Chapter 2

"What other child?" Ric asked from the door.

Alexis' mouth gapped, trying to quickly respond with anything but the truth, but was saved by her cell phone ringing. "Hello?"

"Alexis, it's Carly. We think we've found Kristina. I'm with Sonny and Reese right now…they got a cal from Jason to go to Rollo's apartment, that Faith was there and she probably has her. You need to hur-"

Alexis slammed her phone down and threw it in her purse. "Ric, let's go, I'll explain in the car," she said shortly, like someone just knocked all the wind out of her. Faith has my baby, Faith has my baby… The thought ran a swift course through her veins, so much so that she didn't hear Tony calling after her or Ric's footsteps trying to keep up with her as he pleaded for information. They ran toward the elevator, almost knocking Emily over, and once inside, Alexis looked over at Ric's beseeching eyes and fell into his arms.

Emily hadn't taken much notice that Alexis almost knocked her over. She was just as frantic in her mind as Alexis seemed to be in body. She had to find her mother – maybe she could talk to Luke about Lucky's condition and beg him to let Lucky live. As she rounded near the nurses' station, she saw her mother – holding Liz in what looked like a vice grip of an embrace, shaking.

"Why didn't I know?" Monica could barely breathe, let alone get out the words. She knew something was wrong when Liz said she didn't want to worry her, but she insisted, thinking she could fix the problem for at least one of her children. "…the night he raped her." Elizabeth just held Monica tightly as she sobbed, wishing she had left well enough alone, chalked Liz's tears up to grief about Lucky and walked away. "Why didn't I know!" Monica cried loudly, causing a few sympathetic stares from the other nurses.

"Did something happen to Jason, Mom?" Emily's concerned voice interrupted Monica's wailing. The dread in Emily's voice was familiar – it was the same Monica had when she asked Liz what was really wrong with her daughter – as if to say, "not one more thing, please not one more thing."

Liz looked startled, and backed up slowly as Monica turned and grabbed Emily tightly. She felt responsible or adding to Monica's grief, and knew Emily's wrath was sure to follow.

"Emily, I'm so, so sorry! If I had known, I would have helped, I would have gotten you away from that place, from him," Monica's eyes searched for forgiveness, for not being a better mother. She needed one of her children to tell her they knew she loved them with her whole heart.

Emily's body froze, and as she embraced her mother, her eyes burned with hatred as she glared at Elizabeth, who slowly walked toward Lucky's room, praying.

"Tony, Steven, thank you," Luke choked on his words. How could he thank them for being there to pronounce his son dead? "Do it, and set my son free," he whispered.

"Luke, no, no," Bobbie begged and pulled on his shirt. She grasped at Tony, "You know he's grief-stricken, he can't make this decision. Please, Tony, PLEASE!"

"He has the order, Bobbie. I can't," Tony stopped. "Steven, will you?" Tony held Bobbie back as she fought and tore after Steven, while Luke simply stared at his son's face, only because he couldn't bear to look at his heart. If the monitor generated that awful long sound, he knew he'd fall apart. Bobbie's cries were not lost on him, but he knew – at least he thought he knew – Lucky was going to fight on his own. He said so in the dream, didn't he?

Steven walked toward the machines, and paused just in time to see Elizabeth's face in the doorway, horrified. He looked down at Luke, who still couldn't let a tear fall until he knew for sure Lucky was gone, and turned back toward the ventilator's on/off button.

"Bobbie, please," Tony's grip on Bobbie's powerful figure was weakening as she fought to get to Steven. "He has to do this…for his child."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Faith's smile looked almost angelic as it froze on her face. Jason looked down to see if he had finally paid the price for choosing the life he did, but as Faith's body and blood slid down his shirt, he realized he escaped death once again. He looked for Sam, who had shielded Kristina's face and ran up the stairs after the first shot went off. Jason felt a shot of pain in his side again, and wondered had he indeed been hit, and looked excruciatingly toward the door, to see Sonny and Reese standing, side by side, gun smoke and residue rising from each of their .45s.

