"This isn’t right, Mike. I do… I love Austin."

She moved around him and hurried across the room as waves of guilt swept over her. Her head was spinning. Austin had deserted her, and she knew she loved Mike. So how could she possibly be so torn? She felt her anxiety welling up in her throat as she desperately asked herself what she was doing.

Mike couldn’t believe it. What had just happened here? He stood there with his arms out in the air, hoping somehow Carrie would reappear within his grasp. Had he really just heard her once again say she loved Austin? He thought if he heard that name one more time, he would tear his hair out. He turned and walked up behind Carrie, struggling to figure out what to say. He threw his hands up in the air in frustration, and looked upward trying to gather enough patience to handle this situation. Carrie had just told him she loved him, and he certainly had no intention of wasting time being concerned about Austin.

"Carrie -" Mike’s words broke off in an exasperated sigh. "Listen to me. I’ve tried to be noble about this… but the truth is… you don’t BELONG with him. You don’t. You never have. I… I know - I KNOW that the only way you’re ever really going to be happy is to be with me."

Carrie didn’t move as Mike’s words surrounded her. Deep inside she knew he was right, but still, she couldn’t just cast her feelings for Austin aside as if they never existed. She had made a commitment to Austin, a commitment she couldn’t just ignore. Chills snaked through her as Mike became more intense.

"I’ll fight for you. Now that I’ve heard you say you love me, I will never let you go."

Those words grabbed Carrie’s heart. She turned to face him, and was struck by the determined expression on his face. She’d never seen that look in his eyes before. She’d found many things in his eyes in the past… but never this. The intensity she saw both thrilled and frightened her, and she felt weak as she found herself unable to look away as he spoke.

"I mean it. Now that I know how you fe— now that I know that you love me… I’m going to hang on to you for dear life."

His last words had softened, and Carrie felt herself relax a bit. She finally sighed and shook her head slightly as she looked down and tried to speak.

"Mike…"

Mike realized Carrie was overwhelmed by what he was saying. He needed to let her know he would never hurt her, and he reached out to her.

"No, no, wait, wait - " His voice became gentle once again. "I’m not going to force you to do anything you can’t handle either."

He tried to smile reassuringly, but Carrie was tired, and she just couldn’t face any more of this tonight. And she knew they couldn’t stay here together.

"I just know that I cannot be alone with you in this room. Either you have to leave, or we should both go."

Mike nodded as he said okay. But they were suddenly distracted by a noise outside, and they both turned toward the balcony.

Mike’s look quickly changed to concern. "What the heck was that?"

Carrie strained to see what was out there. "It sounded like it came from the balcony."

"Yeah, yeah…" Mike was hesitant, but when Carrie took a step forward, he caught her by the arm and held her back. "I’ll check it out."

Mike started toward the balcony, but was stopped by a knock on the door. He turned back toward Carrie as she went to see who it was. She opened the door, and let out a groan as she saw two police officers standing in front of her.

***************

Austin stood on the balcony, his hand on the door handle. Anger raged inside as he filled with thoughts of betrayal and revenge. Carrie didn’t come here to be alone - she came here to be with Mike. All those late nights at the hospital made sense now; the times he walked into her office - HIS office - and found them together. He knew he couldn’t let Mike get away with this, and he wanted to tear him apart.

Austin seethed as he started to turn the handle. But he froze suddenly when he heard a knock on the door to their room. He watched Carrie walk over and pull the door open, and he was struck with panic when he saw the officers. His heart raced as he pulled away from the balcony doors and flattened himself against the wall. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back to the wall as he realized the cops must be watching Carrie all the time.

***************

 Carrie stared at the officers with dismay. Couldn’t she have ANY privacy? She tried her best to be polite.

"What can I do for you?"

"Are you Carrie Brady Reed?"

Whatever politeness Carrie had mustered now quickly vanished. She wanted to just slam the door in their faces.

"WHAT is going on? Am I being followed now?"

"We apologize for the inconvenience, Mrs. Reed, but we have orders from your father to keep an eye on you in case your husband tries to contact you."

That was it - Carrie couldn’t stand it anymore. Anger bubbled inside of her, and her voice was filled with resentment.

"Well, my husband is not here - and he has made no effort to get in touch with me. I wish I knew where he is and what he is doing, but I don’t - just as I have no idea where my sister is. So please, stop bothering me. Leave me alone!"

Mike stood behind Carrie, his arms folded, looking at the floor. He couldn’t stand to see Carrie so frustrated, and he felt as though he could strangle Austin for all the pain he was causing her.

***************

Austin had to make a decision. Should he wait and confront Carrie and Mike and risk being caught, or make a run for it? His head was spinning and it felt like someone had ripped his heart out. Everything inside him hurt, and he had never felt such pain before. But he couldn’t take the chance of getting caught. If they caught him, they’d get to Sami and Will. And he just couldn’t let that happen. He had to go. He muttered angrily at Mike as he made his way off the balcony and disappeared into the storm.

