"She WHAT?!"

"Carlos, calm down. Jessie went away for a couple of days." Sarah put her hand over her husband’s arm. "She just needs to get away and sort things out."

"Trent’s in the hospital and she leaves?" He was incredulous.

"Look, Sweetie, she just isn’t dealing with this well. Maybe if she goes away for awhile she can sort things out. It is only for a couple of days and you know this hasn’t been easy on her considering she isn’t that long out of the hospital herself."

Carlos took a breath. "Maybe you’re right. Did Rob talk her into it?"

Sarah looked at him, puzzled. "I don’t know. Why?"

Carlos sat at the table. "It just seems he is getting awful close to her. I just don’t like him."

"She needs all the friends she can get right now."

"His type of friend, I’m just not sure of."

**

Jess just couldn’t keep her mind on the seminar. All she could think about was Trent. Was he going to be okay? She herself knew that it took some time to work through a psychosis. But yet she had done it. Would Trent be the same? Was she the same? Would she always be afraid of him, waiting to see if he would blow up again? She just didn’t know.

**

"She’s beautiful, Sarah." Sarah awoke to the figure standing over the bassinet beside the bed she shared with Carlos.

"Thanks, Sam. I named her after you."

"I know. Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Sarah smiled at her sister, but the smile wasn’t returned. "You’re worried about him, aren’t you?"

"He told me to go away, Sarah. I can’t help him and I am so scared for him. He’s not ready to be with me yet. You have to help him, Sarah."

"What can we do?"

"He needs to get off the drugs. That is the problem."

"But when they try to lower the dose, he gets violent. He needs the drugs."

"There are more than you know. He has been getting too much. Check the blood tests."

"The blood tests say he isn’t getting enough."

"I know. There is a problem. You need to look at them. There…." She stopped. "OH NO!!! Sarah I need you to wake up and call the hospital. Get them to check on him. He…NO!!! Sarah! Do it now!"

Instantly, Sarah was awake. The baby was sound asleep beside her, as was her husband. She was alone. She reached out and grabbed the phone.

**

What the hell was he doing? The woman on the phone had sounded crazier than most of the people in here. He had checked on Malloy, just a few hours earlier, after he had been given his nightly shot. But what the hell, he could check on him again. Peering in through the window, he looked asleep. As he turned to go, something told him to go in and check. Alright, he thought, I’ll check. Unlocking the door, he made his way over to the bed. Even though the patient was restrained, he had seen what he had done to the other orderly. Looking closer, something wasn’t right. He put his head down to Malloy’s chest. It wasn’t moving. He wasn’t breathing. Oh, shit, he thought. Immediately, he pushed the intercom and yelled, "CODE BLUE, ROOM 302. STAT!!!"

**

"No, Trent, no!" Sam cried as she watched them work on Trent. "It’s not time yet."

**

"How was your trip, Jess?" Rob asked as he picked up her bags from the taxi driver.

"Horrible. I couldn’t keep my mind on anything. How is he doing?"

"Let’s get inside." Immediately, Jess knew something was wrong.

As she closed the door behind her, Jessie wheeled to face Rob. "What happened!? What’s wrong?"

"I’m sorry to tell you this Jess but," he paused, "Trent died last night." He caught her as she fell into his arms, wailing.

"NO, NO, NO!" she cried. "He can’t be!"

Rob held her and stroked her hair. "I’m so sorry, Jess. But you deserved better. He was dangerous for you."

Jess sobbed uncontrollably. "But I loved him!! And now he died thinking I was with someone else!"

"I’m sure he knew you loved him. But, in the long run, baby, you’ll be better off." Rob held her and kissed her head. "Trust me, Jess. You’ll be okay."

Jessie continued to sob as Rob took her face in his hands. Slowly, he kissed her cheeks, her neck and finally her mouth. "Let me make it all better, baby," he whispered. As Jessie started to protest, he covered her mouth with kisses. "It’ll be okay. You’ll see. I’ll take care of you."

**

"I want to see the blood tests," Sarah demanded. "I want them now!" She was standing in the Doctor’s office, pacing.

"There is nothing remarkable in them, I assure you," the Doctor protested.

"I still want to see them." It had been a rough night, but she had remembered what Sam had told her. There was something there.

"Fine, I will get them, but you must wait here. There is some concern as to how you knew about Mr. Malloy. The police may have to get involved depending on what the tests find."

