Chapter 24

Kendall gently opened the door to Greenlee's hospital room and poked her head in. Greenlee appeared to be sleeping. Kendall quietly slipped into the room and sat down in the chair next to the bed. She gazed at her former friend's face. Greenlee should have looked peaceful in her slumber, but she didn't. Frown lines marred her forehead. Kendall looked down to see her hands curled into fists. Kendall softly stroked her fingers over Greenlee's fist, hoping to give her a tiny bit of comfort. Greenlee's eyes flew open. "Leo!" She blinked for a moment, trying to focus her eyes. "Kendall?"

Kendall put her other hand on Greenlee's shoulder. "Leo's still alive, Greenlee. He just got out of surgery, and the doctors are optimistic."

Greenlee squeezed her eyes shut. "My baby?"

"Jackson's in the nursery, having a spit-up contest with Spike. His namesake's plane will be landing soon. Grandpa is very eager to see the two of you."

Tears streamed down Greenlee's face. "It'll be very good to see him, too."

"In case you were wondering about your own health, the doctor gave you a clean bill. I suppose if you had to give birth in a hostage situation, it's good that your captor is a brilliant obstetrician. Was a brilliant obstetrician."

Greenlee gazed intently at her. "Kendall, are you absolutely, positively, 100 sure that he's dead? I mean, considering all the resurrections happening lately…"

Kendall patted Greenlee's hand. "Mom got him at close range. He had a pretty damn big hole in his chest." Greenlee sighed. "You've been through a lot. I should let you sleep some more."

Kendall started to stand up, but Greenlee grabbed her hand. "You've been through a lot, too."

Sensing that she wanted to talk, Kendall sat down again. "When I discovered Spike was missing…that was the worst moment of my life."

Greenlee nodded. "I wasn't just talking about that. Your coma... When I read about it in the paper, I wanted so badly to come back to Pine Valley. I was so scared for you." She looked down. "But I was still so angry. I let my pride keep me away." She looked up at Kendall again. "I'm so sorry, Kendall. I'm sorry that I refused to understand why you did what you did. I'm sorry that I left you and I'm really sorry I sicced Babe on you."

Kendall laughed in spite of herself. "Greenlee, I understand why you left. It really hurt at the time, but I do understand. Last year was a nightmare for you. All you wanted to do was start a family with Ryan, and it fell to pieces. I really don't blame you for wanting to escape all that drama."

Greenlee rolled her eyes. "A lot of good it did me. I managed to find plenty of drama in Paris."

"No kidding. I guess Paris is Pine Valley's sister city."

The door opened and Zach's head appeared. "I've been looking all over for you. Erica's awake and wants to see her girls."

Kendall stood up and gave him a kiss. "You were the one that went missing, or else I would have told you where I was headed."

Zach shrugged. "I called Dixie to let her know about finding that vault in Madden's chalet. I've got some men trying to open it now. I've sent a couple of cars to the airport for when their plane lands. Jackson will be brought here, and Tad and Dixie will go straight to the chalet."

Kendall squeezed his hand. "I hope they find Kate's identity."

Zach nodded and then looked down at Greenlee. "Your son is beautiful. Ryan's been down at the nursery the whole time. He can't stop staring at him. That reminds me, I owe him some money. We had a bet over who could fill his diaper quicker after meal time, and Jackson won."

Kendall rolled her eyes. "Takes after his daddy. Ryan was always full of shit." She gave Greenlee a sheepish expression.

Greenlee contemplated her for a moment. "It was because of my scheme to have Ryan's baby that you ended up being violated by that monster. I'm so, so sorry."

Kendall sighed. "Greenlee, I don't regret Spike at all. Not for a moment. There were some bumpy moments, but now he is the most precious part of my life." She looked up at Zach. "Zach helped me to see that."

Greenlee shifted her gaze to Zach. "I'm sorry I went off on you earlier. It's not your fault Leo left me."

Zach frowned. "What's with all the apologies? Are you in some sort of twelve step program?"

Greenlee smiled weakly. "Yeah. Bitches Anonymous."

Kendall laughed. "Where do I sign up?"

Greenlee's smile faded, and she looked depressed again. "Zach. Would you do me a favor? Could you tell me about Leo? I want to know more about what happened after his death was faked."

Zach nodded and sat down. Kendall went to the door. "I better go see mother before she gets too worried."

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Erica impatiently thumbed through a fashion magazine. Where were her girls? She sent people out to look for them ages ago. The hospital wasn't that big! And Maggie should be on her way with Miranda, although Erica was a bit confused by Maggie's hesitation when she called up earlier to ask her to bring her grandchild. Maggie had always been awkward with her, but she seemed more strange than usual. Erica had a finely tuned radar for guilty consciences (especially in enemies – all the better to exploit them), and her alarm bells were going off. This could only mean that Bianca was in for some hurt. She closed her magazine and sighed.

She heard a voice from the doorway. "When you sigh like that, it usually means that someone's head is about to roll. I hope it isn't mine."

She looked up and saw Chris Stamp standing there. She tossed her hair. "That depends on what you have to say for yourself. I can't believe you faked your death, making Jackson and I feel horribly guilty for the way we treated you. I'm sure that's why you did it, to get revenge on us."

Chris shook his head and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "There's a lot about me you don't know, Erica. It may have seemed like my life revolved around you, but it didn't. I faked my death because that's what I usually do when it's time to move on. In this case it was way, way past time. I stayed much longer than I should have because I couldn't leave you - even after you cheated with Jack. When that asshole shot me, it was a wake-up call. It was either take off, or destroy even more lives."

