We can all hang ourselves from gold chandeliers
And drink goodbye to all, all the pain and fears
Loose lips have sunk this ship to a shallow grave
Washed up upon the rocks
I won’t be saved, I won’t be saved
– Can’t Be Saved, SensesFail

---

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

General Hospital: Operating Suite

Patrick ripped off his gloves, balled them up with the yellow gown he’d worn in the operating room, then dumped them in the trash can. He whipped off the cap covering his hair and looked at Leo with fury. “How the hell did you miss that?”

“I didn’t—” Leo exhaled slowly, removing his own gown and gloves at a much slower pace. “I didn’t miss it. In the chart, I noted the kidney was bruised but would heal on its own. It never should have bled like that. Patrick, come on—you know as well as I do if she’d been bleeding since the accident, she’d be dead by now.”

“Damn it, damn it—” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Then what the hell would cause something like that?”

Leo pressed his lips together. “A blood thinner, maybe. We’ve been having trouble with the dispensary machines in the ICU. What medication was Elizabeth on? We can check the lists the nurses have been keeping, see if it’s one of the issues.”

“Fentanyl, I did a round of it after she reopened her sutures yesterday. Yesterday,” Patrick repeated. “I did the sutures myself yesterday, and her wound didn’t look like that. She’d have been in pain the whole time.” He shook his head. “But even if a dose of fentanyl got mixed up with something, it wouldn’t have done this. Not just one dose.”

“I think we’d better run some toxicology reports to be sure.” Leo’s mouth was grim. “It was a matter of time, Patrick, before those damned machines screwed us.” He paused. “Look, let’s just run the reports, get some answers. Maybe this is exactly what we need to get the board to finally replace them.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one that has to explain to Jason Morgan why Elizabeth almost died,” Patrick bit out. “Order the damned tests.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Oh! Monica! Please tell me that you have an update.” Audrey stepped back to allow Jason’s mother entrance. Monica swept her eyes over the room, her gaze homing in on the toddler playing with his blocks.

“No, no, I’m sorry. Nothing yet. She was still in surgery when I left.” Monica put a hand on Audrey’s arm. “But you know she’ll have Patrick’s full attention, and there’s no one I’d trust more on her case. And Leo, of course.”

“I just don’t—” Audrey folded her arms, closed her eyes. “It’s too much, you see? Too much. The accident, and then Lucky just walking away—and moving the boys in here this morning—and now Elizabeth is back in surgery—”

At the sound of his great-grandmother’s distress, Jake stopped playing, turned his head to give her a quizzical look, and Monica lost her breath.

“Oh, it’s really—oh, it’s true, isn’t it?” She stepped towards Jake, touched her mouth, then looked at Audrey. “Oh, he’s Jason all over again. How did we not see it? How—” She took a deep breath, steadied herself, looked back at Audrey. “I know this is a lot. It’s been quite the morning for me — but I’m going to be right here with you until we know more. All right? Elizabeth is strong, and she’s tough—”

“We both know that isn’t always enough,” Audrey said, and Monica nodded. “I’m sorry. That’s hardly fair—”

“But it’s the truth.” She touched Audrey’s shoulder. “Right now, there’s nothing we can do but wait. So, why don’t we sit down, and you tell me everything there is to know about my grandson—no, not just Jake. Both of them. I want to know both of them.”

Bannister’s Wharf

Nadine shoved her hands into her pockets, listened to the sound of the water lapping gently against the wharf, hoping Johnny would say something. But the man just glared at the dark water below them, brooding.

“I’m sorry, Johnny. Nikolas didn’t give me any information about where he was going, and I can’t look up the transfer records without being assigned to her case.” She stepped towards him. “And even if I did learn that information from her records—”

“You couldn’t tell me, yeah I know. Laws and whatever.” Johnny sighed, and finally raised his gaze. “I thought I was okay with all of this, but I woke up this morning, and I couldn’t stop thinking—what if I’d seen her just one more time? You know? I could always bring her back before. They just didn’t let me try this time. I brought her to the hospital, they took her away, and that was it.”

“I won’t say I’m sorry again, but it doesn’t change the fact that I am. I just don’t have the power to do anything about it.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Elizabeth might know where Lucky is because of the boys, but she just went back into surgery, so you couldn’t ask her right now.”

“I thought she was in the clear?” Johnny said.

“I thought so, too, but I’m not on her case, so I can’t say. But—” She squared her shoulders. “I’m going to think positively, okay? She’ll be fine. So that’s our new plan. We’ll ask Elizabeth.”

“She wouldn’t tell me,” Johnny muttered. “She probably agrees with Lucky and his stupid brother.”

