Reliving The Past

Chapter 53

As they roll into the morgue, Elizabeth tenses up. A part of her is scared that she will be looking at him and he will pop up and grab her. She just can't believe that he's dead. She keeps trying to tell herself that he's dead. Or he wouldn't be down here. But the scared, tortured girl from that night doesn't believe it. Franco doesn't like this. But he understands her need to finally have him gone for good. No way to come back and get her.

They roll up to the desk. Elizabeth seems to know the coroner's assistant.

"Hey Randy. How are you today?" Liz asks, her sweet old self.

"I'm good. What can I do for you Nurse Webber? Aren't you a patient?" Randy looks at her with confusion.

"Yeah. For the time being. How is your boyfriend? Tod?" Liz tries to remember her boyfriend's name.

"Tod is fine. He just got a new job at the post office. He loves it. So what happened to you? There are rumors that you were kidnapped." Randy says with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Great! I'm so happy for you and him. That rumor is true. I was kidnapped. But I am ok. Just had a small injury, but am good now. I need to ask you a favor. The man that kidnapped me is down here. Would you be a dear and let me take a look at him. I just need to see for myself that he is dead. You know to fight the fear. To know deep inside that he can't come and get me again." Elizabeth says, starting to shake.

"Sure. Just don't let anyone else know that I let you do this. More so my boss. He's kind of friends with Dr. Obriet. And she's been on my case. This could get me fired." Randy says, not looking happy.

"Randy, we are friends. I would never tell anyone. It stays between the three of us. I'm so sorry. Where are my manners? Randy, this is Franco Baldwin. Franco, this is my good friend. Randy Pope. Franco works here in the art therapy department. And he's a very good friend of mine." Elizabeth blushes. Randy holds her hand out to shake Franco's. He shakes her hand.

"I see how good a friend you guys are." Randy chuckles. "I've only seen Elizabeth blush like that once. That was when she and Jake started to date. So you must be pretty close." Randy says, watching Liz's reaction.

"It's nice to meet you Randy. I like to think we are. I help her son Jake with somethings that trouble him. He's a very good artist like his mom. And yes, Elizabeth and I have grown pretty close. But I think I can go at her pace. Right now though, we need to get her better both physically and mentally. She's a great woman, and she just needs support right now. Hopefully you would let us just take a moment with Tom Baker. Just to let her have the closure she needs. And maybe you could come up to the art therapy studio for a free lesson." Franco says, smiling. Being very friendly and personable.

"Sure. You guys just go on in. But if you get caught, could you maybe say I wasn't here and you just went in? I don't want to lose my job." Randy says, feeling like a coward for asking.

"Sure. Don't worry. We won't be long." Elizabeth says, patting Randy on her hand.

"Thanks." Randy says, looking in the clipboard of papers. Checking for the drawer number Tom Baker was in. "He's in drawer number 13. That is middle level. Third one from the wall. He's in a body bag. So you have to unzip him. Just don't unzip it too far. You don't need to see the wound. It was pretty bad." Randy says, giving a grossed out face.

"Thanks. We'll be quick." Elizabeth says, looking up at Franco. He looks down at her and wheels her into the room.

"Are you sure about this? I know you see bad things like this all the time. But are you sure you can handle seeing Tom this way? You might think it's what he deserved. But you are also not a vicious person." Franco says.

"I am sure. I have to see this with my own eyes. I have to see him with his injury. So I know as a nurse that he couldn't survive this." Elizabeth says, but the shaking doesn't stop. Franco gets her over to the drawer. He stands her up ever so gently. Then he pulls out the drawer. She sees the black body bag on the slab. She take a deep breath and lets it out.

"Ready? You tell me when you are done. And I will zip him up and we will leave." Franco says.

"Ready." Elizabeth watches Franco slowly unzip the body bag. He goes slowly. Then Tom's face emerges as the bag splits open. He looks all pale and greyish. Elizabeth tears up. Just staring at him.

"Honey, are you ok?" Franco asks, worried.

"Yeah. Can I have a few moments alone with him please?" Elizabeth doesn't take her eyes off him.

"Sure. I will be right over by the door. No further. If you need me, let me know." Franco goes to walk away, but grabs her hand. Squeezes it, then let's go.

"Tom, I wanted to talk to you alone. What happened on Valentine's Day in 1998 we were alone. And what went down on Spoon Island, we were alone. I wanted to do this alone. I know what you did. I know what you let those guys do too. But guess what? You are all dead. So no one has to know. It will be buried with you. You and the past we shared. All of it is done and will just be part of my past. I'm so glad you died at my hands. Who knew that in prison you would have gained weight? I thought guys in prison weight lifted and worked out because that's all you have to do? Or maybe there is another things in prison that happened. I just prayed that you knew how I felt that night. That powerless feeling. That physical hurt. Feeling like you were being ripped in two. I hope you felt ashamed and lower then dirt too. That fear. When I can, I will check your chart. I don't think anyone will come to your funeral. With your parents dead, I bet it will be a poor person's grave. I will make sure I find out where so I can come dance on your grave. I will bring the neighbor's dog to visit too. And let him give you his business." Elizabeth smiles at that. Then she reaches over and unzips the bag more. She gets a good look at the huge hole she put in his mid-torso. It did shock her a bit. She's used to seeing blood everywhere. She turns away. Franco rushes over to zip the bag back up. Then he helps her into the wheel chair. She just about passed out. He pushes the drawer back in and shuts the door. The crouches in front of Elizabeth.

