Post by rsafan on Mar 30, 2007 4:09:44 GMT -5
Chapter 68
“Victoria, what the hell are you doing here?”
She spun around, surprised to see that he’d snuck up behind them, “Luc, I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’m here making sure you don’t get hurt. Now get out of here before someone realises just who you are.”
“It’s too late for that Dimera.” She heard someone say and turned around to face the familiar sounding voice, she already knew who she’d be facing as he continued speaking, “And it seems you just handed me a trump card, your wife on a silver platter.”
“Luc, what is he talking about?” she heard Shawn curse beside her and turned to her brother, “Shawn, do you know something about this?” Neither man answered her. Each thinking of a way to get her out of there safely, if they had bothered to fill her in on that fact, she might have mentioned that she knew how to get them out, had seen the various exit points when they’d gone in and knew which one wasn’t being guarded at the moment. She would also have been able to tell them that the police would be arriving in about five minutes that was if Tek kept his word. “Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?”
“I’d be happy to do that sweetheart.” His gun was out of the holster and aimed at Shawn in less than a heartbeat. Finally the gravity of the situation struck her, “I wouldn’t try that if I were you and besides your car is no longer where you parked it.” Keeping the gun and an eye on Shawn, he addressed Victoria, “You see your husband here tried to double cross me, tried to go over my head didn’t you? Now someone’s going to have to pay for that little mistake and since the rumour is that Dimeras don’t bleed, I’m afraid it’s going to have to be you pretty little Victoria. And such a shame too, you really are quite beautiful.” He turned the gun on Victoria and pulled the trigger. Lucien was fast enough to push her out of the way; he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the bullet himself. James watched the blood seeping from Luc’s body create an increasing stain on the floor. “Guess I was wrong.” He shrugged and walked off as though he hadn’t just shot someone.
Victoria would’ve run after him but she was more intent on checking Luc’s wound. And besides, Tek would come charging in any minute and arrest everyone involved, she had to put her faith in him and the system and see to Luc, he was after all here because of her so this was her fault entirely.
Shawn grabbed Tory’s hand, intent on getting them both out of there before James or one of his cronies decided to return and finish the job but she didn’t budge. “Victoria come on, we have to get out of here now!”
She shook her head and cradled Luc’s head in her lap, “Shawn, we can’t leave him. I can’t leave him.”
Shawn looked at his sister, kneeling beside her husband’s body searching for any sign that he may still be alive, “We shouldn’t move him, not without knowing the full extent of his injures.”
She looked up at her brother; tears pouring down her face, her eyes begging, pleading, “Please Shawn.”
Shawn sighed, he never thought he’d do this, never thought he’d be helping a Dimera, but this Dimera had just saved his sister’s life, bending, he lifted Luc’s right side, “Grab his left side, we’re going to have to carry him out of here and hope our car’s still where we parked it. If we get him to the hospital on time, maybe…” he didn’t say it. But then again he didn’t have to, she knew what he meant, if they got Luc to the hospital on time, if he was still alive when they got him there, they’d need a miracle to keep him that way.
Mercifully, James had been lying when he’d informed them that their transport wouldn’t be there. They shuffled Luc as gently as they could into the back and Victoria got in with him. “Apply pressure to the wound. Don’t let it bleed out any more than it already has.” Shawn instructed her as he jumped behind the wheel and took off.
“The police are on their way,” she said, “I called Tek before we left the mansion. I told him to wait till I sent out the signal; I did when Luc showed up. It was supposed to be for his protection and instead I got him shot.” She mumbled to no one in particular as Shawn drove.
He broke land speed records in his attempt to get them to the hospital in time, in the backseat, Victoria was pleading with him to hang on, “Just a little while longer Luc. We’re almost there.” She didn’t know where they were, or how far away from the nearest hospital they were, but she needed to believe that it was true, that they were almost there.
“Don’t die on me please. You hear, you have to fight. You have to because I can’t imagine not having you in my life. So you come back to me you here?”
“Victoria, you have to allow the doctor’s access,” he tried to pull her away but she wouldn’t budge. She hadn’t realised that they’d already arrived, that the hospital staff were waiting for her to allow them access to her husband.
Shawn pulled her away from him, out of the car, the hospital staff moved in to get him out safely. “They need you to let go Tory, they can’t help him if you don’t.”
