Lucas could hear the buzzing from Lance's television and tried to find comfort in the sound. His son was home safe. The love of his life wasn't lying in a hospital bed. When Dillon had suggested they go home, Lucas hadn't seen a single reason to stay. Georgie had gotten a call from Steven and left Maxie in charge of Morgan. From what he understood it, Mac would be there about this time. He had probably missed him by minutes. Lucas was relieved he wasn't there to witness that confrontation and there would be one because Mac was the only one who loved Robin as much as Patrick did. The love was different but absolute. Lucas bowed his head, his shoulders trembling.

Had he been too late? It was the question he had been asking himself since last night. If he hadn't wasted those precious seconds calling the police, anticipating the worst, he might have been able to get her and Morgan out without anyone getting shot, but if he hadn't done that, would she have received treatment immediately? The answer to the latter was no. The closest hospital was almost half an hour away and she would have bled out by then. Would Dr. Lansing be able to find out which medication had triggered her seizure? Would Dr. Walker decide that Robin wasn't going to survive much longer and therefore a transfusion would be futile? He couldn't close his eyes without being ambushed by the questions. The worst part was that he had no definitive answers.

He realized Dillon was watching him from the kitchen. He turned toward his husband, tears in his eyes. Dillon was the only person he felt comfortable crying in front of, but it was never something he liked to do. What did crying do for him? For anyone? B.J. had died. Carly had died. Would Robin be one more sister he couldn't save?

Dillon didn't hesitate. Seeing the tears forming in Lucas's eyes, he flew to where his husband sat and held him close. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault."

"Then whose is it?" Lucas crumbled. "I didn't stop any of this from happening. I was too late."

"But you saved them. If you hadn't put the bug on the phone, Logan might have killed them both and we would have never found them." Dillon pointed out, rubbing Lucas's back gently. "Face it babe. You're the hero."

"And if Robin dies? Am I still the hero?"

"She's not going to die."

"Because bad things never happen to good people?" Lucas challenged, never looking up.

"No." Dillon retorted. "Because it doesn't fit with the script I'm writing."

"Rewrites occur all the time."

"But not on my watch." Dillon placed his hand under Lucas's chin and forced his husband to look at him. "Robin isn't going to die because she's fought too hard for too long to quit now. She's too damn stubborn to quit. Besides you know her control issues. Is she really going to leave all decisions up to Patrick in regards to how Morgan and Nathan are to be brought up?"

Lucas smiled. "No I guess not."

"You guess not? You know not." Dillon corrected. "You did what you had to do. You saved the day. And there is nothing wrong with that. And Robin will tell you the same thing herself. Just give her a little bit of time to recover."

"I guess she did take a bullet to shoulder and give birth in the same night."

"Exactly. She's going to need more than an artfully placed bandage on her head."

"Are TV shows still doing that?" Lucas asked in surprise.

"Only the unwatchable ones."

"What's going on?" Lance asked from the top of the stairs. He yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Nothing." Dillon smiled up at their son. "Daddy Lucas is just being silly."

"Aren't you going to read me a story?" Lance asked his parents. "I can't go to sleep without it." He reminded them just in case they tried to back out. They had started this nap thing after all.

"Of course we are." Dillon stood up and offered his hand out to Lucas. "Aren't we?"

"There have been rumors of a mysterious little engine that could." Lucas smirked. "Have you brushed your teeth?"

"Yes." Lance smiled wide enough to show his teeth. As they headed up the stairs, he looked up at Dillon. "How come I had to go to Great Grandma and Grandpa's?"

Dillon bit his lip. "Robin and Morgan were in an accident and we had to go see what all was going on." He explained gently. "We thought you'd rather have fun with Great Grandma and Grandpa."

"They okay?"

"They will be."

*****

"Look I'm gonna hire someone. It might as well be you." The expressionless actor on the TV screen stated lazily.

"Do you mind if I think about it?" His counterpart inquired.

"Yeah, sure. Take your time." The older actor accepted, leaving the makeshift home.

"I don't understand this show." Sam admitted, turning it to mute. "I honestly don't. A mobster retires from the mob and oh, of course they won't go after the kid. Why would they go after the kid?" She was spooked when the front door opened and David stepped inside.

