“Luis,” she said breathlessly. The pain was sharper than ever and she was panting hard. The feel of his arms brought her some comfort and the cologne he had on filled her nostrils and calmed her. She would never feel his kiss again and was content to be with him these last few moments.

“Hang on, Sheridan, hang on,” Luis reached over to the phone on the table. Dialing quickly, he demanded an ambulance. The second he could, he hung up and tried to stem the blood flow, but he couldn’t. From her back and chest the blood continued to pour out.

“It’s too late,” she whimpered, the pain causing her to stiffen slightly. Her coughing caused some blood to leak from the side of her mouth. She knew it was her last moments; she had to say goodbye.

“No, no it isn’t, you hold on damn it, you hold on.” Luis was begging and forceful all at once. He couldn’t let her die, not now, not ever. She was going to make it. She had to.

Sheridan couldn’t hold on much longer, she had been fighting the pain and the weakness for a while now. Trying to see Luis one last time had been wearing her out. “Kiss me…one last kiss.”

“No, you can’t say goodbye, Sheridan, you can’t!” Large, fat tears poured down his cheeks.

“Please kiss me,” she gasped. She needed to feel his lips on hers before she died. The fortuneteller might have been right about her dying young, but the last two days had made her very happy.

Luis pulled her closer and kissed her lips lightly. Leaning his forehead on hers, he whispered, “I can’t.”

“Please,” she cried. “I can’t fight it.” She coughed again, pain shooting through her body.

He kissed her again, this time with all the love and passion he had inside. He felt his tears fall and knew they were hitting her cheeks. Pulling back slowly, he couldn’t help but sob.

“I love you,” she said softly, her words coming out in a puff of air. Her goodbye; she was saying goodbye.

“I love you too, Sheridan,” he started rocking her. “Please don’t leave me. I’ll miss you too much.”

“I’ll always be here,” she closed her eyes. “Always.”

He cradled her closer as her body fell limp in his arm. He sobbed and pulled her closer; his shoulders shaking. “NO!” he yelled. “NO!”

“I thought you said you were taking Luis out of here…what happened?” Sam was worried now. If Freeman was here, Luis had to be around.

Freeman turned around and shook his head. “He knew…he said something was wrong.”

“What?”

“We were almost to the airport when Officer Lopez-Fitzgerald said he had this feeling that something was wrong with Ms. Crane. I didn’t believe him, said it was his overactive mind and he needed rest. He forced me to return to the cottage and by time we returned it was too late. Hank was leaving the cottage and Luis immediately went inside.”

“Where is my brother?” Sam asked looking around.

“Gone,” Hal replied looking at Luis. “He is too,” he motioned to the cop.

Sam looked inside for the first time and saw Luis sitting beside the puddle of blood with Sheridan cradled in his arms as an EMT begged him to release her. Luis just rocked, not acknowledging another person in the room as the blood from Sheridan’s body seeped into his own clothing.

“Shh…she’s sleeping,” he whispered, rocking some more, crying silently.

“Chief Bennett, can you get this man off of her? He won’t let us near her,” a young EMT begged Sam. His dark brown eyes were showing a pain that told Sam it didn’t look good for her.

Sam walked inside and knelt beside Luis. “Sheridan needs help, Luis.” He touched his friend’s shoulder.

Luis looked up, his eyes red and puffy. “They’ll bring her back?” He sounded like a child that was losing his favorite puppy.

Sam nodded and caught Luis’ eyes. He was taken back by the pain and sadness he saw there. “Yes, now let the man take care of her.”

Luis gently placed Sheridan back on the floor and watched the EMT for a moment before getting up. His grief became replaced by anger when he saw Freeman at the doorway. “Where the hell is he?” he snapped back into reality.

“Who?” Sam asked.

“You’re no good brother! HE LEFT HER! I want to know who shot her Sam and I want to know right now!”

“Luis, calm down,” Sam replied, avoiding the question. In all honesty, he too wanted to know where his brother went. In fact, he would like to know his excuse for leaving Sheridan. Heaven help him if Luis found him first, there would be no controlling his friend’s rage.

“CALM DOWN!?” Luis was practically screaming. “SHE’S…”

“Gone,” the EMT shook his head and they wheeled the body out, a sheet over her. A female EMT touched Luis’ arm on the way out, whispering that she wished they could have helped.

Luis watched, his eyes glowing in anger as his fists clamped at his side. “Whoever did this to her will pay…” he growled through clenched teeth, forcing the pain beneath the anger.

“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice growled from the doorway. He knew who it was and he also knew there was no denying what would happen.

