There was a knock at the door and
it ripped Sheridan from her first pleasant dream in months. She woke
up feeling better than she had in a long time. She answered the door
and found Sam Bennett standing there. She instantly knew something was
wrong by the look on his face. "Sam, what happened? What happened to
Luis?"
"Sheridan, please, calm down."
"I won't calm down until you tell me what happened, Sam."
"Luis was in a car accident."
"Oh my God. Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me, to
us? Why?" Sheridan felt her knees buckle and she sank to the floor and
broke out into sobs. "Is he…is he…oh God."
"Sheridan, he's alive, but it's bad. Come on, I'll take you to the
hospital."
All Sheridan could do was cry. She felt her heart breaking inside her
chest. She had felt that before with the loss of their child but it
was happening all over again…every painful second of it. Sam kneeled
down to comfort her and helped her stand up.
"Come on Sheridan. I'll drive you, let's go."
"I can't do this. I can't lose him, Sam. I'm not strong enough to
deal with this on top of everything else that's happened."
"Sheridan don't say that. You are one of the strongest women I know
and I know Luis feels the same way. He needs you now, and you're going
to have to be there for him."
Sheridan wiped her eyes and went to get her purse. She got into Sam's
jeep and rode to the hospital where her one true love's life hung in
the balance.
"Sam, will you call Pilar and the rest of the family?"
"Grace took care of that, Sheridan. Come on, let's find out where Luis
is." Sam put his arm around Sheridan and walked with her to the
nurse's station.
"I'm Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald. I need to know where my husband, Luis,
is." Sheridan felt like she was going to throw up as the nurse was
leading her to Luis's room. She was unaware of what she would find and
that scared her to death. It was a horrible feeling…like she was being
led to her own execution. For the first time in months it was upon her
to be the strong one. She had to be strong for Luis. He needed her
now, and she was determined to be there for him. When they got to the
room, the nurse informed Sheridan that he had emergency surgery to stop
the internal bleeding. He was still unconscious and listed as
critical. The nurse told her that he was hooked up to a machine to
help him breathe and not to be alarmed when she saw it. Sheridan
braced herself and entered Luis's room. She gasped when she saw the
site of Luis lying lifeless in his bed. She wanted to cry but she had
no tears left in her, and she knew crying wasn't going to help the
situation. She sat down in a chair next to his bed and looked at all
the cuts and bruises that marred his handsome face.
"Oh Luis, how could this happen? Haven't we had enough trouble for one
lifetime?" She choked back her tears and reached out to hold Luis's
hand. She stroked it with her own hand and just stared at him. She
was sitting for awhile when she heard a soft knock on the door. It was
Pilar.
"Sheridan?"
"Pilar." Sheridan went over to her and hugged her. She could see that
Pilar had been crying and she fought back her own tears. The family
needed her to be strong and after all they had done for her, she had to
do it. She had to be the rock.
"How's he doing, Sheridan?"
"I'm not sure. The doctors aren't saying much. I know he's still in
critical condition and he hasn't regained consciousness yet. Luis is
strong, Pilar. He will pull through this. He just has to. How are
you and the family holding up?"
"We're trying to be strong for Luis and for you, but it's so hard. How
are you feeling?"
"I've definitely been better. I feel so awful right now because Luis
and I got into an argument before he flew out of the house. I feel
like this is all my fault."
"Sheridan, you mustn't think like that. You're everything to Luis.
Don't ever doubt that."
"Pilar, I've been a zombie ever since I lost Mariah. I kept pushing
Luis away and just assumed that he would always be there. I don't know
what I'm going to do if I lose him, too. I can't handle that."
"Sheridan, stop it! You hear me? I will not have you talk like that.
It's not good for Luis, it's not good for you, and it's not good for
the family. We have to stick together for Luis's sake." She hugged
Sheridan again.
"You're right. I have to pull it together, and I'm going to. Luis
needs me. He's been the rock through everything with losing the baby
and I can't let him down now when he needs me the most." Sheridan was
amazed that she could talk about losing the baby now. Before she had
been so closed off and she wouldn't allow herself to talk about it
because it made it seem too real. She realized that with Luis fighting
for his life that she couldn't dwell on the past right now. All the
crying in the world wouldn't bring their daughter back and she had to
concentrate on the present right now. Her husband, the love of her
life, was still here, still alive. He was her future. She felt sorry
for all the time she pushed him away, but she would have time for that
later. She had to be with Luis. "Pilar, I'm going to go sit withLuis."
