-3-

Lulu was exhausted, having barely slept the night before. Rocco was fussier than usual, either from missing his dad or having sensed her apprehension. Olivia arrived at their place with baby Leo to watch Rocco while Lulu went to the hospital. Dante had stayed between there and the police station all night, doing whatever he could to help his sister.

She still felt sick about what happened to Kristina, and tried to school her features before she entered her sister-in-law's (heavily guarded) room. Dante had already warned her about her condition, so Lulu was determined not to make her feel any worse because of her appearance. Balancing her smile between cheer sympathy, she took a deep breath before being permitted entrance.

If appropriate, she would have taken a photo of the scene before her. Kristina was sleeping, with a brother on each edge of her bed. Morgan had a chair at the foot of the bed where he slept open-mouthed, legs on Kristina's bed next to her feet. From Michael's seat, he was hunched over so he was holding his sister's hand near where he rested his head on her bed. Dante looked like a typical guard dog in his chair, even in his sleep, with his arms folded tensely over his chest and a small frown on his face. Lulu almost missed the other presence, Molly's form on a couch in the darkened side of the room, bundled in a blanket nearly the same color as her makeshift bed. It warmed her heart to see them all together, and the only surprise was that Sonny and Alexis hadn't found a space here themselves to sleep.

"Lulu," a voice whispered. She looked at Kristina and an immediate apology began to form on her lips.

"I'm glad you're here," Kristina said before she got the chance. She looked around at her siblings, trying to figure something out.

"Damn," she said a bit louder. "I need to get up, but it looks like I'm surrounded."

"Oh, no. You should stay in bed. I'll get you anything you need. Water?" Lulu was already reaching for the pitcher.

"Water is the last thing I need." Lulu stopped and waited for further instruction. "Uh," Kristina looked down embarrassedly. "I kind of need to pee."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, I can take care of that part myself. I just might need a little help getting there."

"I can help you."

Kristina looked skeptically at the obstacles in her way. Lulu went to her husband and patted his face to rouse him.

"Baby, stop," he whined in a sleepy voice, making Kristina chuckle before the action proved too painful.

"Dante, move your ass. You're in Krissy's way."

"Krissy?" Finally Dante opened his eyes, confused to see his wife standing over him. Then he jerked his head to his sister.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" he asked her frantically.

"Always," she answered dryly. "But at the moment, my most pressing issue is my bladder. I need to go to the bathroom."

Dante was on his feet, ready to lend a hand. Kristina carefully disengaged hers from Michael's and tried to move her legs without jostling Morgan. Dante rolled his eyes and walked over to Morgan first and slapped the back of his head, before going to the same to Michael.

Kristina rolled her eyes in a similar fashion as the two woke with a start. She looked at Dante. "That was unnecessary," she reprimanded.

Her oldest brother merely shrugged. "They were in the way."

Lulu sighed at her husband's antics.

"What's up?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing," Kristina snapped. "I just need to go pee. Not that big of a deal."

Michael hesitated. "Can…you…"

"I swear, Michael, if you ask me if I can pee by myself I'm gonna have someone punch you for me. I just need help out of the bed and the eight feet to the door."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Morgan grumbled.

"Nope, just in the wrong bed," Kristina shot back.

Dante hit Morgan again.

Lulu gestured to Kristina. "Hello? A little assistance?"

Michael and Dante worked out the logistics and were able to get her out of bed with little damage and to the bathroom door.

"Wait," Kristina stopped them. "Lulu?" She looked over her shoulder as much as she could.

Lulu came to her side. "Yeah?"

"Can…can you take me the rest of the way?" she asked timidly.

"Of course. I told you, whatever you need." Kristina gave her a smile that wasn't exactly convincing.

She felt obligated to help her; she wanted to. Even with just the vague details that Dante had given her and Kristina's appearance, she could imagine the kind of hell she'd been through. Lulu wanted to take that pain away from her.

"The only good thing about this stupid gown is that it makes this easier," Kristina grumbled once Lulu was able to help her onto the toilet seat. The private bathroom was large enough for them to at least pretend that Krissy had some privacy while she relieved her bladder and Lulu looked away. She heard flush and then a hiss of pain. She looked to see that Kristina had decided to hoist herself up without help. She wanted to chastise her for not calling for her, for trying too much too soon. But she figured that Kristina probably felt vulnerable enough without requiring help to get off the toilet. She would probably be the same way in her position. Lulu kept her mouth shut instead and rushed to her side and guided her to the sink.

Kristina washed her hands as best she could with her bandages, which she huffed at in frustration. She turned the faucet off and looked up.

Lulu saw the moment Kristina realized that this was her reflection in the mirror. She gasped at the red and purple marks on her face. The swollen lip and cheekbone, laceration after laceration, two black eyes. She must not have imagined how bad it actually looked; maybe her other injuries distracted her. But in reality, her entire face looked nearly twice its size from all it sustained.

