May 31, 2006

Metro Court Hotel: Patrick Drake’s Room

Elizabeth Spencer paused in the doorway and slid her textbooks and notebook into her bag. “Thanks again for helping me,” she said, turning back to her friend and colleague, Patrick Drake. “I will be so relieved when I get certified and can surprise Lucky.”

“Well, thank you,” Patrick replied, glancing over his shoulder at the room that Elizabeth had helped him set up for a romantic evening with Robin Scorpio. “I appreciate the help.”

“Robin is going to have a fabulous time and going to all this trouble will definitely make up for the absolutely horrible thing you said to her this morning,” Elizabeth teased. “You certainly lose all that charm when it comes to her.”

“I do not,” Patrick scoffed. “She’s just abnormal.”

Elizabeth snorted. “Yeah, that’s the attitude to take. It’s no wonder she wants to smack you half the time.” She swung her bag over her shoulder and took one last look at the table with the white table cloth and candles waiting to be lit. “Don’t forget the flowers,” she said sternly.

Patrick scowled. “The last time I bought her flowers, they ended up in the trash–”

“No arguments, just do it.” Elizabeth stretched up and kissed his cheek. “Have a good night and don’t screw it up!” she called as she went down the hall and pressed the button for the elevator.

“You’re a pain,” he called after her.

Wyndemere: Study

Nikolas sighed and tossed the recently developed photos onto his desk, rubbing his hand over his face. When Lucky had asked for his help, Nikolas had agreed only to clear Elizabeth’s name.

He’d hired the most reputable private investigator in the area and sent her on Elizabeth’s trail and for two weeks, Izabel Elliott had brought him photographs of Elizabeth meeting with Patrick Drake at his hotel room.

Each photo depicted a comfortable relationship but until today’s batch, Nikolas had remained unconvinced that his sister-in-law was pursuing an extramarital affair and since he’d been privy to the knowledge that Robin was seeing the good doctor, he’d been less likely to believe it.

But today, Elliott had brought photos that showed a different story. Photos that showed Elizabeth standing in the door way of Patrick’s room, smiling up at him and then reaching up to kiss him.

His heart broke for his brother and for Elizabeth, because surely something horrible had to have happened to drive her to this. Something must have gone wrong because they had been so happy.

As much as he loathed this responsibility, he now had to take these photos to Lucky and tell him that his fear was a reality.

Jason’s Penthouse

“So no word where Alexis has her stashed?” Carly Corinthos asked, examining the polish on her nails. She frowned when she realized she had a smear and made a mental note to visit the hotel’s manicurist again.

Jason exhaled slowly and lined up another shot, sinking a dark blue ball in the left corner pocket. He reached for the chalk. “Stan can’t find any trace of Alexis or Sam.”

“Hmm.” Carly leaned against Jason’s desk. “Well, at any rate, Alexis has Sam’s best interest at heart. She just wants her to get well again and you know as soon as Sam is healthy, she’ll come back to you.”

“I guess.” Jason lined up another shot. “She’s alive, that’s what’s important.”

“Right,” Carly agreed. “And you know…” she hesitated. “I can see where Alexis is coming from. She just found Sam, she wants to protect her and she thinks that being around you isn’t safe. Of course, Sam is a grown woman and gets to make her own decisions but no matter how old Michael gets, I will always want to keep him safe.”

“I know that,” Jason said, sounding impatient with the conversation for the first time. “I know why Alexis took her and I don’t blame her for it. I just want to know if Sam is okay and I don’t know that. She could have developed more problems or something could have gone wrong with her recovery. She had brain surgery, Carly, and I don’t know anything about her condition right now.”

“Okay, okay…” Carly shifted. “I can ask Jax if he’s heard from Alexis but I doubt she’d call him. And you could bug Ric’s phone because you know Alexis is in touch with him since she has the girls with her.”

“Ric’s gone,” Jason said flatly. “He left town yesterday and probably joined Alexis. I appreciate the help, Carly, but I’ve already thought of all this.”

“Well, fine,” Carly sighed. She grabbed her purse. “I have to get to the hotel anyway. Will you call if you need anything?”

“I won’t,” Jason answered.

Carly pursed her lips. “I could be annoyed with you but I’m choosing not to be. Good night.”

Spencer Apartment: Living Room

Nikolas silently handed the manila envelope to Lucky. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Lucky said shortly. He tore open the envelope and watched as photograph after photograph slid from the envelope. He swallowed hard and wished like hell he could take another pill but he couldn’t–not with Nikolas standing there.

