As some of you may see, I absolutly love writing this story (that's why the updates are so quick and the chapters are relatively long) I hope you all enjoy reading this just as much.
Chapter 2
It was strange how silence can overtake even the most talkative person. Just moments ago while in the car with Lucky Spencer, Sam had talked about her fears for her mother. She kept asking him questions, and now Sam knew quite a lot. Apparently, Alexis had felt her health take a turn for the worst even before Sam took her surprise trip to California. But when Alexis wanted to tell Sam something very important, and found that Sam was gone, her health declined so quickly that within a week she slipped into a coma.
Now she stood by the foot of her mother's hospital bed and watched the heart monitor counting off her pulse. She watched the oxygen machine give Alexis the air that she couldn't breath in herself. Sam was lost in horror as she remembered her ball-busting mother, the woman who was practically fearless, was now laying so still, with a face as white as a sheet of snow.
"Hi," she murmured with a tone just above a whisper.
Alexis didn't respond.
Her hair was gone, from the cancer obviously. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Sam remembered that patients in a coma were still able to think and feel emotions, that they were only gone in a physical sense. She remembered that coma patients could hear what was being said to them.
"I'm here," Sam said. "I'm here, Alexis. I'm good and I'm alive." She wondered if she sounded convincing. "When I was away on my trip, I did something very good. Something very good happened to me." She wondered if she sounded happy and exited. If coma patients could pick up on emotions they heard in someone's voice, she hoped her mother picked up on the happiness and not the panic. With a false tone of happiness, she said, "I want you to be the first to know of what happened to me. I want to tell you. When you wake up, I will. I promise."
She stepped around the bed and came to her mother's side. "I hear there's something very important that you wanted to tell me." She paused and tried to control her voice, and not to give away her real emotions. "I hope you. . ." Her voice shook tenderly and she paused again. Sam took a deep breath. "I hope you live to tell me about it." Her attempt to hide her sadness didn't work as she felt tears fill her eyes. She blinked a few times, willing the tears to go away as she breathed deeply trying to control her emotions.
Sam wanted Alexis to be surrounded by the good while she was in the coma. She assumed that if Alexis believed that Sam's life was going great, that she would wake up more easily then if she believed that everyone around her was stressed and unhappy. She didn't want Alexis to feel anything negative around her.
Did Ric visit Alexis? She wondered about that and was pretty sure that he did. But did her fill her with stress, pushing her further into her coma, or did he also fill her with a sense of happiness and security.
She wished her mother would wake up. When coming back from California, Sam was eager to develop some sort of a relationship with Alexis. Now that she had left Jason for good, Alexis would have been happy to know that. Did she know that? She wanted to tell her mother but didn't. Afraid that her voice will betray her fears and sadness. Instead, she simply watched as Alexis laid there, and finally she touched Alexis's arm. With her fingertips, she touched the back of her mother's cold hand and felt more tears well up in her eyes. She was pretty sure that the tears weren't doing Alexis any good. Afraid that her mother will pick up on those emotions through her voice, Sam forced her voice to calm down and she finally whispered. "Goodbye, Alexis."
As she walked towards the door, Sam felt like crap for calling her mother by her first name as opposed to 'Mom' or 'Mother'. But her relationship with the woman was too new, too fresh and damaged for Sam to open up to the woman who gave her life, and destroyed it. She wasn't ready to open up to the woman whom she hated and loved unconditionally.
As she walked out the door, Sam leaned against it and covered her face in her hands as she cried softly.
"Are you okay?" she heard Lucky ask her as he rubbed her arm softly.
She hated herself for falling apart like that. Clearing away her tears, Sam said, "I'm fine. I'm just not used to seeing her like this. She used to be so strong, and now she can't even open up her own eyes."
"It must be hard seeing her like that."
Sam only nodded.
Lucky placed his hand on her upper back and pushed her away from the door. "Come on, I'll take you to your place."
