"Gee, Grandfather, what do you think we're going to do, have sex?" Emily said defiantly. I've already lost my virginity under your own roof, she thought. "I really don't think he'll be in the mood."
"I will have no grandchild of mine speaking that way!" Edward bellowed.
Emily said nothing. Instead, she pulled out her suitcase and started throwing things inside.
"You are not going, and that's final!"
"Excuse me, Edward, but I don't think it's your place to make any decisions concerning Emily. That is my job," Monica said, entering the room.
"Thank you!" Emily shouted.
"Now if you would please leave us alone," Monica said, pushing Edward out of the room and closing the door in his face.
"What was Edward shouting about now?"
Emily relaxed a bit around her mother. "I requested use of the ELQ jet."
Monica gave her a suspicious look. "For what?"
"Juan's father died." Her voice caught in her throat. "I want to use the jet to take us to the funeral."
"Oh, honey," Monica whispered, wrapping Emily in a hug. "I'm so sorry."
"This was my way of trying to help." She cried on Monica's shoulder.
"Of course it is." She moved Emily closer to the bed. "Here, sit down."
Emily sat on the bed. Monica handed her a tissue, which Emily gratefully took. "I know this must be hard on you."
Emily looked up at her. "Me?"
"Yes, you. I know this must be stirring up some painful memories. Don't get so caught up in trying to help Juan that you ignore your own well-being."
Emily nodded, trying very hard not to cry again.
"Would you like me to accompany you?"
Emily shook her head. "You don't have to. Taggert will come with us."
Monica gave Emily's shoulders a supportive squeeze. "Ok, then. When do you need the jet?"
"Tonight."
"Then consider it done."
Emily smiled through her tears. "Thanks, Mom."
"Why don't you finish packing, and I'll take care of it." Monica quietly left the room.
Emily ran a shaky hand through her hair as she stood up. Poor Juan, she thought. She stared at herself in the mirror. How did everything change in one day? She studied her reflection. There was nothing visible, but she felt different. She shook her head. She could not afford to think right now. There were more important things at hand.
She sat down at her desk and started to write a letter. Dear Sly…
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly walked the docks on his way home. He had taken a very round about route, not really wanting the magic of the night to wear off. Yes, it was sad that Juan's father had died, but Sly couldn't forget what it was like to be with Emily. He couldn't wait to tell the world that they were together.
Sly spotted Lucky at the end of one of the piers. He slowly approached him.
"Sittin' on the dock of the bay…" Sly sang jokingly.
"Do you ever stop?" Lucky said, still staring at the water.
Sly sat down to join him. "Never."
Lucky turned to look at him. "Hey, where did you get the black eye?"
"Car accident. The Wildfire van is out of commission for the moment."
"Well, is everybody alright?"
"I've got a concussion, but we're fine."
"That's good."
Sly looked at his cousin. "Are you ok, Lucky? You seem really down."
Lucky sighed. "I've just been doing some thinking."
"About?" Sly asked, getting concerned.
"Not about trying to kill myself again, if that's what you're thinking." Lucky stood up, and Sly followed. "It's just so hard, Sly. I try to reconcile the person I used to be to the one I am now, and the pieces don't fit. No one understands."
Sly brushed some hair from his face. "I can't say that I know what you're going through, Lucky, because I don't. I'm just trying to be supportive, as is everyone else. We can't help if you won't tell us what's wrong."
"But do you really want to know? Or are you just asking out of some feeling of duty, hoping that I'll never tell you?" Lucky asked angrily.
Sly's eyes were downcast. "Then I guess you never really trusted me, huh? Otherwise you would know the answer to that question."
Lucky sighed. "Look, I didn't mean it. I'm just not sure anyone should hear my story. Maybe I'll just keep it to myself, try to get over it."
Sly looked up. "Lucky, you do that, you'll end up right where you started. Trust me, it will be so much better if you just talk to somebody."
"I am! I go to these sessions with Dr. Collins, but they don't seem to be doing any good!"
"Then why don't you tell him that? Maybe he can change his approach or something."
"Or maybe I'm sabotaging myself." Lucky sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't get things straight for myself, much less try to explain it to anybody."
"It's ok. I'm more than happy to be your sounding board."
Lucky looked at Sly. "Speaking of happy, why were you practically floating before? On a Sunday morning?"
Sly smiled. "Well, after I got released from the hospital, I went over to Emily's."
Lucky looked puzzled. "In the middle of the night?"
"Yeah. I just had to see her."
"And she was receptive to being woken up?" Lucky's mind started to race.
"More than receptive." Sly smiled slightly. "We made love."
Lucky suddenly punched Sly right in the face. Sly fell to the ground, and Lucky fell with him. Lucky continued to pummel him.
"You bastard!" he screamed.
Sly instinctively tried to block Lucky's punches, but was unsuccessful. "What the hell are you doing?"
Lucky continued to attack him. "You raped her, didn't you? Didn't you!" His eyes were filled with a primal rage as he hit Sly over and over.
"No! God, Lucky, no!" He had tried to avoid it, but he had to defend himself, so he hit Lucky back. "I swear to God, I didn't rape her!"
"Don't lie to me!" Lucky screamed as he got to his feet. Sly attempted to get up, but Lucky kicked him, forcing him to stay down.
