Episode 163

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Episode 163

Scene 1:

The sun was starting to shine through the vertical lines in Crista’s bedroom. She threw the remote across her bed and rolled over on her back. "This sucks," she groaned. "Nicky! I hate you!" she shouted, but no one else heard. Her mother was sleeping, and due to her condition, even if she had heard, it would have just upset her.

If Crista had thought life in Florida was mundane, she’d experienced a rude awakening upon her move to Virginia. At least in Florida, she could lay out on the beach whenever she wanted. But in Virginia, she couldn’t even leave the house without Nicky’s consent. Crista scowled at that concept. Needing to ask her brother’s permission to do things. "Forget that," she muttered.

She jumped up from her bed and grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "If I’m stuck here, I’m going to make it worth it," Crista decided. All she ever wanted was to get out of Florida. This was her opportunity.

She stepped into the loose-fitting jeans, looking into the mirror. "Too tight," she frowned. Despite the weight that Crista had no need to shed, but had lost in the last few months, she failed to see any difference in her appearance. "I look like crap. No lunch today." She glanced down at her dresser and saw the corner of a picture sticking out and frowned at it. It was taken a few months ago in Florida, a picture of Crista being held by the man she was in love with. Who led her along and never returned her emotions. Before she was able to get too upset, she shook her head and grabbed the picture. She looked so happy in the picture. So unaware. Crista rolled her eyes and tore the picture up, tossing the pieces into the garbage. "I’m not going to let a man ruin me anymore," she said with strength, contradicting her lasting attitude of helplessness.

"You won’t control me either, Nicky," she said defiantly, although her brother was not there to hear her. She threw her hair up into a messy ponytail, grabbed her brown leather purse, and snatched a set of keys from the counter. Right before she slammed the door behind her, the sounds of electronic Mozart sang from upstairs. "Crap, phone!" Crista yelled. She never went anywhere without her cell phone.

She ran back up to her room at top speed, but by the time she got there, the ringing stopped and was replaced by a steady beep. The screen of her phone said 'One missed call: Adam.'

"Damn it," she pouted. She’d been trying to get in touch with Adam ever since she’d been kidnapped and taken to Virginia. He was the only friend she had left, which was a far cry from the day when Crista was head cheerleader, captain of the dance team, school diving champion, and homecoming queen.

She listened to her voice mail and Adam’s deep voice said, "Hey Cris. I don’t know if you got my old message, but I’m in Virginia, living in my brother’s house. Well, he’s not my brother, but...never mind. Long story. Anyway, Conlan’s Glen seems the same as everything else. Call me back."

"Conlan’s Glen?" she repeated aloud. Adam was here. Crista wasn’t completely alone. She tried to call him back, but got no answer. All of a sudden, playing phone tag wasn’t so bad. The strangest coincidence Crista could imagine actually put a smile on her face, and she left the house to explore her school in a much brighter mood than she anticipated.

Scene 2

Dinah sat in her father's chair staring at what was once his desk while Galen packed up her father's medical books. Thank god Galen had been nearby. She didn't know if she could have done this on her own. Her mother had come in and taken a few of his belongings away before her sudden departure but had left enough behind to warrant Dinah's mission today. She hated to be the one to have to clean out his office but it was her fault he wasn't here. He died because she was immature and foolish. She might as well have pulled the trigger of the gun that killed him.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she thought of her father, her daddy. He wanted more for Dinah than she did. He wanted to see her make something of herself. But when she had made her decision to become a doctor, he had ridiculed her and made her feel worthless. So what had she done? She went right out and proved just how useless she was by getting her own father killed. She swiped at the tear and opened a drawer, sobbing audibly at its contents.

The sound of her sobs drew a troubled look from the doctor who was packing up John Stafford's belongings.

"Dinah?" Galen set the last book down. She was staring into a desk drawer and the expression on her face was, to put it mildly, stricken. Not that it was a surprise. This entire experience seemed to be tearing her up inside.

