Busy weeks ahead for me, family wedding, family flying in, I will continue to post on Wednesdays, if I can't be assured I will as soon as I am able too. Love you all and thank you for the reviews!

One day at a time Chapter 10

Loren felt her knees giving in, there was hurt in her eyes, she knew Lucy was playing a big part of his reaction to her kissing him again.

"Eddie don't do this!"

He noticed the sadness in her eyes.

"Do what Loren?"

"Push me away! I care a great deal for you." Could she admit she was in love with him? Could she tell him?

"My cousin means everything to me, the thought of him never recovering hurts like hell, I need time right now."

"Take all of the time you need, I want to be there for you."

" I don't want you getting hurt."

She walked closer to him.

"I'll wait as long as you need, I'm not going anywhere."

Eddie held her softly by the shoulders. "I don't know what to say Loren."

She down cast her look. She didn't know where she was getting the courage to tell him that much.

The door suddenly opened. Both turned to find Chloe standing there. "Well I'm glad you're moving on!"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I tried calling but you never answer my calls."

"Could it be because I changed my number?"

Chloe walked closer looking at Loren from top to bottom. "Is this the best you can do?"

Loren stepped back. "I'll get started on the Jackets Eddie."

"Loren you don't have to leave, she's the one leaving, and we're not done yet."

Chloe interrupted. "How do you know what I have to say? I asked you about my necklace, I can't find the one my mother gave me."

Eddie walked and opened the door. "I told you I don't have it and I haven't seen it, check with Tyler or whoever it is you're with now, I don't need any of your junk at my place."

"You haven't let me check, I tried the other day but your dear Jeffrey wouldn't let me up."

"He has orders not to let you in, now if you don't mind, Loren and I have business to talk about."

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked straight at Loren. "Don't even think anything can happen between you and Eddie." She looked her up and down with a smirk on her face. "Definitely not his type."

"If you don't mind, Eddie and I are busy."

She left and Eddie slammed the door. "Sorry about that."

"She has some nerve, anyway I'm on my way out, I have to get this started and check on the costumes for your dancers."

"And now I get to see the professional Loren at work."

She smiled as she walked closer to him. "I'm not done yet, I meant what I said earlier Eddie, I'm in this to stay, I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled and she suddenly leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. "Later handsome."

Loren exited the room and walked towards her car. "Hey Loren!"

She turned and smiled when she caught sight of Kevin running towards her. "What a great surprise."

"Hi Kevin Is everything ok?"

He stopped as soon as he reached her. "Yes, my sister is with Evan, no change."

"I was planning on stopping by later to see him, I have to get these started, or I will get behind and I can't afford that."

"I'm sure Eddie will give you all the time you need to finish those."

"The costumes for the girls are almost ready, now I need to work on these jackets for Eddie."

Kevin smiled. "You really care for my nephew?"

"I know Kevin, do I sound pathetic? I went from never dating in High school to almost telling him how I felt, I chickened out."

"When Eddie gets serious he's in it for life, that's what he thought, then Chloe appeared, he was too young and rushed into something he wasn't ready for, we could all tell Chloe was in it to get fame and money, now I think he's wiser and smarter."

"Yeah, I just ran into the former Mrs. Duran, she hasn't changed."

"Did she give you a hard time?"

"She tried, I didn't let her get to me, I think I saw Eddie smile."

Kevin leaned on the car. "I'm sure he did, anyway, I'm on my way up to see Eddie, nice talking to you Loren."

She smiled as she placed all of her things in the trunk of her car. "Same here Kevin."

A week later Loren had all of the costumes ready for Eddie's dancers and dropped them off at Jake's office, she was doing some final touches on the Jackets he had requested for Eddie.

Katy arrived to check on some paperwork Jake had to sign.

"Hi Loren, you have been busy."

Loren turned and acknowledged Katy as she entered the office. "Hi Katy, I now you've been busy with Evan, how is he?"

"I'm worried he's still the same, the Dr. will do a CT scan on his brain and other tests, he's not responding to well to some of the treatments."

"Oh no, does Eddie know?"

"No I've asked the Dr. to do the tests first and then we'll take it from there."

"I'm so sorry Katy."

She sat near Loren. "I've told you several times it's not your fault, he should have been careful when he ran to get into Lucy's car."

"He loves her so much Katy, he wasn't thinking, he did anything and everything to keep her happy."

Katy let out a soft sigh. "Love makes you do crazy things."

Loren bit her lower lip. "Yes I guess it can."

"Ok I sense something in your tone."

"Katy can I be honest?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"The other day I almost told Eddie I'm in love with him; I think I sort of gave myself away."

"You mean you just realized it?"

Loren's eyes widen. "What do you mean?"

"I saw it the first time I caught you looking at him; you look at him the same way I looked at Max when I first met him."

Loren placed her hands on her face, she was mortified. "Oh no Katy who else knows?"

She let out a small laugh. "There's nothing wrong with it Loren."

"I can't help it, wait til I tell you what I did the other day, I kissed Eddie."

Katy turned slowly towards Loren. "Wait you did what?"

