Written in 65 minutes.

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General Hospital: Hallway

“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming back today.”

Elizabeth finished the notation on the patient’s chart, then slid it into the slot on the door before answering Patrick. “Dr. Ford didn’t really leave me much choice.”

She headed back to the nurse’s station and Patrick fell into step beside her. “He didn’t consider Emily to be a member of my immediate family.”

“He’s an ass,” Patrick muttered, leaning against the counter.

“Yeah, well—” Elizabeth sighed, reached for a new chart. “I couldn’t go through the parking garage. One of Jason’s guards had to drop me off like a kid at school.” She exhaled slowly. “I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to come back today. To work—” She shook her head. “After we came to identify—anyway. It’s probably a good thing,” she admitted, flicking the end of her pen to fix the ink supply. “Jason and I were just walking around looking like ghosts. We both needed a distraction.”

“How’s Cam taking it?”

Elizabeth bit her lip, stared hard at the insurance form. “We told him the day of the services, and he cried. But then he asked her the next day. And again yesterday — and this morning—it’s like he knows there’s something important about her but he can’t wrap his head around the answer.” She paused. “I can’t blame him. I’m an adult, and I can’t handle it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s hard to explain it over and over to him, and know it won’t be the last time. But there’s also the other side — he’s asking because he loves and misses her. He remembers her right now. There’s going to be day when she’s nothing more than a face in the photographs. And Jake won’t know her at all.” She closed her eyes. “It kills me. She loved them so much — she was Cam’s aunt before Jason and I were even talking again, and now she never gets—”

She sighed. “But that’s enough about me. I’m glad I ran into you. Did Robin tell you we talked at the church?”

“Ah, yeah.” Patrick rubbed the back of his neck. “So you, uh, know.”

“I do.” She folded her arms leaned over the counter towards him. “And how are we feeling? And remember — judgment-free zone.”

He gestured over to the waiting area. “Can we—” She followed him over and sat next to him on the sofa. “Truthfully, I don’t know how anyone lets a pregnant woman out of their sight. You think I could get my office moved downstairs in the cubicle next to her?”

“Patrick.”

“You think I’m kidding,” he muttered. “Okay, so I think it wouldn’t surprise you to know that I was already…” He frowned. “Revising my stance on the idea of having kids. Or at least open to it.”

“No, this does not surprise me.  You were collecting information.”

He eyed her, as if waiting for the joke, but when she said nothing further, he nodded. “Yes. And Robin told me that the only reason she didn’t go out with Emily that night is because she stayed back to run the test.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “It’s a hell of a thing. She’s only alive because she’s pregnant. Which doesn’t help the nightmares because now I’m thinking what if she’d gone anyway, and then that’s how I find out? That’s how I find out I could have been a father, but now I can’t because I—”

“Hey.” Elizabeth put a hand on his forearm. “But that’s not how you found out. Robin stayed behind. She’s here.”

“I don’t know if that messed with how I would have handled the news,” Patrick continued. “Maybe I would have been upset or mad or disappointed, I don’t know. But instead I just—I was so damned grateful that I forgot to be scared for a minute. But then it kicked in, and now I’m just—what if I’m bad at it?”

“Are you really worried you’ll be a bad father?” Elizabeth asked gently. “Robin told me you already had a plan to practice—”

“Yeah, but—” Patrick took a deep breath. “What if I don’t love them the way I’m supposed to? What if the baby starts to kick, and I don’t feel the connection? Or I hold the baby for the first time, and I don’t feel anything?”

“What if the sky turns orange? Patrick. All you can do is your best. That’s it. You love Robin, and she loves you. You start there, and you see where it takes you.” Elizabeth tipped her head. “Are you really worried you won’t love your child?”

