I experimented with a few different opening scenes before settling on one. One of which is lost due to computer crash–other is this short collection of scenes, perhaps half a chapter.  The other outake concerned the teens having a night out at Club 101, which is all I really remember of it. I might still find it one day, you never know.

---

 

August 15, 2005

Alcazar & Corinthos House: Sage’s Bedroom

Carly Corinthos folded one of her adopted daughter’s tank tops and set it on top of a pile already settled into her suitcase. In just a week, Sage Alcazar would be moving out of this bedroom and into a dorm room at Port Charles University with Maxie Jones.

She wasn’t ready for this. She hadn’t been ready for the sex talk (though by the time Carly had gathered the courage to have it, Sage had already been there and done that) and she certainly hadn’t been ready for Sage to graduate from high school.

But here she was, all the same, helping Sage pack her room.

“Carly, you know that you don’t have to help,” Sage sat on her bed and smiled fondly at the woman who had gone out of her way to adopt her and be the first real mother she’d ever known.

Carly sighed, “No, the best way to accept this is to help you pack.” She reached for a sweater and sighed again. “I remember when I bought this for you.”

Sage smirked. “Me, too. It was two weeks ago.” She reached across the bed and squeezed Carly’s hand. “I know you think you’re losing me. Believe me, Uncle Zo can’t hide it either. But it could have been worse.”

“How?” Carly demanded, failing to see how anything could be worse than her first baby leaving her. It didn’t matter that Carly had known Sage for two years and had only adopted her a year ago. Sage was her daughter, her family and Carly protected no one like she protected family.

“Well,” Sage drawled. “I could have gone to Yale to be with Lucas and Kyle.” She patted Carly’s shoulder. “But I’m staying in Port Charles with Maxie and Dillon. We’re going to PCU. And Georgie and Lu will join us in another year. And then Lucas and Kyle are coming back for grad school. It’s really going to work out, Carly. Just the way we planned it.”

Morgan Apartment: Dining Room/Studio

Elizabeth Morgan slowly set the cordless phone back on its base and let her fingers tap restlessly against the table on which the phone sat. That had been her obstetrician, Dr. Kelly Lee, who was just reporting that the results of Elizabeth’s fertility tests had come back positive.

There was no reason she hadn’t conceived another child in the year that she and Jason had been trying. No blockage, no abnormalities–everything was squeaky clean and perfect. Kelly had just told her that she was probably stressing out over it and putting too much pressure on her body to come through.

It would happen.

Elizabeth put the phone call out of her mind and turned back to her sketching. In the year since she had finally married Jason, her art career had finally turned into…a career. She’d had her first show six months ago and was due to follow its success with another in a few months. She’d quit Kelly’s and now had all the time in the world to devote to her art, to her husband, and of course, to her beloved daughter, Lila Emily Morgan, who had turned a year old two months ago.

She shook herself out of her melancholy. She had a beautiful little girl and a wonderful life. Another child would only make things better but she was happy with the state of things. She would just concentrate on those for now.

General Hospital: Lobby

“Free at last!” Maxie Jones balled up her volunteer’s uniform and then tossed it in the trash before raised her hands in the air. “Thank God Almighty, I am free at last!”

“You use the best quotes at the most inappropriate times,” Dillon Quartermaine sighed, deeply disappointed. He turned to his girlfriend. “I thought you were going to work on that.”

“Hey, I can’t really blame her,” Georgie Jones remarked. “I only wish that I could be saying goodbye to that uniform.” She held her finger up. “One more year and I will be just as free as Maxie.”

“Oh, come on,” Robin Scorpio rolled her eyes. “The hospital is not that bad.” She reached into the trash bin and removed Maxie’s uniform. “And Norma Rae, this doesn’t belong to you–you’re supposed to turn it into the hospital.”

“Oh, sure,” Maxie rolled her eyes dramatically. “It’s the symbolism of the thing. The principal. Casting off the shackles of my servitude and rising above my oppressors.”

“I bet you miss Paris right now,” Dillon remarked to Robin.

