Dreams Come Alive In Coral Valley

Judy entered the office thinking about what she’d witnessed the previous evening at the hospital. Truth be told she hadn’t been able to think about anything else but what she’d witnessed. There was just something about Brooke and Hunt that had piqued her curiosity in ways that she couldn’t even begin to explain. Okay, so maybe it was brought on by kissing Rick like that. Maybe she was reaching or hoping that there was something there that would pave the way to her and Rick finally being free to be together, but maybe just maybe there was something more happening. Maybe Brooke was digging herself so very deep in a hole that this time she couldn’t get herself out of it. If that was the case, then Judy vowed to find a way to remedy that situation.

So absorbed in her own thoughts as she made her way to her desk, Judy almost didn’t notice the small light that came from Ken’s office. Almost that was. However, before she finally set her purse down, she’d seen a faint flicker from the corner of her eye. Frowning slightly, she wondered if the janitor had left the light on as no one had been here since she’d left the other night. She knew that Hart would be at the hospital with Jenna as he’d made a phone call to tell her so and she wasn’t expecting to see Ken either. No one was supposed to be here, but her as she was going to try to keep up with some paperwork that she’d let go in the past. Of course now it seemed that she had something else to focus on.

Tentatively, she set her purse down before reaching for the letter opener on her desk just in case. Slowly she inched in towards Ken’s office, pushing the cracked door open even further only to discover Ken seated at his desk much to her surprise.

“Ken,” she spoke his name dropping the letter opener as she greeted him, “What are you doing here?”

“I had to get some work done,” he replied in a business as usual voice, “There were some things that simply couldn’t wait. I have been really putting my responsibilities behind me and…”

“And I didn’t think you would be here today,” Judy replied, her voice full of worry and concern, “I thought that you would take time off and try to…”

“To what,” Ken replied, lifting his head to reveal the dark, miserable eyes before her, “to sit around and think about what things I can’t change? Judy, that’s not who I am. Sure, I could stay at home and think about things, but right now I have other situations that demand my attention.”

“Ken, I’m just not so sure that,” Judy started noticing that his desk had a great many files piled up on them. It was as if he’d come in much earlier and had driven himself completely into the work he’d had over the last year or so.

“There’s a lot riding on my being there for my clients,” Ken explained in his best air of professionalism, “I have motion after motion to file on this one and on that one, well I haven’t given it the time or energy that has been required and…”

“And maybe you should rest. You can pick these up later Ken. Right now I don’t think that you should be here. You should be,” she began again in an attempt to appeal to his sense of reasoning.

“At home thinking about the woman that I loved dying,” he questioned knowing full well where she was headed with her words, “No Judy, I can’t do that. I can’t sit back idly wishing that I could change things. Caitlin is gone. My life with her is over, but my work is still very much with me.”

“Ken,” Judy tried to appeal to him once again sensing a distance behind his tone. This was completely uncharacteristic of him and yet while he’d seemed like he was in control, she knew better.

“Who is the boss here,” he threw back at her pointedly, “I have a whole lot of things to go through on the Henderson case since that’s one that I’m going to be focusing on again. It’s something that I can’t let slide because they are counting on me Judy. I promised Jay and Kelly that I would be there to see justice for Randy and that’s what I’m going to do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some things I really need to focus on.”

“Alright,” Judy finally replied her worries still lingering over her, “but if you need anything--anything at all…”

“I’ll know where to find you,” he waved his hand dismissively watching her leave the room. “Oh and could you please close the door behind you?”

“Of course,” she nodded in response leaving him to his work again.

Once he was certain she left, he sank back into his chair, opening the top desk drawer once again. Truth be told he hadn’t come here to work at all. He had other plans--plans that would take him to Caitlin again. Plans that would bring them together--together for an eternity, he thought to himself feeling the cool, metal in the top desk drawer. How he ached to be with her--to be near her and now as he sat in his office like a coward delaying the obvious solution to his problems, he found himself overcome with emotion. The grief was too much to bear--his heart breaking was just too much to control--too much to live with. Still, he wasn’t ready to make his final plans just yet. Closing the top desk drawer, he reached for the photograph on his desk of Caitlin--from their trip to the island when they’d had a few moments of peace before all hell broke loose.

“Why did you have to leave me,” Ken spoke in a solemn, miserable tone thinking about the love that he’d had in his life--about the promises that they’d made to one another and about how in a horrible, twist of fate it had all been ripped away from him with no warning.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Guy sat at his desk in Brooke’s Coral Valley office wondering how in the world he could be at work when his mind and his heart was back at the hospital with Gabe. He hadn’t wanted to leave last night, but with his mother’s arrival it had left him with no choice. He’d hoped that she would give him time to himself, but she’d been insistent upon needing him--on having to have him at her side to keep things in perspective. After they’d left Gabe’s room, they’d tried to pay Avery a visit, but she’d gone to sleep Brooke had informed him and the two had gone back to the Ashford mansion to call it a night.

