Brooke heard the knock on the door but she couldn't even make herself the say the words "Come in". A few seconds later the door opened anyway, and there was a freshly showered and clean shaven Felix in his blue silk bath robe.

"Good morning, beautiful", he chirped.

She said nothing.

"Guess who gets breakfast in bed this morning? Yes, you are the lucky lady and no it's safe because I did not cook it. Had it delivered from the best gourmet café this side of the city. A bran muffin, apple Danish, eggs over easy just the way you like them, bacon and imported Scottish roaster coffee."

Brooke stared at down at the food. As good as it looked, as delicious as it smelled and as great as it surely would have tasted, she simply could not bring herself to eat.

"No thanks, Felix. I'm not hungry."

"That's what you said last night at dinner and lunch before that. You have to eat, doll. You're gonna make yourself sick."

"Felix…"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Come on. A couple bites won't kill you."

She rolled her eyes and conceded, picking at the eggs and other items before finally taking a few bites in her mouth.

"Delicious isn't it?"

"Fabulous", she said in a flat voice.

"Brooke, you're scaring me. I hate seeing you like this. You're not yourself, you don't want to talk and now you're not eating. This isn't right. You're really starting to look a little pale, too."

"Oh well", she shrugged. "Who cares what happens to me now?"

"I care. A lot of people care for you. Look, you're just going through a crappy phase right now. Everybody has their down days. It will get better."

"Will it, Felix? I'd say this is more than a down day or a crappy phase. Been there, done that. No, I'd say this has to be right around the rock bottom area."

"Brooke…"

"Let's see, where do we begin? Do you want to start with the two worthless parents I was cursed with that don't give a damn about me? Or maybe the job that I have missed 19 out of the last 30 working days, the job that I should probably resign from before Jessica fires my ass. What about my friends? Oh wait…I don't have any. They all hate me because they think I am a spoiled, irresponsible, irrational child abandoner. You want to go outside and take a walk? I can't without a hat, scarf and dark glasses unless I want every reporter here this side of the Grand Canyon taking my freaking picture. And my money? Better enjoy that while it lasts considering it is dwindling away faster than the Ryan brothers. And please don't forget my soon to be ex husband who wants nothing to do with me and of course the child that I gave birth to, the one that I would kill or die for that I am no longer allowed to be with. Yeah, Felix I say it doesn't get any worse than that so spare me the pep talks."

"At least you get to see Harmony tomorrow. You have to be excited about that."

"Of course I am excited to be with my baby but the two hour time frame in the tiny room with the court appointed third party sort of put a damper on it."

"Don't worry, doll. It will be over soon. It's just another one of Lucas Scott's tricks to make you miserable."

"Yeah? Well if it is then it's certainly working. I don't know what's worse…not being able to be with her or having a guard standing over us the time I am with her like I'm going to hurt her something."

"Brooke, it breaks my heart to see you like this", he said, softly stroking the side of her cheek. "I can't stand it. What can I do? What can I do to help you or make this better or ease your pain? Tell me because whatever it is, I will do it."

"There's nothing you can do", she whispered.

"What about your favorite spa? I could arrange a private car to take you to a private session. What about shopping? Name the store and I will have a rep come here with whatever you feel like buying, my treat of course. Then afterwards, I could take you to dinner. Anywhere you want to go, Brooke."

"No", she said, feeling the tears and sadness build inside.

"Brooke, I…"

"No!" she screamed. "You don't understand! Felix, I don't want you or your money or the stupid spa or some damned fancy, useless designer duds! And I certainly don't want any more spur of the moment trips, thank you very much!"

"Well what then? What can I do? What do you want?" he asked as he tried to slip his arms around her.

"I want Harmony!" Brooke screamed at the top of her lungs as she furiously pushed him away. "I want her!"

"I'm sorry. We're working on that. Mr. Quirk is going to make sure you get your daughter back. Just be patient, doll. Just a few more weeks until the hearing and…"

"I don't want to wait a few more weeks! I shouldn't have to wait a few more weeks! And there shouldn't even be a stupid, fucking hearing!"

"I know, Brooke. It will be okay. Just…"

"Don't touch me!" she cried as she lifted the breakfast tray and hurled it and its contents across the expensively decorated room. "Don't try to hold me or comfort me or tell me that everything is going to be okay! Because right now it is anything but okay! You don't understand, Felix. You're not a mother. I couldn't even stand to be away from her a couple of hours each day for work, can you imagine what I'm feeling now? I miss her so much that it is unreal! My heart literally aches for her! I wake up in the morning and she's not here with me and it makes me physically ill! She should be here with me. I'm her mother, Felix! Nobody knows what she needs but me! And now she's with that lying, psychotic bitch, Mrs. Patterson? Does Mrs. Patterson or even Lucas for that matter know exactly how to rock her to sleep at night? Or do they know the bunny song is her favorite. And what about her cries? Do they know the lingering, whiny cry is for when her diaper needs to be changed and the steady shrill one is for when she's hungry. And the little whimper with no tears means she just wants to be held and played with. I miss her, Felix! I want to feed her and change her and hold her and tuck her in at night. I want to…"

Brooke broke down, her entire body moaning, writhing and heaving with inconsolable pain.

"This is a nightmare! I just want my life back! Please! Why can't it be like it was? Just make this stop! I can't take it anymore! Please someone make it stop!"

Her body racked with gut wrenching sobs, she collapsed in his arms and he held her. She cried, yelled and cursed for what seemed like hours until finally emotionally and mentally exhausted, she fell into a fitful rest in his arms.

Felix held her tightly, stroking her hair and face, torn by the guilt that he was one of the causes for her pain. Dammitt! It wasn't supposed to be like this. Brooke was never supposed to suffer and he was never supposed to fall in love with her. Damn, Dan Scott! Damn his evil, rotten soul to Hell! How could he be so cruel? Felix, unscrupulous, manipulative, power hungry Felix Colwell began to ask the same thing of himself. Wasn't he being equally cruel? After all, he had the power to stop it. He could wake her up that very instant and tell her the whole truth. And then she could have her life back…and her child. But he couldn't tell her the truth. Too much was at stake and he was in too deep. Dan was far worse than Satan himself and in essence Felix had traded his very soul. And what would Brooke think if she found out the truth? She would hate him for sure. She would hate him and he couldn't have that. He had fallen for her. All she needed was to be a bit more patient. In time she would come to terms with her loss and all the changes. And through it all he would be there, her regular knight in shining armor. In time she would fall in love with him as well and they would share their very own happily ever after.

The thoughts boomed inside his head like raging voices. His heart thumped so loudly surely it might pound right out of his chest, he thought. Patience. Time. Time and patience. All he needed were those two things and everything would be okay. A sinister smile crept to his lips as he looked down at the beauty in his arms. He kissed her head and her cheek and cradled her until he too was soon fast asleep.

They rested for hours, Felix waking finally in the late afternoon only to discover Brooke lying beside him, staring at his face.

"What?" he whispered.

She stroked his soft skin, kissing his nose as tears brimmed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"Brooke, you don't have to apologize."

"But I do. I took all my pain and anger and frustration out on you and that's not right. It isn't fair. You are the only one that's still here for me. Taking care of me and helping me. You've been my rock, Felix. Thank you."

"Brooke…I, I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything at all", she said, placing one last lingering kiss on his lips. "Just hold me…"