"Okay. I'll be out with Theresa and Miguel. I know they would like to
see you soon."
"Okay, I'll be out there shortly. I just need to talk to Luis. The
nurse said it would help." She hugged Pilar and returned to her seat
at his bedside.
She sat and gently stroked his hair and held his hand in hers. "Hey
Supercop. It's me. Oh Luis, how did this happen? I'm so sorry I have
been pushing you away. I know that you were just trying to help me. I
knew we were in for a big fight tonight. Is that why you left? What I
wouldn't give for you to just sit up and argue with me. It's been a
long time since we've had a legendary Crane/Lopez-Fitzgerald argument
huh?" Sheridan flashed back to the first time she met Luis. She
smashed into his police car…make that police cars and he had her
arrested. She thought for sure that he was the most insufferable man
she had ever met, and he thought she was a spoiled princess. She
smiled at remembering all of the biting commentary they had shared with
one another. That seemed like a million years ago.
"Luis, after you left the house tonight, I cried for what seemed like
the billionth time, but I laid down on the couch and had the most
wonderful dream. I dreamt about that night you asked me to marry you.
What a special day that was for me, for the both of us. When I woke
up, for the first time in an extremely long time, I felt good. I felt
alive. I couldn't wait for you to get home so I could tell you about
it, but I didn't have time to think about it because that's when Sam
came to the door to tell me you had had an accident. I didn't think it
was possible for my heart to break again, but it did. It broke all
over again as soon as I saw the look on Sam's face and I realized
something was wrong with you. I need you in my life. I need us to be
an "us" again. Your love is what keeps me alive, Luis. I miss you…I
need you…and I love you." She was on the verge of tears and a few
slipped out. She leaned over Luis and lightly brushed her lips on his
forehead. She decided she needed to get some coffee and walked out to
find Luis's family…their family.
As soon as she saw Theresa and Miguel they ran over to her to hug her.
They talked a little and Sheridan told them that she needed all of them
more than ever right now. They needed to pull together for Luis.
Miguel offered to go with Pilar to get some coffee, and Theresa and
Sheridan sat on the couch in the waiting room.
"How are you Sheridan? I haven't seen you much lately."
"I won't lie to you, I've been pretty bad. I've been shutting out the
world 24 hours a day…Luis too. However, tonight before I found out
about the accident, I had a wonderful dream. I woke up and for the
first time in months I felt alive again. It was a great feeling
however short-lived it was." Sheridan looked at Theresa's sadface.
"Sheridan, we have been so worried about you. None of us knew how to
help you. And now that Luis is in there…how much more do you have to
put up with?" Theresa broke down into sobs and Sheridan wrapped her
arms around her.
"Shh…it's going to be okay, Theresa. We're all going to pull through
this. Have you called Ethan?"
"Yes, he said he was going to get here as soon as he could."
"Good. I'm so glad that you and Ethan found each other. You make him
happier than I have ever seen him. You are his soul mate, Theresa."
Sheridan felt so good being able to talk and think about other things
for a change. Granted it was a tragic situation that brought them
together like this, but it made her realize how strong her love for the
Lopez-Fitzgerald family was and how much she loved Luis. She had
almost forgotten. Sheridan looked up and she saw Ethan hurrying
towards them. She nudged Theresa and she saw Ethan too. Theresa ran
into Ethan's arms and she broke down into tears. Sheridan took this as
her exit cue and was anxious to get back to Luis's side.
Sheridan resumed her position in the chair next to Luis's bed. She
continued to sit and hold his hand and talk to him. She slowly drifted
to sleep in her chair and began dreaming again.
*Flashback*
Sheridan collapsed on Luis's chest, spent. It was the first time the
couple had made love. She reached up and kissed his lips again and
wrapped the blankets around them.
"Luis, wow, that was incredible." She snuggled up against him and
nuzzled his neck. Luis kept his arms wrapped around her and he kissed
her forehead.
"It's never been like that before, Sheridan."
"I know what you mean."
"What a great idea you had to come skiing."
"Well, I've been known to have many good ideas in my day, Luis."
"I hope I get to see some more of those good ideas...soon." Sheridan
just chuckled at him as she traced lazy circles on his chest with her
fingers.
"I could stay like this forever. I wish we didn't have to go back to
Harmony tomorrow. Maybe we'll get snowed in and we could stay here
together for a long time."
