“Have I told you how amazing you are?” Chris asked, holding Karen in his arms.
“Only about three or four times, but don’t let that stop you.”
“And you say I’m the one with the ego!”
“What are you trying to say, Ramsey?” Karen asked playfully grabbing his wrists, holding his arms above his head as she pounced on him.
“Ouch!  I didn’t realize you were such a brute, Wexler!”
“You don’t know how tough I can be!” Karen exclaimed, throwing kisses across his lips.
“Ooo, I love it when you get rough with me.”
Chris took his arms away from her grip and began tickling her.  She rolled off him, dissolving into a fit of giggles.
“Anyone ever tell you you giggles like a ten-year-old?” Chris teased, easing up so Karen could catch her breath.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karen asked, acting hurt.
“Nothing, I think it’s cute.  I love that you have a reason to giggle.  You deserve it.”
“I love you, Chris.”
“I love you, too,” He said kissing her gently.
“I need to get back to Sydney.  I’m sure Gail has stuff to do today.”
“How about you two come over for dinner tomorrow night?  If Sydney’s up to it.  I’m sure she’d like to get out of the house.”
“I’ll talk to her and we’ll see how she feels.”
They kissed again before Karen climbed out of the bed to get dressed.  Leaning over to pick up her shirt, she knocked over a small stack of papers.  She started picking them up, but stopped when she saw her sister’s name printed on a paper with Chris’s signature on it.
“Would you care to explain this?”
“Karen, I tried to tell you about this earlier.  I wasn’t going to keep it from you, I promise.  I just wanted to wait for the right time…” Chris tried to get her to understand, but as she read over the document, the anger set in.
“The right time?  Just when the hell <I>is</I> the right time, Chris?  Clearly <I>after</I> you got me into bed!  Is this all some game to you?  Get little, naïve Karen to trust you and then you and Julie can jump in and steal Christina away from my family!” Karen yelled at him, realizing she felt more hurt then angry.
“No, Karen, that’s not true at all.  You know I would never intentionally hurt you.  Julie and I are not working together to conspire against the Baldwin family.  We’re not even on speaking terms.  I’ll admit that I was totally wrong in keeping the fact that I knew Julie was Christina’s biological mother away from you, but I really was going to tell you.  You have to believe me.”
“Don’t you think you’re asking a bit much?  Just how stupid do you think I am?”
“I love you, Karen, you’re my life.  That’s why I was planning on telling you.  Julie came to me the other day and told me she was going to come out and let everyone know she was Christina’s birth mother and go after full custody.  That’s the paper she made me sign so I could have no involvement whatsoever.  I could never lie to you and I swear I was going to explain the whole thing to you.”
Karen continued to glare at him, trying to read him, desperately hoping that he was telling her the truth.
“I really want to believe you, Chris, but you make it so damn hard.  This could totally tear my family apart!  Things are already a mess between Scott and I, this’ll just be the icing on the cake!”
“Karen, I never wanted to hurt you, I need you to see that,” Chris pleaded, looking deeply into her eyes, “Please forgive me.”
“I can work on forgiving you, but I can’t just forget.  It’s not going to be easy for me to trust you.”
“I don’t expect it to be.  I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you,” He said taking her hand.
“Just give me some time to think things over.”
“That’s fine, just please remember that I love you, Karen,” Chris asked, kissing her lips.
“I love you, too, Chris,” She reassured him, hurrying out the door.”

“That call sounded important.  Do you have to go?” Sydney asked as Gail hung up the phone.
“It was just Dr. Collins asking if I could go over a patient’s chart with him.  I told him I would have to help him later, I’m busy spending time with my pseudo-granddaughter.” 
“You mean baby-sitting.”
“Honey, you know that’s not how I look at it.  I like getting the chance to spend some time with you.”
“You should call Dr. Collins back and tell him you can help him.  I’ll be okay until Karen comes home.”
“I’m not going to leave you.  Kevin says e doesn’t mind waiting.” “
”I feel bad keeping you from your work.  How about I go with you?”
“To Kevin’s?  I think you should stay here and rest…”
“Aw, c’mon, Gail.  I need to get out of here before I go crazy!  It’ll be therapeutic!” Sydney tried to convince her.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…”
“Thank you!” Sydney exclaimed, hugging her, “Just let me take a quick shower!”
“Take your time,” Gail said, dialing the phone to call Kevin back.

