What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 17-18

~*~Chapter 17~*~

Elizabeth it sitting on her bed, clutching Lucky's shirt, which still smells faintly like him. She couldn't sleep last night, all she could do was cry. Something in her had snapped at the cemetery last night, and she was afraid that she might be having a breakdown like Laura. All she can do is sit on her bed, rocking back and forth, listening to the radio. She can't bring herself to listen to "Elizabeth" today - it's too painful.

She thinks back to the previous night, remembering how Luke had comforted her. She was so thankful that he had been there. If he hadn't, she might still be there, curled up on his grave, crying, unable to go home. Luke had taken care of her, wiped her tears, said some comforting words and brought her home. She now knows where Lucky had gotten his protective nature from. There was one thing that Luke had said that didn't sit right with her, but she's such a mess right now she can't remember what it was.

Just then, "My Heart Will Go On" starts playing on the radio. As she listens to the lyrics, she starts crying again. She gets up and shuts the radio off, wipes her face, and decides that she can't stay in her room all day, wallowing in self-pity.

"Come on, Elizabeth. Get yourself dressed and go somewhere. Get out of this house." She tries giving herself a pep talk, but it doesn't seem to work too well. Finally, she drags herself to the bathroom for a shower.

An hour later, she finds herself at the Spencer home, knocking on the door. Laura opens it and her face lights up. "Liz! It's good to see you, come in."

"Thanks, Laura. I'm not sure why I'm here. I just started walking, and this is where I ended up." She looks so lost. Laura is getting worried. She walks over to the girl and leads her to the sofa to sit down.

"Is everything okay? " she asks, smoothing Liz's hair away from her face. Her eyes are red and puffy, like she's been crying for hours.

"Not really. I think I might have had a breakdown last night."

Laura hugs her as a new round of tears come. They just rock back and forth for a few minutes until Liz can speak again. "I'm sorry. I've been doing that all morning. Every little thing sets me off: a song, a picture, even just a thought about him." She takes a shaky breath and continues. "I had this really weird feeling at Kelly's yesterday about him, and I wasn't sure what to make of it, so I decided to go to the cemetery. I always think more clearly there, and it makes me feel close to him. Anyway, I was sitting on the ground, talking to him...I hope that doesn't sound silly..."

Laura smiles, "No, dear, it doesn't. I do it all the time."

Liz nods and continues, "okay, so, I was talking to him, and I looked up at the sky for a moment. I realized all of a sudden that for the first time since the rape, I was able to look at the stars without flashing back or feeling scared. It was so wonderful, and the first thing I thought was 'I can't wait to tell Lucky'." She has to stop because she starts crying again. After a few minutes, she calms down enough to speak again. "I got so mad, you know? All I wanted to do was tell him, and he wasn't there. I don't know what happened, but I snapped. I started yelling at the sky, at him. I don't even remember what I said anymore. Something about him promising to be here forever or something. If Luke hadn't shown up, I'd probably still be there..."

Laura is surprised to hear her husband's name. "Luke? What was he doing there? Oh, well, I guess that's a stupid question. I'm glad he was able to help you. He loves you like a daughter, you know. So do I." Liz smiles for the first time that day, happy that they feel the same about her as she does about them. She feels closer to the two of them than she does to her own parents. She hugs Laura again.

"He was wonderful, Laura. He just let me cry on his shoulder, like you're doing now, and talked to me until I calmed down, then brought me home. I just wish I could remember what he said," she's been trying to remember all morning, but just can't. "He said something that seemed kind of strange, but I was too upset to ask what he meant, and now I don't remember what it was."

"I'm sure it'll come to you sooner or later. Just give it time. As for the breakdown part, I really don't think it's that serious. I think you've just been holding too much in, and it all kind of rushed out last night. Sometimes certain circumstances make you cry more than others, and the combination of being at the cemetery, realizing you could look at the stars without being afraid, along with it being the anniversary, probably just pushed you over the edge for a moment. You didn't breakdown, trust me." Liz felt comforted by this. Laura always had a way of making her feel better. Laura reached up with a handkerchief to wipe Liz's face, "When I start to feel sad, I just remind myself how much Lucky loved all of us, and try to think of the good times we had. It always makes me feel better."

Liz suddenly looked up. "That's it! That's what Luke said. He was telling me to remember how much Lucky loved me, but instead of saying that way, he said, 'Lucky loves you, and he would never leave you if he could help it' in the present tense, like he was still here. It seemed kind of weird, but I was too upset to say anything. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

Laura did think it was weird, but she didn't want Liz to worry, so she tried to think of something more comforting to say. "I'm sure he just meant that Lucky's always with us, so that's why he said it that way. I think he believes that he watches over us now, which makes it feel like he's still here, you know?" Liz nodded, not completely convinced, but too tired to argue. Just then , Lesley Lu bounded down the stairs and into the living room.

"Lisabet! Lisabet!" Liz smiled and leaned over to pick her up. She loves Lucky's little sister dearly, and it's obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that the sentiment is returned. LuLu's face always lights up when she sees Liz.

