Alexis knelt down and brought her hands to her face blocking her intake of oxygen as the inside of her hand pressed against her nose and mouth. She had managed to keep it together for the better part of the night, but there was no one here to prove anything to. Mac was with Maxie and she had snuck out of her room during the nurses' shift change without anyone even noticing. She was still sick whether or not she was lying in that hospital bed. What had brought her into this small chapel she didn't know. She wasn't even an avid churchgoer. If not for her tenure at Catholic school, she probably wouldn't even know who God was let alone that He sent His only son to Earth to show the people the magnitude in which He loved them. Desperation, she decided. Desperation had brought her to this altar and it forced her to bow her head in unworthiness.
What had she done? Was she not been living the life she should be? Was it too soon to accept Mac's proposal? The questions spun in front of her eyes and she had to fight back the urge to be sick. She had about given up on the ridiculous aspects of karma until she was able to put both Sonny and Jason behind bars. Yes, Sonny was Kristina's father but at least now she was...she was safe. A cry tore from Alexis' throat and she had to grab onto the corner of the step to keep from losing her balance. Kristina was supposed to be safe damn it! Why wasn't she? What kind of monster broke into a little girl's bedroom and just took her? No, she wasn't naïve enough to believe that she had single-handedly gotten rid of every scrap of evil in this town, but she had watched so much of the ugliness leave when the Five Families were disbanded.
Alexis took the cell phone from her back pocket having changed into real clothes for her little outing. She had stolen the phone from the inside of Mac's jacket. The time read one in the morning. Her baby had been missing for almost six hours. She should have been at home in her bed snuggled up with her Teddy Bear, lost in her sweet dreams. Alexis knew this was not the case, not tonight. Tonight her baby was alone and scared and she didn't want to think about—but she had to think about it. She didn't want to be immobilized by it, but if she didn't face it—she still had to be the District Attorney. Her job required her to stare facts straight in the face. She didn't fabricate evidence. She never brought a case to a judge without knowing from the beginning that she had it in the bag. How was she supposed to look her daughter's kidnapper in the face and still be able to uphold the law?
"Are you cold my precious baby girl? Are you scared?" She screamed aloud, showing little concern for the respect of the church. It was just a chapel located in the middle of a hospital set in a town that was so corrupt sometimes their drinking water ran red with it. "I'll get you back. I'll bring you home to me and then I'll kill whoever did this." Her words surprised her. Such malice, such contempt coming out of her mouth when she had always been so repulsed by violence.
"You should be with me." She muttered angrily. "You should be in my arms." The weight on her shoulders so heavy she couldn't hold head up, she let it hang down. "I never should have left you alone. When I got sick the first time, I should have taken all the necessary precautions and gotten rid of it once and for all. I wasn't expecting you to come into my life, my miracle. Had I known, had I realized..." The rest of the declaration was lost in a string of broken sobs.
"You must think I never even cared for you since Mac came into the picture for the way I treated you. I ignored you and your fears because they were similar to mine and I couldn't handle them. Your questions were—are—mine." Gulping, she scraped her palms over her tear-stained face. "You are a fighter, do you hear me Kristina? Can you hear me? Listen to Mommy. You are so strong. When you were a baby and you got sick I knew—I knew you would fight. I still worried though, God I worried. This is no different. You will fight this; you will stay strong for Mommy. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to—" The chirping of Mac's cell phone cut her off. Clearing her throat, she flipped it open and scanned the number only to be told that the number was anonymous as was the caller's identity. "This is D.A. Davis." She stated without preamble.
Well hello D.A. Davis." A monotonous voice greeted her wickedly. "I wasn't expecting you to answer, but I'm so very glad you did."
"Who is this?" Alexis wanted to know.
"Who I am is not important," the voice assured her, "only who I have."
Alexis felt all of the air in her lungs rush out as she tried to push down her hysteria. "Is this the person who was at my home tonight?"
