Kendall woke to the sound of the telephone's continuous ringing. She vaguely remembered crawling into bed fully clothed after she had cried until she had no more tears to shed. She felt utterly alone and devastated that Zach would have left without so much as a word… and completely confused that he could be so cruel. Just the day before he had been expressing his eagerness to be with her again… what happened to cause such a drastic decision?
She rolled over and ignored the telephone, not falling back to sleep but feeling entirely too lethargic to answer it. She was roused a little while later from somewhere between sleep and wakefulness to the sound of knocking, but once again chose to ignore it completely. Just like the telephone had, she was sure it would go away and she had no desire to know who was there since the only person she wanted to see had his own key. She pulled the covers tighter against her and moaned as her stomach became queasy, but made no other movement than to close her eyes.
"Kendall! Kendall! What's wrong?" Bianca's frantic voice beseeched her sister as she pulled the covers back and shook Kendall from her stupor. When she couldn't reach Kendall by telephone, Bianca had arrived to accompany Kendall to her doctor appointment… and got building maintenance to let her into the condo when Kendall hadn't answered the door either.
"Nothing… everything… go away…" Kendall mumbled to Bianca as she tried to pull the covers back over her body.
Bianca turned to the man accompanying her, "Thanks for your help. I'll take care of her now." She walked the man to the door and saw him out before returning to the bedroom to find Kendall trying to escape into sleep. Pulling the covers off of her once more, she helped Kendall to reluctantly sit at the edge of the bed before asking, "What happened? And don't tell me 'nothing' because my eyes tell me differently."
"He's gone," Kendall said in barely more than a whisper.
"Who's gone? Zach?" Bianca asked. At Kendall's nod she continued, "He's in London, remember? He'll be home soon… and then you can tell him about the baby. What happened last night? Did he forget to call?"
Kendall nodded her head, paused a moment and then shook it before answering, "He didn't call… and he's not… he's not in London. I don't know where he is anymore… but he's left me."
Bianca seated herself next to her sister and pulled Kendall's head onto her shoulder, "He wouldn't do that, honey. He loves you."
Kendall shook her head and found that she had more tears in her after all as she began to sob, "No… he doesn't love me… he came home and… and… look in the closet…"
Bianca didn't get up from the bed but wrapped her arms around Kendall and allowed her to cry. She glanced around the room and saw the open drawers and closet door… and the fact that they contained no masculine clothing at all. A suspicion that Zach had returned to Pine Valley and moved out of the condo began to form and she asked, "Are you saying he came and packed up all his things and left?"
Kendall nodded her head as she cried, unable to answer coherently. Bianca, however, continued to question her quietly as she stroked her hair and rubbed her back… as if she was as young as Miranda. "What did he say? Why did he do that?"
Finally, Kendall heaved a ragged sigh and pushed herself out of Bianca's arms and sat up straight, "I don't know. There was no call… no note… I came home and found he'd emptied out his things. Do you think he found out about the baby? Do you think he left because of it?"
"No!" Bianca said explosively. "I've seen how much he loves Miranda… how much he wanted to love Ethan. He would not desert you or his child if he knew… whatever reason he had for leaving, that wasn't it. Kendall… we need to get you ready for the doctor… and then we'll figure out what happened. He can't disappear without a trace… we'll find him."
Kendall started to cry again, but suddenly the nausea she had been sensing overwhelmed her and she bolted for the bathroom. Bianca followed her and knelt beside her sister as she lost what little food had been in her stomach from the day before. Afterwards she pressed a cold washcloth to her face and bathed it gently. Kendall sat on the bathroom floor and leaned against the wall, manic laughter coming from her mouth as she said, "What… what a time… for… for morning… morning sickness… to set… in."
Bianca laughed with Kendall and treated her soothingly until she calmed before commenting, "If you feel up to it we need to get you in the shower and dressed. You are going to the doctor this morning if I have to drag you there… and I will call Mom if you don't cooperate. AND I'll tell her why you're going."
Kendall looked at Bianca, recognized the determined expression on her face and nodded. The last thing she needed at that moment was Erica… and she hoped that Bianca was just using scare tactics – however she wasn't going to take any chances. With Bianca's help she stood and undressed before getting into the shower. Once Bianca was sure that Kendall was steady on her feet, she went into the bedroom and laid out clothing.
When she heard the water stop she called to Kendall. "Do you need me to call Edie? I'll tell her that you won't be in today."
Kendall stepped into the room wearing a robe and toweling her hair dry, "No. I told her that yesterday. She's not expecting me. I called Zach's hotel in London and they said he'd checked out… so I assumed he'd come home to surprise me. He certainly surprised me… just not the way I expected." She walked over to the bed and sat down, sniffling from fresh tears.
