Disclaimer: I still don't own Y&R
Hi! Back again this time with a one-shot rewrite of my favourite storyline ;)
Happy reading
Ripley stood, his back against the wall, an artificial tree creating the perfect shadow to hide him from view. His gaze was locked on Amanda admiring her beauty before they narrowed at her companion. Billy Abbott. The first time he had seen the guy in Amanda's suite, he had suspected something was going on. He had followed her, he had seen them together, talking, laughing. There was no way nothing was happening and this was the proof right in front of his eyes.
His clenched his fist with anger when he saw her touch him, saw him smile at her and she had the audacity to blush! How dare she! How dare she come here with him! How dare she leave him to be with someone else after everything they had been through, after everything he had done for her! She was his and his alone and he was going to show her how serious he was! Looking around and noting that no one was watching him, he made his move.
Amanda sighed in exasperation as she looked at Billy.. "Billy you have to go! We need to leave. There is no need for you to be here especially in your current state!" said Amanda wondering for the thousandth time why he wouldn't just listen to her. Honestly it was like she was talking to a kid. He knew he wasn't welcome with the Newman family, yet here he was creating chaos.
"Hey, I am already here. I can't just leave now can I? Not without celebrating the great Victor Newman?" said Billy. He then smirked, that smirk that Amanda knew meant no good and said, "Beside, you are here too. You could be my date."
"Your what?" said Amanda with raised eyebrows, surprise on her face.
"Come on. There is free food, wine and beside, you want to waste that perfect outfit?" asked Billy with a smirk on his face revealing his dimple, his eyes roaming down her jumpsuit clad body taking in her curves and the way her skin glowed against the white material. With her hair pulled back, all her features were out in the open and she was gorgeous.
Amanda blushed at his gaze thanking God for her skin tone and the dimly lit room.
"No Billy. We need to leave."
"If we leave then you will take me out to dinner."
"What?" Amanda looked at him incredulous. It was like getting a whiplash from this guy.
Before he could answer his face suddenly changed and his eyes narrowed. Turning to see what had grabbed his attention, she just had a moment to note Ripley make his way toward them, his face hardened and scary. Before she could say anything, he pushed her aside. When she gained her balance, she could only see his back as he fled. She turned to Billy and saw him clutching his side, looking at her with a stunned face before he stumbled.
"Billy?" she said catching him still puzzled what was going on.
It was then she noted the blood sipping through his fingers which were still clutching his side while one hand was around her. "Oh my God Billy!" she cried out panicking. What was going on? Where was the blood coming from? When he stumbled again, it was clear he couldn't stand and she gently lowered him down, laying him on his back, kneeling beside him. Moving his hand gently, it was then she saw his injury. He was bleeding from his side. She quickly placed her own hands over his wound and cried out, "Someone help please!" her voice full of panic.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion from that point onward. The music stopped, the lights were turned on, the glare of the light blinding her momentarily. People rushed toward them, talking and asking questions but her focus was on Billy.
"Amanda…" whispered Billy looking into her eyes. He could see the panic in her, feel her trembling and he just wanted her to know he was ok, that he would be ok. He tried to reach for her hand but he was too much in pain to move.
"Shhh…Don't talk." she said gently.
At that moment, Nate and Elena came running and pushed her aside. Not wanting to be too far from him, Amanda knelt at near his head and held his hand, her other one running through his thick hair hoping to provide comfort and also calm herself. He was alive. He was alive and breathing.
Billy looked at her and wanted so much to calm her, to tell her he was fine but when he tried to speak, nothing came out. He was too tired, he just wanted to close his eyes. Maybe if he closed them for a bit, he would feel better.
Amanda panicked when he closed his eyes and looked to Nate who also looked worried. He was losing blood and he needed to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. The medical personal made their appearance soon after and Amanda stood up as they lifted Billy on the stretcher and he was put on oxygen. As she rushed forward to go with him but she was stopped by Rey who had been called and was on the scene already with his partner. "You have to stay and give a statement."
"What?" she looked at him as if he was crazy. "I don't have time for that right now. I need to be there with him. He can't be alone." she said frantic. She had to know if he was ok. She had to be there for him.
