Sheridan dropped the remote on the coffee table with a heavy sigh. Everything on TV during the day was incredibly boring; it was either unintelligible soap operas, boring game shows or Hicksville in the form of talk shows. Whoever allowed some of this stuff to be on TV certainly wasn’t one of the brighter people in the world and NBC was definitely not one of the leading names for daytime TV anymore. She closed her eyes, running her hands over the swell of her stomach; she was tired of feeling like she swallowed a watermelon. She felt as fat as a hippo and just knew that she had to be at the zoo! It certainly didn’t help that with the late-April thaw came an amazing amount of humidity, which made breathing feel impossible.

And with her eyes closed, she could see the dreadful doctors appointment from two weeks ago, the one that made her wish she had never gotten pregnant with twins. The one that made Luis whoop for joy as he gave her his ‘I told you so’ look!

The one where Dr. Hamilton sentenced her to…

BED REST.

Sheridan tried to settle comfortably onto the cold tabletop, her left hand clinging to Luis’ right one as he caressed her stomach with the other. She loved the feel of his strong, callused hands on her skin, the way he protectively shielded their babies. Their eyes connected and he leaned in for a kiss, his hand sliding around her waist. They had been intimate only once or twice during her pregnancy, his fear of hurting her or their children outweighing his need for her.

“Ahem,” the doctor entered, her nurse behind her. Both were smirking as the pair pulled apart quickly.

“Morning, Dr. Hamilton,” Sheridan straightened the ugly gown she was in, again squeezing Luis’ hand.

“I hear you’ve been getting dizzy again, Sheridan,” the doctor gave her that look. What was it with the parental ‘You should know better’ look she was getting lately?

“She’s been trying to hide it too. Her TA at the school says she blacked out during lunch twice in the last week,” Luis gave her a similar look. The nurse gave her one of pity, at least *someone* wasn’t going to scold her!

“All right,” the doctor picked up the sphygmomanometer sliding it around Sheridan’s upper arm and shutting it. Usually she would have had this work done by a nurse, but she was worried about Sheridan. There was a chance she could be toxemic or preeclamptic or both! She wasn’t going to sacrifice a patient because she couldn’t take two minutes for a blood pressure. She grimaced when she saw the numbers. “Lauren, One-forty-five over ninety-five.”

Lauren scribbled it down, trying not to show her own reaction to the numbers.

“Is that high?” Luis asked.

Dr. Hamilton nodded. “Sheridan, I’m going to ask some questions and you have to be *completely* honest with me. All right?”

Sheridan nodded slightly, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

“Have you noticed any water retention or sudden weight gains? More than two pounds a week?”

“I’m pregnant, I’ve been gaining weight and water like a whale,” she pouted, her lower lip quivering. Luis started rubbing her lower back soothingly.

“She hasn’t put on a lot of weight, she doesn’t always feel like eating. I think she may have lost a pound this week.”

“All right,” the doctor made a note. “Headaches?”

“Almost daily,” Sheridan sighed.

“Nausea or vomiting?”

“Sometimes I feel a little nauseous, mostly when I get dizzy.”

“Vision changes?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted.

“Confusion? Anxiety? Trouble breathing?”

“No,” she shook her head.

“Any stomach or shoulder pain?” the doctor looked into Sheridan’s eyes.

“No…well yesterday my right shoulder hurt for a little while, but it stopped in like five minutes,” she replied.

“Lower back pain?”

“Isn’t that normal?” Luis interrupted.

“It can also be the sign of something else,” she looked at Sheridan.

“Not unbearable,” she whispered.

Dr. Hamilton sighed; even without the protein dip or the reflex check she had enough to call it was it was. A horse was going to be a horse no matter how many times they look around and try to make it a duck! “Well, when Luis called and told me you were blacking out I had a feeling I knew what this was,” she hugged Sheridan’s chart close. “Sheridan has preeclampsia, which isn’t completely abnormal for some women, especially those carrying twins.”

“What does that mean?” Luis asked, panicking.

