12
Tracy felt wonderful as she walked along the corridors of the hospital. Although she hated hospitals with a passion, she was so grateful the staff was able to save her husband's life. Soon, she would be able to take him home, where he belonged.
Entering his room, Tracy smelt something burning. She was immediately alarmed, and that alarm was confirmed when she saw Luke lolled to the side of his bed, barely breathing.
"My God, Luke…. Wake up." Tracy was beyond scared. She immediately rang for the doctors, and then tried to shake Luke awake. Something fell out of his hand, so Tracy reached for it. A cigar? What the hell was Luke doing with a cigar?
At that moment Dr. Julian rushed in with the cardiac team. Tracy backed up in disbelief. Luke did this to himself? After all the warnings about what could happen, he still found someone to bring him cigars in his hospital room? What else was he having delivered when she was away?
It took several minutes, but the medical team was able to revive her husband. The monitors were hooked up again, and he seemed to be breathing normally. Dr. Julian turned to Tracy to ask what happened. All she could do was shrug her shoulders and hold up the Cuban Cigar. Dr. Julian just shook his head. What could you say when the patient was the only one not on board with his recovery.
"Spanky… Tracy…." Slowly Luke regained consciousness. "What happened? Why do I hurt like hell?"
"I can answer that, Mr. Spencer", Dr. Julian started. "What were you thinking? I told you not even a few days ago, that cigars were going to put you right back where you started. Not to mention the fire hazard to the safety of everyone in this hospital. You have open oxygen in this room, and that could explode at any time. You're just lucky your wife came in when she did. You really know how to push the limits, don't you?"
"Dr. Julian", Tracy asked as she moved towards Luke's bed. "Is he going to be alright now?"
Leo just sighed. "He should be fine for now, as long as he doesn't pull any more of these stunts."
"Good", said Tracy, "because there is something he needs to know."
Before Luke knew what was coming, Tracy punched him in the face. Her years of hard living had taught Tracy exactly where to hit to cause the most pain.
As he tried to recover, Luke just stared at Tracy.
"Tracy, what was that for?"
"What was that for? For all the sacrificing I have done to keep you alive, and you not willing to give up ANYTHING to stay that way." Then she turned on her heels and stormed out of the room.
Luke was in shock, but Leo just laughed. "You, Mr. Spencer, are a fool."
As Tracy stormed down the hall, she heard her name being called. Turning around, she saw Dr. Julian rushing after her.
"What do you want?" She hissed.
"I just want to see that your hand is okay. He deserved the punch, and he obviously doesn't deserve you."
Tracy scoffed, but let the doctor take her hand. Leo gently held Tracy's hand in his, checking it all over. Slowly Tracy was getting her equilibrium back, but she was still as angry as ever.
"Thank you, Dr. Julian. My hand feels fine."
"Leo"
"Leo. I've got to get out of here."
Leo let go of her hand, and watched her leave. She certainly had passion, and he admired that.
"Why are you staring at my brother's wife, Dr. Julian?"
Leo turned to find Bobbie Spencer and Scott Baldwin. He had the decency to look chagrined.
"I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Your brother had someone bring cigars into his room, and he almost killed himself again. Mrs. Spencer got there in time to call us and we were able to revive him."
"Luke's okay then?" Bobbie asked, the concern overwhelming her voice.
"His heart, yes. His face might take awhile."
"His face?" asked Scott.
"Yeah, when Mrs. Spencer was assured he would be all right, she punched him and left."
"Good for Tracy. About time she gave it to that bastard."
"Scott, be nice", Bobbie said.
At the same time Bobbie was checking on Luke, Tracy was marching towards her car. What a fool she'd been. Why did she always fall in love with the wrong men? She had spent almost every waking hour by his side. She had fought for him and with him. She had slept in those lousy hospital chairs just to be there if he needed anything. She had abandoned her work and her family when they were in crisis, all to be there with him. And this was how he repaid her? Was he worth this?
Tracy wanted a drink, but she knew that was only a short term solution. What she really needed was to throw herself into work again. Reports were due, mergers needed to be reviewed and concluded. She needed to be somewhere where people feared and respected her. She needed to feel like she was accomplishing something. She had been Mrs. Spencer for the past two months, time to bring Tracy Quartermaine out of mothballs and get back in the game.
Hours later, Scott found Tracy deep into a report. "I thought you might be here, Trace."
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Scott walked in to the room and sat across the desk from Tracy.
"I heard what happened at the hospital today. Luke is an idiot. Always has been, always will be."
"Look Scott, I'm really busy, and I'm not interested in a round of 'Scott hates Luke'. I have too much work to catch up on. You know the way out." With that, Tracy went back to her reports, attempting to ignore him.
"I'm not here about Luke. He can rot in hell for all I care. I'm here to see you. I know you haven't eaten or slept properly in weeks. Let me take ya to dinner."