Lucky rifled through them, each photo worse than the last–Elizabeth smiling, Elizabeth laughing, Elizabeth talking, touching and looking at that goddamn doctor like he’d hung the moon. One after another after another–and then he stopped.

Elizabeth kissing Patrick.

He took a deep breath and forced his fist not to clench. He looked up at Nikolas with what he hoped was a somewhat calm expression. “I appreciate you looking into this for me,” Lucky said slowly. “When Elizabeth gets home, we’ll…talk about this.”

Nikolas hesitated, opened his mouth to say something but closed it. “Okay. Well, I should be going. I promised Maxie Jones I’d meet her. She wanted to discuss something. If you need me, Lucky–”

“Goodbye,” Lucky said shortly. He gathered the photos together, straightened them and tucked them back inside the envelope.

Nikolas shook his head and left.

Lucky reached into his pocket and withdrew the half full bottle of pain medication. He yanked at the cap and took three pills at once. He could handle this. He was a Spencer for Christ’s sake. Spencers were strong and capable.

Spencers wouldn’t stand for a betrayal like this.

Lucky downed the rest of his beer in one long gulp, his mind somewhat hazy from the pills he’d taken this morning and the six-pack of alcohol he’d downed today. The edges around his vision were a little blurry but for some reason, Lucky felt like he could see clearly for the first time in weeks.

And he knew what he had to do.

Metro Court: Patrick Drake’s Room

Robin Scorpio purred low in her throat and moved away from Patrick to sprawl out on her back. “I could stay like this for a few weeks,” she said languidly. “I don’t think I’m able to move.” She pried an eye open to look at his grinning expression. “Not that I attribute that to you or anything. I worked a long shift.”

“Right, mind-blowing sex had nothing to do with it,” Patrick drawled. He curled his long fingers around Robin’s hip to draw her back to him. “Let me see if I can make you eat those words–”

His beeper went off and he muttered something under his breath. He sat up and searched for his discarded pants.

“They’re over that lamp,” Robin indicated with a feline smile.

He grinned back at her and got out of the bed, strolling nude over to the lamp in question. “You can’t help yourself, Scorpio, you couldn’t wait to get them off me.”

Robin snorted. “You’re the one who threw them.”

Patrick ignored that and unclipped his beeper from the pocket. He grimaced. “One of my patients just went critical, I have to go in.”

Robin sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest and started to wrap it around herself. “I guess I’ll head out then–”

He sat next to her on the bed and stopped her from getting up. “No, no, stay –” he leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers but pulled back before he could get distracted. “With any luck, this shouldn’t take long and I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Robin arched an eyebrow. “You want me to stay the night? Well,this is new–”

“Just be quiet,” Patrick muttered. He kissed her again. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Patrick stifled a yawn as he approached Elizabeth. “I was beeped?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Elizabeth sighed. She handed him a chart. “Danni Franklin had a seizure and after she came back from a scan, the aneurysm had grown–your father said to get a hold of you because she needs surgery tonight.”

“Well, I suppose Danni can’t help it if Robin and I were finally going to have a date that didn’t end with her stomping out of my room,” Patrick said. He flipped the chart open and started to make notes. “The flowers went over well, by the way. I don’t think they’ll be landing in the trash this time.”

“I told you so,” Elizabeth said smugly.

Metro Court: Patrick Drake’s Room

Unfortunately, the flowers were a loss.

It was an idle thought that crossed Robin’s mind as she desperately reached across the bed for the hotel phone. Her vision was getting blurry and she couldn’t really feel her legs–or anything else for that matter. She could see the dozen yellow roses that she had set on the nightstand. One of the shots had gone wild and hit the bouquet, decimating the delicate flowers.

Her fingers brushed against the receiver and the white plastic was smeared with red as Robin fumbled to grasp it.

Blackness was threatening but Robin struggled not to give in to it, trying desperately not let the room fade. She bit her lip and dialed three digits.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“My name is Robin–” Robin panted for breath, she couldn’t move anymore, she could barely breathe. The shock was beginning to wear off and pain was beginning to radiate through her body. “R-Robin S-Scorpio. I’m at the M-Metro Court Hotel, R-Room 1080. I’ve been–shot.’

“Ma’am, we’re sending an ambulance and a squad car. Do you know who shot you?”

Robin slumped against the blood stained pillows and finally let the blackness seep in.

“Ma’am? Do you know who shot you?”