She didn't protest as he lead her toward his car and then drove her to her new apartment at the MetroCourt hotel. All Sam could think about was what Alexis was thinking about, what was she feeling, while in her coma. Was she at least happy in her mind? Or was it all chaos as her real life had been?
---
She was lost. She had to be. No one had come to search for her in days and the feeling of being lost was unnerving. Alexis tried to remember the moment she ended up in that dark forest of eternal night. She remembered wanting to tell something very important to Sam. But then Sam vanished and her health went downhill and then she hired an attorney to help her in case something bad happened to her. And then. . . And then . . . She ended up in this forest. She tried to remember the path to the place but she couldn't. She just remembered talking to Ric, and then he left her in tears and in pain, and her head began to spin and she fainted. All black took over her and when she woke up, she was in this forest. How did she end up there and why couldn't she find the way out of it?
The woods and trees were unfamiliar and the wind was harsh and cold. But she didn't feel cold. She didn't feel anything physical. It was as if her skin had become numb and unfeeling. Like in a dream.
Was it a dream? Was it nothing more then a terrible nightmare?
But if it was a nightmare, surely she would have woken up and the nightmare would have ended. She had tried to wake up but couldn't. It had to be real. It couldn't be a nightmare.
Once, while in the forest, Ric had come to help her. He had told her that Molly was okay. So that was good. At least not everyone's life was in chaos like her own. She had tried to follow Ric out of the forest but she couldn't. The paths seemed to twist and turn and she ended up in the same spot where she had started, at the heart of the forest.
She had slept on the hard ground of the forest, hoping to wake up to daylight. Surely in the light she could see better and find her way out. But she woke to the darkness and day never seemed to come.
One night, Sonny stumbled onto the forest. He told her that Kristina was okay, and she even got to see her daughter. She asked Kristina a few questions but the girl didn't answer them but talked about something else entirely, as if she couldn't hear her mother.
When Sonny left, Alexis tried to follow him out but couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she wound up walking in circles over and over again.
The winds blew harshly and the tree limbs twisted in the wind, their branches scratching at her skin, but she couldn't feel them. The wind rattled her hair in the wind. She had hair, long hair. Was she lost in the forest for so long that her hair had time to grow back?
Then one day, Jason came to her in the forest. He told her about searching for Sam but being unable to find her. That was when Alexis remembered almost everything.
She had remembered having an argument with Ric. She had told him that Sam might be hurt in a forest somewhere, attacked somewhere. She had a strong maternal instinct and knew her daughter was alive but in major physical pain. Being attacked and left for dead was the only thing that made sense to her. And Alexis was pretty sure that she was left for dead in a forest somewhere.
Ric, however, accused Alexis of having an over developed sense of imagination and that Sam was probably sitting on a beach somewhere. He had told her he will not join in at searching the woods nearby.
So when Ric had left, she grabbed a flashlight and intended to go on her own when her head started to spin and she woke in the forest.
Jason must have been searching for Sam in the woods too. He must have come up with the same possibility as she had.
After Jason left, Alexis didn't bother following him, she saw the path twist as it was. But she did search the ground around her and found a flashlight she must have dropped. For days, or more like eternal nights, she walked the forest floor searching for Sam.
She had almost given up hope of finding Sam or coming out of that forest when she heard a soft "Hi" behind her.
Alexis turned around suddenly and shone her flashlight on the person behind her. The voice had been so distant and faraway that it didn't sound real. But there was a person whose face she couldn't see. The person had their back to Alexis and she couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman. The person wore blue jeans and a black winter jacket with a hood hiding the head.
"I'm here," the person said in a voice that sounded far away. And as the person turned around, Alexis gasped in shock as she looked at Sam. "I'm here, Alexis. I'm good and I'm alive."
"Where were you, Sam?" Alexis gasped.
"When I was away on my trip, I did something very good. Something very good happened to me." Her smile was real and big and she looked happy.
"What happened?" Alexis asked.
"I want you to be the first to know of what happened to me. I want to tell you. When you wake up, I will. I promise."
