Wednesday, November 3, 2004

General Hospital: Pediatric Ward

A bitter argument with his wife had started Sonny’s day off badly. In the end, Carly had agreed to let Morgan be tested for the bone marrow transplant but she’d elected to stay home.

The morning continued as he continually tried to call Jason and received only his voicemail. A brief interrogation of Sam that morning revealed that Jason had not returned home the night before. He was worried more than he was irritated. It was not like Jason to go incommunicado.

He waited by the elevators, a few feet away from Kristina’s room where her mother and new stepfather were visiting with them. He had decided that until this crisis had passed, he would not bring up custody. Kristina did not need him throwing that word around and causing more stress for everyone involved.

But the moment she was recovered, Sonny would have to look deep inside himself and decide how to handle this situation.

The elevator doors slid open and Jason stepped out. “Has Morgan been tested?”

Sonny straightened and his worry slid into irritation. “Where the hell have you been?” he demanded.

Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering why he’d bothered to get out of bed that morning. He’d much rather have stayed with Elizabeth. Maybe given Cameron his breakfast and let himself live that pretense a little longer. He almost had but when he’d unearthed his cell phone and found five messages from Sonny, three from Carly, two from Emily and one from Sam, he had to leave the safe escape and return to the real world.

“I was out. I knew you weren’t bringing Morgan in until this morning and there was nothing else pressing so I took a little breather.” Jason’s eyes bore into his friend’s. “Or do I have to clear having my own life with you?”

Uneasy now, Sonny shook his head. “No. I was just a little worried that no one had seen you. It’s not like you to not leave at least Sam word where you’re going. She’s getting close to her due date.”

“I should have told Sam how to reach me,” Jason nodded. “But I have my own life, Sonny. My own priorities. Your family is not the most important thing to me. It can’t be.”

Sonny narrowed his eyes. “My family is your family, Jason,” he said slowly. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.”

Neither was Jason except that he knew he couldn’t live like this much longer. Letting the world believe Cameron was Zander Smith’s son, that Elizabeth had to play the ex-wife role, pretending that he didn’t want that life. Maybe it was time to lay the foundation.

“I just want more time to myself,” Jason said after a moment. “I used to come and go as I wanted and now I feel like I have to check with you before I step foot out of my apartment.”

“I never meant to make you feel that way and maybe we do need to discuss some new boundaries. New limits.” Sonny shifted and looked back at Kristina’s hospital room. “I hope to God you never have to stand outside one of these rooms, hoping for news about one of your children.”

“Morgan’s not a match?” Jason asked.

Sonny sighed heavily. “He was tested this morning but Dr. Webber wasn’t hopeful.” He hesitated. “He had an alternative but I’m reluctant to even bring it up.”

“Well, what was it?” Jason asked.

“Sam’s umbilical cord. He says stem cells from that can be used as bone marrow and that she doesn’t even need to be a perfect match.” Sonny exhaled slowly. “But Sam’s not due until the end of the month and Kristina might not have that long to wait.”

“You would have to induce labor,” Jason said after a moment. “She’ll never go for that. She’ll want to help but not at the risk of her own child and I have to agree.”

“It’s not your decision to make,” Sonny remarked. “Sam and I will discuss it ourselves but I wanted to wait until after we knew one way or the other about Morgan.”

Port Charles Police Department: Squad Room

Courtney sat at one of the desks, tapping her foot. “I don’t know why I have to be here,” she said irritated. “I don’t know where he is, Mac.”

“Until we find him, I’m keeping someone on your loft and I don’t want any civilians there who might get hurt.” Mac turned back to the phone. “Hey, Ned, what’s Brooke’s condition?” He listened for a moment and turned away from Courtney so she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“She can’t stop crying,” Ned said. “She’s just curled up and sobbing. Lois is beside herself and I don’t know what to do. The hospital suggested we bring in a psychiatrist but don’t you think it’s a little early for that?”

“Yeah, I do.” Mac hesitated. “I do know someone who would be a little better than a shrink. She went through it when she was just a little younger than Brooke and she’s managed to move on with her life. Can I put her in touch?”

Ned was silent for a moment. “Are you speaking about Elizabeth Webber?”

“I am. I think it would be beneficial for Brooke to have someone to talk to who went through it and maybe for her to see that one day, she will get past it.”

“I’ve known Elizabeth since she was a teenager,” Ned said after a long pause. “If she’d be willing to speak to Brooke, I’d allow it.”

“Good. Meanwhile, we’ve got officers scouring the city for Sanchez and there’s an APB out statewide. We’ll find him, Ned.”

