"Martini with a twist for the lovely lady."

The bartender at the club placed the wide-brimmed glass in front of Ali and put on his panty-dropping grin.

She thanked the boy politely and using her left hand, picked up the drink causing the engagement ring on her third finger to twinkle in the late afternoon sun. The cute blonde's face fell slightly and he sauntered away down the bar looking for more attainable prey.

The cold vodka hit her tongue offering relief from the humid heat. After today, she was in dire need of a good stiff drink. To start.

Her mother had met her at the hospital entrance. Alone. At least Jack had the decency to stay away from the hospital. Ali knew there was a good chance he would. Watching his uncle waste away after a long battle with cancer had left him with an irrational fear of any place where the trending outfit was a white lab coat or scrubs.

Upset at herself for fleeing like a coward from her parents' house the night before, Ali was determined to talk to her mother about the situation. She should have discussed it with Sam but this morning when he had called something held her back. Jack was a sore spot for her fiancé and Sam had more than enough of those lately. Besides, it would be used as a reason to drop everything and come out to be with her. The irrational side of her wanted nothing more. It had only been a day since she left yet she felt like a part of her, a limb or a portion of her heart was missing.

The more logical side knew Sam needed to be in New York right now. If he was here he would only worry about what responsibilities were being neglected back home. So the words had stuck in her throat.

Besides she had to figure this out for herself. Sam was a great support, a willing partner in her troubles and her triumphs and she truly did not know what she would do without him. Still, she could not completely lean on him.

She had recognized of late running away from unpleasant situations was a pattern of hers. In her marriage, it had been Jack's abuse. With Sam, it had been her feelings of being abandoned. With her parents, it was wrapped up in thoughts of being unworthy. No matter the cause, it was a pattern she had to break.

In the recent episode with Sam, she had returned to him to work things out. After more than a few long talks where they were not only honest but open with each other, things had changed. They were the better for it. Stronger. Had a deeper understanding of each other.

No amount of talking was going to work with Jack though. She was going to have to make a stand. It started with getting him out of her family home. It was her house, not Jack's. The man was up to something, that much she was sure of. There was no way Ali was going to make things easier for the master manipulator. He may have her parents wrapped around his finger, but she no longer played his games. There was a new sheriff in the Stinson family and Jack needed a wake-up call.

Giving her mother a piece of her mind was first on her agenda but the older woman derailed the plan, demanding they check on her father first.

When her mother broke the news of the stroke, Ali grasped the concept, yet she had not been prepared for the reality. Seeing her father lying unconscious in a hospital bed shocked her into understanding the gravity of the situation.

Ali felt a tingling in the back of her throat at the sight and had to swallow to keep her emotions in check. Once upon a time, she could have pulled her armour, as Sam called it, around her to hide her feelings from the world. Since meeting Sam and through his encouragement, she no longer suppressed things. For the most part, everything was better for it. Feeling life was better than only watching it go by. Standing in the room with her ill father, she longed to keep those emotions at bay.

Daniel Stinson had turned heads when he walked into a room. Tall, tanned and toned after playing golf most of his life, the dark hair of his youth had morphed into the salt and pepper locks that only made a man look more handsome in his later years. His voice boomed and his laughter pealed across the din of the dining room at the country club.

In the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital his skin turned sallow, his hair a messy mop stuck to his forehead. Surrounded by stands holding bags of clear liquids, machines with small screens monitoring his oxygen levels and heartbeat he looked small and helpless. His voice was silent in his comatose state.

As soon as they entered his room, Lynn Stinson became a whirlwind of activity. Kissing her husband on the cheek, she immediately set to righting his looks, combing his hair, adjusting his bed, fluffing his pillow. Once she deemed him presentable to her standards, she turned her attention to the room in general. While rearranging items on the small table beside his bed, she muttered things like "I told those nurses not to put those there."

Ali sank into the chair beside the hospital bed and took her father's hand. "Hi Daddy," she whispered. "I came as soon as I could." She half expected him to shake himself awake like he often did when napping at home and berate her for disturbing him. But he only lay there motionless, helpless.