"I'm not lying." Sly's voice caught in his throat as he spoke. "Please, Lucky, please stop," he gasped.
"That's it, beg for mercy." He kicked him again. "You know, there was a reason your Grandfather beat you. You deserved it."
Sly tightly shut his eyes. Lucky was beating him senseless, but that comment was the one thing that hurt the most.
"You will pay. I will make sure you never forget what you did to her," Lucky screamed.
Nikolas was walking to the launch to Wyndemere when he heard his brother shouting. He had turned the corner to find Lucky beating someone. "Lucky, stop!" he shouted.
Lucky didn't pay any attention to his words, so Nikolas pulled Lucky away from the other man. "Lucky, Lucky, what's wrong?"
Lucky said nothing, but he had a strange look in his eyes that scared Nikolas. He still held on to him as he saw who the other man was. It was Sly.
"What did you do to Lucky?" Nikolas yelled at Sly.
Sly rolled over, clutching his chest. "I didn't do anything. He started this."
Nikolas held on tightly to Lucky, who was shaking. "Oh, sure. You must have deserved it." Nikolas looked again at Lucky, whose eyes were glazing over. He had to get him out of there, before something worse happened. He made sure that Sly sat up under his own power, then ushered Lucky out of there. "Stay away from my brother!" was Nikolas' warning.
Sly's head pounded as he sat up. What just happened? Oh, God, he thought. Lucky is worse off than we realized. He sat there for a moment, head in his hands. The cut above his eye had been reopened, and his lip was also bleeding. He tried to wipe his face, and then stared at the blood on his hands. This wasn't supposed to happen to me again, he thought. Never again. He attempted to steady himself as his body was racked with sobs.
Scott Baldwin taking a short morning walk through his old stomping grounds. He used to defend many people who lived and worked by the docks. That seemed like a lifetime ago, before he had met Dominique, before he became a father to three beautiful girls, before he had screwed up his relationship with Lucy. As he turned a corner, he heard someone crying. He saw a man huddled near one of the benches. "Hey, buddy, are you ok?"
Sly refused to lift his head. He didn't want anyone to see him cry. "I'm fine," he said in a shaky voice.
"You sure? I can get you some help." Scott looked at the man curiously.
It took Sly a second, but he suddenly realized who the person speaking to him was. He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, then lifted his head. "Scott?"
Scott looked at the young man, appalled by the condition of his face. Someone had given him a hell of a beating. "Do you know me?" he asked, puzzled.
"I did, a lifetime ago." Sly struggled to compose himself. "It's me, Sly."
"Eckert?" Scott took a longer look, and sure enough, it was Sly. He saw Sly nod his head. "Oh my God, what happened to you?" he said, crouching to his level.
"Lucky happened." Sly said cryptically.
"Spencer?" Scott was genuinely confused, and angry at the same time. It didn't matter now. He just had to get Sly some help. "Ok, Sly, let me take you to GH."
Sly laughed bitterly. "I was just there last night. I don't think they'll want to see me again."
Scott sighed. "Then let's go to the Richmond Avenue clinic. You need to be checked out."
"I'm fine, Scott," Sly said, but he wobbled a bit as he stood up.
Scott's paternal instincts were kicking in full force. "Oh, no, you're coming with me. I refuse to take no for an answer."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Nikolas opened the door to one of the bedrooms in Wyndemere. He led Lucky into the room, and closed the door behind them. Lucky had been strangely quiet the whole way over to Spoon Island. Maybe he would say something now, in private.
"Lucky, what happened? What did he do to you?" Nikolas asked.
Lucky babbled quietly. "No, no, no…"
Nikolas was genuinely frightened. He held Lucky by the shoulders. "Lucky! Lucky, come back to me!"
Suddenly, Lucky straightened up, and his eyes seemed sharper, as if he was coming out of a trance. "Nikolas, what are you doing?" He released himself from his grasp.
"I'm trying to get through to you. Lucky, are you ok?"
Lucky paced a bit, and flexed his hand. "My hand hurts like hell." He turned to face Nikolas. "Why are we here?"
Nikolas gave him a confused look. "Don't you remember? I pulled you off of your cousin. You were beating him badly."
"What?" Lucky looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
"You were hitting and kicking Sly. I got you out of there so the cops couldn't come to arrest you."
Lucky held a hand to his head. "I don't remember anything you just said. Oh, God," he whispered. "What did I do?"
*-*-*-*-*-*
Tony and Sly emerged from one of the exam rooms. Scott stood up.
"Well, we patched him up. He'll be ok, and the bruises will go away in a few days," Tony said to Scott.
"Thanks, Tony." He looked at Sly, whose eyes were cast downward in embarrassment. Scott looked to Tony again. "Hey, didn't I vote you chief of neurosurgery? What are you doing here?"
"I volunteer my services here when I'm free. It's the least I can do." He looked at Sly, who was moving off to the side near the door. "Do you know what happened to him?"
Scott shook his head. "All I know is that Lucky beat him up."
"Lucky?" Tony asked incredulously. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to try to find out."
Tony sighed. "You take care of him," he said.
"I will. Thanks, Tony." Scott turned around. "You ready to go?" he asked, but by that time, Sly was already gone.