Time to Heal

Chapter Two

In the short years that he had been a resident of Salem, Rex had learned to expect the unexpected.

After all, he and his twin sister had been raised in a lab, of all places, and upon arriving in town they'd been mistaken for aliens, thanks in part to Belle's overactive imagination. And then there had been the endless confusion about their parentage, first it had seemed they were the children of Tony DiMera and Marlena Evans, but then it had turned out that their real parents were none other than the two people they loathed most, Roman Brady and Kate Roberts.

The only bright side to that horrible mess, changing parents and families all over again, was that at least one sibling had remained the same, even if he and Sami had never gotten along very well.

Besides, he'd been trying to fix that as of late, making progress with his temperamental half-sister slowly, but steadily ever since that night at Alice's a week ago.

The same night that his idiot half-brother Lucas had caused her to hide out in the bathroom in tears.

It wasn't like Rex and Sami were all that close, but he still didn't like to see her cry. She was his sister, after all, and she'd suffered too much pain over the past year for his liking.

At the moment, though, Rex couldn't bring himself to be angry with Lucas, not when the older man was so clearly reeling in shock, his face pale and his dark eyes brimming with the kind of anguish that Rex couldn't understand, and hoped he never would.

"Lucas," Lexie began gently, her eyes wide with sympathy and concern. "I'm so sorry."

Lucas nodded absently, swallowing hard.

"Sami was pregnant?" Philip asked in horror, unable to keep from looking ill. "Oh my God..."

"Ten weeks along," Lexie confirmed regretfully, and she truly looked as if she'd never hated her job more. "That would have made the conception date sometime around-"

"I know when it was," Lucas cut her off flatly, his voice decidedly emotionless, as if he had gone numb.

Rex bit his lip, looking at his brother hard, trying to figure out just what was going through his head right now, but deciding that maybe he didn't want to know. He was just relieved, and a bit surprised, that Lucas hadn't passed out yet.

"Hey, bro," Philip said, following Rex's gaze and observing Lucas with a worried frown. "Why don't we sit down, okay? My feet are killing me, and you don't look so good."

"I'm fine," came the expected monotone reply, but Philip wasn't going to take no for an answer and none too gently steered Lucas over to a chair, pushing him down into it by his shoulders. It was probably for the best since Lucas practically collapsed against the back of the chair.

Turning his attention back to the others in the room, Sami's stepfather, stepbrother and beloved little sister, Rex wasn't surprised to note that all three of the Blacks looked exhausted, despite the fact that it wasn't all that late in the evening. Hearing of Sami's fall had clearly shaken them up, and Rex could relate. When Philip had called him to give him the news, he'd been stunned, and once his shock wore off, he'd been left with a tense sort of anxiety that he couldn't seem to shake.

Now that Lexie had confirmed that Sami was going to be okay, it seemed like he should be able to relax, but in light of the miscarriage she'd apparently suffered, his mood had sunk even lower. This baby would have been his niece or nephew, two times over since both mother and father were his half-siblings, as incestuous as that sounded.

And more importantly, his sister had just suffered the kind of loss that would haunt her for years to come.

Not for the first time, Rex wished that his twin sister Cassie were here. While the two women had never really gotten along all that well, he was certain that Cassie would have known what to say or do to help Sami through this, she had always been adept at reading people.

Sighing, Rex ran his fingers through his hair, distantly aware that John and Lexie were talking, presumably about whatever injuries Sami had sustained during her fall, and just as he started to tune into the conversation, Lucas suddenly spoke from behind him.

"How long?"

Rex turned to see that Lucas was staring down at his clasped hands, elbows resting on his knees, as if his hands could give him some kind of explanation, some kind of cosmic answer for why this had happened.

"How long what?" Philip echoed with a frown.

"How long did she know?" Lucas rephrased, this time with a hint of bitterness and anger. "How long did Sami know and not tell me?"

"She only just found out, man," Brady defended his stepsister sharply, and Belle glared at Lucas through her tears as she rested her head on Philip's shoulder, who didn't seem to mind the fact that she was clinging to him rather painfully.

"It's true, Lucas," Lexie said quietly, but with a steady gaze. "She was in just a few hours ago, I administered the test myself."

"She would have told you if she'd had time," Rex insisted.

Lucas snorted, but didn't say anything more on the subject, instead closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall behind him, as if he didn't have the energy to argue.

"Doctor Carver?"

A nurse was sticking her head out of the doors down the hall, and Lexie quickly walked over to join her, leaning in so that the nurse could speak with her in private, but everyone in the room, including Lucas, who had opened one eye, kept their eyes glued to her just the same, straining their ears for even the smallest tidbit of information on Sami's condition.

After a few moments, the nurse disappeared back behind the doors, and Lexie looked back at them. "I'll be right back," she promised, then followed the nurse before anyone could ask what was going on.

"Do you think something's wrong?" Belle asked, looking to her father with wide eyes.

"I'm sure everything is fine," John replied steadily. "Lexie will make sure Sami's okay."

He almost sounded like he believed it, but Rex didn't miss the fact that the older man's eyes hadn't moved from the doors that Lexie had vanished behind.

