Rewind
Chapter 11
Two
weeks passed.
Zander and Emily worked together on his therapy. Some days were rougher than others, but Zander persevered. He had a goal in mind and he worked towards it, diligently. By the end of the two weeks, he was out of the wheelchair for good, but needed to rely on a cane after more than fifteen minutes on his feet. But Simon assured him that it was all uphill from here. If Zander kept up the physical therapy, he would get stronger every day and would be walking without it in no time.
That night, Zander and Emily lay in bed. They had showered together, then made love, and now they were talking about their future. Zander smiled at Emily, who was draped over his chest. He let his fingers play in her soft hair. "We need to go back home," Zander said softly.
"Home?"
Emily sat up. "As in...Port
Charles?"
"Yeah...Port Charles." Zander shifted a bit so he was sitting up as well. "I think we need to go back, Em."
She frowned then asked. "Why? I thought you liked it here, Zander? And
you know I'll stay here with you."
He leaned in to kiss her softly. "I know...and I love you for that. But I
came here because I was running away from my father. Again. I can't keep doing
that, Emily. I have to face him....face my demons. That way I can move
on...with you."
"Sounds
like a plan," Emily whispered, as she traced the outline of his mouth
with one fingertip. "So...when do you want to go back?"
"Soon."
Zander laughed. "I haven't figured that part out yet. I was thinking
maybe my Uncle would come with us. For a while. I know he has issues with my
father too."
Emily nodded. "Can I make a confession?"
Zander smiled. "Of course. You can tell me anything." But he was
curious.
"Well...Simon
and I talked about going back. He pretty much said what you said. That you
need to face your father and your demons. And that he needed to do the same
thing."
"I see." Somehow Zander wasn't surprised.
Emily
studied his face. "Are you mad at me?"
Zander frowned at her. "Why would I be?"
"Because
I was talking about you behind your back, so to speak. For the record, we were
going to talk to you about it. But your Uncle wanted to give you time to come
to the same conclusion on your own."
"He's a smart guy," Zander stated.
Emily
nodded. "Yep...he is. He has a smart nephew too. A smart, gorgeous, sexy
nephew...to be exact."
Zander
chuckled then kissed Emily again. He would never, ever, tire of kissing her.
"You're biased, but I love it. And I love you."
"Right
back atcha," Emily whispered. She kissed him and the world faded away as
they melted into each other.
*
* * * *
"Home
sweet home," Emily said with a sigh, as she sank down on the porch swing
next to Zander.
Another
two weeks had passed since Zander had made the decision to go back to Port
Charles. They had come home today, and were welcomed back with open arms by
the Quartermaines. Zander had been warmly included in that welcome. And when
he had stated that he was better now and was going to return to Jakes' to
live, Monica and Alan had both protested. So Zander had agreed to stay. For a
while. At least until he and Emily could make other arrangements. Simon had
come with them, but he had gone straight to the Port Charles Hotel. He told
them he needed a nap and would hook up with them later.
"Glad to be back?" Zander asked, as he pulled Emily into his arms. Strangely enough he felt content here.
Emily nodded. "Yeah...I missed my family. But...I still want us to find a place of our own. Soon."
Zander was all for that. "We'll start looking tomorrow."
"Deal." Emily leaned in to kiss Zander but paused when she heard
footsteps approaching. She smiled as her mother appeared before them.
"Come join us," Emily invited.
"I just wanted to talk to Zander for a minute," Monica stated. She
smiled at him. "I know that you just got back and you're not even settled
in. But I think it would be a good idea to get back into your therapy sessions
with Dr. Baldwin. In fact, I could give her a call right now and set up your
first appointment."
Zander
ran his fingers through his hair, wondering what type of excuse he could come
up with. Then he looked at Emily and he could see that she wanted him to do
this. They had talked about it on the drive up and Zander had tried to blow
her, and his Uncle, off. But now Monica was in on it too. Zander knew he was
outnumbered. He smiled at Monica and said, "Sure. Call away."
Monica
reached out and patted his knee. "I'm proud of you," she said
warmly.
"Thanks."
It shocked Zander how much her words meant to him. He found himself blinking
back tears. Monica had always been good to him in her own way, and for that
Zander would always be grateful. But now he wanted to focus his attention on
Emily. "Where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?" he
queried.
"I
think we were right about...here," Emily drawled, leaning back in and
claiming his mouth.
Zander kissed her back, putting his heart and soul into it. He wanted Emily to
feel how much he loved her.
Emily felt the love.
*
* * * *
Cameron
was working in his office. He had heard, via the hospital grapevine, that his
son was back in town. Cameron wasn't sure how he felt about that. Alexander
had always been a disappointment to him. He always would be. Yet Cameron found
it hard to concentrate on the case files in front of him, and that made him
angry. So when a knock sounded on his door, he snapped, "I'm busy!"
Then he looked up in surprise when the door opened anyway.
Simon
entered the office, a grim smile on his face. "Hello, Cameron," he
drawled. "Long time no see."
"What
are you doing here?" Cameron countered, rising from his chair.
"I
came to talk to you," Simon shot back.
Cameron
snorted. "We have nothing to talk about, Simon."
Simon held his ground. "Sure we do. We have lots of things to talk about,
Cam." As he spoke, Simon dropped into the nearest chair and made himself
comfortable. "Let's start with your son. I want to talk about the way you
fucked up Zander's life. And then I want you to tell me what you're going to
do to fix it."
