**see first part for disclaimer**
Tangled Up in Blue
Part 2
by LauraL
The blinds were pulled so tight that not a single ray of light could enter the room. When Alexis' eyes fluttered open, she could barely make out shapes in the room. She moved her lips to call out to Ned, but her throat was so parched that she could only release a dry breath. She blinked her eyes until she adjusted to the dark, and suddenly everything came alive in the room.
There was a steady beep buzzing in her ears. Alexis looked to her side and saw monitors lit up all around her, green lines jumping up and down on the screens. She tried to sit up and felt a sharp, burning pain stab her side. That's when she remembered.
"Ned!" Alexis screamed, clenching her hands into fists. She pulled at the whites sheets covering her legs and clawed at the mattress. "Ned!"
The door swung open, smacking into the wall. Alan flipped the lights on and jogged to her bed. Before he could begin to examine her, Alexis grabbed at the loose ends of his lab coat. "Where is Ned?"
"Shh, calm down," he whispered, knowing it was a lost cause. "Do you remember what happened?"
She nodded, tears glistening on her pale cheeks. They ran over her lips and stung the dry, chapped skin. "We were shot. Someone shot at us," Alexis' voice trembled as she spoke. "Where is Ned?"
"He's in surgery, Alexis," Alan told her. He sat down beside her bed, holding his hand over her arm. "There was a lot of bleeding."
The rest of what Alan said to her was a blur. Alexis wasn't even sure if he had finished explaining what happened when she grabbed his hand and demanded, "Take me to him. Please."
~*~
Stefan darted across the room when he saw Alexis. He dropped onto his knees, ignoring the way the arms of her wheelchair stabbed him in the stomach. He carefully held his arms around her, holding his lips against her cheek. He could feel that her entire body was quaking in pain and fear. He stroked her hair, whispering against her skin, "I love you so much, Alexis. So much."
She nodded, hardly even aware of what he was saying. Alexis swallowed hard, her throat aching. She took hold of Stefan's hand and asked, "Ned?"
The blank stare she received from him was the only answer she needed. Her chin dropped to her chest and her nails pierced his hand. "Alexis," Stefan told her, "he's alive. He's in surgery. I haven't heard anything more."
"Take me to him," Alexis begged. Stefan pursed his lips, knowing she would not want to hear his response. He gripped the arm of her wheelchair. She held her hand over his, squeezing his hand so tightly between her fingers that their skin turned white. "Take me to him now, Stefan."
He nodded, defeated. Stefan rose to his feet and stood behind the wheelchair. He walked slowly toward the elevator. Once the doors sealed shut, he moved his hands from the handles to her shoulders. Weaving his fingers through her hair, he bent down and pressed a kiss into her soft, chestnut tresses. "Nikolas will be here later to see you," Stefan whispered. "He was truly shaken, Alexis. Lila and Edward Quatermaine sent the flowers that were beside your bed."
"I didn't see any flowers," she told him matter-of-factly. Alexis sniffled and pressed the tips of her fingers to the red, puffy skin below her eyes. She absorbed her tears before they could fall. "They probably hate me for what I did."
Stefan reached to the side and punched the emergency stop button. He circled around the wheelchair and knelt so that he was at Alexis' level. He held one hand over her shoulder while the other was draped over her knee. "You did nothing wrong, Alexis. Nothing. What happened was not your fault and you did nothing wrong by being true to yourself."
"If I had married him," Alexis said, her chin quivering as she struggled to stay composed, "he wouldn't have been shot. We wouldn't have been standing outside the church to be ambushed. That's the simple truth. Please don't try to convince me otherwise. I don't need that." She strained to reach up and find the right button, starting the elevator again.
The doors opened and the first person Alexis saw was Lila. As Stefan wheeled her out into the hall, the rest of the Qautermaine family came into view. She could hardly look at them. She looked back at Stefan and pleaded with her eyes for him to keep walking, don't stop. He nodded, understanding.
"Alexis, wait," Monica called out, jogging to catch up with them. "How are you feeling?"
