She had no idea how he'd managed to get so far carrying Cameron. Luis could barely walk long distances without his cane carrying his own weight. That he actualy picked up her son and carried him for so long-- The man was amazing when it came to the things that he would do when it was necessary.
He could have given Cameron to one of the guards to carry. What good would it have done for his leg to give out on him with the boy in his arms? It was-- Well, the whole thing was just stupid. Holding an entire hospital at gunpoint, for crying out loud. He was lucky that no one was going to press charges. The WSB was in the hospital for Christ's sake! Federal charges could have been filed!
"What were you thinking? You could have-- There's no telling what could have happened to you." Elizabeth shook her head and sighed. "It has to be the fever. You're obviously delirious, because you wouldn't do something like that if you were in your right mind."
Elizabeth held herself tightly, arms wrapped around her midsection. There was too much going on, too many things that had happened between the time that she'd snatched Cameron from Luis's arms to the moment she walked to his bedside in the hallway. Cameron was sick. Luis was sick. Nikolas was sick. No one knew what was going on, and Luis still didn't know that his nephew was in the hospital as well. Or that his brother was trying to make the same decision that had been made for her.
"You shouldn't be here." Luis's voice was weak. Elizabeth had never heard him so drained. The closest she'd come to this was when his legs or his back spasmed on him. He was good enough to hide the remaining pain from his injuries from others, but not from her. And even his voice then hadn't been this bad. "You should be with Cameron."
"I was, until they put me out." She pouted, and that was when the gravity of this situation hit her. She had pouted with Luis before, and he always smiled or made some remark in Spanish that he refused to translate for her. This time, though, his face remained slack. His eyelids started to droop. "They told me I was in the way. And I know that they're right. I'm a nurse. I tell people to get out of the way all the time."
"But, he's your son." Elizabeth nodded. "That's why—" Luis shook his head and coughed violently. Elizabeth immediately rushed to his side, but he held a weak hand up. "No. Cameron doesn't need you sick, as well."
Elizabeth looked at Luis with incredulity. He never ceased to amaze her. This strong and ruthless businessman who looked out for number one was concerned about her well-being. He'd been so concerned with her son that he brought him to the hospital at the expense of his own health. People told her all the time that he was dangerous and that he would break her. He would destroy her the same way he'd done Brenda, or worse, but she'd never seen anything of the like in him.
She still wasn't sure exactly how they ended up together. How she'd found herself falling more and more under his spell. She knew what had happened to Brenda, and to Alexis's sister because of him. She knew all of the bad things he had done, but that had never stopped her before. Jason was a hitman, and she had still loved him. She'd taken Ric back after he kidnapped a pregnant woman and had been, herself, given pills that could have killed her. And before he became Officer Spencer, Lucky had been this thrilling rush of "not so honest." Danger didn't scare her, in fact, it excited her. But still, she kept away from him in the beginning.
But, Luis had saved Cameron. At his own expense, with his own pain at the helm, he dove into the pier. Elizabeth still wasn't sure how he'd fallen in. One second, he was standing there and the next, he was over the side. Before she could strip off enough to jump in, his cane had been tossed to the side and he was pushing towards Cameron. He came up with her son in his arms and, just like tonight, she'd snatched Cameron away, secured his well-being, and later, she had turned her attention to Luis.
Somehow, this man with his secrets and his heart held close had opened up to her. He had shown her a side that she was sure that no one besides his brother had ever seen. No, maybe Brenda had seen it. But no one since her, definitely. That he could give that much of himself to Elizabeth after being so broken, emotionally and physically-- She didn't really know how to take it.
"How can you do this, Luis? How can you think of so many others before yourself? Instead of just calling me, you brought Cameron to me. You knew you were sick. My God, how did you even manage to stand? Let alone carry him."
"Sheer force of will," he said with a grin.
"You have to be the most confusing man I have ever met. You-- You're lucky that you only have the fever and cough. So many others are getting worse by the second, and there's no guarantee that you won't get worse."
"Oh, I'm well beyond fever. I'm great when it comes to hiding the truth with my appearance. But don't worry. I'll tell you when I'm about to die. I've been there before. I know how it feels."
The words shocked her, but the drifting of his voice scared her. Maybe she needed to get a doctor in there. Robin Scorpio wasn't too far down the hallway, and Monica Quartermaine was nearby.
"My brother has done all this work, and it's not enough. My legs will never heal. My back is shattered." His head drifted to the side. "I loved the wrong woman." Luis shook his head and let his eyes settle on Elizabeth. "I loved you, and if I love her, it'll be the end of me."
"Luis?" Elizabeth took his hand, and it was a feat to hold it. His skin was burning up. Had he been this hot before? "Luis, it's Elizabeth."
"Are you here to kill me yourself this time, Brenda? Because I was able to love again after you?"
He had to be hallucinating. He was mixing past and present. And he loved her? Elizabeth shook her head. Maybe she should have herself checked out. Maybe she was the one hallucinating, imagining things that Luis said. There was too much going on for her to concentrate, to know what to say.
"Luis—" A scuffle along the wall whipped her head around. "I- I need to get a doctor. Stay with him. I have to check on Cameron, and Nikolas, and I have to find a doctor and—"
Elizabeth pulled away from Luis and streaked down the hallway. She left him screaming after her. "Don't come back without Elizabeth! Do you hear me, Brenda? Don't come back without Elizabeth." She left him shouting, and she left his brother to calm him down. Because she wasn't sure that she knew how to do it, not in the state that he was in.