Chapter 88

“Are you all finished packing?” Emily asked when AJ came back downstairs.

“I think so. I'm sure there's a few things I forgot.” he said, sitting down next to her.

“Well, don't get too comfortable, there is one thing you need to do before you leave.”

“What's that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You still have to say goodbye to me....” she said, seductively.

AJ cleared his throat. He'd honestly been prepared for some type of household chore like take out the garbage or something. “Well....how would you like me to do that?”

Emily leaned close to him so that he could feel her breath on his lips as she spoke. “You and me, wherever you want.”

AJ felt as if all the blood had pooled into one specific area of his body as he quickly thought of all the possibilities he had. “I'm thinking the pool table sounds like a good place.” AJ said, wanting to relive their anniversary escapade they'd had on the table of their chalet.

Emily grinned. She'd been hoping he'd pick someplace other than their bedroom. “Lead the way!”

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. As soon as she was standing he grabbed her and roughly kissed her. Emily was caught off guard and it took her a moment to respond as she wrapped her arms around his waist and slipped her hands underneath his shirt. She had a vague memory of hearing her cell phone ring as he led them down the stairs to the basement, his lips never once leaving her body. He pulled her shirt over her head and backed her up against the table. His hands slid around and gently cupped her curves, barely rubbing his thumbs across her nipples. Emily gasped as she felt her breasts tingle beneath his touch. He slipped his hand up underneath the skirt she was wearing and slowly pulled down her underwear before returning his hands back up to her breasts, his hands slowly moving around to unclasp her bra. He kissed her shoulders as he slid down the straps and shed the garment from her body.

Emily looked up at him through heavy eyelids as she lifted his shirt over his head. He pulled his arms from the sleeves and tossed it aside revealing his well toned chest. Emily gently ran her hands up and down it, loving the hardness of his muscles. Slowly she undid the zipper to his pants and released the button. He quickly stepped out of his pants and boxers and returned his hands to Emily. He loved to watch the pleasure on her face as he touched her. The look of frustration as she waited for his hands to go where she wanted them and the look of incomplete satisfaction when he did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to her as she kissed him roughly, trying to tell him she was ready for more. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and expertly explored as he wrapped his arms around her. He grabbed the bottom of her skirt and lifted it up over her waist before lifting her up and setting her down on the edge of the pool table. He used his hips to part her legs and stepped between them.

As he slowly entered her, she wrapped her legs around his waist and sighed as he filled her up.

“Does that feel good?” he whispered into her ear.

“Mmm...” Emily moaned.

“What about this? Does this feel good?” he asked as he pulled out and roughly thrust back into her.

Emily moaned louder.

“How about now?” he asked as he began to slowly move inside of her.

“Yes...” she managed to say.

AJ's breath was shallow as he nibbled her ear. “Touch yourself.”

Emily made eye contact with him for a moment before sliding her hand between them and stimulating herself as he made love to her. The site of it drove AJ wild and he knew he'd be picturing her doing just that every night he was on tour without her. He knew she was close by the way she was digging her heels into his lower back and decided to let loose. He leaned her back so she was laying on the table allowing him to go harder. He held onto her legs and lost all control when he saw her use her other hand to play with her nipple. Emily came only a split second before he did with a shudder and a loud moan.

After a few minutes he helped her sit up and kissed her. “Was that what you had in mind?” he asked.

Emily shrugged. “It's a start.” she said, trying her best to hide a smile.

“Well in that case...how about we go say goodbye in the shower?”

“I guess I could handle that.” she said as she kissed him.

Their house phone rang and they both ignored it as he helped her off the table. They were almost to the bedroom when his cell rang, and just as he was turning on the water Emily heard her phone beep with a text message.

“Ignore it.” AJ said, kissing her neck.

Emily frowned. Someone was obviously trying to get a hold of them. “It's kind of late, what if it's important?”

“It can still wait.” he mumbled as he took a nipple in his mouth.

Emily swatted him away. “Just let me check, it'll only take a minute!”

AJ sighed and let her go. When a minute had come and gone, he shut off the water and went looking for her, finding her sitting on the bed listening to whoever was on the phone. He picked up his own cell and saw that he'd missed a call from Leighanne and wondered what kind of drama she had now and why it couldn't wait.

He looked up at her questioningly and she motioned him to sit by her on the bed. He heard her say something about a rash and wondered if he really wanted to know what they were discussing. A few minutes later, she hung up the phone.

