Chapter 10

'Thank you for taking the time to see me. Please.' Caroline indicated the chair and Adrienne sank into it, watching the older woman warily. Caroline's eyes were on her clasped hands and the expression on her lined face was hesitant yet determined at the same time. Adrienne waited patiently.

'I need to you to do something for me.' She said at last. 'I want...I want you to talk to Carly.'

Adrienne stiffened. 'About what exactly?'

'The last thing a mother wants is watching their children in pain. I can't stand watching Bo in pain any longer. Two wrongs don't make a right, Adrienne. Carly can't keep punishing my son like this, not letting him know his own child.'

'I can't believe I'm hearing this from you.'

'Please, let me finish.'

'How can you still say a thing like that about Carly, after everything Bo and Hope put her through? What you and the families put her through?'

Caroline bit her lip. 'Alright, that came out wrong.'

'No, Caroline, it's what you actually think of Carly. You see an unfeeling woman who would actually use her children as a weapon. It's not enough you especially blamed her for Bo and Hope's problems and you and Kayla almost getting her fired over that stupid thing with Chloe.'

'Adrienne...'

'No talk about if she's okay. No talk about asking her to forgive you all or wanting to make things right with her. Just caring more about your son's pain. And you wonder why Carly doesn't ever want to come back here.' Disgusted, Adrienne grabbed her purse and got up.

'Don't leave, please.' Caroline rose too, her expression now pleading. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I really didn't. Please... sit down.' Reluctantly, Adrienne obeyed, making up her mind to leave if Caroline Brady insulted her friend again.

'Forgive me, I was just... well, I've been so desperate over Bo that I didn't think before speaking earlier.' Caroline took a deep breath and continued, 'we gave Carly more than enough reason to hate us, I'm aware of that. A lot of things happened to her and I said a lot of things to her that I'm really ashamed of now. Please don't think I'm saying this only because Carly got pregnant. I've been ashamed of myself for a very long time now.' Caroline wiped a tear with the back of her thumb.

'What exactly do you want from me?' Adrienne asked coldly, unmoved.

'I want you to talk to Carly. She has to come back to Salem, Melanie needs her mother. And Bo... he's been carrying so much guilt about Carly, I know he badly wants her forgiveness and a chance to know their child. He keeps blaming himself for her attack.'

'He has every reason to blame himself. As for Melanie, she's getting exactly what she deserves, treating Carly the way she did. Because of something you tampered with, making it look like Carly knew the whole time Phillip had an affair with Chloe.'

Caroline bit her lower lip, looking down at her clasped hands again. 'I know what I did and like I told you, I'm ashamed about it. For what I did and for letting Carly take the blame. But Carly can't hold a grudge forever.'

'This is more about what you, Bo, Hope and Melanie did to her, Caroline.' Adrienne replied, her tone harsh. 'She was almost beaten to death. A savage, brutal attack. It's a wonder the children survived. The attacker put the word whore on her wall, I saw it myself. What she was labelled as by all of you... a home wrecker. What reason would she have to come back here?'

Caroline stared at her. 'Children? You mean... she had twins?'

Adrienne swore under her breath.

Caroline gripped her arm. 'Please tell me!'

'Yes, twins.' Adrienne prayed Carly won't be furious when she found out.

Caroline pressed a hand to her trembling mouth. Another set of twins born into the family! 'Oh please you have to tell me about them... what their names, what are they like...!'

'No. No, no, no... I've said too much already.'

'Come on! They're Bo's children... I want to get to know them. All the more reason why you have to talk to Carly!'

'Carly will never bring them here, never. Why the hell should she expose them to the family who rejected her? I know I wouldn't.' Adrienne said bluntly. 'When they're old enough to understand, she'll tell them the truth and let them decide. You want otherwise, you'll have to do all you can to convince her yourself.'

'Please talk to her for me, please.' Caroline pleaded, grabbing Adrienne's arm when she rose to go. 'I'm not too proud to beg. Please do this for me.'

Adrienne shook her arm loose. 'I'll pass on what you said. But don't expect her to simply shrug everything off that easy.' She had no plans of doing so though. Let them leave Carly and the twins in peace.

Caroline's heart sank. A woman in Carly's shoes definitely wouldn't. But she had to believe Carly would eventually find it in her heart to forgive the past.

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In one of the booths at The Java, Bo sat across Abe's mother in law, Celeste Perrault. Her visit was her third one since Lexie's death a few years ago and on hearing she was in town, Bo wasted no time giving her a call. A well known psychic, her abilities had helped with police investigations in the past. Now Bo needed her help on a personal level. In her hand was a silk scarf Carly had left behind when she moved out of his house.

Running her slim fingers over the cloth, Celeste concentrated hard, her face going into an almost trance-like state.

'She's somewhere in the Pacific.' She said at last. 'A warm place. She's happy but there are some days she's touched by sadness. I see a lot of scars in her. But I also see her love for her children. Even for the first two who hurt her.'

Melanie and Nicky. The first two, she said. Does that mean... Carly had twins? They have two children? Boys? Girls? One of both?

Celeste's next words confirmed it, after he asked her. 'A son and a daughter. Very special enfants.'

A son and a daughter. If Carly could choose a way to really punish him, it was this. They must be five years old by now and growing up far away from him. Was Carly ever going to let him know them? Bo felt a surge of anger then squashed it as shame set back in. After all, wasn't that exactly what Carly wanted to tell him the day of her attack? If he'd met with her that day like she wanted him to, she would have told him she was pregnant. And she wouldn't have been attacked at all. How could he blame her?

Before he could say anything, Celeste frowned, gripping the scarf. 'Not good.'

