Title: A Little Respect

Author: Misty Flores

Teaser: Pursuing a relationship with Aiden after discovering Bianca in bed with Babe, Maggie begins to question even her own self worth when she finds herself delving deeper into a baby kidnapping mystery, and an intense love triangle.

NOTE - The rest of this story is rated M for serious sexual situations between two female women. Did everyone read that? Okay. Moving on.

Part Thirty-Eight

'Cause this woman needs
A safe place to land
The strength in your hands
To know you know
What this woman needs
Is somewhere to cry
So lay by my side
And I'll tell you, I'll tell you

This woman needs to be reassured
That my heart's your home, and love is what wills you to stay
I need you to see me in every light
And hear that you still think I'm beautiful anyway

-- This Woman Needs, SheDaisy

--

If there was something odd about a woman obviously too old to be going to the prom picking out a corsage, the florist didn't mention it.

Complimenting her on the color, the florist simply smiled an odd, out-of-place grin, nodding demurely and moving away, presumably to cut the roses buds and assemble the leaves.

Maggie clutched her purse that much tighter, eyes lingering on the magazine article that lay splayed out on the counter, more than likely idly flipped through to kill time.

Standing in the corner, Robin sneezed suddenly. Arching a questioning eyebrow, Maggie studied the small, crooked smile the recovering girl gave in return.

"Allergies," she muttered, pointing at a flowering daisy. Moving away from it, she sniffed again, wiping apologetically at her sleeve before joining her at the counter, picking at the arrangement of roses. "Hey, Maggie?"

"Yeah," she asked breathlessly, eyes on the florist, a few feet away, expertly weaving together the flowers and green leaves, the small piece of fabric quickly wrapped around it. After waiting a moment, she glanced at Robin, and discovered the pretty girl wearing a small smirk, lifting up the corners of her mouth questioningly.

"A corsage?" she asked. Flushing, Maggie looked away. "I'm just saying, it's not the usual gift of choice for a going away party. Despite it being very pretty."

A bittersweet smile floated on her face. "I know." Another moment to ponder the years gone by, the months of questioning ambiguity that first surrounded her relationship with Bianca, the 'what-if's that simultaneously drove her mad and made her hope, rose from within her. "I had just gotten into town, and Bianca needed a date for the prom."

Lifting her eyes to meet the taller brunette, Maggie arched an eyebrow. Robin just stared, before bursting into a short laugh. "That's progressive."

"It was amazing," she breathed, wistful remembrance seeping into her voice. "She was beautiful and... happy. That evening was all about hope to her. We were happy and together and had a future full of possibilities."

The magic of prom night was something she wouldn't ever forget. The strength of Bianca, as she gripped her arm when they walked into the room together, turning toward her with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen and asked her if she wanted to dance.

Thinking back, Maggie wondered if she had fallen just a little bit in love, that night.

"So it's nostalgic," Robin quirked an eyebrow, narrowing her gaze. "You know, some people say nostalgia is more about trying to bring back the past than trying to relive it."

"Who the hell are you, Socrates?" Maggie snapped. Robin only clucked her tongue.

Still, Robin's scrutinizing look bore into her, and Maggie's own hesitation got the better of her, as her eyes drifted closed and she swallowed down the turmoil that suddenly bunched into a tight bundle, in the pit of her stomach.

"Bianca and I didn't know how to define our relationship back then," she admitted, her voice soft, words barely spoken. "We were friends, yeah, but there was something there, lurking behind all that pretense. It was exciting and scary and I dreaded it and wanted it. All at the same time. I didn't know what I was. I didn't know what anything meant, and I didn't want to find out. I just knew that I wanted nothing but Bianca. She tried to hook me up, you know that?" Robin arched an eyebrow, sudden amusement dancing in her eyes. "With this guy, Tim. It didn't end up going anywhere, but I used to get SO MAD at her, for pushing him at me. And then when I hooked up with him, just to shut her up, she just clammed up and got so... jealous. And I didn't even understand why."

Robin hummed underneath her breath, as the florist slid the finished corsage into it's box, tied it up prettily with light pink ribbon. "Sounds to me like she was just battling some feelings, trying to find out where you fit."

The sentence sent a painful breath fluttering through her, the past jerking into her present, making her suddenly bleed.

