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"Lieutenant, I personally witnessed this man stab Dr. Lambert with a letter opener. Not a very nice way to treat a lady if you ask me" "Give me a little time baby and I'll treat you the way you should be treated too," Ryan said through clenched teeth as he bent over in pain. "Damn man, don't you know not to do things in front of witnesses, especially COP witnesses." Marcus said shaking his head and smiling. "I've died in front of cop witnesses before, dumb ass. . . you guys don't make for great witnesses." The officer kneeled down in front of him. "Was that a threat, Chamberlain?" she asked and then turned to Taggert. "Lieutenant, did that sound like a threat to you?" "I don't threaten. I just do it,” Ryan promised. "Not this time. You're going to be behind bars probably for the rest of your life" Ryan laughed, "Better cops than you have tried and failed." "You don't even know me, so who are you to say what kind of cop I am?" "You work for the PCPD, that says quite a bit," Ryan said before groaning in pain. Taggert leaned towards him a bit. "What's the matter, Chamberlain? Does that hurt?" "No, it feels pretty damn good . . . Love licks," he said sarcastically before falling out of the chair. The officer saw him fall and for the first time, she realized the seriousness of his wound. She kneeled down beside him and applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding. "Lieutenant, we're going to need another ambulance" "I told you the bitch tried to kill me," Ryan said wincing again before passing out. "Self defense isn't attempted murder," the officer muttered as he passed out.
Chris’ pager went off as he looked over to Julie, "That would be the hospital," he said checking the number and nodding, "Yeah, looks that way. I've got to get over there. I'll take you home first though, okay?" he said before driving her back to the apartment and assuring her that he wouldn't be gone long. Chris drove to GH and was immediately met by a nurse who said there were some trauma patients he needed to see. He took the chart and saw the name, feeling his heart drop. He walked to the room and stepped inside, seeing Eve as he stepped inside. "Eve," was all he could say as he saw just how frail she looked. "Chris," Eve replied hearing his voice as she turned to look at him. Unable to contain herself a moment longer she reached out to him wondering if he was really there or she'd just imagined him as she hugged him starting to cry. "Oh Chris......it's really you." "It's me, Eve," Chris said holding her tightly and wondering what had happened, "What happened? Are you all right? Have you been checked out? What happened to Shelley?" "I told him it was over, but he wasn't Kevin....." Eve started to sob into his shoulder. "All this time......all this time it was Ryan." she wanted to tell him everything, but she was crying harder than she'd intended to. "He said I'd never see you again......he tried to kill me and he......." she stopped....." Shelley.....she has to be okay....." "Eve, wait a minute. . . Ryan? That was Ryan? Oh my god," Chris breathed, as he held her, "Eve, did he hurt you?" Eve continued to cry holding onto him thinking about everything that had happened with Ryan. She looked up at him completely ashamed that she'd allowed Ryan to get the best of her as she cried. She felt the pain in her side from the wound she still hadn't gotten taken care of and she winced in pain. "You are hurt," Chris said noticing that she didn't
seem steady. "Come on. . .let's get you into a room and I'll check you
out, Okay?"
