Frozen in Time, Chapter 2 In Too Deep It was a night like any other
at the Deep. Music playing....couples dancing........two people staring blankly at
each other like deer in the path of a speeding truck....
Antonio and Gabi's hearts were pounding as their eyes locked in the middle
of an awkward silence. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it was enough
to spark a nervous lapse of greeting amnesia.
Antonio: Hey, Gabi!
Gabi: Hey...why don't we sit down?
Antonio: Yes, sitting! Sitting is good! Especially when you're really....tense!
Not that I ..... amin fact, tense, but....that would be...great? (Shut up,
shut up, Antonio!)
Gabi: (they sit at a table) Yeah.......so.......tomorrow's the big day, huh?
Antonio: (Knife in Gut #1) Yup! Probably the first wedding South Bay has
ever seen, right?
Gabi: Yeah....well, you'll be the first priest to ever marry two people who love
each other in a hospital room, huh?
Antonio: (Knife in Gut # 2) Yeah....it's a milestone for me.........it sure is !
....Stop it! Stop saying these things and wincing inside! Say something
and mean it, for once in your miserable existence! Tell her how you
really feel!!
Antonio: I've never been so happy in my life!
Gabi smiled wistfully. She couldn't ask for this to go any better! Antonio was
happy, their affair was forgotten....and militant commando butterflies had taken
over her insides. God, why was she so edgy?
....No.....I'm not attracted to him. Not in the
least. I care about him....I love Ricardo. But I just have to up the ante and make
sure!
Annoyingly Chipper Waitress: Hi-ee! Would you two like to try our dollar
shots tonight?
Gabi and Antonio: NO!!
Annoyingly Chipper Waitress: Uh.....'kay....no prob.....
God, no! I'm not even gonna go
there......think, Gabi, think! That's it...I know just the way to prove I don't
have feelings for him! If I can get through this, I'm home
free.....
Gabi: Let's dance.
Antonio: What? Oh, no....I don't think so, Gabi....I can't dance to save my
life.
Gabi: Come on! We've got celebrating to do, for my future! Now get out on
that floor before I have to drag you! Come on, Antonio!! You just have to get in
touch with your inner flamenco dancer.
Antonio: Oh, yeah, that'll happen! I only know one dance move. I call it
making fists and running in place.
Gabi: Please?
Antonio: (I can say no to you. I have will power.) Alright.....
He shyly rose from the table and started scuffling for the dance floor. He
trembled when she took his hand and started leading the way. The song was
infectiously seductive....
*Gimme your heart, make it real, or else forget about it.....*
Gabi was spinning and turning all around....Antonio just froze there,
watching her in astonishment.
Gabi: Hey! Are you modeling for a Wheaties box or dancing??
She took both his hands and attempted to move with him, and he stepped
right on her foot.
Antonio: Oh!! I'm sorry!
Gabi: Hey, at least I got you to move, didn't I?
*I would give my world, to lift you up/ I could change my life to better suit
your mood.....*
Suddenly, he felt a little bit braver. She always had the power to spark his
ambitions....and now he was determined to dance....
Interlude In the
Power Plant.....
Tyus: You're....Francesca's husband??
Phillip put his arm around the cryogenic chamber.
Phillip: Ah, yes. Don't we make a lovely couple? When two people are
presumed dead, they're just meant for each other, you know? It's actually almost
a year to the day I took that ill-fated voyage. How I survived doesn't even
matter. I just knew that my wench of a wife had lived, and rooted herself within
the proximity of Cole St. John, who, like the plague he is, undoubtedly refused to
die. Well, I suppose she got her comeuppance for wooing that filthy scoundrel
when a certain local business tycoon with a few screws loose shot her.
....I decided to further investigate her so-called murder. My search ended in
your office, Dr. Robinson....where I discovered some definite inconsistencies in
her autopsy report.....and the address of your secret lab. Isn't that right?
Tyus: Yes...it's true. Francesca flatlined after she was shot. She was
dead....or so I thought. I discovered that she was in a deep coma.....and the
perfect subject for my...experiment.
Phillip: So you turned her into your very own Walt Disney in a jar. You hear
that, honey? (knocks on glass) How ironic that a physician-surgeon-neurologist
extraordinaire like youself had the time to dabble in cryogenics as well? But you
see, now you're going to help me get her back.
