Part 3
The Hart Remembers – Part Three
Several hours later Jonathan and Jennifer were safely sequestered away in the Hart corporate apartment. The policewoman was in place at the hospital and the police, as well as Hart security, were on high alert for any suspicious activity.
Jonathan had to fill Jennifer in on a few facts about what had been going on. It couldn’t be helped. The doctor wanted her to regain her memory on her own, in her own time, but this was too important and she really did need to know that someone was trying to kill her and the circumstances that had led her to be in this situation.
Jennifer had looked horrified as Jonathan was telling her the story of the assassinated Senator and the circumstances surrounding her ‘accident’, which she found out was no accident at all.
The whole afternoon, after they had shifted her to the safe environs of the corporate apartment, she had been trying to get her head around what she had been told. It felt like something out of a fiction novel. Jonathan had told her that she was a writer, so this was something that she may very well have written herself, she thought.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t go home” Jonathan said to Jennifer when they had gotten themselves settled in “This is the best place to be as it is surrounded by security. I thought you would be safer here than at the beach.”
“It’s fine, really. Wherever, I don’t remember any of these places anyway” Jennifer said with a somewhat defeated tone.
“Are you hungry? Would you like some dinner?” Jonathan asked Jennifer.
“No not really” she replied. She had been very quiet all through the move out of the hospital and now she was quietly sitting on the window seat looking down into the street below.
Jonathan was worried about her. She was very pale. Perhaps it had been a mistake to move her, but he didn’t feel as though he had much choice. It was a matter of her safety now.
“Would you like to go to bed? I know it is still early but it has been rather a tough day.”
Jennifer turned around to look at him. It was true, she was tired, but she could see that the strain of the day had taken its toll on him also. Maybe if she went to bed he would too.
It was so strange the feelings she had for him. On the surface she couldn’t remember him or their life together, but on another level below the surface she could feel that she knew him, cared about him, and yeah, ok, even felt love for him. She definitely felt sexual attraction to him and lust, her body seemed to be on fire whenever he was in close proximity.
“Ok, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have an early night” she replied and raised her hand to stop him as he was about to speak “on one condition”
He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes and said “and what would that be?”
“That you go to bed too. You look like hell if you don’t mind me saying so”
“Thanks a lot” he said pretending to be affronted but with warm humor in his voice.
She smiled at him and it took his breath away. He loved this woman so much, more than life itself. He would do anything for her. “Ok, I will go to bed to” and he held out his hand to her and she went to him and placed her hand in his without hesitation.
As they were moving towards the bedroom Jonathan stopped abruptly and turned to face Jennifer. “Um, about the sleeping arrangements….”
“It’s ok Jonathan, I think we should just sleep in the same bed, you know, keep everything as normal as possible. I am comfortable with that, but….um, maybe we should…..um, you know, just sleep. No, um…” she seemed to be struggling for the right words.
“It’s ok sweetheart. I know what you’re trying to say. Just sleep it is”
“Thanks, Jonathan”
“For what?”
“For being so understanding. I know that it can’t be easy for you…”
“No it’s not easy, but at least you’re alive and here with me. Even if you never get your memory back, I am so thankful that you are still here” his voice hitched at the thought of how it could have been.
Jennifer looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and was amazed to see tears there. She wrapped her arms around him in a gesture of comfort and he responded by wrapping his arms around her tightly like he would never let her go again.
“Let’s go to sleep, ok” she said and they entered the bedroom and prepared for sleep.
———————————–
They had been in bed for about 30 minutes. Jennifer was too tense to sleep. She had a million questions in her mind and not too many answers. But there was one question that had been nagging at her ever since she found out that she was married to Jonathan.
She wasn’t sure if he was asleep. She was fairly sure he wasn’t. She had a really strong need to be connected with him right now. She slowly slid her hand across the expanse of bed between them until she just touched his fingers.
