A/N – Thanks for the comments! Love reading your thoughts. You crack me up.
Chapter 17
Amelia scrubbed in for a surgery. Patrick walked in and grabbed some soap.
"So, are you ever going to talk to me?"
Patrick looked over at her. "I'm not sure yet."
She smirked. "I don't bite—most of the time."
His eyes narrowed.
"Sexy…"
Patrick fought a smile. "You think you can bat your eye lashes and I'll come around?"
"Oh, I know I can. Your reputation proceeds you."
"You think you have me all figured out?"
"No, but I look forward to the game."
She backed out of the room and Patrick shook his head. It was like dealing with the female version of himself and he wasn't sure how to handle that.
Down the hall, Sarah and Emily were talking.
"So, what is this about?"
Emily and Sarah were cordial, but they didn't really hang out.
"Look, there's not an easy way to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out."
"Go ahead."
"I was doing some research to bury someone alive, who rightfully deserves it, and I came across a video."
"Okay. What does that have to do with me?"
"Dante was having sex with this person. It was probably a one night stand, but she's gross."
Emily folded her arms across her chest. "Who?"
"Maxie."
Emily's mouth dropped open. "But she's with Lucky Spencer."
"I know. She cheated on him with a couple of guys. Look, I just thought you'd want to know. They were drunk, that was clear."
Emily's face twisted. "Thank you for telling me before it went anywhere."
"No problem. I'm sorry."
"Thanks."
Sarah left.
"Another one bites the dust," Emily muttered. "Maxie?" Her body shuddered in disgust. "I just can't go there."
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Epiphany listened to Liz's predicament. "Elizabeth, you need to get your love life under control."
Liz groaned.
"Is John in the running?"
"No. I don't even know him anymore."
"It's not like you know Jason either."
"Jason is just a friend and I do know a lot about him. We talk a lot."
"About?"
"Everything."
Epiphany decided it was time to just lay it all out for Liz. "Why can you talk to Jason, but not Johnny?"
"Jason doesn't expect anything from me. He just listens and gives me good advice. It's easy."
"What do you think Johnny expects?"
"He wants more and I just can't right now."
"Will you ever be ready for more?"
Liz closed her eyes. "I don't know. What's wrong with me? Johnny is perfect."
"Well maybe he isn't your Mr. Perfect."
"Then who is?"
"Why can't you admit that you are attracted to Jason?"
Liz frowned. "I know he's good looking."
"Don't be coy. You know what I mean. After what just happened to you, I can't believe you are going to waste time like this when it almost ran out."
"Jason doesn't even remember who he is."
"Is that what is holding you back?"
"Epiphany, I am with Johnny. I don't think about Jason because I can't. I'm not going to cheat on my boyfriend."
"If you don't want to be with Johnny anymore, then you need to tell him."
"I didn't think I was in the right frame of mind to make that decision."
"Then he might do it for you."
"I don't even know what to say to that."
"You need to recognize that you have closed yourself off since you lost your child. You are like a relationship zombie at this point. Maybe you should talk to someone."
"It helped after I lost Sophie. I basically did what I had to in order to get through it."
"And sometimes, we don't realize that we really aren't dealing with it because we're turning off our emotions."
Elizabeth understood and had to admit that what she was doing wasn't fair to Johnny or herself.
"Your parents told you to basically suck it up and pretend it didn't happen. You lost your child, the man you love, and you shoved down the pain so you could get through the day. At seventeen, that was a lot to handle."
Liz sighed. "I just hope Johnny doesn't hate me."
"I don't think he will, especially knowing what he does now."
"I hope you're right."
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Johnny packed a bag and headed out. He had some business to do in Maryland and it was the perfect time to get away. He had a lot he needed to process and some decisions to make. Getting away and clearing his head was just what he needed.
He left Elizabeth a message saying that they would talk when he got back.
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Epiphany left the towers, walking by Patrick in the lobby. She was on the phone and didn't even notice.
He followed her, to tease her once she finished, but then stopped in his tracks when he heard the conversation.
"Dr. Hayes, did you get the test results back?"
Patrick's mouth dropped open.
"Sure, I will see you first thing in the morning."
