Tuesday, November 16, 2004

 PCPD: Interrogation Room

When Mac entered the room early that morning, Courtney sprang out of her seat. “Why did you bring me in again?” she demanded. “I’ve already told you everything I know!”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Mac said dryly. He sat and watched as the irate blonde paced from one side of the room to the other. “Do you know Maria Sanchez?”

“Diego’s mentioned her,” Courtney muttered. “I should call my lawyer,” she slapped her hands on her hips. “I really should.”

“Why?” Mac asked. “Have you done something wrong?”

“No,” Courtney said hotly. “But obviously you think I have or I wouldn’t be here.”

“Just a little curiosity on my part,” Mac replied. “You know you’re out ten thousand dollars, right?”

Courtney frowned. “Excuse me?”

“The ten grand you gave to Maria Sanchez to bail her brother out. You’re never going to see that again,” Mac clarified.

Courtney shook her head. “No. You get that money back after the trial’s over—” She paled. And sat. “He jumped bail.”

“His sister went out to get dinner last night and he was gone when she returned. She waited until this morning before going to her father. He’s gone and there’s no trace of him anywhere.”

“No–I can’t believe that.” She shook her head again. “It’s impossible. Diego can’t be guilty of this crime. He wants to prove his innocence–”

“Wake up, Courtney!” Mac exploded suddenly. He yanked out photos of Brooke’s battered face and tossed them across the table. “This is not the work of an innocent teenager. She’s bruised and broken from that little son of a bitch and thanks to you, he’s back on the street!”

“I don’t–I don’t understand. How can–” She swallowed hard. “How can you live with someone and not realize they’re capable of something like this?”

Mac scrubbed his hands over his face. “If you hear from Diego, we want to know immediately. Or we will charge you with obstruction of justice, do you understand?”

Courtney nodded absently. “Should I call a lawyer?” she asked quietly.

“Not unless you think you need one,” Mac said pointedly. He stood. “You’re free to go. Don’t give me a reason to pull you back in.”

Elizabeth’s Cottage

Elizabeth took a deep breath and dialed her parents’ number. She frowned when she heard an answering service inform her that the Drs. Webber were no longer living in Edinburgh, Scotland and that a phone number for their location in Barcelona, Spain was going to be said in just a moment.

“Would have been nice if they’d mentioned that,” she muttered as she copied the number. She dialed that next. After six rings, she was about to hang up. A harried voice answered just as she was taking the phone away from her ear to place it back on the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Mom?” Elizabeth said. “It’s Elizabeth.”

“Oh, hello.” The tone of Andrea Webber’s voice did not change. “Is something wrong?”

“Actually…no.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I had a son, Mom. He’s actually about seven months old and his name is Cameron.”

“A baby?” Andrea repeated. “Aren’t you divorced from Ric?”

“Yes, it’s not his child.” Elizabeth tapped her fingers on her coffee table. “Jason Morgan is his father. Dad knows who he is–he’s the son of Alan and Monica Quartermaine. He used to work with them.”

“Right, right, Jeff’s ex-wife. I’ve heard him mention her. Ah, well, that’s lovely, Elizabeth. I’m sure you make a wonderful mother.” Andrea paused. “Seven months old, did you say?”

“He was born May 6.” Elizabeth leaned back against the sofa, her eyes on Cameron in his playpen.

“You waited over a year to tell us?” Andrea asked.

“Well…it’s been a rough year,” Elizabeth sighed. “With the divorce from Ric–”

“Both of them,” Andrea cut in dryly.

“Yes, both of them. And I was out of town for a while–I had Cameron in Napa and since I came back and started in the nursing program, it’s been a little rough. I didn’t–I wasn’t sure how you’d take the news.”

“Well then, I hope you’ll email us some pictures of our grandson. I will certainly pass the news on to your father–I’m sure he’ll be calling soon. We’ll try to arrange some time in our schedule to visit.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Elizabeth said, surprised at the easy acceptance.

“I’m glad you called, Elizabeth,” Andrea said. “Be sure to keep in touch a little more, okay? We’ll let you know about that visit.”