With nothing inside of her but the intensity of her own feelings, laid naked and bare, a quivering Maggie had done the only thing she could have. Stripped of her own reservations, she clung to her lifeline, holding tightly to Bianca, cheek pressed against the half open shirt, legs tangled in Bianca's.

Bianca's words of love echoed into her brain like a mantra. Shuddering, as if struck with a fever, Maggie only held tighter, encircling her arms around the slender neck, breathing in the sweaty scent of Bianca, body plastered against hers on the rough shag carpeting.

She clung to Bianca, couldn't have let go if she tried. It was because of her death grip that they lay there, all night. Her own insecurity had trapped Bianca on the floor, and it was there that Maggie woke up the next morning, arms still around Bianca's neck, jeans unbuttoned lewdly, and her shirt spread over her upper body, more than likely an attempt by Bianca to cover her up, since Maggie hadn't let her move one inch.

Jerking awake, Maggie had processed this through a fog, one that cleared away instantly the moment Bianca's alert brown eyes greeted her, soft contemplation in them, searching her face with the look that told her just how broken she had appeared.

"Hey..." Bianca whispered, in a gentle 'be careful or she'll break' tone.

Untangling her fingers, the events of the night before flashed before her eyes, taking in Bianca's still open shirt, feeling the chill of the air, goosebumps on her naked skin.

Her seduction, borne out of desperation, had spiraled out of her own orbit, and once again, Maggie was lost.

Clinging to her shirt, she sat up quickly, smoothing hair out of her face, searching Bianca's face with a trembling smile.

"Hi..." she managed. "Oh my God..."

Bianca's expression immediately froze, rising along side her. Maggie's own mortification only grew, upon realization she was staring at Bianca's full breasts, wrapped in a delicately laced bra. "Maggie..."

"That was so not what..." Maggie swallowed, trying to shake herself free of the paranoia, torn between wanting to jerk her shirt on and hide herself behind it. "Maybe I should go-"

"No, Maggie, stay." Reaching for her hands, Bianca's voice was smooth, fluid. "I think we should talk about-"

Bianca always wanted to talk. About feelings and motivations and insecurities-

Shaking her head furiously, Maggie pasted on a plastic grin. "I don't think that's a good idea, Bianca."

Stumbling to her feet, she slid her arms through the appropriate holes, fumbling with the buttons, so desperate for an escape she gave up on finding her bra entirely.

"Maggie, please don't run away right now."

"I'm not running away."

Already on her feet, Bianca had a small abrasion on her cheek, the press of the fibers of the carpet making themselves known. "Okay, then stay. Have breakfast with me. We don't have to talk-"

Licking her lips, she sucked in her forced smile. "Bianca, I just think that we should just forget about this."

Startled insecurity slid into Bianca's concerned gaze. "What?"

She swallowed hard, bobbing her head. "I just- well you're leaving, and... let's face it, we both had things to get out of our systems. But it's over, and..."

"And what?" Bianca asked quietly. "We forget it ever happened? You want me to forget what it felt like to touch you? To make love to you? Maggie-"

Shuddering at the sudden flash of Bianca's fingers inside her, she stumbled back. "Bianca, you're moving to Paris, okay? It just won't work."

The brown eyes that were so luminous and soft were slowly growing brilliant with a different emotion, the flush in her cheeks making Bianca look more alive than before.

"How can you know that?"

Sucking in her breath, Maggie closed her eyes, rubbing fingers along her neck, the picture of an rational, logical human being. "Can't we just go back to being friends? Would you let one night of... stupidity end that?"

The look on Bianca's face as the words sunk in, Maggie wouldn't ever forget.

But it didn't stop her from not taking them back.

"Here you go."

Clear plastic was pressed into her hands, and Maggie now held a carefully put together corsage, light pink rosebuds nestled amidst leaves.

She pictured the flowers on Bianca's slender wrist, and a small, bittersweet smile caressed her features.

Her phone buzzed, and a familiar ringtone filled the air, a bubblegum pop song that Bianca had always favored. It had been the latest in a string of endless calls from her best friend, who never gave up.

With a hesitant sigh, she ignored it. As the phone drifted into silence, Robin stared at her questionably. Maggie just smiled. "What do you think?"

