She could have sworn she was at her mother's house. White sheets, white walls, white drapes—just like the monochrome guest bedroom Emmie and Ian had stayed in while their condo was being repainted last summer.

"Mom?" Her voice grated like an old pickup truck driving on a gravel road. She licked her lips. They were as dry as that gravel too.

"Honey, no it's not your mom, it's Iola. Oh, my gosh, you're awake!" Emmie's vision cleared and blurred several times over as the older woman approached. She smiled, patted Emmie's shoulder, and then looked around where Emmie lay. "Where's the nurse call button? Oh, that might take too long. I'm going to go get one and bring her here. I'll be right back, dear."

"Iola? But...where am I? What happened?" Before her brain had caught enough of what Iola was saying to her so that she could ask these questions, Iola was already out of the room. Emmie tried to sit forward only to find herself too dizzy to remain even a few inches upright. The only reason her neck seemed attached to her head was that it was being held in place by some kind of padded plastic thing that itched the moment she thought about it. Leaning back, she wiggled her fingers and toes. One set of toes didn't respond. They seemed to be wrapped in something tight and stiff. Her arm was connected to a long tube, a bandage securing it to a needle in her arm... an IV.

Definitely not her mom's house.

A hospital then...

Even with her head against the pillow, it still spun, especially when she tried to recall what had happened to her. She'd been in a car. Sam had been bringing her someplace. No... he'd taken her, she hadn't wanted to go. And then he... he...

"Oh no!" Frantically, she wrapped her hands around her belly. A machine monitoring her heartbeat began to speed.

Entering the room with a quick knock, a nurse rushed over to her. "Glad to see you awake, Ms. Marsden." She checked Emmie's vitals.

"My baby?" She couldn't remember the particulars of what had happened, but it must have been bad. The car. It had swerved, hit something... How could the little one have survived such trauma? She wasn't even sure how she had survived.

The nurse placed her hand on Emmie's shoulder. "See that monitor?"

A screen opposite to the one tracking her heartrate blipped steadily. Emmie nodded. She followed several cords away from the machine. They led to the belly she was now clutching. She'd been too panicked to notice this before.

"The doctor will fill you in on more details, but the important thing right now is that your baby is stable. You're both okay."

Emmie burst into tears again. The nurse finished up what she was doing and promised the doctor would be in to speak with her soon. Until then, she needed to rest. She looked uncertain about leaving while Emmie was still crying, but Emmie motioned for her to go.

"I'm just overwhelmed and need a moment. I'll be fine."

As the nurse exited the room, someone else slipped in past her. Eyes still filled with tears, she raised her hand towards them. "Iola?"

The person came to her side, hand wrapping around her own.

"A poor substitute for her, I'm afraid."

Ryker.

His whole body seemed to tremble as he slid to his knees, head resting on the bed next to her side. Gradually he looked up again. Nothing could have surprised her more than the sight of tears glistening in the corner of his eyes.

"Ryker, I don't... I can't remember what happened."

"It's okay. You don't have to. It's better if you don't. It was... terrifying. I thought for sure you'd died."

She furrowed her brow. "You sound like you were there."

Instead of responding, he took something out of his pocket and placed it in her palm. Her opal necklace. "I hope you still want this. Because it's yours. Forever."

This statement, coupled with the knowledge that her baby was alive, engendered all the emotion she could take at the moment. She folded her fingers around the necklace and let its warmth soak into her, gliding her back into sleep.

#

When she woke again hours later, Ryker remained by her side. Emmie still didn't ask for more details—she wasn't ready for them. She had survived a terrible ordeal. Her baby had survived. And somehow, Ryker had been there. This was enough to ease her in and out of her medicated delirium. It wasn't until much later, deliria giving way to wakefulness, when the lights were turned low and Ryker had fallen asleep in a chair next to her bed that it struck her: the car Sam had almost hit, the one she'd turned the wheel in order to spare—that had been Ryker's car.

The gasp that escaped her lips at this revelation was enough to wake him. "Emmie, are you okay? Should I get the nurse?"

She shook her head. "I'm okay... I must know, though..." After a pause so that she could gather her thoughts, she asked him everything she needed answers to. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days."

"Three?" That meant Ian's deposition had already happened. If it had happened. "Where's Sam? Ryker, he's... he's..."

Ryker took her hand again. "It's okay, Emmie. It's okay. But... Sam didn't make it. I'm not sure if I should offer you my condolences or if we should be uncorking the champagne."

Emmie winced.

