Struggling between the facts and fiction
I’m alone
But I’m alive
Everyone around me is trying to make a statement
Then there’s me
I’m just trying to survive
– Disarray, Lifehouse

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

General Hospital: Conference Room

Leo released a quick breath of relief, ran a hand through his dark black curls. “I gotta say, I know this is bad news for you and maybe the rest of the hospital but knowing I didn’t screw up that surgery is a relief.”

Patrick wished he could share in Leo’s relief but learning that Elizabeth’s medication switch had been deliberate created more questions than it answered. He tossed a few files aside. “The plan now is for Spinelli to determine how these—he’s calling these coding glitches misfires, and I guess that’s the best word for them—we want to find out exactly how and when this glitch was inserted into the machine codes. And once he knows that, maybe he can fix them.”

“What about getting new machines? Something like this has to convince the board—” Leo hesitated, sat back when Patrick just looked down. “You’re still not going to escalate this? We know it’s a deliberate hack into the system—”

“Spinelli says the misfires go back to at least July. Whoever did this to Elizabeth—either they were lying in wait, hoping for the opportunity to go after her or she’s not really the first—”

“Or someone hacked the system looking for a way to screw with Elizabeth after she was admitted,” Leo said, “and found this glitch. We don’t know, Patrick—”

“And I want the answer to that question before I make this someone else’s problem.” Patrick got to his feet. “I thought you were on board with keeping this quiet—”

“Until we knew what was going on. Now we do. Our machines were faulty — that’s not news, Patrick.” Leo also got to his feet, folded his arms. “And someone took advantage of those issues and went after a woman connected to Jason Morgan at the same time people around him were dropping like flies—”

“Hey—”

“The fact Elizabeth is one of us—that she’s part of the hospital—that doesn’t have to matter. I don’t know what the problem is, dude. You’ve been on record demanding new machines for months. In fact, if it ever gets out that the board rejected these requests over and over again, it’s going to look bad for them.”

“I know. I know all of that, but—”

“You keep quiet now,” Leo said, “you’re doing it to protect Jason Morgan—”

“I’m doing it to protect the hospital—we’re just barely digging out after last year—” Patrick scowled. “Why the hell would I care about protecting Jason Morgan—”

“Because Elizabeth’s your best friend. Because Morgan’s got history with Robin. Or maybe because you operated on two of his family members this year and you feel a little guilty you nearly didn’t save a third. I don’t know, Patrick, pick a damn reason. Either—”

“It’s a result, but it’s not the reason. This hospital gets another black mark, another round of lawsuits, they’re going to cut something else,” Patrick retorted. “They shut down the nursing program, Leo! We don’t have much left. They’ll go for the pro bono cases we all take. They’re going to cut the daycare. The AIDs wing—”

“That’s supported through donations—”

“It’s not self-sustaining and hasn’t been in five years. You don’t know the shit I’ve seen since I took over, Leo. We’re hanging on the edge here, and one more news story hits that patients aren’t safe at General Hospital, and that’s it. This place will be even more miserable, and we’ll have even less to take care of patients. So, yeah, right now, I’m keeping quiet until I know exactly what I’m dealing with, how serious it is, and how far it goes back.” Patrick headed for the door, then looked back at his friend. “And if my reasons aren’t good enough for you, Leo, feel free to go above my head and do it yourself.”

Leo stroked his chin, then sighed. “All right. All right. I hear you. The nursing program—that was a jolt, and I didn’t think it could get worse, but it has. So let’s…let’s just see what Spinelli comes up with.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re not the only one who loves this place, Patrick. But I don’t like the idea of helping Jason Morgan. All he and his kind do is put more bodies on my table.” And with that, Leo left.

Zacchara Estate: Driveway

It was nearing dusk when Johnny pulled his car into the long drive curving in a semi-circle in front of his family’s house. Nadine had spent all the hours since this morning in a constant state of turbulence, castigating herself for how she’d lost the plot in Las Vegas and allowed Johnny to talk her into bed twice.

Maybe she was just lonely, Nadine thought. She looked up at the huge house, with its forbidding exteriors against the backdrop of the dying sunlight. “Did you really grow up here?”

“When I wasn’t in private school or in college.” Johnny switched off the ignition, looked over at her. “It’s not going to be that bad.”

She squinted at him. “Wasn’t one of your selling points protection from your family?”

“Yeah, but—” he pressed his lips together, clearly trying to think of way around that particular challenge. “They’re not going to threaten you to your face. At least not today.”

“You’re really comforting, you know that?” Nadine shoved the door open and stepped out. She slammed the car door, but didn’t go near the house, giving Johnny time to come to her side. “Look, I get to be nervous about this. Your sister tried to blackmail me into lying to the cops this summer, your dad tried to kill me—”

“Yeah, but he likes you now—that’s not helping either, is it?” Johnny said. “By now, my sister has told them what’s going on. So let’s just go inside, they can say whatever they want, and then I’ll go grab clothes. We’ll be in Port Charles, right? They’re not there.”

Nadine glanced at the house again before sighing. “I guess you’re right. If they want to make me miserable, they’ll have to travel like an hour to make it happen, so we’ve got that going for us. Let’s get this over with.”

“That’s the spirit.” He laced his fingers through hers and pulled her towards the front door. “Now, just remember our cover story, and this will all be fine—”

“The one where I come off as a gold digger taking advantage of the guy on the rebound, why not?”

Johnny stopped, swinging her around so that they faced each other. “No one is going to think that—”

“Oh, they’re all going to think that, but that’s okay. That was the attitude when it was Nikolas, so I’m used to it.” Nadine shrugged but kept her eyes downcast because every time they made eye contact today, she ended up taking off her clothes. “It’s better than being that crazy killer’s sister.”

Johnny opened his mouth, then shook his head. “I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Good. Don’t. We’ll go in there, I’ll tell them I married you because you’re rich and hot, and you married me because I’m good in bed or maybe because I wouldn’t put out without a ring on my finger—” Nadine wiggled her finger. “Maybe I should have let you stop on the way to the airport for a flashier ring.”

“You pointed out — correctly — that anything bigger would make it harder for you to do your job,” Johnny said. “And you’re not quitting that, so no one is really going to think you’re after me for the money. I don’t even have any, you know. It’s just a trust fund from my mother.”

“All my mother left me was the crazy killer sister, so—” Nadine closed her eyes. “I’m being bitchy and I’m arguing with everything you say because I don’t want to go in there.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“It’s just…” She bit her lip, looked at the house. “That’s the first step. People are going to know we got married. And then we’re going back to Port Charles. And more people are going to know, and it’ll be like this avalanche we really can’t control, and sure we can tell people until they’re blue in the face that we did this because we’re hot for each other, but everyone is going to know—”

“Then we’ll just have to change their minds.” Johnny cupped her jaw in both hands, and she had no choice but to meet his eyes, those intense dark brown eyes that seemed like they could see straight through her bullshit. “You don’t think we’re up to that?”

“I don’t—” She licked her lips. “I don’t know. I lose track of what I’m thinking when you do that. And don’t ask what, you know what—stop looking at me—”

“I like looking at you. It’s my new favorite thing to do.” He kissed her then, swallowing her next protest, and Nadine’s hands fluttered for a moment before sliding around his back and clinging to him.

“Well, this is an interesting development.”

They jumped apart to find Claudia standing a few feet away, in the open door. “You going to put on a show in the front drive, John, or are you going to bring the wife in to meet the family?”

General Hospital: Conference Room

Spinelli had three laptops set up, each screen covered in code that would look like gibberish to anyone else. There were also several stacks of papers with the same programming language. Spinelli had written a program to go through the mainframe of the hospital dispensary, but he didn’t want to rely just on the computers. Sometimes you found more when you used your own eyes.

He was so lost in absorbing the code that he didn’t hear the knock on the door — but he did hear it burst open, banging against the wall behind it so hard it bounced back. “I didn’t mean that,” Maxie said with a wrinkle of her nose. She stepped in and closed the door. “You didn’t answer my knock.”

Spinelli furrowed his brow. “I didn’t hear you knock.” He circled a set of codes, made a notation. “What does the fair Maximista need?”

“Answers. You’ve been in here all day, and I realized you were already at the hospital yesterday because you found me last night.” Maxie went to the opposite side of the table, planted her hands flat against the tabletop, then narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“The Jackal’s assistance has been requested and he is not at liberty—”

“Oh, no, no, you don’t get to disappear into that gibberish and try to distract me with your Jackals and wherefores and whatnots and heretofore—” She stabbed a finger at him. “Something is going on. I demand to know.”

Spinelli cleared his throat. “There is a software issue with one of the hospital’s programs. The Determined Doctor Drake has requested the Jackal see to it as a way to save money and receive quick, accurate service. Since I’ve been here anyway.”

Maxie squinted at him, her lips thinned. “There’s enough truth in that I’m gonna leave it alone. For now. Also, I need your help. Johnny hasn’t called me back, and you need to put like, a tracker on him.”

“The Septic Son? Why does Maximista even need him?”

“Because the last time I saw him, he was in a rotten mood. And it was the day of the shooting, don’t you remember? He and Nadine went off together, and then Sonny got shot—”

“Yesterday.”

Maxie stopped, blinked. “What?”

“Mr. Sir was shot yesterday.”

Maxie blinked, then dropped into a seat. “Yesterday. Yeah. I guess it was just yesterday. It’s been barely a week.” She looked at him. “It doesn’t seem so long ago that Lulu was here, and we were bickering with each other, you know? And now she’s gone. Johnny was so upset, and I guess I just—I’m looking for things to do. I’ve done everything I can at Crimson, and Kate doesn’t need me. I figured I could go bother Johnny because I don’t want him to go moping around. Lulu would hate that, you know? She said he brooded too much.”

Spinelli nodded. “The Jackal is painfully aware of the Blonde One’s feelings on the matter.”

“Do you think he shot Sonny?” Maxie wanted to know. She picked at her cuticle. “If he did,” she continued, not waiting for his answer, “it wasn’t his fault. I’ll make sure Mac knows it. Johnny never did anything to bother Sonny, but it’s not like that mattered.” She shoved herself to her feet. “You’re not going to put a tracer on his phone, are you?”

“No, Maximista, I am not.”

“Fine. You keep doing your top-secret work, and I’ll go bother someone else. But eventually—” She pointed at him. “I’m gonna figure out what you’re up to.”

Zacchara Estate: Foyer

Johnny kept his hand at the small of Nadine’s back, ushering her inside — only after Claudia had already swept in front of them. As much as he’d tried to reassure and distract her outside, she wasn’t crazy to worry about his family’s reaction to this.

Anthony Zacchara, on his best day, was an unpredictable bastard who thrived on chaos — a trait he’d passed down to his daughter. If Anthony thought Nadine was a threat to Johnny, he wouldn’t have any trouble disposing of her. And Johnny wasn’t so sure that Claudia wouldn’t be right there with their father to neutralize Nadine.

It was one of the reasons he thought marrying Nadine might help — it would prove to his father that Nadine was on his side. That she’d had the chance to go to the PCPD, and she’d chosen to protect him instead. It was essential that Anthony saw Nadine as being in their camp. It had taken months before his father backed off Lulu—

Johnny wasn’t sure they’d have months for Anthony to warm up to Nadine.

“Just let me do the talking,” he reminded her, guiding her towards the living room where Anthony waited, reclining in his wheelchair, Trevor flanking his side. Ric stood off to the side, looking through some papers, and Claudia was by the bar, pouring another glass of wine.

A typical family scene, Johnny thought almost bitterly.

“Well, if it isn’t the blushing bride and the groom,” Anthony drawled. “I guess you weren’t as broken up about LooLoo the Lunatic as I thought.” He smirked when Johnny tensed. “Or does one blonde feel the same in the dark as the other?”

Johnny bristled, but Trevor drew his attention next. “John, you ran off to Las Vegas without even running this past me,” he said, sauntering towards them. “You have a substantial inheritance coming your way, and you didn’t even let us protect you with a prenuptial agreement.” He lifted his bushy brows. “I don’t suppose you’ll sign a post-nuptial now?”

“I—” Nadine opened her mouth but Johnny held out a hand and she said nothing else.

“When I need you, Trev, I’ll call for you. Until then, don’t bother. My money is my money and Nadine’s welcome to whatever she wants—”

“Oh, don’t bother trying to make me think this is anything other than a cheap way to keep yourself out of jail again,” Anthony cut in sharply. “This woman saw you shoot Sonny Corinthos, didn’t she? And you think this is enough protection? What’s stopping her from going to the PCPD the first time you piss her off?” He shook his head. “No. No, John, I’m not letting you endanger everything I built.” He focused on Nadine. “You’ll sign whatever I put in front of you, and you’ll shut up about whatever you saw on the pier—”

“You’re not going to threaten her,” Johnny retorted. “I won’t let you—”

“Johnny—” Nadine’s voice was soft, and her hand on his arm was reassuring. He looked her, met her eyes. “They’re just scared, okay? Scared and worried. So let’s just try to reassure them, right?”

“I’m not scared—” Anthony began, offended.

“Sure you are,” Nadine said, and so stunned at being interrupted by a woman, Anthony closed his mouth. “And who would blame you? After what Johnny just went through these last two months. He was on trial and in jail just a few weeks ago. It’s natural that you’re worried he might be dragged back with even less evidence. Scott Baldwin made it really clear he didn’t care about Johnny being guilty. And you do have money. Just look at this house, right? I think my apartment would fit into this entire room.”

Anthony considered her for a long moment, then folded his hands in his lap. “So you admit that you married my son for protection.”

“Well, not entirely, no. I mean, when we found out about the shooting, Johnny knew he’d be first in line as a suspect. Especially after what happened to poor Kate Howard. And he knew Scott wouldn’t believe I was an alibi. B-But you know, Johnny could just say talk to my lawyer, and I could find a lawyer of my own. That could be the end of it, right?” Nadine licked her lips. “But it’s okay now. Johnny and I are…we’re together, and we’re a team.”

“Not entirely?” Trevor echoed.

Anthony smirked. “That’s code for yes,” he said in a stage-whisper to the lawyer.

“It’s…more complicated than that. Ask Claudia what she saw when she went outside. Did it look like we were married to avoid being questioned?” she asked Johnny’s sister who pursed her lips.

“No,” she said finally. “A few more minutes, we might have had to throw water on them. I don’t know, Daddy. It might be interesting to see where this going.” She shrugged. “But then again, does my opinion matter?”

“No,” Anthony muttered, “but you’re not always wrong.” He hesitated. “You talk a good game, girl. You amused me during the trial. I think I might like to see what else you have up your sleeve. But you don’t get to lay a hand on my money—”

“Right. So I’ll sign whatever Mr. Lansing wants me to sign.”

“Nadine—” Johnny started, but she shook her head.

“I know what everyone is going to say.” She looked at him, biting her lip, and he knew she was thinking of their conversation back at the hotel. “But I don’t care that you have access to money. I can take care of myself. I’m not a gold digger. So you go pack what you need to come back with me, and I’ll go talk to Mr. Lansing about what he wants me to sign.”

“Pack?” Anthony repeated as Nadine released Johnny’s hand and followed Trevor out the room. “Where the hell are you going?”

Coffee House: Office

Francis dropped the phone onto the base as Jason came into the office. “Hey. I just talked to my contact at the DEA.”

Jason closed the door. “We’re all set for tonight?” He looked over at Cody. “Karpov will be there?”

“He was happy to hear you’d changed your mind about meeting him,” his lieutenant confirmed. “He hopes this will the beginning of a successful partnership.”

Jason grunted. “If we’re lucky, it’ll be the last time I ever have to see or think about him.”

Francis lifted his blond brows. “How’s Sonny? I thought he was supposed to have surgery again today.”

Jason went around to the other side of the desk, moved some papers around. “Nothing. Still waiting for some of the swelling to go down, but—” He looked up briefly before reaching for a stack of invoices. “They haven’t changed their prognosis.”

“Ah. Sorry to hear that.” Francis looked at Cody, tipped his head, and the lieutenant headed out, leaving Francis and Jason alone. “Elizabeth and the kids settle in okay? Her grandmother?”

Surprised by the question, Jason lifted his head again. “What? Yeah. No security issues—”

“I just—I could have confirmed this over the phone. You could be at home with them.” Francis folded his arms. “I know we’re not talking about why Elizabeth got discharged or why we needed to track down some hospital-quality equipment and meds, but—you don’t have to do more than show up at the warehouse tonight—”

“Are you telling me how to do my job?” Jason wanted to know. “Because if you don’t like—”

Francis came around the side of the desk, pulled open the top drawer. He put the picture frame on the desk. “No reason to hide that away anymore. It can go right next to Michael and Morgan.” He slid the frame so that it sat next to the double frame — Morgan that summer, eating an ice cone. And Michael’s last school photo.

“You’ve spent a lot of time hiding them,” Francis said. Jason clenched his jaw. “I told you a couple of days ago that I was glad we were done pretending. I’m not the only one that’s breathing easier knowing we can give your kid—both of them—the kind of protection they deserve. You know when Sonny did this job the best? When he was at his strongest? When he and Carly were good, he went home to his family. He didn’t know how to hang on to it. I sure hope you don’t make the same mistakes.”

Morgan Penthouse: Hallway

Audrey wrapped an arm around Elizabeth’s waist. “Slower, darling. You’re still trying to do too much too fast.”

“I can’t help it,” Elizabeth said, panting as they paused, and she leaned against a window. “I have two boys, and Jason needs me back on my feet—”

“Jason—and those boys—need you to be healthy,” Audrey corrected, and Elizabeth didn’t argue when her grandmother steered her back down the hall. “These problems with the hospital will not be solved overnight.”

“I still can’t believe my medication was deliberately switched.” Elizabeth grimaced as her grandmother lowered her onto the bed. “That’s just insane to me. We’ve been having issues with those stupid machines, but this goes so far and beyond that.”

“I regret, you know, not doing more after Steve passed.” Audrey sat next to Elizabeth, handed her a glass of water. “And when I retired, I could have taken a seat on the board. Edward offered it to me.”

“I miss him being on the board,” Elizabeth said wistfully. “I can’t blame him for not wanting to be there after losing Emily and Alan so close together, but with Monica cutting back her hours, the closing of the nursing program, losing Bobbie—it doesn’t even feel like the same place.”

“The end of an era for sure.” Audrey sighed, rubbed her knee. “Your grandfather thought they’d be the next generation, you know. Alan taking over for him, Jason in medical school — perhaps continuing to follow in his father’s footsteps. And Tommy and his son, TJ. Instead…”

“Gram—”

“I’m not judging Jason for going a different way after the accident,” Audrey said, patting Elizabeth’s hand. “He spent so long in the hospital, surrounded by doctors poking and prodding at him, I’m not surprised he ran as far and as fast as he could. Lila always fretted that Jason continued to run from them—and that Alan and Edward couldn’t stop getting in their own way to heal the breach.”

Elizabeth rotated the glass in her hands. “I didn’t think about—you were around for all of that.”

“To a certain extent, yes. Your grandfather took a great interest in what was happening—he counseled Alan to have some patience, but well, it wasn’t to be. We lost him only a few months later.” Her voice hitched slightly, and she had to take a breath. “Oh, it’s been more than ten years, and it still feels so wrong to speak of him in the past tense.”

“I know. I’ve never stopped missing him.” Elizabeth handed her grandmother a tissue. “He’d be heartbroken at what’s happened to the hospital. He worked so hard to save it—” She looked away. The stress of the hospital had contributed to his fatal heart attack at the desk where he’d spent so much of his life. “When this is done, when we know what happened and we’ve fixed it, I want to do better to honor Gramps. And you. And Bobbie and Amy and all the nurses that came through GH. That nursing program — it gave me a future. A life for my son. I want to bring it back.”

“And I would love to help you, but first—” Audrey handed Elizabeth two pills. “We have to get you better.”

Elizabeth obeyed, swallowing the medication. She set the glass aside. “Gram, you were with Jason most of yesterday. Were—were you with him when he found out about Sonny?”

“I was. It was just after Jason and Patrick had shown me your toxicology reports. Epiphany called him from the Emergency Room.” Audrey tipped her head. “Why? Have you not spoken with him about it?”

“A little. Not much. Jason kind of—he locks in, you know? He focuses on what has to be done. One foot in front of the other—” Elizabeth had to pause, wincing and changing position to take some of the pressure from her sore ribs. “And right now, he has a list of things to do, and he can avoid dealing with it.”

“Ah, well, it’s not unusual, darling, for someone to lose themselves in their work or find something else to take their attention—” Audrey paused.

“It’s just—there’s been so much loss this year, Gram. And if I go back even further, when Alan died, Jason—” Elizabeth bit her lip, looked at her hands. “If Jason hadn’t saved my life, he would have made it to the hospital in time to talk to Alan. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have, it’s just—I think about it a lot. I know losing his father hit him harder than he expected. And I then I had to body slam him by asking him to give up Jake—”

“Oh, darling—”

“Jake was born, and Jason couldn’t be with him, and oh, I could see how much he loved him. It kills me that I took that time—”

“He had to allow it, dear. He could have said no. You can’t carry that with you—”

“But I do. And I don’t know how to stop. Alan, and then not having Jake, then we got hit with Emily—and then Jason just kept losing. Michael. He loved him so much—loves,” Elizabeth corrected softly. “Because we can’t give up hope. But Jason lost another son. And now his best friend and brother—I just—” Her eyes filled. “I want so badly to do the right thing and I’m so terrible at it. I’ve done nothing but hurt him for so long.”

“I imagine Jason would have a very different opinion on that, but all you can do right now is have a little patience. It’s scarcely been a day. Let him absorb this. You’ll know when to push him. You will,” Audrey insisted when Elizabeth just scoffed, swiped at her tears. “Trust yourself, and Jason, that when the time is right, you’ll both know it. Until then, patience is my best advice.”

“Patience. I’ve never been good at that.” Elizabeth sighed when she heard Cameron in the other room. “He’s starting to talk to himself — he’s getting bored with playing, and he’ll wake Jake.”

“I’ll go fetch him, darling, and bring dinner up for all of us.” Audrey kissed her granddaughter’s cheek and left.

Elizabeth looked around the room — around Jason’s bedroom — and wondered why she couldn’t feel settled. Why it was so hard to believe it was different this time?

How did we get here?
When I used to know you so well?
Yeah, how did we get here?
Well, I think I know
Do you see what we’ve done?
We’re gonna make such fools of ourselves
Do you see what we’ve done?
We’re gonna make such fools of ourselves
– Decode, Paramore

---

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

General Hospital: ICU

“You know, there’s no law that says someone has to be here every single minute,” Elizabeth said, watching curiously as Jason came in, followed by her grandmother. “And there’s no reason both of you—”

“Hush, sweetheart, and don’t argue about being the center of attention,” Audrey said. She leaned over and kissed her granddaughter’s forehead before settling into one of the chairs by the bed. Jason went towards the window to make sure the shades were drawn, and no extra light was leaking into the room. “There was a time when you would have relished all this extra attention.”

“Yeah, when I was fifteen—” Elizabeth sighed, leaning back against the pillows. “But the boys—”

“Cameron is in school, and Bobbie’s looking after Jake for a few hours. I’m going to the house to collect a few more things they’ll need or want. To pack some clothes for you.”

“Mmm, did anyone check on the luggage from the plane?” Elizabeth rubbed her temple. “They said it might be up to ten days—”

“I’ll call the airline later,” Jason promised. “We’ll—I promise, we’ll reschedule the trip.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” She closed her eyes. “You both look so serious, so I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re both here at the same time. And I’m sure it’s not to discuss packing.”

