The sedative gave Laura a blissfully dreamless and oblivious night. She awoke late the next day to unfamiliar surroundings. That feeling was nothing new, but the intense pain that came when she tried to move brought all the memories of the previous day rushing back to her.

Terror paralyzed her, as she heard a scraping movement from close by, followed by footsteps. The slit of light coming from the covered window at her side wasn't enough for her to make out anything.

"Laura?" The whispered, disembodied voice seemed threatening in her heightened state of attention and fear.

The room became softly illuminated as Stefan turned on a lamp at the opposite side of the room.

"Stefan?" Laura asked, though he was now standing right in front of her. Her first reaction was to be relieved, but suspicion entered her mind as a dozen unanswered questions formed.

"This will help with the pain," he said, showing her a small pill.

He could see the uncertainty in her bandaged face, not fully knowing whether she could trust him. "Where are we?" Laura asked, a grimace forming as she raised a hand to her still tender mouth.

Stefan sat down in a chair close by the bed. "A small village in Greece. A good distance away from the Island."

Laura's eyes started to droop, already beginning to feel the pressing need to sleep again, but she forced her eyes to stay open. "Not Port Charles?" she asked, hoping he'd comprehend her short question. Forming words was starting to become an effort.

He did understand. "There are still some things that need to be resolved before you can leave the country," he explained. "You're also badly injured, and a journey of that length would be dangerous to your recovery."

"Why help me?" Laura asked.

"I' I felt responsible," he said. There was truth in his words, just not all of it. "I saw the photograph."

The murderous look she had seen in Stavros' face returned to Laura, filling her with dread. "Stavros will--"

"Stavros won't risk further humiliation," Stefan assured her, anticipating what she was going to say. "Especially given" Helena will convince him to let things be, through flattery or threat. He will find a suitable wife. The rumors will die eventually, as they always do."

Laura couldn't suppress a shiver as she thought of the poor unknown woman who that fate would fall to. But her thoughts soon turned back to the question that she most wanted answered, but was also the most afraid to ask.

"And..." she began, her voice growing so soft Stefan had to lean closer to hear her. Her blue irises were filled with a mixture of torture and hope, as she searched his green ones. "My baby?"

Stefan looked down, and Laura closed her eyes against the new agony, a single tear falling down cheek. She turned her head away from him, a scream echoing in her soul, but not a sound passing through her lips.

It was a few minutes before Stefan realized she had finally succumbed to her exhaustion, her breathing steady, and her body relaxed.

He put the pill and glass of water down on the nightstand, hating that she would have to suffer the physical pain along with this devastating news, wishing that there were some way that he could help her bear it.

He gently pulled the covers over her sleeping form, meticulously checking that every bandage was in place, as the doctor had instructed him. He sat back down on the chair, and continued to watch over her.