A/N- This story was really challenging for me and I can't say I enjoyed writing it as much as my other stories but I am proud of myself for finishing it. Only two chapters left and things will be wrapped up.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. It means a lot.

Chapter 13

He clawed his way up through the gray mist. The clearing beyond it must exist he reassured himself, even if he couldn't yet see it. For a minute he thought that reaching it couldn't possibly be worth the struggle but something beyond him was so terrifying it propelled him forward.

He was steeped in pain. With increasing frequency he emerged from blessed oblivion into a glaring awareness that was accompanied by a pain so intense, so encompassing, he couldn't locate it. It was everywhere- inside him, on the surface. It was a saturating pain. Then just when he'd think he couldn't bare it any longer he'd be flooded with a warm rush of numbness- a magic elixir that rushed through his veins. Soon after the prayed for oblivion would follow.

His conscious moments became longer however. Muffled sounds reached him despite his fuzziness and by concentrating very hard he began to identify them; the whooshing sound of the respirator, the constant beeping of machinery, rubber soles squeaking on tile floors, ringing telephones.

Willing away the sounds and voices that permeated his consciousness he sank back into the peaceful nothingness that alleviated his pain somewhat. The dream caught him off guard. He could hear her screams as she begged someone to help her and in his minds eye he could see her; trapped somewhere, her hands bound behind her back and her beautiful face bathed with tears. Her expressive brown eyes were filled with terror and every once in a while the sobs she was trying so hard to suppress would escape: the mewling sounds so pitiful his heart ached for her. The man looming over her held a gun in his hand and fear overwhelmed him as he realized that her life was in imminent peril. A savage growl erupted from his throat as he lunged himself at the taller man but the black mist was impenetrable and he felt himself hurling into thin air.

"Teresa…" he shouted helplessly, his body thrashing wildly from side to side on the narrow cot.

"Fox, calm down, you have to calm down," a frazzled Ivy murmured to her son as she fruitlessly tried to calm his frenzied thrashing.

She had walked into the room moments before to find Fox shifting restlessly on the bed and she had been thrilled to realize he was slowly recovering consciousness. But her joy turned to worry as he thrashed about and fearing he was going to hurt himself she called a nurse to sedate him.

"Teresa…Teresa…no," he murmured, more quietly as the sedative began to do its job.

"Shhh," Ivy whispered. Softly stroking Fox's blond locks she began to hum, a catchy little tune that Fox had loved having her sing to him when he was a boy.

Another part of town

"Nick, what's going on, why did you bring me here? Where's Cody?" Teresa asked in a sandpapery voice that she hardly recognized as her own.

Though deep inside she knew exactly what had happened.

"Cody's fine Teresa," Nick replied in a soft voice. Lifting his hand he twirled a single strand of her hair around his thumb and smiled down at her.

"Drink this," he murmured pressing a cup of water to her mouth. "It will make you feel better," he added.

Teresa gulped the cool beverage greedily, her raging thirst momentarily overpowering the anxiety that had overwhelmed her from the second she had opened her eyes and realized she was being held prisoner.

"Resa, I know you're scared and confused and I'm sorry for it but I hope you realize that I would never purposely hurt you. I brought you here because we need some time alone to repair our relationship," he murmured. "Everything's been so damn crazy these last few weeks and I just wanted us to spend some time together; just you and me the way it was always meant to be."

"Nick," Teresa began but Nick shook his head and pressed a finger to her mouth.

"Baby, I know this looks bad and you have every right to be angry with me for tricking you into leaving the hospital with me but I didn't lie to hurt you, I lied for us. I love you so much Teresa. In my entire life I've never loved anyone the way I love you. You're everything to me. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you. Please tell me you understand why I did this," he begged.

"Nick, I know you love me…but I need to go back. I need to be with my daughter and with…"

"Fox?" Nick angrily replied. "Teresa, Fox will never love you the way I do. He has proven he's not trustworthy. He broke your heart once, how can you be sure he won't do it again," he asked.

"Nick, I don't want to talk about this right now," Teresa cried. "I just want to go home to my baby. Please take me home," she murmured her eyes welling with helpless tears as she thought of how scared and shaken Cody would be when she woke and realized her mother wasn't home.

"I can't take you home until I make you understand that Fox is no good for you," Nick shouted. "What's it going to take for you to realize that he's not the man you were meant to be with? We were destined for each other Teresa. You and I are two halves of one whole…like Romeo and Juliet," he murmured, a faraway look in his eyes and a soft smile curving his lips.

"We were meant for each other…two halves of one whole…destined to be together," Nick chanted over and over as Teresa watched him from eyes filled with abject terror as she realized that Nick had lost his hold on reality.

"Lord, what am I supposed to do now?" she wondered.

Harmony Maine

"Hello?" Pilar murmured with trepidation, a sixth sense warning her that the person on the other end of the line was not going to impart good news.

"Pilar, it's Julian," the Crane patriarch murmured.

"What can I do for you Mr. Crane?" Pilar asked briskly, hoping her business like tone hid the nerves that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Pilar…I guess you've heard that Fox was in an accident and has slipped into a coma," he began.

"Yes, it was all over the paper. I hope he recovers soon," Pilar replied though she was wondering what that had to do with her.

"Thank you," Julian replied graciously. "But the reason I called is because shortly after Ivy and I arrived at the hospital Teresa showed up, desperate to see Fox," he explained.

"What?" Pilar murmured breathlessly. "Teresa is in San Francisco?" she asked.

"She stayed overnight in the room with Fox," Julian replied. "But this morning when Ivy and I arrived to check on Fox, Teresa was nowhere to be found. No one knows where she's at Pilar," a regretful Julian murmured.

"No…she couldn't have disappeared into thin air Julian," Pilar screamed.

"Ivy and I will do everything within our power to locate her Pilar. But as next of kin you and Martin are the ones who need to file the missing person's report and talk to the police," Julian replied. "For both Teresa and Cody," he added.

"Cody?" a confused Pilar muttered.

"Cody is Teresa's daughter. She disappeared sometime last night too. The police have already started a search because it seems Teresa's apartment was broken into," Julian explained.

He waited a beat for Pilar's reply and when none was forthcoming he realized that she had dropped the phone.

A distraught Martin stared at his wife from tear filled eyes. Her despair tore at his heart but realizing that now wasn't the time to offer comfort he picked up the phone she had dropped and perched it on one ear.

"Crane, Martin here. Pilar and I will be on the first flight out of Harmony within the hour," he growled before disconnecting the call and turning to his inconsolable wife.

"Pilar, sweetheart you have to pull yourself together. Our daughter needs us to be strong," he murmured.

When she only stared at him from glazed eyes he muttered a curse under his breath and scooped her up in his arms. Quickly settling Pilar on the couch and wrapping a striped afghan on her trembling shoulders he raced up the stairs to their bedroom, dumped two day's worth of clothes for himself and Pilar into a black nylon bag and rushed down the stairs, snatching his wallet and car keys from the coffee table and adjusting the bag over his left shoulder before scooping up his dazed wife in his arms once more and walking out the door.

True to his word they arrived at Harmony International Airport in less than thirty minutes and were boarding a flight to San Diego within the hour. Having made arrangements to rent a car and drive the rest of the way to San Francisco, Martin settled a still shell shocked Pilar in her seat, strapped her seatbelt and then turned to stare out the window, his thoughts focused on Teresa and her daughter; the granddaughter he and Pilar had never known. Prayers jumbled in his brain and he supplicated the Lord to keep his girls safe…wherever they happened to be.