"Talking to yourself again? I keep telling you that show is bad for your health."

"But there's so much pretty." Sam argued, laughing when he flopped down beside her. "You look terrible." She commented, brushing his hair off his forehead.

"Long night." He admitted taking hold of her hand.

"You wanna tell me about it? Can you tell me about it?"

"It's probably all over the news already." David sat up and looked her in the eye. It was a miracle she hadn't already heard about this. "Robin was shot last night. She went into labor and last I heard is still in critical condition."

"Oh my God." Sam breathed. "Shot?"

"Logan. You remember him right?"

"Maxie told me a few stories."

"According to Lulu Spencer, he was in on the kidnapping with Emily Quartermaine and it looks like he wasn't too happy about it not working out all that well. He had apparently been stalking her. If that private eye, Lucas, hadn't shown up when he did..." David didn't want to finish the sentence. He knew what would have happened if Jones hadn't shown up when he did.

"You said she gave birth. Is the baby okay?"

"Yeah. A little boy. He seems to be ok."

"And Robin?"

"The commissioner wasn't too open with the details. Last I heard she had some sort of reaction and wasn't responding well."

"I bet her family is a wreck." How could she not have heard about this before now? Oh, she remembered. Soap opera marathon.

"Understatement." David rolled his neck with his hands. "I only came home for a quick shower. I have to get back out there. Mac's stationed himself at the hospital and the station is a little crazy right now."

"Have you had anything to eat?"

"Some coffee at some point."

"Then you go take your shower and I'll put together the one thing I can cook: grilled cheese."

"Sounds perfect." He leaned over and kissed her lightly. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Not for me. However I'm sure Mac and Alexis would appreciate any gestures right now."

He was right. She might be having a little trouble figuring out where she fit, but that didn't mean she was going to sit this one out. Okay so things were a little weird between her and Alexis, but she could go and see if Maxie needed anything; maybe she could take Kristina to a movie. "You're right." Sam nodded, pushing him toward the stairs. "No falling asleep in the shower."

"I know one way to keep that from happening."

"What's that?"

He lifted his eyebrow and whispered in her ear. "I'd be willing to show you."

"As long as you're willing."

"Always with you Samantha. Always with you."

"If I write you a doctor's note, will you stay home?"

"Depends on if you're offering to play nurse."

"I think I have an outfit perfect for it."

*****

She could feel the sunlight before she could see it. Even though her little apartment had a crappy heater, at least she got the morning sunlight. It made facing the world a little bit easier on the increasingly few days when she felt like facing the world. Slowly blinking her eyes, Lulu tried to place exactly how she got into her bed the night before. She could vaguely remember the hospital, coming back…

Her eyes opened wider. Evan. He had taken her home. He had to be the reason she was in bed and not collapsed in a hallway corner somewhere. Turning over, she nearly jumped when she spotted him leaning against her headboard, his eyes carefully trained on her.

"Morning Sleepyhead."

"Morning." Lulu sat up a little straighter, conscientious enough to straighten out her shirt and pull it down over her stomach. "How long have you been here?"

"Since last night." Evan confirmed.

He had been there all night? "Did you sleep at all?"

"I can go days without sleep." He countered stretching.

"You don't look like it."

"Thanks a lot." He replied wryly.

"No...I mean..." Lulu shook her head, briefly wondering why she suddenly cared about making sure he understood her correctly. "I mean you look like you need it."

"I wanted to make sure you slept. I'll take that over sleep anytime."

"You didn't have to do that." She said softly.

"I wanted to."

"Why?" She was genuinely curious. It wasn't as if they were best friends.

"Because I don't trust anyone else to take care of you." He admitted. "And at least seeing for myself that you were alright was better than worrying you weren't."

"Well you can see I'm fine now. You can go home."

"I'm going to make breakfast first." Evan argued, slipping off the bed.

"You don't...you don't have to do that." Lulu protested as she followed him. "I can make my own breakfast."

"You're welcome to help." Evan conceded.

"Cassidy."

"Leslie." He said with a chuckle.

"About yesterday..."

"What about it?" He selected a skillet and placed it on the stove.

Biting her lip, she stared at a pile of unpaid bills on her table. "Thank you."