“Sorry. Baylee's really sick and Brian and Leighanne are in a panic.”

“What's wrong with Baylee? Brian's over?”

“He still has a high fever and now he's got a rash. She said he's laying comfortably with Brian, who came over to talk tonight. She was so upset about Baylee that I don't even know what they talked about!”

“Wow...must be serious! What do you think it is?”

“Hard to know without seeing it but I had a few ideas. I don't think it's too bad though, might just be a fever rash even, but strep can be really serious if it isn't responding to the antibiotics so I also told her to call me if she doesn't get any answers at the doctor tomorrow.”

“Well...why did she call you instead of Randy?”

Emily thought for a moment as she hadn't even thought of that. “I actually don't know! Maybe it was just an instinct.” She picked up her phone and texted Leighanne to wake her sister up and get a favor from her pediatrician boyfriend and then turned her full attention back to AJ.

He stood hidden behind a bush across the street. He was starting to get really frustrated. She'd hardly left the house and they'd been keeping all the curtains drawn. He had barely gotten a glimpse of her the past few days and the one night she went out was to her husband's birthday party. Not hardly something he'd call an enjoyable scene. He really thought they would have had the police involved by now; that the story would have been all over the media and their house would have been swarming with security. But that wasn't the case. Perhaps they'd written off his letters as a stupid joke. They clearly weren't taking him seriously which was a huge mistake. He knew he had to step things up a notch to get through to them and he smiled at the challenge. The look of pure terror on her face would be worth it. And then, eventually, he'd carry out his plan when the time was right. Until then, he would wait and be careful. He couldn't afford a single screw-up. Not now, not when he'd come so far.

The next morning, Leighanne woke up early feeling much more rested than she had all week. She peeked her head in Baylee's room and found him and Brian asleep on the bed. From the looks of things, it had been a late night as she surveyed the movies on the floor and the number of popsicle sticks on the bedside table. She quietly closed the door and went downstairs to put on a pot of coffee. Brian appeared about thirty minutes later rubbing his eyes.

“Get much rest?” she asked as she handed him a mug.

“Not very much. At least he's still asleep.”

Leighanne nodded. “It's too bad we have to wake him up soon to take him to the doctor.”

“When do we have to leave?”

“In about an hour.”

“Ok. If you don't mind, I have a little work to do in the office. Just let me know when it's time to go.”

“Don't you want anything to eat?”

“No, I think I'm too tired to be hungry.” he chuckled. “It reminds me an awful lot of when he was a baby with colic.”

Leighanne laughed. “Thank God those days are behind us!”

As much as AJ hated to leave Emily home, he was extremely excited to go. His first show was in two days. January 14 marked the return of AJ to the stage and he couldn't possibly be more thrilled. Emily had to leave for work before he left and he reminded her of her promise to use the security system and that he'd see her in two days when she flew out for his first show. As soon as he stepped outside the LAX airport, he took a deep breath of the smoggy, LA air and felt at home. He checked into the fancy hotel and then headed to the warehouse type building that they would be using for rehearsals.

“AJ, over here!” his manager, Mark called.

AJ walked over and shook Mark's hand. “Hey, how's it going? I didn't know I'd be seeing your ugly face here today!”

Mark laughed. “Thanks a lot! I just wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. This is a big show for you, no pressure or anything, just people's first taste of your album and everything.”

“Oh believe me, I know it!”

“Where's Emily?”

“She's at home. She's taken a lot of time off over the holidays and our vacation, especially with her getting sick after Thanksgiving so she couldn't come as early as she wanted to.”

“Well she'll be here for the show and that's the important part!”

AJ nodded. “Listen, speaking of Emily, have you gotten any more of those letters?” he asked quietly.

Marks face turned serious. “No, why have you?”

“Just one, right before Christmas.”

“Well, that's probably a good sign then.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” AJ realized it would make sense to think that because they hadn't heard or seen anything further that the stalker was never that serious and gave up. But in his gut, he knew that wasn't the truth. He'd been anxious to hear from Officer Knight and had been tempted to call him on several occasions, but he hadn't. Knight had promised he'd call. AJ would just have to be patient.

“Oh there's Colby! Let me introduce you two.” Mark said as he led AJ up towards the stage.

AJ had to admit, she was a beautiful woman with legs that seemed endless. She was no Emily, but he certainly wasn't going to have a hard time working with her.

“Colby, this is AJ McLean.”

“Nice to meet you, AJ.” Colby said, shaking his hand. “Your album is amazing!”

