Written in 60 minutes.

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General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“You know, it feels like it should be illegal to dump paperwork duties on one nurse,” Elizabeth muttered as she reached for another set of insurance forms, then leveled a glare when Patrick dropped two more charts in her bin. “You’re going on the list.”

“I’m on a lot of lists. You’ll need to be more specific—” Patrick scowled when Kelly Lee passed by their desk, the pretty Asian doctor side eying them both, then walking away with a roll of her eyes. “What’s her problem?”

“I took the wrong side in the divorce,” Elizabeth said, scrawling her initials at the bottom of the chart. A few more weeks of E.S. and she’d be going back to E.W. And it was going to be a serious hassle doing that—two divorces before she was thirty—and she was not going to count the fact that she’d technically been married four times. She’d only had two husbands. No point in separating out the individual mistakes.

“No, you’re kidding me. You didn’t cut me off so now Kelly is mad at you?” Patrick shook his head. “I get her hating me—”

“I also haven’t agreed to let bygones be bygones after Lainey ambushed me the day my son was kidnapped.” Elizabeth met his gaze. “Imagine that — I’m not real interested in being friends with someone who thought I hurt my son because my idiot husband caught me crying a few times.”

“Yeah, I guess that would make it hard to be friends. But—”

“And you didn’t do anything wrong, Patrick,” Elizabeth said. “I’m glad you stood your ground. You don’t want to be a father, so you’re letting Robin go. My mother let my father talk her into having more kids, and look where that left me.”

Patrick hesitated. “It’s not that simple—never mind. I’m sorry they’re giving you grief—”

“Kelly and Lainey were fun to hang out with, so I’m sorry we’re losing that. But if they want to be pissed at me because I’m not taking sides in a situation where no one is wrong—” Elizabeth shook her head. “Dodged a bullet on that one.”

“Well, thanks.” He reached for his next patient. “And just for that, I’ll unload the next insurance forms on someone else.”

“Always a prince.”

Elizabeth continued chipping away at the file, sighing as she checked the fax machine and found two more rejections for treatment. Ridiculous insurance system — a doctor who didn’t know you and hadn’t treated you could deny treatment.

“You look irritated. Is this a bad time?”

Elizabeth looked up and made a face. “That would depend, Nikolas, on what you want. I’m busy—”

“I thought you were on maternity leave until the end of October.” Nikolas frowned. “You weren’t supposed to go back until after your birthday.”

“That was before I separated from Lucky. I don’t have an income right now, so—”

“But you’re living with Jason.”

Elizabeth set her pen down. “I’m not surprised I have to explain the difference between a decision made between two people who are married and not taking advantage of a new relationship. Did you come to quiz me on my finances, or—”

“I know you’re angry with me—”

“Angry—” Elizabeth closed one patient’s file and reached for the next. “I passed angry a few weeks ago, Nikolas. I accept that I made choices that hurt people. I accept that resolving those choices meant hurting even more people. But I’m tired of feeling guilty.” And remembering the conversation she’d shared with Jason a few days earlier, “And to be quite honest, Lucky’s the one making the choices now.”

“That’s true. And I wish he’d make different ones—”

“If you wished that, you wouldn’t be paying for the lawyer, Nikolas. Do you know what he did to Cameron?”

“I’m not here to litigate your custody arrangements, okay? I just—I need your help. And maybe I can do more, talk to Lucky—”

“Your kind of help always has strings attached, Nikolas. Gifts turn into loans—” Elizabeth arched her brow. “Tell me what you want from me so can I tell you no and get back to work.”

Nikolas pressed his lips together, clearly reconsidering whether to ask her. “I need you to talk to Emily.”

“What about Emily?”

“She and I were on the road to getting back together, but she’s taking your side in all this, and—”

“I didn’t ask her to take sides. I didn’t ask you to, either.”