Moving behind the desk, Galen placed a hand on Dinah's shoulder. It was hard to watch her go through all of this. In more ways than one, he thought to himself grimly. Every day she looked more and more like Kelly, but she was just as vulnerable as Mia right now. He wanted to protect her, to give her some semblance of family, which was a large part of the reason he'd taken her into his home. Barbara (is that the mother's name?) and Kelly had turned their backs on Dinah, and whenever he stopped long enough to think about that, it only made him more bitter. Of course, Kelly hadn't surprised him. Hadn't she walked out on her husband and daughter as well? And that had been out of the blue....

Galen mentally sidestepped the dark path his thoughts were beginning to take. Crouching down, he turned Dinah's face away from the drawer. Her dark eyes were luminous with tears and it tore at his heart. "If this is too difficult for you, you don't have to do it. I'll take care of everything."

A strangled laugh came out of Dinah mixed with her sobs. "Everything is too difficult, Galen. I can do it," she added taking a deep breath. She lifted the framed photo out of the drawer and showed it to him. "Graduation day. Wasn't that long ago was it? What? Four months? It was before..."

She trailed off. It was before everything was what she was going to say but Galen knew that.

"I told him I wanted to be a doctor that day," she said softly. Her finger traced a lazy line around her father's smiling face.

"He was very proud of you that day. The fact that you wanted to be a doctor meant a great deal to him, Dinah."

"Sure, Galen. Tell me another lie." She flipped the frame over. She didn't want to see it any more. "He told me that night I would never make it in medical school."

"That's pretty harsh," Galen admitted, "but it doesn't mean he wasn't proud of your decision. He just wanted to see you follow it through. Your sister...." The words stuck in his throat. "The only thing your sister ever finished was her plan to walk out on her family." It was hard to keep the bitterness from his tone. "No one, including your father, wanted to see you end up like her."

She stiffened at the mention of her sister. Kelly had done nothing but hurt Galen and Mia. If she could, she would make it up to him. Somehow.

"It doesn't matter, Galen. He's gone now. I don't think I need to worry about trying to get his approval anymore."

The silence following Dinah's statement filled the office and Galen returned to his task of packing. What was he supposed to say, that John Stafford had been an exemplary father? He hadn't. There was a lot the man could have changed about the way he treated his daughters. A lot he would never get the chance to change now that he was gone. And all he'd managed to do was leave his family in chaos.

Would Mia ever feel about him the way Dinah felt about John? No, Galen resolved firmly. He would never let it go that far.

"If you don't feel like being here, I'll take care of everything, Dinah. Have you seen your friends lately? Why don't you call Piper and see if she wants to get together."

"If she were actually talking to people I might. Noah says she's acting weird these days," Dinah commented. "Besides, I need to do this. Call it closure."

"Fine. But I still think once we're done here, you should go out and do something for yourself. Something that doesn't have anything to do with any of this." Taping up the box of books, he looked back at Dinah.
"Do you want to keep these, or should I bring them over to your mother?"

Her heart ached a little at the mention of her mother who had abandoned her. "I sincerely doubt she wants them. Do you want them, Galen? I know you and Daddy didn't always get along but I think he did respect you."

He thought it over for a moment before nodding. He wouldn't keep them for himself, but one day Dinah might be interested in looking through her father's notes and research books. And if she really intended to become a doctor, she'd find them useful in the long run. He hoped.

"I'll bring everything we've boxed up so far down to my truck. You'll be okay for a few?"

"Sure," she answered adding thoughtfully, "Haven't I always?" She waited until he was gone before getting up from John Stafford's chair and wandering the room. She picked up a few odds and ends and tucked them away carefully in a new box. Her father's life summed up in a handful of boxes. She paused in front of his medical degrees hanging on the wall in shiny frames. Hanging next to them was a newspaper article with a picture of John from the early seventies when he had first come to Conlan's Glen. He looked very serious and proud.