"Neither, I think." Sam had tried to kill her and part of her hated him for it. But another part of her was facing a mountain of grief and mixed emotions she couldn't even begin to climb at the moment. "Do you... do you know what happened. I mean, do you know who Sam really was? He was never my boyfriend. You understand that now, right?"

He squeezed her hand. "God, Emmie, of course I know that now. I was so stupid. I didn't piece things together until it was too late. And not just about Sam. About everything. I'm so sorry."

Emmie placed her free hand on his head as he leaned in towards her. "I know. I only blamed you for how you chose to react never for not understanding. How could I? I was lying to you. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. It was a lonely road to be walking down, Ryker."

"I wish I could go back and handle things differently."

"Me too."

"Well at least now I know why you're a Chicago-style pizza aficionado."

It took her a moment to understand the implications of his statement. "You know about Chicago?"

He nodded. "I had quite the long interview with a nice FBI agent while you were in sleeping beauty mode. It didn't take her long to realize I'd already figured out some things on my own but she still cleared up a lot of the lingering questions I'd had. I doubt I know everything, though."

"Tell me what you do know. Maybe I can fill in the rest."

"Well I know about your ex Ian, that jerk. I know about the Chamberlain Brothers, the death threats you received because Ian was going to turn on them, and I know that's why you chose to go into Witness Protection—so that Ian would testify, a dangerous crime syndicate would be dismantled, and you and the baby would be safe. Out of all the places you could have landed, you ended up in tiny little Coastal Nowhere, Oregon... You managed to build a new life for yourself in a few short months—a job, friends, an art show. All was going well until an arrogant but brilliant roboticist showed up and accidentally turned you into a tabloid queen. Do I have things right so far?"

"I can think of a few more adjectives to add to the description of the roboticist."

"Dashing, virile?"

"Stubborn, insufferable..."

"Ah-hem. As I was saying... the Brothers saw your picture and found their way to Agent Sam, who they blackmailed into killing you."

Every muscle in Emmie's body stiffened. Her pulse quickened. The uptick in beeps on the heart monitor alarmed Ryker. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that so offhandedly."

"No, well, yes you shouldn't have. But it's not that, it's Ashlyn. Sam's daughter. The Chamberlain Brothers were using her to get under Sam's skin. We have to tell, I don't know... the police, or the FBI or someone!"

Intent on notifying them immediately, she sat up again, and again was met with a wave of dizziness.

"Careful, Emmie. You have a neck injury." He guided her head back to the pillow. "Just wait and hear me out. A lot has happened while you've been in this bed."

It turns out, the whole world knew about Sam's daughter being kidnapped, though most didn't understand the how or why of it. The first day Emmie had spent in the hospital, dead to the world, Ryker and Trisha had passed the time answering the anxious texts of Emmie's friends and watching live news coverage of federal agents negotiating with Ashlyn's kidnappers. Held in a warehouse south of Chicago, it had taken the better part of the day for the situation to come under control. At one point, shots were fired and Ryker feared the worst. He and Trisha, highly overcaffeinated and underfed by this point, had literally been on the edge of their seats, afraid that the day would be clouded by Ashlyn's death, and possibly by Emmie's as well. But in late afternoon, a triumphant agent, covered in body armor, emerged from the building carrying out a wide-eyed girl, frightened and frail, but safe.

"Agent Marcos told me Ashlyn's mom contacted her as soon as she'd found out Sam was dead, scared to death about her daughter. Ashlyn is very lucky she made it out alive. I don't mean to sound crude but it's damn near a miracle they didn't kill her outright. The press already had gathered that these events linked back to Sam's death and there's been a lot of speculation as to why she was kidnapped in the first place. Eventually, someone is going to connect all the dots."

"And if they know she's Sam's daughter, then it's only a matter of time until they realize I'm one of those dots that needs connecting."

"Maybe. Probably. But so far, their focus is on the Chamberlain syndicate, not on you."

That was a relief, even if it was only a temporary one. "Good. I hate that that poor little girl got wrapped up in all of this. She's just a kid. A really sick kid at that." She gave Ryker a rundown on Ashlyn's cancer history. "And now she's lost her father too. God, Ryker, the Brothers promised Sam they'd get her into an experimental treatment in Germany. Granted, they were manipulating him, but Sam checked and there really is a promising clinical study. It was her last chance of a cure. If I'd died... she might have been saved."

Ryker's face crumpled. "If you'd died? I just experienced that possibility. No thank you. It's certainly not your fault that you had the audacity to live."

