Dreams Come Alive In Coral Valley

Deidra sighed grabbing the remote changing the channels on the television. Today was her day off and there wasn’t anything on that was good, all of it was boring. Her doorbell rang as she stood up thanking god that something broke her away from the television as she turned it off and went to the door.

“Dean?” Deidra questioned seeing him smile with amusement.

“Not expecting me here were you?” he wondered watching her shake her head wondering what exactly he was here for.

“Not really, so what are you doing here?” she raised her eyebrow shutting the door as he walked into her apartment.

“Well, I figured since both me and you had a day off,” he started with a slight shrug, “We could go out.”

“And do what?” she was amused with the way he smiled as he grabbed her hands in his.

“Well that Deidra, it a secret,” he winked as a smile spread across her features.

“What are you up to now?” she wondered seeing a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“It’s a secret,” he nodded watching her frown wanting to know more as he shook his head. “If you get ready, we can go and you could see the surprise sooner.”

“I am ready,” she smiled grabbing her coat.

“Your just a little eager, aren’t you?” he smiled watching her slide her coat on.

“Of course I am, you are always someone to wonder about,” she confirmed watching him shake his head.

“I’m not that bad,” he protested with a small frown.

“Well, now you are just stalling,” she shrugged watching him nod with a small grin.

“Well, in that case I would say lets go then,” he replied holding his hand out for hers as they walked out of her apartment.

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

“Are you sure it’s okay that you aren’t working right now?” questioned Judy watching Richard nod his head and fold his arms out in front of him.

“I was supposed to do some business with Ken, but he never showed. I think it’s okay,” he guaranteed her with a slight smile seeing her sigh. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing really,” she stated with a slight shrug seeing him frown with disapproval.

“You know you can’t lie to me…what’s really wrong?” he wondered seeing her about to speak before his pager went off. “Hold that thought.”

She sighed as he dialed the number and began to speak, “Hello, you paged me? What? How? Never mind, I will be there as soon as possible.”

“What’s wrong?” Judy questioned seeing the worry in Rick’s face as he grabbed his coat quickly pulling it on.

“It’s Brooke,” he stated grabbing his keys as she sighed.

“What’s wrong now?” Judy rolled her eyes as he opened the door.

“She is hurt and in the hospital, I have to go to her,” he insisted as he ran out the door until she couldn’t see him anymore.

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

Dave entered the offices at BBK after having gotten a very brief rundown on what happened. Somehow this all seemed to be over the top for even the crazy year it had been in Coral Valley. Entering Avery Morrison-Denton’s office he took a long look around wondering what could’ve happened to have Avery and her mother being rushed over to the hospital. Still as Dave took a step towards the window, he looked down at the world below seeing the fall that Brooke had taken and he wondered how such an event could have come into play.

“It’s a real tragedy if you ask me,” Cathy’s voice rose above the sounds of the policemen in the office causing Dave to spin around and frown.

“You aren’t supposed to be in here,” Dave explained carefully sidestepping around some potential evidence that lay before him.

“I work her,” Cathy remarked pointedly, “I am well within my rights to be in here.”

“Not now you aren’t,” Dave shook his head at her before marching over to escort her out of the room.

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with,” Cathy glared up at him, “Do you know who my father is?”

“Unless he has something to do with my crime scene, I could care less,” Dave glared down at her.

“Fine, then have it your way, but if you’re going to be mean to me, then I won’t tell you about what I heard earlier before this all happened,” Cathy upturned her nose, before spinning on her heel to walk off.

“Wait a second,” Dave frowned reaching out to stop her from leaving, “What did you hear?”

“Forget about it,” she wrinkled her nose at him with obvious displeasure, “this is your crime scene, remember?”

“Even so if you have any evidence that you’re withholding, then I could take you in for obstructing justice,” Dave warned her sharply, “and I’m sure that your father, whomever he is, wouldn’t like that.”

“On the contrary,” she snubbed her nose at him, “he might enjoy suing you and the department if you tried to do something so stupid.”

“Well in that case, why don’t we avoid the trouble and you tell me what you know before things get ugly,” Dave remarked sarcastically.

