Episode 167
“I’m waiting for an answer,” Kyle hissed glaring right through
Susan.
“Why would I want to do anything for Grady? He deserves what he is
getting,” Susan laughed staring up at Kyle.
“What has happened to you? I used to think you were a good person,”
Kyle let go of her disgusted by the way she was.
“But I always knew you were a bad boy,” she smiled running her finger
along his strong chest.
“Get your hands off me,” Kyle yelled pushing her hand away from him.
“What? Can’t take someone actually thinking you’re hot?” Susan
questioned walking over to him running her hand down his big arm making
him walk back.
“No, I already have someone, I love her,” Kyle protested feeling her
hands on his chest again.
“What? She can’t give you anything I can. I can offer you so much more
than she can,” Susan smiled as Kyle pushed her hands down.
“One, I don’t want anything you have to offer to me and two, you could
never equal up to her,” Kyle scowled pointing over at her.
“I could please you more,” she grinned putting her hands on her hips
seeing him shake his head.
“Not every relationship is about that,” Kyle shook his head looking
down.
“Who says?” Susan questioned with amusement behind her voice as he
grasped onto her wrists.
“Just give me what I want,” Kyle growled tightening his grip around her
wrist.
“What about me? What do I get out of this whole thing?” Susan wiggled
her eyebrow making Kyle roll his eyes.
“Nothing from me,” he pointed out seeing her frown and shrug.
“Well, to get what you want from me, I would have to get what I
want…from you,” she smiled feeling him push her back onto the couch.
She smiled as he leaned forward putting his arms on the couch tilting
his head to the side.
“Just a little secret I have…you know I like a lot of things about
women. And you know what? Now that I think about it, bitch isn’t on my
list…so you're all out of luck with me,” Kyle sighed standing up
as she grasped onto his arm.
“I thought you wanted information on Kipp,” Susan started as Kyle
swiped her hand from his arm and throwing it to the side.
“If it means having to spend any more time with you then I have to, then
it isn’t worth it,” Kyle winked before turning around to leave,
not wanting to take this anymore.
“But,” she squeaked standing up and grabbing his arm.
“But nothing,” Kyle yelled throwing her hands off him making her fall
to the ground as he walked out her door closing it behind.
“Kyle,” she laughed standing up, “The more you play hard to get, the
more it makes me want you.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Now what was it you were saying again about Avery’s husband, Ken?”
Brant repeated demanding an answer as his eyes fell upon the sexy ADA
at his brother’s side. Somehow he was guessing there was more to
the story than Ken was letting on just judging by the expression on his
brother’s face.
“I was…” Ken began uneasily as Avery finally registered the forth
person in the room. Immediately she tensed up with anger and sat
up straighter in the bed.
“What are you doing here?” Avery questioned with an angry glare.
“Let me guess you figured you couldn’t wait until the trial to rail
into me so you thought you’d get a jump start, huh?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Carly rolled her eyes in response, “You’re
not nearly that interesting or important for me to waste my time on
considering that you’re fighting a losing battle Avery. You
should be smart and urge your client to cop a plea considering that
he’s going to be spending the rest of his life behind bars otherwise.”
“Oh you are so delusional,” Avery rose to her feet despite the fact
that she was supposed to be taking it easy, “I’m going to win this case
and if you think that this one is going to make your career--that
Chavez is really going to think you’re vital to her team, well you can
think twice because this trial is going to be the biggest loss of your
career. If you were smart you’d try to get these charges dropped
against my client because they are completely unwarranted. Grady
is innocent.”
“Why don’t we leave that up to a jury to decide if you feel so
confident about that matter,” Carly challenged taking a step forward,
“Unless you’re not that sure after all which in that case, this will be
my last offer for a plea bargain.”
“You can take your plea bargain and shove it up your ass for all I
care,” Avery seethed in response.
“Well, it’s nice to know you can be professional even in your off
hours,” Carly offered with a dry laugh, “Clearly Grady’s going to
really have a hard time ahead of him with you in the driver’s
seat. This conviction will be easier than I imagined it to be.”
“Why you little,” Avery sneered taking another move forward as Brant
circled his arm around hers preventing her from doing something stupid.
“Darling you need to rest and you,” Brant looked to Carly and Ken, “You
two need to leave. My wife needs her rest and…”
“Your wife?” Ken repeated his jaw dropping in a state of disbelief
before he shook his head at Brant, “Like hell. What is it you’re
up to now Brant?”
“I’m just telling it like it is Ken, so if you came here to harass
Avery, you and your little girlfriend can just leave now,” Brant
informed him bluntly, “We’re in no mood for it.”
“Brant, I don’t know what it is you’re up to, but I swear to you if
this is something that takes us down due to your blatant stupidity all
over again,” Ken warned sharply, his jaw tight with an obvious anger.
“Given what you’ve been doing lately in your drinking binge here and
there, I don’t think what I’ve done could be any worse,” Brant remarked
sourly, “Tell me Ken, did you sober up before you hit rock bottom with
the ADA here or is this your way of trying to fill the spot in your bed
that Caitlin left behind?”
“You son of a…” Ken lunged towards Brant as the two men once again
started to tear at one another on the floor.
“Stop it!” Avery shouted out before glaring at Carly, “Look what you’ve
done.”
“What I’ve done,” Carly balked back in response, “You’re the one who
started it considering that you did…”
“What I did?” Avery repeated with a huff, “You were the one who came
here to start trouble when…”
“You were jumping to conclusions about my presence when I could care
less about you and your case given that I know I’m going to win mine,”
Carly argued both her and Avery trying to out due one another as Ken
and Brant continued to roll around on the floor attacking one another.
“With you and your obviously over inflated ego, I knew exactly what you
were coming here for and it’s not going to work considering that…”
Avery snapped back at her only to be brought to silence when Don
entered the room seeing the chaos taking place before him.