“Sheridan needs as little stress in her life right now as possible,” she replied, patting Sher’s knee. “I’m going to ask you to enforce strict bed rest from now until she goes into labor. I’ll also be prescribing a medication to help maintain her blood pressure,” she out a prescription quickly. “Preeclamptic women face many complications during pregnancy but can go on and have a perfectly healthy child. In Sheridan’s case, the twins are causing excess stress on her system. She needs to stay away from work, off her feet as much as possible and relaxing. There is nothing we can do to cure this until the twins are born, so you *must* follow my orders for the safety of all three lives.”

Sheridan’s eyes teared. “Will…will the twins be ok?”

“As long as you follow my orders everyone will come through this just fine. What you need to watch for is continuous pain in the right shoulder, under the right rib cage, or back. I’m going to ask you to go to a lab,” she wrote down another name on a paper, “for a urine test. They’ll test for excess protein in her system, which can mean kidney problems. Right now we can’t do anything else because delivery is the only cure. The twins would never survive being four months premature. However, if by Sheridan’s late seventh or early eighth month there is no sign of improvement, we will have to induce labor and section.”

Sheridan’s lip quivered again, the tears rolling down her cheeks. “All right. I won’t do anything to jeopardize my children.”

Luis was just in shock. “Is that it? There’s nothing else we can do?”

The doctor just shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Luis.”

Luis had made Sheridan take baby steps to the car after that, insisting she not walk to fast and injure herself of the children. Then he called her school and told them the doctor put Sheridan on bed rest until the end of her pregnancy. Fortunately, she had an understanding boss that was willing to extend her maternity leave…

At least for medical reasons.

And now she just sat here, waiting for the sporadic checks that friends and family would do during the day. Luis called precisely at ten am, telling her would be home to spend lunch with her. Ivy would pop in as she passed their house from the Club or shopping, making sure her “favorite sister-in-law” was resting; Sheridan didn’t have the heart to tell her she was her only sister-in-law. Grace and Pilar always arrived about the same time, some time after Luis left but before he returned home for dinner. Unfortunately, Grace always brought a tomato soup cake and some form of casserole so Sheridan wouldn’t need to cook. The woman always took it as a good sign that the food was gone when she returned the following afternoon with something else.

“Someone must have really liked all that! I must bring you the recipe.”

Sheridan rolled her eyes, opening them to look at the blank TV. Grace was a tad bit dense sometimes and Colin was afraid that one day his mother might actually make him eat something Grace Bennett made. Not that she ever would; no one really ate her food and lived to tell about it…

Well not the first time. Sam even admitted that his first time eating Grace’s Tomato Soup Cake had left him with stomach cramps for a week. Of course, over time he became immune (though the dog they once owned hadn’t) and he learned to eat two bites and seek out the garbage.

Glancing at the clock, she realized it was awfully late for no one having checked on her thus far today. She was sure someone would; no one had missed a day in the two weeks she had been trapped in this house. She knew they wouldn’t start now. With a sigh, she picked up a catalogue and started leafing through it, looking at page after page of the cutest baby clothing in the world. Lacy dresses, flowered jumpers and a set of Anne Geddes clothing that included a hat with bunny ears and a tail! She was practically salivating over the items, wanting two of each (in opposing colors off course) for her daughters. She was just about to reach for the phone and her MasterCard when the doorbell rang followed by that voice…

Beth Wallace.

“Hi, Sheridan, Pilar asked me to come over and bring you and Luis lunch,” she checked her watch. “I know it’s eleven thirty, but the twelve o’clock hour is extremely busy at the Café.”

Sheridan looked over at the woman, trying her best not to look angry. The woman that had been a best friend to her for over a year was now the woman she couldn’t stand. Luis had ruined their friendship in his hesitating about his feelings for Beth. Biting on the inside of her lip, she forced a smile. “That was very kind of you, Beth. Is Pilar not coming?”

“Nope, health inspections today,” she placed the food on the coffee table, looking a little uncomfortable. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Sheridan replied curtly. “Sorry, I’m tired today and it’s annoying to have nothing to do but sit here. I feel useless.”

“It’s all right. I know how active you liked being. I’m sure I would have been frustrated as well.” She looked around, noticing the toys and things on the floor. “Would you like me to put Colin’s toys away?”