"Numb," she answered. "Where is he? How is he?"
Monica glanced over her shoulder at Alan, Edward and Lila. She cleared her throat to stall for time, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Stefan reached out and gripped Monica's arm, asking her, "Would you please answer my sister, Dr. Quatermaine?"
"Ned lost a lot of blood, Alexis. And a lot of oxygen."
Monica went on to describe the extent of Ned's injures, and the damage the bullets had caused. Alexis simply nodded and felt thick tears coating her cheeks and dripping down to her neck, wetting her thin hospital gown. She held onto the wheels of her chair and pushed herself away from the crowd, grunting at the way the movements made the entire right side of her body throb with blinding pain.
She parked herself in the corner, facing the operating room where Ned was being worked on. Stefan watched her, helpless to offer her comfort. He spotted a chair on the other side of the room and carried it to where she was, and sat beside her.
~*~
Zander tapped his fingers on the top of the table, his entire body bouncing with the rhythm. He sat up every few seconds to see out the door or glance at the clock. Alexis was late again. He hoped that she wasn't in court without him, which meant bad news. The judge had agreed to possibly letting him out on bail before the trial; perhaps one last chance for freedom before spending the rest of his life in prison or dying from a lethal injection.
The possibilities made Zander shudder. He turned in his chair to face the guard and asked, "Can you call my lawyer or something? Can you find out where she is?"
The guard shrugged. "Just wait," he said.
Zander rolled his eyes and groaned. He smacked his palms against the table, the chains around his wrists rattling. "Someone should be here by now," Zander said aloud, aware that no one was listening. He moved his chair so that he could see out into the police station. He couldn't stop tapping his feet and fidgeting with his fingers. "Hey," he called to the guard. "Can I get a newspaper or something to look at while I wait? Please?"
The guard nodded. He walked over to the shelf against the wall, grabbing that day's edition of the Port Charles Herald. He tossed the paper onto the table and Zander took it into his hands, struggling with the cuffs around his wrists.
His eyes widened at the headline on the front page, and the picture that accompanied it. Zander's mouth went dry and he muttered, "Oh, God," under his breath. His eyes darted from the headline to the guard. "Do you know anything about this?" Zander asked, shaking the paper and pointing to the words Local Lawyer and Businessman Shot on Wedding Day.
"Nope," the guard said, shaking his head. He squinted to see the words. "That's your lawyer, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Zander nodded. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His head was throbbing, too heavy for his shoulders. He squeezed the newspaper between his fingers and shouted, "Find out if Emily Quatermaine is okay! Tell me if Alexis is alive, please!"
The guard walked toward him. "Doesn't it say?"
"No! Find out!"
"Calm down, Mr. Smith."
Zander shook his head. He dropped the paper and covered his face with his hands. "I can't believe this. It's all my fault."
~*~
Sonny had been staring at his coffee ever since Tammy set it on the table almost an hour ago. He had watched Carly reach across the table and pour cream into the dark liquid, and watched the way the colors mixed and lightened. He couldn't look up, look at his wife. "Call again," he spoke, his voice gruff, for the first time since they had arrived at Kelley's.
Carly leaned forward. She dropped her bagel, the one she had yet to take a bite out of, onto her plate. "We just called ten minutes ago, Sonny," she reminded him. "They won't tell us anything."
"Because we're not family." He shook his head. He clenched his hands into fists and held them under the table, trying his hardest not to pound them against the top.
"We could just go to the hospital, Sonny," she suggested. "They'll have to tell us how they are eventually. Maybe Alexis is awake now."
Sonny shook his head. "She's not gonna want to see us."
"How do you know?"
He looked up at her suddenly, sharply. He clenched his teeth and slid his fingers through his hair, pulling at the short strands. Sonny dropped his chin to his chest. "I know," he said quietly. "I just know."
"She could use a friend, don't you think?"
Before Sonny could respond, the door to Kelley's opened. He stood up when Roy walked inside. "Thanks for coming," Sonny said, nodding toward the diner. Carly rolled her eyes as the two men walked past her and each sat on a stool, lowering their voices to a whisper. "You heard?"
