EPISODE 18

At the hospital --

Zander feeling pretty good about his deal with Ric, he had Thomas drive him back to the hospital to see Emily. He had been gone for quite a while and he was sure she'd be worried about him. Thomas pulled the limo up in front of the hospital and Zander gave him a few last instructions before he climbed out of the car.

Zander walked down the corridor towards Emily's room and saw the guard he had posted, was there as instructed. Zander approached and the guard nodded in acknowledgment of his boss. Zander opened the door to Emily's room and peered inside. He noticed she had visitors and he hesitated, but Emily saw him before he had a chance to back out.

"Zander .. where have you been?! I've been worried sick about you!" Emily scolded as Zander stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"I've been keeping you safe ...." he began as he stepped towards her, glancing to her mom and dad standing on the other side of the bed.

"You call this keeping her safe?" Alan replied as he pointed out to the guard outside the door.

"Dad, please. Zander's doing all that he can to protect me!" Emily spoke up as she reached for Zander's hand.

"May I speak with Emily, alone, please?" Zander asked implying for Alan and Monica to leave.

"Come on Alan, let's leave them alone." Monica said as she coaxed Alan towards the door.

Zander didn't say anything more till he saw the door close behind them. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and caressed his unborn child with his hand.

"Now are you going to tell me where you have been? Ric was here looking for you and I didn't know for sure what to tell him."

"Yeah I know, I spoke with Ric. He gave me a deal, Em."

"What kind of deal?" she replied as she tried to sit up.

"A kind of deal that guarantees me the rest of my life with you and our children."

"What does that mean? Ric's not looking to arrest you, is he?" she became worried now because of Zander's answer to her.

"No, he's not and it's nothing for you to worry about. I have it all under control." Zander tried to reassure her.

"Yeah where have I heard that before ..." she snickered and raised his brow.

"It's different this time .. promise." he replied.

"Okay, Zander .. I trust you that it is." she answered as he leaned down and laid his lips against hers gently.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Em. You can trust that."

"I do, Zander .. I do." she reached up and embraced him, pulling him to her.

He pulled back from her and caressed her cheek with his hand. "Has Dr. Meadows been to see you today yet?"

"She was here earlier. She says everything looks good, but still wants me here so she can monitor the baby." Emily replied as she rubbed her hand over her belly.

Zander stood up from the swivel stool and removed his suit jacket, he laid back on the chair that sat in the corner and rolled up his sleeves. Emily gave him a confused look, she wondered what he had planned now, as he went to the door and turned the lock.

"Well, since Dr. Meadows insists that you spend all the time in that bed, I guess the only way a husband gets some TLC is if he joins you." he smirked as he turned down the lights and walked back towards Emily.

Emily moved herself over to make room for Zander, being careful of the monitors she was connected to, he climbed into the bed with her. She leaned into him and laid her head in the crook of his neck, as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him.

His hand instinctively laid gently on their unborn baby and her hand joined his. "She's going to be okay, you know?" Emily said softly.

"I know .. I'm just worried about the two of you. We've been here before and I don't want anything to go wrong." Zander replied as his thoughts traveled back to when Emily was pregnant with Devon. "Speaking of Devon, I guess Alice isn't tired of him yet?" Zander added jokingly.

"Are you kidding? They love having him at the mansion. I'm probably going to have a hard time tearing him away from them when I get out of here. Don't worry about Devon, he's being spoiled rotten as we speak." Emily laughed.

"I'm sure he is. Between Edward, Lila and your mother, Devon I'm sure is getting the best care. I'm not worried, just that he's been with them a while now ..."

"Mom and dad don't mind to watch Devon, they're glad to have him when they get the chance." Emily replied as she snuggled close to him.

Before Zander realized how exhausted they both were, he found himself drifting off to sleep with his wife in his arms. It wasn't very long before a knock on the door startled him awake. He slipped from Emily's arms and walked to the door. He unlocked the door to see Alexis standing in the hallway waiting for him.

Zander could see Alexis was agitated.

"I just got off the phone with Ric ... when were you planning on telling me about this deal you made with him?"