Karen turned the key, pushing open the door to find the apartment empty.  She found a note by the phone.
Karen, We’re at Kevin’s, call if you need me.  Be back soon.  Love, Gail
“Perfect,” She thought out loud, “I need some time alone to think.”
She went to her jacket and searched through the pockets until she found the last pill she had in there.  She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.  She put the pill on her tongue and took a drink of the water.  As the cool liquid glided the pill down her throat, she jumped when there was a knock at the door.
Not wanting to see anyone, she hesitated.  She tried to ignore whoever it was, but the knocking became persistent and she thought it might be Gail and Sydney.  She hurried to the door, only to find that it wasn’t them.
“I know you’re still mad at me, Karen, but we have to talk.  It’s important,” Scott insisted.

“I’ve had a horrible day, Scott, talking to you is the last thing I want to do right now,” Karen told him, finding him on the other side of her door.
“We really need to talk, Karen.  You’re so-called boyfriend has been lying to you about his ex-wife.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Lucy and I are being sued for sole custody of Christina by her alleged birth mother.  Julie’s claiming to be her mother and I’d lay down money that Chris is in on her little scheme and he’s using you to get to us.”
“Too bad you have no idea what you’re talking about!  Chris explained the entire thing to me and there is no way he would ever use me.  Chris loves me and respects me, which is more then I can say for you!”
“Karen, I don’t understand why you’re being so irrational!  I admit that I haven’t been there for you, and yes, I realize that I’ve been putting Serena and Christina’s needs before you, but I…” 
“Just stop it!  I’ve already told you, it’s too late.  I have my life and you have yours, so how about we just keep it that way!” Karen shouted, turning away from him.
“No, there’s no way I’m agreeing to that one,” He insisted, grabbing for her arm to turn her back towards him, “I’m your father, Karen and whether you believe it or not, I do love you.”
“That’s exactly it, Scott, you’re my father!  How’s that saying go?  Any man can be a father, but it takes a real man to be a Dad?  Well that’s what I needed, a Dad!” She shot back at him as she pulled away from his grip, her eyes full of anger and her body craving a high.
“That’s what I want to be for you, let me be your Dad.”
“I can’t, I can’t let you in and then have you abandon me again.”
“I won’t do that…”
“Don’t make me any promises, Scott,” Karen said weakly, opening the door.
“Please, Karen, we can fix this.”
She didn’t reply.  She just stood there holding the door open and looking at the ground.  Scott opened his mouth to continue to protest, but knew that he wouldn’t get anywhere.  His daughter was definitely more like him then either one of them would care to admit.  He picked up his coat and silently walked out the door.  Karen slammed it behind him and crumbled to the floor.  She pulled herself into a ball, sobbing into her trembling hands. 

Even on a day like this when you’re crawling on the floor
Reaching for the phone to ring anyone who knows you anymore
It’s all right to make mistakes, you’re only human
Inside everybody’s hiding something
Staring at the same four walls, have you tried to help yourself
The rings around your eyes they don’t hide, that you need to get some rest

It’s all right to make mistakes, you’re only human
Inside everybody’s hiding something
Take time to catch your breath and chose your moment
Don’t slide

When she was finally able to scrape herself off the floor, she dragged herself over to her purse.  Through her clouded eyes, she searched for the bottle.  Her shaky hands fumbled through everything and finally made contact with the plastic bottle.  She pulled it out and tore the top off.  She poured a handful into her palm and without bothering to count, just let them slide down her throat. 

Even at a time like this when the morning seems so far
Think that pain belongs to you but it’s happened to us all
It’s all right to make mistakes, you’re only human
Inside everybody’s hiding something
Take time to catch your breath and chose your moment
Don’t slide

Karen collapsed to her knees and let out an exhausted cry.  She knew that she should have accepted Scott’s apology, but she couldn’t put herself through the disappointment if things didn’t work out.  She couldn’t handle being rejected again and was afraid to fall over the edge.  Which, she decided, is exactly where she was headed if she continued popping pills.  If it wasn’t for Sydney and Chris, she wouldn’t care, but they were the ones keeping her from total self-destruction.  Or so she thought.