She shook her head, Shawn had said to keep pressure on the wound, she’d let go, she wasn’t supposed to let go. She watched them wheel him into the hospital and breaking away from her brother, she ran after her husband, “You promised me. You said forever, I’m holding you to that promise; I’m holding you to it.”
“Ma’am, please…” Once again Shawn was by her side, keeping her away, she struggled against him, reluctant to let her husband out of her sight. And eventually had to watch them wheel Luc into a room, had to watch the doors close behind him.
“Tory, they know what they’re doing, let them fix him.” Shawn held his sister in his arms, a hold as strong as life, as strong as death.
She turned to him, a confused look on her face, “He jumped in front of that bullet to protect me.”
“I know honey, I saw.”
“If he dies…Oh God…” she collapsed then, her knees just gave way and she sank to the hospital floor, crying. Gut wrenching sobs escaping from the hurt that was buried deep inside her. The hurt of knowing that she hadn’t trusted enough, hadn’t loved enough to trust that maybe all wasn’t as it seemed; if she’d had more faith, they’d have had more time together. His words the night they’d renewed their vows haunted her “If I know anything about love, it’s because I learnt it from you.” Shawn sat with her, holding her in the middle of a hospital corridor, shedding his own tears. Feeling his sister’s pain, wanting to take it all away for her, wanting to make her world right again, knowing how she was feeling, how it felt to know that the person who held your heart was slipping away. That there was nothing you could do to bring them back, because you were the reason they were gone. That was how their parents found them when they ran into emergency, both having heard over the police scanner about the shootings. The police where swarming the place, they had found all the guilty parties as well as enough evidence to put them away for many years. There capture was thanks to the men Luc had had stationed outside the warehouse, but neither Bo nor Hope had cared about either, all they’d heard was that their children had been involved, that they were at University Hospital.
The first thing Hope registered upon seeing them was all the blood that covered them. “Shawn… Victoria… are you two okay?”
Shawn looked up at his mother, “We’re not hurt that badly. Not physically anyway.” He tried to get up but Victoria wouldn’t release him. He picked her up and a nurse, who had known the Horton family for years, and had recognised Shawn the minute he’d stormed through the emergency doors demanding a doctor, led him to a private room where they could get her clean and calm. Shawn nodded his thanks as he walked into the room, his parents following closely.
Hope went straight to the adjoining bathroom and wet two of the towels that lay there. When she came back into the room, Shawn was trying to extricate himself from his sister’s grasp. “Tory, its okay to let go.” Shawn spoke to her softly, his eyes never leaving hers, “It’s okay to let go.” And slowly she released her grip.
That was when she noticed the blood on her hands; she stared at it in shock, wondering where it had come from. Then it hit her, it was Luc’s blood, her hands were stained with his blood, “Get it off! Get it off!” She rubbed her hands in an effort to get the blood off them. When that didn’t work, she scratched at them; Hope stopped that before she hurt herself by placing a wet towel on her hands, “Here, let me.” And gently she started wiping the blood away, Victoria wasn’t aware of her ministrations though, because by then she’d already passed out.
They waited over an hour to here anything. When the doctor finally approached them, his expression said it all, they didn’t need to hear the words but he said them anyway, “He likely won’t make it through the night. If I were you; I’d start praying for a miracle and prepare yourself for the worst.”
Hope went back to Victoria’s room, Lexie had arranged for the usage till Victoria woke or the bed was needed. She sat by her daughter’s bedside trying to imagine how she was going to tell her that her husband would likely not make it. She’d been in a similar position over a year earlier and it wasn’t any easier.
Chapter 69
She opened the door at his knock; his ragged appearance was the only thing that stopped her from slamming the door in his face. “Come in.” was all she said and closed the door behind him. He walked into the kitchen, into the heart of this house and stopped dead in his tracks. At the realisation that this wasn’t his home but he was too tired to dwell on those thoughts. He dropped himself onto the closest kitchen chair.
She poured two mugs of coffee and placed one in front of him and taking the other with her to the opposite end of the table. He wanted her closer, he wanted to feel her, feel her heartbeat, feel her breath, he wanted to feel life. They sat like that for a while; she didn’t say anything, waiting for him to say what had brought him to her doorstep. He looked down at his hands, gripping the coffee mug.