"No, no, you're not. Eve," Chris said looking into her eyes and seeing the fear there, "What did he do to you?" he asked in a whisper. "Chris....." Eve began starting to cry harder. "I wasn't thinking clearly and he told me over and over again how you couldn't care about someone like me......" she was broken up as she cried...."I begged him to stop, but he just wouldn't...“ she cried harder. The weight of what she was saying landed hard on Chris. He took her in his arms and held her against him, wishing he could take away her pain. "I'm sorry, Eve. I'm so sorry." "So many times I tried to get away from him, but he kept threatening me telling me he'd go after you." Eve explained tearfully holding onto him. She looked up at him. "I couldn't let him hurt you and after a while what happened with him and I just didn't seem to matter." she sighed unable to believe she was actually seeing him again as he took her into an examining room. Eve tried her best to keep the tears from falling as he closed the door behind him and she looked down at her blood stained sweat shirt. She began to pull it off, but let out a pained cry as she looked to him feeling more ashamed than anything else. "How did this happen?" Chris asked as saw the blood on her shirt and at her side. He stepped forward and reached out to check the wound. "He stabbed me with a letter opener," she explained clenching her teeth as he moved in closer for inspection. She urged him to stay back for a moment as she finished pulling her shirt off painfully revealing the wound along with all of Ryan's handiwork over the past couple of days. Feeling the cold air on her skin she looked back at him thinking of the array of bruises she'd acquired in my short time with Ryan. I still couldn't look at him straight in the eyes. "I should've warned you this wasn't pretty." Chris felt weak just by looking at her. She was beaten, battered, bloody, and bruised. He shook his head, "Oh god," he whispered as he saw all the bruises. He frowned as he stepped forward, "Eve," he said, only feeling the need to hold her. Unable to stay strong a moment longer after hearing his response she began to cry harder than before as the reality of everything hit her hard. This wasn't how she wanted Chris to see her......not like this, but there was no hiding what happened. Eve felt Chris' arms around her and she sobbed into his chest reliving the nightmare in her head as she cried. "I wish I could have done something. I wish....well.....it doesn't matter what I wish. I'm sorry for all of this, Eve. I love you," Chris said just holding her letting her relieve her pain. Eve cried harder hearing his words. "How could you love me after everything I let happen?" she asked thinking about Ryan. "I let him.....I allowed him to...." she trailed off unable to face it again as she looked at him tearfully. "I couldn't let him hurt you Chris and if it meant letting you go and staying with him to make sure you were safe, then I would do it." she said behind a flood of tears. "nothing else seemed to matter because I love you that much that I couldn't bear you feeling any pain....you shouldn't ever feel any of this....." "Eve, this is not your fault. You didn't do this. He did. You didn't let anything happen. If you could have left, you would have. I know that you couldn't stop him or he would have killed you. I love you. I do love you," Chris said holding onto her as he felt that so much of her pain was his fault. If only he'd kept her from going back to Kevin . . Ryan. "Chris I was so close....so many times I'd gotten away, but he found a way to get me back....." she sobbed harder thinking about it all. "The last time I tried so hard to shut everything off...not to feel anything, but I was so afraid that he'd hurt me again....I couldn't let him touch me again...." she began to shake in his arms thinking about it all. "I begged him to just kill me but he wouldn't give me that....." she couldn't stop crying as everything hit her again. Holding him tighter she was so afraid of falling apart as his words slowly began to sink in and she spoke up hoarsely. "I love you too Chris........that was the only thing that kept me going until Ryan made me believe you couldn't ever love me....." "I love you, Eve. I could never stop loving you. Ryan is crazy, Eve. He's a killer and he would do or say anything to get what he wanted. I can't imagine how you must have felt, but you're a survivor. You've survived the hell he put you through. Remember that, okay?" Eve looked back at him and nodded feeling him wipe at her tears. "I try to keep telling myself that Chris, but he's still out there." she said looking to him feeling her lip tremble slightly as she spoke. "I came so close to killing him, but I couldn't." she hugged him again closing her eyes as she felt his arms around her. "I never thought I'd see you again and that terrified me." "I'm right here with you, Eve. He's not going to hurt you again. I'm sure that Taggert has control of everything concerning Ryan. It's time we concentrated on you," Chris said as he wiped her tears once more, "Let's get you patched up and then you can rest. He's not going to hurt you anymore, Eve. I'll be right here with you." "Okay," Eve nodded with a sniffle leaving herself in his hands as she moved back slightly to let him start working on her injuries. She bit on her lip slightly