Far Away

Disclaimer: I do not own Days of our Lives of their characters.

Far Away
Chapter 21


Nicole was sipping a mimosa as she lounged around in her hotel room, depressed so far she hadn't found a way to get EJ into her bed. Her body along with her heart ached for the man, and that fact amazed her since she hadn't felt that way for anyone since Eric Brady had exited her life.

The liquid burned down her throat, seeing as how she had mixed way more champagne into to the drink instead of orange juice. She shrugged her shoulders as she reached for the almost empty champagne bottle making a mental note to order some more from room service. She picked up the phone to give the call to do just that when a knock on her hotel room door distracted her from completing her task.

Irritated that someone was bothering her this early in the morning before she had a good buzz on she slammed down the telephone and went to open her door, praying it might possibly be EJ and if it was he would be more than a welcome intrusion to her somewhat dreary life. She wanted him more than she had wanted anything in a while and she was determined to get him. She looked down at her appearance and opened her robe a bit hoping he would appreciate the lacy teddy she wore underneath.

She put down her drink on an end table and headed for the door, a smile pasted on her face as she thought of all the delicious things she could do with that incredible hunk of a man now that it appeared she might get the opportunity. She unlatched the door and her excitement was barely containable until she saw who was on the other side of the door.

"Oh it's only you," she said, disappointment instantly filling her when she realized it Lucas was on her doorstep instead of EJ.

"Good morning to you too," Lucas said sarcastically as he pushed his way into the room, not wanting to stay outside in the hallway in case he was recognized. There was no way he wanted to go back to jail for breaking his house arrest.

"What are you doing here?" Nicole eyed Lucas warily as she reached to fasten her robe around her form more tightly before picking up her unfinished drink and tossing off the rest of it in one gulp.

Lucas took the now empty glass from her hand, smelling the residue and giving Nicole an incredulous look, "Little early for imbibing isn't it dear?"

Nicole placed her hands on her hips, instantly defensive with anyone who questioned her drinking habits especially Lucas since he used to be the biggest lush she knew, "Shut up Lucas, you're just jealous that you can't drink any of the stuff anymore."

Lucas looked around the room seeing the various empty liquor bottles that Nicole was apparently racking up during her stay at the hotel, "Looks like you're making up for my lack of drinking these days."

She gave him a pissed look wanting nothing more than for him to be gone from her sight, she really didn't like Lucas too much, but then she realized why he was here, she vaguely remembered him calling her the night before she had drunk herself into oblivion. "I'm calling room service for some more champagne since I've found I have way more orange juice left for some strange reason. Would you like me to order you something too before we get down to business?" She loved tempting him knowing that he wouldn't drink anything, why it was so much fun getting these little digs into Lucas psyche if she couldn't aggravate Sami at the moment.

"Order me some bourbon, I think I may need it after what I witnessed last night," Lucas said steadily loving the look of complete surprise on Nicole's face as he made his request. She upraised her eyebrows in disbelief as she made the call to room service requesting an immediate delivery of the aforementioned items.

They didn't speak until the liquor was delivered to the room, Lucas immediately reaching for the bottle breaking the seal upon it as soon as it was left on the table while Nicole tipped the person who delivered the bottle of champagne and bourbon.

"Lucas, are you sure you need to be drinking?" Nicole asked cautiously, her kidding of his drinking was only that, but Lucas paid her no heed as he smelled the contents of the bottle of bourbon before taking a rather huge gulp of the liquid straight from the bottle.

"Honey, wait until you hear the latest and you'll be drinking out of this bottle with me," Lucas said taking another long pull from the bottle and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before he set it down on the table urging Nicole to partake in sharing the bottle with him.

"What has happened?" Nicole asked not taking the proffered bottle just yet, instead waiting to hear what news Lucas had to relay to her.

"EJ and Sami have made up with one another," Lucas said as he rolled his eyes derisively. "Last night I heard her come in around 2 am in the morning and she was begging EJ to spend the night with her."

"You are lying Lucas, Sami doesn't want EJ," Nicole shook her head, no way was Sami begging EJ to stay with her, it just wasn't possible.

"Yes she does, EJ was in the mansion with her last night giving the twins a goodnight kiss before kissing Sami goodnight too, and I saw them pressed up together so tightly that there wasn't an inch to spare between them. EJ told her they would be together soon, so Nicole they are making plans for their future, one that does not include you or me."

