June 1, 2006

General Hospital: ICU

The crash team was already in Robin’s room when Elizabeth and Jason got to the room. An ashen Georgie was standing outside the room, crying into Robert’s chest. “It just started beeping,” the teen was sobbing. “I was sitting there and–”

Mac was practically running as he launched himself out of the waiting room at the other end of the hall and had to skid to a stop to prevent him hitting a wall. “What’s going?”

“Robin’s dying!” Georgie wailed. Felicia and Maxie joined the group in time to hear that announcement and Maxie grabbed Georgie’s arm.

“Don’t say that!” Maxie cried. “Don’t ever say that, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, okay? She’s supposed to have a family and live until we’re all old and gray and–” her voice broke off and she had to bit down on her lip to keep her own sobs back.

The shrill beeping from Robin’s room finally ceased and the team started filing out of the room. The doctor running the team pulled Elizabeth to the side and away from Robin’s family and friends.

“What’s the situation?” Elizabeth asked. “Did you…?”

“We stabilized her,” Megan Jennings sighed. “Whether or not she’ll make it…it’s up to her. Her heartbeat is weak but it’s there and her pulse is still strong. We’ll stay nearby–I don’t think it’s going to be the only time today we’ll be down here.” Megan patted Elizabeth’s arm before she and her team left the area.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts before returning to the group. Before she opened her mouth, the elevator doors slid open and Patrick skidded out. “What’s going on? I heard the code–”

“She’s stabilized,” Elizabeth assured him quickly. She looked back at Mac, at the girls, at Robert. “Dr. Jennings and her team got Robin’s heart started again, the beat is still there. The pulse is strong but…you might have to brace yourself for this again today.”

“She could flat line again?” Robert demanded, agonized. “Where is that idiot blond? If Robin…before Anna gets here…”

“Anna’s flight was due in an hour ago, I’m sure Jax is on his way back to the hospital now with Audrey and Anna,” Felicia said, touching Robert’s arm. “She’ll be here and Robin…she’ll hold on.”

“Georgie, honey, do you want to finish your ten minutes?” Mac said softly.

“No…I can’t–” she shook her head. “I can’t–I can’t go back in there right now. I can’t face her–” she started to cry again and Felicia led her daughters back to the waiting room.

“I’m going in,” Patrick told Elizabeth. “You can call security, you can call the damn army for all I care but I’ve played by the rules and I haven’t pulled any strings but God damn it, Elizabeth, I’m going in–”

“I’m surprised you held out this long,” Robert said dryly. He looked to Mac. “You gonna arrest the boy if he storms the ICU?”

Mac glared at his brother but didn’t answer. Instead he spotted Rodriguez stepping off the elevator. “Excuse me for a minute.” He pulled the detective away from the group and they went to the empty waiting room at the other end of the hall.

“Go ahead, Patrick. If anyone asks…” Elizabeth shrugs. “I asked for a neurological consult.”

Patrick nodded to Elizabeth and then stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind him.

That left Robert, Elizabeth and Jason alone in the hallway. Robert eyed the other man warily. “And what are you doing here?”

“He came to see me,” Elizabeth said quickly, not wanting a repeat of the epidemic. “Jason’s helping me find Cameron.”

“Elizabeth, you should leave that to Mac–” Robert began.

“If it were Robin that was missing, would you leave it to the police or use every resource available to you to find her?” Elizabeth countered with an arched eyebrow.

“Point taken.” Robert cast a glance towards Robin’s room before moving down the other end of the hall and disappearing back into the waiting room.

Elizabeth sighed and turned back to Jason. “I’m so sorry about this. This has just…” she shook her head. “This has been the worst day in at least six years.” She exhaled slowly and fought off the slight dizziness that came when one has been up for over twenty-four hours. “Thank you for coming, Jason. I mean, I could have told you this on the phone but it means a lot to me that you’re here right now.”

Jason studied her for a long moment without speaking. “I know all the reasons you’re going to say no, but you should sleep, Elizabeth. Because if you don’t, you’ll be the next one in a hospital bed and that’s not going to help anyone.”

She smiled faintly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll catch a nap when Robin goes into for her second surgery.”

“I’ll keep my phone on this time. I want you to call me if you need anything, or if you hear anything,” Jason instructed her. He touched her cheek, letting his fingertips slide across her cheekbone. “If you don’t want to sleep, please at least eat something.”

“I promise,” Elizabeth replied. “And I’ll keep you updated on Robin’s condition if it changes.”

ICU: Robin’s Room

Patrick slowly lowered himself into the chair next to Robin’s bed and kept his eyes anywhere but her face. Instead he focused on her hand, picking it up and cradling in both of his much larger ones. “The last time I saw you,” he began quietly, “you were sitting in my bed and you were clutching a sheet to you as if I hadn’t just spent a good two hours exploring every inch that you were trying to cover,” at this he had half a grin, remembering.  “And you were smiling at me.”

