Zach's eyes opened and he lay on his cot in the dark taking a moment before turning to the portable alarm on the bedside table. Nine-thirty… he had set the alarm for ten o'clock so that he would be ready to relieve Bianca at eleven. He wondered for a moment what had woken him early. He vaguely remembered dreaming of Kendall, seeing her broken and battered body as it lay in the pouring rain, which was a memory that had truly been seared into his brain. Merely recalling that moment was enough to cause his eyes to burn and him to feel very real and significant pain of his own.

He sat up abruptly and swung his legs over the side of the bed, shaking his head as if to rid it of memories or the last vestiges of his dreams. He held his face in his hands for a moment and sighed deeply before scrubbing his face with his hands over the faint stubble that he had acquired while he slept. So much for looking fresh and rested for Kendall, he thought ruefully. Will the accident quit haunting me once she wakes up? He wondered to himself. Without bothering to try and answer his own question he rose and turned on the light in the room. After stretching a moment he opened the door to the closet sized sleeping area and went to the locker that contained his things. He pulled from it the case that contained his laptop computer and seated himself on the sofa of the lounge area.

After turning on the computer, he pulled from the case an MP3 player and two small but powerful speakers. Once the computer had booted itself up he attached the digital player and quickly downloaded some music that he thought Kendall might enjoy. One of the nurses the previous evening had suggested that he bring some music for Kendall to listen to as it could be very soothing, and even perhaps healing, for a brain injured patient. Although the player already contained a large complement of some of his favorite music, he decided to re-arrange the selections to contain more restful pieces and add to the classical numbers. He smiled to himself as his eyes landed on a ballet that he had forgotten he had… and immediately added it to the collection. It would be an excellent piece to begin with, and most appropriate to Kendall's current situation.

Once he had arranged the music to his liking, he quickly checked his email and then disconnected the computer before placing it back into its case. He pulled out a small briefcase and placed into it the MP3 player and the speakers that he planned to take to Kendall's room as well as the novel he had impulsively pulled from his bookshelf that morning. He found himself surprised by just how much he was looking forward to reading a book he had once enjoyed while listening to some of his favorite music – and hoped that by sharing some of his most personal pleasures that he could reach Kendall as well.

Once he had assembled the tools with which he intended to subtly try to reach his wife and encourage her back to consciousness, he left the doctor's lounge, greeting someone entering as he left. He quickly made his way to the cafeteria, finding that it had stopped serving food hours before but still had pre-packaged leftovers available for purchase in the refrigerated section. Feeling hungry and tired from the after-effects of changing his normal routine, he purchased a salad and some coffee and seated himself at a solitary table to finish looking over the newspaper he had begun much earlier in the day.

"My, my, my… Erica told me that you were still here," Jackson Montgomery commented sarcastically. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you look as if you haven't a care in the world… the newspaper, a computer… I'm sure Kendall would understand if you were just too busy to sit with her."

"Jackson…we really have to quit meeting like this," Zach answered coolly.

"If you had an ounce of compassion, Slater, you would leave this building right now and stay away from my family," Jackson said intently as he seated himself opposite the younger man.

"But we all know that I'm completely heartless… after all, no Cambias man has ever had anything but contempt for the lesser creatures on the planet," Zach responded cynically. "This is getting very tedious, Jackson."

"And it's getting exceedingly tiresome to constantly find you skulking about when everyone – even Bianca – has made it abundantly clear that you are not welcome here," Jackson responded heatedly.

"It seems to me that anyone who might be able to help Kendall regain consciousness and recover from her injuries would be welcome at a time like this," Zach answered without emotion.

"I'm sure that Kendall would not have any injuries at all if it wasn't for you!" Jackson burst out in irritation. Zach looked at him in surprise for a brief moment before schooling his features back to impassivity as the older man continued, "No… there's been no accusation that you pushed Kendall in front of that car… yet… but I'm sure there's more to the story than that she ran out into traffic in the rain. With you there is always more than meets the eye."

"Why, Jackson… I'm touched. I didn't know that you thought about me so much," Zach said mockingly with an enigmatic smile.

With that statement, Zach returned to reading the newspaper and ignored Jackson's continued presence. After a few minutes, Jackson rose from the chair noisily and stalked from the room without Zach so much as looking up. After he was certain the other man had left the cafeteria, though, Zach breathed a sigh and folded the paper after having read the same sentence several times without ever ascertaining any meaning from it. He quickly finished his salad and refilled his coffee before making his way to the ICU to relieve Bianca for the evening.

