What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 75-76

~*~Chapter 75~*~

"Lucky?" Elizabeth whispers, squeezing his hand harder. "Can you hear me?"

"Ow," he whispers, his eyelids fluttering.

"Oh, Lucky. Are you hurt? What's wrong?" she asks quickly, unable to mask the fear in her voice.

He opens his eyes slightly and looks at her before answering weakly, "...my hand."

She looks down and realizes that she's squeezing too hard and laughs slightly, releasing her grip. "Sorry."

Lucky looks around the room in confusion. "What happened? Why are we in the hospital?"

"Don't you remember? You went out into the lobby and were jumped. Someone injected you with something and you passed out."

Suddenly it all comes back, the happiness he had felt as he left the ballroom, the shock of seeing the syringe, the sound of her voice screaming his name as he blacked out. "Are you okay?" he asks, worried about her when he realizes that she's wearing a hospital gown as well.

She nods. "I am now. Gram said I went into shock or something after we found you on the ground. Nikolas had to carry me out to the car because I couldn't stand up. Do you want me to tell your parents that you're awake?"

He shakes his head. "Not yet. I just want to be here with you for now. I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. This was supposed to be a happy day for us."

She tries to fight back her tears. "Don't say that, Lucky. This is still a happy day. You asked me to marry you in the sweetest, most wonderful way I could have imagined, and I said yes. Nothing will change that. This whole thing isn't your fault."

"Elizabeth, please tell me what happened. I know you must know by now, and I need to know what that monster put in me. Please?" he begs, seeing in her eyes that she knows, but that she doesn't want to tell him.

She sighs. "Okay, Gram said it was a poison that Helena made while you were still being held prisoner. Luke found it in the control room and gave it to Bobbie to have tested. Helena must have had more stashed somewhere, though because Bobbie destroyed the stuff Luke gave her. Anyway, the tests showed that anyone who took it would die within 24 hours..." she sobs for a minute before regaining her composure. "...and at that time there wasn't a cure. But they found one since then, and they're making it right now, so you're going to fine, okay?"

He smiles, knowing that she was trying to reassure herself more than him. "Thank you for telling me. When are they going to finish making the stuff? How long have I been out?"

"It's been about an hour and a half..." she starts sobbing uncontrollably when she realizes that there's only a half hour left to administer the antidote.

Not sure why she's crying so hard, he sits up and wraps his arms around her. "It's okay. There's still plenty of time. Please don't cry like this. I hate to see you so sad. This is a happy day, remember?" He pulls back so he can look into her eyes, and is surprised at how much pain and sadness is in them. "There's more, isn't there?"

She nods. He knew her too well. She could never hide anything from him. "Yeah, but I don't think I can say it.."

He looks her in the eyes again. "Yes you can. No lies, remember? We swore to always be honest with each other, no matter what, so tell me. I can handle it, I promise."

She takes a long, shuddering breath before speaking again. "Gram said that the antidote has to be given in the first two hours, or else it won't work." She sobs again. "Lucky, there's only a half an hour left, and they're not here with it yet!"

He holds her closer as she cries, not sure how to comfort her this time, tears streaming down his face. He had thought they were finally free of Helena's torment, but it looked like even in death she still had a hold on them. He looks down at his angel, sobbing on his shoulder. They were supposed to be happy now, celebrating their engagement, not crying in a hospital room

~*~

Out in the waiting room, Luke is pacing incessantly, looking at his watch every other minute. Laura is sitting quietly in the corner with Nikolas and Emily, and Bobbie is on the phone at the nurses station.

Sonny, Jason and Carly come rushing into the room. "We just heard. How is he?" Sonny asks, out of breath.

Luke shakes his head. "He was poisoned by one of Helena's men. If they don't give him the antidote in," he looks at this watch and sighs, "20 minutes, he'll be gone by this time tomorrow." A tear runs down his cheek, and Sonny embraces him.

"I'm sorry, man. I'm sure they'll get here in time. The boy's a fighter. He just got engaged to the love of his life, so he has a lot to stay here for. Don't lose hope yet, okay man?" Luke nods slowly, unconvinced. Sonny walks over to talk to Laura, and Carly gives Luke a hug.

"He'll be fine, Uncle Luke. He has to." She sniffs, trying not to cry, and goes back to Jason, who puts his arm around her protectively and leads her to a chair. Luke resumes his pacing, glancing at his watch again. Where were they?

The doors open and Mac and Felicia rush in. Felicia runs up to Luke and hugs him tightly. "Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry about all of this. Is he okay?" She wipes her eyes as Luke smiles sadly at her.

"It's sort of a race against time right now, darlin'. Depending on what happens in the next," he looks at his watch, "15 minutes, he could be fine, or he could be doomed." He lets out a sob and she hugs him again. "How could this happen, Felicia? After all we did to get him back, how can he be taken away again so soon?"

"I don't know, Luke, I don't know." She continues to hold him, not sure what else to do.