“What the hell is going on in here,” Don roared bringing the room to
silence with the rumble in his voice. He turned his attention to
the two men wrestling on the floor and a frown touched over his face.
“What in the…” Shannon entered the room as well blinking twice as she
looked down to see Ken and Brant tangled up in a headlock sort of thing
with one another. Shaking her head, she felt her irritation level
rise about ten points as she realized that her quiet night had been
brought to a screeching halt due to the fact that Brant Ashford was up
to no good yet again. Turning to her husband, she offered an icy
smile, “If you’d like I can shoot them if that will help.”
“Actually, what will help right now would be for me to speak to my
patient alone,” Don explained matter of fact looking around the room,
not really caring what was taking place beforehand as he turned to
Avery, “Everyone else get out. Now.”
“You heard that man,” Shannon added folding her arms in front of her
chest. She looked down at Brant and Ken and scowled, “That means
the both of you get up and out of here right now or else…”
“Or else what,” Brant grumbled in response, “Shannon, I don’t know what
you’re doing here, but if you’ve come to harass Avery…”
“She’s with me,” Don explained catching the strange look on Brant’s
face, “but right now I want to see Avery…alone.”
“Fine,” Brant turned to Avery reaching out to touch her shoulder
gently, “I’ll be just outside.”
“Okay,” she nodded watching Ken lead Carly out of the room while her
own frown lingered. She caught Brant give her one last look
before he too reluctantly exited the room.
Shannon stood there for a moment longer before speaking up, “It looks
like everything is under control now. I’ll let you do what you do
best and I’ll keep an eye on the kids in the hallway.”
“Thanks Shannon,” Don offered with a small smile silently appreciating
what she’d done to clear the room before he turned to address Avery,
“Now with you, why don’t we start with talking about what all of this
was?”
“A waste of time and it would be the same for you if we rehashed it
again,” Avery informed him with a scowl, “Right now I just want to go
home and since we’ve been waiting for you to arrive…”
“You’re probably wanting to cut straight to the chase, huh?” Don
remarked catching the expression on her face.
“That about sums it up. So what do you say Doc? Think you
can help make my dreams for the night come true and I can go home?”
Avery asked hopeful wanting nothing more than to lay in her bed and
sleep for the next ten hours.
“We’ll just see what we can do here, but given what I read on your
charts about what happened, no promises just yet, okay,” Don offered in
response wondering just what kind of hell had been breaking loose
before his arrival. Still none of that mattered at the moment as
he had work to do.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Diane couldn’t keep from smiling as Ben lead her back into his parent’s
beach house. While the four of them had been spending the night
enjoying themselves, Ben and Diane had opted to cut out on it early
after Cassie and Alan found themselves lost in a conga line. Now
as Diane entered the darkened foyer, she spun around to find Ben right
behind her.
“Miss me,” he questioned dropping his keys onto the carpet as Diane
threw her arms around his shoulders.
“It was pure agony in being away from you those few seconds you were
closing the door,” she mouthed rising up on the tip of her toes to
claim his mouth in a heated kiss, “You have no idea how long I’ve
wanted to get you alone just like this.”
“Hmm, well now that you’ve got me here, what are you planning to do
about it?” Ben questioned tugging her in closer to him.
“That all depends,” she explained in a sultry tone, “How long do you
think your parents are going to be gone?”
“Given my mother’s love for conga,” Ben shrugged his shoulders,
“daylight will come before they arrive back here.”
“Hmm, well let’s just hope it doesn’t take that long for both of us to
get to where we want to go,” Diane mouthed driving the point home with
another smoldering kiss. “Truth be told I’ve been thinking about
getting you naked all night there.”
“Even when we were on stage like that,” Ben’s eyes widened with a
momentary surprise.
“Especially when we were on stage,” Diane confessed running her hands
up and down over his spine, “the thought of having my way with you then
and there had it’s certain thrill…”
“One that I’m glad you held off on while we were around my parents,”
Ben revealed with a small smile, “I don’t think they would’ve truly
appreciated that one…”
“Probably not, but at the same time I think you could appreciate a
little bit of that right now,” Diane suggested with a smile taking a
step back. Gingerly she ran her fingers up over the ties in the
front of her sexy sundress. “What do you say Ben? Up for a
night you’ll never forget?”
“With you,” he pulled his shirt up over his head discarding it swiftly
before taking a step towards her, “You know I am.”
“I like that answer,” Diane smirked shimmying left and right with each
tug of the string down the center of her dress. Seeing Ben’s eyes
fixed upon her, she danced around in a sexy, slow number before doing a
twirl. He licked his lips clearly liking what he was seeing
before she took a step forward pushing Ben back onto the couch.
“Diane,” he mouthed her name feeling her move in over him only to pull
away before he could touch her.
“No, not yet,” Diane swatted at his hand, “You can’t touch until I give
you permission.”
“You’re such a tease,” Ben gave her the evil eye before she straddled
his lap again, moving in very determined bumping motions over him.
“I can stop if you’d like,” she paused from what she was doing,
bringing her hands out over the back of his couch to pull herself up
off of him.
“No,” he shook his head, an amused smirk spreading over his features as
he sank back further into the couch cushions, “don’t stop. Keep
going.”
“In that case,” she leaned forward skimming her hair over his bare
chest, watching the way his body tensed up in the movement.
Dipping forward she trailed her tongue over his collarbone tasting the
heated response of his skin warming up to her. With every sashay
over his body, she felt him spring to attention, ready to dive into
whatever seduction she had in her mind.
“Diane,” he groaned her name, his hand sinking involuntarily over her
hip before she grasped his wrist again putting a stop to his
explorations.
“Not yet Ben,” she shook her head before scowling down at him.