“With that attitude, it’s not about to get you anywhere buddy,” she replied with a sneer folding her arms in front of her chest, “So how about we start this over again with a few manners tossed into the mix?”

Dave opened his mouth to speak before stopping himself. Inhaling slowly, he forced a pasty smile before addressing her again, “Now Cathy, while I realize you’re interested in what’s going on in there with the crime scene, if you have information, well it’s important that you and I discuss that out here. That way we don’t taint the crime scene by having unnecessary evidence that really doesn’t apply put into the mix.”

“See, now that was so much better than your manhandling me,” she added with a huff before tilting her head to the side to look up at him, “though we could still do with less sarcasm if you really want to get somewhere.”

“Right now I have to deal with two women in the hospital due to what’s happened here, so why don’t you spill it,” Dave questioned gruffly.

“Gee, and they say the police are supposed to be your friends,” she rolled her eyes before letting out a small chortle, “Yeah, in like what universe?”

“They can be if you don’t give them a headache while making them pull teeth to get answers from you,” Dave frowned heavily before looking for another officer on the scene, “On second thought, forget with being polite. Officer Helmsley can you take Ms. Ashley down to the station as she refuses to cooperate in this investigation and…”

“Alright I’ll talk,” Cathy curled her lip in a pout, “but I’m warning you when you hear it, you’ll never believe it. It’s that wild.”

“Wild or not, I’m looking for the truth and if you happen to know anything about what happened in that office behind me, then you’d better start talking,” he warned sharply, his eyes narrowing down at her, “because we’re finished playing games here.”

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she informed him point blank, “because while it started out with shouting, well, you won’t believe the turn of events that lead to Brooke Morrison being launched out the window.”

“Try me,” Dave folded his arms in front of his chest ready to hear the details of the tragedy that had taken place on this otherwise calm and quiet day in Coral Valley. Given the look on Cathy’s face as she began to rehash her take on the events of the day, Dave realized that he was going to be in for a long morning indeed.

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

Brant paced up and down the hallway waiting for word on Avery. This very action was becoming far too frequent for his liking as he thought about all the things that had been happening lately. Their frequent trips to the hospital and last night’s encounter at her house had her worried about what was going on inside her head.

“I saw Russ,” Avery had insisted as he’d helped her into bed, “He was out there. He was in the backyard watching us--seeing me betray him…”

“Avery, Russ is dead,” Brant had informed her hoping that she would calm down.

“No, he’s not. He’s still alive,” Avery continued, her voice high with emotion, “he’s still very much alive and he needs me. He’s waiting for me to find him and…”

“And you need to calm down,” Brant had explained bringing his fingers to her face gently, “Russ wouldn’t want you to be doing this…”

“Brant, I’m not making this up in my head. He was there. He was real and he was upset,” Avery had broken down into tears as the two of them sat in her bedroom.

Now reflecting on the moment Brant had reasoned that she’d only been feeling that way because she had held some guilt over what was happening between the both of them. They’d shared a moment of revelation and they’d started to cling to one another--to hold onto each other, but then her conscience had kicked in. She’d just lost her husband and to expect her to feel anything more than the grief that had overwhelmed her was beyond ridiculous. Brant realized that. He’d pushed her too far, too fast and way too hard. Still, when he thought to how she’d carried on and on trying to convince him she’d seen Russ out in the yard…

“Russ is dead,” Brant mouthed to himself feeling his hands go cold.

Rubbing his palms together, he pondered last night’s events leading up to this morning’s nightmare. Could it be possible that like last night Avery had found herself thinking something that simply wasn’t happening? Had Brooke tried to harm her, or was Avery’s mind still wrapped up in whatever emotion had caused her to see Russ the previous night? Of course, that was all irrelevant at the moment given that Brooke had been tossed out a window and Avery was in with one of the doctors. This situation was bad, but if this had spun from a delusion Avery was having, then he was sure it would get a hell of a lot worse.

“She’s not crazy,” Brant reasoned to himself thinking about how adamant Avery was about Brooke trying to hurt her, yet when he thought of how overwhelmed she’d been… There was no denying that Avery was in a fragile state, but to do something so bold and out of character. It was almost as if Avery had stepped out of her mind frame and what remained was…

“Not important,” Brant cut his thoughts off clenching his fists at his side. “Now isn’t about assigning motive or blame, it’s about helping Avery.”