He ducked his head and stared at the tiles on the floor. He would not give into the lump in his throat, to the tightness in his chest. If he did, he was terrified he would lose it and start begging her to wake up. He didn’t want that.

“It was almost six months to the day we met that I managed to talk you into bed, do you realize that?” Patrick continued, somewhere finding the strength to continue, to pretend that she could hear every word he was saying. “I’d never spent six months chasing the same woman and the whole time, I kept telling myself it was because you said no when no one else did. But after we…after that first time, I knew it was different with you. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore or pretend that you were like every other woman I’d ever known.”

“So I’m going to do what I’m sure everyone else in here has done. I’m just asking you to hold on because…because we’re not finished yet, Scorpio. I’m asking you not to leave me because for the first time in my life, it’s not about the finish line for me. Because I would really like to see your smile again, even if it’s not at me.”

Patrick finally raised his eyes and focused on her face, with its delicate features and the pale cast to her skin. He’d never seen her looking so still, so…quiet. Even in sleep, her mouth would be open just slightly to breathe. And sometimes, her lips would curve into a smile that made him hope she was dreaming about him.

But to see her like this, to know that this could be his last memory of her, it was almost more than he could take.

Quartermaine Mansion: Pool

She found her father lying out on a lounge chair, drinking some concoction Lulu was sure that Alice had made special for him.

“Okay, suggestions for how to begin this conversation would be extremely helpful,” Lulu said to Dillon.

“Hey, Dad, your oldest son might be a cold-blooded killer and baby snatcher?” Dillon suggested. Lulu slapped his arm. “Hey…you asked!”

“You are the bane of my existence,” Lulu grumbled. She closed the distance between herself and her father and heard Dillon sigh before reluctantly following her. “Dad?”

“Hey, Princess…” Luke sat up. “How’s Robin? And Robert?”

“When we left, Robin was still doing okay and I guess Robert doing the same.” Lulu sat in the adjacent lounge chair and planted her elbows on her knees. “Dad, look, there’s something I gotta tell you and I’m really all that sure how to do it.”

“What is it, Lulu?” Luke asked, sounding somewhat resigned. “If this is about me disappearing again, I got no plans–”

“Dad…there’s a very good chance that Lucky might be involved in whatever happened to Robin,” she said reluctantly. “He thought Patrick and Liz were having an affair and apparently, Nikolas gave him some sort of proof last night.”

Luke was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “No, Cowboy would never do anything like that. There’s a mistake–”

“That’s what I thought when I heard it,” Lulu admitted. She looked to Dillon who bit his lip and took up the conversation.

“Luke, Lucky picked Cameron up from Elizabeth’s grandmother last night because he told her that Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to. And no one has seem them since,” the teen revealed.

“I don’t care,” Luke said stubbornly. “I know my own son. What reason would he have for shooting Robin?”

“If it was Lucky, he wouldn’t have known it was Robin,” Dillon explained. “The theory is that he saw a small woman with dark hair sleeping in Patrick Drake’s bed and thought it was Elizabeth.”

“Well now I know this is all a crock,” Luke snapped. He sprang to his feet. “Lucky would never hurt Elizabeth, and he sure as hell wouldn’t try to kill her–”

“Come on, Dad, Lucky is not the same kid he used to be,” Lulu said. She jumped to her feet. “You still see him the way he was before the fire, the smart and cocky kid who lived by his own rules.That Lucky treated Elizabeth like a precious figurine. He would never have become a cop and he would never have even dreamed that Elizabeth would have an affair. But he’s not that Lucky anymore, Dad, and you’ve got to stop seeing him that way!”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing, Lesley Lu. Your brother loves you–he would never betray you like this–”

“I’m not betraying him, I’m just stating facts,” Lulu interrupted. Her eyes were filled with tears as she realized once again that Luke would always love Lucky first and best. “Lucky is different. He’s not kind and he’s not compassionate anymore. Okay? You’re never around to see him–he treated Liz like dirt last year during the surrogacy and you know what? If the rumors are true and he’s addicted to his pain pills, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to kill Liz! Lucky hasn’t been the same since Helena Cassadine screwed with his mind!”

“That’s all over and done with,” Luke countered sharply. “He’s cured of that and he would never–”

“You just refuse to see that things have changed! That I’ve changed, that Lucky has changed–well you know what, Dad? You’re the only one who doesn’t think Lucky is capable of this, the only one! Even Nikolas is out looking for him!”

“I’m not going to stand here and listen to this anymore,” Luke remarked coldly. “Your mother would be ashamed of you–”

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that,” Dillon cut in sharply, covering Lulu’s agonized cry. “She’s right, you haven’t been around at any point long enough to say Lucky isn’t capable of this. Lulu has. She’s the one that didn’t leave, Luke. And I can’t believe you’re treating her like this–she’s your daughter!”

