The Ex Factor

Bulovka Hospital-Prague

"Hmmm." A soft moan came from Fancy's hospital bed, and Luis, who'd been nodding off in his chair, immediately jerked to attention. Fancy was stirring restlessly. Afraid she'd move too much and hurt herself, Luis gently touched her face. "Hey, Fancy." He whispered.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, then weakly turned her head to look around the room. "Are we in the hospital? What happened?"

"Don't you remember? You saved me...you pushed me away from a wall that was falling, but you got hit by it instead." Luis smiled at her. "You saved my life. I'm sorry that you got hurt doing it-you scared me to death."

Fancy frowned. "Is it bad?" she whispered.

"You've got some internal injuries, broken ribs, and something actually managed to damage that hard head of yours. But you're going to be just fine. You'll have to stay here for a while."

Fancy sighed, looking close to tears. "I hate hospitals. I don't want to stay here."

"I'm going to be right here with you, every minute, as long as you need me." Luis smoothed her hair back.

At first Fancy smiled, then it faded. "You don't have to do that, Luis. You're not obligated to me." Her voice was cool.

Luis's brow furrowed. "I want to, Fancy. I want to be here with you. I really, really do." He looked at her intensely and then leaned down, his lips getting nearer and nearer to hers.

At the last moment Fancy turned her head away. "Luis...this isn't going to work. I've been chasing you for a while, and all you do is treat me like a kid, like I'm your sister or something. I hate it. I'm not used to guys looking at me like I'm a naughty child, and if you can't see me as a woman, a woman you could have a relationship with, I'm not interested. I don't want to be your rebound girl while you recover from Sheridan breaking your heart to pieces. Second choice sucks." She turned her head away, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

Luis stared at her in astonishment. "Fancy, is that what you really think? That I'm using you-that I'm not attracted to you?" He blew out a disbelieving breath. "You're either crazy or you're blind. I thought I'd made it very clear that I'm hardly immune to you. I know I've been acting like a lovesick puppy around Sheridan, and I'm sick of it too. I'm ready to move on, but I'm not ready to make big promises that I don't know if I can keep. But I would like to be with you, Fancy. If we could just take things slow...go on a couple of dates..get to spend some time together. What do you say?"

Fancy searched his face for a moment. His eyes never wavered, never left her. "You mean it?" At his nod, she broke into a grin. "Well, it's about time. But what about that fraternizing with the cadets rule?"

Luis scratched his head. "Well, I can't break that rule. It's a very, very important rule." He grinned at her. "I think maybe it's time I handed over the cadet training to someone else, what do you think?" He couldn't help but laugh at Fancy's delighted expression. "And now can I kiss you, Fancy Crane?"

Fancy smiled as Luis loomed over her. "Oh yeah."

Theresa's Room

The morning light cast a rosy glow over Theresa's hospital room, lighting up her hair and face as she slept. Ethan smiled, watching her. He never got tired of looking at her, but now it was different. He was no longer chained to a woman he wasn't in love with. Just the thought made the memories come back. All the times Theresa had cried for him, begged him to come back to her, begged him to believe in her...his heart clenched thinking about it. He hadn't been there for her. Not only that, but he'd abandoned her in a world of hurt when she needed him. He didn't know how she'd ever managed to keep from hating him. He could barely stand himself-just the thought of all he'd put her through made him feel sick.

"Ethan?"
He looked up, startled, to see Theresa looking at him. "What are you doing here?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"I came to see you. I brought you some flowers." He indicated the vase of bright blooms that stood on her nightstand.

Theresa looked at them and smiled. "They're beautiful. How are you doing? And Gwen and Sarah?"

"They're good." He deliberately ignored the question about himself. "Theresa, I wanted to apologize to you. You tried to tell me Sarah was alive and I nearly took your head off. You didn't deserve that. I should have taken you seriously. What you did was amazing. You reached out to Gwen, who had no right to expect anything from you, and you saved Sarah and gave her back to us. I will be forever grateful to you." He took her small hand in his and kissed it.

Theresa basked in the moment, but then snapped back to reality with a thud. "Ethan..." she pulled her hand away. "You should be with Gwen and Sarah right now."

"I'm going to be with Sarah." Ethan's voice was determined. "We've got a lot of time to make up for. But Gwen...it's over, Theresa. Gwen and I are getting a divorce."

Theresa's mouth fell open but for a minute she forgot how to form words. She stared at Ethan silently for a moment before she was able to put together a sentence.
"A divorce? You mean, you think you're going to ask her for one?"

"No. We've already talked about it and it's decided. Our marriage is finished. We're filing as soon as we get back to Harmony."

Theresa just continued to stare for a few minutes, searching Ethan's face, looking for any sign that this was some sort of horribly mean joke, or that she had misunderstood. She even pinched herself to make sure this wasn't some incredibly vivid fantasy or drug induced dream. "Ow!"

"Theresa, I'm serious." Ethan couldn't help but laugh as he looked at her expression. "What we've been wanting these past seven years, the day we've been waiting for, it's here. I want to be with you, Theresa. I would give anything to have you at my side forever."