Sheridan shook her head. “He knows he has cleaning to do when he gets home.”

That ended that conversation.

“I guess I should go,” Beth motioned for the door.

“Thank you for the lunch, Beth.”

“It was nothing; I just hope I selected things you and Luis both liked. I tried to remember what you two ordered regularly.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Sheridan’s smile fell. “See you, Beth.”

She nodded, leaving.

Sheridan felt guilty for only a minute before she pushed herself off of her chair and headed for the kitchen. If it was almost noon, Luis would be home soon and she wanted to have a special lunch today. Candles…music…and water. Well, it would be a great lunch together and perhaps, just maybe, Luis would touch her the way he used to before he became such a worrywart…

Just maybe.

Luis sat at his desk, gazing at a picture of his beloved wife taken just a few weeks before at Easter. Little Colin say beside her, his big brown eyes dancing mischievously as he eyed his basket of candy and treats. Just one of the many baskets he had received that day from family and friends. In fact, that child had claimed seven baskets of candy, two new trucks and an autographed football from the Patriots. Of course Luis had taken the ball to his bedroom in awe. The Super Bowl winning team had signed the football and his son just didn’t realize what that meant.

With a sigh, he traced the swell of Sheridan’s stomach in the photo. His daughters were putting Sheridan in extreme danger and that frightened him. He hated not having control over his life, his family, and pregnancy was definitely one of the least controllable aspects. More than anything, Luis hated seeing Sheridan in pain. He was her hero, her strength, but he couldn’t be all of that when he found himself crying at night over the chance he could lose her. The doctor had warned him that Sheridan could be in grave danger if she refused to cooperate and she would have to be hospitalized. Sheridan would seriously hate that and he would miss her dreadfully…

He prayed it never went that far.

“Hey, Detective LoFitz, this just arrived for you. Some messenger service dropped it off,” one of the rookies called, tossing Luis the package marked fragile.

Luis sighed, catching the package and praying it wasn’t damaged. “Did he say what it was? Who it was from? What case it pertains to?” Luis asked, looking at the man. Sometimes these rookies were so clueless and other times…ok they were pretty much always clueless.

“Nope, not a word. Just said it was for you, made me sign for it,” he shrugged, walking away.

Luis groaned; looking the envelope over. It didn’t seem tainted, sealed and marked by the postal service. The name as clearly scrawled Detective Lopez-Fitzgerald with no return address and nothing else: just his name. With a slight shrug, he decided to open it. Immediately he broke the seal of glue and turned the envelope upside down.

With a slight bang, a cassette tape fell from the package followed by a note. He lifted the small piece of paper up, the black typed page staring him in the face. Five simple words lay there without a signature:

For the Martin Fitzgerald Case.

Nothing more, nothing less; just give words dancing in their neat line. His eyebrows creased as he picked up the unmarked cassette and turned it over in his hand. How was this one tape supposed to help him discover what would happen to his father? Who would have come across any information pertaining to this case and why did they choose now, some seventeen years after his father’s disappearance, to release any information? Looking around, he realized he once again was missing his boom box; not that he was really surprised. More than once he had come in to find the break room was now the home for it: his radio, his portable TV…his phone. It seemed that whenever the guys needed to borrow something, they borrowed it from him.

Getting up, Luis trudged over to the hallway and looked around for someone to fetch him the radio. He wasn’t having much luck, seeing as how it was almost noon and most of the men were heading for lunch break. If crooks were smart, now was the time to strike. Most of the force would be away from the office and a person could be halfway to Castleton by time the report came over the CB. Checking his watch, he realized it was time for him to leave to. Luis promised Sheridan he would be home at noon each day so that he could check on her, eat lunch with her and then make sure she was comfortable. Before he returned to work he would give her a massage, a kiss and then tuck her in for a nap, which he was sure she never took.

Grabbing his car keys and coat, Luis headed for his car, waving to Sam as he passed. “See ya at one, Sam,” he headed for the door.

“Be careful!” Sam called. “She’s hormonal.”

