Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me

Chapter 2

Eve Wakes up in Salem

Harmony- One Week Later

Chief Sam Bennett and his wife Grace, stood by T.C.'s side, at the memorial service for his wife, Dr. Eve Russell.

Ivy Winthrop watched from afar in her wheelchair, a little disgruntled to see how this tragedy had brought Sam and Grace together.

She yawned sleepily, her eyes falling on her younger son, Fox. He was staring at Whitney Russell, who was being comforted by her boyfriend, Chad Harris. She shook her head. Allistair would never allow the relationship. Yet, if Whitney Russell was what her son wanted, then more power to him. Many a promising love had been ruined by the likes of Allistair Crane.

Ivy's eyes then moved to Julian and Rebecca. She smiled. Julian had probably forced Rebecca to be here. How humiliating that wedding reception had to have been for the dear woman! There was a small part of her, that idly wondered if Julian had been miserably thinking about Eve on their own wedding day, just as she had been Sam.

Ivy's eyes then fell back on Sam and Grace. They were moving away from the tombstone, when T.C.'s eyes fell upon Julian Crane. He pulled away from Sam and Grace. Sam reached out to pull him back, but missed. T.C. walked up on the Cranes. Simone hurried over to her father's side.

'What are you doing here?' he asked Julian, eyeing Rebecca contemptuously.

'T.C., we're here to give our condolences. Eve was a very special friend.'

Simone snorted, then rolled her eyes, looking away. Julian gave her a glance. Eve had said the girl was surly, but he had not anticipated how much. He ignored her.

'I know what kind of a 'friend' you were! You left my wife alone and pregnant to fend for herself! You ruined her relationship with her family!' T.C. hissed.

Rebecca began pulling on Julian's arm. T.C. Russell had always been a hothead! And a funeral, even if it was for someone she didn't especially care for, was a bad place to start and argument. It was just in poor taste.

Julian, for his part, moved away from Russell and walked a few feet away. He had hidden his anger well, representing the Crane family's reputation for restraint. But inside, there was an anger building that just wouldn't be cooled.

There was no way he was going to believe that Eve drove off in a rainstorm after arguing with her husband...at least, that's what the papers said. Julian had then used some of the Crane family connections within the police department(poor Sam Bennett didn't have clue how many of his officers were on the take!), to find out things that the paper and news media didn't say.

Like the fact that T.C. Russell was found weeping at the scene, wearing nothing but a bathrobe...and a silk one at that! Granted, one could think that the Russell's had been making up, but, Julian had a nagging sense that that was not the case.

Eve was forced away! He didn't know how or why, but Julian just knew that a part of T.C.'s grief came from some sort of guilt. He had run his wife away and now she was dead. Julian glared at him. His Eve.

And that damned Liz! Julian had been horrified to discover that his father had cut that conniving heifer a check! Why? When he had asked his father about it, Allistair was a helpful as always! He cruelly told his son that his association with the Russell family was now over, now that Eve was dead. Allistair then ordered his son to pay more attention to his new wife, since she was holding damning Crane secrets over their head!

Julian's eyes fell on Ivy, who was busy watching Sam Bennett. He rolled his eyes. That was the story of his pathetic ex's life! He then noticed Fox watching Whitney. His heart went out to his son.

It was at that moment, that Julian wondered if helping his son get Whitney Russell, would some how make up for the past, or at least, allow him to watch his son live the life that Julian himself, had always wanted with Eve.

****

Whitney told Chad she needed time alone and shirked away from him. She walked over to a tree and stood under it.

She was more estranged from her father than ever. They needed one another during this time, and her father was still acting as if she didn't exist! In many ways, she now understood how her mother must have felt, all of those years ago, when she was alone and pregnant.

Whitney didn't see or hear Fox, as he approached her by the tree. She looked over at him, giving him a tentative smile. He smiled back. Hopefully, this meant she didn't hate him over his outburst at his father's wedding.

'Hey!' he said softly,

Whitney sniffed. 'Hey!'

Fox was momentarily uncomfortable.

'I know you probably want to be alone...'

'No, it's fine. Stay.'

Fox nodded. 'Whitney, I know this is the worst possible time to bring this up...but I need to apologize for what I said at my father's wedding. It just set off a time bomb for your family.'

Whitney wiped away a tear.

'It's alright, Fox.'

'No, I was out of line.'

Whitney smiled at him. His heart felt like it was going to melt.

'Everyone wants to know that they're loved, Fox. And maybe if things were different...but I'm with Chad. I love him.'

Fox put his hands up in a defensive posture.

'Understood. I'm glad he's been there for you.'

Whitney cut her eyes away. Fox felt the slightest quiver of hope. Something was rotten in paradise! He forced his voice to stay calm.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

Whitney shook her head, looking down at the ground.

'Chad still wants to move out to L.A.'

Fox frowned. 'Well, yeah, maybe after you've had some time with your family.'

Whitney shook her head again. 'No, now. He's angry at the way my father and sister have been acting since this whole thing happened. Chad thinks that with my mom's death, all of the animosity that my father and Simone have been showing towards us, should be forgotten. He thinks we should just leave here and start a new life.'

'Whitney, I think your family is just in shock. You can't leave and forget about them!'

Whitney stared up at him, nodding.

'Exactly! I mean, that's the way that I feel. My mother would want me to try until we were a family again! But I just don't feel as if I have any support at all!'