“I’m not even warmed up yet.”
With those words, her lips focused on his chest, making their way over
the glorious trail of pleasure leading to his abdomen. Sliding
off of his body, she knelt before him working the button on his pants
open with one determined snap. Seconds later her lips returned to
his taught, muscled abdomen taking the time to savor the taste of him
before his fingers slid into her hair.
“What did I tell you Ben,” Diane scolded ready to lash out another form
of punishment when he swept her up into his lap with one full, powerful
movement.
“I’m not about behaving tonight,” he informed her point blank
with a low growl before spinning her beneath him on the couch. Hungrily
his mouth devoured hers unable to resist the ache that she’d awakened
in him. He wanted her--needed her and craved her unlike anything he’d
ever known before. As his hands explored all her curves he found himself
ready to plunge into a night of passion and complete uninhabited desire, but
that notion was brought to a screeching halt with the addition to the lights
overhead.
“Oh I can’t believe that they cut us out of there like they did,”
Cassie’s voice rang out through the living room, “I mean honestly who
ends a party before dawn anyways…”
“I don’t know dear, but I’m sure that they’ll be hearing about it for
weeks on out considering that you,” Alan stopped as his eyes fell upon
the scene before him in the midst of the living room. “Oh my…you
know honey, maybe we should go try to find another party tonight for…”
“Nonsense,” Cassie waved her hand dismissively not having picked up on
Ben and Diane’s being on the sofa until she took another step forward
finally seeing what her husband had tried to keep from her.
“Mom,” Ben began sheepishly, his face beet red as he sat upright trying
to face his parents in this awkward situation as easily as possible.
“Ben,” she folded her arms in front of her chest taking in the scene
before her, “I take it you weren’t expecting us.”
“Actually…” Ben started again as Diane hid her face behind Ben’s
shoulder wishing she could just crawl into a hole and die right about
now.
“On second thought, you know I do believe the Markams were having a
party tonight on their yacht,” Cassie spun around to address her
husband as if she hadn’t just walked into such an uncomfortable moment
with her son. “I’m sure it’s not too late to crash.”
“I’m sure it isn’t,” Alan nodded reaching for his wife’s arm, “so we
can just leave them alone for a while to…well…catch up…”
“Yes, we can do that,” Cassie agreed before turning to Ben again.
She curled her finger at him, urging him to step towards her.
Stumbling to get to his feet, he clumsily made his way over to her
while doing his best to keep his pants from falling.
“Yes,” Ben questioned knowing that Diane was going to be hiding out
after this one.
“I trust you’ll clean the place up when you two are…” Cassie paused as
if contemplating her next words, “finished.”
“Of course,” Ben nodded readily, “and what you just saw…”
“Don’t even finish that statement,” she pleaded with him, “Just make
sure things are picked up by the morning and if you need them, condoms
are in the top drawer on the right hand side of the vanity.”
With those parting words Cassie spun to face her husband again taking
his arm and gliding out of the home as if she hadn’t a care in the
world. When the door closed Ben let out a pinched out sound
before he faced Diane.
“Did she just offer you condoms,” Diane’s eyes widened with obvious
shock.
Ben nodded, “I think I’m very afraid right about now. She’s never
taken things so lightly in the past. She’s not one to just be
calm and collected especially after walking in on something like this…”
“How many times has she walked in on something like this,” Diane
questioned curiously pulling her dress more completely over her chest
to cover herself.
“Not as many as you’re thinking,” he remarked noting the expression on
her face, “but this time, well…”
“It kind of kills the mood huh,” she sighed realizing how awkward
things were right about now.
“Maybe not,” he contemplated it for a moment, “How about I get us a
blanket and we can go out onto the beach and…”
“It sounds perfect,” she nodded in agreement watching him go to
retrieve the blankets when she heard the faint sounds of her cell phone
ringing. Reaching out around the floor to search for her purse,
she wondered who was calling at a time when she’d felt more mortified
than ever. Quickly answering she inhaled slowly, “Hello.”
“Hey sexy, I was hoping I’d reach you tonight. I miss you,” JT’s
voice slurred on the other end of the line causing her to spring into
an immediate panic. Quickly hanging up the phone, she turned it
off, tossing it across the room only to discover Ben standing behind
her.
“What was that all about?” Ben blinked down at her, “Something wrong?”
“No, nothing more than Cathy calling to leave me a message. She
botched up some reports in the office, but you know what,” she decided
standing up straighter again, “To hell with her. It’s not my
problem because we’re on vacation.”
“That we are,” Ben nodded in agreement, “although it’s strange that
she’s calling so very late.”
“Yeah well Cathy never does anything like she’s supposed to,” she
insisted reaching for his hand, “Come on. Let’s get out onto the
beach. I think we could use that right about now.”
“You’re right,” he nodded in agreement, “I think it’s exactly what we
need to forget that my parents just walked in on us at the worst of all
times…”
“Don’t remind me,” she groaned as her gaze dropped to her discarded
phone again, “and Ben?”
“Yes?” he replied looking at her.
“I love you,” she confessed squeezing his hand tighter than before,
“Don’t ever forget that okay?”
“Given how much I love you, I don’t think that’s ever going to be a
problem for us,” he assured her bending down to kiss her tenderly
before motioning to the patio doors, “Come on. Let’s go. I
know the perfect place where we can unwind together.”
“Lead the way,” she smiled following him out into the night as she
hoped that she wouldn’t get anymore horrible interruptions to this
evening. Tonight was about her and Ben and no one would stop
that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Gabe, how are things going,” Mindy called out grabbing onto his arm
making him turn around and face her.
“What‘s happening?” Hunt questioned with worry behind his voice.
“There haven‘t been any changes yet from what we‘ve heard or haven‘t
heard,” Gabe sighed thinking about Guy, “Guy is so worried right now.
