Then she saw Lucky walk in the doors. Her heart rose just a little in her chest. She had been talking to Nikolas a few days ago, and heard a little more about how Lucky had been acting. It was not comforting to hear, but at least Elizabeth now understood Lucky a little better, and the reasons behind why he was pushing her away.
Lucky mustered his courage while entering the restaurant. After his talk with his mother, he had actually gotten a pretty good night's sleep. He woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and hopeful for the first time in a long time.
It was time to start getting back to the business of living, he thought. What better place to start than with Elizabeth?
"Hi, Lucky," Elizabeth said softly as he approached the counter.
"Hello Elizabeth," he said, smiling slightly.
When Elizabeth saw him smile that way, it was all too easy to let her mind float back to a different time in their lives, when it only took one smile like that from Lucky to send her spirit soaring. She quickly shook it off. "What can I get for you?" she asked.
"How about a few minutes of your time? Do you think that'd be ok?" he asked sincerely.
"Sure it would. I am due for a break anyway." She quickly took off her apron. "Where would you like to go?"
"Right over here is fine," Lucky said, pointing to one of the tables. They walked over to it, and Lucky pulled Elizabeth's chair out for her. She sat down, and he sat across from her, a serious expression on his face.
After a few seconds of silence, Elizabeth spoke up. "So, what is this about, Lucky?"
Lucky sighed. "I owe you an explanation, Elizabeth. I know I haven't been myself lately."
Elizabeth smiled at him. "I know," she whispered.
"Well, a lot of things have happened. Things I'm not even sure I understand
yet. But I've had plenty of time to reflect on things. I've been thinking back
on my behavior these
past few months. I've been terrible," he admitted. "I have constantly
and consistently hurt the people I care about." He twisted his hands. "And
I am very sorry about that."
"Lucky, you went through a horrible experience. No one expected that everything would be the same once it was over."
"I don't know, I kind of wished that it could be," Lucky said softly. "But I knew that someday, I would have to confront this. And I will. I'm doing it right now. I'm in the process of making things right."
"You're working hard, Lucky. I realize that now. Nikolas says you've been seeing Dr. Collins."
"Yeah. We've been working together, unraveling the past."
Just then, the door opened. Liz held a hand up to her face. Lucky's back was to the door, so he didn't see who walked in. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing's wrong. Your cousin just came in, and we don't exactly get along."
Lucky turned around to see Carly approaching Tammy who was behind the counter. "Is my mother in yet?" she asked Tammy.
"Not yet, but I expect her in about fifteen minutes or so."
"Fine. I'll wait, then," Carly said, sitting down at the counter.
Lucky turned around again. "I know I've missed some things, but I don't understand the rivalry you two have. Maybe it's because you are so alike."
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, you're both confident, aggressive, and a little bit stubborn. Plus you're both really beautiful," Lucky said shyly.
Elizabeth smiled. She never would have thought that a comparison to Carly was a good thing, but Lucky always did have a way of seeing things in a different light. Maybe he was right.
Lucky sighed. "But you understood what I was saying before, right?"
"Yes."
"I just don't want to hurt you any more."
Elizabeth gently touched Lucky's hand. "Lucky, you could never truly hurt me. I know that, because you love me, and I love you."
Suddenly, Lucky froze. Then he heard an echo from the past. "It will begin."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Emily quickly gathered up her things from her locker, and almost bolted out the door. She walked briskly down the steps of the school, but stopped when she heard someone calling her name. She turned to find Juan running after her.
"Emily, there you are. I've been looking for you all day."
That's because I've been avoiding you, she thought. "I'm sorry, Juan, I've really got to go right now."
"Where are you going?" he asked, following her as she walked away.
"To a doctor's appointment," Emily lied. "I haven't been feeling well." At least that part is true.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Can I take you there?" Juan asked, his voice full of concern.
"Really, I'll be fine." She smiled in an attempt to allay his fears.
"Oh, ok, well, I'll talk to you later?" he said forlornly.
"Yeah." Emily walked away, not feeling very good about lying to him. Then again, it seemed to be coming easier to her lately. At least that's what Sly thought. She sighed. She had heard his message on the answering machine. She had no idea what to think of it. Maybe that's the way he felt today, but who knew about tomorrow? It really wasn't a good sign.
Emily sighed. The things he said to her still hurt. It was going to take a lot to win back her trust, and some phone call from West Virginia wasn't going to cut it. Was he going to run away every time something bad happened? "God, I hope not," Emily whispered as she arrived at her destination.
She walked into the drugstore, carefully looking around to make sure no one she knew was there. She headed down one of the aisles, stopping until she found what she was looking for. She looked over the selections, finally picking up a box that said, Answers. "Works in five minutes," she read softly to herself. That was good enough. She walked to the front of the store to pay for her purchase.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Lucky's heart was pounding. He looked at Liz. Sweet, beautiful Lizzie. His eyes devoured her image. "Only you can save me, Liz," he said. Her lower lip trembled, and he touched it with his finger. "Lizzie, please. Please. I need you."
