Thanks to my reviewers who've wished me well throughout my Bar exam torture; your thoughts and well wishes were appreciated. Exam is finally over. This story is now completely back into my world. While I have 5 additional chapters prewritten, let me know if you're still interested in this because I'm not going to keep writing this if you're not. This takes hours of my time that I could be spending elsewhere.
Barely edited.
Chapter Thirty-Six
In Vino Veritas
- "Um… are you—"
Molly stood in the corner of the room unsure of how she should approach her father. The last time she had spent time with him alone, with his wrists in handcuffs he had roughly grabbed her arm in an attempt to get her to listen to his explanation on why he was not the monster she thought him to be. He had ferociously told her that he had not returned to the mob. He begged her to believe that her would never do anything to harm her. She was the innocent one.
- "Are you… in pain?"
But he had harmed her. In his attack on her grandfather, his abandonment of his family by returning to a life he knew her mother did not approve, and by attempting to kill himself, he had hurt her worse than anyone ever had before. She did not know what to do with that knowledge. She may have been intelligent for her age, but it was a lot to take in and understand.
- "Do you… need anything? Like… ice… or something?"
She did not know how to be with the man who stared at her with so much pain in his eyes. He had always been someone with whom she could speak, laugh, and joke. Because of the time they had spent with one another while her sisters had gone to Greece, they shared a bond with one another that had seemed unbroken, but nevertheless failed. She was the baby of the family, and therefore the one most coddled and overprotected at times. But they could not shield her from this… regardless how hard they might have tried.
- "I can—"
Despite the tightness in his throat and the effort it took for him to speak, Sonny could not allow the teen to run away from him… not again. He needed her to… understand… even if to some extent he, himself, did not fully comprehend all that had occurred.
- "Mool… ly—"
To alleviate the tension in the room between them, with a smile on his face, he pointed to the cup in her hands.
- "Pleee… aaa… ssee."
And realizing that the cup of ice chips that she had just offered him was already in her hands from her first attempt at avoiding a conversation with him, she quickly brought it over to him.
- "Sorry, Da—"
Moving to the chair her mother had occupied the entire evening, she stopped speaking.
- "Um—"
He grabbed the notepad that sat on the nightstand beside him.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you."
Tapping on the latter sentence numerous times in order to emphasize his point, he held the pad out to her to read.
- "Mol."
She read the note, but looked down rather than at him; she could not bear the sight of him hurt and fragile.
- "Grandpa Mike—"
He immediately began to write as she spoke.
- "He's going to be okay, you know. Um… I don't know if you… if you care—"
He flipped the page to quickly scribble his response. He once again tapped the pad.
"I do care."
Looking at what he had written, she continued to look away from him.
- "If you care, why… why would you beat him up the way you did? I mean, Mommy and Uncle Stefan—"
He gripped more tightly the pen in his hand. Stefan's name made him angry; the man made every attempt to usurp his authority in the family. Given how things had turned out during the month, it was clear that he had accomplished his goal; Stefan had turned every member of Sonny's family, including the child seated before him, against him. But despite his disgust and disdain for the man, he needed to learn to control his rage.
- "Didn't want me to see him when we got here last night. They said that he was sedated. You—"
He tapped the notepad.
"I'm sorry. I don't have an excuse for what I did. I just want you to know I'm sorry. I love you."
She nodded but refused to look at him. She noticed that he had yet again begun to write, but she nevertheless continued.
- "I mean, if you loved us, like you say… and… and you didn't want mean to hurt us—"
She stopped. That was not what he had said. He had actually said that he was sorry that he had hurt them; there was no indication as to whether or not he had meant to hurt them.
- "Forget it."
She put the cup of ice she continued to hold in her hands onto the table. She could not have small talk with a man who attempted to take his own life in spite of knowing how deeply the act would further hurt their family.
- "I think… I think I'm going to go—"
Noticing that she was attempting to leave, he grabbed her arm.
- "Moo… ool."
He hated that he could not say what he wanted; a notepad would never do. But, he had to try. He had to try something.
- "Staaa… aaay."
She went tense to his touch.
- "Daddy, please… don't—"
Noticing her response, he immediately released her.
- "Sor…ry."
A tear, matching the one that flowed from her eyes, trickled down his cheek. His memory was hazy of all that had occurred the previous evening, but her fear told him enough. It was not that she was angry with him for what he had done to Mike; she was afraid of him. He released her so that he could write.