Bianca watched Kendall and refused to let her give in to despair, "No, Kendall. We don't have time for that right now. I'll help you get dressed and then I'll drive you to the doctor. I don't know what happened… but we'll figure it out. And then your husband will be answering to me for what he's done!"
"No! I don't want you to be mad at Zach again, Bianca," Kendall answered her sister.
"And why the hell not? I can't imagine any reason for him to leave you at all… much less without a word," Bianca answered indignantly as she helped Kendall to dress. "I don't want to be angry… but if you're not going to do it then I will."
Kendall sniffled again and looked around, "Hey… where's Miranda?"
"Trying to change the subject on me? Okay… I'll let you do it for now. She's with Myrtle. We'll pick her up after your appointment," Bianca answered.
After that they left for Kendall's appointment with Dr. Baldwin. Bianca accompanied her through the entire examination and both women were relieved to find out that Kendall and the baby were healthy and her pregnancy was progressing normally despite the added stress of the last few weeks. No mention was made of Zach until they were back in the car and heading toward Myrtle's boarding house to pick up Miranda.
"Kendall… you need to think back to your last conversation. Maybe he said something that you've forgotten. Or maybe something came up and he left you a message at the casino," Bianca offered helpfully.
Kendall shook her head and answered sadly, "No… there is no reason that he would have come home to completely pack up his things unless he intended it to be a permanent departure. For whatever reason, he's decided that the bargain is done and he's moving on with his life, but I don't understand why. I know he loves me. Unless he's so afraid of loving me that he ran… and we both know that if he wants to disappear he can and will. Why didn't I tell him about the baby before he left?"
Bianca pulled into the driveway of Myrtle's and both women exited the car to go into the house. She didn't say it, but Bianca was hoping that perhaps Myrtle could give them some hope about Zach… she had always been his most vocal defender even when the rest of the town had considered him completely evil.
Myrtle and Miranda were in the living room of the boarding house when the two young women entered, and she immediately recognized the distressed looks on their faces. After assuring herselfthat Miranda would get into no trouble for a moment, she rose and pulled both girls into her arms… giving them each a shoulder and patting their backs. After another minute she asked, "What's wrong? Has something happened to Zach?"
Kendall pulled out of Myrtle's arm first and the three of them were seated while Bianca kept an eye on her active toddler. Kendall took a breath before answering tremulously, "He's left me, Myrtle."
"No… that can't be, honey. He promised me…" Myrtle answered with a confused expression on her face.
"What do you mean he promised you?" Kendall asked the older woman sharply.
"I saw him… just the day… the day he left for England," Myrtle answered. "We talked, and I could tell he was thinkin' of leavin' you, honey. He thought he was no good… and that he'd only brought you heartbreak. I thought I'd set him straight… and he did… he promised me he wouldn't leave you. I never expected Zach Slater to go back on his word."
"He doesn't go back on his word, Myrtle," Kendall said softly. "But our agreement… it's over. Now that Ethan's dead and Miranda has Cambias… there's no reason to stay married. At least there's no reason for him."
Myrtle snorted inelegantly before replying, "Oh… I can think of one very important reason for him to stay married to you, darlin'. He's crazy in love with you."
Kendall gave a brief smile and leaned back in the chair, placing her hand over her abdomen before answering, "And I'm crazy in love with him… but I never told him, Myrtle. And I never told him… Oh, Myrtle… I never told him about… about…"
Myrtle Fargate was a wise and perceptive woman. Looking closely at Kendall she realized the truth of what the young woman couldn't say, "You never told him about the babe, did you? You were waitin' until it was all over… until the trouble with young Ethan was resolved. Oh, honey… you weren't wrong to wait. Babies are a joy, and it's hard to be joyful when there's so much sorrow all around."
"Oh, Myrtle… what am I going to do?" Kendall said as fresh tears slipped from her eyes.
"You're going to find your man… and tell him he's to be a father. And you're going to tell him from me that he's a damn fool!" the older woman replied.
"Myrtle!" Bianca exclaimed with a smile.
"Are you disagreeing with me?" Myrtle asked her.
As she picked up Miranda and hugged her close Bianca said, "No… I'm not disagreeing. I don't get it… Zach and Kendall were so good together… I had convinced myself that I was wrong about him when we found out what Ethan really was, but then he did this to Kendall."
"No… Binx… he had a good reason. I know that. I know he loves me… and right now I have to hold onto that. Will you help me find him?" Kendall answered, feeling stronger than she had since the night before. Somehow after talking to Myrtle she didn't feel as unsure as she had. She would deal with one thing at a time… and the first thing to deal with was finding a reason for Zach's departure. "Let's go home, Binx. I've got calls to make."