“Do they know if she is going to be okay? If she‘s going to pull
through this one?” Hunt quickly asked with worry behind his voice.
“I have absolutely no idea,” Gabe shrugged looking over his shoulder to
see if he could find anyone who could tell him anything else.
“Well, how is Guy holding up? I mean this must be painful, no one would
want their mother to end up like this,” Mindy sighed folding her arms
out in front of her. “I know he was upset before, but now that there
is still no word on Brooke…he has to feel like he’s in hell right
now.”
“I know what you mean,” Gabe nodded with a slight frown, “I hope he is
going to be okay.”
“Me too,” Mindy nodded worrying about one of her best friends. She
hoped he was taking this better than she feared he would.
“You know what? I think I am a little thirsty, do you mind if I go and
get a drink?” Hunt questioned rubbing the back of his neck lightly
feeling his muscles tighten.
“Do you want me to walk with you?” Mindy questioned as he shook his
head.
“I will be fine, anyways you should stay here and wait with Gabe just
in case Guy comes back and you could check on him,” Hunt insisted.
“Good idea,” she nodded with a slight smile.
“I will be right back,” Hunt sighed walking down the hall.
“What’s wrong with him?” Gabe questioned after Hunt had just acted
really weird.
“I don’t know, but he will be okay,” she informed him with a slight
smile. “The person I am worried the most about is Guy. I just
hate what this could be doing to him.”
“Me too, I am really worried about him,” Gabe started with a slight
sigh, “But we can only hope for the best.”
“And that’s for Brooke to be okay. She may not be the nicest person,
but no one deserves this,” Mindy sighed sitting down. “The best thing
we could do right now I guess is, wait.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Guy knocked on the door to Avery’s hospital room popping his head
inside shortly after Don had finished his checkup. Smiling he
entered the room with the small pink teddy bear he’d picked up in the
gift shop and as he approached her, he could see the obvious anxiety
sweeping down upon her. Something was bothering her--something
clearly had upset her, but right now, Guy just wanted to make sure that
she was okay.
“For you beautiful,” Guy explained holding the small bear in front of
her, “I hear my niece needs something cuddly to hold onto tonight.”
“Oh Guy,” Avery couldn’t help but smile as she accepted his token,
“It’s beautiful.”
“I thought so and while I realize that my niece really can’t hold onto
it just yet, I thought maybe my favorite sister could,” he explained
taking a seat beside her. Putting his arm around her shoulders,
he looked to her with obvious worry, “So what’s going on kiddo?
What’s really happening here?”
“Guy, why would you ask something like that when…” she questioned in a
state of panic, “What makes you think that something is going on?”
“Well for starters you and Brant just tied the knot tonight without
anyone else in the family there,” Guy pointed out with a sideways
glance, “That in itself says that something isn’t right here.”
“Guy, that’s not true. What you’re thinking is…”
“Absolutely right. Avery, I know why you married Brant tonight,”
Guy continued to inform her, “While I realize you want the world to
believe it’s because it’s something you both talked about and planned,
I know better than that. I know how much you still love
Russ. I know that kind of love doesn’t fade away overnight and
you’re still very much in love with him.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that he’s gone though, does it?” Avery
sighed leaning into her brother for support.
“No, but it also doesn’t change what’s obviously happening here,” Guy
continued to remind her, “Avery, I know the real reason why you married
Brant tonight and I really wish that you hadn’t felt that it was your
only way out of this. There were other options.”
“What?” she questioned in confusion seeing the serious expression on
his face.
“Avery, you had other choices and while I know that mum pushed you into
this with her overbearing ways, I really don’t know if you should’ve
jumped the gun like this,” Guy continued watching the color slip away
from Avery’s face.
“You mean you know why I married Brant? You figured it out
without even knowing that…” Avery’s jaw dropped in surprise.
“After watching you and Brant it wasn’t hard to figure out, but Avery I
really wish that you would’ve just come to me instead. I could’ve
helped you,” Guy continued with a small sigh.
“Guy, I didn’t want to bring you into this especially knowing how
important Brooke is to you.”
“Yes, she’s important, but Avery you’re my sister and the one person in
this world that I can always count on. You know that I’d do
anything for you especially now after what’s happened…” he added
bringing his hand up to push her hair from her face, “You believe that,
don’t you?”
“Guy, I just wasn’t sure. After the way things went down, I
wasn’t sure who would be there. I didn’t think that you’d want to
be there and with Brant, well he was willing to help and…” she began
feeling a moment of relief pass over her.
“Avery, just because you’re scared of what Bruce Mathis is going to do
next, well it was no reason to jump the gun on getting married,” Guy
cut her off with a tiny frown.
“What?” she questioned with obvious confusion.
“Well, that’s it, isn’t it? I mean you clearly married Brant
tonight because you’re afraid that Bruce is going to get to you now
that Russ is dead. That’s why you jumped the gun tonight after
Bruce attacked Mum, isn’t it?” he asked watching her eyes shift into
something unrecognizable before she regained her composure.
“Of course it is,” she nodded upon the realization that Guy would never
truly understand what she’d done. Taking in a slow breath, she
turned to look at him poignantly, “I wish things were different Guy.”
“So do I, but we can’t change the way things are at this point, can
we?” he searched her eyes, “Or are you having second thoughts about
being Mrs. Brant Ashford?”
“I’d be lying if I said that this all was what I’d hoped I’d be doing,
but at the same time Brant’s been good to me. He’s treated me
with nothing but respect and I know he can be a good influence in my
daughter’s life. He wants to make me happy and I’m sure that he
can give my daughter and I the kind of stability that we need…” she
started thinking about what a life with Brant meant.