"Did I hurt you too?"
For the first she stared directly at him.
- "You ruined everything! You messed up our family and let me blame Mommy—"
He pointed to the notepad.
"I'm sorry."
She ignored it.
- "You tried to kill yourself! Mommy's already been upset and worried, and you did this—"
She furiously wiped her face.
- "Why'd you do it? Why'd you try to kill yourself?"
He did not have a response… or at least not one that would be appropriate. So, he wrote what first came to mind.
"I don't know."
But she needed more than that. A claim of ignorance over something so serious would not suffice her.
- "No!"
She grabbed the notepad from his hand and threw it across the room.
- "I'm NOT a baby anymore! Stop lying to me! Just TELL me! Why… why would you try to kill yourself? Why would you do something so horrible?"
Sonny stared at her. In the time that he had been forced from his family's life, she had become angry; she was not the little girl of a mere month ago.
- "I—"
She stood from the chair and quickly moved to the window before he could once again grab her.
- "Did you do this because you knew that Mommy would come back to you?"
He could not believe her accusation.
- "No…ooo…oo."
She continued.
- "Or… or did you do this because… because you wanted us all to feel sorry for you? So that we'd all come here and sit by your bedside waiting for you to wake up? And then… then we'd have to take you home with us because clearly you can't be on your own."
He covered his face to conceal the tears that had begun to stream down his cheeks; he could not believe her words.
- "Mooo…ooo…l."
She finally turned from the window to stare at him. Her eyes were red from the tears that she had shed.
- "Were you drunk? Like Grandpa Mike? You don't like it when he drinks. Were you drinking?"
He did not know how to respond. If he said no, he would be lying; but if he said yes, she would misunderstand. All he knew for certain was that he had been drinking; he simply did not know why he did what he had done. Any of it.
- "Pleee… aaa… se."
And that was all she needed to hear from him. Walking out of the room, she left him the way he deserved to be: alone.
Since Sam had kicked her out of the room so that Dr. Lee could exam her without being hovered over, Alexis thought it best to give her sister a call; she wanted to check on her granddaughter. Since they had all run out of the house late the previous evening, the little girl must have wondered about the sudden emptiness of her aunt's apartment.
- "Hi Tina."
The redhead excused herself from the two men so that she could take her sister's call. There was not much left to be said between them as Lucky remained rightfully angry with them; Stefan had himself, at seeing her take the call, stepped away from the "Spencer spawn" stepped away to make a few calls.
- "Lex, how are you? How's Sonny?"
Alexis leaned against a wall in the long corridor. She hated to think about how her husband was doing because she really did not know… not yet.
- "He's awake. He's trying to talk… well, respond. And Kristina—"
She shook her head as she thought about her daughter's upset. Of her three girls, Kristina had always been a daddy's girl. The thought that Sonny would make an attempt on his life was a betrayal to the girl; in her eyes, he was supposed to live forever.
- "She's hurt. She's angry."
Tina nodded.
- "Well, that's understandable, honey. She's bound to be hurt at the thought that her father would do something so drastic. I take it that you haven't told her—"
Alexis cut her off; she did not need to hear the word. Tumor.
- "No. I don't want to say anything until after Patrick removes it, has the biopsy done, and lets me know what's going on. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it; until then, these girls have too much on their plates to worry about."
Tina could hear the worry in her sister's voice.
- "Has something else happened?"
But Alexis also heard the same from her sister; they knew each other too well.
- "I should ask you the same thing, Kristina. Is everything alright?"
She looked over to her brother who held the paperwork in his hands as he spoke into the phone; Lucky had given them the go ahead to move along with their plan to protect Dani.
- "Um… you first."
Alexis wanted to argue with the woman, but she did not have the strength. So she continued.
- "Sam's been a bit light-headed since yesterday. She was looking a bit pale while we were with Sonny, so he and I basically stuffed a corn muffin down her throat because she hasn't been eating the way she should be. Now I'm waiting for Kelly to finish examining her."
Tina covered her face; she prayed for the best. Her niece could not handle yet another miscarriage as the loss of Steven was still quite fresh. And yet, it almost seemed fated given all that had occurred in such a short period of time. The stress was too much for even Tina.
- "God, Lex! Is she—"
- "She's fine, honey. She's actually in pretty high spirits; she's not showing any worry or concern about the pregnancy. If I didn't know better, I would have said that it was your positive cosmic influence that's caused this change of attitude, but I know her; she's terrified and just hiding it."