“Oh, quiet you,” Maxie sniffed. She wound her arm through Robin’s and held on to her cousin tightly. “You know you missed me.”

“Desperately,” Robin said dryly. “All that culture and history, that fashion and beauty–it can’t possibly compare to the glory of my dear cousin Maxie.”

Maxie wrinkled her nose. “I know you’re being sarcastic but I’m going to take that as a serious compliment.” She released Robin’s arm and took a step back. “You know what you need?”

“No, don’t answer that, it’s a trick,” Dillon cautioned. “She told that to Sage last week and ended up getting her some sort of piercing in a very odd place.”

“Lucas will love it,” Maxie promised Dillon. “And if Georgie wouldn’t so prim and proper, she’d have one too.” She shook her head. “Never mind Sage. We’re talking about you, Robin.”

“We’re really not,” Robin replied. She started for the parking lot and the trio followed her–she was their ride home after all. Maxie had gotten one speeding ticket too many and Mac had grounded her from the car until she left for college.

“Sure we are. What you need, my gorgeous cousin whom I happen to adore is a man!” Maxie declared with a flourish of her hand–that accidentally whacked someone going through the double doors.

“Son of a–” the guy braced a hand against his bleeding nose.

“Oh, my gosh!” Maxie started to dig through her purse for a tissue. “I am so sorry!”

“Would you believe this isn’t the first time that’s happened?” Dillon told Robin as he removed the packet of tissues from his back pocket and passed them to Maxie’s victim.

“Absolutely,” Robin sighed. “I really am sorry for my cousin–”

“Sincerely,” Maxie cut in. “I talk way too much with my hands and they just start going all over the place. I’ve racked up some serious injuries. Really, totally, unbelievable sorry.”

“It’s okay.” The guy tossed the tissue into the nearby trash can. “My mother was Italian. I’ve seen her break some noses.”

“Well, hey, Maxie doesn’t stop at breaking noses,” Dillon said. “She’s knocked out teeth, dislodged shoulders–”

“I have not, you traitor!” Maxie gasped, betrayed. She whacked Dillon in the shoulder. And then she focused on the guy that she’d maimed and perked up. He was hot.

And he was in Robin’s age bracket.

“Project!” Maxie squealed. “Georgie, Dillon, we have to go to the, ah, well–somewhere else.” She grabbed her sister elbow and dragged her back into the hospital. “Robin, we’ll be right back, I forgot something in the lounge and I absolutely need it for my dorm room.”

Robin watched her cousins and Dillon disappear and turned back to Maxie’s victim. “She gets less subtle with age, it’s really kind of sad,” she sighed, severely put upon. “I’m Robin Scorpio and you were assaulted by Maxie Jones.”

“Patrick Drake, and I can think of worse ways to meet a lovely woman.” He grinned and Robin resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was one of those guys. “Do you work here?” Patrick continued.

“Yes–I’m a pathologist in the lab,” Robin replied. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around though–”

“I just signed the paperwork today. I’m the new neurosurgeon–I think I’m replacing someone who just retired.”

“Tony Jones,” Robin nodded. “Well–” she leaned back and sighed in relief when she saw Georgie and Dillon practically tugging Maxie towards the exit.

“Do you want to have dinner?” Patrick cut in. He flashed that grin again and Robin was sorry that such a lovely grin and gorgeous dimples were wasted on an obvious womanizer.

“No,” Robin said bluntly.

August 15, 2005

Port Charles, New York

Heaven bent to take my hand
And lead me through the fire

Maxie Jones was in constant motion–every second, every minute, every hour of the day. Her hands were always flying, her teeth flashing in a dimpled smile and words just flowed from her mouth like water rushing from a faucet.

She was more than silent, she was utterly still. The paramedics that were crowded around her knew her, had watched her grow up as the stepdaughter of the police commissioner, as a volunteer and aspiring nurse at General Hospital and they worked fervently to save her life, to keep her heart pumping.

