It had been at least 42 hours since Alexis' encounter with Ric, and she hadn't heard from him since. No phone calls, no messages left at her office, nor at the hospital's front desk. Nothing. And she was starting to worry. Finally, around late afternoon, she tucked her anxiety safely away and reached for her phone.

Fortunately, she knew his cell phone number by heart.

"Lansing."

"Hey, Ric. It's Alexis."

"I know."

She breathed in deeply, trying to muster as much courage as possible. She found herself dearly wishing that she had rehearsed what she was going to say before she had dialed the number. She held the phone to her ear with one hand and sat on the other to keep it from trembling. "Um, if you're at all available today, do you think you can come down to General Hospital? It's important."

"Why? Did something happen?" he asked with clear concern.

"Nothing specific. I just really need to see you. I think we need to talk."

"I can't make any promises," he said distantly, "but I can try to be there in 20 minutes."

"That's fine. Whenever you can. I'll be here."

"Good bye, Alexis."

"Bye, Ric."

Alexis closed her eyes and sighed with great relief as she flipped her cell phone closed. That could have gone a lot worse. But calling him was nothing. The major challenge would come when he arrived.

Ric hung up his phone and hung his head. He had been waiting for her call for too long. He did not want to approach her after the way he treated her the other night; she needed to make the first move. But now that she had called, Ric was starting to wish that she hadn't He was so worried about what he was going to say to her when he finally built up the courage to go see her. He was going to have to defend his actions to her while dealing with the conflict that he himself didn't even support those actions. Ever since she slammed the door behind her that night, his body had been aching to hold her and make the pain go away. But he could not consider his own desires. He had to consider her best interests only, and he knew she would have hated herself the next morning for sleeping with him; he would not be able to cope that. As much as it hurt him to do it, he knew he had done the right thing.

With the way his stomach reacted violently to his nervousness, he could not decide whether or not to go to the hospital. He weighed the pros against the cons in his mind. If he went to talk with her, things could get ugly. She could tell him off for rejecting her so harshly. He regretted what he said. He could have been much gentler with his words. But as usual, he had said everything wrong. Everything was such a mess.

On the other hand, he couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if things went well. He could explain. Or apologize. Or both. She could forgive him. She could invite him to Kristina's room to spend time with mother and daughter. She could reach for his hand. She could ask him to stay. He could be there for her. He would always be there for her.

He didn't have to think twice about which side far outweighed the other. His decision was made.

-

Alexis sighed as she watched her daughter sleep contently. It had become quite an addictive habit for her. Nothing made her happier than to see her daughter rest peacefully. But she knew by the way she felt in the pit of her stomach that she was anxious about Ric's arrival, if he was going to show up at all. She checked her watch again. It had been about an hour since she had finally gathered the courage to call him. She figured if he wasn't here by now, he wasn't going to show up at all. So, he wasn't going to fight for her. Big surprise there.

She wished she knew how long it had been since she'd last eaten. Her stomach wasn't able to cope with the hunger and the anxiety all at once. She kissed her daughter gently on the forehead so as not to wake her and softly whispered, "Mommy will be back shortly, ok baby?"

She stole a final glance at the face of her angel and turned towards the door; and there he was. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He looked just about the way she felt; exhausted. He had probably gotten just about as much sleep as she had, and she could only imagine what had kept him up.

"Hi," she murmured hoarsely. She cleared her dry throat and found herself dearly wishing she had some water.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked abruptly. She nodded shyly.

"Um, can we step outside?" she whispered as her eyes fell upon her child resting in innocent slumber. Ric followed her gaze, and he nodded his consent. They stepped out into the hallway, Alexis closing the door quietly behind them.

"Look, Alexis, if you're just going to yell at me again, then can we please just get it over with because –"

"I didn't ask you here to yell at you, I asked you here so that I can apologize."

Ric hesitated, unsure that he heard her correctly. "Wh – what?"

"You were right," she sighed. "I was just trying to find an easy way to cope with my pain, and I was wrong to pressure you. I know I would have regretted it, and that wouldn't have been fair to either of us. It would have just made a mess of our relationship."

Ric would have never guessed that Alexis admitting that he was right would ever hurt so badly. He was surprised how severely her words stung; he flinched especially at "easy" and "regret". Victory had never tasted so bitter. He had finally defeated opposing counsel, not to mention his favorite and most challenging opponent. Yet here he stood, on the verge of tears, because he was finally right.

"I'm glad you see that I was only trying to help," he finally managed after a moment's pause.

"And I do understand that," she said as she placed her hand over his. "Thank you for looking out for me."

Ric gladly wrapped his fingers around hers as he cried a lonely tear. "You thought right. Because I do care about you."