Chapter Five:
For the first time in months, she felt a little thrill of hope. He'd taken her to a clinic for a check-up on the baby. He'd been forced to leave her alone when the doctor ordered him out of the exam room. She tried with as few words as possible to give an impression to the doctor of being held against her will. The nurse noticed her agitation and thinking she was frightened about the exam, tried to calm her. Sheridan tried to tell her with her eyes what was wrong, but with no effect.
The exam over, the doctor allowed him to come back in, and he immediately went to her side and grabbed her hand despite her pulling away. The doctor was completely oblivious, but this didn't go unnoticed by the nurse. Sheridan's sad eyes haunted her for the rest of the day. She didn't notice the paper in her pocket until she got home much later that night, and it fell to the floor. The words printed there made absolutely no sense, but for some strange reason, she couldn't bring herself to throw it away. She put it in her old jewelry box thinking someday she'd figure the message out.
*******************************************************
She knew she'd find him there. He visited her memorial almost daily and just talked to her. About anything and everything. But most of all, how much he missed her and his anger at himself for letting her family take their daughter away. She wanted desperately to console her son, but she knew right now he wouldn't accept her comfort because of his pride.
She'd never hated anyone in her entire life, but she despised Julian and Alistair for taking Lily away just because they could. She prayed to God Ethan found something, and soon. Lily deserved to be with the family that truly loved her. Somehow, she had to find a way to reunite her son and her granddaughter. She couldn't bear to think of Lily being raised in that cold, loveless house.
*******************************************************
Ivy was so worried. She'd went into Lily's room to check up on her in the middle of the night and found her with a soaring temperature. Not waiting to call the hospital herself, she gathered Lily's feverish little body in her arms and bolted downstairs in her robe. She nearly ran out the door that way, but Marie reminded her of her state of undress.
Handing Lily to Marie, she rushed upstairs, threw some clothes on, and raced down the hall only to be met by Julian. Ignoring him, she descended the stairs and took Lily from Marie again. Ivy was surprised to note concern on Julian's
face. In answer to his unspoken question, she tersely said, "I'm taking her to the hospital. She's burning up." She was greatly relieved when the chauffeur opened the door, led her to the limo, and helped her in with Lily.
On the seemingly endless ride to the hospital, Ivy asked Charles to call Pilar, Luis, and Eve. Then, she rushed inside the emergency room with Lily and ran to the nearest doctor. He immediately took Lily from her and told her to wait in the waiting area. Ivy sat down and tried to steel herself for whatever may come. Fate had been particularly cruel to Luis Lopez- Fitzgerald in the last several months. This, of all things, he didn't need.
*******************************************************
An hour later, Ivy sat in the waiting room joined by Luis, Pilar, Theresa and Miguel, Ethan, Eve, T.C., and Grace and Sam. Even Julian was there. No appearance was made by Alistair, Sam and the others noted. A lot of people loved this little girl.
Eve got up to check up on Lily's condition again. Luis and the others anxiously looked on. Finally, she came back and gave them wonderful news. Lily's fever had broken. It was just a viral infection.
They were admitting her for overnight observation. Mainly because she was dehydrated. She could have visitors but not everyone at once. Julian surprised everyone with his suggestion that Luis go first. Off Ivy's astonished look, he replied, "I'm not completely heartless," and walked away without another comment.
*******************************************************
Luis never left Lily's bedside. Deciding they needed the time alone, Ivy went home. She had to talk to Julian. Put an end to this. She loved Lily dearly, but she belonged with her father. And she knew, deep down, Julian felt the same way. It'd take much convincing on her part, but maybe, she could convince him to act against his father. Just this once. There was hope for her husband after all. He had a heart buried in there somewhere.
*******************************************************
Julian did still possess a heart, but his cowardice kept it in check. He was fearful of Alistair Crane. His very own father. And with very good reason. He knew the lengths his father would go to to get what he desired for whatever selfish reasons. His father truly was heartless.
Chapter Six:
Linda Whitman couldn't rid herself of the haunted, pleading look in the blond's sad eyes. The message made even less sense. It didn't matter, anyway, because she would probably never cross paths with her again. But she wondered about the baby. It couldn't be more that two months away from delivery. She pushed all thoughts of the young woman out of her mind. She had a lot of packing to do. She was visiting family in Harmony.