“Maybe not. Jason Morgan hasn’t left her side for like a minute since they came in. I don’t know much about them, but there’s all kinds of rumors. Which means she probably knows a little something about dating someone who, uh—” Nadine broke off when Johnny looked at her. “I don’t know how to finish that statement.”

“Jason and I are very different people. He might have Sonny to deal with,” Johnny retorted, “but it’s not the same thing as my father. You know that. He tried to kill you.”

“I know. But it’s still the same idea, right? Loving someone who has, um, baggage, that they can’t really do anything about. I don’t know. It just feels like she might have some sympathy. And you know what they say, right?”

“You’re going to tell me, aren’t you?” he asked sourly.

She smiled weakly but soldiered on. “If you don’t ask the answer is always no. Maybe Elizabeth does agree. But she might not. The worst she can say is no. And since you already think she will, what do you have to lose?”

Johnny narrowed his eyes. “Why does that make sense?”

“Because I’m right.” Nadine took him by the arm, forced him to start walking towards Elm Street Pier and Kelly’s diner just beyond it. “Come on. I want to go grab some lunch before I go home and drop from exhaustion. Walk with me, and I’ll help you come up with just the right way to ask her. The words will matter.”

“Why do you care?” Johnny asked sullenly but allowed himself to be dragged forward.

“Because I like Lulu, because I think you both were treated horribly after what happened to Logan Hayes. Maybe you didn’t handle it well,” Nadine continued, “but you were trying to protect someone you cared about who was struggling, and you were willing to get convicted to do it—”

“Well, you did your best to keep that from happening,” Johnny said, with a smirk. “The only enjoyable part about being up for a lethal injection was watching you on the witness stand.”

“I’m glad one of us was having fun,” she said, making a face. “I got held in contempt for speaking the truth. You’d think that would matter in a court room. Whole thing was a sham. Scott prosecuting his son’s murder, Edward Quartermaine serving on a jury when his former step-granddaughter was dating the defendant—” She snorted. “I’m just sorry I didn’t keep going.”

“Sometimes I am, too.” He followed her up the stairs leading from the pier towards Kelly’s parking lot.

A few steps behind them, but not close enough for either Johnny or Nadine to notice, Sonny followed.

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

“I thought you weren’t expected in today.”

Carly looked up to find her estranged husband in front of her. “Is there a problem with me being here?”

Jax shrugged. “No. No. I just thought you’d be out this week since Sonny’s in crisis—”

Carly closed her eyes, took the hit. She deserved it after all. She’d broken her marriage vows and ruined the best relationship she’d ever had. But man, it got old hearing it every time, especially when she’d barely seen Sonny. “Sonny’s in crisis, not me. I took a few days because I was doing Jason a favor, and it was good for Morgan to spend time with Elizabeth’s boys. I took point on them so that Jason and her grandmother could focus on Elizabeth.”

“Oh.” Jax frowned, straightened. “I didn’t—”

“Expect me to do something nice for someone else? No, I don’t suppose you would. But Elizabeth was moved to a regular hospital room last night, and they’re moving the boys to the penthouse today, so I wasn’t needed.”

She returned her attention to the seating arrangements on her clipboard for the charity benefit that night and made another adjustment. When she realized Jax hadn’t left, she looked up again. “Is there a problem?”

“So, Sonny’s out, and Jason’s back in—”

“I’m sorry, did you stop by just to be a smartass, or did you need something?” Carly set the clipboard on the counter. “Because I happen to know you’ve been out for a few days looking after Kate. What’s the matter? You’re not enjoying your own dose of revenge? You think I don’t know why you’re being petty and cutting Sonny out of Kate’s care—”

“Let me guess—Sonny came running to you. Did he ask you to plead his case? Because he can go to hell—”

“You are so damned frustrating!” Carly said, fighting the urge to stamp her foot. “You can’t even see—”

His phone rang and he held up a finger. “Hold that thought,” he said, turning away.

Carly glared at him, then snatched her own vibrating phone from the counter. “Yeah? What?”

“Carly? Is—Is this a bad time?”

At the sound of Jason’s hesitant voice, Carly forgot all about her irritating husband. “Jason? Hey. How are you? What’s going on?”

“I need—I need you to pick up Cam from school. Take him for a few hours. Elizabeth—” There was a pause. “She’s back in surgery. She—coded and had to be rushed into surgery.”

“Oh my God! Oh my God. Of course. I’ll pick him up. I’ll take care of him. Jake—”

“Audrey’s coming to the hospital, and Monica is at the penthouse. I’ll call you, okay?”

