Water Ch. 75 - Not Fade Away

 

He doesn't know what to say, but with her, he's always known what to do.  And he does what comes naturally.  He holds her and lets her cry.  Her cry is not one of heartbreak or sadness, it's one of finally.  She has met someone that doesn't turn her back on her when she needs them most.  It's not someone that neglects her and abuses her.  And it's not one that dies on her, leaving her alone to deal with the sadness. 

 met a man that loves her for her and puts her needs ahead of his own. They lay there long enough that Beth's pain medication kicked in and she was able to get some sleep. She falls asleep with her head on his chest and her hand up his shirt. Jon lays there for a few minutes and lets her get into a deep sleep before he pours himself off the bed. Turning back, he makes sure that she is covered and comfortable. He leans over and kisses her cheek, says in a whisper, "I love you babe."

He grabs his bag and leaves the room. He needs to let everyone know where he is and what has happened. He's been out of contact for too long. He makes his way down stairs and onto the sidewalk when he's spotted by paparazzi. He's ready. Even they can't make they day any more stressful than it had already been. No more bullshit - he's going to lay it all out, right now.

"Jon, Jon...."

"Hey, Bon Jovi, over here!"

"Jon, who is the girl posing as your wife?"

"What happened to the woman you have upstairs?"

He lights a cigarette and stops on the sidewalk, he's had enough speculation and enough lies in the press, he's going to tell the world who she is, what happened and whatever else they may ask. He looks at a reporter from CNN and nods his head, as if to say "Go ahead."

The reporter takes a deep breath and says, "Who is the lady posing as your wide? The lady in the pictures had blonde hair, and Dorothea is a brunette. What's your relationship?"

Jon, exhaling smoke from his lungs looks out into the crowd of reporters, avoiding eye contact with all, says, "Her name is Beth. She is not posing as my wife. Everyone assumed she was my wife. She couldn't have posed as my wife, she was unconscious until just a little while ago. ". He looks through the crowd.

"Jon, what's your relationship with her? Is it true you filed for divorce?" Blasts off one reporter from TMZ.

Here is one he hadn't anticipated. The divorce question. Buy his mind is made up, he's telling everything so there isn't any further bullshit affecting his life or his families lives. "Dorothea and I have filed for divorce. That's all I will say on that matter, except, it's amicable and moving forward as planned." He inhales deeply, thinking to himself, 'I better call Dorothea before this hits the air.'

"Mr. Bon Jovi, what happened to Beth? Some of us heard the call for the Coast Guard, did you do something to her?" questions one female reporter from a station he didn't recognize. That question pissed him off and he let them know.

"Beth sustained injuries from a zip line accident. Did I do this to her?" He's laughing now, "How could anyone think I did that to her?" He's now eyeballing the female reporter that asked that question.

The female reporter looks at her notepad and says, " The two of you we're at sea together and none of the staff will verify what happened. We heard she boarded the boat just fine."

Jon is upset by the question about Jim hurting her and he could get Ito a pissing match with all of them, but what he had to say wouldn't really matter. He was going to give the facts and then leave it at that. "Her name is Beth. She had an accident earlier this week that left her with a broken leg, bruised/cracked ribs, black eyes and an inter cranial bleed. Today, she had a blood clot lodge in her brain and she has since been treated. She is now resting peacefully and is expected to make a full recovery." Drops his cigarette on the sidewalk and stomps it out with his foot. Looking again at the bunch of reporters and camera people, he says, "One last question." And he waits. All reporters talk at once and Jon picks the one question he can hear clearly. And he responds to it, "I will not give you the details of who she is and where she's from. All you need is her name and you have that. Beth. Beth is blonde and she's not my wife. Yet."

The word 'yet' sends the reporters into a frenzy. They act as if they have seen the Holy Ghost as act as if they have the juiciest gossip. Jon laughs and turns around and heads into the safety of the hospital. He needs privacy to call home.

Walking back into the functioning part of the hospital, Jon sees a nurse and asks if there is somewhere quiet that he can use the telephone. The nurse helps him find a quiet place and leaves him to himself. She doesn't make a big deal about WHO he is, she knows why he's here and understands that he needs some time. She leaves Jon in a small office, that looked to Jon like it was part of their billing department. He goes in and sits down. Looks over the artwork and pictures hanging on the wall. He can smell a hint of Jasmine in the air. It's calming. He takes his cell phone out and dials Dorothea. Her phone rings four times before she answers it.

"Hello. Where are you?" She asks.

He takes a deep breathe and begins to tell her, "I'm in San Diego with Beth. She's been hospitalized."

"What do you mean San Diego? Last thing I knew is that you were in the Bahamas!" She barks at him, acting like she has a say.

Trying his hardest to remain calm, not falling into her game he calmly tells her, "I'm calling to let you know where I was and what I was doing so you could let the kids know. Can you please stop thinking of yourself for a minute, Dot?"

"Sorry. Is she okay? What happened? I heard a bit on the news this afternoon but was heading to brunch with my mom so I could really hear it all." Dot explains to him.

Jon knows he needs to walk a thin line here. He's certain Beth will get upset if anyone knows more than they need to know. She's private like that, and he knows it. But, no secrets and no more games. Jon can tell Dot the bare minimum. "We left the Bahama's yesterday on Michael's yacht. This afternoon we were getting lunch and I went to talk to the chef, when I came back, she was unconscious. We ended up being brought here by the Coast Guard. She had a blood clot break loose and lodge in her brain. She's awake now and should be just fine. It was pretty scary, Dot." He confesses to his soon to be wife that he is human, after all.

Dot can hear that her husband is scared and she can also hear the stress in his voice. "I'm so sorry to hear that Jonny. I'm glad she's going to be okay! How long is she in the hospital?"

