Chapter 8

That afternoon adam had just arrived in new York and at his parents' house,after his mother had picked him up from the airport,when his sister came home;"Hi,Karen,ready to get married?"

"Ofcourse."laughed she;"When are you going to get married finally?"

"Karen!"warned her mother her quickly;"That isn't funny."

"You're right,mom."said Karen when she saw the look on adam's face and realized what time of year it was;"I'm sorry,adam,that was a bad joke."

"It's okay."answered he;"So where's your husband-to-be?"

"Carlos is still at work,but he'll be here tonight."said his sister;"Why didn't you bring your new girlfriend with you,adam,I'd love to meet her."

"I wanted to,but she couldn't take the time off."

"Maybe they can come together in the fall or something."smiled Elizabeth cory;"Even doctors have to take time off sometimes."

At the hospital back in baycity mary was sitting next to vince's bed when Jamie came into the room;"Hi,mary."

"Hi,Jamie."said she looking up;"Is there any news yet?"

"I didn't get all the testresults back yet,but so far it doesn't look good."answered the young doctor;"But he seems to be hanging in there and atleast he got through the night again,so that's a good sign."

"Does this mean that he's gonna pull through this?"asked mary;"Is he gonna be okay again,jamie?"

"I wish I could promise you that,mary,but I can't."started he slowly;"Vince had a massive heartattack and he's lucky to still be alive,but we're gonna do everything that we can to help him through this."

"Will he need surgery or something,Jamie?"

"It's too early to tell,mary,but surgery might be an option down the road."

"I warned him about seeing a doctor time after time."said his friend with tears in her eyes;"But he just wouldn't listen,Jamie,maybe I should have forced him."

"Hey,it's not your fault,mary,you couldn't have known that this was gonna happen and vince isn't the kind of guy you can just force to go and see a doctor."answered Jamie as he put his arms around her;"Vince is a strong man and I'm sure that he will fight as hard as he can to get through this."

Amanda was waiting for sharlene,her gynecologist and also part of her family,when she came out of her office;"Hi,Amanda,you're up."

"Hi,sharlene."said she and followed her into the office;"How is everything with john?"

"Fine,but let's talk about you right now,Amanda,how are you feeling?"asked sharlene;"In less then three months you're finally gonna become a mother."

"I know and sometimes that scares me a bit."answered Amanda softly;"What if something goes wrong again?"

"Last year you were almost three months pregnant when it went wrong and this pregnancy has been going just fine up until now."started she slowly;"But I would advice you again not to go horsebackriding anymore,Amanda,your mother told me that you're still riding and it's better to stop doing that until after the baby is born."

"She did what?"asked her patient angry;"My mother had no right to do that!"

"Calm down,Amanda,getting all worked up isn't good for you or for the baby!"warned sharlene her;"Your mother only told me because she's worried about you and so am I,honey,you should know by now that you're not suppose to go horsebackriding anymore."

"That still doesn't give her the right to talk to you about me behind my back!"

"I'm glad she did because I have to know these things as your doctor and I want you to promise me that you won't go horseback riding until after the baby is born!"

"If it will make you happy then I will promise not to go horseback riding while I'm still pregnant."answered Amanda;"Okay?"

"Okay."smiled her doctor;"All we want is for you and the baby to be safe and sound,Amanda,we all care about you."

Cheryl was walking towards her car,that was parked in the parkinglot at tops,after she'd left chad's room when she ran into cass;"What are you doing here?"

"I was here to talk to felica."laughed he;"What's your excuse?"

"That's none of your business."said Cheryl angry and wanted to walk away;"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Hey,get back here."started her brother-in-law surprised as he grabbed her arm and stopped her;"Now you're gonna tell me what is going on with you!"

"There is nothing going on with me!"answered she and tried to push cass away;"Just leave me alone!"

"No,you're going to tell me why you've been acting so strange eversince your father has been in the hospital."said cass;"Come on,Cheryl,we're all worried about you."