Roy nodded. "Yeah. How are they?"
Sonny shrugged and pinched the bridge of his nose, his head aching. His eyes were so sore; he just wanted to sleep and wake up to find out it was all a nightmare. "The hospital won't give out any information. Last thing we heard, Ned's in pretty bad shape but Alexis should be fine."
"Did you get out there in time to see the cars?"
"No," Sonny answered him, biting down on his lower lip. He felt so restless. He hooked his feet around the legs of the stool, stood up, sat back down and eventually pushed the stool out of his way and leaned against the edge of the counter. "Just tire tracks. I got out there and saw... you know, it all happened so damn fast."
Roy nodded. "I know." He shifted nervously on the stool, bad memories rushing back to him. "Uh, well... I think I know why you called me here, Sonny." He looked into the eyes of his sometimes business partner. Roy saw guilt and pain, and most of all, vengeance, flashing in Sonny's eyes. He hopped down from the stool, his presence forcing Sonny to face him. "You know what's going to happen to you-"
"I know, Roy," Sonny snapped. "I don't think Alexis was the target, man. And definitely not Ned. I think Sorel was hoping the wedding was over, people were walking out of the church. People like me. But he got her and Ned instead. And I can't let go of that."
"I understand, Sonny. But you still have to protect yourself."
He nodded. "And my wife and child, and Alexis."
"What do you want me to do?" Roy asked defensively, lowering his voice when he heard Carly clear her throat from across the room.
Sonny moved so that Roy was blocking him from Carly's view. He stared at him for a moment. Sonny shook his head and almost laughed to himself. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't want to involve anymore innocent people in this. I guess I called because I don't know what to do."
"Neither do I," Roy told him, shrugging.
"Can you do me a favor?"
Roy narrowed his eyes at Sonny. "Depends."
"Keep your ears and eyes open. If you hear anything about Sorel, anything I should know, or anything we can use against him... tell me?"
Roy thought for a moment, closing his eyes. No matter what he did, he always found himself in this position. He always found himself going back to where he started from. He opened his eyes and said, "I'll do my best." He shook Sonny's hand and turned to walk away. He stopped at the table and spoke to Carly, "If you see Alexis and Ned, please send them my best wishes."
Carly simply glared at him, her face like stone. She waited until Roy walked away to stand up and cross the floor. She stood in front of Sonny, hands on her hips. "What the hell is going on here?"
"Nothing," Sonny answered her, holding a hand up to stop her from saying anything more. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the table, sweeping their coats and her purse into his arms. "You were right. We should go to the hospital."
~*~
"Okay, let's go."
Zander lifted his head from the table, his cheek red from lying against the cold, hard surface for so long. "Is my lawyer here? She's okay?" he asked, his heart suddenly beating faster.
The guard shrugged. "I was told to take you back to your cell."
"No," Zander sighed, pounding his fists against the table. "I have a bail hearing today. And before I go anywhere, I want sometime to find out if Alexis Davis is okay. Please."
The door across the room opened slowly. Emily stood to the side, her face shadowed by the door. When her eyes locked with Zander's, she released the breath she had been holding and stepped into the room.
Zander stood up, his chair almost falling on its side. He studied her forlorn expression. He looked for some glimmer of hope in her eyes, some kind of tiny smile twitching on her lips to assure him. But all he could see was the way her eyes were rimmed with red and her cheeks raw from tears. "God," he rasped, swallowing hard. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Emily walked toward him, almost shoving the guard away as the burly man tried to intercede. She held her hands over Zander's clenched fists and said, "Alexis couldn't go through with the wedding. Her and Ned, they were trying to work things out, I guess... in front of the church. We all heard tires screeching and the guns being fired."
"She's dead, isn't she? They killed her."
Emily shook her head, tightening her grip on Zander's trembling hands. "Alexis is going to be okay."