“Goodbye, Mom.” Elizabeth hung up the phone and stared at in disbelief.

PCMB: Brianne’s Office

Brianne entered her office that morning, having convinced Lucky to hang out outside her office–the better to protect her, she’d said. She was blissfully alone for the first time in nearly sixteen hours and felt better for it.

Sergeant Lucky Spencer made her uneasy and not in the way she was used to. She didn’t feel the need to step away as much–to keep six feet between them as she did with other men of her acquaitanence. She wondered if this was a turning point in her life.

A bouquet of roses sat on her desk–two dozen, she noted with dawning horror. Her trembling fingers reached out for theivory card tucked between the blood red petals.

I’ll never forget.

The card fluttered to the ground as Brianne squeezed her eyes shut, remembering a bouquet she’d received eleven years before.

She was walking home from the library–just a mere five blocks from her home. It was nearly ten o’clock and most of the streets were quiet.

She could footsteps behind her. She quickened her pace, not bothering to turn her head to see who was behind her. The footsteps disappeared after a few moments and she breathed a sigh of relief–

–which was cut off by an arm banding around her abdomen like steel. She was yanked off her feet and dragged into the near brush, a large hand engulfing her screams.

Brianne sat down in her chair, her face a chilling white. She could remember every moment that had followed as though they had happened yesterday.

The days afterward, however, had been almost a blur–would have been if not for the two dozen red roses hand delivered to her parents’ house. With a card that said, I’ll never forget.

For four years after that night, two dozen red roses had appeared on the anniversary of that day. Always with the same message. But they had stopped and she’d wondered if maybe it was finally over.

She looked at the mess of petals and shivered.

Gatehouse: Living Room

“I will never understand geometry,” Brooke huffed. She shoved her hair out of her face. “I don’t understand proofs–as long as I get it the answer right, why does it matter how I did it?”

“I’d agree with you if you had gotten the answer right,” Lucas smirked. He took the pencil from her hand and erased the number she’d written at the bottom. “If you hadn’t skipped a math last year, you wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

She snorted. “Yeah, I would have been in it last year.”

“Brooke, baby,” Lois called from the kitchen. “Can you get the mail? I’m expecting a contract.”

Brooke got up from the couch and opened the front door. She tugged a huge stack of mail from the mailbox next to the door. “There’s something here from L&B, a bunch of bills–a magazine for animal owners, weird, and hey–a package for me!” She tossed the rest of it on the desk and ripped open the manila envelope.

“Brooke, stop stalling and get over here,” Lucas told her. He glanced up to see her chalk white face staring at a scrap of fabric. “Brooke?”

“It’s my…shirt.” She swallowed hard. “From–from t-that night.” She looked up and met his worried eyes. She moved the scrap of dark material into his view. “I–I don’t understand.”

Lucas jumped to his feet and yanked the package out of her hands. He dug inside the envelope for the slip of paper–with a messily scrawled message.

I’ll never forget.

He swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. “I’ll call Mac.”

Kelly’s

“I am starving,” Carly declared as she unwound her scarf from her neck and tossed it on the back of a chair. Steven grinned and hung his jacket on the back of his own chair before taking a seat.

“Then it’s a good thing we ran into each other,” Steven replied. He took his pager out of his pocket and set it on the table. “Let’s cross our fingers that nothing happens and I don’t get called in.”

“It’s Sonny’s night with the boys so it’s just as well I’m not eating alone,” Carly sighed. She scanned the menu she knew by heart. “I am definitely in mood for some of Ruby’s Chili. You?”

“Too spicy for me,” Steven mused. He perused the menu. “I definitely want some junk food though. They replaced our candy and chip vending machine with some natural crap.” He shuddered. “The last thing I want to see after an hour in the ER is a granola bar.”

Carly snorted. “Then you would have lost your mind living with Sonny. His idea of junk food was oatmeal cookies. I had to get Courtney to smuggle Oreos when I was pregnant with Morgan.”

“But Sonny probably knew,” Steven remarked. “Seems like a guy who had a pretty good idea of what went down in his own house.”