And helping her was exactly what he would do, Brant realized. He’d made sure to get her to the hospital as soon as possible, but not before having security called in to help remedy this situation a bit. He’d brought in a trusted few who couldn’t be blackmailed, intimidated, bribed or bought to help fix the scene in the office while the ambulance was on the way to take care of Brooke. While he wasn’t sure what had come of Brooke after the fall, he was certain that those he’d paid well to work on fixing the mess would do their job above and beyond what he’d asked for. Sure it might be bending the rules, but if it meant saving Avery, then he’d do it ten times over.

“Brant,” he heard Ria call out to him as he spun around to face her.

“How is she,” he questioned in a panic fearing the worst after what he’d witnessed in Avery.

“She’s clearly shaken and you were right about the stitches,” Ria explained to him simple wrapping her stethoscope around her neck, “I had to have some glass removed from her neck, but overall she fared this one rather well considering what I’ve heard on the news about her mother…”

“Yes, well with a monster like that, Avery’s lucky to be alive,” Brant nodded in agreement, “Can I see her?”

Ria nodded, “She’s awake, but she’s still upset. I’m trying to get a hold of her doctor, but she’s apparently out of town for the day and…”

“And she’s seeing someone else as well,” Brant pulled Don’s card out of his pocket, “If you give him a call, then I’m sure he can come over here and make sure that everything is okay with Avery’s daughter. Not that I think you didn’t do your job properly, but it never hurts to have a second opinion especially given what she’s been through…”

“You won’t get an argument from me on that,” Ria added with a slight nod, “I just hope that they get the son of a bitch that did this to her before it’s too late.”

“So do I,” Brant nodded making quick conversation before making his way into the room that Avery was in. He saw that as before she was staring out the window blankly. Tentatively, he approached her.

“You still think I’m crazy, don’t you?” Avery questioned in a low, hollow voice.

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy at all,” Brant began wondering if he was telling a half truth about the situation, “but what I do believe is that we have a situation on our hands that we have to remedy.”

“Brooke tried to kill me and my baby,” Avery faced him, her eyes wild with emotion, “I’m certain of it.”

“Even so, I had my crew search the room for that needle and…” Brant started after a moment’s hesitation.

“Let me guess. Just like last night with Russ it was nowhere to be found and that’s why you’re giving me that look right now, isn’t it?” she questioned in an accusatory tone, “That’s why you’re coming here to try to patronize me.”

“No, that’s not what I’m doing,” he shook his head at her, “I didn’t come here to do that at all. I came here to help you. You believe that, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what I believe anymore,” she confessed with a heavy sigh, “it’s like everything I’ve ever known is crumbling right before my eyes and I don’t know if I’m coming or going anymore…”

“Avery, it’s going to be okay,” Brant reached out to take her hand in his, “We’ll find a way to fix this.”

“How?” Avery questioned tearfully, “How can we fix this situation when I’ve thrown my mother out the window? It’s obvious it doesn’t matter what she’s done because one way or the other someone is going to try to prove that I’m crazy. Hell, maybe I am crazy. Maybe this is all just some horrible nightmare that I just can’t seem to wake up from.”

“No Avery, listen to me,” he spoke urgently, “this is going to get better. I swear to you that…”

“That what,” she questioned tearfully, “that no one is ever going to believe what really happened? That the world is going to see me as a murderer? That I’m just the nutcase that killed her own mother?”

“Brooke isn’t dead,” Brant revealed not sure how Avery would take the news, “They have her in surgery right now. Sure, she had a hell of a lot of injuries, but right now she’s in critical condition.”

“And if she dies, then I’m going to go to trial and no one is going to hear my side of things because the damage is already done and,” she paused a gulp building in the back of her throat, “Oh God. Grady!”

“Grady,” he repeated giving her a strange look, “What about Grady?”