Unsurprisingly, he found Jackson Montgomery seated in the waiting area. Although there were other visitors, they were all strangers except for Jackson. Zach looked at him with a curious expression and a raised eyebrow but made no comment as he checked in at the reception desk.

Jackson's voice came from behind Zach, "I'm here to pick up Bianca and take her home for the night. When you go in to see Kendall would you please tell her that I'm waiting?"

Zach turned around and thought for a moment before answering. Despite his overwhelming desire to treat the man with contempt, he cautioned himself that Kendall's were the only feelings that were important at this time. He gave a half-smile and said, "Why don't you come with me to see Kendall for a minute?"

Zach was gratified at the shocked and then pleased expression that crossed Jackson's face before he rose with a brief nod. He followed Zach as they made their way to Kendall's room. The sliding door was open and Zach could see Bianca seated in a chair and speaking with her sister, but the words were drowned out by the many machines and monitors in operation. He stopped at the nurses' station while Jackson continued into Kendall's room.

"Hello," Zach said to two aides who were seated at the desk. "My name is Zach Slater and I've come to sit with my wife for the night." The two women looked at Zach and then exchanged a look between each other that told him that someone had already been talking to them about him. He couldn't tell if it had been Erica spreading her own brand of malice or perhaps staff from another shift, but he quickly decided that it was best assume that someone was poisoning the well on his behalf – and that anything he tried to do for Kendall might very well be met with resistance. He continued as if he hadn't noticed their exchange, "One of the nurses last night suggested that I bring some music for Kendall. Is this alright?"

Zach opened his briefcase and showed them the player and speakers, and one of the aides nodded and reached out her hands, "I'll help you hook this up in the room so that it doesn't interfere with the equipment. Will she be able to keep it with her when you're not here? Music is good for our brain injured patients."

Zach smiled and said, "Thank you. Of course Kendall can keep the music for as long as she needs it." He followed the aide into Kendall's room as Jackson was walking out while Bianca was standing at the bedside saying goodnight to her sister.

Bianca looked at Zach who asked, "Any change?"

"She's been restless," Bianca replied. "She started moving her hand… and I was hoping that she might be waking up… but the nurses said it was involuntary. She's still unresponsive – and that means she's still in a coma – although her Glasgow scores are still better than mine were."

Zach placed a gentle hand on Bianca's shoulder, "Why don't we hope that it's a good sign? You sleep well tonight… and Bianca… please give Miranda a kiss from her Uncle Zach."

Bianca looked at Zach in surprise before ducking her head, "Sure… I can do that. Good night."

As Bianca hurried from the room, Zach silently berated himself for allowing Bianca to see how much he still cared for her and Miranda. With the entire family gunning for him it was not the time to show any sign of weakness… but he was tired of constantly being on guard. There were so few people in the world that he cared about… and even fewer that he loved… Bianca and Miranda were two of them and his heart ached with the desire to be allowed to love them… and be loved by them. He shook his head and smiled at the aide who was leaving the room after placing the music player and speakers on a small table. Zach placed his case on the floor and set the music to begin playing before seating himself next to Kendall and taking her hand.

After a moment the music began, and Zach smiled to himself at the aptness of his choice. As the initial strains of the ballet by Tchaikovsky began, Bianca slipped back into the room to retrieve a sweater she had left at the end of Kendall's bed. He looked at her curiously before she said, "Zach? Isn't that…"

He nodded, "Sleeping Beauty… mm-hmm… I hoped she might enjoy it."

Bianca shook her head and smiled at him, "Zach Slater… Myrtle's right… you're just full of surprises."

Zach looked at her and said a quiet, "Good night" before turning to Kendall and pulling her hand to his cheek, "Kendall… it's me… Zach. I promised you that I'd be back. Did you have a good visit with Bianca?"

Bianca left the room as Zach talked to Kendall. He started out by telling her all the arrangements he had made for running the casinos while she was in the hospital and then talked to her about the music he selected. After a while he pulled the novel from his case and asked her, "Have you ever read A Tale of Two Cities, Kendall? I haven't read it in a very long time… but I thought you might like it. May I read it to you?"

Keeping one hand clasped around hers, Zach leaned back in his chair and opened the book. His rich, deep voice almost caressing the words as he read aloud to his sleeping wife:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .1

1 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens