For a moment it was like she was outside her own body and could only watch powerless to do anything as events unfolded. Her hand raised all by itself, a fist clenched as she struck out at Alexis's smug face, her laughing taunting Krystle, those emerald eyes that mocked her on a daily basis. Well Krystle had had enough of being walked over by her rival who clearly needed to learn her lesson in a way that Alexis wouldn't forget in a hurry.
And yet as the blow connected Alexis's mocking emerald eyes turned into shocked blue, those perfectly arranged black curls turned to wild chestnut locks and Krystle could only watch in horror unable to move as Alexis's vanished before her eyes and it was Fallon Carrington to recoiled from the savage blow Krystle had struck.
It was Fallon not Alexis who whose head twisted and fell back. It was Fallon Carrington who fell and crashed into the window seat, her head smacking hard it was almost a crack, but it was only when Fallon's pregnant belly made contact with the edge of the bench that someone screamed. Or someone's…
Krystle's scream ripped from her throat at the same time Fallon cried out cradling her large stomach.
"Oh god Fallon…oh god I'm sorry…I just…" Krystle babbled crouching down beside her step-daughter who continued to scream as though her insides were being ripped out.
"What on earth is going on in here?"
It was a measure of how shaken Krystle was that she was actually relieved by Joseph's timely arrival, for once the mojodomo's habit of always being around prying into the family's business.
"Oh Joseph…Fallon…It was an accident…I didn't mean to…"
Brushing Mrs Carrington's excuses aside Joseph was immediately at Miss Fallon's side his horror growing as he got a good look at her, the cut on her face, the blood pouring down from it but more worrying still was the way she was clutching her stomach.
"Joseph the baby…the baby…" Fallon managed to gasp in between her groans.
"I will call for an ambulance." Joseph insisted moving to stand only for Fallon to grab his arm.
"No don't leave me alone with her….please…she did this…she's unstable…" Fallon pleaded raising her panicked blue eyes to Joseph's own black ones. "Please Joseph don't leave me."
"Fallon I didn't mean… it just happened." Krystle pleaded yet as she reached out for her step-daughter Fallon twisted and screamed, clawing onto Joseph's arms.
Recoiling from Fallon's screams and the look of condemnation and disgust in Joseph's eyes Krystle struggled to her feet; stumbling she almost tripped over her feet in her rush to leave the nursery. Yet she was barely out the door and able to draw a breath than she was besieged by other members of staff. Mrs Gunnerson and her bustling concern and Jeanette and her pinched features, all peering and prying and asking questions until Krystle panicked.
"An ambulance…someone needs to call an ambulance…"
Pushing them aside as tears pricked her eyes Krystle Carrington could feel her world crashing around her ears. Everything was pressing down, closing in around her and Krystle couldn't breathe. Ignoring all cries for her to stop Krystle rushed down the long staircase and out of the large front door. She had no idea of where she was going, all she knew was she was she had to keep running, to run as fast as she could in order to leave the demons that plagued her far behind.
It didn't take long for Alexis Carrington to regret her actions. She had been too hasty, too harsh in her reaction to Blake's prudery…Blake was a product of his generation and upbringing…he couldn't help reacting the way he did when put on the spot. He had been trying to change but no one could change that much over night. He had been more her husband in the last few days than Blake had been in the entire last three years of their actual marriage.
Yet despite these changes Alexis knew she had been asking too much of Blake to expect him change completely overnight.
Sitting alone in her room Alexis could only watch the door, hoping and praying that any moment the door would open and Blake would appear, eager to forgive and forget. Alexis could apologise and Blake would mumble an apology of his own and they could slip off back to the cabin together, go back to their own world of two and forget about everything and everyone else.
Yet the more time that passed the more Alexis's hope faded. Blake wasn't coming back and she only had herself to blame…She had really lost him this time.
So when the door to her room finally began to open Alexis felt an overwhelming sense of relief and joy…he had come back…only to have such joy burn and crumble to ashes when the man who stepped through the door and into her hospital room wasn't Blake.