Hurt began to build up inside of Nicole, how dare EJ fall back into Sami's trap. She was the one who loved and cared for him, not Sami. She grabbed the bottle from the table and took a long swig from it, the burning of the bourbon stinging her throat as it hit it going down. She felt tears start to form in her eyes, she deserved EJ DiMera, she had been the one to listen to him, be there for him when Sami turned her back on him time and time again.

"So you believe me now?" Lucas asked as he noted the tears in Nicole's eyes. Damn how could EJ get both of these women to fall for his bs was beyond Lucas' comprehension?

"What do you think we can do to keep them apart if they are planning on being together?" Nicole asked miserably, internally damning Sami for getting in her way once again.

"I've got a plan that will tear them apart for good," Lucas said taking the bottle from Nicole and having another drink from it and he started to fill Nicole in on the entire plan from start to finish.

Nicole listened to Lucas with an almost unbelieving air, no way could Lucas be so dastardly, but sure enough he was spouting off a detailed plan that would most assuredly wreck both EJ and Sami's lives if she agreed to help him.

"Are you in this with me or not?" Lucas asked after laying out the entire game plan for Nicole.

"Lucas are you really sure about doing this?" Nicole asked for once her conscience was trying to weakly rear its head because if she agreed to do this with Lucas, there would be no turning back from it once the wheels were set in motion.

"More sure of anything in my life, I want EJ DiMera to suffer unlike anything he has ever felt before in his entire life and this will do it, no doubt about it," Lucas boasted confidently.

"I don't know if Sami will believe this," Nicole said trying to dissuade Lucas, but he shook his head over her suggestion of Sami's disbelief.

"I know Sami like a book, trust is a major issue with her and if you can pull things off convincingly on your end, she will never trust EJ DiMera again for as long as she lives," Lucas stated matter of fact as he eyed Nicole. "So once again are you in or not? I can't pull this off without your help and if we sit back and do nothing we are going to have to contend ourselves with seeing the ones we love end up being with someone else besides ourselves. Do you really want Sami to have EJ? Are you willing to console yourself with what might have been instead of what could be between you and him?"

Nicole shook her head, Sami didn't deserve to have EJ, and she didn't deserve to be happy while she was all alone once again. Her jealously over Sami got the best of her and she held out her hand for Lucas to shake, "I can't have Sami winning. I want EJ. I'll do what you say."

Lucas eyed her hand with disgust, "We aren't shaking on this Nicole."

"That is what you do when you come to an agreement with someone," Nicole said thrown a bit off guard by how aggressive Lucas seemed to be, why it could almost turn her on if she wasn't in love with EJ.

Lucas pulled Nicole into his lap, "I've got something far better than just a handshake for you," and he reached up and grabbed her by the hair of her head to bring her mouth down to his to kiss him.

Nicole sputtered as she tried to pull away from Lucas, "Damn it Lucas! What is wrong with you?"

"Our deal is sealed with a kiss baby, we are both in this together remember?" Lucas asked loving how he was throwing Nicole off guard with his behavior.

"We don't have an agreement to sleep with each other," Nicole said as she tried to remove herself from Lucas' lap, but he held on firmly to her, not allowing her to escape.

"No we don't, but since it's apparent we're both in need of some TLC, why don't we just throw another round in there for old time's sake Nicky, we used to have some great sex when we were married to one another," Lucas said as he began to unloosen Nicole's robe from her body.

"Lucas we were drunk most of the time we were married," Nicole said trying to dismiss Lucas from his current task of taking off her robe, but he wasn't deterred in the least.

"We're on our way to being drunk now too so it'll just make it even better," Lucas said after divesting Nicole of her robe leaving her dressed in only her scant lace teddy as he took the bottle from the table and took another drink then offered for her to do the same.

Nicole took the bottle from Lucas and thought what the hell as she took a huge gulp of bourbon, it had been a long time since she had gotten any and getting some from Lucas was better than nothing at all as he started to carry her to the bed taking the bottle with them. Their deal would be sealed for sure now.

Far Away
Chapter 22

Hours later, Nicole woke up more than a bit disoriented from binge drinking with none other than Lucas. She looked over at him lying on the bed, naked and then she looked at herself as naked as he was and shuddered. What the hell had she been thinking?

She eyed the empty bourbon bottle on the nightstand and wished for another drink as she vaguely recalled the last few hours she had spent with Lucas. She reached for her teddy and discarded it as soon as she found it; apparently in their haste to have sex Lucas had ripped the lace to shreds in places.

