"Where have you been?"

Tracy got up from the couch and moved towards her husband. She was glaring and in no mood for any of his fancy talk. He promised he wouldn't leave her again, but there she was this evening, alone in the loft. He didn't even leave a note let alone a rose.

Luke stood at the door, stunned. He didn't know what to make of Tracy's anger.

"Pumpkin…"

"Don't you 'Pumpkin' me. You said you wouldn't leave me behind again but that's exactly what you did."

If Luke didn't know better he thought Tracy was going to slug him. She might have been born with a silver spoon but she had a mean right hook and he'd been on the receiving end of it before. Gently he walked towards her, trying not to upset her. But the closer he came the further she moved away from him.

"Tracy…"

"Look Luke Spencer, for all intents and purposes I am your prisoner here. I don't know where we are, I don't know how to get help, I don't know what you are planning and I don't like being kept in the dark. You begged me to come with you so I'm here. When will you respect me enough to tell me the truth?"

Where was all this coming from? Luke didn't know what to make of it. He hadn't seen her this angry since he got into that mess with the Zaccharas and the Haunted Star. She'd been right that time, but she was way off base this time.

"Tracy…" he tried again as he moved towards her, hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Not another step. I have half a mind to call the police to track me down and arrest you. At least then I'd know where you were."

"Baby, you don't want to do that. What's wrong? I don't understand."

"Oh, I'll say you don't understand, Luke Spencer. How many promises are you going to break? I thought we were in this together. Terrifying me every other day is acceptable to you? At least last time I had a note to wake up to. This time there was nothing."

"A note, Tracy, what are you talking about?

Luke could see that she was getting more agitated as he spoke, and she was backing towards the stairs. He had to get her to calm down and tell him what was wrong because so far she wasn't making sense.

"A note Luke," she was practically yelling. "A note that tells me where you've taken off to this time. Don't you even care that I worry?"

"I know what a note is Tracy, but why did you need one? I was only gone down to the office to speak with my contact. I told you that before I left."

"Like hell you did."

"Tracy, you're not making sense here. I was downstairs for maybe half an hour."

"You what??" Somewhere in the back of Tracy's mind Luke's words rang true, she just didn't understand why. "That's a good one, Spencer."

With as much flare and dignity as she could muster, Tracy spun around to march up the stairs. Luke watched her turn. Within seconds his emotions went from confused to panicked when Tracy missed the first step and fell in a heap, hitting her head on the railing.

"Tracy…" Luke screeched. He wasn't close enough to catch her and during those moments it took to reach her, the damage was done. "Tracy… talk to me, Tracy…"

Luke started to gently slap Tracy's face, anything to get her to wake up. It was then he noticed the heat radiating from her body. Feeling her forehead he realized she had a high fever.

"Tracy, oh god, don't do this now. Tracy!"

He was almost frantic. She had to wake up. She needed a doctor. She needed help.

Luke gently lifted his wife and carried her to the couch. She was moaning, which was a good sign, but she still hadn't regained consciousness. He kicked the book and pillows out of the way, and placed her as tenderly as he could with her head propped up on a cushion. Grabbing the blanket on the chair, he covered her and folded her arms across her abdomen. For a second it flashed through his mind that she could have been a corpse, but he chased that unbidden terror away and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hold on, Baby. I'm going to get help."

With one last look back at his wife, Luke raced out of the loft and down the stairs. He hoped his contact would still be in the office. Tracy needed help, and if he had to trade his freedom for her life it wasn't a difficult choice.

Taking two steps at a time, Luke raced back from the office with his contact behind him. While down in the office they had been able to call a doctor who understood discretion, and she was on her way. All they could do now was wait and pray that Tracy would awaken.

As he entered the loft, he found his wife just as he left her. She hadn't moved and the moaning had stopped. Luke felt an icy cold knife plunge through his heart and was momentarily frozen with fear. He couldn't lose her now. Looking down at his arm he realized he was being pulled towards the sofa. Without waiting for instructions, Luke's contact had sat Luke down beside his wife and gone to the kitchen to rummage for some ice. Luke felt like every limb was made of granite as he reached to hold Tracy's hand.

She was still burning up, which meant she was still with him. The relief was overwhelming and brought Luke back to his senses. Shaking the fog from his mind, he reached up to sooth the hair out of her face. He didn't see blood but wasn't sure how bad her head was, so he gently reached behind her head to feel for the bump. As he touched the lump he saw Tracy's face clench in pain.

