Chapter 1

"What happened?" a nurse asked, as Ethan placed Kristina on the medical gurney.

"I… I don't know," he choked out, grabbing her hand as they wheeled her into the exam room. "I came by to see Krissy, and I found her on the floor all beat up." The nurse nodded, looking up at him and noticing the scratch marks across his face.

"I need you to stay out in the waiting room right now," she told him. She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him towards the curtain. Ethan stopped, and shook his head no.

"I'm not leaving her. Not until her parents get here," he told her, maneuvering around the nurse and returning to Kristina's bedside.

"I'm sorry but attack victims can not have visitors until the police arrive." Ethan looked up at her and shook his head in disgust.

"You think I did this to her," he spat out quickly. The nurse got red, but slowly shrugged.

"I'm sorry. It's just you do have scratch marks across your face, and I just need you to stand out in the waiting room until the police get here. I just put in the call," she spoke softly, looking at Kristina.

"Yeah, well my brother works for the PCPD, and I'm not leaving," Ethan replied, turning back to Kristina. He gently rubbed her hand and brushed the hair out of her face. Anger was building inside of him as we watched tears fall from her eyes. "Krissy, I'm here love. It's okay. You're safe," he whispered, looking down, placing her hand against his forehead.

"Ethan…" Kristina's voice was weak and broken. Ethan looked up quickly and nodded, as her one eye slowly started to open. Within a matter of seconds, Kristina went into hysterics.

"Whoa, whoa, baby. Calm down," he told her, standing up and leaning into her. "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you," he told her, smoothing the back of her hair. She reached up slowly, holding onto Ethan's arm. Kristina tried to talk, but her throat was closing on her. "Shhh," Ethan whispered.

Alexis quickly came through the curtain and her gasp could be heard from the bed. Ethan stepped aside, allowing her to swoop into her daughters presence. Sonny came in behind her, and stared at his daughter, in complete shock.

"What happened?" Alexis sobbed, touching Kristina's face.

"I found her like this at the Lakehouse." Sonny shook his head, looking away quickly.

"Who did this baby," Alexis asked. Sonny nodded, walking around to the other side of the bed.

"Tell us who did this Kristina," Sonny encouraged. Kristina looked at both her parents in a panic. Ethan sensed Kristina's sudden change and cleared his throat.

"Maybe we should let her rest a bit, she just got here and I'm sure this is all very over whelming," he suggested.

"I don't know who did it," Kristina finally spoke, closing her eyes. Her sobs became louder, and Ethan had to look away. He had no doubt in his mind who did it, and he hated that she was covering for that low life boyfriend of hers.

Lucky walked into the room, and quickly evaluated the mood. Sonny shook his head, pointing for Lucky to leave. "She doesn't need to talk to you right now," Sonny told him sternly. Lucky nodded, sympathetically.

"Sonny, I understand but it's my job to see an attack victim within the first hour of it being reported. I need to ask Kristina a few questions," Lucky told him.

"She doesn't know who it was, that's all you need to know. So why don't you and your crime team go to the Lakehouse and look for some evidence," Ethan shot back, stepping towards Lucky. Sonny watched the men, taking notice of Ethan's protectiveness of his daughter.

"Well who found her," Lucky pushed.

"I did, and it wasn't really on the top of my priories to inspect the house. Maybe the son of a bitch is still there."

"Why were you at her house?" Ethan shook his head and pushed his hair back.

"If you as so even imply I'm responsible for this, you can go to hell," Ethan yelled, louder then he expected.

"It wasn't him," Kristina sobbed, for the first time making eye contact with Ethan. He watched as her one eye bounced around on his face, pleading with him.

"Alright, you're clearly making my daughter even more upset Lucky. If you need her to give a statement she will, when she's ready to." Sonny watched as Ethan pushed Lucky out of the room.

"Why do I get the feeling you're trying to cover something up," Lucky asked. Ethan shook his head, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Look, I don't know Krissy that well alright? Her dad is a known mob boss. Isn't that reason enough for Krissy to get beaten?"

"It is, but I don't want to waste time looking for someone who doesn't exist if there is one particular person I should be looking for," Lucky added.

"I understand you're doing your job, but I don't know anything and I don't think she does either," Ethan replied, turning back into the room.

--

It had been a few hours since Ethan brought Kristina in and things in her room were settling down. The doctors had run tests, and nothing was broken. They predicted her eye would be fine with time, and she shouldn't loose any eyesight. Kristina had convinced Alexis and Sonny that she just needed time alone, and asked them to leave for a while. Alexis left to go be with Molly, and Sonny said he would wait in the waiting room until she was up for company. Ethan asked to speak to Sonny in the hall, on his way out.

