B&B -- STIC Fan Fiction

Eric drove his car through the gates and parked behind the other cars in the drive. Something didn't seem right. No guards were at the gate to greet him. No guards were at the entrance to
the house.

"What's going on?" He thought to himself then let out a heavy sigh. "Maybe it's a good sign."
He decided. "After all, I've been gone almost two weeks. Two weeks without any contact with anyone. Pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. But no one has called me so everything must be fine ... two weeks alone with Donna in some hotel in Vegas." He made a face then leaned his head back against the seat and took a deep breath. They had hardly left the bed much less the room. Pretty much non-stop sex. That seemed to be all he had been interested in and she was more than willing to accommodate him. They'd probably still be there if he hadn't run out of those damn little blue pills. "Thank God." He surprised himself by saying out loud. It was a relief to be home. Away from Donna. Back with his family ... who was he kidding. The one and only person he really wanted to be with was Stephanie. God, he had missed her so much. He couldn't remember the last time they were apart for so long. Thank God she was being so understanding and forgiving of all his indiscretions. Even with everything that she'd been through, she had told she would take him back. Was he really ready to go back? Good question. For now, he just wanted to take a break from Donna and make sure that Stephanie was alright. Taking another deep breath, he got out of the car.

As soon as he opened the front door, Eric could see all four of his children sitting in the living room. They were going through some boxes A lot of boxes. He closed the door and went
and stood in the archway. Thorne was the first one to notice him.

"Dad." Thorne spoke up quietly, getting everyone else's attention.

"Hello, Thorne." Eric greeted him cheerfully, trying not to feel or sound too guilty. "What's
going on?" He walked closer and looked around. "Where's your mother?" He tried to sound
nonchalant as he looked at the contents of some of the boxes.

"I told you I was right." Felicia spoke up tonelessly. "He's been holed up somewhere all this time without any idea of what's been going on."

"Felicia --" Eric started defensively but then got interrupted quickly by Ridge.

"Mother is gone." Ridge told him stiffly.

"Gone?" Eric looked around the room again. "Gone where?"

The four of them just looked at him expressionlessly, silently. Eric finally realized that something had to be wrong. He could see it in their eyes. They all looked like they'd been crying. They'd been doing a lot of crying -- for quite some time.

"Will one of you just tell me what is going on? Where is your mother?" He demanded impatiently, the panic starting to rise inside him.

"Ridge told you. Mother is gone." Thorne repeated quietly then paused. "Mother developed an infection. From the surgery. She went into septic shock. We called an ambulance and they got her to the hospital ... the doctors did everything that they could ... but it was too late ..." Thorne's voice cracked and he couldn't continue. He looked away as the tears started to fall.

"Mother died, Dad. Two days after you left on your trip." Ridge told him stiffly.

Eric just stood there as the meaning of Ridge's words slowly sunk in. The room started to spin. His vision started to blur and his hearing became garbled as he managed to sink down onto the nearby chair.

"We tried to reach you, Dad." Kristen finally spoke up tearfully. "Your cell phone wasn't working and we had no idea where you were."

"We waited as long as we could." Ridge told him. "Mother's funeral was Tuesday."

Eric leaned back into the cushions and started to take several deep breaths as his emotions
started to overwhelm him.

"It was quite a funeral. Standing room only. All those people -- from all over the world ... everyone was there ... " Felicia told him through her tears. "Everyone -- except for you."

"Oh dear God ... no." Eric finally moaned as he leaned forward and covered his face. The nausea was building up inside of him. "Look ... if you're just saying this to get back at me for leaving ... this
can't be true ... it's not happening ... tell me you're just ..."

"Mother is dead, Dad ... why don't you go to the cemetery and visit her there." Kristen told him
bitterly, coldly.

"Her headstone hasn't been placed yet but you can't miss her. The big mound of dirt with all the dead flowers piled on it." Felicia continued tearfully with a sniff. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you ... Mother was always so happy to see you."

"Stop it." Eric mumbled. "Just stop it." He demanded. "Stephanie is NOT dead." He shook his head. "No. Stephanie can't be dead. You're lying ... Stephanie is NOT dead ..." He yelled at them -- over and over again as he slipped off the chair and down onto his knees, covering his face.

His children just sat there and watched as he broke down into loud heartbroken sobs.

"Eric ... Eric ... wake up." Donna shook his shoulder as he continued to toss and turn in the bed next to her. "Eric!"

"What?" He finally sat up, disorientated and covered in sweat. "What happened?"

"My God -- what were you dreaming about? I couldn't understand what you were saying ..."

"Oh God ... dear God ..." He moaned as he finally remembered, looking around the room,
realizing that it had been just a dream. "It was terrible ... my worst nightmare ... thank God it's not true." He signed heavily then quickly reached over to the nightstand, obviously searching for something. "Where's my phone ... I need my cell phone ... Donna ..." He started to panic.

"It's in the drawer ... my God -- what happened, Eric? What is going on with you?" She demanded.

Ignoring her, Eric managed to find his phone and checked his messages. When he saw that there weren't any, he quickly pressed a couple of buttons then put it his ear and waited. After three or four rings, a drowsy but familiar voice finally answered. He let out a loud heavy sigh of relief, leaning back against the pillows.

"Hello."

"Stephanie? It's me. Eric."

"Eric ... what are you ... do you know what time it is?"

"I know it's late, darling. But I just needed to call ... I needed to hear your voice ... how are you feeling, darling?"

"Tired." Stephanie yawned.

"I know ... you can go back to sleep now. I'll be home in a few minutes, darling ... I miss you so much, Steph."

"Alright." Stephanie yawned again. "Just be quiet when you get here."

"Anything you say, sweet girl, anything you say." Eric assured her. "Steph ... I love you, my darling. More than anything."

"I know ... goodnight." She mumbled drowsily.

"Goodnight, my love." Eric disconnected the call with a contented sigh then pushed back the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"So -- little Eric has a bad dream and has to run home to Mommy ... is that how it goes?" Donna spoke up tonelessly from the other side of the bed.

Eric hesitated then turned around to face her, feeling guilty because he had forgotten all about her and the fact that she could hear every word he said.

"Donna ..."

"Stephanie was right -- wasn't she? She said that you would go back to her ... she said that you ALWAYS go back to her."

"Donna ... I don't have time for this now ... I have to leave." Eric grabbed his clothes off the floor and hurried into the bathroom.

When he came out a couple of minutes later, Donna was still sitting there on the bed.

"Look ... I'm sorry about this ... I really am ... but yes -- I guess Stephanie was right. I do always go back to her. It's just the only thing that I can do." He explained in an apologetic tone. "We were just fooling ourselves into believing that this was anything more that what it really is. What other people saw it as. And now it's over." He shrugged as he gathered some things together. "The room is paid for until the end of the week. I'll come and get the rest of my things tomorrow ... goodbye, Donna." Eric hurried out of the room.

	STIC Fan-Fiction by Lorre B ... aFlanFan Main FF Page Feedback Form Last Updated: March 13, 2010
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