Sonny raced over to Jason as he fell back on the couch, Faith's body on top of his. Sonny flipped her over, to see all three shots had hit the center of her chest.

"WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER! ANSWER ME!" He screamed over and over, while Reese climbed over them to get to Jason. At that exact moment, Alexis and Ric raced through the door, looking around for Kristina.

"You said Faith had Kristina," she said urgently. "Where, Jason?" She pulled out her cell. "This is Agent Marshall, I need an ambulance and backup at the suspect Rollo Maloni's apartment. I have one suspect down, and Morgan and McCall in custody."

Carly raced by Jason's side. "Jase, c'mon, stay awake, ok?" She couldn't tell whose blood was whose, and she feared she was losing her best friend in that very moment.

"Sam," Jason breathed.

"Loud!" Kristina wailed, crying in Sam's arms as they came down the stairs. Sam called out to Sonny, who jumped up and grabbed Kristina out of her arms, and she pushed Reese out of the way to get to Jason. Sonny cradled Kristina, kissing her tears and trying his best to slow down his breathing so he wouldn't frighten her. Alexis' hand ran through her little girl's soft curls and she fought back tears as she grabbed Sonny and Kristina, before turning and hugging Ric with all her might.

"Jason, Jason," Sam searched for any other wounds. She took Kristina upstairs after the first shot and didn't know if the love of her life was dead or not. Kristina, completely unaware, was crying because of the noise but looked at Sam puzzled when she cried as well, for a very different reason.

"What happened here?" Reese questioned.

"Could you SHUT UP!" Carly and Sam said simultaneously, both women on either side of Jason. They looked at each other, and then Reese incredulously. "Where's the medicine?" Sam said frantically, and raced to the kitchen. She brought it back to Jason, who was just conscious enough to ingest the pill and water before lying on her shoulder.

"You were great, Sam," Jason choked, as she wiped his sweaty face. "I love –"

"Hey, you're gonna have the rest of your life to tell me that," Sam said softly.

Carly looked at them, and despite what she wanted to feel, she reached for Sam and Jason's hands. Though Sam looked surprised, she didn't pull back and they all looked at Sonny, holding his little girl in chair, rocking back and forth.

"Daddy loves you," Sonny whispered in her ear, "Daddy loves you."

The ambulance and police arrived, and began loading Jason onto a gurney. Sam held his hand the entire time, though Reese had tried to get her to talk about what happened. Ric intervened, telling Sam they would meet at the hospital for a statement later. Sam shrugged them off and left with Jason.

Alexis hovered over Sonny and Kristina in the chair, but could not pry Kristina from Sonny's arms. Ric, seeing that she was exhausted and not wanting to witness a Round 12 bout over who could hold Kristina, gently coaxed Alexis away toward another chair, careful not to get near the coroner as they closed Faith up in a body bag.

"I can't believe she," Alexis uttered quietly, "she had my daughter. She had her in this place," she looked around hysterical, "she stole Angel Bear! My God, she's been planning this since she was still sick. I wish I had killed her myself!" Alexis' voice was pure venom, and Ric pushed her farther away from Faith's body.

"Alexis you need to calm down," Ric soothed his wife. "Kristina's safe, she's well, she wasn't harmed, and we're going to put this behind us, alright?" He kissed her cheek softly, bringing a small smile to her face. He drew back suddenly, and searched Alexis' face as he used to when they discussed cases they were on opposite sides of, "Kristina's right there, but in the meantime, you can tell me what Dr. Jones was talking about earlier." Alexis turned her face to him blankly. "What other child, Alexis?"

Carly, still emotional from what happened only a few moments ago, called home to check on Michael and Morgan. After speaking with Leticia that everything was fine, she walked over to Sonny, who had held Kristina like she would disappear any minute. "Sonny," she reached out to touch his hand that was placed behind Kristina's back. He jerked away, still rocking back and forth, rhythmically and trance-like.