June 1, 2006

Port Charles Police Department: Squad Room

“So Georgie swears up and down to me that she had no idea that Diego was involved in a car stealing ring,” Mac sighed. “I can’t decide if I believe her because I think she’s actually telling me the truth or because I want her to be telling the truth.”

Justus Ward leaned back against the desk and smirked. “Kids. Glad I never had them.”

“Thank God for Robin,” Mac said, shaking his head. “The worst problem I have with her is her taste in men though that might be improving slightly. This one is an idiot, but at least he’s not a criminal.”

Detective Rodriguez stepped up to Mac hesitantly and swallowed hard. “Commissioner, we have a situation at the Metro Court,” he began, not entirely sure how to tell his boss what had happened.

“What did Carly do now?” Justus sighed.

“It’s not Carly.” Rodriguez hesitated but finally decided to just go ahead and say it. “911 got a call from one of the rooms–there was a shooting. I’m on call but, Commissioner, it was Robin.”

“Robin?” Mac echoed blankly. “Robin called it in?” Please don’t say it…

“She called it in,” Rodriguez confirmed. “But she’s also the victim. The EMTs are transporting her to GH now but she was unconscious when they arrived on the scene.”

Mac gripped his detective’s shoulder and Justus stood immediately in case Mac needed support to keep standing. “What was her condition? Where was she shot?”

“Ah, I don’t have all the details, sir, but she was shot once in the chest and once in the lower back. Sir, we should probably get over to GH–”

Mac nodded. “Yeah, we should–we should do that.” But he took another minute to gather his composure. Robin would need him to be strong, his family would need him to be strong right now.

Metro Court: Lobby

Carly gripped Jax’s arm as Robin was wheeled out the elaborate front doors on a stretcher. She swallowed hard. “Someone should call Patrick.”

Jax blinked. “I should call Brenda. Or find someone who has Brenda’s number.” He looked at Carly. “I–how could this happen?”

“I don’t know,” Carly said softly. She rubbed his shoulder and watched as the paramedics loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and flinched when the sirens began to wail. “I’ll call the hospital; Patrick should be warned before she just shows up.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Elizabeth leaned against the counter and surveyed the empty room. “It’s so dead in here tonight,” she sighed. “I can’t decide if I hate the slow nights or not.”

“I would rather have a slow night,” Emily Quartermaine decided. She made some notations in the chart of a teenager who had come in to have something…removed…from an unmentionable place. “The kids are lot more creative than I was at their age.”

Elizabeth snorted. “I wonder how they even got it all the way up there–it takes stamina–”

“Did someone say stamina?” Patrick asked as he joined them at the desk. “Because that is my middle name.”

“Must be good to be Robin,” Emily snickered. “How’d the surgery go?”

“Successfully,” Patrick grinned. “Was there any doubt? I’m going to head back out for the night–I have a beautiful lady waiting for me–”

Emily noticed the scanner light blinking and went to take the incoming call. Elizabeth took a sheet of paper from her pocket and waved it in front of Patrick’s face. “That last minute study session this afternoon paid off. I took my last test tonight and the results came in fifteen minutes ago.”

“You passed?” Patrick took the paper and grinned. “With me as a tutor, was there any doubt?”

“Okay, okay,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “But I am officially certified as a surgical nurse.”

Emily hung up the phone and whirled around. “We’ve got a GSW incoming, ETA two minutes. Liz, can you page the surgeon on call?”

“Ah…I’m right here, I can take it–” Patrick began.

“No, you can’t, Patrick,” Emily rushed to make sure the nearest trauma room was ready and a mystified Elizabeth paged Monica Quartermaine to report to the ER immediately.

“Why can’t I?” Patrick demanded. “It’s a gunshot wound, it’s not neurosurgery, I’m fully capable–”

Emily bit her lip and saw the ambulance pull up outside. “Patrick, you can’t because it’s Robin,” she blurted out.

“It’s Robin what?” Patrick asked, clearly not following her. “What about–” and then it sunk in. “No, that’s impossible. Robin is in my hotel room, she’s waiting for me to come back and–”

“Patrick,” Emily gripped his arms. “Listen to me, Robin is coming in with a very serious gunshot wound, okay? I don’t know the details, I just know that it–” she licked her lips nervously. “Patrick, they almost lost her in the ambulance.”

Sonny’s House: Living Room

“I want to watch cartoons,” Morgan whispered to his older brother as he and Michael snuck into the living room.

“No, they make too much noise,” Michael replied. He lifted his brother onto the couch and fumbled for the remote. “We came down to watch The Rock on Conan remember?”