She felt him jump a little in surprise from the contact and then he put his hand on top of hers. She then turned her hand palm up and laced her fingers with his. It was nice, it was comforting and it also felt familiar. She wished that she could remember and was finding it increasingly frustrating that she couldn’t.
They just held hands for awhile. Jonathan didn’t say anything to her about it. She was trying to get up the courage to ask the question that she wanted to know the answer to.
“Jonathan”
“Yes, my darling”
Jennifer felt warmth spread through her when he called her his darling. He said it like he really meant it.
“I was wondering something….um, about us. Can I ask you a question? I know you aren’t supposed to tell me anything but this is something that has been nagging at me”
“Yes, I will answer if I can”
“Well, Jonathan, I want to know how long we have been married?”
“We have been married twenty two wonderful years”
“Oh, that’s a long time”
“Yes, it is”
“Do we have a good marriage?”
“Oh yes my love. We have an absolutely wonderful marriage. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. These have been the best years of my life”
Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief. She had suspected that this was the case but hadn’t been completely sure. “Oh, I’m so glad to hear you say that but well there was something else I have been wondering about”
“I thought you wanted to ask me a question” he teased. He felt Jennifer stiffen and said “I’m only joking my darling what else do you want to know?”
He felt her relax once again as she said “I was wondering if we…..do we….I mean are….Oh damn this isn’t coming out right”
“Take a deep breath and try again sweetheart”
“What I wanted to know is do we have um….do we have any children?”
Jennifer felt Jonathan tense. Oh no, she thought, maybe that was a touchy subject. “I’m sorry” she said “you don’t have to answer that if it is a painful subject”
“No it’s fine my love. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting you to ask that question.” Jonathan paused for a moment “We don’t have any children unfortunately. Not because we didn’t want them but because we weren’t blessed with them.”
“Oh” Jennifer said softly.
“For the first few years of our marriage we decided to wait to have kids. You know, spend some time together, just us. Travel the world and have adventures and that is exactly what we did. I guess we’d been married about seven or eight years when we decided to try for a child, but it just didn’t happen. After a couple of years we decided to just let nature take its course but it never happened. Don’t get me wrong, we have been deliriously happy and a child would have been the icing on the cake but it never got in the way of us. We never let it affect our relationship”
“I see” Jennifer said almost in a whisper.
“Are you disappointed darling? Were you hoping that there were children somewhere?”
“No I’m not disappointed exactly; I guess I just hoped, on some level, that we did have kids. It’s ok though now that you have explained, not everyone is lucky enough to have children. I guess we adapted to not being able to conceive?”
“Yes, we did. And I think it bought us closer together than we already were, if that was possible.”
They both lay quietly after that thinking about all that might have been if things had worked out differently. Jennifer started to get sleepy and was starting to nod off when she realized that they were still holding hands.
—————————————————–
Jonathan stirred in his sleep. He felt so warm and comfortable. Slowly he awoke and when he opened his eyes he realized that the wonderful warm feeling was coming from Jennifer being snuggled up against his side. Instantly he was awake and so was a certain part of his anatomy.
Jennifer had her head on his shoulder, her left arm was wrapped around his waist and her left leg was resting across him, bent at the knee just below his manhood, any slight shift upward she would know exactly what was going on. The heat from between her legs burned where it came into contact with his leg. Oh, this was not good. What if she woke up? He tried thinking about something unpleasant but it had no affect on him.
In her sleep Jennifer moved her leg up and was now resting on top of his, by now, rock hard penis. His breathing sped up as the pressure from her leg increased his pleasure. He tried to lay still but it was almost impossible. It had been so long since they had been together physically.
Jennifer started to wake and Jonathan started to panic. But it was too late to do anything about it now. Jennifer stirred and slowly opened her eyes. For a moment she was disorientated and then she remembered that she was at the Hart corporate apartment with Jonathan.
It was at this moment that she realized that she was snuggled up next to Jonathan. Oh dear, was he awake. And then she felt the hardness under her leg that she had resting on top of him. He was aroused, very aroused by the feel of it. The feel of his hardness beneath her leg set of a reaction inside of her that went straight to her core which just happened to be pressed up against his leg. What should she do?