“Well, no. I spoke with Jason yesterday, and we both agreed that—” Audrey paused, and Elizabeth opened her eyes, focused on her grandmother. “We agreed that I ought to tell you a bit more about what happened when Lucky left on Sunday.”

“There’s something worse than just leaving without saying telling me?” Elizabeth asked. She fumbled for the bed controls, raised herself slightly, wincing at the pressure on her sutures. “Did he say something to the boys?”

“No. No. He never saw them. He came over a bit early, before they’d come down. He’d brought the bags you’d packed the day before—I don’t think he’d even opened them,” Audrey said, and the bitterness in her tone and the pinched expression on her face startled Elizabeth. “He simply dropped the bags on the floor and said he was leaving.”

She closed her eyes. “He told me about the whole thing the same way. Like it was already done, and there was nothing I could say. I would have warned you, Gram, but it wasn’t—it wasn’t supposed to happen. Lucky was always supposed to go weeks from now, to follow with Laura.” She rubbed her temple again.

“Are you in pain? Should I go get a doctor?”

“My head,” Elizabeth murmured. She closed her eyes, continued to talk. “Gram, I’m sorry—”

“Darling, Cameron was on the stairs when we argued. He heard some of it, and he saw Lucky leave.”

Her eyes flew open, and Elizabeth jerked up, gasping. Jason reached for the call button, and Audrey took the bed controls, lowered her back down. “What do you mean he saw Lucky?”

“He asked if his Daddy was going away,” Audrey said. “Don’t upset yourself. Oh, I shouldn’t have said anything—”

“No, no, it’s—” Elizabeth swallowed hard, took another deep breath. “It’s my fault. I didn’t mean to react that way. I just—Cameron saw him? What did Lucky say? What did he hear?”

“I don’t know how long he stood there. He can move so quietly when he wants to—but if he was there for any length of time, I’m sure he heard the yelling. I don’t know what he’d understand, but he knew enough that Lucky was leaving. That he was going away. Oh, I’m sorry—”

Patrick appeared in the doorway, breathing hard. “They paged me. What’s wrong? Did her sutures open up?”

“I don’t—I moved too fast—” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “And my head is killing me. Don’t blame them,” she added quickly when Patrick opened his mouth. “I had to—there was something I needed to know about Cameron.”

“Is he okay—” Patrick rolled up the hospital gown to take a closer look at the sutures, grimacing. “Okay, you tore some open—”

“Oh—” Audrey clasped her hands together. “I’m so sorry—”

“I’m the one who told you to tell her. We should have waited,” Jason said, “but I just—”

“No, he’s my son. I have to know—” Elizabeth looked at Patrick, scribbling at her chart. “He saw Lucky at my grandmother’s. He saw him leaving. And Gram says he overheard the argument.”

Patrick’s expression eased. “Is he okay? Cameron?”

“Yeah—”

“Fine. I’ll grant that it couldn’t have waited. But from now on, no more news until the sutures heal. I’ll go get the supplies, restitch, and do a round of pain meds to take the edge off.”

“Patrick, any intern can do this—”

“You think I’m trusting my best nurse to those hacks?” Patrick snorted, scribbling something in the chart. “I’ll take care of it. You rest. I mean it this time.” He looked at Jason and Audrey. “And you should clear out. She’ll feel obligated to be awake, to talk if she has visitors.”

Jason clenched his jaw, but Elizabeth reached out for his hand, squeezed. “Go. You probably have a thousand things that are piling up. And spend time with Jake,” she suggested. “That would make me really happy.”

“All right,” he said, though grudgingly. He leaned down, brushed his lips against her forehead. “Rest. I’ll come by with some dinner.”

“Sounds great.”

When they’d both left, Patrick went to get suture supplies. When he returned, he administered the first dose of pain medication. While she waited for it to kick in, Elizabeth opened her eyes to watch him work. “Don’t be mad at them.”

“I’m not,” Patrick muttered, squinting down at the suture site. “I’m mad at Lucky Spencer, the aggravating jackass who started all of this by abandoning his kids. And it doesn’t matter if they’re not biologically his. Especially not with Cameron.”

“All I can hope is that Cam won’t remember this,” Elizabeth murmured. “Do you remember anything from the year you were four?”

“I—” Patrick paused, considering the question. “A day at the beach. Maybe only because I have pictures of it, you know? I don’t know if I remember it or if my mother told me the story enough that I created a memory. Either way, it’s in there.”

“Is it a good one?”

“Yeah. Yeah. It’s—she’s smiling. And so is my dad. And I’m laughing.” Patrick looked at her. “But that’s it, that’s all I’ve got from year four. Cameron might have flashes, maybe he’ll remember Lucky, maybe he won’t. But you’ll spend the rest of his year four surrounding him with love, and you keep doing that, and one day isn’t going to matter in the long run.”

“You’re going to make such a great dad, you know that?” She closed her eyes, already beginning to float away. “Your baby is lucky to have you.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. Now be quiet and let me work.”

Coffee House: Office

After leaving the hospital, Jason had wanted to go directly to Carly’s where Bobbie was babysitting Jake, but he also knew he did have a few things to deal with, and wouldn’t it be better if he cleared all of that out of the way so nothing intruded on his time with Jake?

Though now that he was sitting in the office, grimacing at contracts Diane had left for him, it now seemed like a terrible idea.

“You got a minute?” Francis knocked on the open door. “Cody said you were here, and I figure I’d catch you while I could.”

Jason set the paperwork aside, gestured for him to come in. Francis closed the door behind him. “Cody said things were good—”

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m not judging you. You’ve been at the hospital, which is exactly where you should be. Can I just say on behalf of everyone else who already knew the truth, I am very grateful we’re done pretending Jake Webber isn’t your kid.”

Jason frowned, got to his feet, and approached the other man. “What does that mean? When did you—”

“I started working for Sonny before you did, Jason.” Francis shoved his hands in his pockets. “Did he ever tell you I was Elizabeth’s first guard? Back when you left. Sorel went after her at Kelly’s, so—”

“No. He never said—”

“Because you almost never called in those first few months. Sonny handled it, and she was fine. I was around for a few weeks until Sorel realized you really weren’t coming back, and Elizabeth fell off the radar. For a little while. Jason, you had guards on those kids for the last six months. You’re going to tell me you never thought anyone was going to have questions? Especially after the trial.”

“I—” Jason sighed. He leaned back against the desk. “Maybe I wanted to believe I could still protect them from all of this. But you’re right. There were enough breadcrumbs that anyone could have found out. Is that what you wanted to say?”

“Partly. Max has been keeping us in the loop as to Sonny’s whereabouts. He mostly bounces between Greystone and the hospital. The cousin still isn’t letting him in the room, but Spinelli’s been keeping tabs on the case through Maxie. He said Sonny tried to get some info through Maxie directly, but Jax cut it off.  Spinelli knows to let us know if Kate’s condition changed for the worse, so we’d be able to do damage control before Sonny got wind of it.”

Jason had barely thought about Kate the last few days and winced at that. “She’s still unconscious?”

“Been in and out, but nothing long-term, Spinelli says. She had to go in for more surgery, but they’re thinking sometime today or tomorrow. All signs still look good. Sonny’s been better since we got Spinelli all set up as the intermediary.”

“Good. Good. What about the shooting?”

Francis shook his head. “Nothing’s moved on our end or through the PCPD, as far as we can tell. Russian gun, Russian ammunition, but Karpov is still working with Rochester. I put some feelers out to his lawyer, maybe suggesting that we could do something behind your back, but she wasn’t interested. We had our chance, she said, and Karpov has found a more willing partner.”

“I don’t like the way that sounds,” Jason muttered.

“Neither did Cody or me, but other than the shooting? We’ve got nothing to work with. The only possibility is Anthony Zacchara hiring someone, but if he did that, there’s no hint of that anywhere.”

“And I’m not accusing that lunatic without some proof. He might be in a wheelchair, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get things done if he wanted to.” Jason nodded, folded his arms. “But other than that, everything is quiet?”

“Business as usual. Bound to be quieter with half our clients going elsewhere for their needs.” Francis paused. “You’re serious about shutting this down?”

“I can’t ever get out. Not all the way. There are pockets of the business I can’t reroute,” Jason admitted. “And I figure it’s better me than someone else. But yeah, the shipping routes that everyone has been trying to get for ten years? I’m not going to miss those. In another month or two, they’ll be permanently gone, and someone in Rochester can put a target on their back. But it’s not going to be me.”

“And you’re not worried that Sonny might find out and think it’s up to him to change it? Wouldn’t be the first time you tried to get out and he pulled you back in—”

“Sonny can do whatever he wants. But by the time he figures it out, it’ll be too late to get it back without using force.” Jason went back around the desk. “I’m not who I was a decade ago. I guess we’ll find out what kind of man Sonny wants to be. He said he wanted out. All I did was make sure it was permanent.”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

“We’re on day four of this investigation and Scott Baldwin is still on this college trip in California?” Harper shook his head and took a seat in front of Mac’s desk. He flipped through his notebook. “What did you have to sacrifice to the gods for that?”

“I have no reason to call him,” Mac said. Harper lifted his brows. “He’s a special prosecutor, and we don’t have a reason to be in contact with the district attorney’s office yet. After the way Baldwin butchered the Hayes case, they’re not letting him near this case.”

“He’ll just make a call to Floyd, and we’ll be stuck with him,” Harper muttered. “You know they’re not going to let the DA’s office have another crack at any case dealing with Corinthos and Morgan. Not after Jason Morgan walked on two murder cases in four years, and Corinthos somehow never ends up committing a crime in just the right way for charges. I mean, he shot his wife in the head for Christ’s sake.”

“Yeah, I fully expect the DA to hand it over to Baldwin, but unless you’ve worked some magic of your own—” Mac gestured at Harper’s notebook. “I don’t think we’ve got a reason to worry.”

“No, you’re not wrong there.” Harper sighed, glanced down. “No witnesses remember anyone up in the vestibule, which makes sense. Shooter probably blended in with the wedding guests fleeing for their damn lives—” He made a face. “We don’t have any open cases that match the gun we found which is good and bad news.”

“What about Sonny? What’s he been up to?”

“After that first night when he went after Johnny Zacchara, not much. Our guys have him going down to Crimson Pointe a few days ago, but nothing reported from that. He went in, came back out. He’s gone out to Carly Jacks, probably to see the kid he’s got left, and he’s been to the hospital. And home,” Harper added. He flipped the notebook closed. “As for Johnny Zacchara, he was in Port Charles that first day, went home, and he came yesterday, I figure because Lulu Spencer was transferred.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know about that.” He rubbed his forehead. “What about Jason? I know he was at the hospital, but—”

“That’s pretty much it. Hospital to the Towers, and back again. I don’t have today’s report yet, so we’ll see how that goes, but he’s been sticking close to Elizabeth. That’s a hell of a thing, isn’t it?”

“Always figured it was coming sooner or later. So no signs of retaliation? Maybe we’re going about this wrong. Maybe it’s not connected to the groom, but to the bride. What’s Kate’s background?”

“I’ll start digging into that, but I gotta say I don’t think Kate Howard’s going to have the kind of enemies that shoot you in the back. Stab, maybe. Metaphorically speaking,” Harper added. He got to his feet. “I don’t know what to tell you, Mac. This case felt cold almost from the beginning. If we’re lucky, it’s isolated.”

“That’d be a first,” Mac muttered.

Jacks House: Driveway

Carly pulled her car to a stop by the garage, then smiled in the rearview mirror when she recognized the car behind her. “Hey, guess what? Jason’s here!” she said, twisting in her seat to look at the two boys belted into booster seats.

Morgan grinned and Cameron pumped his little fist in the air. “Uncle Jason is the bestest,” Morgan told Cam. He looked at his mother. “Mom, if Cam is my cousin, is Uncle Jason his uncle, too?”

Cameron shook his head. “Mommy said Jason’s my friend. I got an Uncle Nikolas. And Aunt Lu.” His mouth drooped. “But no daddy. He left.”

Carly busied herself unbuckling her belt and reaching for the door handle. She tucked away Cameron’s comments to pass on to Jason. It felt like the sort of thing his mother should know, but Carly wasn’t going to mess up again talking to Elizabeth. Not until she was out of the hospital, at least.

“Hey, it’s good to see you.” Carly hugged Jason when he reached the car. He waved through the windows at both boys who waved back. “Are you here to get them?”

“Yeah, I’m going to bring them to the hospital when I pick up dinner.”

“Oh, that’s good. But I thought kids couldn’t come to the ICU.”

“She was supposed to get moved to the general ward at some point today.”

“By the way, uh, Cam made a comment to Morgan just now—he doesn’t have a daddy because his left. Is that—” When Jason winced, then clenched his jaw. “That doesn’t seem like news to you.”

“Audrey said Cam overheard some of the argument the day Lucky dropped off their things. She wasn’t sure what he understood, but he knew Lucky was going away.” He braced his hand on the window, then looked at Carly. “What exactly did he say?”

Carly related the brief exchange, and Jason just shook his head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “He’s such a great kid. I don’t know how that happened since his mother’s a twit, but miracles happen—”

“Carly—”

“I promised to mind my tongue around the boys and Elizabeth. While she’s in the hospital. I never promised to lie.”

“Really? This is the time for this?” Jason demanded, and she made another face. “Look, let me call the hospital, find out if Elizabeth can have visitors, and then I’ll take the boys with me. Bobbie has Jake inside, right?”

“Yeah, but, oh, don’t be mad, Jason. I’m trying to make this up to you, but you can’t go and be mad about this, too. You know I don’t like her. I’m sorry she’s hurt, and I’m sorry her ex sucks. But she picked him and thought he was a better choice than you—”

“Okay, I’m opening the car door because it’s the only way you’ll shut up,” Jason said, tugging on the door. The irritation vanished entirely when he saw Cameron. “Hey! How was school?”

Carly watched him for another minute, unfastening Cameron’s seatbelt, then lifting the four-year-old out of the car and setting him on the ground. Cameron slipped his hand in Jason’s, chattering away about preschool and his teacher and the gold star that Mommy would love—

And Jason walked him towards the house, listening intently to every word. Carly sighed, then went to fetch her own son. Okay, so maybe she needed to be a little more careful about what she said.

Because Cameron and Jake were a package deal, and somehow, Carly was going to have to figure out how to deal with their mother even if it killed her.

Which it very much might.

Greystone: Living Room

It had been days since his aborted wedding. Days since his bride had been shot in the back and had nearly died, blood soaking her wedding gown, her beautiful eyes shimmering with tears, in pain—

Days without answers.

Sonny prowled the length of the room, stopping every once in a while to glare at the desk where his cell phone lay next to the land line, both suspicious and furiously silent. Jason had spared him, what, two conversations since that night? His family was safe, Sonny thought bitterly. His son was healthy. Breathing. His loved one might have been injured, but no one was keeping Jason from being at Elizabeth’s side—

And he was tired of being told who it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be Anthony, the fucker didn’t walk. It couldn’t be Claudia, there was no evidence she possessed the skills. It couldn’t be Johnny, why would he expose Lulu to the violence? It couldn’t be Trevor, he was still too fond of Kate. It couldn’t be Karpov, it wouldn’t serve any purpose—

He didn’t give a shit who it wasn’t — why wasn’t anyone telling him who it was —

Sonny stalked over to the mini bar, jerked the glass stopper from the decanter of bourbon. All he had were suspects but —

“Hey, Boss—” Max knocked on the open door, his face grave. “Andrei Karpov is outside. He says he has something for you on the shooter.”

Sonny scowled, poured a tumbler of his favorite dark liquid. Jason would tell him not to take the meeting. Not to meddle. Sonny had wanted out, hadn’t he? He needed to stay that way.

Well, if Jason wanted to have some damn input on what Sonny did, he might have to return a fucking phone call.

He lifted the bourbon to his lips. “Sure, show him in.”

Max hesitated but shrugged and disappeared for a moment. Then, another man strode in. He was nondescript in all the ways—from his height to his build to his facial features. You would walk past this man without looking at him twice.

Unless of course you saw his eyes — the gunmetal gray that reminded one of a shark ready to sink his teeth in.

No, you’d cross the street if you came across Andrei Karpov.

“Zdravstvuyte,” Karpov said, speaking one of the few words in Russian Sonny understood.

“Don’t waste my time with greetings,” Sonny bit out. “What do you want?”

“I would like to renew my offer to, ah, how do you say?” Karpov touched his chin. “Join forces, yes?”

“The answer hasn’t changed,” Sonny grunted, taking another swig of bourbon. “So if that’s all—”

“Ah, but what if I could give you your heart’s desire? Viktor.” Karpov turned towards the foyer. “Viktor, idite syuda. Come here. Bring our friend.”

Another man, shorter but bulky came in, shoving someone else whose hands were tied in front of him with duct tape.

Sonny lifted his eyes. “And what’s this?”

“I ask around for you. I find a surprise.” Karpov clapped the hostage on the shoulder. “My friend, you tell this man what you tell me.”

“I do the shoot.” The words were barely comprehensible through the thick Russian accent, but he was clear when he raised his hand, extending his finger and holding up his thumb, mimicking a gunshot. “Me. I do the shoot.”

Sonny’s hands gripped the glass more tightly, his eyes burning into the man standing in front of him. “What?”

“Shoot. I do the shoot. Pretty girl. I shoot the girl in the dress.” He cleared his throat, looked at Karpov, said something in Russian Sonny couldn’t understand.

“No, no, you must tell him everything, my friend. Do not worry. Have I not promised to look after you?” Karpov said with a wide smile. The shooter looked skeptical then looked at Sonny again.

“Man hire me. Need Russian gun. Russian man. He say it how it has to be. So I do the shoot. I try to get away. To leave country.” The man wrinkled his nose. “But I cannot go, you see? Need permission to go. I am found. He tell me you not kill me if I tell you who give me order.”

Sonny’s face was white. “Who hired you?”

“His name is…” He furrowed his brow. “Zacchara,” he said, sounding out the syllables as the word did not come easily to the Russian tongue.

“Old or young?” Sonny asked softly.

“Young. Dark hair. Say no one suspect. Russian shoot. He say he have perfect…how you say…blanket? No. No. Cover. Yes. This is word. He have perfect cover.” The shooter looked at Karpov. “I tell him all. You let me go?”

“Ah, my friend. I promised to look after you, yes? And so I shall. Viktor—”  Karpov gestured to the hulking brute behind them who stepped forward.

And then so quickly Sonny could scarcely take it in, Viktor whipped a plastic bag over the man’s head, pulled it tight, then pressed the barrel of his gun against the man’s head—

And pulled the trigger.

I can’t escape myself
(I can’t escape myself)
So many times I’ve lied
(So many times I’ve lied)
But there’s still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can’t control myself
– Animal I Have Become, Three Days Grace

---

Friday, September 26, 2008

Crimson Pointe: Living Room

“Johnny?”

The name echoed as Anthony Zacchara rolled himself from the hallway into the living room, his eyes scanning the area. “Where the hell is that boy?” he muttered, rolling towards the back of the room and the door that led to his study.

Seated behind the desk, Trevor Lansing’s salt and pepper head was bent over something, a pen in his head. Anthony rolled to the entrance, his mouth pinched. Bastard sitting at his desk like it was Trevor’s—as if the power Anthony commanded belonged to him. Since Anthony had fallen ill a few years earlier, the once trusted counselor had been nothing more than a vulture scavenging the remains of the Zacchara empire.

“Where’s Johnny?” he bit out. Trevor lifted his head, squinted. “My son,” Anthony added as if it required clarification. “You have one job—”

“I have many jobs, Anthony.” Trevor set down the pen, focused on him. “The primary of which is to keep you out of jail. If you want someone to chase after your worthless kid—” he lifted his brows when his own son edged around Anthony’s wheelchair and entered the room. “Why not tell my useless son to do it?”

“Always a pleasure, Dad,” Ric Lansing murmured, flipping through a stack of mail. “If you’re looking for Johnny, he left for Port Charles yesterday with a bag. He’s staying until Sunday. Maybe Monday. The wedding,” he added when Anthony just scowled. “Easier to stick close if Lulu needs him and not be two hours away.”

“He shoulda thought of that before he took up with that LooLoo,” Anthony retorted, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair. “He didn’t say nothing to me—”

“Because you’d turn it into a situation. He’s an adult, Anthony. As much as you hate it, he’s over eighteen. At least he’s closer than he was when he went to graduate school,” Ric pointed out. “What’s the difference between Port Charles and Oxford?”

“Anthony was a little bit more of sound mind during that period. Less paranoid,” Trevor said with a smirk, and Anthony shot him a dark look. “Just stating facts. As long as we had one of our guys on him, you didn’t care where he went. It’s only since your more recent illness that you’ve needed to have your own eyes on him.”

“Can’t trust any of you vipers. You’re just waiting for me to die, the harlot my useless first wife abandoned is probably plotting it as we speak, and—” Anthony squinted at Ric. “I don’t know. You probably don’t care who’s in charge as long as you get to be part of the inner circle.”

“Bullseye.” Ric tossed the stack on the desk. “I’ll call Alexis and ask her to keep an eye out. Kristina is the flower girl, so she’s taking both girls. I doubt that’s enough for you, but—”

“Wasn’t your ex trying to keep her kids away from Sonny after the oldest got a bullet in the brain?” Trevor asked. “If you’re lying—”

“Alexis wasn’t successful in family court,” Ric said dryly. “It’s Sonny’s week. Any other custodial issues you want updated, Dad, or—”

“So it’ll be a full house. All members of the family.” Anthony considered this. “Johnny with the lunatic, Sonny and his kids. How many ex-wives?”

“Just the one. He hasn’t been married nearly as many times as you’d think.”

“That’s right. The first one went—” Anthony spread his hands out. “Kablooey!”

“When’s the last time anyone ever heard from Domenica?” Trevor wanted to know. “I always wondered what happened to her. You sure she’s not in the same place as Johnny’s mother?”

Anthony exhaled slowly, sent Trevor another cold look. “You got a lot of attitude for a man I could kill in his sleep with just one word. You wanna say something else smart?”

Trevor just smirked, then rose to his feet. “Go ahead, Anthony. Do your worst. Otherwise, let me do my job and give the babysitting gigs to my son. I have a meeting.”

“One of these days,” Anthony murmured, his eyes following the man out of the room. “One of these days, he’s going to go too far.” He focused on Ric, leaning against the desk. “That bother you?”

“Should it? Does my lack of loyalty to my father bother you?” Ric wanted to know.

“No. It makes me curious. You even able to be loyal to anyone else but yourself?”

“My daughter. That’s about it.” Ric paused. “I have concerns for other people. But loyalty is too often blind and ignorant. I have no interest in that. You need me, and for now, it serves my interest to toe the line and be useful to you. If that changes, you’ll be the first to know. Probably.”

Anthony wanted to argue with that answer, but honesty was a value all its own. “Fair enough. If I tell you to go fetch my boy, what do you say to that?”

“I say—” Ric straightened. “You should give him a little rope. He wouldn’t fight so hard if you gave a little. It’s a few days in Port Charles. The odds are that Lulu Spencer will be in treatment for six months, maybe a year. I heard through some old sources at the DA’s office that her brother is offering to relocate her as part of a deal. Maybe this all comes to a natural end. But you keep your fist around his neck, and he’s going to keep fighting to breathe. Leave him alone. That’s what I say.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Anthony wanted to know, then smiled. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe I let Johnny off the hook this weekend. Might be entertaining.”