Morgan pouted. “Scooby!”

Michael rolled his eyes and flicked the television set on. He started to change the channel but was soon engrossed in the breaking news report.

An unfamiliar reporter stood in front of the Metro Court. “I’m live at the posh Metro Court Hotel in downtown Port Charles where there has been a shooting tonight. Dr. Robin Scorpio, the niece of Police Commissioner Mac Scorpio, has been seriously wounded. We don’t have a lot of details but we can report that it does not appear to be a random shooting and that there are no other injuries. Commissioner Scorpio was not available for comment but we managed to get an exclusive interview with co-owners Carly Corinthos Alcazar and Jasper Jacks.”

Carly’s face filled the screen. “It’s just awful,” she sighed. “Our prayers are with the family–“

“Uh oh,” Michael sighed. He looked to his brother Morgan. “Mom’s on the news again. We better go wake Dad.”

Wyndemere: Study

“…sources say that the room was not registered to Dr. Scorpio, but to Dr. Patrick Drake, a neurosurgeon at General Hospital. Dr. Drake has not been located and the police will not say whether or not he is a suspect at this time–“

Nikolas glanced up from the sound of Robin’s name coming from the small radio he had tuned to the local news while he waited for an overseas conference call. He hadn’t caught the first portion of the report but the gist was startling clear as the report continued.

“There is no news at this time on Dr. Scorpio’s condition, only that she is listed in critical condition at General Hospital. This is Myra Gold with WKPC–“

Nikolas shut the radio off and then stared at it for a long moment as the pieces fell together and formed a horrifying conclusion. Robin Scorpio was injured while in Patrick Drake’s hotel room.

Robin, a petite brunette, who had been seeing Patrick.

Robin, who might look like Elizabeth from a distance.

His stomach lurched and Nikolas hurled himself out of his chair and called for the launch.

He had to find his brother.

General Hospital: Emergency Room

“Everyone wears gloves at all times,” Monica declared the second she entered the trauma room. She snapped the plastic on and nodded to Emily. “What do we got?”

Emily forced all other information from her mind and focused on the facts. “Twenty-eight-year-old female with gunshot wounds to the upper chest and lower back. Patient was conscious long enough to call 911 but EMTs were unable to rouse when they arrived. She flat lined twice in the–”

Emily’s voice faded as Dr. Noah Drake pulled his son from the room. “If Monica turned around and saw you, she’d rip your head off,” Noah remarked. “You know better.”

Patrick just shook his head. “Robin’s in there and–”

“And you’re staying out here,” Noah cut in.

Before Patrick could begin to argue his point, Mac Scorpio grabbed him by the shirt and shook him. “What the hell did you do to my niece?” he growled.

“Mac–” Noah grabbed at Mac’s shoulders. “Patrick was here all night–”

“It’s okay,” Patrick cut in, pulling himself form Mac’s grasp. “Commissioner Scorpio, I was called into surgery three hours ago–Robin was waiting for me at my hotel room. I don’t know anything more than that.”

Mac hesitated. “I’m sorry,” he said roughly. “I acted–I acted without thinking.”

“It’s fine,” Patrick tugged at the collar of his lab coat. “It’s no less than what her father is going to do when he gets here–”

“You called him?” Mac asked, surprised. “You must have a death wish–”

“No, I didn’t call him but…” Patrick gestured towards the television screens in the waiting room. “It’s all over the news. Do you really think Robert doesn’t know yet?”

Whatever Mac would say in response to that was cut off when the doors to the trauma room opened and Robin was wheeled out. Mac leapt forward but Monica stepped in front of him.

“Take her into the OR, I’ll be right in,” she told Emily and the other staff. She turned back to Mac and the doctors Drake. “Okay, Mac, I need to you be calm because it’s going to be a long night.”

“I’m calm, Monica. I need to know what happened, what’s going on?” Mac demanded. “Felicia’s been calling my cell phone for the last ten minutes and I didn’t want her to come down yet–”

Monica closed. “It might be for the best if Robin’s family were here.”

Mac blanched and any color Patrick might have had left was gone now. “Is she going to die?” Mac asked thickly.

“It’s going to be a long night,” Monica repeated. “The bullet to the chest ruptured an artery, that’s what we’re going into repair right now. The wound in her lower back is causing some hemorrhaging. We’re going to do our best to repair the damage but there are no guarantees.” She was silent for a moment. “It would be a good idea if her family were here.”