By now Jennifer was getting aroused also. She pressed herself harder against his leg hoping to find some relief. Jonathan felt her movement and his reaction was to get harder still.
Jennifer slowly moved her head to look up at Jonathan to find that he was looking down at her.
“Hi” she said with a slight smile.
“Hi” he said back to her with a charming grin “quite a predicament we have got ourselves into, isn’t it?”
Jennifer chuckled at this and said “Yes I guess so. What are we going to do about it?”
“Well, we could….you know”
“Oh” Jennifer said as she tensed and looked a little terrified. Jonathan felt a bit deflated at the sight.
“It’s ok Jennifer, I was only joking. I will go and have a very cold shower” he said quietly, but as he started to rise to get out of bed Jennifer put her hand on his arm to stop him. He turned and looked down at her and was about to ask what was wrong when the look in her eyes stopped him. What he saw there caused him to catch his breath. She was looking at him like the old Jennifer used to.
“I’m sorry Jonathan I didn’t mean to send you hurrying out of the bed. I just feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I don’t understand why it is that I don’t remember you in here” and she pointed to her head “but I remember you in here” she said as she pointed to her chest in the area of her heart.
“I’m so confused. I am so attracted to you. I really want to be with you but I feel strange because I don’t remember being with you before, it would be like my first time with you. Do you understand what I am trying to say?”
“Oh yes, my darling, I understand completely. I’m sorry I made you feel uncomfortable. It is really hard to control myself when I am around you. I love you so much. We had a very active love life before your…..before you lost your memory. When I am close to you like this I just want to show you how much I love you and I sometimes forget that you don’t remember what I remember. Please forgive me.”
“Oh Jonathan, there is nothing to forgive. I understand where you’re coming from, I really do. I know it can’t be easy. I just wish I could remember.”
“You will, in time, I really believe that” he said trying to comfort her as best he could. She dropped her chin to her chest and he looked down on the top of her head, her beautiful red locks were shining in the morning sunshine that was streaming in through the windows. He couldn’t help himself. He reached out and ran his fingers through her hair and she looked up at him. They locked eyes and they both seemed to stop breathing.
Jonathan really wanted to kiss her but was afraid to in the event that he upset her once again. Not to kiss her was almost a physical pain, and then as if in a dream like state she raised her hand slowly and gently touched the side of his face. His heart almost stopped at the intensity of feeling that was running through him.
“Jonathan, would you do something for me” she said to him as if she was coming from a long way away. It took him a moment to realize that she had spoken and he mentally shook his head to clear it. “Yes, my love, I would do anything for you” he replied breathlessly.
“Would you please kiss me? Really kiss me”
“Oh yes, my darling, that I can do for you most definitely”
He lowered his head towards her and found that she was coming up to meet him. He had only intended to kiss her gently but as their lips met fire seemed to consume them. His right arm wound around her and his left hand slid into her hair.
The kiss intensified and Jennifer started to feel light headed. She was on overload from the intense feelings the kiss was evoking. Her lips parted and Jonathan’s tongue slid inside. She thought she might faint so she slipped both of her arms tightly around him.
Jonathan couldn’t believe that he was kissing Jennifer. It had been so long and he felt overwhelmed by the emotions the kiss was bringing out in him. He needed to get closer to her. He gently laid her back on the bed and came to rest on top of her never breaking contact with her lips.
The intense kiss went on and on. He was caressing her hair and face with his left hand while his other hand started on a journey down wards towards her breast. Jennifer was running her fingers through his hair. Jonathan had just started kissing his way down her neck when he heard ringing and thought the noise was inside his head and that the passion of the kiss was going to make him pass out.
He then realized that the ringing was coming from the phone beside the bed. He lifted his head a little from Jennifer’s neck and looked at her intensely. “This had better be damned important” he said with frustration.