AJ actually felt like he might blush at the compliment. “Thanks! I've been really looking forward to working together, I think our sound will blend really well together.”

“Here's hoping!” Colby laughed. “You'll have to forgive me if I seem edgy, I always get really nervous before a new tour.”

“I think AJ understands the sentiment.” Mark laughed. “Wasn't that you who said you used to throw up before every show?”

AJ scratched his head. “Yeah, I might have said something like that.”

Colby laughed. “Well, it helps to know that I'm at least not on my own then. Shall we get started?”

They spent about half the day rehearsing the three songs they would be performing together. She would be coming on stage during the end of his performance to sing two of his songs and then he would join her in the middle of her set to sing her song, Realize as her backup. Mark was really impressed with the way they meshed together and was silently congratulating himself on having such a brilliant idea as to put the two of them together.

When they were finished working together, they took a break and the crew set up the stage so that AJ could rehearse his set with the band. He took several deep breaths before he walked back onto the stage and was thankful for the fact that with the spotlights in his face, he couldn't see the looks of the people watching him in case they were all making fun of him or something.

After spending over an hour at the pediatrician's that morning, Brian and Leighanne took an exhausted Baylee home and back to bed with a new diagnosis of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. The doctor, Emily and Randy had all promised them that it was not serious and should clear up very soon with the new antibiotics. Leighanne didn't know why, but part of her still didn't feel comfortable with the diagnosis and had a feeling they hadn't seen the end of this illness.

“Thanks for coming along.” she said to Brian when he came downstairs from putting Baylee to bed. “I think it really helped Baylee to have you with him.”

Brian smiled. “Well, maybe, but it wasn't my arms he wanted held in when he had that blood test.”

Leighanne laughed. “Well, I guess Moms are known as the comforting ones, aren't they?”

“I'd say so. Listen, I don't really feel comfortable leaving him until he's better so I was thinking I could stay here another few nights?”

“You want to stay here?”

“It doesn't mean anything...at least not yet...it's just for Baylee.”

“Oh. Well I guess I can't really ask you to stay away from him now.” she said, her face falling.

“Look, I know you're waiting for me to talk to you about the things you said the other night, but I'm just not ready. To be honest, I haven't even had that much time to think about it what with being up all night with Baylee and everything. I'm not avoiding it, I just need time.”

Leighanne nodded. “Ok.”

Brian went down to the basement and Leighanne went into the office to try to do some work. There was a large part of her that was relieved to know that Brian wasn't ready to talk about it yet. The longer he shut her out, the more she questioned how sure she was she even wanted him to come back. If it had been that easy for him to walk away, that easy for him to avoid it, how badly did he even really want to be with her? As much as she loved him, she was definitely not the kind of women to stay with someone who wasn't sure they wanted her. She was deserved better than that.

Brian went downstairs and tried to doze in front of a basketball game. When he couldn't sleep, he realized he'd managed to avoid it long enough. He muted the television and sat back to think about all the things Leighanne had said the night before. She'd made it seem like such an innocent thing, but he really didn't feel that it was. Even if she really believed she wanted to leave it up to God, he still felt like that was a decision he should have been included on. This wasn't something small, it had been a forever life-altering choice!

To her credit, he was at least willing to admit that for the most part, she'd been right. He'd been putting her off because he was scared. He knew what a huge thing starting a family was and he had a lot of doubts about juggling all the responsibilities between his career and being a husband and father. And perhaps he should have been more open with her, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings and he really didn't feel that she'd be all that understanding about it. But that didn't make it right for him to shut her out. It only made her feel like she wasn't his top priority which he never meant to do. The bottom line was he questioned her trust in him due to the fact that she'd been so comfortable making a decision like that without him and he was terrified that if he came back to her, he'd always be doubting her and that was not the kind of husband he wanted to be.

AJ had just hung up with Emily that night after excitedly telling her all about his first day of rehearsal and how well things seem to have gone. She listened patiently with a smile on her face, so happy that he settled in so well and was finally feeling confident. Being the good husband he was, even though he was exhausted, he made it a point to ask her about her day after he was done telling her everything. She'd told him how strange it felt to be back after so long and how guilty she felt for having taken so much time off but so far no one seemed to resent her for it. She updated him on Baylee and explained what it was he had.

“Jesus...I had no idea there were so many childhood illnesses! I don't know if I'll be able to handle all that!”