Crimson Offices: Fitting Room

Kate Howard sighed, then turned to the side so that the full profile of her gown was visible in the three-sided mirror. “I think it needs to be taken in a bit—”

“I think you look amazing,” Maxie Jones gushed. She gave the seamstress a meaningful look and the woman stepped back. “The dress fits you like a glove.”

Kate sighed, smoothed her hands down the skirt. “Perhaps. But—”

“I talked to the coordinator at the church,” Maxie interrupted, holding out her hand so that Kate could step down. “Everything is exactly as you asked, and Sonny is going to talk to Jason about the security changes you wanted to make.”

Kate had the feeling she was being managed but allowed it. Even if she wanted the dress taken in another few centimeters, there wouldn’t be enough time before tomorrow. She stepped behind a partition and Maxie efficiently unbuttoned the dress, then returned it to the garment bag.

“What about—”

“I’m dropping off the tuxedos to Spinelli and Jason tomorrow,” Maxie interjected, “and Max is picking up Sonny’s today. I’ll be stopping by Greystone on my way to your house to be sure it looks exactly right. Kristina’s dress is perfect. Alexis has that in hand as well.”

Kate wrapped the edges of her robe around her slim body, then arched a perfectly plucked brow at her assistant. “Have you thought of everything?”

“Very nearly. I have three dresses for Lulu, all of which have been tailored to her exact size—I used the measurements from the Bennington party in June, and double checked them when I visited earlier this week. I wanted—” Maxie hesitated, some of her coolness fading. “I wanted her to be able to pick. Like I did. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay. She’ll be all right,” Kate assured Maxie. “You’ll be fighting for my attention again by Christmas.”

“I hope so.” Maxie chewed her bottom lip. “It seems unfair,” she said. “That she’s going through this when she just tried to help me. I should have made her go to the police. I should have—” She cleared her throat. “Anyway. Like I said, everything is ready at the church. The clothing arrangements are on point, and the stylist has been confirmed for the morning. I can’t think of anything I’ve missed.”

“Neither can I. And believe me,” Kate said, dryly, “you would know if there was.”

After she’d changed back into her work clothes, she returned to her office, smiling hesitantly when she found Jax waiting for her. “This is a surprise.”

The tall, blond Australian rose from the chair, turning his sober blue eyes on her. “I wanted to talk about a new investor for the magazine if you could take time in your busy schedule,” he said, almost a little caustically.

Some of Kate’s good mood faded, and she sighed. She went behind her desk. “You’re still angry with me.”

“Frustrated. Annoyed. Confused. We both learned something devastating last week, and it feels like I’m the only one who’s angry about it. How can you be marrying that man tomorrow?” Jax demanded.

“Because,” Kate said, a bit delicately, “I am not you, and Sonny is not Carly. I chose to listen to Sonny, to believe in his remorse, and accept his apology. To look towards the future. I can understand why you haven’t. But that choice does not make me less.”

Jax exhaled slowly, then sat back down, some of his ire fading. “It’s not supposed to be this way,” he muttered. “Carly—she’d be due in a month. Did you know that?”

“The miscarriage from the warehouse last winter.” Kate sat in the chair next to him. “I imagine that’s weighing on you both. I’m sorry. That loss, with what happened to Michael, it must be soul-crushing. But are you really angry at me?” she asked.

“I’m angry at Sonny,” Jax retorted, straightening. “Carly was almost away from him. You know that? The last few years, we had our life. Separate. We were building something that was just ours. Michael and Morgan—they were mine, too.” He wiped his hand over his mouth. “And he dragged us all back into his world. Michael finding that gun, running away—Carly losing the baby when she went looking, then Michael being shot by a bullet meant for Sonny—and if that wasn’t enough—if he hadn’t taken enough from me, he slept with my wife.”

“Carly isn’t exactly innocent—”

“And that’s why I’m not at home right now. That’s why I left. Because I can’t look at her. I can’t breathe and then I come here, and—” Jax shook his head. “Sonny gets exactly what he wants. He walks away from the business, dumping it on Jason, and gets to keep both his children. Gets to have the girl. And the rest of us? What do we get?”

Kate just looked at him, her heart aching. “I’m sorry. I can’t cancel the wedding because you think Sonny doesn’t deserve this. I can’t make myself miserable because it would feel like justice to you. Maybe I’m a fool for believing in him, for thinking we can be happy, but it’s the choice I’ve made. I love Sonny. If you love Carly, you’ll do what I’ve done and find a way to get past this.”

“It’s not that simple.” Jax tossed the folder he’d held in his hand on the desk. “Take a look at the paperwork when you get a chance. I’ll see you after the honeymoon.”

“Jax, wait—”

But by the time Kate had risen and made it to the door, he was already gone.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Elizabeth cut Jake’s grilled cheese into smaller pieces that the toddler could eat, then did the same for Cameron’s burger, though he only needed it to be cut in half.  A shadow fell over their table, and Elizabeth smiled. “Hey, Bobbie.”

“Hello, sweetheart.” Bobbie took the fourth empty chair and grinned at the boys. “And look at my Webber boys. Growing like weeds. How old are you now, Cameron? Twelve?”

“I this many. Miss Michael say so.” Cameron held up hand, his fingers spread out and his thumb tucked in. “One, two, free, four. Four. Jake is one. Not as many fingers. I have more.”

“So big, the both of you!” She turned her attention back to Elizabeth. “Feels like just yesterday you came home from California with him,” Bobbie said, setting her purse on the table. “How are you?” she asked. “How’s work?”

“Busy. I haven’t seen you a lot since…” she made a face. “Since the nursing program was shut down last winter.” It had been the first cut when the new board of directors had taken over, and Bobbie had been without a job at General Hospital for the first time in thirty years. She’d opted for early retirement rather than finding somewhere else to work. “We miss you.”

“I miss all of you, too. And the hospital. But I’m spending more time with—” Her face tightened. “With Morgan,” she said softly. “And I spent most of the summer in Seattle with Lucas. So I’m keeping busy.” She tipped her head. “But I hear you’re on your way out of Port Charles. A trip?”

Elizabeth adjusted Cameron’s straw. “That’s right,” she said. “Ten days all by myself. Lucky say something?”

“No, no. I don’t see him as much as I should, though I’ve been at Shadybrooke with Lulu. Checking in with Laura. I suppose he’ll have the boys?”

“That’s the plan—” Elizabeth frowned, then sighed. “Carly. She said something, didn’t she?”

“Was she not supposed to?” Bobbie asked, tipping her head. “Does it bother you that I know?”

Elizabeth looked around them, but there was no one at the next table and she didn’t recognize any of the other diners. “No, it doesn’t bother me, but I’m sure Jason won’t appreciate Carly telling anyone. Even if it is you. It’s not supposed to be common knowledge.”

“Well, I don’t think it is, but I also—” Bobbie folded her arms on the table, leaned in. “I also don’t think most people would be surprised. I certainly wasn’t. I sort of—” She looked at Jake who grinned at her. “I think I knew the first time I saw him.”

“Which means if Monica or Edward get good look at him, we’re screwed, right?” Elizabeth said, leaning back. “I think sometimes Jason doesn’t realize it’s not much of a secret. Lucky knows. Sam knows. Carly and Sonny. You. Gram will probably figure it out eventually, and Jake—he looks so much like him,” she murmured. “From the eyes to the smile — and sometimes he holds his head the same way. And that’s when they don’t even spend a lot of time together.”

“Some things are just genetic, I suppose. So…they do spend time together?” Bobbie asked. “Does Jake know—I mean—”

“No. He just knows him as Jason. Which I hate. I started it,” she told Bobbie. “I started it for a lot of stupid reasons, and then we kept it going because we were worried about Jason’s job. And of course…after Michael…”

“Of course.” Bobbie took a deep breath, pressed a fist against her heart. “Of course. Well, you have to do what’s right for you.” She looked at Elizabeth. “Is this right for you? Keeping it all a secret?”

“No. No, it wasn’t right for me from the start. But I didn’t have the courage to say so, and now—now I can’t. Jason—” Elizabeth picked up the remains of straw wrapper. “He’s just lost so many people—and he blames himself for all of them. Alan? He tells himself that happened because of Lorenzo Alcazar, so even though it had nothing to do with him or Sonny personally, that’s on him. And what Diego Alcazar did in revenge—” Her throat tightened. “Losing Emily six months after he never really got over losing his father—and then as if he needed one more hit, the world took the little boy he still thinks of as his son. I’m sorry—I know that’s your loss, too. And I hate it. I hate all of it.”

Bobbie brushed at her tears, accepted the tissue Elizabeth handed her. “I know, honey, you don’t have to apologize. Michael belonged to us all. And I know he’s not dead, but he’ll never be alive again in any meaningful way.”

“You sad, Mommy?” Cameron’s face scrunched up. “I eat my veggies. That make you happy.” He shoved some carrots at Jake. “You eat too. Make Mommy happy.”

Jake seemed suspicious, but picked up one with his index finger, put it in his mouth, then made a face. “Ugh. Bad.”

Bobbie laughed, and Elizabeth pressed her hands to her face, drying her own tears. “Yes, that makes me very happy. How lucky am I to have such amazing sons?”

Cameron beamed, looked at Bobbie. “Mommy okay. You okay?”

“Yes, sweetheart, I’m okay.” Bobbie looked at Elizabeth. “I suppose I should be more torn on the subject since Lucky is my nephew. But I think we both know he hasn’t really been the father we thought he would. When I realized Jake wasn’t his, well, it answered a few questions for me. Spencer men—they talk a good game. But they don’t live up to their promises well, do they?”

“No, they really don’t. But—” Elizabeth sighed. “I was scared, too, after we lost Emily and Georgie. Then Michael—I thought Jason was right. But I also want my boys to have the best life I can give them. Jason’s so wonderful with them, and they adore him. I don’t know if Jason’s going to be able to stay away forever. So now that I know what I want, what I need, I can live with giving him more time to see it, too. This trip was his idea, Bobbie. I know he wants a life with us. I’m sorry if that upset Carly enough to tell you—”

“Carly is Carly and will make anything a problem. I’ve always loved you, you know. And your boys—maybe I haven’t been good at showing that either,” Bobbie said, squeezing Elizabeth’s hand. “But I’m glad to see you happy. After the year you’ve had, you deserve it.”

“I hope you—and Carly—I hope you get to have it, too. I mean that. Carly’s lost a lot this year. I’m glad you’re home and you’ll be here for her.”

“And she’ll be a little less in Jason’s face,” Bobbie added, and Elizabeth grinned.

“Silver lining.”

Coffee House: Office

Jason caught sight of something soft and blue sticking out beneath the sofa. He crouched down and found a stuffed bear. Jake had been playing with it, he thought, thinking of his son playing in his office. Of this evidence that he’d been able to see Jake today, to share time with him.

Jason sat on the sofa, the bear in his hands, his fingers smoothing out the soft fur. Elizabeth had reluctantly left a little while ago. They needed dinner, she’d told him, almost apologetically, and he’d had a few meetings scheduled. He didn’t want any of them still here when someone else could show up and see them. He’d helped her clean up the toys, then had carried Jake out to the car, belted him in.

He’d be going home to a — well, not an empty penthouse, but one only inhabited by a computer hacker who mostly lived on barbecue chips and orange soda. There’d be no kids laughing or chasing each other. No messy dinners or quiet bedtimes. Or having Elizabeth in his bed tonight.

But maybe, just maybe, if everything went the way Jason planned over the next few months, if he got away with it, maybe that could change.

There was a knock at the door, and Jason looked up. “Yeah?”

“Sonny’s here,” Cody said, but he’d barely managed to get the words out before Sonny strolled past him.

“What’s that?” Sonny asked, nodding at the toy in Jason’s hand. Jason went to the desk, slid the bear into the drawer next to the photo he kept of Elizabeth and the boys.

“Nothing. Security for tomorrow—”

“Looks like a toy. You have Morgan here earlier or something?”

“No.” Jason sighed. “No, Elizabeth came by with the boys to sign papers we needed for the trip. Jake left something behind. I need to get into the church about three hours before the ceremony—”

“Two hours is all Father Coates could guarantee,” Sonny said. He sat in the chair, relaxed. “And your guy talked to you about the door, right? He said he would.”

“Yeah, Cody told me. We need to check the door, Sonny. Just to make sure people are on the invite list. That’s standard,” Jason said. “Kate’s a high profile person, too—”

“She and I talked about that, and we both feel like checking invitations at the door just reminds all her people who I used to be.” Sonny tipped his head. “Do a visual confirmation. You got the invitation list. You know the people from my side. Not a lot of people from Kate’s side are coming up. I don’t think it needs to be that tight.”

Jason just stared at him, then shook his head. “It’s standard,” he repeated. “We’ve always done that. I don’t understand why you’re refusing—”

“And I don’t know why you’re pushing this.” Now Sonny’s voice had a bit of an edge to it. “I told you. I’m out. That was the point of all of this, of you taking over. You didn’t like the way I was doing things. Now I let you take security on this so you and Carly would feel better—”

“The Zaccharas—”

“Aren’t worth my attention. Johnny’s an idiot. I obviously gave him too much credit — look at what he did to Lulu. And Anthony’s in a wheelchair. Claudia’s too busy sniffing after you.” Sonny sneered. “And you said you dealt with Karpov.”

“I did. He moved on to Rochester, and the last I heard he was bothering the Jankowskis down there. But—”

“But nothing. Look, I get it. You’re worried after everything has happened.” Now Sonny’s tone softened. “But that’s over. We got the guy who went after Michael. The Zaccharas are neutralized. Karpov is gone. I’m getting married tomorrow, and you’re leaving on a trip with the woman you love. We deserve this break, Jason. You take Elizabeth to Italy, and you show her a good time. Don’t worry about me and mine. I got it handled. Thanks for handling security, but what we’ve got now is fine. We don’t need more.” He got to his feet. “Elizabeth excited about leaving tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Yeah, she is.” Jason exhaled slowly. “I just feel like I’ve missed something.”

“You haven’t. We haven’t. So let’s just enjoy the moment while we have it. Tomorrow is going to go exactly the way we both planned.” Sonny headed for the door, turning back to grin at Jason. “I really think this marriage is going to be the right one. You know? Third wife is the charm and all that. Don’t worry about me. Focus on your family. That’s what you wanted to do, isn’t it?”

Sonny left before Jason could answer. He sighed, sat down and pulled open the drawer to find the bear and photo. He took them both out, traced the lines of Elizabeth’s smile, then the boys. “Yeah,” he said to the empty room. “That’s what I wanted.”

Sonny was right. Other than the guys at the door, Jason had everything else he needed for security. The ceremony would go off without a hitch, and he’d be out the door, heading for the airport.

And then he’d finally show Elizabeth the light in Italy.

So, when will this end? It goes on and on
Over and over and over again
Keeps spinning around, I know that it won’t stop
‘Til I step down from this for good
I never thought I’d end up here
Never thought I’d be standing where I am
I guess I kind of thought that it would be easier than this
I guess I was wrong now one more time
– Sick Cycle Carousel, Lifehouse

---

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Webber House: Living Room

“Are there any other toys you want to take to Daddy’s house?” Elizabeth asked Cameron, crouching down to find Jake’s sneakers.

“No. I gots my trucks and Legos.” Cameron dragged the bag full of toys next to his Spiderman suitcase. “Where you go again?”

“Italy. To see the gondolas. The long skinny boats.” Elizabeth tugged one sneaker on Jake’s foot, then the other, leaving him to play with the Velcro straps. “And the light.”

“The light?” Cameron looked up at the light fixture in the ceiling. “We gots light here.”

“The sunlight reflecting from the canals,” Elizabeth said, but she was smiling. She heard a car in the driveway and got to her feet. “I’ll take lots of pictures to show you when I get home. That’s Daddy now.” She headed for the door, grimacing when she pulled it open and realized Lucky wasn’t alone.

He’d brought Sam.

Her mouth settled in a thin line. Why did he constantly have to push— “We talked about this.”

“You talked, and I ignored you.” Lucky slid past her and caught Cameron as he ran towards his father. “Hey, buddy. You ready for a whole week with me and Sam?”

Cameron peered over Lucky’s shoulder, his tiny dark brows drawn together. “Who you?”

“I’m a friend of your dad’s. Sam—” Sam stepped up behind Lucky, and lifted her hand to shake Cameron’s, but Elizabeth pulled Cameron out of Lucky’s arms, angled him away from Sam whose hand fell back to her side. The smile faded from her face.

“We talked about this, and you agreed. I told you if you pushed me on this, we’d go to court and make it official,” Elizabeth said.

“You really want to get into this in front of them?” Lucky asked, nodding to the boys. Jake was standing on the sofa, hanging back. Unlike Cameron, the toddler hadn’t run towards Lucky — in the year since their divorce, Lucky’s visits with the boys were infrequent and short. Never more than one night, and even that was rare these days.

“We could. But I don’t know why I have to in front of a police officer,” Elizabeth said, smiling sweetly at Sam who just rolled her eyes. “Considering one call to Amelia Joffe would lead to some very difficult questions for you.”

“And I’m not the only one who knows about that—” Lucky began.

“You’re the only one who knows and still wants her around. She’s not staying at the house with them. I’ll cancel my entire trip right now and go straight to Mac.”

“Mommy?” Cameron asked. “You wanna see the lights.”

“I do, honey. Go sit next to your brother.” Elizabeth set Cameron on his feet, then looked to her ex-husband with his sour expression. “And don’t think you can get around me by waiting for me to be gone. I’ll find out and I’ll go straight to the courthouse when I get back.”

“It’s fine, Lucky. I’ll just stay at my place this week,” Sam said. “Let’s not waste time on something that doesn’t matter.” She shot Elizabeth a nasty look. “And you won’t be in control of this situation forever.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that.” Elizabeth curled her hand around the edge. “Agree, Lucky, or I’m closing the door.”

Lucky muttered under his breath. “Fine. Fine. Sam won’t come near them. But I need to talk to you and unlike you, I don’t want to do it in front of the boys. So can we compromise? She’ll take the kids to the car, put them in their seats. You can watch her the entire time. Or I’ll be the one to walk and you can find another babysitter—”

“You’re not a babysitter, Lucky. You’re their father. At least, that’s what you keep telling me. Fine. She can take them to the car. But she stays outside. I don’t want her talking to them, either.”

Elizabeth went to the sofa, knelt down. “Hey, you’re going to go with Daddy’s friend, Sam. She’ll put you in the car,” she told Cameron. “I need you to make sure Jake is belted in nice and tight. You know just how I showed you.”

“I got you, Mommy. Me ‘n Spiderman.” He held up his plastic figurine. “We go to the rescue.”

“That’s right.” Elizabeth hugged and kissed them both, then reluctantly handed them over to Sam. She stood in the doorway, watching like a hawk as the other woman put them into car seats in the back of Lucky’s SUV. “Damn you for this, Lucky. I don’t ask for much—”

“Since I’m currently playing daddy to two kids who aren’t biologically mine—”

She snapped her head back around, her eyes flashing. “Say the word, Lucky, and we’ll end it now. No more child support. No more visits. No more Daddy. Go ahead. Keep using that against me.”

“You figure you got Jason in the wings, you don’t need me anymore?” Lucky demanded. “You think I don’t know who you’re going with? Spinelli let it spill to Sam Jason’s going out of town, too—”

“I think that I get to do whatever I want in my free time because I’m not dating someone who put my kids in danger. You said you wanted to talk, Lucky. Talk.”

“Fine. I didn’t come here to argue.” And now his tone shifted, softened. ” I know you’ve gone to see Lulu. Thank you. For doing that. For bringing pictures of the boys. It’s—it’s helped keep her thinking about the good that’s out here.”

“Lulu doesn’t have to be another casualty in all of this,” Elizabeth said. “I love her, too. I hate that she’s going through this, but she’s getting better, isn’t she?”

“No. No—” He dragged a hand through his hair. “She’s not. She keeps slipping away just like Mom. Nikolas is working on a deal for her with the DA, no charges if she gets treatment. But Shadybrooke isn’t the answer. We’re moving her. And my mother. As soon as Nikolas gets the go ahead.”

“Back to London?” Elizabeth asked. “I thought you said you wanted to keep Laura close—”

“We do. That’s the deal we’re making. There’s a doctor in California. Berkeley. They’re familiar with Mom’s condition, so we’re moving there. Nikolas and me. Sam, too. She’s coming out there with me.”

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment. “You’re—you’re moving to California. That’s just—it’s a done deal? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yeah. I know it seems sudden, but it’s not. We’ve been talking about this since it all went down. But he heard back about the open spots, and he thinks with Baldwin out of town, we might get some movement on this.”

“But—” She exhaled slowly. “The boys. You don’t even see them regularly as it is, Lucky. And now you’re going three thousand miles away?”

“We’ll work something out. Maybe a month in the summer. Holidays. Cam’s in school now, right? So he’ll have breaks. You can bring them out, and I’ll bring them home. We can iron all of that out—”

“We’re not even going to talk about it? They’re one and four, Lucky. I can’t just—” Her eyes burned as she stared at the car with Sam standing next to the back seat, looking through the windows. “Sam’s going with you, so you’re telling me she’d be living with my boys when they’re there.”

“It’s no different than you taking them to see Jason—”

“Jason didn’t stand by and watch someone walk away with Jake,” Elizabeth cut in sharply. “Jason didn’t keep quiet and refuse to help find him—”

“She did that because of Jason—now they’re not together—”

“You think I care why she did it? I didn’t press charges, but I should have. God, I should have. And I swear I will. If you let her anywhere near my children, that’s the first thing I’ll do. I’ll go right to the PCPD—”

“What do you want me to do? My family needs this. Okay? I wasn’t there for my mother, and I haven’t been there for Lulu. I’m not going to be like my father—I’m not going to let my sister down—”

“Your family needs this.” Elizabeth waited a moment, then nodded. She stepped back inside the house. “All right. Fine. Go take care of your family. Thanks for looking after the kids this week.”

“You’re not going to fight about Sam anymore?” Lucky asked, almost warily. He looped the strap of the toy bag across his chest and picked up the suitcases. “Why?”

“Because I’m not taking a single day off from my life to fly the boys out to see you if she’s with you. You’ll have to come get them. And we both know how likely that’ll be.” She held the storm door open for him. “Call Patrick if you need me this week. He has my contact information.”

“I have to do this—”

“I know you believe that, but you’re the one choosing that woman over the boys you say that you love as your own. And if you think I’m out of line, we’ll just take it to court, Lucky. Have a good time with the boys this week.”

Then she closed the door.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason set his suitcase at the bottom of the stairs and went to the desk where Spinelli had left the plans for the church. “Did Cody or Francis check in?” he asked, looking through one of the drawers for his passport.

“Loyal Second Sir of Security called ten minutes ago. The Godly One will allow your security entrance an hour earlier than Mister Sir indicated. He and —” Spinelli frowned. “The Jackal cannot think of a nickname for Sir Francis, so, uh—”

“Spinelli, I have a thousand things to do before I leave for the church, and I’m not coming back here.” Jason arched a brow. “What did I tell you about nicknames?”

“Go simple or ditch altogether,” Spinelli muttered darkly. “Stone Cold should be in a better mood. Mister Sir is marrying the Glacial One, and my Yoda embarks on a voyage of love with his lady—”

“Spinelli.”

