The Language of Longing
Part 12
"You have heard that it was said,
'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth'. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil
person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other
also."- Matthew 5:38-39
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ONE WEEK LATER- LIZ AND MAX'S PLACE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
"Isabel, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have you here with
us." Liz said, sitting on the couch enjoying a late-night snack of ice
cream with her best friend Maria and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Isabel. It had
been a week since Adam-Michael had come to live with she and Max, and Maria and
Michael were slowly but surely moving into their new place in Boston. After Max
called Isabel to let her know about the major problems they'd been having
with Tess and how they feared for Liz and Jordana's lives, Isabel and Alex
dropped everything in New Mexico, and brought Michaela out to Boston to be with
them.
"Alex and I weren't going to stand by and let Tess hurt you guys like this.
Besides, I've loved getting to know my sweet little nephew." Isabel said,
smiling. She really had changed her once cold and invincible demeanor in the
past few years. Being a mother and a wife has made her realize that she is
loved, and she can let people into her life without getting hurt.
"He really is adorable, isn't he?" Liz asked, smiling. Maria dug in
for another scoop.
"Yeah...he really is, great, Liz. How DID he ever come from the Wicked
Witch of the West?" Maria replied.
"One of the great mysteries of the world..." Isabel began. "God,
I always knew Tess was selfish...but I had no idea she was so inately...evil!"
"When she came back, I thought she was just going after Max again...I
wasn't worried, I knew Max would never leave me for her...but then Adam-Michael
showed up, and I found out I was pregnant...and all these awful things kept
happening...it's like I'm living a nightmare."
"We're not going to let that twisted chick win, Lizzie, don't you
worry." Maria said, gulping down a heap of cookie dough ice cream, a
favorite of all three women. Isabel, naturally, enjoyed hers with a splash of
Tabasco sauce.
Just
then, Adam-Michael toddled in to the kitchen, clutching a teddy bear his mother
had left for him. It was his favorite and he couldn't sleep without it.
"Lizzie?" He asked, walking over to her and hugging her.
"What's the matter, hon? I'm sorry, are we being too noisy?" Liz asked
him, kissing the top of his head covered with shiny black hair.
"No, I had a bad dream." He said, his eyes red with tears.
Liz
kneeled down to his eye level. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Adam
nodded a "yes". Liz put down her spoon and grabbed Adam's tiny hand,
leading him to the kitchen table and helping him climb up into the chair. Isabel
walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed some milk, placing it on the
counter.
"Adam, sweetie, would you like some warm milk? When your Daddy and I had
bad dreams when we were little, Grandma fixed us warm milk and it always made us
feel better." Isabel asked him. Adam nodded another "yes". From
his facial expressions, he seemed to be a mix of tired and terrified.
"Adam, can you tell me about your dream?" Liz asked him. He looked up
into her eyes, and they began to fill with tears again.
"It was scary," Adam said, crawling out of his chair and into Liz's
arms. Jordana crowded most of Liz's lap but he had managed to find a spot to sit
on.
"Was Jordana there?" Liz asked.
"Yeah..." Adam said. Maria and Isabel walked over to him with the cup
of warm milk. Maria looked at him and frowned.
"Adam, honey, you don't have to tell us about it if you don't want
to..." Maria began.
"But I want to tell you...Mommy was hurting the baby." Adam said.
"She hurt the baby, then she hurt Lizzie."
Liz,
Maria and Isabel gasped. Liz buried her face in Adam-Michael's sweet-smelling
black hair. Her own eyes filled with tears and dampened the black hair
surrounding her face.
Adam
continued. "And I was there and I tried to get Mommy to stop it. I was
yelling at her 'Stop it Mommy! Stop hurting them!' But she wouldn't stop. It's
all my fault. I couldn't stop her."
"Adam, sweetie, no. It's not your fault... and I'm fine! Your sister's
fine, we're both fine. Nothing's going to happen to us, okay buddy?" Liz
said to him while wiping the tears of fear from her own eyes. "She's been
moving a lot tonight. She wants to come out and play with you, Adam."
Adam
put his hand on Liz's belly. He smiled and drew his hand back in surprise when
he felt the baby move. "When's she going to be here with us, Lizzie?"