*******************************************************
Sheridan desperately missed her family. She longed for Luis's comforting arms and Lily's sticky kisses. The hope that the nurse at the clinic would somehow come to her rescue had all but died out. She despaired at the thought of that madman raising the baby she was carrying. Would her nightmare never end? What had she done to deserve all this? No one person should be made to suffer so much in one lifetime.
*******************************************************
Linda couldn't believe she let herself get talked into this, but she dearly loved Paulie, and she had to admit, she was a little curious about the man who'd so influenced her nephew. Influenced him so much, Paulie wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a law enforcer. This Luis guy must be pretty special.
As soon as she saw him, Linda decided he was a winner. In the looks department. He also happened to be a very nice, if a bit sad, young man who clearly held Paulie in just as high esteem. They chatted for a while and were about to take their leave when Linda spotted the photo on the young man's desk, and instantly all the pieces fell together in her mind's eye. But before she could tell a soul, she fainted dead away.
*******************************************************
She woke to see her nephew's concerned face and that of the Detective Lopez- Fitzgerald. When Luis mentioned getting a doctor, Linda stopped him by asking to see the picture on his desk. Confused but curious, Luis did as she asked. No more than a minute later, Linda's suspicions were confirmed, and she proceeded to tell a stunned Luis about her run-in with Sheridan. His doubt at first was evident, but it was obvious he very much wanted to believe.
Telling him about the hastily scribbled message did the trick. She watched his handsome face pale as he digested all she'd said. She swore to him she was not lying, and he sent Paulie to get Chief Bennett, who she repeated the whole story to. Linda went home feeling proud of herself for possibly bringing such a lovely young couple back together.
*******************************************************
When Luis told his family this, Miguel and Theresa practically jumped for joy. Pilar was a little more skeptical. If everything Luis had been told was true, Sheridan was still being held by a madman. Luis told his brother and sister to keep the information under wraps until he had more concrete evidence. They agreed and went off to visit friends.
Once they were gone, Luis turned to his mother, and she could tell he had left out a majorly important detail. Biting back a sudden sob, he said, "There's one more thing, Mama. The nurse. Ms. Whitman. She said something else.
Sheridan was pregnant, Mama. She was pregnant before she disappeared. She never knew I was sorry for those terrible fights we had. She probably thinks I didn't want this baby. Not after what I said to her in those final days. How could I, Mama? How could I hurt her that way?" Pilar said nothing, only pulled Luis into her arms and let him cry.
Chapter Seven:
Lily was better physically. But emotionally? Being kept away from her father was slowly killing the little girl's spirit. And Julian was becoming more and more fed up with his father's cruelty and selfishness.
He could care less about the child. Even less than he had for Sheridan. Julian racked his brain for possible solutions to this awful situation. He wouldn't stand for yet another member of his family to be emotionally abused by the almighty Alistair Crane.
*******************************************************
Sam hoped for Luis's sake it was true. That Sheridan was really alive. They had to find her soon. By Ms. Whitman's estimations, she was due fairly soon. It was bad enough Sheridan was being held by a madman. He couldn't live with the possibility of what the creep might do to an innocent, defenseless baby.
*******************************************************
Ivy was starting to believe Julian wasn't so bad after all. He'd slacked off the liquor as of late and taken to spending more time trying to bring his darling little niece out of her shell. But Ivy feared what Alistair had in store for them. Especially since Julian was becoming more and more open in his defiance of Alistair's wishes. Things didn't look good at all.
Ivy's blood ran cold when she saw the devil himself in the study. Talking in a deceptively caring manner to his young granddaughter. But Lily was amazingly perceptive for such a young child. She sensed the evil in her grandfather, and even from the doorway, Ivy could see her little body visibly shrinking away from Alistair with every step he made in her direction.
Where was Julian? Ivy wondered. He'd promised to look after Lily while she was out. Something was terribly wrong here, and she had to find out just what. But not before she called Sam. She had a feeling the Harmony P.D. needed in on this. Barely concealing her terror, Ivy dialed Sam at the station. Before she could say a word to Sam on the other end, though, she heard an ear-splitting scream. Lily's scream. And she dropped the phone in her haste to get to the child. It was much worse than she could have imagined.
