"A Single Yellow Rose" – Chapter Forty-Five
Salem University Hospital Beep…beep…beepCraig turned his head and looked over at Chloe, lying still on the operating room table next to his as the steady beeping filling the room telling him every beat of her heart. His eyes traveled from the light blue skill cap that covered that gorgeous mane of curls, down past her high cheekbones that seemed even more pronounced against the chalky whiteness of her skin and the rest of her was covered in a sheet in the same shade of light blue. As a chill ran through him, covering his arms and legs in tiny, raised goose bumps. Suddenly he had the insane compulsion to demand that Nurse Blakely, who was monitoring the both of them, to cover Chloe with a blanket, as he knew the necessity of keeping the temperature in the OR on the cool side.
'Is she my daughter?' he thought unable to tear his eyes away from her. 'My flesh and blood?'
He and Nancy had spent much of their married life concentrating on his career and of course, she'd always said there was plenty of time to have kids. He had noticed the shadows that entered her eyes when ever the topic of children arose and he always thought it was because she really didn't want to wait but she assured him that someday they would have children of their own. The discovery of Chloe and the way Nancy deceived him had shattered his heart. It had taken months for him to forgive her and for the two of them to find their way back to each other and become a family.
He enjoyed the fact that Chloe felt comfortable to come to him about the things that were happening in her life…mostly about Philip, he thought with a small smile. While he wished that Chloe and Nancy were closer he knew it was something they were both working on and they had taken great strides in the last month, especially with Chloe's revelation about her childhood abuse and her disappearance. Parental pride had led Nancy to make that announcement tonight…Nancy was just being Nancy…but he doubted that she understood the depth of the emotional connection that Chloe shared with the young Kiriakis.
'Or perhaps she understands it all too well and it scars her', he thought as his mind drifted back to memories of the two of them when they first started dating back in high school.
"How are you doing?" Dr. Manuel said, entering the operating room and immediately went over to Chloe, quietly conferring with the nurse on her vital signs.
"How is she?" Craig asked.
"She's holding her own," Dr. Manuel as he walked around the end of the table and over to where his chief of staff laid. "I'd thought you'd like to know that Daniels is on his way and should be landing at the Salem airport in about forty five minutes."
"Thank God," Craig replied. "Did Nancy tell you that?"
"Well…no, actually Nancy is resting in your office after she was given a mild sedative."
"What? What happened?"
"From what I understand she became very distraught after we left the waiting area and had words with the young man that was driving the car involved in the accident with your step-daughter."
"Oh Nancy," Craig groaned closing his eyes against the image of his diminutive wife trying her best to tower over Philip's six foot frame.
"Marlena is staying with her right now and I promised that I would come in and check on the two of you personally."
"I appreciate that Rob-"
Suddenly his colleague stopped him with a wave of his hand as he reached for his beeper, taking a quick look at the message flashing there. "That's the laboratory Craig…with the results of your DNA testing."
"Already?"
"I put a rush on getting the results…I thought you would want to know…either way…before we begin the surgery. You know as well as I do the extent of Chloe's injuries and how difficult the next few hours are going to be…we just don't know what the outcome is going to be in all of this."
"As much as I want to know the truth Rob I know now that Chloe is my daughter…no matter what the results of the tests are."
"I know that Craig," Rob said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Between my second wife and myself I've got seven kids. Some mine, some hers and some adopted…and they are my children weather we share the same blood or not."
"Well Chloe and I do share the same blood…now."
"I'll check with the lab and for the results and then let Nancy know how you two are doing."
"Please don't say anything to her…I want to be the one to tell her."
Dr. Manuel nodded. "I understand…I'll be back soon."
Shawn wandered aimlessly through the maze of interconnecting corridors, unable to locate Philip anywhere. The hospital had an errie silence to it this time of night with its muted lighting, dark corners and long shadows. He was beginning to think that maybe Belle was right…maybe Philip had left the hospital if he'd remembered his parent's limo.
Deciding to head towards to entrance to see if in fact the black stretch was still parked out front, he suddenly heard a sound that caused him to stop. Remaining motionless, he waited wondering if in his exhausted state he'd imaged it but there it was again. It sounded like someone crying.
'No…correction,' Shawn thought turning around, 'it sounds like someone trying to hide the fact they were crying.'
As soon as he saw the bold black letters on the frosted, glass pane of the door that spelled out the word CHAPEL Shawn knew he'd found his friend. Turning the knob, he peeked in and saw a set of slumped shoulders in the front pew, one dressed in bandages and the other in the faded blue material of a standard hospital issued gown. He entered and closed the door over behind him. Knowing from personal experience how he hated being caught with his own defenses down, Shawn decided it was best if Philip knew he was no longer alone.