Robin took the corsage, and made a show of studying it carefully. "I think it's girly," she pronounced. "A little pretentious and projecting an image that's a little too squeaky clean for what it really stands for." Her eyes lifted, stared at Maggie carefully. "But I also think, it's something that you chose. And if it makes you happy, then it doesn't matter, what I think." Handing it back, she smiled and gently brushed her thumb along Maggie's cheekbone. "Good luck, Maggie."

--

Erica Kane was prone to dramatics, and Bianca had often wondered why it wasn't in her blood, to enjoy what her mother so obviously craved: the attention, the glamour, the fact that everything always had to be about her.

When she wanted to put together Bianca's going away party, it was less about the fact that Bianca was leaving, and more about the fact that ERICA KANE'S baby daughter was leaving her for Paris; a devastating trial for the great La Kane.

Still, her mother had surprised her. Had Maggie not dominated her mind and thoughts so intensely, Bianca would have done more, than simply smile and hug her mother, kiss her gently on the cheek. The small but meaningful crowd of well wishers were amazing and unique in their own ways, touches of her life gleaned from meaningful encounters with them all.

Anita was there, by herself with a wine glass and a beautiful smile. Greenlee and Kendall with their respective men, looking beautiful and actually acting their age for once. Jack with Lily, who carried a notebook with a detailed itinerary. Opal, Myrtle, Palmer, older and wiser, joking and sitting on the couch, like royalty.

Reggie wore a somber pout, girlfriend Dani wrapping an arm around him comfortingly, squeezing him tightly around his middle, poking at his cheek to create a dimpled smile.

So many friends and family who defined her, with exception to the one person she desperately hoped would show.

"Maggie, it's Bianca," she said, voice as carefully carefree as she could make it. "Just wanted to let you know that we're starting the party. I hope you can make it. I'd love to see you."

Clicking the phone shut, she closed her eyes briefly, a moment of frustration cutting its way through her mask of cordial happiness.

"Nothing?" Behind her, Kendall carried Miranda, her daughter clutching onto her aunt's skinny shoulders, resting her little head.

Pressing her lips together, Bianca contemplated flinging the dratted cellphone off the balcony, crushing it on the cement below.

"Once," she said tightly. "I got her once in the past week. She sounded chipper and fake and promised she'd come, and it killed me." Kendall stayed quiet behind her, and Bianca gripped the iron bars hard. "I don't know what to do Kendall. I want to grab her, drag her out into the open and get her to let me see what's in her heart. I want to shake her and hold her and scream at her and cradle her. I want to bang on her door and I want to demand Maggie TRUST me. I want to promise her that I won't ever leave. I want to forget about Paris and I want to stay there. Another week. Another year. Another decade. Anything to make her believe that if she loves me, she won't die."

There was a moment of quiet, until Kendall stepped forward, beside her by the rail. "So why don't you?"

She closed her eyes, sighing. "Because, Kendall," she began. "I get it. Yes, Magge's insecure and has issues and problems, and I love her all the more for them, but she gave me her heart and I did nothing with it but stomp it. Trash it. Break her over and over again, and what's my excuse?" Swallowing, she pushed her emotions down again. "If I were her I'd be scared too."

"Bianca..."

"I promised Maggie I wouldn't push her. That I would love her and be for her whatever she wants from me." Rounding her fingers around the metal, Bianca searched out into the dusk. "I thought I had that strength. But I can't get on that plane, Kendall. I can't get on that plane until I see her again."

"Can't we just go back to being friends? Would you let one night of... stupidity end that?"

It wasn't that Maggie hadn't ripped her heart inside of her. She did.

But in the wake of the flaring pain inside of her heart, Bianca found herself saddened, and nearly desperate. This was a Maggie she had seen before.

In this Maggie, there was nothing Bianca could touch without pushing her further into her shell.

The tears stung in her eyes, and her heart pounded, but Bianca sucked in her breath and kept her hands at her sides.

Maggie stared at her, fear in her eyes revealing her suspicions about Bianca's true intentions, when Bianca nodded and said simply, "Whatever you want, Maggie."

Maggie hesitated, but Bianca only smiled, kept perfectly still, and then Maggie began to go.

As she swept past her, hair disheveled and hands rubbing her arms, Bianca had a moment of panic, or inspiration.


She couldn't decide which one.

But she acted on her instincts, and managed a breathless, "Maggie."

Maggie froze, steps faltering instantly, eyes darting back to meet her eyes with shallow pants and a frightened, crooked smile.