"That would be great. There is no place I would rather be than right
here with you." Sheridan drifted off to sleep still snuggled against
Luis. She was almost asleep when she heard Luis whisper "I love you,
Sheridan Crane" in her ear. She smiled and drifted off to sleep.
She never told Luis that she heard him say that to her that night, but
she has always cherished that memory. She knew at that moment that
she'd love Luis forever.
Sheridan stirred awake and slowly sat up to see if there was any change
in Luis's condition. There wasn't. He seemed to be sleeping
peacefully, but she needed him to be awake. Just then a nurse came in
and said they were going to take Luis off the ventilator to see if he
would respond on his own. Sheridan was scared. What if he didn't
respond? They wouldn't allow her to remain in the room, so she stood
in the doorway. The doctor was finished and he came out to talk to
Sheridan. He told her that Luis responded and he was able to breathe
on his own. He told her that he wasn't awake yet, but his prognosis
was good. Sheridan thanked him and went back to sit with Luis.
She ran her hand gently across Luis's face. She loved him so much.
She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I love you Luis
Lopez-Fitzgerald." She kissed his lips softly, and as soon as she did,
Luis began to wake up. "Luis?"
"Sh…Sheridan? There's my angel." Sheridan smiled. He hadn't called
her his angel in a long time.
"Hi" she whispered. "Luis, how are you feeling? Do you want me to get
the doctor?"
"No, not yet. I want to talk to you first." His voice was very soft
and the words seemed like they were fighting to come out.
"Luis, you just had a serious accident. I'm sure this can wait until
you've had some more rest."
"No it can't wait. I really need to talk to you."
"Okay…"
"Sheridan, I'm so sorry I scared you. Before I lost consciousness,
that's all I could think about…how scared you would be when you heard.
I didn't want to be the one to cause you anymore pain."
"Shhh…Luis, don't. The most important thing right now is that you get
well. I'm so happy you are going to be all right. I love you so much,
you know that don't you?"
Luis felt his eyes well up. He signs of the old Sheridan sitting in
front of him. He was sorry these were the circumstances, but he was
glad to have her back.
"Luis, what's the matter?" Sheridan reached up to wipe away the tear
that was running down his cheek.
"Sheridan, I have been waiting for so long to get the old you back. I
feel like you are slowly coming back to me. I know how much you love
me, and I love you too…always and forever."
Sheridan felt her eyes well up with tears again…this time they were
happy tears. She knew they still had a long way to go, and they would
get there. But for now she was so happy and at peace to see that Luis
was going to be okay. She leaned over kissed him gently and rested her
head on his chest and listened to his heart beating. The sound of his
heart lulled her into a peaceful sleep.
Two months later it was Sheridan and Luis's fifth wedding anniversary.
They managed to take things one day at a time to slowly get their life
back on track. Sheridan returned home and she found a note on the
counter. It was from Luis. He told her she was to meet him at the
place where he FIRST told her he loved her. Sheridan thought for a
second. The first real time was at the cabin, but she wasn't sure he
knew she knew. The other "first" time was on Luis's birthday at her
cottage. She wondered what he was up to, but she couldn't wait to
find out. Sheridan ran upstairs and packed a bag and headed for the
cabin hoping to find Luis there.
When Sheridan reached the cabin, she saw a light on inside, but she
didn't see Luis's jeep outside. She went to the door and found a note
taped to it. She opened it up and it said "I." She opened the door
and walked inside. The cabin was aglow with candles and she saw a path
of notes among scattered rose petals leading her to the bedroom. She
picked up the next note and it read "knew." The next one "you." She
picked up all of them and pieced them together. "I knew you heard me
that night." Sheridan smiled and opened the bedroom door to find Luis
sitting on the bed. He smiled when he saw her walk in and hurried to
the door to greet his wife.
"Hey beautiful. I've been waiting for you." Luis ran his thumb
lightly across Sheridan's cheek.
"Hi. How did you know?" Sheridan looked at him curiously. She never
told him she heard him that night. Luis just smiled at her and leaned
down to kiss his wife. Sheridan wrapped her arms around him and never
wanted to let go. Luis broke the kiss and looked deep into her eyes.
A huge Cheshire grin spread across his face.
"What?"
"You talk in your sleep." Luis studied the look on Sheridan's face as
she was trying to figure it out. She was still sporting a confused
look on her face, so Luis explained. "That night, after we made love
for the first time, I whispered in your ear and told you I loved you.
I thought you were already asleep. I stayed awake for a long time just
watching you sleep, and that's when I heard you. You said "I love you,
too, Luis." I knew at that moment that I was going to love youforever."