“I—I don’t know. I just—people talk about it. And they talk about how much they love their kid — and I don’t know. I’ve never felt love at first sight. I don’t even believe in it—”

“I don’t know. I never—I mean, I carried my boys. It’s hard to say. I—you could talk to Mac about this. Or Jason—”

“I couldn’t. I don’t want Robin to worry.” Patrick looked at Elizabeth. “She wants this so much, and I love her, and she’s still breathing, so I’m going to do everything the way I’m supposed to, and I’ll just—I guess, I’ll have to trust it’ll work out.”

“I believe in you, but you can always come to me with your doubts.” She kissed his cheek. “Now I better get back to work.”

Spencer House: Porch

Lucky was already grimacing as he swung the door open. “What do you want?” he demanded.  He put up a hand. “And don’t even bother. You’re not coming in.”

Sam scowled and folded her arms. “I just wanted to offer my condolences. I know how close you and Emily were—”

“Uh huh. Try another one,” Lucky offered. He leaned against the door jamb. “It’s been six days since she died. You took your time.”

“Well, I didn’t really know how to say anything. You were mad at me the last time we talked—”

“The last time we talked you called me a son of a bitch and trashed my desk. So let’s try this again. Why are you here?”

Sam pressed her lips together, then nodded. “All right, I was coming to ask if you pulled those tapes?” At his mystified look, she continued, “From Kelly’s. On Halloween—”

“You mean, the bullshit report you tried to make so I’d arrest Jason in front of the kids. No, I didn’t. You didn’t make a statement. You’re really here to ask me about your case?” Lucky snorted. “You’re a goddamn lunatic, do you know that? Get a life and stay away from me.” He slammed the door in her face.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Hey, man.” Sonny hugged Jason lightly then stepped back. “How are you holding up?”

“Uh, okay, I guess.” Jason leaned down to grab the remote that had somehow ended up in Jake’s hand as he giggled, his bouncy seat squeaking as the six-month-old moved up and down. “The kids are distracting.”

“Yeah, I can see that—” Sonny grinned as Jason abandoned Jake and grabbed Cameron just as he was about to catapault off the bottom step.

“What did we talk about?” he asked Cam. The toddler blinked at him with some surprise.

“No jump from high places. Mommy says I human boy,” Cameron told Sonny. “Not Spiderman. So not high.” He gestured to the bottom step. “See? I bigger.”

“Kid should be a lawyer,” Sonny said. “Loopholes.”

“Last thing I need is to teach him to argue better,” Jason said. “He’s too good at it already.” He looked Cameron again who just grinned. “Okay, so you’re right. How about no jumping from the stairs at all?”

Cameron sighed. “Never ever?”

“No.”

“But what if it’s fun?”

“No.”

Cameron looked at Sonny again, almost beleaguered. “Daddy follows rules. Very annoying.” Turning his attention back to Jason, he nodded. “Okay. No steps.”

“Okay.” Jason set him back on his feet, and Cameron headed over to bedevil his brother in the bouncy seat.

“Daddy?” Sonny said. “That’s new.”

“Yeah, he’s getting—” Jason couldn’t stop looking at the boys, fighting the urge to smile as Cameron dangled a stuffed animal just close enough for Jake to touch only to drag it away at the last minute. “He’s getting more comfortable with it.”

“That’s good.”

“Uh, Elizabeth and I were talking.” Jason leaned against the desk. “About getting back into a normal routine. I’m ready to come back to the warehouse and, you know, uh, work.”

Sonny nodded. “Okay. Well, you know, a lot of the warehouse stuff — that can be done from home if you want to keep doing that. Bernie can get you all set up.” He folded his arms. “And I’ll get you back on the shipments. But it’s still pretty quiet. Let’s enjoy it while we can.”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

“All right, so I’ve completed interviews with Leyla Mir’s family—” Robert sat across from his brother’s desk. “And I’ve looked over her phone records. At this point, I don’t see any evidence that she was getting any kind of attention like Georgie was. No hangups, no flowers. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“You think Spencer was right? That it was collecting information?”