“Oh what a day,” Brooke’s voice beamed through his thoughts causing him to look up from the marketing reports he’d paid no attention to all morning long. “Isn’t it a beautiful day?”

“It’s alright,” Guy shrugged his shoulders looking out the window as he contemplated how he would be able to cut out of work early and go spend some time with Gabe.

“Alright,” Brooke repeated his word as if it was the most offensive thing she’d ever heard, “Guy, it’s a spectacular morning full of promise. You’ve seen the marketing reports. Things are on track and I get the distinct feeling that things are only going to get better from here on out.”

“I suppose,” Guy shrugged his shoulders, “and while I’m happy that Beholder is doing well right about now, I can’t help but think about Avery. What she must be going through…”

“Your sister is resilient much like me,” Brooke boasted, “and she will pull through this. With Brant helping her, I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll come back stronger than ever and better than before.”

“You make it sound like she’s lost a marathon instead of her husband,” Guy frowned back at her, wondering where his mother’s sudden cheerfulness was coming from.

“Oh darling, while I’m upset that your sister had to lose so very much, I think that fate has other plans for her,” Brooke continued practically dancing around the offices, “I mean it’s not secret to the world that Russell wasn’t really up to her speed to begin with and…”

“And nothing,” Guy cut her off suddenly very disappointed with where his mother was headed in his conversation, “Avery loves him Mum. He’s her world and the father of her child…”

“I realize that, but with your sister, she should’ve learned the first time,” Brooke offered up from her own warped position, “When their first wedding didn’t go off smoothly and she lost her child, that should’ve clued her in that their marriage wasn’t in the cards. I tried to talk her out of doing all of this, but she was so stubborn. She kept pushing and pushing and now, well now fate had proven the error of her ways all over again.”

“So you’re saying that Russ is dead because Avery made a mistake,” Guy blinked back at her, “Because you didn’t approve of the union, so that’s what they get?”

“Guy, that’s not what I’m saying at all, but…” she began sensing his heavy disapproval of her words, “It’s just that your sister was taking a risk in leaping into such an unconventional marriage and…”

“And if she would’ve married Brant you’d be over the moon with joy, right?” Guy frowned, his scowl growing with the moment, “In fact right now that’s what you’re really excited about. You’ve always felt Russell was wrong for her so now that he’s gone, you’re hoping she’ll go back to Brant.”

“You act as if it would be the end of the world,” she frowned back at him, “Brant is a good man. You know how he stepped in and saved my life.”

“I’m well aware of Brant’s attributes, but I’m also well aware of my sister’s breaking heart,” Guy rose up from the desk he’d been seated at. Reaching for his jacket, he snatched it up from the chair behind him, “Come to think of it, I’m going to go over and be there for her. She needs someone who understands what’s she’s going through.”

“Guy I understand, but I can’t keep believing that everything is for the worst. If we kept looking at life that way, then we’d all be dreadfully miserable,” she waved her hand at him dismissively unable to believe he was getting worked up about something so foolish.

“Yeah well if we keep ignoring life around us and how it really is, then we miss out on a lot of things,” Guy made his way towards the door, “Avery needs someone to talk to right now and obviously your being there isn’t going to help with that attitude.”

“Guy, I’m not trying to be callous. I’m just trying to put a positive spin on the situation,” she defended with a huff, “Don’t you see where I’m coming from here?”

“Yeah, unfortunately I do and I’m just hoping that Avery doesn’t,” he shook his head at her wondering where his mother was coming from these days. Giving her one last look he motioned to the paperwork he’d not bothered with most of the morning, “I’ll get to that later, but right now I’m going to go see Avery. It sounds like she could use me right about now.”

“Guy…” Brooke began watching her son’s retreat. Okay, so maybe she should’ve muted her feelings just a bit, she realized taking a seat on the edge of his desk, but really…what would that have accomplished? She couldn’t pretend that she would miss Russell and now that he was dead she didn’t have to. It was only a matter of time before things fell into place and when they did both Guy and Avery would understand and they’d be thanking her for it. That much she was sure of.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cameron marched into Susan’s office, his mind ablaze after the way he’d been pushed out of Heather’s hospital room. It was well within his rights to be with his wife and her son especially now that he’d caught wind of his premature birth. If Douglas Mahoney had his hands on such information, then it would surely put the wheels in motion much faster than Cameron had been hoping for. This had to be perfectly planned, but alas Heather had gone and spoiled it by getting her stupid self caught up in that fire. That baby wasn’t supposed to be here yet--he was supposed to still have time--to be able to plan this much better, but no…once again Heather had to do it her way.

“Whoa, where’s the fire,” Susan questioned noticing the steam practically roaring from Cameron’s ears.

“You’d better be proving to me that you’re well worth the ridiculous salary that I’m paying you this morning,” Cameron warned her first hand, “because right now I expect you to do your job to the best of your ability and beyond. There aren’t any room for errors.”

“Okay, so tell me, what’s going on,” Susan pushed the paperwork she’d been sifting through aside to give him her complete attention.

“Heather had her baby,” Cameron blurted out with a low roar.