*******************************************************
Sam started to hang the phone up in exasperation when he recognized Ivy's voice screaming and pleading on the other end. And Lily. Screaming as well. Sam frantically motioned Luis to his side and told him to get his weapon and tell the other officers. Something big was going down at the Crane Mansion, and Ivy definitely needed help.
Chapter Eight:
Ivy was torn. Torn between going to Julian who lay in a bloody heap on the floor or going to rescue Lily from a gun-wielding Alistair. She decided to try to keep a calm head and try to convince Alistair to get medical attention for his son since he was in the most dire need of help.
She started begging and pleading with Alistair as Julian slowly bled to death on the floor. She knelt beside Julian her hands on the wound to his chest trying to staunch the blood flow. Julian's eyes fluttered open, and he weakly touched his hand to Ivy's tear-stained cheek and gasped, "Save her Ivy. Save her from that monster..." and lost consciousness.
*******************************************************
Meanwhile, Sam and Luis and nearly half of the police force of Harmony had arrived at the Crane Mansion just moments before. With no time to waste, they burst through the front door and raced inside to the study. Sam's face blanched as he took in the scene.
Julian lay lifelessly on the floor with Ivy kneeling by his side covered in blood. Alistair Crane stood a few feet away clutching a terrified Lily with a gun trained on Ivy. Sam briefly glanced at Luis and noticed the horror etched on his face. The scene before them was a horrible nightmare come true.
*******************************************************
Alistair knew the end was near. He wasn't getting himself out of this one. But, he could rest easy knowing he'd ridden himself of his two imbecile children. He figured he had nothing to gain by keeping the child. She'd be dealt with someday down the line.
As for Ivy, watching Julian die before her very eyes seemed to be quite enough. As if in slow motion, Alistair practically launched the child at her father and raised the gun to his head boasting that the secrets surrounding Sheridan would die with him. Before anyone could think to stop him, Alistair pulled the trigger.
For the first time in months, she felt a little thrill of hope. He'd taken her to a clinic for a check-up on the baby. He'd been forced to leave her alone when the doctor ordered him out of the exam room. She tried with as few words as possible to give an impression to the doctor of being held against her will. The nurse noticed her agitation and thinking she was frightened about the exam, tried to calm her. Sheridan tried to tell her with her eyes what was wrong, but with no effect.
The exam over, the doctor allowed him to come back in, and he immediately went to her side and grabbed her hand despite her pulling away. The doctor was completely oblivious, but this didn't go unnoticed by the nurse. Sheridan's sad eyes haunted her for the rest of the day. She didn't notice the paper in her pocket until she got home much later that night, and it fell to the floor. The words printed there made absolutely no sense, but for some strange reason, she couldn't bring herself to throw it away. She put it in her old jewelry box thinking someday she'd figure the message out.
*******************************************************
She knew she'd find him there. He visited her memorial almost daily and just talked to her. About anything and everything. But most of all, how much he missed her and his anger at himself for letting her family take their daughter away. She wanted desperately to console her son, but she knew right now he wouldn't accept her comfort because of his pride.
She'd never hated anyone in her entire life, but she despised Julian and Alistair for taking Lily away just because they could. She prayed to God Ethan found something, and soon. Lily deserved to be with the family that truly loved her. Somehow, she had to find a way to reunite her son and her granddaughter. She couldn't bear to think of Lily being raised in that cold, loveless house.
*******************************************************
Ivy was so worried. She'd went into Lily's room to check up on her in the middle of the night and found her with a soaring temperature. Not waiting to call the hospital herself, she gathered Lily's feverish little body in her arms and bolted downstairs in her robe. She nearly ran out the door that way, but Marie reminded her of her state of undress.
Handing Lily to Marie, she rushed upstairs, threw some clothes on, and raced down the hall only to be met by Julian. Ignoring him, she descended the stairs and took Lily from Marie again. Ivy was surprised to note concern on Julian's
face. In answer to his unspoken question, she tersely said, "I'm taking her to the hospital. She's burning up." She was greatly relieved when the chauffeur opened the door, led her to the limo, and helped her in with Lily.
