Chris looked to Scott with an annoyed expression on his face, but didn’t release Karen’s hand. Scott rushed to him and grabbed his shoulders, pushing him against the wall.
“Scott, back off!” Karen yelled.
“Not until this weasel apologizes to you.”
“For what? For holding my hand? What if I told you that I took his hand?” Karen lied placing her hands on her hips.
“What the hell would you go and do that for?” Scott asked, not releasing Chris.
“Scott, I highly suggest you take your hands off me before your daughter does it for you,” Chris warned noticing the anger surging through Karen as she stood in front of Sydney to shield her from what was about to occur.
Seeing Karen step towards him, Scott let go of Chris and turned to Karen. A nervous look crossed Sydney’s face as she leaned back, letting the wall hold her up.
“You have NO right to interfere with my personal life! If I want to hold Chris’s hand, I will.”
“I’m your father, Karen, and I don’t think it’s in your best interest to associate with slime like Ramsey.”
“Oh, I get it! Now it’s convenient for you to be my father and pretend to care about me! You’re going to tell me whom I can and can’t play with. I’ve got news for you, Scott. It’s too little, too late. I’m an adult and I chose my friends and my boyfriends. You have no say in the matter,” Karen informed him, shaking with anger.
“How can you say that, Karen. Do you honestly believe that I don’t care about you?”
“I really don’t want to get into this here. I need to get Sydney home,” Karen brushed off the question, afraid to say the answer.
“We can’t just leave this unresolved. Why don’t you come by the firehouse after you drop Sydney off and we can talk about this.”
“Leave her alone, Baldwin. She said she doesn’t want to get into talk,” Chris said, trying to fight the urge to take Karen in his arms.
“Sorry Scott, but I can’t just drop everything because you’ve decided that you’re looking to be nominated for “World’s Greatest Dad”!” Karen snapped at him, almost wishing she hadn’t as she saw her words sting him.
“Karen, Sydney’s not looking too well, so you should probably get her to your place and settled her in,” Chris said trying to get her out of the situation as he pressed the elevator button for her.
“Karen, please talk to me.”
“This conversation is over. You better get home quickly in case Serena or Christina needs you,” Karen said sarcastically as she took Sydney by the arm and helped her on the elevator, “Call me when you get home, Chris.”
Chris waved to them as the doors shut. A slight frown crossed his face at the thought of how upset Karen was and the fact that he couldn’t make it go away.
“Damn it!” Scott cursed, banging his fist on the elevator door, “What kind of lies are you feeding my daughter, Ramsey?”
“Don’t blame me. You screwed things up with Karen all on your own. Maybe if you’d pay some attention to her every once and a while, you could actually work at building a relationship,” Chris informed him walking away.
Even though he didn’t want to admit it, Scott was finally starting to see what he was doing to Karen. The thought of Chris Ramsey being right made him shudder.

Sydney collapsed onto the bed and let out an exhausted sigh.
“Are you totally sure that you don’t mind sleeping on the cot? I feel bad about taking your bed.”
“I really don’t mind, and besides, you need it more then I do.”
After a short silence, Sydney spoke.
“I’m sorry about you and your father. I know it’s none of my business, but it looks like he really upset you.”
“It’s a really complicated mess, but you’re right. I’m not too happy with him…” Karen told her sitting on the edge of her bed, “You should get some sleep. Your body needs all the rest it can get.”
“I know I said it a million times, but I really appreciate you putting up with me. Especially with everything you have going on,” Sydney said starting to drift off.
Karen hugged the girl and sat with her until she finally fell asleep. Watching Sydney, her mind replayed the fight at the hospital. She hated that her own father didn’t know her well enough to recognize that she wasn’t acting like herself. She pulled a pill from her pocket and tossed it into her mouth as her eyes swelled with tears. She quickly swallowed it, desperately hoping that it would make the fear and the pain just go away.