, but our case was airtight, and they were sentenced with parole, but they still had five
*MILENA*Arturo made watching the fireworks a whole new enjoyment. The thrusts into me were almost timed to the explosions going on outside, though I am unsure if he even noticed what was going beyond the window. The largest red flower bloomed in the sky as I skyrocketed over the threshold, and if Arturo had not held on for dear life, I would have collapsed because of the intensity of the climax.After a cleanup, we headed over to Louisaâs. I insisted we knock and wait, which I noticed Arturo only does at work. I had told him it was a courtesy to knock first, but he just shrugged and walked in anyway.Before he learns to knock, he should walk in on something he does not want to see. Louisa did not seem too surprised. He walked in without knocking, and I wondered if it was a family thing, and if so, I had no chance of changing his ways since I never locked my door in the beginning. I must have thought it was an open invitation. If I wanted him to knock, I would have closed the door. Be
*ARTURO*After arguing with Milena about her bodyguards for what felt like the one-hundredth time, she caved and agreed she would not leave the Condo without them. I would not have peace of mind at work if I had to worry about whether Lena was still at home and was okay. Scott promised better security this time round and had secretly put a bug on Lena, I think, on her phone, but I am not sure, and he won't tell me, but he said if she leaves the Condo without the security, he would know she was on the move and get the men to her. I wouldn't say I liked it, but it was the best we could come up with.Tonight, we were having dinner with my sister. She contacted me an hour ago to ensure we were still coming. She did not want to start cooking, and we did not turn up. Luckily, I had finished in the theater and could answer the phone. It is hit-and-miss to catch me when at work.For a change, instead of walking home, I took our car service. I saw the bodyguards parked across the road as we ap
*MILENA*Today, I decided to stay home, sorting out my things and generally cleaning up the Condo. We were going to go next door for dinner, and I thought about making a sweet to take with me.Arturo said it was unnecessary, but it is what I like to do, and he was wise enough not to argue with me. The place did not need much cleaning. We both seem to clean up after ourselves, leaving just the floors and washing to be done. The sliding door to the balcony was wide open, allowing a fresh breeze to blow through the place. It was nice to be able to open the place up and let nature clear the air inside, not that it was bad or anything; it was a nice refreshing feeling it gave me when I felt the wind in my face. We can often get a strong breeze up here, and having the door open was not good. Today is a good day.I had the television on, listening to the sports commentary about this weekend's games, and there was nothing of great interest yet. The television was more background noise. I had