A few feet from the vivacious teenager lay the remains of the crumpled car Mac Scorpio had given her for graduation and inside, four more teenaged girls were trapped. The dark night sky was beginning to streak with the purple and pinks of a new day and cars were pulling up to the wreckage–cars filled with family and friends, with reporters and curious bystanders.

Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight

“You don’t understand!” Felicia Scorpio-Jones snarled as an officer made a vain attempt to hold the mother back behind the yellow tape. “Those are my girls, those my daughters and my life–”

“Sage!” another woman screamed. She fought to get through onlookers, tore at jackets and sleeves and skin to get to the front, hoping desperately for some glimpse of the girl she thought of as her own. Nothing and no one could keep Carly Corinthos from getting what she wanted.

Directly behind her, swathed in his customary black, Lorenzo Alcazar followed in Carly’s path, his brown eyes searching the accident scene, but seeing only Maxie Jones being loaded into the ambulance. “Where is she?” he demanded.

Truth be told I’ve tried my best
But somewhere along the way

At the car they had abandoned, Elizabeth Morgan rubbed her bare arms despite the hot summer morning. “If anything happened to Sage,” she murmured, “I don’t know that Carly or Lorenzo would be able to handle that.”

Her husband put his arm around her and knew they were both thinking about their one year old daughter, Lila, currently at home with Elizabeth’s grandmother. “Carly’s stronger than she looks,” Jason murmured.

General Hospital: Emergency Room

I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear

“We’ve got five kids coming in from an accident, two are critical.” Emily Quartermaine tugged a hair band from her wrist and threw her hair up in a messy pony tail. “Drunk driver smashed into their car near Vista Point and fled the scene.”

“Then how do they know it was a drunk?” Robin Scorpio asked, making some last minute notes on an old chart.

“Don’t know, didn’t ask,” Emily replied.

Robin turned to the nurse at the station. “Page both Drs. Quartermaine, and both Drakes, I’m sure we’re going to need a neurosurgeon or two.”

“And all the nurses you can find,” Emily remarked. “Can’t do this without them.”

The nurse, Epiphany, humped. “Damn right,” she said under her breath as she turned to make the pages.

Princeton, New Jersey

Though I’ve tried, I’ve fallen
I have sunk so low

Kyle Radcliffe slammed the phone down and moved the short distance from the living room to the bedroom where his roommate Lucas Jones was passed out. “Get up!”

“Who, what?” Lucas raised his head sleepily from the pillow and scrubbed at his eyes. “What the hell–it’s barely five in the morning–”

“There was an accident back in PC,” Kyle said roughly. He grabbed Lucas’s school bag and threw at him. “We’re driving home. Be ready to go in five minutes.”

“Wait–” Lucas rolled out of bed and clumsily stuck his legs through the jeans he’d discarded the night before. “What kind of accident? What’s going on?”

“The girls were hit, that was Dillon on the phone,” Kyle called from his room where he was hastily shoving clothes in his backpack and trying to remember where he’d left his wallet.

“Which girls?” Lucas demanded. He appeared in Kyle’s doorway. “Which girls?” he repeated.

“All of them.” Kyle pushed past him and went into the kitchen to grab a few bottles of water and toss a few bags of chips into his bag. “They were on their way home from the club last night and it was the night to see the sunrise at Vista Point. It was on Maxie’s list of things to do before Serena left for college.”

“Did Dillon say if they’re okay?” Lucas grabbed Kyle’s arm as he headed towards the door of their apartment. “Damn it, Kyle, stop for five seconds and tell me what the hell is going on.”

I have messed up
Better I should know

“He didn’t know,” Kyle answered. “He was on his way out the door to the hospital. We have to get on the road now. It’s going to take six hours to drive there as it is.”

“Did Dillon know anything?” Lucas swiped his wallet from the counter and shoved into his back pocket.

“He said it was bad,” Kyle confessed after a long moment. “He wouldn’t say anything else but he said he’d call us when he got to the hospital. Lucas, we have to go now.”

“He didn’t know if anyone had–” Lucas had to stop, had to prepare himself to ask this. “If anyone had died, did he?”