"Oh, Ethan." Theresa burst into tears and Ethan leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her. His lips met hers and they kissed hungrily for a few moments, Theresa's uninjured hand caressing his face. "I don't believe it. This is just too good to be true." She pulled back and looked in his face. "Tell me every single detail. I want to know it all. I want to cherish this memory forever."

Ethan sat back in his chair, the memory of his confrontation with Gwen putting a bit of a damper on the moment. "Well, I was ready to end things with Gwen, and she threw me for a loop. She asked me for a divorce first."

Theresa's mouth fell open once more. "You're kidding!"

Ethan shook his head. "Nope. She let me have it too, about not putting her first, not being there for her, not believing her about Sarah. I hurt her a lot, Theresa, and I feel like hell about it, just like I do about hurting you. She said that I didn't make her special, or loved, or worthy and she's right. That's how the person you love is supposed to make you feel, and I made her feel the opposite way."

"That's a good point." Theresa said slowly. Her euphoria was fading fast. Ethan didn't seem to notice as he continued to talk.

"There's something else, Theresa." He squeezed her hand in between both of his. "Gwen admitted to me that she's the one who revealed my true paternity to the tabloids."

"WHAT?!" Theresa's head spun. This was just too surreal. If Ethan had walked in and told her he was being implanted with an alien love child she would have accepted it more readily then she could comprehend the words coming out of his mouth.

Ethan nodded, looking at her shocked face. "It's true. She told me everything. Theresa, I'm so sorry that I didn't believe you. I don't know what else to say, but I promise I'm going to try and make it up to you. For everything."

Theresa looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. This was the moment she'd dreamt of for years, and finally it was here. But it didn't feel right. It hurt, more than she could have ever imagined. All the times she'd cried for him, all the times she pleaded with him, the desperate measures she'd gone through to get him back. She'd sacrified everything for him, over and over, even herself, even her dignity, even her body...and all he could was sit there and say he was sorry. Suddenly, she was furious. She pulled her hand away, feeling a glimmer of gratification at the surprised look on his face.

"Theresa, I thought you'd be happy."

She looked at him with hollow, tear filled eyes. "I did too, Ethan. But you...you didn't believe me. I told you over and over that it wasn't me. I told you that it was Gwen. She admitted it to me, Ethan. She laughed in my face about how you'd never believe me over her. And she was right, wasn't she?" She swung her legs over the side of the bed, away from Ethan, and stood up. "You never had faith in me. I know I have done some terrible things, and I've made some awful mistakes. But how can you stand there, and say you love me, when you believed capable of every terrible thing Gwen has accused me of?"

"Theresa, no...please, listen to me. I know how badly I messed this up, I do! But I have always loved you. That has never stopped, not for an hour, not for a minute, not for a second. It wasn't so much you I didn't have faith in Theresa. It was me! I lost myself a long time ago, trying to be something I'm not. First it was the Crane heir, then it was this honorable, upstanding husband, something I never was, and yet everyone believed it. I've gotten up every day to face a life I hate, knowing what a fraud I was. I got so far away from myself and everything I ever wanted. Every step I took was the wrong one, every word out of my mouth was a mistake. The only thing I've ever been sure of is that I love you and you love me, Theresa, and that's enough."

"No." Tears began to slowly trickle down Theresa's face. "It's not. Do you know how you made me feel, Ethan, over these past few years? You've made me feel desperate, dirty, ashamed, needy, unwanted, unheard..unloved. It has hurt so much, watching you turn away from me over, and over, and over. How am I just supposed to forget about that?" She walked to the window and looked out, wanting to be away from the moment, her heart breaking so hard she couldn't believe no one could hear it. "Do you remember when I tried to leave you to go to Austrailia? And you stopped the plane, and got onboard, and you made this beautiful speech to me, in front of everyone."

She smiled through her tears. "I felt so honored that you would do that for me. I felt like the most special, most loved woman in the world. That's the way I want the man I'm with to make me feel. I want someone who will slay dragons for me, and put me on their white horse, carry me away to their castle, and proclaim to the whole kingdom that I'm the one for him. Someone who holds me up, not on a pedestal, but in their arms and in their heart." She stopped and cried quietly for a moment, then looked up. "That's not you, Ethan. Not anymore."

Ethan reached for her, tears in his eyes, but Theresa pushed him away. "I can't, Ethan. I can't. I love you so, so much. I want to be with you more than anything, but I just can't. I'll always be wondering, if Gwen hadn't taken the initiative would you really have asked her for a divorce? Or if she hadn't told you about the tabloid, would you still be wondering if I was the one responsible? What would happen if Gwen decides she wants you back? How much manipulating would she have to do to get you to turn against me? Or what if I do something you don't like-how quickly will you walk away? I can't live like that, Ethan. I've tried and it hurts too much."

"Theresa, don't. Please give me another chance. I can be that for you again, I promise you! I love you so much, Theresa, and what about the children? Our daughter..and our son."

"What?" Theresa's head jerked up and she stared at him, shocked. "What did you just say?"

Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled letter. Theresa stared at it in openmouthed astonishment.

"I think there's something you forgot to tell me, Theresa."

To Be Continued...