Heart and Soul

Episode 76

Even God Can’t Change The Past

By Allan Craig

 

As Leo lay unconscious in his hospital bed, the bleeping of his heart monitor going steady in the background, Kendall ran her hand down her brother’s arm and touched the palm of his hand, being careful not to disturb any of the wires jutting in and out of his body.

 

“How are you holding up?” asked Dr. Melissa Stafford as she entered the room.

 

“Fine, I guess.” Kendall sighed, every day Leo lay in his coma, Kendall felt like part of her was missing. “I just wish he’d hurry up and wake up.”

 

“Don’t worry; he’ll come around when he’s ready.” Melissa reassured Kendall. “He’s making steady progress, and he’s showing signs of making a full recovery, we just need to take things one step at a time, that’s all. The police have been in touch, apparently Leo’s not the first person to have been affected by this batch of drugs.”

 

“So it’s something they’re taking seriously?” Kendall couldn’t help but feel a little relieved; if anything, at least whoever was responsible would be punished for it.

 

“Apparently so,” Melissa explained, clutching her clipboard to her chest. “While we’re hesitant to try out any procedures to neutralise the amount of ethanol, cocaine and alcohol in his blood stream, as his body could have averse reactions to anything we try, at least the police are working making sure that nobody else will be at risk.”

 

“Well that’s something, I guess.” Kendall didn’t really care about preventing the same thing happening to anyone else, she just wanted her brother back; patience was never her strong point, but it was being tested to the limits just now. “So when do you think he’ll wake up.”

 

“Whenever he’s strong enough, it varies from patient to patient. His body is fighting an infection that occurred as a result of his exposure to the drug, but I don’t think we’ll be waiting too much longer, this one’s a fighter.”

 

No matter how much Melissa tried to reassure her that Leo would be okay, Kendall couldn’t help but continue to feel twinges of worry about her brother’s predicament…she wanted Leo back, and she wanted him back now.

 

 

“Gentlemen, what can I do for you today?” Shane asked as he entered the conference room in Sterling Enterprises, where Joseph and John already sat. “And can we make it snappy; in case you’re not aware, I have a son in hospital.”

 

“We won’t take up too much of your time.” John promised; the very idea of working with John on something seemed ludicrous to both of them, but working towards reclaiming Sterling Enterprises seemed worthwhile…even if it meant that Joseph got a share.

 

“We?” Shane couldn’t help but laugh. “The last I heard…he was shacked up with your ex wife and they tried to steal this very company out from under Kendall’s nose, and if they’d done that, then I’m quite positive that you would have been out of a job. So why you’re working with your brother is beyond me, John.”

 

“What’s in the past is in the past.” Joseph insisted, knowing that his brother was experiencing those doubts and not exactly blaming him for it.

 

“How…heart warming.” Shane smirked. “So what is it I can do for you?”

 

“We wanted to discuss the possibility of buying out your shares in Sterling Enterprises.” John announced, provoking a snigger from Shane.

 

“I wasn’t aware I was selling.”

 

“We are prepared to offer you another ten million on top of what you paid for your half of the company.” Joseph continued, not letting Shane’s reaction get in the way of his business deal.

 

“Oh, wow, a whole ten million?” Shane gasped, pretending to be blown away by their offer. “Please, I could get ten times that if I was to sell.”

 

“It’s a perfectly reasonable offer considering it wasn’t Kendall’s to sell in the first place,” said John, a little insulted by Shane’s attitude about the whole situation.

 

“Listen, gentlemen, I know this must have taken you a whole lot of time, making up charts and slideshows, but I’m not interested, sorry. My half of Sterling Enterprises is not up for sale.”

 

Refusing to rise to being patronised by Shane, John took a deep breath and stood up. “Your loss, Baldwin.”

 

Joseph stood up and both brothers made their way out of the room, although both were clear on one thing; they may not have won this battle, but they would win the war.

 

Stuffing some of her belongings into a hold all, Natalie tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder as she rummaged through her closet. Josh appeared in her bedroom doorway and sighed, the thought of his sister leaving was something that was yet to sink in.

 

“So you’re really going to go?” Josh asked, hoping that his sister would change her mind.

 

“I have to.” Natalie explained. “I just need to clear my head after everything that’s happened, there are too many bad memories in Oakridge for me to stick around.”

 

“Where are you going to go?”

 

“I don’t know yet…I just need to get away.”

 

“And there’s no way I can change your mind about this?”

 

Natalie shook her head as Josh approached, wrapping his arms around his younger sister and pulling her in for a hug.

 

“If you’re really serious about this, I guess I can’t stand in your way.” Josh reached inside his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

 

“I don’t want your money, Josh.” Natalie insisted, pushing her brother’s hand away.

 

“Please, just take this.” Josh insisted, holding a roll of notes out towards his sister and pressing it into her palm. “For me, so I know that you’re going to have enough to get by.”

 

“What would I do without you?” Natalie smiled.

 

“The question is, what am I going to do without you?” Josh had gotten so used to having Natalie around again, that the thought of losing her was heartbreaking.

