Chapter 25

Alexis closed the door hastily and touched her forehead to it. It wasn't even the crack of noon and she was already having a wonderful day. She stood and shook off her mortification. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sam sit down. As she approached the table she noticed Sam was getting antsy. Apparently she'd been gone just long enough for Sam to dump most of her breakfast down the drain. "You ate an awful lot of that awfully fast."

"I just want to get on with it…can I go see Stone now?" Sam's knee was bouncing uncontrollably, she looked pale and Alexis didn't have the heart to fight with her.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, I haven't talked to Sonny…"

"What the hell does he have to do with anything? I want to see Stone, and that ass is not going to stop me." Sam jumped up, knocking a chair over and made a beeline for the door.

"Sam." The girl stopped. Alexis was amazed. "Come back here and pick up the chair and clear your place."

Alexis took a deep breath, afraid to say the wrong thing, but she reminded herself, you're the adult…it was so easy to forget.

"Right now. Then come back here and sit."

Sam turned slowly, and without making eye contact picked up the chair then gathered her dishes and disappeared into the kitchen. Alexis' heart broke. She waited, but was unsurprised when Sam did not return. God was she screwing this up. Sam was a bundle of sadness and anger and fear and longing. She needed someone who knew what they were doing, someone needed to help her and all she had was Alexis.

And she was doing a bang up job. Sam wasn't eating, she was having nightmares, hustling people at pool and would rather freeze to death on the roof than turn to someone when it all became too much. Maybe…maybe if Alexis hadn't been busy fighting with Stefan…maybe Sam would have turned to her…

About fifteen minutes passed and Alexis decided Sam had had enough time to brood…alone anyway. She found her on the kitchen floor, staring off into space, expressionless. Alexis slid down next to her, but said nothing.

"I hate him!" Sam yelled suddenly. "He's a control freak and a jerk and he thinks he knows everything…"

Alexis was blindsided, she was expecting something more like 'I hate you'. She spit out the first 'he' she thought of. "Sonny?"

"He didn't want to let me see Stone yesterday…" Sam answered, in a rage filled cry.

Alexis was beginning to understand…just a little. "So you went on your own?"

Sam only nodded. A stray tear escaping her eye.

"Sonny wasn't trying to stop you from seeing him Sam, he just wanted me to be with you." Alexis tried to explain, she didn't know what made Sam think that, but she needed her to know the truth.

"No, you weren't here…you don't know…" There it was, in a nutshell, she wasn't there, Sam had needed her and she wasn't there.

"What don't I know…" Besides the most obvious ten million things.

"I hate him." Sam answered, as if that explained it all.

"Okay, you can hate him, but what did we talk about the other day?"

Sam stared at her blankly, but Alexis was glad for the eye contact.

"About respect…" She prodded

"I didn't do anything to Sonny…he's the one…" Sam argued, turning away again in frustration.

"You don't have to like him, but you can't go around knocking over furniture and slamming things around…you need to talk about it Sam…"

Sam shook her head… Alexis let it drop, there were more important things for Sam to talk about.

"Can you tell me what happened when you went to see Stone?"

Sam shook her head, unwilling or unable to explain it. So Alexis tried again.

"Were you alone when the seizure started?"

Sam gave few details, but Alexis could picture it. Sam asked again if she could see him, and again Alexis had to tell her she didn't know. Sam asked if he had died, and Alexis didn't know that either…though she was pretty sure that they would be able to tell.

She'd almost convinced Sam to go home, when Bobbie came through the door bleary eyed.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt…I just wanted to grab a bite." She looked exhausted, and Alexis was sure she'd comeback to sleep after an extremely long night, but Sam jumped up.

"Is he okay?"

Bobbie held out her hand and pulled Sam closer. "It was a rough night Sam, he had a series of seizures, but he's resting now."

Sam nodded. "Can I see him?"

"No baby, not now…"

Sam's shoulders sagged and her face crumpled. Before Alexis could react, Bobbie reached out and hugged her. Sam cried.

Alexis heard Bobbie murmur all the right things, it seemed so easy for her, and all at once a flood gate seemed to crack in Sam. She was telling Bobbie how scared she'd been and how she hadn't known what to do and so she ran. She wanted to get help, but she didn't know who or where to start.