“If the police find out what happened, then I’m going to be arrested for sure. Even if I can fix things during a trial and prove that I’m telling the truth, there’s going to be charges brought against me and with Grady’s trial starting in just a couple of days…” Avery continued horrified by the prospect of what she was thinking, “If I’m put in jail that’s not going to go well in his case. I mean sure he can get another lawyer, but no one is really going to see the truth and if anyone else represents him, then there’s a chance that…”

“That what,” Brant questioned in confusion.

“That I could be…” she stopped herself thinking about what might happen if someone put her on the stand to testify about what had happened between Grady and Kipp the night of the party. While the papers had run a less than credible account of what had gone on, Avery had been there. She’d seen Grady’s anger and while she was certain of his innocence, she knew that her testimony would condemn him. “I have to be the one to run this one. I have to continue to represent him because no one else could do this justice. Grady needs me…”

“And you need to think about yourself for a minute here Avery. We need to find a way to fix this,” Brant continued in a panic, “While I’m sure that I can call Hart and have him come on in to shake things up, we need to come up with a story that we can both make believable and…”

“And we could still risk someone figuring out the truth,” Avery continued worried about what the future would hold for Grady should she be suspect in what happened today in her office. There was no doubt that Cameron would spin her act of self defense into something much more than it really was and not only would she be spending her life behind bars, but Grady would lose everything. She’d promised him that she’d help him, but after what she’d done to her mother…

“Avery, we can work on a cover story,” Brant broke through her thoughts, “All we have to do is get things in correlation and…”

“No, it’s too risky,” Avery shook her head dismissing the words as they fell from his lips, “Granted we’ll need to do that anyways, but given what everyone thinks about me, sooner or later they’ll piece things together. You don’t even believe I’m innocent.”

“I never said that Avery. I know you’ve been under a tremendous amount of stress and given what you’ve been through, there isn’t a jury out there who would hold you responsible for your actions. I have a few friends and I’m sure that we could check you into a clinic in Europe for a while and…” Brant began suggesting.

“No,” she shook her head at him, “I’m not about to commit myself especially not when I have to be there for Grady. While being incompetent might work for my defense, it’ll never fly when it comes to Grady.”

“Avery, you can’t just throw away your life in the name of helping Grady. If you sit back and stay in Coral Valley, then…”

“Then I’d be doing what I swore to Grady I would do. I owe him this Brant. I have to find a way to be there,” she continued in an impassioned tone, “I owe him that much.”

“And what about your daughter Avery? What do you owe her?” Brant frowned down at her, “You need to find someone who can help and…”

“And you said you’d help me,” Avery reminded him throwing his words back at him, “You said it yourself that you had people in there trying to see if they could find that needle.”

“And they didn’t,” Brant pointed out with a frown, “but since they didn’t have much time and the police are no doubt already there…”

“We need another plan,” Avery tapped her fingers over the sheet impatiently. Curling the fabric with her index finger, she strained to come up with some kind of solution to the problem at hand.

“I’m all for ideas right about now. I mean I don’t see why staying here for Grady is so important. I can talk to Hart and he could represent him. He’s a great guy and he has one hell of a criminal law record. He’s much more experienced in these kind of things…” Brant started to remind her.

“You don’t get it. It’s not just about being Grady’s lawyer. It’s about,” she stopped herself when a sudden thought occurred to her, “Oh my God. I’ve got it.”

“Got what?” Brant gave her a strange look as he noticed the smirk building over her features.

“I know what we have to do,” Avery explained triumphantly. “I’ve got it!”

“I’m glad one of us does, but what exactly is it that you’ve got?” Brant questioned in confusion.

Turning to see his puzzled expression she elaborated further. “Well given that when things happened like they did with Brooke, she and I were alone with one another, well, no one can collaborate on my story. No one can say what happened leading to the moment she fell from the window…”

“Which isn’t going to help your case at all,” Brant reminded her watching the obvious wheels turning behind her eyes.

“No and then add the fact that you walked in and saw me throw her out the window like you did, and we’re in a whole new world of trouble. A prosecutor is going to realize that you weren’t there when the turn of events came into play. He or she is going to try to manipulate your testimony to the point that it’ll look like I’m guilty as sin in this situation….though,” she paused biting on her lower lip, “if we can find a way to keep you from testifying.”

