Heart & Soul
Episode 41
A New Beginning
By Allan Craig
Somewhere in Oakridge
“Marc, I love you.” Ally smiled.
Marc and Megan took a deep breath as they continued to fiddle with the rope
behind their backs. Marc felt like he was making progress, he could feel the
ropes loosening around his wrist.
Megan watched from the corner of her
eyes, eagerly waiting to see if Marc would be able to get himself untied. Ally
watched them in the rear view mirror and could see Marc getting close to his
escape. She reached into the glove compartment of the
car and pulled out a gun.
“Yet again, you just can’t do what
you’re told, Marc, can you?” Ally flicked off the safety catch on the pistol
and pointed it at him, her finger nearing the trigger, “I’m sorry I had to do
this.”
Ally pulled the trigger and BANG!
Everything went black.
Marc woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up
and gasping for breath. He had been having nightmares about what had happened with
Ally for the last month; ever since he had managed to escape from the car.
“What’s the matter?” came Megan’s voice as
she woke up and looked at the alarm clock next to her bed: it was
Marc nodded, reaching for the glass of
water at his bed side and taking a sip, trying to steady his shaking hand.
Megan rubbed Marc’s bare back, kissing
him.
“Relax,” she tried to reassure him,
despite the fact she was still having flashes of that night herself, “Ally’s
dead now. She’s not going to be able to hurt us ever again.”
“I know, I know, but I can’t get her out
of my head,” Marc put the glass back on the bedside table, “But I can’t help
feeling guilty about it. I left her to die!”
“You tried to save her, we both did,”
Megan sighed, “By the time you had managed to untie yourself and then untie me
she was already dead. Ally may have died, but you saved my life.”
“If it wasn’t for me your life wouldn’t
have needed saving in the first place,” Marc couldn’t control the feelings of
guilt he had been experiencing since that night, it was all he could think
about.
“Marc, I love you, and nothing will change
that,” Megan leaned in closer to him, “What happened was not your fault, don’t
you ever think that it was. Ally was a psychopath, she was mentally ill. And
like I said, she’s dead now. She’ll never be able to hurt us again.”
Kristen and Nate helped Carrie into the
hospital, her face pale and washed out.
“I’ll go get some help,” Kristen smiled,
giving her sister a kiss on the cheek and walking off as Nate helped Carrie to
a seat in the waiting area.
“How you holdin’ up?” Nate asked.
“Um, I’m okay I suppose,” Carrie patted
her bump, “It’s what’s about to come that’s worrying me.”
“Calm down!” Nate put his arm around her,
“You’re gonna do great, and pretty soon you’re gonna be a mom. You’ll do
great.”
Carrie smiled. She and Nate had been
growing closer since she returned to Oakridge. With DiCenzo behind bars and
Nate surviving from DiCenzo shooting him, they had bonded over the time they
spent together and the fact that they were now safe. Nate kissed her on the
cheek as Kristen came over with a nurse.
“This is my sister,” Kristen introduced
the nurse to Carrie, “She’s in labour.”
Rex’s Apartment
Jessica sat on the edge of her bed,
staring at her cell phone and willing it to ring. Kristen had sent her a text
message to say Carrie had gone into labour and would get back to her when
Carrie was settled. Jessica wanted to get over there right away but knew it was
better to wait until Carrie was relaxed and calm instead of too many people
crowding round her; besides, she knew Carrie was in good hands with Nate and
Kristen. She got up and started to pace the length of her bedroom, back and forward.
“You’re gonna wear a hole in that carpet
at this rate,” said a half asleep Rex, sitting up in bed, “I take it Kristen
hasn’t gotten back to you yet?”
“Nope, I can’t believe Carrie’s having a
BABY!” Jessica could barely contain her smile, “This is, like, the best news
ever. God, I wonder if anyone’s told Greg?”
“They will have,” Rex motioned for Jessica
to sit down on the bed, “Greg and Carrie may be separated but he’s the father
of her child.”
“I suppose,” Jessica sat down and leaned
her head against Rex’s bare chest, “But they did end things really abruptly. I
don’t think Greg really knew what was going on, to be honest.”
“Just like you and Josh then? Jess, can I
ask you a question?”
“Fire away.”
“Do you think you did the right thing
ending things with Josh so suddenly?”
Jessica sighed, to be honest, she didn’t
know the answer to that question herself, “Josh and I weren’t ever really going
to be compatible, and after everything that happened, there was just no trust
with us, so it wasn’t going to work in the long run. Besides, he couldn’t
accept that Carrie had to come first. Why do you ask?”
