David had just come out of the shower and had just begun to get dressed. He took his tracksuit and moved into the living room so as not to wake up Valerie who was still asleep.

Valerie worked late at the After Dark and made the closure to allow him to pick up Ethan in the morning, accompany him to school, spend time with him.

So many things had happened lately, they had barely crossed and talked each other. The nights in the hospital for Brandon, the concern for Brenda and especially for Dylan, had forced them to put their lives aside, to put them on a break.

In addition, David admitted to himself that Joe's presence had destabilized him. He was clear with himself, he loved Valerie, he loved the strong impulse she gave to his life, the way she made him feel like a man, a living man, but he also loved Donna, he could not deny it to himself, she had been his girlfriend since high school, she had believed in him when no one believed in him, and even though they had had a really hard time David couldn't explain it in words, he didn't want to give too much weight to the thing and tried to hide it in every way, especially from Valerie, but Valerie had a sniff, she knew how to look inside him, she knew how to touch him inside.

The fact was that seeing Joe with his ex-wife reminded him about the life that once belonged to him and that he could live if he didn't leave everything suddenly and if once that life seemed to him a prison now it seemed to him a beautiful life, made up of love, of ordinary but very precious things, which he sometimes lost with Valerie.

David walked back into the room and saw Valerie still asleep. He watched the reverberish of the sun gently caressing her bare back, those eyes of ice closed dreaming. He walked over and kissed her on the cheek. Valerie didn't move.

David looked at her again for a moment, quickly wrote a note in the kitchen and then headed to Donna's house.

XX

Samuel greeted the nurses and went straight into Brandon's room and found him asleep.

He hoped his father was awake, he had little time before going to school, and had never had a chance to talk to him alone. His grandparents or Grace were always there when he was in his room. They had exchanged a few words, he was happy to know that at school he had regained good grades, he was happy to know about Emma, nothing of his father's behavior made him guess that Brandon remembered something about the car accident, but Samuel remembered all and felt the urgency.

He moved the chair and that movement made Brandon open his eyes.

"Hey"

"Hey dad"

Brandon pulled himself up with the help of Samuel.

"What are you doing here so early?"

Samuel hesitated he wanted to find an excuse quickly but he didn't even find a "nothing, I wanted to visit you before going to school".

"Does your mother know you're here?"

"No" Samuel shook his head.

"Okay," Brandon smiled, "it will be our secret."

Samuel responded to the smile.

"How are you dad? How's the physiotherapy going?"

Brandon sighed sorry "it's harder than I thought but I'm doing my best to get home as soon as possible," he said.

Brandon knew his son had some urgency to talk to him about but he couldn't grasp the subject.

"And how are you?" Brandon asked him.

Samuel shrugged "I'm fine, I removed the cast from my leg and I also started doing physiotherapy, because Joe told me that the place for me is still on the team," he said with an unconvinced smile.

Brandon raised an interlocutory eyebrow "with Emma are you okay?"

"Yes" this time Samuel's smile became convinced "all right. It was true what Grace told me that I didn't know how to look beyond my own nose, Emma was there all this time and I really didn't see her, I only saw Blanca, and I messed up."

"It's things that happen Samuel, falling in love is always a bet, you can win or you can lose, the important thing is to accept the risk and make sure you leave an endless series of good memories every day, because if the story ends it will help it to survive in the hearts, if the story goes on it will help it to survive in life."

"Wow dad..." Samuel laughed.

"Eh I know I became a honeyed romantic, thanks to your mother" he winked at him.

"I invited her to the prom, I'm not a great dancer... "

"Eh who knows who you look like," Brandon smiled again.

"Here's dad" Samuel got closer to Brandon bringing the chair later "Emma and I are very close and I mean really very close"

"Mmmhh" Brandon was perhaps beginning to intuit what his son had come to tell him.

"Let's say we do a lot of things together..."

"A lot of things" Brandon was staring into his eyes and Samuel also looked up. Two pairs of eyes of the exact same color.

"I would like to take a room on the prom" Samuel said without catching his breath "I would like, I mean... it's not an obligation but I would like to..."

"All clear" Brandon smiled to take the embarrassment away from Samuel " and Emma agrees?"

