May 31, 2006

Metro Court Hotel: Patrick Drake’s Room

Elizabeth Spencer paused in the doorway and slid her textbooks and notebook into her bag. “Thanks again for helping me,” she said, turning back to her friend and colleague, Patrick Drake. “I will be so relieved when I get certified and can surprise Lucky.”

“Well, thank you,” Patrick replied, glancing over his shoulder at the room that Elizabeth had helped him set up for a romantic evening with Robin Scorpio. “I appreciate the help.”

“Robin is going to have a fabulous time and going to all this trouble will definitely make up for the absolutely horrible thing you said to her this morning,” Elizabeth teased. “You certainly lose all that charm when it comes to her.”

“I do not,” Patrick scoffed. “She’s just abnormal.”

Elizabeth snorted. “Yeah, that’s the attitude to take. It’s no wonder she wants to smack you half the time.” She swung her bag over her shoulder and took one last look at the table with the white table cloth and candles waiting to be lit. “Don’t forget the flowers,” she said sternly.

Patrick scowled. “The last time I bought her flowers, they ended up in the trash–”

“No arguments, just do it.” Elizabeth stretched up and kissed his cheek. “Have a good night and don’t screw it up!” she called as she went down the hall and pressed the button for the elevator.

“You’re a pain,” he called after her.

Wyndemere: Study

Nikolas sighed and tossed the recently developed photos onto his desk, rubbing his hand over his face. When Lucky had asked for his help, Nikolas had agreed only to clear Elizabeth’s name.

He’d hired the most reputable private investigator in the area and sent her on Elizabeth’s trail and for two weeks, Izabel Elliott had brought him photographs of Elizabeth meeting with Patrick Drake at his hotel room.

Each photo depicted a comfortable relationship but until today’s batch, Nikolas had remained unconvinced that his sister-in-law was pursuing an extramarital affair and since he’d been privy to the knowledge that Robin was seeing the good doctor, he’d been less likely to believe it.

But today, Elliott had brought photos that showed a different story. Photos that showed Elizabeth standing in the door way of Patrick’s room, smiling up at him and then reaching up to kiss him.

His heart broke for his brother and for Elizabeth, because surely something horrible had to have happened to drive her to this. Something must have gone wrong because they had been so happy.

As much as he loathed this responsibility, he now had to take these photos to Lucky and tell him that his fear was a reality.

Jason’s Penthouse

“So no word where Alexis has her stashed?” Carly Corinthos asked, examining the polish on her nails. She frowned when she realized she had a smear and made a mental note to visit the hotel’s manicurist again.

Jason exhaled slowly and lined up another shot, sinking a dark blue ball in the left corner pocket. He reached for the chalk. “Stan can’t find any trace of Alexis or Sam.”

“Hmm.” Carly leaned against Jason’s desk. “Well, at any rate, Alexis has Sam’s best interest at heart. She just wants her to get well again and you know as soon as Sam is healthy, she’ll come back to you.”

“I guess.” Jason lined up another shot. “She’s alive, that’s what’s important.”

“Right,” Carly agreed. “And you know…” she hesitated. “I can see where Alexis is coming from. She just found Sam, she wants to protect her and she thinks that being around you isn’t safe. Of course, Sam is a grown woman and gets to make her own decisions but no matter how old Michael gets, I will always want to keep him safe.”

“I know that,” Jason said, sounding impatient with the conversation for the first time. “I know why Alexis took her and I don’t blame her for it. I just want to know if Sam is okay and I don’t know that. She could have developed more problems or something could have gone wrong with her recovery. She had brain surgery, Carly, and I don’t know anything about her condition right now.”

“Okay, okay…” Carly shifted. “I can ask Jax if he’s heard from Alexis but I doubt she’d call him. And you could bug Ric’s phone because you know Alexis is in touch with him since she has the girls with her.”

“Ric’s gone,” Jason said flatly. “He left town yesterday and probably joined Alexis. I appreciate the help, Carly, but I’ve already thought of all this.”

“Well, fine,” Carly sighed. She grabbed her purse. “I have to get to the hotel anyway. Will you call if you need anything?”

“I won’t,” Jason answered.

Carly pursed her lips. “I could be annoyed with you but I’m choosing not to be. Good night.”

Spencer Apartment: Living Room

Nikolas silently handed the manila envelope to Lucky. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Lucky said shortly. He tore open the envelope and watched as photograph after photograph slid from the envelope. He swallowed hard and wished like hell he could take another pill but he couldn’t–not with Nikolas standing there.