“Maybe. Could be the guy was experimenting with his first…” Robert winced. “Well, it could be that he was refining his, uh, methods. We won’t know for sure unless there’s another victim.”

“I—”

“Not hoping for it, just stating a fact. Spencer said he’d follow up with Elizabeth about Emily. Did he do that yet?”

“No, he said he was going to try do it today. Robin said she didn’t get anything like that, so if she was a target — it’s not the same way.” Mac sighed. “So we have nothing except the possibility that he had access to the campus and the hospital.”

“Still waiting on that DNA match to come back. I’m sorry, Mac—”

“You can’t make evidence appear where it doesn’t already exist.” Mac dragged his hands down his face. “Praying for a miracle. Just where we were a week ago. Two more victims, and nothing to show for it. How the hell can this happen, Robert?”

“I wish I knew. We won’t give up, Mac. You have my word on that.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Fair Elizabeth,” Spinelli said. “The Jackal beseeches you to intervene with Stone Cold.” He  folded his legs on the chair, reached for his orange soda from the coffee table. “The Jackal does not need an extended educational experience—”

Elizabeth smiled, then gently bounced Jake in her lap. “Jason wants you to have options, Spinelli. And college is good for you. I wish I had stuck with it. I ended up in the nursing program at GH, so I never finished.” She sighed. “Not that I could have done anything with an art degree, but it would have been nice.”

“But—”

“You’re halfway through after this year, Spinelli. Why not just finish so you don’t have regrets later? Is this English that bad?”

“No, but Moby Dick is,” Spinelli muttered. “The Jackal does not enjoy reading.” He held up the giant book. “Have you?”

“I think it was assigned when I was—” She stopped. “I think it was assigned in my high school English class. Junior year. Mr. Murty. I don’t think I actually read it, but there were some Spark Notes online—” The phone on the desk rang, and she went over to answer it, propping Jake on her  hip.

“Hello?”

“It’s Wally on the front desk, Miss Webber. Uh, Detective Spencer says he has some questions about, um, Miss Quartermaine. For you and Jason.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Okay, um, send him up.” She hung up the phone, looked at Spinelli. “Can you take Jake and go upstairs to tell Jason that Lucky is on his way up with questions about Emily’s case? And, um, maybe you could keep Cam upstairs until he’s gone?”

“The Jackal is happy to be of assistance in keeping Little Dude safe and secure. Come forth, Stone Cold the Sequel—” Spinelli retrieved Jake and they headed upstairs.

A few moments later, there was a knock at the door. Elizabeth glanced upstairs, then went to open it. “Lucky.”

He remained outside. “Hey. Um, I know—I know I can’t come in because—I mean we don’t—”

“It’s fine. The boys are upstairs. Spinelli just went to get Jason.” Elizabeth stepped aside to let Lucky in. “They’ll just stay upstairs. You wouldn’t have come over if it wasn’t important. Did—did you find him?”

“I wish,” Lucky murmured. He glanced around the penthouse, taking in the evidence of the boys. The playpen, the bouncy seat, a scattering of toys—he faced Elizabeth. “No. I just had a few questions about what was going on with Emily. Trying—” he stopped as Jason jogged down the stairs.

“Lucky said he had a few questions,” Elizabeth told him, and she bit her lip. “I mean, we could call Diane if you want to—”

“Do you think we need to?” Jason asked Lucky.

“No. No. I don’t know. I mean, you can—but it’s just background.” Lucky cleared his throat. “Um, I didn’t get to—I didn’t get to tell you how sorry I am,” he said to Jason. “About—Emily. I know how close—” He shook his head. “This sucks so much,” he muttered. He dragged a hand down his cheek. “Okay. We’re following a theory that one or both of the victims in each attack was being targeted. You know about what happened with Georgie. The flowers, the calls.”

“Yeah,” Jason said with a short nod.

“Did Emily have any complaints along those lines? Strange phone calls, being followed?” Lucky wanted to know. “Any chance that she was experiencing something similar?”