“Avery, I’m not really sure what you’re getting at, but I swear to you that I would never, ever say anything to hurt you,” Brant began honestly, “the last thing I want is for you to suffer for any of this.”

“I know that,” she nodded in confession turning her dark eyes up to his, “I know that you care of me and you’ve shown that time and time again. I trust you Brant and while I know you wouldn’t intentionally slip up, that’s still taking a big risk. Granted, we may not be able to avoid a trial, which is going to force me to have to spin some kind of damage control if I’m going to have any kind of credibility as Grady’s lawyer, but I think we can still make this work. We can keep you from being put in a position to testify and maybe just maybe then the D.A. will realize that there isn’t a case…maybe…oh that could so work.”

“Avery, you’ve lost me,” he pointed out noting her cryptic expression as she continued to ramble on to herself, “Maybe you could clue me in on this a little bit.”

“Why it’s quite simple Brant,” Avery informed him with a triumphant smile, “You want to help me and I need to make sure that you can’t testify against me. Granted we are bound by lawyer/client privilege, but since I’m the one in trouble, that doesn’t uphold in court…”

“Okay, but I’m not going to say anything that…” Brant started again.

“You’re not going to say anything at all because we can avoid this all together. The way we can do this is simple and easy,” she insisted bringing her fingers through her dark hair, “Granted it’s a bit of a stretch, but I’m sure we could work out some terms and…”

“And what?” he questioned wanting to be clued in on what it was she was saying to him.

“Marry me Brant,” she pleaded with him, “If you really want to save my life, then marry me. It’s the only way.”

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

Ria stepped out into the hallway feeling as if her head was about to explode. She’d had this miserable headache for days and it seemed like it would never let up. Oh the joys of having seasonal allergies, she grumbled to herself wishing that somehow she could just be able to go one day without it returning to her. She’d been fine earlier in the morning, but now that she’d tried to contact Dr. Leveski it had come back again. Then again maybe tension had something to play into it--she wasn’t sure these days.

“There you are,” a voice beckoned her as Ria spun around to see the new hospital PR standing before her. Tossing her hair back over her shoulder impatiently, Christy glared down at Ria. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been avoiding my calls.”

“I’ve been busy,” Ria couldn’t help but groan, “you know doing doctor stuff?”

“Yeah well whatever,” Christy rolled her eyes, “When Isaac put me in charge of this fundraiser, he wanted me to make sure that the residents participated in it. Given that I have a whole show to put together a little cooperation would be nice.”

“It’s not that I’m not trying to cooperate, but if seem that way, it’s just because I haven’t had time to think let alone call anyone back unless it was an absolute must,” Ria started to explain watching as Christy’s features twisted further.

“So now I’m not a must huh?” Christy snarled, “Well let me tell you something Ria. While you might not take this fundraiser seriously, the Chief of Staff does. If you don’t want him getting furious with you, I strongly suggest that you think twice about prioritizing here. This behavior of yours is completely unacceptable. This is a very important charity event and if you weren‘t too busy going off into linen closets sneaking around with your fling of the moment, then maybe just maybe you‘d see that…”

“Fling of the moment,” Ria replied with wide eyes, “What are you talking about?”

“Oh don’t play dumb with me,” Christy hissed in response, clenching her fists at her sides, “I’ve seen you two playing kissey-face in the hallway and it reflects an air of cheapness about you Ria. It’s time to grow up and put making out off until you’re no longer on the clock. I mean honestly, with the way you carry on, I don’t know what he sees in you anyways…”

“Well, that’s for me to know and you to not worry about. In fact,” Ria stood taller, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think that you were almost jealous…”

“Of you,” Christy balked back with a laugh. “Not on your life. Besides if he really came to his senses, then he’d see how truly useless you are to what he wants out of life.”

“Yeah, well since you put it that way, don’t bother with trying to contact me about the fundraiser. I’ll speak with Isaac myself,” Ria sneered back at her, spinning on her heel to stomp down the hallway all the while vowing not to bother with the cranky head of P.R. here at the hospital. She didn’t need that kind of harassment.

“That’s right Ria,” Christy noted with a heavy frown, “Just keep running away like you always do, but sooner or later it’s all going to come back and bite you in the ass.”