“I’m just wondering if you still have
feelings for him.”
“Josh will always have a place in my
heart,” Jessica ran her hand down Rex’s face, “But now, the only guy I’m
interested in is you.”
Jessica kissed Rex and ran her hand down
his rippling body as his hands roamed her back. Suddenly, Jessica jumped off of
Rex.
“I better get ready and get over to the
hospital, sorry!” Jessica gave Rex another kiss before getting up and running
over to the bathroom for a shower.
An extremely flustered and stressed Carrie
lay in her bed with Kristen at her side, holding her hand.
“Calm down, this is gonna be a breeze!”
Kristen tried to reassure her sister, running her hand over her forehead.
“Are you sure?” Carrie needed to be told
everything was going to be okay.
“Positive. After everything you’ve been
through these last few months, giving birth is going to be a piece of cake!”
“I hope so!”
Outside the hospital room, Nate made his
way down the corridor carrying a coffee for Kristen and a glass of water for
Carrie. As he stopped to let a nurse pushing someone in a wheelchair past, he
could see Greg walking towards him. Nate stopped outside the room and waited
for Greg to come over.
“I’m sorry, Greg, you can’t go in.” Nate
smiled.
“Do you really think I’m gonna listen to
what you have to say?” Greg couldn’t be civil to the man who had kidnapped his
wife and put the life of their child in danger, no matter how much Carrie loved
him.
“It’s got nothing to do with me I’m
afraid,” Nate insisted, “Kristen’s decided that she doesn’t want Carrie getting
flustered by too many people around her.”
“Well considering that I am the
baby’s father, I think we can make an exception.”
“Sorry, just following orders, have a
seat, Greg, we’ll keep you posted on what’s happening.”
“There is no way in hell that you’re going
to be there for the birth of my kid if I’m not,” Greg sneered, “And if you
think you’re gonna have ANYTHING to do with my kid’s life, you’ve got another
thing coming.”
Nate took a deep breath. Six months ago,
he’d have punched any guy who spoke to him like that, instead he counted to ten
inside his head, he wasn’t going to cause a scene, “Like I said, take a seat,
we’ll keep you posted.”
Nate opened the door to Carrie’s room and
closed it behind him, leaving Greg standing in the corridor, fuming.
The Abbot House: Will’s Room
The role of Will Abbot will now be
played by Colin Egglesfield
Will sat on the floor of his bedroom doing
sit ups. As he reached his three-hundredth he stopped and stood up, grabbing a
towel and dousing the sweat from his bare torso. He wiped sweat from his brow
and turned to face the window, thinking back to the night he discovered John
was his father. He still couldn’t get his head around it, no matter how many
times he tried, it just wouldn’t sink in.
”I want answers, John…or should that
be dad?” Will’s face was dead, emotionless, as he waited for John to respond.
“I take it Alex went against my
wishes and told you,” John stood aside, “I suppose you had better come in.
Will walked into the lavish mansion,
a house far larger than the one he grew up in. He had missed out on years of
having what John’s three kids had, despite John knowing all along that he was
his father.
“Can I get you a drink?” John asked.
“Save the small talk John, I want
answers. I want to know why you let me go through life without knowing you were
my son. I want to know why you let me HAVE SEX with Megan and didn’t let me
know she was my sister, I want to know why you have let my entire life be a
lie!”
John gulped, he didn’t know where to
begin, he couldn’t justify his actions and he knew that, and he knew he owed
Will an explanation. He just didn’t know how he was going to do that.
Will rubbed his eyes, shielding them from
the sun as he sat down on the edge of his bed. He rested his head in his hands
as he remembered what had happened that night.
“Your mother and I had an affair,”
John handed Will a scotch, “I didn’t know until well after you were born that I
was your father. Not until Alex left town.”
“That was still years ago, long
before Megan and I got involved. You could have easily stopped anything
happening with me and Megan.”
Will felt sick to his stomach with
the thought of his past with Megan after realizing she was his half sister.
“About that; Will I don’t think it’s
wise to tell Megan about this just yet, I don’t think it’s wise to tell
anybody.”
“I don’t believe I’m hearing this!
It’s keeping secrets that
got everyone into this mess in the
first place!”
“Megan is finally happy, I don’t want anything to ruin that for her.”