They had been there about fifteen minutes when a short man in scrubs and a white lab coat burst into the room. With his thick glasses and silver hair, he gave the impression of an experienced if not kind of befuddled scientist.

"Oh Dr. Michaels," exclaimed her mother as if he was Santa Clause come down the chimney on Christmas eve. She rushed up to him, stopping just short of placing a hand on his arm.

"Morning Mrs. Stinson," he mumbled, not even looking up from the metal clipboard he was studying in his hand. "How's the patient doing today."

"He seems quite content." Lynn beamed. "I'm sure he's happy his daughter is here."

Dr. Michael's nodded through her words, then a few moments later as if her mother's words finally sunk in, his eyebrows scrunched together and for the first time, he looked away from his notes, staring at her.

Lynn pointed at Ali. "This is our daughter Alexandria."

Light glinted off of the good doctor's lenses as he followed the direction of the pointed hand. When it landed on Ali, the eyebrows returned to their normal distance apart. "Hmm, good of you to come Alexandria." His eyes moved to his patient. "Your father needs his family around him."

"How is he?" Ali asked.

"His vitals look good. No new episodes. But we won't really know the extent of ... his situation until he wakes up."

Ali had the distinct impression he was about to say the extent of the damage before tactfully changing his mind.

"And when will that be?" interrupted her mother.

Tucking his clipboard under his arm, the doctor looked down at the older woman. "That's up to him. I suggest you keep talking to him, encouraging him." He was inching away from her backwards, out of the room.

Not satisfied by the answer, she donned her honey voice and tilting her head to the side tried again. "But surely there's something we can do?"

The doctor was almost in the hallway now. "As I've already told you, there is nothing we can do but wait. Have patience."

Ali tried not to roll her eyes. One of the many things her mother lacked was patience. It was her experience that either charm or money got her what she wanted when she wanted it. Neither seemed to be working now and Lynn was not happy.

As the doctor scurried away, she started after him. Ali grabbed her mother's arm and tugged her back into the room. Guiding her to the now vacant chair beside her father, Ali deposited her in it and tried to think of something to talk about.

"Mom, we should give dad an update on the business. I'm sure he'd like to know how things are going in his absence." Her voice grew louder as she spoke as if the increased volume might wake him. "You'd like that dad, wouldn't you?"

Her mother waved her hand in front of her face as if she was swatting away a fly. "Oh Alexandria, Daniel knows Jack has everything well taken care of. Isn't that right dear?"

Ali's stomach turned at her mother's words. It always came back to Jack. This time however she knew she did not have a right to be upset. When Jack had tried to use her family's failing business as a bargaining chip in his blackmail schemes, Ali had suggested herself he bail the company out. To save herself, she had abandoned her parents. Then again, it felt like her parents had discarded her long before.

In all the calls since moving away, her parents boasted about how well they were doing, how happy the workers were with their Christmas bonuses, how they were moving ahead with plans to launch a new line. Ali had not wanted to know the details of how they had gotten back on track. Now she was paying the toll for her blissful ignorance.

But this could be an opportunity. Time to get the family business back ... in the family.

Ali took a deep breath, managing to sound calm. "Mom, I'm here now. I could take over in dad's absence. I have some..." Her mother was looking at her with wide-open eyes and mouth, stopping Ali from continuing.

"Alexandria, don't be silly. It's not for you or me to trifle with."

"It's not a 'trifle' mother," Ali emphasized the last word almost as a rebuke for her mother insisting on using her full name when she knew she detested it. "I know the business better than Jack."

No one could deny Jack Blackhorne was successful when it came to business. She had witnessed his acumen on many occasions. However, his skill was in the realm of taking over or tearing down a business, splitting it up to sell-off. He focused on the bottom line, quick wins and profits. Long-term visions were not in his sphere, lacking any interest in growing a business.

What her mother said next made Ali's blood boil.

"The men have it under control."

And there was the fundamental difference between mother and daughter. Sure, there were many things the Stinson woman disagreed on. Yet Ali could understand the other woman's stance, put herself in her shoes so to speak to see why her mother acted one way or another. But not this. It was completely baffling to Ali how her mother could give command of her life so utterly and completely to someone else.