Well it wasn't all that bad, she thought to herself as she tried to ignore Lucas' snoring. He had in fact gotten her off several times during their tryst, something she was grateful for since it had been quite a while for her considering she wasn't a woman who went long periods of time without having sex.

She frowned thinking if EJ hadn't of been so standoffish with her that she could have been having sex with him all along, it was no secret she wanted him, the few kisses he had given her had set her on fire, but each time he had stopped things from progressing further between them. Damn Sami she ruined everything for her, but as Nicole looked over at Lucas again, her smile grew. If she followed his plan, Sami and EJ would never be together ever again.

At least Lucas was good for something, she thought as she stretched her arms above her head, her movements causing Lucas to stir in his sleep as he instinctively reached out for her.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Nicole asked as he groggily propped himself up on one elbow gazing at her naked form on the bed.

"Going for round two my tricky Nicky," he growled, pulling her roughly over next to him as he positioned himself above her.

"How do you know I want to do this with you again?" She asked, trying not to act excited by this change in Lucas, why if he had been this way when they were married she might not have wanted to divorce him. This man was no mama's boy that was for sure as he pawed at her body making her want him in a way she had never experienced before.

"Maybe because you are so desperate to be with anyone who has a dick," Lucas uttered darkly as he drove into her without another second's hesitation, as they began another foray with one another.

"So this means I can be in the house by tonight?" EJ asked the realtor as they negotiated a price for the house, EJ not wanting to seem so eager that it drove up the price even more, even though he would be willing to pay whatever price it took to get the house.

"Seeing as you are offering cash for the house, it does expedite things greatly," Marion Conley said, thinking of her commission she would be making on the house, plus it didn't hurt that this man was so charming too. What a lucky woman his wife must be as she eyed the wedding band on his left hand. Too bad that one was taken, she would of liked to have gotten to know this man better, but he hadn't shown her a flicker of interest beyond wanting to know about the house.

"Thank you so much," EJ stood up from his desk, extending his hand to her to shake on the deal after he signed the necessary papers.

She handed him the extra set of keys to the house along with a packet of papers for him to keep, "Mr. DiMera, the pleasure was all mine."

EJ led her to the door, trying to keep his composure, he was so excited, and he couldn't wait to tell Samantha the good news. After Ms. Conley exited the room, he broke out in a full smile. For once his life was turning around, he was going to have it all, Samantha, the children and a chance for them all to start their lives over as a true family. For once being a DiMera didn't seem like such a bad thing after all.

Sami had been happy all morning long, playing with the twins and enjoying the day with them. Last night being with EJ had made all the difference in the world. She was laughing and singing songs with Allie and Johnny as they played in the playroom together. She was so caught up in her infectious joy she didn't even realize her mother was in the room until she finally made her presence known to her daughter.

"Good morning sweetie girl," Marlena said, using a term of endearment for her daughter she liked to use, especially seeing her in such a relaxed and wonderful mood for a change.

"Good morning Mom," Sami got up from off of the floor to greet her mother with a warm hug.

"So I take it your business last night with EJ went well?" Marlena asked thinking she hadn't seen her daughter in a mood like this in such a very long time.

"More than well Mom, it was magic," Sami said after taking a step back from Marlena and giving her a beautiful smile, one that lit up her whole face.

"Magic you say? Are you sure you are talking about EJ?" Marlena asked wondering what had caused this sudden change in temperament from her daughter regarding EJ.

"Mom, he swept me off my feet," Sami said beaming, she was so happy that it seemed like she just couldn't stop smiling even if she had been trying to do so.

"Are you and he getting back together?" Marlena questioned thinking while she had seen hints of Sami growing to care for EJ during the immigration hearing she thought she might have been imagining those things, but seeing Sami grinning from ear to ear had to mean something had happened between her and EJ for her to be acting this way.

Sami nodded her head, "I love him Mom and you know what he loves me too."

"Well I knew EJ loved you, anyone could see that, but are you completely sure of your feelings for him?"

"Mom we are going to get married, this time for real and for all the right reasons," Sami gushed unaware that EJ was standing outside the door listening to their conversation.

"Am I talking to the same girl?" Marlena looked at her skeptically, Sami had done a complete turnaround over the past few weeks and it was something Marlena was going to have to get used to having her daughter head over heels in love with none other than a DiMera, then again maybe things weren't so crazy after all she was still in love with John and he was a DiMera too.

"Yes, you are talking to your daughter, one who has finally realized she is going to follow her heart for a change," Sami said confident in her love for EJ.