Tracy harrumphed. "You're kidding, right? Why would you want to take me to dinner? I'm not interested in your gloating."
"Come on, Tracy, I will be the perfect gentleman. We had some good times before, let's talk about that. I promise, I won't mention loser Spencer all evening."
"The minute you say anything, I'm gone."
"Deal."
The next morning, Luke was lying in his hospital bed, feeling more foul than normal. Where was she? She wasn't answering her cell and she wasn't home. He even tried the office and they said she hadn't been there since the previous evening. Tracy was always with him these days, and he missed her more than he could say. He wasn't even interested in flirting with the nurses that checked on him. He wanted his wife.
"How are you doing today, Mr. Spencer?" Dr. Julian asked as he entered the room.
"How the hell am I supposed to be?" Luke answered irritably.
"Well, given how you were yesterday, you should be happy to be alive. Your wife saved your life, again, Mr. Spencer. She's one incredible woman." Leo smiled as he started writing notes in Luke's file.
"Don't get any ideas, doctor."
"Mr. Spencer," Leo didn't even bother to look up, "I've had ideas since I first met her. She's a powerhouse, and she's pretty mad at you."
"She'll get over it. I just want to live life my way."
Leo looked up at that comment, shut the file and stared at Luke.
"Yeah, so you say. You're life, your way. Seems this room is pretty empty, and you're stuck in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of you. How's that working for you?"
With that, Leo left. Luke scoffed behind him. Tracy would be back, and then everything would go back to normal.
Tracy didn't come in to the hospital that day, nor the following day. By the third day the hospital staff was ready to kill Luke Spencer themselves. Although a difficult patient, Luke always had a sense of humour about him. Now, even that was gone.
Luke was giving his latest nurse grief, when Scott entered the room.
"What do you want, Baldwin?" he hissed.
"Just to see how you're doing, Spencer. It's nice to see that Tracy finally came to her senses. Great girl, Tracy. Loves to laugh. She's been laughing with me a lot lately."
Luke just glared at him, as Scott continued.
"You know, Tracy always knows what she wants in life and goes after it. I've always admired that about her. And seeing her at work…. well, that never fails to impress me. Tracy at her desk… hmmm."
"Get out, get out now you lousy scum. And leave my wife alone." Luke was yelling at the top of his lungs.
A nurse quickly rushed in, trying to calm Luke. Leo came in behind, to see what the commotion was all about.
"Get that bastard out of here." Luke continued, "And get my wife."
"Mr. Baldwin, I think you should leave."
"I'm going, I'm going. Just wanted to update Luke on his wife."
Leo was immediately concerned. "Is Mrs. Spencer okay?"
Scott smiled his rascally smile and looked over at Luke. "Hey Spencer, even your doctor knows how great Tracy is. To bad you never figured it out."
"Get out!!!"
Even though she hadn't been to see him, Tracy was getting regular updates on Luke. As angry as she'd been, she still loved him and wanted to be with him. He just needed his own medicine…to experience what it felt like to be left behind without knowing. She knew that Luke was frantic without her, and a part of her was finding that absolutely delicious. He would soon be released from the hospital, baring any more stupidity on his part. Plans needed to be put in place, because she didn't trust him. Right now he was focused on missing her, but when she returned he would probably try getting things past her again. She had to stop that as much as possible.
To that end, she went to see Coleman. If anyone could be in touch with Luke's 'underworld' connections, she felt sure Coleman would. Sonny might, but he was too preoccupied. Coleman was the one. Besides, as she saw it he owed her for insulting her so terribly when she kicked him out.
She had never entered Jakes before. It reminded her of the cheap bars she had been forced to endure during her banishment years. The stench was mild, but still obvious. The décor was dark, and added to the over all feel of a 'dive'. Tracy only drank in the most upscale places now. She refused to be reminded of a darker part of her life. But she had no defence against the memories that assailed her the minute she stepped inside. It disturbed her how familiar it all felt, and shivered in response.
Giving herself a mental shake, she walked over to the bar where Coleman was working.
"Hey Babe, I never thought I'd see you in my world. Get tired of Spencer and come looking for me again?" Coleman was nothing if not arrogant.
"Quite the contrary," she said, trying to hide the disgust in her voice. What had she been thinking?
"My husband is not being particularly smart about his recovery. He is not allowed cigars, yet managed to find a source who delivered them to the hospital. I need to stop it, and I need you to tell me who it is." By that time Tracy was pounding her index finger on the bar top.
Coleman recognized that look and knew Tracy Quartermaine meant business. He'd been allowed to see her playful side, but he's also seen some of her other sides, and this was the CEO talking. She wasn't about to be crossed.
"I'll see what I can do."
"You'd better. I've just purchased the lean on this bar, so in essence, MR. Coleman, you work for me. Whatever I need, you will provide."