Rey placed his hand on her arm to calm her. "Right now, he has the medics taking care of him. He is in safe hands. We need to know who did this and how it happened so that we can take action." Amanda sighed calming at bit though she was still anxious. "What happened?"
"It was Ripley. Ripley is the one who did it."
"He was here?" said Rey surprised motioning for his partner to write Ripley's name down and to go and take action.
"Yes. I saw him. We both saw him just before he…" she choked up her hand coming to her mouth. She couldn't say it. She looked desperately at Rey. "I swear I didn't know. I didn't know he could do this. That he was even capable of something like this. If I had known…"
"Hey, you couldn't have known. There is no need to beat yourself about it."
"But I let him out. I told you to release him. I thought if I told him what to do he would listen."
"You cannot blame yourself for that. You did what you thought was best at the time. What happened is Ripley's fault not your."
Amanda nodded. "Get him. Please."
"We will set a BOLO for him. He won't go far. We will find him."
"Please do Rey." She said looking at him. "Billy, he could be in danger…"
"I am setting up guards for both you and Billy until we find him. I will do whatever I can. We will find him."
"Thank you." She said and watched him walk away.
XXX
Victoria was still in shock. One moment, she was celebrating her father and his success and the next, the man she loved, the father of her children was laying there, bloody, hurt and fighting for his life. They may have been fighting and not getting along and she may have told him it was over, but love just didn't disappear overnight. She still loved him and it hurt her to see him like that.
She watched as he was carried out of the room. She couldn't understand what he was doing there in the first place and with Amanda too. He wasn't invited. How did he enter? She saw Amanda being led aside by the police and she subtly moved closer. She needed answers.
She heard Amanda stating that her ex fiancé had stabbed Billy. Again that made no sense. How did he manage to enter the party? Didn't they have security at the doors to prevent something like this from happening? As soon as the confusion set, anger soon followed. This was all Amanda's fault. She was the reason the man she loved was hurt and she wasn't going to feel sorry for her.
Turning away, she grabbed her bag and made her way out.
"Victoria?"
"Dad, I need to go to the hospital." Victor looked at her and she felt like she had to defend her actions. "I need to be there for Billy."
"Of course. Give us updates. We will take care of the kids."
"Thanks dad." She said before she took off her heart heavy with worry.
XXX
Amanda ran her hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort herself as she watched Rey walk away. Taking a breath to calm herself, she picked up her bag. She needed to go to the hospital and find out about Billy. As she was walking to the elevator, Phyllis suddenly made an appearance looking really worried.
"Hey, Amanda…I heard what happened. Are you ok?" asked Phyllis worried for her best friend.
"Yeah." said Amanda shakily then said with more conviction, "Yeah. I am. I just…I need to go to the hospital."
"Hey…Amanda, calm down ok…" Phyllis said to her clearly spooked friend. "You are obviously not fine. You can't go like this."
"I need to go and see Billy and see if he is ok." Why couldn't people understand that? Why couldn't they let her go to the hospital?
"I know that but you need to clean up."
It was then Amanda looked down at herself and saw the blood that was staining her white jumpsuit and her hands. She stared at them like she was seeing them for the first time and as she looked, she started trembling. Her gaze became hazy as tears wet her cheeks. She was immediately engulfed into the warm arms of her friend and she sobbed. She just let it all out, the shock, the fear and the hurt till she had no more tears.
"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." said Phyllis escorting her back to her suite after giving her, her coat to cover herself up. No need for her to walk around with everyone seeing her bloody clothes.
XXX
Amanda rushed into the ICU with Phyllis who told her she wasn't going to let her come alone which she was grateful about. She immediately spotted Victoria who was sitting at one of the chairs and made her way toward her.
"Victoria, thank God. What is going on? How is he?"
Victoria turned and as soon as she saw Amanda, she glared. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"What?" said Amanda surprised. She hadn't expected such a tone and she was stunned
Victoria stood up from her seat and stood just shy of Amanda's personal space. This was the woman who was causing all this chaos. "Leave. Now." said Victoria her eyes narrowed, glaring at Amanda.
"Victoria…" started Amanda still confused at the woman's attitude toward her. Yes, they may have been issues regarding Billy but they had always been civil with each other.