"Wake up? I'm awake," she said in surprise.
"I hear there's something very important that you wanted to tell me."
"Yes, yes," Alexis said remembering what she wanted to tell Sam. "My health is going down hill and I need you to do me a big . . ."
Sam cut her off, "I hope you. . ." Sam started to cry.
"Sam, what's wrong?"
"I hope you live to tell me about it."
The shock came like a blow to the face and the heart and Alexis stumbled backward. "What?" She was momentarily silent as she watched Sam cry. "I'm. . . I'm alive. And I'm trying to tell you. Can't you just listen to me?"
Sam obviously couldn't and Alexis felt rejected as Sam stepped backward and said sadly, "Goodbye, Alexis."
Her heart constricted as if something was squeezing it. Alexis? Why not Mom? Why not Mother? Why did her own daughter behave around her like a stranger. She had searched her Sam for nights and nights and Sam couldn't even appreciate that?
Sam started to walk away.
"Wait!" Alexis shouted and ran after her but Sam only seemed to get farther. "Wait!"
She didn't want to be stuck in darkness. She didn't want to be stuck in that forest. She didn't want to. . .
The wind stilled and the tree branches parted around her, allowing for sunlight to filter through.
Sunlight!
Sunlight!
In was daytime. This eternal night had ended.
Alexis wanted to weep for joy but as she fell to her knees, she saw the path. She walked it.
The path was pretty straight and didn't curve or twist. It didn't end and the darkness didn't come back. She started to run on that path, her legs strong and vibrant with energy. Her heart sang out in joy as she ran and ran and within the distance, she saw a house. Her house.
She ran inside the house and closed the door behind her with a bang. Her breathing labored, she leaned against the door to catch her breath.
"Molly, Kristina," she called out.
No answer.
Alexis walked farther into the house and looked around. No sign of her girls. She went upstairs. "Molly, Kristina, Sam!"
No answer.
While she was in the forest searching for Sam, did her two other daughters disappear? Were they in the forest now?
Fear overtook her and she felt her heart shatter as she raced downstairs and to the door. She needed to go back to the forest. She needed to search for them.
She tried to open the door but couldn't. It was stuck! But how? Only moments ago she walked into that house so easily.
The other door. Maybe the other door wasn't stuck? She ran around the house to the other door only to realize it didn't have a door knob. What? How can a door not have a door knob?
She couldn't give up!
Think!
The windows!
Yes, the windows. She ran to one window and saw the gates on the window. Gates? She wasn't running a prison, why would she put gates on her windows. She ran to another one, and another one, and another, until the realization struck her like a brick. She was trapped inside her own house.
Outside, she heard the winds pick up again and the night came so suddenly. Clouds covered the sky and lightning flashed as thunder banged and rain dropped to their death from the sky. Alexis sank down on a sofa and cried in despair. All alone. . . She was all alone. . . All alone. . .
---
Sam had time to compose herself and was calm enough to keep the tears out of her eyes through the entire ride to her apartment. Though she was still sad, she hid it deep inside herself and as she opened the door to her apartment and reached in to flip the light switch, she was about to invite Lucky over but stopped with her mouth open and simply stared.
"What the. . ." She stopped, speechless.
"I'm sorry. The Port Charles Police Department will take the whole blame for this mess," Lucky said as he walked around her and into the apartment, even though he hadn't been invited. "We were searching for clues as to your whereabouts."
"And what did Mr. Sofa tell you?" she asked as she walked in and picked up one of the cushions and put it on the long sofa.
Lucky grinned. "Nothing, but Mrs. Loveseat was much more cooperative."
Sam snickered. Emotionally, she wasn't in the mood to laugh, but she was surprised that Lucky was about to try to make her do that to brighten her mood up. She glanced at the loveseat which was turned upside-down. "Were you searching for something taped to the underside of the loveseat?"
"Yes, but there was nothing."