feeling the pain run through her as he moved in closer. "You know I never expected you'd have to see me like this." she said feeling his hands near the gash in her side. "I was kind of hoping for something a little better than this once you finally got my clothes off of me." she said forcing a smile trying to find humor in the situation as she hurt. Chris smiled at her attempt to lighten the situation, "Yeah, well, we'll just leave this entire episode at the office, okay?" he winked at her before checking her wound again, "You're going to need stitches, but I need a CT scan first to check for bleeding. I'm going to take any chances with you, Lambert," he said reaching up to touch her cheek gently, "I'll do everything with a little tender loving care." "I know I'm in good hands with you Chris," she replied leaning into his touch unable to believe that she was free again and here with Chris. "Somehow just being here with you is already making everything seem better." she smiled weakly. "It is. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Eve," Chris said moving a wisp of her hair from her forehead, "You're going to be just fine." "I hope you're right about that," Eve replied still a bit unsure herself as she thought about her time with Ryan, "I just don't know how I'm going to relive it all again when Taggert comes around for a statement later. It's just so horrible....." Eve trailed off before looking up at him. "I love you. Don't forget that okay?" "I will never forget that you love me, Eve. I'm not going to leave you," Chris said taking her hand in his. Eve squeezed his hand lightly looking back into his eyes wondering how she'd been so lucky to make it out of that nightmare into this moment with Chris. She thought she'd never see him again, but here he was at the end of a horrible road. She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it lightly. "Thank you for being here." she said feeling stronger now that he was with her. "I wouldn't be anywhere else, Eve," Chris said as he touched her cheek with his other hand, "I'm going to take good care of you." "I believe that Chris and while I don't like having to depend on someone, I don't feel that bad about having you to lean on," Eve said meeting his gaze as she felt his fingers on her cheek. She smiled weakly feeling the pain from her wound again as she let out a yelp breaking the moment. "Let's get that stitched up and give you some pain meds," Chris said as he called the nurse and asked for some pain medication and a suture kit. Eve leaned back slightly looking at the ceiling as she tried to focus on something other than the pain. She took in a breath thinking about everything that had happened and wondered if it was truly over. Chris got the meds and the suture kit and sat beside Eve. He gave her injection of pain meds and squeezed her hand, "Want me to give you the doctor-patient suture speech?" he asked trying to keep her mind from wondering to painful things. "Nah I think that might bore me," Eve replied biting her lip slightly feeling the pain. "Why don't you tell me something good? Something to keep my interest?" she suggested looking at him for a moment trying not to focus on the pain. "What would you like me to tell you?" Chris asked as her gave her a local anesthetic around the wound, "Some childhood story about something really mischievous that I pulled off?" he grinned, "Or would you prefer some other story of joy?" "Whatever pops into your head Ramsey," Eve replied with a smile, "I'm sure you can come up with something good once you put your mind to it." she said trying not to think about anything that had happened. She looked at him for a brief moment. "Entice me with your words Doctor." "Maybe I should tell you the story of how I fell in love with the world's strongest, most beautiful woman," Chris said as he started working on her stitches, "You see, I've never considered myself one to fall for brunettes, but this one. . . well, I knew she was something special. She has this smile that makes me completely incapable of denying her anything. And she has a heart bigger than any I've ever seen. And every time I look into those gorgeous brown eyes of hers, I seem to lose my ability to think about anything else." "She sounds like a very lucky lady to have captured your attention so completely," she said flinching a little as she looked over at him and smiled. "So tell me, this woman, is she worthy of all this affection? I mean is she someone really deserving of such praise as I'd hate to see you settle for second best?" Eve smiled again trying to forget about everything else but him as he worked on her. "Have you ever known me to settle for second best in anything?" he asked with a grin, "Oh, this one is definitely worth it. She's everything I'd ever wanted and dreamed of. . . and the best part of it is. . she's not a dream, but a living breathing doll right in front of me." Eve looked back at him feeling overcome with a sense of happiness when his last few words triggered something inside of her and she flashed back to being locked inside the lighthouse with Ryan telling her that she was his possession.....the way his hands were on her trying to silence her screams when she tried to fight him off.......the way it felt to have him on top of her.... She flinched again trying to block the thoughts that were coming to