Nor did he appear to be a doctor…he wasn't wearing a white coat and he looked too grubby anyway to be a doctor…and dear god was that a stain on his shirt?
Yet if he wasn't a Doctor then what the hell was he doing in her room?
Gripping her blankets tightly Alexis drew herself up to her full height, drawing on her icy English reserve she stared down at the interloper as if daring him to justify his sudden intrusion.
"Good day Mrs Carrington…"
"Good Day Mr…?"
"Officer…Actually Sergeant…Sergeant John Zorelli." Zorelli replied watching closely for any flicker or change in Alexis Carrington's face, his disappointment almost palpable when all he got was a single raised eyebrow.
"I'm here to talk Mrs Carrington I have a few questions I'd like you to answer, specifically about your ex-husband…Tell me Mrs Carrington you wouldn't happen to know where I could find him right about now would you?"
Krystle Carrington couldn't stop the images running through her mind; it was like they were on constant replay…Alexis's smug face morphing into Fallon's…Fallon falling and screaming, her cruel words…Joseph's unspoken accusation…
Krystle was so distracted by the images in her mind that she barely glanced at where she was actually running, so was it any wonder that she didn't see the root sticking out of the grass until she was tripping over it. Landing heavily in the grass Krystle winced as her hands reached out to steady her and hit the ground with a hard smack…as hard as a smack as she had dealt Fallon…
And that was the final straw…it was just too much, and unable to hold them back any longer the tears came streaming down. Krystle Carrington couldn't believe that this was happening to her, she wasn't this person, she didn't get into fights. It had been her mind playing tricks on her, she had really thought for a moment it had been Alexis she had slapping and knocking to the ground.
Yet Krystle know nobody else will believe her… except maybe her doctor…perhaps it was a lingering side effect of the head injury she had gained in the fall?
Perhaps she needed to get checked out?
Perhaps there was some rational explanation for all of this?
The sudden hope bloomed in her and Krystle grasped at it. Wiping away her tears Krystle struggled to her feet, her legs as unsteady underneath her as a new-born foal.
Yet the growing sound of sirens suddenly intruded into Krystle's thoughts and she glanced across, catching the passing flash of lights through the shrubbery.
The ambulance had arrived…And the reality of what she had done crashed back in.
More pressing now than anything else was the need to know just how badly Fallon had been hurt and Krystle found herself praying that Fallon had been play acting, exaggerating her injuries just like she had feigned those labour pains….
It was certainly possible and Krystle certainly wouldn't put it past Fallon to play up to the situation, to use it as a way to separate Krystle from her father. There was nothing on this earth that Blake treasured the way he treasured Fallon, not even his wife, and that had been a bitter enough pill for Krystle to swallow the first time.
However even if Blake might be able to forgive her for lashing out, especially if she could get her doctor to speak for her, Krystle knew her husband well enough to know that the one thing he would never forgive would be abandoning Fallon in her hour of need. That she had left the way she did, leaving Fallon to be tended to by the staff would be almost a great a sin as hitting his daughter in the first place.
The Carrington's stick together, no matter what their differences behind closed doors. That message had been drilled into Krystle from day one as Mrs Blake Carrington and in Blake's absence she was the head of the family whose place was at the hospital by Fallon's side.
Forcing her feet to move Krystle rushed back towards the house, determined this time she wouldn't fail, that at least in this task she wouldn't be found lacking.
"I'm here to talk Mrs Carrington I have a few questions I'd like you to answer, specifically about your ex-husband…Tell me Mrs Carrington you wouldn't happen to know where I could find him right about now would you?"
"I cannot imagine why you think I might know that Sergeant...Pirelli was it?" Alexis replied feigning indifference as she straightened her bed sheet. "As you yourself are aware Blake Carrington is my Ex-Husband, if you are trying to find him might I suggest you ask the current Mrs Carrington?"