Coleman stood back in shock. She'd done what?
"Now Babe, that's not fair. This place is all I've got."
"Relax, it's still yours. I just need someone to help keep my husband out of trouble. He can't have cigars, he can't drink to excess, and he's got to watch who he spends time with. I need you to be my eyes and ears. I couldn't care less about this bar, and I don't need the profits. Are we clear on that? Find me his sources so I can put an end to them. A place to start is someone who calls themselves 'Aunt Clara'."
"Aunt Clara?" Coleman laughed, "yeah, I know who that is. Anyone else on your list?"
"I don't have any other names, if that is what you are insinuating. Your job is to find them and bring them to my attention so I can deal with them. Understand?"
"Yeah, I can do that." Coleman nodded. Perhaps this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. If Luke Spencer was dealing with 'Aunt Clara', he knew the type of friends Luke was keeping. None of them would be on the Quartermaine charity list, that's for sure."
By the end of a complete week without Tracy, Luke was absolutely beside himself. He knew from other people that she was around town and back at her office, so he knew she was okay physically. But they were so close he knew she was hurting as much as he was. She was devoted to him…and he had been an ass, he realized. He had always been the one to leave and return when he was ready. He didn't like that he had no control in this situation, and knowing Tracy, that was exactly the message she was trying to send. He had so much to apologize for, to make up. He's betrayed her, and everything she had done for him. Why was he so hung up on being invincible? He was lost before she came into his life, and he was lost now. Luke never realized how much he needed her. But Tracy knew, he'd bet anything she knew. She always knew when to back off and when to call him on his bull. She pushed him into situations, or out of them, depending on what was best for him. She took the verbal hits from everyone around him, including himself, all because she loved him and wanted the best for him. She was their strength, and he blew it.
"Well Mr. Spencer," Dr. Julian started as he entered the room, "today you seem to be a little quieter. None of the nurses have been complaining about your temper. Is there a reason for that?"
Luke didn't even look up. "Yeah… she's beautiful, smart, ambitions, feisty, and finished with me. She made me want to live, and now that I'm alive, she isn't here. This ain't living, Julian…. this ain't living."
Leo almost felt sorry for his patient. Mrs. Spencer had asked that no one tell Luke she was checking on him every few hours, and that she had made arrangements for his release from the hospital. Luke had no idea the length she was going to in order to remove his temptations and make sure he was totally healthy.
"Mr. Spencer, you talk about living life your way, and not having anyone tell you how to do things. But here you are acting like a pathetic old man who's just putting in time until he dies. Seems to me the only thing you've been focused on are the things you can't have, and I have yet to meet a man who is only cigars, drinking and carousing. Mrs. Spencer seems to be an incredible woman, and incredible women see much more than the surface."
"What do you know about it?" Luke spat back.
Leo continued, "Personally, I've never had the pleasure of a love like that, but I hope I'm smart enough to appreciate it when it does come. Why don't you think about ways to get her back? You'll be getting out of here soon, and with enough healing, you can be the complete husband she deserves. You certainly put in effort to get those cigars in here, why don't you put the same effort in to her? Just something to think about."
After Leo left, Luke stared at the empty doorway for a long time. He'd been willing Tracy to return, but hadn't done much else. He'd never had to woo Tracy. They fell in love after they were married, so she was always there. He'd never earned her love; she just gave it to him. Well, time to change that. And for the first time in a week, Luke felt he had something to live for.
"Ms. Quartermaine?"
Tracy looked up at her assistant. She needed to finish her emails so she could attend to Luke's release from the hospital. Distractions were not something she needed, nor did she need another bouquet of flowers from Scott Baldwin.
"If those are from Mr. Baldwin, you can give them to someone else. Is everything arranged at the summer house?"
"Yes, Ms. Quartermaine. You and Mr. Spencer can leave for the summer house whenever you are ready. The nurse you requested is already there setting up. His background is in physical therapy, so he knows what to expect. Your office has been prepared, and all the information on the Singapore discussions has been sent ahead."
"Thank you, that will be all," Tracy said dismissively, as she turned back to her computer.
"Ma'am, these flowers aren't from Mr. Baldwin, they're from Mr. Spencer."
Tracy's head shot up. In the almost three years of their marriage, Luke had never once given her flowers. She reached out for them, and placed them on her desk while her assistant retreated. Tracy could feel the burn of tears in the back of her throat, as she read the card, 'I love you, Wife.'
"I love you, too", she whispered.
"Okay, Mr. Spencer, your transfer details are arranged. We will have you off to your recuperation centre within the next couple of hours."
"Recuperation centre?" Luke squawked. "What the hell are you talking about. I'm not going anywhere."