“Don’t play the caring father act,
John, we both know it’s just that: an act. The only reason you don’t want
anyone else to know is so that you don’t have to own up to the fact that you’re
a selfish bastard.”
“I know you’re feeling angry, but
I’m sorry Will. That’s all I can say. Just please, for me, for now, don’t tell
anyone.”
Will clenched his fist, angry at the very
thought of what John had said to him that night.
“You may be my father,” Will thought, “But
I owe you nothing.”
There was a knock at his bedroom door, and
Ashley poked her head around the door.
“Hey” she smiled awkwardly upon sensing
her brother’s mood, “How’s it going?”
“Not bad lil’ sis,” Will motioned for her
to come into his room, “Just thinking.”
”Yeah, you seem to be doing a lot of that lately,” Ashley sat down next to her
brother on his bed, “Ever since…well…you know.”
“Since I found out that my father isn’t
actually my father? Yeah, its fine, we can say it in here Ash, it’s not like
there are any Sterlings around.”
“I know,” Ashley sighed, “It just feels
weird to even say it. Like, if I say it then it’s really true, you know?”
“Ashley, it doesn’t matter who my father
is. You are and will always be my sister, no matter what happens,” Will put his
arm around her, “It’s just a shame that the one thing connecting us is…”
“Her.” Ashley’s face had a look of disgust
upon thinking of her mother, “I can’t believe she kept that secret from
everyone all these years. Playing with peoples lives like that is just fucked
up.”
“Tell me about it,” Will had no sympathy
for his mother at all, “Dad did the right thing in throwing her out, we’re all
better off without her in our lives.”
“Exactly. We did fine all those years
without her, we sure as hell don’t need her now.”
The role of Natalie Denman will now
be played by Heidi Mueller.
Josh sat in the waiting area while Natalie
was seen by the doctor. He still couldn’t believe that Natalie was pregnant,
and that she was going to go through with the pregnancy. Every time he thought
of Leo Sterling and what he had done with Natalie, he wanted to strangle Leo’s
cocky little neck. They had tried to talk with Leo about the pregnancy, but he
didn’t want to hear it, he wasn’t prepared to help out at all. The door of the
doctor’s room opened and Natalie walked out, holding her stomach.
“How’d it go?” Josh stood up and put his
arm around his little sister. Although she was only a few months pregnant,
barely even showing, she had matured beyond belief since she found out.
“Yeah fine, Dr. Meadows said the baby’s
doing fine so far,” Natalie looked down at her stomach and tried to manage a
smile. She still couldn’t believe she was going to go through with this
pregnancy; as much as she hated the thought of being attached to Leo Sterling
for the rest of her life, she couldn’t bring herself to abort the baby growing
inside of her.
“You okay?” Josh knew his sister was far
from happy about this pregnancy; he just wanted to be there for her, no matter
what. “Hey, you know what? I have a craving for some ice cream. Do you wanna go
get some?”
Natalie’s face brightened up. She loved
her brother for making such an effort towards her, “Yea, sure, but remember,
I’m eating it for two!”
They walked down the corridor and headed
for the elevator. When it reached their floor, the doors opened and Jessica
stood inside. Her face dropped when she saw them standing in front of her, but
walked out onto the floor anyway.
“Josh, Natalie,” she smiled, despite the
fact she had never felt so uncomfortable in her life, “How are you?”
Josh and Natalie ignored her and headed
straight into the elevator, pushing the button for the ground floor. The doors closed and up they went, heading
towards the floor Jessica was going, where Carrie was in the middle of giving
birth.
“You know, I don’t get why you’re ignoring
me,” Jessica tried to remain calm, “Yeah, so things didn’t work out, there’s no
reason why we cant at least be…”
“Friends?” Josh laughed, “Save it! I don’t
want anything else to do with you.”
“There’s no need to be like this Josh.”
“Uh, I think there is,” Natalie
interrupted, “My brother didn’t do anything wrong Jessica, you did, you were
the one who fucked off on a wild goose chase and it didn’t take you any time at
all to fall into bed with the first guy who showed an interest without even
giving Josh a second thought. You’re nothing but a cheap slut and Josh is
better off without you.”
Jessica was speechless. She couldn’t
believe what Natalie had just said, and it took all of her self control not to
point the finger at Natalie in regards to her pregnancy.
“I’m the cheap slut?” Jessica’s self
control gave up, “I’m not the one who got pregnant to some guy I barely even
know!”
