February 10, 2004

— General Hospital: NICU Waiting Room —

Jason helped a shaken Elizabeth sit in a chair before he turned to the stricken trio waiting for them.

“What’s wrong?” Emily demanded. She kneeled in front of Elizabeth. “Why do you look so pale? Isn’t Brianna okay?”

“She’s—she’s fine.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “We took her off the machines briefly—a-and she took a breath.”

Nikolas closed his eyes. “Thank God.”

Lucky frowned. “I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

“It means that she took a breath without the support of the machines. Her lungs are getting stronger. The machines are helping her—not keeping her alive,” Nikolas explained. “It’s good news.”

“I was just—Dr. Meadows goaded me into making the decision. She said Brianna wouldn’t survive and even if she did, she’d have serious problems—that it was cruel to keep her hooked up.”

Nikolas narrowed his eyes. “Even if she was trying to help—that’s a little blunt and incredibly unnecessary.”

“Jason—did she talk to you about the hospital bills?” Emily asked her brother softly.

He nodded. “But Sonny talked to her first and he’s already transferred money into the accounts. Brianna will have the best care available to her.”

“Good—because I talked to my dad and he offered to find a way to get the money which you know is never a good phrase coming from his mouth,” Lucky said with a wry grin.

“I have to call my grandmother—I have to tell her about Brianna.” Elizabeth started to stand but Emily pushed her back down.

“I’ll do it. You just sit down. You’re still recovering from surgery yourself and I don’t want you to strain yourself. You left without eating breakfast this morning—don’t think I didn’t notice,” Emily remarked. “Now—Jason, can you stay with her while I get her something to eat?”

“What about me?” Nikolas said. “I—”

“You have a board meeting with the hospital,” Emily reminded him. She kissed his cheek. “And Lucky has to go stop Luke from doing something—Luke-like.”

Lucky smirked. “It’s probably too late but I do have to start my shift. Ah, Elizabeth…Brian Beck’s been kind of—well he feels real guilty about starting that fight on the Haunted Star and I was wondering if it’d be all right to tell him about Brianna—why you named her and all that.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yes—tell him to come by the hospital if he has time. I want to thank him in person. He has nothing to feel guilty about. Ric and I created our own problems.”

“Thanks.” Lucky, Nikolas and Emily moved towards the elevators at the same time and the brothers hung back letting Emily enter the car first.

“Thank you—for being there with me. I know I should have given it more thought or at least told them about it but I just—” Elizabeth closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. “I just had to know for myself if I could handle it.”

“She’s very much like you,” Jason told her. He sat in the chair next to her. “She doesn’t do what everyone expects.”

Elizabeth managed a weak smile. “Yeah—maybe she’s trying to prove a point no one but her mother gets.”

The familiar words weren’t lost on either of them and he smiled then. “What point would that be?”

“That her mother doesn’t always have to lose at everything.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Now that we’re sure she’s going to make it—I need—I need to start making some decisions. I have to find somewhere to live—get a new job—”

“You don’t work at Kelly’s anymore?”

“I do but that’s not really a realistic job for a single mother who has to support herself and a baby,” Elizabeth told him. “And I know what you’re going to say so—I’m only accepting money from you and Sonny because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. But her medical bills is where it stops, okay?”

“Okay but if there is anything you need, you can come to either of us, you know that right?”

Someone cleared their throat behind them and Elizabeth and Jason turned to see Sam McCall standing somewhat uncomfortable with an arrangement of flowers. She stepped forward to hold them out to Elizabeth. “Sonny wanted to bring them by himself but he had to go to the warehouse.”

“Thank you.” She took the arrangement of lilies and tulips and smiled. “They’re beautiful.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah—he’s got pretty good taste in flowers, I guess or maybe the florist picked it out. Anyway—congratulations on having your baby. Sonny didn’t say if it was a boy or a girl…?”

“Girl,” Elizabeth supplied. “Brianna Audrey.”

“Pretty name.” Sam glanced nervously at Jason before rubbing the back of her neck. “Uh…that was really it. Sonny just wanted to drop those off now and tell you thank you.”

“Thank you?” Elizabeth frowned and looked at Jason. “That should be the other way around. He’s helping me pay her medical bills.”

“You’ll have to ask him, I’m just the messenger.” Sam shrugged and slid her hands in her back pockets. “But he’s probably thanking you for letting him help you or something, right Jase?”

“Yeah, probably.” Jason shifted and it dawned on Elizabeth that they were probably both uncomfortable being in the same room with each other—since Jason was also Carly’s best friend and Sam was Sonny’s latest girlfriend.

“Right.”