"I'm sorry Daddy," she said to the picture. "I was just trying to help Tyler. I didn't mean to get anyone hurt. You always said I should follow my heart and mind and do what I thought was right. I thought helping Tyler was right. I didn't think it would..." She trailed off not wanting to say what she knew was true. She had killed her father even if she hadn't pulled the trigger herself.

Scene 3

The bright blue sky and cool breeze in Conlan's Glen helped to improve Crista's mood. She wasn't going to let Nicky keep her confined in the house. She was going out on her own to explore. Things were also looking up because she knew that she was not completely alone. Some strange quirk of fate saw that she and Adam had ended up in the same town. Crista could actually walk around the grassy mall of the college with a smile on her face.

Diego spotted Crista Tejera on the college campus after scouring the town for an hour. She walked as if she hadn't a care in the world, paying no attention to her surroundings.

"She's gonna get herself in a whole lot of trouble," he wondered aloud as he picked up his pace to catch up to her. When he was within arm's reach, he grinned to himself. Crista was always good for some fun, he decided. He reached out and clapped one hand over her mouth and the other around her waist, pulling her off the path as he did so. "You have got to learn to pay more attention," he whispered in her ear.

Crista felt the cold hand on her arm and tried to scream, but the sound was muffled under her attacker's hand. Arms and legs flailing as he grabbed her, she tried to break free, and was surprised when he released her after pulling her behind a building into a quiet alley. She whirled around to see who had taken her, and when she saw Diego's face, her look of fear quickly changed into one of contempt. "What the hell is wrong with you? What do you think you're doing, you ass?" she yelled.

"What am I doing?" Diego echoed. "What are you doing? You can't just flaunt yourself around this town, you know. Don't you know what kind of danger you might be in? You can't just walk around town as if you were just anybody."

"No, Diego, I don't know how dangerous it is, because you people all refuse to tell me!" she shouted back at him. "How am I trying to flaunt myself, you jerk? All I'm doing is getting information about college. And why can't I walk around like I'm just anyone? I know that you dream about me, but I'm pretty sure that Conlan's Glen students haven't gotten to that point. You really get off trying to kidnap me, don't you?" She was furious that Diego was here again, trying to control her. It was as if he were Nicky and not just his henchman.

Diego rolled his eyes. Leave it to Crista to be melodramatic. "Let's get a few things straight, Miss Tejera," he returned coldly. "I do not dream about you, unless you count the nightmares. And you are in danger. It doesn't matter where you are, it's who you are. I am not trying to kidnap you either. In fact, I thought I was doing you a favor. Your brother wants to see you." He held up a warning hand. "And before you start, it isn't that brother. It's Tomas. You remember him? The one I'm trying to get out of prison? Now, are you coming with me to see him or not?"

"Nightmares? Good," she spat at him. She'd remembered more than a few comments Diego had made to her in the past, and it was refreshing to hear him saying something that wasn't incredibly suggestive to her. He must have finally gotten sick of getting rejected. She then rolled her eyes and droned, "Oh, that's right, I'm a marked woman, and your sole purpose in life is to remind me of that, isn't it? And honestly, you think it doesn't draw attention to us when you drag me half a block, kicking and screaming? Give me a break." Diego silenced Crista, and she thoughtfully pursed her lips before responding. "Yes, I remember him, but I remember him before he decided to turn sociopath like the rest of the family. It's not like I could say, 'No I'm not coming with you,' anyway. So let's go."

Diego kept his peace about her opinions of him and her family. She was wrong on both accounts. He had no more interest in her than she had in him. As for her brothers, Nicolas might have a questionable business life, but he was forthright and honest when it came to his family.

"Come on then," he muttered grabbing her elbow. He pulled her along to his car without another word. At his car, he let go of her and opened the door. "Get in."