"It's Zorelli Mrs Carrington, and I have indeed already spoken to Mrs Krystle Carrington that is the very reason I am here..."
Snorting delicately Alexis her shook her head, her mussed dark curls bouncing slightly. "Oh I can imagine."
"Is there something amusing about this Mrs Carrington? If there is perhaps you'd care to share it with me?" Zorelli asked his dark brows pulled together in confusion as Alexis Carrington leant back against her pillows and fixed him with her captivating emerald gaze.
"Oh I am just imaging what latest deluded fantasy Krystle has dreamt up this time." Alexis drawled rolling her eyes slightly. "The poor woman was sensitive enough before her miscarriage but since the accident she has become almost unhinged. Blake had to practically threaten her with being committed to a sanatorium before she agreed to get help but clearly the good Dr Tosscanni has his work cut out for him."
"Are you saying Mrs Carrington is delusional?" Zorelli exclaimed trying to match the pleasant if slightly hysterical woman he had met earlier in the day with this new point of view.
"Well I wouldn't want to speak so about a member of my family..."Alexis demurred before adding softly... "but I have to be honest I am worried about her. When I returned to Denver my only purpose was to reconnect with my children. Yet for some reason Krystle resented my being here, resented me living in a house I rightly owned and eve tried to have me evicted...I think she was already feeling out of her depth and that feeling must have only amplified with my being here. Somehow she had gotten it into her head that I had some sort of design on my ex-husband!" Alexis replied innocently.
"Which isn't the case?"
Smiling coquettishly Alexis shrugged dismissively. "Blake and I have a complicated relationship; I won't deny there is still something there. We were married for nine years and had a passionate relationship and you don't just forget a love like that, but that was in the past, Blake has moved on and so have I. There is a big difference between having a lingering affection for a person who was once very special to you and actually setting out to seduce your ex-husband. However Krystle struggled to understand that, she wanted Blake to cut me completely out of their lives, which as we share children together is somewhat impossible. So I can only imagine if Blake has decided to leave for some reason of his own that Krystle would seek to blame me... Let me guess this time she is accusing me of kidnapping Blake or something similar?"
Scratching his head Zorelli could only nod. "Something along those lines."
"Well honestly how preposterous." Alexis tutted before adding in a flirtatious tone. "Do I really look like I could kidnap anyone, I am hardly built for it Sergeant?"
"No you're not." Zorelli added unable to stop his eyes from raking over Alexis Carrington's petite frame before he remembered the reason he was here. "However that still leaves me with the problem of a missing Blake Carrington. You have no idea of Mr Carrington's whereabouts?"
"As of right this moment not a god given clue!" Alexis answered honestly. "I was with them at the house after Blake's accident he was confused and needed support and Krystle asked me to move into the house help."
"Mrs Carrington asked you to move in?" Zorelli stuttered in disbelief. Considering the fact that these two women seemed to dislike each other such a move was surprising the least.
"Blake was hurt, blind and confused and his Doctor recommended having people around that Blake was familiar with and trusted. I won't pretend living in my old home was the easiest thing for me to do but my children asked me to help and I couldn't refuse them when they need my help. Even so I can't pretend I wasn't happy to leave as soon as I could."
"And your leaving coincided with Mr Carrington leaving?"
"We both left at the same time if that is what you mean? Blake had recovered his eyesight and so it no longer seemed necessary for me to stay. Normally I would have returned to my own studio but I really needed a break far away from the house and Fallon kindly leant me her car. Since he knew I was leaving Blake asked if I wouldn't mind giving him a lift..."
"And what happened to Mr Carrington after that?" Zorelli pressed unable to quell the suspicion that he wasn't hearing the entire truth here, Alexis Carrington didn't appear to be lying but she wasn't telling him everything she knew either.
"Oh while I was driving Blake mentioned something about feeling hemmed in at the house, everyone fussing over him was driving him a little stir crazy. I did suggest that he might consider getting away for a few days, go and clear his head...Clearly after I dropped him off he must have taken my advice. That he chose not to tell Krystle is hardly my fault." Alexis added smiling sweetly.
