Mitch Blake was beginning to think he was going to be stuck in Room 252 for the rest of his life. This day had begun much like the previous three days. He made his way up to the rooftop of the Love Tower and met a waiting Izzie, who managed to have no trouble slipping away from the nanny yet again. He knew that he should have been making contact with Felicia, or even Matthew, but he was driven by the need to learn all he could about his daughter. He remembered how hard he had to fight to see Matthew when he returned to Bay City after being released from prison all those years ago and he wasn’t about to go through the same frustration with Izzie. At the same time, and as eager as he was to talk to her, he was somewhat dismayed by the fact that she was so trusting of a complete stranger. He put that in the back of his mind as she spent the past few days telling him about her horse, which she kept at the Cory stables, and how Rachel was teaching her to ride. She loved playing soccer, eating ice cream and watching the Cubs. She loathed rainy days, mean people and shopping. It didn’t take him long to realize that Felicia Gallant’s daughter was a tomboy. She had her mother’s smile and her laugh and she revealed both easily and often.
Mitch noticed that Izzie wasn’t feeling very well today and he knew she had been fighting a slight cold the past couple of days. She showed up today with a Cubs cap on her head, her dark curls tucked under. She was sniffling and appeared to be trembling a bit. The cool, damp fall season was upon them and despite a heavy jacket, she seemed to be perspiring. He asked if she was okay.
“I have a bad cold, no big deal.” She said, and then began coughing relentlessly.
“I don’t think you should be up here, it’s getting very chilly.” He had mixed emotions about having to return the child to her suite downstairs.
“No, I’m okay. I want to show you something.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a photograph. He recognized the person in the photo immediately ~ it was a picture of him. Felicia had taken it a number of years ago before the Winter Fantasy Ball. He suddenly felt very nervous and his hand reached up for his beard.
“This is a picture of my dad, Mitch Blake.” She rasped as she started coughing again. She struggled to catch her breath with each cough.
His nervousness turned to concern as he realized that Izzie couldn’t stop coughing. “I’m getting you down off of this roof and to your mother. You need to see a doctor.”
As he went to reach for her arm, her little body went limp and he caught her before she fell to the ground. She dropped the photo and her backpack. He scooped her up and ran down the stairs with her as quickly as he could, grabbing her cap as it fell off of her head. His mind was racing as he flew down the stairs. Should he take Izzie down to the nanny or see if her mother was at TOPS? What would he say? “Hi, Felicia, I have our daughter and she needs to go to the hospital right now.” Somehow he didn’t think that statement would be well received. He decided to take Izzie directly to the hospital himself. He grabbed the first cab he could hail and told the driver to rush to Bay City General Hospital right away. They were there within ten minutes. Mitch made his way into the ER, handed Isabelle to a nurse, told her that she was novelist Felicia Gallant’s daughter and to take care of her right away. Then, without thinking it through, he turned and ran out of the ER as the nurse was asking him who he was and what his relationship was to the limp bundle in her arms.
“That was hours ago,” Mitch thought as he sat in the dark. Felicia Gallant had arrived at the hospital within ten minutes of getting the phone call that her daughter had been brought to the ER by a stranger. Less than fifteen minutes later, the BDPD had descended on the hospital and a search for the bearded stranger had begun.
Felicia was waking from the short rest she had taken at Izzie’s bedside just as her daughter was waking up as well. Felicia touched Izzie’s forehead and smiled as she realized that her fever had broken.
“Hi, Mommy,” Izzie said, her voice barely a whisper. “Where am I?”
“Hi, baby girl,” Felicia said as her eyes began to fill with tears. “You’re at the hospital. You gave me quite a scare.”
“The hospital?” She asked, somewhat confused.
“Yes. Do you remember how you got here?” Felicia asked hesitantly.
“No…wait…did you meet my new friend?”
Her question frightened Felicia, “What friend? Isabelle, if you are talking about the man that…”
Unable to crouch in the same position any longer, Mitch moved his legs slightly and brushed up against some equipment stored in the corner of the room, causing it to shift and make noise.
“Who’s there?” Felicia asked, staring at the corner and jumping back a bit when the door burst open. “Cass!” she exclaimed as he threw his arms around her and told her everything was going to be all right. “I was stuck working on the Ben Michaels case and couldn’t get away until now,” Cass explained as he wiped a tear from Felicia’s face.
“It’s about time you showed up, Winthrop” Mitch thought as he used the opportunity Cass Winthrop provided in comforting his best friend to slip out of the room unnoticed.
Armed with the knowledge that his daughter was going to be okay, Mitch Blake slipped out of Bay City General, a child-sized Cubs ball cap on his head. On his way out he barely missed a concerned Lorna, Frankie, Rachel and Matt in the waiting room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within a week, Mitch Blake would have all of his memory back.
Within a month, he would be in jail and for the second time in his life, be facing charges of kidnapping his own child. He would also be facing the man hell bent on NOT giving ex-cons, and Mitch Blake in particular, a second chance: District Attorney Garrett Lockhart, whose marriage proposal was just accepted the previous evening by one Felicia Gallant.
~ END OF PROLOGUE ~
A _________________ "It has been a magnificent journey..." ~ Linda Dano, 1999 Daytime Emmys
Thanks, guys. Think my next part will FF to Thanksgiving, 1995. I gotta do a little research into who was doin' what with whom on the show at that time since I want to include EVERYONE at the Thanksgiving celebration at TOPS.
Plus, I think that I don't like the whole Ryan dyin' thing and might have to change that. In Part 1, I mentioned that they still hadn't found Ryan's shooter (which was true) but not that he was dead cuz I think in the R/L timeline, he died later. Don't think he's gonna die in my fan fic. Don't think everyone is gonna know that either. No need to tell Grant he didn't kill his brother. Yet. Let's play with him for a while.
Anyhoo ~ I gotta brush up on November 1995. What was Jake up to? Who was he with? Need to study some serious AWHP...
Then I'll work on Christmas. I always liked the Christmas shows...
A _________________ "It has been a magnificent journey..." ~ Linda Dano, 1999 Daytime Emmys
I think that I don't like the whole Ryan dyin' thing and might have to change that. In Part 1, I mentioned that they still hadn't found Ryan's shooter (which was true) but not that he was dead cuz I think in the R/L timeline, he died later. Don't think he's gonna die in my fan fic. Don't think everyone is gonna know that either. No need to tell Grant he didn't kill his brother. Yet. Let's play with him for a while.
YES! Ryan lives!!! TORTURE GRANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm making notes for three different fics right now myself, and trying to compose a tastefully written love scene for Cass and Frankie.
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