Crista stared out the window for the whole ride, refusing to say a word to Diego. He pulled into a parking spot right in the front of the prison, and said little to Crista as he led her to the room where they'd be able to speak with Tomas. Crista sat down in the cold grey room and tapped her fingers absently on the table. She hadn't seen her brother in months, and all of a sudden, here she was, waiting to speak to her brother in prison, who wasn't Nicky. What am I even going to say to him? She wondered. They were so close when they were in high school, but after that, everything changed. What next?

When she saw the door open, she waited anxiously to see her brother and when he walked in, she was torn between wanting to hug him and wanting to punch him. She compromised with herself by simply remaining seated at the table.

Tyler entered the room, looking tired and worn down. Diego hadn't seen him so down before. At least the grand jury was convening on Monday. By then he hoped to convince Tyler to drop the ridiculous alias and go back to his given name of Tomas Tejera. And of course Diego would get all charges dropped. He was certain of it. Of course, then he had to work on making sure Nicky didn't get arrested for the Cravens' murder. One thing was certain though; the Tejeras would keep him working for a while.

Tyler's eyes lit up at the sight of Crista waiting for him. He glanced at Diego and grinned thankfully. "Crista! God, I'm so glad to see you!" He exclaimed reaching out a hand for her. "I didn't know you were here. When did you get into town? Is Mama with you?"

"You didn't even tell him?" she glared at Diego. She then turned to Tomas and looked at him without emotion. He grabbed her hand from across the table, though she kept it limp. She wanted to hug him, but she also wanted to hit him for putting her family through even more. "I had no intentions of being here. Diego kidnapped me. I got here a few months ago and have lived the same prisoner-life as you have. Mama's in Virginia, but she's not here. Nicky brought her to a doctor or something. She's not doing well, Tomas. No thanks to anything any of us have done," she answered, acknowledging the emotional toll that all of the trouble in the Tejera family had taken on their mother.

He cringed at the sound of his given name. It was odd to hear it here in this very Anglo town. The Tejeras were Cuban and fit in just right in Miami. But here they stood out like a sore thumb. Before Nicky showed up, he could have gone on as Tyler Jones forever. Now, with all of them here calling him Tomas, how could he continue as Tyler?

"Diego kidnapped you? Or Nicky told him to bring you here?" He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Crista. This whole thing is my fault."

Crista acknowledged her brother's words with a cold stare. She took a second and straightened her back in the cold chair where she sat. "You're right. It is all your fault. So why don't you start explaining to me what the hell happened? I can't do anything about it, so I might as well at least know why."

Scene 4

The walk to the hospital parking garage was less than eventful, though Galen had the feeling a nuke could have gone off and he wouldn't have realized it. Hard as it was to admit, there was something about having Dinah around that brought back too many bad memories.

He wouldn't tell her that, of course. She was vulnerable right now. If he hadn't offered her a place to stay, he wasn't sure where she would have ended up. Barbara had all but kicked her out, and as Dinah had said, she and Piper Conlan had been drifting apart.

Besides, Mia was happy to have her aunt's company. Dinah was still young and she'd always loved her niece. Loved her more than Kelly ever had, that's for damn sure, Galen thought darkly.

He stopped next to a new pewter Chevy S-10 and began unloading the dolly he'd been pushing. It was a toy he'd bought for himself a couple of months ago, just before Kelly had surfaced again. Back when life had finally settled down. Back when things seemed...normal. He hated the way she popped up out of the blue and disappeared just as quickly. Had she always been that way? In the beginning, he'd loved her for her fiery spirit and spontaneous nature. A studious med-student, he'd mapped out his life and was following it to a tee. But Kelly knew just how to disrupt his life and send him careening into a tailspin. And it had been fun.

But had it all just been a sign of her emotional instability? She had a daughter, for Christ's sake. A sweet, intelligent, beautiful daughter. And a husband. A husband who'd loved her more than anything he'd ever loved before in his entire life. What kind of person just left all that behind?