"And where did you drop Mr Carrington off Mrs Carrington?"
"Oh downtown…I forget the exact street…" Alexis answered vaguely.
"Mrs Carrington for someone who claims to still care about her ex or at least be on friendly terms with him you don't seem to be very concerned that a confused and vulnerable man is missing and you are the last person who can claim to have seen him..." Zorelli began only to be cut off sharply.
"Correction Sergeant I am not worried because unlike Krystle Carrington I actually know Blake Carrington back to front, there is no person more capable of looking after them self than Blake. Besides it's not like he hasn't done it before." Alexis added dangling the bait teasingly in front of Zorelli's nose.
"Mr Carrington has disappeared before?"
"Well if you call going off on business trips without bothering to tell anyone first or taking some time out by himself disappearing?" Alexis scoffed. "After his mother died Blake 'disappeared' for two days, I eventually tracked him down camping at his favourite thinking spot and convinced him to come home. Similarly he went away just after our first son's kidnapping, after all the stress of dealing with the police and the detectives Blake needed to getaway. It's just how he deals with emotional distress. He either buries himself in Denver Carrington or he goes away to get his head straight."
"I see..." Zorelli said and yet inwardly he was more confused than ever...still if Carrington really did have a track record for disappearing in times of stress that would be a simpler explanation and he could get back to dealing with real crime. And yet there was something here that just didn't feel right...
"I wish I could be more help Sergeant but really that is all I can tell you." Alexis added glancing quickly at her delicate gold watch.
"In a hurry to leave Mrs Carrington?"
Laughing lightly Alexis shrugged. "I don't particularly like hospitals Sergeant I hardly think I am alone in wanting to leave as quickly as possible."
"Still it looks nasty, did you break it?" Zorelli asked gesturing towards Alexis's swollen foot.
"Fortunately not just a sprain." Alexis replied. "I really shouldn't keep you Sergeant. I am sure you have far more important cases to be dealing with than this wild goose chase."
"You're right I do." Zorelli replied closing his notepad and tucking it back into his pocket before moving slowly towards the door. "You know I've heard a sprain can be just as painful as a break, it's a wonder you managed to drive at all with your foot like that." Zorelli commented innocently.
"Oh I didn't..."
"Then how Mrs Carrington does your daughter's car happen to be parked in the hospital car park?" Zorelli asked his dark eyes locked on Alexis's Carrington emerald orbs which widened slightly in panic, the first flicker in her armour that Zorelli had caught.
"A Good Samaritan drove for me...I don't recall their name..."
"An interesting memory you have there Mrs Carrington… A Good Samaritan whose name just happens to be Blake Carrington perhaps?" Zorelli probed his gut instinct guiding him. "Do you know what I think Mrs Carrington...I think you've told me the truth up to a point, I don't think you kidnapped Blake Carrington, I think he did leave willingly with you, very willingly I expect."
"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Alexis snapped her eyes narrowing at this ill couth badly dressed lackey dared to accuse her of lying; that she was wasn't the point.
"I think that you are having an affair with Blake Carrington, I imagine you have been for quite some time and that the two of you cooked up this little 'disappearance' between the two of you in order to be able to continue this affair without Krystle Carrington's interfering."
"Well don't you have all the answers Sergeant?" Alexis taunted leaning back and crossing her arms. "Well forgive me but although people might object to an affair it is hardly illegal! Not that I admitting to any such thing."
"Not illegal no, but wasting police time is." Zorelli retorted.
"If what you accuse me of is true Sergeant then how could I be guilty of that? As neither my Blake nor myself would have involved the police that was Krystle's doing, feel free to charge her if you like!" Alexis snapped back emerald eyes flashing.
"That she is married to a man who would put her through all this is punishment enough I think." Zorelli countered. "Now may I suggest to avoid charges, hypothetically speaking, of any kind you might advise Mr Carrington to miraculously finds his way home at some point today? Otherwise..."
