June 1, 2006

General Hospital: Waiting Room

Robert grabbed Patrick by the neck and slammed him against the wall. “You son of a bitch!”

“No, no!” Elizabeth tugged at Robert’s arms. “Wait, you don’t understand–”

“You were cheating on Robin?” Robert growled, squeezing harder.

“Elizabeth, will you please explain this to him?” Patrick grunted.

“It’s not true!” Elizabeth said frantically. She looked back at a dumbstruck Mac. “Mac, will you help me! He’s going to kill him!”

“I’m not so sure he doesn’t deserve it,” Felicia said scathingly. “And shame on you, Elizabeth!”

“Wait, wait–it’s not true!” Elizabeth cried. “I would never do that to Robin or to Lucky!”

“Yeah, come on, Uncle Robert!” Georgie said. “Robin is going to be really pissed when she wakes up and finds out you’ve killed Patrick.”

“Will you let him go?” Noah demanded, but not actually stepping forward to extract his son. Noah wasn’t stupid after all–Robert was former WSB. “Patrick would never cheat on Robin!”

Robert finally released Patrick who was gasping for breath at that point. “Crazy son of…” he muttered, rubbing his neck.

“You might have mentioned it wasn’t true,” Robert told Elizabeth disapprovingly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize everyone thought I was an adulterous tramp,” Elizabeth shot back.

“Well, it’s not you so much as it’s him,” Robert jerked a thumb at Patrick, who glared back at him.

Mac stepped between Robin’s father and boyfriend. “Okay, let’s just all take a step back here. Elizabeth, before my brother went homicidal–” at this Mac shot Robert a dirty look, “–you said that Lucky might have thought it was you. Why would he think you and Patrick were having an affair?”

“Which we weren’t,” Patrick said, irritated. “If this is what happens when I try to do something nice–”

“Patrick–and Robin–were helping me study for a certification test,” Elizabeth sighed. “Lucky asked Nikolas to find out if anything was going on and Nikolas hired someone to follow me. I guess the PI got a lot of photos of me meeting with Patrick and either missed Robin or didn’t care enough to include her in the photos. Tonight, I was at Patrick’s hotel room and I kissed him on the cheek when I left. Nikolas got that photo and concluded that I must be having an affair–” she stopped and had to take a second to gather her thoughts.

“He took the photos to Lucky tonight. And not long after Robin was taken into surgery, Nikolas came in and confronted me about the whole thing. I told him he was crazy but he’s on a search to find Lucky which leads me to believe that Nikolas has a good reason to think that Lucky is guilty.” She rubbed her eyes, exhausted beyond all comprehension.

Mac nodded. “It does sound suspicious that Lucky receives that photo tonight and then Robin ends up being shot. And you’re right, in a dark room, it would be very easy to mistake the two of you.” He glanced around at the multitude of interested faces. “I’m sorry for this, Elizabeth. It probably would have been better if we’d talked about this alone.”

“Well…” Elizabeth shrugged and looked away. “It’s not like this stuff never comes out. Might as well begin the embarrassment now.” She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m going to call my grandmother and check on my son, if you’ll excuse me.”

She all but fled the room. Robert had the decency took slightly ashamed. “Sorry about that, Drake.”

“Right,” Patrick muttered darkly. “As if this isn’t already the worst night of my life.”

Audrey Hardy’s House: Living Room

Audrey Hardy hummed as she turned out a light on the desk. Just as she was starting up the stairs, the phone began to ring.

“Who on Earth could be calling this late?” she murmured, stepping off the first step and reaching for the receiver. “Hello?”

“Gram?” Elizabeth said. “I’m sorry to call so late but I didn’t have a chance before now. I won’t be able to pick up Cam tonight–you probably heard about Robin on the news–“

“Darling….” Audrey blinked and shook her head. “I don’t have Cameron.”

There was long a silence before Elizabeth could find the strength to speak. “What do you mean you don’t have Cameron?”

“Lucky picked him two hours ago, sweetheart. He said that you’d been held up and wouldn’t be able to get him. What’s this about Robin…?”

“Lucky picked him up?” Elizabeth demanded. “Two hours ago?”

“Yes, dear–was he not supposed to?” Audrey asked, unsure.

“I have to go, Gram.”

The line went dead and Audrey stared at for a moment. Finally, she set it down and reached for her keys and her purse.

Sonny’s House: Foyer

Jason stepped inside and nodded to Max before turning his attention to Sonny. “Robin’s in surgery and in critical condition.”

Sonny exhaled slowly and looked away. “I can’t believe this–do you know what happened?”

