Reliving The Past

A/N: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Here it is. Hope you all like.

Chapter 9

Elizabeth slowly opens her eyes. For a few seconds she's unclear where she is. Then she sees the IV bag and monitors. In her confusion she thinks that she's at work. But the there is a tube in her arm.

"What happened?" She says, not saying it to anyone, just saying it out loud. But Franco comes back in from the hallway where he was making calls.

"Hey sleeping beauty. How you feeling?" Franco asks while smiling.

"Weird. What happened?" Elizabeth tries to push herself up into a sitting position. But winces in a little body ache.

"Hey, hey take it easy. You are going to ache for a while. Dr. Jones treated you and he will be in shortly to give you all the medical mumbo jumbo speak that you love so much. Are you thirsty or hungry?" Franco avoids looking her straight in the eyes.

"No. I want to know what happened! Where are my boys? I have to get to my boys!" She tries to go out of bed. Before Franco can stop her, she's standing in front of him, but not for long. She has no balance and falls into Franco's arms.

"Hey now, what are you doing? You shouldn't be getting out of bed. The boys are being taken care of by Justin, Jace, Max and even Kevin. There is a security guard outside. And I am not leaving. Wild horses could drag me away. So all is safe for now. You need to get better. While you were napping, I called all your friends and family to invite them to you 4th BBQ. Now, granted most of them don't really care a great deal for me. But they did say they would come for you and the boys. I hope you don't mind, but I used your cell phone so I would have all their numbers and not miss anyone." Franco hands her cellphone over to her.

"No, I don't mind. Thank you. I'm surprised they even agreed to it since its short notice." She looks at her cellphone.

"You apparently don't realize how much people love and care for you. How they would pretty much drop their plans to be there for you. One of these days you need to really learn that." Franco smiles while moving a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"I know how much I am loved and cared for. I try not to take it for granted. But I also know people have their own lives. So I don't want to make them feel obligated to show up. I need to go to the store and get the food, the decorations, and some yard games. I can't stay here." She tries to get up again.

"Oh yes you can! No stay or I'm telling the doctor on you. He should be here soon. Then I swear if or when he lets you go, I will drive you right to the store myself and help you shop. But until then, chill. You are going to give me a heart attack." Franco's hand goes to his chest. This move makes Elizabeth smile.

"Ok drama queen. Can you go find Lucas? I want to really know what's going on. And what happened to me. You not telling me is scaring me."

"Sure. I will be right back. But I will not hesitate to kick your butt if you try to get out of bed while I'm gone. I will be like a football player and tackle you. Got that?" Franco gives her a face that only makes her laugh.

"Yes. Know go please." Franco leaves. She leans over and grabs the tiny like note pad and pen that every room has. She starts to make a list of the items she needs from the store. Starting with food. She lifts her head while she's thinking of anything else. That's when someone in scrubs walks by. He's nose and mouth are covered by one of those surgical masks. He looks at her as he passes. She sees the eyes and a chill radiates down her back. The color slowly drains from her face. Just then Lucas and Franco walk in.

"Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Franco puts a hand to her check.

"I saw the same eyes that were outside my kitchen window. He's here!" Elizabeth lets the tears fall.

"Are you sure? The drug that was in your system was a powerful one." Lucas says.

"What?! I was drugged?" Elizabeth is stunned.

"Yes, you were given a very powerful halusinageic." Lucas tells her.

"How? I had all the guard and guys there. Oh God! Did my boys get drugged? Anyone else?"

"No one else was drugged Liz. They are all ok. Well, except for Dante. He spent the night here for observation. He had a pretty bad concussion. But they was just released about an hour ago. He stopped by to see you. But you were still out." Franco smooths back her hair.

"Did he say what happened to him?"

"Yeah. He was pulling into your driveway when he saw movement in the back yard. So he went to check it out. When he got back there he remembers a blow to the head and nothing. There's more. His service weapon is missing." Franco says, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh God! Does that mean this guy thinks I called the police?" Elizabeth is shaking now.

"We don't know. But Dante was wearing his badge. So he might know that he was a cop, but also that he is a brother in law of sorts. That's why we left Kevin at the house. Just in case. But we need to let Lucas explain your condition and let you know what's going on." Franco steps aside. Very carefully wiping away a stray tear. He's trying to remember the last time he's cried about anything.

"Ok. Elizabeth, you were drugged. We did a blood draw and ran a chem panel. We pinpointed the drug and it wasn't deadly. But we did flush it out of your system. But the side effect is muscle weakness and body ache. We don't want you to leave until that all has passed. I need you to be honest with me about this. I know you want to get out of here to plan your killer party, but if you leave before you should, you could hurt yourself. You could break a bone or worse. So just lay there and let us take care of you for a change. Mom is coming by to see you. So is Audrey. Both are working. So it could be any time. Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah. How long will the body ache and weakness last? Just give me a ball park idea. 2 hours? 4 hours? 2 days?" Elizabeth is sounding like a kid at Christmas.

"It can take anywhere from a few hours to 12 hours. But I don't think 12 hours. I wouldn't say more than 5 hours tops. As long as you don't get up and make things worse. Now rest." Lucas says, then walks out.

"What about that guy? Franco, I swear it was him." Elizabeth is close to tears again.

"We won't let him get to you. If that was him, he won't get to you. Only Lucas and your nurse who we both know is allowed in here. Are you hungry or thirsty now?"

"Yeah. I really like the cafeteria's chocolate doughnuts. Can I get two and a hot chocolate?" Elizabeth licks her lips at the thought of those yummy pastries.

