Disclaimer- blah blah blah. Blah blah.. blah... blah..( Go check out chapter 1.)

Personal Note- Thanks to KL and Jess for all the help! Jules for being just Jules and Dag
for being there most of the time. It is almost the end people... how sad!

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Meaning Of Life
By the Untalented JOxER
Chapter 14...

"AHHH!!!!" Lucas screamed at the top of his lungs and began to back up from the roof's
edge. He'd decided to live!

Although his leg was still in a cast, Lucas wasn't in any pain and walked over to the door
of the roof. As the events of the night finally caught up with him, he sat down on the roof
to review the things Jesse'd showed him. What stuck out the most was his future. Lucas
knew that his future was set, the hard part was the steps to reach his final destination. He
replayed the 'memories' of his future: his little girl, his baby boy, Darwin's family, but
most of all - Dayna. Shoving his hands into his pocket, Lucas felt something. He played
with it for a while before finally pulling it out to see what it was. He smiled as he saw the
small pink ribbon. The same pink ribbon Melissa had given him. He smelled the ribbon.
It still held the lingering fragrance of his little girl's fresh baby powder scent. The roof
door opened, bringing Nurse Alex into view. He looked angry.

"What are you doing here, young man!" Alex said, as he crossed his arms.

"I.. I wanted some fresh air."

"Oh, and you think ten o'clock at night was a great time to go…go to the roof of this
hospital and get…what…a breath of fresh air!"

"I'm sorry…"Lucas muttered. 'Ten p.m.?' Lucas thought. 'It's only been an hour?'

"Oh, mister, you better be! You had this hospital in a panic. We were just about to call
the captain!"

"The captain...?" Lucas thought. The captain! He had to tell the captain before his father
came for him in the morning. "I have to talk to the captain!"

"What makes you think you deserve that privilege?"

"Please! It's urgent! I have to tell him something very important!"

"No, sir, no way."

"Please, Nurse Alex, before my father comes in the morning! I won't have another
chance..." Lucas pleaded.

"All right, already... he's not going to be happy... it is really late, but come on.," Alex
relented. The tone of Lucas' voice was really serious, and it was also the only way to get
the teen back to his room. Alex helped the teen down the stairs. "I still don't know how
you got up those steps with your leg like that."

"It was easy... just kept the screams to myself... that's all."

"Smart ass..." Alex whispered, as they both returned to Lucas room. A passing nurse
stopped Alex at the door and he confirmed the missing patient had been found. Alex
asked the nurse to pass the news along to the rest of the before helping Lucas into the
bed.

"I have to call the captain!" Lucas begged, as Alex began restarted his IV's.

"I will call him! But first, I need to hook you up!"

"I HAVE TO TALK TO HIM!!!" Lucas stressed, as shooing Alex's hand from his task.
The nurse was taken aback by the tone of the teen's voice and the intensity with which he
was looking at him.

"Okay, I can't let you out of the room, but I'll ask him to get over here. I'll let him in to
talk to you for a few minutes, all right? I could lose my job for this..." Alex sighed,
returning to his task.

"Thanks," Lucas muttered. As Alex finished his job and left to call the captain, the teen
found himself alone with his thoughts.

'This is going to be harder than I thought' he admitted, wondering how he was going to
tell the captain. 'Captain, you know... my dad wants to kill me!' Lucas tried, but shot the
idea down - too direct. He mulled over a million variations, but they all ended up too
complicated. Alex returned to let him know the Captain was on his way. Lucas thanked
the nurse and was back to his thoughts once again.

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Alex left the room and headed toward the staff lounge. He'd never imagined that Lucas
would act out like he was. The teen hadn't even seemed capable of being mad. Alex
dialed the number for the Captain's hotel room and waited for an answer.

"Yeah..." the sleepy captain answered.

"Sir, this is Alex from Buffalo Bay Hospital…"

"Yes, what is it, nurse…" Nathan interrupted. He was fully awake now and wiped the
remnants of sleep from his eyes

"We had a little problem, but it's fixed now…" Alex assured. He wasn't what to say to
the captain.

"What kind of problem?" the captain asked, his tone becoming serious.