Noting an unusual pause in their conversation as Tina indicated to Stefan, who had appeared at her doorway, that she would return to them shortly, Alexis grew more suspicious of what her sister was hiding. She did not appreciate being kept in the dark under any circumstance.
- "What aren't you telling me, Kristina? What's going on over there? I know that Stefan is with you; is it—"
Not knowing how else to respond to her sister's line of questioning, Tina simply blurted it out.
- "Warren was by earlier this morning—"
Alexis gasped.
- "What?"
But Tina continued.
- "Everything's okay. Dani's fine. He was—"
She was becoming agitated; they did not need this. This could not have been happening. Melinda had promised she would not tell their secret. If she loved her granddaughter the way she should have, she could not have told him; she knew of what her husband was capable.
- "What did he want? Did he… does he… Tina, tell me something!"
She heard the panic in the older woman's voice.
- "I don't know. I didn't open the door, and he didn't exactly stay. So I called Stefan, and that's why he rushed over. Lucky's here as well. Stefan—"
Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose. She was at her wit's end. The tides needed to turn in their direction.
- "I don't mean to cut you off, honey, but, may I speak with him, please? I need to… I need him to file the paperwork regardless of what Lucky and Sam say. We can't afford to wait. I'll be damned if—"
But Tina stopped her from continuing. Alexis' sentiment was exactly that of the entire family.
- "It's already been done."
She let out a sigh of relief.
- "Good. Okay… um… get to Wyndemere; at least you guys will be safe there. When Sam gets the okay, I'll have a car bring her over. Um… I need to—"
She noticed Robin approaching her.
- "I need to go. Call me if anything happens, okay? Don't call Sam; she doesn't need any more stress."
- "Of course."
She quickly hung so that she could greet the young doctor.
- "Robin, hi!"
The woman had just been with her husband. While Patrick would remove the tumor from Sonny's brain, she would do the research regarding treatment if they find it to be cancerous. As far as the couple was concerned, because they had a relatively close relationship with the Corinthos family, they were invested in ensuring Sonny's survival.
- "Alexis, you're just the person I wanted to see; I was just headed over to see you and Sonny."
She let out a breath; the idea that her husband's head would be cut open was nerve-wracking.
- "Are you guys ready to take him in? Um… I just… I think before you do that the girls need to have a few more minutes with him—"
She was stalling.
- "I feel like—"
Robin touched the nervous woman's arms.
- "Alexis, it's fine. I just wanted to come by and see if you guys were okay… if you spoke to Sonny about what was going on—"
Alexis had told them that she wanted to break the news to him.
- "No… no I haven't. I got a little distracted. Molly was a bit apprehensive about talking to him, Sam wasn't feeling well—"
- "Is she okay?"
She wanted to say yes, but she could not honestly do so. While Sam remained calm about the situation, she knew that her daughter was terrified. Alexis could not say that she was not as well.
- "I… I don't know. She's in with Kelly right now. Um… I don't even want to think about—"
She did not need to say anything more, Robin understood.
- "And how about Kristina? How is she doing?"
Alexis ran her hands through her hair; Kristina was yet another one for whom she felt terrified. On a normal day, the young woman was an emotional rollercoaster; she could shed tears for a sad song one moment, then be angry at some form of injustice she had read about in the world, and then laugh along with the rest of her family. While such latter days seemed to no longer exist in their home, her daughter's emotional state was not as fragile as it had once been… until the previous evening.
- "You know, that one… she'll always be my baby. She's so sensitive; she takes everything to heart. I just… I want for her to have a normal day for once; all of this—"
She waved her hands around her.
- "It's too much. She's been through a lot… more so than most people realize; but she's made it through it all. I just… I don't want her to relapse into that terrified girl she once was a few years ago, you know? She already hides out from the world, but at least now she's… I don't know… she's stronger. She's more confident in herself… although most who don't know her like we do wouldn't know that."
She stopped and stared at her eldest daughter's long-time acquaintance.
- "I'm rambling. Really, I don't even think that I'm making much sense right now."
Shaking her head, Robin smiled.
- "It's fine, Alexis… really. Actually, I did want to ask you about something that Sonny had said last night when we were examining him."
She was almost afraid to learn of what he could have possibly said.
- "What was it?"
Robin did not know if she should question the ramblings of a drunken suicidal man, but she figured it was better to question his wife rather than let it go; it might have meant something to her.