“Of course. Anything you need. Keep me posted.” Carly clicked off the phone and looked back at Jax. “I have to go—”

“So do I. Kate’s finally awake—” Jax hesitated, catching her arm. “Are you—was something wrong? You look upset.”

“Elizabeth. She was supposed to come home tomorrow but something happened, and now she’s in surgery, and Jason sounded upset. He needs me to get Cameron.” Carly took a deep breath. “But that’s good about Kate. I mean that, Jax. I never wanted her to be hurt. I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

“I know. I know that. It’s just—” Jax looked away, his eyes slightly unfocused. “Just feels like it’s all been wrong for months, and I don’t know how to get back.” Then he looked at her. “I don’t even know if I want to go back.”

Carly pressed her lips together. “And I can’t fix that for you. I did what I did, and if you can’t forgive it, there’s nothing more we can say. I have to go. Give my best to Kate. Whatever that’s worth.”

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s Room

Jason set the phone aside, reassured that Audrey would be able to come straight to the hospital and see for herself that Elizabeth had made it through another surgery. Monica was happy to look after Jake, and Cameron would be in good hands.

He dragged his hands down his face, then sat down in the chair next to the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, watching Elizabeth as she slept, still intubated from the surgery. Her skin was pale, the bruise on her cheek even starker in contrast now. Her chest slowly rose, then fell—and for a long time he just watched her breathe.

She’d nearly died again, and no one could explain how internal bleeding could be missed for so long without causing death. Jason wasn’t going to let that go — something wasn’t right, and he could see it in both Monica and Robin’s reactions.

He’d have Audrey look over the medical chart when she came, and maybe she could explain it. He needed to know if Elizabeth was safe this time—if she was truly going to be okay—

How was he supposed to think about anything else?

Jason grimaced, leaned back, and reached for his phone. He hadn’t given Sonny a second thought since the call had come in. And it was never a good idea to ignore Sonny that long.

He pressed the speed dial and waited for the call to connect, but it rang until it was sent to voicemail. Jason took the phone from his ear to look at it for a long moment, wondering if Sonny was already doing something that they’d all regret later?

But the thought only lingered for a moment, interrupted when he saw Audrey down the hallway. By the time Elizabeth’s grandmother had reached the room, Jason had put it—and Sonny—out of his mind again.

General Hospital: Kate’s Room

“I heard you the first time, Olivia. I understand that I was shot.” Kate leaned back against the pillows, closed her eyes. “I didn’t ask what happened. I asked where Sonny is.”

“I just can’t understand how you could want to see that man after what he’s put us through—” Olivia turned away, looked at Jax. “Can’t you speak some sense into her?”

“I—” Jax opened his mouth, but Kate sliced her hand through the air. The gesture wasn’t as sharp as it might have been a week earlier, but the dismissal was no less clear.

She looked to Maxie, standing quietly by the door. “Maxie. You’ll know. You always know. Where’s Sonny?”

“I don’t know,” Maxie answered truthfully, avoiding Olivia’s death stare.

Kate’s brow furrowed. “He didn’t tell you when he’d be back?”

“Well,” Maxie said slowly, “No, because he hasn’t been allowed in this room.” And with Kate awake and asking questions, that meant she could start talking.

“What?” Kate raised her head, then whipped it around to look at her cousin. “What is she talking about?”

“Nothing. Nothing in that head but fluff and fashion—”

“Kate’s awake now, so you can’t threaten to kick me out anymore,” Maxie interrupted. She folded her arms. “Olivia refused to let Sonny come see you, okay? And she threatened to cut me out, too. And so, I let her, I’m sorry for that.”

“You refused—” Kate scowled. “Olivia!”

“Well, you’d just been shot, okay! What was I supposed to do? Let him in and bring all that back to you again?” Olivia huffed. “So, he’s been cut out for a few days. He’ll get over it.”

“I’ll deal with you later. And you,” Kate said flatly, glaring at Jax. “Maxie? Find Sonny.”

“On it!”

General Hospital: Conference Room

Patrick and Leo hunched over the laptop on the table, watching the tape of Elizabeth’s original surgery. As a teaching hospital, they’d recorded it, and Patrick knew Leo wanted to be sure he hadn’t mistaken the kidney’s condition at the time. They were still waiting on the results of the toxicology reports.

Epiphany came into the room, a sheaf of papers clutched in her hands. “The dispensary in the ICU and Elizabeth’s floor both recorded doses of fentanyl being dispensed at the times recorded in the chart.”

“Different nurses?”

“Hailey Bell in the ICU dispensed one dose before Elizabeth came down to the general ward, and Nyla Sanchez administered two more — one in the middle of the night, and one about an hour before she crashed.”