"Hey Phil."
He waited, watching as Philip wiped at his face with the hem of the hospital gown before he continued forward to stand in front of his friend. "Mind if I join you?"
Philip motioned to his right with his good hand and Shawn quickly sat down, his eyes taking in the chapel's simple alter dressed in a snow white cloth with green swags of pine boughs draped in red ribbons for the Christmas season.
Tall, white taper candles sat unlit in brass candle sticks on either end of the alter and a river of poinsettias in every shade of red from the palest pink to the most vibrant scarlet flowed across the floor in front of it. The overhead lighting was dim with only the flickering of candlelight from the prayer candles dancing around the room. Taking in a deep breath, he held it for a moment before slowly releasing it, enjoying the calmness and sense of peace that filled him every time he came here.
"Boy it feels good to be in here," Shawn said, "somehow it makes you think that everything is right with the world, ya know?"
"It's a false security," Philip said, "and we both know that."
"Look Phil…I know Nancy came down pretty hard on you back there and I'm not defending her but try to see things from her side. Chloe is her baby…a baby she gave up fifteen years ago. She just got her back and now…tonight…"
"Tonight she might lose her again…permanently."
"Don't talk that way…you gotta have faith man."
Suddenly Philip turned on his friend, eyes flashing with anger. "Why? Why do I have to have faith? What good is going to do?"
Shawn thought for a long moment before he tried to answer his friend's question. "I don't know…my faith has always been a part of me since I was a kid…I guess I don't question it."
"Not ever? Don't you ever want to shake your fists at Him and ask why does he let certain things happen?"
"Sure I do…and I have…plenty of times. When I thought my mom had died or when Belle was attacked…I was so filled with anger that I was demanding answers to why these things had to happen and of course…I never got an answer. When I couldn't handle the anger anymore I just had to let go of it and ask Him to take of things for me. It doesn't always work…and sometimes the anger comes back…and then I try to take care of things myself and usually end up making things even worse…like tonight."
"Tonight? What are you talking about you had nothing to do with Chloe getting hurt. In fact, you and Belle weren't even around when we started fight- hey, where were you guys?"
Leaning back against the pew, Shawn let out a big sigh. "Just wait bud…this one is gonna blow you away."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I was arrested tonight and taken down to the Milford cop shop. The whole group of us…my folks, Belle and her parents."
"Arrested? What in the hell for?"
Shawn shot Philip a hard stare before quickly glancing around the room and he was glad to see a sheepish look pass over his friend's face.
"Sorry, bad choice of words…but what are you talking about?"
"That guy that hurt Belle…the one I had a few words with-"
"And exchanged a few punches," Philip interrupted.
"Yeah, that too. He's in the hospital…in a coma…and the cops showed up at the ball to arrest me for assault and battery. Belle and I had just seen Jason and Mimi make up outside…remember when he stormed away from the table? Well, he was just going to get her jacket and he got back to her just as Belle and I were about to go outside so we left them alone. When we turned to head back to the table there was my folks, Belle's and a couple of cops."
"But you said it was just a few punches…how did he end up in a coma?"
"I've got no idea but I guess my name was the last words he said before he went under and after they found out he was the one who attacked Belle they put two and two together. So I get hauled in, fingerprinted, photo taken…the works. My mom made sure her Uncle Mickey was there and I was released into my parents custody."
"Whoa…how are your folks taking this?"
"Pretty good all things considered…not every day a member of the Brady clan gets arrested…but Belle…that's another story."
"She's pretty upset huh?"
Shawn rubbed the back of his hand across his jaw as the memory of her slapping him flashed through his mind. "That's an understatement. She was really pissed…I guess you didn't notice how distance she was back in the waiting room."
"I didn't really catch that…must be the drugs they got me on. Why is she so mad? Because you went after that guy?"
"Yeah I guess but I think it has more to do with the fact I lied to her about what I did. I mean she came right out and asked me what happened to my face..." Shawn voiced trailed off.
"And you gave her that hockey game story." Philip finished his statement for him.
"I've never done that before Phil…even when we were kids…I've never lied to Belle…until tonight. I don't know if she's ever going to be able to forgive me."
"Well compared to what I did to my girlfriend I don't think it's too bad."
"You didn't do anything to Chloe…the accident wasn't your fault right?"
"I had the right of way if that's what your asking but she was in my car because of me," Philip turned away and stretched out his legs in front of him, cringing with the pain it caused. Opening his mouth to speak, he found himself unable to form the thoughts racing through his head into words. He was scared too because once he said the words aloud it would make it real…and he would have to do something that he swore he would never do.