- "He was mumbling and really just not that coherent, so I don't want to make this a big deal because it probably doesn't mean anything—"
Alexis was getting nervous. As the phrase went, 'in vino veritas;' with respect to her husband that previous evening, it seemed as though he had had more than his share of alcohol.
- "What did he say, Robin?"
The young doctor could tell that she had caught Alexis' attention. She continued.
- "He was just asking about you and the girls. But then… then when he came to Kristina, he started rambling… he said, 'Kristina, Dani, Kiefer'—"
Alexis let out a gasp that allowed Robin to realize that the man's statement was not some incoherent rambling due to drunkenness.
- "Oh—"
Stepping out of the office, Sam frowned at her mother.
- "What's going on? Are you okay?"
Flashback
Because the young woman had refused to release her, with one free hand Sam held onto her sister's unbroken one, while with her other hand, she held her mother.
- "Krissy, we're not going anywhere. Okay? We're right here with you."
But the young teen had been silent from the moment that her sister and mother had found her cast aside their living room floor like an old ragdoll. She could not bring herself to speak; she wished only to wake up from the horrible nightmare in which she had found herself trapped. And so, Sam gently held her, careful not to hurt her any further.
- "It's okay."
She looked up to Alexis who had also been quiet since their arrival at the hospital.
- "Mom?"
She sobbed when she saw the extent of the damage done to her beautiful little girl. She silently shed tears as she watched the doctors take pictures of every inch of her daughter's body. She wept as the rape kit was performed. This was not something she would have ever imagined occurring to one of her children, or loved ones.
- "Hmm?"
She looked from Kristina's bruised and disfigured face to her eldest daughter's perfect face. The two sisters were the spitting image of one another… or at least they were. Would the beauty of her first-born ever return to her second-born? For the first time she released Sam's hand; she instead touched her face.
- "Yes sweetheart?"
Sam fought to stop the tears that had begun to well in her eyes from escaping, but the look of despair on her mother's face broke her. If a woman of Herculean strength had come to the point of breaking into a million pieces for the pain of what had occurred to the beloved teen, Sam could not find the courage to remain strong for them both. Not on that day. Not in that moment. Not even for another minute.
- "The… the doc—"
Kelly could see the difficulty the younger woman had in repeating what had just been asked; she decided to speak for herself.
- "Alexis, in times of… when events like these happen… um… we usually… we ask the victim—"
She cleared her throat. It was typically against hospital protocol to allow persons outside of the medical in the room with a patient, let alone two; however, given the family with which she currently dealt, and the gravity of the injuries sustained, they had made concessions. Although the Cassadine-Corinthos family was well known at General Hospital, it did not make the situation any easier.
- "We ask the patient if she would like to take the morning-after pill because—"
Alexis covered her mouth with a tissue as she let out a sob. She knew that she should have probably found some way to remain strong in the presence of her daughter, but even the most stalwart person in the world would not have been able to bear the sight of their child so injured.
- "You… you think she might… she might be pregnant?"
Kelly shook her head.
- "Not yet… but she… she could be. From what we saw… he… he didn't use protection. We found… semen."
Sam gently turned to her sister. Given that they way that they had found her in their home, bleeding, bruised, and naked, they had suspected what had occurred – there was no doubt; however, hearing the words, and witnessing all that came along with the reality of what had happened to her sister, only made the pain worse.
- "God… Krissy."
Alexis stepped closed to her daughters.
- "Will she… can she… um… she's—"
She did not even know how to ask; she had never before been in such a situation as that.
- "Her jaw… is it—"
Holding the x-rays they had taken, Robin shook her head.
- "No. She doesn't have any broken facial bones, but we will be taking her into surgery shortly for her ear; there was some significant damage to the ear drum that we'll need to repair before—"
Sam ran her fingers through her sister's hair.
- "She goes completely deaf."
Robin nodded.
- "Yea. But the pill… we should give that to her as soon as possible."
Alexis looked from the doctors, to Sam, and finally Kristina; they locked eyes. The pools of tears that welled in her daughter's eyes shattered her heart. She did not understand how anyone could hurt someone so beautiful as her baby. She nodded.
- "If she can swallow it… give it to her."
End of Flashback
But her daughter had not taken the pill; unbeknownst to them, she had found a way to spit it out. They had come to realize that she harbored a precious gift within her a month later. And now, those from whom the secret had been kept were learning of it.