"That’s fine, Doctor. I just need to see the blood tests."

After the Doctor left, Carlos turned to Sarah. Between the lack of sleep and the previous bruises, he looked haggard and old beyond his years. "Why the blood tests?"

"I don’t know." She didn’t want to tell him about Sam. Not yet anyway. Another thought came to her. "Did Trent participate in that study in the university? The one they took the blood tests?"

"Yeah, we all did. Why?"

"I think we might need that one, too. Can you call the university and see if there are any anomalies they may have found?"

"Sure." Carlos was happy to have something to do. At least it stopped him from thinking.

**

Jessie felt numb. She was laying beside Rob, staring at the ceiling, listening to his soft snores. Trent was gone. Even the thought brought her to tears. And somehow it was worse that she had let Rob make love to her to try and ease the pain. She would never be able to face Carlos or Sarah again. They would know, she was sure. She knew. And that was definitely worse.

**

Sarah looked at the reports again. Nothing jumped out at her but somehow she knew it had to be there. But what? She looked them over for a fifth time when she finally saw it. She looked again, checking each report. "Yes!" she said. She had found what she was looking for.

**

Jessie pressed the button on the machine. "Jessie, " the voice said, "I guess you’re not home yet. When you get in can you please call me? It is about Trent and it is important. Take care. Bye." She knew the voice was Sarah’s but she couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone. She would talk to her later. She had showered and was sitting at the table, but she couldn’t wash away what had happened. She just wanted everything to go away, including Rob.

Speak of the devil, she thought as he came into the kitchen. He bent to kiss her but she turned away.

"Jess?"

"I think I need a little time to be alone, Rob. I hope you understand." For an instant, his face was angry but then it faded.

"If that is what you want." He turned to go, but stopped instead. "Don’t feel guilty about last night, Jess. We both know it was meant to be." As he left the kitchen, a chill ran down her spine.

When the phone rang again, Jess picked it up. "Hello?"

"Jessie! I thought you were supposed to be home. Are you okay?" It was Sarah.

"As well as could be expected. I know, Sarah. Rob told me."

There was a hesitation. "Is Rob there now?"

Now it was Jessie’s turn to hesitate. "No, he left last night."

"Good, Jessie. Stay away from him, okay? Look, I’ll explain later but stay away from him."

Jess’ blood ran cold. "Why?"

"Because. I can’t explain it now. But after they get Trent stabilized we’ll be over okay?"

"Stabilized? He’s not dead?" Jess’ heart leapt into her throat.

"Lord, no, Jess. He’s in critical condition but they say he’s going to make it. He’s not dead. Did Rob tell you that?" Sarah’s voice was urgent. "Listen to me, Jess. Stay away from him. Don’t let him back in, do you understand?" Sarah paused as she heard Jess start to cry. "He’s there isn’t he, Jess?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"We’re coming." As Jess pressed the button to hang up the phone she looked up. Rob was standing there.

"He’s not dead?"

Jess’ eyes belied her terror. "No, he’s alive."

Rob moved to her. "I’m sorry, Jess. When I left the hospital last night they told me he had died." When Jess moved away, Rob knew something was wrong. "What?"

"Nothing. I just think you should leave." Jess tried to move further away. He saw the terror.

"What else did they tell you?" he asked menacingly.

"Nothing," she said, too quickly.

"They know, don’t they." He shook his head. "I thought I covered my tracks pretty well, but they found out, didn’t they?"

Jess shook her head. "They never told me anything, Rob. I don’t know anything."

Rob sat down across from Jess. "It was easy really. I knew you deserved better but you would never leave him, would you? So I had to make you leave him."

Jess couldn’t believe her ears. "You caused all this?"

"Yeah. He was so predictable. I knew he would come into Uppercuts almost every night and order a beer. I just started slipping it in his drink every night."

"What was it?"

Rob named a powerful drug, which Jess was familiar with. It was an antipsychotic which when given in large doses actually induced psychotic episodes. "As it built up in his system, he got more and more psychotic until finally he snapped."

"And after that, they would keep giving him the same medication, making it worse each time," Jess murmured, not truly believing what she was hearing.

"Yeah. And that stupid dead wife of his gave everyone an excuse to blame it on. It was perfect, really." He smiled. "But the piece de resistance was the blood. I got myself assigned to his room and every time I had to take blood I just used another patients. That way they never knew the levels were dangerously high. I even got to keep up the medication. It was great. Then tonight I gave him a little extra. I knew it would just stop his heart after awhile."