 

 

Kendall closed the door to Leo’s hospital room and made her way over to where Lucy and Kimberley sat, just as Shane stepped out of the elevator and made his way over.

 

“Any change?” Shane asked.

 

“He’s stable, which is something, I guess.” Kendall sighed, her eyes dark and bloodshot from the lack of sleep she had been experiencing since Leo’s overdose…whether it was on purpose or not was something she was yet to determine, yet still she couldn’t help but think about it.

 

“By the way, I received a visit from two of your favourite uncles today.” Shane laughed.

 

“Both of them?” Kendall couldn’t quite picture both John and Joseph in the same room together.

 

“I know, I could barely believe it myself.”

 

“What did they want?” Kimberley interrupted, intrigued by the conversation.

 

Shane took Kendall’s arm and led her out of earshot. “John and Joseph want to buy me out of Sterling Enterprises.”

 

“What? They wanna buy your half?” Kendall wasn’t about to let Joseph have any sort of control of her company. “Unbelievable.”

 

“Needless to say, I sent them packing.”

 

“The nerve of them, though. My brother…your son…is lying in hospital, and they’re trying to do some sort of business deal?” Kendall could feel her blood boiling; she already hated Joseph but this was enough to push her over the edge.

 

 

As she stood at the entrance to the hospital, Jessica clutched her stomach, still unsure of whether or not she was making the right decision; her head told her she was doing the right thing, but her heart urged her to rethink. Taking a deep breath, Jessica took her first steps inside.

 

 

“How did it go with Shane?” Diane asked as Joseph entered the apartment, although from the look on his face it was clear to Diane that they wouldn’t exactly be popping open a bottle of champagne. “I’ll get you a drink.”

 

“Thanks.” Joseph sighed, slumping down on the couch.

 

“So I take it things didn’t go as well as you had hoped.” Diane supposed as she removed the lid from the crystal decanter and filled a glass with Joseph’s favourite single malt.

 

“Baldwin’s an ass.” Joseph muttered. “Where’s Taylor?”

 

“I think she said something about going to visit Leo in the hospital.” Diane handed Joseph a drink and sat down next to him. “So your offer didn’t go down well with Shane, no problem, you can always up your offer, cant you?”

 

“I wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction of going back to him.” Joseph swirled the dark liquid around in his glass before downing it in one. “No, I’m going to have to get Sterling Enterprises from him another way.”

 

“Because it worked out so well the last time,” Diane rolled her eyes. “Listen, you leave Shane Baldwin to me, I’ll have him eating out of the palm of my hand before you know it.”

 

“What? Are you going to slay him with your feminine wiles?” Joseph let out a small chuckle at Diane’s suggestion.

 

“Think very carefully before you continue with that line of thought. Seriously, Joseph, I can assure you that if all goes to plan, Sterling Enterprises will be ours before we know it.”

 

 

Kendall took a drink of the coffee from the machine in the hospital and winced at the taste as the cheap instant coffee made its way down her throat. Still fuming from the news that Joseph and John were trying to do business with Shane while Leo lay in a hospital bed, she angrily tossed the rest of the coffee into the bin.

 

“We have to stop meeting like this,” came Cal’s voice as Kendall turned to see the familiar doctor standing in front of her. “How’s your brother doing?”

 

“He’s stable.” Kendall wasn’t really in the mood for any small talk with the doctor that she seemed to be running into more than she wanted to. “So do you have any patients to treat or do you just spend your day looking for uninterested girls to annoy?”

 

“I was just getting some coffee on my break, that’s all.” Cal reassured the stressed out brunette. “Although you sure are full of yourself, aren’t you?”

 

“Excuse me?” Kendall was taken aback. “Would you like to repeat that?”

 

“It’s just, for you to think that I’m following you around when in reality, what with me being a doctor, I do tend to spend a lot of my time here in the hospital…it’s just a little self centred, isn’t it?” Cal grinned mischievously.

 

“Whatever, I don’t have time for this.” Kendall turned and began to walk away from Cal. “Jerk.”

 

“Who is that?” Kimberley asked, intercepting Kendall halfway down the corridor.

 

“Some asshole doctor who thinks he’s god’s gift.” Kendall muttered.

 

“He’s hot, though.” Kimberley grinned as she looked Cal up and down from afar. “You wouldn’t happen to have a thing for the dishy doc, would you?”

 

“As if,” Kendall insisted, although part of her could help but think back to the attraction she had for Cal the first time she met him at Theatre…and no matter how much he got under her skin when she ran into him at the hospital, she couldn’t help but like it a little.

 

 

Sitting in the airport with a photo of Grace in her hand, Natalie tapped her foot anxiously on the floor as she waited for her flight to be called. She had said her goodbyes to Josh at home, not wanting an emotional scene in the airport, and now she sat waiting to move on to the next stage in her life.

 

“I couldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye,” Natalie felt a hand on her shoulder and heard the sound of a familiar voice. She turned around to see Kyle standing above her and sighed; so much for trying to avoid an emotional scene at the airport. “Josh called me, told me you were leaving town…are you sure this is what you want?”

