Chapter Seventeen

Paris, France

Sonja DeLevante sat at the foot of her massive bed in the mansion of her home. She had not slept in the bed herself for three months now. Her best friend and former lover had occupied the bed that entire time, while Sonja slept on the couch. She could have slept in one of her many guest rooms but she wanted to be as close to him as possible. She had been looking forward to his visit for nearly a month prior to his arrival but things had not gone as planned, for her or for him.

He had called her a month before he came, telling her was coming to visit, but at all costs it must be kept secret. She wanted to know what was going on but all that he would say was that he had made plans to come to Paris through friends. Sonja spent the entire month waiting anxiously for his arrival.

But his arrival had not been like she thought, and she didn't think even he had planned what happened. He came with his friends, like he said he would. Or more like his friends came with him. He came three days later than he was supposed to and was injured gravely. Remembering his request to keep his visit a secret, Sonja called her brother, Pierre, who was a doctor and living nearby. She trusted him and knew that the two men were friends. Her brother's news was not good: her best friend had serious injuries and had slipped into a coma. Pierre promised to do all he could but three months had gone by.

Sonja traced her friend's distinguished, handsome features with her eyes. She was in love with him, no doubt. She always had been. He, on the other hand, loved her as a friend. She knew he had once returned her love but it had faded. All the time he spent in America away from her had done that. When he lived in Greece, he came to visit her numerous times. Sonja had tried to be angry at Stefan for ignoring her when he moved to America, but she could not do it. His son was his life and there were more pressing matters at the time.

Sonja sighed and wiped the tears that graced her face. Three long months had passed and he still lay in a coma. Pierre had given Sonja no hope on his last visit. The two of them spoke of this to no one, and aside from Sonja's servants no one knew about the comatose man. She remembered the words he had spoken to her on the phone. "At all costs no can know." Sonja longed to hear his voice again, to see his sly smile. Even if she would not see the same love in his eyes that he would surely see in hers.

Sonja sighed heavily. "Stefan," she murmured in her heavy French accident. "Stefan Cassadine, no matter what you do you cause me grief."

***************

"It is all set," the prison guard whispered to Helena through the bars. "Everything is in place."

Helena smiled and stood up from her bed. "Good." She walked to the female guard and slipped her a 100-dollar bill. "You have done well for me. I am pleased."

The guard nodded. "In fifteen minutes, Greg will turn out the lights and go on his break. In another ten I will do rounds and drop the key on the floor, right here. In the second stall in the bathroom on the left is a bag with a change of clothes. Your men will be at the side exit waiting for you."

"The other prisoners recieved the drug?"

"Yes. They are all out like a light and will be until morning. No one will see you."

Helena's smile deepened. "I knew I could count on you."

After a simple nod, the guard left and Helena returned to her bed. She sat back against the wall, staring ahead thoughtfully.

"If only I could see the look on Natasha's face when she learns my plans. Or Luke Spencer's when he realizes I have escaped. Why in less than 12 hours the entire town will be an uproar. It's almost a shame I won't see it."

*****

"So Helena did get the money." Alexis threw her head into her hands, not wanting to look at the documents Sonny had brought her.

"Yes, she did, and she covered it beautifully. She has some major activity happening in Greece, it will take some more time for me to figure out what."

"It's the timing that is so unsettling," Alexis was shaking her head. "How could she have taken Stefan's money without him noticing unless she knew..." Shock took over Alexis' facial features. "Do you think she could have set up that car accident?"

"Doubtful," Sonny looked skeptical. "Could she really have planned two cars to be coming at the same time as Stefan's car? And why would she risk Nikolas getting hurt?"

"I don't know. Maybe she didn't anticipate the other car. Or maybe she had something else planned to kill Stefan, but the accident did it for her. I don't know. But something strange is going on. I should never have let my guard down."

"What do you want me to do?"

Alexis thought for a minute. "Find out what's going on in Greece. I'm going to call Luke."

TBC

'Tis true, Stefan really is alive! You know this was something I decided only a few days ago but it works well for me and gave me more inspiration to write this faster. Hopefully 18 will be out soon but midterms are this coming week so don't hold me to it. And PLEASE PLEASE review!