"How dare you come here when you are the reason he is laying there fighting for his life? This is all your fault." Victoria saw how her words affected Amanda but she didn't care. She didn't care if she was being harsh or being unfair. All she could see was the woman who was to blame for their predicament.
Amanda was stunned and couldn't respond yet. She felt like she had been slapped on the face. Each word hit her hard because that was exactly how she felt. She had brought Ripley into Billy's life and he had been hurt.
Phyllis saw red as her friend was being attacked. "Now look here…"
Victoria set her blazing eyes at Phyllis. "I am not talking to you." She then turned to Amanda, all the overwhelming emotions she had felt releasing from within her. "Billy is in there (she points at the operating room) fighting for his life because of you. Because of your stupid 'little' friendship. (She scoffed) But it wasn't a friendship though was it? It was something more. It was always something more. Why else would Billy spend all his time with you? Why else would your 'ex fiancé' stab him?"
"Are you honestly going to be jealous now?" said Phyllis incredulous.
"This is not jealousy. This is anger that the father of my children was hurt because of her and she has the audacity to show up here!" Standing right in Amanda's face, she said calmly, "I am not going to say this again. Leave now and if you come back, I will have you arrested."
Just then a nurse came and made her way toward them. "Family of Billy Abbott?"
"Yes." said Victoria walking toward her sparing one glance at Amanda and Phyllis before she was led to the office to be briefed about Billy's condition.
Amanda looked at her as she walked away still in shock.
"Oh I am going to murder that woman. How dare she speak to you that way and to forbid you from seeing Billy…"
"She is right though isn't she? I did this."
"No…"
"Yes!" shouted Amanda. "Ripley went after him because of me and there is nothing you can say that can change that. Let's just go."
Phyllis sighed and followed her friend to the elevator not knowing how she was going to help her friend with the guilt she was feeling.
XXX
Amanda hardly slept at all, even with the guards on her door. After they got from the hospital, she had dismissed Phyllis wanting to be alone with her thoughts. The look on Billy's face as he fell will always be in her mind. Clutching the blanket to her, she sobbed feeling a deep pain. Why? Why did this happen? Why didn't Ripley just stab her and keep Billy out of it? Why did Ripley do it in the first place? Did he really not want her with anyone? Was he really that kind of person? She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, tears still falling from her eyes.
She woke up with a start panicking looking around. It took her moments for her to realise she was in her suite, in her bed. The dream had been so vivid. Billy had died, in her arms. There was nothing that could be done and he had died. In that moment, she had felt a sense of loss she had never felt in her life. Her heart was still racing and she clutched her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her face.
The next morning, Amanda was sitting on the couches on Grand Phoenix after being pulled from her room by Phyllis when she noticed Nate walking toward her. She hurriedly and met him halfway.
"Nate…"
"Hi. How are you feeling?" asked Nate noting the tired puffy eyes she was trying to hide with makeup. She was still beautiful though.
"As ok as I can be. How…How is Billy?" asked Amanda anxiously.
"He is doing fine. The knife punctured his lung. We managed to repair the damage. He is in a medically induced coma for the moment to help him heal. Of course nothing is certain in medicine, but he should be awake by tomorrow."
Amanda felt relief wash over her. He was going to be fine. He was going to recover. "I need to see him."
"I thought Victoria…"
"Yes. She banned me from going there but…I need to see him Nate. Please." She begged desperate. She needed to see for herself that he was breathing, that he was alive.
Nate looked at her and could see how much this meant to her. He had known he had not chance with her as soon as he had seen her with Billy, how concerned she was for him, how she seemed to gravitate toward her and he had accepted it. Sighing he said, "Ok. You can come and see him tonight during my shift."
"Thank you Nate." said Amanda.
XXX
Amanda stood by the door of Billy's room her eyes focused on his form. If it wasn't for the drips and machines on him, you would think he was just asleep. Turning to Nate, she said, "Thank you for this."
"Of course. Go on." He urged gently and watched as she walked in before he closed the door and told the police guard not to let anyone else in.
Amanda walked slowly still taking him in before she stood beside him. His heart machine beeping and his chest rising and falling gave her comfort. He was really alive. The dream she had was still so vivid in her mind and she knew she wouldn't have slept if she hadn't seen him. She reached out and gently stroked his hair and then face taking the time to really admire him, something she wouldn't have done if he was awake. She imagined the smirk he would wear if he caught her looking at him like that and the teasing that would follow. She allowed herself to take him in. he was indeed a handsome man with classic boyish features.