Sheridan looked lovingly at Luis and felt herself fall in love all over
again. She smiled at him and wrapped him in a big hug. "I love you,
Officer Lopez-Fitzgerald," she whispered in his ear. Luis smiled. "I
love you, too."
"So, what do you have planned for us tonight, Officer?" Sheridan asked
inquisitively.
"Well, that's for me to know and you to find out." Luis flashed his
killer smile…he enjoyed torturing her like this.
"Luiiiis…pleeeease?"
"Nope, not telling…you will just have to wait."
"Is there anything I can do to convince you?" Sheridan ran her fingers
through his hair.
"Mmmm, nope, can't think of anything."
"Not even if I do this…" Sheridan started kissing his cheek and made
her way to his neck.
"Uh…well, that's a step in the right direction."
Sheridan wrapped her arms around his shoulders and blew softly on his
neck. "Well, I'll love you like I do in that black thing you like so
well." Sheridan met his eyes and wiggled her eyebrows at him.
"Damn Sheridan, you know I can't resist that." Sheridan smiled
knowingly acknowledging her victory.
"Okay. We were going to have a nice leisurely dinner, do some dancing
and then come back here, but I'm all for skipping that now and just
staying here. Whattaya say," Luis sputtered as fast as he could.
"Now Luis, you know how I love to dance. Good things come to those who
wait. Let's go."
"Sheridan, pleeease?" Luis whined back.
"Luis, we're going to go to dinner." She kissed his lips lightly and
ran her finger over the buttons on his shirt. "Then we're going to do
some dancing." She kissed him again. "And then…we'll come back here
and I'll reward you for being a good boy and letting me have my way."
She knew she was driving him crazy and that was her whole plan. "I'm
going to go change, and then we'll go. Okay, sweetie?"
"Uh huh," he said half-dazed. He watched her pick up her bag and go
into the bathroom to change. "Sheridan, that wasn't fair," heteased.
"I know, baby, I know," she called out from the bathroom.
Luis was fixing his tie when he heard the bathroom door swing open. He
looked up to see his wife emerging wearing a fitted, black
spaghetti-strapped dress and a pearl choker. She still took his breath
away. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you. I am having some trouble with this zipper…think you can
help me with it?" She smiled at Luis knowing what this was doing tohim.
"Yeah, come here." Sheridan did as she was told and turned around so
her back was to Luis. Luis ran his hands lightly down her arms and
planted soft kisses on her neck and down to her shoulder. Sheridan's
eyes fluttered shut and enjoyed feeling his lips on her skin. His
fingers slowly traced lines down her back. His hands finally reached
their destination and quickly zipped up her dress.
"Okay, ready to go?"
Sheridan turned around, knowing full well he did that on purpose to get
back at her. "Ugh, Luis, that wasn't fair," she whined.
"Well, no one said paybacks were easy," he teased. She just smiled at
him. "Let's go…the sooner we eat, the sooner we can continuethis."
"Sounds good." The couple left for the restaurant. When they got
there, Sheridan noticed that there was no one else there." "Luis,
where is everyone?"
"Well, tonight is just for you and me, so this restaurant is completely
ours for the evening."
Sheridan was so touched by this. "You did all of this for me? You
really are too good to me. I love every second of it, too."
"I love spoiling you. Happy Anniversary Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald," He
whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Happy Anniversary, Luis."
They ate their dinner and danced a few dances. They talked about how
well things were between them again despite all that had happened.
Both were eager to get back to the cabin and what the rest of the night
held in store for them.
They left the restaurant arm in arm and walked back to their cabin.
When they reached the door, Luis picked Sheridan up and flung her over
his shoulder and raced back to the bedroom as fast as he could.
Sheridan was squealing with laughter.
"LUIS! AAHHH! Put me down!"
"Uh uh, I'm not going to put you down." Sheridan smacked him playfully.
"Hey, no need to resort to violence, honey."
"Okay, Luis, you can play that way if you want…but if you don't put me
down, you'll never get to see what's in that bag," Sheridan teased.
Luis looked over and noticed a small Victoria's Secret bag lying by thebed.
"Well, maybe I was being a bit too hasty." Luis lowered her to the
floor and she smiled at him.
"I thought you'd see things my way." She kissed him quickly and walked
towards the bathroom. "I'll be right back," she called over her
shoulder. Luis noticed that she forgot to pick up her bag and decided
to take a peek to see what was inside. The bag was empty. "Hey Luis,"
Sheridan called from behind the door.