"Ok I can't even look you in the eyes, but yes, I kissed him, I'm not sorry Katy."

"Wow and here I thought you were the timid type, wow, I couldn't even do that, Max had to kiss me first."

"So was I wrong?"

"Of course not, like I said love makes you do silly things."

"So It didn't me make look ..you know needy?"

"Stop it Loren, I'm glad it's you, the moment I saw you I knew you were very special, my son needs someone like you in his life."

Loren sighed, she found herself doing that a lot lately.

"I'm just afraid Eddie doesn't feel the same way, who am I kidding? I'm sure I'm not his type."

"Loren don't you dare, when he married you know who, it was a lifetime commitment for him, we knew it was a huge mistake, and now he's going to be extra careful, you have to take things one day at a time with him."

"I know Katy and I'm trying, but somehow I have this awful feeling that when he looks at me, he's thinking of every single bad thing Lucy has done, and to top it off she's responsible for Evan's accident."

Loren sat to use the sewing machine; there were some small details she was adding to the jacket.

"I can tell that this jacket is going to have every stitch carefully placed, its Eddie's right?"

"Yes.." She finished sewing and handed it to her. "Here look at it and tell me if it needs anything else."

Katy smiled as she went through every single detail. "No I think it's perfect, is this for his upcoming fall tour?"

"Yes, I just delivered the girls costumes, they turned out amazing."

"You're doing so well, I'm glad Jake lets you work here."

"That's to make sure everything is ready for Eddie, I think he likes what I do."

"You are going places, speaking of that, Sylvia Tongs is interested in looking at your work, you do know who she is?"

"Omg Katy, she inspired me!"

"Well obviously she likes what she seen so far; she called me and wants to meet you."

"Ok so what does this mean?"

"It means she will probably want to work with you."

"Thank you Katy." She walked towards her and gave her a tight hug. Katy felt she was sincere. She hugged her back. Katy's phone buzzed.

"Well I better get back to the hospital, Max is there and the Dr. wants to see us."

"I'm done here Katy, can I come with you?"

"Sure, I could use the support."

Loren grabbed her bag and both ladies walked out.

Meanwhile.

Max sat in Evan's room, the machines were still helping him breath, they had just brought him back from running some tests, he looked fragile and pale, his color had not improved, all that worried Max.

He looked at his phone when he heard it buzz and smiled when he read Katy was on her way. He heard noise in the hallway and got up to see what or who it was, he was surprised to see Eddie standing a few feet away laughing and talking to one of the nurses.

"How long have you been here?"

"Hey pops just walked in and stopped to chat with Sally. She smiled. "Hi Max."

"Oh you've met?"

"She's one of the nurses that tend to Evan."

"So did the Dr. talk to you Max?" Sally asked.

"Yes, but I'm waiting for my wife, is everything ok?"

"He's getting the result of the tests they did on Evan, he'll be down shortly."

The elevator door opened and Katy and Loren stepped out, they both turned when they heard laughing and giggling coming from the side of the room, Katy noticed the nurse standing pretty close to Eddie, she was flirting, it was very obvious and Katy nonchalantly turned towards Loren, she hoped she had not noticed, but who was she kidding?

Eddie turned when he heard his mom cough to get his attention, he saw Loren standing next to her, they made eye contact. Loren forced a smile, Sally was attractive, long blonde hair, and the thought of her talking to Eddie made her uncomfortable. Eddie spoke up.

"Hey mom, glad you're here, hey Loren."

"We'll continue our talk over coffee." Sally couldn't stop smiling. Loren overheard that part of the conversation.

"That would be great; I'll let you know for sure."

Katy had to do or say something.

"Is the Dr. here?"

Sally spoke up before Eddie could answer. "He should be down any minute."

Max was coming from Evan's room. "Hey honey, we have to wait for the Dr. in Evan's room."

"I'm coming." She turned to Eddie. "Are you going to join us?"

"Yeah mom in a sec."

Loren smiled, why did she feel so hurt? Watching Eddie talk with this nurse in a flirtatious way ran so many unwanted thoughts through her head, she wasn't about to let anything stop her or get in her way. She looked at him directly in the eye and held his gaze as though she waited on him to say something, anything, and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Eddie don't forget we have plans for dinner on Friday."

Without hesitation he responded, watching her react that way reminded him of Lucy. "I don't think so, I would have remembered, I made plans with Sally."

And as quick as he said that he stood and walked away. Loren felt this hint of pink rush towards her cheeks, her chin tilted up a fraction and her shoulders loosened up. She finally made eye contact with Sally. "I'm sorry; I must have confused the dates."

"No problem." She responded as she walked away. Loren took a deep breath and walked towards Evan's room, as she walked in he opened his eyes, he spotted Loren and his eyes widen, there was fear in his eyes. He was having problems breathing. Eddie turned to see what had caused him so much discomfort. He spotted Loren. "Leave the room now!" Loren turned away exiting the room and fighting tears. Katy ran after her. The Dr.'s ran into the room after the alarms on the machines helping Evan breathe went off.

Loren can't seem to catch a break. R & R please!