"Well if you are sure…"

"I'm sure Mom, EJ, the children and I am going to be a family," Sami said as her mother reached out to hug her again and EJ opened the door to the room.

"Good afternoon darling," EJ said causing Sami to leave her mother's arms and rush into EJ's instead.

"I was just talking about you to Mom," Sami said as EJ put his arm around her, drawing her close to his side.

"Good things I hope?" EJ asked even though he had heard Samantha speaking of him already to her mother.

"All good," Sami said smiling at him with a love shining in her eyes that she had never allowed showing around others until today and it was so pure and lovely EJ thought he had never seen anyone as beautiful as her.

"Speaking of good things, guess what I have?" EJ asked causing Sami to upraise her eyebrows at him.

"What?" she asked wondering what kind of surprise he had in store for her.

"The deed to the house, our house," EJ said reaching into the inside of his jacket to pull out the envelope to hand to her.

"You got it that fast?" Sami asked thinking it would have taken at least a few days for EJ to procure the house for them.

"Darling I knew I wanted the house from the moment the realtor showed me it, having you there last night only confirmed that it was the right thing to do," EJ said causing Sami to blush when she thought about them making love last night on the floor together with the moonlight spilling over them into the room.

"Mom, can you believe it, we got the house!" Sami said trying to think of other things instead of making love with her soon to be husband again while her mother was standing there with them in the room.

"You've got a house?" Marlena asked, her head starting to spin over the latest turn of events. To hear the news Sami was in love with EJ was a shock all of its own and now to hear that they had a house together.

"I can't wait for you to see it," Sami said leaving EJ's side as she took her mother by the hand. "I mean it is just…"

"Perfect," EJ finished her sentence for her as Sami nodded her head in agreement before letting go of her mother's hand and squatting back down in the floor with the twins, who were busy playing with their toys.

"Guess who is here," Sami said getting their full attention as EJ joined her in the floor causing the babies to squeal their delight in seeing their father in the room with them. They wasted no time in crawling over to him and reaching out their tiny hands for him to take them into his arms.

Marlena smiled thoughtfully as she exited the room allowing Sami and EJ time with the twins alone, maybe her daughter was finally going to have her heart's desire to have a man who truly loved her and a family too.

Far Away
Chapter 23

One week later…

"Now are you sure you understand exactly what you have to do?" Lucas asked Nicole again, making sure she wasn't going to leave any detail out, for this plan to pull off without a hitch it had to go specifically the way he had outlined the entire scenario for her from start to finish.

"I'm sure," Nicole nodded her head, thinking back to yesterday when she had tried once again unsuccessfully to gain EJ's attention when she had went to his office for another meeting concerning her divorce settlement from Victor. EJ had told her in no uncertain terms that if she tried again to put the moves on him he would have no other choice but to drop her case and she would have to retain another lawyer.

EJ's rejection stung and she had behaved badly, even shouting at him in front of other clients waiting to be seen before she left his office. Why was EJ such a fool when it came to Sami? That woman couldn't possibly be in love with him, but EJ had seemed to have hard time even concentrating on her case. Several times during their meeting she had to ask him to pay attention to her complaints and requests for her divorce settlement.

Nicole wasn't used to losing, especially to Sami Brady and it rankled her to no end hearing Lucas relay how nauseating it was to witness EJ and Sami together when he came to pick her up at the mansion and even worse when EJ was there for a visit. To hear Lucas speak it was like they were almost inseparable with the exception of when EJ left Sami and the twins at night, his refusal to stay at the mansion the one thing Sami apparently couldn't get him to agree to doing for her.

"You are sure you aren't going to back down?" Lucas gave Nicole this last chance to get out of it if she truly did not want to do this for him. While it would be difficult to get someone else to agree to what he had planned he knew he could given time, but time was running out for him. If things kept going the way they were for EJ and Sami they were bound to be married before long and Lucas would forever lose his chance to be with Sami for good.

"I said I would do it, didn't I?" Nicole rolled her eyes at Lucas. How many times was he going to keep asking her the same things over and over? She had said she was not backing down and she was determined not to. EJ had dropped her like a hot potato and he was going to pay for leading her on and then backing off and hightailing it straight back to Sami. She hated Sami and she couldn't wait to see her face when the news hit everywhere in Salem. Poetic justice would be in line for that lying bitch for sure.

