While Olivia had been more than sincere about always regarding Ciara as her sister-and not just because they still shared a brother; she was upset for her father at the bombshell he'd gotten from Julie Williams. 'How on earth are you ever going to tell her?'

'The question's when, kitten. Legally, she's my daughter and she'll always be but I don't know if she'll feel the same way about me when she finds out.'

'That's bullshit; of course she'll feel the same way!' Olivia exclaimed impatiently. 'Who else does she know as her father but you? You've loved and raised her from a baby and she's intelligent enough to regard that more important than the difference in blood type. Parent and child relationships aren't measured by blood, Dad.'

'Exactly what your mother said.'

'And I'm sure she's not the only one who's been reminding you of that.' Olivia hesitated before asking quietly, 'but does Shawn D know about this?' Shawn Douglas had rushed to be with his sisters after he was told of the accident over the phone.

'Yeah and he's very angry; wants us to tell Ciara the truth now. And that's not a good idea, not when she's so excited about the baby.'

'No… we can't have that, you can't tell her now. And if Big Brother insists on this; he'll get some words from me. Ciara's gone through enough drama.'

Bo ruffled his daughter's hair, now back to its natural unruly curls; touched by her unconditional support and her unchanged manner towards Ciara. If anything, the two girls were even closer now; since her long stay at the hospital, Ciara never failed to visit and bringing presents to cheer up her beloved sister- drawings, candy, apples and even some of her picture books which Olivia solemnly

read for her sake.

'Thanks, sweetie. And by the way, Lexie says we'll be able to take you home day after tomorrow.'

'Thank God! I'm already the scarecrow Shawn D keeps calling me; no thanks to the fare here.'

'I've been in here more times than I want to remember, so I completely feel your pain.' He grinned comfortingly. 'But never mind, your grandma's already organizing a welcome home dinner in your honour, so you're going to get back those lost pounds in no time.'

He ruffled her hair again. 'And I'm going to help you get that leg back into shape once the cast comes off.'

Olivia regarded the cast, already covered with loving messages from family and classmates, silently before turning to look at Bo, green eyes serious. 'By the way… did anyone call Nathan by any chance?'

Bo's lips tightened but he replied truthfully, 'Actually Maggie wanted to call him and I said no. But if you still want to see him I

could...'

'No, no… don't.' Olivia said quickly. 'I just wondered…' she shrugged. 'But if he can't be bothered to give me a call since we broke up then he's obviously not thinking about me at all… only his new exalted position over there at bloody Baltimore.' Her tone was bitter but she stolidly refused to give in to tears in front of her father; she wasn't about to let him treat her like a weak and helpless little girl.

Bo wished Nathan had found out about the accident and come back to Salem; but only so that he could seize the chance to kick his ass for hurting Olivia this way. 'I'm sorry, kitten.'

'No Dad, I'm alright, really. It's just… I took a lot of time to process what I felt about him, I thought he was the one. I loved him very much and he was so sweet and sincere when he said he wanted to be with me forever… or so I thought.'

Bo shook his head, holding her face with both hands. 'If he could think that any job was more important than you then he isn't worth fretting for. What I want you to do is concentrate on getting back on your feet instead of being miserable over Nathan Horton. Forget him, okay?'

Easier said than done, Olivia thought even as she nodded. She'd honestly believed in what she'd had inscribed on the medallion she'd given Nathan, never in a thousand years had she expected him to behave that way. She had to force herself to move on somehow.

'I have to get back to the station; I'll go find your Mum and say goodbye, okay?' he kissed her cheek, hugging her. 'I love you.'

'I love you too, Dad. See you later.' She smiled faintly, watching him go.

Carly was in her office going over some patients' charts when Bo slipped his arms round her from behind.

'Hey, you.' She said without turning round.

'I'm taking off; so I'll see you two later at home?'

Carly smiled, turning. 'The baby's no bigger than my finger right now.'