Emily laughed. “It isn't that bad, it's usually a cold or an ear infection or a stomach flu. If you're lucky, not all at once.”

AJ cringed. “That can happen?”

“You'll get through it, I promise!” she teased. “You'll just have to get used to the stench is all.”

Chapter 89

Officer Knight called AJ the next morning as he was on his way to rehearsal.

“Officer Knight! Did you find anything?” he asked, anxiously.

“I'm sorry but I haven't yet. The only prints I was able to lift off the letters were yours. All the others were unreadable. The stamps on the envelopes were self-adhesive so I couldn't pull any DNA from him having licked a stamp and the envelopes were taped shut. I have a feeling he knows what he's doing. Also, no leads turned up when I checked out all the people you mentioned.”

“So...nothing to go on still?” AJ asked, feeling very frustrated.

“Something will turn up eventually if he keeps up.”

“Do you think maybe he's given up since we haven't heard anything from him lately?” AJ asked, hopeful.

“I'd like to say so but my gut tells me not.” Officer Knight admitted.

“Yeah, same here.”

“In the meantime, just keep yourselves safe like you've been doing.”

“We will. I have a bodyguard keeping an eye on my wife for me, she refused security so he's keeping his distance.”

“Well, that's better than nothing. Listen, let me know if you see anything suspicious at all. I don't care how little it is. Any clue is better than no clue.” Officer Knight instructed.

“I will. Thank you for taking so much time for this.”

“Well...don't thank me yet. I haven't been able to figure anything out!”

AJ hung up the call and sighed. He really thought the officer would have come up with something but they had absolutely nothing to go on. He decided to dial Tiny's number and see if he'd made it to Atlanta yet.

“Hey AJ, how's LA?” Tiny greeted.

“Same as always. Where are you?”

“Sitting outside your wife's work for the moment. I'm going to cruise back over to your house to check on things and then get back over by lunch time in case she goes out.”

“She sometimes likes to run errands on her break. Otherwise I think she usually stays there.”

“Good to know. So far nothing out of the ordinary, although your damn dogs are way too friendly to strangers.”

“You met my dogs?”

“I took the red-eye in last night. I got to your house pretty early this morning, before she was awake and cased the perimeter of your property. Obviously, I wasn't about to hop your fence so I could only walk along it but your big dog came right up to me, sniffed my hand and let me pet her through the fence!”

“That'd be Daisy. I spent so much time training her not to bark that now she thinks strangers are friends.”

Tiny laughed. “Well at least she didn't try to attack me I guess.”

“Hey, do you want the gate code in case you need to get on the property for anything?”

“Yeah, that's probably a good idea, in case I see anything I want to check out.”

AJ gave him the six digit code and waited while Tiny saved it in his phone.

“Alright man, I have to get going. I just wanted to make sure you got in ok.”

“And that I was watching over your wife.” Tiny finished.

“Yeah...that too.”

“I promise, I'll look after her.” Tiny assured.

“I really appreciate it. Her flight out here leaves tomorrow afternoon, once she gets to the airport you can do whatever you want. She's coming home the next afternoon, and then I'll be home the morning after that for four days so when I'm back you don't have to stick around then either.”

“Sounds good. Take care out there!”

“You too.”

AJ's last day of rehearsal went quicker than he would have liked and before he knew it, he was waking up on the day of his first show. Emily's flight was scheduled to leave at one o'clock Atlanta time which meant after travel and time change, she should be there around two LA time. And that meant he had six hours to occupy himself.

Emily found that she was a nervous wreck when she woke up that morning. She knew he'd be great but she was still anxious for him. She knew he was more nervous than he would admit. The way his shows were perceived said a lot about the potential of his album, and his album meant the world to him. She hated to think what would happen to him if for some reason it didn't take off. But of course it would be a hit, it was great! The official release date was slotted for April 21 after all his promotional shows were over. There was a big release party planned in downtown Atlanta and Emily planned to go out and buy at least five copies when it came out. If she was going to pass out albums to her friends, it was going to be ones paid for, not freebies!

She cringed as she stepped off of the plane in LA. She hated LA. The last time she'd been there had been to see AJ in rehab. Naturally she had some poor associations with the city. She took a cab to the hotel but what should have been a twenty minute drive took over an hour in the stupid city traffic. When she finally arrived, the bellman got her bag for her and followed her up to AJ's room.

“Hey!” he greeted when he opened the door.