“Is there anything I can do, Mac?” Noah offered, touching the commissioner’s shoulder. “Anyone I can call?”

Mac cleared his throat. “Thank you but these are calls I have to make myself.” He shook his head, trying to focus. “Ah, if you could just wait here for an update? I’m sure Monica will keep Patrick apprised of the situation–” he stopped and realized Patrick was gone. “Where did he go?”

Nikolas rushed into the Emergency Room and made a beeline for Elizabeth who was standing near the trauma room, her eyes glassy as she stared into space. “Liz, have you seen Lucky?”

“What?” Elizabeth looked at him blankly. “No. I just–Robin was shot tonight, Nikolas.”

He nodded and found he couldn’t meet her eyes. “I–I know. I heard it on the news. That’s why–” he broke off. “I need to find Lucky.”

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment. “Why do you need to find Lucky? He’s at home.”

“No–no, he’s not.” Nikolas exhaled harshly and took her by the elbow all but dragging her into the trauma room. “I know, Elizabeth. You don’t have to hide it from me. I’m not gonna judge you, I just…I want to know why.”

Elizabeth stared at him and slowly shook her head. “You’re going to have to spell it out for me, Nikolas. I just had to work on one of my best friends and now I have to go out there and keep her family updated as she fights for her life. So forgive me if I’m not in the mood–”

And then Nikolas realized he was judging. And he did have a side. “Some best friend–you were sleeping with her boyfriend,” he bit out. “I warned Robin about that jerk–”

“Whoa–” Elizabeth held up a hand and he shut up. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about your affair with Patrick Drake,” Nikolas said, his teeth clenched.

Jason’s Penthouse

Sonny was surprised when Jason opened the door only seconds after his knock. “You’re still up?”

Jason frowned at the sight of Sonny Corinthos at his door, considering they were still technically not speaking. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Have you heard from Alexis? Do you know where Sam is?”

“You haven’t been watching the news,” Sonny sighed. He rubbed his cheek. “Ah, there was a shooting at the Metro Court–”

Jason blinked. “Carly? Is she okay?” He turned and reached for his keys. “Is she at GH?”

“No, no–” Sonny shook his head. “Jason, it was Robin. She was shot. The boys heard it on the news and when they saw Carly on the television, they woke me up. I know neither one of us is particularly close to Robin anymore but I figured…”

“What happened?” Jason demanded. “Why would someone shoot Robin?”

“I don’t know. The news hasn’t said much other than she called 911 but was found alone in the hotel room, which is registered to her boyfriend, that Dr. Drake guy. No word on her condition other than its critical. I left the boys with Leticia but I was going to head over the hospital.” Sonny scratched his temple. “I thought if, ah, Emily or Elizabeth was on duty, I could find out how she is.”

“I’ll go,” Jason said quietly. “Elizabeth will tell me. And it’s probably better if Mac Scorpio doesn’t see you. We don’t know–we don’t know if the shooting is related to anything and he might think it is so just let me go and check on her.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Rodriguez had pulled Patrick away from his father and Robin’s uncle to question him about the events of the evening. He pulled the neurosurgeon into a quiet corner. “I need to know what happened this evening and where you were about forty-five minutes ago.”

Patrick sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I was here, in the operating room. A patient went critical and needed to be operated on so I came in take care of it. My surgical staff can verify that.”

“Okay,” Rodriguez noted that. “You and Dr. Scorpio had a date this evening?”

“At the hotel, yeah.” Patrick took a deep breath and focused on telling the detective everything. A small fact, a detail that was unimportant to him might be able to help Robin and that was all that mattered. “We had dinner in my room about seven and ah…” he scratched the back of his neck. “We were in bed until about nine-thirty–that’s when my beeper went off. Robin was going to leave but–” Patrick’s voice faltered for a moment. “I asked her to stay, to wait until I got back.”

Rodriguez decided to veer off that line of questioning. “We’re getting the security tapes from that hallway but was there anyone else in your room that day? Any other visitors?”

“Yeah–Elizabeth Spencer.” Patrick took a deep breath. “I was helping her study for a certification test and she helped me set up the room for Robin. She left about six; Robin arrived about a half hour later. But no, no one other than her.”

General Hospital: Trauma Room

Elizabeth stared at Nikolas for a long moment and it began to come together for her. It began to make horrifying sense.

“You think I’m having an affair with Patrick.” Elizabeth licked her lips. “How–why would you think that?”