"No." The voice had the audacity to laugh. "But I am looking at your beautiful daughter. She's such a peaceful sleeper."
Alexis shot to her feet in anguish. "If you touch one hair on her head—!"
"You'll what? Get big, bad Sonny Corinthos out of prison and send him to come and hunt me down? Please. The man couldn't find his dick in the dark if his life depended on it." The voice went on, amused.
"I want to talk to my daughter." Alexis ordered.
"Sorry. She's sleeping. I'd hate to wake her up. She had such a hard time falling asleep."
"What did you do to her?" The mother in Alexis demanded to know.
"Nothing. Once she realized that we weren't going to hurt her, she relaxed."
"What assurances do I—have that she's not been hurt? You won't let me talk to her, you won't address yourself..."
"Oh don't worry. We've got big plans for both of you."
"Why are you doing this?" Alexis pleaded. "She's just a little girl!"
"Is it unsettling to realize that you pose a bigger threat to your daughter's life than her father ever did?"
"What is it that you want? Please, I can get you whatever you want." The mother was front and center. She was done with negotiations. Having Kristina home and safe in her arms was the only acceptable outcome.
There was a long pause as if the caller was trying to articulate his or her demands perfectly. "I want you to know loss." And then the line went dead.
"KRISTINA!" Alexis shrieked into the phone.
"Whoever you are, please tell me this is worth it." Lucky grumbled sleepily into the phone. He had just started to drift off, uncomfortably scrunched into hospital chairs he was convinced were designed for little people, when his phone rang. It was one in the morning and phone calls at this hour were rarely worth it or brought about good news.
"Lucky." Patrick breathed in relief. He had been trying his cousin's phone for the better part of the night, but apparently he had had it turned off.
"Patrick?" Lucky rubbed his eyes in confusion. "I thought you were a fanatic about getting your full beauty sleep."
"I so rarely need it." Patrick quipped. "Have you seen Robin?"
"About an hour or so ago. She's down in Maxie's room right now."
"How is Maxie?"
"She's going to survive, physically at least. Mentally I'm not so sure." He could only imagine the guilt trip the younger girl was laying on her right now. There was most likely nothing she could have done, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to think of a million scenarios to prove that incorrect.
"What do you mean?"
"There was nothing she could do. But I don't think anyone is going to convince her of that for a good long time."
Patrick stared at the phone as if he didn't understand its purpose. "Nothing she could have done about what? All I know is Maxie was taken to the hospital. I don't know why."
Understanding started to catch up with his sleep-addled brain. Lucky rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Robin didn't call you."
"She called long enough to tell Morgan goodnight." Patrick replied.
Of all the times Robin had to pick to be self-sufficient, she had picked this one. She hadn't called Patrick to give him any more details than she knew when the hospital called her. And now, if Lucky knew his cousin, Patrick was close to driving everyone in the family a little nuts right now. "I thought she told you. I would have called you earlier if I knew she hadn't," he groaned.
"Lucky, please tell me what's going on." Patrick begged him.
"Kristina was kidnapped while Maxie was babysitting. The bastard came right into her room. Maxie tried to stop him, which is how she got hurt."
"Kidnapped?" Patrick breathed. He had to sit down. "Do the police have any suspects?"
"Not that I know of. I think Mac still has people all over the house."
"Damn it, why didn't she just call and tell me that? I've been going out of my mind here. Did you know there were different types of Macaroni and Cheese? Did you know Morgan was allergic to tuna, because I sure didn't?" Patrick felt a little more comfortable in his ramble because it allowed him to focus on anything but the dire situation. "Do you know if she's slept at all?"
"If she has, it's with her eyes open." He had tried to convince her to sit down, rest for just a few minutes, but it had been impossible. She had run back to Maxie's room, trying to fix the impossible.
"Shit." Patrick cursed tiredly. "If she's not home by the morning I'm coming to get her. I didn't realize..."
"If she's still here in the morning, I'll drive her home myself." Lucky promised. "And I'll sic Elizabeth on her for worrying her to death too." He added for good measure.