Liz
looked up to Isabel and Maria and grinned. "We're not completely sure about
that one, pal. But when we find out, you'll be the first to know."
Adam
smiled. "Okay."
The
ladies and Adam-Michael turned their head to the doorway when they heard
footsteps come into the kitchen.
"Hey, how come I wasn't invited to this party, huh?" Max asked, his
eyes sealed tight with sleep and his hair mussed. Adam smiled and ran into
his arms. Max picked him up and held him tight to his neck. "Hey, pal. What
are you doing up? Are these ladies being too loud in here with all their
yapping?"
"I
had a bad dream, Daddy." Adam said, pulling his head back from Max's chest
and looking into his eyes. Max stole a glance at Liz and she nodded. Max knew
then that the dream had been about Tess and the baby.
"It was just a dream, Adam. Nothing's going to happen to Lizzie or your
sister, ok?" Max said, looking into his son's eyes with concern.
Adam
just nodded quietly. "Mommy...she scares me sometimes."
"Adam, your Mommy would never hurt you..." Max said, putting his son
back down on the kitchen floor and kneeling down to his eye level.
"I
know." Adam said. He yawned.
"You want me to tuck you in, sweetie?" Liz asked him, walking over to
the little boy and taking his hand. Adam nodded.
"Goodnight, Adam." Maria said, waving to him.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." Isabel said, blowing him a kiss. "We
love you."
"I
love you, too, Aunt Izzy." Adam said as Liz and Max escorted the young
prince back into their bedroom.
"God, I pity that poor child for having Tess as a mother." Maria said,
shaking her head.
"But at least he has Max and Liz." Isabel said, yawning.
"For his sake." Maria added in. "I guess I better go, since
everyone seems to be turning in..."
"Yeah, I'm sure Michael's wondering if you're ever coming home!"
Isabel said, smiling.
"Well, I like to make him wait." Maria said, winking. She grabbed her
car keys and hugged Isabel. "Goodnight, girl. Tell Liz I'll call her
tomorrow."
"Okay. Goodnight." Isabel said, walking into the guest room and
shutting the door behind her. She smiled at what she found.
Michaela had fallen asleep in Alex's arms again.
It made
a cute picture but it really wasn't safe and Isabel was very protective of her
baby girl. She carefully and quietly pried the baby from Alex's embrace and
placed her into the small portable crib next to their bed. She kissed her and
rubbed her back until the baby was back to sleep once again. She then crawled
back into bed with Alex and wrapped her arms around his back, nuzzling her face
into his neck.
"Mmmm..."
Alex said, turning around to face her. "Where were you...I missed
you..."
Isabel
smiled and kissed his cheek. "Just girl talk..."
"You really missed them, didn't you?" Alex asked her, smiling.
"Yeah...I really did. I mean, they're my family. They're our family. It's
the six of us again, the way it always should have been." Isabel said,
playing with his dark hair. Alex looked like he was in a far off place.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Well...what if...we moved out here?" Alex asked.
Isabel's eyes lit up. "Can we do that?"
"Why not? I mean, I can put in for a transfer at work...the world
headquarters of the record company is Boston, after all..."
Isabel
gave him a slow, sweet kiss. "You are the greatest..."
"No, you are...I still pinch myself everyday when I wake up...I can't
believe you're my wife. How did I get so lucky?" Alex said.
"Well, I did kind of just...fall out of the sky..." Isabel said,
snuggling up closer to him.
Alex
smiled, kissing her earlobe. "I love you, Mrs. Whitman."
"I
love you, too, Mr. Whitman."
* * * *
It
was the last day of finals week, and Liz had just finished her very last final
exam before graduation. Unfortunately, she'd been too worn out to celebrate, so
she had returned back home to take a little nap before work.
She
turned her key in the door and opened it slowly, taking in her relief and joy
that she was done with school- at least for a while. She had been accepted to
Boston University's medical school, but had deferred admission a semester to
have Jordana. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her bookbag on the floor in
the living room. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and gulped it
down quickly, falling into bed. She was even too tired to turn on General
Hospital. She just pulled herself into the covers and sighed.