“Were we having issues with the dispensary on that floor?” Patrick asked, reaching for the papers.

“Not that I know of, but some of the nurses floated enough to pass along the new routines. Hailey’s off the schedule for three days, but I can ask Nyla. Hold on—” Epiphany went to the door when there was a knock, and Patrick looked over the records, confirming Epiphany’s report.

He heard a sharp intake of breath and looked up. Epiphany returned with more papers in her hands. “What is it?”

“Toxicology.”

Patrick snatched it from her, then stared dumbfounded. “Warfarin—but—”

Leo’s head snapped up, and he paused the video. “Warfarin? How much?” Patrick read out the number, and Leo winced. “That’s not just one dose.”

“There’s no trace of fentanyl at all.” Patrick took a deep breath. “Just the warfarin. I’d have to—” He cleared his throat, found it difficult to speak. “I’d have to do the math. Look at the dosages. Robin—she’d, uh, know. But she never got any fentanyl at all. Not according to this.”

“Then—but how could the machine make the same mistake three times?” Epiphany asked, furrowing her brow.

“It wouldn’t. Maybe if she hadn’t been moved—but this is two different machines, two different floors. Two different nursing codes. That’s—” Patrick rubbed his chest. “That’s just not possible.”

“Then what are we talking about?” Leo asked.

“You know—this reminds me of what happened last month,” Epiphany said. “Damien Spinelli was admitted to the hospital. He had a fever spike that couldn’t be controlled with medication for hours,” she told them. “He didn’t respond to a few different medications.”

Leo frowned, leaned forward. “We’ve had a higher post-op infection rate on the surgery floor. And didn’t you say ICU deaths were up this year?”

“Nadine was talking about it, yeah.” Patrick rubbed his mouth. “What are we talking about here? What are we saying?”

“I don’t know, but it seems like a whole lot is going wrong these days. And now we’ve got one of our own being deliberately dosed with a medicine guaranteed to cause issues, possibly even fatal complications. How badly was her kidney injured in the accident?” Epiphany asked.

Leo twisted the laptop around so that the screen was visible to them. “Light bruising which I noted in the chart during the surgery. I said it would heal on its own as the patient recovered from the liver laceration repair. Instead, warfarin exacerbated the bleeding, and she nearly died. If she was getting the warfarin instead of pain meds, we were maybe minutes away from tragedy. Had you acted any slower, Patrick—”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

“Are we saying there’s sabotage going on here?” Leo wanted to know. “I mean, come on. Let’s forget we’re talking about Elizabeth for a second. Okay? The same day Kate Howard gets shot, the other woman attached to the Port Charles mob gets into a car accident and nearly dies—let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Even Epiphany can really only point to one other possible case, and it’s linked to Jason.”

“Kate Howard got shot. That’s not news in the world of Jason and Sonny. It’s a normal day,” Epiphany said grimly, and Patrick looked away, remembering that her son had died because of that world earlier that year. “Medical sabotage, if that’s what we’re talking about, that’s different.”

Leo nodded, took that in. “I still say it’s mob related, but I won’t pretend I have the experience. But I don’t like the alternative of another Jolene Crowell haunting the halls. Both options suck.”

Patrick looked at the ceiling, then breathed in, long and deep. Medical sabotage. Elizabeth had nearly died because somehow, someway, the hospital where she worked had injected her with enough blood thinners to nearly kill her.

“Patrick? Should I call the hospital’s attorney? Get Risk Management on the phone—”

“No. No—” Patrick looked at her. “Not yet. Let’s just—one step at a time. Okay? I have to talk to Jason. I have to bring him in on this. If we go to the cops, that’s it. That’s the hospital. After last year, we were lucky to have a chance to rebuild. We won’t survive another round of bad press. The state will come in and take over.”

“So we keep it quiet?” Leo demanded. “Patrick, come on—”

“We figure out how it’s being done and fix it,” Patrick said. “Unless you want to look for another job, Leo. We don’t even know anything’s wrong except for what happened to Elizabeth, and if I report that to the cops, then—” He paused. “We need time to figure this out. Leo—”

“I know. I know. You’re right. GH won’t survive another Jolene Crowell,” the surgeon said with a sigh. He got to his feet. “I’ll pull my surgical records going back at least a month. Let’s see if we can’t figure out some patterns.” He lifted his brows. “You go to tell the head of the Port Charles mob your hospital nearly killed his girlfriend. I’m glad I’m not you.”

Elm Street Pier

Nadine rolled her eyes, stepped off the last stair, and turned to level a glare at Johnny. “I do not talk too much!”