“Luc’s in the hospital. He was shot, jumped in front of a bullet aimed at my sister’s heart.”
“Oh my God, is he okay?”
“No, he’s in ICU. Doctors said to expect the worst, that he probably wouldn’t make it through the night.”
“Poor Victoria, how is she coping?”
“She’s not; she was hysterical till she passed out. My mom’s with her now, she wouldn’t allow them to give Tory a sedative, said she wouldn’t appreciate it if she woke up and her husband wasn’t around. She wouldn’t want to know that she’d been drugged while Luc had been fighting for his life. It is so scary Mimi, seeing her like that, she’s my sister and I want nothing more than to protect her but you should see the state she’s in, it’s like she’s lost her soul, her eyes are dead.”
“So you came here instead? Why?”
He slipped the chain off from around his neck, where the rings had been since the day she’d given them back. He let them slide off the chain onto the table, picking the engagement ring up, he turned to her, “This gem, this diamond is a family heirloom. It was entrusted to me with a promise, a promise that the person I gave it to was the person I was absolutely certain I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The first time I gave you this ring, I broke that promise. I wasn’t at all sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you; I only knew that I was certainly willing to give it a try. You said once that if I’d found out about Claire before we’d gotten married, I’d never have gone through with it. You were right, if I’d known about Claire being my daughter back then, nothing short of death would have kept me from making her and Belle my family. I would have married Belle and I don’t know if we would have been happy but we’d have tried and I would have looked back only every once in a while when I was feeling nostalgic and wondered what my life might’ve been like if I’d chosen you. But that didn’t happen, and I got the opportunity to find out what life would’ve been like for me if I’d chosen you, because I did choose you. I made a choice and even though it was for all the wrong reasons at the time, it turned out to be the right choice in the end. Because Miriam Elizabeth Brady, I love you with my heart and soul, like I’ve never loved anyone in my life, no not even Belle. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much. Proving to you that you can trust me in a way you never could before. Seeing my sister today really put things in perspective for me, I don’t want to lose you Mimi. So I’m sitting here with this ring again and I’m remembering the promise I made and I’m offering it to you. I am absolutely certain that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She looked at the ring, was tempted to pick it up and say yes to everything he was offering but she couldn’t do it. And right then she hated the part of herself that refused to reach out and take the ring from Shawn but she knew it was for the best. “Thanks for the offer Shawn; but the answer is no. I can’t accept that ring because while you may be sure of me, I’m not sure of you. You say so many things Shawn, make so many promises but they’re only words and I’ve learnt not to trust a single word you say.”
He glanced at her and got up from his chair, “Thanks for the coffee.”
“Shawn wait!” he turned around, “you forgot the rings.”
He shook his head, “I’ll never have the need to give them to anyone else. Keep them.” and with that he walked out of the kitchen and out of the house. He should get back to the hospital, maybe there’d be some good news there.
Hope, who had been asleep in the chair by her daughter’s bedside, woke with a start. Victoria was reaching out with her hand. “I’m here sweetheart, I’m here.”
“I had the most awful dream, I dreamt that Luc was shot, my hands were covered in his blood. There was so much blood mom.” She looked at her mother’s face, “Only it wasn’t a dream was it?” she kicked at the bedclothes, eager to get out and to Luc, he needed her.
Hope tried to keep her in bed, “You need to wait a while, five minutes honey, just till you’re steady.”
She looked Hope dead in the eye and they were both remembering that occasion last year when Victoria had pushed her away, history was not about to repeat itself, “What I need is to see my husband. If he’s okay I’ll rest for as long as you want me to but I need to see him. Please?” it was the utter desperation in that last word that had Hope helping her daughter get dressed. She got Luc’s doctor’s permission for the visit, five minutes was all he was willing to allow her, and even helped her to his room in ICU, but stopped at the door. It was a step Victoria had to take on her own.
She opened the door and heard the heart monitor beeping regularly. The only indication that he was indeed alive, he certainly didn’t look it lying there so still. She walked hesitantly over to the bed; the doctor’s had said to expect the worst that he would likely not make it through the night. She had to convince him to go on living, to not give up. She sat down in the chair that had been placed by his bedside and lifted his lifeless hand, she’d never seen him like this before, he was always so alive, always had somewhere to go. Even in his sleep he was restless yet now he lay so deathly quiet, it frightened her.