Tyus: It's...it's too soon. If you were to interupt the cryogenic process now,
she wouldn't be able to survive without at least a heart transplant....
Phillip: Well, what do you know? I'd say you're just the man for the
operation, Doctor. Unless you'd like to object.....(aims gun)
Tyus: Please, listen to me...it's impossible to do that. We would have to find
a compatible deceased donor, and the waiting list is--
Phillip: (Hands him a laptop) Easily accessible? Why don't you try and find
a match, before I kill you?
Tyus typed with shaking hands. He had to play along, at least for now...until
he could find a way to escape.
Tyus: Francesca's blood type.......it's very rare......just as I feared. There
aren't any deceased donors that match....
Phillip: Fine. Then we'll just have to use a live donor.....
Tyus: What?? Are you insane?! They'd die!!
Phillip: Scour your patient profiles. Find one, do it!!
Tyus brought up the files of almost every resident in Sunset Beach....hoping
that there would be no matches....but his prayers went unanswered when he
opened the T files......
8675309 B.T. SCAN//////vargas, francesca 8675309
///Name: TORRES, ANTONIO SALVADOR ///Blood Type: AB NEGATIVE Phillip: My God......Father Antonio Torres.
The priest survived his own cruise from hell. How convenient....and absolutely
perfect! I can reclaim Francesca AND get my revenge on the charitable wretch
that caused all of this!!
You'll perform the operation, Dr. Robinson. Believe me, you will. Poor,
pathetic Antonio....he's about to have his generous heart surgically
removed..........
Antonio gave Gabi a smitten grin.
Antonio: Do you tango?
Gabi: What?
He dipped her with his hand around her waist and pulled her up in an
instant.
Gabi: Oh!! (smiles) Where did that come from?!
Antonio: I'm inspired.
She didn't even have time to say anything else. He lead her in one direction,
then the other....she found her hand on his chest and shivered.........
What am I doing? I'm losing it here......I can't
keep dancing with him like this...I can't fall for him again!
Before Gabi could plot her escape, a crowd was starting to surround
them....she scanned it nervously for anyone that knew them, but her plan was
foiled when she looked into his eyes and he was staring into her heart.
For a moment....just one moment....her inhibitions melted away....and she
danced with him. She brushed against him with every turn of the tango and
never looked away from him. Before the song was over, one last twirl ended
with her in his arms, and the crowd around them went wild with applause.
She felt a rush of happiness as they cheered, and then sadness......she had
never seen his eyes so lit up in months.... and this time it was geniune. She
kissed him lightly on the cheek and sighed....feeling buried words rising to the
surface that couldn't be said.
Gabi: Thank you, Antonio......thank you for....making the night before my
wedding so special.
The crowd dispersed....Antonio felt his heart drop. Ricardo! He was
trapped in a hospital bed... possibly never able to dance again. And here he
was...trying to cajole his fiance like some hopeless romantic... again. Again!!
Trying to ruin everything...hurting Ricardo!! And for what? Unrequited love??
Antonio: I......I gotta go!!
Gabi: Antonio! Where are you going??
Antonio: I shouldn't have..I..I can't do this anymore.....
Gabi: Do what?
Antonio: Be an absolute moron, a traitor of a brother, a horrible man of
God....
Gabi: I....I had no idea you still......
She tried to act surprised, when she knew exactly what was inside him.
Antonio: (eyes tearing up) I can't say goodbye anymore. And that's what this
is, isn't it? Just another ending for us. A resolution that never comes....closure I
can never find....just more questions.....that's all! I keep beating it to death....
and even now....even after what happened to Ricardo....I'm still taking
advantage of you!!
Gabi: Taking advantage?? Is that what you call the way you feel?
Antonio: The way I feel?? Gabi, can't you see? That's what's been the ruin
of us all....me and my idiotic feelings!
He turned away from her and practically ran towards the door.
Gabi: Antonio!! Antonio, wait!! I can't let you go....why can't I let you
go??
Every instinct in her told her to go after him. And she did.
As she ran for the door, the Deep buzzed with talk of the adorable couple
who had gotten every person's heart fluttering with the music at the sight of their
tango......
And a predator waited in the night......
TO BE CONTINUED.......:-)