“Cody and Francis will be at the church starting at two. Guests start coming in at four, and the ceremony begins at four-thirty.” The younger man made a face. “Stone Cold sucks all the fun out of life.”

“Trying to care. Can’t.” Jason tucked the passport into the outer pocket of his suitcase, glancing up as the door opened. Maxie came in, two huge garment bags over one arm. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Kate?”

“On my way, but you were my first stop.” Maxie shoved one bag at Spinelli and the other at Jason’s. “You need to put these on right now to make sure the final fittings are perfect—”

“We’re sitting in the pew, it doesn’t matter—”

“Okay, look, pal—” Maxie blew a piece of white-blonde hair out of her eyes. “Kate hasn’t turned into Bridezilla yet because it’s my job to nag everyone. So when she asks me if you tried these on, I get to tell her yes and not lie. So hop to it and strip. Don’t be a prude, I barely notice you’re a man—” She frowned at the suitcase. “Who’s going somewhere?”

“The tuxes are fine, Maxie.” Jason took her by the arm and steered her towards the door. “Go bother someone else—” He opened the door and shoved her out of it.

“How rude—” But he closed the door, cutting off her retort.

“Maximista is going to make me pay for that later,” Spinelli said with a wince.

“Trying to care about that, too. Still a no.” Jason took the garment bag, lifted the suitcase. “I’m going to the coffee house, then the warehouse. I have to stop in with Sonny, too. But this is the last time I’ll see you until the church. Tell Cody and Francis to call if they need me.”

“Aye, aye, Stone Cold, sir.” Spinelli saluted him. “And if we do not have a moment to speak before you must flee to airport, have a marvelous time and tell Fair Elizabeth the Jackal sends his most felicitous—”

But Jason had closed the door on that, too, and Spinelli broke off with a scowl. “Methinks my sensei could stand to loosen up. Party pooper.”

Howard Estate: Foyer

Maxie hustled through the door, marking off another item in her list and heading straight for the voices in the living room. She stopped short when she saw a woman she didn’t recognize standing near Kate. “Uh, did I miss something somewhere?”

“No, Maxie. This is Olivia.” Kate’s smile was warm, but her eyes seemed a bit panicked. She traded a look with the dark-haired woman. “My cousin from New York.”

“From Bensonhurst,” Olivia said, the hint of Brooklyn in her voice hitting Maxie’s ears and making her wince. “And if you think I’m calling you Kate, you’re freaking out of your mind—”

“So glad Sonny brought you all the way here,” Kate said tightly. “Really, we ought to get together more often.” Her face clean of cosmetics and clad in a silk robe that matched the wrap around her hair, Kate focused on Maxie. “Did you go to the Towers?”

“Delivered the tuxes, and just left Sonny’s. All systems are a go. We just have to get you ready, get Lulu—”

Behind Maxie, the front door opened again, and Maxie hurried out to the foyer, squealing when she saw Lulu. “You made it! You’re going to love the dresses I picked out!”

“Johnny said you’d take care of everything,” Lulu said, some of the usual sparkle in her eyes, but she moved a bit slower than normal. As if she were a step behind everything else.

“Lulu.” Kate’s eyes glistened. “I’m so glad you could join us.” She came across the room, squeezed the blonde’s hands. “Thank you for being here with me on this day.”

“Thank you for inviting me. I’m so glad to see you.”

Nikolas stepped up to Maxie, touched the side of his mouth with his index finger. “Stick to her like glue,” he warned the other woman. “And only let her out of your sight when Johnny gets here.”

“You’re actually trusting him with Lu?” Maxie asked. She lifted her brows. “Are you sure they got all of that tumor or are you crazy again?”

“Funny. Johnny has his marching orders. He screws up today, he’s cut off and he knows that. Same to you, Maxie. Anything happens to my sister today, I’m holding you both responsible.”

Maxie made a face. “But no pressure,” she called out to his disappearing back. “Good riddance,” she muttered when the door closed behind him. She pasted a bright smile on her face. “Okay, where do we start?”

Greystone: Living Room

It was just before noon when Jason finally made it out to Sonny’s. After a few minutes spent in the foyer with Max going over the schedule for the rest of the day, he headed into the living room where he was relieved to find Sonny drinking nothing harder than a glass of water, which was a bit of a relief.

“Hey. I didn’t expect to see you until the church,” Sonny said, setting the water on the desk. “Maxie come by to harass you, too?”

“Yeah, but you know, I don’t really pay attention to her.” Jason set down the folder with the floor plans for the church. “Father Coates agreed to the extra hour, so I thought I’d try to change your mind about checking in the invitations at the door—”

His friend shook his head. “I know all the reasons you’re worried about it, but the guest list is small. We’re doing a bigger party for Kate’s side in New York next month.” Sonny came forward, closed the folder. “Put it away. You’ve gone over everything a thousand times. You got your extra hour. You know, why don’t you go find Elizabeth? Spend a few hours with her—”

“She’s got her own list before we leave—”

“Yeah, but you could do that together. I mean, you don’t have to come to this, you know. I know you’re cutting it close with the boarding time.”

Jason squinted, looked at him. “What?”

“The wedding. You don’t have to come. It wouldn’t bother me. You don’t take a lot of time for yourself. Especially—” Sonny’s mouth tightened, and he picked up the water again. “Especially this year. When I dumped the business on you.”

“I agreed to it—”

“Because you thought I’d lost my edge. That I was reckless. Maybe you were right,” Sonny said when Jason didn’t deny it. “Maybe I just didn’t want it the same way I used to. The power, you know? I needed it. Needed to always be the one in charge, to run the room. It’s kind of nice, you know, not feeling that way anymore. Kate—you know—she reminds me of who I was before all that. Before my mother—” He looked away. “Before I got in too deep.”

“You ever regret it?” Jason asked. “Going to work for Joe Scully? Ending up here, going against Frank Smith?”

“Regret’s an interesting word. Do I ever wish I’d taken a different road? Finished school, learned a trade?” He considered it. “Could have gone into cooking. My mother wanted to get me a job in the kitchens at Carmine Cerullo’s restaurant.” Sonny sipped the water. “I think about that sometimes. Maybe I should have done that. But you know, my mother died. And I wanted to make sure Deke couldn’t get away with it. No, once I got into it, I didn’t regret it. I still don’t. That surprise you?”

“Maybe. After Michael—” Jason shook his head. “I don’t know. Sometimes I wish I’d never said yes when you wanted to do the coffee warehouse, take the territory back from Moreno.”

Sonny looked at him for a long moment. “You’re good at this. Clear-headed. Focused. It’s why I wanted you back. But now and again, I think about you not having your kid with you—and I feel the weight.” Sonny rolled his shoulders. “Anyway, all I meant was that I’m okay if you decide to skip out on this today. Go to the airport with Elizabeth. Go to Italy.” He paused. “Why Italy anyway?”

“I’ve wanted to take her there for a long time.” Jason picked up the folder. “I’ve made her a lot of promises I haven’t kept, but I’m keeping this one. I need to. But you’re still my best friend, and I want to be there today. Elizabeth—she understands. And as long as I’m at the gate on time, it’ll be fine. But thanks. I—I appreciate it.”

Crimson Pointe: Foyer

Claudia sauntered down the steps, trailing her fingers along the banister, then made her way into the main living room where she found her father perusing a newspaper and sipping his coffee.

“Good morning, Daddy,” she said, plucking a croissant from a basket on the table. She ripped off a piece. “How are the legs?”

“Still dead,” Anthony Zacchara muttered. “You gonna ask me that every day, Jezebel?”

“Oh, well, if you’re going to call me a whore every day, then—” she shrugged, tearing off another piece of the croissant. “Let me have my fun.”

“Shows how much you know. Jezebel was a traitor,” Anthony sneered. “You being a whore is just an added mark against your character.”

“You know, Daddy Dearest—” Claudia leaned forward, resting an elbow on the table. “I’m not sure you want to have a discussion about character. Aren’t you the one that drove one wife insane and murdered the other—”

Anthony hissed. “Don’t tempt me—”

“What are you gonna do, Daddy? Wheel really fast after me?” She just smiled when his scowl deepened in her direction. “You find a way to drag Johnny home by his hair or are we letting him off the hook?”

Anthony picked up his coffee. “And keep him away from the wedding of the century? Where’s the fun in that?”

“Please. That stick wouldn’t know how to plan anything worth attending. Johnny’s just going to spend his time trailing after that lunatic. You know, in hindsight, the first sign of mental instability should have been a grown woman using the name Lulu.”

Her father’s lips twitched, but he refused to let any sign of true amusement show. Claudia sighed. “Well, this is boring. I’m going to go find a small child to steal candy from.”

When she was gone, Anthony tossed the newspaper on the table, then rolled back.

He rose to his feet, stretched out his legs, wiggled his toes, then grinned. He danced a few steps.

Then he sat back in his chair and wheeled himself out of the room.

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking
When you fall, everyone stands
Another day, and you’ve had your fill of sinking
With the life held in your
Hands are shaking cold
These hands are meant to hold  
– Move Along, All-American Rejects

---

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Johnny flipped the coffee cup right side up and plucked the plastic menu from beneath the white ceramic saucer to consider the brunch specials. He had some time to kill before heading back to the hotel, getting dressed, and picking up Lulu.

Should he do the waffles or the omelet? Still considering, he didn’t notice the blonde taking the next stool over, but he recognized the voice. He lifted his gaze from the menu to offer Nadine Crowell a grin. “Hey, I haven’t seen you since you were hauled off in cuffs.”

Nadine wrinkled her nose at the reminder at being held in contempt at his trial a few weeks earlier. “Glad one of us can laugh about it. I’m the one who ended up with a record.” She held out her cup when the waitress came over with the carafe of coffee, filling both their cups. She took both their orders. “Actually, I’m kind of glad I ran into you because I’ve been sitting with this for, like, over a day, and I hate it, but I didn’t know who to tell, and here you are, so—”

“Do you ever take a breath?” Johnny stirred sugar into his coffee, then slid the canister towards her.

“Oh, you’re in a good mood.” She sighed. “Man, I really know how to ruin someone’s day, you know?”

“I don’t, but I have a bad feeling I’m about to find out.”

“It’s what Nikolas told me the other day. I would have already done something, but he blocked me from going to see Lulu, and Maxie is, like, stupid busy with all of this wedding stuff. Plus, she really doesn’t like me because she found me hiding in Matt’s room—”

“I lost track of the conversation again. What does this have to do with Matt Hunter?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Nadine blew out a breath. “Sorry, I tend to ramble and go off on tangents when I’m nervous or I have bad news — it’s always on all of my performance reviews—” She stopped. “I’m doing it again, I know, I know. Nikolas is negotiating with the DA’s office so Lu can make a deal.”

“Yeah, I know that—”

“The deal is putting Lu in a treatment facility in California,” Nadine interrupted, and Johnny closed his mouth. “He just told me, and, like, he’s planning to make it a permanent move. He’s going with her. They’re going to relocate their mother — it’s a whole thing.”

“What? No. No. She doesn’t need all of that — and as soon as Lu is better, she’s going to be able to tell her side of the story. She’s going to tell them what happened and how it was self-defense. That was the plan.” Johnny’s mouth was a thin, mutinous line. “He’s doing it to get her away from me.”

“I think so, yeah. That’s definitely an element in play. I told him that Lu was going to hate him when she got better, but Nikolas doesn’t care. He blocked me from visiting and telling her myself, but he forgets how determined I can be. I was going to track Elizabeth down before my shift, or I don’t know, tell Spinelli. But I needed to do something. Someone has to know that can stop this.”

Johnny dragged a hand down his face. “I hate this, I hate it. I can’t tell her this today. She’s been so happy, looking forward to the wedding. Being around her friends. I’m supposed to pick her up at Kate’s. They’re getting ready together. She’s going to be pissed that Nikolas is doing this. But I’m going to tell her tomorrow. Or after the reception. Something. I don’t know if we can stop it, but she deserves to know.”

“That’s what I thought, and you’ve got a direct line to Lu, so I’m glad I ran into you.”

“Yeah, that’s lucky—” Johnny paused, dug out the cell phone vibrating in his pocket and saw his sister’s name on the screen. “My sister,” he told Nadine before sending it to voicemail. “She’s a pain in the ass when I’m up here. Why couldn’t I have a normal sister?”

“Yeah, you might be the one person in the world who can actually win the competition for worst sister, or at least give mine a run for their money. Who do you think is worse, Claudia or Jolene, the Angel Without Mercy?”

Johnny winced. “I forgot—I forgot about your sister—”

“Then you’d be different from, like, ninety percent of Port Charles.” She smiled when the waitress returned with her bagged order, then took the last sip of her coffee. “That last name, you know. Infamous.”

“Yeah, I know all about that. Thanks for passing on the information about Lu. I’ll take care of it.”

“I hope you do. Have a good time at the wedding.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Elizabeth pulled into the parking lot just as Nadine slid into her car. They exchanged a wave, then Elizabeth headed towards the diner. She stopped short when she saw Carly coming from the opposite direction. “Carly,” Elizabeth said hesitantly, remembering Jason’s words from the other day.

“Surprised to see you here.” Carly lifted her brows. “I thought you had travel plans.” She smirked. “Oh, wait, I’m not supposed to know anything, right? Isn’t that how this works?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and decided not to engage. She reached for the diner’s door, stopping when Carly’s next barb was launched. “I guess you weren’t invited to the wedding either, huh?”

Elizabeth turned to face the blonde. “”Did I do something to you? We just saw each other last week, and everything was fine. I mean, you literally walked in on me with Jason, and you were apologetic, offering to leave—”

“I was upset,” Carly snapped. “Obviously not in my right mind.”

“Not even going to touch that. I have things to do—” Once again, turning back to the door, Elizabeth pulled it open.

“Why are you acting like he’s your dirty little secret? Where do you get off making Jason beg for scraps with his son?”

Elizabeth let the door close, took a deep breath, counting to five, then turned back around. “He says the word, this all changes. You know that, don’t you?”

Carly pursed her lips. “You don’t really think you’re getting away with this, do you? You and Jason both disappearing for a week? I mean, how dumb do you think people are?”

“I think the people who are closest to us likely know everything. You do. Sonny does. People in my life do. The guards. I think maybe the only person who doesn’t know this isn’t a secret is Jason,” Elizabeth said, and Carly dropped her gaze to the ground. “I’m going to ask you again, Carly, what’s changed this week? You hate me again, and I just want to know if there’s a specific reason. If there’s something I actually have to apologize for.”

The other woman avoided the question again. “If everyone knows then what’s the point—”

“It took me time to get to this point again. I was scared. You know that, Carly. We were both in agreement on this very subject a few months ago.” Elizabeth sighed. “But Jason is the point. This is where he’s comfortable, and I think I owe him the time and space to work through it, too. You’ve both been through hell, Carly, and I don’t pretend to know what that’s like. All I’m doing is trying to be what Jason needs me to be. He’s lost so many people—”

“Michael’s not dead, okay? Don’t act like he is—” Carly closed her mouth, her voice trembling on the final words. She folded her arms. “It’s none of your business why you bother me,” she finally muttered. “But you do. And that’s just how it is.”

Elizabeth figured that was the best she was going to be able to get and nodded. “All right, then. Have it your way.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Patrick put the phone in the crook of his shoulder and rubbed his brow with his free hand. “They’re denying the maintenance request again? Damn it. No, no, it’s not—it’s not your fault. Just put that with all the others, and I’ll be by later.” He caught Epiphany’s eye as the nurse passed the counter, gestured for her to wait. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Do you need something?” she asked. “Because I’m busy—”

“The board—”

“Anytime you start with those words, it always ends in misery for me,” the nurse interrupted. “Let me guess. We have to make do with the equipment we got—”

“Apparently, whatever measures you put in place to minimize mistakes—” Patrick grimaced, glared at the phone. “You did it too well. They think there’s no point in spending money when we can make the adjustments for free.”

“Oh, so my nurses have to keep putting in the orders three times until that machine gives them what they asked for? What’s gonna happen when one of our overworked, exhausted employees gets a pill that looks exactly like the one they requested—and it’s OxyContin, not acetaminophen?” Epiphany demanded. “You know a lot of our older veterans took the retirement buyout. I don’t have the time or money to train my staff, and it’s not like I’ve got student nurses filling in the gaps since they closed the damn program—”

“I know, I told them that in the request — but they’re just interested in the bottom line. Look, I’ll get together some information on the most common mix-ups. I’ll hold the training myself—”

“And when are you going to find time to do that?” Epiphany wanted to know, fisting a hand on her hip. “You got meetings, paperwork, that baby will be here before you know it—”

“Damn it.” Patrick winced. “I’m supposed to meet Robin down at Kelly’s office in five minutes for another check-up.” He dragged his hands down his face. “I’m doing everything I can, Epiphany. But short of finding about three million dollars a year in permanent funding that is earmarked for staff and equipment, I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“Even if we got that money, that board would just find a way to pocket it. Bunch of crooks no better than the last. Sooner or later, someone is going to get seriously hurt.” But her expression softened. “I know you’re doing your best. This isn’t on you. You’re just—you’re the guy who has to deliver the message, and it sucks.”

“If I quit and go back to my patients—” Patrick looked away, sighed. “They’d just bring in another Ford to do it. I can’t do that again, you know? I’m picking up a shift in the ER tonight just so I can feel like a doctor again. To remember why I’m dealing with this crap at all.”

“I’ll put together some notes, get an informal survey from my people — what’s the most common problem we’re having with the machines,” Epiphany said. “Neither one of us has the time to do this separately, but we’ll figure it out. You’re not on your own in this, Drake Junior. Don’t forget that.”

Coffee House: Office

“I talked to Frankie down on the Rochester docks,” Cody said, closing the door and crossing the room to set some paperwork in front of Jason. “You were right. After that little meeting last week, Karpov contacted him. He’s their problem now.”

“Maybe,” Jason said, scribbling his name at the bottom of another contract. “But I think he went away too quietly.”

“I don’t know if three months of constant harassment is quiet, but you made it clear. You weren’t going to do business with him, and Sonny wasn’t interested in getting involved. ”

“Maybe I’m too used to the warehouse being blown up to make the point.”

“Maybe. Or maybe the word is finally getting out that you’re not in the business for new clients.” Cody lifted his brows. “Isn’t that what we’ve been working towards the last few months? We only have a few more shipments, and then—”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Jason leaned back, exhaled slowly. “But if it was common knowledge, don’t you think Karpov would have said something to Sonny?”

“You mean when he was trying to get Sonny back in the business? Maybe Karpov doesn’t realize why you turned him down, but your regular guys do.” Cody paused. “You planning on telling Sonny?”

“I was waiting until it was done. Until after the wedding.” Jason got to his feet. “He worked hard to get to this level— he’s going to be pissed that I’m closing it down.”

“It’s not like you’ll be out of the business all the way,” Cody pointed out. “You’ve got the clubs, the gambling—”

“That won’t matter to him. He never could understand how someone wouldn’t want the power. But it’s never brought us anything but headaches. As soon as Sonny got into the South American trade—” Jason grimaced. “It never ended. Someone always wanted these routes and didn’t care how much damage they had to do to get it.” He turned back to Cody. “I’m not having second thoughts. Another couple of months, this will be done.” And just maybe he could finally have a life with Elizabeth and the boys.

As if she knew he was thinking about her, his phone on the desk lit up, her name on the screen.

“Hey. Everything okay?” Jason turned away from Cody, lowering his voice slightly.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I was just wondering if you had maybe twenty minutes. I grabbed some lunch at Kelly’s, and I thought—I just wanted to see you before the airport. Maybe you haven’t eaten yet?”

Even if he didn’t have the time, he would have said yes. “Yeah, come by the coffee house. I’m in the back.”

“Great. I’m already in the parking lot.” He could hear the smile in her voice, and his own lips curved. “I’ll be right in.”

When Jason ended the call and turned back to Cody, he said, “Elizabeth is on her way here—”

“I figured,” his enforcer said, dryly. “You tell her what you’re planning?”

“Not yet. I wanted to—” He hesitated. “I wanted to be sure.” He’d already broken so many promises to her — if he couldn’t get it done, then he wouldn’t have to let her down. They were so close now — just a few more weeks, maybe months, and he’d be partially free. It was part of the reason he’d stopped pushing her away, why he wanted to take her to Italy. Jason needed her to know how much he loved her, how much he wanted to be with her.

“All right. I’ll leave you guys alone, but we need to head over to the church in about an hour—” Cody stopped at the knock on the door and tugged it open. “Hey, Miss Webber.”

“Hey, Cody.” Elizabeth came in, a brown bag in her hands. “I’m not interrupting anything?”

“Wouldn’t matter if you were,” Cody said, slipping past her. “But I was on my way out. I’ll see you at the church,” he told Jason.

Elizabeth winced when the door was closed. “I’m interrupting—”

“Never,” Jason said. He tugged her towards him, tipping her head back for a kiss. “We were done.”

“I really didn’t want to bother you—”

“You’re not,” he interrupted, almost impatiently, and she looked away. He hated that — hated that he’d made her feel like every minute he spent with her was one stolen from something else more important. “I’m sorry. I just—I would tell you if I didn’t have the time.”

“Okay. I just…I guess I wanted to see you before the airport. I’m going home to finish packing.” The smile bloomed on her face now. “Five more hours and we’ll be boarding our flight to Italy, and then I’ll have you all to myself.”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be.” He cupped her jaw, kissed her again. “The ceremony is supposed to be over a quarter after five. Sonny knows I’m leaving as soon as it is. Twenty minutes to the airport. Ten minutes through security—I know I’m cutting it close.”

“It’s okay. I’m jealous of you getting to skip that long line,” Elizabeth said with a wrinkle. She slid her fingers down his chest. “No frisking, searching your bag.”

“Sorry I didn’t know anyone at the TSA to bribe to get you on the list, too,” he said, and she grinned. “I’ll work on that.”

“Or, like you said…we’ll travel more, and I’ll get pre-clearance legitimately.”

“Sonny—” Jason hesitated. “He told me I didn’t have to go. To the wedding. He knows we’re leaving tonight, but—”

“But if something happened and you weren’t there, you’d never forgive yourself. It’s okay. I know.” She kissed him one more time. “And he’s your best friend. You should be there.”

And she should be sitting next to him, Jason thought, but that couldn’t happen. Not yet. “As soon as they say their vows, I’m out the side door,” he promised. “Cody will take over from there.”

“See? You’ve thought of everything. Tomorrow, we’ll wake up in Venice, and everything will be perfect.” Elizabeth bit her lip, her eyes sparkling. “Just like we always dreamed it would be.”

Crimson Pointe: Study

“This cheap son of a bitch—he thinks he’s going to cut off my credit cards—” Claudia shoved the door open, her heels clicking against the hard wood. “You’ve got a lot of nerve—”

She stopped, then scanned the empty room. “Daddy?” she called. She walked over to the terrace, scanned the view of the garden from her perspective. Nothing.

She left the room, went down the hallway towards the kitchen, then went in the other direction towards the living room.

No Anthony Zacchara in sight.

Claudia stopped, pursed her lips. “Well, that can’t be good.”