“Lucky–” Nikolas shook his head. “He was suspicious and I wanted to put his mind at ease so I hired someone to trail you–”

“You what?” Elizabeth exploded. “You hired someone to follow me? To what–take pictures of me?” She dragged her hands through her hair. “Christ, Nikolas–there was nothing to find out–Patrick was helping me study for my surgical certification. We weren’t having an affair–he’s crazy about Robin. I was there tonight–”

“I know!” Nikolas cut in harshly. “I saw the picture of you kissing him!”

Elizabeth stared at him, her eyes wide and then something in her head clicked and she backed up. “Oh my God. Oh my God.” Something curled in the pit of her belly and she felt nauseous. “Did you give that picture to Lucky? Did you show it to him?”

“I had to, Elizabeth. He’s my brother. My first loyalty is to him.” Nikolas was breathing hard and beginning to get angry. “He trusted you, Elizabeth, how could you do this to him?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Elizabeth retorted. “I kissed Patrick on the cheek, the same thing I’ve done to you a thousand times. We are friends and I can’t believe–” She turned away, terrified at the possibility. “Robin is only a little shorter than me, we have dark hair, and we have almost the same build–”

“You don’t know that it happened that way–”

“If Lucky went into Patrick’s room and saw Robin sleeping, he might have thought it was me.”

And the implication that held shattered her.

Nikolas watched her for a long moment. “You understand why I have to find Lucky, why I have to make sure it didn’t happen that way, that he didn’t do anything–”

“I don’t know where he is,” Elizabeth said numbly. “I haven’t seen him all day, not since I left the apartment to study with Patrick. I was going to surprise him,” she said as an afterthought. “It was going to be the answer to our problems, you know? Surgical nurses make twice as much money. We were finally going to be okay.”

“You should have thought about that before you started spending time with Patrick Drake. You know the guy’s reputation,” Nikolas said shortly. “You had to think people were going to talk–”

“First all, I assumed that my husband trusted me,” Elizabeth said. “And secondly, it never crossed my mind that anyone, especially Lucky, would talk about anything. I’m married and Patrick’s only been chasing Robin since the day he moved here. No one was talking, Nikolas! No one but you and apparently my husband thought anything was wrong!”

There was slight knock on the open door to the trauma room and they both turned to see Jason standing there. “I was–I was hoping to get an update on Robin,” he said, looking at Elizabeth oddly before turning a glare to Nikolas.

“Since when do you give a damn about anyone but yourself?” Nikolas demanded. He stormed out the room and out of the hospital.

“Elizabeth?” Jason questioned. “What’s going on?” He stepped inside the room. “Is Robin…is that why you’re crying?”

She was crying? Elizabeth pressed her hand to cheek and felt the tears. “I didn’t realize I was–” she said softly. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to regain her composure. “Robin’s in surgery, she’s listed as critical. That’s all I can really tell you, Jason.”

He nodded. “Okay, I know you two are close,” he started.

“But you asked why I was crying,” Elizabeth cut in. “I’m crying because it should be me in that OR right now.” Her eyes found his and she echoed a conversation they had shared a month ago. “It was supposed to be me.”

June 1, 2006

General Hospital: Trauma Room

“It was supposed to be me.”

Jason stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. “I don’t understand.”

Elizabeth smiled humorlessly and looked away. “Robin and I look alike from a distance.”

“You both have dark hair,” Jason shrugged. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“In a dark room, lying in a bed, Robin could have easily been mistaken for me,” Elizabeth continued, her voice soft. “She’s in that that operating room possibly because my husband thought it was me.”

Jason exhaled slowly and shook his head again. Clearly there was a piece to this that he was missing–even on Lucky’s worst day, he wouldn’t hurt Elizabeth.

Would he?

He had a flash of Lucky, five years ago, on the docks, pulling on a knife on him. Demanding that Jason stay away from Elizabeth. He’d been so angry back then but he’d never turned that anger on Elizabeth. What reason could there be now?

“Elizabeth–”

“Patrick’s been helping me study to be a surgical nurse,” Elizabeth interrupted. “But I wanted to surprise Lucky. I don’t even know why now, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. So Patrick and I met at the Cosmopolitan Hotel for a while and then Robin found out and offered to help me too so we started meeting at Patrick’s hotel room.” She swallowed hard. “Lucky apparently got suspicious and told Nikolas that I was having an affair with Patrick. Nikolas hired a private investigator and tonight, he gave Lucky photographs of my meetings with Patrick. And unfortunately, I kissed Patrick on the cheek after I left his room today.” Her mouth twisted into a wry smile. “I was helping him set up his room for a romantic evening with Robin.”