She simply gave him a dumb look. "Well duh, why would I hide something inside my own home?" She bent over the loveseat and tried to turn it right-side-up.
"Let me help you," Lucky said and came over to the loveseat. Together, they placed it where it was supposed to be. Then together, they placed all the cushions where they belonged too.
"I like this furniture," Lucky said as he admired the room.
"Thanks." Sam had moved into this pre-furnished apartment without ever having even seen it. She had the money and needed a good place to stay after leaving Jason. And even though while leaving him she was afraid of losing Sonny and Carly as friends, Carly was nice enough to give her a 50 percent discount on the place.
The furniture was nice, a light sage green with dark sage green decorative pillows that matched the large green plant which stood by the terrace door.
Sam walked into her bedroom to see what other damage the Police Department had done and was only mildly surprised to see the drawers taken out of her dresser and placed on the floor. She stepped over her socks, bras, and panties that were spilled on the floor. "Geez, I hope my underwear didn't give away my vacation spot," she said sarcastically.
Behind her, Lucky bend down and picked something up. "Nope, but they did indicate that you have a very exiting sex life."
Sam suddenly turned to face him and her cheeks grew red when she saw what he was holding. "That was a mistake."
He inspected the black fake leather thong. "Nice." He inspected the price tag which was still on it and whistled as he saw the price.
"Give those back," Sam said as she turned into a deeper shade of red. "My underwear is personal to me."
Lucky chuckled. "Your underwear became public property the instant you left town."
Sam crossed over to him and snatched the thong out of his hands. "You do know you're a married man with a baby on the way?"
Lucky only smiled at her in amassment.
That look in his eyes unnerved her. "What?" she asked impatiently.
"You're really uncomfortable with this, aren't you?"
Sam opened her closet door and glanced at the things that had fallen on the floor while the police were ransacking her place. She tossed the thong into her closet and closed the door. "Yes, I am. Just because I've had a few one night stands in my life doesn't mean I'm a whore who likes to flash my underwear around." She walked passed him and out of the bedroom.
"I'm sorry," Lucky said soberly. "Maybe it was a bit insensitive of me."
Sam only turned and looked at him.
"I just couldn't resist. I've never met anyone who has a leather thong before." And inside his mind, he wondered how can Jason mess up bad enough to let such a woman go. And he wondered why didn't Elizabeth ever wear that kind of stuff. While searching Sam's apartment the first time after she disappeared, he and all the other male cops were blown away by the Victoria Secret collections she had. At that moment during the search, Cruz even jokingly mentioned that his ex-wife only wore white cotton panties and that the relationship failed because they couldn't keep a fire burning between them. Not only did Lucky find out more about Cruz's life at that moment, but he realized that he and Liz always saw the last sparkle of the fire and he always had to light it up again. The fire in their relationship never lasted long.
Sam walked into her kitchen and was mildly surprised to find that it was all in order.
"A couple of the female cops searched your kitchen," Lucky explained without her having to ask.
She glanced at him. "I wish they would have searched my bedroom instead. Then at least I wouldn't have to clean the whole place."
Lucky didn't respond and just sat down.
"You want anything to drink?"
"Sure, what do you have?"
She opened her fridge but only found a few diet soda's and since she was sure that wouldn't appeal to him, she opened her wine cabinet and pulled a bottle of white vine.
Lucky glanced up at it and only nodded at her so Sam pulled out two wine glasses and filled them both.
"Thanks," Lucky said when she handed him his glass.
Sam sat down and a quick sadness overtook her. "A toast to my mother's health, may she get better."
Lucky nodded and in a serious tone said, "And to you being safe and sound. I'm glad you're okay."
Sam nodded and though she tried to be happy she just kept remembering her mother laying in a hospital bed, white as snow.
Seeing the sadness in her eyes, Lucky did his best to cheer her up. "And to all the women brazen enough to buy leather panties."
