90210: 2012

A week ago she'd been in that exact same waiting room, waiting with Teddy for Marco's time to come. She had been detached and removed from the sadness and the tragedy of the building – the place where most came to die, now she was at the epicentre of the explosion of emotions that must trouble anyone when they fear for the life of someone close to her. Dixon had stayed curiously removed from her – he should have been comforting her, but the news about her pregnancy was something he was finding hard to process and clearly he didn't think it was right to comfort her. Not that a hug was going to make it better. Her Mother was in the Hospital…she might even be dying for all she knew, in a room somewhere with dozens of tubes sticking out of her and Doctors clustered around trying to figure out how to save her. How they would save her, Ivy corrected, she wasn't about to let her Mom die.

She looked up as the Doctor strode out – she was a deep-tanned colour with contrasting dark hair and glossy, emerald eyes, she settled into the seat next to Ivy and Ivy could see that the Doctor had had some difficulty considering how short her skirt was: this was the person that was treating her mother? A whore in a Doctor's uniform?

"You're the daughter?" she asked, the tone wasn't accusing or disparaging, it was comforting, Ivy immediately relented in her antipathy towards the woman, maybe she wasn't so bad. Ivy nodded nervously, unsure of whether she wished she'd done that. "You're Mom's stabilized…but she's very weak…you can go in but your boyfriend can stay outside…and don't be too taxing…she's had a very close scare." Ivy nodded and followed the Doctor along the corridor and into the Medical Room, it looked out towards the sandy beach and the sapphire-coloured ocean beyond – at least her Mom had a nice view. Laurel smiled and extended her hand to her daughter, Ivy took it and gingerly squeezed.

"I'll leave you two alone." The Doctor said and departed.

"She said you've stabilized?" Ivy prompted, was stabilized medical speak for better now or did it just mean she wouldn't get any worse?

Laurel shrugged, "I had…a turn Ivy…a…it was sort of a fit."

Ivy raised an eyebrow but cut off her rising panic, "What kind of a fit?"

Laurel shrugged again, "Honey I'm not a Doctor…but they are…and…they think they know what caused it."

Ivy gave her a probing look, "So you're epileptic?"

Laurel shook her head and even laughed a little.

"If only it were that simple sweetie," she reached out a hand to pull a strand of wayward hair out of Ivy's face but Ivy batted the hand away, she wasn't going to be distracted, "they found a tumour…well several tumours actually…cancerous tumours Ivy…and they're pretty advanced."

"Yeah but they have chemotherapy or radiotherapy and stuff don't they?" Ivy probed, she wasn't listening properly, she couldn't, listening properly meant admitting her Mom was ill, really ill, it meant acknowledging that her Mom was actually dying, that she'd be burying her in a few weeks time.

"Honey…I don't want to spend the last few months of my life," that broke Ivy and she felt a tear break free from her watering eyes, "in pain…suffering…any more than I have to, I'm not taking any of the treatments, I want to enjoy my life and spend it with the people that I love…before I go…Honey say something…please."

"What do you want me to say Mom?" Ivy heard the tears streaming, she could feel tears falling even harder…her Mom would never see her grandchild, never see her get Married, never be there for a Family Thanksgiving or Christmas…or Pagan Ceremony or whatever they decided to do…she was going to miss so much, "Because honestly I'm not sure how I'm meant to react to this."

Laurel nodded understandingly, "Can't you talk to some of your friends?"

"My friends?" Ivy said disdainfully, "Please Mom I'm not talking about my family life to them…there's enough drama going on."

"Well maybe this would bring them all back together?" Laurel suggested and instantly realized she'd said the wrong think as Ivy's face turned thunderstruck.

"I'm not using you to glue my friends back together when you're dying!" she sprang up from her chair and grabbed her purse which she'd dropped to the floor, sprinting out of the room and hurtling along the corridor, she felt warm, and stressed, and tired, she cruised along and out into the Waiting Room, bypassing Dixon who turned to sprint after her but she gestured a hand for him to stop following and ducked into the bathroom. Shutting one of the stall doors behind her and sitting on the toilet, her head in her hands. Everything was falling apart. Everything.

