Chapter 7 Alexis lay awake, listening to Luke murmur his wife’s name. Should she wake him? No. What did she care if he was having nightmare? Let him suffer a little. Even if waking him up would mean she could finally get some sleep, it was worth it to think of him miserable - or was it? She had to admit, she felt sorry him - just a tiny bit - even though she was still planning to kill him. Ever since the news of his and Laura’s baby had come (the day after they had arrived in Paris) he had been depressed… worse than depressed - for awhile she had thought that he might hurt himself. Alexis had been saddened by the news, mostly for Stefan’s sake. When he had called on her cellphone, he had sounded tired and when Alexis’s had tried to cheer Stefan up, he had been inconsolable - blaming himself for not getting Laura to the hospital on time. The only good thing about any of this was that Stefan didn’t think to ask what Alexis was doing in Paris. At the moment, Alexis wasn’t quite sure why they were still in Paris. They certainly hadn’t been trying to kill Helena - that plan had been put on the back burner when the news of Luke and Laura’s dead baby had reached them. But, Alexis certainly wasn’t going to remind Luke of why they had come - not again. Once she had brought it up, and in a response a beer bottle had been thrown in her direction - narrowly missing her head. Luke didn’t talk… he didn’t eat… he just sat and drank. "Sorry… I’m so sorry… Laura… forgive me… Laura…" Luke was talking again. She ought to hit him with her pillow. She certainly couldn’t sleep with him moaning like that! Why hadn’t she listened to her better judgment and insisted on separate rooms? Of course there had only been one room left in this hotel, but they could have found a different hotel. Luke had thought that this hotel would be best, though - providing a view of Helena’s room, at the hotel across the street. It was a decent place, but the room they had gotten stuck with wasn’t exactly their best. It had only one bed and a pitifully bathroom - If only she had put her foot down, she wouldn’t have had to listen to this for the past three nights. The first night after Stefan had called with the news of the baby, she had felt a little guilty making Luke sleep on the floor, but she had quickly gotten over that. The bed was huge - the night they had arrived, Luke had joked about sharing it - but she wasn’t about to switch places with him - or perish the thought! Share a bed with him? No, sir! She closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep. Luke had stopped his incessant prattling - thank God. And she felt herself starting to loose consciousness, when she heard another sound from the floor. That was it! That was the last straw! She had tried to patient with him - but she needed her sleep. Grabbing a pillow, Alexis aimed in the darkness, preparing to smack him with it… when she realized that he was already awake - he was crying. "Luke?" What she had meant to come out as irritated ended up as concern. Regaining control of himself, he didn’t answer for awhile, "I’m sorry, Natasha. Didn’t mean to wake you up… Go back to sleep." She was startled by his reply. She had expected him to be defensive, or maybe not even answer - but what she hadn’t expected was an apology. "Are you ok, Luke?" Alexis couldn’t believe she was asking. Now it was his turn to be surprised. He was silent for a moment. "Yeah. I’m… ok." "Do you want to talk?" Where the hell did that come from?! "It’s late. I don’t wanna bother you. Go to sleep." he repeated. Since when had Luke cared about bothering her?! Oh well, what the heck - she had gone this far, she might as well… "You wouldn’t be bothering me." And to her surprise, Alexis found that it was true. She wanted to talk to him - to help him. No! She had to get those thoughts out of her head. She couldn’t start caring about Luke Spencer - she had to kill him. But she could forget about that… just for tonight, couldn’t she? She sensed him staring at her, and looked in his general direction. "You don’t… you don’t have to talk to me. I’m probably the last person on earth you want to talk to right now… but… I am who you’re stuck with." "Wouldn’t put it that way, Lexi." She knew, even in the dark, that he was smiling, and for some reason, she smiled too. Throwing back her covers, she slipped onto the floor, and sat by him. "You know… ok, this is going to sound really strange… but if we had been back in Port Chuckles when… when Laura delivered the baby…" he waited a moment, and she could tell he was near tears again. Not knowing exactly why, Alexis placed her hand on top of his…. oh God! She was holding hands with Luke Spencer! She was holding hands with the man she would kill in less than two months! What was wrong with her?? Luke cleared his throat. "If we had been at home when Laura delivered the baby I would probably have ended up at your suite." "Why?