“Leaving,” Hank replied. He had to keep Luis in the dark, had to!

“That’s what you think, buddy,” the words were filled with sarcasm. “You let her die, Hank. You let her die. What did you do, help them?”

Hank didn’t think Luis knew how close to the truth he really was. “I was falling for her, man.”

“Yea, well I loved her. She was the only thing worth living for!” Luis was falling apart. “I wanna know how they killed her…how did they get to her?”

“You really wanna know, Luis?”

“I want them to pay,” fire lit his eyes and anger laced in voice.

“Fine,” Hank spun and pulled out the gun from his nightstand. “I did it. I killed her. Are you happy now?” He dropped the firearm onto the bed.

Luis froze in his place. This was not what he expected in the least. “You…you?”

“Me. I missed her with the first shot, sailed clear over her shoulder. Second one hit her right in the heart. She wasn’t dead yet. Not even close, but fading. She was in so much pain and crying, begging me to save her. I couldn’t. I wanted to, but Pierre came in and told me to finish my job. I had to kill her, but I couldn’t shoot her again. Then you called. She wanted to say goodbye. She wanted me to let her talk to you one last time. That was too much. I told her no and she damned me and crawled to the phone. She almost had it too, but I shot one last time, right in the back. She fell and Pierre pulled me out of the cottage. I killed her, Luis, and I did it because of you.” He lied, but he was convincing and he could tell Luis bought the story.

Luis didn’t know what to do first, but he looked at Hank with hate in his eyes and started for him.

“It’s your own fault, Luis. I would have never been able to kill her if you hadn’t stolen her away. I would have left her alone, tried to make a play, if you would have only learned to stay away. But no, the all mighty Lopez-Fitzgerald wasn’t happy with Beth or all the other women in this town fawning over him. He had to have the one woman I wanted too!” He was pushing it, but this had to be said.

“I loved her…she loved me. You killed her,” he lunged at him. Nothing mattered anymore. Sheridan was dead and his life was over. Without her he was nothing.

Hank didn’t move fast enough and Luis tackled him. Swinging wildly, Luis started pounding on his former best friend’s face, making sure he knew what each punch was for. “For the shot in the chest, the one in the back, the one that missed, for not letting her say goodbye, for taking her away!” he screamed.

Hank tried to fight back, but Luis was too strong and he didn’t stand a chance. He continued to feel blow after blow hit his face and chest. Finally, he felt something throw Luis off.

“You could have killed him!” Sam’s voice growled at Luis.

“It would have been fair that way,” Luis glared at Sam. “He killed her, that bastard killed her and I want his head on a silver platter.”

“What are you talking about, Luis?” Sam asked, dragging his baby brother off the floor. “Hank was protecting her.”

“HE SHOT HER!” Luis screamed.

Sam looked from Luis’ angry face, to Hank’s battered one. Hank looked away under the glare from his brother. “Tell me he’s wrong, Hank. Tell me you weren’t there when Sheridan Crane was shot.”

Hank knew he had to keep this going and that Hal would bail him out later. Looking at Luis, he knew he had to continue lying. “I did it, Sam. I shot Sheridan Crane.”

Sam’s eyes became cold and he pulled a pair of cuffs from his waistband. “Hank Bennett, you’re under arrest for the murder of Sheridan Crane. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say and do can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”

“Yea, Sam,” Hank hung his head in shame. “I do.”

Sam placed the cuffs on Hank’s wrists and began to lead him from the room. “And Officer,” he said coldly to Luis, “expect punishment for your behavior.”

Luis looked at Hank and then Sam. “Worth it, Chief Bennett…worth it,” and brushed past the two.

He continued to walk; stopping at the place he kissed her on the wharf. God, she had looked beautiful tonight, even in the jeans, spaghetti strap shirt and button up blouse. Looking out across the cold water, he thought of her beautiful blue eyes, so bright this evening. A tear rolled down his cheek. He almost didn’t get to tell her. Damn it, he should have said it sooner.

“But she knew,” a voice inside him said. The voice was right; Sheridan knew.

**Flashback**
He followed her into the kitchen and snaked his arms around her waist. God, she smelled good. Thank goodness he convinced Hal they needed some coffee.

She tilted her head back slightly and placed her hands over his. “You know, you’re really not making this easy,” she said sweetly as she leaned back against his chest.

He chuckled slightly and kissed her cheek. “That’s too bad, if I’ve got to suffer so do you.” He placed his head on her shoulder. “I can’t stand that I’ve got to be away from you for a whole night…especially this night.” He rocked them slightly.