'What?'

'She's coming back here soon. But I see danger.'

'What kind of danger?' he demanded harshly.

'It's not clear. But I sense someone wants to hurt her. An evil person... who hurt her before.'

The attacker. Bo wondered frantically if Celeste might be able to give an exact name. But the psychic was unable to.

'He's filled with hate for her. He wants to hurt her again.'

'Not while I'm around. Not this time.' Bo vowed fiercely. Whoever it was will feel the darkest part of his wrath if he dared touch Carly again. 'She's really coming back?'

'Soon.' Celeste nodded.

'Did... did you sense if she and I...' he hesitated then went on, 'if we'll ever get back together?'

Celeste said nothing. Instead she reached for her oversized purse and brought out her pack of Tarot cards. Laying them out carefully, she asked him to pick a card, which turned out to be 'The Fool'. Celeste turned the next card beside an unturned card beside his, which turned out to be 'The Princess of Cups'.

Celeste then turned the card between them. 'Two of Swords,' she said softly, shaking her head. 'Inner conflict, on both sides. She's hurt too bad to risk her heart again. As for you honey, what does your heart tell you? You love Hope, but you keep thinking about the other one. Is it guilt or love talking?'

'I know what I feel for Carly.'

'Sure, but you're still where you chose to be.'

Bo ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He thought Celeste's reading would give him answers but it only brought up more questions. He should have known matters of the heart weren't that easy to predict. 'I really made a mess of things.'

'You sure did, honey.' Celeste agreed solemnly. 'You made a lot of promises to that girl, but still tied to Hope. There's so much a girl like your Carly could take, suddenly seeing her man have a turnaround. Maybe she would've believed you did love her, if she didn't see what she saw.'

'What do you mean by that? Bo demanded.

Celeste held up Carly's scarf. 'I saw her terrible pain, when she watched you and Hope together, down at the docks. She saw and heard everything.' Her expression was now stern. 'You say she was understanding when she saw the signs and let you go. Don't mean she wasn't human too.'

Carly had seen them together. Saw and heard everything he said to Hope. He could imagine her pain, disgust and huge sense of betrayal.

Go back to your wife and pretend nothing ever happened between us, because I'm trying to do the same thing!

Bo cringed at the memory, still unable to believe he'd been so insensitive, acting as though her obvious pain had nothing to do with him, asking if Jennifer and Daniel dating bothered her... as if he hadn't hurt her enough.

'What am I supposed to do now?' he asked helplessly.

Celeste pressed the scarf back into his hand. 'Just one thing. Don't repeat your mistake.'

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'You wanted to see me?'

'Yes, yes... please come in Carly.' Dr Harrow, the Chief of Staff of the hospital, waved her in. Dr. Harrow immediately took Carly under his wing after she was accepted in the hospital. A man in his late sixties, he reminded Carly of her late mentor, Thomas Horton; the number of ways he displayed firmness, wisdom and kindness.

'I'll come straight to the point. You've been appointed to deliver one of the keynote speeches at the conference.'

'Me?' Carly gasped. The upcoming medical conference Harrow referred to was a prestigious annual event. The keynote speakers were usually award winners and the most influential medical minds in the country. 'Surely not!'

'Why not? That paper you got published was more than impressive and still being talked about. It's a deserved honour, Carly.'

'It is. An honour I mean sir. I just never imagined it would come to this, at all.'

'Well, it has and congratulations.' Taking an envelope from his drawer, he handed it to Carly. Inside were a letter and a formal invitation to her.

'I know you're going to make us all proud out there.' Harrow beamed. Seeing Carly's frown he asked anxiously. 'You're worried about the kids, aren't you?'

'Actually, yes. I've never been away from them before. They have school or I would've taken them with me.'

'Well if you like, Gloria and I will be more than happy to have them with us.'

Carly thought of the twins' nanny, Amanda, who stayed with them whenever Carly had to stay late at the hospital. The young woman was more than trustworthy but Carly felt Harrow's offer was a better one. 'If it's alright with Gloria, that would be great.' she said.

'It's settled then! Gloria's always moans over how far away our grandkids are, she'll be thrilled to have the twins over.'

Back in her own office, Carly read the invitation card, yet again. The conference was in Chicago, just a few hours away from the town she once loved and considered her home but now saw as cursed. So many bad things had happened to her there. Besides, someone she knew- like Daniel- would probably show up at the conference. As she thought about Daniel, she thought about Melanie. But her heart hardened as she remembered yet again how Melanie's so called love towards her was conditional. And as long as it was always going to be that way, there was no hope for reconciliation. Carly wasn't about to subject herself to any more pain from Melanie. It wasn't like she was all alone back in Salem; she has Daniel, Brady and naturally Maggie and the rest of the Bradys. As for Nicholas, whom Carly also missed, hated her. Lawrence was larger than life to him and no doubt, Vivian has been heaping more and more of her poisonous lies in Nicky's ears all this time. And there was Bo. At least he finally admitted that she was merely a temporary companion/lover until Hope decided she wanted to come back. He didn't even have to bother, what she'd saw and heard between him and Hope at the docks had told her enough.

Carly sighed, rubbing her forehead. She was obsessing again, what her therapist had warned her against. She had Ethan and Evangeline, her job and a great life here in Dededo. Bo and the events in Salem were bad memories. But she missed her older children, still loved them. Neither of them was responsible for the unfortunate circumstances that prevented her from raising them from birth. But since surviving the attack in her apartment, Carly Manning had long resolved not to make further excuses for them. If there ever was going to be a reconciliation, the initial step has to come from them.

Not her this time.

Slipping on the white coat, Carly began her rounds for the day.