“Hey you, it’s time to wake up. The doctors say you’re not going to make it through the night, but they don’t know you like I do. I don’t think anyone does. You’re a fighter, you’d never let something as silly as a bullet bring you down, you’re a Dimera. I never thought I’d be so glad of that fact than I am now. All I know about your family is what I’ve learnt from mine, and the one thing that has always rung true, was that Dimera’s always come back. They always come back, so you come back okay. You come back to me because you promised me forever, you promised me forever Luc and I’m going to hold you to that promise. God, why did you have to jump in front of that stupid bullet? What is it with the men in my life all trying to be my hero? I don’t need a hero, I’m a big girl; I can handle myself.”
“So if you’re planning on sleeping there for a while that’s okay, as long as you wake up. As long as I get to be held in your arms again, you take all the time you need. Luc I’m so sorry, for everything. I should have listened to you, when you told me to leave it alone I should have listened instead of doing my own thing. It wasn’t a lack of trust; it was me trying to save you the way you’re always trying to save me. I realise it’s a little late, and if you wake up and decide you don’t want to be with me, that’s okay. But please just wake up. I’ve watched my brother throw away the best thing in his life, I don’t want to be like that, you said I taught you about love, well you taught me too. You want to know something really scary? I was wrong. Yeah, I know, miracles will never cease to happen. You want to now what I was wrong about? I guess you do huh; otherwise you’d have shut me up by now. Remember when I told you love wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be? Well, I was wrong about that, love is all it’s cracked up to be. It’s worth fighting for, it’s worth risking everything for, it’s worth dying for Luc; you showed me that. But it’s worth living for too; it’s so worth living for…” She gently leaned over him and kissed him on his forehead, “So live, please. Not for me, for yourself.” She whispered in his ear. Someone tapped on the door, her five minutes were up and she could only pray that they had been enough.
“Victoria, what the hell are you doing here?”
She spun around, surprised to see that he’d snuck up behind them, “Luc, I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’m here making sure you don’t get hurt. Now get out of here before someone realises just who you are.”
“It’s too late for that Dimera.” She heard someone say and turned around to face the familiar sounding voice, she already knew who she’d be facing as he continued speaking, “And it seems you just handed me a trump card, your wife on a silver platter.”
“Luc, what is he talking about?” she heard Shawn curse beside her and turned to her brother, “Shawn, do you know something about this?” Neither man answered her. Each thinking of a way to get her out of there safely, if they had bothered to fill her in on that fact, she might have mentioned that she knew how to get them out, had seen the various exit points when they’d gone in and knew which one wasn’t being guarded at the moment. She would also have been able to tell them that the police would be arriving in about five minutes that was if Tek kept his word. “Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?”
“I’d be happy to do that sweetheart.” His gun was out of the holster and aimed at Shawn in less than a heartbeat. Finally the gravity of the situation struck her, “I wouldn’t try that if I were you and besides your car is no longer where you parked it.” Keeping the gun and an eye on Shawn, he addressed Victoria, “You see your husband here tried to double cross me, tried to go over my head didn’t you? Now someone’s going to have to pay for that little mistake and since the rumour is that Dimeras don’t bleed, I’m afraid it’s going to have to be you pretty little Victoria. And such a shame too, you really are quite beautiful.” He turned the gun on Victoria and pulled the trigger. Lucien was fast enough to push her out of the way; he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the bullet himself. James watched the blood seeping from Luc’s body create an increasing stain on the floor. “Guess I was wrong.” He shrugged and walked off as though he hadn’t just shot someone.
Victoria would’ve run after him but she was more intent on checking Luc’s wound. And besides, Tek would come charging in any minute and arrest everyone involved, she had to put her faith in him and the system and see to Luc, he was after all here because of her so this was her fault entirely.
Shawn grabbed Tory’s hand, intent on getting them both out of there before James or one of his cronies decided to return and finish the job but she didn’t budge. “Victoria come on, we have to get out of here now!”
She shook her head and cradled Luc’s head in her lap, “Shawn, we can’t leave him. I can’t leave him.”