"Daddy's here, I promise," Sonny repeated, "Daddy loves you."

"I love you, Cowboy," Luke said, "it's up to you now." He kept his gaze at Lucky's face, as Steven began pushing several buttons on the ventilator.

Bobbie wept in Tony's arms, and he tried to turn her away from the machines, to spare her from looking at the heart monitor when it flat lined. Both Bobbie and Tony were close to the door, and were almost rammed by it as Liz ran in to stop Steven.

She looked at him and Luke with all the empathy she could muster behind her horrified and livid eyes. "You will not take him from me!" Her voice got louder with each word. She jerked Luke's eyes away from Lucky and made him look at her. "You won't! I know your heart is broken, Luke, but I can't let you break mine," she cried out to him, but didn't let a tear fall. He stared at her, defeated.

Liz dropped his face and went to the ventilator to start it back up again. Steven attempted to grab her hand but she turned and punched him squarely in the jaw. She didn't even look to see if he was all right, she just wanted the ventilator back on. Her heart leapt when she heard the heart monitor flat line, and she looked down on Lucky's chest as it stopped moving.

"He chose, Elizabeth," Luke stated, "he's gone. He's gone." Luke's tears were unrelenting, but when he tried to reach toward Liz to stop her from working with the machines, she pulled away from him.

"The hell he did," she said coldly, and pushed the final button to restart the ventilator. "Tony, you can kick me out of this hospital if you want, but I'll shock him myself before I let go."

Bobbie released herself from Tony's grasp and went to Elizabeth, preparing Lucky for the shock. "Bobbie, don't," Tony protested weakly, but didn't hold her back. She pushed Luke out of the way and looked toward the monitors. She gasped and grabbed Liz's hand.

Lucky's heart began beating on its own. Bobbie checks his vitals, which seem to grow every second. Suddenly, Liz notices small steam covering the tube that was still placed in Lucky's mouth, and she grabs Bobbie's hand. The men all look to each other in astonishment, as Liz clasped her hands over Lucky's.

"I knew we weren't done," Liz smiled at him, caressing his hair tenderly.

"Is that why your father really had me arrested, Brook?" Diego studied Brook Lyn's face for answers. "Why are you missing auditions?"

"If you really want to know, the audition was for Hartley School of Music," Brook started, "but that school's so far away, right, and all I could think about was how I already couldn't see you. If I moved before you came back then what, huh?"

"Dillon would have told me where you were, or I would have found you! No wonder your parents don't want me near you," Diego looked accusingly at her. "You actually have good parents, Brook, they care about you and your future, and they are willing to get you into a great school for your music. Doesn't any of that matter to you?" He wished for parents that had grown up with him, teaching and guiding him toward something better, and she was throwing it all away.

"You have that now, and you're the one throwing it away!" Brook Lyn countered, as if to echo his thoughts. "Don't stand here and lecture me about listening to my parents, when you won't even talk to yours!" Brook stopped, as she saw Diego's face darken in anger. He had never looked at her like that before.

"She might be right," Lorenzo said, walking up behind them. Diego spun around to ace his father. "Care to prove her wrong?"

"So, are you back in town to reconnect with your son, or with his father?" Lois stared at Maria, hoping she would give the answer Lois wanted to hear. Try as she might, Lois' mind often wandered back to the nights she lay in Lorenzo's apartment, drinking in the sight of him as he slept. It was never completely restful sleep, she could tell, and she ached to put his mind at ease. Shaking away the thought for the millionth time that morning, she looked curiously upon Maria, who seemed to share her exact private sentiments.

"I am only here to be with Diego," Maria stated matter-of-factly. "But from what I hear, you broke it off with Lorenzo on your own."

"That I did," Lois replied, biting her lip, "unfortunately, turning your back doesn't mean shutting off your heart."