“Yes, but what about love? You don’t love him Avery, so how can
you sit here and say that you’re okay with this? I know how you
felt about Russ and while Brant is a good looking guy with a lot of
really wonderful traits, well I just want you to be sure that this is
right for you,” Guy squeezed her hand gently, “You deserve nothing less
than the best.”
“Oh believe me Guy, I deserve a lot less than that. Even with
Brant, I know he deserves more from a wife than what I am, but he loves
me and he’s trying to do right by me and the baby,” Avery sighed
leaning her head on her brother’s shoulder, “I’m sure that we can be
happy together one day.”
“Are you really sure of that?” he questioned eyeing her intently as if
attempting to decipher what was going on inside her head.
“I’m sure that this is the right thing to do,” she nodded in response,
“I know that daddy hates him, but…”
“But that doesn’t matter. It’s how you feel that matters.
It’s what makes you happy,” he raised her hand to his lips offering a
polite kiss on the top, “Avery, you and my niece are the most important
things in the world to me and I just want to make sure that you’re okay
with all of this.”
“You hate Brant, don’t you,” Avery questioned blankly, “That’s why
you’re so concerned, isn’t it? Because you think he’s horrible.”
“On the contrary,” he shook his head, “I happen to think that Brant is
an amazing man. He’s done a lot of things that have shown me a
part of who he really is and I know that he cares about you. He
cares about Mum and I know that he’ll do everything in his power to
make you happy. I just want to make sure that you are happy.”
“I want to be happy again,” Avery admitted with a tiny smile, “I really
do Guy, but I know that I can’t always have what I want. I wanted
a life with Russ--I wanted for us to have our happily ever after
together, but when he died, that dream went out the window…”
“But your happiness doesn’t have to go with it. If you really
believe that Brant can help you find that, then I swear to you that
I’ll support this marriage one hundred percent, but if at any time you
change your mind and you feel like you’ve made a mistake,” he paused
contemplating his words as he noted the sadness behind her eyes, “Just
know that I’ll be there for you then too.”
“Thank you Guy,” Avery leaned into him taking in the comfort from his
embrace, “You have no idea how much that means to me.”
“You’re my sister,” Guy kissed the top of her head gently, “You’ve
never lead me astray, so why would you expect anything less from me?”
“You have no idea how much I needed to hear that tonight and for what
it’s worth, I would never, ever try to hurt you if I could help it,”
she confessed thinking about what she’d done to their mother.
“I know that Avery,” he replied soothingly as Avery wondered if she
would lose Guy from her life if he ever found out the truth about what
she’d done to Brooke. While Brooke was a horrible, rotten person,
she questioned whether or not Guy would believe the truth when it was
presented to him and in that moment she vowed to never share her
horrible secret with her brother as she couldn’t bear the thought of
losing him as well. That would truly be the end of her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“How is Heather doing?” Sarah questioned folding her arms out in front
of her as they looked in on the baby. They weren’t going to be here
long they were just going to make sure that Charles was going to be
okay.
“I don’t know, she is so hard to understand sometimes,” he started with
a sigh, “On second thought, she is so hard to understand most of the
time.”
“Do you think she will get better after being in that place?” Sarah
questioned seeing Diego shrug.
“I have no idea, but the mental institution should get her to realize
some things,” Diego suggested with a slight shrug.
“I hope,” Sarah sighed putting her hands against the glass looking in
on little Charles.
Brant listened in closely tilting his head after hearing what they had
just said about Heather.
“Heather in an institution? This may be a good time to check in on her
and see what I can find on Cameron,” Brant smiled turning around and
leaving.
“How are we going to get her better Diego?” Sarah wondered seeing him
shrug.
“Right now, things might seem tough, but Heather will eventually see
her way through this whole thing. She needs to help herself and no one
else can help her. Only she can help herself, and until then…we just
need to sit back and wait for it,” Diego declared not knowing if that
was going to ever be possible.
“I understand, I just feel bad for her little baby. I mean what a life
he must be going through right now,” Sarah insisted looking over at him
once more.
“I think he will have a great life because he has an aunt like you who
will love him with all her heart. He is our main priority right now, not Heather.
He needs us more,” Diego pointed out before leaning his head against the
glass that blocked them from going in to see the little baby.
“Do you think the baby is going to be okay?” Sarah questioned with
worry.
“I think he is going to be fine,” Diego started with a sigh, “The
only thing I'm worried about is your sister. I know she wants to change, but
I don’t know if she has the strength to.”
“Believe me,” Sarah started with a slight laugh, “She is my sister and
I know she has the strength to change, but I think she just needs to
find it inside of her.”
“At least we all hope she will,” Diego closed his eyes tightly feeling
his headache grow.
“She will,” Sarah started with a slight nod, “If not for us or herself,
for that little boy.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Carly stepped into the hallway thinking about how completely
unprofessional she’d been in Avery Morrison’s hospital room.
She’d come to the hospital with Ken in the hopes of getting to the
bottom of what was happening with Brant, but instead not only did she
manage to make an ass of herself, but she’d taken her work and turned
it into a personal vendetta. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t entirely
true, but when Avery attacked, Carly was ready to fight--ready to lash
back out at her even if it meant taking potshots about the case.
“But right now you have to forget about that and stay focused.
This case is one you can’t afford to screw up on,” Carly reminded
herself checking the time as she wondered what was taking Ken so
long. He’d said he’d wanted to go search for Brant again.
While Carly thought it was a bad idea, he’d been adamant about giving
it another try. Still Carly could only imagine the kind of
trouble the Ashford brothers would be getting into right about now
given a chance.
“That’s it. I’m not waiting around for you any longer. I’m
going to find you and we’re leaving,” Carly announced spinning around
and nearly running right smack into one of the last men she’d expected
to see on a night like tonight.
“Carly,” Dave spoke her name as she felt her heart hammer into her
chest.