“No. No. And she would have said something. I told her about Spinelli, about going to the police. She came over that day while you and Spinelli were downtown,” she reminded Jason. To Lucky, she continued, “She knew that it was part of Georgie’s case. She never said anything to me.”

“Or me, but she wouldn’t have,” Jason admitted. “She usually waited until the last minute to bring me in on those kinds of things.”

Because Lucky remembered all too well the times Emily had kept Jason in the dark, he nodded. “I figured, but it had to be asked.”

“I don’t know what’s worse. Thinking that they were targeted or that it was random.” Elizabeth rubbed her shoulder absently, and her ring must have caught the light because she saw Lucky’s eyes drop to it, then he looked away. “I’m sorry. I wish we knew more—”

“No, it’s okay. Uh, it was a long shot. And we needed to rule it out. I can do that now. Emily would have said something to one of us, I think. Or Nikolas. And she didn’t.” He cleared his throat. “So, uh, thanks. If you think of anything—”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Elizabeth opened the door, and he left. She looked at Jason. “Well, that was awkward.” She twisted her ring. “But I’m glad, I guess. That we could—I don’t know. That we could help. Even a little.”

“Yeah.” Jason drew her into his arms, and she held on tight. “How was work?” he asked her.

“Hard. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel good about using the parking garage again. And it was strange being on shift when she wasn’t.” Elizabeth sighed, then stepped away. “But I ran into Patrick, and we had a really good talk. I didn’t—did Robin get a chance to talk to you at the church?”

“No, is she okay?” Jason took Elizabeth’s hand, led her over to the sofa. “I knew they broke up—”

“I guess not all the way. She’s pregnant. She found out that night,” she added when Jason’s eyes opened wider. “That’s why she was still at the hospital. She was supposed to be with Emily. In that parking garage. But she thought she was pregnant, so she stayed back to run the test.”

“Oh, man.” Jason raked a hand through his hair. “But pregnant — that’s good, right?”

“For her, yes. Patrick is nervous. He wasn’t sure about having kids. He’s scared he won’t love them the way he’s supposed to. I think being scared is probably a good sign that he already does, but he’s not ready to listen to that yet.” She tipped her head. “Maybe you could talk to him. I mean, you fell in love with Michael when he wasn’t even yours. And you know, you held Jake when he was born.”

“You want me to talk to Patrick?” Jason asked skeptically.

“I can see that’s not happening.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “I just—I don’t know. I carried Jake, so I don’t know if it’s different for mothers. What was it like to hold him?”

Jason considered the question, and she worried it wasn’t a fair one. After all, he’d held him that day thinking he’d never claim him. “Strange,” Jason said finally and she frowned. “Not bad. Just—you know, I’d watched him grow — I remember when you weren’t showing, and I saw you all the time, and I felt him kick—” He stared at his hands. “But then he was there. And I was holding him. He was part of me. And you. We made him together. And I don’t know if that’s why I loved him so much. I wanted him from the beginning. Even when he was just an idea. But to feel the weight of him—” Jason exhaled slowly. “It’s not something I can put into words. One minute, he was still with you, and then he was in my arms. He was real. And I knew I’d never love anything or anyone the same way again.”

“I’m glad you got to have that moment.” She reached forward, her thumb brushing a tear that had slid down his cheek. “For all the time you lost, you got that moment. I won’t apologize, I know it irritates you. But I’m glad we got to have a few minutes in the hospital. Just the three of us.”

“Me, too.” He kissed her lightly. “If you want me to try to talk to Patrick, I will,” he said, though it was pained.

“It’s fine. We’ll let it go for now. I’m happy for her. For him, too. He’s got so much love inside of him, I think it scares him. It’s going to be really fun to watch him learn how to be a dad.” She squeezed his arm. “Now, we should probably go get the boys before Cameron convinces Spinelli to help him climb something.”

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