Shawn looked at his sister, kneeling beside her husband’s body searching for any sign that he may still be alive, “We shouldn’t move him, not without knowing the full extent of his injures.”
She looked up at her brother; tears pouring down her face, her eyes begging, pleading, “Please Shawn.”
Shawn sighed, he never thought he’d do this, never thought he’d be helping a Dimera, but this Dimera had just saved his sister’s life, bending, he lifted Luc’s right side, “Grab his left side, we’re going to have to carry him out of here and hope our car’s still where we parked it. If we get him to the hospital on time, maybe…” he didn’t say it. But then again he didn’t have to, she knew what he meant, if they got Luc to the hospital on time, if he was still alive when they got him there, they’d need a miracle to keep him that way.
Mercifully, James had been lying when he’d informed them that their transport wouldn’t be there. They shuffled Luc as gently as they could into the back and Victoria got in with him. “Apply pressure to the wound. Don’t let it bleed out any more than it already has.” Shawn instructed her as he jumped behind the wheel and took off.
“The police are on their way,” she said, “I called Tek before we left the mansion. I told him to wait till I sent out the signal; I did when Luc showed up. It was supposed to be for his protection and instead I got him shot.” She mumbled to no one in particular as Shawn drove.
He broke land speed records in his attempt to get them to the hospital in time, in the backseat, Victoria was pleading with him to hang on, “Just a little while longer Luc. We’re almost there.” She didn’t know where they were, or how far away from the nearest hospital they were, but she needed to believe that it was true, that they were almost there.
“Don’t die on me please. You hear, you have to fight. You have to because I can’t imagine not having you in my life. So you come back to me you here?”
“Victoria, you have to allow the doctor’s access,” he tried to pull her away but she wouldn’t budge. She hadn’t realised that they’d already arrived, that the hospital staff were waiting for her to allow them access to her husband.
Shawn pulled her away from him, out of the car, the hospital staff moved in to get him out safely. “They need you to let go Tory, they can’t help him if you don’t.”
She shook her head, Shawn had said to keep pressure on the wound, she’d let go, she wasn’t supposed to let go. She watched them wheel him into the hospital and breaking away from her brother, she ran after her husband, “You promised me. You said forever, I’m holding you to that promise; I’m holding you to it.”
“Ma’am, please…” Once again Shawn was by her side, keeping her away, she struggled against him, reluctant to let her husband out of her sight. And eventually had to watch them wheel Luc into a room, had to watch the doors close behind him.
“Tory, they know what they’re doing, let them fix him.” Shawn held his sister in his arms, a hold as strong as life, as strong as death.
She turned to him, a confused look on her face, “He jumped in front of that bullet to protect me.”
“I know honey, I saw.”
“If he dies…Oh God…” she collapsed then, her knees just gave way and she sank to the hospital floor, crying. Gut wrenching sobs escaping from the hurt that was buried deep inside her. The hurt of knowing that she hadn’t trusted enough, hadn’t loved enough to trust that maybe all wasn’t as it seemed; if she’d had more faith, they’d have had more time together. His words the night they’d renewed their vows haunted her “If I know anything about love, it’s because I learnt it from you.” Shawn sat with her, holding her in the middle of a hospital corridor, shedding his own tears. Feeling his sister’s pain, wanting to take it all away for her, wanting to make her world right again, knowing how she was feeling, how it felt to know that the person who held your heart was slipping away. That there was nothing you could do to bring them back, because you were the reason they were gone. That was how their parents found them when they ran into emergency, both having heard over the police scanner about the shootings. The police where swarming the place, they had found all the guilty parties as well as enough evidence to put them away for many years. There capture was thanks to the men Luc had had stationed outside the warehouse, but neither Bo nor Hope had cared about either, all they’d heard was that their children had been involved, that they were at University Hospital.
The first thing Hope registered upon seeing them was all the blood that covered them. “Shawn… Victoria… are you two okay?”
Shawn looked up at his mother, “We’re not hurt that badly. Not physically anyway.” He tried to get up but Victoria wouldn’t release him. He picked her up and a nurse, who had known the Horton family for years, and had recognised Shawn the minute he’d stormed through the emergency doors demanding a doctor, led him to a private room where they could get her clean and calm. Shawn nodded his thanks as he walked into the room, his parents following closely.