"Sure. I'll get a box. What you don't eat we take homes to the boys. What size hot chocolate?

"Large please. When you are a patient, it's cold in here." Elizabeth rubs her arms.

"Sure. Be back in a flash. Don't move." Once outside, Franco asks the guard if he wanted anything. They talk for a brief moment and Franco's gone. Liz goes back to her list. Until there was a commotion at the door. Someone was trying to get in. She could see it was Sonny.

"Let him in please!" Elizabeth yells. The guard opens the door and Sonny comes in. He's smiling at her.

"Thanks for the save there. I thought he was going to tackle me and grope me." Sonny chuckles. Elizabeth too.

"What's up Sonny? Thanks for loaning me the guards. I can't tell you…" She starts crying. Sonny comes over and hugs her.

"Shh, it's ok. We parents have to stick together when it comes to our kids. And I was more than happy to do it. Why didn't you come to me earlier?" Sonny releases the hug to look at her.

"Because. It started out as sweet. The letters were romantic and sweet in nature. For nearly two months. Then I got one so vulgar that I confronted who I thought was doing it. He denied it. I thought Lucky or Ric. But neither of them did it. Then came the long stem red roses. Or was that after the roses. I'm sorry. I still am a little off. But he put snakes in my bed and drawer. They couldn't really say one way or another if they just got in the house. But it's strange that after 3 months of being there that we would get them now. He threatened me about going to the cops. I'm sorry about Dante. Really I am." Elizabeth wipes a tear away.

"Hey now. Dante is a cop. He is in danger all the time. It's the job. He's good at it and I couldn't be prouder of him. Now stop blaming yourself for something a creep is doing to you. You have those guards as long as you need them. If you need more, just let me know. If you need anything else, you let me know. And I guess I will see you tomorrow. Do you need me to bring anything?" Sonny waits for an answer.

"Wow. You are coming to the BBQ?" Elizabeth is in shock.

"Sure! Why wouldn't I come?"

"Who invited you?" Elizabeth could only imagine.

"Franco called. He said I was invited by you. But you were in the hospital. That you would have called but you were still unconscious. Did he lie?"

"No! You are invited. I'm sorry. I just thought you would have threw a fit if Franco would have talked to you. I'm sorry. It should have been me calling to invite you. I know how you feel about Franco." Elizabeth looks away.

"Hey, I was not happy at the call. But once I heard it was on behalf of you, I listened. I like you. You giving Jason a son, taking care of him, what three or four times now and offering Jake's kidney to Joselyn. You are a good person Elizabeth." Sonny grabs her hand and squeezes it.

"Thank you Sonny. Thank you for helping me and my boys. For everything. Now as for you bringing anything, if there is something you want, bring it. But we will be having hot dogs, hamburgers, turkey burgers, potato salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, fruit salad, cake, all kinds of soda's, juices and margarita's for the adults. So if you want something that wasn't listed, than bring it. I will also have a volleyball and yard tennis game put up. Maybe horse shoes. I will see what games they have when or if I can go." Elizabeth rolls her eyes.

"So he did drug you then?"

"Yeah. But I don't understand how. With all the guard, Dante and Franco there." Elizabeth goes quiet.

"Liz, what's wrong?" Sonny's concerned.

"I..I think I know when I was drugged. But it could have been Franco's. Before the guards got there, Franco took the boys upstairs to get ready for bed. I cleaned up and made a pot of coffee. I poured two cups and put them on the coffee table for Franco and I. But I went to check and see if they were behaving and help if needed. So the two cups of coffee were left unattended. He could have gotten in, drugged one and left before we came down." Elizabeth rings her hands together in a nervous habit.

"Yeah. You were calling me to talk about the guards when you saw something out your window. Was that Dante? Or do you think it was the stalker?"

"I would have thought it was the stalker. But since I had the drug in my system, it could have been Dante. I'm sorry we forgot to call you back. I was calling because one of the guards was giving me the creeps. But that could have been the drug reaction. They all came through for me when this came down. After the 4th BBQ, I'm sending my boys and Gram to my parents. So I will only need one after that." Elizabeth looks so sad.

"Why don't we just keep the four of them there? Have one upstairs. Have one downstairs. Have one outside on the porch and one next to you at all times. Jason would never forgive me if I let something happen to the mother of one of his sons." Sonny rubs her back.

"Yeah. Well I know that Jason's in trouble for supposedly killing Nik. But Jake is really feeling bad about Jason. He thinks Jason doesn't love him. So if you talk to Jason, let him know. I don't want my boy to feel so hurt. Franco tried to explain that Jason loves him just as much as Danny. But he was doing grown up stuff so he could be here to see him. But I don't know how much longer that excuse will be accepted by Jake. And can you try to explain to Jason that Franco cares about Jake. He could have easily said bad stuff about Jason, but he didn't. He wants Jake to love Jason. And to tell me to stop letting Jake see Franco is like cutting off Jakes arm because of a paper cut. He is good for Jake. And I have to do what's best for my son. Even if it makes Jason upset. All the stuff Franco did was when he had a brain tumor. But we all make mistakes. You should see him with Jake. Maybe at the BBQ you can see them together. Jake lights up when he's around Franco. I don't think he does that with anyone else. Not even me." Elizabeth's head goes back. "I'm so sorry. I'm just really tired all of a sudden. Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure. You feel better. If you need any help setting up or anything, call." Sonny leaves. But once outside the room, he looks back in at a resting Elizabeth. He is concerned.

A/N: Hope you all liked the chapter.