"If by some coincidence I happen to see him I will pass on your message." Alexis agreed. "Now Good Day Sergeant."
"Good day Mrs Carrington I do hope you're back on your feet soon." Zorelli replied sardonically, pleased to have gotten to the bottom of this mystery and that he could get back to far more important matters.
Inwardly fuming as she watched the jumped up little police officer leave Alexis poured over her options…They could flee again but they would be found eventually and although Alexis couldn't give two hoots about Krystle's reaction she had no desire to see the inside of a police station just to continue to torment Blake's current wife. Zorelli had backed her into a corner, she had no choice but to agree, there was no other option available to her.
Yet it was the final nail in the coffin. If she had thought she had lost Blake before, going back to the mansion would make that all too quickly a reality. She would have to tell him everything...tell him and hope against all hope that he would still want her after the truth came out.
Alexis had always claimed that the bond between her and Blake was too deep to ever be truly broken; well it was finally time to put that to the test.
God it hurt. Fallon had thought she had known pain before in her life from the times she had suffered accidents, the time she had broken her arm falling from her horse stood out in her memory. Yet that paled by comparison to the agony that was ripping through her lower body right now. It was like…oh god Fallon wasn't sure what it really could compare to but it she had to guess what having someone ripping out your inside felt like then Fallon assumed it might be something similar.
Part of her wondered if that was what was happening to her as she could feel the wetness between her thighs…perhaps she was bleeding to death?
Yet Fallon was too terrified to ask, the oxygen mask the paramedics had placed over her face in order to stop her hyperventilating, prevented her from doing so and instead Fallon could only lay there and wonder. She felt every second, every bump in the road, every turn and with every frantic beat of her heart which pounded in her chest Fallon prayed.
Please God…Please not the baby…My baby…My baby…
It was almost frightening the fear and these feelings. All through her pregnancy Fallon had felt largely indifferent to the life growing inside her. She had after all intended to abort the child and in the end it was not love for the child that had made Fallon change her mind but love for her Father…Blake had lost his own child Fallon could take his grandchild from him as well.
So she had suffered the inconvenience of her pregnancy just when she was embarking on a new romance with Dr Toscanni. Fallon had been quite content with her arrangement to hand the child over to Jeff once it was born, her soon to be ex-husband was looking forward to becoming a father. Jeff had grudgingly accepted her arrangement to raise his son by himself at the mansion and Fallon hadn't anticipated having any difficulty in letting him do just that.
Fallon had chosen to ignore the occasional flicker of sentimental attachment…when she was alone in her room at night and the baby was kicking…how it seemed to settle when she rubbed her belly and sang softly to herself…to herself not the baby. Still she hadn't felt all these maternal feelings everyone always gushed about. She was looking forward to the birth not because she couldn't wait to see her baby but because after eight months of pregnancy Fallon couldn't wait for her life to get back to normal.
Yet now with the very real fear that her baby was hurt, possibly dying, Fallon felt everything she had been suppressing. She loved this child, she had fought against it because loving someone meant making yourself open and vulnerable to them…they could hurt you…and Fallon had been hurt enough already by people she loved and people who should never have hurt her. Besides how could she be a mother, a girl whose own mother abandoned her?
Only Alexis had returned and right now Fallon wanted her mother…she was alone and needed Alexis…only her mother was once again not here when Fallon needed her and Fallon only had her prayers.
Finally after what felt like forever the ambulance stopped and the doors were flung open, the paramedics rushed about, the gurney she was on was lifted and lowered and they were moving towards the hospital.
"Oh thank goodness Fallon…don't worry the doctors will fix everything…" A voice called out yet it wasn't until they were half leaning over her that Fallon recognised who it was and even the oxygen mask couldn't muffle her scream…
It was Krystle and clearly she had come back to finish what she had started in the nursery…she was here to kill her baby!