On the seemingly endless ride to the hospital, Ivy asked Charles to call Pilar, Luis, and Eve. Then, she rushed inside the emergency room with Lily and ran to the nearest doctor. He immediately took Lily from her and told her to wait in the waiting area. Ivy sat down and tried to steel herself for whatever may come. Fate had been particularly cruel to Luis Lopez- Fitzgerald in the last several months. This, of all things, he didn't need.
*******************************************************
An hour later, Ivy sat in the waiting room joined by Luis, Pilar, Theresa and Miguel, Ethan, Eve, T.C., and Grace and Sam. Even Julian was there. No appearance was made by Alistair, Sam and the others noted. A lot of people loved this little girl.
Eve got up to check up on Lily's condition again. Luis and the others anxiously looked on. Finally, she came back and gave them wonderful news. Lily's fever had broken. It was just a viral infection.
They were admitting her for overnight observation. Mainly because she was dehydrated. She could have visitors but not everyone at once. Julian surprised everyone with his suggestion that Luis go first. Off Ivy's astonished look, he replied, "I'm not completely heartless," and walked away without another comment.
*******************************************************
Luis never left Lily's bedside. Deciding they needed the time alone, Ivy went home. She had to talk to Julian. Put an end to this. She loved Lily dearly, but she belonged with her father. And she knew, deep down, Julian felt the same way. It'd take much convincing on her part, but maybe, she could convince him to act against his father. Just this once. There was hope for her husband after all. He had a heart buried in there somewhere.
*******************************************************
Julian did still possess a heart, but his cowardice kept it in check. He was fearful of Alistair Crane. His very own father. And with very good reason. He knew the lengths his father would go to to get what he desired for whatever selfish reasons. His father truly was heartless.
Chapter Six:
Linda Whitman couldn't rid herself of the haunted, pleading look in the blond's sad eyes. The message made even less sense. It didn't matter, anyway, because she would probably never cross paths with her again. But she wondered about the baby. It couldn't be more that two months away from delivery. She pushed all thoughts of the young woman out of her mind. She had a lot of packing to do. She was visiting family in Harmony.
*******************************************************
Sheridan desperately missed her family. She longed for Luis's comforting arms and Lily's sticky kisses. The hope that the nurse at the clinic would somehow come to her rescue had all but died out. She despaired at the thought of that madman raising the baby she was carrying. Would her nightmare never end? What had she done to deserve all this? No one person should be made to suffer so much in one lifetime.
*******************************************************
Linda couldn't believe she let herself get talked into this, but she dearly loved Paulie, and she had to admit, she was a little curious about the man who'd so influenced her nephew. Influenced him so much, Paulie wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a law enforcer. This Luis guy must be pretty special.
As soon as she saw him, Linda decided he was a winner. In the looks department. He also happened to be a very nice, if a bit sad, young man who clearly held Paulie in just as high esteem. They chatted for a while and were about to take their leave when Linda spotted the photo on the young man's desk, and instantly all the pieces fell together in her mind's eye. But before she could tell a soul, she fainted dead away.
*******************************************************
She woke to see her nephew's concerned face and that of the Detective Lopez- Fitzgerald. When Luis mentioned getting a doctor, Linda stopped him by asking to see the picture on his desk. Confused but curious, Luis did as she asked. No more than a minute later, Linda's suspicions were confirmed, and she proceeded to tell a stunned Luis about her run-in with Sheridan. His doubt at first was evident, but it was obvious he very much wanted to believe.
Telling him about the hastily scribbled message did the trick. She watched his handsome face pale as he digested all she'd said. She swore to him she was not lying, and he sent Paulie to get Chief Bennett, who she repeated the whole story to. Linda went home feeling proud of herself for possibly bringing such a lovely young couple back together.
*******************************************************
When Luis told his family this, Miguel and Theresa practically jumped for joy. Pilar was a little more skeptical. If everything Luis had been told was true, Sheridan was still being held by a madman. Luis told his brother and sister to keep the information under wraps until he had more concrete evidence. They agreed and went off to visit friends.