Emily stepped into his arms and gave him a hug. AJ tipped the bellman and set her bag inside the door. “I hate LA!” she said.

AJ laughed. “How was your flight?”

“The flight was good, the cab ride to the hotel sucked! How can people want to live in so much traffic?”

“Well...at least it's warmer here, right? And sunny!”

“Yes, I do appreciate the sun, it was raining at home this morning. How are you? Feeling ready?”

AJ sighed. “I guess. Want to go downstairs and get some lunch before I have to head over for sound checks? I haven't been able to eat all day.”

“Well, I'll have to see what I can do about that!” Emily smiled. “Just let me freshen up first and we can go. I'm actually starving!”

Emily changed into the outfit she'd be wearing to the show in case she didn't end up with time to get ready after lunch. She fixed her hair and makeup and was ready.

“I like your dress!” AJ said, as he admired her pink sun dress that she wore with a white sweater.

“Thanks! I think I bought it last year and never wore it. I almost got rid of it when I cleaned out my closet last fall but Leighanne insisted I keep it.”

“How is Leighanne?” AJ asked as they stepped into the elevator together.

Emily shrugged. “I haven't heard much. Baylee still isn't feeling well so I haven't really been able to talk much to her. Brian's been staying there, I guess he wants to stay until Baylee is well. He's been either sleeping with Baylee or downstairs on the couch. Leighanne's so exhausted that she's glad to have him there.”

“Maybe that's a good sign though. They're at least able to be civil for something!”

Emily laughed. “Maybe.”

Emily was able to coax him into eating a grilled chicken sandwich but he refused to eat his fries, which Emily gladly finished for him after polishing off her own burger and fries.

“How can you eat all that?” he asked.

Emily shrugged. “I was too busy packing this morning that I didn't have time to eat breakfast. Then I got to work late and all the muffins were gone. Then I left later than I meant to for the airport so I didn't have time to get anything then either and there was no food service on the flight because people who live in LA don't eat so why feed them?”

AJ laughed. “Well, I'll probably be starving after the show tonight so we'll be even.”

After lunch, they took a car to the venue which was only a few blocks from the hotel. AJ was quiet the entire ride over and Emily grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze when the pulled up. There was a small crowd of fans waiting outside and Emily stood with him while he stopped to take some photos and sign a few autographs. Seeing the enthusiasm of his fans seemed to do him well as he seemed more relaxed when he got to the dressing room. Eventually he was whisked away for sound checks and other pre-show events leaving Emily to herself, reading a book until he came back to get changed for the show a few hours later.

Because the show was general admission with no seating, Emily declined being out in the crowd on the floor and stood just back stage to watch the show. She stood back before he went out, knowing that he needed some space to psych himself up and couldn't help her stomach from knotting up as she watched him pacing back and forth. He still had another twenty minutes before he went on and she was starting to worry he'd be climbing the walls by then. Just then, Kevin and Kristin appeared backstage.

“Hey!” Emily greeted them. “You're just in time!”

“I want to wish him luck before he goes out, where is he?” Kevin asked.

Emily pointed over to the pacing AJ.

“Nervous, huh?” Kevin laughed.

“Very.”

Emily and Kristin chatted while Kevin greeted AJ and appeared to give him a pep talk. At least he'd gotten AJ to stop pacing.

Finally, it was time for the show to start. As soon as he heard his cue, AJ flipped into show mode and all his fears and nerves vanished as he heard the crowd roaring and chanting.

In the end, the show was amazing, even to Emily, who knew all his songs forwards and backwards by now, was impressed how well it sounded. He and Colby sounded fantastic together and the crowd really seemed to love every minute of it. She couldn't think of a time she'd ever been more proud of him. They all waited for him back in his dressing room after he sang Realize with Colby.

Emily flung herself into his arms as soon as he walked in. She didn't care if he was smelly and drenched in sweat, she was ecstatic!

“It was amazing!” she said.

“Really? You really liked it?” he asked.

“Really. And so did the crowd! You should have seen them!”

AJ beamed.

“She's not kidding.” Kevin said. “It was great. I'm proud of you, man!” he said, clapping AJ on the back.

“Even the baby liked it!” Kristin said. “He was kicking like mad when you were out there.”

AJ chuckled. “Thanks guys. Man...it felt fucking awesome being up there. I mean I've done solo shows before but this one just feels...official or something! And the energy was just amazing!”

AJ rambled on excitedly for another twenty minutes before a stage hand knocked on the door and said it was time for the autograph session.