He was slamming the boxes into the bed of the truck now, and was almost finished when he realized that the echoing sound of footsteps in the garage was coming closer and slowing down.

Rachel Jency climbed out of her car, still smiling over a daydream. Daydreams are silly; her Uncle Max had told her on a number of occasions. Give them up and get a real boyfriend. Ah, so much easier said than done. Rachel's love life was void of any possibilities. Sure, she met eligible men all the time at the hospital. She even went on dates with some of them. But it never worked out.

"You have impossible standards," Uncle Max would say. "Lower them a bit and you'll find love."

Lower them! Why should she lower her standards for the man who would be her soul mate? No, she would rather live in a fantasy world than be subjected to a real man who wasn't her ideal. But who exactly was that ideal? Once upon a time, she had harbored the idea that it might be Galen Gennaro but he had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't interested in anything but friendship. Thank god, she had never said anything to him about her crush.

As if on cue, she spotted him loading boxes into a truck. She slowed down and gave a long whistle. "Would you look at that new toy! Yours?" She asked with an ingenuous smile.

Galen glanced over his shoulder, his dark countenance lightening visibly as Rachel Jency approached. He shrugged and lifted the last of the boxes, balancing it precariously on the edge of the truck bed. "Impulse shopping isn't just a woman thing," he explained with a small grin as he turned to face her. "Are you just getting here? What time is it anyway?" Between the end of his last shift, and helping Dinah pack up her father's things, he'd lost all concept of time.

"It is..." She looked at her watch quickly. "12:30. And actually, I am just getting here. I've got a meeting with Jamie Mason about some new doctor. It's actually supposed to be my day off. Not that I had much of anything planned," she added. "What are you up to? Shouldn't you be in there saving lives?"

"Should be, but I've been off the clock for the last three hours. I've been helping my sister-in-law remove the last of Dr. Stafford's belongings." Galen motioned to the back of the truck and exhaled loudly. "So we've got a new doc around the place, huh?," he echoed, the last of the dark clouds clearing from his dark eyes. "Yeah. I think I overheard the nurses at the ER station talking about a new doctor."

"We do. His name is Manning, I think. Jamie gave me a file on him to look over. He looks like a hothead on paper. Haven't met him though." She glanced over at the boxes in the truck. "How is Dr. Stafford's daughter? Dinah, isn't it? She holding up okay?"

"As well as can be expected," Galen answered vaguely before looking over his shoulder towards the building. "Just what the hospital needs, another hot-shot, hothead doctor. Sounds like the Masons are single-handedly turning this place around."

Realizing his words could be construed more harshly than he'd meant them, he flashed an apologetic smile her way and shrugged again. "I guess they're bringing in the best and the brightest to replace John, huh?"

"Well, you still haven't applied, so not all of the best and the brightest are up for it," she remarked. "Personally, I don't think he's replaceable. Jamie Mason will figure that out eventually. In the meantime, he's having fun playing Chairman of the Board."

Galen laughed at her off-handed compliment, his mood lightening some. "I'm happy where I am. No complaints, anyway. To tell you the truth, I don't think I could handle the responsibility of managing a staff of doctors. It's enough just saving lives." His dark eyes glittered with wry, self-deprecating humor.

Motioning her ahead of him, he started back toward the building. "Let them play their power games. Time will tell whether or not this new doctor is an asset to the hospital...or not. But how have you been? I haven't seen you around in a while."

Rachel shrugged, pulling at a stray curl that fell against her cheek. How was she? That was a good question. "Well, let's see... My uncle has been trying to set me up on a blind date for the last three months, my brother moved in with me last week and I almost ran a guy over a few minutes ago. So all in all, life is pretty much the same as it always has been!"

"Well, no one could ever say you're boring," Galen grinned, tugging on the same wayward curl. "What man has your uncle set his sights on this time?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Some one he claims to have known forever. Someone with money, no doubt. And probably as dull as dishwater."