"You know…Mrs. Wesley hasn't trusted me from the very beginning…she always second guessed every move I made towards Chloe and I tried my best to convince her and myself that she was wrong about me but now…now I know I was the one who was wrong and she was right all along."
"Phil…come on…don't say-"
"Shawn! Do me a favor," Philip interrupted him, "just sit there, be my friend and listen to me."
Shawn nodded, unsure of where Philip was heading but he could tell his friend as something he needed to say and what better place that where they were now sitting?
"Did you ever think you would someday meet someone who would have such a profound effect on your life that it would change who you are? I mean, I've heard people talk about a coach that got them hooked on a certain sport or a teacher that introduced them to a subject that they eventually devoted their life to like science or writing but I used to think that was a bunch of crap."
"I was so sure I knew who I was and where I was going. I mean, hey…I'm Philip Kiriakis… super jock, most popular, guaranteed entrance into a Ivy League school thanks to the old man's money and then onto a cushy job at Titan…but one moment of one night changed all that. Meeting Chloe is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. No one else…my even my father…has had as much an effect on me as she has in the short time I've know her."
"She's my coach…my teacher…because she's taught me how to be a better person. Not taught really…challenged I guess is a better word. She has challenged me to be more that what was I…more that what I allowed other people to see of me. She made me look deep inside myself to discover a guy I never knew existed."
"And all I've done for her is be jealous of her friendships with other guys, jealous of her musical talents because I was…damn, Mrs. Wesley nailed it…I was afraid I was going to lose her. I guess I thought if that happened then I would lose the me I've become and I don't want that to happen. I don't want to go back to being the Philip I used to be."
"There's no way that could happen…no matter if Chloe is a part of your life forever or not," Shawn said quietly absorbing the words Philip spoke. Words that struck very close to his own heart about another very special girl, with laughing eyes and a good heart that made him want to be a better person too. "You're a different person now because you've known her and no one can predict the future, I mean who knows where we all will be in ten years. But no matter what happens you won't change back… because if it did it you would be letting her down and that is something you never, ever want to do."
Philip nodded as he leaned back against the pew, his eyes staring at the ceiling. "I love her Shawn…in a way that I can't even express. I don't know how…I don't know what words to put together to say it out loud."
"I think you just did."
"Hmmm…maybe." Philip was silent for a long moment. "Do you think He really listens…I mean when people pray?"
"Yeah I do," Shawn said with a soft smile. "He might not answer you as quickly as you want…or in the way you want but He listens."
Philip lifted his head and stared over at the rows of lit candles. Slowly he rose, adjusting the hospital gown around his shoulders and walked toward the cushioned kneeling pad in front of the candles. Reaching out for one of the long, skinny wooden sticks, he saw his hand shaking uncontrollably. It took him three tries until the wick caught hold of the flame in one of the last candles still unlit. Blowing out the flame at the end of the stick, he set it aside and bracing himself with his one good hand, Philip slowly lowered himself until he felt his knees resting on the cushion. Laying his palm flat, he curled his fingers over the edge as his gaze centered on the candle in front of him.
"Dear God…I've never done this before…I guess you know that. Even when Chloe disappeared I was counting on my dad or the police to find her and bring her back. I never once asked you to watch out for her and keep her safe but you did it anyway so thank you for that. But now I am here…on my knees asking that you once again keep her safe…and let her live."
Closing his eyes against the tears, Philip forced himself to continue. "This is a crazy place we live in but every once a while a special person comes along that has so many gifts to give…and I don't just mean her voice… and I know now that you know that. But here is something you may not know…if you let her live…if you let her come back to her family and friends and all the people that care about her then… I'm gonna get out of her life. You see, I know now that I'm not the right guy for Chloe…no matter how perfect she is for me. I'll always be grateful that there was a time in my life that I knew her but the right thing for me to do is to walk away. I can do that…thanks to you I guess since someone was watching out for me tonight…please…please let her live…"
Shawn brushed his hands across his eyes as he listened to his friend's heartfelt words. He wanted to tell Philip that you didn't have to bargain with Him…all you had to do was pray. But Shawn knew that Philip was running on raw emotions now and if this is what he needed to say in order to talk to Him then he wouldn't interfere. He knew Philip would never walk away from Chloe.
Slowly Philip started to rise but abruptly his feet slipped out from under him. It only took Shawn a few steps to reach him and support him by wrapping one arm around his waist and the other hand wrapped around his good shoulder. "Easy there Phil…I think you need to go back and lie down for a while."
"Do you think he heard me Shawn?" Philip asked, turning to look at his best friend, not even bothering to hide the tears that ran freely down his cheeks.
"Yeah…you can count on it." Shawn answered.
A discrete knock on the chapel's door caused both boys to turn towards it in time to see someone stepping inside. "Excuse me guys…"
to be continued…