Chapter 29

            AJ sat in a leather chair as Chelsea sat on the couch to his left.  He had just been asked in to the office by Doctor Zimmerson after Chelsea’s hypnotism session.  He wasn’t allowed to be in the room when it was going on but everything was recorded, it was basically for Chelsea’s sake, no unnecessary outside noise that could confuse her while she is under the effects.  AJ looked at her and he could tell she had been crying and he wanted to hug her but the Doctor told him on the first visit that she would need a few moments after she had been hypnotized to collect her thoughts.

“This woman that you saw definitely sounds like she was a nurse.” The Doctor spoke as AJ listened intently.  “So I’ll just give Alex a quick run down on what you remembered and saw.”  AJ took a deep breath, he wondered if she knew who this woman was, was this going to be it, was this the missing piece that would lead them to Nadia.  “Chelsea gave a very good description on what the woman looked like once she was under hypnoses. Red Hair, Green or Hazel eyes, short, chubby, and she said the woman had a little bit of an accent.”

“Accent?” AJ wondered.

“Sounds like a Northern accent perhaps, Minnesota, North Dakota, maybe even Canada.” The Doctor told him as he looked at his papers.  “And if this happened about eight to nine months into her captivity, they could have very well been in that area.”  The Doctor tapped his pen against his note pad.  “I will place a call into the Detective from the FBI that handled the case, see if I can get any information on what kind of time line they put together.  It could be helpful to them as well.”

“Ok” AJ nodded in agreement.  “Do you think this nurse took her?” He asked after a moment of silence.

“It would be nice to think so.” The Doctor replied. “But Chelsea isn’t sure if she was there the night Nadia was taken.”  He then wrote something down and then looked at Chelsea.

“I will make another appointment and have my assistant call you Chelsea but if you remember anything else please don’t hesitate to call.”

“Alright.” Chelsea replied with a nod.  It was the first time AJ heard her talk since he came into the room.

All three of them stood up and said goodbye.  As with most of the time after a session Chelsea was quiet but he understood, couldn’t have been easy reliving things again. Plus he had a lot on his mind, who was this woman and he started to wonder how many times he was in the same city as Chelsea and didn’t even know it.  Especially if she was in Canada, the group had a strong fan base up there and they toured a lot in that country when they first started.  How many times did he walk past her dad, how many times did she lie on a mattress trapped, missing him, wanting him, needing him, and he was twenty or so minutes away from her. The thoughts continued until he pulled into the driveway.

“So usual bath and nap?” AJ asked as he held the door open.

“Bath sounds good but I’m not that tired.” She said as she took off her jacket and hung it up.

“Ok, why don’t you go get ready and I’ll start the water for you.” He told her as they walked to the stairs.

“Will you join me this time?” She asked as she took his hand.

“Sure” He smiled at her and kissed the back of her hand.

AJ prepared the bath for them and joined her in the warm water.  He laid back against the back of the tub, letting her rest against his chest and they both began to relax from the stressful day.  His arms wrapped around the front of her as her head rested against his.  It was calm and peaceful just them, just like it use to be.

“Remember we use to joke about when we got older we wouldn’t be able to do this.” Chelsea said like she was reading his mind.

“I don’t think we could have, I just got a bigger tub.” He replied with a smile and she replied with a giggle.

“Only a couple of more weeks left.” He said in reference to their wedding.

“Yeah” She replied with a light smile.  “Is Kev still going to be your best man?”

“I dunno he really pissed me off with that stunt he pulled yesterday.” AJ told her but he knew he still would, he just wanted to make a point.

“They probably ambushed him too.” Chelsea said.  “And after what he said yesterday I’m pretty sure he’s over it too.” She told him as she played with his fingers.

“What did he say?” He asked.

“It was after I went off on Jerald, he told them he had had enough and if they would stop bitching they would see how much you love me by the way you’ve taken care of me since I came back.” She told him. 

“Well maybe I won’t fire him just yet.” AJ sighed as he lightly kissed her temple and she lightly laughed.  The couple feel quiet again both enjoying each others company.

Then Chelsea spoke up. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” AJ replied as he looked at her.

“What would have happened if my Dad hadn’t of taken me and then we found out I was pregnant.” Chelsea asked.  “They probably would have kicked you huh?”

“Maybe.” AJ said with a light shrug.  “But like you said none of that matters, that’s not what happened and we’re stressing over enough as it is to worry about the what if’s sweetheart.”

“Yeah” She agreed with a sigh but he knew like him she couldn’t help but wonder from time to time. 

“Besides let’s look at the up side, you remembered something and might have pin pointed an area to start looking.” He told her. “And maybe the FBI can piece something together.”

“I hope so; they’ve been pretty quiet about everything even to me.” Chelsea said.