I look ahead to all the plans that we made
And the dreams that we had
I’m in a world that tries to take ’em away
Oh, but I’m taking ’em back
All this time I’ve just been to blind to understand
What should matter to me
My friend, this life we live
Is not what we have, it’s what we believe
– It’s Not My Time, 3 Doors Down

---

Saturday, September 27, 2008

St. Timothy’s Church: Anteroom

Sonny, clad in a black tuxedo and gray vest, shook his head. “I don’t need another security check,” he said. “We need to get to our seats before Maxie over there—” he gestured towards the blonde who held a clipboard and wore a headset. “Sets us on fire—

Jason nodded. “I know, but—” he began. “There’s nothing wrong with taking another five minutes—”

“Jase.” Sonny turned to him. “Do you have any doubts that your guys are up to the job?”

“No—”

“Then let’s get this show on the road.” Sonny clapped a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “And hey, don’t you have a plane to catch? Every minute we spend out here is another minute you’re in traffic.”

Jason nodded, reluctantly. They were still on schedule, even a few minutes early, but Sonny had a point. There hadn’t been a single hint of trouble. “All right. I’ll see you in there.” He left Sonny in the anteroom and went through the double doors leading into the chapel proper.

Jason took his seat in the front pew, next to Bobbie. She smiled at him, the expression tinged with a touch of sadness that he felt himself. Another moment that Michael should be here for — and instead he was lying in a coma from which he would never wake.

The tightness in his chest only increased as Jason remembered where he’d been when he’d received the call. Standing in his penthouse, looking into Elizabeth’s eyes, filled with happiness that he was finally going to have her with him — that the whole world would know that he loved her and the boys—he’d get to have his son and Cameron—

He’d promised her he wouldn’t take it back. How many promises had he broken to her over the years? How many more opportunities would she give him to be part of her life before she walked away for good? No, Sonny was right. The sooner they got the wedding started, the sooner he’d be with her.

He glanced at the clock on his phone, saw the notification from Elizabeth. She’d checked in her luggage and was heading to security. She’d see him at the gate.

Jason glanced at Bobbie again who squeezed his hand, then he faced forward, looked at the altar. Sonny was the one getting married. He’d lost Michael, but his life was still moving forward. He still had his son, his daughter. He would have a wife, soon.

Jason had been prepared to only have those things in secret, until Michael. Until he’d realized what he’d given up. Only when he’d truly accepted that the only way he’d ever have a life of his own, be a father again, was if he made changes — he just wished he could have done it years ago. Maybe Michael would still be here. Maybe his son would know him—

He glanced at his phone again, wishing it was over so he could be on his way to the airport, so he could be with Elizabeth and not worry about who was watching.

St. Timothy’s Church: Bridal Suite

“You can’t really be serious!”

Maxie grimaced when she slipped inside the room just as Olivia Falconieri’s thick Brooklyn accent hit her ears. “We have three minutes before we need to start the processional,” she warned the cousins. “Or we’ll be off schedule—”

“I’m not having this argument with you again,” Kate said, heading towards the table where their flowers had been set up. She snatched up her bouquet. “I told you, I legally changed my name. Did you think I’d get married as Constanza Louise? Really?”

“I thought you’d have some decency—”

“I am Katherine Hardwicke Howard. That is my legal name, and it’s a name I’ve worked very hard to establish,” Kate snapped. “And if you don’t like it, I’m sure Maxie will step in as my maid of honor.”

Olivia sent Maxie a dirty look, then scowled back at Kate. “Still turning your back on your whole family. I can’t believe Sonny is okay with this—”

“Time out—” Maxie said, her heart pounding as she slid between the furious women. “You can have this argument later, okay? Please. I’m begging you. We spent a lot of time setting this up,” she reminded Kate, who nodded. Maxie picked up Olivia’s bouquet and held it out. “Please. I don’t want to be the maid of honor, okay? That’s you. You’re family. I—I had a sister a-and I lost her, and I would do anything to argue with her one more time. So just take these, walk down the aisle, and be grateful that you’re both still alive to yell at each other.”

Olivia took the flowers, some of the fury fading from her dark eyes. “I’m sorry about your sister. Let’s get this show on the road.” She headed for the door.

Thank God. Maxie breathed a sigh of relief, sent a silent apology to Georgie that she’d used her that way, and turned to Kate. “Time to get married. You ready?”

Kate lifted her bouquet. “Lead the way.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Nadine stepped behind the counter and started to dig through the charts of patients waiting to be seen. Since the clinic had burned down earlier that month, the ER was seeing all minor illnesses and injuries again, and with Nikolas heading to California, she had a feeling that wasn’t going to change any time soon.

Unless Nikolas wanted to fund a memorial clinic in the city he was running from.

“What’s up next?” Patrick asked, winding his stethoscope around his neck. “I just cleared two stitches, a broken ankle, and our first hypochondriac of the night.”

“The tuberculosis patient?” Nadine asked, absently, glancing through the patients who’d been checked in. “The one with a light cough?”

“No, the one who thought she had smallpox. It was a rash,” Patrick said blandly. “So I guess we already have two.”

“The internet was a mistake. Everyone comes in with a diagnosis ready, and they think they’re dying.” Nadine stopped, then looked at him. “Wait. Why are you here? You’re—”

“A doctor who, despite hating people, needs to remember why I’m doing this in the first place. I picked up a shift. One of the benefits of being chief is being able to do whatever the hell I want.” He exhaled on a rush of air. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”

“No, it’s fine. I just meant—you didn’t look to see who else was working tonight, did you?”

Patrick closed his eyes, bowed his head for a moment, then lifted his gaze back to hers. “I’d like one thing to go right tonight. Just one.”

“If it makes you feel better, he hates me more than he hates you,” Nadine offered. “I broke into his room and accused him of stealing drugs from the clinic.”

“I don’t care if he hates me,” Patrick muttered, yanking a chart from the pile. “I don’t think about him at all.” He whirled around only to come face to face with the man in question. “Dr. Hunter.”

“Dr. Drake,” Matt Hunter bit out. “Coming down from your lofty office to mix with the peasants?”

“That’s right,” Patrick snarled. “So get out of my way and let me work.”

“No problem.” Matt stepped to one side and Patrick stormed off in the other direction. “Asshole.”

“I don’t understand why you guys hate each other,” Nadine remarked when Matt approached to switch out charts. “Neither of you knew the other existed. It’s your dad who sucks—”

“That man isn’t my father,” Matt cut in sharply, his eyes flashing. “And no one asked you.”

“Well, if I wait to be asked, no one ever gets to hear what I have to say,” Nadine said, but Matt just stomped off. “This is going to be a fun night.”

Port Charles Airport: Security Line

Elizabeth looked at her phone — Jason hadn’t replied to her last text which made sense, she thought. The ceremony was due to begin any minute now. In less than a half hour, Jason would be on his way to the airport, and then they’d be boarding. He wanted this trip as much as she did, Elizabeth could believe that now.

And once they were in the air, she’d have the time to tell him about that awful conversation with Lucky — the threats she’d made about what she’d do if Sam was involved with the boys at all once they were in California. She’d meant every word, too. If Sam was in the picture, Elizabeth would never put her boys on a plane or let Lucky take them.

Which meant the boys would probably never see Lucky again. It hurt, but not as much as it might have before. If she and Jason were on the road to being together in public — and Elizabeth really thought they might be — then Jason would be there. And Cameron and Jake wouldn’t even have the chance to miss Lucky—they’d barely notice anything had changed—they’d finally be a family.

She took a deep breath, moved forward as the line did. She just had to have a little patience. They’d meet in secret again for a while. And maybe around the holidays, when things were quiet, Jason would change his mind.

And if he didn’t—

Well, she was going to Italy. He’d offered her Italy once before, holding out his hand to her, and she’d rejected it. She’d had chance after chance to have all of Jason, and she’d pushed him away. She’d asked him to keep quiet about Jake’s paternity. She’d made all the wrong choices two years ago. From now on, she was going to focus on making sure Jason knew that he was the only choice she wanted to make.

St. Timothy’s Church: Chapel

The music swelled, and Jason—along with everyone else in attendance—rose to their feet as the wedding march began to play. Kate, standing at the end of the long aisle in her pristine white gown, radiating joy and happiness as she slowly walked towards Sonny.

If he hadn’t backed out of their engagement six months ago, that could have been Elizabeth, Jason thought. Or they would have been married already. He wouldn’t have wanted a long engagement. They’d waited long enough. She’d wear a dress that made her happy, even though she always looked beautiful to him. And she’d have walked towards him—

He shook himself out of the thought — it did no good to think about things that hadn’t happened. He watched as Kate walked down the aisle, drawing closer. She passed the front pew and stopped at the altar — Sonny was supposed to take her hand, and then they’d walk up a few steps to Father Coates at the top.

Sonny took a step—and then Kate gasped, the sound barely registering above the music—but Jason saw her jerk—and then—

A bright red stain appeared on the back of her dress, spreading quickly, soaking the fabric. The flowers dropped as Kate crumpled to the ground. The screams started, and Jason was on his feet, shoving Bobbie down with one hand and twisting to face the back of the chapel—

People began to flee, the screams grew louder, and someone fell—there was trampling — the church had exploded into chaos.

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
And you’ll begin to wonder why you came
– How to Save a Life, The Fray

---

Saturday, September 27, 2008

St. Timothy’s Church: Chapel

He never heard a gunshot.

Jason faced the back of the church, his gun in one hand, and the other on Bobbie’s shoulder, but the older woman was already shrugging him off and crawling towards the center aisle where Sonny had taken Kate into his arms, begging her to stay with him, to keep her eyes open — blood soaked the delicate fabric of her white gown, but her eyes remained open, pained and strained.

Others in the wedding were screaming—the chapel was rapidly emptying — the sounds of footsteps thundering — there was more screaming when the double doors at the back of the church were blocked — too many people trying to flee to fit at once.

Bobbie broke away from Jason’s hold and crawled towards Kate. Maxie was on her hands and knees wailing, Spinelli holding and rocking her.

Cody strode towards him, gun in his hand.

“What do we know?” Jason demanded. He grabbed Cody by the lapels of his jacket. “What happened?”

“Hard to say — no one came through the anteroom,” Cody said, “but they could have tried to blend in with the crowd—nothing causes a stampede faster than gunfire in a church.”

Jason grimaced, then holstered his gun. “Cops will be on the scene soon,” he said flatly. “Clear our guys as fast as you can. I don’t want any of them held up at the PCPD—” He turned towards the scene at the front of the chapel, concerned.

Kate was still holding on, panting, sweat breaking out on her brow. “Oh, God, it hurts—”

“Just hold on, Connie,” her cousin begged. “Hold on, baby. Help is coming. They’re coming. Hold on!”

Port Charles Airport: First Class Lounge

Elizabeth checked her watch, chewed her bottom lip. It was nearly five. The ceremony wouldn’t be long, Jason had said. Sonny was Catholic, but it wouldn’t be a full Mass because Kate didn’t practice. It should be just about done.

She pulled out her cell, checked the messages. He’d never said he’d call once he was on his way, but now she wished she’d asked him to. Despite all his promises, despite believing them, Elizabeth couldn’t shake her nerves or the conviction that something was wrong.

But she had nothing to support that feeling, and Jason wasn’t even late yet. So, Elizabeth tucked the phone in the bag, and found her dog-eared tourist guide to Italy, one she’d bought a long time ago and had highlighted nearly every line.

Only an hour from now, they’d start boarding, and Jason would be there.

Crimson Pointe: Terrace

Ric strode in from the study, the slam of the door jarring Claudia who’d been doing another sweep of the garden searching for her father.

“Where is he?”

She climbed the last few steps onto the terrace, arched one brow. “Problem, Ricky? Maybe if—”

“I don’t have time for that right now. There was a shooting at the wedding,” Ric snapped, and Claudia fell silent. “Kate Howard was shot as she walked down the aisle. And your father? Nowhere to be found.”

Claudia looked out over the garden, then back at the house. Then at Ric, knowing his thoughts were identical to hers.

“Johnny’s at the wedding,” she said, some of her characteristic arrogance gone. “He wouldn’t—he knows Johnny would be blamed. He knows—” She lifted her fingers to her lips, fought the shudder that rippled down her spine.

What the hell had her father done?

St. Timothy’s Church: Chapel

At first, Johnny hadn’t realized anything was wrong. Kate had passed by them, shining in her ethereal beauty. Lulu beamed at him, squeezing his hand. “Look how pretty,” she’d sighed. “So happy.”

Then everything had gone mad — Kate had stopped at the end of the aisle—she’d jerked—and then blood had begun to spread from her lower back, rapidly staining her elegant white gown as the music of “Ave Maria” had swelled around them, offering a stark contrast to the happiness of the moment —

Kate’s knees had buckled — and then the screaming had started. Spinelli had sprang forward, fighting through the stampede of guests rushing in the opposite direction, desperate to get to Maxie. Lulu had tried to follow. She’d fought Johnny to get past him, trying to get up the aisle, crying, screaming—

But even if Johnny had wanted to follow in Spinelli’s wake, the stampede had only thickened, and Johnny had dragged Lulu against him, his fingers digging into her upper arm, yanking her out of the way of terrified wedding guests —

She’d continued to scream, burying her face into his chest — then someone had bumped him, and he’d gone flying, sending them both sprawling to the ground, trapped between the pews. Johnny couldn’t get his legs to move, to pull himself up, to get Lulu to safety — guests crowded the double doors, banging, screaming, pushing —

And beneath him, Lulu continued to sob, shielding her face from all the sounds, from the horror—

Johnny thought it was the worst sound he’d heard in his whole life — the mixture of the wails from the guests, the yelling of security guards, and Lulu’s sobs —

But no. It wasn’t.

It was the quiet. The stillness that followed when the chapel had emptied, and he realized Lulu had stopped screaming. She’d curled up on her side, her eyes staring blankly at the wooden pew in front her, her cheek resting against the stone floor of the chapel.

Johnny sat up on his knees, reaching for Lulu — she rose with him — but the movements were sluggish, almost as if she were underwater, trying to swim.

“Lu? Lu?” He shook her shoulder lightly, then cupped her face but Lulu was just staring into nothing. She’d drifted away from him, her eyes empty, unfocused —

Johnny looked towards the front of the chapel. Only the wedding party remained — Kate laying on her back in Sonny’s arms, Jason talking intently to one of his guys — Maxie was crying, with Spinelli holding her.

Johnny took a deep breath. He needed to handle this. He had to take care of Lulu himself. “Okay. Okay. We’re going to the hospital, okay?” he told her. “They’ll bring you back to me. Come on.”

---

Jason left the chapel and headed to the front of the church, to the anteroom that separated the entrance from the chapel proper, determined to search the second floor of the church, particularly the vestibule that looked over the chapel. The shot had come from behind, but his guys had been at the entrance. Had someone slipped in with the guests just as they feared? Had they found a space to hide Jason didn’t know about?

He stopped at the double doors, furrowing his brow at the small space, considering the approach to the second floor.

The wail of the ambulance siren drew closer — mixed with the police — they couldn’t be far away. Jason needed to get upstairs, to see what was going on before he was shut out of the whole thing altogether—

But he hadn’t correctly estimated exactly where the police were — because he’d taken no more than two steps towards the stairs when the front entrance to the church was thrown open, and a collection of uniforms piled through it —

Jason grunted as David Harper, a detective with Major Crimes, grabbed him by the arm and threw him against the wall. “What the hell is going on?” Harper demanded, frisking Jason and finding the gun tucked into the holster at his back. “You got a permit for this?”

“Lawyer,” Jason said flatly.

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.” Harper pulled out a cell phone next, tugging it from the pocket of Jason’s tuxedo. “You’re missing a call right now,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, and you’ve got some texts.” He flashed the screen at Jason, whose heart sank. Harper wouldn’t be able to see who was calling him—the notification screen wasn’t set to show the identity, but Jason knew better. It was after five. Elizabeth was calling. He was supposed to be leaving for the airport right now — she was waiting for him in first class.

And he was about to be arrested which meant he wouldn’t be able to call her before they started boarding. She’d probably get on the flight and be in the air before he was released. His stomach twisted at the thought, and he didn’t even wince when Harper slapped a pair of cuffs on him and hauled him towards the entrance of the church.

She wouldn’t even know for hours what had happened. All she would know was that he’d broken his promise.

Again.

Port Charles Airport: First Class Lounge

Elizabeth exhaled slowly as the clock on the far side of the wall crawled towards six when boarding was scheduled to begin.  She’d known Jason would be cutting it close, but he traveled more than she did, so Elizabeth hadn’t argued with his plan. But now she thought of all the snags that could have held him up. What if he’d been caught in traffic or in security—

She checked her phone again — but there still wasn’t a reply to her last text — and she saw now from the receipt that it hadn’t even been read yet. Okay, maybe he couldn’t text her, but could he answer the phone? He hadn’t when she’d called at him at five-thirty—

She closed her eyes, bringing the phone to her ear. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four. Five — and the automatic transfer to a voicemail. This time, she left a message. “Hey. Uh, it’s me. Just…getting nervous, I guess. And a little worried,” she continued with a wince. “Will they still let you through security if you get here after boarding starts? Just…call me, okay?”

Elizabeth put the phone back in her bag and shoved herself to her feet to pace the small width of the room, drawing the attention of a few first class passengers. She flashed a polite smile, then went to the large window that overlooked the runways.

Port Charles Police Department: Interrogation Room

Jason dragged his hands through his hands through his hair, glaring at the clock in the squad room, visible through the window next to the door. A few minutes to six. They’d be boarding soon. If Elizabeth got on the plane—

“I need to make a call,” he said to Mac Scorpio, breaking into the argument between the commissioner and his attorney. “Diane, I need—”

“Your lawyer is already here,” Mac said, blandly. “You answer some questions, maybe then—”

Jason hissed. If she got on the plane — if she flew to Italy alone — Damn it. He curled his hands in a fist by his side. “Diane, then you need to make the call—”

“I’m a little busy trying to get you released,” Diane retorted. “Or maybe you want to spend the night in lock up. Shut up, let me work, and you can do whatever you want when you’re out of here.”

“Tell me who you need to call so much,” Mac suggested. “Wanna check on your guys? They’re all here. Cody Paul. Spinelli — we scooped him up when he tried to go to the hospital with Maxie — ”

“They don’t know anything—there’s nothing to know—” Jason closed his mouth when Diane sent a fulminating glare. He just needed to close his mouth and let his lawyer do her job.

And hope like hell Elizabeth would forgive him when he didn’t show up at the airport.

Port Charles Airport: Gate

“Flight LH1068 from Port Charles, New York to Venice Italy, now boarding first class.”

Elizabeth glanced at her watch, though she knew the time inside and out after nearly an hour of staring at it. Six-ten. Jason wasn’t here. He hadn’t returned a phone call. She had a choice to make. Did she get on the flight, hoping that Jason was rushing towards her — that he was so focused on getting to the flight that he didn’t want to waste time by calling her —

She gripped the handle of her carry-on, watching the flight attendant collect boarding passes from the first class passengers, then looked down at hers.

Jason was coming, wasn’t he? If something terrible had happened, wouldn’t he have called? Or—or someone would have. Someone knew where he was supposed to be going.

She chewed her lip, took a step forward, then stopped.

There’d been another wedding day, Elizabeth thought. The first time she’d ever seen Jason Morgan.

Brenda Barrett had been so sure Sonny would show up she’d walked down the aisle first and had waited for him. The doors had opened, and she’d turned, her smile blinding, so certain she’d see Sonny walking over the threshold.

Only to come crashing down.

“Last call for Flight LH1068, Port Charles, New York to Venice, Italy, first class.”

PCPD: Lock-Up

Jason paced the confines of the small cell, ready to come out of his skin. He’d been shoved back here while Diane had gone to war with Mac, threatening all manners of lawsuits — he no longer had access to a clock, but he knew that six o’clock had come and gone — had she boarded the plane? Was she now waiting for him, trapped on the plane? Once you got on, you couldn’t get off without making a scene —

He heard the click of heels and lunged at the bars, clenching his jaw as Diane strode out of the shadows with a uniform behind her. “Am I getting out of here?” Because if he wasn’t, he’d have to tell Diane to make the call, and somehow that felt worse than doing it himself — sending his lawyer to do his dirty work —

“Yes—” Diane gestured at the officer. “Let’s go. Chop chop, little boy.”

“You know, Ms. Miller,” the uniform said with some irritation, “that’s not helping.”

He slid the jail cell door back and Jason stepped out, his hand already extended.  “Where’s my phone? Never mind,” he snapped before the redhead could answer. “Give me yours.”

“Thank you, Diane, my only hope—” Diane began, but something in his face must have finally communicated just how furious Jason really was. “All right, fine.” She slapped it in his hand. “Just looking for a little gratitude, you know—”

Jason had stopped listening, his stomach dropping when he realized how much time had passed since he’d last seen the time. Seven-ten. The flight had been scheduled to leave ten minutes ago. Damn it.

He punched in her number anyway and listened to it ring.

Port Charles Airport: Gate

Elizabeth watched as the Lufthansa plane backed away from the gate, the flight tunnel already tucked away. It slowly taxied towards a runway and out of sight. There went her trip to Italy.

And her luggage.

Her phone rang, and she glanced down — found Diane’s number on the identification screen. Elizabeth frowned, answered. “Diane?”

“Elizabeth.” Jason’s voice sounded relieved. “You didn’t board?”

“No.” She sighed again, looked towards the runway though the flight had long since departed. “No.” Not once she’d remembered that terrible day when Brenda had pinned all her hopes and dreams on Sonny showing up and been humiliated.

Elizabeth had been humiliated enough for a lifetime. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m sorry. There—there was a shooting—”

Elizabeth listened as he told her about Kate Howard and how he’d been brought in for questioning. It was a tragedy, of course, and she thought she said all the right things. Sure, she understood. Things happened. Life was unpredictable—

But if she’d been there with him — if she’d been at the church, she wouldn’t be standing here alone at the gate, a boarding pass for Italy in her hands, and the sympathetic eyes of a flight attendant still at the desk.

She promised to talk to him later, though who knew when he’d find time for that. At least he’d remembered to call her at all, Elizabeth thought, sliding the phone back in her pocket. She forced a smile on her face and approached the desk.

“Hey. Hi. What’s the process for getting my luggage back from Italy?”

Take my photo off the wall
If it just won’t sing for you
‘Cause all that’s left has gone away
And there’s nothing there for you to prove
Oh, look what you’ve done
You’ve made a fool of everyone
Oh, well, it seems like such fun
Until you lose what you had won
– Look What You’ve Done, Jet

---

Saturday, September 27, 2008

PCPD: Lock-Up

Jason stared at the cell phone even after Elizabeth’s end of the call had disconnected. There was something in the tone of her voice, something that wasn’t quite right. She hadn’t been angry — she’d understood. And yet—

“Elizabeth? That’s who you needed to call? Well, I could have done that,” Diane said, with a roll of her eyes.  Jason returned the phone and kept his mouth shut. He needed to focus, clear things that absolutely had to be done so that he could check in with Elizabeth and make sure everything was okay.

“Where’s Sonny?”

“Well, that was the other reason I was coming to get you personally.” Diane made a face. “He, uh, was already released, and has left the building, furious. I—” She hissed as Jason took off, sprinting out of the lock-up area and towards the front desk.

He needed his wallet, his keys, his phone — and damn it, were they going to return his gun tonight or would he need to turn Diane loose? Who the hell had infiltrated the church—

And who would Sonny blame? Would he assume it was the Russians? Jason hadn’t told him that Andrei Karpov had seemingly moved on to connections in Rochester. He’d been a thorn in their side for a few months, and had targeted Spinelli but what was the connection to Kate? He’d wanted Sonny to turn on Jason, but shooting his fiancée was a hell of a way to force Sonny’s hand when it looked like Karpov was getting what he wanted somewhere else. Why would Karpov go to the trouble?