Zander's eyes brightened, the color returning to his cheeks. He threw his head back and sighed, "Thank you, God." But when he felt Emily take a sharp breath and her hands stiffened, the same stabbing pain in the pit of his stomach returned.
"Ned's not so good," she told him quietly. "I just left the hospital. He's been in surgery for a long time. I couldn't stand around there."
"It's bad, huh?" Zander wanted to free himself of the handcuffs. He wanted to wrap his arms around Emily, lose himself in her embrace. All he could do was strain to move his arms, briefly brush his fingers across her cheek until the guard pulled him away.
~*~
The amount of people waiting outside of the OR had doubled. The doctors continually asked everyone to wait in the cafeteria or step outside for fresh air, but no one would budge. Nikolas and Stefan sat at either side of Alexis, hands folded over their laps. Every once in a while they would glance over to see that she hadn't moved since she settled into the corner of the room to wait.
Monica, Alan, Edward, Lila and AJ paced the floors and shifted uncomfortably in chairs along the wall. Chloe drifted from one side of the room to the other, never really mustering the courage to offer either family encouragement or comfort.
Alexis wasn't even sure exactly what room Ned was in, but when a door across the room slowly creaked open and Tony Jones stepped into the hall, she knew. The sound of his feet padding across the slick floor was overshadowed by the elevator doors sliding open. Sonny and Carly stepped into the hall and then recoiled at what they saw.
Tony looked at Alan and Monica and nodded once. He stepped toward Alexis, and she looked up from her lap for the first time in hours. Her face crumbled at what she saw. Her body moved involuntarily in the chair, some kind of desperate attempt to stand up or cling onto something. She didn't want to, but she couldn't stop staring at the deep crimson blood staining Tony's scrub shirt.
"I'm sorry, Alexis," Tony whispered, his voice gaining volume as he went on. "We did everything we could. The damage the bullets caused was too severe. Ned lost a lot of oxygen and blood. His heart stopped beating and we used every means possible to bring him back, but his heart was too weak. I'm very sorry."
Alexis flinched when Stefan reached for her hand. She pushed him away. She propped her elbows on her knees and held her face in her hands. All she wanted was for everyone to stop looking at her. She could feel their eyes on her, feeling sorry for her and a little built angry. The last thing she did to Ned before he died was break his heart.
Sonny and Carly held onto each other. She reached up and tried to turn his head toward her, and away from Alexis. But he had to look at her. He had to watch her grieve.
The room was silent and still. Alexis held her breath to keep her sobs hidden. But her body trembled. The wound in her side began to burn and pain coursed through her entire body like flashes of heat. She cried out, pressing her hand to her wound, able to feel the blood that soaked through the bandage. It only served to remind her of Ned's body lying over hers, her hand pressed to his back and coated in his blood. She jerked forward, and Stefan dropped onto his knees beside her. He cradled his sister in his arms.
Alexis lifted her head from Stefan's chest enough to look into his eyes. "She did this," she seethed, her teeth clenched.
"What?" Stefan asked, although he knew before she even spoke what Alexis meant. He wasn't about to launch into a lecture about how this time it might not be Helena, and that Alexis need not worry about that right now. He was spared from having to do either when Tony rushed back into the room with a gurney.
"We need to get her to her room," Tony said, nodding to the way her gown was saturated in her own blood.
Stefan nodded and pulled away from Alexis. Her body was to weak to fight him, and she let him pick her up and place her on the gurney. "I want to see Ned," she cried.
Tony stood above her, gripping the sides of the gurney. "You will. Right now we need to take care of that wound."
Alexis squeezed her eyes shut, the lights on the ceiling too bright and blinding. She squeezed Stefan's hand inside hers as he walked at her side. She opened her eyes for a moment, long enough to see the pale faces of Ned's family. She saw Sonny, his dark eyes glistening. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but the pain in her side was paralyzing. Her eyes fell shut, white light flashing behind her lids. She felt herself weakening, blacking out. The last thought to cross her mind, before the image of Ned's lifeless body invaded her mind, was that whoever was responsible would have to pay. The worst part, she knew, was that she herself was responsible.
~*~