Problems

"So… how was dinner?" Liz asked the next morning, walking out onto the balcony where AJ was sitting having coffee.

"On a scale of one to awful… awful." AJ nodded.

"That bad?" Liz sighed, sitting down at the table as AJ nodded.

"The annoying thing is, I know he still cares." AJ nodded.

"Remind me why that's annoying?" Liz questioned.

"Because I'm still mad, mom." AJ said, "No offence but… dad was never a good husband, even before he went on his sting. Phil… he was good and… caring. I just… I never thought he could hurt me like that and when you think so highly of someone… when they eventually hurt you it's more difficult to get over." AJ nodded.

"Don't you think he deserves a chance?" Liz asked, "You still love him, that's obvious."

"It's gonna take time. More than a dinner alone." AJ said, "Which lasted a whole fifteen minutes before we started bickering." AJ nodded, "Anyway, how was your dinner with your friend?"

"You and I both know… there was no dinner with a friend. I went to a bar and had some wine." Liz said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I knew that." AJ said, "I was thinking about taking Breea to the beach, or… going into town to do some shopping." AJ nodded, "I need out of this house." She admitted, "And please don't pipe up and invite Phil to come with me… I want a few hours on my own, ok?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Liz smiled, "You know I'm just trying to help. I see the good in Phil. I see someone who lost their way, made some terrible choices but is doing everything in his power to try and redeem himself. I mean… he knows how much he hurt you."

"I don't know if he does." AJ shrugged.

"He does." Liz nodded, "You know he does. Sometimes people… lose themselves. And the strongest thing they can do is realise that and fix it, and he's trying to do that. If he didn't care, if he didn't want to be with you, he wouldn't." Liz said as AJ nodded, "I'm not saying you should open your arms and forget it all happened but… at least see that he's trying."

"Here I was thinking you hated him." AJ said, "You sound like you were a bigger fan of his than you ever let on."

"Because I am." Liz said, "Why? Because I know how happy you are with him. Your whole life was a lot of ups and downs before you met him. You… You found who you were with him. And no, I'm not crediting it all to him. You did that on your own but… he told you it was ok to… to be selfish and do things for yourself. And you did, and I never saw you happier." Liz said as AJ looked at her.

"It's just left me uncertain of a lot of things." AJ shrugged, "I don't know if it will ever be the same again." She said.

"Well it probably won't." Liz said bluntly, "A lot has changed. But… that doesn't mean you give up."

"I just hate feeling like this." AJ shook her head with teary eyes, rolling her head back and sighing.

"I know, baby." Liz sighed, covering AJ's hand with hers, "I know, but it will get better with time. I promise."

"You don't have to tell me what I want to hear, you know." AJ shook her head with tears running down her cheeks.

"Hey, I'm not. You know I'm being honest." She said, wiping her daughter's tears, "He's a good man who made a terrible mistake. It happens." She nodded, "Just give it some time."

"Yeah." AJ nodded, drying her wet face.

"I think you should take Breea to the beach. I think that's a good idea that you get yourself out of the house for a little while. Get some fresh air, some sun." Liz smiled as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I need it." AJ shook her head as Liz nodded.

Later on that day, AJ had left the house with Breea to have a couple of hours to herself. Meanwhile Liz walked into the kitchen where Punk was clearing up some dishes from lunch.

"You fancy going for a drive?" Liz asked.

"A drive?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah. You know, in a car, it has four wheels." Liz smirked as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know but… where?" Punk laughed a little.

"There's something I want to show you." Liz smiled, taking her car keys as Punk looked over at her, "Come on." She nodded, walking on out.

Punk eventually followed her and left the house, getting into the car as Liz began to drive a little further away from the beach house.

"You're not taking me away to murder me, are you?" Punk asked.

"Not quite." Liz shook her head, "I'm taking you to where April grew up." She nodded as Punk raised his eyebrows, looking around the road.

"I didn't know it was this far out." Punk admitted.

"Yeah, just outside San Juan." Liz nodded, keeping her eyes on the road as Punk looked around.

As they drove along the road, he noticed the scenery beginning to change from beautiful greenery to no greenery what so ever, the road turning into gravel as they started to pass small, run-down houses.

"Change of scenery, huh?" Liz smiled a little.

"Yeah, no kidding." Punk shook his head.

They eventually stopped outside a house which was all boarded up and empty, like most of the houses. There were young children wandering around the streets on their own and stray dogs running around.

"This was mine and April's first house together." Liz smiled, getting out of the car as Punk joined her, standing outside the house, "Once her father left us, we had to move. I couldn't afford to run the house we were in and this was the first offering I got." Liz said.

"How long did you stay here?" Punk shook his head.