But if it wasn’t the Russians, that left the Zaccharas—Jason scowled. Anthony was still in a wheelchair, but Johnny had been the center of all Sonny’s paranoia six months earlier. Sonny had extended an invitation to Johnny as Lulu’s guest to show that all was well between them now, but all Sonny would remember was the access the mafia heir had had to the church.

Damn it, if Sonny went after Johnny Zacchara before Jason could stop him — Anthony Zacchara or his psychotic daughter wouldn’t care who they hurt in retribution.

Jason glared at the uniform behind the desk. “I need my personal effects. Now.”

Downtown Port Charles

The traffic light at the next intersection flipped from yellow to red, and the three cars in front of Elizabeth’s Honda Civic slowed to a stop. She made a face, then picked up the phone she had tossed on the passenger side. She had a missed call from Patrick and another from Lucky. But Jason hadn’t called back. Not that she expected him to. She could only imagine what he was dealing with right now. A shooting at the wedding would have fulfilled his worst fears.

Elizabeth leaned back in her seat with one hand on the wheel, staring at the traffic light, waiting for it to turn green.

She’d meant what she said to Carly that morning. Jason seemed to be the only one under the impression that their relationship was a secret — plenty of people hadn’t believed Elizabeth’s trial testimony. She’d felt like Jason had been slowly coming back around to where they’d been in April.

But Kate’s shooting would probably quash any hope of returning to where they’d been in April. At least not before she or Jason qualified for a nursing home.

And how terrible was Elizabeth that her first thought was how all of this would affect her? Kate was fighting for her life, Sonny and those who loved her would be devastated, Jason was probably stressed, and all Elizabeth could think about was her romantic life?

She suddenly understood how Carly’s mind worked, and the comparison didn’t make her feel particularly good about herself. She took a deep breath. She’d head to the hospital where they were always short-handed, and she’d be able to do good there. Jason would need her there, and it would be simple to get herself assigned to Kate’s case.

The light turned green, and Elizabeth eased her foot off the brake as the cars in front of her moved.

The phone rang just as she entered the intersection, and she reached out with one hand, blindly trying to find it, not taking her eyes off the road.

She heard the blaring of a horn just a second before a horrifying slam and screech—her car spun, turning it back into oncoming traffic—Elizabeth saw a car heading straight for her—

She screamed and then her car was flying through the air, flipping twice in front of horrified onlookers, and everything went black.

General Hospital: Emergency Room

The ER was a chaotic mess with doctors and nurses and all kinds of people dressed in scrubs and lab coats rushing back and forth, and no one—no one—would stop and tell Maxie what the hell was going on.

She spied a familiar head of dark hair and breathed a short sigh of relief, dashing over, nearly stumbling in her stilettos and falling into Johnny who was glaring at the back of a lab coat striding away. “Johnny! You have to tell me what’s going on! Where’s Lulu?”

“They won’t tell me! I’m the one that brought her in, but—” He dragged his hands through his hair, blew out a short breath. “Damn it. Damn it. What the hell happened? Where’s Spinelli?”

“They took him to the station. I don’t know why! He won’t know anything, he never does, that’s not what he does—” Her voice was rising, pitched almost to hysterical peak. “And Olivia won’t tell me anything about Kate—I don’t know even know if she’s alive—” She curled her fingers in the lapels of Johnny’s tux. “And Lulu, oh my God, she looked so empty—” Hot tears spilled down her cheeks. “What if Kate dies and Lu never comes back? What are we going to do? I don’t know what to do!” The final word came out on a wail, and Johnny swore, put an arm around Maxie’s shoulders, and led her towards a bench by the wall.

“Who do we know that can tell us something?” Johnny said. “What about Matt? That guy who’s got a room with your stepdad?”

Maxie sucked in a shuddering breath, then her blue eyes sharpened. Focused. “Right. Right. A-nd Nadine. They work here! You go find her, and I’ll find Matt, okay? And you find out something, you tell me. I have to know.”

“Same to you.”

They split up, both reassured with a task to achieve. Locate a friendly face at the hospital and gather all available information. Maxie could always focus when she had something to do.

And if Lulu thought she was going to disappear inside of herself, well, she had another damn thing coming. Maxie would just reach inside somehow and make her come back to them.

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Nadine shoved a strand of hair behind her ear, then reached for the phone. “Paging Dr. Patrick Drake. Dr. Patrick Drake. To the ER.”

“What’s coming in?” Epiphany wanted to know, bustling in behind her. “We’re limited on surgical teams—”

“Yeah, I know. They said they’ll have Kate out of the trauma room in ten minutes, heading up to the operating suites. Reynolds is going to take that case, so I paged Patrick to take the incoming car accident—they’re worried about head injuries and that’s his specialty.”

“Good, good.” Epiphany headed out, and Nadine picked up her pen to note down the changes.

“Thank God. You’re here. You said you’d be on duty, and you’re here.”

She jerked her head up, frowning when Johnny dashed up. “Johnny, what’s going on? I thought Kate was the only injury—”

Johnny swallowed hard, gripped the edge of the counter. “Lulu. I brought her in, and they took her back, but I don’t know anything, and those doctors won’t tell me anything, okay, and they need to, so tell me if she’s been admitted—”

“What happened?” Nadine’s fingers were already flying over the keyboard. Her stomach pitched when the information came back. “Lulu has been admitted, but that’s all I can tell you. They contacted Nikolas as her next of kin—”

“He’ll never tell me anything. Damn it. Damn it.”

“What happened?” she repeated. “I know Kate was shot, but what happened to Lulu?”

“Chaos. Disaster. Everything Nikolas and Lucky were worried about.” He dragged a hand down his face. “She was with me and then she wasn’t. She just curled up and a light went out. I couldn’t get her to come back. Not this time.” His eyes were dark, desperate. “I know you said things got left with Nikolas on a bad note, but I need to know what’s going on. I just need to know.”

“I can go follow up on the case, but don’t expect any miracles. I’m sorry, Johnny. This is the last thing any of us wanted.” She made a note of Lulu’s location, then stepped down from the nurse’s station. “Wait over there, okay? I’ll be back when I can tell you something.”

St. Timothy’s Church: Parking Lot

The church was still a crime scene, so Jason was able to catch up with his former business partner behind the blockade of flashing lights and patrol cars.

Sonny stood in his blood-stained tuxedo, his fingers gripping the hard edge of a blockade as he turned to Jason. “You told me it was secure,” he bit out as Jason stepped up to him. “In a hurry to get out of town and you missed something!”

Jason shot Cody a dark look, and the other man closed his mouth. Cody hadn’t worked for the organization long enough to know that the absolute last thing anyone needed to do was remind Sonny that he’d been the one to refuse a last minute sweep. Maybe Jason could have fought harder, but damn it, was Sonny ever going to take responsibility for anything?

“None of this makes sense,” Jason said finally. “An attack on you, an attack this high profile — it’s suicide. And why, if they had the shot, did they go after Kate? Why not you? Or me.” He swallowed hard. “We need to take a deep breath, Sonny, and think about this—”

“You think all you want,” Sonny retorted, whipping his head back. “Maybe if it were Elizabeth in a blood-soaked wedding gown fighting for her life, maybe you’d understand how I feel—”

“You think I don’t—” Jason fisted his hands at his side, wondering how he and Sonny had drifted so far apart. Once Sonny would have looked at him for reassurance, for guidance. For support. And now— “We need to be sure who did this—”

“I am sure. You swept the damn church, didn’t you? So who could get in and do this? Who had access?”

Jason saw the realization spread across Sonny’s face, and he grimaced. “Sonny—”

“Fucking Johnny Zacchara—” The older man charged towards the parking lot, and Jason tried to grab at him, missing. He started after him.

“The kid has never been in the damn business! How many times have you gone after him only to find out you were wrong—”

“He must have helped one of his father’s men,” Sonny muttered. He whirled away from the blockade, stalking back towards the dark SUV, Max almost sprinting to keep up with him. “Where is he? I’ll choke the truth out of him—”

“Boss, maybe we should go back to the house,” Max suggested with a wince. “Take a shower. Get some coffee, check in at the hospital—”

“Lulu.” Sonny snapped his fingers. “He was with her. Someone at the station said she’d gone to the hospital. Let’s go.” He yanked open the passenger door to the SUV, held it for a moment. “You either get in,” he barked at Max, “or I drive myself.”

Either way he was going, so no one blamed Max when he scrambled into the SUV.  At least with Max, there was a sense they’d be able to keep tabs on the Sonny.

“Let’s go,” Jason said to Cody. “I need to get to the hospital.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

She looked just like their mother. Of Laura’s three children, her daughter had always been the mirror image of her mother. The shape of their face, the same blonde hair, the same smile—and until Laura’s illness, the same sparkle in their eyes.

But now, Nikolas thought, the resemblance had returned. The look in their eyes was identical, down to the unfocused glaze of a mind that was somewhere far away from this room. Laura had slipped away in General Hospital five years earlier, and now Lulu had followed.

His little sister lay in the bed, her head resting against the pillows, still dressed in the frothy deep pink dress she’d plucked from the trio Maxie had chosen for her. Her hair had fallen down around her face, and lines of mascara, smudged eyeliner encircling her empty hazel eyes.

A hand dropped on Nikolas’s shoulder, jolting him. He turned and saw his aunt standing there. He breathed a sigh of relief, embraced her. “Hey. Kristina?”

“She’s all right,” Alexis murmured. She rubbed his back. “I took her home, settled her with the nanny. I thought you might need me. Have you called Lucky?”

“Not yet, no. He’s got the boys this week.” Nikolas rubbed his cheek. “I wanted to wait. I wanted to wait until she’d come out of it. But—”

“She’s not?”

“No—”

The curtain of Lulu’s cubicle rustled, and Nikolas looked over to see Nadine stepping inside. “Is there news from the doctor?” he wanted to know, coming towards her.

“No—” Nadine looked at Lulu for a long moment, and when she focused on Nikolas, there were tears in the corners of her eyes. “No. I’m not on her case. I’m so sorry, Nikolas.”

“Yeah, well—” Nikolas fisted his hand at his side. “Aunt Alexis, I need you to get on the phone with the DA’s office.”

“I think we’ll see some movement finally,” Alexis assured him. “With Scott out of town, he can’t use his weight as special prosecutor to stall. I’ll call you.”

“Thank you.” When Alexis had left the cubicle, Nikolas looked at Nadine. “You see why it has to be this way. I can’t—” He focused on his sister, on his beautiful, little sister. “I didn’t want her to go to the wedding. But I couldn’t tell her no.”

“She’s tough, Nikolas. So tough. She’ll fight back, and—”

“I keep telling myself that, you know. But my mother was strong. You wouldn’t believe what my mother went through. Then one day—” He closed his eyes. “It was too much. There’s always a breaking point, and Lulu reached hers. I have to do whatever I can to bring her back. I can’t let her waste away like my mother. I can’t do it, Nadine. Nothing else can matter.”

“I understand that. I’m—I’m sorry I came down on you so hard.” Nadine bit her lip. “I came back because Johnny’s out front. Looking for an update.”

“An update? After he—” Nikolas swallowed the bitter words bubbling up. “Yeah, fine. The doctor is due back in a few minutes. You can pass along whatever they say.”

“All right.” Nadine studied Lulu, then went over to a drawer in the cabinet. She removed a package, ripped off the top. She extracted a damp white cloth, then proceeded to gently wash the makeup from his sister’s face. Lulu gave no sense that she recognized Nadine or even knew that it was happening.

His eyes blurred and Nikolas had to look away.

General Hospital: Hallway

Maxie’s heels clacked as she hurried down another hallway in the emergency room. She was all turned around now in the labyrinth walls where every turn looked the same and all the door numbers kept swirling around—

What if she just stood in one spot and screamed Matt’s name? Would the irritating doctor pop up then? She was frustrated enough to attempt it, but just when she’d planted herself in one spot, she overheard a pair of voices, both familiar.

“I can handle the damn case!”

“I don’t care what you can handle, I’m giving it to Reynolds. He’s got seniority and he’s the only doctor with enough experience—”

Maxie twisted around another corner and found Matt and Patrick nearly nose to nose, their faces flushed. “Matt, Patrick! Thank God! People I know! Tell me where Kate or Lulu is!”

“I’m a little busy, Maxie,” Matt began, but Patrick stepped back, checked the beeper at his waist with a grimace.

“Look, you want to be on Kate’s case so damn bad? Deal with the family. You can scrub in, but you’re not taking the lead. That’s the end of the conversation,” Patrick added when Matt opened his mouth again. “I’ve got a head injury from a car accident coming in and a hospital to run.”

“Egotistical selfish bastard,” Matt muttered under his breath after Patrick had jogged off. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Maxie demanded, planting a fist on her hip. “The chief of staff told you to handle Kate’s family. That’s me. So tell me where she is and how she is, or I swear on every single bottle of Chanel that I will scream.”

Matt nearly growled. “You’re not—”

“The only other family she’s got refuses to call her by her actual name and spends all her time complaining, okay? I’m Kate’s family, and I’m the one that gives a damn, and I also signed a stupid form like months ago that says I get to know whatever I want.” Maxie ripped her shoe from her foot and held it up, heel out. “Now tell me where she is or you’re going to have a Jimmy Choo shaped hole in your goddamn head!”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

When Nadine came back, Johnny was sitting in a hard plastic orange chair tucked in the corner. His dark hair disheveled as if he’d run his hands through it a million times, his white tuxedo shirt tugged out of his pants and partially unbuttoned. His jacket had been discarded since she’d seen him last.

He bolted to his feet as she approached, his dark eyes intense. “Is she okay? Tell me please.”

“I’m sorry, Johnny. She’s…she’s still the way you brought her in. Dr. Winters and the attending physician are arranging her transfer back to Shadybrooke because there’s just nothing more we can do for her here.”

“Nikolas is going to take her to California, and she won’t even know. I wanted to wait before I told her. To let her have this day.” Johnny sank back into the chair, staring blankly. “You think they’ll tell me which clinic?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Give Nikolas a day or two to settle. He’s dealing with a lot right now.”

“Never should have taken her to that damn wedding. It was too much. They said it was too much, but she was so happy, and I just wanted her to be okay—” He broke off. “But now they’re going to take her away where I can’t follow.”

“And she’ll get better,” Nadine said gently. She touched his arm. “She’ll get better and come back to you. That’s what matters, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Johnny muttered. He dragged a hand down his face. “Thanks for finding out.”

“Any time,” Nadine said. She squeezed his arm, then stepped back. “I’m sorry. I have to go check on another patient. I’m sorry, Johnny.”

“Yeah, so am I.”

She headed down the hallway, turning the corner just as the street entrance to the Emergency Room burst open and a furious Sonny Corinthos strode in, heading straight for Johnny.

Johnny only had a moment to look up and grimace before he was being hauled to his feet and shoved up against a wall.

Jacks House: Living Room

Carly winced when her bare foot came down hard on a familiar piece of plastic. “Morgan! You were supposed to clean up your Legos!”

Morgan looked over at her with wide eyes, his hand clutched around one of his super hero figures. “I did!”

“Yeah, well—” she leaned down, plucked the yellow piece from the carpet and held it up. “My foot says different.” Limping, she headed over to the sofa, dropping the Lego to the coffee table with plink. She rustled for the remote and flipped on the news, rolling her neck to the side—

Then snapping to attention when WKPC’s breaking news banner scrolled across the bottom of a live action shot of St. Timothy’s Church. A shooting. No word on casualties—

Another shooting. More bullets. More violence. Her stomach lurch, and she clicked off the news before Morgan could hear his father’s name.

With trembling hands, she got to her feet, and headed for the kitchen to tell the nanny she had to leave.

General Hospital: Emergency Room

They didn’t make it to the hospital before Sonny. Of course not. Everything else today had gone wrong, Jason thought bitterly, so why not get stuck at every goddamn red light between the church and the hospital?

By the time Jason arrived, hospital security was trying to drag Sonny away from Johnny Zacchara. He had the younger man against a wall, and his forearm pressed against Johnny’s neck.

“Goddamn it—” Johnny choked. “Why can’t you ever blame anyone else?”

“You know who pulled the trigger, don’t you?” Sonny roared, but before he could do anything else, the security guard finally dragged him back, Sonny kicking and fighting every step of the way.

Jason hung back — Sonny was on his way to being arrested again and dropped into lockup which might be the best place for him at this point, he thought, and the last thing Jason wanted was to find himself in the next cell. He needed to get a status update on Kate, locate Spinelli, find out what the cops already knew—

And if possible, he wanted to see Elizabeth, to go to her and find some quiet. Something that wasn’t any of this — and to look in her eyes to see the truth this time when she told him it was okay. That she understood about Italy.

“You want me to tell Diane to stay downtown and deal with this?” Cody asked, retrieving his cell from the inside of his suit jacket.

Jason winced as security tackled Sonny to the ground, and cuffs were placed on his wrists. “Uh, yeah, might as well. But tell her not to try too hard to get Sonny out of again,” he added. He dragged his hands through his hair, rested them at the base of his neck, still clasped. “God damn it, what else can go wrong tonight?” he growled.

The wail of sirens broke into his irritation, and he could see the ambulance pull up to the bay just beyond the doors. Doctors and nurses were racing towards the door, panicked. Something bad, Jason thought, working his way around the emergency room intent on grabbing Johnny Zacchara before the kid could get away.

Because maybe Johnny hadn’t done anything to Kate, but his family was at the top of the list. No one liked to cause chaos like Anthony. And there was his sister, Claudia, always the wild card

He’d just reached the other man when the doors flew open, and a stretcher was rolled in—

And the world stopped.

It was Elizabeth.

There was a protective brace around her neck, and her face—there was so much blood—he could hardly make out any of her features—

Jason didn’t even realize he’d grabbed Johnny Zacchara by the shirtfront, his hand gripping the material, twisting it.

“Come on, man, I didn’t do anything—” Johnny closed his mouth when he realized the other man wasn’t even looking at him.

“Lost the pulse in the ambulance,” one of the paramedics said, handing over a clipboard to the doctor. “Got it back—” He reeled off a series of numbers, but Jason didn’t hear anything else. Lost the pulse lost the pulse lost the pulse lost pulse—the words repeated in his head like a throbbing drum.

“You know her, don’t you? Lulu’s sister-in-law? Well, not anymore, but—” Johnny swallowed hard when Jason glared at him. “What did I say?”

“Nothing. Nothing.”

What the hell had happened after she’d left the airport? And how was he going to make the hospital tell him anything?

Jason released Johnny, looked to Cody. “Get Diane on the phone. Change of plans. Tell her to get to the hospital. I need a copy of the power of attorney we signed yesterday. Sonny can wait.”

Spencer House: Kitchen

“You know that Elizabeth is trashing me behind my back to them,” Sam complained, bringing the dinner dishes to Lucky at the sink. “There’s no reason for them to both hate me on sight.”

“They don’t hate you.” Lucky looked up at the kitchen door, being propped open with a chair from the table so that he could see Cameron and Jake playing by the sofa, watching cartoons. “Go in there. Hang out with them.”

“Cameron slapped my hand,” Sam muttered. She leaned against the counter. “This is why you should take her to court, Lucky. Get the custody order official.”

“I’m going to have to when she finds out you’re here,” Lucky said. She made a face. “I know. I know. I’m going to talk to Alexis next week to find a custody attorney. It’s just—I don’t want to fight with her. I don’t,” he added. “She’s a great mother, and I sprang California without a lot of warning. I’d rather work it out with her. So when she comes home, I’m going to try to have the conversation again.”

“Lucky—”

The phone rang, and Lucky left the sink to pick up the cordless. “I’m not trying to push her so hard that she just shuts down all visitation, which she can do. All she has to do is play the biology card, and I’m out cold.” He pressed the answer button, brought the phone to his ear. “Yeah?” His fingers tightened around the phone, listened to Nikolas. “Okay. I’ll be right there. Yeah, just let me deal with the boys. I’ll drop them with Audrey.”

“Lucky?” Sam said. She straightened. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Lulu.”

General Hospital: Trauma Room

Patrick stripped off his gloves and tossing them in a nearby medical waste bin, watching silently as Elizabeth was rolled out of the trauma room towards the elevator that would take her to X-Ray.

“Dr. Drake?”

He bit back the profanity that leapt to his lips, looking over at Regina Thompson, the nurse who’d spoken. “Yeah.”

“Jason Morgan is out at the desk asking for an update. He says he has the right to know—his lawyer has paperwork and all kinds—”

Jason Morgan. Patrick clenched his jaw. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be right out.” First he needed to get his temper under control or he might murder someone—

He stalked out into the emergency room, towards the waiting area where Jason was pacing in front of the desk, Diane Miller calmly sifting through paperwork at the desk. Jason’s hair was disheveled, his tuxedo jacket long gone, and the tails of his shirt yanked out.

When he saw Patrick striding towards him, the mobster straightened, stopped pacing. “Patrick. You’re on Elizabeth’s case? Good. Is she—”

“Her car was broadsided by some asshole running a red light. Her car got shoved into oncoming traffic. The car flipped a few times.” Patrick took another breath. “Right now, we’re looking at a concussion. There’s some bleeding internally, so we’re sending her to x-ray and prepping for surgery to see what else we’re dealing with.”

“But she’s going to be okay—” Jason took a step forward, his expression desperate, panic in his blue eyes. “She’s—she’s going to recover, isn’t she?”

“Barring infection and complications from surgery, yeah.”

The relief on the other man’s face was so stark, so palpable that it made Patrick angry all over again. “Why wasn’t she on the goddamn plane? She was supposed to be somewhere over Canada by now—”

When Jason didn’t immediately answer, Patrick lost whatever control he had left of his temper. “Are you worried someone might see that you give a damn? Sorry to interrupt whatever was more important. She’s alive. You can go back to ignoring her—”

“What the hell—”

Patrick didn’t even bother waiting for him to finish his statement. He headed for the desk, determined to search out another patient and get his mind off Elizabeth, to put away the worry about the bleeding and what damned surgeon would perform the procedure because it wouldn’t be him—

“I wasn’t ignoring her. I would never—”

“Except that you do and did.” Patrick took a deep breath. “She told me she was going to Italy with you because she wanted someone to know where she was since she couldn’t tell her grandmother, and Lucky is, on his best day, hot garbage. She was excited. She’s talked about going to Italy for as long as I’ve known her—”

“I know that—” Jason started.

“When I heard about the accident on the dispatch, I thought—I thought she was on her way to the airport.” Patrick’s eyes burned into Jason’s. “But then I rechecked the flight info. She was coming home. And she was only on that road at that minute because you didn’t show up.”

“I—” Jason’s mouth tightened, and his eyes dropped to the linoleum. “I know.”

“She’s my best friend. My family,” Patrick said, gritting his teeth. “You and I both know she can do better than you.”

“I do—”

“But she picked you. Either end it for good, Morgan, or man up, and stop wasting time. After what’s happened this last year, you’d think you of all people would remember that life is too damn short.”