“That–” Jason hesitated and moved behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “That doesn’t mean Lucky shot Robin–”

“Nikolas gave those photos to Jason and for some reason, his first reaction after finding out Robin was shot in Patrick’s room was to look for Lucky.” Elizabeth turned and peered up at Jason. “And he can’t find him.”

“Okay…” Jason nodded. “I’m not saying that it doesn’t make sense to me, Elizabeth, or that it couldn’t happen–”

“Nikolas would never accuse Lucky unless he had a good reason,” Elizabeth murmured. “Lucky hasn’t been himself lately–not since he was injured. He’s been cranky, he’s been very short with me and for a while, he was–” she hesitated. “I asked Patrick to take him off the morphine drip, to change it to pain pills. He was using too much of it too often. And he’s gone through his prescriptions very quickly. I didn’t–I didn’t want to think that he was getting addicted–”

“Elizabeth–”

“But when he takes those pills, his mood swings become worse,” Elizabeth continued. “And he’s angrier. He’s angry all the time. I thought it was the pain and the money problems so I just told myself if I could get my certification and make more money, it would all be okay–” Her voice broke. “I don’t want to think he’s capable of this, Jason, I don’t!”

Jason curled an arm around her shoulders and drew her against his chest. “What can I do?” he asked quietly.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and was silent for a long moment, struggling with the realization that her husband, the man she had vowed to honor and love for all the days of her life, might have tried to kill her. She weighed that against the idea that instead of killing her, Lucky may have shot Robin instead.

She swallowed hard and drew away from his embrace. Her eyes were rimmed with red and swollen from her tears but they were also determined. “I need you to find Lucky. Because if he did do this and Nikolas finds him first, Nikolas will help him run. And Robin deserves better.” She took a deep breath. “I know it’s a lot to ask and I know you have so much going on right now with Sam and Alexis–”

“Don’t worry about any of that,” Jason said softly. “I want to find out who did this as much as you do. For you and for Robin.” He hesitated. “She didn’t deserve this, even if it was meant for her.”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “She was happy since she got back from the islands. Her father was back in town and they were getting along, Patrick had finally stopped acting like an ass, she had her family…it’s so unfair.” She closed her eyes again. “If she dies and it turns out that it was Lucky, I will never forgive myself–”

“This is not your fault,” Jason cut in. “Even if you had been having affair, nothing makes it okay for Lucky to try to–” he couldn’t even say it, he couldn’t say it. It was unfathomable to him.

Elizabeth swiped at her eyes. “I have to go tell Mac what happened. He needs to know so it can be investigated. I just…I need to tell him.”

“Do you–do you want me to come with you?” Jason asked. “Mac doesn’t like me–”

“No, I think it would be better if you didn’t,” Elizabeth sighed. “I mean, I appreciate it but Mac doesn’t need anything else right now and whether you deserve it or not, you raise his blood pressure.” She smiled faintly. “Even when you’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Then I’ll go start looking for Lucky.” Jason skimmed his fingers down her cheek. “You have my number, call me if anything–if you need me. Or if Robin’s condition changes, okay?”

“Okay,” Elizabeth agreed. “Thank you, Jason. You’re always there when it counts.”

General Hospital: Surgical Waiting Room

Carly and Jax entered the room at the same time and while Jax moved over to where Mac was waiting, Carly moved to the corner of the room where Patrick was seated. She sank into the seat next to him. “I tried–I tried to call you.”

“Carly–” Patrick closed his eyes. “Now is really not the time–”

“No, I know. I just…I wanted to tell you before she got to the hospital. I didn’t think you should find out like that. But I couldn’t get through to the hospital and then once I got here, I had to get through security and it took longer than I thought–I just…I’m so sorry, Patrick.”

He looked at her oddly. “You don’t even like Robin.”

“No,” Carly said matter-of-factly. “I can’t stand her. But I like you and you care about her and right now that’s all that matters to me.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “For your sake, I’ll pray for her. But do me a favor? Don’t let that get out.”

“I called Brenda,” Jax said in a quiet voice. “She’s taking the next flight in from Rome but she won’t be here until tomorrow evening.”

Mac rubbed a hand over his face. “I hope Robin is still–” he broke off. That was a possibility he just couldn’t handle right now.

The door burst open and Robert Scorpio strode in. “Mac, what the hell–”

“She’s in surgery,” Mac stood and crossed to his brother. “We don’t know anything yet and we won’t for a few more hours. Are Felicia and the girls with you?”