Elizabeth pulls her up onto her lap and asks her how she is. LuLu babbles on about her tea party that morning. She had become much more talkative these past few months, and sometimes it was impossible for anyone to shut her up! LuLu suddenly leans in toward Liz's ear like she is about to tell her a secret. "Lucky come home" she whispers, loud enough that Laura hears her as well. Liz looks at Laura, confused.

Laura sighs. "LuLu, why don't you go upstairs and change clothes for your play date?" Lu nods, hugs Liz again, and bounds back up the stairs. When she is out of sight, Laura sighs again. "She's been saying that a lot lately. I don't know what it means. When I ask her, she just smiles and changes the subject. I think she just wants him to come home. Maybe she doesn't understand that going to heaven isn't a vacation that he can come back from."

Her explanation makes sense, but Liz can't help wondering if there isn't more to what the little girl was saying. Between that and what Luke said, she is suddenly very confused. She thanks Laura for taking the time to listen to her, and for her help. They hug again at the door, and Liz leaves. She decides to take a walk to clear her head, and sets off toward the docks.

~*~Chapter 18~*~

Luke has been examining the medical files ever since Felicia left. He still doesn't know what most of the stuff in them means, but he can't stop looking at them.

There's a knock at the door. "Get in here!" he yells.

Alexis walks in, looking worried. She's been trying to figure out what he's up to ever since his phone call. "Alright, here's what I've got. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. I was saving it for a rainy day, so to speak, but you sounded like you need it more than I would. Is there any chance I can get you to tell me what's going on?"

Luke eyes the folder she's holding in front of her, wondering what's in it. "Hello to you, too, Natasha," he smirks. "How's married life treatin' ya?"

"It's fine, Luke. Now what's this all about? Why do you need information against Helena all of a sudden?"

"I guess I decided that it's time to finally bring her down. I guess you could say I just need the final nail in the coffin." He smiles at that, amused with himself for the pun.

Alexis realizes that she's not going to get any more information out of him, so she stops pressing. "Fine, do whatever you like with this. It's nothing big, though. It may bring her down a few notches, but I can't imagine it would destroy her."

Luke chuckles. "Oh, I don't intend to destroy her was files. That's no fun. No, Helena deserves much more from me. I always promised her that I'd slit her throat. Don't you think that would be fitting?"

Alexis is taken aback for a moment at this, remembering what happened to her mother. Luke has been threatening to kill Helena for years now, and she has a hard time believing that this time he really means it. "Sure, Luke. Do whatever you want. Just make sure you leave me out of it. If she comes after me, I'll kill you!"

"Party pooper. Fine, I'll do it on my own. So, are you going to give me that any time today, or am I supposed to develop x-ray vision?" He reaches out to take the file she has been clutching.

She hands it to him, rolling her eyes. Luke always manages to tire her out whenever she speaks with him. She just wants to get this over with and go back to the gatehouse. "These are Nikolas's medical records, the ones Jax and I went to Greece for. I haven't found anything in them too shocking, though. Just proof that Helena has known all along that Stefan was his father, and not Stavros. It could hurt her chances of getting any of the family fortune, but that's about it. I'm sorry it's nothing more sinister, but it's all I have."

Luke frowns. "That's it? Well, we all knew that she has known all along about that. It's not exactly breaking news."

"I know, but keep in mind that she not only killed Dr. Lastiris before we could get to him, but she tried to kill us on more than one occasion in order to stop us from getting these. It must mean something more to her. Maybe you'll see something I didn't. Do whatever you want with them. I have to get going."

"I'll see what I can find. Say hi to hubby for me. Don't be a stranger!" She rolls her eyes again, and leaves, slamming the door behind her.

Luke opens the file, and glances through the documents. It contains records on Nikolas, Stavros, and Stefan, along with the results of the paternity test. Once again, he is too confused by all of the medical lingo to make any sense of it. He picks up the phone, dials General Hospital's nurses station and asks for his sister. When she gets on the phone, he asks if she can come to the club. She says she is just getting off of her shift, and agrees to meet him there in twenty minutes.

He is still studying the records when she arrives. "Okay, Luke what's the big emergency?" she asks.

"Well, Barbara, I need your medical expertise. Can you read the charts and tell me what they mean?" He hands the papers to her as she sits in the chair across from him.

She studies them for a few minutes. "All this shows is that Nikolas is Stefan's son, which we all knew already." She goes on to point out the reasons, showing Luke where the DNA matches up between Nikolas and Stefan, but not Stavros, along with blood test results. She notices that Lucky's chart is also sitting on the desk. She picks it up and glances at it, trying to figure out why Luke has it out. She frowns all of a sudden. "Wait, something isn't right here."

That gets Luke's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this is Lucky's, isn't it?" she asks, holding up the other chart. Luke nods. "Okay, don't shoot me for saying this, but if these records are accurate, that would mean that Lucky is also Stefan's son."

"WHAT!" Luke screams, turning red. "Wait a minute, Barbara. That's not possible We both know that."

"I know that, Luke," she tries to calm him down. "What I meant is that this means that these records aren't correct. Something is fishy. Do you have anything else that could help? Maybe yours and Laura's?"

He goes over the to safe and retrieves two more files and hands them to Bobbie. She looks them over and gasps. "Uh, Luke, you may want to sit down for this."