 In this farewell
There’s no blood, there’s no alibi
‘Cause I’ve drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies
So let mercy come and wash away
– What I’ve Done, Linkin Park

---

Saturday, September 27, 2008

 General Hospital: Emergency Room

“Yeah, yeah, thanks Audrey, I appreciate it—” Lucky frowned when he turned a corner and saw Jason and Patrick in a heated argument. Was it about Kate Howard’s shooting? Why would Patrick care about any of that—

Deciding he deserved answers, Lucky strode across the room reaching Jason just as Patrick walked off in the other direction. “Aren’t you supposed to be over international waters?” he asked scathingly. “Or did you let Elizabeth go to Italy alone while you fixed all Sonny’s problems again?”

Jason clenched his jaw, then closed his eyes, and shook his head lightly. “No. She was on her way home, and—” He looked at Lucky. “There was an accident. She’s alive, but she’s on her way to surgery for some bleeding—” His hand, which had been resting on the counter, fisted tight. “Maybe a concussion. I don’t know what else. Patrick didn’t give me a lot of details.”

Lucky tensed. “She’s in surgery? Damn it.” He looked past Jason, down the hallway where Patrick had disappeared. “What happened? What did you get her wrapped up in?”

Jason scowled. “Nothing. It was an accident—”

He scoffed. “Right. Kate gets shot and two hours later, Elizabeth is run down—but, sure, it’s not about you.” Lucky shook his head. “Great. Great. This is the last thing I need right now,” he muttered, dragging his phone out of his pocket.

“What the hell does that mean?” Jason demanded, and Lucky whipped his head up.

“My sister is catatonic from your boss’s wedding celebration,” Lucky bit out. “We’ve been trying to get her a deal with the DA’s office so we can transfer her to a facility that would prevent this from happening, but you couldn’t keep a sniper out of the wedding. I told Nikolas letting her go was a bad idea—”

“This wasn’t my fault—”

“No, it never is. This is why Elizabeth doesn’t want you anywhere near our kids,” Lucky told Jason, taking pleasure in the way the other man flinched. “You got Michael shot in the head. Sonny’s kids have been through hell since he came into the picture—” He grimaced. “I’m not going to be able to go to California. Not with all of this going on. Elizabeth is too soft on this and if I’m not around to remind her—”

“What are you talking about?” Jason stepped towards him. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere now. She wants to bitch about Sam being around the boys, but last time I checked, the only one putting people in danger is you. I’m going to have Sam pick them up from Audrey’s, and you can tell Elizabeth that if she has a problem with that—”

“Sam isn’t going anywhere near them,” Jason cut in, and Lucky rolled his eyes, already scrolling through his contact list for Sam’s number. He lifted the phone to his ear.

“Sam, hey, I need you to go get the kids from Audrey’s and bring them—”

The phone was torn from his grip, and Lucky made a grab for it, but Jason had it. “Don’t go anywhere near Audrey Hardy,” Jason said flatly. “I’ll have the guards stop you if you even try.” He snapped the phone closed and leveled a murderous glare at Lucky—one that had him fighting not to swallow hard and take a step back.

“What do you think you’re doing—”

“Elizabeth is in surgery,” Jason said, tightening his hand around the phone. “She’s not dead, and you’re not going to treat her wishes like they don’t matter. Sam isn’t getting anywhere those boys—”

“Who’s going to stop me?”

“I am,” Jason said, and Lucky snorted. “Because Jake is my son, and you don’t have the right to do a damn thing with him.”

Lucky widened his eyes, took a step back. “What—” He looked around them, and they’d garnered a few stares. He swallowed hard. “What are you—”

Jason tossed Lucky the phone and he had to scramble to catch it. “You want to play games, Lucky? While Elizabeth is in surgery and can’t stop you? Fine. Jake is my son, and I’ll have a court order for paternity rights by Monday morning. You don’t have a custody agreement with Cameron, and you never bothered to adopt him. So they’re staying with Audrey, and I’ll have Diane file a temporary restraining order to keep them right where they are, and believe me, I’ll make sure she gets an affidavit from Amelia Joffe. See how Sam feels about that.”

He stepped closer, and Lucky couldn’t stop himself from taking a step back. Jason hadn’t looked at him like that in years, and it was unnerving to be on the other side of the man who killed more than his fair share of mafia rivals.

“Elizabeth is going to be pissed—”

“She wanted to do this six months ago. A week ago. I’m the one holding back, but we’re done with that now. You’ve got a choice, Lucky. What’s it going to be?”

Lucky exhaled slowly. “It looks like I never had a choice at all, did I? You and Elizabeth just deciding for all of us. Fine. You want those kids? You want to play daddy? Have at it. I’m done.”

He headed for the double doors and stalked out of the emergency room.

Jason seemed to come back to himself, and look around, his hard gaze sending anyone still watching hurrying away. Damn it. He dragged a hand through his hair and went for his own phone.

“Cody? Yeah. I need you to double up security at Audrey Hardy’s house. Yeah, the boys are with her now, not Spencer. I’ll fill you in on the rest later.”

He slid the phone in his pocket. If Elizabeth had been at the church with him today, she wouldn’t have been on the road. If he had called her from the police station, if he’d had Diane call her sooner — if he’d done anything differently, Elizabeth wouldn’t be in surgery right now.  Everything he’d done to protect her had failed. He’d left her alone, unguarded, and now she was in the operating room next to Kate.

When she woke up, Jason would have to tell her what happened with Lucky, and she’d probably be upset with him for making a scene. For putting himself in between Lucky and Cameron which really wasn’t any of his business, but just like that night on Spoon Island when he’d told Lucky about Jake, Jason hadn’t been able to stop himself.

He’d handle that when the time came, but for right now, Jason could only think about Elizabeth and the boys and keeping them safe. Everything else could wait.

General Hospital: Surgery Waiting Room

“How much longer before we know something?” Olivia demanded. Her dress swished as she stalked towards the door, then whirled back. She stabbed a finger at Maxie. “You. This is your place. Go find out what’s going on. You know who to ask—”

“I’m not a doctor, okay!” Maxie threw up her hands. “Matt said it would be hours! Spinal surgery—”

Olivia moaned, pressing her hands to her mouth, turning away. “God. God. What if she can’t walk again?”

“Then we’ll figure out how to make wheelchairs look stunning,” Maxie bit out. “Okay? She’s Kate Howard, one of the most influential women in the damn country!”

“She’s Connie—”

“She’s Kate—oh, I can’t do this anymore! You’re insufferable, and as soon as Kate wakes up—”

“Until she does, you little twit, you’d better remember I’m the family here, not you. So you wanna stay in this room, you wanna be near Kate?” Olivia demanded. “You’d better knock it off with the attitude.”

“Excuse me?” Maxie drew in a sharp breath.

“You heard me. Kate might find you amusing, but you’re just a bossy little bitch with a mouth bigger than her brain. Keep talking to me like this and you’re out—”

“Ha! Just try it, you condescending nitwit! How do you think I got Matt to give me any information in the first place?” Maxie planted both hands on her hips. “I’m on the emergency contact list which means the only person Kate wanted here was me!” She huffed. “And probably Sonny if he can stop getting arrested long enough to get here.”

“Oh, no, no—that bastard isn’t getting anywhere near my cousin!”

“What are you talking about? He’s her fiancé! He should be here with us right now—” And as soon as he was bailed out, Maxie thought, he’d be able to take over fighting this horrible woman. No wonder Kate had run from Bensonhurst screaming.

“You wanna push it, blondie? You really think being the emergency contact is going to protect you? Wanna take that risk?”

Maxie opened her mouth, then closed it, suddenly unsure if it would protect her.

Olivia smirked. “That’s what I thought. Keep your mouth and thoughts to yourself, and let the adults handle this.”

Maxie pressed her lips together, fisted her hands at her sides, wanting to let all her fury fly. Not trusting herself, she whirled around and headed for the door.

In the hallway, stepping off the elevators, Maxie spied an ally. Finally. “Spinelli!”

“Maximista—oof—” Spinelli grunted when the blonde threw herself into his arms. Tentatively, he embraced her back. “Never fear, the Jackal is here.”  

General Hospital: Hallway

“I thought you’d gone home.”

Sitting on the floor, at the sound of Nikolas’s voice, Johnny lunged up. “I just wanted to see her—”

“She’s sleeping.” Nikolas hesitated. “At least, I think she is. It’s—” He cleared his throat. “It’s hard to know sometimes. I’m sorry.”

Johnny nodded. “Nadine told me about California. If you think that’s the best way to help her, to bring her back, then okay. It’s just—” He cleared his throat. “I could go, right? I could just be there. You could tell me where, and then when she starts to recover, I’ll go away, and she won’t even have to see me if that’s the problem—”

“I want Lulu to have fresh treatment with new doctors.” But now Nikolas seemed more kind, his tone gentler. “My mother? It started like this. Drifting away until we couldn’t bring her back. I didn’t want her to go to that wedding.”

“But—”

“I don’t know if this is permanent like my mother.” Nikolas looked away, his throat working hard as he absorbed his own words. “But if it is, she’ll have the best care possible. But for now, Johnny, maybe it’s for the best if you went home.”

Johnny shook his head. “No. No, I love her—”

“I believe you, Johnny. I really do. But this isn’t going to be fixed overnight. And maybe not weeks or months.” Nikolas put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “And Lu wouldn’t want you to sit around and wait for her to come home. If she begins to get better, if she asks for you—” he made a face, “—you have my word that I’ll send for you.”

“Do you—do you promise that?” Johnny said. “I know you hate me. That you blame me for this—”

“It’s easier to blame you.” Nikolas looked impossibly old as he looked towards the hospital room. “No, she shouldn’t have gone to the wedding. But she wanted to go. And I know how hard it is to say no to the woman you love.” He cleared his throat. “Go home, Johnny.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Nikolas watched his sister’s boyfriend leave, and turned when he heard his brother’s voice in the other direction. Lucky came around the corner, his expression thunderous.  “What happened?”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Lucky muttered. He leaned against the wall, took a deep breath. “I just got into it with Jason in the emergency room.”

Nikolas frowned. “About the wedding?”

“That. And, well, Elizabeth. Jason stood her up at the airport, and Elizabeth was on her way home, and got into a car accident.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Nikolas had grabbed Lucky’s arm. “What? Is she okay? Where—”

“All I know is she’s in surgery, Jason wasn’t really helpful on the details. He was too busy telling me what to do with my kids.”

Nikolas fell back, furrowing his brow. “I don’t understand—”

“I left them with Audrey, you know, because I thought this would be—” Lucky looked past him, towards the door of Lulu’s room. “I didn’t know how long it would be. But with Elizabeth in surgery, I thought I’d be stuck here all night. I called Sam to pick them up—”

“Sam? Lucky. You told me Elizabeth didn’t want the boys around her—”

“Yeah, well, I—” Lucky shook his head. “I guess I overplayed Jason’s guilt,” he admitted, irritated. “I did it in front of him, and Jason got pissed at me. I told him Elizabeth was going to have to deal with it in court, and I was angry because, well, this is the whole reason she asked me to raise Jake, right? Because of the danger. Kate gets shot and of course, I’m worried about the boys being around Jason. I was gonna put my foot down about it, and he just—”

Realization set in, and Nikolas nodded. “Called your bluff.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Shit.” Lucky slid down the wall to sit on the floor, his knees drawn up. “Told the whole emergency room Jake’s his kid, and threatened to file paternity papers on Monday, and get Diane to keep me from the boys if I put them near Sam.”

“Well, Jake, yeah, but Cam—”

Lucky looked up at Nikolas, regret swirling. “I never adopted him. There’s no custody order. I have zero legal claim to him other than what Elizabeth allowed. I never—I never needed to do anything. He just…he was mine. But he’s not. Because Jason’s making me choose.”

“He’s not—”

“There’s—” Lucky stared straight ahead, refusing to look up. “There’s more. There’s a reason Elizabeth doesn’t want the boys with Sam. A—” He winced. “A good reason. And Jason knows it, too. He’s got a witness that could really screw Sam’s life up. He threatened to make her part of it. To get a statement from her.”

“Ah.”

Lucky wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I told him I was done. You know. And I was. With the conversation. But—he said Elizabeth’s already changed her mind. That Jason’s the one that’s been holding back from claiming Jake. I guess—I mean Michael screwed him up pretty bad.”

Nikolas slowly slid down to sit next to his brother. “You can understand that. He raised Michael for a little while. You don’t turn off that kind of love.”

“No, you don’t.” Lucky looked at him. “I could fight, you know. I could get your aunt or another lawyer. I’m the one that’s taken care of Jake. I was there in the middle of the night, walking the room while he was teething. Agonized over fevers. And Cam—they’re mine, Nikolas. And I could fight for them.”

“You could,” Nikolas said slowly. “You’d probably win some visitation. Even with Jake. You know, Jason fought for Michael back then.”

Lucky frowned. “What?”

“You probably don’t remember because it was just around the time you, uh, left us,” Nikolas added. “But Jason fought to keep seeing Michael on the same basis you’d do it. I know he won, because Alexis was his lawyer. He just…ended up not keeping up with it. Or maybe he walked away. I don’t — we weren’t exactly close.”

Lucky’s head fell back against the wall, his eyes lifted upwards. “If I do that, I have to stay here. Otherwise, Jason’s just going to take over. You didn’t see him. The way he looked at me. He didn’t care who heard about Jake. We’re not alone on an island. It was a crowded room. Elizabeth is going to wake up, she’s going to hear that I was going to put Sam with the boys, and that’ll be it. I’ll have to stay here and fight for my kids.”

“Or,” Nikolas said, “you could agree to Elizabeth’s apparently very good concerns, and go to California, leaving Sam here. You’re the one that has to choose, Lucky.”

“Not really a choice, is it?” Lucky asked bitterly.

“Don’t do that. Don’t cop out on this. I’ll be out there with Lu and Mom. You can visit. You want your kids, Lucky, I’ll pay for a goddamn lawyer. We’ll find the best family attorney in the state. Say the word, and I’ll make it happen. You have a choice. You said it. Biology isn’t everything. Where was Jason for the last year and a half? He chose to let you claim his son. And Cam? He’s never known anyone other than you. Say the word,” Nikolas repeated, “and we’ll fight to the end.”

Lucky looked at him then, and Nikolas saw that his brother had already given up. “Lucky—”

“I had to push it,” he murmured. “I don’t know what made me do that in front of Jason. I knew how Elizabeth felt about Sam. I guess I thought I’d only be dealing with her. That she would back down.” There was a beat of silence as Lucky seemed to absorb his own words.

“Lucky—”

“I don’t know. I just—I’m tired. My little sister is gone, crawled inside herself and we can’t get her back. Mom—she woke up for a little while, and it was like magic. What if—what if we never get her back? Nikolas? What if this is genetic, and Lu is like Mom? What if that’s just it?”

“I’m not going to think about that—”

“I just—I don’t know how many battles I want to fight where I know I won’t win. Not in any way that matters. Because, yeah, maybe I get to stay in Jake and Cam’s life, but it’ll be Jason with them every day. Is that what I want? A front seat to the man who stole my family getting to keep them? Or do I take door number two and watch my sister waste away like my mother is?” Lucky closed his eyes. “Neither’s a great choice, Nikolas, so don’t judge me for not being in a hurry to make a decision.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Carly wrapped the ends of her cardigan around her more tightly, her dark eyes searching for a familiar face. No one was answering her calls. Not Sonny, Diane, Jason — and no one knew what had happened in the church. Was Kate really hurt? Had there really been gunfire?

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?”

Carly turned, frowned when she saw Jax striding through the entrance himself. “Jax. Oh. Good, good. You have to know something, don’t you? I can’t find someone who will tell me what happened. Jason’s not answering—”

“Don’t worry, Sonny’s just fine. He’s been arrested for assaulting Johnny Zacchara,” Jax bit out. “I can guess he hadn’t had enough violence for the day But you can go bail him out if you want. Maybe get in a quickie now that he’s available.”

Carly inhaled sharply, and Jax grimaced, looking away. “That is a terrible thing to say. I never wished any harm on Kate—is she—God—please don’t tell me—”

“She’s still alive. For now. Olivia said she was in surgery.” Jax rubbed his jaw. “That was a low blow, and I’m sorry. I just—” He swallowed hard. “I told her. I told Kate not to do this. She’s a friend, and I care about her. But she, just like every other damn woman in my life, just had to prove me wrong. You’d think I’d learn to stay far away from any woman connected to that son of a bitch.”

Carly closed her eyes. “What do you want me to do, Jax? What can I possibly do to fix this?”

“Don’t ask me that question. Not standing in the spot where a doctor told me you’d miscarried our child. Where the doctors told us Michael would never wake up again,” Jax said roughly. “When is it going to be enough, Carly? Do you have to lose Morgan to get it through your head?”

She pressed her lips together, folded her arms around herself, wishing that she could somehow chase the cold that had settled into her bones. “It’s enough. I told you months ago it was enough. I have full custody, don’t I? I made a mistake—”

“He’s a mistake you’ve made over and over again for a decade, Carly. I’m not interested in being another piece of roadkill. Excuse me. I need to find Olivia. You should go home,” he said, his tone softer now. “Be with Morgan. Call your mother. And for God’s sake, leave Sonny in jail where he damn well belongs.”

General Hospital: ICU

Jason closed the door behind him, stepping out into the hallway as Cody approached with another man following. “Hey.”

“Hey. This is Jimmy.” Cody touched the guard’s shoulder. “Francis sent him over to be on the door here so you don’t have to worry about anything. Diane called from the PCPD — Sonny’s not getting out of lockup tonight, but he’ll be arraigned tomorrow and probably make bail..”

Jason grimaced, folded his arms. “Okay. Kate? How is she? Do we know anything?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cody said with a short nod. “Spinelli’s with Maxie and the cousin, Olivia. They’re getting regular updates. Kate’s still in surgery, and they expect it to last at least three or four more hours. Spinal surgery,” he added. “Patrick Drake got called to scrub in and assist about an hour ago. The bullet is in a really rough spot. They’re worried about paralysis.”

Jason exhaled. “Okay. Tell Spinelli to stay with Maxie, but if he could—” He cleared his throat. “If he could look into Elizabeth’s accident.”

Cody’s eyes sharpened. “Do you think it’s related?”

“No,” Jason said, but only after some hesitation. “No,” he repeated a bit more firmly. “No, there’s no reason to think that. But I just—I want to know more about the accident. Spinelli can get the traffic cameras, can’t he? And you’ll talk to our guy in the PCPD?”

“Sure. Sure.” Cody glanced past Jason where Elizabeth lay in the bed, her eyes closed, her face pale. A bruise bloomed on the side of her face, a dark purple splotch from her jaw crawling up to her cheek. “How is she?”

Jason half-turned to look at her—”Stable. Her liver was…it was causing internal bleeding, but they’ve stopped it. Some bruised ribs. Mostly from the airbag. It was—” He cleared his throat. “There’s a concussion.”

“I’m sorry,” Cody said. “There’s nothing about the shooting yet. Cops are still all over the scene, and they’re keeping all the records close so our guy doesn’t know much yet. All we know is what we thought at the beginning. Shooter was in the vestibule upstairs. He must have come in with the guests, hid the gun in his jacket.”

“Yeah. I wanna know where the Zaccharas were,” Jason said. “Not Johnny. I think he’s clean.” He paused. “He wouldn’t have brought Lulu to the wedding if anything was planned. I know that much. But I don’t trust Anthony or Claudia.”

“I’ll look into it. We doubled up the guards at Audrey Hardy’s house. A car out front and at each of the cross streets. We didn’t think you’d want us to knock on the door.”

“No. I talked to her earlier when Elizabeth was out of surgery.” And that had been a fun conversation, Jason thought, since Audrey was confused as to why it was Jason and not Lucky or Patrick calling. She’d seemed suspicious and a little confused, so Jason hadn’t thought it was the time to request a guard be put at her door. She said she’d be at the hospital as soon as she handed the boys off to Lucky. “That should be enough for now. Thanks.”

“Yeah. Call me if you need anything.”

Jason watched Cody disappear down the hall, then went back inside the room. He sat down next to Elizabeth, took her hand in his, and promised himself—and her—that he wouldn’t leave until she woke up and he could see for himself that she would be all right.

Crimson Pointe: Foyer

Johnny threw open the door, stalked through the foyer and headed straight for study at the back of the house, but he was waylaid in the living room by Claudia.

“Whoa, you look like you’ve been through a hurricane—” Claudia held up her hands, swept her eyes down his disheveled form. “I thought the stick was the only casualty—and don’t give me that look, I watch the news, John. I wasn’t up in Port Charles with a rifle or whatever the hell was used.”

“Yeah, maybe not, but where’s Dad?” Johnny demanded. “I’ve been calling him for over an hour, and nothing—”

“Uh, that’s a funny question,” Claudia began, a bit hesitant, but she stopped and they both turned when they heard the familiar squeaking of wheels.

A moment later, Anthony rolled into the living room, and came to a stop. “I hear things got a little hairy up at the wedding.” He leaned back, clasped his hands in his lap. “It’s a shame what you miss taking a nap.”

“A nap?” Claudia asked. “Is that where you were? I looked everywhere—”

“You came into my rooms?” Anthony demanded. “What have I told you about barging in—”

“It was the middle of the damn day, Daddy, no, of course I didn’t go look in your bedroom—” she closed her mouth. “So you didn’t go to Port Charles?”

“What, you think I rolled myself into the church and no one noticed?” Anthony snorted derisively. “You got your mother’s brains, that’s for damn sure.”

Claudia scowled. “That’s not—”

“She didn’t ask if you shot Kate,” Johnny cut in and Claudia looked at him. “Did you leave the house? Maybe go meet with someone who could get into the wedding?”

“Now why would I do that? We got ourselves a peace agreement, don’t we? Corinthos invited my boy to his wedding in good faith.” He lifted his bushy brows at his son. “You go mute, boy, or you gonna tell us what happened?”

Johnny’s gaze was dark as he spoke. “Kate was shot as she walked down the aisle. The room exploded into chaos. She’s still in surgery. And Lulu? She’s catatonic. They’re taking her to a clinic in California. So that’s what happened. You happy?”

“It’s a shame about poor Looloo,” Anthony said with a wistful sigh. “Fragile girls, you know. They really don’t last long. We should send flowers,” he said to his daughter. “You take care of it. I’m famished.”

And then he rolled away, Johnny and Claudia staring after him.

“Maybe he really didn’t do this.”

Johnny swallowed hard. “Do you actually believe that, Claudie, or do you just want to?”

“I want to believe that our father wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger or in Sonny’s cross hairs when it took the better part of a year to get you off that list.” Claudia exhaled. “But then again, he also killed your mother and sent mine to an insane asylum, so you know, there’s that.”

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s ICU Room

Everything felt heavy, and opening her eyes felt like fighting through layers of gray and black swirling—

The room around her slowly came into focus — first the sights with the white ceiling directly overhead, the feel of the scratchy cotton sheets beneath her fingers, then the beeping sounds — the familiar clicks and beeps and taps of her workplace—

How had she made it to the hospital? Wasn’t she going home? No. She should be in Italy, shouldn’t she?

Her lips parted, and Elizabeth’s head lolled to the side. A blurry figure sat at her side, and she blinked a few times until they came into focus.

“Jason?”

The word was barely audible, pushed past her sore throat and cracked lips but his head still popped up, and his eyes locked on hers before his mouth curved into a smile of relief. “Hey.”

He reached for her hand, brought it to his lips. “Hey,” he repeated. “You’re awake.”

“I’m in the hospital…” Awareness was flooding in—and then came the pain. She winced. Everything was on fire and ached. “Oh, and everything is awful.”