“He would have said something,” Kyle said roughly. “But no, he didn’t know. He didn’t know anything other than they’d been in an accident and that it was serious.”

Lucas swallowed. “I guess we better go then.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

So don’t come round here
And tell me I told you so

She knew the blonde girl stretched out on the gurney, racing down the hallway from the emergency room bay doors to the trauma room. She had watched her grow up, had known her parents and been to her high school graduation.

And more importantly, she knew that Lulu Spencer had been with her cousins the night before. In fact, you could hardly trip over Lulu Spencer without finding Maxie and Georgie Jones with her, or Sage Alcazar and Serena Baldwin. The five girls were best friends and had spent the summer creating memories to last them before Serena left for a dancing scholarship in New York and Sage and Maxie began their freshman year at PCU.

Robin was already barking out commands for medicine and tests as her mind was processing that the other four girls included Maxie and Georgie, two girls that were more than cousins. They were her sisters.

We all begin with good intent
Love was raw and young

“Get her to x-ray,” Robin told Emily. She tugged off her yellow gown and flew through the doors to the next trauma room where Sage Alcazar was stretched out.

“What do we have here?” she asked as a nurse hurriedly gowned her and put on her new gloves.

“Seventeen-year-old female with a concussion and possible broken femur,” a nameless intern replied. “We’ve got it handled here, Dr. Scorpio.”

Robin took a bracing breath before exiting to the next trauma room across the hall. Before she was more than five feet inside, Patrick Drake was pushing on her shoulders to keep her out. “You don’t want to be in here,” he told her. “For once, don’t argue with me and don’t try to prove me wrong.”

She bit her lip. “Maxie or Georgie?” she asked him quietly. “How bad is it?”

Patrick cast a look back at his patient, knew he had only moments to spare before he had to get her into surgery. “It’s Maxie, Robin. It’s a pretty serious head injury, and we need to get a CAT scan so I can see what I’m dealing with.”

“But you can fix it right?” Robin asked. “You’re supposed to be the best neurosurgeon in the state. You can fix it.”

We believed that we could change ourselves
The past could be undone

“I need to get a scan first–maybe you should go update the families,” he suggested. “You’re too close to the patients—”

“They’re the daughters of some of Port Charles’ most noted families,” Robin retorted. “The Spencers, the Baldwins, the Jones–there’s not a hospital staff member that hasn’t worked with Maxie or Georgie–”

“But she’s your sister, Robin,” Patrick interrupted. “She’s family and that makes it different.” He glanced back at Maxie. “I have to get back there. Someone needs to update the families. You have the best bedside manner anyway.”

Robin nodded and took a deep breath. “Then you’d better tell me what to say to them about Maxie because Felicia and Mac are going to want more than you don’t know what you’re dealing with yet.”

General Hospital: Emergency Waiting Room

But we carry on our backs the burden
Time always reveals

“We should have heard something by now,” Carly snapped, pacing restlessly. She reached one end of the lobby and closed her eyes, trying to take calming breaths. It wasn’t working–whether it was the tension of the moment, the fright that her adopted daughter would be torn from her or maybe it was this depressing gray room that was driving her to the brink but she was coming up fast on the line between sanity and irrational actions.

“The doctors will get to us as soon as they can,” Felicia said, more to comfort herself than Carly. The two women were not by any means friendly but Sage and Maxie were closer than sisters and sacrifices had to be made for the sake of their children. She stood and put a hand on Carly’s forearm to stop her pacing for a moment. “I’d rather have them back there doing everything they can than out here assuaging my fears.”

Carly nodded. “Right, right. Better that they’re not out here telling us what we don’t want to hear.” She stilled and surveyed the room, almost in disbelief as she realized the variety of people waiting for news. If not for the friendship of the girls, there would be no way Port Charles District Attorney Scott Baldwin and his parents and Police Commissioner
Mac Scorpio would be in the same room as reputed criminals Lorenzo Alcazar and Jason Morgan–and it was unlikely that Jason would ever want to be in the same room as Edward Quartermaine who was waiting with Dillon for news on Dillon’s girlfriend Georgie and stepsister Lulu.