"What were you thinking? This is why I didn't want you to see this. Are you ok?" Franco asks, holding her face in his hands. Looking at her closely.

"I'm fine. I needed to see the damage. As a nurse I know he couldn't have made it with that wound." Elizabeth closes her eyes. "I'm fine. I think I am just tired. I think I over did it. Thanks for doing this for me. I think that it helped. Or will in the long run. Can you take me back to my room please? I'm pretty wiped out." Elizabeth says and then goes quiet. Franco leans up into Elizabeth and kisses her forehead.

"Sure. Whatever you want." Franco pats her shoulder and he gets behind the wheel chair. He pushes her out the door. Randy wasn't at the desk. So they just left. Elizabeth remembers everything that happened in that room. The only people that know what happened are dead. Besides her that is. Thankfully Jackson didn't see it. She refuses to tell anyone anything about that. If she had to, she will just 'not remember' that part every. She would get through this. She's not the young, innocent girl she was all those years ago. It's over now.

Back in her room, she gets settled back in bed. Deep in thought, not hearing the one sided conversation Franco was having. He is pretty good at those one sided conversations. She is getting better at knowing when to smile and nod. More of the memory is coming back to her.

"Hey. Are you doing ok?" Franco asks, looking at her strangely.

"Oh, yeah. Better than I have been in years. Sorry. It's just all hitting me." Elizabeth says, smiling. But tears surprisingly spring from her eyes. She had so many mixed emotions.

"Hey, are these tears of joy or sadness?" Franco asks, wiping away a stranded tear on her cheek.

"I don't know." Elizabeth says, looking down at her hands. Not sure what he might see in her eyes if she looked him in the eyes. Then her room phone rings. She answers it. "Hello?"

"Is this Elizabeth Webber's room?" A female asks.

"Yes, who is this?" she asks, confused. After a few moments of silence, a man comes on the line.

"Help me, Liz." The male voice whispers.

"Who is this?" Elizabeth asks, confused. At first it sounded like Nikolas. But he was killed. She was told.

"Help me, please. All for one and one for all." Then the phone goes dead. Elizabeth holds the phone out in front of her. Shocked and not sure what to think. That voice again sounded like Nikolas. And that saying. She puts her hand on her chest.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Franco asks, taking the receiver from her hand and placing it back in the cradle.

"I don't know what that was. I think it was Nikolas. He was whispering. But that was Nikolas. He sounds hurt and out of it. He asked me for help." Elizabeth is stunned.

"It's probably just a prank. Honey, I'm sorry. But he's gone. It could be one of the few that escaped. Just trying to get you all upset. Would you like me to get Dr. Maddox?" Franco asks, holding her hand.

"Not right now. I think I'm going to get a little sleep. Will you stay with me?" Elizabeth looks up at him. Right in the eye.

"Sure. I'd do anything for you. Do you want me to turn the lights off?" Franco asks, going to stand up.

"NO! I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I guess I have developed a fear of the dark again." Liz laughs. Trying to make it seems silly.

"Elizabeth, there is nothing wrong with being afraid of the dark. Not after what you've been through." Franco squeezes her hand. She looks down again. Ashamed of being afraid of the dark at her age. She brings her other hand up to her face to itch, but winces when she bumps her cheek with her hand. She remembers the bruises. And the swelling. Then what happened to her to get those war injuries.

"Does my face look as back as it feels?" Liz winces as she feels her face.

"You are beautiful. No bruises or swelling will every take that beauty away. But the bruises have gotten darker. Does it hurt?" Franco ever so gently brushes his fingers over her cheek.

"Mmm, a little. It's just tender. I hope the bruises go away before my boys see me. It could scare poor Aidan." Liz puts on a fake smile.

"Well, we have to pray that they catch the remaining cult members that escaped. So they should be gone by then. But why don't you lay down. I will sit here and watch over you. No one will get to you with me here. Maybe when you get up, we can do a little painting." Franco rubs her hand.

"Sure. At least I'll think about it." Liz carefully gets under the covers and gets comfortable. Then she holds her hand out for Franco to grab. He gently takes it in his and softly rubs her hand. She drifts off into a sweet slumber.

"Why didn't you tell her where you are?" Sally asks, while tending to his gunshot wound.

"Because, she wasn't hearing me. We need to call back soon. But when I am better. At least somewhat better. So she can hear me." Nikolas says, weak and panting from pain.

"Hopefully that happens before he finds you. If he finds you, well us, then we are both in deep trouble. Neither of us can get to her if he finds us." Sally whispers.

"I'm sure we can hide out here, you got those antibiotics so I should be ok. And he doesn't know you are helping me. So as long as I stay hidden, you can get supplies. We can do this. Just watch out for people. Just another week or so and then we can call her again." Nikolas says, laying back and drifting off to sleep.

The End...For now.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing through this whole story. This is the last chapter, but as you can tell, there will be another story or a sequel. Whatever you want to call it. As of this time I have no title for the next story. But I will be starting very soon. I again thank all you wonderful, loyal readers and reviewers.