She ended the call and walked through the door. It took Patrick a minute to process that she was talking to Dr. Hayes at Mercy who is a neurosurgeon. He sprinted outside and spotted her and took off running.
Epiphany turned to go into a store and saw him in her peripheral vision. "Patrick?"
He pulled her over to a bench. "You are going to tell me what is wrong with you, right now."
"It's none of your business."
"I am your friend and instead of coming to me, you went to another neurosurgeon?"
Her mouth dropped open. "Were you spying on me?"
"You walked right by me and I followed you to goad you and I heard you say his name. And before you even start, I'm not leaving this alone. Please!" He grabbed Epiphany's face. "Let me help you. I want to be there for you. Please."
"Patrick…."
"Just tell me."
Tears pooled in her eyes. "I thought if I said it aloud, it would make it too real. I didn't want to deal with it or make everyone upset. So, I kept it to myself for now."
He swallowed hard. "Go on."
"I have an inoperable brain tumor."
Patrick pushed down the myriad of emotions he was feeling. "Are they sure?"
"I had a second opinion." Tears started to flow down her face. "There's nothing they can do but monitor me."
He languidly kissed her forehead and then leaned his against it. "You are always there for everyone else. For once in your life, let someone help you, woman. Let me be there for you."
Epiphany's life hadn't been easy. She wasn't used to depending on others. What he was asking would be hard, but part of her knew that she really needed to lean on someone. "Fine, but you need to stop kissing on me. There's only so much a girl can take and we both know we are not each other's types."
"You mean you don't dream about skinny white boys at night?"
She grinned and pulled back. "I know your dream barbie, sex doll doesn't have as much junk in her trunk either."
He laughed and then got very serious. "You know I love you. Right?"
"I love you too."
He hugged her tight and she could tell he was crying.
"Shhhh….," she said as she rubbed his back.
"I'm supposed to be comforting you."
"You don't know how much it means to me that you want to be my person."
"Always."
"You can't tell anyone else okay? I don't want them to watch me die or look at me with pity."
"You're not going to die. You can't."
"Patrick, if you are going to be my person, I need to know that you'll abide by my wishes. I don't want to be resuscitated."
He closed his eyes. "We're not having this conversation right now. I want to look at the x-rays."
She clenched her fist. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. Face it, you can't fix this."
"You don't know that!"
"I know that I've gotten like five opinions and they all said it's inoperable."
"You know that I always find a way." His eyes were fierce, making her fight back harder.
"Not this time. I don't want you to be put in the position of losing me on the table. Do you really think you'd ever forgive yourself?"
"Stop it! Do not use that as an excuse. I don't fail!"
"Please don't push this right now. I just can't."
He let out a long breath as he looked up and then fixed her with a stare. "I just want to see them and then I promise that if I agree with the doctors and I will let it go."
"I'll talk to my doctor. You can confer with him directly."
"Thank you."
Her need to shop had passed, so they walked the rest of the distance to her car holding hands. She slipped inside and turned it on and he watched her drive off with tears in his eyes. He didn't know if he could watch her die, which made him even more determined to help her.
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The next afternoon, Jeff pulled Andrea into a room and pushed the door shut. It slightly re-opened without them noticing it and Sarah quickly ran to it and listened. She wanted to know what the hell was going on with them.
"You don't get to have an attitude with me after what you did."
"I am trying, but you are being impossible," she said.
"I don't know what you expected. You were talking to him."
"Stefan is a doctor. We are going to have to confer from time to time, but that is where it ends. I have a sick little girl that needs surgery."
Jeff ran his hand through his hair. "This is too hard. I saw you kissing him and I can't get it out of my head."
Sarah's mouth dropped open.
"It was a mistake. How long are you going to make me pay for it?"
"I don't know."
She fought the emotions that were quickly building up. "Tell me how to make this right."
"I don't think you can, but maybe we should talk to a counselor." As mad as he was at her, he had loved her for thirty years and had made vows, ones he took very seriously. If he was going to truly walk away, he wanted to be able to say that he gave it his all.
She was pleased that he at least was willing to consider it. "Okay."
"Really?"
"Yes. I will do anything."
"Okay."