.

"So what do you remember about the night that Marco…was shot?" Doug started, Teddy understood from the awkward look on his face that he was already regretting his wording and wishing he could have said it more sensitively somehow, he was at least happy for that token, even if he had to talk at the Police Station. He knew he wasn't on trial…at least he thought he wasn't…but something about the surroundings left him deeply uncomfortable.

"Honestly it was just like any other night," Teddy admitted sincerely, they spent most of their nights either eating dinner in, lounging around the apartment or sometimes they'd go for a run on the beach before going to bed – not that that necessarily implied sleeping, "we were just gonna watch a movie…Marco said he'd go and get the popcorn…and I loaned him my car because I knew he liked to drive it, I asked to go with him but he said he didn't want me to. He was caring…he cared about me…he…I guess he was trying to look after me or something."

Doug nodded, scribbling a few things down into his notebook, Teddy would've referred to him as Officer Campbell but he'd insisted on a first-name basis scenario, "Do you have enemies?"

Teddy shrugged, "Not anyone that would do this…I mean sure I guess I was kind of a dick to some people when I was at Exeter and then at West Bev but I mean I don't have anyone that want to shoot me – why does that matter anyway? Surely you'd want to know if Marco had any enemies."

Doug lifted his eyes from his pad, "Not necessarily, he got shot in your car and then your car was left at the Hospital…I know this'll be hard to here but it's possible…Marco was killed as some kind of message to you. I know how sick and wrong that sounds but…it's something that you should consider, is there anyone that would want you…to not have a boyfriend I mean? Permanently like that?"

He felt himself be dragged out of that situation into a virtual reality, somewhere deep inside his subconscious. Had he been the reason Marco had been shot? He didn't see how it could be a scorned lover, he'd only had one of those that was a guy and he was in prison…unless it was one of the one night stands he'd had but Teddy had at least had taste when he'd been at Exeter. None of them would have gone that far…it didn't make any sense…it had to be Ian.

"There was a guy…Ian…I dated him for a little bit but then we broke up and he didn't take it too well…but I mean I though he was in prison," the Cop looked up from writing again and Teddy realized he needed a last name, "Chrismoth." He added simply, Doug stood up and left the room for a few minutes and then returned and put a document on the table, Teddy scanned it briefly, it showed the dates Ian had been in prison after his trial and then was marked with BAILED in green, bold type. Teddy looked up disbelievingly.

"He was let out on bail?"

Doug gave him a look that seemed to show he understood how upsetting it was while at the same time implying there was some kind of sensible explanation for this, "Look…prisons are overcrowded as it is and Chrismoth has a Parole Officer and he's turned his life around…he's also staying with family in Orange County Teddy…but," he paused eyeing up Teddy's furious expression, "we will question him as to his whereabouts and if they check out then we'll bring him in okay?"

"Whatever," Teddy said feeling dejected and distracted from the entire situation.

"I guess we can leave it for today then," Doug said and switched off the recorder, "how are you doing – off the record I mean?"

Teddy replied with an icy look, he was ready to leave and didn't like that someone could suddenly be professional and then calmly intimate with a person…it left him completely unsettled, he wasn't sure what to trust in the guy. He seemed warm and then he became the calm, resolute poster-boy for the Police – saying that someone that had been a psychopath a few months earlier was now suddenly fit to be walking around in public.

Doug nodded comprehending the feelings, "I know it's hard…I just want to try and help you man…but if you'd be more comfortable dealing with someone else I can arrange that?"

A pang of guilt banged at Teddy's heart, this guy wasn't so bad after all, he was at least trying to get things done and behaving calmly, caringly even.

"No don't do that," Teddy made an apologetic face, "look I'm sorry…just the whole Cop persona and then guy that's there for you thing…it's a little hard to understand…you have two faces."