With his other hand, Jason pressed the call button. “They didn’t want to give you a lot of pain meds until you woke from the anesthesia.”

“What—” She licked her lips. “What happened?”

“Car accident. On the way back from the airport.” Jason gently stroked her hair and she sighed, closing her eyes. “But you’re okay. Concussion. Some bleeding. It could have been so much worse—” He stopped, and she heard him inhale sharply. Elizabeth opened her eyes, frowning. “I’m sorry. I should have been there.”

“In the car?” she asked, mystified.

“Or you should have been with me.” He kissed the inside of her palm. “But it’s okay now. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

Her eyes felt heavy, stinging. “Someone could see,” she said, hating herself even as she pointed out the obvious. Unless he’d closed down the floor—

“Let them. I’m staying right here. I love you.”

Her lips curved into the barest of smiles even as she started to slide back into sleep, the conversation already nothing more than a fading memory. “Love you…”

Warehouse: Cargo Dock

As night descended, and a shell-shocked Port Charles prepared for sleep, a man picked his way through abandoned pallets and boxes until he reached his destination — the cargo dock opening out on the lake. Behind him, Lake Ontario was pitch black, the horizon merging water and sky into one.

Another man waited — shorter, stockier, and older. His gray hair was thinning, and his face resembling a bulldog. He turned at the sound of the footsteps. “You take too long,” he said, the words halting, the Russian accent thick. “I am not a man you should make to wait.”

“Ah, well, I think a little patience never hurt anyone,” came the response in a cool British accent. Not his native accent, but a useful one he’d adopted over the years. “Particularly when one has such valuable intel to share.” The man lifted the blond brows that matched his thick head of hair. “I’ve spoken to my brother if you’d care to know the results of your handiwork today.”

“Mine? No. No. This not me. I wait for you as you say.” The other man narrowed his eyes. “This is you, yes?”

“I do admire the elegance of a single shot, the red against a white back drop, but alas, I lacked the connections to get inside without tipping my hand. And it is very important that my dear brother thinks I have turned over a new leaf.” He pursed his lips. “Well, this is quite interesting. We have a new player on the field.”

“We take advantage. Hit them where it is hard. I have connections in hospital. I make sure woman does not wake up. We gather Corinthos and Morgan. Bullets in their skull.”

“That would, ah, be one way to get what you wanted. But how does that you get the contacts in the organization? I thought you wanted me to convince Jason Morgan or Sonny Corinthos to work with you. Had I known you intended to eliminate them—”

“Patience runs thin. They have many chances. It is time for results.” But the man made a face. “So I should not kill this woman?”

“I think our darling Kate Howard has served her purpose for the moment. I’m much more intrigued by another patient brought in this evening. Give me a day or two, my dear Karpov, and I will tell you the best way to capitalize on the gift we’ve been given.”

“I give you two days, and then I move.” Andrei Karpov lifted his chin. “It is time they know who is in charge.” He strode past his partner, his footsteps soon fading into silence.

“I really need to vet my clients more thoroughly,” the man murmured. He retrieved his phone from the inside of his suit jacket, pressed a speed dial. “Hello, brother. I’ve just heard the terrible news. How can I help?”

I’m sorry that I hurt you
It’s something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That’s why I need you to hear
– The Reason, Hoobastank

---

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Spencer House: Kitchen

Sam stumbled into the kitchen, the door swinging closed behind her. She rubbed her face when she saw Lucky standing near the coffee pot, a mug in his hands. “Hey,” she asked warily. “When did you get in?”

“About an hour ago. I took a shower and made coffee.” Lucky took down another cup, handed it to her. “Sorry. I should have called.”

“Well, after Jason hung up on me, I figured your night wasn’t going the way you planned.” She poured the coffee, set the carafe back on the hot plate. “I thought about going to the hospital, but I wasn’t sure if that’d be a good idea or not.”

“I didn’t want to get into it on the phone.” Lucky leaned against the counter, studied her as she fixed her cup, pouring just a bit of cream into it, then swirling it with a spoon. “I thought I’d be able to talk her out of it.”

Sam’s brows drew together and she tilted her head. “Talk her out of what?”

“California. The ultimatum. It’s why I didn’t want to go through the courts. I thought I’d talk her into it. I mean, look at yesterday. She didn’t even want you to say hello to Cameron, and within five minutes, I had her let you put them in the car and watch them.”

“Okay. So—then what happened with Jason? Why did he even have your phone?”

“I figured I was the one with the power,” Lucky told her. “That I was the one agreeing to keep the secret, to raise Jake as my own. I was willing to do that, to stay in the picture. Pay child support,” he added. “So when I told her about California, I knew she’d be pissed, but that’s why I did it then. When she couldn’t do anything about it because it was either leave the boys with me or her grandmother—and she’d never do that to Audrey.”

“Lucky, you’re freaking me out. You didn’t answer the question—”

“I was wrong,” Lucky interrupted. “Turns out I was just along for the ride. Jason told the entire emergency room Jake was his son.”

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it. She shook her head. “I don’t understand—”

“I pushed it. I started to call you in front of him, and I guess Jason knew how Elizabeth feels about you being with the boys. That’s why he grabbed the phone. And I actually told him that no one was going to stop me.” Lucky laughed, the sound derisive and jarring. “I figured he’d been backing down over Jake for two years. But he, uh, didn’t back down. Not this time.”

Sam bit her lip. “Lucky—”

“I have a choice, Sam. The same choice Elizabeth gave me, but I think Jason means it. If I let you near the kids, he’s going to get Amelia involved.”

Her eyes went still, her fingers tightening around the cup. “What?”

“I knew Elizabeth wouldn’t do it. I knew I could talk her out of it. But I don’t know if I’d have that luck with Jason.”

“I—” Sam swallowed. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be. This isn’t about you. Not really. Because if it’s not our relationship, it would be something else. Elizabeth was always going to hold this over my head at some point, and you know, I didn’t do myself any favors. I never adopted Cameron, we didn’t go through court to settle custody. Everything has been out of court.” He dumped the rest of the coffee in the sink.

“So—that just proves you’re trying to be a good guy. I’ll step aside, okay? I will,” Sam told him. “You’ll get custody, you’ll make it official and we’ll just—we’ll see what happens—”

“I’m still going to lose Jake,” Lucky said, and Sam stopped, pressing her lips together. “Nikolas said he’d get me a lawyer, and we’d fight. Maybe I’d get visitation, but I wouldn’t be his father. Jason’s not taking it back. Not this time.”

Lucky dragged a hand down his face. “I was up all night thinking about it. I made a list, pros and cons.” He dug a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, tossed it at her. Sam caught it.

“There’s—” She lifted her gaze to his. “There’s only one pro.”

“I’m the only father Cameron knows,” Lucky said. His lips curved into a smile. “That’s it. That’s all I got to recommend me, Sam. When you stack it up on the other side of that list—”

“Lucky—”

“I’m a recovering drug addict who didn’t bother to get clean until I thought I had a biological child on the way. I kept drugs in the home where Cameron lived. I left them in my pockets. I had two affairs—”

“Elizabeth did—”

“I pushed her. While she was pregnant. I didn’t know that yet, but I put my hands on her.”

Sam looked back at the list. “You wrote that. Emotionally and physically abusive. Shot at her while high on drugs.” She exhaled slowly, folded the paper, and set it aside. “I’m not on the list.”

“No, you’re not. But it’d just another nail in the coffin. I’m planning to move across country with a woman who stood by while my son was kidnapped, knew who had him, and said nothing.”

Her eyes shimmered with tears. “Lucky—”

“I forgave you for that. Didn’t you ever wonder why?” Lucky scooped his keys up from the counter. “Because neither of us are perfect and we’ve done terrible things to people we love. No one understands that better than I do.”

“Are—are you going back to work?” Sam asked, following Lucky from the kitchen into the living room.

Lucky picked up a blue and red duffel bag, then looped the strap of a matching one over his shoulder. “No, I’m taking the boys’ things to Audrey’s, and I’m booking a ticket to California. Today.”

“Lucky—”

“I could fight,” Lucky said, looking back at her. “And maybe I’d win a few battles. But you weren’t there last night, Sam. You didn’t see Jason. I’ll lose the war and be nothing more than a part-time father who sees them a few times a year, if that. No. Better to get out now.”

General Hospital: Chief of Staff’s Office

Patrick scrubbed his eyes, then flipped to another report, skimming for the information he needed to add to his own notes. He ignored his office phone the first time it rang, and the second.

Then his cell phone began to chirp, and Patrick recognized the tone as Robin’s. He snatched it up. “Hey. Are you okay? The baby—”

“I’m not in labor, so chill. What I am is worried. I woke up this morning and your side of the bed wasn’t touched. Did you come in last night at all?”

“No. No.” He rubbed his eyes. “I caught a few hours in the on-call room, but I wanted to be here in case Kate needed to go back into surgery or if there was a complication—”

“There are other neurosurgeons, Patrick, other people who could handle those cases. You need to sleep. You need to rest—”

He rose from his desk, crossed over to the window in his office that opened up to the interior of the hospital. From here, he could see the lobby, just beginning to bustle with activity as the hour drew closer to nine. Visitors, security, doctors, nurses, orderlies—the hospital’s day was just starting.

“I’m not handing Elizabeth’s case to someone else. There’s no one on the medical staff I trust enough with her. Maybe Monica,” Patrick added, “but she’s still on leave of absence.”

Robin was quiet for a long moment. “When I called last night, worried, you told me Elizabeth was fine. Was that a lie to get me to sleep?”

“No. No. She was. She is,” he added quickly when he heard her intake of breath. “It’s just—”

“You feel responsible for every single person in that building.” She muttered something he didn’t understand. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I need the selfish, narcissistic man I fell in love with to come back long enough for you to get eight hours of sleep.”

He grinned at that. “Too late for that, baby. I’m the man you made me.”

“You think you’re cute—”

“I know I am.” He paused. “But I hear you. I’ll come home for a nap.”

“Eight hours.”

“Six.”

“Eight.”

“This isn’t how negotiations work—”

“I’m not negotiating with your health, Patrick. Come home. The baby’s kicking, and she misses her daddy.”

“Oh. Oh, that’s mean.” Patrick rubbed his brow. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”

“The same pain in the ass you fell in love with,” she sang. “I’ll see you in a half hour. Any more than that, I’m sending my uncle Mac to arrest you.”

“I actually believe you might. Okay, I’ll be home in a little while. I love you, pain in the ass.”

“I love you, too, selfish bastard.”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

Patrick and Lucky weren’t the only men in Port Charles running on little to no sleep. Not far away from the hospital, Mac Scorpio had watched the sun rise over the city and had grown increasingly frustrated as every new piece of news that came in about Kate Howard’s shooting revealed nothing but more questions.

“Ballistics isn’t final yet, but they did say that the ammunition was a bit interesting. The hospital sent over the bullet they dug out Kate Howard—” Harper dropped the report on his desk. “It’s a round of 7.62×39mm—they used to be known as .30 Soviets, but most people would know it as a 7.62 Soviet.”

“Russian?” Mac lifted his brow. “So we’re looking at Andrei Karpov?”

“Maybe, but it’s available worldwide and can be used in most light machine guns. It’s a little overkill for a single gunshot in a New York church.” Harper took a seat. “They don’t know if they’ll be able to match the gun if they find it. Bullet was pretty damaged.”

Mac grunted. “Okay, but Russian gives us something.”

“We sent another uniform to ask for the lawyer—Sasha—but all they’d tell us is she’s in Rochester and not available. And they wouldn’t confirm if Andrei Karpov was still in the country.”

“Wouldn’t matter. He didn’t pull the trigger. Sonny’s still in lock-up, isn’t he?” Mac sifted through other paper on his desk. “Has Diane been in to complain?”

“Actually…no. And she didn’t request a bail hearing until this morning. Sonny got arrested pretty early in the evening. She could have had one on the docket first thing. But the court didn’t get the request until an hour ago.”

Mac smirked, leaned back in his chair. “Jason wanted him left in jail overnight? That’s interesting.”

“More interesting to me is where Morgan spent the night. In the ICU room of Elizabeth Spencer—sorry, Webber. I heard she dropped her married name. Maybe Jason didn’t want to be distracted from that.” Harper squinted. “I read some gossip about them last year, but—”

“You haven’t been around Port Charles more than a few years. It wasn’t that long ago that Elizabeth was constantly mixed up with that crowd, going back to when she was eighteen and had a bomb put in her studio. Rumors have swirled about Jason and Elizabeth for almost a decade now. And I don’t know if you’ve seen her youngest son—the one Lansing asked about on the stand last year, but—”

“Oh, yeah? Well, hell. I guess it’s good Lucky got out when he did. That’s a bitch thing to do to a guy. Especially a cop. What kind of woman gets mixed up with gangsters when she’s married to a cop?”

Mac thought briefly of Felicia and her own flirtation with the other side of the law when they’d been married. “Be that as it may, it’s something we’ll have to factor into the investigation—the dynamics between Sonny and Jason,” he clarified. “Jason leaving Sonny to rot overnight in jail? Maybe there’s something there. Sonny’s going to look for blood with all of this. When he does get released, let’s see if we can get a uniform on him. I want to know where he goes and who he talks to.”

Hardy House: Living Room

Audrey Hardy had never been more relieved to see her granddaughter’s ex-husband on her front step. “Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been hoping to get over to the hospital since—” She stopped, registered the bag in his hand, and the matching one on his shoulder, both decorated with Cameron’s favorite superhero, Spiderman. She raised her eyes back to Lucky. “What’s going on? You were supposed to pick up the boys so that I could be with Elizabeth. I left several messages—”

“There’s been a change of plans.” Lucky stepped over the threshold. “They up?”

“No. Not yet. Lucky, those are the bags Elizabeth packed for your house. What—”

Lucky set them by the base of the stairs. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, Audrey. But I had some things come up. I told you about my sister—”

“Yes. How’s Lulu? Has she recovered—”

“No. And there’s a chance—” Lucky looked away, swallowed hard. “There’s a chance that maybe she won’t. They think she’s slipped away like my mother.”

“I’m so sorry, Lucky. I am. But I don’t see how that explains why you’re bringing Jake and Cameron’s things to my house. I know Elizabeth isn’t going away anymore, not with the accident—and speaking of that, why did Jason Morgan call me last night to tell me about the accident? I didn’t find out until my granddaughter was out of surgery—”

“Because Elizabeth is Jason’s problem now. I have to look after my family.”

“Lucky—”

“Nikolas and I wanted to get Lulu into a facility with the best doctors. Elizabeth should have told you. I was already planning to go to California to be close to her during her treatment—”

“This—” Audrey put up her hands. “I’m sorry. My head is spinning, and I feel as though we’re having several conversations at once.” She took a deep breath. “Yesterday, after the wedding and what happened to your sister, you asked me to look after the boys for a few hours while you sorted things out. I did so—gladly. And then hours later, when I’ve heard nothing from you, I learn that Elizabeth has been seriously injured in a car accident, and I can do nothing but hope for updates. Which came from Jason Morgan, not you. And now you’re talking about California as if you’re leaving—” She stared at the bags Lucky had left on her floor, then raised her flinty gaze at the man she’d known since he was an unruly child. “Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr. Don’t you dare tell me that you’re leaving today. That you’re abandoning my grandchildren—your sons—at my home while their mother is in the hospital!”

Lucky hesitated, and Audrey thought she’d broken through. But then his expression hardened. “I know this seems sudden—”

“It doesn’t seem that way, it is that way! How dare you! What kind of father does this? What kind of man? My heart weeps for your sister, but Lesley Lu has another brother. Her own father, though he’s not worth much, I’ll grant you. Your aunt. She has family who can look after her. Those boys don’t have that kind of network of support. Are you even going to wait for Elizabeth to wake up? Or say goodbye to the boys—”

He turned away. “I have to do this for my sister. I was never there for my mother—”

“Don’t you walk out that door, Lucky. Don’t—” Audrey hurried to stop him, but Lucky was quicker, and she reached the front door just as he closed it in her face. She stared at it for a long time, her fist against her heart. Then turned to look at the stairs.

Cameron sat on the top step, his fist curled around the banister. “My daddy going away?”

“Oh, my sweet darling.” She cleared her throat. “Is your brother awake?”

“Still sleeping.” Cameron crept down the stairs, gingerly, his little hand clutching each railing as he descended. “Daddy bring my Spiderman bag. Mommy packed it so she can go to Tally.” He furrowed his brow. “Mommy say we stay with Daddy so she can see the lights. But Daddy leaves.”

Audrey sat on the third step, cuddled him to her side, pressing her lips against soft curls. “Yes, your father has gone for a while. But you won’t have to worry. I’ll be right here to hug you and look after you and your brother.” Cameron laid his head against her thigh, and Audrey exhaled shakily.

What on Earth was she to do now?

Jacks House: Hallway

Carly stopped in the doorway of Morgan’s bedroom, frowning when her son was nowhere to be found. She crossed the threshold, looked under the bed, then in the closet. Where could he hiding? Her chest tightened. Please just let him be hiding. Please.

“Morgan? Are we playing a game, and I didn’t know? It’s not fair to start hide and seek without giving Mommy a chance to count—”

She heard something move across the hall, in another room, and she returned to the hallway and saw now that Michael’s door was ajar. She went to it and slowly pushed it open. Inside, she found Morgan crouching in front of Michael’s toy box. He looked over, his dark eyes wide.

“I didn’t hurt it. I didn’t break it.”

“What do you mean? Why are you in here?” Carly walked forward and Morgan crawled out from behind the toy box and set down the toy he’d been playing with.

She knelt down, picked it up, her eyes filling. “Optimus Prime,” she murmured, running her fingers over the plastic toy of silver, blue, and red. “Michael asked for this toy for weeks before last Christmas.” He’d been so happy to find it under the tree, his smile so bright it could have powered the sun.

And he’d played with it every day during the winter holidays, eventually losing interest the way he usually did after obsessing over something. He’d have come back to it during spring break or the summer, Carly thought. He always did.

Except he never would again, would he?

“I just wanted to make it a truck.” Morgan’s lip quivered. “But I couldn’t figure it out. A-and Michael showed me but I don’t remember.”

Carly looked around the room, at the way it looked, so neat and orderly. Michael had cleaned it up before going to his father’s that day, and the maid came in every few days to dust and keep it perfect. As if the ten-year-old boy who lived in this room would come home someday.

“Can Michael show me when he wakes up?” Morgan asked. “Or will he be mad I came in his room. He always gets mad when I come here.”

“He won’t be mad, sweet heart. And we’ll—we’ll figure out how to make it into a truck. I think your brother would be happy that you’re playing with his toy. Come on. Let’s take it in your room and we’ll see if we can’t figure this out.” She held out her hand, and led Morgan out of the room.

Then closed the door.

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s ICU Room

Jason set the phone back on the receiver, then looked at Elizabeth’s pale, still face. She’d only woken for a few minutes late last night, then had fallen back asleep. The bruise on her cheek looked even worse this morning than it had the night before. A head injury. Concussion, internal bleeding. How close had he been to losing her?

And now when she woke up, he’d have to tell her what he’d done, what he’d said to Lucky. He really wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

He jerked when he felt the hand on his shoulder, looking around wildly—then relaxing when he realized it was just Robin. “Sorry. Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” She rubbed his shoulder for another moment, then watched Elizabeth sleep. “She looks like hell. No wonder Patrick didn’t leave last night.”

“What?” Jason blinked. He sat up, then stood, offering the heavily pregnant woman the chair. He held her elbow as she sat down. “Why didn’t Patrick leave?”

“He said he was worried about her. The head injury.” Robin winced, then readjusted herself, rubbing her belly. “He’s home now. As soon as he nodded off, I decided to come down.” She smiled slightly. “I thought he’d feel better if I told him Elizabeth had someone watching over her, but I guess I didn’t have to worry with you on the case.”

Jason leaned against the radiator under the window, watching Elizabeth sleep. “I was in the emergency room when they brought her in. I don’t—” He took a deep breath. “I thought the day couldn’t get any worse, and then somehow it did. Because none if it matters without her.”

“I’d say I missed something, but I have to admit, Jase, I’ve had some questions since last summer. Since she testified. Jake looks just like you. You forget,” Robin added when Jason sighed, “I’ve been around for a long time. I’ve seen your pictures from childhood. That boy is your twin.”

“Elizabeth said the same thing. Emily had mentioned it to her, about the pictures. I don’t—I don’t know what to say to you. To anyone.”

“You don’t have to say anything to me, Jason. I wish I understood why the world thinks Jake is Lucky’s son when I know how much you loved being a father. And what an amazing one you are. Maybe I don’t get to comment on that since…well, I’m sort of the reason—”

“You’re not. You’re not,” Jason repeated when Robin made a face. “I was—I was so furious with you. I couldn’t see straight.” He focused back on Elizabeth. “But that went away eventually. And I know now you made the right choice.”

“No, I made the spiteful, vindictive choice to burn the world down as I walked away. The right choice would have been telling you from the start that I wasn’t going to play along. That I wouldn’t help raise a child that had been conceived while you and I were together. That I wasn’t going to be part of keeping Carly in my life in any way.” Robin’s smile was thin. “But we were young, Jason. And we both made mistakes. I just…I just hope you’re not making one now, staying out of Jake’s life.”

“I’m not—” Jason paused. “I don’t know what happens when Elizabeth wakes up, but I think I’ve pretty much sabotaged the whole secret thing.”

“Hanging out in her ICU room will do that, yeah, but—well, there’s still Lucky. Does he know?”

“It’s a long story, Robin, but yeah.”

“I know it’s none of my business, but we both know that rarely stops me.” She smiled, and he couldn’t help the curve of his own lips.

“No, you never could keep your opinion to yourself. Even when it would have made your life easier.”

“You’re not kidding.” Robin’s expression sobered. “I’ve always cared about you, and Elizabeth has become one of my favorite people. And she matters to Patrick. He loves her. It’s the first woman he’s ever been friends with,” she added. She looked around. “I’m surprised Audrey isn’t here. Did I miss her?”

“She’s with the boys. Lucky, um, dropped them off last night when he heard about Lulu.”

“Oh. He didn’t pick them back up? I mean, Lulu’s stable, and I’d think Audrey would want to be here—” When Jason grimaced, looked away, Robin pressed, “Jason? I know that face. What’s wrong?”

“I…” He winced. “Stopped Lucky from sending Sam to pick up the boys, and announced Jake was my son to the entire emergency room.”

Robin opened her mouth, but Jason continued. “Elizabeth didn’t want Sam around the boys, so I told Lucky I’d get Diane to file to stop him. He could choose Sam or the boys.”

“You—” Robin closed her mouth, took a moment, and then with a quick shake of her head, said, “You made him choose?”

“Audrey just called. Lucky, uh, apparently decided. He’s leaving for California this morning. He dropped the boys’ luggage at the house and left.”

Robin’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

Metro Court: Restaurant

He fussed with the napkin at the table, waiting for the call to connect. He grimaced when the voicemail picked up.

“Hello, my friend. I have some thoughts on how we should proceed—” he paused, spying his breakfast partner stepping off the elevator. “I can’t speak now, but we should make use of those connections we spoke off. Get in touch.”

“Business?” his brother asked, sitting across from him, whipping the napkin off the table and into his lap in one graceful swoop. “You’re not going to do anything that gets me arrested again, are you?”

“Why, brother—” Jerry Jacks smiled, tipping his head. “You speak as though I drag you into my messes frequently.”

“Once,” Jax said, “was enough. Are you ready to order?”