Chapter 56


Unaware of what was going on at Lucy's, Kevin went to Ferncliff. Eve had come home late and gone right to bed. There didn't seem to be anything he could say to her. And it had been almost a week since he'd seen Julie, and he felt guilty about not making the time to see her. When Julie was brought into the room, she stared at Kevin with a look of almost terror on her face. Then it was gone, and she was staring at him.

"Julie? Is something wrong?"

She didn't answer. Her eyes locked with his, and she stared into them, looking for a clue to what his mood was today.

"Are you okay?" The concern on his face eased Julie's mind a bit.

"Just wondering what I'm in store for today."

"What's wrong? Can you tell me what you're thinking?"

"I don't want to tell you anymore. I really don't want to talk to you anymore."

Looking at her, Kevin stepped away from her. "Julie, if you don't tell me what's going on, I can't help you."

"Help me? Help me!?" That was all Julie could take. "What you'd better do is get some help for yourself!" Standing close to the door, she watched him carefully. "I'm tired of this, this... whatever game it is you're playing. With me, with yourself, in your mind. I don't know, I don't care. I'm tired of you threatening me, playing with me, whatever it is you're doing with me. Leave me alone!"

Completely confused, Kevin stared at her. "Julie, can you tell me what you're talking about? I don't know what I've done to upset you."

Her eyes searched his face. Finding no hint that he was lying, she shook her head. "Do you not remember what you say to me when you visit?"

That dark thought in the back of Kevin's mind made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He had to know more. "What did I say? I need your help, Julie. If I'm not remembering, I need to know."

"You really don't remember threatening me? I may be crazy, but I'm not imagining this! One time you're here, you're nice and I believe you want to help me. The next, you act like it's all you can do to not kill me yourself! What's going on here?"

"I threatened you?" Kevin knew, but he didn't want to. "When's the last time I acted like this?"

"A couple days ago! Kevin, are you in trouble?" Julie was catching herself worrying about him. Yes, she wanted to use him, and make him work for her, but he didn't deserve another breakdown.

"No. I'm not in trouble. At least not the way you think I am." Standing, Kevin knew he had to make some arrangements. "It won't happen again. I'm going to make sure of it. When I can, I promise I'll tell you more. But right now, I have to go."

At the guard desk, he left strict instructions that he was not to be allowed to see Julie unless he could provide identification. A quick conference with Julie's attending physician assured him that everyone would be aware that Ryan might come back. If he could not provide proof of identification, he would be held and the PCPD call immediately.

Standing outside Ferncliff, he called Mac. After telling him that Ryan had apparently been there in the last few days, he headed for Lucy's house. She had to know, and he felt it was his place to tell her in person. He did remember to call Eve and tell her. Mac had agreed to send a uniform to GH and keep an eye on her.

Chapter 57 Kevin made it to Lucy's in half the normal time. When he knocked on the door, he was startled to see Luke open it. Before he could say a word, Luke had his arms behind his back and his face to the wall. "What the hell do you want?"

Knowing what Luke was thinking, he didn't resist. "I take it you know Ryan's been around." He felt what could only be the muzzle of a gun in the center of his back

"Not a word yet. Don't move." Luke pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it. "Sorry, Kev. No offense."

Turning to look at him, Kevin shrugged. "What could you do? You're protecting her. What happened?"

Dragging him inside, Luke locked the door, both the doorknob, and the new deadbolt. "Come on." Luke led him upstairs. "It's okay, Luce!"

Lucy was sitting on the bed, anxiously watching the steps. Tears were running down her face and she looked to Kevin to be on the verge of total hysteria.

Sitting beside her, Kevin took her in his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just found out myself."

"He was here! I thought it was you, and I opened the door! Kevin, he touched me! He put his hands on my babies! What if he knows? What if he..." She couldn't finish.

Looking at Luke, Kevin held her tighter. The men's eyes met with the same thought. If Ryan knew for sure, Lucy wouldn't be there with them.

"Lucy, listen to me. Please." Keeping his voice low and calm, Kevin tried to get through to her. "You need to relax. Ryan's gone now. And Luke's here. I'm here. We're not going to let Ryan get to you again, are we?"

Luke shook his head. "No way, darlin'."

"And Luke has a pretty big gun. I met it first hand."

"Actually, you know, Kev, we need to work out a signal. I'd hate like hell to hurt the wrong one."

"Thanks for the concern."

Luke shrugged. "She cares." Sitting on the other side of her, Luke took her hand. "She's been like this ever since she called me. About two hours ago."

Kevin understood what Luke was saying. The state she was in was very bad for the babies. She had to calm down. "Lucy, look at me."