“You absolutely do,” he returned, jogging down the last few steps. He held a white sheet of paper in his hand — the speech Nadine had scrawled over the back of a takeout menu from Kelly’s while they’d had lunch. “You don’t really think I’m going to say all of this? Most of it doesn’t make sense—”

“You weren’t even listening,” she grumbled. She yanked it from his hand. “It’s branches of conversation, okay? Best possible answers. What if she asks about your dad? What if she asks about Jason, what if—”

“What if the sun falls from the sky?” Johnny quipped, yanking the paper back because while it might be mostly nonsensical, it was a place to start, and he appreciate the effort she’d given.

“Aren’t you supposed to be smarter than that? The sun can’t fall from the sky—” Nadine scowled. “Oh. You were just making fun of me, weren’t you?”

“You catch on quick,” Johnny drawled. He folded the paper and slid it in his pocket. “Why don’t you just come with me when I do this? Jason won’t let me in the room on my own, but if you were there—”

“You’re just being dramatic—” Nadine turned away from him, and he grabbed her arm to stop her from flouncing off.

“Seriously. Everyone likes you. Even Scott was almost laughing at you, and you were screwing up his case. Come with me. I need you.”

She looked at him, paralyzed for a moment by the intensity in his dark eyes, then opened her mouth to respond—until a voice from the other side of the pier stopped her cold.

“You work fast.”

Johnny glanced up, his mouth pinching as Sonny sauntered down the shorter set of stairs that led from Bannister’s Wharf. He stepped in front of Nadine. “We’re just leaving—”

“I’m supposed to think you had nothing to do with shooting Kate because of what happened to Lulu,” Sonny bit out, and Johnny tensed. “But here you are with another blonde like Lulu never existed. Or maybe you don’t notice the difference in the dark. One’s as good as the other, huh?”

Johnny held out a hand, as if to warn Nadine to keep quiet, but the normally bubbly nurse had fallen silent. He wanted to look at her, to reassure her, but he was afraid if he looked away —

Something was different today. Sonny was different. Something had changed, and the hatred was more intense than Johnny had ever experienced.

“I didn’t have anything to do with Kate,” Johnny said a bit slowly, trying to sound patient. Understanding. “I’ve been focused on Lulu. Her brothers took her to California. I can’t see her. Talk to her. Nadine’s helping me. She’s a friend. Why don’t you let her be on her way, and you and me can talk about this—”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Nadine muttered, but he ignored her.

“You think you can talk your way out of what I know?” Sonny demanded. He reached inside his suit jacket—and now the gun was pointed at Johnny. At Nadine just behind him because bullets missed all the time, just like they had when he’d been a kid and his mother had paid the price.

He’d dragged Nadine out here to pick her brain, and now she was standing near a trigger-happy asshole who never gave Johnny the benefit of the doubt, even though Johnny had never done a damn thing to deserve any of this. Except be born with the wrong last name.

Johnny held up his hands, edged even more firmly in front of Nadine. This would be a great day for someone to walk by, to see this — but apparently the docks were going to be a ghost town.

“I don’t know what you know, all I can say is what happened. I took Lulu to the wedding. She was so excited to see Kate. I knew she was doing better, and that’s all I cared about. I would never put her in danger, Sonny. I love her. I miss her—”

“You don’t love anyone. You’re just as crazy as your damn father—”

Johnny saw Sonny’s finger clench around the trigger—Christ, the man had lost his damn mind—How was he going to get out of this without getting himself or Nadine killed?

“Let Nadine go. She’s not part of any of this—” Johnny started again, but when Sonny lifted the gun slightly, adjusted his aim, he made his move.

He whirled around, grabbed Nadine around the waist, and tackled her—shoving her behind the bench just beyond the stairs. He heard gunfire in their wake, but felt nothing—

“What the hell—” Nadine yelped, but Johnny shoved her head down, reaching beneath his jacket.

He never traveled to Port Charles without being armed. Not after he’d been kidnapped and shoved into an abandoned insane asylum.

“Stay here,” he ordered, then got to his feet — Sonny was almost on them, but Johnny didn’t bother trying to aim for a lower extremity—he wanted to live, and he didn’t want another woman to suffer because of him.

He squeezed off two shots, and had grabbed Nadine’s hand to haul her to her feet before Sonny had even hit the boards of the pier.

“Oh my God, oh my God—”

“Go, go, go!” He pushed her in front of him, all but shoving her up the stairs. “Run!”

Nadine finally got moving, and they bolted from the pier, leaving Sonny laying on the ground, staring up the sky, blood soaking through his shirt and beneath his head.

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