August 15, 2005

 

General Hospital: Locker Room
Patrick Drake had been working at General Hospital for a little more than six months. He’d come to Port Charles on the recommendation of a college buddy who had ended up as an English professor at the local university. Pete had been playing a trick on him–neglecting to tell him that Noah Drake–Patrick’s absentee father–was the Chief of Surgery.

Pete had always had a warped sense of humor.

Father and son still had nothing resembling a relationship and Patrick and Pete had picked up their friendship where they’d left off after college (when Patrick’s unyielding residency schedule allowed the time to hit the bars) but there was something…lacking in the whole experience thus far.

Patrick was inclined to blame it on a fellow surgical resident–one Dr. Robin Scorpio. If she had just followed the script to which he was accustomed, he was sure that this strange obsession would have passed. But she’d rebuffed his initial dinner invitation as well as the next three.

Not a huge fan of rejection (and also somewhat new to the concept) he had backed off and pursued other candidates for the position of temporary bed mate. But none had lasted more than a night and it had been more than three months since the position had last been filled.

He blamed Robin entirely for this.

Patrick slammed his locker shut and tugged on his lab coat before exiting the room and running straight into Emily Quartermaine, a fourth year medical student that he’d briefly flirted with before she’d nearly knocked his eye out with the diamond engagement ring she wore like a shield.

“Hey, didn’t you just leave like an hour ago?” Emily asked falling into step next to him as they headed for the ER desk.

“More like four. I crashed at my place for three hours and came back.” Patrick perused the list of patients on the white board before turning his attention to the desk clerk. “Hey, Renee, any surgical consults?”

“Nope, Dr. Drake,” the clerk remarked. “But I got a sick kid in Curtain Two if you’re interested.”

“No, thanks. I’ll do my rounds instead.” He reached for a stack of charts and turned back to Emily. “You been in to see the accident victims yet?”

“Not yet.” Emily’s eyes perked up. “Why? Can I go with you on your rounds?”

“Miss Quartermaine,” a voice called from the other end of the hall. Emily huffed and turned to see her resident motioning for her.

“One more year, and that will be Dr. Quartermaine,” Emily muttered. “I guess you get to have all the fun while I get stuck doing another rectal exam.” She reached for the box of rubber gloves on the counter and snapped a pair on. “Coming, Dr. Carroll.”

“Ah, the life of a student,” Patrick called after her as he tucked the charts under his arm and headed for the elevator. He didn’t miss those days at all.

General Hospital: ICU

Robin watched through the glass window as Felicia brushed her cousin’s blonde hair off her forehead and said something to Robin’s uncle.

Maxie had woken up briefly but was still drifting in and out. She hadn’t been coherent enough to tell about Serena Baldwin’s death nor the conditions of her other friends and Robin, for one, did not want to be the one to tell her.

She knew Maxie would take it hard, that she would assume the greater responsibility since she had been driving–and that it had been her idea to go out after the club. She would suffer from survivor’s guilt.

It was a condition Robin was all too familiar with.

“Her vitals are good,” Patrick said, stepping up to her side. “She’s going to pull through.”

“Hmm,” Robin murmured. “She’s always been a fighter.” She glanced at him. “Did you see the other girls already?”

“All recovering nicely and officially off the surgical service,” Patrick replied. “I think they’re even releasing Georgie tomorrow, but Lulu and Sage had more severe concussions and I think they want to keep them longer in ortho.”

They stood there for another long moment in silence before Robin spoke again. “I’m standing here thinking that I don’t want to be the one to tell her that Serena didn’t make it, because I know it will destroy her.”

“Losing a friend is always rough,” Patrick nodded, hating himself for remembering what Emily Quartermaine had said much earlier that day about this being his ticket into Robin’s affections. The annoying girl had been right of course and most of the time, Patrick wouldn’t think twice about taking advantage of Robin’s clear vulnerability but for some reason, some infuriating reason, it just didn’t seem like a palatable course of action for Patrick.

Something else to lay at Robin’s feet. Before her, the only ethics and morality he’d worried about had been in medicine.

“It was her idea to be there,” Robin explained, unaware of Patrick’s inner turmoil. “Serena was leaving later this week for college and Maxie had a list of things they needed to do to make this summer memorable and last night was seeing the sun rise at Vista Point.”

“Being hit by a drunk driver is hardly her fault,” Patrick replied. “She couldn’t have predicted that.”