The doors to the emergency room swung open and Robin stepped out, a carefully blank expression on her face. “Ah, I’m here to update all the families,” she said. “I could take you each aside or just say it—”

“Just get it over with,” Mac said. “They’re all friends, they’re going to want to know anyway. Just tell us, Robin.”

The lonely light of morning
The wound that would not heal

“Ah, well, okay.” Robin cleared her throat. “Lulu is in stable condition. She had a concussion and a broken arm, which they’re setting now. She’ll be moved up to her own room shortly and will be making a full and complete recovery.”

Elizabeth reached over and squeezed Lucky’s trembling hands. “See, she’s a Spencer. They’re like cockroaches–they never go away.”

“Sage is also in stable condition,” Robin continued. “She also suffered a concussion, along with a broken leg and a few broken ribs, Like Lulu, she’ll be moved up to her own and will be making a complete recovery.” She hesitated. “Georgie is in stable condition, she suffered a concussion, three broken ribs and a broken wrist. She’ll be in her own room soon.” There was a long pause before she could bring herself to speak.

Scott Baldwin stood up from his chair. “What about Serena?” he demanded.

It’s the bitter taste of losing everything
That I have held so dear

“Serena and Maxie were both seated on the driver’s side,” Robin said softly. “The other driver struck that side of the car and as a result, they have suffered the worst injuries. Maxie and Serena both have head injuries, the extent of which is not yet known, in addition to some broken ribs and other lesser injuries.”

“I don’t understand.” Felicia clenched her fingers in her ex-husband’s sleeve. “What does that mean, Robin?”

“It means that they’re listed in critical condition,” Robin said quietly. “And that we can’t determine anything more without further testing.”

“But Serena will be all right, won’t she?” Scott demanded. “I’ve lost one daughter in a car accident; tell me I’m not going to lose another…”

More than anything, Robin wanted to reassure the anguished father that Serena would be fine, that she had one of the best medical teams in the area working on her to save her life, but she would also not give out false hope.

I’ve fallen
I have sunk so low

“I can’t say right now,” Robin said softly. “But I’ll keep you updated and hopefully I’ll have a better answer soon.”

Unable to stomach the desperate looks of so many people she loved and respected, Robin swallowed hard and fled behind the trauma room doors.

Highway: Kyle’s Car

I have messed up
Better I should know

Kyle stared at the cell phone in his hand, Dillon’s words echoing in his ear. Maxie…critical…head…injury. They weren’t moving together and forming any kind of sensible outcome. Dillon was supposed to call and tell him that all the girls were fine, that by the time Lucas and Kyle got there, they’d be ready to go home. He’d pictured Maxie laughing at him because he’d driven six hours just to be with her.

But according to Dillon, Maxie was in critical condition and there was no word yet if she was going to survive.

“What did he say?” Lucas demanded from the passenger side. When Dillon’s number had flashed on the cell, Kyle had pulled to the side of the road. “Kyle–”

“Sage, Georgie and Lulu are all right,” Kyle said, his head still wrapping around the nightmare of not having Maxie in his life. His whole future had been mapped out with her. Graduate from college, come home to Port Charles for medical school, get married, start a family. None of that seemed possible without her.

Lucas let that relief flood through him but then he released there were names missing. “Serena?” He hesitated. “Maxie?”

“The car struck them on the driver’s side,” Kyle continued slowly. “Serena was in the back seat on that side, and Maxie was driving. They’re in critical condition.”

“Oh, God.” Lucas closed his eyes and hated himself for being desperately relieved that it wasn’t Sage. Maxie was his cousin, Serena one of his oldest friends. “Do they know…?”

“Robin wouldn’t say one way or the other.” Kyle looked at Lucas, the young man who’d gone from being his enemy to his brother. “I can’t–I can’t do this without her.”