He leaned over and picked up the receiver never taking his eyes of Jennifer.
“Jonathan Hart” he barked into the phone.
————————————
Jonathan hung up the phone and turned to look at Jennifer. She could see that he was tense by the way he was holding himself.
“That was Herschel Grey. There was an incident at the hospital last night. They have arrested the man that tried to kill you”
Jennifer gasped and Jonathan sat down on the side of the bed next to her and took her hands in between his.
Jennifer had gone pale and Jonathan was worried she might faint.
“Are you ok? You don’t look so good”
“I’m fine. It was a bit of a shock that’s all. Please go on.”
“Well, the man they arrested is a known hit man. Vincent Bartelli. Does that name mean anything to you?”
“No”
“He has admitted to killing Senator Blake and attempting to kill you” he paused but Jennifer indicated for him to continue. “He won’t however say who hired him, we need to know who initiated the contract so that they can be arrested also. You won’t really be completely safe until that happens.”
Jennifer nodded but still said nothing.
“I’m going to grab a shower and then I am going down to police headquarters to see if I can get anything out of him” he started to rise but Jennifer’s hand on his arm stalled him.
“Why do you need to go down there? Please let the police handle it…” She looked so panicked that he could guess what was behind the plea for him to stay.
“It’s ok, you will be quite safe here. I’ll try to not be too long. I need to do this Jennifer. I need to face the man that nearly ruined our lives, do you understand that?”
“Yes I understand. Please be careful. Don’t do anything we will both regret. I don’t want to lose you now. Please promise me.” she pleaded with him “I can’t lose you now, you are the only person who can connect me with what we had in the past. If I lose you I may never remember our life together. And I feel that I have forgotten some really wonderful things. I really need to remember them.”
“I promise my darling. I’m not going to do anything that will part us now that we are back together again. I just have to have a face to face with him. I need to know why he felt the need to do what he did” he paused for a moment “If you never remember anything about our life together before, it’s ok, the only thing that you need to remember is that I really love you”
“Oh Jonathan, I am sure that I love you too. I don’t know how I know this but I feel it deep inside of me when I look at you”
Jonathan smiled at her and touched his hand to her cheek. He leaned in and touched his lips to hers in a loving kiss.
“I will be very careful, I promise”
————————————–
By the time Jonathan arrived at the police station he was more than pumped to have a confrontation with this Vincent Bartelli person.
Herschel Grey approached him as he entered the detectives office. He could tell that Jonathan was wound up. “Hi Jonathan, you look a bit tense”
“I’m fine Herschel. I just want some face to face time with the man to find out why he felt the need to nearly ruin our lives”
“Well, I am afraid that is going to impossible. Vincent Bartelli committed suicide in his cell 15 minutes ago.”
“WHAT!” Jonathan was shocked and slumped into the nearest chair.
“I’m sorry Jonathan. He was alone in his cell. We had no idea he was suicidal.”
“So now we have just lost the link to the man behind this. How does this affect Jennifer’s situation?”
“Well, Bartelli didn’t name his boss to us. In his statement he said that he didn’t tell Jennifer anything before pushing her off the train. Apparently she came along seconds after he had made the hit. She was a loose end he couldn’t leave lying around that could identify him so he had to eliminate her. He said he apologized to her for what he was about to do. He didn’t want to do it but he could see no other way out”
“So what you’re saying is that Jennifer should be safe now. It was only Bartelli she could identify. She wasn’t told and therefore didn’t know who his boss was.”
“That’s correct”
“Well you had better issue a press release stating just that so this guy knows that she is no longer a threat to him.”
“Already done Jonathan”
——————————————
Jonathan had been gone some time when Jennifer found herself seated at the window looking at the street below once again. Her mind kept wandering back to what had happened in bed earlier, in between thinking about what was happening at the police station. She just hoped that Jonathan kept his cool.
If her feelings for Jonathan where so intense while they were kissing why the hell couldn’t she remember anything. Maybe they needed to make love for her to remember. There must be something that she could do that would jog her memory. She was so sick of not being able to remember.