Alexis felt as if she was intruding, she quietly left the kitchen. She sank down on the couch at loose ends. She had nothing to do, she couldn't leave without Sam, she couldn't work, because she didn't have her briefcase or laptop, she couldn't clean, because the penthouse was spotless.

She was startled by the cry of her cell phone and it took a few minutes for her to find where she left it. "Alexis Davis."

"It's Kevin."

"Kevin?"

"Kevin Collins? You left me half a dozen messages this morning…and may I remind you it's an hour earlier in Texas?"

Alexis cringed…she had started calling him before 7. "Hi, sorry…um are you back yet?"

"No Alexis!" She could tell he was getting a little impatient.

"Oh…well, I guess that's okay, I thought Sam would need your help, but I guess…she just needed someone who wasn't me."

"I'm not following you…"

"That's okay, it had just been a long night…"

"Is Stone?"

"He's holding on…"

"Sam's not taking it well?"

"Not particularly." Alexis felt a lump in her throat.

"That's normal, you know that right?"

She wanted to nod, but realized it was an ineffective way of communicating via telephone. "Uh huh."

"Alexis, are you alright?"

"No…not really…"

The hotel room felt sufficatingly small compared to the penthouse. Sam went straight to her room. Alexis looked at the Charlie Brown tree, it had been watered by hotel staff, but its sad little branches were beginning to wilt. Had Christmas only been yesterday, it seemed a million years away? Their opened gifts were straightened on the coffee table.

Alexis picked up a piece of dark chocolate and slowly unwrapped it. Kevin was coming home tomorrow. He would see Sam, but he wanted to see Alexis too. Alexis hated the idea, but in order to get him off the phone before Sam overheard she'd agreed. They'd passed a gray faced Alan Quartermaine as they left the Harborview. Alexis didn't want to think about why he might have been making a house call.

She froze when the knock sounded. She couldn't imagine who it could be, she was afraid it might be Stefan, and there was no way in hell she was dealing with him. But instead she opened it to a woman she vaguely recognized.

"Ms. Davis." She smiled expectantly.

"Yes?"

"I'm Alice?"

"Oh…oh…Alice, come in, I'm sorry, I completely forgot."

"Is this a bad time?"

Alexis let out a little laugh. "No…yes, but come in anyway."

The woman looked completely different in jeans and a Harley Davidson tee. Her hair was swept into a ponytail. "I've never heard of anyone having a housekeeper in a hotel."

"Neither have I. I hope to have an apartment by next week. They'll be a room for you of course, but you don't have to live in."

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for this, but I'm sick of retail, and the money you offered…is that a fair amount, it seemed…well…high."

Alexis laughed, a real one this time. "I hope it's fair, I'm desperate…you can name your price."

"Is everything alright?"

Alexis evaded the question. "I have a good feeling about this Alice. I think it will work out for all of us." She turned to see Sam standing in her doorway. "Sam you remember Alice."

Sam nodded, "I just wanted my book and stuff."

Alexis didn't press her to say hello, she wasn't being horrifically rude. She cocked her head and Sam picked up her books and walkman and the cds. She closed the door behind her and Alexis sighed. She returned her attention to Alice. "Can you start Monday?"

"I guess so…sooner if you want…if you need some time to yourself."

The phone rang before Alexis could respond. She jumped at the sound and her hand shook as she answered it. She knew without a doubt what was coming.

"Ms. Davis, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this…" Alexis fell back onto the couch as Sam screamed 'NO'.

It was over. Stone was gone.

A/N: I know a lot of you wanted Sam to have more time with Stone, be there when he died. I couldn't do that, because Stone's death is seared into my memory, and I can't really mess with it. He was alone with Robin, who had just found out she was HIV positive. She told him even though part of her didn't want to and he told her he was sorry...not apologizing, but sad that she might suffer the way he had. It was incredible. He'd lost his sight for the most part, but right before he died, he was able to see her briefly...I may have some of the details mixed up (I often do, but I can't watch the clips...it's way too painful) but if you are interested, they are all over YouTube. So I hope you forgive me for having them find out like this, but I needed to do it this way.