Reliving The Past
Chapter 8
When the phone drops and Elizabeth screams, the body guards are there in seconds. Franco is by Elizabeth's side. He's got his hand on her back. He can feel her shaking.
"Liz, what's wrong?" He takes a second to bend down and pick up the phone. He puts it to his ear. "Sonny, call you back in a minute." He hangs up.
"I saw someoneā¦" She points out the window. She is starting to believe that she's going crazy. Franco and two of the body guards go to the window and then are about to head out to check things out. But one stays with Elizabeth. The other goes to check on the boys. "Why do I see someone every time I happen to look out my window? Maybe I should just not look out them anymore."
The two body guards and Franco come back in. Followed by Dante.
"Dante! What the hell were you doing back there? You scared me to death!"
"Don't be too hard on him. He got here a while ago. But he was hit over the head and dragged off to the woods behind your house. It must have been him that you saw." Franco says while getting a frozen bag of peas out of the freezer.
"Let me see. Sit here." Elizabeth pulls out a chair. And starts to look at the back of his head. "Can you turn the overhead light on, please? The switch is right there. On the wall to your right." She gently runs her hand over the back of his head. There is no blood on her hand. "Good news and bad news." She takes the frozen peas Franco hands to her. "You aren't bleeding. But you do have a huge knot on the back of your head. You could have a concussion. So you need to go to General Hospital and have that looked at. Just to make sure you are not bleeding on the inside. I'm sorry you got hurt Dante. Maybe you, Lulu and Roco need to not stay. The 4th is just two days away. With the body guards here, we will be safe. I don't want you and your family getting hurt worse than you have right now. Maybe you need a body guard too. He obviously sees you as a threat. Can one of you guys drive him to the ER? I need to go check on the boys." She dashes off up the stairs.
When Elizabeth comes back down stairs, Dante and Jace have left. Kevin was upstairs and told Elizabeth he would stay up there to keep an eye on things up there. So Max and Justin are talking with Franco. They are looking at the locks on the windows and doors. She walks into the living room.
"The boys are still sound asleep. What's going on here?" She waits for an answer.
"Well, these fine upstanding gentlemen have taken it upon their selves to assess the areas that we might want to fix. Such as the locks." Franco points out.
"Great! Thank you. While you guys decide what needs fixing, I'm going up to bed. Do what you want. I don't care right now." She goes back upstairs. She goes to her room, shuts the door and sits on her bed. Of course, she feels her whole bed, then sits and ponders the issues that she will have to face in the morning. She ends up crying into her hands. Trying to figure out where her life had taken this strange turn. When she gets nowhere with this train of thought, she gets up and changes into her pajamas. Pulls the covers back and crawls into bed. Crying herself to sleep.
Elizabeth wakes to the smell of something cooking. She sits up and sniffs the air.
"Mmm, pancakes! Bacon!" For just a brief moment, she thought she was 15 again and at home in Denver. With her parents. Then the reality hit her. She throws back the covers and slips her robe and slippers on. She heads down stairs after checking the boys rooms. When she gets down there, she finds all four body guards, Franco and the three boys in the kitchen. Kevin is wearing a pick lacey apron. This makes Elizabeth smile. He seems to be the main person cooking. The boys are setting the table. Franco is getting the sink full of soapy dish water to soak the dishes already dirty and for the ones to come. Jace notices Elizabeth first.
"Morning. I hope we didn't wake you." Jace hands her a small glass of orange juice.
"No. Actually it was the aroma. I haven't smelled pancakes cooking from bed since I was a kid. Thanks for that. Did you boys sleep ok?" Speaking to all the guys in general.
"Ma'am, we don't sleep." Kevin says, seriously.
"I'm sure that is not true. We all have to sleep."
"Well, we took turns. More like shifts. We had one upstairs and one downstairs. The two that weren't on guard, slept. Then we switched. Please don't tell Mr. Corinthos. What Kevin says is true. We aren't supposed to sleep. But we thought it was more practical to do it that way." Justin says.
"Don't worry. I won't tell Sonny. It's actually very logical. Very smart. Where did you guys sleep?"
"On the floor ma'am." Max says.
"I have a few roll away beds in the attic. Gram gave them to me for when the boys have friends over. I should have thought to bring them down. I apologizes. I don't know where my mind has been. Please forgive me." Elizabeth looks confused for a moment.
"Liz, are you ok?" Franco comes over and grabs her by the shoulders. He looks into her eyes. "Did you take something?"
"No. What do you mean?" Elizabeth is confused.
"Liz, your eyes are dilated. Something that indicates you are on something. Did you take a sleep aid or pain meds?"
"No. I went upstairs, got my pajamas on and went to sleep." Elizabeth's head does down into a hang. Almost like she fell asleep. Franco shakes her a little to wake her. But she doesn't wake. Franco scoops her up and carries her to the front door.
"I'm taking her to the hospital. If she was drugged we need to see what it was. Stay with the boys. And call Detective West. He's Dante's partner." Franco carries her out to the car. He straps her in and takes off. She's unconscious the whole way.
At the hospital, Franco carries her in.
"I need some help here!" A nurse rushes a gurney over to him so he could set her down on it. A doctor comes over.
"What do we have here?" Dr. Jones asks.
"I think she might have been drugged. When she came downstairs this morning, her eyes were dilated. And she seemed to have this happy factor. Like she was high. Then she just passed out. I couldn't get her to wake up. She's be unconscious since we left her place. Take her blood now. Just in case there is just traces left in her. Then we can find out what it was."
"Thank you Franco for telling me how to do my job. Nurse, have a CBC and chem panel done. Then get her hooked to an IV. That way if she does have a drug in her system as Mr. Baldwin thinks, then we can flush it out of her system faster. Go! Mr. Baldwin, care to tell me how she could have been drugged?"
"I don't know. She has a stalker. But there were four body guards, Dante and me there. Although it was kind of crazy last night. You can't say anything about the stalker. He threatened her family if she went to the cops. Hence the body guards. We were all there last night and never left."
"You're serious?" Dr. Jones asks.
"Yes. Don't you remember seeing that bouquet of long stem red roses? Those were from him to Elizabeth. He's sick. And you know it's bad if I can call someone else sick. One letter he sent her made me blush. We need to make sure she's safe and then let her have her BBQ party for the 4th. Then she's sending Audrey and the boys to her parents. It's that bad. Even though they have body guards. Dante was hit over the head last night when he saw him in the back yard. He's not playing." Franco is showing his vulnerable side.
"Ok. We will get the blood tested. And help her get it out of her system. Sorry for jumping down your throat. It's just my mom sees her as a daughter of sorts. She's very fond of Elizabeth." Dr. Jones says.
"It's ok. I know how special Elizabeth is and I completely understand. Say no more. Can I go be with her?"
"Sure. Just stay out of the way of the nurses." Dr. Jones pats his back and leaves. Franco goes to her room. She's laying there so still and peaceful. He goes over and grabs her hand ever so gently.
"I'm here Liz. You rest. You more than deserve it. I'll be here watching over you. I won't let him get to you." Franco kisses the back of her hand.
A/N: thanks for reading this chapter and all the others. Please let me know what you think. More to come soon.