"What is going on here?"asked a man that suddenly appeared and turned towards Cheryl;"Is this man hurting you,miss?"

"No,I'm her brother-in-law."answered cass annoyed as he let go off cheryl's arm and turned towards the man;"This is family-business,so go away!"

"I wasn't talking to you,mister,but to her!"said the man and wanted to turn back towards Cheryl to ask her something when he saw that she was gone;"Where did she go?"

"Thanks a lot!"started cass angry and walked away to see where Cheryl had gone;"Damned!"

That night jake was just coming out of the shower when the doorbell rang and when he opened up the door Vicky was standing there;"Are you still mad at me?"

"I wasn't mad at you."answered jake as he let her in;"I'm just mad at the whole situation."

"I know and I promise that we won't have to be sneaking around for much longer,jake."promised his girlfriend;"I'm going to tell my family about us."

"Maybe you shouldn't do that just yet,Vicky,I don't want you getting into trouble with your family."started he slowly while he put his arms around her and kissed her;"I love you and I want everybody to know about us,but I can wait a little bit longer."

But what was all that about at lunch then,jake,I thought that you were through with sneaking around with me?"

"That was me being a real jerk,baby,I was just upset with everything that has been going on lately."said jake;"Things don't look good for my uncle right now and at a time like this I'd just wish I could have held you in my arms in public,but I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."

"You've told me that you love me twice today."smiled she and kissed him;"It's been a long time since you've told me that."

"Maybe I should say it more often then."laughed her boyfriend and lifted her up into his arms;"I love you,Victoria Hudson,even if you do drive me crazy sometimes."

"I don't know if I should kiss you or hit you,jake ."answered Vicky while she let him carry her up to his bedroom;"I don't drive you crazy."

"Yes,you do,baby,but I love you anyway."smiled he teasing;"We will tell everybody about us soon enough and until then I can wait,Vicky,I can do anything as long as I've got you."

Adam hadn't been the only one thinking about his weddingday two years ago,because mary was thinking back about the day that should have been the happiest day in her daughter's life.

She was sitting next to vince's bed at the hospital,while she was thinking about the talk she and m.j. had at the chapel…

*****

Mary looked surprised at her daughter,who was looking really upset and who was crying;"What's wrong,sweetheart,why are you crying?"

"It's over,mama,there isn't gonna be a wedding."cried m.j.;"It's over!"

"What are you talking about,honey?"asked her mother confused and put her arms around her daughter;"Did you and adam have a fight?"

"He hates me,mama,he really hates me!"answered she and turned away from her mother;"It's over!"

"It can't be that bad,honey,I'm sure that adam doesn't hate you and that he will be here any minute now to make up with you again."said mary;"You're both just nervous about today and it's easy to say the wrong things at a time like this,but I know for a fact that adam loves you and that whatever he said he didn't mean it."

"You don't understand,mama,you didn't see the look in his eyes when he…."began m.j. and stopped;"He really hates me now and it's all my own fault."

"Why don't you just tell me what happened,sweetheart."asked her mother worried;"Maybe I can help you."

"No!"yelled she almost,freaking out;"I can't tell you what happened,mama,if I told you then you would hate me too!"

"No,I could never hate you!"said mary confused;"What did you do that was so terrible."

"Adam found out that I'd been working as an escortgirl while I was living in Chicago."answered her daughter and sat down on the ground,crying again,when she saw the shocked look on her mother's face;"I was right,mama,now you hate me too just like adam!"

"I don't hate you,sweety."said she still in shock and sat down next to her daughter while she put her arms around her;"I'm just a bit shocked,but that doesn't mean I hate you."

*****

Mary had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard ben coming in until he softly touched her arm;"Mom?"

"I didn't hear you come in,ben."said she softly as she looked up;"Have you been here long?"

"No,I just got here."answered her son a bit worried;"Maybe you should go home and go to bed early tonight,mom,you look exhausted."

"Maybe you're right."smiled mary sadly and got up;"Maybe going to bed early for once would do me some good."