Luis laughed, rolling his eyes as he headed for his SUV. He couldn’t wait to get home to Sheridan and snuggle for a while over lunch. Meantime, he could pop this tape into the stereo in the car and see what it had to do with his father. Perhaps it was a taped confession, or just a message from Martin himself! Luis was almost giddy with excitement as he popped the black banned tape into the little machine and started the engine. Soft voices filled his car as he pulled out of the parking lot. In fifteen minutes he would be home…

And in five he’d have the shock of his life.

Sheridan waddled over to the radio, popping in some of their favorite CDs. Luis was due home in any minute and she couldn’t wait to see the shock in his face when he saw what she did. She had covered the coffee table with a white linen tablecloth, placing two electric candles (which they had discovered when Colin almost set the house on fire) in the center of the table. She also found one of the roses Luis had brought home the other night, still a bright red sitting in its beautiful crystal vase. Side by side on the couch end of the table, Sheridan placed two dishes with the food Beth had brought. Of course it was two sandwiches, chips, a soda and an apple juice, but it was food and she couldn’t be picky. She had closed the blind and turned on the radio, setting up their very favorite disks of romantic tunes.

Now all she was missing was one dashingly handsome husband! Checking the clock, she was surprised to see it was twenty after. Luis could usually make it home by a quarter after twelve, not always but most times. She knew that he took at least twenty minutes to a half hour to get back and forth, which never left them with much time. Still, half an hour was half an hour and she loved seeing him. Not that Sam docked him for being late or that Luis ever clocked in and out. Sam just trusted him and that’s how it was. It was nice being married to Harmony’s most trusted detective.

She heard a car skid into the driveway, bright blue eyes flashing with surprise. He was home! Grabbing the remote for the radio, she waddled over towards the front door. Pacing for a moment, she heard the door to his car slam shut, but no footsteps on the stairs. She waited a moment before peaking out the window.

Luis stood in the middle of the yard, his eyes glaring at the front door angrily. She had never seen him look so pensive and yet so upset before. Hesitantly, she headed for the front door. She hadn’t been kind to Beth that morning, but she was sure the woman hadn’t called Luis. If she had spoken to him, she knew the only thing Luis would want to know was whether or not Sheridan had been resting when the other woman arrived. Of course she had been for once, so Beth couldn’t and wouldn’t lie…

Or at least Sheridan was sure she couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Chewing on her lip nervously, Sheridan tried to figure out what could be keeping her husband from coming inside. Just then she noticed something she hadn’t before. The anger was only part of the emotion Luis was showing. On his cheeks were dried tear tracks, though occasionally one lonely tear would slide down his face and onto the cold ground below or his shirt. Stepping back, Sheridan made her way to the couch. Hopefully he would come inside soon and tell her what was wrong.

A minute or so later, the front door creaked open and Sheridan hit the play button on the radio. Standing, she turned to face her husband, surprised when she saw no emotion or recognition in his eyes. “Lu…Luis?”

Luis didn’t reply, just looked at his wife. She seemed so innocent standing there, her hands resting on the swell of her stomach, her crystal blue eyes pleading with him to say something. His brown eyes swept over the room, noticing the trouble she had gone to when she set the table, the way the curtains were closed and the candles cast a romantic glow on the couch. The sweet melody of the country song playing on the radio and the way she stood there just waiting.

But she could wait forever and he’d never be able to say what he was thinking. The song conflicted with every emotion that tore through his body; even with the love that he knew would always be in his heart was still burning for her, he felt something else…something more.

Sheridan took a step forward, but Luis put his hand up and seemed to just listen to the song. It had been forever since she had seen him this way; about the time she told him she couldn’t marry him. He had told her then that he couldn’t stand to be with her then and there, that being just a couple that dated and had sex wasn’t how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. She eventually pleaded with him to open his heart back up, but it hadn’t necessarily worked. Finally he let it go, accepting her again and now it was reminding her of that time. Crossing her arms, she rested them on the top of her stomach. “Please, say something,” she whispered.

Luis reached into his pocket, fingering the cassette he had popped in there on his way out of the car. Slowly he pulled it out, his eyes looking at the clear gray plastic, the black band inside containing evidence, though not strong, of a murder. His eye saddened as he traced the line at the top of the tape, a tear rolling down his cheek again.

