~*~Chapter 29~*~

Laura hangs up with Emily and walks over to join Luke on the couch. “So, how’s Mommy-to-be doing?” he asks.

“Okay, I guess. She’s got morning sickness right now, so she’s kind of miserable. It’s good to see them happy, though,” she sighs.

Luke can tell there’s something wrong that she’s not telling him. “Talk to me, angel. I can tell something’s bothering you. What is it?”

Laura sighs and looks up into his concerned eyes. “It’s nothing, I’m sure. It’s just-”

“Just what?”

“Just a weird feeling, that’s all. I’m sure it’s no big deal.”

“What kind of feeling? Come on, just tell me, babe. It’s obviously weighing on you, so out with it.”

She thinks for a moment, then sits up and looks him in the eyes. “I’ve just got a weird feeling that something’s wrong with Lucky. I know, he’s just at L&B, so there’s no reason for it. That’s why I said that I’m sure it’s nothing. He’s probably just sad about Liz again.”

Luke studies her face, thinking. “Have you gotten feelings like this before, since she disappeared?” She shakes her head slowly. “So, this is the first time?” She nods. He quickly stands up, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Luke, where are we going?” she asked, hurrying to keep up with him.

“To find our son, where else? If I’ve learned anything in all our years of marriage, it’s never to doubt your instincts. If your gut is telling you something’s wrong with the Cowboy, then we need to find him.”

~*~

“Lucky, wake up!” V says, shaking him gently. He had been out of it for 20 minutes now, and the entire lower half of her body was going numb. She had tried wriggling out from under him, but only succeeded in shifting his body so that even more weight was pressing against her.

“Argh!” she groans. leaning back against the tree that was behind her. “Of all the times to be without that stupid cell phone!” She looks around, hoping that someone would be walking by, but the studio was in a very secluded area, to keep the noise from bothering others. She tries shaking Lucky again, but it’s no use. He’s out cold, and shows no signs of waking up any time soon.

A few minutes later, she hears footsteps approach and sits forward, craning her neck to see who it is. A sigh of relief escapes her as she calls out to them. “Luke! Laura! Over here, hurry!”

Surprised to hear V’s voice, they turn to see why she’s outside. “Oh no!” Laura gasps, hurrying over to her, Luke right behind her. “What happened? What’s wrong with him?” she asks, crouching down to get a closer look at her son.

“Lucky came out here to get some fresh air earlier, and when he was gone for longer than I expected, I came out to see if he was okay. He was sitting on the ground, crying, so I came over to see what I could do to help,” V says quickly, then stops to take a breath.

“When he saw me, he got this really weird expression on his face, then called me Elizabeth. He wasn’t really looking at me, though, he was sort of looking through me. I don’t think he was really here, you know? Anyway, he started rambling to her, asking where she was, then later talking about how Nikolas was having a kid, and how he was going to be an uncle. It was kind of creepy, because it was like listening to someone on the phone, like there was another side to the conversation I couldn’t hear, but that he could. Does that make any sense?”

Luke and Laura look at each other fearfully for a moment, worried about Lucky. “Yeah, it does. So how did he get like this?”

“He just sort of collapsed. I had sat down on the ground here before to try and comfort him, and he just suddenly fell asleep, right on my lap like this. He’s too heavy to move, and I didn’t have my phone with me. I can’t wake him up, either. Could you guys please help me move him? I’ve lost all feeling in my legs!”

They both reach down and drag Lucky off of V’s lap, laying him on his back. His head lolled to the side, still unconscious. “V, can I use the phone inside?” Luke asked.

She nods, standing up shakily. “Sure, go ahead. Do you think he’ll be okay?”

“I sure hope so,” Luke answers, hurrying into the studio. Laura is sitting on the ground with Lucky’s head in her lap, smoothing his hair away from his face.

“So why are you two here, anyway?” V asks, suddenly realizing how strange it was for them to have shown up.

“I had a strange feeling about Lucky, so Luke insisted we check up on him. I guess it’s a good thing we did.”

“Tell me about it! I was running out of ideas. Nothing was waking him up, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get out from under him. You know, he’s thin as a rail, but when he’s like this, he weighs a ton!”

Luke comes out of the building and hurries over to them. “There’s an ambulance on the way. How is he?”

“The same,” Laura says sadly. “I thought he was getting better, Luke. How could this have happened?”

Luke shrugs and looks at V. “You said he was talking about Nikolas and Emily’s baby?” She nods. “Maybe it finally hit him that they were having a kid, and that he might never have the chance to have one with Liz.”

Laura nods, looking down at Lucky’s sleeping face. “Maybe.”

~*~Chapter 30~*~

Liz sighs and stares out at the water, absently rubbing her stomach. A week had passed since her strange “conversation” with Lucky. Ever since that night, she had felt different, like she had become disconnected from him. It was a disturbing feeling, and she kept trying to tell herself that it didn’t mean anything, that she had just been on the island for too long.

