Chapter 10

At the Hospital

Everyone had divided up into groups. Fox, Whitney and Chad, Charity and Miguel sat with Theresa. Eve, Pilar, Sam and Grace stood close by, talking. Kay, Simone and Jessica sat on the other side of the room. Ethan and Gwen were off to the side of the girls. Luis, Beth and Hank, Sheridan and Antonio stood out in the waiting room. And Antonio presented his proposal. He took Sheridan's hand as he spoke.

"I know I promised Sheridan, I'd wait until things were settled. But even if I mention this now, we don't have to take action. We'll just sit on it, until things have calmed down."

She tried to stop him, "Antonio...not yet-" but he insisted.

"-Sheridan, nothing has to happen now. I just want to see what they think about it."

Beth folded her arms over her chest, "what we think about what?"

Antonio told her with a smile, "what you think about Sheridan and I, helping you two plan your wedding."

Luis and Hank blinked, while Beth's thoughts wondered.

'Could this day get any better? Not only is Theressa awake and feeling better, Antonio wants to help us plan a wedding? Even he knows we belong together! There's no way Luis and Sheridan are getting back together now. I won!'

She hid her excitement, glancing up at Luis. He glanced from Beth, back to his brother, contemplating his next choice of words. Hank said nothing. Sheridan shook her head, her eyes trained on the ground. She made eye-contact with Luis, and he shrugged.

Antonio spoke again, "so what do you guys think?" He was answered with silence.

Inside

Ethan and Gwen were talking, but she noticed that his focus constantly shifted over to Fox. And his eyes were trained on him. Gwen gave him a Look, touching his arm.

"Ethan?" He finally turned to her, and she asked, "what's wrong? Every minute, you glance at Fox. Now, I've seen you two on not such good terms, but never this bad. What happened?"

Ethan thought back to their conversation the previous night.

"Stay away from her," he had told his brother.

Fox wasn't so willing to give in. "Ethan, she's my best friend. Your request for me to stay away from her, isn't going to change that. It won't work either. Because no, I'm not going to stay away from her."

Ethan was losing his temper. "I'll only warn you once."

"So now you're adding threats to your list of demands? Well, you know, you don't scare me. So save your breath, half-bro. As I said, we're done here. If you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." Ethan had left, but made a silent vow that he wouldn't let Fox hurt her, under any circumstances.

He snapped back to reality, as Gwen asked him, "Ethan, hey, where'd you go?"

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

He looked back over. "I don't know. I don't know what's with me right now. Its Fox, its not Fox. Its...everything. And then I keep finding every reason to blame him for-"

"-Stop. Stop right there. You can't do that, its not fair. What happened was not his fault. You know that. He saved her life. The irony in things is that you're angry, when you should be proud of him."

He only stared at her in response.

Across the Room

Just across the room, Theresa was being re-introduced to her soon to be sister-in-law.

"So...your name is Charity?"

Charity smiled, "that's right."

"And you're getting married to my little brother?"

Miguel smiled, squeezing Charity's hand. "That's right. We're getting married in a couple weeks."

Theresa smiled, touching his shoulder, "my baby brother's getting married? That's so sweet. I'm so happy for you two."

Charity told her, "and we're glad that you're feeling better. After what you've been through, your recovery's been nothing short of a miracle."

"Thank you, Charity. I have to tell you, between God's great work and my stubborness..." she stopped and they all started laughing.

And she finished her sentence, "I'm determined to get out of here as soon as I get the 'okay' from Dr. Russell." She thought about what she'd just said. "Speaking of which..." she looked around the room and caught sight of Eve still talking with her mother, Sam and Grace.

"Dr. Russell?"

Eve turned her attention to Theresa, and all four adults walked over.

Eve asked her, "everything okay?"

Pilar asked, "mija, what's wrong?"

Theresa shook her head, "nothing's wrong. I just have a question."

Eve told her, "oh, of course."