She loved being in his arms and picked her head up, turning to him slightly. “We’ll just make tomorrow night our first night together.”

“Yea if I don’t die from missing you by then,” he pressed a kiss to her ear.

“Don’t even tease about that,” she stepped out of his arms and turned to face him completely. “I want you to come home from Washington safe and sound.” Neither of them missed the fact that she meant her cottage as his home.

“Oh don’t worry about it. I’d walk the whole way if I had to,” he vowed.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” she asked with a smile playing on her lips and a twinkle in her eye.

“You can bet on it,” he shrugged his shoulders and stepped closer. Catching her face between his hands and sliding them down to her shoulders, he continued, “Look, do you have any idea how I feel about you?”

She nodded. “I think I do…and I feel the same way. I know we’ll only be apart one day.

” “Yea and it’s going to be the longest twenty-four hours of my life. By this time tomorrow, we’ll both be here together just like this.” He smiled smugly at her.

“Well I hope not completely like this,” she rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

“Yea well, there’s not going to be an FBI agent in the car and Hank’s not going to be in the living room, and you and I will be in another room, hopefully, not making coffee,” he seductively replied

. They leaned in and shared a short sweet kiss.

“Just when I thought your kisses couldn’t get any sweeter,” he smiled slightly.

She traced his cheek and lips. “Remember that kiss when we’re apart, Luis,” she looked deep into his eyes. “Remember how I feel about you.”

“I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to…and I don’t.” They shared another peck.

**End Flashback**

They had joked after that, about his lousy attempt at eggs Benedict and shared another peck on the lips. Leaving the kitchen hand in hand, he had whispered, “Tomorrow night we’re pretending we’re not home…” causing them both to laugh.

“Would you stop asking Hank to look after me? He would do that any way silly…you couldn’t be leaving me in better hands.”

How wrong she had been. “Damn it, she trusted him…I promised to protect her. To never let someone hurt her again. Why did I leave?”

“Why did you?” a voice laced with pain asked from behind him.

Luis turned around to come face to face with Ethan Crane. “I didn’t want to.”

“She trusted you…she believed that you would protect her.”

“I didn’t want to leave her damn it!” Luis screamed. The pain was killing him. “He said I had to, promised we’d be back soon. She wasn’t in danger…Hal said she wasn’t.”

Ethan swung and hit him in the jaw. “You’re a bastard, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, and I swear to God that I will bring you and that stupid police chief down. All you worry about is that damn promotion. You let Sheridan die!”

Luis didn’t even retaliate. “Do whatever you want, Mr. Crane,” he actually sniffled and turned back to the water. “Nothing matters anymore.”

Ethan was shocked. Luis wasn’t even defending himself. It was almost as if he lost something when Sheridan died. “Did something change between you two?”

Luis fought a sob. “We were going to start a relationship…I planned our date…we…we were going to make love.” He collapsed onto the wharf. “Damn it, she died in my arms.”

“You weren’t there when she was shot?” Ethan asked, not knowing all the details.

Luis shook his head, finally allowing the tears to fall. “Agent Freeman said I had to leave with him…said we had to go to DC so they could debrief me on the case. She was out of danger…he swore it.”

Ethan could see that Luis was really torn up about the death. “You loved her, didn’t you?”

“More than anyone can ever understand,” Luis looked up at Ethan, his eyes bloodshot. “Her last breath was in my arms and there was nothing I could do to save her.”

Ethan sat beside Luis on the wharf and dangled his legs over the side. “She loved you.”

“I know,” he sniffled, thinking to her final words to him. “I broke a promise to her.”

“What?” Ethan asked in sincere interest.

“I promised not to let anything happen to her…to protect her. I left her with an untrained, inexperienced fool that thought he could protect her.”

Ethan was even more lost. “Hank?”

Luis nodded. “He’s the one that shot her.”

Ethan jumped up. “I’ll kill him…”

Luis chuckled a little. “Almost beat you to that one.”

The younger man smiled. “Good.”

The officer stood. “You know, you might not be so bad,” Luis brushed off his pants.

“Well, if Sheridan liked me you should,” he offered his hand for a shake. “Truce?”

“Truce,” Luis shook his hand. “Her funeral…private?”

Ethan nodded.

“I…I need to come to the funeral.” He knew that Julian and Alistair Crane wouldn’t have wanted him there, but he had to be there…for Sheridan.

“Are you sure?” Ethan asked, worried that Luis wouldn’t be able to handle it. At the moment he couldn’t care less about his family.