- "I'm fine, Mushroom. Robin was just telling me that we should probably go speak to your father about the surgery and the biopsy."
Alexis smiled at her daughter, the one who had been given the tiny diamond found in the rough; she would protect her, as well as the little one within her.
- "Is everything okay with you?"
Sam was not convinced in her mother's truthfulness, but she nevertheless nodded.
- "Yea, yea. Kelly said the baby's heartbeat is pretty strong; I just need to eat. She's given me strict orders to eat a sandwich right away. So, um… I guess while you and Robin—"
But lest the woman faint, Alexis would never let Sam roam alone in the hospital.
- "No, it's okay. I still have a granola bar in my purse. We'll speak to your father, then once Patrick and Robin take him to surgery, we'll go to the cafeteria or something while we wait. Is that okay with you?"
Sam knew that it was not truly a question; her mother had already made up her mind. She simply needed to not in agreement.
- "Yea, that's fine. Let's go."
With Stefan at her side, Tina put her phone onto the sideboard before returning to her seat beside her nephew.
- "I'm sorry that took so long, Lucky; it was Alexis."
The man had been staring blankly at all of the paperwork sitting on the coffee table. He was at a loss as to how the family could have kept such a large secret from him. No. He was at a loss as to how his wife could have kept their daughter's identity from him for so long. He had uprooted his life for her. He had left his sons and moved four hours away so that he could be with her; he loved her that much. And yet, she never once bothered to tell him the truth.
- "What's the next step?"
Having just taken care of preliminary matters with a contact at the Greek government, Stefan spoke up.
- "Now, we wait."
Lucky stared at him.
- "Wait? Wait for what?"
Stefan cleared his throat before taking a seat.
- "We wait for confirmation that all has been taken care of. It should not be long; I had already spoken with my contact last night. He was simply waiting for me to speak with Samantha… and you."
Lucky stood up in agitation. It was an attitude such as the one Stefan continuously displayed to him that enabled his wife to lie to him for the nearly three years they were married. The patriarch of her family insisted on treating him as an outsider.
- "I'm not the enemy here, Stefan! I didn't ask for any of this—"
But Stefan countered.
- "You married into this family, did you not?"
Taking a step toward the man, Lucky shook his head in disgust.
- "Yea, I did. You seem to like to pretend that I didn't! Whether or not you like to admit it, Stefan, but Sam is still my wife, and Dani is still my daughter! You can hate me all you want, but I never once shied away from my duties as a father—"
Not at all perturbed by the advancing man, Stefan crossed his legs as he calmly stared at him.
- "So much so that Samantha had to return to Port Charles because your negativity about her present pregnant state—"
Tina knew that the issue of her niece's pregnancy was a hot button for both men. Stefan, like his feelings for Nikolas, loved Sam as though she were his own; he would hang the moon for her. As a result, the anger that she had felt toward her husband easily became that of her uncle's who was already predisposed to hating a Spencer man. And Lucky, he simply loved his wife. There was nothing more that could be said about him. If possible, he would die for his wife so that she might never hurt again. And so, Tina quickly grabbed her nephew's arm before he could reach her brother.
- "This isn't going to solve anything! You two fighting is not what Sam needs, and it certainly isn't what Dani needs to hear. You remember her, right? The little girl who's just in the next room coloring a picture for her mother. She doesn't need to see her father and uncle arguing."
She glared at her brother who had made to make a comment. Under normal circumstances she would have never spoken another language in front of Lucky, but Stefan was testing her patience. She hissed at him in Russian.
- "Will you stop acting like a complete and utter jackass? This family has betrayed this man; he has a right to be pissed. Don't make this anymore difficult for him than necessary. Do you hear me?"
He gave her a disapproving look; she had never been so disrespectful toward him.
- "Kris—"
Returning to English, she cut him off; she needed to inform Lucky of what her sister had told him.
- "Listen to me, now is not the time for you guys to take out your differences on one another, okay? This family needs to come together."
She noticed a scowl appear on Lucky's face at the mention of family.
- "I can't apologize anymore for not telling you the truth, Lucky. Now is the time to move on from it; we can't change it. We didn't tell you, but now you know. If you love Dani as much as you say you do, you'll help us keep that beautiful little girl safe."
He moved back to his seat.
- "I do."
She smiled at him.
- "I know you do. Um… I do have something else to tell you."