'But she's in there … hence two.' Parting the white coat, he bent, kissing her stomach. 'Don't you give your Mummy any trouble, okay Allyson?'

Carly giggled, stroking his hair. 'She might turn out to be a he and then what will we name him?'

Bo straightened, touching her face. 'Anything but Aurelius, that's for sure. Or Frederick, so don't you get any ideas, princess.'

'Aww….Frederick's a nice name…'

'Not for my son it's not.' Bo kissed her on the lips. 'Not negotiable at all, no way.'

'Well, we'll see about that.' Carly adjusted his collar. 'Did you and Olivia have a nice visit?'

'She's still upset about Nathan and I don't like it.' He replied, his face turning sober. 'I can't stand seeing that look in her eyes, Carly. She's hiding her pain but it's there right in front of me and I have to do something about it. I really think she should spend the summer at Chichén Itzá; if it's okay with Abe and Lexie, Tamara can go with her.'

'I still think that we should let Nathan know about the accident, you never can tell...'

'For the last time...no! And why are you still defending him?' Bo snapped.

'Just because he hasn't called her doesn't mean he's probably not feeling guilty for the way he left things between them, I don't want to believe his feelings for her weren't real the whole time.'

Bo's face didn't soften. 'He called my daughter "a distraction"; he chose to abandon her instead of letting it work between them so I don't call that love. Nathan's nothing but a selfish, ambitious brat and Olivia's far better off without him.'

'Why are you so unbending about this, Bo?'

'Because never expected it of him! If Mrs H was still here she would never condone what he did either.'

'No… she wouldn't.' Carly agreed, not bothering to remind him how Alice had tricked them into meeting at her house in the desperate bid to have him stop her from marrying Victor. Pride didn't let him and as for her, she'd foolishly given up on him, despite her love. Olivia and Nathan might still be able to work things out if they didn't allow pride and fear push them further apart but if what Bo said was true about Nathan preferring to further his career instead, she wasn't going to pursue it.

'Well, maybe going to Mexico will do her a lot of good then.' She smoothed back his hair. 'Look at you all protective.'

'I'm protective of the people I love very much; you know me long enough to know that, princess.' He smiled; face finally softening as he leaned over to kiss her again, caressing her stomach. 'This little one in you is going to have the best of me; and I'm going to be by your side the moment he or she comes into the world.'

'I know it means a lot to you,' Carly said softly, holding on to the lapels of his jacket. 'And it means a lot to me that you'll be there this time; holding my hand.'

'You bet I'm going to be there,' he vowed softly, stroking her hair. 'You're going to look so beautiful, all big and round.'

'More like bloated and pale.' She scoffed. 'Cranky and nauseous… not to mention hormonal.'

'You sure paint a pretty vivid picture.'

'I'm just warning you, you haven't seen me that way before, remember?'

'All the more reason why I can't wait to.' He kissed her one more time. 'And you're going to be so beautiful whether you think so or not. My princess in her bloom.'

:::::::::::::

Olivia looked up from the magazine she was reading at the sound of the door opening again, her eyebrows rising. 'EJ, what…'

Forgetting her leg was in a cast she tried to sit up better then winced, cursing loudly.

'Hey, hey… don't hurt yourself!' EJ admonished, hurrying to her side, settling her back on the pillows, adjusting them more securely behind her back.

Olivia wanted to tartly tell him she was not a child but the concerned look on his face stilled her words. 'You know very well you aren't supposed to be here.'

'It's a risk I'm willing to take. Or are you going to yell for security and have me thrown out?' EJ challenged her as he boldly sat on the bed.

Olivia sighed exasperatedly but shook her head. Once again he'd gone out of his way to rescue her; she'd heard the whole story from Lexie. 'No… I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound ungrateful.'