Lucky rifled through them, each photo worse than the last–Elizabeth smiling, Elizabeth laughing, Elizabeth talking, touching and looking at that goddamn doctor like he’d hung the moon. One after another after another–and then he stopped.

Elizabeth kissing Patrick.

He took a deep breath and forced his fist not to clench. He looked up at Nikolas with what he hoped was a somewhat calm expression. “I appreciate you looking into this for me,” Lucky said slowly. “When Elizabeth gets home, we’ll…talk about this.”

Nikolas hesitated, opened his mouth to say something but closed it. “Okay. Well, I should be going. I promised Maxie Jones I’d meet her. She wanted to discuss something. If you need me, Lucky–”

“Goodbye,” Lucky said shortly. He gathered the photos together, straightened them and tucked them back inside the envelope.

Nikolas shook his head and left.

Lucky reached into his pocket and withdrew the half full bottle of pain medication. He yanked at the cap and took three pills at once. He could handle this. He was a Spencer for Christ’s sake. Spencers were strong and capable.

Spencers wouldn’t stand for a betrayal like this.

Lucky downed the rest of his beer in one long gulp, his mind somewhat hazy from the pills he’d taken this morning and the six-pack of alcohol he’d downed today. The edges around his vision were a little blurry but for some reason, Lucky felt like he could see clearly for the first time in weeks.

And he knew what he had to do.

Metro Court: Patrick Drake’s Room

Robin Scorpio purred low in her throat and moved away from Patrick to sprawl out on her back. “I could stay like this for a few weeks,” she said languidly. “I don’t think I’m able to move.” She pried an eye open to look at his grinning expression. “Not that I attribute that to you or anything. I worked a long shift.”

“Right, mind-blowing sex had nothing to do with it,” Patrick drawled. He curled his long fingers around Robin’s hip to draw her back to him. “Let me see if I can make you eat those words–”

His beeper went off and he muttered something under his breath. He sat up and searched for his discarded pants.

“They’re over that lamp,” Robin indicated with a feline smile.

He grinned back at her and got out of the bed, strolling nude over to the lamp in question. “You can’t help yourself, Scorpio, you couldn’t wait to get them off me.”

Robin snorted. “You’re the one who threw them.”

Patrick ignored that and unclipped his beeper from the pocket. He grimaced. “One of my patients just went critical, I have to go in.”

Robin sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest and started to wrap it around herself. “I guess I’ll head out then–”

He sat next to her on the bed and stopped her from getting up. “No, no, stay –” he leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers but pulled back before he could get distracted. “With any luck, this shouldn’t take long and I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Robin arched an eyebrow. “You want me to stay the night? Well,this is new–”

“Just be quiet,” Patrick muttered. He kissed her again. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Patrick stifled a yawn as he approached Elizabeth. “I was beeped?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Elizabeth sighed. She handed him a chart. “Danni Franklin had a seizure and after she came back from a scan, the aneurysm had grown–your father said to get a hold of you because she needs surgery tonight.”

“Well, I suppose Danni can’t help it if Robin and I were finally going to have a date that didn’t end with her stomping out of my room,” Patrick said. He flipped the chart open and started to make notes. “The flowers went over well, by the way. I don’t think they’ll be landing in the trash this time.”

“I told you so,” Elizabeth said smugly.

Metro Court: Patrick Drake’s Room

Unfortunately, the flowers were a loss.

It was an idle thought that crossed Robin’s mind as she desperately reached across the bed for the hotel phone. Her vision was getting blurry and she couldn’t really feel her legs–or anything else for that matter. She could see the dozen yellow roses that she had set on the nightstand. One of the shots had gone wild and hit the bouquet, decimating the delicate flowers.

Her fingers brushed against the receiver and the white plastic was smeared with red as Robin fumbled to grasp it.

Blackness was threatening but Robin struggled not to give in to it, trying desperately not let the room fade. She bit her lip and dialed three digits.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“My name is Robin–” Robin panted for breath, she couldn’t move anymore, she could barely breathe. The shock was beginning to wear off and pain was beginning to radiate through her body. “R-Robin S-Scorpio. I’m at the M-Metro Court Hotel, R-Room 1080. I’ve been–shot.’

“Ma’am, we’re sending an ambulance and a squad car. Do you know who shot you?”

Robin slumped against the blood stained pillows and finally let the blackness seep in.

“Ma’am? Do you know who shot you?”

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