"I know, it's just... I don't want her to die either, especially not if there's a potential cure out there."

"MechaJames has German investors and several of them have connections to the biomedical field. I'll speak with them, okay? If I can help her in anyway, then you know I'll do it. This isn't something you should be worrying about right now."

Someone knocked on the door and Ryker excused himself as a woman around Shelley's age entered, introducing herself as Dr. Jovani. "You were extremely lucky, Emmie. We thought we'd have to take the baby, but your vitals stabilized. Still, we're monitoring you closely. You've both undergone considerable trauma. I'm saying this to be straightforward and to let you know the severity of this situation, not to alarm you: this is a high-risk pregnancy now. I would advise you to stay on bedrest at least for the time being and possibly the duration of your pregnancy, for your baby's health as well as for your own."

Emmie wasn't out of the woods yet, then. She and her baby might still be harmed by the events that had unfolded three days ago.

Ryker seemed beside himself when he came back to find Emmie crying again. She explained her fears.

"Something bad might still happen to my baby. And, I don't even know what happened with Ian's deposition or what sort of danger I remain in."

He wiped the tears from her cheek. "I can say this: the deposition happened and the case against the Brothers is going well. I wish I could tell you more but that's all I know. Also, there are two guards stationed outside your door. They contacted Agent Marcos to let her know you're awake, so no doubt she'll be here soon to discuss your, um... your options."

Her "options." That was code for leaving Moon Beach, and Ryker, to start over under another new identity. Even with Ian's testimony done and after everything else that occurred, or maybe because of it, they'd still no doubt want to whisk her away again. She couldn't think about that right now. "My main concern is for my baby's health. The doctor wants me on bedrest, so... best case scenario, I'm stuck in this bed for the next two and a half months. I'm going to be bored out of my mind."

"Maybe not." Ryker brought over a black duffle bag that had been stashed in the corner. "I brought you more than just your necklace." He lay the bag on the table next to her bed and unzipped it, grabbing several empty sketch books and placing them on Emmie's lap. "I replenished your collection."

"No way! Thank you! This is wonderful. Do you have pencils too?"

"I've got half of Moon Beach Collective in this bag." He rummaged around and pulled out an assortment of drawing implements. "Oh, and one more thing. Melody and Trisha thought you'd like this." He handed her the collaborative sketchbook that had been part of her art show.

She held it to her chest, then lay it on top of the other books in her lap, and began flipping through it until she got to the last page. Several boxy cartoon robots stared up at her, their metallic hands entwined. Together, they held a spindly flower. She ran a finger over the page lovingly.

"I know what you did for me."

"Did Melody tell you? She promised not to!"

Emmie laughed. "No...I mean, I did figure out you were my mystery patron—and I didn't need Melody's help or anything more than a functioning brain to do that, either. But... I'm talking about what happened back on the road. With Sam. You saved me, Ryker."

"You turned the wheel of Sam's SUV so that it didn't hit my car, which means you saved me too. And, as for what I did, I think the several dozen first responders probably deserve some credit."

She laughed. "Yes, but... if you hadn't been there and called for help right away, I wouldn't be alive now."

"I don't want to think about that."

"All right... think about this instead. Can you forgive me for not telling you about my past? And can you understand now why it took me a month to work up the nerve to tell you I was pregnant?"

"There's nothing to forgive. You were right that you didn't owe me any explanations. Now that I know what you were hiding from, I feel like the world's biggest dick for not being more understanding. I let my own shitty past cloud my judgement. I should be asking you to forgive me."

"Well then, why don't you?"

He took both her hands then and leaned in towards her so that his face was inches from her own. "Will you forgive this arrogant, stubborn, insufferable, but also extremely good looking, hopelessly in love with you man?"

His lips found their way to hers as soon as she said yes.

She fell asleep that night imagining she was a bird swooping through the air above a canyon. There were no worries about falling. She could fly and fly and fly.

A/N: Awww.... It looks like there's some hope for these two after all. But Emmie still has a choice to make. She still may be leaving Moon Beach--and Ryker. Do you think she will?

One update remains. We will find out what Emmie has decided, as well as the outcome of her pregnancy. Hopefully, all loose ends will be tied up, so stay tuned!

Today's votes go towards Emmie's medical team as well as the first responders who helped save her life. let's raise a glass and fill a yellow star in thanks to them!

The dedication today is for lexyahn07 who has no chill when it comes to Sam (RIP). She also has an entry to the #MyHandmaidsTale contest which you really should check out!