"Doesn't everyone?" he replied drily raising an eyebrow and for the first time in days Teddy actually laughed at something. "Look maybe you're right but I think it'd be worth us just talking informally and then going back to the hard stuff…it'll make things move a lot faster and at least that way you have someone to talk to…I get the impression your friends didn't know Marco too well, so…maybe I can be your go to guy."

Teddy smiled slightly at that thought, "Are you sure? I mean I wouldn't want to make you feel awkward or anything?"

Doug laughed this time, "Man there isn't a lot you could say that'd make me feel awkward, I'm a Cop after all, I hear things, I see things, I know things from firsthand experience…admittedly your case is a little unique but that doesn't mean that I can't be here to help you through this time if you wanted to be." He reached out his hand and touched at Teddy's…normally he would have moved his hand away straight away but there was something oddly comforting about the gesture. It was like they had connected somehow, Teddy could see him now. Then it dawned on him. This was a gay Cop.

.

"Would you mind pulling some pieces from those neutrals?" the stylist asked, an officious, olive-skinned woman with the most fantastic dark eyes, and exotic earrings that Naomi had ever seen in her life, dressed as stylists often do in something bright and eye-catching – in this case a paisley minidress with the teardrop pattern cast in clashing shades of neon pink and emerald green, highlighted by golden stitching.

Naomi nodded, crossing over and selecting a jumpsuit, two minidress, a maxi-dress and a shirt and high-waisted trouser combo, putting them on a separate rail and wheeling them over to her, the stylist viewed them and then nodded approvingly, "Where are the shoes?"

"Oh I asked our new Assistant to pick some out from some of the retro stores in West Hollywood, I thought they would really suit the shoot," the stylist nodded approvingly, "Amelle, do you have those shoes I asked you to get?"

She nodded producing variously, a pair of kitten heels that looked as if they might be Wal-Mart, two sets of ankle boots with slight heels, a pair of azure peep-toes that would completely clash with the neutral theme, some knee-high leopard-print boots that belonged in the garbage can and the final pair made her blood boil – a pair of stripper heels. "What the hell is this – I asked you to get us shoes that would complement the neutrals from vintage stores Amelle not from…to be honest I don't even know where you got these but for the amount I gave you I expected a hell of a lot more."

The stylist moved to survey the shoes, surveying them imperiously.

"I am so sorry," Naomi said profusely, she pulled out her sidekick and hammered in the number for one of the vintage stores she had intended Amelle to use for the shoes, "high, Lauren, it's Naomi Clark – we met months ago we used some of your footwear for styling in a DVF Fashion Show in Florence," she paused as Lauren – one of the managers recounted she did remember here and wondered what she could help her with today, "I was wondering if you had anything suitable for a neutrals shoot," she paused and almost punched in the air when she said she had just the shoes, "could you possibly have them driven over? I'll text you the address and the sizes you need – you're a life saver! Okay goodbye.

"Once again I am so sorry," she apologized, "the shoes will be here in fifteen minutes," she said texting the sizes and address as she spoke, the stylist nodded and returned to the models, Naomi turned to Amelle, the girl with her ice-white-blonde hair cut into a 60s boyish bob and glared at her, "I can't believe it, I asked you to do once think and you messed up – Jesus Amelle I'm not your fricking mother or babysitter, I'm not meant to have to watch you like a hawk when you're buying some shoes for a photo shoot!" Amelle turned to walk away from her but Naomi wasn't letting her off that easily, "You can be sure Maria is going to here about this Amelle."

"If you wanted it done a different away either do it yourself or give me more resources." Naomi was this close to punching her but turned away, she needed to focus upon ensuring that the stylist was kept happy, she had been doing swimmingly so far in pleasing stylists and the stylists, especially the ones on US Kisses & Lies were notoriously hard to please, she had to hope that this little bump in the road wasn't going to cause her any more problems.

.

"So Navid wanted what exactly?" Silver asked as she sipped at her iced tea.