'I didn't come here to cause any trouble for you; I just needed to see you very much.' The ghastly image flashed in his mind again; Olivia covered in blood and broken glass… limp and helpless in his arms. 'You already know how much I care about you, what happened that day…'

Moved by the genuine emotion in his voice, Olivia moved towards him and EJ slipped his arms tightly round her, pressing a heartfelt kiss on the side of her neck. 'I'm so glad you're safe! If anything had happened to you…'

Olivia was aware of her heart racing again as she nestled in EJ's arms and the stunning bolt of electricity stabbing her body. It was insane… she was still in love with Nathan, why was she so aware of EJ DiMera anytime they saw each other these days? And since they'd met, he's been so kind and sweet to her; not the villain everyone called him. He's like Lawrence… oozing fake charm; her head reminded. Give him the time of day and he'll reveal his true colours in time.

But he's rescued you twice now… another part of her brain pointed out. Doesn't that tell you anything at all? I don't know what to think anymore. Nathan, who I love, left me. Now I'm the arms of the enemy and I'm getting all confused again.

EJ raised his head, pushed back strands of her hair. He wanted to kiss those lips so badly, savour her response and the taste of her. But what held him back was her current state of mind; no way could their first kiss be perfect while she was still thinking about Nathan Horton. He wanted her to think of no one else but him.

On her part, Olivia wondered if EJ was going to kiss her, realizing in spite of herself she wanted him to. But since he showed no

sign of doing so and she'll rather die than throw herself at him, she cleared her throat instead. 'It's sweet of you to come, but you can see I'm healing up nicely.'

'What about your leg?' EJ asked, touching the scribbled cast.

'A clean break. I was lucky and so was my sister. And anyway… I've had worse injuries.'

'You're talking about your stepfather, aren't you?'

'Yes.' Olivia's eyes went cold immediately. 'And I got my revenge in the end.'

'Allie's sort of my stepdaughter but I wouldn't hurt her for anything.'

'I know you wouldn't. She's your son's twin and a part of Sami after all.'

'Sami's the past, Olivia.' EJ touched her cheek, holding her face. 'You're my love, my heart.'

Olivia shook her head. 'EJ…'

'I never stopped loving you.' He said softly, moving his face closer to hers. 'Our families may be at odds but it will never change how I feel about you.'

'Why do you love me at all?' she asked, wonderingly, staring deep in his eyes. 'The whole situation's impossible and difficult.'

'Love doesn't ask why, it just follows the answer from the heart. It has no age, no barriers.' He traced her lips with his fingers.

'I just knew from the moment I saw you that you were someone special. And before I knew it, I fell in love.'

Olivia shook her head again. 'This is crazy, EJ DiMera.'

'Crazy but wonderful.' He smiled, making his face younger and boyish. 'All I want is for you to give us a chance. That is… when you're ready.'

Olivia removed his hand gently. 'I don't know if I'll ever be ready. And it's not you, it's me. I fell in love and look where it got me; I got dumped and cast aside. Not everyone's as lucky as my parents… look at them after all those years apart. They have this special connection that's so amazing that I can't even begin to describe it. And I thought Nathan…' she shook her head bitterly.

EJ wanted to ask her what actually caused the breakup but he had a pretty strong feeling she would tell him to mind his own business.

'I'm not Nathan and I'm not the man everyone's told you about, not anymore.' He cupped her face again. 'I promised Lexie I'll never force you to do anything you don't want to; or force you to choose between me and your family. I love you too much for that. But when you feel you're ready, absolutely ready… I want you to answer the question in your heart, Olivia. In the meantime…' he placed the wrapped parcel he'd brought on her lap. 'This is for you.' Placing a kiss on her cheek he rose, removing a gold fountain pen from his inner pocket and bent over her bound leg, writing something on the cast. Smiling tenderly at her, he left, closing the door behind

him.

Answer the question in your heart… Olivia thought, staring after him. Will it actually come? Everything was so confusing!

Sighing, she opened the parcel. It was The Chronicles of Narnia; all seven stories in one volume. Smiling faintly at the gesture, she

peered to see what he'd written on her cast. He'd written: I love you.