"You okay?" Patrick asked casually.
"I'm fine." Lucky reassured him. The memories had come back, as he had feared but so far no nightmares had visited him.
"Call me if there's any change. Thank you for taking care of her."
"You're the first one on the list. And she's family." His meaning was clear. There were no thanks necessary for doing what you did for family. He would have done nothing different if it had been Lulu or Lucas who called this night.
Georgie rubbed her nose against Steven's left cheek since it seemed he had started to doze on her. His liquid blue eyes were glazed over when they met hers and she smiled like a dope as she snuggled up to him. The morning was crisp and that fact persuaded Steven to pull the covers more tightly around them, something that earned him a sweet, brief kiss. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth when she said, "I've never stayed up all night before."
Steven quirked one eyebrow skyward. "Never? Not even to study?" he teased her before kissing the tip of her nose.
"I usually finish work during class discussion." Georgie confessed quietly as if she were admitting to cheating on her taxes.
Laughing at her embarrassment, Steven pulled her closer to him, resting her head on his chest. He gently stroked her hair, long since disheveled from the up-do she had when he picked her up the night before. "So was it everything you dreamed of?"
"Well..." Georgie feigned deep thought, absentmindedly stroking her index finger over his chest where his heart lay beating loudly beneath his clothing.
"Brat." Steven declared tickling her sides.
"No...Steven, stop it!" Georgie giggled, trying to get away from his tricky fingers.
"No. No. Not until you admit you had a good time."
"Best night of my life." Her whispered response was more than enough for him and he, instead, wrapped her in his arms.
Gazing into her ginger-colored eyes, Steven tucked a piece of stray piece of hair behind her ear. Dropping a soft kiss to her lips, he pulled back just an inch . "Happy birthday."
"It sure was." Georgie replied flippantly.
"That sounds like someone making fun." Steven said evenly, wiggling his fingers threateningly on her sides.
"No. I'm not. I promise." Georgie held up her hands in surrender and Steven lightly tackled her so she was on her back in a matter of seconds.
"Are you sure?" he asked, lifting one eyebrow. "I'm not convinced."
"I'm sure." Georgie nodded leaning up to kiss him.
"I like negotiating with you." He tilted his head and deepened the kiss with ease.
Her cell phone chirped and they moaned in unison. "I knew I should have turned it off." Georgie remarked, wiggling out from under Steven—missing the slightly pinched features of his face—and retrieving the shrieked phone. "Hello?
"Thank God you aren't dead in a ditch!" Veronica's rushed voice sounded in her ear.
"Ronnie?" Georgie acknowledged in surprise. "I meant to call..."
"Don't listen to her." Lindsay interrupted. "I told her you were out with Mr. Wonderful and didn't want to be disturbed."
"She said she was going to be back and she wasn't. Did you want to call her father and tell him we let her go with an older man?" Veronica argued.
"Hey girls? I'm still here." Georgie reminded them with a chuckle.
"Hello? We were going to tell her sister who would totally understand. Get with the program here." Lindsay continued as if Georgie hadn't spoken at all.
"Okay, you two can fight this out. I'm hanging up now." Georgie assured them.
"No! Wait! Look, are you with him right now?" Lindsay asked.
Giving Steven an amused look Georgie replied, "Yes I am. We're pretty tired."
"It's always the quiet ones. I told you it was always the quiet ones." Lindsay said, clearly impressed.
"Damn girl. I thought you were the slow and steady type." Veronica whispered.
They locked eyes. "What can I say?" Georgie mused. "He's absolutely irresistible."
"Yeah like we are going to let you get away with that statement." Lindsay declared. "Are you at his place?"
"Uh huh."
"Did you sleep any at all?" Veronica asked.
"Nope. Up all night."
"I have one more question and you need to answer it honestly." Lindsay declared in all seriousness.
"No. I have to go. Steven's giving me that look." Georgie flipped her phone closed.