The
apartment was serene, quiet. It was almost eerie. Ever since Adam-Michael had
come to live with them, and Isabel and Alex and the baby came to visit for a
while, they had been living in a quasi-zoo. People always coming in and out. The
apartment was full of life, love.
Until
today. There was something really off about the place. It shook Liz out of her
peaceful slumber.
She sat
up in bed, her body trembling. She knew something was wrong. Was it Adam? No,
Maria and Michael had him for the day so Liz and Max could take their finals.
Isabel and Alex had taken Michaela over to Maria and Michael's and they were all
taking the kids to the downtown Children's Museum for the day.
If
everyone was accounted for, what could it be?
Liz
laid back in her bed and pulled the covers tight around her neck. She looked
over at the clock on the nightstand.
2:44.
Only an hour until Max should be back from his exam.
"Only an hour." Liz thought. "Sixty minutes. I can handle
it."
* * * *
"Honey! I'm finished! We're all finished! I got..." Max said,
clutching a dozen roses and a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider. He opened
up the door, surprised to see it was unlocked. He walked into the hallway in the
front of the apartment, feeling an immediate sense of panic.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Liz? Lizzie?" He asked, throwing his bookbag and his presents for her
on the kitchen table and sprinting into their bedroom.
The bed
had been made, and the TV was still on. A half-empty bottle of spring water was
sitting on the dresser. Max frantically ran into the bathroom. "Liz?
Liz?" He cried. The bathroom looked untouched. Everything was in its place.
Nothing unusual. He walked back into the kitchen and slumped against the
counter. Liz was supposed to be home now. Had she gone to run errands? It wasn't
like her to leave without at least leaving him a note or something. He took
another step towards the kitchen table and heard a crunching noise beneath his
shoes.
He
looked down to find that he had stepped in a pile of broken glass. Someone had
broken a dish and not cleaned it up. Now he KNEW something was wrong. Liz was a
total neat freak. If she had broken this plate, she would have cleaned it up
immediately. He bent down to the pieces and picked one up with his right hand.
Suddenly, he got a flash.
Liz making a sandwich and singing to some music coming from the
bedroom.
"Oh, oh, you've got the best of my love, oh oh..." She was
singing an old 70's song. She placed her free hand on her belly as she piled
small pieces of turkey onto the two slices of bread lying on the plate.
"Hey, baby girl, I know you're hungry. I've got your favorite coming right
up..." She said, smiling.
Then there was a scream, and the plate was knocked to the floor.
A strange man had come up behind Liz, holding a knife to her throat
and a knife to her belly.
"Come with me, little girl." He whispered in her ear.
"Don't make a sound, or Jordana will die."
Liz's eyes lit up in terror as the man tied her wrists together,
throwing her on to the cold kitchen floor, then bounding her ankles together. He
grabbed a roll of duct tape from a bag he had slung over his shoulder and put a
large piece over her mouth. Liz's eyes were spilling over with angry tears. She
couldn't struggle or he would slice her open, she just knew it.
"Max. Help. Max." She called out to him in her mind,
hoping he would somehow know she was in trouble.
She looked up above her to the cold white ceiling. Her vision was
blocked by the image of tight blonde curls cascading down her face. Then a cold
hand on her cheek, then a warm kiss on the forehead. "My darling,
Liz."
Liz squirmed around in fear.
"Liz, there's nothing to be afraid of. It will all be over
quickly, I promise." Tess said sweetly as Liz continued to squirm.
"Ok, everything's ready. Grab her arms and I'll grab her
ankles." The man said, picking up Liz's ankles from the cold floor. Tess
complied with her partner's orders and they gingerly lead her out into the
hallway of the apartment building.
Their across the hall neighbor had just walked out of her apartment
carrying a large bag filled with garbage. Tess panicked but quickly sprang into
action. She sent a message to the woman's brain, making her see an image of Tess
and the man carrying large bags of garbage out of Liz and Max's apartment, not
Liz's squirming, pregnant body.
The woman smiled and waved at them. "Are you friends of Liz and
Max?"
"Yes, we're their best friends." Tess said.
"Can't talk now, lots of things to do..." The man said.