“Gotta go!” he said. “I'm glad you guys were able to come tonight, it means a lot.” he said to Kevin and Kristin.

“We wouldn't have missed it for the world.” Kevin said.

“I'll see you back at the hotel?” AJ asked, kissing Emily on the cheek.

Emily nodded. “Take your time, I'll be there. Want me to order a pizza or something?”

“Oh God, that'd be great!” AJ said, realizing his stomach was growling.

AJ ran out the door and Emily walked out with Kevin and Kristin.

“When are you leaving, Emily?” Kristin asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon. AJ has another show tomorrow night so he's leaving in the morning.”

“Why don't I meet you for breakfast? We can eat in the hotel, they have amazing pancakes!”

“That'd be great! What time?”

“How about nine?”

“Perfect, I'll see you then! Kevin, it was nice to see you again!” she said, giving him a hug.

“You too. Take care, Em! Hopefully we'll see you again soon.”

Emily made it back to the hotel and ordered some pizza while she waited for AJ to finish up. He got back about an hour later, took a shower, ate his pizza and fell asleep as soon as he crawled into bed, the adrenaline high finally wearing off. He woke up early the next morning, packed his things up and kissed Emily goodbye.

“Call me when you get home?” he asked.

“I will. I love you!” she mumbled, still half asleep.

“I love you too.” he said, kissing her forehead.

Emily got up a few hours later and got dressed to meet Kristin for breakfast. They exchanged gossip and spent a lot of time talking about Brian and Leighanne and, of course, the baby. Emily's trip home was uneventful and she called AJ as she went inside the house and re-set the alarm behind her. He only had a minute to talk but Emily insisted he call her when he got back to the hotel after the show even though it would be near two am her time when he called.

She was just about to get ready for bed when Leighanne called her.

“Hey Leigh, what's up?”

“Emily?” Leighanne asked, sounding frantic.

“What's wrong?”

“Baylee's in the hospital! Can you come?”

“Of course! I'll leave right now. Are you at Children's?”

“Yeah, we're still in the emergency room.”

“Ok. I'm on my way! Is Brian with you?”

“Yeah. I just need someone to lean on right now...you know?”

Emily understood perfectly. She and Brian were still technically on the outs and so she couldn't exactly cry on his shoulder at the moment.

“Hang tight, ok? Have you called Amanda?”

“No. Could you call her for me? I need to get back to Baylee.”

“Of course. See you soon.”

Chapter 90

Emily called Amanda as she sped off to the hospital.

“Hey Emily! How was LA?”

“It was great! I'll tell you all about it later, I'm actually on my way to the ER right now, Leighanne brought Baylee in.”

“Oh my God, what's wrong?”

“I'm not really sure, she didn't say but she sounded frantic and needed someone to be there with her.”

“Isn't Brian there?”

“Yeah, he's there.”

“What's he, too good to support his wife in a crisis?” Amanda asked, bitterly.

“I don't really know what's going on with them but I don't blame her for needing someone besides him.”

“Well I'm going too, I hope he's ok.”

“Me too. Are you going to leave right now?”

“Well...Randy just went out to pick up a pizza right before you called. Maybe I should wait for him.”

“Take your time and eat your dinner, it's probably going to be a long night. I'll call you when I find out what's going on.”

“Ok. Tell Leighanne I'll be there soon.”

Emily parked the car and quickly walked into the ER. Leighanne was waiting for her by the front desk.

“How is he?” Emily asked as she hugged Leighanne.

Leighanne took a shaky breath. Emily could tell she was struggling to keep her composure. “I don't know. We haven't gotten any answers yet.”

“What happened?”

“Well he never got better, his fever stayed high and he felt miserable and then he started complaining of having these little heart flutters in his chest so naturally we got really worried and just decided to bring him in. They ran some tests and now we're just waiting.”

“I'm sure it'll be ok.” Emily tried her best to sound reassuring.

“Do you think the strep got worse and got into his heart or something?”

“Not likely but he might have a resistant strain or something. Can I see him?”

“Of course.” Leighanne said, taking Emily back to Baylee's cubical.

Emily had seen a lot of sick kids as a nurse but that hadn't prepared her for how sick Baylee looked. She hoped it was just because she cared so much about him and not because he really looked that sick.

“Hey Baylee.” she said as she gently stroked his hair.

Baylee looked up at her and cracked a smile. “Emily I don't feel so good.”

“I know you don't but the doctors and nurses are going to make you better soon!”