“Then I take it congratulations are in order,” Susan smiled at him catching note of the grumble he made under his breath, “or not.”

“The problem is that she’s a mess. She looks like death warmed over and she’s been out of it,” Cameron continued on a tirade, “I can’t get near her and if she doesn’t make it…”

“Whoa, back up. Are you saying that the misses might not be seeing the light of day again,” Susan couldn’t help but smirk at the thought, “Isn’t that what you were hoping for down the road anyways?”

“It was part of the grand plan, but her having family wasn’t,” Cameron seethed with obvious animosity, “I didn’t plan on that part of the deal. With Douglas trying to get this child, well I was ready for a fight because I knew full well that no jury in their right mind would offer up a child to a monster like him. I had him by the balls if Heather could’ve just held out for a few more weeks, but no she had to go about breaking all the rules.”

“Okay, I get that you’re upset about her having her son early, but let’s get back to that family situation,” Susan tried to keep him in check as he paced around her office space, “What are we talking about here? Was she married before and we didn’t pick up on it?”

“Worse,” Cameron wrinkled his nose with obvious disgust, “She has a sister.”

“A sister,” Susan repeated with wide eyes, “My that is a bit of a quandary that puts us into.”

“Well it gets worse,” Cameron sneered back at her, “as it appears that her long last sister has formed an alliance with Diego Hernandez.”

“My isn’t that convenient,” Susan shook her head in response, “You know Cameron I still don’t understand why he’s around. Thea and I both warned you to cut your losses a long time ago and he was one of the biggest ones that…”

“I realize that now,” Cameron brought his fingers up through his hair, “but at the time, I didn’t think about it. I didn’t plan on him being something of a problem. He seemed like a useless nobody that it wasn’t even worth wasting my time on. Now he’s this irritation that simply won’t go away…”

“We could work on making him go away,” Susan suggested with a wicked smirk.

“We could, but at this time it might raise suspicions. Besides right now my concerns are about this sister of Heather’s. She’s popped up out of the blue and if Heather should pass on, well I get the strongest feeling that the sister will challenge my rights to the child…” Cameron continued on a tirade, “Doug will push the pity poor he’s the grandfather and this bitch will throw in a complication because you know that Diego isn’t going to be satisfied any other way.”

“Diego is trivial in the grand scheme of things, but Heather, well what are her chances?” Susan questioned further thinking about the plans for the future.

“I really don’t know an I honestly never thought I’d say this, but I sure as hell hope she beats the odds. I don’t need her dying before I can get what I need out of this arrangement,” Cameron huffed his mind in a whirlwind after he’d been attacked by Kyle, “Though I have to tell you the sister might be a problem, but I’m more so concerned about the muscle that she keeps at her side.”

“Muscle,” Susan repeated with obvious interest, “What kind of muscle?”

“The kind that would fit right in with Angel’s late husband,” Cameron frowned deeply thinking about the man who had once been a thorn in his side.

“Are you saying that you think that this guy Heather’s sister is with would fit right in with Good Old Boomer down at the bottom of the ocean,” Susan licked her lips at the prospect of making something of the sort happen.

“I’m saying that if this guy gives me one more moment of grief, then I want him buried--vanished--gone forever,” Cameron’s voice rose with emotion, “No one screws with me and lives to tell the tale…not even muscle bound meatheads.”

“So what’s his story? Does he have a name?” Susan questioned with growing interest.

“As a matter of fact he does,” Cameron nodded in response, “The name is Houston. Kyle Houston.”

“As in the same Kyle Houston that’s been around the Denton home,” Susan replied thinking about what little they knew about the man who’d been working alongside of Russell Denton.

“The one and only, but this time, well this time I want more than a name. I want everything you can get from his first fight on the playground to this moment in time. I want to know what he eats, what he thinks, what he dreams about and most of all I want to know his weaknesses,” Cameron insisted pounding his hand down on the top of Susan’s desk, “I won’t lose everything I’ve worked so very hard to achieve just because some long lost sister comes riding into the rescue. That boy is mine. I own him as I own Heather.”

“Then we’ll make sure that she isn’t a problem. I’ll get some of our guys on Houston and see what they can dig up. As for the rest, well I’ll look into filing a motion to get the sister away from Heather. We’ll work on taking her and Diego out of the equation and then after that, well it’s back to the plan again,” Susan offered up supportively.

“It damn well better be because I don’t want anything screwing up what I have in store for this pathetic little town,” Cameron replied a darkness in his voice as he thought of the revenge he’d been waiting to unleash on Coral Valley. Douglas Mahoney was just the beginning, but soon, very soon everyone would feel the wrath of Cameron Stone and nothing could ever save them from that. Not now, not ever.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyle stared blankly at the wall as his tired eyes didn’t want to close. The thoughts of Russell haunted him in a way that he couldn’t stand. He couldn’t believe that his best friend had left him, the way that Avery must feel. He felt horrible and she had to feel even worse. He looked down at Sarah who had fell asleep on his chest while they sat in the room with Heather. Even with her everything seemed to be going wrong. He wished that this was just a dream he was having. Soon or a later he would wake up and Russell would be there and everyone would be alright, but he knew that wouldn’t happen. He looked down at Sarah as she stirred while she slept. He slowly unwrapped his arm around her and her eyes slowly opened.