“What did you expect from me?” Nikolas demanded. “You are objectively wrong here, Elizabeth. You lied. You lied to Lucky, to Jason, to me and to Emily. You lied to Jake, but he’s the only one too young to notice. You lied to the world, and you think that a few weeks gets you off the hook. When you told the truth, Elizabeth, you humiliated Lucky in front of the world—”

Elizabeth sighed, rubbing her temple. “I know that—”

“And now you’re living with Jason. He’s raising Jake—and Cameron, I’m sure. And all Lucky wanted was not to be cut out. He loves his son—blood doesn’t matter—”

“What Lucky wanted was never mine to give, and Jason’s not obligated to let another man raise his son—”

“He sure didn’t have a problem with that when he thought he was going to jail—”

“You—” Elizabeth got to her feet, leaned over the counter. “You have a lot of nerve coming to the place where I work to demand that I help you with a situation that you created. You took Lucky’s side. It’s not my fault Emily is unhappy with you about it. I never asked her to cut things off with you.”

“You sure as hell didn’t help—”

“I am not the reason your marriage collapsed in the first place. Maybe Emily has second thoughts about reuniting with a man who cheated on her. I sure as hell should have listened to my gut when I had the same doubts.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “What I did was terrible, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. I was scared, and I was selfish. I felt paralyzed by what I had done, and I didn’t know how to fix it. I still don’t know the right thing to do. And you didn’t have any suggestions the last time we talked, either, Nikolas. This situation doesn’t have a happy ending for everyone—”

“No, only for you and Jason. Everyone else is miserable and choosing sides—”

“I am not going to feel guilty. You are not going to put that on me. I’m tired—” Elizabeth squeezed her eyes closed, the familiar weight on her shoulders. “I’m tired, Nikolas. I should have kept running last year, but I didn’t. I’m sorry for what you’re going through, but it’s not my fault. Fix your own problems with Emily. Leave me out of it.”

Greystone: Kitchen

Sonny handed Jason a mug of coffee. “How are things shaping up for the custody hearing? Not long now, right?”

“Two more weeks.” Jason shifted. “Diane thinks it’ll be pretty smooth sailing. The park—” He grimaced. “It put the last nail in Lucky’s coffin. So I’ll be back full-time—”

“No hurry.” Sonny adjusted the volume on the baby monitor in case Jake stirred. Jason had left Cameron with spend some time with Audrey, but he couldn’t help but keep Jake close. After all the months of thinking he’d never get the chance— “You got a few big family holidays coming up. You should concentrate on that.”

Jason shook his head. “It’s already been months—”

“And it’s quiet, like I said.  The PCPD are…well, they’re distracted. Not that I like the reason, but it’s stupid not to take advantage of it. The Zaccharas are starting to make some noises—”

“The Zaccharas? Since when do they care about us?” Jason set the coffee back on the counter. “They’re in Manhattan—”

“Word is out that Anthony isn’t doing well. A heart attack or something. And that means some of his guys are starting to make pushes for power. Anthony’s recuperating up here, at their Crimson Point compound. Something to keep our eye on in case they want to make trouble up here.” Sonny sipped his coffee. “Low-level priority. And there’s always some worry about the power vacuum left by Alcazar.”

“That’s Miami. Roy DeLuca’s still taking  care of that, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, and there’ve been some snags in shipments to the island, but all in all, things are steady.” Sonny waited a moment. “You took a lot of weight on your shoulders when you got home a few years ago. Made it possible for me to take a bit of a backseat to spend time with Michael, then with Morgan. It’s my turn to return the favor. You got an infant, a toddler learning to trust you, and a partner who works full-time. No reason for you to deal with every little thing.” Sonny lifted the coffee to his mouth, paused one more time. “Unless you miss it.”

“Maybe eventually, but right now—” Jason listened to Jake stirring on the monitor. “No, I’m happy the way things are.”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

Robert removed his reading glasses, set them on top of the case file, and looked at his brother. “I know what you’re looking for, Mac, but I can’t find a single example of Lucky Spencer dropping the ball on this.”

“Come on, Robert—” Mac shoved back from his  desk, scowling. “He’s distracted by personal issues. Divorce. Custody—”

“He followed up every lead from the campus, from his witnesses. He ordered all the right labs, pushed for a search warrant at the frat house. He’s got security footage he’s reviewing—and asked the right questions. He’s recorded every interview so there’s a good paper trail. There’s nothing more he can do.”

“Nothing more to do for my daughter,” Mac muttered. “I don’t accept that. Her case can’t be dead.”

“It’s not dead. There’s always a chance you catch a stray detail from the security. The DNA could come back with a match. Mac, you know better. Sometimes, despite all the odds, there’s nothing fresh to follow up on.”