"Sorry, Baby, I had to see how bad it was."

"Luke… where are you… Luke?"

He could see her getting agitated so he picked up her hand again and squeezed it as firmly as he dared.

"I'm here, Sweetheart, just hold on. The doctor is coming."

"Lu?"

"Right beside you, Spanky. I'm not leaving. I've got you, Darlin'."

Tracy didn't say anything more, instead she groaned and her head rolled to the side.

"Here, put this on her head."

Luke turned to see Ernesto passing him a bag of ice covered in a dish towel. He gratefully took it and thanked the man who had gotten him out of a number of jams.

"She'll make it, Luke. You and Tracy will Mambo again in no time."

"I hope you're right, Ernesto."

Luke turned back to Tracy and placed the bag of ice at the back of her head. Tracy again flinched in pain but didn't open her eyes.

"So what happened, Luke?"

"I don't know, man. I was down with you and then came up here and she was angry at me for leaving her alone. She knew I was only going downstairs. When I left her she was falling asleep with a book in her hand. When I came back she was madder than I've seen her in awhile. Then she missed the first step over there and fell backwards. It all happened so fast. I couldn't catch her in time."

"Hey Luke, you did the right thing. She's pretty flushed. I'm sure she'll be fine as soon as that bump goes down."

"She's got a fever. I don't know when she got sick. She was fine when I left. I mean she was irritable all day, but that's Tracy."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, but instantly he felt he betrayed her. He should have been more attentive. It was just the two of them doing their own version of Bonnie and Clyde, and he let her down. If he'd kissed her before he left, maybe he would have felt the fever then and he could have stayed. None of this would have happened if he had just remained by her side.

It felt like hours before the doctor arrived, but in truth it had only been 40 minutes. Ernesto's wife quickly ushered her into the loft and lead her to Tracy. Answering pointed medical questions, Luke outlined what happened and the little he understood leading up to the accident. Tracy still wasn't conscious but she did react to the hands moving around her head. He knew she was in pain by the small rivulet of tears running down her checks. He wanted the doctor to be gentler but knew to stay out of the professional's way. He would have to satisfy himself with treating his wife tenderly afterwards.

Once she was satisfied, the doctor rose and gestured for Luke to join her.

"Okay, from what I can see, if she had just fallen and bumped her head, she would be uncomfortable but she would be fine. She's in and out of consciousness because of this fever. We have to get it down but I can't prescribe medication or even suggest anything with of the possibility of a concussion. You're in for a long night, sir. You have to keep cool cloths on the back of her neck and forehead to bring the fever down. Keep ice on the bump and try to get her to respond to you every hour. You might also try cool cloths under her arms and against her chest to help relieve her. Considering the time, by noon tomorrow I would place her in a lukewarm bath. We should know by then if that fall has caused more damage. I don't think so but it's better to err on the side of caution. Try to get her to drink. Even if she won't swallow anything, use a cloth to wet her lips and mouth. By tomorrow night you can start using ibuprofen to bring the fever down."

"But she should be okay, right?"

"I don't have a crystal ball, but I think she should be fine as soon as the fever and that nasty bump go down. She will probably feel like she's wearing a football helmet for awhile, but that will pass also."

"Will you come back to check on her?"

"I can do that. I understand you don't want undo attention but I have to tell you if she needs additional care it doesn't matter what you want, she comes first."

"I agree doctor. She's more important than I am."

The doctor looked at him for awhile, assessing whether he was true to his words. Satisfied that he wasn't trying to bluff her, she nodded her head and turned to leave. Ernesto walked her to the door and passed her an envelope, then returned to stand beside Luke.

"Do you need us for anything else, my friend?"

"No, you've been great. Thank you. We'll be okay."

"Alright Luke, I'll come by tomorrow and see what you need. Take care."

Luke just nodded. He didn't even turn to see Ernesto and his wife leave, he was completely focused on his unconscious wife.

Leaning over to give her a kiss on the forehead, Luke arose to replace the cloths. He went to the kitchen for a bowl of cold water and placed some ice cubes in the container to keep the water chilled. After refilling the ice cube trays and returning them to the freezer, Luke moved the bowl and extra cloths over to the table beside Tracy.

"If you can't talk to me, Baby, I'll talk to you, okay?"

Carefully he freshened up the cloths and placed one at the base of her neck and one on her forehead.

"In fact, since you can't complain about my voice right now, I'll just sing to you…

Strange dear, but true dear

When I'm close to you dear,

The stars fill the sky.

So in love with you am I…