Coming forward, Bianca managed a shaky sigh of her own. "I want to stay here," she whispered desperately. "I do. I don't want to tell you I'll be here for you and then get on a plane and have you think I'm lying. I'm not. I know what an ocean is. And I wish to God I could stop it." Another intense stare, one that Maggie broke away from, eyes on the floor. Bianca sucked in her breath. "I can stay. I can find a way to stay-"

"Bianca, I don't want you to stay." Maggie's words were breathless, tired. "I don't want you to stay just because of me. Not when your daughter is at stake."

"Maggie-"

"Bianca."

Desperate and terribly in love, Bianca found her hands tied, at a sudden loss, unsure what to do, what to say. Her eyes shut tight, and she inhaled rapidly, opening them up again to suddenly lunge for her ring of keys, grabbing hold of a particular coppery colored one, jerking at the chain.

"What are you doing?"

The metal key slipped free of the coil, and Bianca held it up, biting on her lower lip. "I'm going to keep paying for the apartment indefinitely." A moment's hesitation, and then she carefully reached forward, taking Maggie's hand and placing the cold metal on her palm, closing her fingers around it. Hands still covering hers, Bianca whispered gently, "I'm not asking you to move in, but if you change your mind, I want you to have this."

Guarded eyes flickered down from Bianca's face to the closed palm, then back again.

"It'll be here, whenever you're ready. When you want it."

Maggie's eyes connected with her own, and Bianca held her breath, dizzy from feeling.

Maggie took the key with her, when she left her apartment. In that, Bianca found her hope.

"I wanted to pick up the phone so many times before today," she whispered on that balcony. "And tell them I changed my mind."

Kendall's touch on her palm was brief, but significant. "Miranda wouldn't blame you if you did."

She smiled ruefully. "I can't choose Maggie over my daughter, Kendall. I can't. It's tearing me apart, but I can't do that. I can love Maggie from Paris. I just wish Maggie could believe that. You should have seen her that night, Kendall. So desperately afraid of losing me, and I couldn't think of one thing to tell her that would make her believe I was sincere."

In the wake of that confession, the door slid open, and Erica Kane, wearing a rather annoyed look, click clacked her way onto the balcony. "Bianca, darling? This party is yours. It revolves around you being inside."

Bianca crossed glances with her sister. "Mom, I need to find Maggie."

Erica lifted an irritated eyebrow. "Bianca, dear - she's right in there, okay? So if you can please-"

Hope flared into her heart, lifting her head. "Maggie's inside?"

"Yes, she arrived just a few minutes ago. And everyone's standing around and it's quite awkward, so if you and your sister wouldn't mind-"

Bianca was already moving, past her mother and into the apartment, searching past the faces of the well wishers until she found her love, standing beside Anita, wearing a colorful coat and holding a champagne glass.

The emotion that burst up inside her nearly choked her.

Speaking privately to Maggie would have to wait. At her entrance, Lily announced it was time for presents, and around her, her amused guests were happy to get in line.

Somehow always finding Maggie, Bianca forced herself to give her other friends the attention they deserved, and in each tearful goodbye, her emotion only seemed to rise further to the surface, lodged in her throat, eyes brimming with the tears that now flowed freely.

Fingers slipped around her baby's squishy tummy, as Bianca wiped at her eyes, and laughed despite herself when Opal produced matching berets, Miranda's setting up delicately on her teeny head.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Maggie laughing too.

One by one, they came, and with each goodbye, Bianca's eyes grew shinier, she held onto Miranda a little tighter, and could never begin to express what each meant to her.

And still, when Maggie finally came forward, in her tiny hands a beautiful corsage, her breath was stolen, and she sat up just a little more, felt her heart skip a beat, and let Kendall carefully pull Miranda from her lap.

Maggie's eyes were bright, moist, as she carefully brushed a bang out of her face, only too aware of the sudden hush of the group around them.

But Maggie wore a mask of attitude and humor. Holding the corsage, she kept her eyes on it.

"So prom night," she began, rushing out the words, before lifting up to face Bianca. "We were the hottest couple."

She laughed in spite of herself with the group, a rickety sound that was so fragile she was afraid she would shatter. With a full heart, she drank in her beautiful Maggie, fingering the flowers.