 

“Honestly,” Natalie sighed, “I don’t know what I want…”

 

“I don’t know what to say, Natalie; the thought of losing you forever…” Kyle began; although he was the one who had ended their relationship, part of him had always hoped that somewhere along the line, they’d get back together. “Is there no way we could work this out?”

 

“This isn’t about us, Kyle.” Natalie insisted, standing up and sliding the photograph of her daughter into her pocket. “I need to do this for myself. Losing Grace…it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face, but I guess in some cruel, twisted way it’s made me stronger, and I have to use it, at least then Grace’s death wont be for nothing.”

 

“But running away from Oakridge…”

 

“I’m not running away.” Natalie knew Kyle was right; in a way, she was running away from her problems, but it seemed like the only solution. Losing Grace may have made her a stronger person, knowing that nothing that bad could ever happen to her again, but facing up to her problems while Grace’s death was still so raw was enough to make her stomach turn. “I’m starting again. You only live once, losing Grace has taught me that much, and I don’t want to waste my life regretting things, wishing that I’d gone out there and taken a chance. I can’t do that staying in Oakridge.”

 

“Where are you going to go?” Kyle asked, not that it made a difference, but it was all he could do to try and avoid the awkward silence that would definitely ensue had he not asked.

 

“New York first, and then on to wherever life takes me,” Natalie smiled for the first time in weeks, excited at the thought of the adventure in front of her.

 

“Well you certainly seem happy, which is something, I guess.”

 

“Happy is just a word, Kyle, not a feeling. But I’m starting afresh, it’s a clean slate…god knows I need it after everything I’ve been through these last few years.” Natalie paused, the look on Kyle’s face causing her to quickly rephrase what she had just said. “I don’t regret a minute of the time we had together, Kyle…you’ll always have a special place in my heart. I never meant to hurt you…please believe that.”

 

“I know, its okay.” Kyle insisted, fighting the urge to allow any tears to flow from his eyes as the emotion of the situation overcame him. “

 

“And I’m sorry for everything I put you through.” Natalie’s resolve not to cry wasn’t as strong as Kyle’s, as tears began to well up in her eyes.

 

“Me too, I should have trusted you more, I should have considered your feelings…”

 

The sound of a voice echoing through the airport told Natalie that it was time to board. “That’s my flight…I better…”

 

“Are you sure you have to go?” Kyle asked, hoping that he could convince Natalie to stay. Natalie nodded, her tears rendering her speechless. “Well then, I want you to walk away and don’t look back, okay? Promise me you won’t look back?”

 

Natalie nodded again, doing her best to fight her tears, “I promise.”

 

Kyle pulled her in for one final hug, their bodies touching for what seemed like hours when, in fact, it was only a matter of seconds. They pulled away, their hands still touching, until finally their bodies parted. Natalie wiped the tears from her eyes before managing a smile, and then proceeded to turn away and walk across the busy airport.

 

Kyle watched as Natalie walked towards the gate, disappearing into the crowd. He couldn’t stop himself hoping that there would be some Hollywood moment and Natalie would turn and run through the crowds back to him, but part of him knew that she wasn’t going to come back. He waited in the hope that she would emerge and they would share a kiss, but as he watched more and more people disappear behind the gate, he knew his romantic daydream wasn’t about to come true; just as it dawned on him that Natalie was gone.

 

 

Jessica opened the door to her empty apartment and reached out for the light switch before settling for darkness. She dropped her purse to the floor and made her way into the bathroom, unzipping her dress and letting it fall to the floor as she switched on the shower. She took off her underwear and climbed inside, hoping to wash away what she had just done. Unable to stay on her feet, she sank to the floor, her tears mixing with the water as the severity of her actions set in.

 

 

While Taylor and Lucy got on like a house on fire, fawning over the pages of a celebrity magazine, Kimberley walked across the hospital waiting area to outside Leo’s room, where Kendall and Shane stood talking.

 

“I think I’m going to take off,” Kimberley explained. “I’ll take Lucy and Taylor with me, there’s no point in them being here right now.”

 

“Thanks, Kim.” Shane smiled. As much as Kimberley hated her name being abbreviated like that, she was willing to let it slide considering how charming Shane was.

 

“I’ll keep you posted if Leo’s condition changes or anything.” Kendall added.

 

As Kimberley began to walk away, motioning for Taylor and Lucy to join her, the elevator doors opened and Rex stepped out along with another two police officers, and headed over to where Shane and Kendall stood.

 

“Shane Baldwin?” Rex asked.

 

“What can I do for you, officer?” Shane couldn’t help but feel a sinking feeling.

 

“I’m arresting you for drug trafficking and attempted murder.” Rex explained as one of the officers tied Shane’s hands behind his back and cuffed him.

 

“What’s going on?” Lucy asked as she rushed over to where her father was about to be led away in handcuffs.

 

“Nothing, I’ll explain later, honey.” Shane assured his daughter as he was led out of the hospital with Lucy, Taylor and Kimberley watching on.

 

Kendall stood motionless, clueless about what had just gone on in front of her. The fact that Shane didn’t even attempt to fight with the cops about his arrest worried her slightly as she began to realize just how little she knew about her business partner.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…