Always Beautiful

Chapter One

‘When will she wake up?’
‘I’m not sure, sir. We’re monitoring her very closely, she’s suffered a lot of damage.’
He sighed. ‘You say she was brought in by someone who found her in an ally?’
‘Yes. Thank God she had identification on her, or else we’d have no idea who she was.’
‘So the bastard that did this is still out there?’
‘I’m afraid so, sir.’
…..
….
…
..
.

*beep**beep**beep*
As my eyes opened, I saw white. I saw white all around. I knew I was in a hospital, but I didn’t know why, or how I got here.

“Jesus Christ, Bea? Are you okay?” A deep voice said from my left. As my eyes focused, I saw his face; his slightly disheveled brown hair, his tired brown eyes looking at me with worry. He was sitting, but I could tell he was tall; a trait I don’t think I inherited. His face looked familiar, but I couldn’t place how I knew him. His head snapped to my right as the door opened and the doctor (I assumed) entered.

“Ah, Ms. Bortuzzo, how are you feeling?” He asked with a smile. I glanced to the man at my left, he, too, was waiting for my answer.

“My head really hurts, but everything else is just, sort of, numb.” The doctor gave me a sympathetic smile, as he looked down to his clipboard.

“Well, the good news is, your internal bleeding seems to have stopped. The bad news is, when you hit your head, your skull cracked, causing massive bleeding. Your body went into a short coma to heal. You were only out for two days, so the damage may be worse than we initially thought.” As he looked up, I could tell he could see my eyes bulging out of my head. His expression changed, and he took quick strides to my bedside. “Ms. Bortuzzo, Can you tell me what the current month is?” I shook my head. “Can you tell me the year?” Again, I shook my head. His voice got quieter. “Can you tell me your first name?” I looked to the man at my left.

“You said it was Bea?” He nodded, but something was off.

“Ms. Bortuzzo, do you know who that man is?” I heard the doctor ask. Studying this mystery man’s face, I seemed familiar, like someone from a dream I once had, I only remembered a haze.

“No.” ’Shit,’ I thought, as his face fell. ‘Please don’t let us me married or something.’

“Beatrice, that’s your brother. His name is Robert. Do you remember him?” I tried, but I really couldn’t remember much. I can tell how much he means to me, because as his eyes filled with tears, I swear I could feel my heart ripping out of my chest, as my own tears fell.

~~~

Knock. Knock.

“Hey, Bea.” Robert said as he walked in. I smiled at him. I didn’t remember anything about him, but my ‘brother’ had become quite the staple in my life for he past couple days. “I bought you some clothes. I think they’re your size, but I don’t know. The hospital gave me your I.D. and I went to check out your place but it looked like someone left in a hurry.” His voice got quiet as he mentioned my apartment. “Bea? There was. . . uh . . . a lot of blood on the floor.” He sat on the edge of his chair. “Look, I know you don’t remember anything, but do you remember Chris?”

“Should I?” I asked him, the name not ringing a bell.

“Beatrice, Chris is your boyfriend.” My heart stopped. ‘Boyfriend? If I had a boyfriend where was he??’ “Bea, look, I had a hunch for a long time, but I didn’t think he was guilty. I mean, I never saw anything on you, and then I saw you less and less.” He hung is head, I feared he was talking about the bruises and cuts all over my body.
He whimpered, and my eyes immediately snapped to him. I could see his tears fall on the cold tile floor. “I was supposed to protect you. I promised myself, from the minute you were born, that I’d always look out for you. I just wanted you to be safe.” He looked up at me, his eyes red and swollen. “I’m so sorry, it’s my fault you’re here. You tried, I think. Looking back I see how many times you tried to tell me. But I was too stupid to see it and it got you here, laying in a hospital bed; barely remembering who you are.” He put his head in his hands, his sobs shaking his whole body.

“Oh, Robbie-bear, shhh, nothing about this is your fault.” I reached for him, but his head already snapped up at me, hope in his eyes.

“What did you just call me?” I spoke slowly.

“Robbie-bear?” A slight smile crossed his face. “Is that something I call you? I don’t know, it just seemed natural.”

“Yes! You always called me that, I hated it so much growing up because I was supposed to be your tough older brother.”

A slight memory crossed my mind.

~~~

“Robbie! Give it back!”

“Haha, never! Come and get it!” A little boy said, running away.

“Give it back or else! I’ll tell mom!”

“You baby! It’s just a bear!” He said tossing it in the lake.

“Robbie!!” I screamed. I could feel the tears turn cold on my cheek in the cold Canadian air.

“Bea? C’mon,” He said nudging me. “It’s just a teddy bear, you’re getting too old, anyway.”

“No I’m not! He was my favorite!”

“I thought I was your favorite?” He said with a smirk. I lifted my head a little.

“You’re right. I guess you’re my teddy bear now!” I turned and chased him, trying to hug him.

“No I’m not! I’m older than you!”

“Come here, Robbie-bear!”

~~~

I looked at the man whom I’d just seen running around the backyard as a child. He looked almost the same, all the basic features were there.
“Robbie-bear, my big cuddly brother.” I pulled him toward me in a hug, as we both cried of happiness.

~~~

5 Days Later

“What the hell do you do that you stay with me every day?” I asked as we drove through downtown Pittsburgh, which I was seeing for the first time.

He chuckled. “I play hockey.”

“Oh.” I said, looking out the window. “You any good?” He laughed harder at that.

“I like to think so. This’ll be my first full season playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins though.”

“Pittsburgh Penguins? Aren’t they a team in the National Hockey League?” He nodded, fighting back a grin. “Robbie! Oh my God! That’s great! So I take it it’s offseason right now then?”

“Correct there, sis. Lucky for you, I’ve decided to stay in Pitt. A friend of mine decided to move in.”
As we approached his door, he stopped and turned to me. “I’ve told him you’re off limits, and that goes for you too, okay? Unfortunately, you’ll be spending as much time with him as you will me.” I nodded, looking directly into his eyes, showing I understood. He turned to open the door with the new set of keys he had made for me. He opened the door and I stepped in, marveling at the space. I didn’t notice for a while that he closed the door, and footsteps were approaching us.
“Hey, Sunshine!”