“It won’t matter to her,” Robin said. “That’s too rational and the human heart doesn’t work like that. Just because she didn’t cause the accident, to Maxie, it’s not going to matter. She’s just going to remember that Serena is gone and she’s going to have to go on without her. She’s not just going to be upset, she’s going to feel guilty.”

“Sounds like you have a bit of experience in that area,” Patrick said, narrowing his eyes.

“You have no idea.” The beeper at Robin’s waist chirped and she glanced down at it. “I…gotta go.”

“ER?” Patrick inquired.

Robin shook her head. “Not quite.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Thanks for meeting me.”

Elizabeth set her purse at her side and lowered herself into the chair opposite of Carly. “It sounded important. I assumed you’d be at the hospital most of the day.”

“I was.” Carly shifted and rubbed her eyes. “But Lucas and Kyle drove back from college and got to the hospital about noon. I went home to reassure Michael and Morgan that Sage was okay.” She paused as the waitress set a plate of fries and two sodas on the table. “I only ordered one plate, I didn’t think we’d be here long.”

“That’s fine.” Elizabeth frowned. “Carly…did something happen after you got home?”

Carly exhaled slowly. “You might say that. I shipped the boys over to Alexis to play with Kristina so they didn’t hear the message.” She sipped her soda. “Look, you can’t tell Jason, okay? I haven’t told Lorenzo yet and I’m not sure how to, so I just need–I need someone to listen.”

“Now I’m worried–Carly, what’s wrong? What message?” Elizabeth demanded.

“It was from a lawyer.” Carly closed her eyes. “Apparently Sonny’s treatment has progressed to the point where he’s ready to receive family members. He contacted me about two months ago about seeing the boys and I refused. I never told anyone.”

“Oh, Carly…”

“And now Sonny’s threatening me with court action and I’m terrified a judge will make me take the boys to him.” She huffed. “God, how can he be so selfish? How can he think only of himself? The boys are doing wonderful without him. There’s no violence in their lives, no crashing mini bars, no strange outbursts of rage and no routine breaking up of their parents’ marriage. Michael is well-adjusted, he’s doing so well in school–how can Sonny want me to jeopardize that?”

“And Morgan–Morgan doesn’t even know Sonny. He’s never even seen him, he thinks Lorenzo is his father, you know. I never meant for that to happen, but how can we avoid it, you know?”

“Carly, Carly–” Elizabeth reached across the table and put a hand over the blonde’s to get her attention. “Take a deep breath. I’m sure we can fix this, we just have to concentrate.”

“I know, I know–I’m sure I’ll think of something but I just–I can’t handle any more stress right now. It was bad enough Sage was leaving the dorm in another two weeks–I had barely resigned myself to that but now she’s in the hospital, all of her closest friends are injured and one of them is dead. She’s going to need me to be focused on her and I can’t afford the energy to get into a legal battle with Sonny.” Carly pushed her soda to the side and put her head on the table. “Oh, God, I think I’m going to be sick.”

“I’m no lawyer, but surely you can fight this in family court,” Elizabeth said, hesitating as she tried to remember what little she knew about the legal system. “I mean, Morgan’s never met Sonny, you can probably prove that it would only confuse and hurt him. He’s also barely two years old; it’s unlikely a court will force you to take him to a psychiatric hospital.”

Carly’s eyes brightened. “Right. I’m sure I can use Morgan’s age.” She bit her lip. “But Michael’s almost ten. I couldn’t–they would make him go.”

“Probably,” Elizabeth allowed, “but Carly, you always have a trump card where Michael is concerned.”

Carly narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What trump–” she stopped and shook her head. “No, no–you can’t possibly be suggesting–”

“I’m sure the word of a biological father would carry some weight,” Elizabeth said. “Even if his parental rights were terminated and if necessary, I think Zander could testify that he was forced because he was there when Sonny hung him from that hook. It’s just an option, Carly.”

“If I acknowledge in court that AJ is Michael’s father…” Carly shook her head. “He’d want custody, he’d want Michael and that would just make things worse–”

“Or if I know AJ at all, he might take the opportunity to one-up Sonny and be willing to leave it at that,” Elizabeth interrupted. “It’s worth thinking about, but it depends on how desperate you are to keep Michael from seeing Sonny.”

Carly glared at her. “God, I hate when you’re right. This is exactly why I should have told Courtney. She hates AJ nearly as much I do.”