And it would very soon, Christy smiled to herself realizing that sooner or later she would find a way to knock Ria down a few pegs for making her miserable.

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

Don’s hands fumbled with the keys as he opened the door to his office.

“So what exactly are we looking for here?” Kyle questioned watching Don look through his keys.

“I have information on Kipp that you could possibly use,” Don stated watching Kyle nod with approval.

“You really did come in some use,” Kyle declared seeing Don shrug slightly.

“Well I must say, I really shouldn’t let you see these records,” Don stated seeing Kyle roll his eyes.

“There you go, don’t make me take my compliment back,” Kyle rolled his eyes shaking his head lightly.

“You’re still going to help them right, Don?” Shannon wondered elbowing Don in the side.

“Of course I am,” Don assured them walking over to the drawers, “They should be in here somewhere.”

“Alright, well then lets look,” Sarah shrugged as Kyle walked over to a filing cabinet.

“Did anyone find anything?” Shannon questioned after a few minutes of looking.

“No,” Sarah replied looking over at Don who shook his head.

“On second thought take that back,” Don started pulling out a folder, “I found it.”

“What are you waiting for?” Shannon questioned as Kyle tilted his head walking over to one of Don’s filing cabinets.

“They aren’t in here,” Don acknowledged raising his eyebrow, “They were in her the other day.”

“What do you mean they aren’t in there?” Shannon scowled hearing Kyle sigh.

“You have some trouble with people lately?” Kyle wondered looking over at Don who shook his head not knowing what he was talking about.

“Why would I?” Don questioned seeing Kyle fold his arms out in front of him.

“Did anyone know where you kept your files?” Kyle sighed watching Don nod.

“Of course, I am a doctor,” Don replied watching Kyle shrug.

“Well, you might want to get a new filing cabinet,” Kyle declared watching Don tilt his head wondered what he was talking about.

“What do you mean?” Don questioned seeing Kyle point to a filing cabinet that the lock was broken on it. “Who would have done this?”

“I don’t know, but those papers must have been important enough for someone to break in here and steal them,” Kyle pondered thinking of who could have possibly done this.

“Who would have wanted these file?” Sarah questioned thinking that was really starting something.

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

Susan smiled to herself as she put her feet up on her desk holding a few papers in her hands. The papers that she signed stating that she was Kipp’s legal representative.

“No one is ever going to find out what happened to Kipp,” she laughed to herself looking through the papers.

She stood up walking over to the papers shredder that was over in the corner. She took one of the papers and smiled as she put it in the shredder watching the thin slices fall into the garbage.

“You know, if I really wanted to, I could use these to help Grady out,” she pondered for a second before taking another paper and pushing it through the paper shredder. “On second thought, he deserves what he is getting.”

She smiled putting the last paper through the shredder as the thin slices all lay in a big pile.

“That’s right,” she started with a slight smile. “He deserves all of this after he lied to me.”

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

Jade tapped her fingers along the steering wheel sitting in the deep traffic. She sighed thinking back to Grady; he didn’t deserve any of this. It hurt her so much to see him like that. She just wished none of this ever happened. As she thought of what she could do to possibly help out Grady, something caught her attention on the radio.

“What in the,” she started listening to what the radio had to say.

“In a few days, the trial for Grady Denton will take place. He is on trial for murder and many think he is guilty,” the words came out of the radio making her scowl and quickly turned it off.

“He isn’t guilty, why don’t people get that?” Jade questioned with anger within in each word as she roughly ran her hand through her hair.

She looked over in the corner to see an ice cream parlor that was nearly empty. She looked to the front to still see the packed streets ahead of her as she sighed turning into the lot for the ice cream parlor.

“What better way to get rid of stress,” she started with a tiny chuckle getting out of the car, “Just eat it all away with some ice cream.”

She walked into the parlor to find a smiling older man behind the counter.

“Can I help?” he questioned with a slight smiling seeing the dull expression on her face. “Is something wrong?”

“No, just some stress,” Jade assured him watching him shrug.

“Well my name is Joseph if you need to talk to someone,” he inquired watching her smile.