"Okay," The woman said smiling, in a daze.
By the time the woman's vision was over, Tess and the man had
already left with Liz.
"No! God NO!" Max screamed, sinking to the floor, clutching the piece of the broken plate. "Not Liz- don't take my baby, no, God, please!" He screamed, broken and sobbing. He immediately got another flash.
It was dark, except for a bright light coming from over in her
right visual field.
Another image of Tess smiling over Liz.
Then a rip and a scream.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" Liz screamed once Tess had
removed the tape from her mouth. "You're NOT going to win! Max doesn't love
you! And if you do this, Max is only going to kill you!" She tried in vain
to release the ropes bounding her to a cold steel chair.
Tess chuckled at Liz. "Oh, sweetie, you can have him. I just
want payback."
"What have I ever done to you...that you didn't bring on
yourself?" Liz asked her.
Tess was shocked. She slapped her across the face and tears of
frustration filled Liz's big brown eyes. "How dare you even suggest... You
TOOK my SON away from ME! You just wait and see how empty you feel when I take
your baby away from you...your child...your first born...your only reason for
living, breathing..." Tess said, rubbing her fingers across Liz's stomach.
Liz's eyes brimmed over with tears.
Her bottom lip quivered.
"Do what you want to me. Just don't hurt...her." She said
firmly.
"Where, where did she take..." Max said, pulling himself off the floor and lightening. His language abilities were breaking down as panic set in. He sank back deep into his subconscious...trying to pull out a clue from the vision he had.
A picture of Owen. There's a picture of Owen.
There's a picture hanging on the wall.
I'm at Morgan's, I'm at Morgan's...
The
voices rushed through his head, banging him back into reality.
He
rushed over to the fridge and grabbed the list of important numbers Liz had
made. "Maria's Cell Phone: 703-9871. Michael and Maria's: 787-0967.
Alex's Pager: 505-645-2234." Max's mind was racing as he grabbed the
phone and called the first number on the list.
* * * *
Maria
and Michael each held one of Adam-Michael's hands as they walked through the
dinosaur exhibit at the Children's Museum. Alex was wearing a light blue baby
carrier which was holding a sleeping Michaela in it's sling.
A faint
chirping noise was coming from somewhere.
"What the hell is that?" Michael asked as Maria rummaged around in her
purse for her cell phone.
"It's my phone. You have a problem with the ring?" Maria asked.
"That ring is so stupid, Maria. Why can't your phone just ring like normal
phones?" Michael asked. She playfully punched him in the arm as she pushed
the "Send" button on the phone.
"Hello?" She said cheerfully. There was a pause.
"M-maria..."
"Max? Max, what's wrong?" Maria asked, frantic.
"She t-t-took her. She t-took Liz."
"WHAT? Wait, Max, WHO took Liz? Was it Tess? Where did she take her?"
"T-Tess took her to M-Morgan's...Maria, they're going to k-kill her...and
the baby...help Maria...oh God, no..." Max said, dissolving into sobs.
Michael
grabbed the phone from Maria's ear. "Max, Max, it's me. Now look we know
you're upset but you've got to calm down, ok? Tell us where Tess took her."
"Morgan's! Do you remember how to get there?"
Michael
searched in his mind. He had never been good at memorization. "No." He
admitted, defeated.
Max
screamed, shouting out directions through sobs.
"Max, Max, I can't understand you..." Michael said. "Max..."
Then the phone went dead. Michael looked at Maria, stunned. "Dammit, Maria,
I told you to charge your frickin' phone before we left, now look what
happened..."
"Michael, stop yelling at me!" Maria screamed. Adam-Michael tugged at
her pant leg.
"Mommy has Lizzie, doesn't she?" Adam-Michael asked her. Maria nodded
slightly, throwing her arms around him.
"We're going to get her back, kiddo." Maria said, kissing his head.
She looked up at Alex, Isabel, and Michael. "I can get us to
Morgan's."
"Thank God." Alex said, whispering a silent prayer. "What are we
waiting for? Liz needs us. That baby needs us."
Isabel
grabbed Alex's hand frantically as Michael scooped up Adam in his arms and the
group ran quickly for the exit.