“Dave,” she replied in a tight, surprised whisper, “what are you…what
are you doing here?”
“Working, which isn’t much of a change from the norm around here,” Dave
confessed with a small sigh, exhaustion evident behind his eyes, “What
about you?”
“I was…well…I…” she paused contemplating her words, “I was looking for
a friend.”
“Is that right,” he questioned folding his arms in front of his chest.
“Yes, that’s right,” she nodded taking note of the obvious skepticism
rushing over his features, “Let me guess, you don’t believe me on that
one either. What do you think I’m following you or something?”
“You said it not me,” Dave remarked sourly, “and if your boss sent you
here to get the goods on what happened tonight…”
“Believe it or not my being here had absolutely nothing to do with you
Dave,” she shot back with a glare, “I came here with a friend and I was
just on my way out.”
“Fine, then don’t let me stop you,” he stepped aside, “It’s not like
I’d really have the power to do that where you’re concerned anyways
given our history huh?”
“Do you really hate me that much that you have to be so cold?” Carly
questioned taken aback by his comment, “Was I just so irrelevant to you
that you could just jump to conclusions and think the worst of me like
this all the time?”
“I’m just calling them like I see them,” Dave replied with a heavy
frown, “I know what Chavez is about and…”
“And at one time you thought you knew what I was about too, but what
happened to that? What happened to us Dave?” she questioned
shaking her head before he could speak, “Never mind, it doesn’t
matter. You’ve made your feelings about me apparently obvious the
last time we saw one another, so don’t bother answering that one.”
“Fine, then I won’t,” Dave replied watching her turn to leave when he
felt an obvious pang in his chest and before he knew it, he reached out
to grab her arm to keep her from walking away, “Carly wait.”
“What?” she questioned looking over her shoulder at him, “What more do
you have to yell at me about Dave?”
“Look, it’s just that I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately with
work and I’ve been wound up so tight,” Dave started to explain himself
not really knowing where his apology was coming from, yet it felt like
it was fitting.
“Yeah, well you and me both. Dave, contrary to your belief, I
didn’t com back to make your life miserable. I really just wanted
for us to find a way to be friends again. I mean I know we kind
of screwed up on the being lovers mark there, but maybe if we could try
to start over…” she offered with a sad expression wishing that things
had turned out differently for them over the years.
“Look Carly, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I didn’t give you a fair
shake the other night, but when I saw you, well…truth be told I’m not
good at any of this,” Dave began restlessly shifting on his feet.
“At any of what?” she blinked back in confusion.
“At having you around again. At looking at you and remembering everything
that we had together,” he shook his head as his words came out, “Do
you have any idea how strange it feels for me to be telling you this while I’m
standing here thinking about what it was like to have you in my life?
To hold you and love you like we’d always thought about? Or can
you understand how hard it is for me not to just pick up where we left of?
Carly, when I look at you all I can think about is how badly I want you back
in my life.”
“I think about that too,” she replied biting back the tears that
threatened. She noted the look on his face and in that moment she
felt her heart melt, “Dave, when I left you I made a big mistake and I
wish like crazy that I could’ve taken it back. If I would’ve just
thought things over…”
“Carly, I shouldn’t have forced you to make that kind of
decision. I should’ve been open to what it was that you wanted
and…” Dave started to explain wishing like hell that time and distance
hadn’t put a wedge between them, but before he could get any further
words out, Ken stepped up to join the two of them.
“Well, what do we have here,” Ken noted looking between the both of
them, “Dave, are you burning the midnight oil yet again?”
“Actually, I was here on a call,” Dave nodded in confession turning to
see his best friend, “What about you?”
“Well, actually I was looking for Carly and wouldn’t you know it,” Ken
flashed her a devilish grin, “I found her here with you. It’s
kind of poetic given the night we’ve had together…”
“Ken,” Carly’s eyes widened in what appeared to be that of sheer horror
before he winked at her.
“I mean I’m sure you’re not aware of it, but I’ve found myself
appreciating all the insight Carly has given me as of lately,” Ken
continued to explain to Dave, “She’s brilliant and very, very thought
provoking. Why tonight she even motivated me to get refocused on
the things that matter to me--like the case against Midlands.
She‘s even offered to step on with a consultation.”
“You don’t say,” Dave turned to Carly, “I didn’t realize that you’d had
an interest in the case.”
“Well I’d taken a look into it and I think Ken has something special
going on,” Carly replied feeling a sudden heat flash over her face as
she thought of what she and Ken had spent the night doing.
“Oh no you’re the one with that extra something special,”
Ken’s smile expanded to something darker than Dave had ever really noticed
from him, “Our Carly is one in a million, isn’t she Dave?”
“She certainly is,” Dave nodded focusing on Carly again unable to
refrain from offering up a look of longing. A moment of silence
fell between the group as Ken took note of the way Dave and Carly were
eyeing one another.
“Well, we don’t want to hold you up any longer than we already have,”
Ken cleared his throat again finding himself a bit annoyed with the
scene he’d stepped into. He moved in closer to Carly before
eyeing Dave once again, “You’ve got some work to do and we shouldn’t
keep you from that.”
“It’s okay, I don’t really mind,” Dave confessed wishing that he’d had
five more minutes alone with Carly before Ken arrived, but now, well
now he knew that the moment had once again passed them by, “Then again,
maybe I should get back to work.”
“Of course you should,” Ken coaxed him further, “because I’m sure
whatever you’re working on really shouldn’t be put on hold. I’m
sure you’re needed wherever you were going.”
“Yeah, I suppose I am,” Dave nodded once more as his eyes were yet
again drawn to Carly, “but maybe later we could catch up. Perhaps
we could try to find a way to pick up where we left off before.
I’ll call you, okay?”
“Okay,” she smiled at him, “I think I’d like that.”