"And..." A breath, a smile, and Maggie sank to her knees, manicured palm carefully opening the elastic. Shaking slightly, Bianca lifted her hand in unspoken agreement. "You were so brave," Maggie managed, as fingers gently maneuvered around Bianca's wrist, carefully fitting it into place, her touch so gentle and sweet Bianca's forgot to breathe. Brown eyes lifted to her own, a small, crooked smile straightening with sweetness and unspoken regret. "And you danced like no one was watching." Maggie's hands fell to her lap, eyes falling with them. "I don't even know where you got that from."

Overwhelmed, Bianca shook her head softly. "I think, that I got that from you."

Head lifting, Maggie stared at her. Bianca smiled lovingly, heart in her throat.

Licking her lips, Maggie glanced down, at the corsage she had so carefully placed on her wrist, and back up again, eyes misted with tears.

In the glance that was shared, was a history of past regrets, and lifetime of memories.

Once again, Bianca was at a loss, stuck at Maggie's strength. On her knees. In this crowd. In this moment.

The room was silent, and while Bianca knew there were other people in this room, watching, judging, she only had eyes for Maggie.

Maggie's voice was rough, but her eyes were brilliant.

"Well, I was proud to be your date," Maggie answered thickly. "And that will stay with me forever."

Maybe it was Maggie's attempt at an apology. Her moment of bravery to give Bianca what she could never say. An attempt at closure that only made Bianca's heart sink further in her chest.

But it was what Maggie was offering, and Bianca bit her lip, wiped the tears from her eyes, and reached forward, carefully folding her friend in her arms, a whispered 'I love you' in her hair, for her ears only.

--

Maggie's corsage stayed on Bianca's wrist, despite the scrutiny, and the whispers. The tabloid had done it's damage, and some friends of Bianca's who had once regarded Maggie as loyal and kind now gave her looks of perplexed confusion, eyebrows lifting behind their blue-blooded gloves and champagne flutes.

Anita, Reggie, Danielle, Kendall, and even Erica Kane herself had gone out of their way to protect Maggie from any sniping in the wake of her public confession, and for that, Maggie was grateful.

But the logistics of the party and the politics surrounding it were quickly fading away to the reality of the reason behind it.

Clutching onto her weakened arm, she rubbed rhythmically, eyes on the pink corsage, as Bianca hugged yet another friend goodbye.

She was so afraid to go to her, so afraid to utter the words, and her fear nearly paralyzed her, as Anita swept a hand behind her back, offered her a small squeeze and let go, wrapping arms around Bianca and wishing her well.

Kendall smiled at her, and suddenly Miranda was placed in her arms, the baby smiling at her affectionately, babbling to her in her own secret language.

Overwhelmed, Maggie traced the baby's face, memorizing the lines, the eyes, the size. Everything would be different when she saw her again, because Miranda would grow, every day, and Maggie wouldn't see any of it.

Hugging her to her, she ignored Miranda's squawk of protest, to press a sincere, loving kiss against her brow, burying her face into Miranda's little neck.

"Don't forget about me," she whispered into the tiny ear.

Afraid to suddenly never let go, she nodded quickly to Kendall, and carefully deposited Miranda into her aunt's waiting arms, meeting the misty-eyed glance with a bittersweet smile.

Dropping her arms, she could hear Bianca's visible inhalation, before her friend turned, connected eyes with hers, a deep, soulful stare.

Her own goodbye.

In Bianca's expression, she could see a desperate plea, to do this alone, without an audience, with nothing but naked souls and open hearts.

Maggie only shook her head slightly, a shaky smile flitting on her face as she came forward.

They stood apart, like accidental strangers, until Bianca seemed to burst suddenly, and hands reached out and pulled, crushing against her one time lover with so much strength it took Maggie's breath away.

Wrapped in Bianca's warmth, Maggie shuddered, reflexively encircling her neck with trembling arms, squeezing so tightly, until there was nothing between them but their clothes, unsure how on earth she would let go.

"I love you," she heard, a breathless whisper choked with tears. "I love you, Maggie."

She tried to say it back, but swallowed the words, leaning back instead to stare into the beautiful face with a wordless expression of regret and adoration.

"Bianca," she managed roughly, but Bianca only smiled sweetly, brilliant, tear-streaked eyes worshiping her face, hand gentle against her cheek.

"If you need me," Bianca said simply, "I'll be here. Anytime, Maggie. Call me, and I'll be here the next day. Paris won't stop me."