He was not ready for yet another reveal from the family.
- "What is it?"
Tina did not know how to break the news without worrying him. She did not know if there even was a way to break the news in such a way; given Sam's condition, it did not seen as though there was any other way to feel, but to worry.
- "Sam's been feeling a bit lightheaded—"
The attention of both men was immediately on her.
- "Alexis took her to see Dr. Lee."
When she noticed Stefan and Lucky begin to speak, she put out her hand.
- "I don't know what's going on, but—"
He did not need to hear anymore. He needed to be with his wife.
- "Let's go! I need to see Sam."
At that moment, Dani poked her head around the corner.
- "Can I come out now?"
At the sound of the girl's little voice, the tension in the room immediately dissipated. Tina turned to see the petite child standing just beyond the hallway entrance.
- "Yea Pebbles."
At the little girl's entrance however, Stefan playfully pulled her into his lap as she passed him.
- "Excuse me Danitsa, but a Cassadine child must use proper grammar. The question is 'May I come out now?'"
Dani giggled as the man began to tickle her.
- "Uncle! You're gonna make me go potty on myself! Mommy said I gotta keep my cast purple! I need help!"
As Tina moved to take the girl, Lucky shook his head.
- "It's okay, Tina; I've got her. And then, we need to get going. – Come on, Monster."
He lifted his daughter into his arms before making his way out of the room leaving Stefan and Tina to discuss and make plans to protect the girl.
- "I don't like this, Stef. Alexis is juggling the best she can with everything. And Sam… she's stressed… too stressed. She can't lose this baby and also have this threat of Bauer taking Dani looming over her… none of us can, really. We need to figure something out… we need to fix this."
Standing from the chair, Stefan extended his hand to his sister.
- "We will."
She pressed her head against his chest.
- "And you… you need to stop being so difficult. This is hard on everyone. Lucky loves that little girl, and we… we were wrong for keeping this from him. Please, for the sake of Alexis, Sam, and Kristina, put your hatred to the side."
He was a proud man, but the love his family often trumped his pride. While he would never had admitted it to Lucky, he was sorry for the role he had played in deceiving him. Like Sonny had done for fifteen years, Lucky had proved him wrong. Perhaps he was worthy of his niece.
- "While I do not excuse your disrespect, darling, I will do as you ask. And we, as a family, will do whatever necessary to protect Danielle and Samantha. That child belongs with her mother, father, and her family."
When she turned to reenter the hospital, she felt someone grab a hold of her arm. The force by which she was held threw her back into a time she would have rather forgotten. And yet, each night since he was released, she found herself reliving her worst nightmare.
Flashback
- "YOU BITCH!"
He had watched as she returned home from seeing Ethan, an older man who had caught her attention. He was new to town and foreign; she was intrigued. He treated her with the respect that she was not getting from the man who had taken to treating her like a punching bag.
- "You slut! This whole time, you wanted Ethan? You had me buy you a fucking dress to meet my friends and you bailed on me for ETHAN!"
Grabbing her, he held tightly to her arms. He shook her.
- "HUH? What am I? Your personal shopper?"
He pushed her hard enough to knock her to the floor. He kicked her hard in the stomach.
- "You fucking whore!"
Before she could crawl away, he was on top of her like a predator to its prey.
- "I loved you, Kristina!"
He slammed her head against the floor.
- "You were supposed to love me back! You were supposed to be the one!"
He slapped her across the face.
- "You promised me that we'd be a family! You weren't supposed to do this to me!"
He grabbed her stinging and tearfilled face into his hands.
- "Why? Why would you do something like that to me?"
She knew another blow was coming. She wondered if she could spare herself of the pain.
- "Please, I'm sor—"
He slammed her head back down onto the floor.
- "No, you're not. I don't believe you. You… you do this shit all the time, Kristina. You make me believe that you love me and then you… you do THIS."
And his open hand quickly turned to a closed fist. As he went to connect it with her face, she turned her head; it struck her ear. She screamed in pain as the ringing resounded in her head. While she could see his mouth moving, she could no longer hear him.
- "STOP! PLEASE! I'm sorry!"
Before she could get another word out of her mouth, he again struck her. He could not take the apologies… the lies.
- "If you were sorry, you would've NEVER done this!"
In spite of her cries and pleas for help, he continued to beat her. Whatever love he had felt for her was replaced by hate; she was supposed to be his family. She was supposed to help him. She was supposed to show him a better way.