“Me too,” Dave added giving her one last look before taking off down
the hallway to return to business as usual only he knew better.
He knew that tonight no matter how hard he tried to fight it, he’d be
thinking about Carly--remembering the good times they’d had together as
he wondered if they could ever truly have that kind of relationship
again.
“So I take it Dave was being more civil to you,” Ken inquired noticing
the way that Carly’s gaze was traveling off in Dave’s general direction.
She couldn’t help but smile, “Actually I think for a minute there…even
if it was a small one, well that maybe just maybe he might’ve thought
about reconsidering hating me.”
“Yeah well if you ask me, he doesn’t deserve you Carly,” Ken added
offhandedly, “If he felt the need to make you feel as bad as you did
earlier, then he’s not worth it.”
“What?” she turned to face him as if hearing his words for the first
time since Dave had walked away.
“I said if Dave doesn’t love you for who you are, then forget
him. He’s not worth making yourself miserable over,” Ken
continued to remind her watching as her eyes were marked with clear cut
confusion, “I mean don’t get me wrong Dave is one of my best friends,
but when it comes to women in his life, well he’s just too damn
indecisive to actually give them what they need. Did I tell you
what he did after you left town? About how he went from woman to
woman when you left?”
“No,” she shook her head unable to mask the surprise that registered
behind her eyes, “I just assumed that he’d…well…”
“Yeah, I know you probably thought he’d be crying in his beer, but not
Dave. He decided when you left it was time to pick up the pursuit
of Deidra once again,” Ken informed her knowing full well that he’d hit
a sore spot in her, “Did I tell you she’s getting divorced now?”
“No, you never mentioned that,” she replied trying to mask her emotions
on the issue, “So Deidra and Andy split up?”
“That’s right and I’ll give you three guesses on who Dave’s
been spending all his time with lately and the first two don’t count,”
Ken offered knowing full well that he’d struck a chord in her. While
he wasn’t quite sure what had prompted him to be so catty about the situation,
there was something about her and Dave talking with one another that he didn’t
like. The whole situation was unsettling and as he thought about Carly
and Dave reuniting, he realized that he’d like that even less than the
situation he was in right now. Dave was far too judgmental and he knew
that. Carly needed someone who understood what she was going through and
Ken was sure he could find a way to be that someone. Sure, he knew that
they weren’t entering into some happily ever after romance, but he’d
be damned if he let Dave find a way to end the entertainment that came into
his life at a time when he’d needed it more than anything else in this
world. No, this time Dave was most certainly not getting in his way.
He’d make damn sure of that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hunt took a quick look around before making his way into the room
Brooke was being held in. While he knew he was taking a risk, he
had to see for himself what was going on as he thought of the woman who
had changed his life around in so many ways. Entering the room he
was overcome with the sounds of the machines pumping life into what was
left of the woman he’d spent so much time with. Taking a step
forward, he looked at her face wondering how things could’ve come this
so far out of hand in Brooke’s life. Still as Hunt thought about
what they’d told him about Bruce Mathis and his terrorizing Brooke, he
had to question what really went on.
“Did this happen because you let them believe something that simply
never happened,” Hunt asked wondering if Brooke’s kidnapping story was
something she’d concocted to make up for the truth about having spent
the week with him. Reaching out to touch her bruised hand, he
wondered if it was at all possible that she could come up with
something so horrible. Given what he’d known and loved about her,
he found it hard to believe that she could sink so low.
“You couldn’t have, could you,” Hunt questioned feeling himself
overcome with emotion when a noise from outside captured his attention.
“I just don’t understand,” Richard began with a heavy sigh, “After
everything and now this…”
“I know Rick, but you have to be strong. How is Avery holding
up?” Judy asked from outside the room.
“I won’t even get into that one right now because I’m not even going to
touch this,” Richard’s voice was laced with obvious emotion, “Right now
I just have to hope that Brooke can pull through.”
“Then go see her. Just speak with her because on some level I’m
sure she can hear you,” Judy offered up supportively.
“I hope you’re right,” Richard replied with a distinct pause, “and Judy
about this…”
“Rick, she’s your wife. You don’t owe me any explanations.
I’ll give you some time with her and when you’re ready, you can find
me,” she promised taking a step aside as Hunt quickly scurried around
the room hoping to keep from being discovered.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, Hunt peeked out from his hiding place
to watch Richard Morrison enter the room. While he’d heard a
great many stories about the horrible, vile creature that Richard was,
in seeing him Hunt found himself a bit surprised. He’d expected
someone mean and overbearing…not the man that stood before him.
He could see the obvious pain in Richard’s features and in that instant
Hunt felt completely out of place. He held back listening as
Richard took a seat at Brooke’s side.
“How could this happen,” Richard questioned painfully, “How could that
monster have found a way to hurt you again? After what you’ve
been through, God, Brooke if I could take this away from you I
would. If I could somehow go back and change things for us… I
know that things are far from perfect between us, but that doesn’t mean
that I don’t care about you. I’ve always cared even if at times
we’ve been one another’s worst enemy.”
Richard dropped his head down saying a few more things that Hunt
couldn’t hear. Taking another look around Hunt realized that he
needed to find a way out of that room as it was far too risky to be
standing there. Drawing in a nervous breath, Hunt slipped out
from behind the curtain he’d hidden behind. Quickly and quietly
he stepped out into the hallway ready to make an easy exit.
“Hunt?” Judy’s voice questioned as he stood dead in his tracks, “Is
that you?”
“Ms. Stevens,” Hunt spun around to face her quickly, “What are you
doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Judy placed her hands on her
hips curiously, “Why were you in that room?”
“I was looking for a friend and I got kind of lost,” Hunt lied knowing
full well how pathetic that had to sound, “I thought they were up here,
but I was wrong.”