"No problem." He said waving off her embarrassment. "Scrambled?"

"Yeah." She watched him make his way into her kitchen and find everything with little difficulty. It was a bit off-putting seeing him feel so comfortable in her home, especially given how hard she had tried to make him feel the exact opposite. "Are you actually a good cook or is this some elaborate payback for all the hell I've given you?"

"What do you think?" He turned away from the skillet and gave her his full attention.

"I've not exactly given you abundant reasons to be nice to me."

"Good point."

"So what's the answer?"

"What was the question?" He bit back a grin.

Lulu shot him a dirty look. She was genuinely trying to be nice to him and he was making it impossible to continue. "Are you always this annoying?"

"Nope. This takes work." He threw some salt and pepper on the eggs and removed the skillet from the burner, stirring for a second before leaving the kitchen.

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's a custom Americans have called breakfast." Evan said slowly.

"Funny. You are deliberately not answering me."

"Why does it bother you so much?" he wondered.

"I ask a question. It's common to expect an answer."

"Because you've been so forthcoming?"

"It doesn't matter what I tell you. You already have the right answer in your head."

"I'm a good cook." He knew better than to elaborate.

"Thank you." She could tell by his expression that he had no intention of answering her other question, but some part of her told her not to push her luck right now. For reasons she didn't get, he had stuck by her last night when by all rights he should have left her alone. Her family would have suffocated her, but eventually she would have been able to escape.

Chewing her bottom lip, she glanced at her watch. Last night she was supposed to help Vermin—there was a girl he had his eye on—but somehow Logan had managed to foul up her life again. Now she would have to deal not only with an overly curious family, but an angry Vermin as well. "I need to go soon."

"Do you want a ride to the hospital?" He didn't want to think of an alternative route. She didn't have to depend on the night for cover if she wanted to get rid of some drugs and he still had the suspicion that she was helping the scum unload their supply.

"No. Thanks but I have to meet up with someone. They can drop me off."

"Leslie." He didn't like it, but he had been expecting it. He had to let it go.

"Look you said it yourself. You are no longer obligated to baby-sit me. It's fine. Thanks for last night and everything, but your job is done Cassidy."

"I wasn't working." Evan said through gritted teeth.

"Whatever you want to chalk last night up to then. An overdeveloped sense of chivalry. You'd probably get along great with my brother. Thank you for last night. Thank you for breakfast. You didn't have to do any of it and I appreciate it. But I have to handle some things and you have work don't you?"

"Yes." He had completely disregarded his responsibilities last night, but he couldn't keep doing that. They would wonder where he had been and he wouldn't have been surprised if the commissioner had a lashing waiting for him the second he showed up.

"I know you don't..." He let his words trail off. What was happening to him? She was a grown woman. She had gotten herself into this mess—but what if she hadn't? What if there was some piece of the puzzle that he hadn't intercepted yet? The file, he suddenly remembered. He had to get a look at her file and he had to do it without anyone realizing because he was off the case. Like he had wanted.

"See? There you go then. We both have to go back to our actual lives."

He took his first good look at her of the day and noticed how dark the circles under her eyes were. Yes, she had slept in his company, but it seemed to him she would need more than one full night of rest before the exhaustion would leave her body. "Promise you won't get mad."

"Why would I need to promise that?"

"Just promise." Evan insisted.

"Fine."

"You have a little something..." He ran his thumb under her eye and was a little relieved when he determined that some of the darkness was due to her falling asleep wearing eye makeup. "You might want to get cleaned up before you go out. I mean, if you're going to convince anyone, your family especially..."

"There is nothing wrong with me. I don't think my appearance is high on my family's worry list right now." She pointed out, glancing away quickly. Staring at the corner of her couch kept her from touching the exact spot he had just touched and starting an investigation into why she could almost still feel his fingertips on her.

"It was just a suggestion." Evan shrugged. "You have an advantage both in the sleep-deprived college student story and the fact that everyone is worried about your cousin's wife." His words were sharper than he had intended. Her eyes went almost black in defense.

"I think it's best you leave now."

"Going." He assured her, grabbing his jacket and walking away from her. He stopped just before reaching the door and threw over his shoulder, "Have a good life...or at least a good pretense of one."

"You too."