The last man she had agreed to a blind date with had been one of her uncle's distributors. He was a puffy guy with rolls of fat around his torso and little to no hair. She had spent the evening trying to avoid looking at him altogether. It wasn't that she was picky. She wasn't. But she had standards. She had a list of things her perfect man had to be. Fat and bald were not on that list.

"Where's your optimism? Maybe this one'll turn out to be your Prince Charming." Galen smiled again, glancing down at the woman keeping up with his stride. Why she had to resort to blind dates arranged by her uncle of all people, he had no idea. Rachel Jency was a very pretty woman. She was also intelligent. But there was sometimes an ethereal quality about her that made a person think her thoughts were a million miles away in some castle on a cloud. She struck him as the type of woman who liked to believe in fairytales.

"What princess ever found her Prince Charming on a blind date?" Rachel asked with a laugh. "Snow White's prince just showed up one day. So did Rapunzel's. I suppose you could call Cinderella's a blind date. Then again, she knew who he was going into it."

"Well..." Galen stalled, taking a mental inventory of all of Mia's fairytale stories. "What about the Princess and the Frog? Beauty and the Beast? They took a chance on something that seemed to be a lost cause, and look what happened."

Rachel stopped in her tracks and stared at Galen in mock surprise. "Galen Gennaro! I didn't think you were a romantic at all!"

"Don't let it get around," he muttered good-naturedly. "There are some things you can't escape when you have a daughter, and Disney is one of them. But...all things considered, I'll always want her to believe in happy endings."

Rachel wrapped her arms around him in an impromptu hug. "Good for you, Galen. Mia's a very lucky little girl." She let go and glanced at her watch. "Oh crap. I'm late. Gotta run!"

Galen watched in bemusement as Rachel hurried through the double doors that led into the hospital. He checked his watch, almost dreading the return to John Stafford's office. But it had to be done and he'd probably left Dinah alone far too long as it was.

Scene 5

Tyler took a deep breath and plunged into his story. "I have to go back a ways. Remember back in Florida, that business with Rey and Jessica? Well, after that happened and Papa died, I overheard Rey and Nicky arguing. It wasn't good, Crista. Then Rey went missing and that didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy about Nicky, you know? But I took that job at his club in Miami because I couldn't deal with school in California." He shook his head. "Emilio told me that Nicky had Rey disappear. Killed him, Crista. I couldn't take that. So I got out. A hacker friend of mine helped me change my name and get me a fake driver's license. That's where this whole Tyler Jones name came from."

Crista stared at her brother blankly. She heard every word he said, and her mind rested on every sentence, but the thoughts weren't making logical sense instantly. "So despite the fact that we think our big brother killed our other big brother, you decided to work for Nicky anyway?" She shook her head, commenting aloud on her brother's words. "No, you didn't think Nicky did it until after, and then you quit. And yet somehow, you and he ended up in the exact same place again? And Tomas," she said his name sharply, "I..." she stammered and then trailed off. Crista rose from her spot on the cold bench next to Diego and paced across the small cell. She shook her head in disbelief. "My life has turned into a movie of the week."

"I know and I'm sorry," he muttered as Diego's cell phone rang. Diego got to his feet and walked to the other side of the room. "Look, Crista. Ending up here was an accident," he said lowering his voice. "Nicky came after me when I got in trouble. But I didn't hurt that girl. We were...well, sort of seeing each other and her dad walked in on us one night. I thought she was just scared of him but Nicky got her to admit her dad put her up to it. I tried to get away but I made a bigger mess of things and dragged this girl into it. Dinah has been a great friend. Look, long story short: I didn't do anything wrong except run. Someone is making this happen to me and I think it's because of Nicky."

"Tomas, you have to tell me if you know what Nicky's involved with. I've been dragged into this because of the two of you. I deserve to know who he's trying to protect me from and why. You've always been a good liar, but you've never been able to put one past me. It takes a pro to catch a pro, right? So I believe you. But please, don't leave me in the dark here," Crista pleaded with her big brother, hoping that Diego's conversation would continue long enough for her to get some answers.