“He pretended to ignore it. After the hell of a summer I’d had, he wasn’t going to make a big deal over some cookies,” Carly murmured. She glanced up from the menu. “It doesn’t bother you to talk about Sonny?”

“Nope. This isn’t a date,” Steven said, setting his menu down with a mischievous grin. “We’re just a couple of friends having a friendly dinner.”

“Mm,” Carly murmured, arching an eyebrow. “So, friend, how was your day?”

Steven sighed and sat back. “If you discount the actual work shift, not so good. My sister and I had lunch today and she’s depressed as all hell.”

Carly frowned. “What’s wrong with her?” She glanced at the counter, but the servers were no where to be found. Typical Kelly’s.

Steven shifted in his seat, a bit uneasy. “You want the honest answer?”

“That means the Muffin is having a thing with Jason,” Carly said, resigned. She plucked a sugar packet from the canister on the table and twisted in her fingers. “What happened?”

“Well,” Steven began reluctantly, “apparently, they were having breakfast yesterday and his ex-wife caused a huge scene during which Jason didn’t say word one and Elizabeth was a little irritated by that fact but I guess once he started throwing the word mistake around, it really kind of pissed her off.”

“Ah, well that’s understandable.” Carly shrugged and tried to catch Mike’s eye as he served someone at the counter. “I tell you, pissed off is not what I would be if someone referred to me or my kid as a mistake.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean that,” Steven shrugged. “Bits has always heard one thing and decided it means another. And I’ve talked to Jason, he makes it easy to draw the wrong conclusion.”

“Yeah, but Jason’s been acting weird about this whole thing since it started,” Carly sighed. “I mean, I understand on some level why he hid the whole thing. I mean, I would not have been understanding at all if the whole thing had come out a year ago. I would have thrown tantrums, given Elizabeth ultimatums, offered money to certain people to leave town–” she grinned. “It would not have been my finest hour and my reaction would paled next to Sonny and Courtney. Those two have self-absorption in common. Nothing is more important than how something it affects them.”

“Yeah, I get that idea,” Steven agreed.

“Anyway, in the old days, that still wouldn’t have stopped Jason. If he had a son, nothing would have kept him from being with him and if he loved Elizabeth, nothing would have stopped them from being together. But to go to all the trouble to avoid telling anyone? Living apart, sneaking around?” Carly shook her head. “It’s not right. And I’m very surprised Elizabeth held out as long as she did before things started to go to shit.”

“She never thought it would be this long,” Steven admitted. “So you don’t think he loves my sister?”

“No, unfortunately, I think he does,” Carly sighed. “But something’s changed in Jason since he divorced Courtney–since before that really. Courtney…she miscarried a child while they were together, but she never told Jason she was pregnant and didn’t tell him she’d miscarried until after well after it happened. I guess something in Jason kind of…closed off.” She studied her hands. “And right around the time he found out about the miscarriage, his sister Emily nearly died from the cancer she was going through. It was not a good time for Jason and right in the middle of all that, he started this…whatever it was with Elizabeth and I gotta wonder, if he’d been…if things had been different, would it have happened?”

“So you think he regrets it,” Steven said slowly.

“No,” Carly replied quietly. “Jason has a lot of regrets but I don’t think that’s one of them. Anyway, I think Jason’s problem is that he essentially repeated a pattern that hasn’t been seen since he had his accident all those years ago.”

“What pattern is that?” Steven asked.

“Acting without thinking,” Carly said simply. “Following an impulse. He slept with me when he was dating Robin. Not because I was irresistible or he didn’t love her. He didn’t understand the concept of fidelity. He had feelings…and he needed an outlet. He honestly didn’t understand that what he did would hurt Robin and after he understood that concept, he changed. He developed self-control. He never acted without considering the consequences and mapping out a very direct plan. And he’s been that way for almost a decade.”

“But not last year,” Steven said.