“Is that right,” Judy eyed him with obvious interest, “and that friend
of yours, who was that by the way? My daughter works here so I’m
sure I could ask someone and help you find them…”
“No, no I mean that’s okay. I think I know where I need to be
now,” Hunt answered swiftly before stepping away from her, “but thanks
for the offer.”
“Anytime,” Judy nodded watching as Hunt raced down the hallway hoping
to get as far away from the scene as possible. Judy noticed the
uneasiness in his stride and as she thought back to the meetings she’d
had with the strange young man in the past, she realized that there was
some connection there. Hunt Lockhart knew more about Brooke than
he was letting on and in that moment Judy decided it was time to find
out just what it was!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Just a second,” Sarah sighed taking out her phone and answering it.
“Hello?”
“Sarah? Sarah Marx?” an unfamiliar questioned quickly, their deep voice
making her worry.
“Yes, may I ask who this is?” she questioned looking at the number on
her phone that said blocked.
“Listen bitch, I suggest you vanish from Coral Valley or else,” the
voice growled before making her laugh.
“I’m not afraid of who ever this is,” Sarah half smiled, “And if I stay
in Coral Valley what are you going to do? Run my cell phone bill up?”
“Very funny bitch. I’m warning you now that you will pay if you
don’t leave Coral Valley,” they insisted once more.
“You can’t hurt me, but what are you going to do,” she questioned with
a laugh.
“You love that boyfriend of yours?” they questioned making her sigh.
“Why does everyone always say that? Like I have said millions of
times…you can’t do anything to hurt me and if you have seen Kyle, you
sure as hell would know you couldn’t take him down either,” Sarah
yelled.
“Is that so?” the person questioned with a slight laugh, “We’ll see
about that now, wont we?”
“Screw you and tell your boss if this is the best he can do, then he‘s
pretty pathetic. This changes nothing where my sister is
concerned,” Sarah hissed before hanging up her phone and putting it in
her purse.
“Who was that?” Diego questioned with a slightly worried look on his
face.
“Some jerk, it doesn’t matter who it was. They wont bug me anymore,”
Sarah nodded with a slight smile as she fought to ignore the threat
that had been issued upon her. She was ready to take on Cameron
and deep down she knew this would be harder than she played it off as
being, but for now she was trying to stay calm and focused. “So how is
Charles?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kyle’s fists pounded into the punching bag before him as he let all of
his anger rear out. He couldn’t take all of this stuff, he couldn’t
take it out on people so what better place to go to than the gym? Every
day seemed to be getting worse and worse. His thoughts drifted off as
he concentrated on punching the bag roughly. He kept hitting it
repetitively as it swung back and forth. His knuckles were brick red,
but the pain didn’t bother him…he didn’t even feel it. No pain could
equal up for what he had to deal with in the last few months. He
stopped for a slight second to think back to what had happened earlier.
Why was everything so hard? All this stuff was taking too long, if
Russell would have been here it would have been done faster. With that
thought Kyle punched the bag as hard as he could making it swing
backwards.
“Damn,” he grunted sitting down on the bench roughly before grabbing
his towel and wrapping it around his shoulders.
“Who pissed you off?” a woman’s voice questioned making him look up to
see a red headed woman before him.
“No one did,” he sighed standing up and grabbing his shirt from the
bench.
“Bull, I just watched you almost take the punching bag off the ceiling,”
the girl laughed making him slightly smile.
“You think?” Kyle questioned with a slight shrug not knowing exactly
how hard he was hitting…just his mind concentrating on everything else
that was happening.
“Do I think? Man, with that last shot…that would have stopped someone’s
heart if you hit them,” the girl whistled shaking her head. “It hurts
just thinking about it.”
“Yeah, well I guess I have a lot of aggression to let go of,” he sighed
sitting down on the bench and taking a sip of his water.
“Anything you want to talk about?” she questioned sitting down next to
him. “I am all ears.”
“Oh come on, you don’t want to hear my life story,” Kyle laughed
looking over at her.
“I don’t have to hear your life story, I just want to hear who pissed
you off,” she suggested seeing him shrug.
“If you insist,” he sighed leaning forward.
“I insist,” she smiled ready to listen to what he had to say.
“Right now it seems like the world sucks. First, my best friend dies,”
Kyle started as she gasped.
“That has to suck, I’m sorry,” she gasped apologized seeing him shake
his head.
“See that’s the thing you had nothing to do with it, I mean you
never even met him,” Kyle started with a sigh. “And I guess my other
friend is in jail and my girlfriend’s sister is like going psycho and
she is in a mental institution.”
“You’ve got a girlfriend?” she questioned with a smile.
“Yeah, I love her a lot too, that’s why I am there for her throughout
everything,” Kyle started with a sigh, “My life is perfect with her in
it, but I guess it’s just everybody else that’s getting on my nerves. I
mean by friend’s ex-wife just tried to bribe me into something nasty
just to get information.”
“So basically it feels like the whole world is out to get you, huh?”
she questioned seeing him nod.
“I guess you could say that, yeah,” he laughed slightly before standing
up. “I should get going.”
“Wait, I didn’t even get your name,” she pointed out standing up
quickly.
“Oh yeah, my name is Kyle Houston,” he reached his hand out to hers,
“And you are?”
“My name is Christy,” she tilted her head lightly looking up at him.
“Well, it was nice to talk to you Christy, thanks for letting me rant,”
he winked before starting to walk away.
“Any time,” she yelled out before he turned around.
“See you,” he waved before walking into the locker room and her cell
phone rang.
“Hello?” she questioned answering her phone.
“What’s going on?” the person questioned.
“You will never guess who I just met,” Christy started with a smile, “I
just met Kyle Houston.”
“Kyle Houston?” the voice questioned with a slight laugh. “How
interesting.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*