Taking a seat she held his hand lost in her thoughts before she said, "You have to get better Billy. You just have to." She took a deep breath. "I am so sorry this happened to you. I don't know what I will do if you are not ok so please, use that stubbornness and get better."
She watched him, part of her wanting him to just open his eyes, smile at her and say something even though she knew he wouldn't. It felt so odd to be here with him like this. She had never seen Billy so still and it unnerved her. He was always on the move, doing something, causing mayhem with his crazy ideas.
She stayed there with him for almost an hour before she left.
XXX
Victoria was sitting by Billy's bedside watching him. Nate had told her he would wake up anytime and she couldn't wait for him to do that. She couldn't understand why she was feeling this way, why she was sitting here beside his bed instead of being with her children. Why she had been so defensive when she spoke to Amanda. This man had hurt her, he had begged her to get back together and then he had discarded her as though she didn't matter. Why was she here?
She loved him.
It was as simple as that. They said love didn't just go away and it was true. She may hate his guts, she may have told him she was moving on, that she wanted nothing to do with him especially after she heard he slept with Amanda but through all that, she still loved him.
Just then, the heart monitor began racing and she rushed to him. he didn't appear to be in distress though his eyelids were moving. He was waking up.
Just then a nurse and Nate materialised as if from thin air but she didn't pay them attention, her focus on Billy. "Come on Billy. Open your eyes." she urged her heart beating fast. It didn't take long for him to do and she found herself looking into his deep brown eyes, eyes she had fell in love with.
'What the hell is that annoying sound?' was the first thing that came into Billy's mind. He couldn't understand why he felt so tired, why he felt hazy. What had happened to him?
He heard Victoria's voice imploring him to open his eyes. Victoria? She was here? Struggling a bit, he eventually managed to open his eyes. He groaned blinded by the light then he saw Victoria looming over him.
"Victoria?"
"Yes." She said smiling then Nate approached.
"Good to see you awake." Said Nate. He looked him over, taking off some of the codes attached to him and took down some notes. "Everything is ok." he said with a smile.
"What…What happened?" asked Billy confused as to why he was in a hospital bed and his side felt like someone had poked him with a hot poker
"You were stabbed." answered Victoria.
Billy frowned then his mind went back. He had gone to Newman gallery and he saw Ripley coming at him. "Ripley."
"Yes. It was touch and go at first but you made it."
"Did they catch him?"
"He is on the run. The police are after him. There are guards on your door to protect you." Said Victoria.
He nodded then he suddenly remembered. His panicked eyes rose. "Amanda…"
"She is fine. She wasn't harmed." This time it was Nate who answered. He snuck a glance at Victoria who wore an expressionless face.
Billy breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on his pillow then turned to Victoria not really knowing how to address her given how things were between them. He was grateful when she broke the silence first.
"I am glad you are awake." said Victoria with a smile. "You gave us quite a scare." At Billy's frown she said, "You are the father of my children. Of course I care about you and I worry when you are hurt."
"Thank you…for being here." He said with a smile.
"You are welcome. Well I should leave you to your rest and relive my parents of our kids."
"Of course." He said. "Tell them I love them."
"I will." said Victoria with a small smile and glancing at him one last time, he left.
XXX
Billy lay there in thought…all of them about Amanda. He worried about her. How she was. He knew how much Ripley scared her and after what happened…the last thing he wanted was for her to withdraw from him. He needed to speak to her and possibly see her. He signalled to one of his guards.
"Hey man, do you happen to have a phone I can use? I need to call someone."
"Um sure." said guy before he took a phone from his pocket and handed it to him. Punching the numbers, he dialled the number he now knew by heart. It rang twice before her voice answered "Hello?" in a curious tone. That seemed to soothe him more than any medicine could.
Amanda was sitting, talking to Phyllis who took it upon herself to cheer her up when her phone rang. She didn't recognize the number but she answered anyway. It could be a potential client. Her breath caught when she heard his voice say that one word, "Hi." He was awake.
There we go. Billy is awake! Yey! Did you like it? Did you like Victoria and the way I wrote her?