Sam blushed again but finally laughed. "I bought that thong when I moved out of Jason's life. After leaving him, I felt all alone and like I had no love in the world. So I went shopping and I heard two women talking about men and relationships. One of the women said that in order to be loved you have to love yourself. I realized that I never really loved myself. And that lady told her friend that in order to love yourself you have to splurge on yourself and not be afraid to get something you want even if you can't afford it, because people who love themselves don't deprive themselves. In the heat of the moment, I decided that I will learn to love myself and my first step was to buy the most expensive thing I could find in that store. That leather thong was it. And it was a dumb mistake."
"Interesting," Lucky said as he sipped his vine.
Sam sipped her vine and shook her head slowly. "I know, I was stupid to buy it." And too ashamed to return it. She took another small sip. "So is my leather thong the talk of the department?"
"Are you kidding? You're the coolest girl in town. Some of those cops even told their wives to buy some leather thongs. They ended up sleeping on the couch because of that."
Sam laughed softly.
Lucky sobered. "If it helps, I didn't spread any word about the leather thong and it' strictly only known in the department. No one else knows."
"Thank you."
He glanced away. "I just thought that underwear is a person's own prerogative, and that it's nobody's business to know about such a thing."
"Thanks," Sam said again and took a sip of her vine.
Lucky looked at his wristwatch. "I have to go, Liz will be worried about me." He stood and put his empty glass in the sink. "If you find anything missing, let me know and I'll check with the other cops. He came toward Sam and ran his hands up and down her arms as if warming her skin. "Get a good nights sleep," he said looking deeply into her eyes. "You look tired and tomorrow will be a big day for you. You're bank account was frozen so we could monitor any activity there. And your disappearance was very high profile so the reporters will probably be banging on your door by sunrise."
"Thanks for warning me, I need to prepare myself for the publicity."
He turned around and walked to the door. "Bye, Sam." He was gone.
A sharp imaginary pain overtook her heart as she watched the closed door for a moment. Liz was so lucky to have a man who loved her so much. Lucky actually left because Liz would be worried about him. Jason had never done that with her. There were so many times when Jason simply didn't come home at night without even calling her. Or there were times when he called to say that he's leaving town and will be back in a week. She remembered one of those instances more then others.
Sam was always a bad cook, burning anything she put in the oven. But once, she actually did it right and cooked something spectacular. Sure she used a cooking book, but she followed all the rules and did a wonderful job preparing a romantic dinner for her lover. But Jason didn't get to eat the dinner because he had called her and told her he was on his way to Miami and will be back in a week. She was devastated to the point she had lost her appetite. That night, she packed all the food away and hid the candles that she got for the dinner. She kept the food in the refrigerator for a couple of days eventually hoping she will get her appetite back and will try her own creation which looked magnificent. But by the time she felt up to eating it, it had lost it's appeal and she threw it out without even trying. That was the last time she did anything romantic for Jason, but he didn't notice that. Her efforts were wasted on him.
---
Jeon Gotorax pushed a chess piece aside and looked at his mistress who sat across from him. He liked this particular mistress because she was slightly smarter then the others. No, she wasn't smart in the sense that she could think for herself. Actually, a truly smart woman wouldn't be with him because of his abuse and his way of mistreating them, but she was smart because she actually knew how to play chess and poker. Two points for her on that one! She was also good in bed and didn't raise her prices like all his other mistresses had before he disposed of them.
She was also silent, and didn't talk to him except if it was absolutely necessary. But even then her broken English was hard to comprehend. She had escaped her native country of Russia because of the poverty. She had escaped because the Prague Mafia had killed her whole family and kidnaped her. Olana had escaped Russia into the United States so that she could get the CIA involved in taking down that Prague Mafia before they because a threat to the whole world. They were already selling impressive weapons to anyone with enough money to buy it. It was unfortunate for Olana that her English was terrible and her need for money and his for a babysitter and housekeeper lead her to him. She was a good nanny to his kid from his wife. And when he had his Russian assistant translate to her that he will be willing to pay her more money if she slept with him, it took her a whole month to decide. He finessed her, obviously, making her believe that he will help her and love her and that he's actually a good man. Eventually she agreed. And now she was too scared to back away.