"I'm going to grab something to drink," Brady murmured. "Do you want anything, Dad? Belle?"

"I'm fine," John assured him.

"Some bottled water would be good," Belle said hoarsely, giving her brother a trembling smile. "Philip, do you want anything?"

"I'm good," Philip told her gently. "Why don't you go with Brady? You're feeling kind of warm, maybe you should splash some water on your face, baby."

Rex raised an eyebrow at the term of endearment, but no one else seemed to notice it, so he shrugged it off. A part of him felt obligated to keep an eye on Belle for Shawn, but his cousin had been gone for weeks now without bothering to contact anyone, much less the girl he'd left behind, so if Philip wanted to pursue her now it wasn't really any of Rex's business.

I just hope you know what you're doing, man, he thought. If Shawn came back to find his half-uncle had hooked up with Belle, things would undoubtedly get ugly.

Once John had nodded that Belle should, indeed, go with Brady, she followed her brother around the corner and out of sight, her sniffles echoing for a few moments as the sound of their footsteps grew fainter and farther away.

As soon as they were gone, John's shoulders sagged, and he suddenly seemed about ten years older, the gray wisps in his hair seeming more prominent than ever. He made his way across the room, taking a seat in the chair closest to the doors, his gaze unwavering as he waited for Lexie to return, folding his arms and staring at the doors so hard that Rex was beginning to wonder if the man thought that if he stared at the doors hard enough, they would open.

Given the intensity of the man's glare, that wouldn't have surprised Rex much at all.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he took a moment to study this man who he'd once thought to be his stepfather during the time when Marlena had appeared to be his and Cassie's biological mother. While Cassie had resented John, mostly because she was of the opinion that Tony and Marlena belonged together, Rex had never really had a problem with the man. John could be a bit irritating at times, but he loved his kids and he had genuinely seemed interested in making an effort with his stepchildren.

Which was why it sometimes baffled Rex to see the bitter relationship he had with Sami, who wasn't just his wife's oldest child, but a child that he had raised as his own for the first ten years or so of Sami's life. Mimi, who could be just as bad as Belle when it came to gossip, had filled him in on every little detail she knew about it, but he had a feeling there was much more to the situation that Mimi, or even Belle, realized.

Because having had a confusing, and somewhat traumatic, childhood and lonely teenage years gave Rex some insight into his temperamental half-sister. He knew what it was like to feel alone, like the people who were supposed to be there for you had let you down, and he could see the sad longing in Sami's eyes sometimes when she looked at the man she'd once called Daddy.

Life's too short not to spend as much time with the people you love as you can, Rex thought sullenly, his throat tightening. That's what the serial killings had taught him, that you couldn't take the people in your life for granted because you never knew when you were going to lose them.

And you might never get a chance to make things right, to say goodbye.

That was part of the reason he'd decided to try and build a relationship with Sami, because he'd already lost his biological father, grandmother and twin sister. In these days, you really couldn't afford to put things off, because the regrets would haunt you for the rest of your life.

Maybe someday Sami and John would figure that out.

A low groan filled the air, and Rex turned around, only to find Lucas with his head in his hands.

"Lucas?" Philip asked tentatively.

"This is all my fault," Lucas croaked, his voice thick with emotion. "This is all my damn fault..."

"C'mon, man, don't say that," Philip replied. "It was an accident, no one's to blame, you know that. Sometimes... sometimes these things just happen."

"Why do they always happen to us?" Lucas asked miserably. "Why do they always happen to me and Sami?"

Philip exchanged a helpless look with Rex, neither of them having an answer. "I don't know, bro," Philip said at last. "No one knows why this stuff happens, it just does."

That didn't seem to comfort Lucas in the least, when he lifted his head, Rex nearly flinched at the utter devastation he saw in his half-brother's eyes. His face was still very pale and his mouth was thin and quivering, as if he just wanted to curl up in the corner and bawl.

The loss of this child, a child he hadn't even known existed, had clearly hit him hard, and Rex understood why. It was a terrible thing to lose a baby like this, but to Lucas it must have been so much more than that, this child had been a creation of the love he and Sami had, for a night, allowed themselves to openly and honestly share.

A love that, at the moment, was little more than ashes.

"She was pregnant, Philip," Lucas rasped, his dark eyes swirling with despair. "She was pregnant with my child and now that baby, that precious little baby, is never going to..." he broke off with a choked sob, putting his face back into his hands, his shoulders shaking.

Rex swallowed hard, a profound sense of grief weighing on his chest, and he reached over and placed a hand on Lucas' back, a wordless offer of support. While Lucas didn't seem to notice, Philip did, and gave him a weak, but grateful smile over their brother's back, his own arm encircling Lucas by the shoulders, strong and steady.

It struck Rex then that, for the first time, the three of them really and truly were brothers, at least for a moment.

A few minutes later, Brady and Belle returned, with drinks in hand, and Belle came over to them with two extra bottles of water. "I forgot to ask you if you wanted anything, Rex," she said in quiet apology, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy. "So I brought you some just in case."

Even though he wasn't all that thirsty, Rex took it with a faint smile. "Thank you, Belle."