“I had a lead today,” he said so softly Sheridan had to turn down the music. “It’s on a rather large case,” he replied, not sure if he wanted to reveal just how this affected them. Part of him wanted to play the tape, to let her hear what was on it so he could have her deny it. Another part said he shouldn’t it was technically wrong and against the rules, but this was something different.

“Which case? The homicide?” she asked, almost shutting off the music.

He motioned for her to let it play, needing to hear one last love song before he broke the news. His eyes met hers and he held up the tape. “You could say it’s for a homicide,” he admitted. “I really think you’d find it interesting.”

“I’m not allowed to listen to evidence tapes, Luis!” she insisted, her blue eyes wide with panic.

He laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, but trust me, Sheridan, you’ll want to hear this one.” He sounded bitter…and angry. It was a sound she’d never heard before and it frightened her; scared her so badly she shook. Luis had always been the strongest of the pair, the one that took control when things were going badly. When Colin was sick, when Sheridan had her miscarriage, when they needed to find little Ashley, Luis had been the one to steer them straight. Now he seemed so empty, so blank…

So lost.

“All right,” she paused.

Before the chorus could play again, Luis stopped the CD. He couldn’t listen to one more word, one more lie about how wonderful love was and how much he touched Sheridan’s life. Touched, he laughed aloud; he hadn’t touched anything. He wished he had never touched her! He wished that she wasn’t carrying his children, wasn’t the mother of the one they already had…

That they weren’t married! He wished that he could erase every moment of their past and start again, ignoring the fact that she had ever been in his life…

Or that she had ever been hypnotized by Eve.

Luis switched the radio over to tape player and popped the cassette inside. Hitting rewind, he watched Sheridan as she fidgeted. Somewhat caringly, his eyes softening just the slightest bit, “Why don’t you have a seat? You’re not going to be standing much longer, I can promise that.”

The venom in his voice made Sheridan immediately head for the armchair. She settled her aching bones into the fluffy chair and rubber her stomach gently. Her daughters slept soundly. Their kicking stilled by the fact they were completely at rest. ‘Finally,’ she thought, ‘finally they decide to take a nap.’

Luis stopped rewinding and hit play, his eyes flying to her.

Eve’s calming voice filled the room, her words trying to offer Sheridan some comfort as they delved into memories of the past. Vaguely Sheridan could make out Eve asking Sheridan what she sees, what she remembers and Sheridan easily describes the dark room, the fact that a man was coming for her and finally…

“I raised the letter opener over my head…”

Eve asked Sheridan what happened next, what she could see. But Sheridan’s voice whimpered that she didn’t remember, that the memory was broken there. Finally he heard the words that had nearly driven him off the road in his SUV…

“I did it! I killed Martin Fitzgerald! I killed Luis father!”

Sheridan gasped as Luis shut of the tape, her body shaking uncontrollably. “No,” she shook her head. “Luis, that can’t be!” she insisted. “Eve said…it was just dreams! She said those were only dreams!” Sheridan shrieked, her head starting to spin.

Luis looked at her, anger and worry etched into his handsome features. “You heard it yourself, Sheridan,” he replied sadly. “It was your words, your confession.”

“But…”

“I can’t believe it myself,” he interrupted, simply tracing the play button on the machine. “You were so young, only a child, and the chances that a letter opener would be able to kill a grown man are rather slim. You also said the man was coming at you, as if he was going to attack. I called your brother but he maintains he knew of no tape, knows nothing of that night. I’m sure he does, but this is one thing he won’t go down for. He’ll let you pay…”

“Luis…” she sobbed.

“I wasn’t going to tell you, I was just going to forget it, but I can’t. I can’t forget the pain in your voice as you made your claim. I’m going to call Eve…I need to know if it’s true. I need to know if you killed my father.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, looking at her stomach. “Do you think I did it?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “So you’ll understand if I spend the night in the guest room…or on the couch. I can’t be with you right now…”

“Luis!” she tried to get up, but the room started spinning.

He rushed to her side and then backed off. “I gotta leave.”

“Luis!”

“I need time to think. I need time to figure this all out,” he headed for the door. “I’ll have my cell on…I’ll send someone over…I just,” he shook his head and walked out.