So don’t come round here
And tell me I told you so

“Don’t talk like that, man,” Lucas said. “She’s gonna pull through, if for no other reason than she hasn’t annoyed everyone nearly enough.” He hesitated. “Do you want me to take over driving for a while?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, yeah, that might be a good plan.”

Hardy House: Kitchen

Heaven bent to take my hand
Nowhere left to turn

It had taken Audrey Hardy time to truly accept Jason Morgan in her granddaughter’s life, as more than the father of her child. They had married only six months previous and it had been during the wedding ceremony that Audrey had finally opened her eyes and seen the radiant smile on Elizabeth’s face.

She hadn’t smiled like that for so long Audrey had forgotten what she looked like when she was happy.

After that day, she’d opened her home to the family and had encouraged Elizabeth to move the trio into the house Audrey had shared with Steve for longer than she could remember. And one day, when Audrey passed away, she would know that Elizabeth always had a home to call her own.

It was nearly noon before the tired couple returned to the house, exhausted from having being woken by a frantic Carly in the middle of the night. Audrey had coffee ready, knowing Jason would still insist on going into work that day.

“How are the girls?” Audrey asked as Elizabeth stifled a yawn and shuffled in the kitchen. “Are they all right?”

“Sage, Lulu and Georgie are,” Elizabeth answered, pouring Jason’s customary mug of black coffee and passing it to him. “But Maxie and Serena are in surgery. They were still in critical condition when we left.” She touched Jason’s arm. “I’m going to check on Lila. I just…I need to see her.”

I’m lost to those I thought were friends
To everyone I know

Elizabeth left them alone in the kitchen and Jason stood uncertainly, still somewhat uneasy with his wife’s grandmother.

“You spend your entire life protecting your children,” Audrey said softly, “shielding them from danger the best way you know how and you think you know what you’re doing. You’re confident you’ve thought of all the angles. And then something happens that proves you can never prepare for every eventuality.” She met his eyes. “It’s disturbing when you realize how wrong you were and the very thing you were trying to protect your family from was exactly what they needed.” She set her coffee mug in the sink. “It was good of you to go be with Carly this morning. It shows great character for someone to be so devoted to a friend.”

Jason shifted uncomfortably. “She’d do the same for me.”

“Even so.” Audrey patted his arm. “It’s mornings like this that make me glad my Elizabeth chose you.”

General Hospital: Doctor’s Break Room

Oh they turned their heads embarrassed
Pretend that they don’t see

Emily gulped down half a bottle of water and set it on the table. “If you stare at the door, it’s not going to make either Drake come in any faster.”

Robin turned away and sighed. “Yeah, I know, but I don’t know what else to do.” She propped her chin up with her hand. “I just want Patrick to tell me Maxie is going to be okay.”

“I want them all to be okay,” Emily said. “But, Robin, you saw the scans–”

“I know,” Robin cut in. “But I have to believe that it’s going to be okay. I can’t…I don’t think I can tell someone that their daughter is gone, right of the very beginning of their life. I just–I don’t have that in me.” She dropped her head to the table. “I should have gone into research.”

But it’s one missed step
You’ll slip before you know it

The door to the room cracked and an exhausted Patrick Drake entered, stifling a yawn. “She’s out of surgery,” he told her. “Pressure is relieved and unless there’s some infection or unseen complications…”

Robin got to her feet and crossed the room, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. “Thank you so much.”

“Just doing my job,” the doctor replied uncomfortably. He backed away. “I peeked in on Serena Baldwin.” He hesitated. “It wasn’t–it’s not looking good.”

“Oh, God,” Emily breathed. “Scott’s not going to be able to handle losing her. There’s got to be something…”

“As much as I much hate to admit it, the only thing left is to pray,” Patrick said. He gripped Robin’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go to tell Maxie’s parents? I’m sure they’re waiting for the good news.”

And there doesn’t seem a way to be redeemed

Robin nodded and exited the room. Emily arched an eyebrow. “That would have been excellent opportunity to continue your pursuit of the good doctor,” she observed.

Patrick collapsed into a nearby chair and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want her to go out with me because I saved her cousin’s life,” he muttered.