“George was murdered in public, damn it—how can there be nothing? How do I tell Chelsea’s family that there’s no justice—”

“It’s been a week, Mac.” Robert’s voice remained calm. “Merely a week. I know it seems a lifetime, but it’s not. Your detective has covered all the ground he can until a new lead breaks.”

Mac sank back into his chair, put his head in his hands. “She was just a baby,” he murmured. “It’s not fair that I’m here and she’s not.”

“Mac, all we can do is work the case, and put one foot in the front of the other. And I think you know that even finding the animal who did this — it won’t make it better. You still won’t have answers from the universe.”

“You know, we tell families that we’ll get them justice. That we’ll track down the murderers and put them on trial. That it will give them closure.” Mac shook his head. “I won’t ever say it again. There is no closure. There is no justice. There’s only retribution. And it won’t be enough.”

“No, it won’t. I’m sorry, little  brother.” Robert leaned forward. “But we won’t give up. We won’t let this happen to someone else.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Lucky, hey—”

Lucky turned from the entrance to the diner, letting the handle go and the door swing back shut. He found his sister ducking under the arched entrance. “Lu. Hey.”

She hugged him tightly. “How are you? I know you’ve been swamped with the case—” Her eyes were dim when she pulled back. “Dillon’s staying around for a few weeks, I think he’s hoping for a miracle. But he’s so quiet. He and Spinelli both are. Which is probably scarier than anything else, you know?”

“I’m sure you’re filling the silences.” Lucky gestured for her to take a seat. “I know you and Georgie had your differences—”

“It was better this year, actually. She forgave me for last summer which I didn’t deserve, and me and Dillon are friends again. And you know, Spinelli, he really helped bridge that. He’s so sweet. It’s hard to be mad around him.”

“Yeah, he’s a good kid. I hope he gets around to forgiving himself for going home that night.” Lucky squinted. “You didn’t go to the party.”

“No, I was going to, but I had a paper due that Monday, and I decided not to leave it until the last minute. I think about it, you know. What if I’d gone? I’d have stayed. Chels might not have been drinking. It was about a boy—”

“You knew her?”

“Just a little. She and Georgie got tight last year — when, uh, Maxie was really spiraling,” Lulu said, and Lucky winced at the reminder of Maxie, the disastrous affair, the faked pregnancy— “And I wasn’t much help because, you know, I couldn’t be. And Spinelli wasn’t really in the picture yet. And she was squirrelly with Dillon after everything they’d been through. So when Chels got assigned to her room, it was really great for them, actually. But I went to some of the same parties, and we got to know each other. They weren’t party girls, Lucky. Chels had her eye on this guy—” She bit her lip. “I don’t remember his name but it might have been something like Bryce or Bruce—anyway, if she was drinking, it was because of him. They never did more than one beer just to look good.”

“Thanks. I’ll look into this guy.” Lucky started to stand, but Lulu snagged his arm. “What did you think of something else?”

“No.” Lulu licked her lips. “I actually—I’ve been trying to find a good time to tell you that I had Spinelli give me Diane’s number.”

Lucky exhaled slowly. “Diane Miller.”

“Yeah. Um, it was before Georgie. Not that it matters, I guess. But it was that day. It was part of the reason I was late on my paper. After I left Wyndemere, I was really upset. So I called Spinelli from the pier, and he set me up with her that day.”

“You’re going to testify at the hearing.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I am. I was just so angry that day—and I’m still mad because it—” Lulu’s eyes filled with tears. “It just made me feel like I did when I was trying to get Dad to notice me, and Cam was so upset—”

“No, it’s—” Lucky shook his head. “It’s fine. It’s—you gotta do what you think is right, Lu. I—”

“Lucky—”

“I need to get some coffee. I’ll call you if I have any other questions about Chelsea and Georgie.”

Lucky pushed his way into the diner, his mind whirling. He’d known that terrible day in the park would be an issue, but he was hoping he could explain it away, that he could find a way to fix it—

But if his own sister was going to testify against him, what hope did he have?

“You look like you’ve had a bad day.”

Lucky blinked, focused on the voice, and found Sam at one of the tables. She used her foot to gently push out of the chair across from her. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

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