“Well, you know what? I think I am going to take that ice cream cake right there,” she pointed out watching him nod.

“Good choice,” he nodded slowly grabbing the plate from underneath it. “I will wrap this up for you right away.”

“Thank you,” she smiled watching him disappear into the back of the store.

The news was on the television that sat on the counter as something caught her eye. It was a picture of Brooke, what was she doing on the news? She watched eager to find out what exactly was wrong.

“Today, Brooke Morrison was thrown mysteriously thrown out a window and the police are now searching for who possibly did this to her,” the woman from the news sternly informed them.

“Oh my god,” Jade gasped as Joseph came out looking up at the television.

“Sad isn’t it?” he shook his head lightly handing her the cake as she handed him the money.

“It sure is,” she sighed receiving her change. “Thank you.”

“No problem, come again,” he winked at her as she walked out the door.

“What happened?” she questioned to herself.

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

Guy and Richard ran up to the front desk quickly as the person at the front desk motioned them to hold on a second. Guy sighed seeing the person grasp tightly onto the phone as she talked.

“Excuse me ma’am,” Guy grunted out making the person give him a sluggish look before turning the chair away from them.

“Listen, all we need to know is where my wife is,” Richard growled before seeing no motion of the person at the desk. “Can’t I get any information around here?”

Guy sighed looking around to see a nurse come down the hallway as he ran to her.

“Excuse me, but could you tell me if you know where Brooke Morrison is?” Guy questioned as Richard came up from behind him.

“She is in surgery right now,” the woman stated watching Guy frown with worry.

“What happened? Is she going to be okay?” Richard blurted out quickly seeing the nurse shrug.

“I have no idea what happened, but I promise we will come and tell you after surgery with the news,” the nurse promised seeing Richard sigh deeply.

“Well, what are we suppose to do until then?” Richard questioned running his hand along his pain filled neck.

“Just wait here, I guess that’s all you really can do,” shrugged the nurse walking away.

“Come on dad, let’s take a seat. I think she will be okay,” Guy guaranteed him patting him on the back lightly as they walked over to the waiting are sitting on the chairs to wait and hear what was wrong.

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

“Marry you,” Brant repeated giving her a strange look, “Did you just ask me to marry you?”

“Well…yeah, but hear me out on this one,” Avery continued with an impassioned plea, “If this does get taken to court, then you wouldn’t have to testify against me. The prosecutor wouldn’t have to pull it out of you and you wouldn’t have to slip up in whatever story we come up with. I mean sure it sounds a bit extreme, but if you really, really think about it, it’s a really good solution to this one.”

“Well that’s one way of working on fixing this, but Avery,” Brant paused contemplating his words as it felt like he was right smack in the middle of a dream come true gone awry. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying? What you‘re suggesting right now?”

“Of course I do,” she frowned up at him, “Or else I wouldn’t have even thought to suggest it. Our being married will give me enough time to deflect the police so that I can help Grady and beyond that it helps my case as well. If charges are brought against me, the only one who saw anything was you and…”

“And in our getting married, we’ll be husband and wife Avery. You’ll be my wife,” Brant continued to remind her, “as in Mr. And Mrs. Ashford. You are getting that, right?”

“Of course I’m getting that,” she shook her head at him as if he was saying something that was rather redundant, “our being married isn’t a problem for me. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Well no, I don’t have a problem with that. Quite the opposite considering that I’ve always kind of felt that you and I should…” Brant stopped himself thinking about what he was saying, “Avery, these aren’t exactly the circumstances that I’d dreamt up for us to get married under considering that…”

“That what? You offered to marry me when you found out that I was pregnant, so what’s the difference? You wanted to help me then and you’ve been talking about helping me now and well, it just makes sense if we…” she continued adamantly.

“Get married?” he repeated almost questioning the words that fell from his lips.

“Unless you really hate the idea and…” Avery paused a slight frown touching over the corners of her lips, “I mean I know that I haven’t really given you any time to think about this one and well, while we don’t have much time, it’s still something that you need to decide on and…”

“Avery, I’m not going to lie to you,” Brant confessed reaching for her hand, “this is something I’ve thought about for a very long time. As I said before this was never how I envisioned it happening, but if we do this--if we really go ahead and get married, I have one request.”