General Hospital: Brooke Lynn’s Room

Ned entered the room to find Lois gone and Emily sitting in her place. “Lois went to get some coffee,” his cousin told him.

Ned nodded and perched on the windowsill. “How long has Brooke been asleep?”

Emily sighed. “The doctors came in and sedated her again. Have they found…”

“No, not yet. But Mac had a suggestion. Instead of calling in a psychiatrist, he suggested Elizabeth.”

Emily smiled weakly before looking back at Brooke. “I think that would be a great idea.”

“Would you call her?” Ned asked. “I don’t think I could say the words out loud.”

Emily stood and moved towards the door. “I’ll call her. Ned, this is going to be okay. We have to believe that.”

Ned stared at his bruised and broken daughter. “I don’t have to believe anything now.”

Jones House: Georgie’s Room

“I will never understand calculus,” Maxie Jones snarled. She tossed her pencil away and sighed. “Why do I have to be subjected to this?”

“I think the teachers enjoy torture,” her sister remarked. She straightened. “Did you hear that?”

Maxie frowned. “What?”

Their cousin Lucas Jones straightened. “Sounded like it was outside your window.”

Georgie rolled her eyes and moved towards the window, yanking it up. “Honestly, Dillon.”

Dillon Quartermaine climbed soberly into the room and clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m sorry.”

“Why weren’t you in school?” Georgie asked, concerned. “Aren’t you feeling well?”

“I’m fine.” Dillon hesitated. “Something happened last night, guys. Something bad.”

Lucas slowly stood from his seat on the floor and shook his head. “Brooke wasn’t in school either.” He stepped forward. “Dillon…”

“Diego attacked her last night,” Dillon revealed flatly.

Maxie gasped and sprang to her feet and Georgie shook her head, not comprehending. “What do you mean attack?”

“He raped her and she’s got some injuries.” Dillon sighed and looked at the floor. “A few bruised ribs, a broken nose, a concussion and a broken arm.”

“No, Diego couldn’t…” Maxie couldn’t finish her defense of the boy they knew so little about. Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Jesus. Have they arrested him yet?”

“No. They can’t find him and Courtney doesn’t know where he is.” Dillon moved away from his girlfriend and sat on her bed. “I haven’t been to the hospital yet.”

Lucas blinked. “How…how could anyone hurt Brooke?” he dragged his fingers through his blonde hair. “This just isn’t happening.”

“Ned and Lois haven’t left the hospital since last night. Emily came today and everyone else has been checking in and out but they don’t know her like I do. Like any of us do,” Dillon clarified. “She’s my best friend.”

Georgie sat next to him and wound her arm through his, resting her chin on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Dillon. This is just…there are no words to say how much this really sucks.”

“That covers it though.” Dillon’s voice caught. “This really sucks.”

“What should we do?” Maxie asked helplessly. She wrung her hands. “I mean, she’s not sick and I just…I couldn’t begin to know what we’re supposed to do.”

“We can’t pretend it didn’t happen,” Lucas murmured. “But I–I don’t know what to think.” His eyes burned with anger. “But if I ever get my hands on that son of a bitch…”

“You’ll have to stand in line.” Dillon kissed the top of Georgie’s head. “Ned’s already got the family lawyers ready to sue Social Services. Claming that they put his daughter in danger when they placed Diego with Courtney.”

“Well, yeah, I mean, who would give her a kid?” Georgie said logically. “She’s a single woman in an apartment that doesn’t even have a closed bedroom. She’s divorced from a reputed mob enforcer, she’s the sister of a mob kingpin. She’s been on drugs, she’s been accused of a hit and run, she’s been a stripper. The list really doesn’t end. Your brother has an excellent case.”

“When you put it like that, how did she get picked as a foster mother?” Maxie asked. “Because she’s run a foundation for six months? It’s bullshit. They should sue her too.” Maxie flopped on the bed. “But all the suing in the world won’t change what happened to Brooke.”

General Hospital: Conference Room

Steven spread Kristina’s case file in front of him and looked at Alexis, Ric, and Sonny seated across from him. “Morgan is not a match.”

Alexis’s shoulders slumped and she looked down at her hands. “What’s next?”

“We’re still searching the donor registry but the truth of the matter is that the disease is spreading fast. Kristina is very small and the antibiotics we have her on won’t hold it off much longer. We need to decide on a treatment and we need to decide now.”