“That’s enough Jessica!” Josh yelled,
standing between her and Natalie, “You’re a poison, and the sooner you’re out
of our lives for good, the better. You can come and pick up the rest of
your crap by
The elevator reached Jessica’s floor and
the doors opened. Her eyes boiled with rage as she stormed out of the elevator
and towards Carrie’s hospital room.
As Jessica headed towards the room, she
noticed Diane and Joseph down the corridor meandering towards Carrie’s birthing
suite. She stopped dead in her tracks, rested her hands on her hips and waited
for them to approach.
“And just where do you think you’re
going?” Jessica demanded. Diane and Joseph stopped next to Jessica, Joseph
folding his arms and Diane raising her head, staring right through Jessica’s
eyes.
“To see my grandchild being born,” Diane
stated, “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“You’re not going anywhere near Carrie
right now. Leave. Now.”
“Just you wait a minute,” Joseph
interrupted, “You don’t get a say on what goes on here. Diane is related to
this baby by blood, she has more of a right to be there than you’ll ever have.”
“And she’ll get to see the baby as soon as
it’s born. But for now, go home. Carrie doesn’t want you at the birth. Nobody
does.”
“Well my son called me here, so I’ll be
with him. Give Carrie my best wishes,” Diane showed miraculous restraint in
dealing with Jessica, but she knew she had to play this right if she was to
have anything to do with her grandchild. She caught sight of Greg sitting in
the waiting area and headed over there, followed by Joseph.
The Abbot House: Lounge
Ashley sat on the sofa surfing the
internet on her laptop. She stared in complete shock at those new pictures of
Paris Hilton on Pink is the New Blog as the doorbell rang. She closed
the laptop shut and walked over to the door and opened it to see her mother
standing out on the porch.
“What do you want?” Ashley folded her
arms.
“I thought we could talk; all of us.” Alex
tried to enter the house, but Ashley blocked her path.
“Well none of us want to talk to you,”
Ashley insisted, looking right through her mother, “So get lost.”
“Ashley, honey, I just want to talk,” Alex
pleaded, “I want to tell you my side of the story.”
“Not interested.”
“Please,” Alex tried to appeal to her
daughter, trying her best to make eye contact with her, but failing.
“Go away, nobody wants to see you. You’ve
fucked up our lives for the last time,” Ashley scolded her mother, “And we’re
not letting you do it again. You’re a selfish witch who’s done nothing but
bring misery to us all.”
Ashley slammed the door shut and walked
away, leaving Alex standing out on the porch, alone.
Megan’s Car
“I can’t believe it,” Megan squealed,
barely able to keep her eyes on the road, “I’m going to be an aunt!”
“Yeah, it’s great,” Marc smiled. He did
his best to act normal, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Ally and what she
had done to them. Megan could tell something was wrong with him and pulled over
at the side of the road, turning off the engine.
“Marc, are we actually ever going to talk
about what happened that night? Or are we just going to keep pretending it
never happened?” Megan folded her arms. What had happened really shook her up
as well, but she wasn’t letting it ruin her life. She was determined not to let
Ally’s actions destroy her relationship with Marc.
“Marc, I love you.” Ally smiled.
Marc and Megan took a deep breath as they continued to fiddle with the rope
behind their backs. Marc felt like he was making progress, he could feel the
ropes loosening around his wrist.
Megan watched from the corner of her
eyes, eagerly waiting to see if Marc would be able to get himself untied. Ally
watched them in the rear view mirror and could see Marc getting close to his
escape. She reached into the glove
compartment of the car and pulled out a gun.
“Yet again, you just can’t do what
you’re told, Marc, can you?” Ally flicked off the safety catch on the pistol
and pointed it at him, her finger nearing the trigger, “I’m sorry I had to do
this.”
Ally pulled the trigger and BANG! Marc
leapt forward and wrestled the gun from Ally’s hand, ducking as the bullet
smashed the rear window of the car into a million pieces.
Marc shuddered, “Look, Megan, I don’t want
to talk about it. You’re dealing with this your way and I’m dealing with it my
way.”
“Don’t you see what you’re doing though?”
Megan took Marc’s hand, “You’re letting her tear us apart. Just like she
wanted! Open up to me, Marc, please.”
Marc tended to Megan and untied her,
setting her free. He kicked the door open and pulled her to safety, watching
as, with a wicked smile on her face, Ally took something out of her pocket. It
was a lighter.
“This whole place is gonna blow
Marc,” Megan murmured, “We need to get out of here!”