Mac's phone rings and he goes over to a quiet corner to answer it. After a short conversation, he comes back to the waiting family. "I just received news that they got Art to talk. He was put up to this by Stefan Cassidine."

Luke is too choked with rage to say anything, and Nikolas just keeps shaking his head. Laura asks softly, "How could he do anything? He's in jail right now."

Mac nods. "I know, but it seems that he had given Ari the drug while Lucky was still in Wyndemere, just in case. All he had to do was call him and give him the order to carry it out. Don't worry, he is under strict supervision now, and isn't allowed any phone calls unless they are monitored."

Luke finally finds his voice. "A fat lot of good that does now! If the lab doesn't show with the antidote to that poison in ten minutes, my son is going to die! I don't care about Stefan's phone privileges any more! I want him dead, even if it means I have to do it myself!"

~*~Chatper 76~*~

Lucky cradles Elizabeth in his arms, trying to stop her from crying so hard. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. I broke my promise again, I'm sorry."

She sniffs and looks at him. "What do you mean? What promise?"

"When you were in that coma, I promised you that I'd never hurt you again, but now you're hurting worse than I've ever seen, and it's all because of me."

She shakes her head violently. "No, don't say that! This is not your fault. You didn't ask to be poisoned. You have brought me nothing but joy, and I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. I love you, Lucky, and I could never be hurt by you!"

He sighs and leans back in the bed. "But I could die soon. I can't bear to think about you having to go through that again."

She shakes her head again. "I don't want to think about that right now. I just want to be here with you . Don't talk about dying, because you're not going to!"

"Elizabeth, unless someone comes in here in the next 5 minutes with that antidote, I am going to die. I know it's hard to think about.."

She interrupts him. "No! I'm not going to talk about this! You are going to live. You promised me that you wouldn't leave again."

He chokes back his own tears and caresses her cheek. "I know, and I don't want to leave, but I may not have a choice now. I just want you to know that I'll always love you, and..."

"No! Don't you do this. Don't say good-bye, because you aren't going anywhere. They're going to come in here and give you that medicine, and you're going to be fine. We're going to get married, and have kids, and..." she breaks off, crying too hard to speak anymore.

He holds her tighter, letting his tears flow freely. He feels so helpless. He can't bear to see her in so much pain, but for once there's nothing he can do to help her.

~*~

"Any news?" Luke asks Bobbie. She shakes her head sadly. He walks over and sits down next to Laura, taking her in his arms as she cries softly.

"How could he do this? He said he cared about me! How could he have my baby killed like this?" Luke holds her closer, wishing he could say something to ease her pain.

Nikolas is pacing now. "Why Lucky? We just got him back. I was finally getting to know him, and we were actually becoming brothers. I can't lose him again like this. It's not right." Emily gets up and holds him, letting him cry on her shoulder.

"I know, we're all angry. Losing him once was hard enough, but I don't know how any of us can do it again. At least this time, if the worst happens, we'll be able to say good-bye."

Nikolas sobs harder. "I don't want to say good-bye. I don't think I could."

"You mean, there's nothing you'd want to say to him?" she asks.

He sighs. "Yeah, I'd want to tell him that I love him. I'm sure he knows, but I've never actually said it before."

She hugs him again. "I'm sure he knows too, and I know he loves you just as much."

Audrey comes into the room. "Luke, Laura, I thought you'd want to know that he's awake. He wanted to be alone with Elizabeth for a while, but I think they've had enough time. I'm sure he'd want to see you now."

They nod and start for his room. Emily stays back. "I'll see him later. He doesn't need all of us smothering him right now. You guys go and I'll wait with Jason." Nikolas smiles at her and kisses her quickly before following his parents down the hall.

~*~

Liz's sobs finally subside and she looks up at Lucky. He's been watching her quietly, letting her cry. It was breaking his heart to see her like this, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Come here," he says quietly, helping her up on the bed so she can lay down next to him. He takes her in his arms and holds her close, as she sighs.

"I only feel at home when I'm in your arms, do you know that? You are my home. You're the only person that makes me whole. What am I supposed to do if I have to lose you again? I don't think I could go on, Lucky. I don't think I can do it again." She's trembling in his arms now, crying so forcefully that the bed is shaking.

"Don't say that, Elizabeth. You will go on. You're strong. You'll go to art school and meet someone else. You'll get married and have kids some day. I promise," he whispers, stroking her hair.

Her body starts shaking harder. "Don't promise me that. You promised me that we'd be together forever, that you'd never leave me, but that's not going to happen anymore. I don't want to hear any more promises, Lucky. Not if they're just going to be broken."

He sighs and tightens his hold on her. "I love you, baby. I always will. That's one promise that I could never break."

Luke, Laura, and Nikolas are standing unnoticed in the doorway, watching the couple grieve. Luke wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. The despair in the room is so strong they can practically feel it. He looks at his watch again, a tear running down his cheek. Two hours and fifteen minutes had passed.