"You okay?" she wondered as he nodded.

"Yeah, I just have to go check on someone real quick alright?" he held onto her hand for a moment.

"Did you ever get to sleep?" she asked as a yawn escaped her tired mouth.

"No, but I’m fine," he assured her standing up and walking towards the door.

"Come back later and check on us," her tired voice asked him as he nodded opening the door.

"I promise sweetheart," he assured her as he walked out the door shutting it lightly.

Somehow he knew that Avery might not want him there, but he had to go to her. He needed to see her, talk to her. He had to make sure she was okay, even though he knew she really wasn’t. How could she be? She had just lost the love of her life. She couldn’t feel good knowing that she would wake up and never see him again. Knowing that their baby would never live to grow up and see her father again. Not knowing her father, not having a father figure to look up too. It killed Kyle on the inside. He should have never let Russell go, he needed to see Avery and make sure she was okay.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thea knocked on the door to Douglas’s hotel room knowing full well that she would find him inside. When he opened the door, she stood before him, a smile painted on her face as she held up the bottle of champagne she’d brought with her.

“I thought you could use some company,” she explained breezing past him clad in the dark trench coat she’d pulled from her closet earlier in the morning.

“Thea, I wasn’t expecting you,” Douglas replied thinking about their last less than savory encounter with one another.

“Well, let’s just say I’m willing to put the past behind us given that we have so many reasons to celebrate,” she explained spinning around to open up her jacket, revealing the sexy, black lingerie that she wore beneath the jacket. Plopping the champagne down on the bed, she eased the coat off of her shoulders before her eyes penetrated his once again, “So what do you say? In the mood to party?”

“Unfortunately no,” Douglas frowned unable to break free of the weight that had hung over him all night at the thought of what his daughter must’ve been going through, “This time isn’t really one of celebration for me.”

“Perhaps we can work on changing that,” she suggested with a sultry grin, “as I have some news that might perk you up.”

“Thea, my daughter is in the hospital fighting for her life. She was involved in that horrible explosion at the airport and right about now the only thing that would cheer me up would be to know that she’s alright,” he blurted out with a frown thinking about how much opposition Dottie was giving him about being around Jenna.

“Well then perhaps I can make a few phone calls and help you out with that one,” Thea suggested taking a step towards him, “Perhaps I can phone in a few favors and make sure that Jenna is doing better. I mean she was after all saved by Cameron you know…”

“Come again,” he blinked back at her, “What did you say?”

“Cameron pulled her out of the wreckage,” she shrugged her shoulders simply, “I’m not really sure why he did it, but he did and he’s adamant about her getting better. He doesn’t want to see her die either.”

“Really,” Douglas found himself overcome with a whole new set of concerns, “what is he planning now?”

“I don’t know,” she stepped in towards him easing her palms up over his shoulders before sliding them down his arms, “Perhaps a family reunion? Who the hell knows or cares what he does anymore?”

He reached out to clench her shoulders in his palms, his dark eyes meeting hers, “We both know that we care about what he does. I especially do when my family is concerned…”

“Jenna’s a big girl. She can take care of herself,” Thea stepped in towards him, rubbing her body up against his, “Besides you can be my big daddy today if you’d like. I’ll even let you spank me.”

“Thea that’s enough,” he shoved her away from him, “I’m not in the mood.”

“And just why the hell not,” she huffed impatiently, “You would think that you’d be happy to know that I’m giving you a second chance here.”

“Thea, my life is falling apart. I have one son that has dropped off the planet, a daughter in the hospital and J.T., well I won’t even get into that,” he shook his head in frustration while making his way over to the mini bar, “I really don’t think I’m in the mood for much of anything these days.”

“Hence parenthood is sucking the life out of you,” she made a tsking sound while approaching him, “Doug, you’re much too young to have these many worries.”

“Given how horribly wrong things have been lately, I don’t think that I’ve worried enough,” he sighed heavily watching her drop to her knees before him.

“Perhaps together we can work on changing that,” she suggested reaching out to unbuckle his belt. Flashing him a devious grin, she started to work away at his pants.

“Thea, I said not now,” he tried to brush her off hoping that she would get a hint as his sour disposition left him anything but interested in what she had in mind.

“Maybe I can change things for you,” she urged him on further crawling up into his lap. With a firm shove, she sent him laying backward on the bed, “I have some good news for you.”

“Somehow I seriously doubt that,” he remained skeptic.

“Oh but I do,” she leaned forward nibbling on his lip wickedly. She swatted at his chest playfully before ripping his shirt open, “You just have to have faith in me Doug.”

“Give me a good reason to start,” he replied involuntarily wrapping his arms around her hips, hugging her body over his despite his protests.

“I’ll give you a very good one,” she leaned down licking a hot, wet line over his collar bone before moving up to bite down on his ear, “It’s a very good one indeed.”

