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......