Hope went straight to the adjoining bathroom and wet two of the towels that lay there. When she came back into the room, Shawn was trying to extricate himself from his sister’s grasp. “Tory, its okay to let go.” Shawn spoke to her softly, his eyes never leaving hers, “It’s okay to let go.” And slowly she released her grip.
That was when she noticed the blood on her hands; she stared at it in shock, wondering where it had come from. Then it hit her, it was Luc’s blood, her hands were stained with his blood, “Get it off! Get it off!” She rubbed her hands in an effort to get the blood off them. When that didn’t work, she scratched at them; Hope stopped that before she hurt herself by placing a wet towel on her hands, “Here, let me.” And gently she started wiping the blood away, Victoria wasn’t aware of her ministrations though, because by then she’d already passed out.
They waited over an hour to here anything. When the doctor finally approached them, his expression said it all, they didn’t need to hear the words but he said them anyway, “He likely won’t make it through the night. If I were you; I’d start praying for a miracle and prepare yourself for the worst.”
Hope went back to Victoria’s room, Lexie had arranged for the usage till Victoria woke or the bed was needed. She sat by her daughter’s bedside trying to imagine how she was going to tell her that her husband would likely not make it. She’d been in a similar position over a year earlier and it wasn’t any easier.
Chapter 69
She opened the door at his knock; his ragged appearance was the only thing that stopped her from slamming the door in his face. “Come in.” was all she said and closed the door behind him. He walked into the kitchen, into the heart of this house and stopped dead in his tracks. At the realisation that this wasn’t his home but he was too tired to dwell on those thoughts. He dropped himself onto the closest kitchen chair.
She poured two mugs of coffee and placed one in front of him and taking the other with her to the opposite end of the table. He wanted her closer, he wanted to feel her, feel her heartbeat, feel her breath, he wanted to feel life. They sat like that for a while; she didn’t say anything, waiting for him to say what had brought him to her doorstep. He looked down at his hands, gripping the coffee mug.
“Luc’s in the hospital. He was shot, jumped in front of a bullet aimed at my sister’s heart.”
“Oh my God, is he okay?”
“No, he’s in ICU. Doctors said to expect the worst, that he probably wouldn’t make it through the night.”
“Poor Victoria, how is she coping?”
“She’s not; she was hysterical till she passed out. My mom’s with her now, she wouldn’t allow them to give Tory a sedative, said she wouldn’t appreciate it if she woke up and her husband wasn’t around. She wouldn’t want to know that she’d been drugged while Luc had been fighting for his life. It is so scary Mimi, seeing her like that, she’s my sister and I want nothing more than to protect her but you should see the state she’s in, it’s like she’s lost her soul, her eyes are dead.”
“So you came here instead? Why?”
He slipped the chain off from around his neck, where the rings had been since the day she’d given them back. He let them slide off the chain onto the table, picking the engagement ring up, he turned to her, “This gem, this diamond is a family heirloom. It was entrusted to me with a promise, a promise that the person I gave it to was the person I was absolutely certain I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The first time I gave you this ring, I broke that promise. I wasn’t at all sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you; I only knew that I was certainly willing to give it a try. You said once that if I’d found out about Claire before we’d gotten married, I’d never have gone through with it. You were right, if I’d known about Claire being my daughter back then, nothing short of death would have kept me from making her and Belle my family. I would have married Belle and I don’t know if we would have been happy but we’d have tried and I would have looked back only every once in a while when I was feeling nostalgic and wondered what my life might’ve been like if I’d chosen you. But that didn’t happen, and I got the opportunity to find out what life would’ve been like for me if I’d chosen you, because I did choose you. I made a choice and even though it was for all the wrong reasons at the time, it turned out to be the right choice in the end. Because Miriam Elizabeth Brady, I love you with my heart and soul, like I’ve never loved anyone in my life, no not even Belle. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much. Proving to you that you can trust me in a way you never could before. Seeing my sister today really put things in perspective for me, I don’t want to lose you Mimi. So I’m sitting here with this ring again and I’m remembering the promise I made and I’m offering it to you. I am absolutely certain that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She looked at the ring, was tempted to pick it up and say yes to everything he was offering but she couldn’t do it. And right then she hated the part of herself that refused to reach out and take the ring from Shawn but she knew it was for the best. “Thanks for the offer Shawn; but the answer is no. I can’t accept that ring because while you may be sure of me, I’m not sure of you. You say so many things Shawn, make so many promises but they’re only words and I’ve learnt not to trust a single word you say.”