"I, um, got one for Lucas, too," Belle told Philip, handing him the other bottle. "I figured he might need it..."

"Thanks," Philip whispered, his eyes soft as his fingers brushed her hand to relieve her of the water. "You're an angel, Belle."

The sound of the double doors swinging open cut off any reply Belle was about to make, and they all lifted their head to see Lexie had returned. Philip gave Lucas a gentle nudge, directing his attention towards the doctor.

"Well?" John asked impatiently, the first to rise to his feet.

"She's awake," Lexie announced solemnly, and the collective sigh of relief was audible, but there was more. "And she knows."

"You told her?" Rex asked incredulously. "Isn't she a little fragile to hear that right now?"

"She already knew, I think," Lexie replied evenly. "The first thing she asked when she came to was if she lost the baby. What did you want me to do? Lie to her?"

For a moment Rex was tempted to tell her that yes, if it would have been better for Sami's health, that's precisely what he would have wanted her to do, but he figured that since Lexie was the doctor, she probably knew what she was doing and remained silent.

"How is she?"

Surprisingly enough, it was Philip who asked, and there was genuine concern in his tone.

"It's too early to say for sure, but physically she's been lucky," Lexie answered. "She's got a fractured ankle, two broken ribs and a broken arm, plus a concussion and plenty of bruises, so she's going to be dependent on someone else to take care of her for a while."

Rex winced at the list of her injuries that, while not life-threatening, certainly had to be painful. It was a miracle that she hadn't broken her neck during that fall, really, a miracle for which he had a feeling every person in the room was extremely grateful.

"Don't worry about that," Lucas said hoarsely, without tearing his gaze away from his hands. "I'll take care of her."

"No," John said sharply, and with a surprising amount of venom. "That's not a good idea."

Lucas bristled, his hackles raising, and Rex, sensing an argument, decided to intervene. "Why not?" he asked calmly.

"Because the last thing Samantha needs right now is to be around him," John replied darkly, and if looks could kill, Lucas would have been six feet under by now.

"Actually, John's right," Lexie sighed. "Right now, I think being around Lucas would only have a negative affect on Sami's health, both physically and mentally. She's going to be going through a really rough time right now, and, no offense, Lucas, but your presence would probably only make things worse."

Despite himself, Rex was inclined to agree. He could remember all too well how upset Sami had been that night at Alice's after seeing Lucas all over that other woman, and in the shape she was in now, he didn't think she was up to it.

"We can sort that matter out later, though," Lexie said smoothly. "Right now..." she trailed off, fixing her gaze on John. "She's asking for you."

"What?" John looked startled, and more than a little surprised.

"Sami wants to see you," the doctor clarified. "Before I even told her you were here, she was asking for you. I think you should go in and see her. After that, Belle, you, Brady and Rex can go in." She nodded at each of Sami's siblings in turn, and Rex was relieved to hear that he'd be able to at least see how Sami was doing with his own eyes. "Just immediate family for now, no one else is going to be admitted."

Her eyes darted in Lucas' direction at that last part, but he didn't seem to notice. He was already lost in his own thoughts again, which had to be so jumbled, so desolate, that Rex was grateful not to be in his shoes.

"I'll go ahead and take you back now, John," Lexie offered.

"Thanks," John murmured.

"Tell her we'll be in to see her next," Belle requested with a sniffle.

"I will, sweetheart," John promised, then disappeared through the double doors after Lexie, leaving a tired silence in his wake.

"You know," Rex cleared his throat. "Maybe we should get her some flowers or something."

"That's not a bad idea," Brady agreed with a thoughtful nod. "We can go get some right now, before Dad comes back out."

"Get her lilies," Belle informed them weakly. "She loves those."

"White ones," Lucas added dully.

"White lilies it is," Brady said, giving Lucas a sympathetic glance. "Rex, do you want to walk down with me?"

"Sure," Rex replied, eager to stretch his legs. "I'll be right back," he told Philip, who nodded in acknowledgment.

Following Sami's stepbrother down the hall towards the elevator, Rex observed the tense set of Brady Black's jaw, and mentally counted down from ten, waiting for the older man to speak.

He didn't have to wait long.

"I'm going to tell Philip to go ahead and take Lucas home," Brady said evenly, punching the down arrow beside the elevator shaft. "Sami's not going to feel up to seeing him right now, even if Lexie and my dad would allow it, so he might as well go home and try to get some rest. He could probably use it."

"And if Sami asks for him?" Rex inquired.

The elevator chimed as the heavy steel doors slid open.

Brady gave him a steady look as they stepped inside. "Do you really think she's going to?"

"No," Rex admitted with a sigh.

"It's for the best, that they have some time apart for now," Brady said quietly. "Sami's not in any shape to deal with Lucas right now, and frankly, I'm not sure Lucas is up to dealing with Sami, either. This has been a horrible day for both of them, they need time to try and cope with what happened on their own."

"You're right," Rex begrudgingly agreed, pressing the button for the lobby.

"When she's ready, Sami will want to see him."

"And if she doesn't?"

Brady didn't have an answer for that, and neither did Rex, so they rode the rest of the trip down in silence.