"So, you were in love with him?" Maria asked, standing up to face Lois, and noticing a exceptionally handsome man walking in, with a peculiarly sad look on his face. How could anyone inflict pain on a man like that, she thought.

"I cared for Lorenzo deeply," Lois admitted to Maria, who noticed the handsome man's face drop even more as he heard this. "But I know when to walk away."

"Lois," Ned touched Lois' arm, and she turned to face him, surprised. She hoped he hadn't overheard her, but could tell by his face that he had.

"Ned, I was just speaking with Diego's mother, Maria," Lois motioned to Maria, to distract Ned's disappointed gaze from her.

"Nice to meet you Maria," Ned said politely, pulling his stare from Lois to the woman behind her as he shook her hand. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet at a better time," he said, and meant it, as he noticed softness in her look that he missed having lavished upon him. "Maybe we could all have dinner, Brook and Diego included, and straighten out our children's situation."

"Maybe," Maria replied, thinking if he could get Diego at a dinner table with her she would be even more attracted to this Ned person.

"Ahem," Ned said, obviously feeling the heat from Maria's still clasped hand in his, and guilt when he remembered why he came looking for Lois in the first place. Turning to Lois' expectant face, he said, "Lois, I need help with the memorial arrangements, if you don't mind."

"Sure, anything I can do," Lois said, noticing Ned and Maria's hands thoughtfully as they walked out together toward the Quartermaine mansion.

After assuring her mother as best she could, Monica and Emily were interrupted by the news that Jason was coming in the ER.

"Mom, please go check on Jase, and I promise I'll get home, ok?"

"Emily, I think you should stay and be examine by Dr. Meadows," Monica said worriedly. Emily still hadn't said answered her questions about the rape just that Connor was crazy and at least he'll never hurt anyone again. From Liz's concern, she knew Emily hadn't been checked out, but couldn't fight with her about it on the hospital floor.

"Mom, I'm going to go home and help Dad with the memorial arrangements, and then I'll be back," Emily insisted, wanting to get far from the hospital, and especially Liz. "Please make sure Jason's ok and tell him I love him. But Mom," Emily fought back the fear, "don't…"

"I won't tell your brother, Emily," Monica reassured her and Emily's face relaxed. "We'll deal with this together first, then it'll be up to you, ok?"

"Ok," Emily said and turned toward the elevators. She could trust her mother to take care of Jason and not tell her secret. Unlike Liz, she thought to herself. I'll never forgive her for this, not ever.

"Pee, pee!" Kristina said in Sonny's ear, as she grabbed at the chain around his neck.

"Sonny, let me take her, ok? I'll just take her to the bathroom and we'll be right back ok?" Carly looked anxiously at her ex, as he slowly pushed Kristina back to look at her. Carly studied his face, and was thankful that Alexis and Ric seemed engrossed in their own conversation. Reese had gone to the hospital, so at least Carly didn't have to worry about her catching Sonny in this state. She had seen that far away look in his eyes before, and quickly looked down to see if she was wearing pink. Her black French cuff poplin shirt and black pants answered her prayer as Sonny looked at her, and carefully handed Kristina to her.

"Ok, Kristina, let's go pee pee, huh?" Carly said, loud enough for Alexis and Ric to look up and acknowledge she was taking Kristina out of the room.

Ric looked back at Alexis expectantly. "Well, Alexis, what aren't you telling me?" he asked in a low voice. "What other child was Tony Jones talking about?"

"Ric, I just got my daughter back, and I certainly don't need you interrogating me," Alexis evaded, as she brushed past Ric then turned to face him. "I don't know what Dr. Jones was talking about, and I had just asked him, before you sauntered in, if he had the wrong chart, which he obviously did, because he couldn't have possibly been talking about me and I know thi –" She stopped, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She fell slightly forward into Ric's arms again, first looking intently, then overwhelmed.

"I'm pregnant." She sighed into Ric's delighted arms.