Whitney began to cry. Fox pulled her into his arms. It was at that moment, that Chad appeared, looking angry. He rushed up on Fox and Whitney, pulling Fox away!

'Hey!' Fox yelled, when he saw who he was dealing with. Whitney stepped between them.

'Chad, stop it! Fox was just being a friend!'

'A friend who has a thing for you! Like his father was a friend to your mother!'

Whitney squinted at him.

'How could you bring that up here?!'

Chad instantly looked contrite. Fox looked from Whitney to Chad, to his father, who was standing behind another nearby tree, eavesdropping. What was up with that?

'I'm sorry, honey.' Chad said. He tried to pull on her arm, but Whitney pulled away.

'I'm going for a walk. I need to be alone. Let me be.'

Whitney then turned and walked away, down a hillside. Chad faced Fox.

'Yeah, Crane, let her be.'

Fox smirked. 'I'm here as Whitney's friend. And when she tells me to go, I'll go.'

Chad's eyes widened, and he looked as if he were going to say something else, when Julian Crane appeared. Chad glared at him, then walked off. He joined Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald and her family.

Fox gave his father a knowing look.

'Hear anything interesting?'

Julian looked around coolly. Rebecca was with her daughter Gwen. Gwen was talking to her, but Rebecca's eyes were on Julian. He knew he would have to be careful.

'I overheard enough to know that T.C. is acting like the damned fool he always has been.'

Fox nodded. 'You know, he's usually not such a bad guy. But you should've heard him the day he disowned Whitney! So his daughter wants to live her own life? She should be disowned for that?'

Julian looked his son in the eye.

'I think you should go after Whitney.'

Fox stared back at him.

'That's always been my intention, Father.'

Julian was impressed with his son's self-confidence. It was a Crane trait.

'Good. Then I want to give you what my father never gave me concerning Eve.'

Fox folded his arms.

'What?'

'Help, son. Whitney obviously needs to be somewhere where she can mourn in peace, and re-think her relationships with her father, sister, and Chad Harris.'

'Yeah, so?'

'I want you to invite young, Ms. Russell to live at the Crane Mansion with us, just until she gets her head together.'

Fox smiled.

****

Salem, USA

Tony DiMera sat aboard the deck of his yacht, deep in thought. He had needed time to himself to reflect on his life.

Everything seemed to be going wrong in his personal life. And maybe things might not be so bad, if he just had someone to share his life with.

Tony rolled his eyes, taking a sip from a glass of champagne. He felt like a sentimental idiot. But he was disturbed to find that he had been thinking more and more about one of his ex-wives, Kristen Blake. For she was the last woman that had truly made him happy, despite her treachery.

He put down the glass of champagne, and leaned against the deck rail. Tony then yawned. Maybe it was the air, but he suddenly felt tired. So tired, that he thought he saw a woman floating in the water.

Tony's eyed widened! Christ! It was a woman!

Tony called out for some of his employees to come outside. A glass door slid open quickly, and two burly men that Tony employed to keep up his yacht, came lumbering out. He pointed towards the water. One of the men ran towards the other end of the yacht to release a small motor boat.

****

Tony paced the hallway in his mansion, outside of the woman's room. His sister Lexie, who was a doctor, was looking in on her. Tony had asked Lexie not to tell her husband, Abe, anything. Lexie had nodded in agreement.

Just as Tony was about to sit down in a chair, Lexie came out of the room.

'Well?' he asked her.

Lexie shook her head.

'She's coming around. Where did you say you found her?'

Tony waved a hand. 'Floating in the water. I thought she was dead.'

'From the looks of her bruises, she should be.'

Tony peered at her.

'What is it?'

Lexie shook her head. 'She looks so familiar, yet, I can't place where I know her from.'

'Do you know her from around here?' he asked.

Lexie shook her head again. 'No, I don't think so. Listen, I'm going to go back in and check on her. I still think we should get her to a hospital.'

'No!' Tony said, a bit emphatically. He didn't know why he was choosing to be so secretive, about the lovely, Black woman he had found in the water. But it was his sense, that someone had done something to her. That this woman was living a perfectly normal existence, until someone interfered with that. Until Tony could investigate, he wanted no one to know she was here.

'Tony! She could have people looking for her!'

'She could indeed, Alexandra. The kind that would not be happy to see her alive.'

Lexie's eyes widened! She had never thought about it like that. She rested a hand on her brother's shoulder.

'Alright. I'll go along with this, for now. But Abe and I are trying to start fresh. I don't want any secrets between us.'

Tony hugged his sister.

'Everything will be fine. Why don't you let me go in? Go and check in with that nanny of yours.'

Lexie smiled and hugged him back. She then let go of him.

'I'll be right back. Call me if anything out of the ordinary happens with her.'

Tony nodded, then watched as Lexie disappeared down a hallway. He then turned and walked over to the door the woman was behind. He opened it.

She was lying in bed and appeared to be coming around, just as Lexie had said. Tony closed the door and walked over to the bed. He sat down on the edge and picked up her hand. Her eyes slowly opened. She stared at him.

'Hello,' Tony said gently. 'You gave us all quite a scare.'

The woman just stared at him, then tried to sit up abruptly. She apparently did it too fast, because soon she sank back down amongst the pillows.

'Easy. You must get your strength back. Is there anyone we can call?' he asked, sincerely hoping that there wasn't.

The woman began to speak. 'I don't know. I don't remember anything.'

Tony DiMera's wish was granted.