“I’m having Sam brought to the hospital,” Sonny said carefully. “I would like you to talk to her. To explain the procedure, the risks–and the benefits. I think if she hears it from a doctor, she might be willing to consider it more than she would from me.”

“But if she doesn’t,” Alexis said. “If she doesn’t agree, then what?”

Steven sighed. “Has every single relative been tested? Is there no else?”

Sonny hesitated for a moment, searching his mind. “My father, my sister, Morgan…I can’t think of anyone else.”

“I’ve been tested, Ric’s been tested, Nikolas. I can’t think of anyone else either,” Alexis said mournfully.

“We’d test cousins at this point. Anyone who might be related even a little is a remote possibility of being a match.”

“Well, Helena’s dead,” Alexis rubbed her eyes. “The Cassadine family is pretty much out. My sister died two years ago.”

“Michael’s not my biological son,” Sonny offered. “I suppose…” He hesitated. “When you told me that I wasn’t a donor, you seemed a little surprised.”

“Well, your blood type matched Kristina’s and you have a rare blood type,” Steven replied. “Generally, it would have been ideal for you to have matched her bone marrow.”

“So, someone with the same blood type…” Sonny blinked and sat back. “Four years ago, I was shot and I needed a blood transfusion.”

Alexis’s mouth went dry. “Elizabeth. She has Sonny’s blood type. She saved your life.”

“Could she be tested?” Ric demanded, leaning forward.

Steven sat back, a little thrown by this news. “She could. She could very well be tested. I’ll contact her and tell her to come in. I’m sure she’ll agree.”

“She’s a good person,” Sonny said after a moment. “She’d help anyone. No matter who they are.”

Steven nodded. “You’re right. But I think we’re lucky it’s a small child and not an axe murderer.” He stood and gathered the file. “I’ll call her right now.”

General Hospital: Pediatrics Ward

“As long as there’s no risk to the baby,” Sam began, looking at Jason out of the corner of her eye, “I think I will agree.”

Jason leaned against the wall across from Kristina’s room. “Don’t feel like you’re forced into it.”

“If it were my child in there, if my child were at risk, I’d move heaven and earth to save her,” Sam murmured. She rested her hand on her belly. “How can I blame Alexis for wanting the same thing?”

Jason thought about Cameron, the way he’d slept that morning when Jason had looked in on him before leaving. Such a contented little boy, with everything he could want. He didn’t really realize that his father was never around. It would take a few years before Jason’s unintentional neglect would set in but he would be damned if it got that far.

“You look like you’re contemplating the problems of the entire world,” Sam said softly. “Does this have to do with why you didn’t come home last night?”

Jason didn’t answer her. Home wasn’t the penthouse. It hadn’t been the penthouse in years. Home was the small cottage on the edge of town where his son lived, where the only woman who’d ever truly understood him–every really loved him–lived. The penthouse was a temporary place. He’d been home last night.

“Jason, you can trust me,” Sam said. “I hope you know that.”

“I do know that,” Jason said after a moment. And he knew that the closer her due date drew, the more likely he’d have to confide in her–at least partly. She counted on him, needed him to be there. She would need to know how to get in touch with him at all times and other than telling her, the only solution was to not visit Elizabeth for the next few weeks. That wasn’t a possibility.

But before he could make up his mind to tell her anything, Alexis, Sonny and Ric emerged from a nearby door with Steven Webber. Ric shook Steven’s hand and the doctor walked in the opposite direction.

“Hey,” Sam said to the three of them. She took a few steps forward. “I thought I was coming here to talk to Dr. Webber.”

“You might not have to,” Alexis said, wrapping her arms around her and managing the first genuine smile in days. “We found another possible donor.”

“Yeah?” Sam smiled. “That’s incredible. But I thought all the relatives had been tested.”

“They have. But my blood type is the same as Kristina’s,” Sonny explained. “Which is why it was odd that I didn’t match, seeing as how people of our rare blood type usually do.”

“So, someone else with your blood type,” Jason said. “Who?”

“Elizabeth,” Ric said. “Apparently she donated blood to Sonny once and since she’s a match, her brother’s calling her now to get her tested.”

Sam closed her eyes. “I hope you don’t mind if I pray for her to be a match for simply selfish reasons. I was willing to induce labor but I’ll be glad if I don’t have to.”

“It means a lot that you would have been willing.” Alexis clasped Sam’s hands in her own. “A lot.”

Port Charles Police Department: Squad Room

Courtney tapped her foot and stared at the cell phone. Six phone calls to her brother. No word. Four to Jason. Nothing. Surprisingly, two to Jax and no response from him either.