She wanted to remember. No she needed to remember. Perhaps meditation or hypnosis would help. The memories were in there somewhere.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Jonathan come in. He stopped in the doorway and just drank in the sight of her. She looked very pensive and he could guess what she was thinking about.
Jennifer felt as though she was being watched so she turned from the window to see Jonathan looking at her intently. She smiled at him because she was glad to see him in one piece. She slowly stood and walked over to him. She stood just in front of him and looked up into his face.
She lifted a hand and touched the side of his face and he leaned into her touch. “You don’t look like you are hurt in any way so I will take that as a good sign that you kept your promise to me”
Jonathan was overwhelmed with his feelings so he just bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. It was a gentle comforting kiss. He took her hand and led her to the sofa. They sat down and he put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder.
“I am fine. I didn’t even get to speak to him”
“Oh, how come?”
Jonathan took a deep breath and she could tell that the news he was about to tell wasn’t good. “He committed suicide just before I got to the station”
“Oh my God that’s terrible”
“Yes it is but I guess he felt he didn’t have any way out of the situation he found himself in”
They sat for a long time not talking but just taking comfort in each others company.
They had some lunch but the mood was still subdued. The events of the morning were slowly sinking in. Jennifer had been pondering it all and she was wondering what would happen now. Surely the danger was over.
“Jonathan”
“Yes my love” he said as he looked over at her.
“What happens now? Surely we don’t need to stay locked up here. The danger is over now isn’t it?”
“Well yes I suppose technically we are free to come and go as we please. There shouldn’t be any danger but I think it would be advisable for us to stay here until the press release is circulated so that whoever was responsible for the hit knows that you now have no connection to him at all” he paused for a moment just looking at her seeing that she was digesting this bit of information “I think we can probably go home tomorrow if you want to?”
She just nodded and thought to herself, home, I don’t even know where that is.
They spent the afternoon together companionably, she reading a little and he working on the laptop. She knew that he hadn’t really been to the office to work since all of this happened. She wondered about him that he could leave his business for such a long time. He must surely have a lot of extremely trustworthy people working for him.
They had a great time preparing dinner together. Jennifer found that he had a great sense of humor and he had her in stitches with his Cary Grant impersonation and after dinner they sat on the sofa and watched a couple of old movies.
Around 10 Jennifer was getting sleepy and the next thing she knew Jonathan was shaking her awake. “Come on sleepy head I think it’s time for bed” he said to her. She blinked a few times in an attempt to shake the cotton wool from her head.
Jennifer got ready for bed first and by the time Jonathan was ready to hop into bed he noticed that Jennifer was out like a light. Oh well that was probably a good thing after what had happened that morning. He had been a bit apprehensive about what would happen when they went to bed that night. He really wanted to make love to Jennifer but on some level he felt like he would be taking advantage of her if he did.
When Jennifer woke the next morning Jonathan was already up. She stifled the disappointment that went through her and couldn’t help thinking that it would have been nice to start the day the same way they started yesterday and it would have been even nicer if they could have followed through. She had sensed a bit of distance in Jonathan since that had happened yesterday morning. She got the feeling that he may be wrestling with some sort of moral dilemma to do with making love to her.
She stretched and decided to get up and look for him when she noticed the folded piece of paper on the stand beside the bed.
My darling Jennifer,
I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke this morning but I had some urgent business that I had to attend to. I was thinking that we could move back home this afternoon if you wanted to. I will be back around lunch time and we can discuss it then OK?
You looked so lovely asleep this morning sweetheart. It was very hard for me to leave you. I really do love you so much that it hurts. Sometimes it feels as though my heart may burst from all of the feelings I have for you.
I know you probably were thinking that I would try and persuade you to continue what was interrupted yesterday morning. There is nothing I would like more but I really don’t want you to feel that you are being pressured into it.