“Well what are you waiting for,” he questioned teasing his fingers up and down over her spine.

“The right moment to watch you burst with enthusiasm,” she confessed claiming his mouth once again with a heated frenzy before breaking back. She could see the desire she’d awakened in his eyes and in finding herself pleased with her ability to tempt him towards seduction, she spoke up once again, “Heather just gave birth to Kipp’s son.”

“What,” he blinked back putting the brakes on the seduction she’d had planned for them.

“That’s right,” she nodded, “It seems Heather was involved in the accident and might not pull through. They performed an emergency C-section and as it stands Cameron hasn’t been able to get in and see her.”

“You mean…” his eyes sparkled with sheer delight.

“That the door is wide open for you to step in and take claim of your grandson,” Thea replied kissing him in a heated frenzy feeling his passionate response to her while knowing that she’d made his day. His week even and she was certain that from here on out Doug was going to give Cameron a run for his money and she couldn’t wait.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brant awakened feeling Avery still wrapped up in his arms. She’d stayed cuddled into him since that fateful moment when she’d fallen asleep with him. Even now he could see that the exhaustion was weighing down upon her--that she was clearly overcome with so many horrifying emotions that things weren’t easy for her. How he wished that he could erase the tragedy that had fallen upon her--that he could somehow take away all the thing that had caused such a shakeup in her world. Gently he touched her cheek, brushing a loose strand of dark hair from her face. He couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she was despite the pain. She was so perfect and wonderful and as she snuggled into him, he realized he never wanted this to end.

“Oh Avery,” he sighed her name thinking about all the many things that he’d hoped for with them. This wasn’t what he’d thought about when he’d first dreamt about a future with her, but now, well maybe this would mark the beginning of a turning point for them. This morning was a new start--a beginning and a time for them to begin again. However, before Brant could really think about what it was he would say to her when she awakened, he felt a faint buzzing at his side.

Reaching down, he withdrew his pesky pager from his belt. Looking at it, he had half a mind to shut it off, but then he noted the number. It was work. More specifically it was Michael and he’d left a number with 911 after it meaning that it was important. Looking to Avery again, Brant weighed out his options. He didn’t want to leave her--didn’t want to walk away, but given the verge of a breath thru that he and Michael were on, it felt as if he had no choice.

“Avery,” he spoke her name gently feeling her rustle against him before finally turning away, almost completely out of his arms. How he hated to walk away--hated to break the contact between them, but if Michael had come up with something--anything, then it would mean a whole new beginning to life as he knew it. This drug was the key to so many things. Reaching out to untangle his arm from her grasp upon him, he leaned forward to kiss her head gently.

“I’ll be back. I promise,” Brant whispered reluctantly tearing himself out of her bed before heading downstairs to the payphones. Once he’d stepped out of the elevators he spotted the phone over by the small magazine stand that the hospital had lined up with the latest headlines. He shook his head as images of the tragedy were splashed out before him reminding him all over again of how the world could change in a blink of an eye if you weren’t watching.

Reaching for the phone, Brant dialed the office getting Michael’s line directly. After two rings Michael picked up with a frantic tone.

“Brant, thank God I found you. Have you seen the papers,” Michael questioned in a panic.

“You mean about the bombing,” Brant let out an ironic laugh, “Michael my man, I was in the thick of it.”

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that,” Michael’s tone shifted, “I had no idea. If I had…” he paused, “were you hurt?”

“No, not at all. Just shaken,” Brant confessed wishing that he could say the same for the others he cared about.

“Well, I hate to do this to you then, but this really can’t wait,” Michael began hesitantly, “Do you have a paper by you?”

“I can work on getting one,” Brant looked to the magazine stand, “Give me a second.”

Setting the phone down, he rushed over to the magazine stand, buying the leading newspaper in Coral Valley. He quickly withdrew a bill from his pocket paying far more than it was worth to the man behind the counter before he returned to the phone he’d left dangling. Picking it up, he raised it to his ear.

“Okay, I have it. What do you want me to see?” Brant questioned curiously.

“Go to page two and check out the headline,” Michael informed him sourly. Following his researcher’s request, Brant opened the large, folded paper to page two only to discover a horrifying headline.

“Do you see it,” Michael asked after Brant’s long silence followed his instructions.

“Son of a bitch,” Brant cursed aloud unable to believe what he saw before him. There in big bold letters was the words he’d dreaded to read. The story went on to explain how Stone Corp’s new miracle drug would be the wave of the future--the key to curing so many things that modern medicine had only dreamt of until now. Cameron was even quoted in saying that his medical research team was ’ready to get it out on the market’ over the next month or so pending and FDA review. Cameron had done it again and this newspaper marked the beginning of that for him, “Is this for real?”

“As real as it gets Brant,” Michael replied with a frustrated moan, “They aren’t holding back on getting it out to the public.”