“Am I under arrest?” she snipped.

Lucky Spencer glanced up and tapped Brooke’s file against his hand. “You want to be? You refuse to say any thing about Diego, no hint about his whereabouts, where he hangs out. Nothing. We can arrest you for obstruction of justice.”

Courtney stood. “Then you’re going to have to do that, but I’m going home–”

“No, no you’re not,” Ned strode into the squad room, his eyes ignited for fury. “I just had a call from Mac who’s returning to Port Charles now from the road. Diego was halfway to Buffalo in your car, Courtney.”

“My car?” Courtney wiped her hands on her jeans. “He stole my car?”

“And your credit cards. And a lot of money.” Ned looked at Lucky. “Facilitation of a fugitive is still a crime, isn’t it?”

Panic licked at Courtney throat. “I d-didn’t know.”

“You have a history of lying to the police,” Lucky set Brooke’s file down. “Remember a certain hit and run last year?”

Courtney blinked a few times in rapid succession. “I was only accused. I wasn’t charged.”

“Because someone conveniently came forward and admitted to it. Someone who worked for Lorenzo Alcazar. Who was in love with Carly. Who would do anything for Carly.” Lucky smirked and looked at Ned. “But we all know who nearly blinded Elizabeth for life.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“If you helped Diego try to escape prosecution for raping and brutalizing my daughter, I will see that you pay for it,” Ned threatened.

Lucky’s desk phone rang and he moved to answer it. When he hung up, he looked at Ned. “Mac’s a few minutes away. He doesn’t want you here when Diego gets here. He doesn’t want you to do–”

“What that animal deserves?” Ned said viciously. “He raped my daughter, Lucky–”

“No one understands what you’re going through better than I do.” Lucky moved closer and lowered his voice so Courtney couldn’t hear. “I pulled Elizabeth out of those bushes and watched her fight her way back to living her own life. She had to accept that she might never know the identity of the man who stole that innocence from her and when they did find him, she had to accept that he could not be prosecuted. I know how helpless you feel right now and that the thought of that monster coming anywhere near Brooke again…I know what it feels like to want to kill someone who hurts someone you love. But you have to step back, Ned.”

Ned swallowed hard. “I want to know everything as it happens. Do I have your word?”

“You have my word.” He looked at Courtney. “If you’ll excuse me, I have an arrest to make.”

As he started towards her, the blonde started talking. “He came home last night,” she blurted out. “He was upset, he’d had a fight. He told me he had a fight with Brooke Lynn. He said they’d been out on a date and they’d argued. He was upset and he wanted to drive out to Vista Point to think. I loaned him the keys. He asked about gas, I said I didn’t remember if it was filled and that I didn’t have any cash on me. I gave him my credit card. I don’t know where he got the money.”

“He had a pawn slip,” Lucky said after a moment. “Mac told me when he called. A pawn slip for a diamond ring.”

Courtney only owned one diamond ring. Her engagement ring. Her lips pressed together. “He stole my ring?” she said weakly.

“He raped my daughter,” Ned growled.

“Why didn’t you tell us this when we knocked on your door?”

“I honestly didn’t know where he was and when I heard what he was accused of…I just…I didn’t know what to do.” Courtney sank into a chair. “I thought he was a good kid and I thought we were connecting. At first, I thought there had to be a mistake. That maybe Brooke had gotten hurt on her way home from their date.”

“She was dating Lucas Jones,” Ned said scathingly. “I never would have allowed her near Diego Sanchez.”

“And by the time I realized that it was true, I had already lied.” Courtney propped her head in her hands. “Jesus, that poor girl. If I had just said no when Social Services called. If I had just told them that I was in no place to care for any child long term…”

“Asking those kinds of questions doesn’t turn back time. It doesn’t give my daughter back her innocence, her trust, that beautiful light in her eyes. My daughter was the most generous and the most caring young girl you could ever meet…” Ned’s voice sounded thick. “But she won’t have that again. She won’t be innocent or carefree again. Your ward ended that for her.”

Courtney’s miserable eyes met his. “I know. And I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

General Hospital: Pediatric Ward

Elizabeth walked towards the group gathered in front of Kristina’s hospital room. She was careful only to glance at Jason, though her eyes wanted to linger. “I asked Steven if I could tell you the results,” she told Alexis.

Alexis’s hands started to tremble. “Are you…”

Elizabeth nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Yes. Steven’s quite surprised since I’m almost a perfect match but I am a match and it would be my privilege to donate bone marrow to your daughter.”

← Chapter One | Chapter Three →