November 8th 2018
"Where on Earth could he possibly be?" Alexis asks, sinking into the couch, holding her stomach. "I'm so scared we started looking too late."
"I'm sure he's just sleeping off a hangover in some motel. He's too stubborn to let anything happen to himself." Sam says softly, sitting next to her mother, holding her shoulders. "Stubborn asshole."
"Mom, do you wanna hold Wiley for a little while?" Lucas asks, kneeling in front of her.
Alexis looks down at her stomach, she nods. Lucas works his son into her arms, kissing her cheek as he gets up and sits on the open spot on the couch. "Do you think we should have involved Kristina in this?" He asks.
"No." Sam states. "She broke up with him. She's the reason he's MIA."
"She said it's just a break." Alexis reminds her.
"That's what I told Jason. Then I filed for divorce. She came for a fun time with a rockstar and when shit got real, she bailed."
"You and Jason were having problems for years. This just started between them. And I already asked her to come over. She's been beside herself." Alexis says.
"Why do you care? She's just some groupie that he got attached to."
"She's not. You have to see them to really understand. She honestly loves him, and he adores her. She has a spot here, she does."
Lucas's phone buzzes on the table. He leaps at it, pressing it to his ear. "Hello?... That's me. Is my father okay?... Okay, okay. We'll be there in a few hours. Please keep me updated." He hangs up. "Dad's at GH, he had an overdose and he's in critical, but he's fighting."
"I'll call Kristina in the car."
Later
"Did they say where they found him?" Alexis asks, tracing her finger along Julian's jaw.
"The house, in the living room. Cops said it look like everyone was rushing out. They went to the house to see what happened, the doors were opened so they went in. They found him on the ground and, luckily, one of the cops recognized him." Lucas explains, only briefly pausing his pacing. "I'm so fucking angry at him. Every other time he's had a breakdown and gone AWOL, he's always come to me. Did I do something wrong?"
"No." Sam comforts, getting up and hugging her brother. "I did. Before you, Dad would come to me to sleep of hangovers and sober up. When we got into a fight, I told him to go find someone else to mooch off of. He did. But I got under his skin and he started to feel bad about coming to you."
"You've gotta stop blaming yourself for that fight." Alexis says. "Your father was in a bad place in his life and he took it out on you. He abused your kindness. I know he never let Danny see how messed up he was, but you had every right to tell him that you didn't want him coming to you drunk and high while you were pregnant or while you had a little baby in the house."
"Still, he's my dad and I've done nothing for him."
Alexis wraps her arms around her daughter. "You don't know how wrong you are. You are your father's world. The entire time I was pregnant with you, he was a mess. He was so worried that he would end up like his father. Then he held you for the first time and suddenly eighteen years of abuse went away, at least for a while. He was the one to jump up and comfort you very time you cried. You renewed his sense of life. You gave him purpose."
"Are you sure?"
"Sam, no matter how long you and your dad fought, and how hard, you we're still one of the most important things in the world to him."
Later
"Has there been any update?" Kristina asks, sitting next to Alexis in the waiting area outside Julian's room.
"Not yet. How are you?" Alexis asks.
"Scared. I don't want the last thing we did together to be going on a break. I didn't get a chance to tell him that I love him. I shouldn't have left when and how I did."
"He knows you love him. He really does. I talked to him that night. He knows just how much you love him and that he doesn't deserve how good you are to him." Alexis places her hand back on her stomach. "And, trust me, I didn't get to tell him something that he'd be a lot more pissed about. I might be pregnant."
Kristina's shoulders fall. She looks at the ground, a spark of anger starting in her chest. "You spelt with my boyfriend?"
"Oh, God no. Julian and I hooked the day the met you, that morning. That was the last time, before he met you. Trust me, he was hooked on you from the minute he saw you."
Kristina puts her hand over her heart. "I knew he loved me so much, but can we go back to you being like five months pregnant?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure, but I think I might be. I've been having the symptoms for a while, but I haven't taken a test. I'm scared to find out. Julian promised he'd be there when I took the test, but he took off and now he's in a coma. So, I haven't done it."
"You have to. If you are, the baby needs you to."
"I know, I know. I'll go get one now. Will you want for me outside the bathroom?"
Kristina holds her hands. "Of course."