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Sarah stumbled away from the room. Her mother, knowing that Sarah had a crush on Stefan, had kissed him? Were they having a full-blown affair? She ducked into an empty room and slid down the door. Her life was a joke.
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A few hours later, Sarah knocked on Stefan's door and when he didn't answer, she pounded harder. He put down his drink and jerked the door open, surprised to see her. "Sarah?"
She walked into the room. He could tell that she had been crying.
"How? What are you doing here?"
"I just found out that my mother has been cheating on my father."
Stefan's jaw ticked. "I'm sorry."
"I'm just so mad at her." She spotted the alcohol and stomped over to the table and took a big swig.
"I don't think that is a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Because—I don't know. Look, I know that you're hurting, but…"
"But what? Are you going to treat me like a child and tell me that I can't stay here? Is that it?"
"No."
"I had a crush on you for months and I know that you knew."
He sighed and sat on the couch. "I did."
What she wanted to scream was, why not her? Why did he chose her mother, but then that would ruin her plans. "But I wasn't good enough?"
He glanced up at her. "No. Sarah, you're younger—"
"Stop right there. Don't you dare insult me. I know what I want and it was you. I could have been discrete." She stopped and took another drink. "First, I find out that I'm not really the bad girl of the family and that my parents tortured my sister by forcing her to stay quiet. And now, my perfect mother isn't so perfect at all. To top it off, you don't want me. My life sucks."
He got up and walked over to her. "How much did you drink before you got here."
"Enough."
"Come on."
"Where?"
"I'm putting you to bed."
She yelped as he picked her up and took her into his bedroom. When he tried to lay her down she grabbed his face and laid a kiss on him that completely stunned him. He pulled back and stared into her eyes. "We can't."
"Why? I need you right now. Please."
"You don't know what you're asking."
Sarah was mortified. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I need to get out of here."
She tried to scramble away and then fell onto the floor. He knelt down pulled her into him and hugged her.
"I have always been attracted to you, but I'm not as put together as everyone thinks. I thought I'd ruin you."
She closed her eyes. "Just give me one night. Please."
He wiped a few tears away and Sarah kissed him torridly before flipping him onto his back and grinding against him.
"Sarah. I don't want to hurt you."
She yanked off her top and bra as he took her in. "Then don't."
"You're beautiful."
She leaned forward and kissed him again as Stefan finally gave in and passionately returned it. They made love several times before she fell asleep in his arms.
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Liz threw her phone aside. Epiphany had seen Sarah run into an elevator crying and called. Unfortunately, she wasn't returning her messages.
Jason entered the room in his chair. "What's wrong?"
"Can't reach my sister."
"Did you try having her paged?"
"She ran out of the hospital. I have some errands to run. Let me see if I can get someone to come over. I shouldn't be too long."
"You can go to work, Elizabeth. I can get around better now."
"It's okay. I can work from here. I just hope Sarah doesn't do something stupid. She tends to go off the deep end when she's really upset."
"Where do you think she ran too?"
"I don't know. Usually, she'd come to me."
"Maybe she just needs some time to work it all out."
"Time isn't necessarily her friend."
"I've been thinking. After I get my cast off, I'm going to go stay with my dad."
Liz was surprised. "Why? Are you unhappy?"
"You have a lot going on and you don't need to worry about me."
"Jason. You are not a burden."
"Were you going to tell me why Johnny hasn't been around?"
"He's out of town."
He thought about her reaction. She had cringed a little. "Did you have a fight?"
She sighed. "Not really, but he wasn't happy about John."
"I get where he is coming from."
"So do I."
"I'm not abandoning you. If you need me, you can pick up the phone or visit. I plan on still spending time with you. At least I hope that is what you want."
"Okay." Her eyes filled with tears. Everything was a mess. Epiphany was right. She needed to get it together before she lost everyone she cared about.
"It's for the best. Carly is on her way over."
"I guess I'll go make a few calls."
"I just want to make sure that you're not mad at me."
"I'm not. It's your decision. I'm sorry that I pushed you into staying."
"You didn't. I needed you as much as you needed me."
A tear escaped and she wiped her face.
"Don't be sad."
"I can't help it." She was barely holding it together.
"Come here."