"Yes, you did, but Nicky you are going to be questioned repeatedly. You can't slip up on your story, you have to keep to it once you give your statement," Lucas emphasized the importance of what and how she would need to do things in sequence and under no circumstances let the Salem PD ever suspect that she could be lying.

"I'll take care of my end of things, just make sure you take care of yours," Nicole warned Lucas. "Are you sure that the evidence is going to show that EJ will be the culprit?"

"Oh yeah, but I had to do some mighty big favors to get everything set into place," Lucas averted his eyes, not wanting to relay the specifics on what exactly he had to do in order to make sure this plan to destroy EJ would work.

"Can't really say what you did?" Nicole asked seeing Lucas' hesitation in wanting to reveal anything to her concerning the nature of procuring the evidence that would be needed for her upcoming claims.

"Let's just say sometimes you have to give more than you expect to get what you want and leave it at that," Lucas stated thinking no way was he going to tell Nicole how he had went about garnering his help from inside and outside the prison system.

"You can say that again," Nicole grimacing slightly knowing that what she was about to do was going to change a lot of lives in Salem and not all of them for the good, but as long as it kept Sami Brady from being happy then it would be worth it all. "Well I guess we better get started."

"Okay," Lucas agreed it was time to get this show on the road, it was only a matter of hours before EJ was going down and Lucas didn't think he would get up from what he and Nicole were about to throw at him.

Nicole braced herself, hating what she was going to have to go through to make this look realistic but sometimes you had to deal with the devil to shake things up and make things go the way you wanted them to go.

"Sorry Nicky, there isn't any other way to get around it."

"Just do it already," Nicole urged him onward; not looking forward to the pain that she knew would be forthcoming, although it was a necessary evil.

Lucas could see Nicole was nervous, but this had to be done for it to look and seem believable. So with a slight hesitation he reared back his fist and then proceeded to hit Nicole in the face, the first punch instantly busting her lip and causing blood to spurt from her mouth.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Sami asked EJ wishing again he wasn't so adamant about not staying the night at the mansion.

"Yes darling," EJ had stood strong in his resolve not to give into Sami's pleas to stay the night. Luckily they had been able to dine with the family minus Lucas being present at the dinner table and it had been an enjoyable evening. Rolf had informed them that Lucas had told him he had a stomach virus and would not be spending the evening with them, not wanting to get the children sick.

For once EJ thought Lucas was being considerate and he had to say he had enjoyed not having the little lap dog staring at him with hatred in his eyes during an entire meal and evening. Everyone had seemed to have a more relaxed time without Lucas around although EJ thought it was quite terrible of him to wish the ol' boy a few more days of whatever virus he had caught, but he had enjoyed having his family to himself without the annoying presence of Lucas around.

"How much longer are we going to have to wait?" Sami was getting impatient to get into their new home and be married even though she wasn't looking forward to having to battle it out with Lucas concerning custody of Allie.

"Next week?" EJ asked causing Sami to break into a huge grin and rush up into his arms.

"Next week would be wonderful," Sami kissed EJ and she clung tightly to him.

"I think so too," EJ agreed after they broke the kiss, he wished he could stay the night, but he had so many things to do at the house getting it ready for the twins to reside in their new home. "So while I hate to leave you tonight just know within the week we won't have to be apart."

"We'll be together," Sami concurred.

"Each and every night," EJ said placing a kiss upon her forehead.

"I can't wait," Sami said with longing in her voice.

"Me either, I love you sweetheart," EJ kissed her once more before taking his leave, each time becoming more difficult to depart, even though he knew this was for the best. He doubted Samantha would have ever had the courage to tell him that she loved him if he hadn't of moved out of the mansion in the first place. He had made the right decision.

EJ still couldn't believe how good life was now, everything just seem to be falling wonderfully into place. He was going to be married to Samantha for real this time and have his family with him. For once he was not going to be alone.

So lost in his happy thoughts he failed to notice anything amiss when he opened the door to their new home and never even realized someone else was in the house before he was hit on the back of the head with a blunt object and fell to the floor darkness befalling him before he ever hit the hardwood floor beneath him.

Chapter 24

1:15 am Salem University Hospital, Emergency Room

"May I help you miss?" Sabrina the admissions clerk asked the young woman who walked unsteadily to the desk.

Nicole raised her face slightly to look and see who was speaking to her, which was a difficult task due to one eye already being swelled shut only to hear a frightened gasp when she gazed at the woman who had spoken to her. She took a shallow breath needing to remember exactly what she needed to do and was puzzled when her mind seemed a bit fuzzy.