- "We were supposed to—"
He ripped off the dress he had purchased for her.
- "You weren't supposed to do this to me! How could you?"
Knowing what he intended to do to her, she sobbed.
- "Please, don't!"
But it was too late. Wrapping one hand around her neck, he roughly ripped off the remainder of her clothing with the other.
- "This is what you wanted, wasn't it? You just… you didn't want it from me, did you? You didn't want me!"
And unable to fight him any further, she let him have his way with her in the hopes that she would soon awaken from her nightmare.
End of Flashback
- "Let go of me!"
Her voice was weakened by the fear and power he had, in the months in which they had dated, conditioned within her.
- "Please."
He turned her so that she was looking at him. He wanted to see if she would dare lie to his face. He needed to know if she could truly, after all the plans that they had had together, keep their daughter from him.
- "I just have one question for you. Then… then I'll leave you alone. Ok?"
She shivered to his touch. In spite of all the healing that she had done over the years, the fact that he had had such dominance and control over her sickened her. She thought that she had become a stronger person in his absence; but over the past month, she realized that she had not.
- "Ooo…kay."
She was still his victim. Given all that he had done to her, she did not know how to not be.
- "Just… let me go… please."
Although he did not release her, he loosened his grip so as to not call attention to himself.
- "Like I told you, K, I don't want to hurt you. I love you. I just… I need to know. Did you have my baby? Is that little girl I saw last night… is she mine?"
She once again attempted to free her arm.
- "Keifer… please."
But seeing her avoidance of his question, he knew it was true. Tightening his grip, he simply wanted to hear the words come from her mouth.
- "ANSWER ME!"
His sudden exclamation caused her to flinch. She could not believe she had been so stupid as to go outside unaccompanied. How could she have forgotten that at any moment this would occur?
- "I… I—"
And before she could confirm his suspicions, as though it were a déjà vu, the man was pulled from her.
- "Give me one reason I shouldn't take you out right now."
Although she was blinded by her tears, the man's voice was familiar. On only one day a year was his presence welcome for a few short minutes at their home: Dani's birthday.
- "Jason—"
Throwing Kiefer to the ground, he held his hand out to her; she was to remain in her spot.
- "First, I want you to call the cops. And then, I want you to get your mother, Kristina; bring her out here right now."
Noticing the young woman run into the hospital, Kiefer attempted to match Jason's grip.
- "Oh, now you're a man of the law, huh? Get the hell off of me! That bitch stole my kid."
Jason slammed him down to get his attention.
- "I can't do with you what I want right now, but if you come near her again—"
Kiefer sneered at the man.
- "You'll kill me?"
He attempted to get up from the ground, but Jason kicked him back down; the younger man screamed in pain at the agony of his bruised ribs. His father had asserted in his complaint against Sonny that his ribs had been broken, but it was not true; the way Jason attacked him, however, would quickly change that fact.
- "Son of a bitch!"
While there were cameras surrounding the hospital, he knew that the evidence would never be used against him; between the Quartermaines and the Cassadines who sat on the board, he was protected.
- "Stay away from her."
Kiefer gasped for air. He cursed Kristina under his breath.
- "She… she has… my kid!"
At hearing his daughter's life and stability threatened, Jason bent low to face the man.
- "Listen to me—"
He grabbed him by the shirt.
- "That kid isn't yours; she's mine. And if you go anywhere near her or her mother, you're dead. I will not hesitate to take you out if you touch my daughter."
Ignoring the looks and questions of concern she received from those who knew her, Kristina ran to her father's room. It was starting again. Her nightmare.
- "Mommy!"
She saw the woman and her sister ready to enter the room.
- "Stop!"
Seeing the look on her daughter's face, Alexis immediately ran to meet her halfway; it was the same look of fear that she had displayed after discovering that the troubled young man had been in their home.
- "Kristina?"
She pulled her daughter into her arms.
- "What happened? Are you okay?"
But she shook her head. She was not okay. With tears streaming down her face, she sobbed in the woman's arms until she felt a second set of arms wrap around her. It was her sister.
- "Krissy—"
And noting that there was a small audience around them comprised of Robin and now Patrick, she slipped in Greek.
- "Kiefer… he knows, Sam."
She stared at her sister.
- "He heard you and Lucky. He knows about Dani. He's gonna take her!"
And standing several feet from behind them, Molly stared at her family.
- "What?"