her. "Eve," Chris said noticing that she didn't seem comfortable anymore, "Eve, listen to my voice. You still with me?" Eve snapped out of it as she heard his voice. She looked over at him with tears in her eyes reaching out to him just touching him to make sure he was really here with her and that she wasn't back in that place again. Feeling him beneath her fingers, she let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "I'm with you." "Yes, you're here with me. And I'm not going anywhere. And don't you go anywhere either. Stay right here with me, okay?" Chris asked holding her hand in his. "Chris.....I'm afraid...." Eve confessed squeezing his hand as she looked back at him. "Every time I close my eyes he's there and I can't make him go away." she said feeling a tear escape down her cheek. She looked to her hand in his feeling as if it was the one thing keeping her together as she held onto him. "Please don't let me go back to that again." "You're not going to. You're safe now, here with me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Ryan is out of your life now, for good. We'll make sure that he never hurts you again," Chris said brushing a tear from her cheek, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Eve looked up at him feeling his finger touching her skin as a few more tears fell. She wanted so badly to believe what he was saying, but it was still there in her mind. She reached out to him again wanting to just forget about everything else as he looked at her. "Chris there's nothing I want more than to just push Ryan as far from my life as possible. When I think about what I allowed him to do to me......" she trailed off thinking back. "Chris I don't want anyone to know every detail of what happened back there. I don't think I could live with the world knowing what I let him do....." she looked back at him feeling ashamed all over again. "Eve," Chris said tilting her eyes to his, "You didn't let him do anything. He's a madman, a monster. He may have forced you to do terrible things, but that wasn't the real you, Eve. You were trying to stay alive. No one can blame you for that. You didn't let him do anything, understand?" he asked hoping to help her take the blame from herself. "Chris I was scared and confused, but I said things and did things that brought on what happened. I shouldn't have allowed myself to slip like that, but I was so afraid of being alone......." she continued to cry. "Part of me wasn't sure what I was doing, but the other part just said to go with it, but by the time I realized that all of me wanted out, it was too late." she turned away for a moment thinking back. "I brought all of this on myself and it was me who caused him to react like he did......if I'd only tried to behave......" she cried harder. "Oh Chris what have I done?" Chris turned her back to him, taking her in his arms and holding her, "You haven't done anything, Eve. Whatever happened, Ryan did it. He caused all of this. Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. He's the monster." "Oh Chris," Eve cried sinking into his arms as he held her. She buried her head in his chest and cried wanting to rid herself of it all as she felt his arms around her. Somewhere inside of her, she knew the nightmare should be ending, but she still felt so many things lingering inside of her. She held onto him thinking about how she'd wanted to keep from hurting him.......how escape didn't matter if she didn't have the assurance that he would be all right, but here he was with her even after what had happened. After a moment she looked up at him not really knowing what to say, but feeling safe for the first time in a long while. Chris held her wanting to take away all the pain that Ryan had caused. While he could fix her physical wounds, he knew that she was going to have to come to terms with her emotional wounds by herself. He had to find a way to help her through it. He loved her so much and to see her hurting this way caused a pain in his heart as if Ryan has hurt him. After a while, she looked up at him and he still saw so much pain in her eyes, but a beginning of some relief there. He wiped a tear from her cheek, "I love you, Eve. You're safe now." Eve looked back at him seeing the love in his eyes as he spoke those words to her. She sniffled for a moment before finally speaking hoarsely. "I love you too Chris and it was loving you that gave me the strength to pull through this. Just knowing that we'd found something in one another, it was the one thing that kept me fighting when Ryan pushed me." she admitted thinking back. "And when he kissed me, the only way I could get through it was to pretend that I was with you where I wanted to be." "And with me is where you're going to be, from now on," Chris said kissing her forehead and holding her. He should have been able to stop what had happened to her. He should have met with her that night, kept our meeting. He should never have let he gone back to tell him to begin with. He should have held onto her and never let her go, just as he was doing now. Eve held onto him tighter feeling this effecting him as well as she looked up at him seeing thoughts racing through his mind. She wanted to tell him that she understood why he didn't come looking for her through all of this....that she knew what held him up, but it didn't matter at the moment. She