I am going to leave that ball firmly in your court. When you feel you are ready all you have to do is say the word, but not until you are absolutely sure that you want to. Do you understand what I am saying? Am I making sense?
Alright I have to go now so I will see you at lunch time.
All my love
Jonathan xxxxx
Jennifer sighed. He really was the sweetest man. So very nice. It must have been a very lucky day the day she met him, if only she could remember it.
She looked at the clock and found that it was still fairly early. She lay down once again because she still felt a bit tired. She thought that she would just rest for a bit longer but before long she had fallen asleep again clutching the note between her fingers.
———————————–
Jennifer felt very warm and comfortable. She felt safe and secure. She opened her eyes and found herself in the room with the bright light once again. She didn’t hesitate this time. She sat on one of the chairs to wait. She knew he wouldn’t be long in coming to see her.
After a few moments she saw him approaching. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her.
“Hi Mrs H it’s good to see you lookin’ so well. Better than last time I saw you.”
“Hi Max it’s really good to see you again.” She said with real love and warmth. Here in this place she could remember everything, it was a wonderful feeling.
“Why am I here with you again Max? Last time it was because I was at a crossroad and had a decision to make. Do I have another decision to make? I’m not dying again am I?”
“Whoa Mrs H one question at a time” Max said with a chuckle “you are here because I need to talk to ya, to help you”
“Help me, how?”
“You’re right about havin’ a decision to make. Oh, it’s not a life or death decision like last time, but it’s an important decision none the less.”
“A decision Max, what sort of decision?”
“First before I get to explainin’ that part of this discussion I have to encourage you to try an’ get your memory back..”
“Max I have been trying…”
“Mrs H you may think you have been tryin’ but you haven’t not really…”
“Max! I certainly have been trying to remember. I can remember now so I should be able to remember when I am awake!”
“Mrs H calm down I’m not sayin’ this to upset you. Yes you can remember while you’re here because you aren’t blockin’ your memories…” he put up a hand to stop her from interrupting him again “please Mrs H let me say what I have to say” he stopped for a second and when she nodded for him to continue he said “while you are awake you have been blockin’ your memories, not consciously you don’t realize you are doin’ it.”
“You have been protectin’ yourself. While you couldn’t remember you thought that you were safe. If you couldn’t remember the events surroundin’ the Senators death and your so called accident then the hit man would have no reason to come after you.”
“Of course he came after you anyway. But now he is out of the picture. He isn’t a threat to you any more. The man who was behind all of this has no interest in eliminatin’ you because you can’t identify him. So now is the time to get your memory back.”
“Right Max but that is easier said than done. What can I do to get it back. Wouldn’t you think that my love for Jonathan would be enough to get it back?”
“Unfortunately Mrs H that is part of the problem. You have been blockin’ your memories in an attempt to protect Mr H also.”
“Ok, so tell my why it is so important that I get my memory back now? What is the decision that I am going to have to make?”
“Well, I can’t tell you the decision you have to make exactly. In a few weeks somethin’ will happen. Somethin’ devastating will happen to some people you know, one of whom is very special to you. You have a special bond with this person and he is gonna need your help. You will need to have you memory back so that you can remember him and what he means to you so that you can make the right decision concernin’ him.”
“This is all very cryptic Max. I haven’t a clue who you are talking about and I really don’t like the sound of all this.”
“Don’t worry. If you get your memory back the decision will be easy for you to make. He’s really gonna need you. Will you try really hard to remember?”
“Yes Max I will but I don’t know what I can do that I haven’t been doing”
“I have just two words for you Mrs H, Willow Pond”
“What Max, what about Willow Pond?”
“Sorry I can’t say any more. I really have to go now. I love you guys you know that right? I will see ya later. Much later”
And with that he was gone, so quick that Jennifer didn’t even have time to say goodbye.
As she began to wake her memories receded once again. Only fragments of the dream remained. When she was fully awake the only thing she could remember was the man’s face in the dream and the two words he had said. What the hell was a Willow Pond anyway?