"Mr. Spencer," the nurse continued, "the paperwork has been completed. You don't need to be in the hospital anymore, and you aren't yet strong enough to go home. You are going to a private mid-way facility, where you will get the care and physical therapy you need."
"Like hell I am," Luke yelled. "I want my doctor in here NOW!"
"What's all the commotion, Mr. Spencer?" Leo asked as he entered the room. I told you we would be releasing you soon. You have improved enough to go to a facility where they will help you complete your healing."
"I'm not going to a nursing home", Luke barked. "Where's my wife!"
"Mrs. Spencer has been by to sign all the papers. She is fully informed. And it isn't a nursing home, it's a private rest centre. You will have your own room, a nurse has been assigned to you, and he will get you back on your feet in no time." Leo stood their smiling his condescending doctor smile. Mr. Spencer didn't like being handled, but Mrs. Spencer seemed to be doing it rather well.
"She's sending me away?" was all he could say. Luke had never felt more defeated. He slumped back on his bed and closed his eyes.
When the hospital staff later prepared him for his trip, he didn't even complain. In the 10 days since she had left, Tracy had never visited, never called, never commented on the flowers, and never asked about him. She was truly gone, and now she was sending him to an unknown location. How did something so right turn out so wrong? Luke could feel a silent tear fall down his face, and he didn't care who knew it. He had lost.
The ambulance took Luke to a private airfield. From there the small, chartered plane took him further away from his home and the woman he loved. He didn't even bother to ask for a drink. He knew that if Tracy arranged this, there wouldn't be anything on board. Once they landed, a private car took Luke to a secluded house by the water. It was still cold, but not as cold as Port Charles had been. The irony of it all was that he usually couldn't wait to jump on to a plane and get as far away from home as possible. Now, home was the only place he wanted to be. Problem was he didn't have a 'home' anymore.
Luke was met at the door by his 'nurse'. Tracy had hired a male nurse for him, and Luke couldn't help the chuckle. She knew him too well. But that moment of amusement was quickly replaced with sadness. Flirting was only interesting if Tracy was there to react, and she wasn't there anymore.
As he was settled into his room, Luke looked around. He hadn't seen any other patients and everything was very quiet. He had been told it was private, but he didn't think it was that private. The room had an air of elegance to it. Large windows looked on to the ocean, and the teal and cream coloured furnishings seemed to draw the water right into the room. There was little by way of personal touches. On a high shelf, Luke could see the sides of some picture frames, but from his angle he couldn't see who or what was in the pictures. The room held the faintest whiff of Tracy's perfume, but Luke realized he was imaging it. Tracy wasn't here with him.
Some time later, Luke awoke to a noise in his room. Someone had opened the door and was walking towards the bed. The light through the window created a silhouette, and Luke knew it wasn't his nurse. He also knew that body as well as he knew his own. He could hardly breathe as she came towards him, her silk negligee swinging with her hips. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he prayed he wasn't dreaming.
"Have you had enough of doing things your way?" she asked him, as she leaned forward.
Swallowing hard, he assured her he had.
Slowly she crawled under the covers and moved closer to his body. Oh how she'd missed the feel of him. These past two months had been terribly hard on both of them, and she wanted him so desperately in her life, and in her bed. The feel of his arms enclosing her was indescribable. He was so strong, so warm, so welcoming. Resting her head against his chest, she heard the steady rhythm of his heart, and fell in love with him all over again.
Luke couldn't believe this was actually happening. He was so convinced that his marriage was over, and here she was, warm, loving and inviting. His heart felt like it was going to explode, and for once that was the best feeling in the world.
"Tracy, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."
"I know you didn't, Luke, but I had to make you understand the consequences. You have no idea how many times I was at the nurse's station before I remembered my resolve to leave you alone. I must have driven them crazy with my frequent phone calls, although I understand you were driving them crazy on your own."
"What, you were calling to check on me? Whenever I'd ask, the nurses said they hadn't heard from you."
"I told them to say that. Dr. Julian and I were talking constantly. I knew everything that happened, sweetheart. If it was truly an emergency, I would have been there immediately."
Tracy looked up into his eyes so he could see her sincerity. She stroked his face before she brought him to her lips. She had denied herself those kisses for almost two weeks, and she was finished her fast. Luke had been enduring the same fast, and he was desperate for the taste of her. Long and slow and demanding, they renewed their familiarity.
Tracy was the first to break away.
"You're not healed enough yet, Luke, but when you are I look forward to everything you can give me. And we're going to stay here until you are well enough to go back to Port Charles. This is my favourite summer house, so no one will be disturbing us. The kids know you're with me, so they won't be worried. Your nurse is discrete, and when we are together he won't be around."
"You thought of everything," he smiled. Words could not express the joy he was feeling.
"I've tried." She said, and then Tracy leaned over him so Luke was looking directly into her eyes. "But understand this, Spencer. We live MY life, MY way."
"Yes wife."