Erica assessed him. "I know there's a great deal that you're not telling me, but I'm more interested in why you're here now. How did you get involved in the attempt to rescue me?"

Chris rested his elbows on his knees, put his palms together and propped his chin on top. "It was my fault you were kidnapped in the first place."

Erica's eyebrows shot up. Chris dropped his hands and leaned back in his chair. Of all the people he didn't relish confessing to, it was Erica. She would surely hate him with all the passion contained in her gorgeous little body. And every bit of it would be completely deserved.

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Bianca was walking briskly down the hall to Erica's room when Lena suddenly appeared from the intersecting corridor. Gasping, Lena put her arms around her. "Thank God you are okay! What happened at that chalet has been the big story on the news. Much was said about Erica, but I couldn't find anything about you. I had to come and see if you were alright." Lena pulled back, resting her hand on Bianca's shoulder. "The reporters said that an unidentified man was shot. Was that Leo?"

Bianca's face crumpled, and she nodded. "It was so awful. I thought we were going to lose him. If David hadn't been there… If the helicopter hadn't come when it did… He would be gone for real this time."

Lena hugged her again. "So he's going to be okay?" Bianca nodded into her shoulder. "How is everyone else? Greenlee and Kendall's baby?"

"They're fine. I'm on my way to see my mother now. Want to come with me?"

Lena smiled ruefully. "I doubt she would want to see me. I represent too much that is negative to her."

A voice piped up, sarcastically, "I wonder why that would be?" They turned to see Maggie standing there, her expression peeved. Miranda was next to her, holding her hand.

Lena put her hand to her mouth. "Oh my goodness. Is this Miranda? Oh Bianca, she is beautiful. She looks just like you."

Bianca grinned and stooped down, her arms wide. "Oh my baby girl! I missed you!" She hugged her daughter tight. "I'm on my way to see Grandma and Auntie Kendall. You want to see Grandma?" Miranda nodded her head enthusiastically. Bianca laughed and stood. "She probably thinks Grandma will have presents for her."

Maggie smirked. "Knowing Erica, I bet she arranged for some to be delivered to her hospital bed."

Lena cleared her throat. "I should be leaving. I cancelled my flight yesterday because I wanted to be close by in case something happened. Now that I know you are fine, I must get back to London."

She turned to go, and Bianca grabbed her arm. "Lena, you mentioned before that you weren't happy with your job there. One of my senior staff just retired. It's a position that would be perfect for you. I hope you'll submit your resume. I think you would love living in Paris."

Maggie looked at Bianca in surprise, then narrowed her eyes. "That's a great idea. After all, she's already worked for Cambias once before. Remember? She was hired by Michael."

Bianca gave her a warning look. Lena backed away. "That is a very generous offer, Bianca. I... I'll consider it. Goodbye Bianca. Maggie." She gave Miranda a warm smile, then she turned and walked away.

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Ryan rounded the corner and saw David pacing back and forth in front of the ICU. "How's Leo?"

David shook his head in disgust. "According to the surgeon, he's doing well, but how the hell am I supposed to determine that for myself if they won't let me in there to see him? I'm his brother! I'm an MD for chrissake! I'm not going to do anything stupid to jeopardize his recovery. I just want to see him!"

Ryan held up his hands. "You need to calm down, David. Just give it a little time; they'll let you in there."

David glared at him. "If it was your little twerp of a brother in there, would you be so calm?"

Ryan remembered when Jonathan came out of brain surgery last year. Smiling ruefully, he offered, "Well, since you're a doctor, I don't think they'd give you the same bullshit line they'd give anyone else. He's probably doing as well as they say he is. Why don't we go get some coffee? Maybe since this is France, the hospital stuff won't be so bad."

David narrowed his eyes. "Why would you want to have coffee with me?"

Ryan chuckled at his suspicion. "Look man, Leo was… is my friend. If we have nothing else in common, we both care about him. I'm just trying to get your mind off Leo's recovery for a little while."

David's expression darkened. "Some friend you were to Leo. You didn't come to his funeral. Then when you did stroll back into town to rub the Cambias fortune in our faces, you moved in on Greenlee, making her life miserable. That baby down in the nursery should be Leo's baby. Hell, it should be their second or third one. They'd have a whole house full of kids if it weren't for… if it weren't for…" David turned away, clenching his fists. After a moment, he turned back and gazed intently at Ryan. "If you want to help me get my mind of Leo's recovery, there's something else you can do for me."

Ryan looked at him warily. "What would that be?"

"I want to hire a private detective to find my mother. You and Slater can describe my mother's new face to a sketch artist and make a statement about the car she was driving when she took off. Maybe Slater can get Chris Stamp to give up some information. Vanessa needs to pay for what she did to Leo."

Ryan shook his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. She's out of your lives, David. She made it pretty clear that all she wanted to do was disappear. She'll never bother you again."

David pointed at the ground. "I'm supposed to be content with my mother lounging on a tropical beach somewhere when she should be rotting in hell? No way. Besides, if you think Vanessa would be able to stay out of our lives for good, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought. She may not come to Pine Valley herself, but she's capable of pulling strings from wherever she is. As long as she's alive, she will always find a way to make her boys miserable. Mark my words. There's only one way that this can end." David turned and walked down the corridor.

Ryan gazed after him and sighed. "Yeah. Not well."