Jason sighed. “No. All I know is what the news is reporting. Robin was in Patrick Drake’s room, she was shot and she called 911. It’s not Drake, he was at the hospital with a patient and…” he hesitated, wondering if he should confide Elizabeth’s theory to Sonny. It had been weeks since the two of them had had an actual conversation and Jason couldn’t help but think he should take advantage of the temporary truce between them. He would need Sonny’s help with tracking down Lucky Spencer anyway.

“Lucky Spencer thought Elizabeth and Patrick were having an affair and Nikolas Cassadine went to the hospital tonight, hell bent on finding his brother,” Jason said, leaving it at that and knowing that Sonny would make the necessary connection.

“Robin and Elizabeth look enough a like for someone to mistake them in a dark room,” Sonny murmured. “But to think Elizabeth would have an affair, that’s just ridiculous. Have they found Lucky?”

“No,” Jason admitted. “And I promised Elizabeth I’d find him for her.” He scratched his temple. “So I need to borrow Max.”

Max frowned. “Borrow?”

“Sure, whatever you need.” Sonny nodded to Max. “Jason’s going to require your assistance to find Lucky Spencer.”

“Yeah, Boss, I got ears,” Max said dryly. “Do we have to turn him over with or without injuries?”

General Hospital: Hallway

“So I’m sure my dad would approve–” Lulu was saying when Dillon stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway and slapped a hand over her mouth. She glared at him.

“Listen very closely, Lesley Lu Spencer,” Dillon began. “We just got back from the islands a week ago. During the two weeks we were there, there were numerous guns shoved in our faces, okay? And then there was a cougar. And lots of insects that could kill us. Now I’m all for adventure and having fun but the last thing I need for the next caper is a Cassadine family mystery, is that clear?” He removed his hand.

“Oh, okay,” Lulu huffed. “But I’m just saying that my dad would totally be okay with us tailing Nikolas for a few days. And I know that you, like, want to be Luke Spencer–”

“What is she doing here?”

Lulu and Dillon turned to find a very irritated Georgie standing behind them, the door to the surgical waiting room open. “It’s supposed to be family only,” Georgie continued.

“Well I care about Robin, too,” Lulu replied, rolling her eyes. “Besides, we totally bonded in the Maarkams.”

Georgie narrowed her eyes at the mention of the island chain and Dillon sighed impatiently. “Georgie, Lulu just wanted to show some support.”

“She can show all the support she wants…at the mansion.” Georgie sniffed. “Are you coming in or not?”

“Hey, you know, I’m not the one that took the convicted felon to Prom,” Dillon retorted. “So you want to back off a little? Lulu is my stepsister and whether you like it or not, she’s a friend of Robin’s.”

“Look, you know what? I’m not in the mood for another episode of the Young and the Stupid, okay?” Lulu remarked. “I’ll be in the cafeteria if you get any news on Robin and I’ll wait for your decision on that other thing.”

She started down the hall. Georgie glared at Dillon. “What other thing?”

Before Dillon could answer, Elizabeth rushed around the corner and plowed into Lulu, sending the teen flying the ground. “Geez, Liz!” Lulu sighed. “What’s with you?”

“Lulu…” Elizabeth gripped her sister-in-law’s shoulders. “Have you seen your borther?”

“Which one?” Lulu asked suspiciously. “Because Nikolas was at the Q’s earlier asking me if I’d seen Lucky.”

“Have you?” Elizabeth demanded. “Lulu–”

“Nope, I haven’t seen him in weeks.” Lulu wrenched herself out of Elizabeth’s grasp and picked herself up. “But that does seem to be a popular question.” She tossed a look to Dillon as if to say — Told you so.

“Is Mac still in there?” Elizabeth asked Georgie, dismissing Lulu entirely.

“Ah, yeah,” Georgie frowned and stepped aside just in time as the frantic brunette rushed past her. “What in the world…”

“You’re not keeping me out now,” Lulu muttered to Georgie as she went into the room and Georgie just rolled her eyes.

“See, I don’t get women,” Dillon grumbled under his breath.

“Mac, I just called my grandmother and she said that Lucky picked Cam up two hours ago,” Elizabeth blurted out, so upset that she didn’t even realize that she had grabbed Mac’s arm. “But no one’s seen him and he’s not picking up his cell phone–”

“Deep breathe,” Mac said. He took her shoulders. “Slow down. We don’t even know that Lucky is–”

“No one has seen him, Mac! And he told my grandmother that I wouldn’t be able to pick him up!” Elizabeth cried. “Why would he say something like that?”

Robert swore under his breath. “He’s probably on the run, hasn’t heard the news reports. If he picked the kid up two hours ago…”

“The 911 call came in at 10:05, Lucky would have gotten to Audrey’s at about eleven,” Mac checked his watch. “And Nikolas came to the hospital when?”