"Around nine, we sort of lost Lucas…"

"What!...How???.. He was doing so good... he's..." Nathan stammered, as he wiped the
tears rolling down to his cheek. 'Lucas is dead. They lost him.' Nathan thought. He turned
back to the nurse, his voice turning bitter. "How dare you wait all this time to call me, it
is ten o'clock! Is that your rule on the dead! Wait one hour before you inform anyone!!"

"Oh my go, Captain Bridger. No! Lucas is very much alive. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking
when I said that. He's alive and well!" the nurse apologized. Nathan's statement melted
into relief as the nurse continued. "I went to get some antibiotics for his flu and when I
returned, he was gone. The IV had been removed and the wheelchair was gone, sir. We
searched everywhere... and to make a long story short, I found him on the roof, sitting
alone in the cold."

"Why on earth was he on the roof... how did he get there!" Nathan queried, concern
creeping back into his tone.

"The only way to get to the roof is the stairs, and I don't know how he got there. His
reason was that he wanted some fresh air. I don't buy that for one second..."

"I don't either... So where is he now?"

"He is back in his room, but there is something else."

"What is it?"

"He wants to speak to you. He's very serious about it…wants to speak to you right now."

"I'm on my way. Thank you, nurse," Nathan responded without giving it a second
thought.

"Good. I can only let you in for a few minutes to talk to Lucas. Goodbye."

Nathan quickly gathered up his wrinkled day old clothes and dressed. A quick shiver
passed through him as he finished. When the nurse said they'd lost Lucas, Nathan
thought the teen was gone. He still couldn't shake off the feeling. Lucas meant so much to
him that even the thought of losing him broke his heart.

The conversation with the nurse had roused new concerns, as well. Nathan couldn't
imagine what Lucas wanted, but finding out the teen was on the roof... too many
possibilities entered Nathan mind. 'He could have fallen and…' Nathan shook that
thought away, again thinking about losing Lucas. Growing even more determine to find
out what was going on with Lucas, another question entered his mind. Should he inform
Kristen and Ben? Kristen was just in the other room, but she'd been earlier that she was
exhausted. When Nathan'd left to give Noyce a call, she'd fallen asleep in the chair next
to him. He decided to let the doctor rest.

Noyce couldn't do anything about Dr. Wolenczak, which made Bridger want go see the
teen more. It might be his last chance to see him. Ben was just down the hall, but
knowing him, he wouldn't wake easily. The time it would take Ben to get ready was time
Nathan wasn't willing to lose. He considered just stealing Lucas away, but that idea was
quickly shot down. The captain loved Lucas as a son, but he had to face the fact that
Lucas wasn't his son. He didn't have the right to take Lucas from his father if the man
had done nothing wrong. After asking him to call for a cab, Nathan told the hotel clerk
where he was going, in case his friends needed him. Then, he waited outside. The cab
picked him up and dropped him off at the hospital. Nurse Alex, waiting outside, greeted
Nathan.

"Thank you for coming. Lucas has been asking me every few seconds if you were
coming. He seems very upset about something," Alex explained, as the two men entered
the hospital.

"Thank you for calling. Do you have any idea what it's about?"

"I have no clue. He won't tell me anything. He just wants you," With that, the two men
exited the elevator and walked in silence to Lucas's room. The teen quickly turned to see
who'd entered his room. He was surprised to see the captain. In the back of Lucas's mind,
he knew the Captain was going to come, but he wasn't sure if the captain really cared for
him until now. Alex walked behind the captain, but stopped at the doorway when Lucas
looked at him with pleading eyes. Alex got the message and shut the door, leaving the
captain and Lucas alone in the room. The captain took seat next to the teen and just sat
there, staring at the teen.

"Captain... I," Lucas began. He really didn't know how to say it. The captain's stare
wasn't helping, and Lucas struggled to get the simple statement out.

"Lucas, just tell me what's on your mind..."

"It's... it's not that easy," Lucas admitted, as he began to play with the pink ribbon in his
pocket.

"Well, let me start, then. Why were you on the roof? Do you know what could have
happened to you? What if you'd passed out and fallen off the building!"

