She sighed as she heard him stirring. The water in the bathroom soon turned on. She was glad that he was getting up and moving. She looked out the front window. What she wished more than anything at the moment was that Luke was there. He was still on the run from charges in the murder of Stefan Cassadine. Stefan. Laura had so many mixed feelings towards him. She was certain that he wasn't dead, though. The charges were bogus, coming more from Mac's jealousy than any actual evidence. She wished that Lucky didn't have to pay the price for it. Luke should be here, she thought. Maybe he could get through to Lucky.
The doorbell rang, bringing Laura out of her trance. She glanced down at her watch, realizing it was nine o'clock. She peeked through the curtain and saw Sly standing on the porch. She opened the door.
"Sly! It's so good to see you!" She embraced him quickly.
"You too, Laura."
"Come in." She walked over to the table and set down the last flower she was holding. "Are you here to see Lucky?"
"Yeah, I hope it's not too early."
"No, I heard him get up before. He'll be down in a few minutes, hopefully. Sit down in the meantime."
Sly sat in one of the chairs, as did Laura. "So, it's been a wild couple of days for you."
Sly laughed softly. "You could say that."
"Elizabeth filled me in on what happened. Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me. I did what anyone would do."
"Well, I don't think everyone would have gotten up on that railing. It was very brave."
"I had just found out that he was alive, I wasn't going to lose him again."
"Wait a minute. You didn't know he was alive?"
Sly looked away. "No, not until Emily referred to him that night at Kelly's."
"Oh honey, I'm sorry. I guess I assumed that everyone knew."
"Well, it wasn't exactly front page news. Not even Jenny or Paul knew."
"How are they? Jenny and Paul, I mean."
"Great. Jenny stays home full time with Junior, who is four years old now. He's so big. She coordinates an environmental website. Paul is still in practice with a couple of partners. He still searches for his son Dylan everyday. Paul's daughter Susan lives with his mother, but she comes to stay with us sometimes. That's about it."
Lucky descended the stairs. "Glad to hear they're doing well," he said.
"Good morning, Lucky," Laura said.
Sly tried to swallow the lump in his throat that formed when he saw Lucky. It was the first time since the bridge.
"Hey, Sly," Lucky said softly.
Laura could sense the two young men had some things to talk about. "Lucky, I'll fix you some breakfast. Sly, have you eaten? Would you like something?"
"No, I already ate, but thank you."
"Lucky, what would you like?"
"I'm not very hungry."
"Lucky, you need to eat." She then felt a pang of regret. Stop trying to mother him so much, she thought. "Sorry. I'll make some toast if you feel like eating later. I'll be in the kitchen." Laura quickly left the room.
"So how are you?" Sly questioned gently.
Lucky sighed. "Alive. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Emily walked into Kelly's, hoping desperately that Elizabeth would be there. Sure enough, Elizabeth was behind the counter.
"Elizabeth, I am so glad to see you!" Emily rushed to sit down at the empty counter.
"Well you picked a good time to come. The breakfast rush is over."
"I couldn't sleep at all last night. I have to tell someone or I'll explode!"
"What?"
"Sly and I almost kissed yesterday!"
"Wow, Emily, aren't you moving kind of fast? You already have a boyfriend."
"No, it wasn't a deliberate thing. He and I, we just got a little too close…" Emily shook her head. "But then Ned and Alexis walked in."
"Oh…" Elizabeth murmured sympathetically. "Did you tell Juan?"
"No. Why should I? I'm not interested in Sly. Juan is my boyfriend. I love him."
"Why don't you keep saying that to yourself, Emily. Maybe you'll start to believe it." Elizabeth moved from behind the counter to clear some dishes off a table.
Emily spun around. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I know you've only 'rediscovered' Sly in the past few days, but it is so obvious you are attracted to him."
"But I'm with Juan now!"
Elizabeth sighed. "What difference does that make? I think you should take some time to clear your head. It's been a confusing couple of days. Just don't lead either guy on."
"Thank you, O wise one. That's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I think I needed to hear it."
"I don't know if I should be giving advice in matters of the heart, though. It was just my observation."
"Did you see Lucky after he left the hospital yesterday?"
Elizabeth sighed again. "No. Nikolas and I brought his things to Laura's house, but he was asleep."
"Well, maybe you can try again. Don't give up on him. Maybe now we'll know the reason why he was acting so strangely."
"I sure hope so."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Lucky and Sly walked into his old room. "We'll have more privacy here," Sly said. He looked around the room. "Boy, this is different."
"Well, my parents threw out all of my things, so this is what's left."
The small room that used to be covered in posters and piled high with books and magazines was now neatly picked up with just a few tasteful pictures on the walls. It was painted a sedate navy blue. It was certainly nothing like Sly remembered from when he would stay with the Spencers.
Lucky sat heavily on the bed. Sly sat on a chair by the desk.
"Have I been dreaming? Tell me, Sly, what happened the past few days?"
Sly sighed; he realized Lucky was asking a rhetorical question.
"Why did you do it, Sly?"
Sly looked up at Lucky. "Do what?"
"Get up on that bridge, get me down?"
"I wasn't going to let you die, Lucky, no matter how much you wanted to."
Lucky sighed. "I still don't know whether to hug you or punch you."
"Either one works for me. As long as you do something."
Lucky looked at his hands. "It would be much easier to just sleep all day."
"All night, all week, all month…" Sly said. "I know what that's like, Lucky. When you're asleep, you don't have to face anything. You're not in pain. No one bothers you. But it can't go on forever like that, Lucky. You've got to start living again." Sly saw a card on the desk. "Going to see Dr. Collins is a good start."
Lucky got up from the bed and looked out the window. "I don't really want to go. I don't have to if I don't want to."
"No, you don't. But, in my experience, the more you run from your problems, the more they chase you."
"But a Spencer doesn't see a shrink. You know my father would never do that."
"Oh, and Luke is always right. You know that's not true."
Lucky put his hand on the window. "I'm just so… scared, Sly. I know he's going to try to get me to talk about the past year, and it's something I don't want to relive."
"But the doctor knows how to help you get through it. I can't guarantee that it won't hurt, but the more you talk about it, the less painful it becomes."
"Really? So that's why you swore me to secrecy about your time in Oregon?"
"I'm working on it." Sly looked out the window. "I told Emily about it yesterday. I also almost kissed her."
Lucky turned to look at Sly. "Really? I thought she had a boyfriend."
"She does."
Lucky stared out the window again. "Be careful. That's all I'm going to say." He sighed, then turned to look at Sly. "I'm not sure why I'm saying this, Sly, but thank you. I may not appreciate what you did now, but I think I will someday."
Sly put his hand on Lucky's shoulder as they both looked out the window. "Lucky Spencer, welcome to the first day of the rest of your life."