“Not for the last two years,” Carly corrected. “I can honestly say that since the moment your sister walked out on him, Jason has been walking a very tight line and it snapped when he found out Cameron was his son. When Elizabeth left him, he did nothing but his work. He married Brenda, he slept with Courtney-and then married her. He claimed paternity of Sam’s baby–he made a lot of decisions that he wouldn’t have. But Elizabeth knocked him off balance and I don’t think anyone saw that. Certainly not me, his best friend,” she said with a self-deprecating smile.

“So what’s the reason for his behavior now?” Steven questioned.

“He’s trying to get back in balance. Think out his actions, map his plan out. He won’t be with Elizabeth, not fully, until he’s sure it’s right. Not just for him, but for her and I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen Jason be more self-sacrificing than when he thinks he’s protecting her.”

Before Steven could respond, Mike approached their table to take their orders.

PCMB: Brianne’s Office

Lucky was slipping his cell phone into his back pocket when he entered Brianne’s office. He didn’t notice her pallor at first, didn’t notice the fixed stare on the bouquet of flowers. “Brianne, I have to call in someone to take over for a day or two.”

Brianne didn’t answer.

“My sister just called,” Lucky continued, “and my grandmother–” His eyes focused on the scene in front him. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Where did the roses come from?”

“They were waiting for me when I got in this morning,” Brianne said. Her eyes met his and for the first time, he saw the shadows. He saw the terror. “He’s never going to leave me alone.”

Lucky approached the desk and spied the card on the floor. “Who won’t leave you alone?” he asked carefully.

Brianne snapped to attention suddenly. Her eyes cleared and just like that, she was in control again. “I’m sorry, you said someone would be covering you for a few days?”

Lucky cleared his throat and reluctantly accepted the change in subject. “My grandmother had a heart attack,” he said quietly. “My sister’s at the hospital. Me and my brother are the only family in town, so…I have to take a few days. Tonight at least. I’ll call in a replacement–”

“No!” Brianne said sharply, rising to her feet. She coughed and straightened the front of her suit jacket. “I mean, you’ve already moved into my apartment. I–I’ll go with you to the hospital. I can easily work in a waiting room or–wherever.” She clasped her hands in front her. “I don’t–I don’t want someone I don’t know…sleeping in the room next to me.”

“Okay,” Lucky agreed, a little confused. “I’ll take you by your apartment tonight then. You can stay at my…” He hesitated. “My family’s place,” he settled on. It was no longer Luke and Laura Spencer’s home, but it was still the Spencer family’s place of residence. “That’s where I’m going to be when I’m not at the hospital.”

“That’s–that’s probably for the best,” Brianne nodded. He wouldn’t be able to find her there. He wouldn’t know to look for her there.

“Do you want to take these with you?” Lucky asked, indicating the roses.

She shook her head quickly. “No! I–can we throw them out?” she asked, her voice tinged with desperation.

“Sure.” He lifted them. “Let’s go.”

She grabbed her jacket, tossed some files in her bag and hurriedly left the office. Lucky bent down and pocketed the card before following her.

Harborview Towers: Jason’s Penthouse

Jason dropped his keys on the desk and watched Sam carefully as she curled up on the couch. “Do you need anything?”

“No.” Sam sighed. “You don’t have to watch me, Jase. I’m sure you’d rather be with Elizabeth.”

Jason cleared his throat and sat at the other end of the couch. “She doesn’t exactly want to be with me,” he said hesitantly.

Sam frowned and looked at him. “I don’t understand. I thought things were going well.”

“They never do with Elizabeth,” Jason sighed. He turned and looked towards the dark fireplace. “It’s becoming clear to me that no matter what we feel each other, we just don’t seem to work when we step out of our own world.”

Sam snorted. “That’s an excuse and you know it. You guys let outside people bother you. You most of all. Forcing that poor girl to be a single mother while you dithered over who to tell first for four months.” She folded her arms and looked at the blank television screen. “Elizabeth either has no spine or more patience than a nun.”