Jess looked at him in horror. "Why, Rob?"

"Don’t you see, Jess? Ever since I took that class from you, I knew he was bad for you. He kept putting you in those dangerous situations, even putting you in the psychiatric hospital. It was fitting that he ended up there wasn’t it?"

"That wasn’t Trent’s fault."

"Yes it was. He was to blame for everything." Rob got up and motioned for Jess. "C’mon. We’re going to go away where no one will ever find us. Don’t worry, Jess. I’ll protect you."

Jess shrank back at the touch of his hand. "No. I’m not going anywhere with you."

"But what about last night, Jess. Didn’t mean anything to you?"

Jess swallowed. "No, Rob. Last night was a mistake. I was hurting, thinking the man I loved had died not knowing how much I loved him and you took advantage of that."

Rob lashed out at her. "I LOVE YOU, NOT HIM! He is nothing!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the chair. "You’ll see, Jess. I’ll make you love me."

"No, Rob. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going anywhere with you."

"YES YOU ARE!" he screamed.

"No. You can kill me and right now I would almost think I deserve it. But I am not going anywhere with you."

Rob let out a primal scream as he lashed out at Jess. She flew back into the chair, crashing into the table and onto the floor. There was a rush of air from her lungs as she heard the snapping of bone. Pain seared through her.

"Oh Jessie, are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you. You made me do it." Rob was over her, trying to help her up. Jess pushed him away weakly.

In an instant, Rob was flying backwards through the air. Jess looked up to see the welcome face of Carlos, contorted with rage as he threw Rob across the room. "You snot-nosed little prick! I knew there was something about you I didn’t like."

As Jess tried to catch her breath, Sarah appeared at her side. "It’s okay, Jess. We’re here." Jess began to sob.

In an instant it was over. Carlos had Rob hog-tied, his face pushed into the floor. Rob yelled for Jessie. "Help me, Jess! You know you love me. You know I was the best lover you ever had. Tell them Jess. Tell them about last night. I know it meant something to you."

"SHUT UP!" Carlos screamed as he hauled Rob out of the kitchen towards the sirens sounding in the distance.

Sarah held Jessie, her breath ragged. She was sure some ribs were broken. "It’s okay, Jess. An ambulance is coming."

"No, it’s not okay, Sarah. I did sleep with him. How am I ever going to face Trent?" Jess sobbed

"Don’t worry, Jess. I’ll never tell him and neither will you. You thought he was dead and you were out of your mind with grief. We’ll never speak of this again, and if Rob says anything, we’ll all deny it. Trent deserves as much."

"But I’ll know."

"Yes, you will and you’ll never forget it. But you won’t ever hurt Trent like that, you understand?"

Jess looked into Sarah’s eyes and saw a hardness she hadn’t seen before. Jess realized it was more important to Sarah to protect Trent than to ease Jess’ worries. "Okay, Sarah." Jess tried to breathe deeply, wincing in pain. "How did you know?"

"It was in the blood samples," Sarah told her. "The samples Rob had tested were all A positive. Trent is A negative. It was a small problem that no one would have noticed unless they knew T’s blood type. And then we got a hold of the professor who had done the blood study. He had found a high dose of an antipsychotic medication in Trent’s blood, long before he had the outburst. Carlos figured it out that this had all started when Rob started at Uppercuts and we realized he had taken every one of Trent’s blood samples at the hospital. Everything led to him."

Carlos appeared at Jess’ side, sweeping her off her feet. "C’mon. There is an ambulance here, waiting to take you to the hospital to look after you." Silently, they walked out of the kitchen.

**

"Hi, Handsome," Jess said as she entered the bright room. Her smile was returned by the figure on the bed.

"Hi Jess." Trent sat up, finally free of the restraints that had held him for the last few days. "Nice to see you."

Jess moved across the room to plant a gentle kiss on Trent’s forehead. "It’s good to have you back."

"It’s good to be back." A serious look came over Trent’s face. "Jess, I didn’t hurt you, did I?"

"No, Trent, you just scared me. I knew you weren’t yourself." Jess ran her fingers through his hair, thinking about how much she loved him. God, how she loved him.

"When can I go home?"

"Soon, Trent. Soon."