Kristina let out a broken sound, a gasp of horror and disbelief. And then another, reaching up with wet hands to touch the damage. Lulu didn't know what to do, her heart breaking for the younger woman.

It wasn't long before Kristina was shakily sobbing as she touched her battered skin, the truth hitting her full force.

"Oh my God!" she breathed.

"Kristina…" She gently touched her shoulders and tried to turn her away from the image, but the brunette seemed too stunned to move.

"OH MY GOD!" she wailed with a strained ferocity that had Lulu crying. "My face! I—"

Her hands traveled down to inspect her neck. She inhaled slowly, and Lulu could see her cry building up. Too unexpectedly for her to do anything about it, she watched Kristina collapse to her knees. Lulu's eyes grew wide.

"Dante!"

And the distressing howl that Lulu was expecting came, the guttural interpretation of all of the young woman's pain.

All three brothers, along with Molly, rushed in. Lulu was on the floor with Krissy, letting her grab the front of her shirt like it was her lifeline. She was mostly moaning,

Dante positioned himself next to his wife, putting a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Krissy! Hey, hey. We're here, sweetie. We've got you."

Lulu watched as Michael and Morgan joined them and Molly clung to the doorframe, looking like she might pass out any moment. Molly shut her eyes for a moment and took a visible deep breath. Slowly, she opened her eyes and inched her way to her older sister.

"Kristina," she called to the shattered young woman. Krissy lifted her head a fraction in acknowledgement, her cries now subsiding to hiccupped breaths.

"You are going to be okay," the teenager said firmly. "You made it this far because you're strong. Because you haven't let anyone break you, and you fought back. You won't break now; you don't have it in you. But we have your back now, just like always. We'll get through this." Molly knelt to take Kristina's hand.

"You already won."


"Patrick Jr.?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why?! I happen to be very fond of Patrick."

"I know you are."

Sam slapped his bare chest playfully and rolled over on their bed so she on her side, her nearly flat belly pressed against his torso.

"Besides," Patrick said while running his thumb gently across her chin. "Maybe I want our baby to be named after you."

"Hmm. You know, as much as I and my equally feminist sisters and mother would enjoy that, I think Port Charles can only handle one Sam Drake right now."

"I suppose that's true. Do you want a boy or a girl?"

"Ooh, I don't know. I think the right answer is that I'll be happy either way—and I will. But I really want a girl."

Patrick laughed. "I was thinking the same thing. Emma would adore a little sister."

"Emma adores almost everything. I wish I had at least half of her optimism."

"True. I don't know where she gets it from."

"I want a little girl, and I want her to be just like Emma."

"And just like you."

"Yeah, but mostly Drake."

"So it's settled then. We'll have the perfect daughter. And we'll name her…"

Patrick reached over for Sam, and for the nineteenth day in a row he found her side of the bed empty. He blearily looked at the alarm clock. Two and a half hours. He was able to sleep for all of two and a half hours. It was the most he'd gotten in days. Lucas had suggested he take sleeping pills, but Patrick refused to go anywhere near that road again.

He rubbed his eyes in protest of the rising sun. It was another day he was forced to stay home and wait while the woman he loved and their unborn child were missing. And he was torn between heading off on his own search for Sam, and following law enforcement's orders and staying in Port Charles, looking after their children and tending to his patients. Although, he was sure Monica would understand his need to take a break from work and Emma would probably encourage him to go look for Sam and bring her home. But Danny had grown clingier to him in her absence, contrary to the independent streak he was building before. What would that do to him, to have another parent disappear?

The doctor's bedroom door creaked open and he already knew that it would be the boy in question.

"Daddy? You 'wake?"

Patrick sat up in bed and smiled sincerely at the pint-sized blonde.

"I'm up."

Without more invitation Danny ran to him and was caught in his ready embrace. After snuggling for a moment, the child looked far too forlornly for his age at where his mom usually slept.

"Mommy gone."

"Aw, buddy. Just for now. Mommy's coming back." But he could see that his intended stepson didn't fully believe that. Soon, tears began to well in his blue eyes.

Someone might as well have driven a dagger through his heart. To hear Danny speak about his mother and see the distress her disappearance was causing him…

"Danny…" He brought the boy to his chest and began rocking him, his nightshirt collecting the little tears.

"I know you're sad right now because you miss Mommy. I miss her too. But I know that she's coming home. She's coming home to us."

"How?" Danny sniffled.

It was one of his new favorite question words, uttered almost as frequently as 'why,' but it altered Patrick's previous perception. His torn responsibilities became clear at that moment. How could he help his patients or reassure his children while the love of his life was possible fighting for hers? While he sat home and waited?

"I'm going to bring her back."


A/N: I know I had Patrick declare he was going to go find Sam before, but that was supposed to be more like a heat of the moment type of thing, without considering all of the real life actions that would have to take place in order for that to happen. antyway...after the next couple of chapters we should be getting into more of the action stuff, so I hope you enjoy. ps, the next chapter is my favorite so far

~ashley