Adrianna shrugged, "To ask me to try and smooth things over…whining about not having any friends and how none of us cared about him…he even said he'd considered suicide," Silver looked as though her world had fallen apart at that moment, "oh come on Silver it's not like he'd actually do it, he's being theatrical and ridiculous and attention-seeking, he's being Navid. Besides losing us wouldn't make him think about suicide anyway would it? As long as he knows you care about him, he knows you don't just close your heart because you stop being with someone…I mean you and Teddy are case and point, he came out as gay and you still act like bestfriends around one another."

"Yeah well…maybe he has his reasons," she said cagily, casting her eyes around the Beach Club absent-mindedly, "did he talk about anything other than wanting to get us back as friends?"

She shook her head, "He's still completely head-over-heels in love with you," her eyes lit up as Naomi cruised into the beach club looking cool and composed, she lifted down her enormous D & G sunglasses and Adrianna gaped, clearly she was pissed off, with someone, she looked as though she was ready to smash up whoever it was with a baseball bat, "so what's wrong with you? Did the Count call or something?"

"That fricking intern at work…beyond useless…it's like fricking hell all I asked you to do was buy some shoes, you're a girl and you work in fashion – how hard can that be?" She touched her hands to her temples and flagged down a server, "Can I have a Sea Breeze," the server turned on his heel but Naomi called out after him, "heavy on the vodka, less cranberry juice."

"This really must be bad huh?" Silver asked perking up, "You're drinking in the afternoon." She and Adrianna both giggled but Naomi made a voice that sounded somewhere between a snarl and an actual growl. "So what did the intern do buy the wrong shoes?"

"She bought completely the wrong shoes…I mean I thought Navid was fashionably challenged but she made him look like Alexander Wang," she declared boldly and then made an apologetic face when she realized Navid might not be everyone's favourite topic, "I mean it was literally as if she wasn't even serious about the shoot, she'd like completely misunderstood what it was meant to be about – she had like no idea. And then she said that if I wanted it done a certain way I should have done it myself? She's the fricking intern!"

Silver nodded, finishing her iced-tea and shaking it slightly to attract the attention of the server moving about the room with the jug, she refilled it to the top of the glass, "On a completely different note have any of you heard from Annie or Liam?"

"I haven't spoken to them," Naomi said, hungrily sipping at her cocktail as it arrived, "why are they m.i.a?"

Silver shrugged uncertainly, "I was trying to text Teddy to see if he'd pick up Teddy from the Police Station once he was done talking to the Cop but I didn't get a reply, and then I text Annie asking if she'd mind and if then she'd swing by here for a drink with us…I guess…maybe they're just doing couple stuff…I mean Annie had a lot of stuff on."

"Speaking of couples m.i.a have you spoken to Ivy or Dixon?" Adrianna prompted on the same thread, "I was supposed to be speaking to Ivy about her coming on the show to talk about unconventional career paths for women…it's something that the Studio Head came up with not me," she hastily added catching sight of Silver's thunderous look, "I was meant to meet her for a coffee but she never text me back."

"It's probably nothing," Naomi said, finishing her cocktail in three giant gulps and shaking her glass as Silver had for a refill, she grabbed the server's hand before he sped away, "heavier on the vodka." He nodded and departed.

.

"Are you awake?" Annie asked faintly and she heard Liam cough in response, she could feel the ropes cutting into their hands, the ones that were tying them back to back in some dusty, dirty warehouse. Why was it always a warehouse they got taken to? Couldn't they have gone to the trouble of renting a condo with a sea view.

"I think…unfortunately," Liam murmured jokily but his tone cut out, "do you know who they are?"

"No I don't…but clearly they're criminals."

"Your Liam Court right?" a voice sad from the darkness, the figure was just a silhouette in the darkness at the edge of their dust-marred vision.

"Who wants to know?" Liam piped up boldly; a shot rang out, zooming skyward somewhere in the warehouse: a warning not to be cocky.

"Your Dad owes us a lot of money son, and we think taking you and your wife makes for a pretty good ransom don't you?" a second voice murmured.

.

Hope you liked Chapter 6,

Reviews and responses welcomed and appreciated,

Acrobat

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