There was a knock on his door and Gotorax said calmly, "Come in."
The door opened and a tall blonde man with grey eyes walked in with a file inside his hands. It was late in the night, actually early morning, and Ivan looked sleepy but excited. "I have news for you."
"I'm not in the mood to receive any news," Gotorax said with mild impatience as he watched Olana move her selected chess piece. They were now even in the game, he was impressed.
"It's about Miss McCall."
That got his attention as he quickly looked at Ivan and then glanced back at Olana. Dark haired deep eyed gipsy like Olana. She was beautiful. The complete opposite of his short, blue eyed, blonde wife, who was also beautiful in her own way.
He glanced back at Ivan. "Tell her she's dismissed."
Ivan said something to Olana in Russian and the woman stood to leave. She said something to Ivan who then turned to Gotorax. "She wants to know if you will be joining her tonight."
He thought it over for a moment. "No, I think I will sleep with my wife tonight."
Ivan said something to Olana in Russian.
Gotorax wanted to pat himself on the back for being smooth enough to have his wife and his mistress living in the same house without them going after each other's throats.
Once Olana left, Gotorax moved the chess game to another side of the table and indicated for Ivan to sit. "What have you got?
Ivan put the file on the table between them and pushed it toward his boss. "These come from the camera I have installed in Miss McCall's apartment." The camera was motion activated and only took photographs every 30 seconds until there was no motion in the room for 2 minutes. He had asked Ivan to install the camera only in McCall's livingroom and bedroom and he was excited to know that finally some activity might have happened.
He opened the file and looked at what was a photograph of the livingroom and he looked at the woman who stood, with her mouth hanging open, by the front door. Her hair was full and wavy and black, her body short and petite. Her body looked like that of his wife's, but her beauty was as exotic as Olana's. There was a man behind Miss McCall and Gotorax had to admit he was handsome. The man was tall and strong looking, the all American good boy next door type.
"She came back," Ivan said while Gotorax flipped through the photographs.
"Do you know where she was?"
"No."
"Find out."
"Yes, sir."
Gotorax stopped at another photo. In that one, the handsome man was holding something black and Miss McCall was blushing red. "What is that thing he's holding."
Ivan smiled sheepishly. "Look at the next photo, it's specially enlarged just for you."
Gotorax looked at the enlargement. "A shiny leather thong." He laughed. "Miss McCall sounds like an exciting girl. Why did Mr. Morgan ever let her go?"
"He still cares about her."
"Are you sure?"
Ivan cleared his throat. "Yes, I did as you said. I killed a woman who looked like Miss McCall, removed her identification card from her, and called in to the authorities claiming to be a carpenter in the area."
"And did Mr. Morgan go to identify her?"
"Just like you thought," Ivan said. "He looked distraught as he walked into the building. And when he walked out he looked relieved. He talked on his cell phone before going in and after coming out. I couldn't intercept the call."
Gotorax looked through the remaining stack of the photographs as he pondered a thought. How can those mobsters fall in love? Were they really that weak? No, Jason Morgan wasn't. He had personally hurt Gotorax once to the extent that he still couldn't walk and needed the assistance of a wheelchair. Gotorax had sworn to do two things before he died. Kill Sonny Corrinthos and take over his territory, that was a business mission. And destroy Jason Morgan and everyone he's ever loved, that was personal. He wondered just how easy it would be to kidnap Miss McCall. When she left Jason and started a life of her own, Gotorax was almost disappointed that he couldn't use her for his mission, but he was encouraged to know that Morgan still cared about her. Besides, Morgan would try to save her even if he didn't love her. But the lingering love made the deal so much sweeter. He wanted to destroy Morgan mentally, emotionally, and physically, and what better way to do that then using Miss McCall? The only thing now was to find out the identity of her gentleman friend, he might present a problem.