“They probably have to cover their asses because they said he wasn’t a threat to begin with.” AJ replied remembering the phone call with her the night she found out.

Chelsea sighed.  “Mom was pissed.” She fell silent and AJ wrapped his arms around her a little tighter.  “You do know you haven’t told me where we’re going for our honeymoon.”

“I know” AJ replied with a light smile as he kissed behind her ear.

“Are you going to tell me?” She asked with a soft giggle.

“Not until that night.” He replied.

“Sometimes it’s a curse the way you are.” Chelsea smiled.

“Don’t I know it.” He replied before he leaned in and kissed her.

The water started getting to cold for the couple to be in it any longer so they both climbed out of the tub.  AJ drained the water and wrapped a towel around his waist, when he walked out to the bedroom he saw Chelsea lying on the bed, sleeping.  He walked over to her and pulled the blankets over her as she laid sleeping still wrapped in her towel.  Bending down he lightly kissed her forehead and then got dressed, quietly making sure not to wake her.  As he walked down the stairs the doorbell rang and he walked over to it checking to see who was outside.

He opened the door. “Hey”

“Hi” Kevin said with a light smile. “Is it ok if I come in?” He asked.

“Sure” AJ replied as he stepped back.  “But Chels is sleeping; we just got back from her appointment a half hour ago.”

“Appointment?” Kevin said confused.

“I booked her an appointment because of what happened yesterday, turns out it jarred something in her memory.” AJ told him as they sat down in the kitchen.

Kevin replied hopeful.  “Like what?”

“First.” AJ said quickly.  “I want to know why you let them come here yesterday.” Kevin sat in silence and it was a good thing because AJ wasn’t finished.  “I trust you Kevin; she trusts you and you just bring them here to ambush her like they did.”

“I didn’t know they were going to do that.” Kevin replied.  “Jerald said he was going to talk to her and apologize.”

“Well I hope they realize they are pushing her further and further away.” AJ said to him as he uncapped the lid to his bottled water.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking right now.” Kevin sighed. “But I wanted to come by and say I’m sorry, I should have known better, I just wanted them to work things out before the wedding because if they miss it they’ll regret it and I didn’t want her regretting it either.”

“I don’t think she will Kevin; she knows this on them and not her fault.” AJ told him.

“How mad is she at me?” Kevin asked.

“Not that mad.” AJ reassured him.  “She figures they ambushed you too and she knows you just want the fighting to stop.”  Kevin lightly smiled a little relieved to know Chelsea wasn’t too upset with him.

“So” Kevin said after the room went silent and AJ looked at him.  “What did she remember?”

He set his bottle down and took a deep breath.  “A woman.”

“A woman?” Kevin replied confused.

“She remembered that there was a woman helping her or her dad, what she looks like, and how she sounded, she remembers her being there and she remembers that the woman was there when she had Nadia.” AJ told him.   “Her Doctor thinks because of how the woman talked they may have been somewhere up in the northern states, maybe even Canada.”

“Wow” Kevin replied.  “When did it happen?”

“Yesterday she said she was yelling at Jerald and then she felt like she was going to have a headache but then she started seeing the woman and remembering.” AJ told him.  “I called her on my way home to see if she was ok and to let her know I was on my way, that’s when she told me.”

“Well it’s something.” Kevin replied.

“Yeah” AJ nodded.  “Her Doctor is going to talk to the FBI maybe they can help with some missing pieces.”

“So are we good?” Kevin asked as AJ downed the last of his water.

“We’re good.” AJ nodded.  “As long as this shit ends with Jerald and Tim, it’s on them now.”

“Done, over it, they need to grow up.” Kevin replied.

AJ was about to say something when Chelsea walked into the kitchen.  “Hey sweetheart everything ok?”

“Yeah” She replied as she sat down beside him.  “How long was I sleeping?”

“About twenty minutes.” AJ replied as he kissed her on top of the head and walked over to the recycling box.

“Oh my god he used it.” Kevin said shocked.

“Bite me Captain Planet.” AJ sighed as he returned to his seat as Chelsea laughed.

“So what are you doing here?” Chelsea asked looking at Kevin.

“Came to say I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.” Kevin replied hopeful.

“Better not.” Chelsea mumbled. “But I get why you did it.”

The couple sat in the kitchen talking to Kevin about how they hoped the day would go.  It was small and simple in the backyard looking out to the Hollywood cliffs.  He’d never thought he would see the day when he would have a small simple wedding but having Chelsea stand next to him made up for anything big he would have planned with someone else.  He use to only dream about the day that was coming, usually passed out some where after an all night binge.  A small smile crept across his face as he watched Chelsea and Kevin talk.  This was how it should be.