"I didn't tell her" he shook his head Samuel "do you think I should tell her? Should we kind of agree?"

"She should agree of course " shook Brandon's head "but , it's something that has to come naturally"

"I don't want to go wrong with her, dad, I don't really want to go wrong, I don't want to strain her.."

"Do you feel ready?"

Samuel nodded.

"Are you in love with her?" Brandon asked.

"Yes," Samuel replied decisively.

"You won't be wrong then, I know you won't do anything wrong" Brandon replied with a relaxed smile "these are things that come by themselves"

"Is this what happened between you and mom?"

"Not at the prom, a few years later."

"And how did that happen?"

"I had gone to Washington with the CU's task force , and one morning I heard a knock on the door, it was your mother, she had taken a flight and had flown 4,000 kilometers to bring me breakfast and to be with me."

"Mom was brave"

"Mom has often been very brave for me, but we also did a lot of mistakes, especially me."

Samuel was strangely silent, he seemed to be reflecting on Brandon's words.

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Everything you want"

"Do you remember anything about the accident we had?"

Brandon stared at him for a few seconds, there was something grabbing Samuel from the inside, it was obvious to his eyes but Brandon couldn't figure out exactly what he was.

"No, I just remember picking you up from school because you had... Some problems that you don't have anymore, don't you Samuel?"

"No, I don't have them anymore," he replied.

"Do you remember the accident?" Brandon asked.

That question was ingled like a nail in Samuel's head, he remembered every damn thing, every damn word he had said to his father, every single second and he wanted so much to tell him that the accident, that what had happened, was just his fault.

Samuel opened his mouth to say "no" he said "I don't remember anything either."

Samuel hugged his father to greet him and as he held him close to him he closed his eyes and thought "forgive me dad" but couldn't tell.

He put on a decent mask that would allow him to deceive him too.

"I'm going to school now, I love you dad see you later"

"I love you," Brandon replied, holding him tight and then letting him go.

XX

Matt appeared before Judge Marvey at exactly 11 a.m. Ashley Monroe's lawyer was Simone Winston. African American, woman, champion of human rights, she was really a tough nut to Matt, she was even known in New York. The first question Matt asked himself was how could a person like Ashley Monroe afford Winston Simone's fee.

The two lawyers greeted each other very courtely and as soon as Judge Marvey's secretary allowed him to enter they sat on the two opposite sides of the table waiting for the judge herself.

"You didn't take an easy case, Matt"

"You know I don't like easy things"

"You've come a long way from that you had here in Los Angeles," lawyer Winston told him.

"You've come a long way too Simone"

"It's true, but believe me it wasn't a walk in the park for me."

"I guess that's the case"

"No, I don't think so, you're a white and handsome male, I don't think you've had major obstacles"

"Don't judge me by my cover."

"Your client is in trouble, you'll have to do a lot"

"Let's say things right away as they are before the judge enters, what do you want a deal? Money?"

Simone Winston gave a sarcastic smile "we want to drag him to court, Dylan Mckay is a pretty well-known name, everyone has to see what he's capable of."

"Mr. Mckay is innocent"

Simone Winston repeated her sarcastic smile "do you think? That's not what the evidence we've gathered about him says."

At that moment Judge Marvey came in. She was a female judge, white, bourgeois and conservative. All three of them greeted each other cordially.

"So, lawyers, we are here to give the defense the opportunity to view the admitted evidence, to take a copy of it and to make the necessary requests in the event of an out-of-court settlement. Do you want to proceed by agreement?"

"No" Simone Winston replied with conviction.

"No," Matt replied, "my client doesn't want any deal, he wants to deal with the process."

"I see that today we will be pretty fast," the judge smiled ironically.

"In addition to the evidence already filed we have another evidence, the Z12 find with the exams attached. The DNA examination of defendant Dylan Mckay taken from Ms. Monroe."

The news of the DNA shocked Matt. It was a really bad blow to take.

'Dna?'

"Yes, it's standard in lab tests after a rape complaint" Simone looked him straight in the eye.

"I thought no human DNA or any other liquid had been found"

"Not vaginal, as far as the doctors have determined that Monroe suffered violent penetration probably with the condom, but this DNA comes from Mrs. Monroe's mouth."