"She sees the specialist tomorrow and should be discharged after that. They see no further complications at this point. I'm gonna get her home and settled before I come back. Can you let the kids know? I would have called sooner, but she woke up and needed me." He feels better having talked to someone, even of it was his soon to be ex wife.

"Yeah, yeah I'll tell the kids no problem. Can you keep me posted as to her progress? Don't forget Jon, you have the kick off this weekend for the Soul season."

Smacking his hand to his head, he says, "Damn it, that's what I forgot. I knew I had two events this week. Shit." He goes quiet, now he has his thinking cap on and needs to figure some things out. He needs his day planner and that's on the yacht. And he has no idea where the yacht is.

Dorothea says to him, "You know you don't have to be there Jon. Take some time with Beth."

Not believing what he's hearing, he asks her if she's alright. Not to be a smart ass, but the words she just said should never have come out of Dot's mouth.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" He asks, and then adds, "I was caught but paparazzi today and they asked about the divorce. Who did you tell about it?"

"I did an interview for Vogue yesterday, and they asked. I told them we filed and it was going ahead as planned. What did you say?" She replies, with a little bit of cockiness in her voice, feeling like she had one uped him.

"I told them the same thing. We filed, it's amicable and going as planned. That's it." He is a little pissed off that she's talked to the press already, even though out in the open is the best way. He lets the anxious and irritating feeling fade away. He can't control her forever, and he knows it.

Dorothea doesn't really want to talk to him. She's feeling heartbreak and abandonment along with loneliness and being overwhelmed. She feels being left to take care of four kids while their dad is off taking care of his new girlfriend is a little too much. No woman should have to go through that. She looks around the bedroom that she's in, in SoHo, and sees pictures of the two of them happy. She can't help but feel hurt and like she's a fool. Her heart gets the best of her when she asks Jon, "Is it really over,Jon?"

"Is what over Dorothea?"

He hears the sniffles as she's says, "Us, are we really over?"

"Why are you doing this now? We haven't been together in months, why do you think anything has changed?" puzzled, he asks her.

She still crying and now she's getting angry that he's hurt her again, "How can you say we're over? How can you walk away now?"

Jon knows what she's doing, she's done it before. When he caught her with her yoga instructor she used the same tactic and it worked. But he sees what she's doing. He's wise to her game and there is no way he's going down that road again. Him mother told him that he has to forgive her, but he doesn't have to forget what she's done.

"Dorothea, I don't have time for this right now, you know that. Why are you start .....forget it. Please hug and kiss the kids for me. I'll call you when I know more about what's going on and where I'll be." He hangs up the phone.

All alone in the office, Jon takes a minute before he calls Richie. He needed to regroup, otherwise Richie would know something was up and he'd worry about Jon. Jon didn't want anyone worrying about him, ever.

Jon looks over the artwork that looks to be done by a child. He smiles, thinking about the pictures that he has from Jake and Romeo in his day planner. Pictures they colored for their dad, telling a story of them playing football together. Jon misses his children, deeply. He knows he'll be home soon enough.

Jon needs to call Richie, to find out the schedule. Jon is having a hard time pulling it from his memory bank. He wonders if he may have a head injury. He never forgets anything. He chalks it up to stress and worry.

Dialing Richie, he gets up and heads back outside, remembering a place he had seen to go hide from reporters and smoke another cigarette. He manages to get out the door and to the hiding place before Richie answers.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Asks Jon's best friend of 100 years. Jon can hear the smile in Richie's voice. That made Jon smile.

"Hey. I'm in San Diego with Beth. She's fine, but she's in the hospital. What do we have scheduled this week? My planner isn't with me?" and he prepares himself for the round of questions from Richie.

Richie, the man with the heart of gold tells his best friend, "Yeah man I heard. Is she okay?"

"Yes, she'll be fine. She'll probably go home tomorrow. It was pretty fucking scary, man."

"I bet it was. How are you doing?" Asks his best friend, actually concerned for Jon.

Jon chuckles, "I know how to pick 'em, huh?" Meaning nothing by it and Richie knows it. "I'm as well as can be expected, I guess."

Richie wants nothing more than for Jon to be happy, nothing more. He tells Jon, "You found the one this time! Is there anything I can do for you, man?"

"She is the one. Richie, when I couldn't wake her up, I wanted to die. That's the scariest thing I have ever been through. Man, she was already black and blue and dealing with a broken leg, and then this.....?" Jon can feel himself feel and he needed to remind himself that he was in public, anyone could hear or see him, at any time. "What do we have scheduled, do you know? Or should I call Obie?"

"The only thing that I know of is a benefit show for cancer and the arena football kick off this weekend. Do we need to cancel?" Richie helps Jon with the scheduling and they decided to cancel the concert and Richie will be there for the Soul Football's kick off game. Having decided that, the two men got off the phone. But not before Richie told Jon, "You call me if you need anything. Anything Jon. I'm not kidding."

"I will. I promise. Can you let Obie and the boys know? I need to get back upstairs before she wakes up?" Jon is thankful for the friend that he has in Richie, Richie ranks higher than his own blood brothers.

"I'll take care of what needs to be done, Jon. You get her well and let me know what happens, okay?" reassuring his partner that he is to not worry about the small stuff.

"Alright. I'll call ya. Thanks." and they hang up.

Standing there, Jon can't help but feel like he's letting so many down. His family, his fans and his football team. And he can't help but wonder if maybe all of the ones he's feeling like he let down, are they the reason his marriage ended? Did they put so much pressure on me that I left MYSELF behind. He says out loud, to whoever was in earshot, "I deserve to be happy now." Closes is phone and heads back up stairs, where his best friend really is.