“What’s that?” Avery questioned lowering her voice as a seriousness swept over his features, “Brant?”

“If we get married, then I’m asking for a chance,” he watched her mouth open as if to speak in protest, “Just listen to me. I know that you’re not going to forget about Russ anytime soon. I know that right now you don’t have it in your heart to love another man and I’ve come to accept that. I realize that you might never get over what you had with Russ and I’m not asking you to, but what I am asking for is if we do get married that you at least try to give this marriage a try.”

“You mean as in us having sex,” Avery questioned with a slight frown.

“Yeah well sex eventually comes into play with a marriage, but if you think I’m trying to buy that part of our relationship by my saying yes, well you’re wrong,” Brant sighed heavily bringing her fingers up to his lips to press a tender kiss upon them, “Avery, I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t love you because I do. If you asked anything of me, I swear to you I’d do it in a heartbeat, but what I’m saying is that if we go ahead and get married, I want for us eventually to try to see what happens between us. I want us to be able to explore what it was we’ve both been holding back on…”

“Brant,” she spoke his name while biting down on her lip nervously, “as much as I’d like to say that we could make this marriage something more, the truth is that I’d be lying to you if I made you any kind of promises right now. I wish that I could say that I could be everything you’ve wanted me to be, but…”

“But if you promise me that you’ll try, then we’ll work on the rest later Avery,” he brushed her finger tips against his lips tenderly, “That’s all I’m asking for. I just want a chance.”

“Brant, I’ll…” Avery inhaled slowly knowing full well that any woman would be lucky to have him as a husband. He was handsome, charming and sexy as all hell. Still as she thought about the vows she’d made to Russ, she wondered if she could ever truly give Brant what he’d asked out of her. Still, she knew that their getting married would be the only way to fix things. Taking in another breath, she finally found the courage to speak, “I’ll try to be what you need, but it’s going to take some time.”

“As long as we’re together, you can take all the time in the world,” Brant whispered unable to resist the urge that overtook him. He leaned in towards her, lowering his lips just above hers, but at the last minute thought twice of it realizing he wasn’t about to push it just yet. Kissing the top of her head gently, Brant took a moment to look at her--really look at her before he reluctantly pulled himself up from off of the bed.

He felt an uneasy silence surround them before he cleared his throat, “I’m guessing that we’re going to have to beat the clock if this is going to work, huh?”

“That is the general idea,” Avery nodded feeling her stomach tied in knots at the prospect of what they were about to get into with one another.

“In that case, I’ll make a few phone calls and get the wheels in motion. If I can manage to pull a few strings, well in the next few hours you’ll be Mrs. Brant Ashford,” he paused bracing himself for her reaction, but instead of flinching like he’d imagine she would, she just nodded and smiled at him.

“That sounds good,” she offered in response as the two exchanged looks for a long moment of silence. She felt the warmth of his smile as he left her room and as the door closed behind him, Avery sank back into the pillow beneath her hoping that she wasn’t a mistake in acting so hastily. Sure, she knew that this was sudden, but it was the only way. There was no other option and if it came down to being in jail or marrying Brant, well the truth was that marrying Brant was a much more savory option. She could try to make him happy and hey, maybe they would be able to find something special with one another. She was sure that they could be happy together--he loved her and she felt something for him. That something could turn into love and he clearly was ready to step up to plate and be a father to her baby. He was loving, generous, kind and romantic in his own way. He was all the thing that most women wanted…except he wasn’t Russ.

“Please forgive me for this one,” she whispered under her breath thinking about her lost husband, “Russ, I have to do what’s best for everyone and I’m doing the right thing…”

She closed her eyes trying to picture a future with Brant. It had some possibilities. It could offer her things that as a single parent she wouldn’t even come close to being able to accomplish. It could mean a world of stability and warmth for her daughter. They would be safe. No one would harm them again and Brant would be a great father. She had no doubts in her mind about that one. He was a very special man who loved her very much. They could have a real life together with a lot of potential. She could get used to that. She was doing the right thing…at least she thought she was. She was almost completely certain.