“Six months ago, you would have used any and every chance to reel her in,” Emily replied. She tossed him a doughnut. “Interesting how fast things change.”

General Hospital: ER Waiting Room

Though I’ve tried, I’ve fallen…
I have sunk so low

Scott Baldwin saw Robin striding towards the doors, coming towards them. Her face looked optimistic, surely a good sign. He was positive she was bringing him the news that his beloved Serena would be just fine.

There was no other possible outcome.

Just before Robin reached the doors, Noah Drake stepped out of an elevator and reached out for her arm. They stood and talked for a moment, Robin’s face falling.

And then she turned and looked directly at him. All that pain and devastation directed at him–such a change from her face mere moments ago.

Scott couldn’t feel his legs anymore.

General Hospital: Lobby

I have messed up
Better I should know

In the five and a half hours since Dillon’s last phone call, Kyle’s phone had been stubbornly silent and he’d been afraid to call, afraid that the words would be something he wasn’t ready to hear.

They parked the car haphazardly across the street and rushed towards the entrance to find Dillon waiting for them, sprawled out in a chair, his chin tucked into his chest.

“Dillon…” Kyle choked out. “Tell me she’s okay…”

So don’t come round here

Dillon raised his head and looked at them, his dark eyes swimming with tears. “Maxie’s…she’s fine.”

“Then what…?” Lucas asked, shaking his head. He swallowed. “Oh, God…”

“Serena…she’s…she’s gone.”

And tell me I told you so

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.”

So one of the main reasons I decided not to go with this version was that I wussed out. I wanted to examine how losing someone so young could destroy a family and her social circle, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill off any of my four core female characters: Maxie, Sage, Lulu, or Georgie. So I added in Serena. But the emotional connection wouldn’t have felt right since Serena hasn’t been on GH proper since her birth in the 1990s and her years on Port Charles more than a decade ago. She wasn’t in ISB, so I hadn’t laid any groundwork. And yet, her death was going to rock my female characters so much, it would propel all the conflict?

Yeah, so I wussed out. Looking back, I probably would have knifed Georgie. I adore her to pieces and her death on GH still grieves me, but her death would have had the maximum impact. Maxie losing a sister, Sage’s guilt over Dillon, Lulu being the same age, etc. But I didn’t start it that way.

Anyway, so my original plan for Slide was to focus less on the original three women from ISB (Carly, Courtney, Elizabeth) and more on Maxie, Sage, Robin and Nadine.  Courtney is in Haye’s Landing with Brian and would have faded away, or just remained on the periphery since no matter what I do with her, most people hate her guts.

Elizabeth and Carly still would have been there — Elizabeth would be with Jason, raising their daughter and trying for another child with less success. Carly confronts parenting an almost adult daughter in Sage and deals with Sonny wanting to reconnect with the boys, but they would also be a part of the other stories.

Maxie was the driver in the car, so her guilt was going to leave to severe depression; Sage would struggle with drugs. Georgie and Lulu would deal with the loss of all three of their older friends. Kyle, Dillon, and Lucas would obviously be there in their significant other storylines. I had thoughts of bringing in Logan as part of Lulu and Scott’s story.

Patrick and Robin would date, confront her desire for a child. I shoved Nadine in there with Johnny Zacchara as a mob storyline for Jason. There would be a history between the two of them in a college setting that came back to haunt both of them. I don’t want to be more specific since I might still use it in another story.

Yeah, so Slide was going to be a bit like ISB, one messy huge ensemble piece, but I no longer have the desire to write it. I would have to deal with Carly and Lorenzo, whom I no longer have any fondness for. I thought about just killing off Lorenzo, which I guess is still an option. I also feel less comfortable about writing Lucas as a heterosexual character when he’s been gay for more than a decade. I mean, it’s not I don’t approve of that (I’ve written Brad and Lucas into a story) I just don’t feel right ignoring what is now a part of his character.

Anyway, that was my basic idea for Slide. I even went so far as to create a promotional video which explains some of my ideas in another fashion.