'This is not the standard procedure'

"No but it's not against the procedure, we ask for admission to the test list"

'Mr. Durning?'

Matt could not oppose it and even that overwhelming evidence was admitted to condemn Dylan Mckay forever, but the question was how Dylan's DNA had ended up in Ashley Monroe's mouths and how it had been identified so unsafely.

"I request the release of my client again against payment of a bail."

"Insitance rejected" said Judge Marvey "I think your client has to spend some more time thinking Mr. Durning, believe me I would really like to deal with this case but I will not be the judge at the hearing"

Judge Marvey quickly looked at the scheduling of the hearings.

"The hearing is scheduled for next July two before Judge Church, if there is nothing else, as far as I'm concerned we can end here"

Both lawyer Winston and Matt stood up as the judge left the room.

"You didn't expect DNA.." joked lawyer Winston as she tid out his folders.

"Definitely not," Matt replied with a worried look.

"I told you you got a bad case Matt"

Simone Winston took her bag, greeted Matt by shaking his hand "see you in court"

"Yes," he replied in a low voice.

XX

David arrived at Donna's house to pick up Ethan and take him to school. He rang at the door of what had once been his home but got no answer. He heard laughter coming from the back and walked around to see if Donna and Ethan were in the garden.

He also found Joe along with them, the three of them were having breakfast together.

"Daddy!" Ethan was genuinely happy to see him.

Joe and Donna made a quick nod and invited him to sit with them.

"I don't want to take Ethan to school late," he justified himself.

"As you like," Donna replied with a cold look.

Donna got up and stroked Joe's hand, took the dishes to take them to the kitchen "Ethan go get your backpack, your father came to bring you to school"

A "yes mommy " was heard from Ethan and Donna continued to the kitchen while Joe enjoyed his coffee sitting under the umbrella in front of the beach.

David followed Donna.

"Sleep here now?"

"It's none of your business David, I remind you that we are divorced, and that you wanted a divorce, my life is no longer your business."

"Yes it is if my son lives in this house"

"Your son.. it was time for you to remember your son"

"This is unfair Donna"

"You could think about life with your son when this was still your home instead of throwing everything down the toilet and flushing the toilet."

The souls of both had ignited. The truth was that Donna had invested so much in her marriage, in David, she thought it would really be a "forever" and never believe she could lose him, especially for Valerie Malone. What David had done had wounded her to death, had dug deep into her and a piece of that Donna who had existed and that everyone had known, had gone away forever, had blew up.

"Can't we have a civil conversation?"

"What do you want David? What do you want? I finally found someone who wants to be with me, who is funny, who even found out how funny I am, and I am, I am a person who knows how to do so many things, things that you didn't want to see and didn't want to know and now you come here to morals me because in this house there is our son, but Ethan is our son.

Donna's words hurt David, they hurt him because deep down it was a truth, that of Donna, who was not to blame for all the doubts, the suffering, the feeling stuck that she had had to process David and it had never been a matter of lack of love for her, this Donna ignored him, it was just a different love. David had been afraid to die like that.

"I was honest with you Donna, I didn't want to live an unhappy life and I didn't want you to live it either," David replied.

"Well" said Donna "I don't know what's wrong with you now David, and honestly I don't want to know, who I fuck or with whom I don't fuck, who I want to be with or who I don't want to be with, it's no longer your business, ask yourself very well what your problem is, and solve it for"

David grabbed Donna while she was still talking and pressed his lips against hers. He opened his mouth and found that she was also letting him in. They shut up by kissing.

It was a moment then they separated.

"What are you doing?" Donna whispered weakly.

David was upset by himself and by what he had just heard, by the connection that had immediately been reformed between the two of them.

Ethan arrived at that moment "I'm ready" he said.

"Well, let's go," David said without taking his eyes off Donna.

Joe approached them at that moment. He noticed the tension. He laid the cup of coffee in the sink and looked at Donna.

'Are you all right?' He asked her.

Donna closed her eyes tightly to chase away those sudden thoughts that that kiss with her ex-husband had just resurrected.