Gently, he turned her face to look at him. "You need to stop. I know you're scared. But Ryan is not the main concern at this moment." He put his hand on her. "They are. Please stop. Deep breaths, stop panicking, let Luke and me worry about Ryan. You worry about them." The words coming out of Kevin's mouth about Luke shocked Kevin even as he said them. But looking at Luke, he knew it was right. Luke could, and would, kill Ryan if it came down to protecting Lucy. And that's what might be needed before this was all over.

"Please. You need to lie down. Try to relax." Stroking her hair, Kevin helped her lie down on her side. She was still crying, but now it was a silent shaking. It wasn't better, but at least she could hear him now. He continued to whisper to her, reassuring her gently. Another knock on the door made her jump.

Pulling out his gun, Luke ran downstairs. It was only a few seconds before his voice carried up the stairs. "It's Mac!"

Luke reappeared. "He wants to talk to you."

"Stay with her." Leaving Luke sitting on the bed with her, Kevin went down to see what Mac had found.

Chapter 58

Mac sat at the kitchen table while Kevin made tea. "Let me guess. Nothing."

"Not a sign of him. There's a squad at the lighthouse and I sent a man to the hospital to watch Eve. When did he last see Julie?"

Kevin told him everything he knew, which wasn't much. At some point he had to get back to Ferncliff and talk to Julie. But right now, Lucy was his main concern. "Now what?"

"Same as before. Road blocks. A car here. I would also recommend security. Private. I can give you a few names."

"I'm sure Luke knows a few."

Mac shook his head. "I can't believe you said that."

"Me either. But I think Luke is better suited to handle the Ryan problem than I am. He has no feeling other then hatred for him. No conflict. He cares about Lucy, and he'll do whatever it takes to protect her."

Whatever they were about to say was interrupted by Luke's voice carrying downstairs. "Kevin! Get up here!"

Before they got to the bottom of the stairs, they heard Lucy scream.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Luke was kneeling beside her. Once again, she was hysterical, but Ryan had nothing to do with it this time. As Kevin leaned beside her, she screamed again. The pain on her face terrified Kevin, but he couldn't let her see it. Her eyes met his. "This isn't happening. Doc, please tell me this isn't happening."

"You need to calm down." Holding her hand, he stroked her hair. "Luke, we're going to have to take her to GH. Can you help me get her down the stairs?"

Responding to the calm, smooth tone of his voice, Luke nodded. "I'll get this side. Come on, Luce. We got you."

Gently, they led her down the stairs. Mac held the door for them, and they put her in his truck. Luke up front with Mac, Kevin in the back, with Lucy lying down, her head in his lap. Kevin was fighting his own panic while trying to keep her from going back into hysteria. His mind wouldn't even form the word contraction. It was way too early. If she went into labor now, she would probably lose both of them. With the siren, they made it to GH fairly quickly.

Chapter 59

Dr. Newman was waiting for them when they arrived at ER. Kevin went with her while Mac and Luke stayed in the waiting room.

The look on Lucy's face almost broke Kevin's heart. She was absolutely petrified. "Lucy, please. Listen to me. I know you're scared, I know it hurts, but you need to listen to me." Leaning over her, he held her hand and whispered in her ear.

"I'm scared, Doc. If it's bad, I don't want to know." She cried out again in pain.

Fighting his own tears, he stepped back and held her hand tighter. "Dr. Newman is going to examine you."

"Lucy, you need to calm down." Dr. Newman stood next to the bed and looked at her. "Hold his hand, and look at me. You're going to be okay. You need to calm down. Can you hear that?"

The monitor beside the bed was making a rapid beating noise. When Lucy nodded, Dr. Newman smiled. "That's the heartbeats. As long as we hear that, it's good. Your heart is going almost as fast, and that's not good. You need to calm down. I want you to take a couple deep breaths, okay? I want to run a few more tests. We're going to find out why you're in pain, and we're going to make it stop. Kevin's going to stay with you, and I'm going to be right back."

After nodding at Kevin, she left the room.

Sitting on the bed next to her, Kevin held her shoulders. "You're fine. The babies are fine. Did you hear that?"

Lucy nodded.

Holding her tighter, Kevin listened to the sound of the babies heartbeats. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until the monitor had picked up the sound. The sound that told him that his babies were alright. The thought sunk in to his mind. His babies. That was how he thought about them. How he felt.

"It's going to happen this time, isn't it? Tell me I'm going to have two beautiful babies, please? I need to hear it. Even if you don't know for sure, I just need to hear it."

"Lucy, you heard Dr. Newman. As long as we can hear the heartbeat, everything's fine. But your heart racing will make theirs race, too. You need to stop. Listen. Listen to that. That's our babies."

Finally she smiled. "Yeah, Doc. Our babies." Touching his face, she pulled him closer to her, about to kiss him. Then she realized what she was about to do, and leaned back, closing her eyes and smiling to herself. They sat there, holding hands, waiting for the doctor to return.

      Chapters 60-63