“10:30,” Elizabeth answered numbly. “He said he’d been by the apartment and Lucky wasn’t there.” She closed her eyes. Oh, God. It was all true. Lucky had done this. He’d shot Robin, intending to kill his wife. Oh, God.

He had her son!

“Whoa!” Mac reached for her and kept her standing upright when her knees suddenly buckled. “Can I get some–”

Patrick stepped forward and wrapped an around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “Let’s sit down, okay? We’ll sit down, you’ll take some deep breaths and we’ll figure this out.”

He led her over to the group of chairs and when she was seated, he kneeled in front of her. “You went from the Metro Court directly to your test and then to work, right?”

“Right,” Elizabeth licked her lips. “I haven’t even seen Lucky since this morning but Gram was supposed to keep Cam until I got finished my shift at eleven. But she sometimes keeps him overnight when I work late because I’m too tired to pick him up. Lucky never picks him up.” She rubbed her eyes. Her eyes focused on a bewildered Lulu. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“What is going on?” the teen demanded. She planted her hands on her hips. “Why is everyone so determined to find Lucky? Why is it such a big deal that–” Her mouth closed abruptly and she stared at Elizabeth. “You guys think Lucky shot Robin.”

“Ding, ding, ding, give the girl a prize,” Georgie muttered.

“Hey! I have had it from you, you little brat!” Lulu snapped. “I’m not the one who’s dating a sick twisted jerk!”

“I am not dating Diego!” Georgie stamped her foot.

“What do you call it when you take someone who isn’t your husband to the Prom?” Lu countered.

“God save me from teenagers,” Mac muttered. “Felicia…?”

“Right,” Felicia nodded. She took her daughter and yanked her into the hallway. “Maxie, Lulu, Dillon, let’s go.”

“I didn’t even do anything,” Maxie complained following her mother out the door. “Typical, Georgie. Ruin it for everyone.”

“I hate to say it but it’s looking more and more likely that Lucky Spencer is our guy,” Robert said. “The times just add up too well. And if Nikolas Cassadine is tracking him down as well, you’d better believe it’s to get him out of the country.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen. We’re going to find Lucky first. Elizabeth, has he legally adopted Cam?” Mac asked gently.

“No,” Elizabeth said hoarsely. “We never had the money.” She wiped at her nose. “You can use that right? You can say he kidnapped Cam so that you can find him.”

“We can do that, but I want to make sure that you’re okay with that. Because it could turn out that Lucky didn’t shoot Robin. That he honestly just picked Cameron up for you and there’s another reason that he’s not at the apartment. It could happen that way, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth smiled wearily. “It could. But I don’t think anyone here thinks that’s the case.”

Monica Quartermaine stepped into the room and everyone snapped to attention.

“I thought you were going to be longer,” Patrick said, stricken. “Liz said a half hour ago–”

“We thought it would take longer,” Monica sighed. “But Robin’s blood pressure finally stabilized and we were able to pick up the pace. We closed five minutes ago and she’s been moved to recovery.”

“That doesn’t tell us anything,” Robert snapped. “What is my daughter’s condition?”

“I’m not going to lie to you.” Monica cleared her throat. “She came through surgery which was more than we were expecting. We repaired the damage as best we could and right now, we’re going to play a waiting game. The next twenty-four hours are critical. If she pulls through, we’ll go back into surgery to repair the rest of the bleeding. Right now we need her to be stronger and she’s too weak to survive more surgery.”

Mac exhaled slowly. “So, what are you saying Monica? There’s a good chance that my niece is going to die anyway?”

“I’m saying, Mac, that Robin is young and she was alert and coherent enough to call 911 when lesser people would have been passed out by then. But I can’t give you false hope. It’s going to be rough couple of days and we won’t know that she’s out of the woods until we complete the second surgery.”

“Can I see her?” Robert asked quietly. “Can she have visitors?”

“No, not until we move her into the ICU, which will be in about an hour. She’s not going to be conscious, we’ve got her on too much medication for that to be a possibility. If she does wake up, it’ll be for seconds and she’ll probably go back under. I want you to be prepared for this.” She surveyed the men gathered. “It’s not going to be an easy week. Have you contacted her mother?”

“Anna will be here tomorrow evening,” Robert answered.

“Elizabeth, you’re more than welcome to stay on shift if you want,” Monica told the nurse kindly. “We can assign you to the case–”

“I couldn’t–it would be wrong,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I shouldn’t be here–”

“There’s not a doctor or nurse in this hospital that doesn’t know Robin,” Monica said. “She’d want you to be her nurse right now.”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “Okay, I can stay.” She smiled bitterly. “Nothing to go home to anyway.”

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