Be strong for us

By: Laurie-Lee

Summary: Sequel to my fic 'Numb'. Julian finally realizes who he truly love and find a friend in someone unexpected. One-shot/short fic. Please Review! COMPLETE

Julian Crane knew a faint glimmer of knowledge related to what had happened. One glimmer, one hope that maybe someone would be able to find him before his likely death from...whoever had injured him.

He knew he was hurting. He knew he'd been attacked while wandering outside of the mansion. He didn't remember who had attacked him, and he was having problems making his way through the haze of sleep to the clear light of consciousness.

It was as though his body was floating in a dark pool...he felt suspended in time and space. His mind was far away, and he couldn't seem to latch onto anything, any memory or thought, and keep hold of it for very long.

He felt so stiff, so cold, and so much in pain that it was hard to keep what little consciousness he had within reach.

Presently he knew that someone was cleaning his wounds. He could feel the particularly deep scar across his chest being washed with a stinging liquid, and he must have flinched for then he heard a voice.

The voice was not clear to him, though he knew it to be female from the fact that it was soft and somewhat familiar to him. Nervous too he soon realized as though she was worried about him. He tried to focus on what she was saying.

He could hear some words but couldn't seem to put them together and figure out what she was talking about.

"...Hurt..." He focused on this word until he could recognize another. "...Awake?..."

His mind grasped onto that word. Awake. He wanted to be awake so he could see who his rescuer was, but he could not make himself become in that awakened state. He felt so lost.

"Be....strong....for....us.."

Slowly her words began to drift away and he fell into a deeper state of unconsciousness than even before. He could still feel her, now bandaging the deep wounds and likely-infected scars he'd recieved but that was all he was aware of.

She, on the other hand, was very aware of him. She'd only seen him flinch once at her touch, and had hopefully asked if he was awake. That was one of her problems: always assuming things too early. Simply seeing him in such a terrible condition made her feel weak at heart and she'd noticed that his face had been slashed. A closer inspection revealed that his eyes had taken most of the damage and he would likely be rendered blind from the attack.

She had not seen the attack but had come across him lying in a pool of mud and blood. She'd panicked, soon forcing herself to calm down and take him home though she'd still resented him a bit for everything he'd put her through in the past.

Now he lied in an extra bedroom, very quiet for once and very still. She watched to be sure that he still breathed and didn't bother to look at the time as she sat with him.

After a long time of simply sitting and occasionally humming, she held his hand tightly and sung to him in the hopes that he would regain consciousness for the sake of one of her loved one was in his hands. She terribly wanted to speak with him but was afraid to force him to awake. She decided that gently rousing him would be the best possible solution.

He was snapped out of his pit of darkness harshly when he heard her clear voice singing and felt her fragile hand grasping his. Then it seemed as though a part of his mind awakened anew and he remembered that there was someone in this vast world, that he loved for real. And for a brief instant, he wondered if this was her. Had she found him?

She watched as his eyelids flickered open to reveal once-colored eyes, now clouded with the new blindness that she was afraid he'd been cursed with. She touched his face gently and he reacted, though slowly, to the feeling.

He knew his eyes had opened...but he still couldn't see anything. He frantically tried to tell her that something was wrong, but all the sound he could make was a pathetic soft wail of helplessness.

His mind raced now that it had unfrozen and his first thought was a question of where he was and who was taking care of him.

She spoke softly to him and this time he could understand her words. "Don't worry. I'm taking care of you. I know you can't see. That's because whoever attacked you must have blinded you."

He fell silent from his cries of pain and panic while he listened to her.

"I found you lying in a pool of blood near the mansion...I couldn't leave you there. We're bounded together by your son, you know." She paused to let the words sink in. She knew he was searching who she was .

Searching in the very depth of his soul, her words were coming back to him. She'd said we were bounded together by his son. Immediately, an image formed in his mind. It was Theresa Crane; his daughter-in-law; the very young woman he'd taken her little boy from when their marriage had been discovered as a fake.

"The...Theresa?" he asked, still unsure. His voice was hoarse.

"Yes...." she simply whispered. The feeling of warmth and joy that filled his body at that very instant shocked him. Could this be? Maybe this was the one person he loved, the one woman he would truly love for the rest of his life. "I'm so glad you're alive. I didn't think you'd survive to your wounds. You've been shot and sliced. Julian, do you know who's done this to you?" He shook his head to to tell her no but the image of his almost ex-wife with a gun pointed at him clearly appeared on hid mind and he then nodded. "Tell me."

"It was my treacherous, lying, deceitful wife. Rebecca." He suddenly stopped talking, realizing his daughter-in-law was talking to him gently and almost like if he was part of her family. "How...How come you didn't let me die? How come you saved me?"

"Even though we've never been the best of friends Julian, you are still my husband's father and grandfather to Liliana and Alejandro." A smile spread on his lips as he thought of his only grandchildren. Yes. He loved both very much. They'd transformed him into the good man he was today.

"Where is Foxworth?"

"He's on his way here. Lilianea and Alejandro's teacher wanted one of us to meet her to talk about their incredible scores so he went. As for me, I was going over the mansion to see you concerning Little Ethan's custody when I found you. I've brought you back here and called Fox."

"He won't be happy to see me here..." he trailed off. Fox and him hadn't got along well ever since he'd let Gwen and Ethan adopt Theresa's son. "Much less you taking care of me."

"Don't worry about that. He's no more mad at you. It's Rebecca he wants to kill. Besides, I have a heart huge enough to not let a person I even hate die." A tear rolled down her cheek. "And you're not one of them Julian. Ever since you've changed, you are one of the person I love the most...that is besides my children and husband of course!" They both laughed a little. "Anyway, I'll take care of you until you get better enough to walk and talk properly." she promised. "Your voice isn't great right now and you should take some rest." She got up to walk away but Julian grabbed her hand.

"Before you go, I want to tell you something."

"I'm all ears."

"Before my attack, I'd signed the papers declaring I was taking Little Ethan's custody back from Ethan and Gwen and giving it to you entirely. I wanted to give him back to you next week, at your birthday party. I thought you'd like that as a gift." Her eyes filled with tears as she smiled at her father-in-law.

"Yes, I would have loved to receive that for my birthday. Thank you so much."

"I've seen you grow into that lovely lady Theresa and I know you deserve to have your firstborn back." He then saw the clouds passing in her eyes. "I know what you think and don't worry, I'd already sent the papers to the judge and got back a positive answer when Rebecca shot me. You'll get back Ethan Martin." In a wave of joy, Theresa hugged him. He sighed softly while taking in her enchanting scent and closed his eyes. Yes. His daughter-in-law was really the one he'd searched for during all of these years and the one he would love for the rest of his life. But she was married to his son and he wouldn't destroy the perfect happiness she'd struggled so hard to build.

"Yes I will. Get some rest," she whispered, fixing the sheets of the bed he was using. "You need to be strong enough to join me and Fox when we'll go over Ethan's house to get Little Ethan back where he belongs. And that's not forgetting about making Rebecca pay for everything she's done to us Cranes." Julian simply smiled and closed his eyes as Theresa exited the bedroom. Soon, very soon, he would get his revenge on Rebecca and she would not know what would be hitting her until she would be on her knees begging him. But he would leave her with nothing and start fresh with his life as a great man.

Hope you liked it. REVIEW PLZ ! ! ! It helps me get inspired.

-Laurie-Lee