“I can’t let her die.” Marc
insisted, out of breath. Megan grabbed his hand and ran out of the warehouse,
Marc turning and watching as Ally flipped open the lighter and BOOM. The car
exploded as Marc and Megan reached the door.
“I could have saved her,” Marc buried his
head in his hands.
“No you couldn’t have! Ally was sick; no
matter what you did she’d have found another way to kill herself. You might not
have been able to save her before she blew herself up, but you saved MY life,
you saved the both of us. We need to put this behind us and move on. Even the
police said you did the right thing.”
“I suppose, but I can’t help feeling like
I could have done something to stop her,” Marc began to smile, “But I guess
it’s just one of those things. Now step on it, we’ve got to get to the hospital
to see this nephew of yours.”
“Nephew of ours,” Megan smiled, starting
the engine again.
Oakridge General Hospital
Kristen closed the door to the delivery
room and walked over to where Greg sat. She sat down next to him and smiled.
“How’s she doing?” Greg asked, he wanted
more than anything else to be there with Carrie as she gave birth.
“Yeah quite good, her contractions are
getting closer and closer,” Kristen smiled, “It shouldn’t be too much longer
until it’s born.”
“I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a
father,” Greg half smiled. He couldn’t help but feel that his whole experience
was tainted by the circumstances, “I just hope I actually get to be there for
my kid.”
“Carrie’s not an unreasonable person,”
Kristen reminded him, “She wants you to be just as involved in this kid’s life
as you would be if you were still married. Listen, Greg, don’t think just
because you and Carrie aren’t together, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to
miss out on the big stuff.”
Kristen was distracted when she saw a
young man walking towards her, a huge bunch of flowers in his hand.
“Oh my god, Kyle!” Kristen jumped up from
her seat and ran over to the blonde twentysomething and hugged him, “What are
you doing here?”
“Well I wasn’t gonna miss my first niece
or nephew being born, was I?” Kyle smiled, “Mom and dad send their love,
they’re gonna be here as soon as they get some stuff sorted out with the
business.”
“Come over here and sit down,” Kristen
motioned.
“Greg,” Kyle smiled, not the type to let
circumstances affect his relationships with others, “How’s it going?”
“Quite good thanks bud, and yourself? We
haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Well you know, life gets in the way and
stuff.”
“Tell me about it,” Greg and Kristen
sighed simultaneously.
Wesley’s Office
Wesley sat behind is desk, drowning in a
sea of paperwork, as he heard a knock at the door. He looked up to see Alex
standing in the doorway.
“What the hell do you want?” Wesley
demanded, standing up and walking over to her.
“To talk to you.” Alex entered the office.
“I have nothing to say to you except get
the hell out of my office.”
“Wesley, please, I just want to make you
under..”
“Get out. Stay away from me, and my
family.”
Wesley put his hands on Alex and pushed
her back out the office, slamming the door in her face.
“Now leave, or I’ll have security THROW
you out,” he yelled through the door.
Alex ran down the corridor, tears
streaming down her face.
Oakridge General Hospital
As Rex approached the entrance to the
hospital, his cell phone began to ring. He stopped and took it out of his
pocket.
“Rex Davis…what? You’re serious…thanks for
letting me know Tony. I gotta go, thanks again.”
He hung up his phone and entered the
hospital.
Inside the delivery room, Carrie squeezed
on Nate’s hand as she pushed through her final contractions.
“You can do it,” Nate urged Carrie to keep
going, “You’re going to be a mom! You’re going to be the best mom in the world.
Come on, keep pushing.”
The midwife smiled at Nate’s kind words to
Carrie.
Outside, Rex reached the floor and
approached Jessica, who was getting a cup of coffee from the machine.
“I just got a call,” Rex leaned in against
the table where the sugars and milk sachets for the tea and coffee machine
were. The look of anxiety on his face worried Jessica.
“What is it Rex? You look like you’ve seen
a ghost.”
“Michael DiCenzo’s been released on bail.”
The screaming noise of the newborn baby
filled the delivery room. Carrie smiled with relief when she saw her newborn
baby.
“Congratulations,” the nurse smiled,
“You’ve just given birth to a healthy baby boy.”
Carrie was overcome with emotion. This
whole journey, all the risks to her baby’s health, and it had all worked out in
the end. Nate leaned in and gave her a kiss.
“This is it Carrie,” he whispered, “A new
beginning.”
TO BE CONTINUED…