"Crista, if I knew, I wouldn't be here." He sighed and shifted in his chair. "If I knew now, I'd be a lot more secure in my lawyer and my real chances of getting out of here. The girl that accused me is dead. No one probably told you that. I just found out from Diego yesterday. At least they know I didn't do that." He looked up at her and gave her a weak smile. "I don't have any more answers than you do. I only hope Angelina fills us in when she finds out. Nicky is being..."

"Cautious," Diego put in returning to the table. "Don't think for a minute that he is keeping things from you because he doesn't trust you. Your brother is a smart man. What you don't know will help you in this case."

Crista groaned in frustration. "My whole life, everything everyone's ever tried to do was supposedly to protect me. I've always been the one left in the dark," she complained. She'd always been safe as well. "At this point, how much can you really protect me anymore? Did Nicky kill her?"

Diego glanced between the two Tejera siblings seeing matching expressions of worry and resignation. "No, he did not. He didn't have anything to do with it," he added seeing the look on Crista's face. "In fact, he's voluntarily talking to the detective in charge of the case today." He glanced at his watch. "He should be here as a matter of fact. And I need to be with him. Do you want me to leave you alone or would you rather someone take you home?" He asked Crista.

Crista bit her lip and turned to Diego. He was offering her a chance to go home on her own? "You can leave us. We're fine," she answered, giving her brother a look which ordered him to agree with her.

"Yeah, go make sure Nicky doesn't end up as my cellmate," Tomas called after Diego. He waited until the door was closed before turning back to Crista. "Seriously, you okay?"

Crista shrugged. "What do you want me to say, Tomas?" she asked her brother. She looked at her feet and paced the small cell before returning her look to him. "Everyone's always trying to save me from someone. I have to be kept away from Nicky's evil henchmen in Florida. Diego keeps constant watch over me when I'm out of the house here. But no one ever really considered that the one they had to protect me from was myself." Tomas gave his sister a questioning look and Crista pulled up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a thin, red scar on her wrist. "Don't think none of this has taken it's toll on me."

Tyler's eyes fell to the scar, leaving his stunned and silent. How could she have even considered it? No, he couldn't ask that question. He knew the answer because he had almost done the same thing. That was why he had driven into the tree. It was only thanks to Dinah Stafford that he was alive now. It was desperation that had led him to run into a tree with his bike and surely it was the same for Crista.
"Why?" He asked simply.

Crista shrugged uncomfortably. She walked away from Tomas to lean against the cold cinderblocks walls of the cell and avoided eye contact with her brother. "I don't know. Because there was nothing else? I had no escape. Everything in Florida was wondering if I'd ever see you again, if Lina would stay safe, if Rey were alive, and if Nicky were behind it. Every time I saw Mama, I was reminded of everything else, and every time she had a spell, I was the only one left to deal with it. And then there were my friends who really weren't friends anymore. Any of them. What did I have? So honestly, I guess I am better off here," she explained, still avoiding Tomas's eyes.

"I guess so...," he muttered. Sometimes he forgot that he wasn't the only one having troubles. "Look, I'll be out of here soon. Diego thinks that the whole thing will be dropped on Monday. When I'm out, you can come stay with me at my apartment...provided I still have one. They probably rented it out to someone else while I was gone. But we can always find some place new. Just you and me. We'll take this town on together. How about that?" He asked trying to give her something to look forward to.

Crista nodded. She felt trapped between obligation and freedom. Could she even trust this brother? She had no idea. "We'll see what happens and take it from there. Besides, we used to have all that potential to take over when we were younger. Well, you had the potential. I actually did it."

"Yeah, see what happens. Because I think there is a lot more going on than we know. I just hope Nicky or Angelina trusts us to eventually tell us the truth."