needed him and he was here with her promising her that he would stay with her. She pressed her head against his chest listening to his heart beating beneath her and she felt almost at ease in his arms.....like here the nightmare was finally over. "I love you Chris," she whispered faintly wondering if the words had even come out as she held him. Chris held her wanting to ease her pain, to be able to make her forget all about what had happened with Ryan. He didn't know how to make it easier for her. He didn't even know how to make it easier for himself. Ryan had caused her so much pain, violated her in ways he couldn't begin to imagine and others that he didn't want to. She was more fragile than he'd ever seen her, and he was so afraid for her. He knew she was weak on so many levels. He held her and stroked her hair gently, "I'm going to take care of you, Eve. I'm not going to let go of you. Ever. I'm gonna keep you safe. I love you, Eve. I love you so much." Eve closed her eyes listening to his words as a tear fell down her cheek. She hated this feeling that had been burning inside of her for the past couple of days--this helplessness that she'd fallen into, but here with Chris she didn't feel as if she was sinking any longer. She felt the warmth of his touch as he held her and in that moment nothing else seemed to matter. Finally pulling together enough strength to pull herself up to look at him, she spoke softly. "I love you so much Chris," Eve breathed leaning in wanting to kiss him again as she had before this nightmare had began just to be sure that she wasn't dreaming this and Ryan would appear at any second. Chris watched her for a moment, seeing her moving closer. He wanted to kiss her, to let her know this was her and not some figment of her imagination. It wasn't Ryan or just a dream. It was Chris. He touched her cheek softly as he brushed his lips lightly to hers, "I love you." Eve could feel the tears building up again in her eyes as she kissed him feeling that it was really him....that she wasn't dreaming and he was with her again. She wrapped her arms around him continuing the kiss afraid that if she broke it, he would disappear and she'd be left alone again stuck at the lighthouse. Chris cupped her cheek with his hand, continuing to kiss her tenderly, wishing that he could take all the pain away. He so badly wanted to make up for not saving her, for not being there with her. If only he would have stayed with her that night at the hospital. If he hadn't gone to Julie. He paused as he thought about his wife and wondered what exactly he was going to do. Eve felt him break away from the kiss and she saw a distant look in his eyes. Pulling away, she knew he was thinking about Julie without him saying a word. She turned her head slightly not wanting him to see the pain in her eyes. Finally she spoke up softly. "I know about Julie's release Chris," she said faintly lowering her head. "I found out in the middle of everything and that's when Ryan nearly convinced me that you'd never love me......that without money, I was nothing to you....." "Eve, that's not true. Yes, Julie's out of Ferncliff and that's where I was. I'm not going to deny it." Chris stopped for a moment and tilted her chin, bringing her eyes back to his, "But my heart was never away from you. I love you Eve. I didn't need any extra incentive to love you. I don't love you for your job, your money, your connections or any of that. I love you for you. I love you for who you are. And that's exactly what the truth is here, Eve: I love you." "Oh Chris, I can't believe that I ever thought otherwise even for a short time," she said her eyes filling up with tears again as she leaned in to kiss him gently. "I love you too so very much." she whispered in between kisses not wanting to ever lose sight of that as he wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Eve," Chris said kissing her again, "I'm not going to let you go. I'm here with you now and I'm not leaving. I could never stop loving you." "Oh Chris, you have no idea how wonderful it feels to hear you say that......" Eve started hearing a voice out in the hallway causing her to tense up. She locked gazes with Chris, unconsciously holding him tighter as the voice drew nearer frightening her. "He's here." "Ignore him. He's not going to hurt you. You're
safe now okay?" Chris said trying to assure her.
"Come on. We'll move you upstairs and admit you under an assumed name, okay? He won't be able to get to you. I'm going to protect you, Eve. He's the one that's going to pay. He's going to pay for what he did to you. I promise." Eve could see the anger flash in his eyes as he helped her up. She reached out to him suddenly very afraid. She touched his cheek. "Please Chris, don't go after him. I couldn't live with myself if he ever hurt you and I tried so hard to keep you from getting hurt......" she trailed off in tears again. "I love you Chris and I just don't want to lose you." "I'm not going anywhere. You're not going to lose
me. I understand you worked to protect me, Eve, and I won't let that be
in vain," Chris explained even though he was trying to think of ways to
get to Ryan, "I told you that I'm going to take care of you and that's
exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not going to leave your side, Eve."
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