“I’m going to go find Lucky,” Luke said instead of paying Dillon any mind. He stormed away and Lulu collapsed back onto the lounge chair.

“I can’t believe he said that,” she whispered. “I can’t believe he said that my mother would be ashamed of me–” she turned to him with devastated eyes. “Is that true? Would she hate me too?”

“Hey, no one hates you–” Dillon sat next to her and put an arm around her. “Look, we knew he wasn’t going to take this well. And you know your dad always reacts with his mouth first and his head later. I bet he’ll be coming back and begging you to forgive him.”

Lulu sniffled. “It must be nice to be that optimistic about everything.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “Okay, well now I have to find out the truth. So I’m going to track down Nikolas and figure out what he knows so I can find out if Lucky did do this.” She stood. “You should go back to the hospital and stay with Georgie.”

Dillon rose to his feet. “Yeah and let you wander off alone to chase down a Cassadine? He might be your brother, Lulu, but even I know that’s a death wish.” He sighed. “I just knew I was going to get pulled into this. Well, I’ve gone up against everything but a Cassadine so I figure it’s about time.”

General Hospital: ICU

The elevator doors slid open shortly after Jason left and Anna Devane darted out. “Where’s my daughter?” the brunette demanded of Elizabeth at the nurse’s station.

“Ah…she’s in Room 314, Ms. Devane, but you can’t go–” Elizabeth broke off as Anna ignored her and took off for Robin’s room. “Good luck getting Patrick out of there,” she mumbled. She turned her attention to Jax and her grandmother. “Gram, Jax…”

“Darling…” Audrey rounded the station and embraced her granddaughter tightly. “I haven’t had much of chance to be here for you during this mess. I can’t imagine why they needed to keep me so long and ask the same questions.” She pulled away and framed Elizabeth’s face with her hands. “I am so sorry that I let him walk out the door with Cameron–”

“No, no…Gram, you couldn’t have known. Don’t blame yourself for this, there’s enough people blaming themselves right now without adding you. Just…be here with me.”

“Of course.”

Elizabeth turned to Jax. “Thank you so much for picking her up.”

“Not a problem, Elizabeth. Has there been any change?” Jax asked.

“She flat lined about ten minutes ago,” Elizabeth admitted. “But she’s stabilized again and Monica’s scheduled to take her into surgery about three this afternoon.”

“Okay…I have to stop in at the hotel and then I have to go pick up Brenda at about six. Will you call me?” he asked. “I need to know the moment anything changes.”

“Of course,” Elizabeth agreed. “Thanks again, Jax.”

When the blond had left, Audrey touched Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I’ve taken the liberty of assigning myself to Robin’s case,” she told her granddaughter. “So my first order of business is to relieve you of your duties long enough to get some sleep and something to eat.”

“I couldn’t sleep right now,” Elizabeth sighed. “My mind is going a mile a minute–”

“I don’t want to hear any arguments, darling,” Audrey said in a brisk tone that made Elizabeth feel like she was sixteen again. “Now let’s make a bargain. You’ll lie down and if in ten minutes you haven’t fallen asleep, you can get up and I’ll let the matter drop.”

“Fine,” Elizabeth agreed reluctantly. “I’ll go to the break room–but if I do fall asleep, I need you to wake me up if anything changes, okay?”

“Of course,” Audrey agreed.

ICU: Waiting Room

“Forensics came back,” Rodriguez reported, finally getting down to the meat of his reason for the visit to the hospital. They had spent the first ten minutes going over what the police were doing to find Lucky. “All the blood found in the room belongs to Robin, which means there was no struggle.”

“She was probably asleep and didn’t wake up until after the first hit,” Mac said, trying to pretend he was talking about someone other than his beloved niece. “Any fingerprints?”

“Nope, none save for Patrick Drake, Robin, Noah Drake, and Elizabeth Spencer. There were some unidentified that we think are going to match up to the hotel staff but Carly Corinthos is arranging for those who have worked on Drake’s room since he checked in to go down to the station and be printed. She has to round them all up so it might take some time.”

“What about ballistics on the bullets Monica removed?” Mac questioned.

“They match the type of gun that Lucky had a permit for,” Rodriguez admitted. “But we can’t match them to a specific gun so we’re pulling all permits in the city for them right now and cross referencing them.” The detective hesitated. “We got the security tapes back, Mac. There is footage of Lucky Spencer entering the hotel.”

Mac exhaled slowly. He’d wanted to believe that his former employee and someone he’d known for so long wouldn’t be capable of this but the more he found out, the more he realized that he couldn’t pretend anymore. “So that’s it then,” he murmured. “The gun matches, there was motive and opportunity and the security tapes–”

“There’s more…” Rodriguez scratched his neck uncomfortably. “We got the footage of the hallway outside Drake’s room and the person entering the room is not Lucky Spencer.”

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