"What look?" Steven asked pulling her back down to him.
"Oh nothing. I didn't think it was any of their business what we were doing so I let them assume what they wanted." Georgie reasoned.
"This means they will call again in just a few minutes." Steven deduced.
"If you hadn't made me drop my phone last night, maybe the silent feature would still work." Georgie shook her finger at him in mock disappointment.
"I didn't hear you complain." He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to rest on his chest.
"Who's complaining?" She murmured with a smile.
"Certainly not me." Steven smiled as he lifted his mouth to kiss her again. He chuckled when her cell phone sounded once again. "Told you so." He teased.
"I'll get rid of them." Georgie promised. She gave him another of those quick kisses and picked up her phone. "This had better be life or death."
"Georgie?" Her sister's normally confident voice sounded strained.
"Hey Maxie." The one person Georgie had missed talking to. "What's up?"
"How was your birthday?"
Georgie couldn't help but smile in Steven's direction. "So far so good."
"Good. Good. I'm glad." Maxie's voice sounded distant and there was something Georgie had rarely heard in her big sister's voice. It almost sounded like Maxie had been crying.
"Okay, I give up. Why are you calling me? And why do you sound so...out of sorts?"
"Georgie..." Maxie's voice trailed off, as if she were gathering her thoughts. "I think you need to come home."
"What are you talking about? Alexis is getting better..."
"No she's not. Dad and Alexis lied to you because they didn't want to ruin your semester. But it's not Alexis. It's Kristina."
"Kristina?" Georgie couldn't figure out why her eyes immediately teared up—the defeat in her sister's voice maybe.
"She's been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?" Georgie echoed. "When?"
"Last night. I would have called sooner, but..."
"But what Maxie? But you couldn't be bothered? But you remembered that I'm the last to know everything? Well, which is it?" Georgie snapped angrily.
"Maybe Dad was busy investigating? Maybe Alexis was too busy blaming me and trying to not get worse? Maybe I'm in the hospital because I was on the losing end of a fight with a car? Maybe because it was your birthday? Take your pick." Maxie shot right back.
"A car?"
"I tried to fight the bastard but lost. When I chased him, I ran right into a car."
Georgie slid off of the bed, her back to Steven. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to jump all over you. Do we know anything?"
"Nothing."
"How long?"
"Seven hours ago."
"Start from the beginning."
"I was babysitting, she was kidnapped. I tried to stop him but I lost. It's not that great a story."
"I'm sorry." Georgie said because she couldn't think of anything else to say. Putting her hand over the phone, she whispered to Steven, "Where's your laptop?"
He pointed over toward his desk. "Right here. What's going on?"
Georgie ignored him for a minute and turned it on. Thankfully, it had only been on idle and she was already connected to the Internet. "I'm looking for a ticket home as we speak." She said to Georgie as Steven leapt off of the bed.
"I'll tell Robin. We'll see you soon."
"Maxie? Maxie!" Georgie realized she had been cut off. Tapping the keys loudly, she fought back tears.
"Hey. Hey." Steven rubbed her arms gently. "Talk to me. What's going on?"
"Alexis isn't getting better and my little sister was kidnapped last night." Georgie choked out. "Oh," she added bitingly, "and my older sister was hit by a car trying to save her."
"Come here." Steven pulled her into his arms and held her while the tears started to pour out of her eyes. Rocking her gently as she curled up on his lap, he whispered into her ear. "What to do you need? Just tell me what you need."
"Nothing. There's nothing you can do to make this better. I have to go home and you have to stay here." Georgie answered.
"Look at me." Steven tilted her head back. "You'll get through this. You're strong. And anything you set your mind to do, I have no doubt you'll do. Even if it's a cross-continental relationship."
"I'm going to miss you."
He kissed her forehead. "I'll miss you too. But there are always emails and phone calls."
"There is something you can do for me." Georgie murmured. "Kiss me until I have to leave."
"Done."