Sheridan just sat there, staring at the tape that was still in the radio. That tape had been gone for over a year; Eve certainly wouldn’t have released it to anyone. So who would get hold of that tape and send it to Luis? Who would give it to him as part of a murder investigation he hadn’t even been pursuing? Had her father been alive she certainly would have believed he sent it. Only Alistair Crane could be so cruel, so avaricious that he would turn his daughter in to save himself. But he was gone, buried in the cold cemetery beside her mother; the one place Alistair Crane didn’t belong!

Pushing herself back up, Sheridan sat on the couch and she reached for the phone. She needed someone, anyone, to be here right now. But for her life she couldn’t come up with a phone number. Her mind was numb from the information she was trying to absorb; she was in too much pain thinking about Luis and how he was out there alone right now. She had no idea where he would be, no clue if he would be safe in his travel. Worst of all she was starting to feel dizzy again, starting to feel the throb of a headache.

Sheridan immediately hid her speed dial and found it dialing 911. Closing her eyes she listened to the woman on the other end of the line giving instructions.

“What’s your emergency?”

“I…I’m preeclamptic and…” she paused. “I…” she dropped the phone, sliding from the couch and crumpling in a heap on the floor.

“Ma’am? Ma’am??? We’re dispatching a unit right away ma’am. We have your location. If you can respond, please return to the phone…”

But Sheridan wasn’t hearing the words of the woman on the line…she wasn’t seeing anything but the blackness of unconsciousness.

Luis’ cell phone rang about fifteen minutes later as he stood at the edge of the Harmony bluffs overlooking the water, but he ignored it not wanting the interruption while he was trying to sort out his emotions and feelings. The crystal blue of the ocean and sky reminded him of Sheridan’s beautiful eyes. The way the colors seemed so blended, so beautiful. He sighed; he wished he could apologize but nothing was ever going to make this right again…

Nothing…

Even if she didn’t do it, he had made it seem like she had, which was just as bad. His belief in her was failing and he hated that. Sheridan was his whole world, his life! Yet he let her go, made her hurt.

Starting for his car, Luis realized he just had to get home to her. He might not know what to believe, what to do about everything that happened today, but he knew he loved her still and that he left her in grave danger. Luis felt like such a jerk hurting her that way, making her worry and feel so sick when she was already ill enough without his help.

His cell rang and he looked down at it. The number was Sam’s.

“Lopez-Fitzgerald.”

“Luis, it’s Sam.”

Hadn’t his boss ever heard of Caller ID? “Hey, Sam. What’s up?”

“Luis…It’s Sheridan…”

And that’s all he had a chance to say before Luis was sprinting for his car, the phone back in his pocket and he rushed to his wife.

Luis looked into Sheridan’s room. She was asleep, an IV dripping into her arm and her face pale from exertion. Dr. Hamilton had greeted Luis, her prognosis very good for Sheridan. However, she recommended at least a week in the hospital and Luis was almost blissful for the short time away from his wife. He loved her, but he needed time to think and with Sheridan being cared for here, he would have more time for himself.

“Luis, mijo, how is she?” Pilar asked as she joined him, Ethan and Theresa skidding to a stop behind her. All of them looked terrified, eyes filled with unshed tears as they peeked into the room where Sheridan lay.

Luis just shrugged, not knowing what to say. He didn’t want to discuss everything that happened, wasn’t ready to admit he might have cause his wife to be hospitalized because he played the hypnosis tape. So he told them what he knew. “Alive.”

The trio looked at him confused; he was behaving so oddly, almost as if he didn’t care..

“I can’t stay,” Luis handed the rose to his mother. “If she wakes, tell her I’ll be back later. I have work to do and stuff…”

“And that you love her?” Theresa asked, grabbing his arm before he could walk away.

Luis looked into the room. Did he love her? Yes. Did he want to have someone else tell her that? No. Right now he just wanted to think and he wanted o be away from his family. “No, just that I’ll be back later,” he left without another word.

No one said anything, just watched him leave but all wondered the same thing:

What was happening to Luis and Sheridan?

Chapter Four