She looked at Joe, his innocence, his way of loving her in silence and daily, took his face in her hands and kissed him, kissed him more and more passionately and crying, she did not want to go back into that hole of depression into which David had thrown her to save her life.

"Make love to me," she told Joe and knew what she was asking him, she knew Joe would never touch her if he didn't love her. She waited nervously for his answer, a gesture anything that could warm her heart. Joe stared at her for a few moments then kissed her deeply and made her sit on the kitchen island, Donna spread her legs and welcomed him as his hands became more and more frantic and explored her body. Joe had made his decision.

XX

The Bull had come out of isolation and looked insistently at Dylan whenever he had the opportunity. Dylan knew what he wanted, he hoped Matt had gotten his release on bail, but the hours went by and it wasn't good news.

Dylan was in the yard when the Bull and the other two henchmen stood straight in front of him.

"How are you Mckay?" Said the Bull in his smoker's voice.

Dylan did not respond as Philip the Indian watched the scene from afar.

"You know," said the Bull as he approached Dylan's face, "I've been in isolation for a while and I got even more desire thinking about you and what your mouth could do to me," he said, brushing his face with a finger.

Dylan immediately turned away.

"It excites me even more if you do the hard," said the Bull.

"Leave him alone," Philip said suddenly.

Philip's impertinence immediately irritated The Bull "What did you say?"

"I said to leave him alone," repeated Philip , "the spirits of darkness are about to come and get you, spend your time better," Philip told him.

"The spirits of the ..." the Bull began to laugh very loudly "I also fuck the spirits of Darkness" replied the Bull "and you too" he said looking straight in the face Philip "I think I will grant you the honor of being you first and then as Dessert there will be McKay".

Philip didn't seem to be afraid of the Bull. He didn't take his eyes off and somehow the Bull was intimidated by it and even Dylan, it really seemed that Philip the Indian had some supernatural power. Scary.

'Mckay!' A guard yelled Dylan's name "there's your lawyer".

Dylan was led by Matt who was waiting for him, as soon as the guard took off Dylan's handcuffs he sat in the chair almost relieved.

"How did it go?" Dylan asked "do they free me?"

"No, the judge dismissed the application, but it's not the worst thing today."

Dylan had tears in his eyes, the idea of being stuck in that hell, of not being able to go home to Brenda and the kids. His mind to defend himself took pictures of the last time he had seen Brenda, of when he had made love to her in a prison cell and that prison had immediately disappeared, of how love for her had given him breath and new hope, of how his mouth between her legs had given him nourishment.

"You have to explain to me how your DNA ended up in Ashley Monroe's mouth," Matt asked him, interrupting Dylan's thoughts.

'What?' He asked.

"Your DNA. New evidence was filed today, your DNA taken from Ashley Monroe's mouth"

Dylan was confused, he didn't know then he immediately got a flash from that night, she had kissed him, Ashely Monroe had kissed him before he ran away from that house and he had totally removed It.

"She kissed me," he said almost softly.

"She has you what?" Matt asked evidently irritated.

He saw that Dylan wasn't reacting and that he was immersed in his thoughts "and didn't you think this might be something to tell me?" Matt asked him.

Dylan didn't move, he knew he was innocent but he realized at that moment that he had been framed, framed by someone who didn't have a face and who probably would never have one. He would have been condemned.

"Dylan?"

He shifted his gaze to Matt and Dylan was crying. He collapsed into a desperate cry that Matt couldn't calm down.

"Hey, it's not all over, the process has yet to be done"

"Brenda was fired, my life is in pieces, I can't go on like this," said Dylan who was struggling to breathe. The tension accumulated with the Bull in the yard, the despair of those days locked in a prison knowing he was innocent, the fear of having no hope.

"I know, Brenda and I met to talk about you and she told me what happened to her"

"If we go to court and I am convicted we will lose everything we have built together, everything" Dylan wiped his tears and tried to calm his breath.

"I think I have no choice," Dylan said in a low voice.

'What?' Matt asked worried.

"I have to ask for a divorce from Brenda, she doesn't have to have anything to do with me anymore.

Matt looked at Dylan and didn't recognize the same Dylan he had known him years before, he was another man, now a broken man.

Please rewiew, because the comments are inspiration and love for the story. It's really important for all of us, writers