Maggie's eyes closed involuntarily, when feather light lips pressed against her forehead, the soft brush of an intimate caress.

And then she was gone, as Maggie shakily opened her eyes to see mother and daughter already to the door.

Bianca looked back, and rooted to the floor, Maggie could only stare. In that moment, she remembered that mouth brushing against her jaw, those fingers touching her so intimately, those eyes searing her soul.

Frozen in place, Maggie relived all of it, as she watched Bianca leave.

--

As I watched you walk away

There were no words to make you stay

It was so easy for you to say goodbye

So easy for you to see me cry

It's gonna take the rest of my life

But it's taken you no time

So easy for you to say goodbye

-- Fisher, Easy for you

The woman he loved wore a look of haunted devastation, masked over indifference, huddled like an impossibly young child, staring into her milkshake.

Sometimes he wondered if he had ever known Maggie at all, if all of their relationship was nothing but pure wishful thinking on both their parts, if they were both role playing to try and create some phantom relationship in the wake of their spurned love.

He wondered if Maggie had ever really loved him.

He watched her, watched the trembling movements, the empty eyes, and with a curious numbness, he ascertained the reason for her devastation.

Today was the day Bianca was leaving Pine Valley.

And here Maggie was, broken and lost, paralyzed in her own insecurity.

Bitterness wanted to leave her there. Anger warned him to get up and walk away. Jealousy confided to him that Maggie had never treated their breakup with this much desolation.

But it was his love for Maggie that won through all those lesser emotions, that caused his pulsing heart to beat faster, and his eyes to close, jaw hardening, pushing off of his chair and moving towards his former lover.

"You look like you've lost your best friend."

Maggie was too weighted by her emotions to be startled. She only glanced up at him through those same haunted eyes he had discovered so long ago, in a Casino, heartbroken and incapable of feeling anything else.

Bianca consumed her. She always had.

Saying nothing, Maggie only glanced back down.

He sat down across from her, palms played against the wood. "You know I've been there."

Maggie's eyes were old and sad, making her impossibly young and old at the same time. She stared at him with a passive face, licking her lips as a small moment of guilt slid over it, eyes shifting over the counter and again up at him.

"What are you so scared of, Maggie?" he asked roughly. "Why do you work so hard to push anyone who might love you away?"

"How did it feel when I broke your heart, Aiden?" she asked casually, a deceptively cold voice. "Did it make you want to die?"

She got to him. She always did.

Palms fisting, he breathed in unsteadily. "Is that what you want? To hurt me again? You know, Maggie, I might never get over what happened with us. But what you're doing now, that's worse than what you've ever done to me."

That surprised her. She lifted her eyes, lingered on his angry face.

He nodded stiffly, edging out his words fiercely. "You stomped on our relationship. You killed us. You killed a future and happiness and children. And that's fine. If I'm not what you wanted. But if you push her away just because you're scared, you're taking everything that ever existed between us, and you're telling me you destroyed it for nothing. And that's something I can't forgive."

Her mouth opened, closed, dark eyes blinking at him.

"You love her," he breathed raggedly. "She's the dominating motivation behind EVERYTHING, and you'll never be happy, Maggie. Not until you're with her. And if you tell me that's not true, if you break someone else's heart, because you can't stand the thought of giving yourself to someone with that much power, then SOD YOU, Maggie." He was shaking, fists coming down in a sharp pound on the wood, eyes suddenly stinging with tears. "Because that's what you've done to me. And damn you, if you do it to someone else."

She stared at him, glazed expression broken through to something else, as she stared at him as if she were suddenly seeing a stranger, breathing in heavily as she searched his face, and discovered the hurt, the anger, the broken heart, as if she were seeing all of it for the very first time.

"Why do you love me?" she whispered brokenly.

He shook his head in bitter resignation. "There comes a time, when you have to stop asking, and just accept it, Maggie. Accept it, embrace, and live it, along with the fear that it might not work. If you love her, if you can't live without her, then you get to that plane and you tell her. And trust, for once in your life, she might love you just as much."

Maggie's hands were shaking, he could see the thoughts in her head now, the sudden telltale sign of dawning horror.

Breathing heavily, he closed his eyes, and fought the headache, rubbed at his aching chest.

"Come on," he said, rising up and holding out his hand. "My car's out front."

--

end chapter