“That's what Mommy said.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“No thank you.”

“Ok. You keep resting, got it?”

Baylee nodded.

“How about I get you guys some coffee?” Emily offered.

“That'd be really great.” Brian said, barely taking his eyes off Baylee.

Emily excused herself to the cafeteria and called Amanda on her way.

“We're almost there, we ate the pizza in the car.” she said.

Emily chuckled. “I'm going to get them some coffee, I'll meet you in the front entrance of the ER.”

“How is he?”

“He's pretty sick, but they haven't gotten any answers yet. I guess they're still waiting on the test results. He's trying to rest.”

“How is my sister?”

“Honestly? Barely holding it together, but who could blame her?”

“Hang on, Randy wants to talk to you.” Amanda said.

“Hey Em, what's going on with Baylee?”

Emily smiled. Randy was probably going over every possible diagnosis in his head at the moment and needed to know what they might be facing. “His rash is worse, his fever has been at 102 for the last two days. He's on an IV for hydration, no oxygen although Leighanne said he was complaining of feeling heart flutters in his chest.”

“Is he on a 12-lead monitor?”

“Strangely, they are not monitoring his heard. His pulse ox was fine, he's alert and talking. No labs have come back yet.”

“Huh.” Randy muttered as he mulled over new possibilities. “Ok, we'll see you in a few minutes.”

Emily decided to get five cups of coffee, one for each adult that would be there for Baylee tonight, and went to meet them in the waiting room.

“Can we see him?” Amanda asked, immediately.

“Yeah, he's right back here.” Emily led the way and passed out the coffee while Amanda talked to Leighanne. She hung back in the doorway next to Randy.

“Do you still know people on staff here?” she asked him, quietly.

“Yeah, why?”

She shook her head. “I just don't have a good feeling. I think they're getting the 'worried parent' work-up and that's about it.”

“I'll see what I can dig up. I saw a few nurses I know at the desk.”

“Good, go charm them!”

Randy smiled. “Should I do my sexy doctor lean against the counter for them?”

“Absolutely! Whatever it takes to get the info!”

Randy returned a few minutes later and informed everyone that as far as he could tell, they'd run all the appropriate tests except for maybe an echo of his heart, which they would probably only do if any of the blood work indicated it.

“Well how the hell long does it take to get some tests results?” Brian demanded, getting sick of waiting.

“I have them right here. Hi folks, I'm Dr. Cooper. Baylee's tests came back normal for the most part. His white cells are slightly elevated which is normal in a person who's been fighting an infection.”

“Well if everything was normal, then what's the matter with him?” Brian asked.

“He seems to be having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. He's never had a problem with them before?”

“No, never.” Leighanne said.

“Well it's rare but kids can sometimes develop a sudden allergy to them. That's most likely what's causing the rash. The fever is from the strep that hasn't gotten better. I'm going to put him on an IV of a different class of antibiotics and benadryl to stop the reaction. It should help him rest well tonight. I'd like to admit him to make sure we get this under control. The nurse will be right in with his medicine.”

And with that, Dr. Cooper left the room in a hurry.

Everyone turned and looked at Randy.

“Is it really that simple?” Leighanne asked.

“It's possible.” he shrugged.

“But you don't think so?” Emily pried.

Randy sighed. “Look I don't like second guessing another doctor's diagnosis....but if I were you, I would push to have his heart checked out. You do have a genetic history of heart defects from Brian, or something could be irritated from the infection. Either way, I would refuse to leave until they do the test.”

“Can we really make them do that?” Brian asked.

“Sure, if you make a big enough fuss they'll do it just to shut you up.”

When the nurse came back in, they told her they'd like the doctor to check his heart. She said she would have the doctor come back in and talk to them. He walked back in the room and told them there was no cause to do that, his heart sounded normal. In the end, Randy ended up stepping in and told the doctor to do his damn job, that he would hate to think some doctor was too busy treating more serious patients to stop and check one simple thing. An hour later, they were handed a final diagnosis that was nothing like the original one. Baylee had been diagnosed with atypical Kawasaki Disease. As the cardiologist explained, it was an inflammation of his arteries and, if not caught, would be serious. While it had spread to his coronary artery, the cardiologist was confident they'd caught it in time and that he would be just fine.

Brian and Leighanne was very grateful for Randy. If it hadn't been for him, the test never would have been done and they cringed to think if what would have happened to Baylee if they'd listened to the doctor the first time. Baylee was admitted and Emily went home to get some sleep.