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don’t know." he answered lamely. "I guess because… because… for some reason… you’re the only person… I trust anymore." Guilt gnawed at Alexis. He trusted her. But why on earth would he trust her? If she stabbed him in the back (literally) it would be his own fault. She’d given him no reason to trust her. Of course, they had been through quite a bit together, but that didn’t give him any reason to… "You must think I’m nuts. That’s ok… most people do. I probably am." He laughed mirthlessly. Luke never acted like this. He had a joke for everything. And since when did he confide in her - in anybody?! He was scaring her - maybe he really was loosing his mind. Or maybe he was still drunk. "Do you want me to go downstairs and buy some coffee?" Alexis asked. "No. I just… I want you to stay here." He squeezed her hand. "Don’t go." He was usually so quick. Why didn’t he understand that he should be running from her? She didn’t know. She almost wished he would catch on. His words "you’re the only person I trust anymore" played through her head over and over. If she thought that he was out to get her too - as she always had before now – she wouldn’t be feeling so guilty. Maybe tomorrow everything would go back to normal - this was just a really strange dream. Luke had been quiet for what seemed like an eternity and Alexis assumed he was asleep. She stood, only to have him grab at her hand. "Please, Alexis." Two simple words… but… Damn him! What was he doing to her? Was she going soft? Besides Helena, Luke was her worst enemy!! Before she knew it she would be tucking her stepmother in at night - telling her bedtime stories. And yet… "Get into bed. I’ll sleep on the floor." She rolled her eyes even as the words slipped out. Why was she throwing away a perfectly good night of sleep? "Look, Lexi… I’m not going to try to pull anything… not tonight anyway. We can share the bed. I won’t touch you… I swear." Oh, what the hell! They’d crossed every other line tonight. Why should one of them sleep on the hard floor? Instead of responding, she simply walked around to the other side of the bed, and lay down. But this didn’t mean she hate him… it didn’t mean she wouldn’t kill him tomorrow if she got the chance. Alexis lay awake awhile longer, looking out the window, to Helena’s rooms where the lights were on. She saw Helena’s silhouette - she was on the phone - and then Alexis fell asleep. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura stood, looking out of the window in her room. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she thought about the little girl she had lost - the girl she had planned on naming Katrina. It had been four days, but she still felt it as if it had four hours. The doctors had said it was no one’s fault - there was nothing anyone could have down. Still… maybe it was her fault. Maybe… maybe if Luke hadn’t… no. She couldn’t blame this on Luke. Or better yet Helena - what she wouldn’t give to put it all on Helena. She closed her eyes, desperately searching for someone to blame. The doctor who had delivered the baby… Bobbie, the nurse who had helped - oh, how easy it would be to blame all of this on Bobbie - the sister-in-law from hell. Maybe if she and the doctor hadn’t gotten called out - leaving the other nurse to take care of the baby… no… she couldn’t blame it on the young nurse who’s arms her baby died in either. Maybe God was punishing her for… she didn’t know what. For lying all of these year? Didn’t he know? Didn’t he understand that she hadn’t had a choice? "Lasha?" Laura turned when she someone enter. "Why aren’t you asleep, Stefan? It’s almost midnight… What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" "Something… very upsetting has happened." "I don’t know if I can take any more upsetting news for awhile." she was silent for a moment. "But if you came to me, it must be important that I be informed. What is it?" "I don’t know if I should tell you or not, Lasha. I probably shouldn’t, but… I don’t know how you’ll respond." Stefan stepped across the room, and pulled her into an embrace. "Stefan, what is it? What’s happened." She reached up and smoothed his hair. He pulled back and she noticed that he had been crying. "Tell me." Laura whispered. "I just received a call from Helena." "Helena? What did she want?" Laura’s tone suddenly turned cold. "She…" Stefan ran his hand over his face. "Come here, Lasha. Sit down." Laura followed him to her bed, where they both sat. "Are you ok? Do you think you can handle it?" "I’m sure I can handle whatever it is - now please tell me!" she was growing a little irritated. Why didn’t he just tell her? What could it possibly be? "As I said before, Helena called… she…" Stefan took Laura’s hand. "She has the baby." At first Laura thought she must have heard wrong. "What did you say?" "I said, Helena has Katrina." "Darling we buried Katrina yesterday. All you all right?" Laura put her hand to Stefan’s forehead as if checking for a fever. "Lasha, look at me!" Stefan grabbed Laura’s shoulders desperately. “She has the baby - I don’t know how - but somehow Helena managed to switch babies and kidnap her. The baby we buried yesterdays wasn’t Katrina."