"I need to be honest with you about what happened tonight, because there is a good chance I could be implied as her attacker," he told Sonny. Sonny eyed him carefully, as they both sat down in the waiting room. "Tonight Krissy showed up at the Haunted Star, dressed to the nines in heels and make-up. She asked me to make her a drink, and admitted to hacking into my email to cancel my date I had tonight. She kept… coming at me, implying she wanted us to be together. I told her it wouldn't happen, and she threw a hissy fit. I grabbed her arm, Sonny, and Sam told me I left a bruise." Ethan watched as Sonny took in this information. "I was at the Lake house to apologize to her for putting my hands on her when I found her.

"Why would Kristina cancel your date?" Sonny asked, feeling as though he was missing pieces of this story.

"I think Krissy has developed a bit of a crush on me. I went out of my way to be really nice to her because she seemed to have low confidence and with everything going on with you and the trial I thought some male attention would be good for her. I never meant for her to think I liked her, just cared about her. I would never disrespect you or your family." Sonny nodded, looking at the ground.

"Well I appreciate you looking out for her. I can tell you do care about her, but I will tell you. If I find out you as so much laid a finger on her, you'll be dead. I don't care who your father is, I will kill you myself," Sonny warned. Ethan nodded, running his hands through his hair.

"I'm just gonna go say goodbye to Krissy," he told Sonny, standing up and walking back towards the room. He came in slowly, closing the door behind him. Kristina's woke up quickly, frightened by the sound. "Hey…" Ethan said, walking towards the bed.

"Hi," was all she could choke out.

"You know he's a dead man," Ethan said, sitting down on the stool next to her bed. Kristina eyed him carefully, trying to fight back the tears. "You can play the 'I don't know who it was' card to them, but just know he's going to pay for hurting you."

"Ethan, please don't…." She cried sitting up quickly. "This is all a misunderstanding." Tears were pouring down her face as she tried to explain.

"Please, this is no misunderstanding. Slapping you around was bad enough, and I didn't go after him because you asked me to. What he did to you is animalistic and he's going to pay for it," Ethan told her, his voice stern. Kristina shook her head, tears continuing to fall down her cheeks.

"Please… don't," she sobbed, grabbing his arm tight. Ethan looked down at her fragile hand, which even held evidence of Keifer's attack. He shook his head, placing his hand over it and rubbing her finger softly with his.

"Krissy…" he trailed, taking a deep breathe. He needed to calm down before he said something to her he'd regret.

"Just please drop this. You don't understand. I betrayed him," she cried, black tears pouring down her face. Ethan shook his head, pulling away from her.

"When are you going to get it threw your head that that prick enjoys having this power over you and you defending him is only making his power greater," he practically yelled at her. She sank back into her pillow, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Leave," she cried, slamming her hand down on the pillow. "Just leave then! Remember I'm a brat and I'm not good enough for you!" Ethan stared at her for a long moment, then nodded.

"Fine. I'll leave. But that isn't going to stop me from going after Keifer. He will pay for what he did to you."

---

"You okay?" Lulu asked, sitting at the bar next to Ethan. He shook his head, holding up his drink, swishing it around, and then finishing it. "I take that as a no…"

"Just little on edge that someone in this town could brutally beat a 17 year old," Ethan told her looking at his sister. She nodded, looking down at the bar.

"It's scary to think that anyone could hurt a girl like that. I can't imagine what Kristina is going through right now," Lulu said shaking her head. "To be so defenseless, so vulnerable…After I heard about it, I couldn't help but think what I would do if that happened to me.."

"Hey…you don't ever have to worry about something like this happening to you. And when I find out who it was who did this to Krissy, I'm going to show them what it's like to be defenselss." Ethan slammed down his glass, and looked away quickly.

"I know this might not be my place to say anything, but is there any chance that… That you have a thing for her?" She watched his face, then quickly added, " You just seem really upset and protective over her and it's not like you two were that close…"

"I considered us friends. I blame myself for letting her get attached to me in anyway. I was just trying to help her," he explained.

"Help her from what? I don't see Kristina as being in need of your helping. She's 17, what is going on in her life that is so rough?" Ethan sighed, finding the words to explain hard to get out.

"It's been a rough year for Kristina. I just… I thought she needed some positive attention. So I gave it to her. I care a lot about her, like I care about you. It's nothing more then that…" Lulu nodded, not wanting to push him any further.

"Well, despite what happened, I bet Kristina feels pretty lucky to have you in her life." Lulu told him, standing up and rubbing his arm, before exiting the bar.