He narrowed her eyes. “Sam–”

“Oh, give it a rest, I’m not insulting her. We both know that she loves you. She trusted you to handle the situation your way, and your way was to hide her like something to be ashamed of, like she and Cameron were dirty secrets. I don’t understand why you couldn’t just tell Sonny and Carly to bite your ass and get over that which does not concern them but hey, maybe I’m just my own person.” Sam glared at him. “You’re an idiot. I bet you tell yourself that a lot–you and Elizabeth only work when you’re alone. I bet that’s a real good way to let yourself off the hook. It’s you that never comes through, Jason. Not her, not Sonny, not Carly. It’s you. You didn’t deliver.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Are you mad at me?” he asked, bewildered.

“Yes.” Sam stood and winced. “I’m angry because you have your chance. You have a son, you have someone who loves you–who values you. I don’t. I lost my baby, I lost Sonny. I lost my brother. I keep losing and you keep winning and it feels like you don’t even want it!” She pointed at him. “If you let Elizabeth walk away because you wallowing in your pit of misery, then you will have no one to blame but yourself. And I don’t want to hear about it anymore.”

She whirled around and went upstairs. A few moments later, he heard her bedroom door slam and he exhaled slowly, wondering if maybe Sam didn’t have a point.

114 Constabulary Road

It was a two story, four bedroom house that seemed to have leapt right off a magazine cover–with its snow white paint job and pretty blue shutters. Alexis wondered if she were in the middle of a fifties sitcom–with color that is.

“We’re certainly not going to buy it because my daughter picked it out randomly,” Alexis said as she and Ric moved through the front hallway. “I mean, that would be ridiculous.”

“Yes,” Ric agreed. “It would. However, if we were to buy it because it’s in a good neighborhood, close to both our offices and to the hospital, as well as the school–that would be quite sane.”

“Well, yes,” Alexis allowed. She frowned at the wide staircase. “It just–a Cassadine does not belong in an all-American house. It just–feels wrong.”

“You’d rather a few cobwebs in a corner?” Ric suggested with smirk. “Perhaps a parapet–”

Alexis shuddered. “Anything but that,” she muttered. “I’d end up tossing the wrong person off it again.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” Alexis replied with a quick smile. She trailed her fingers over the oak railing. “Do you like the house?”

“It’s a good house,” Ric shrugged. “It’s in a good area. It makes sense to buy it. And the fact that Kristina picked it means she’s predisposed to liking it and we do want to make her happy, don’t we?”

Alexis sighed. “If anyone finds out that we bought it because Kristina picked it, we’ll never live it down.”

General Hospital: ER

Lesley Lu Spencer was curled up in one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs, her blonde hair a tangle down her back, her blue eyes red from crying. She didn’t see her brother until he had kneeled down in front of her. “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey,” Lulu whispered hoarsely. She took his hands and sat up. “They haven’t come out–or told me anything yet.” She wiped her cheeks with the backs of her hand. “But Grandma’s gonna be okay, right? I mean, she has to be okay.”

“She’ll be fine,” Lucky murmured. He kissed her forehead. “Grandma’s strong. She’s always been a fighter.”

Lulu nodded and sniffled. “She’s all I have,” she said brokenly.

“Lu, that’s not true,” Lucky said softly. “You have me, Nikolas…” he swallowed. “Dad.”

She laughed bitterly, the tears streaming down her cheeks again. “I never see you or Nik and Dad might be as well as be dead for all I care.”

“Lu…” Lucky shook his head and stood. “I’ll go check on Grandma’s condition.” He turned and saw Brianne standing awkwardly a few feet away. “Lu, this is…” he hesitated. “Brianne’s a friend from work.”

“Hi,” Brianne said softly. She came forward and hesitantly put her fingertips on Lucky’s arms. “I’ll sit with her,” she told Lucky. “Go see about your grandmother.”

He lifted her hand from his sleeve and squeezed it in thanks, ignoring the way her body went stiff at the touch. “Thanks.” He left the waiting room to track down a doctor.

Brianne set her bag and coat down in a chair and sat next to Lulu. “Lucky tells me you’re fifteen,” she said.

Lulu sniffled and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be sixteen next month.” She rubbed her arms. “So you and Lucky, I didn’t know he was seeing anyone.”

“Oh–” Brianne shook her head. “We’re not–we just work together–” She bit her lip, a little flustered. “I work at the DA’s office. We’re working on a case together.”