“Well perhaps that’s their first mistake,” Brant hoped realizing that he’d been slacking when it came to discovering the truth behind what Stone Corp was capable of. He exchanged a few words with Michael, ready to do find a way to keep Cameron from beating him to the punch. Reaching for a few more coins in his pocket, Brant made another phone call ready to dig up all the dirt on Cameron Stone’s research team in the hopes of finding out just who was playing both sides as there was no way that Cameron would’ve been able to get that drug that far ahead without a little inside help.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Blake, I told you I’m going to be just fine,” Seth tried to assure his fiancée as she insisted upon helping him out of his hospital room, “The doctors said that I can go home and everything will be okay…”

“Yeah well I have little faith in doctors given that I’ve seen a great many patients be released before their time and wind up right back in the hospital before you know it,” she insisted curling her arms around his muscled torso, “besides anything to give me an excuse to hold you is good enough for me.”

“Aha, so we get to the real motivation behind your movement,” he couldn’t help but tease with a wink watching the way she seemed to light up in being close to him.

“You’ve caught me,” she teased back unable to refrain from smiling after she’d heard the good news that he was being released, “I just love finding an excuse to hold you especially now that I know that you’re mine.”

“I’ve always been yours Blake,” he replied stopping her from taking any forward movement as they stood together in the hospital hallway with one another. He turned her in his arms, urging her to face him as he reached out to touch her cheek gently, “My heart is yours forever and always.”

“There’s no way I’d rather have it than with you loving me,” she confessed feeling him lean down to brush his lips against hers in a barely there, loving kiss.

“It sounds like a dream come true,” he murmured against her mouth holding her close to him as their kisses grew in intensity.

“Oh it is, but first,” Blake tore her lips away from him, “we need to work on getting you back home. I’m thinking that the first order will be getting you to bed…”

“You want me to rest,” Seth arched a curious brow watching the look of mischief that spread over her features.

“Eventually, but first, well I was thinking that maybe we could find a way to make up for some lost time between us,” Blake winked at him, her flirty nature returning to her. While they’d been apart for some time, it seemed that things were easily falling back into place for them. He smiled at her insinuation and couldn’t help but draw her in closer to him.

“Ah, so I see how it is. You’re using me for my body now,” he teased lightly nudging his nose in against hers.

“I’m just giving you some very intense, personal therapy that involves the two of us naked, together and very, very involved,” she confessed tipping up on her toes to nibble on his lower lip. He curled his arm around her squeezing her to him as they shared a moment of passion between them.

“You have a very dirty little mind Blake Ashford,” he couldn’t help but tease her feeling as if time hadn’t passed between them now that they were together again.

“Just wait until I get you back to your place and I pull out my nurse’s uniform,” she teased with devilish intent watching the color rise over his handsome features when their moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

“Excuse me,” Zack cleared his throat as he watched the two of them wrapped up in one another, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I was hoping I could have a word with you.”

“Zack,” Blake gasped his name feeling embarrassment cloud over her at what he must’ve witnessed between them.

Seth grew rigid in the moment, his eyes immediately darting down to the man who had been the greatest opposition to his happiness with Blake. Yes, last night he and Blake had sworn to spend their lives together, but that was when Zack had been out of sight. Now he was there and in the flesh before them and it was in that instant Seth’s eyes drifted back to Blake. He was trying to read her response, trying to see if she’d changed her mind about them now that Zack had approached them, but she revealed nothing. Her eyes seemed neutral, perhaps filled with a sadness hat Seth couldn’t place as being that of the love she lost with Zack or for Caitlin’s death. Opting to be the better man Seth broke the long silence.

“I’m sorry to hear about your sister Zack,” Seth offered up in condolence, “She was a good woman.”

“One of the best,” Zack nodded in agreement before offering up a poignant smile. “In fact, she’s part of the reason why I’m here right now. I was hoping to catch the both of you before you left.”

“I don’t understand,” Blake replied giving him a strange look.

“Blake, Seth,” Zack began taking in a slow breath, “there are some things that I need to say to the both of you and it just can’t wait. I know that the time might not be right, but if I don’t say this now, then I’m afraid I may never get the chance.”

“Okay Zack, what’s on your mind,” Seth replied tentatively not sure how to respond to the emotion behind Zack’s eyes.

“Lots of things, but for starters I’d like to talk about you and Blake--about the two of you being together again,” Zack replied taking in a long breath before he prepared to say what had been on his mind since long before he’d come back to Coral Valley.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyle stood outside Avery’s hospital room wondering how in the hell he would be able to face her after the way things had played out. He’d known better than to let Russ go by himself on that mission, but he still had stood back and let it happen. Guilt ate away at him as he thought of his friend and how he’d lost so very much in his quest for the truth. How he wished he could take a journey back in time--how he would switch placed with Russell in an instant and make sure that Russ was there for his wife and their child, but unfortunately time didn’t return back to those places where you regretted the outcome the most. He could only push forward and pray that somehow he could make things better. They would never be right again, but somehow he had to try--he had to face the music. He had to face Avery and try to help her through this time…that was if she’d let him inside.

