This is the opening scene to a story I never really did anything with. I had a brief concept that Jason would turn in Sonny to save Spinelli, Sonny would flee, blah, blah. There was a vision of Nadine and Elizabeth doing karaoke and singing Alanis Morrisette You Oughta Know with Jason, Sam, Nikolas and Rebecca in the room. Haha, it never got far. But I did just write this scene.

 

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Pictures of you, pictures of me
Hung upon your wall for the world to see
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Remind us all of what we could have been
– Pictures of You, The Last Goodnight

——————–

 June 15, 2009

 Kelly’s Diner: Courtyard

The headline of the Port Charles Herald screamed SONNY CORITHOS SKIPS BAIL! It wasn’t the first time the mafia crime lord had been in the papers, but even Elizabeth Webber Lansing Spencer had to admit that this was the first time she’d seen this particular type of headline. Sonny usually slipped through the cracks of the legal system like a snake, but it seemed that would not be the case this time.

“Anything remotely interesting?”

Elizabeth glanced up to see Patrick Drake slide into the seat across the table from him, looking tired. “Hey, you. Bad night?”

The neurosurgeon rubbed his eyes and reached for her pot of coffee to pour a cup. “Emma had some trouble staying asleep last night.”

Elizabeth frowned. “She’s nearly eight months old, she should be sleeping through the night.”

“She does most of the time,” he said, stirring some cream in his coffee. “But she’s always cranky after a day with Robin.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth settled her lips into a thin line, thinking about the situation. A difficult bout with post-partum depression had been brutal on Patrick’s wife Robin. It had started small, with Robin being reluctant to pick up Emma, to spend time with her and it had spiraled into Robin leaving Emma at various places around town, forgetting about her.

It had come to a head when Patrick had caught her with another man at a motel room in Rochester, where she had set herself up as a pharmaceutical rep named Nancy. A single, child-free woman. Robin swore she’d never slept with him, but Patrick couldn’t bring himself to believe that. He could have forgiven nearly anything, but not putting their daughter in danger. They’d separated and Robin was seeing a counselor now, with supervised visits with Emma, but nothing had been said by either of them about reconciliation.

“I’m so relieved that General Hospital is reopening next Monday,” Elizabeth said, swiftly changing the subject. “Working at Mercy has been interesting, but it’s further away from my house than GH. It’ll be nice to have more time with the boys.”

“I’ll be happy to be back in familiar surroundings.” Patrick sipped his coffee. “So…any chance you’re going to make my little brother settle down?”

Elizabeth burst out into laughter. “Oh, you almost sound serious when you say that!” She dragged her hand through her long dark hair. “The only way to get Matt Hunter to settle down is to hog tie him.” She shook her head. “Matt and I aren’t seeing each other anymore and it’s just fine with the both of us.”

“You’d be good for him,” Patrick said seriously. “I think you should–”

“Patrick, I can’t believe I have to explain this to you of all people.” She tilted her head to the side. “I was lonely. Lucky had started to see Rebecca and things with Jason were just…not there anymore. I wanted to be with someone and Matt…well, you know…Patrick, it’s called sex.”

He scowled. “I know that,” he muttered. “I just…never pictured you as someone–”

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “As what?” she said, her tone warning him to tread lightly.

“I just want you to be happy,” Patrick managed to say. “And for my brother to be happy. Is that so awful?”

“Nice save.” Elizabeth ripped a piece from her chocolate muffin and popped it into her mouth. “Matt’s a nice guy. But he’s going to be someone else’s nice guy. End of story.”

The door to Kelly’s swung open and Robin Scorpio-Drake entered. Her dark eyes scanned the diner before settling on her estranged husband and friend sharing coffee. She narrowed her eyes.

Elizabeth tapped Patrick under the table with her foot. “Robin just came in,” she murmured. “Should I excuse myself?”

“I wish I were man enough to say yes,” Patrick admitted with a bitter half-smile, “but I’m a coward. Please don’t leave me.”

“Patrick,” Elizabeth murmured, watching as Robin stood just in the doorway, obviously deciding whether or not she should approach them. “You’ll never fix anything this way.”

“”I’m not interested in fixing anything. She spent our last counseling session blaming me for everything as usual.”

“Well, if it isn’t my husband and my best friend,” Robin said, finally coming towards them. “What is this…the tenth time I’ve come across the two of you together?”

“Good morning, Robin,” Elizabeth said politely. “Are you looking forward to GH reopening?”

“Oh, I won’t be returning to GH,” Robin said caustically. She glared at Patrick. “Someone has seen to it that my privileges were suspended.”

Elizabeth flicked her gaze back to her breakfast partner. “Oh, you moron,” she breathed.

“I didn’t do anything like that,” Patrick retorted. “You exhibited plenty of unstable behavior while you were on staff at Mercy. You ran out on shifts, forgot patients–did you think Monica wasn’t going to notice?”

“Oh, I’m sure you were all too willing say something in her ear,” the brunette shot back. She planted a hand on her hip. “It isn’t enough that you’ve kicked me out and taken my daughter–the baby you didn’t want–”

“Robin, this isn’t helping anyone,” Elizabeth interrupted.

“Oh, butt out, you sanctimonious bitch,” Robin snarled.

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

“We get it, you’re the perfect mother, the perfect nurse, the perfect friend,” Robin spat. “Too bad you couldn’t manage to be the perfect wife or you wouldn’t always be sniffing around my husband–”

“That’s enough,” Patrick cut in sharply. He looked at Elizabeth and the nurse closed her mouth, her lips settling into a mutinous line. He then looked at his wife. “You’re not taking anything Lainey has prescribed, are you?”

“You’re not my father–”

“No, I’m just supposed be your goddamned husband,” he returned. “Until you start following Lainey’s treatment, then we have nothing to say to each other. Keeping pushing me and I swear to God, I will file for complete custody of Emma and you’ll be lucky if you can see her from fifty feet away.”

Instead of responding, Robin glared at him for another minute before spinning on her heel and stalking out, the diner door swinging wildly behind her.

“She’s getting worse,” Elizabeth murmured. “She’s never spoken to me like that before.” She looked back to Patrick. “I hate myself for saying this but I think Robin needs more help than you can give her. I’m surprised Mac hasn’t done more.”

“He’s not really willing to admit anything. He blames me. I never kicked her out–she just went to Mac’s and never–”

“Patrick…” Elizabeth reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to explain to me. I know what happened, and I know how hard you’re trying.” She sipped her coffee. “Tell you what, why don’t you let me take Emma today. I’m spending the day in the park with Cam and Jake. I bet they’d love to play with her. Emma will get some socializing time and you can go to work and maybe relax a little.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” He shook his head.

“You’re not, I’m offering. Besides, you know I love getting my hands on that little girl.” Elizabeth replied with a smile.

“You know, you could be her actual aunt if you would just–” Patrick began.

“Don’t start.”

| Discarded Plot Sketch: Heaven Forbid →