“It’s nice that you came down with him,” Lulu said. She ran her fingers through her hair. “I just–I didn’t even know she was sick.”

“Heart attacks don’t always come with signs to look for,” Brianne murmured. “My father…had three and we never knew it was coming until they were over.”

“She was cooking dinner and I heard this-this thud,” Lulu whispered, horrified. “I just–I’ve never been so scared in my whole life.”

Nikolas burst through the waiting room doors, Emily and Elizabeth just behind him. “Lulu?”

“Nikolas.” Lulu jumped to her feet. “I didn’t think you get here so fast.”

Nikolas crossed the room and enveloped his little sister in bear hug. “I nearly broke every traffic law getting from the docks to the hospital,” he told her.

“I bear witness to that,” Emily said with a shaky smile. She looked to Brianne. “I–I’m Emily Cassadine,” she said, offering her hand.

Brianne hesitantly took it. “Brianne Joyce–I’m prosecuting your cousin’s case.”

“Oh, right–Brooke’s mentioned you.” She looked to Elizabeth. “Remember?”

“She thinks the world of you,” Elizabeth said. “Elizabeth Webber.” She didn’t offer her hand for whatever reason and Brianne was grateful.

Monica Quartermaine came into the waiting room, Lucky at her side. “Lesley’s stabilized,” she announced.

Lulu began crying again and buried her face in Nikolas’s neck.

“Thank God,” Emily murmured, taking Elizabeth’s hand and squeezing it. “Lesley’s the heart of the family,” she explained to Brianne. “Ever since Laura…” she trailed off and looked away.

Lucky crossed to Brianne. “I’m just going to stop in and see her for a few minutes and then we’ll stop by your place, okay?”

“Okay,” Brianne nodded, flushing. She hoped his family didn’t think that something…else was going on.

“We were thinking of staying at the house tonight, too,” Emily said, flashing a sympathetic smile to Brianne. “So we can be closer to Lesley and with Lulu.”

“Do you want me to get Cam from my grandmother and stay, too?” Elizabeth asked. “It’d be no problem to pack us up and take a guest room.”

“I would,” Lulu said, wiping her face again. “I don’t want to be alone in that house tonight. Do you have anyone else who can come? Friends, family, strangers on the street?” she asked with a faint smile.

“We have to stop by the memorial,” Elizabeth reminded Emily.

“Right, right.” Emily sighed. “We’ll go now…” she looked to Nikolas. “You can get a ride with Lucky, right?”

Nikolas pulled away from Lulu. “Lu, there’s a memorial for Jason Morgan and Sam McCall’s baby tonight. I have to go for a while, okay?”

“Okay,” Lulu nodded. “But come over right after?”

“Definitely,” Emily kissed her cheek.

Queen of Angels Church

It was small and short ceremony. There was no casket to weep over, no memories to share. Just a group of people and a priest. Jason, Sam and Sonny sat in the front pew, Emily sat with her husband in the behind her brother. Jax snuck in and sat next to Elizabeth in the back. Monica was seated next to Alexis and Ric on the other side of the church.

After a short reading, Sam went to the front and cleared her throat. “I thought it would feel odd to be standing up here, to speak about a daughter that I only held after she was gone–” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I think about the idea that I will never see Adella smile, see her open her eyes, hear her voice–that I will never watch her grow up.” She swallowed hard. “I think about all that I can never have and it is so difficult to get up and face the rest of the day. So I’m not going–I’m not going to think about that anymore.”

 

Her voice broke. “I’m going to think about the first time I felt her flutter inside. The first kick. When I saw my baby on the ultrasound. I’m going to think about all that I was given instead what I can’t have. There are some women who never get that chance and I am thankful that I had her in my life at all.” She bowed her head and took another deep breath and waited a moment until she could go on. “She gave me a dream–and she gave me a future. I never wanted children until I was pregnant. And now…I want a family. I want a child.”

 

She closed her eyes. “So thank you, my sweet little princess, for showing me a life I never dreamed I could have.”

← Chapter Fifteen | Chapter Seventeen →