"Yeah, baby."
"Can you hand me what's in the bag."
"Um, there's nothing in there." Just then the door swung open and
Sheridan stood there wearing only her pearls and her high heels.
"Oh yeah, I forgot!" Luis dropped the bag he had in his hands and felt
his mouth fall open.
"I…I…uh…WOW!" Sheridan smiled and walked over to Luis. She grabbed
his tie and pulled him in and kissed him fervently. She broke the kiss
and looked deep into his eyes. She undid his tie and slowly pulled the
tie from Luis's collar and let it drop to the floor. Sheridan
un-tucked his shirt and started undoing the buttons. Luis started to
say something but she placed her finger gently on his lips and kissed
him again. He ran his fingers through her hair and cupped her face
with his hands while she kissed the exposed area of his chest and
finished undoing the buttons. She ran her hands down his chest and
over the well-defined muscles of his stomach. Sheridan pushed his
shirt over his broad shoulders and let it fall to the floor.
Luis was going crazy…he wanted Sheridan so badly. Sheridan knew she
held the power over Luis right now, but she wanted to share it. She
reached up and put her hand behind his head and pulled him in for
another deep kiss. He began to run his hands down her back and pulled
her as close to him as he could. She began working on his belt and she
slowly unzipped his pants. Luis pulled away from her mouth and moaned
her name. She continued to work his pants down and Luis kicked out of
them. He started planting kisses on her forehead and continued down
her face until he reached her neck. Sheridan groaned softly at feeling
his kiss and felt the chills run up her spine. She gently raked her
nails down Luis's back causing Goosebumps to form on his skin. Luis
worked his way back up to kiss her lips again and Sheridan began toying
with the waistband on his silk boxers. They both felt the heat
radiating between them. Luis scooped Sheridan up and led her over to
the bed and laid her down gently. He lowered himself down onto her
body and began planting a trail of kisses over her entire body.
Sheridan ruffled his hair with her fingers and moaned at his gentle
kiss. He met her mouth again with a fiery kiss. She took charge again
and flipped them over. She ran her hands down his torso and made her
way to his boxers again. Sheridan relieved Luis of his final article
of clothing and met his eyes and looked deeply into them. She lowered
herself to kiss him and Luis flipped her back over and the two began
making wild and passionate love.
I remember the first time I held you all night long
We're still here now but where have all the years gone
Holding you this way tonight
It's easy to see why
All this time
We held on
To each other
We knew we had to be strong
All this time
Through the tears and the laughter
It's still forever after
All this time
Sheridan lay wrapped in Luis's arms and had her head resting on his
chest. "So, are you sorry that we went to our dinner first?" She
teased. She felt his embrace get tighter.
"Are you kidding? That was WELL worth the wait! I didn't think it was
possible for me to love you anymore than I already did, but I think
tonight proved that my love for you grows each and everyday."
Sheridan interlocked her fingers with his and brought his hand to her
mouth and kissed it. "I love you more than anything in this entire
universe. Happy Anniversary, Luis."
"Happy Anniversary." The two lay wrapped in each other's embrace and
drifted to sleep.
In this fast movin' world
Love is made and just thrown away
But we've always kept the promises that we made
Who would've thought you and me
Would still be here where we said we would be
All this time
We held on
To each other
We knew we had to be strong
All this time
Through the tears and the laughter
It's still forever after
All this time
It's still forever after
All this time
Nine months later Luis rushed to the hospital when he heard the news.
Sheridan water had broken and she was in labor. He was at her side the
whole time as she gave birth to their daughter, Hannah.
Sheridan was holding the baby in her arms when Luis came in. "Hey, how
are my girls?" She looked up and smiled at Luis.
"We…are great!" Luis walked over to Sheridan and the baby. He stared
in wonderment at the two of them and felt tears forming in his eyes.
He was so happy to see their perfect baby lying in Sheridan's arms.
Sheridan looked up at Luis and noticed his tears.
"Hey, what's wrong, sweetie?"
"Nothing. I'm just amazed at how perfect she is. I always knew our
love was amazing, but for it to produce something as beautiful as
Hannah, well, that's miraculous." Sheridan felt her eyes well up with
happy tears. Luis leaned down and kissed Sheridan and then he kissed
his daughter. "Welcome to the world, Hannah."
"I love you, Luis."
"I love you, too. Forever and always." He kissed Sheridan again and
they continued to sit in the hospital room together that day…as afamily.
~The End~