"That was actually the idea," Lucas mumbled. Nathan was taken back. He never expected
that kind of answer. "That's right, Captain!" Lucas continued, almost as tough reading
Nathan's thoughts. "I was going to jump off... I ... I can't take it anymore, Captain!" Lucas
turned away from the captain to hide his tears from the older man.

"Take what, Lucas?" Nathan asked, as he moved Lucas's face to face his own. "What is it
you can't take?"

"THIS!" Lucas yelled. "Do you know many times I have been in the hospital for this
same reason! I can't take it anymore! He'll kill me and I.... can't," Lucas sobbed out the
words.

"What are you trying to tell me, Lucas?"

"My father... he is why I'm here. I told you I couldn't remember what happened to me,
but I was lying. I..." Lucas took a deep breath, then, told Nathan the whole story - from
Lucas coming home to the beatings to the truck. Lucas began to tell the captain more
memories, including times he couldn't really remember because the beatings were too
bad.

Lucas finally stopped, after hiccupping the last few words, and waited for the captain's
reaction. Nathan didn't say a word; he simply got up from his chair and hugged the teen
as though he never wanted to let go. Lucas stiffened, but then relaxed in the arms of the
captain. He kept crying until he registered that someone else was crying. It was the
captain.

"Why are you crying…" Lucas asked, as he wiped his tear-stained cheeks.

"For you, Lucas... why didn't you ever tell me... after all the times I sent you back there...
all the leaves you went back to that bastard! Why didn't you trust me?"

"I thought you would send me back for good. I..."

"I would never do that to you. Lucas, I love you as if you were my own son." Nathan
gave one strong hug and let go of the teen. He remembered that Lawrence was going to
be there in the morning and had to get ready to face him. "I need to keep your father
away from you... I promise I won't let him hurt you again!" Nathan told Lucas and began
to leave the room. "Thank you for finally trusting me," he added as he left the room.

"Thank you," Lucas responded, as the captain left. "Thank you," he whispered to Jesse
and pulled out the ribbon he had in his pocket. Lucas wrapped the ribbon around his
fingers and clutched his hand near his chest. Emotionally exhausted, he drifted off to
sleep...

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Early the next morning, Dr. Wolenczak stepped out of his expensive car with a folder in
his hand. In the folder were the hospital release papers, all signed and ready for the doctor
to hand over his son. Lawrence was entering the hospital when two police officers and a
very angry Captain Bridger surrounded him.

"Well, Captain, are you here to stop me? Well, you can't! I have papers here that release
Lucas to me, and there is nothing you can do about it!" Dr. Wolenczak stated smugly, as
he showed the captain the stack of papers.

"Sir, are you Lawrence Wolenczak?" The police officer asked.

"Yes, I am. Please get out of my way, Officer Cooper," Lawrence said, as he read the
officer's nametag. "And take me to my son, now!!!"

"Sir, I have an arrest warrant from the UEO for suspicious of child abuse. You are under
arrest; you have the right to remain..." Cooper read Wolenczak his rights, as the other
police officer tried to handcuff the doctor. Lawrence struggled, refusing to put his hands
behind his back. The two officers pinned him down, and Nathan smiled as the doctor was
handcuffed.

"This is a mistake! That lying son of a bitch, he's making this up! Bridger... what the hell
are you up to!?"

"You know damn well what I'm up to. You're never getting your hands on him ever
again."

Lawrence just laughed in response. "You don't have any proof, I'll beat this and have
them arrest you!!! You're both going to pay!" Lawrence threatened, as he tried to break
free from the officer's grasp.

"Take him away!" Nathan insisted. The two officers nodded and took the doctor away. At
the same time, Kristen and Ben entered the hospital.

"Nathan, what's going on?" A worried Kristen asked. "The hotel clerk said you left early
last night and you were headed to the hospital. Is there something wrong?"

"Was that Lucas's dad I just saw?" Ben asked the captain.

"Yes it was... I need to talk to you two, alone."

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OK PEOPLE, ALMOST DONE… Chapter 15 almost done… unless people have
forgotten me already…?