Sluggishly, Kyle entered her room, lowering his head with shame as he thought of how he’d promised her that he’d keep Russell safe. Time and time again he’d thought about the consequences--about what it would mean to face this kind of thing only he hadn’t thought it was possible. Russell wasn’t meant to be dead. He wasn’t meant to be standing here feeling guilty as hell that his best friend’s wife would have to be without the man who made her smile--the man who’d made her world complete. A horrible ache swept over him as he forced himself to look at her. Feeling his throat go dry, Kyle glanced over at Avery finding her laying in the hospital bed, her head turned away from him. He couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep, but it didn’t matter at a time like this. He had to be here. Had to do this because if he didn’t…

“Russ,” Avery spoke her husband’s name, tossing and turning in the dream that had overtaken her. When she shifted towards Kyle, he could see the tears burning down her cheeks and it tore his heart into pieces. How he hated to see her like this--to see that things had fallen so far from where they should’ve been. Avery twitched again before letting out an unsettling scream. She sat upright in sheer terror, perspiration beading over her forehead. “Russ no!”

“Avery,” Kyle rushed over to her side touching her shoulder gently in a pitiful attempt to calm her down. Her was breathing heavy, her eyes wide with fear and as her pulse raced out of control, he found himself wanting to will her pain away from her if that was at all possible. He tentatively touched her shoulder again, “Avery it’s okay.”

She said nothing, just turned to look at him, her horrified features a mask of despair and black misery now that she’d faced him. He’d never seen anything more poignant or miserable than that expression that he’d never forget. She’d clearly been miserable--been lost in the aftermath of losing the love of her life and nothing would be able to change that--especially not his feeble apology attempt.

“Avery, hey, can you hear me,” Kyle tried to appeal to her senses wondering if she could hear him or feel him beside her.

“Kyle,” she blinked back at him from behind hollow dark eyes.

“Avery, I’m so sorry…” Kyle began choked up on emotion as he felt her falling to pieces before him, “I just wish that somehow I could…”

“Kyle,” she spoke his name again, the emotion returning to her eyes as she seemed to see him for the first time since his arrival. Her dark brown eyes narrowed with anger as her trembling lips curled into a scowl, “what are you doing here?”

“Avery I came to see if you were okay. If there was anything that I could…” his words were lost when she started to shriek at him.

“How dare you come here,” her words assaulted him, “How dare you come to me now especially after this…”

“Avery, I had to see if you were alright. If…” he reached out to touch her again watching her retract from his touch as if she’d been burned.

“Don’t you touch me!” she shouted at him, hopping out of the bed despite her aching body’s protest, “Don’t you dare touch me again!”

“Avery, I’m only here because…” Kyle began unable to mute the emotion in his voice.

“You’re here because you want me to forgive you,” she threw her words out at him with icy bitterness, each one full of a sting that Kyle would never forget, “You want me to forgive you for what you’ve done. But I won’t forgive you Kyle. My husband is dead and you helped take him away from me. I begged you not to let him get into this. I pleaded with you…”

“Avery I tried to stop him,” Kyle attempted to reach out to her.

“Not good enough. He never should’ve gone. He never should’ve met with that person. It was a trap from the start and anyone with eyes or good sense would’ve seen that. My husband shouldn’t have died. He should’ve been with me,” she screeched, her voice cracking as her anger surged over her, “You should’ve stopped him!”

“I tried to Avery, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Russ want to save you--to protect you from that madman who had been stalking the both of you,” Kyle attempted to explain.

“No,” she shook her head charging around the side of her bed towards him, “he needed you to stop him. He needed you to be the one who found out about Bruce. You promised me that you wouldn’t let him do anything stupid--that he wouldn’t get into trouble. I made him swear that you two would stop that you would…”

“I wish we had,” Kyle choked up on his words.

“But what the hell does wishing do Kyle? My husband is dead! My daughter will never know her father all because you two were such adrenaline junkies that you didn’t know when to quit,” she screamed, her words shaking the room with their pitch and vibration, “You knew what the risk was. You saw one man die, yet you continued to take my husband under. You didn’t stop him when you knew better.”

“I wish I had. Avery if I could take it back…” he began watching her lunge towards him, her arms flailing in the wind as her bitter rage consumed her.

“But you can’t take it back you son of a bitch!” she snapped in response throwing her fists into his muscular chest, “You can’t give me my husband. You can’t take this pain away from me and make him come back. You didn’t stop him from leaving me!”

“Avery,” he spoke her name ready to raise his hands to stop her from hitting him, her fists pounding away at his chest, but instead he left his arms at his side feeling her anger only a fraction of the pain he should have inflicted upon him for letting his friend go blindly into danger.

“You didn’t make him stop Kyle! You didn’t keep him from leaving me! He told me he’d never leave me and you didn’t help him stay true to his word! You let him leave…you…” she continued to strike away at him furiously until finally her tears consumed her. She hit him once, twice, three more times until finally she broke down into violent sobs, “Why Kyle? Why did he have to die? Why Russ?”