"Until we moved to Chicago. April was fifteen or sixteen. She grew up here. Went to school here. She'd walk every day to school, it took her an hour but she refused to go to the one around the corner." Liz laughed a little, "I knew right then that she was always going to take what she wanted." She nodded, "But… she got herself in a lot of trouble here. She wasn't a very… together human being. Even when we moved… she was difficult. Not in the sense that I couldn't handle her, I could… but she made things difficult for herself." Liz nodded.

"Aren't all teenagers difficult?" Punk laughed a little.

"Maybe but… she was always angry with herself. She didn't know what she wanted in life and that upset her. She didn't want to settle for a simple life. I always knew she wouldn't. Sometimes I thought she deliberately got herself into trouble because she liked it." Liz nodded, "She got caught stealing here when she was thirteen. She was brought home by the cops. She turned it around and blamed it on me. Said that if I had done better for us then she wouldn't have had to steal." Liz nodded.

"What are you trying to do here, Liz?" Punk shook his head, "I've known April for ten years, don't you think that she's told me about all of this?"

"Of course I know she has. I just wanted to show you." Liz nodded, "Look, I'm not gonna say you were the… knight in shining armour who came and rescued her, but for her… you're the symbol of change that she wanted in her life. Even when you met her, she was still lost, looking for something and when you showed up… you helped her find it. Because of that, you're not just the man she loves or the father of her baby… you're so important." Liz said as Punk leaned against the car and sighed, "So you understand that… you hurting her the way you did, it's really broken her." Liz said.

"Are you trying to make me feel bad?" Punk sighed to himself.

"No, of course I'm not." Liz said, "I'm trying to make you see where she's coming from. Why she's finding all of this so difficult. Besides the obvious of course. I've know her my entire life. She's my daughter. That night that I first met you, and I… I saw her with you, I'd never saw her like that in my entire life. As a mom, it made me so happy." Liz smiled.

"It made me happy too, Liz." Punk assured her, "That's why I'm doing everything I can to try and fix this."

"And don't stop trying." Liz said as Punk nodded.

"I won't." Punk promised, "I wouldn't give up on her. Even when everything went to shit, I still had hope that… that we'd be ok. Maybe it was false hope but… this was never about me not loving her anymore or caring about her." He said as Liz nodded.

"I know, but to her… that's what it feels like. The fact you chose against her felt to her like you no longer loved her the same." Liz said.

"I was in a fucked up place. Going on that sting was the worst thing I ever did." He admitted, "And I wish I could take it all back but… all I can do now is keep trying to fix things, and I will." He said as Liz nodded.

"That's all I ask." Liz smiled.

"I actually wanted to talk to you." Punk said, "Did you know April has been having nosebleeds? A lot of them. And she's not saw her doctor in months." He said as Liz looked down at the ground, "I mean… call me paranoid but-"

"I know." Liz nodded, "I thought she would have told you about it." Liz sighed.

"Told me about what?" Punk questioned.

"Things aren't great." Liz admitted as Punk shook his head.

"What the hell does that mean?" Punk asked worriedly.

"About a month ago she went for her normal scan and… they found some blood clots in the brain." Liz nodded, "There's also a lot of fluid building up and… she's gonna have another surgery." She said.

"W-What?" Punk shook his head, "How bad is it?" He questioned.

"It's fairly worrying." Liz said as Punk ran his hands through his face, "After her injury, her doctor always said that another surgery could really take it out of her. I mean, it's the brain." Liz sighed, "But the blood clots aren't good. She goes in for surgery in a few weeks. Part of the reason she wanted to come here was to just take her mind off it. She wanted to spend Breea's birthday without worrying."

"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Punk shook his head.

"Well… I can imagine why." Liz nodded, "We just have to be there for her. It's not like it's terminal. She's gonna get help with it but… there is a risk that problems like these are gonna… come into her life. It's just due to the injury and what they had to do to help her the first time round."

"Shouldn't they be doing the surgery right away?" Punk shook his head anxiously.

"If there was more clots, yeah." Liz said, "But she's not in any danger right now. In a couple of months, yeah she will be. But a few weeks is ok." She nodded.

"She must be terrified." Punk sighed.

"She is." Liz said, "And I hate it. She's been through enough. And she's worried about Breea, not being able to be there for her after the surgery-"

"I'll be there." Punk said immediately, "For her and Breea." Punk nodded, "She's not going through this alone." He said as Liz smiled and nodded.

"Actually, I think that's the part she was most scared of. Nothing to do with the surgery but… being alone."

"No, she's not alone." Punk shook his head, "No way."

"Look, I should have let her tell you but knowing her, she'd tell you last minute and… you deserve to know. Just take it with a pinch of salt." Liz said as Punk nodded, "All we can do is be there for her."

"Yeah." Punk sighed, running his hand through his hair, "I really don't want her to be scared." He shook his head.

"Then just be there for her." Liz said, "And don't give up."

"I won't."