He glanced at her and got up from his chair, “Thanks for the coffee.”
“Shawn wait!” he turned around, “you forgot the rings.”
He shook his head, “I’ll never have the need to give them to anyone else. Keep them.” and with that he walked out of the kitchen and out of the house. He should get back to the hospital, maybe there’d be some good news there.
*****
Victoria opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings; she was in a room, an unfamiliar room but the smell, the smell wasn’t unfamiliar. She saw a figure, slumped tiredly in a chair just out of reach. She held out her hand trying to touch whoever it was, but felt she already knew, “Mommy?”Hope, who had been asleep in the chair by her daughter’s bedside, woke with a start. Victoria was reaching out with her hand. “I’m here sweetheart, I’m here.”
“I had the most awful dream, I dreamt that Luc was shot, my hands were covered in his blood. There was so much blood mom.” She looked at her mother’s face, “Only it wasn’t a dream was it?” she kicked at the bedclothes, eager to get out and to Luc, he needed her.
Hope tried to keep her in bed, “You need to wait a while, five minutes honey, just till you’re steady.”
She looked Hope dead in the eye and they were both remembering that occasion last year when Victoria had pushed her away, history was not about to repeat itself, “What I need is to see my husband. If he’s okay I’ll rest for as long as you want me to but I need to see him. Please?” it was the utter desperation in that last word that had Hope helping her daughter get dressed. She got Luc’s doctor’s permission for the visit, five minutes was all he was willing to allow her, and even helped her to his room in ICU, but stopped at the door. It was a step Victoria had to take on her own.
She opened the door and heard the heart monitor beeping regularly. The only indication that he was indeed alive, he certainly didn’t look it lying there so still. She walked hesitantly over to the bed; the doctor’s had said to expect the worst that he would likely not make it through the night. She had to convince him to go on living, to not give up. She sat down in the chair that had been placed by his bedside and lifted his lifeless hand, she’d never seen him like this before, he was always so alive, always had somewhere to go. Even in his sleep he was restless yet now he lay so deathly quiet, it frightened her.
“Hey you, it’s time to wake up. The doctors say you’re not going to make it through the night, but they don’t know you like I do. I don’t think anyone does. You’re a fighter, you’d never let something as silly as a bullet bring you down, you’re a Dimera. I never thought I’d be so glad of that fact than I am now. All I know about your family is what I’ve learnt from mine, and the one thing that has always rung true, was that Dimera’s always come back. They always come back, so you come back okay. You come back to me because you promised me forever, you promised me forever Luc and I’m going to hold you to that promise. God, why did you have to jump in front of that stupid bullet? What is it with the men in my life all trying to be my hero? I don’t need a hero, I’m a big girl; I can handle myself.”
“So if you’re planning on sleeping there for a while that’s okay, as long as you wake up. As long as I get to be held in your arms again, you take all the time you need. Luc I’m so sorry, for everything. I should have listened to you, when you told me to leave it alone I should have listened instead of doing my own thing. It wasn’t a lack of trust; it was me trying to save you the way you’re always trying to save me. I realise it’s a little late, and if you wake up and decide you don’t want to be with me, that’s okay. But please just wake up. I’ve watched my brother throw away the best thing in his life, I don’t want to be like that, you said I taught you about love, well you taught me too. You want to know something really scary? I was wrong. Yeah, I know, miracles will never cease to happen. You want to now what I was wrong about? I guess you do huh; otherwise you’d have shut me up by now. Remember when I told you love wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be? Well, I was wrong about that, love is all it’s cracked up to be. It’s worth fighting for, it’s worth risking everything for, it’s worth dying for Luc; you showed me that. But it’s worth living for too; it’s so worth living for…” She gently leaned over him and kissed him on his forehead, “So live, please. Not for me, for yourself.” She whispered in his ear. Someone tapped on the door, her five minutes were up and she could only pray that they had been enough.