“I don’t know,” Kyle confessed finally bringing his arms up around her in an embrace as his own tears clouded his vision. There was so much he wanted to say--so many words that just couldn’t come out and as he held Russell’s wife feeling her fall to pieces, his own tears slipped down his face at the thought that he too was helpless in this situation. There would be no bringing Russell back and they’d both lost someone important in their lives. He wanted to say something--to do something, but instead he hugged her tighter, wrapping her up in the strength of his arms that had been useless in protecting Russell from harm’s way, “I’m so sorry Avery…”

“I just want him back,” she cried harder, her tears soaking through his black t-shirt, “Why can’t I just have him back?”

“I wish there was some way I could make that happen for you,” Kyle confessed feeling a lump in his throat as he realized that life would never be the same again. Now all he could do was hold on to Avery and pray that together they wouldn’t slip away into the nothingness that seemed to remain after Russ had been taken from this world. Somehow, someway he would find the person responsible for what had happened and he would kill them, Mercy wasn’t an option as he held Avery in his arms. Justice would be served when the person responsible was gone from this world--only then would the guilt he felt about letting Russ walk into danger ease up. Hearing Avery’s cries only reaffirmed his thoughts as he made a silent promise to uncover the truth about what really happened at that airport and when he did, nothing would keep him from taking matters into his own hands. Absolutely nothing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Grady felt a thick, tight feeling in his abdomen making him dread what was up ahead for him. While he had wanted to go speak with Avery first, Jade had convinced him it would be better to be back at the hospital when there were less police around. While he’d argued with her, he had to admit that she had a point. Now that they sat outside his parents house in her car, he found himself almost wishing that he’d braved the police because in speaking with his parents, he had a harder task at hand.

“Do you think they made their way over to them yet,” Jade questioned as if she was reading his mind.

“No, I doubt it,” Grady frowned thinking about the police and the job they had ahead of them in taking care of the bombing, “I’d guess that they haven’t told them about Russ yet…”

“Which is just so wrong,” Jade curled her lip in a pout thinking about how hard this situation was, “Are you ready for this?”

“When can a man ever be ready for something like this,” he turned to face the doorway of the home where he and his brother had grown up. There were so many memories there and yet it felt like he was a foreigner in the situation--as if he was living another life in being here to tell his parents the horrible news.

“Come on, I’ll be with you,” Jade promised squeezing his hand gently, “I swear you won’t have to go it alone.”

“That makes it easier,” Grady couldn’t help but admit while knowing that this still was going to be one of the hardest things he ever did in his life. Finally making his way out of Jade’s car, he took the long walk up to his parents place wondering how in the hell he would be able to pull this off. His hands were cold and clammy and his heart was breaking with each step he took. Finally he stood in front of the door, his mind reeling with all the things he’d wanted to say--with the things that he’d hoped to share with his parents, but as he knocked on the door, he discovered that he’d been too late. His father answered and it was obvious by the expression on his face that they already knew.

“Grady,” Elliot Denton spoke up behind tear-stained cheeks, “Son, what are you doing here?”

“I heard about what happened and I couldn’t stay away. I had to be here,” Grady replied seeing his mother seated on the sofa just beyond the door, sobbing uncontrollably. Her heart was clearly breaking and after that Grady found that he couldn’t remember much more about what happened next as the only thing he remembered was holding onto his father, hugging him as if he’d never let go while the tears of loss consumed him over the horrible fate that had fallen upon Russell. The Denton family would never be the same every again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Life was good, Thea Valentine thought to herself while driving along the quiet, suburban roads of Coral Valley. So far she’d started a fire that was going to burn out of control for Cameron. By the time she’d left the hotel room, Doug was already on the phone with his lawyers plotting out her next course of action, but alas it was what Cameron got. To think that he could treat her so poorly with that witch of his wife around when Heather had been anything but gracious. It just wasn’t fair, she thought to herself shaking her head dismissively.

Driving down the road, she realized that while it was dangerous to play both sides, ultimately she would have Cameron right where she wanted him. In time he would come to his good senses and when he did, she would be there to pick up the pace. He would have learned he err of his ways and it was only a matter of time before that day would come. Laughing lightly Thea continued down the road humming a tune to herself when suddenly something out of the corner of her eye sparked her attention.

“No,” she gasped in surprise watching as she slowed her car down. It couldn’t be, she thought to herself inching in for a closer look. Fortunately her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her as she spotted what was taking place at the Denton home. There on the front doorstep was Grady Denton.

“So you thought you’d pulled a fast one,” Thea sneered thinking about the trouble that Grady had been putting them all through. He’d been a sharp one at that and she’d give him that, but right now he was beyond sloppy, which meant that she had yet another exciting discovery. Reaching for her cell phone, she licked her lips ready to add fuel to the fire where Cameron was concerned. Hearing his voice on the other end of the line, her grin widened.

“Today is your lucky day Cameron because after you here what I have to tell you, you’re going to owe me huge,” Thea promised filling Cameron in on all the details of what she witnessed taking place before it. It seemed that things were getting right back on track again indeed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*