“Elisha,” Sergei says softly from behind her. She turns and frowns. This garden had become her place, where she went to get away from everything, so when he interrupted her there, she got very defensive.

“What?” she asks angrily.

He shrugs, sitting on the bench next to her. She scoots to the end, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. “I just came out here to see how you were doing, that’s all. Believe it or not, I don’t spend every waking moment with Helena. I actually spend most of it by myself, and sometimes it gets pretty lonely.” He looks at the ground and sighs. “I guess I figured that we could keep each other company.”

Liz gazes out at the sea, watching a fish jump out of the water. “I’m sorry, but as long as you’re going along with her stupid plan, I don’t think I can trust you.”

“Elisha, I’m not asking you to trust me, at least not right now. Like it or not, you’re having my baby. Don’t you think we should at least get to know each other a little better?”

She turns to glare at him. “What’s there to know? You’re Nikolas’s long-lost twin brother who’s been raised by Helena Cassidine. You do everything she says, I was forced to marry you and sleep with you, and now I’m pregnant. I think I know everything I need to know. As for me, I’m still in love with my real husband, your brother, and nothing will ever change that.”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere this way, he rubs his face and looks up at the sky, trying to think of a different approach. He looks around to make sure none of the guards are within hearing distance before speaking again. “Look, I’m not the one who brought you here, so stop throwing all your anger at me. Do you think I like it here any more than you do? Sure, I get to leave every now and then when Helena needs me to run an errand, but I’m always heavily guarded to make sure I come straight back. I’m as much a prisoner here as you are. The only exception is that Helena is the only family I’ve ever known, so I don’t feel quite as confined as you might.”

Liz looks up at him in shock. She hadn’t thought before that he might actually be feeling the same way as her. Now that he said it, it made perfect sense. He had never been allowed to know his real family, never had a chance to know what it was like to be in love, to be free. He really was a prisoner here. “I... I’m sorry about that, Sergei. I hadn’t realized that you weren’t here of your own accord. I guess I was too wrapped up in feeling sorry for myself to see it.”

He smiles, knowing that he had finally made that first step toward gaining her trust. “It’s okay. You’ve been put in a very strange situation here. I don’t blame you for hating me. I just hope that by the time our child is born, that you can at least stand to be in the same room with me. I didn’t have the privilege of knowing my parents, and I don’t want that to happen to our child. Even if it’s parents don’t love each other, I want them to know that we still love him or her.”

Liz is touched by his words, and feels herself tearing up. She nods and looks away. “I’ll try. Right now, I’d just like to be alone, okay? I need to sort some things out in my head.”

Sergei nods and stands up, not wanting to push his luck. “Of course. Ill see you later, Elisha.” He walks away, leaving Liz behind to mull over everything he’s said.

She stands up and walks to the edge of the beach, letting the cool water rush over her toes. Part of her wants to just walk into the sea and keep going, never looking back, never stopping, until she can’t walk any more. Of course, the guards would be on her in a second if she took one step out there, but it was a comforting thought, anyway. She knew suicide wasn’t the answer here, but there were times where it was all she could think about. Times when she was convinced that Lucky was really dead after all, and that the only way she could ever be with him again was to take her own life.

Other times, she was fully certain that he was really alive, and that he was out there somewhere, searching for her. She would sit quietly and try to send him messages, trying to reach out to him with her heart and her mind. It never worked, or at least, she never felt like it worked. All she ever succeeded in doing was tiring herself out. Now that she was pregnant, she had avoided anything that could exert her energy too much. She would instead spend her day roaming the grounds, trying to keep her mind clear of any thoughts of her family, just thinking about her baby, or better yet, about nothing at all. She had gotten very good at completely clearing her mind of all thoughts, something she found very handy on those nights that Sergei would visit her.

But most of all, she concentrated on her baby. She vowed to herself on the day she discovered she was pregnant that she would love it, no matter what. After all, it was still a Spencer. Helena had given her a bunch of baby books, which she would sit in her room at night and read, devouring every bit of information in them. Sometimes she would find herself fantasizing that she was back in Port Charles, and that the baby was hers and Lucky’s, that they were celebrating it’s arrival with Luke, Laura, Nikolas and Emily, but then she would snap herself out of it and force herself back into the real world.

After walking around the island, Liz looks up at the sky and sees that the sun is starting to set. She sighs and heads into the house to get ready for dinner. Helena did not look kindly on tardiness, and she had learned the hard way that being late for dinner was not something she wanted to do. She climbs the stairs to her room, running through her earlier conversation with Sergei for the hundredth time, trying to figure out what his reasons for opening up to her like that were. Was he being sincere, or was it all just a big story to get her trust, so that Helena could twist the knife a little more?

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