You brought this on yourself and it’s high time you left it there
Lie here and rest your head and dream of something else instead
Don’t slide

A key jiggled in the lock and the door was pushed open.  Gail and Sydney stepped inside; surprised that Karen wasn’t there, after seeing her car outside.  She turned to close the door behind her and Sydney let out an ear-piercing scream.  She spun around to find Sydney had dropped to the floor on the other side of the couch bed.   She rushed over to see Karen unconscious on the floor with a bottle of pills spilled next to her.  She checked for a pulse and found it racing.  Seeing the sweat beaded on her face, she placed her hand to it to find Karen’s head was burning hot.  When she saw that she was breathing, she jumped up and ran to grab the phone. 
“Grab a wash cloth and wet it with cold water.  We need to get her temp down.  I’m going to find out what she took and call 911,” She instructed, trying not to panic.
Sydney hurried into the bathroom, tears streaming down her cheeks.  She knelt down next to Karen, putting the cloth over her forehead.
“”Please wake up, Karen!  You have to be okay.  I can’t lose you, Karen, you’re all I have,” Sydney pleaded, holding her hand.
As Gail started to dial the phone, Sydney began to think about what could happen to Karen’s career as a doctor if it got out that she overdosed on drugs.
“Gail, wait!  Karen could lose her job if she goes to the hospital.  Call Chris, he’ll know what to do.”
“Honey, she could lose her life if we don’t get her to GH soon.”
“She’s not going to die!  Please just call Chris.”
Against her better judgment, she gave in and hit Chris’s number on the speed dial. 
“Chris, thank God you’re home!  I need you to come over to Karen’s right away.  She OD’d on Dexedrine and she’s unconscious,” Gail informed him.
“I’ll be right there!” He said, throwing the cordless on the couch, grabbing his medical bag and sprinting out the door.

“That’s it!  I’m done, Lucy!  I practically got down on my hands and knees and begged for her to forgive me and she threw me out!  I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but it’s like she’s a totally different person,” Scott yelled, slamming the front door.
“I take it she defended that slime ball.”
“Oh, she claimed that he told her all about it!  Apparently he knew all along about Christina, but it was Julie who decided to go for custody.”
“Do you think that’s true?  I mean, Chris is far from being someone I would defend but he really does seem to love Karen and I don’t think he would hurt her like that.  He divorced Julie, I highly doubt they’re in on this together.”
“You said it before, Luce, he’s a slime ball, you never know what to expect from him.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Karen’s behavior is some spell Chris has her under.  Turning Karen against me so she can testify to me being a neglectful father.  We were doing just fine, Ramsey comes along and all of a sudden she hates me!”
“Scott, you know that’s not true!  Karen’s just having a hard time dealing with the fact that her father only seems to have time for his other two daughters.  Now, I know you don’t see it that way, but you arguing with her is just making things worse.  She’s just as stubborn and pigheaded as you are.  We need to stick together because you know Julie is going to use anything she can to get Christina and there is no way I’m letting her take my baby away!”
“Don’t worry, that nut is not getting her hands on our daughter.  How did our family end up like this?  One daughter has her birth mother trying to take her away and another has turned into a total stranger,” Scott said helplessly.
“I hate to even suggest this, but do you think maybe Karen’s started drinking?  I know she never did before, because of her mother, but after the break up with Joe and the strike…  That much stress can really get to someone.”
“There is no way, Lucy!  Karen’s too smart for that.  Besides, I’ve been there, I’d see the signs.”
“But Pal, it would explain the sudden mood swings and the attitude.”
“No, it’s not Karen,” Scott denied.
“Alright, then do you think she could be using again?  Too smart or not, she’s a recovering addict and the tendency to slip is there.”
“I don’t even want to believe that that could be a possibility.  If it’s true, what do I do, Lucy?  How would I help her when I can barely get two words in before she’s slamming the door in my face.”
“I wish I knew how to help you, but I need to focus on keeping that woman from stealing my child.”
“Julie doesn’t stand a chance, I already told you, you’re worrying over nothing.  Biological mother or not, they don’t give custody to mentally ill killers,” Scott tried to convince her, grabbing her shoulders.
“I know, Scott, but I’m still afraid.  Just the thought of losing another child…” Lucy sobbed.
“I can only imagine what it must feel like to lose a child,” He sympathized, taking her into his arms.