“Yes, I’m sure. I want to say goodbye to her,” Luis kicked at a rock. “I need to see her one last time.”

“Then you are invited as a family friend and no one will stop you from seeing her one last time.”

“Thank you,” Luis replied. “Thank you.”

He grabbed his jacket and headed towards the front door.

“Where are you going, hijo?” Pilar asked in a shaky voice. She had been very distraught over Sheridan’s death as well.

“The funeral starts in two hours, Mama, but they are having viewings first. I want to say goodbye,” Luis slid his jacket on.

“It is private, hijo,” Pilar placed her hand on his arm. “Even I was not on the list to say my farewells.”

“I am,” he added, looking into a nearby mirror to fix his tie.

“How?”

“I saw Ethan last night and he put me on the list. We talked.”

Pilar’s interest was peaked now. “You two talked?”

“Yes, Mama, we talked. We met at the wharf and talked. He isn’t such a bad guy, in fact, I think we understand each other more now.”

“That is good, son, I know Ethan is not as horrible as you believe,” Pilar smiled slightly. “Would you pay my respects to her as well? I will try to stop by after the funeral.”

“Yes, Mama,” he kissed her cheek and left.

“Agent Freeman?” Luis looked at the man and was surprised to see Eve beside him. “Eve?”

“Luis? What are you doing here so early?” Hal asked.

“Paying my respects to Sheridan,” Luis was getting angry. “What are you doing here?”

Eve nudged Hal. “Tell him, he has a right to know.”

Hal shook his head. “Eve is here with me, to make sure you’ll all right,” Hal lied.

Eve sighed.

“Oh,” Luis understood. “I’m fine,” he turned and went to the casket, taking Sheridan’s hand into his own. “Hi, love,” he whispered, leaning down and kissing her cheek. “I don’t know how I’ll ever live without you, Sheridan. I didn’t really live until I met you. What I’d pay for you to open those big blue eyes and smile at me again.” He sniffled and wiped at a tear that was rolling down his cheek. “I thought that you and I would have a long lifetime together, Sheridan. I thought we’d get married and have a family someday…I could even see our children. How I will ever live my life without you? I don’t know, especially since you stole my heart. I’m going to miss you so very much, Sheridan, so very much. Ti amo, mi amor. Goodbye, Sherry angel, goodbye.” He bend hit head down and kissed her lips gently and pulled away. It took all his strength to move his body to a pew and have a seat.

“Hey you,” she smiled when he rolled over. “Feel this,” she placed his hand on her belly where a set of feet kicked rapidly.

“Wow, are they both playing in there?” he rubbed the spot, hoping to calms their overactive twins.

“No, one of them is sleeping…or at least resting,” she replied, her blue eyes sparkling.

“Good, don’t want my wife in too much pain,” he leaned closer and kissed her lips lightly. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she smiled. “What were you thinking about before, baby?”

He rubbed her abdomen again. “Your funeral last year…”

“My staged funeral, you mean,” Sheridan corrected, placing her hand on his. “Are the dreams about it back, sweetheart?” Those nightmares had been terrible and she had held him every night to help him through them.

He nodded. “It was a year ago today, Sherry, and I can’t help but remember what it felt like to lose you.”

“Well, I’m here, Luis, and no one will ever take me away again,” she leaned over slightly and kissed his lips. “In fact, they couldn’t drag me away now, Detective Lopez-Fitzgerald.”

He smiled at her. “I’m glad it wasn’t real, Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald and I’m glad you’re here for life. I’d be lost without you and our babies,” he kissed her stomach twice.

“We’d be lost without you too, Luis, so very lost. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he kissed her lips. “I always will.”

“Ditto,” she grinned and closed her eyes. He settled beside her, his hand on her abdomen.

“Always and forever, Sherry angel, always and forever,” he too closed his eyes and pushed away the terrible memories from a year ago. As he drifted off his whispered, “A year ago today…” That’s what it had been: a year ago. It had been hard when she showed up that night at his house, after Roger and Pierre had been caught. He had refused it was her until Hank and Hal showed up and explained the plan. From that moment on, she had never left his arms and now…well now they would forever be together: always and Forever and all because of the cold November day, a year ago.

The End

Disclaimer:
This story in is in no way meant to infringe upon the rights belonging to , NBC, or any entity thereof. All rights to Passions and any related content, including characters used, belong to "Outpost Farms Production Inc", James E. Reilly, and NBC.
This story is the property of the author. Copyright 2001. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without the written permission of the author.
One Year Ago Today- Copyright © 2001 - All Rights Reserved.