“What, Sonny’s not enough for you—you have to go after my husband too?”

Courtney’s shrill voice sounded from behind Sam and the brunette grimaced and rolled her eyes. “Here we go again,” she muttered.

“Courtney—” Elizabeth began, standing.

“Do you really have no decency?” Courtney demanded. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at the other woman—whom she towered over. “Women like you—”

“Hey, look, I’m sorry we ran into each other because—believe me—hearing another lecture about how I’m this huge slut was not on my list today but why don’t you get a grip on reality and just imagine for one minute that I’m not here to steal your husband?” Sam shot back.

“Oh and what else could you possibly be here for?” Courtney retorted. “You don’t know Elizabeth and trust me, you won’t win any points for pitying her.”

“Oh, now wait a minute,” Elizabeth said angrily. “Why don’t you shut up for five seconds before coming to conclusions that just make you look like a horrid shrew?”

“Excuse me?” Courtney said, shifting her glare from one brunette to the other.

“It just so happens that Sam is here to talk to me,” Elizabeth said. “We met while I was still working at Kelly’s and she brought me flowers for Brianna. You know—that friendship with Carly is really working out for you.”

“Oh what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Carly had a tendency to jump all over any woman in Jason or Sonny’s immediate area. She tried to intimidate me into staying away from both of them for years but—look how well that worked out. Why don’t you worry about your own marriage without jumping down everyone’s throats?” She turned to Jason who had a tired look on his face. “Tell Emily I’m at the nursery. Sam—you want to see Brianna?”

“Uh…yeah, sure.” Sam blinked and followed the irate mother down the hall.

“The absolute nerve,” Courtney muttered.

“What are you doing here?” Jason asked, rising from his seat.

“Sonny told me you were here—why did you let Elizabeth rip into me like that?” his wife demanded.

“Because you started it,” Jason stated. “You attacked Sam who wasn’t doing anything wrong—”

“Except sleeping with a married man,” Courtney remarked scathingly.

“That’s none of your business. Sonny and Carly are separated,” Jason reminded her. “They’re adults and they get to do what they want to do. Sonny likes Sam and if you were any kind of sister, you’d lay off of her. But you walked up and launched into this whole attack before you even knew why Sam was here and then you set into Elizabeth who just lost her husband and nearly lost her child.” He shook his head, a little disgusted. “Grow up, Courtney. It’s not always about you.”

— General Hospital: NICU —

“Um—I’m sorry about that back there. The last thing you probably need is hearing her voice,” Sam remarked as Elizabeth led her to the nursery window.

“I’m used to her,” Elizabeth said. “Wasn’t too long ago I was the one who was being accused of going after Jason. I feel for you since you probably have to deal with Carly and Courtney.”

Sam grimaced. “If I don’t see one, I see the other. I’m living in Hell.”

“That’s Brianna,” Elizabeth gestured.

“She’s so small,” Sam breathed. “She looks like a little china doll.”

“Yeah—we took her off the machines a little while ago and—she took a breath.” Elizabeth smiled then. “No one expected her to survive and here she is—still going.”

“I know how that is—fighting every day just so you can feel like you’re living and not existing,” Sam nodded. “That’s part of the reason I’m still sticking with Sonny even though I have to deal with the Double mint Twins on crack.”

Elizabeth laughed then—one of the first genuine laughs she’d experienced in days. “I’ve never heard that before.”

“It’s true. They’re just like those girls from the commercials—only scarier, you know? And listening to them talk?” Sam rolled her eyes. “It’s like these little dogs yapping. I want to throttle them but I try to control myself because I don’t want Sonny to know they’re doing it.”

“Sonny’s a good man—I never understood what he saw in Carly but they were together for so long…” Elizabeth shook her head. “Carly and I have never gotten along. Since the day I became friends with Jason, she’s tried to force me from his life.”

“But you keep fighting back because it looks like you guys are still pretty close,” Sam nodded. “I have no idea what he sees in that wife of his. My God.” She sighed. “But—Sonny—he’s worth it. He doesn’t make me feel like…I’m something he needs to fix. Like—he doesn’t see my past—and it’s a pretty bad one.”

“Well Sonny’s past isn’t exactly stellar so he really shouldn’t judge.” Elizabeth smiled. “I’m glad he’s happy.”

Sam frowned. “How do you know he’s happy?”

“I saw him today,” Elizabeth reminded her. “He looks a lot better than he has in a while.”

“Oh…well, that could just be the sex,” Sam said seriously. “Or—like the idea of not having Carly to deal with.”

“It could be you.”

“Yeah—probably the sex,” Sam nodded.

← Chapter Four |