***************

Still looking concerned, Mike shut the balcony door firmly, making sure it was secure. "The wind must have blown it open."

Carrie wasn’t listening. She was too upset. "I cannot believe that my dad did that to me - having the police follow me like that? We should just get out of here, Mike." She turned and hurried across the room.

 Mike rushed after her. "Carrie, Carrie, Carrie, Carrie…" He came up close behind her, and motioned toward the balcony doors, speaking emphatically. "The storm is way too serious. We can’t go out in that. I don’t want to drive in that." He wasn’t about to risk their lives just because of a couple police officers. His voice softened again. "Besides, I just, ah… just ordered sandwiches from room service."

Mike smiled as he lightly punched Carrie on the arm. But it didn’t work. The last thing she was interested in right now was food. She was still miffed, and it came through in her voice.

"I don’t want anything."

"You’ve got to eat something - got to keep your strength up."

Carrie just shook her head as she turned and looked up at him. This was all too much to bear, and she moved her hands in front of her in frustration as she tried to get the words out. But Mike refused to let her do this to herself.

"Listen… You are a GOOD person. You ARE. You did everything that you could to hold your marriage together for all the right reasons. But one person can’t do it alone. Austin made no effort. He… he… he ran out on you."

Carrie’s eyes filled with rejection. "Does that mean he doesn’t love me?"

Mike shook his head, almost in disgust. "No, I’m sure he loves you. What it means is that he chose Sami and Will over you."

She nodded again, still trying to make sense of everything that was happening. Seeing the hurt and confusion in her eyes, Mike was determined to convince Carrie he was different from Austin. He wanted her to understand that he would always love her above all else.

"I will NEVER choose anybody over you."

For a moment, Carrie didn’t move. She just marveled at all the love she saw in Mike’s eyes. But she left his eyes and walked around him toward the balcony. She pulled her sweater tighter around her and stood with her arms folded in front of her. Mike turned and walked over to her as she again stared out into the falling snow. He gingerly put his hand on her shoulder, then stepped around in front of her.

"Listen to me. Nothing happens without a reason." He put his hands out in the air trying to emphasize what he was saying.

Becoming more unsure of what to say or do, Carrie nervously shifted and clasped her hands behind her back for a few seconds, then shifted back folding her arms in front of her again. She tried to listen to what Mike was saying.

"The storm is… is forcing us to stay here… and admit our feelings for each other, and we can’t go back."

Carrie turned away from Mike, and walked over to the table. She absentmindedly picked up a folded newspaper as she tried to tell him what was going through her mind.

"I just… I don’t… I can’t imagine what this means for Austin and me - and you."

She looked down at the newspaper, although she had no idea what it said. Mike walked over to Carrie and lightly put his arm around her shoulder. He wanted so much to comfort her.

"Hey…" He took the paper out of her hands and laid it on the table in front of her. "Now is not the time to think." He gently kissed the top of her head, and laid his cheek against her hair. "Now is the time to feel."

Mike rubbed her arms and shoulders. He wanted her to feel loved and cared for. But Carrie was still so confused, and she moved her head away.

"I just don’t know what to feel right now."

Mike encircled her from the side, taking hold of her opposite shoulder with one hand, and gently placing his other hand behind her neck. He let out a slight laugh at his thoughts.

"I can show you…"

Carrie turned to look at him, and they slowly stepped into a tender kiss. The moment was quickly intruded upon, however, by another knock on the door. Mike took in a deep breath as he reluctantly let go of the kiss. He cradled her face with both hands, and closed his eyes as he touched her forehead with his. He quickly cleared his throat as he told himself he had to answer the door. He backed away slightly, grabbing onto her shoulders.

"That’s room service." He finally let go of Carrie, and walked across the room and opened the door.

"Good evening sir."

"Hey, come on in and… just, ah… just put it over there."

Mike motioned to the center of the room and stepped aside to let the young man bring in the table of food he had ordered. Carrie moved out of the way and walked over to the end of the bed, and stood there watching. She stepped toward Mike as he followed the table into the room, and he reached out to her.

"YOU…" Mike briefly put the palm of his hand on the top of Carrie’s head, then moved his arm around her. "…will feel better after you’ve eaten something."

He looked down at her, his expression filled with love and concern. As she looked up at him, he flashed a quick smile, which pulled a smile out of her in return. She really did feel so loved whenever she was with him.

"You always take such good care of me."

Mike nodded. "Yup. And I always will."

He pulled her closer, rubbing her arm, as they watched the table being carefully placed in front of them. Carrie quietly laid her head against Mike’s chest, gratefully letting herself dissolve into his care.

Hovering in the hall outside Carrie’s open door, Sami was aghast as she saw Mike and Carrie holding on to each other. She couldn’t believe she was actually right after all. Carrie really did give in to her feelings for Mike.

*******************************************************