Once they were gone, Luis turned to his mother, and she could tell he had left out a majorly important detail. Biting back a sudden sob, he said, "There's one more thing, Mama. The nurse. Ms. Whitman. She said something else.
Sheridan was pregnant, Mama. She was pregnant before she disappeared. She never knew I was sorry for those terrible fights we had. She probably thinks I didn't want this baby. Not after what I said to her in those final days. How could I, Mama? How could I hurt her that way?" Pilar said nothing, only pulled Luis into her arms and let him cry.
Chapter Seven:
Lily was better physically. But emotionally? Being kept away from her father was slowly killing the little girl's spirit. And Julian was becoming more and more fed up with his father's cruelty and selfishness.
He could care less about the child. Even less than he had for Sheridan. Julian racked his brain for possible solutions to this awful situation. He wouldn't stand for yet another member of his family to be emotionally abused by the almighty Alistair Crane.
*******************************************************
Sam hoped for Luis's sake it was true. That Sheridan was really alive. They had to find her soon. By Ms. Whitman's estimations, she was due fairly soon. It was bad enough Sheridan was being held by a madman. He couldn't live with the possibility of what the creep might do to an innocent, defenseless baby.
*******************************************************
Ivy was starting to believe Julian wasn't so bad after all. He'd slacked off the liquor as of late and taken to spending more time trying to bring his darling little niece out of her shell. But Ivy feared what Alistair had in store for them. Especially since Julian was becoming more and more open in his defiance of Alistair's wishes. Things didn't look good at all.
Ivy's blood ran cold when she saw the devil himself in the study. Talking in a deceptively caring manner to his young granddaughter. But Lily was amazingly perceptive for such a young child. She sensed the evil in her grandfather, and even from the doorway, Ivy could see her little body visibly shrinking away from Alistair with every step he made in her direction.
Where was Julian? Ivy wondered. He'd promised to look after Lily while she was out. Something was terribly wrong here, and she had to find out just what. But not before she called Sam. She had a feeling the Harmony P.D. needed in on this. Barely concealing her terror, Ivy dialed Sam at the station. Before she could say a word to Sam on the other end, though, she heard an ear-splitting scream. Lily's scream. And she dropped the phone in her haste to get to the child. It was much worse than she could have imagined.
*******************************************************
Sam started to hang the phone up in exasperation when he recognized Ivy's voice screaming and pleading on the other end. And Lily. Screaming as well. Sam frantically motioned Luis to his side and told him to get his weapon and tell the other officers. Something big was going down at the Crane Mansion, and Ivy definitely needed help.
Chapter Eight:
Ivy was torn. Torn between going to Julian who lay in a bloody heap on the floor or going to rescue Lily from a gun-wielding Alistair. She decided to try to keep a calm head and try to convince Alistair to get medical attention for his son since he was in the most dire need of help.
She started begging and pleading with Alistair as Julian slowly bled to death on the floor. She knelt beside Julian her hands on the wound to his chest trying to staunch the blood flow. Julian's eyes fluttered open, and he weakly touched his hand to Ivy's tear-stained cheek and gasped, "Save her Ivy. Save her from that monster..." and lost consciousness.
*******************************************************
Meanwhile, Sam and Luis and nearly half of the police force of Harmony had arrived at the Crane Mansion just moments before. With no time to waste, they burst through the front door and raced inside to the study. Sam's face blanched as he took in the scene.
Julian lay lifelessly on the floor with Ivy kneeling by his side covered in blood. Alistair Crane stood a few feet away clutching a terrified Lily with a gun trained on Ivy. Sam briefly glanced at Luis and noticed the horror etched on his face. The scene before them was a horrible nightmare come true.
*******************************************************
Alistair knew the end was near. He wasn't getting himself out of this one. But, he could rest easy knowing he'd ridden himself of his two imbecile children. He figured he had nothing to gain by keeping the child. She'd be dealt with someday down the line.
As for Ivy, watching Julian die before her very eyes seemed to be quite enough. As if in slow motion, Alistair practically launched the child at her father and raised the gun to his head boasting that the secrets surrounding Sheridan would die with him. Before anyone could think to stop him, Alistair pulled the trigger.