Theresa asked, "how early could I be released? I know I didn't get out of surgery that long ago, but I would be really relaxed if I could go home and lay in my own bed. I could be with my baby. And I'm sure there are probably patients that could use this bed more than I could."

Everyone turned to Eve, as she considered that.

"Well...that doesn't sound too bad." She took another moment to think it over. "...Why don't we do it this way? Stay tonight for observation. And then tomorrow, I'll look over your vitals to make sure you can handle the transition."

Theresa took that into consideration and gave in, "okay...I'll wait."

Pilar assured her, "don't worry, mija. Tomorrow will get here before you know it. Just take today and rest."

"...I'll try."

As she settled on the bed with Fox's help, Pilar brushed a hand over her forehead, "get some rest. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon to take you home."

"...Alright."

Pilar told her, "we love you, mija."

Theresa smiled, "I love you guys, too."

With that, she was showered with goodbye hugs and kisses. Fox was the last to go, only he and Pilar remained inside. He stared at her for a second and she just smiled at him. He smiled back, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"We'll see you tomorrow, beautiful."

She cupped his cheek, giggling. "I can't wait."

He told her, "I'm just glad you're awake. I missed seeing those beautiful eyes of yours. But I'll see them again tomorrow."

They smiled at each other, while Pilar watched from across the room.

Fox leaned over, "okay," and kissed her cheek again. "If I don't leave now, I'm not going to want to at all."

Theresa laughed, watching him walk across the room.

He stopped next to her mom and they both waved again. "See you tomorrow, mija."

Theresa waved, "bye, mama."

And Pilar stepped past the curtains. Fox smiled at her again, "see ya gorgeous."

Theresa giggled again, "see ya."

He reluctantly turned around and headed past the curtains. Theresa watched after him and smiled again. She laid her head down on her pillow. She smiled, "Fox," as she closed her eyes.

In Ethan and Gwen's Room

The door to their room opened, and they walked in. Gwen slid her jacket off her shoulders, and put it on the bed. Ethan closed the door after them, taking off his own jacket. He turned as he saw his wife sitting on their bed, staring at him.

He shrugged, "what's up?"

She gave him a Look. "We need to talk, Mr. Winthrop."

Ethan played it dumb, "talk about what?"

"Don't give me that. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

As he sat next to her, she emphasized the problem, "your issues with Fox. Whatever they are, what's going on with you, huh?"

Ethan told her, "look, I know what kind of guy Fox is. And I don't want to see Theresa get hurt."

Gwen stood, shaking her head, "so this is about Theresa..."

Ethan took her lead, and turned her around to face him. "No, its about Fox. Fox, the playboy. Fox, the guy who will say anything, do anything to get what he wants. And whenever that happens, someone always gets hurt."

"Ethan, how much time have you spent with him since he's been back? Because as far as I can see, all this talk is based on the assumptions you have, of who he used to be. Not who he is now. There's a big difference. Besides, he and Theresa are friends. And I'm sorry to say it, but I don't think its your business if they decided to pursue something more than friendship."

"...Gwen...you don't understand. You really don't."

"So explain it to me, Ethan. Because all I'm hearing, is your problem with who Fox was before he came back to Harmony. As far as I can see, he's a changed man. I don't think he's the same person he used to be."

He argued, "you don't know that he is."

She argued, "And you don't know that he isn't. Get to know him again. Don't turn your back on him, because of who he used to be. If he had positive influences in his life, only time can tell."

Ethan stared at her, when she stressed, "talk to him. Don't shut him out. Because in the end, you're doing exactly what your mother and Julian did."

Ethan argued, "you're wrong, there. My mother loves him."

Gwen shook her head, "I'm not saying she doesn't. I just think that Fox needs positive influences in his life. Don't always assume the worst, Ethan. He could pleasantly surprise you."

Ethan laughed, "yeah. That'll be the day." Gwen encouraged him, "just try."

He looked her in the eyes, not quite saying yes, not quite saying no.

In the Next Chapter

Theresa goes home.