Liz moved away from Lucky, but he followed. "No, Liz, don't go. Don't you dare leave me." He knocked over a few chairs that were in his way. Liz looked positively terrified, but Lucky didn't care. He grabbed Liz by the arms.
"You're hurting me," she said.
"I need you, Liz, more than you know. I'm drowning. Won't you help me?"
"Lucky, don't," she said.
Lucky forcefully kissed her on the lips. "No, Lucky," she screamed as she felt them start to sink to the floor.
"No!"
*-*-*-*-*-*
Elizabeth stared at Lucky. His eyes were closed, but one could tell his eyes were moving rapidly. He had had a strange reaction to her words. She was panicking; what was wrong with him?
"Lucky, Lucky, can you hear me?"
Lucky seemed lost in his own world. He was gripping the table so tightly his hands were turning white. His breathing seemed labored. He was lost in his own world.
"Lucky, can you hear me?" Elizabeth repeated, touching Lucky on the arm.
Lucky's eyes flew open. He stared at Elizabeth for a second, and then backed away quickly, knocking over his chair. He had a strange, animal look in his eyes. "I don't want to do this!" he yelled.
All of the commotion attracted everyone's attention. Luckily, only Tammy, Carly, Elizabeth and Lucky were in the diner.
"Lucky, what's going on?" Elizabeth asked, frightened out of her mind.
"I don't want to hurt her," he said with a tremble in his voice. "Please, let me go. I don't want to hurt her," Lucky said again.
Elizabeth approached Lucky again. "Lucky, calm down. Tell us what's wrong."
Lucky backed away from Elizabeth, bumping into the tables in a frantic attempt to get away. "Leave me alone!" he shouted.
Carly saw what was happening, and while she didn't know what was going on, she felt she had to do something. "Tammy, call 911," she said as she left the counter.
Carly approached Lucky and Elizabeth. "Liz, why don't you move out of the way?" Elizabeth moved as Carly got closer to Lucky.
Carly looked at Lucky, who seemed to be fighting a battle that was all too real to him. "Lucky, Lucky, it's me, your cousin Carly. Lucky, can you tell us what's wrong?"
"I don't want to do it. Don't make me," Lucky sobbed.
"An ambulance is on its way," Tammy said to Elizabeth.
"We won't make you do anything you don't want to do, Lucky," Carly said in a soothing tone of voice. "We just want to help you."
"I don't want to hurt her. Please don't let me hurt her!" he yelled, unconsciously repeating his father's words from an earlier time.
"You won't hurt anybody, Lucky. And nobody's going to hurt you," Carly whispered.
Lucky collapsed into Carly's arms, still sobbing. She held him tightly.
Carly gently rubbed his back, whispering to him. "Nobody's going to hurt you anymore, Lucky. Not if I have anything to say about it."
Elizabeth stood with Tammy. She was crying, so scared about what this meant for Lucky. She was also strangely jealous of Carly, because this time, she was helping Lucky in a way that Elizabeth couldn't.
Soon an ambulance pulled up to Kelly's. Two paramedics rushed in. "What's going on?" one of them asked.
Tammy approached them. "This young man needs help. He was acting strangely, almost as if he were having a nervous breakdown or something."
The two paramedics approached Lucky and Carly slowly. "Why don't you come with us, son? We can help."
Lucky felt one of their hands on his shoulder. "No!" he said suddenly. "Not unless Carly comes with me."
Carly looked at the paramedics. "I'm his cousin. I'm going with you."
"Fine," one of them said.
Carly took Lucky's hand. "Lucky, I'm coming with you. Don't worry."
Lucky slowly started moving towards the doorway, and Carly followed. The paramedics opened the back of the rig, and Lucky and Carly climbed in. One of the paramedics joined them, as the other went to the front and got in. He started the ambulance, and drove away towards General Hospital.
Bobbie Spencer came running into the restaurant seconds later. "What just happened?"
Tammy was giving Elizabeth a hug as she cried. "Something happened to Lucky, Bobbie. We're not sure exactly what. It seemed like he was having a breakdown."
"I thought I saw Carly getting into that ambulance," she said, confused.
"That was her. She calmed down Lucky somewhat, and he asked her to go with him to the hospital."
"Really? Carly and Lucky barely know each other." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. I'm going to go to the hospital. Elizabeth, do you want to go with me?"
Elizabeth nodded her head yes.
"Good. Let's go."
"Is there anything I can do?" Tammy called as they were leaving.
"Call Laura," Bobbie said, "and tell her to get to the hospital now!" Bobbie and Elizabeth disappeared out the door.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Emily nervously sat on her bed, eyeing her watch. One minute, just one minute more, she thought. She soon got up and started pacing. Her whole life hinged on this minute. It was almost too much to take.
Finally, the timer on her watch went off. Emily slowly approached the bathroom. She took a deep breath, and then looked at the test.
It was pink. She looked at the box, just to be sure. Pink means positive.
Emily felt herself go weak in the knees as she slid down the bathroom wall. Oh, God, oh God, she thought. I'm pregnant.
She buried her face in her hands and cried. I'm pregnant. Oh, Mom, what am I going to do?