Emily wished she could have spent more time with AJ over the next few days when he was home, but there just wasn't time. She would stop by and see Baylee during her lunch break and had been working late due to an outbreak of the flu in the area. Baylee had improved greatly and would be going home the same day that AJ left again for his next show, after spending five days in the hospital.

AJ left early in the morning to fly to Boston and Emily went off to work for yet another day. After her shift, she went over to Brian and Leighanne's where they were having a pizza party with Amanda and Randy to celebrate Baylee's homecoming. Because Baylee had strict orders to rest, he was allowed to eat his pizza on the couch which was, as he said, the coolest thing he'd done all year!

When everyone had left, Brian helped Leighanne clean up after putting Baylee to bed.

“Leigh, I want to talk to you about something.” he said, awkwardly.

“Sure, what is it?” she asked, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“I want to move back in.” he said, quickly before he lost his nerve.

“What?”

“Seeing Baylee so sick, well, it really made he think. What if we'd lost him? Thinking about that made me realize how incredibly blessed I am to have him in my life. I don't know what I'd do if we ever lost him. I don't care how he got here, I'm glad he's here and I want us to work things out.”

Leighanne was speechless. Just like that? He thought it was just that easy?

“I don't know.” she said. “Don't you think we should talk more, work it out before you move home?”

Brian shook his head. “I'm sure about this. I want to move on with you, get back to normal.”

“Well I'm not sure about it!” she exclaimed.

Brian was confused. He thought she'd been waiting for him all this time. What on earth wasn't she sure about? “What? I thought that was what you wanted!”

“It was what I wanted. But the longer you stayed gone, the more I got to thinking. I'm not sure us getting back together is really what you want.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because of how easy it was for you to walk away in the first place. Do you have any idea how much that hurt? That you were so able to just mentally check out of our marriage? That you wouldn't even give me the fairness of a chance to explain? You just automatically assumed the worst and left. If you were able to do that, I'm not sure you really do want to be with me.”

Brian was dumbfounded. “I hurt you? You're making me be the bad guy now?”

Leighanne rolled her eyes. “I knew you weren't really ready to deal with this. You got scared, I get it, but that isn't a good enough reason to come home.”

She went upstairs and locked herself in the bedroom and tried not to cry. He really didn't get it and she didn't know if he ever would.

The next night, AJ called Emily a little after midnight.

“Hey! How was the show tonight? Where are you again, Cleveland?”

“Yeah, it was pretty good. Wasn't the best we've done so far, the lighting guys really fucked a few things up but we got through it. Also, it's fucking cold here and it's been snowing all day!”

“No fair! I wish I was there!”

“I do too, babe. But you'll have to settle for me coming home in three more days.”

“Will you bring me some snow?”

AJ laughed. “I'll certainly try!”

AJ and Emily were still talking twenty minutes later when he heard a loud crash over the phone followed by the alarm going off.

“What was that?” he asked. “It sounded like glass breaking, are you alright?”

“I don't know what it was...it came from downstairs. Daisy probably knocked something over again.”

AJ felt the acid rise in his stomach. If Daisy had knocked over a glass, it wouldn't have sounded that loud upstairs and over the phone, let alone the fact that it wouldn't have set off the alarm.

“Emily, you need to call the police!”

“I'm sure it's fine, I'm going to check it out right now.” she said as she slowly walked down the stairs. As soon as she walked into the dinning room, she froze.

“Em...are you there? Emily?” AJ asked, frantically over the phone.

Emily was in shock at the scene in front of her. The entire glass door leading to the deck had been shattered with a brick. A few seconds later, reality kicked in and she could hear AJ yelling over the phone.

“Hang on!” she said as she ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. She could hear her house phone ringing and knew it was the security company calling about the alarm going off. If she didn't answer it, the police would be on their way.

“EMILY! What's going on?”

“I think someone tried to break in...they threw a brick through the back door.”

AJ tried to keep his voice calm but felt himself beginning to panic. “Did you see anyone?”

“No.”

“Where are you?”

“Locked upstairs in our bathroom.” she said, shakily.

“Ok listen, hang up and call 911.”

Emily shakily called and explained the situation to the operator.

“We have a cruiser on the way now. Stay on the line with me until they get there and don't leave the bathroom until I tell you it's ok. The police are going to come in the back and check the house first. I'll tell you when they come in.”

Emily squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that there was no one in the house.