Elizabeth smirked. “Guess that’s why Courtney lives fifty miles away and I’m five blocks away.”

General Hospital: Sage’s Hospital Room

If an eight ton truck had rolled across her chest, Sage Alcazar didn’t think she could feel any worse than she did the first time she opened her eyes for longer than ten seconds.

“Oh God,” she mumbled. She gingerly turned her head just a smidge to the left and found herself meeting the very concerned gaze of her boyfriend. “Lucas? You weren’t here the last time I woke up, were you?”

“No.” He leaned forward and grasped her hand. “Are you in pain? Do you need the doctor?”

“No,” Sage frowned. “No pain.” She turned her head to the other side and found Georgie Jones sleeping in the bed next to her, Mac Scorpio at her side. She turned back to Lucas.

“What–I don’t remember what happened.” She licked her lips. “Where’s Lu? And Maxie and Serena?”

Lucas scrubbed his hands over his face. “Ah. God, Sage. You never start with the little stuff.”

“What? Why?” Sage’s eyes widened and she tried sit up. “Lucas, where are they?”

“Lu is down the hall,” Lucas said slowly. “And Maxie is in the ICU.”

“ICU?” Sage repeated. “She’s okay right? Is that where Serena is?”

“Ah…” Lucas licked his lips. “Sage–”

“Tell me they’re both okay, Lucas. I’m clearly not in a position to be freaking out but that’s exactly what I’m doing, I am freaking out–”

Mac glanced over from Georgie’s bed. “Lucas, you okay over there?”

“Mac…” Sage turned to the commissioner. “Maxie and Serena–they’re okay right? They’re in the ICU–” she stopped and turned back to Lucas. “Oh, God. You said Maxie was in the ICU and Lu was down the hall.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You never said Serena was anywhere. Lucas–please…”

“I don’t know all the details,” he said quietly, brimming with his own grief at the loss of a girl he’d known most of his life. “Or all the reasons why, but Serena and Maxie were both on the driver’s side and that’s where the car struck–”

“No,” Sage whispered. “Not Serena–please–”

“There was a head injury, I think. And some internal bleeding, I guess Robin would be able to give all the details.” Lucas swiped a hand over his eyes and swallowed hard. “Serena died.”

“She’s going to be a dancer,” Sage whispered. “You’re lying. She’s fine and this isn’t a funny joke, okay? She’s down the hall or something and she’s going to NYU and she’s going to dance, and we’re all gonna see her on stage. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, so just stop and tell me she’s okay.”

“I can’t,” Lucas told her. “I wish to God I were joking, that I were lying, I’d give anything–”

“No–” Sage shook her head. “You’re lying, she’s okay, she has to be okay. We didn’t finish the list, okay? We’ve still got stuff to do, so she’s okay–”

“Sage–”

“You’re lying,” she repeated, her voice rising. “Get out, okay? Just go. I can’t–I can’t deal with this right now.”

“Sage–” Lucas tried again.

“Get out!”

He jerked out of the chair and left the room, smacking the outside wall with his fist. The last thing he’d wanted to do was make this situation worse. He should have avoided the question, should have found a way to make her feel better, to feel safe and instead…

The door to the girls’ room opened behind him and Mac stepped out. “You okay? That was pretty rough.”

Lucas coughed and nodded. “Yeah, I’m just–I think I handled that all wrong, you know. I’ll fix it–”

“Lucas–” Mac put a hand on his shoulder. “Unfortunately, anyone who came to her with that news was going to get the same reaction. Serena–” he shook his head. “You know what those five girls have been like for the last year, quite frankly, I’d have been surprised if Sage had reacted any less violently.”

“I just…all I want to do is make it better,” Lucas said quietly, “and I just feel like I failed completely.” He met Mac’s eyes. “I’ve known Serena since her dad moved them back to PC like ten years ago, you know? She was a grade behind me and everything, but she’s been part of my extended family forever. When my mom was dating Scott Baldwin, we thought we were going to be stepsiblings. Serena wasn’t just their friend, she was mine too. And I still can’t quite…” he shook his head. “I’m never going to talk to her again. I’m never going to see her smile or get to see her name in lights in New York. She’s never going to be on stage. Her dreams are never going to come true. And you know what I feel most guilty about?”

“What’s that?”

“That I’m just so damn glad it wasn’t Sage.”

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