She needn't have worried though because before she could say anything she took one more step forward and passed out, her body hitting the cold floor with a resounding thud.

"Oh my goodness she hit the floor!" Sabrina's voice steadily rose in volume as she pressed an emergency call button under her desk, "I need someone out here right now!"

Lexie was working an extra shift in the ER due to the flu season running rampant among the hospital workers; she didn't mind helping out anywhere she was needed. Truth be told she liked the fast pace of the ER compared to making rounds because she never knew what would or could happen in the ER.

"Dr. Carver, we need you in Triage Room 5 stat!" Calli the head ER nurse said as she approached Lexie in the hallway.

"I'll be right there," Lexie rounded the corner and pulled back the curtain to Triage 5. Calli was doing her best to get the patient settled onto the hospital bed after the paramedics had placed her there and trying to figure out exactly what had happened to this poor woman. She looked bad; someone had really roughed this girl up tonight.

Calli acknowledged Dr. Carver's presence immediately handing her the patient chart for her to look over although there wasn't much information on it due to the patient being unresponsive. She had written down what vitals she could obtain without speaking with the patient.

Lexie took the chart trying to ascertain what would be needed to help the patient not noticing who she was until she glanced up from the chart and almost dropped it in the process.

"Dr. Carver, are you all right?" Calli put a hand upon Lexie's arm trying to decipher what had caused the doctor to take pause before she began her examination, usually things did not upset Dr. Carver, but Calli could tell something was wrong.

Lexie shook her head, trying to get a grip on her emotions, she needed to keep her air of professionalism, especially around the hospital staff, and it wouldn't do for her to look upset even when someone she knew was brought into the ER.

"Sorry Calli, I know this woman and it is kind of a shock to see her in this type of condition," Lexie reached out to see if she could rouse Nicole without hurting her any further.

"I wonder what happened to her," Calli mused aloud as she readied herself to help Dr. Carver in any way possible. "Sabrina said that she just walked up to the front desk and before she could even get any information from her she passed out."

"I don't know Calli," Lexie answered noting the multiple bruises that had formed or were starting to form on Nicole's body. She took her light, carefully lifting Nicole's uninjured eyelid seeking any kind of response from her. Nicole's eye rolled back away from the light and she instinctively turned her head away.

"Her pulse is weak and her breathing is shallow," Calli commented as she watched Dr. Carver.

"She may have some broken ribs," Lexie noted as Calli wrote down the information on the chart Lexie had given back to her. She leaned over closer to Nicole, seeing if she could hear her voice, "Nicole it's me Lexie, I know you are hurting, but can you speak?"

Nicole tried to move, instantly crying out when she attempted to do so; she barely opened her one good eye trying to focus on the voice that was speaking to her. The pain was so intense she ached all over, when she had agreed to go along with Lucas' crazy scheme she hadn't taken into consideration everything he would have to do to her to make this ruse convincing.

Nicole willed her mind to think, she and Lucas had gone over this plan extensively, but the pain was clouding her mind. She licked her lip and felt bile rise up in her throat, her tongue immediately tasting blood as it recoiled from her busted lip. Damn Lucas had worked her over good, she had never been beaten like this before, and god only knew what her clothes looked like after he had started ripping the material of her shirt she was wearing.

"Nicole, can you tell me what happened to you tonight? Who did this to you?" Lexie questioned her quietly not wanting to upset her, but it was imperative that she know who had hurt Nicole.

Nicole hesitated, knowing once she spoke his name, there would be no turning back. If she placed the blame on him, it would change everything for so many different lives if the uttered the words Lucas had coached her for days to say.

"Nicole please, you can trust me, whoever did this to you won't be able to get to you, but you have to tell me who hurt you," Lexie said hating cases like this when she sensed the woman was afraid to tell who had abused her in such a despicable manner because she was required by law to report any incidents when the patient came into the hospital for treatment.

"I can't," Nicole's conscience weakly reared its head within her, she knew this was wrong. Lucas had said this was the only way either one of them would ever get any type of justice from those who had wronged them.

"Yes, you can, I promise you whoever did this to you will pay, but you have to tell me their name if you know it or some give me some kind of description so that the police can find them," Lexie gently brushed Nicole's hair away from her forehead, noticing another small cut there too, she then took her hand careful not to squeeze it in case she had any broken bones in her hand or wrist.

A tear fell from her one good eye and Nicole turned her head away from Lexie and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "EJ."