“They’re down in the cafeteria getting coffee,” Robert answered. He gripped Mac’s shoulder. “The investigation? Is there anything I can do? Anyone who needs to be roughed up? Do we know anything at all?”

“Nothing,” Mac said dejectedly. “I’ve got my best men on it but until Robin can tell us what happened, all they can do is process the scene and look for fingerprints.” He gestured for Patrick to join them. “Patrick, if there’s anything you need from the room, you’ll have to get it immediately because the room will be sealed after that.”

The idea of stepping back into that room made Patrick’s stomach lurch but he had to think logically. His wallet and credit cards were in the room, his clothes, patient files. He swallowed hard. “I should go now before Robin gets out of surgery.”

“I’ll go with you,” Carly volunteered. “I’m sure there are still some things at the hotel I have to do anyway. Mac…I know that Robin and I–” she shrugged. “None of that matters right now. Whatever you need from me and Jax, all you have to do is ask. The hotel, the employees, whatever you need.”

“Thank you, Carly. It’ll go easier that way. There will be someone at the room, Patrick, who will make sure that you don’t touch–” Mac swallowed hard. “That you don’t touch anything we need but the scene is mostly processed.”

“Jax, can I have the keys?” Carly held out her hand. “You should wait here so you can update Brenda.”

Jax silently held out the keys to his car and watched as Carly lead Patrick out of the room. Mac Scorpio frowned after them and then looked at Jax. “Was that really Carly?”

Before Jax could answer, Elizabeth hesitantly entered the room and was relieved that only Mac, Robert, Noah and Jax was present. If Patrick had been here, she would have felt obligated to tell him as well and that was something she wasn’t sure if she could handle right now. She cleared her throat, “Mac…I need to speak with you.” She eyed the other occupants warily. “Privately.”

“Ah…”

Felicia Scorpio Jones and her daughters Georgie and Maxie entered behind Elizabeth and Felicia immediately threw herself into Mac’s arms, pressing her face into his shoulder. “I can’t believe this! It’s all over the radio!”

“It’s so awful,” Georgie murmured. “I can’t believe anyone would want to hurt Robin.”

“I know, I mean, she’s like the sweetest person,” Maxie sighed. She looked to Elizabeth. “Do you know anything about her condition?”

“Just that it was critical when she went into surgery.” Elizabeth hesitated, “But I’ll go get an update for you guys.” She slipped from the room.

Metro Court Hotel: Patrick’s Room

Patrick stared at the room and swallowed hard. The bed had been stripped of the sheets, blankets and pillows but the blood had seeped into the mattress. There were blood spatters smeared on the wall, the lamp that his pants had been thrown over earlier that night had been shattered…and the flowers lay in a soggy mess, petals strewn over the nightstand and stained with blood.

“I can’t–” He shook his head. “I can’t go in there.”

Carly nodded. “Okay, well, then just tell me what you need and I’ll get it for you.”

Patrick shook his head again. “If I hadn’t asked her to stay, she never would have been here.”

“You can’t think like that,” Carly said stricken. “You can’t blame yourself for this. You are not the one that shot her. And as long as that’s true, this is not your fault.” She touched his forearm. “Robin would never blame you.”

“All the other times I’ve been called in on a surgery while with a woman, she’s gone home,” Patrick ignored her. “I’ve never asked anyone to stay the night. Ever. Surgery or not. Why did I have to pick the one night that some maniac–”

“Hey!” Carly cut in. “Now you’re just being stupid. So you’re going to punish yourself for falling in love? For wanting someone in your life for more than ten minutes? That’s insane, Patrick, and Robin would smack the crap out of you for saying that.”

“For someone who doesn’t like Robin, you sure think you know her,” he said dryly.

“The trouble with me and Robin is we both always think we’re right,” Carly replied. “And we never back down. And we both refuse to admit we’re wrong. No matter how many years pass, that’s never going to change. But I know her well enough to know that she’s got some common sense. Now, all those thoughts in your head? Anyone would be thinking them right now but you got to stop it. Because this isn’t about you right now. Robin, if she makes it, is going to need you. So let’s get what you need and get you back to the hospital.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Foyer

“Gosh, it’s awful about Robin,” Lesley Lu Spencer sighed to her brother. “She’s really awesome. I was going to go the hospital but Dad said–”

“Lu, have you seen Lucky tonight?” Nikolas cut her off abruptly.

Lulu planted her hands on her hips. “Hey, I was speaking! It’s not polite to interrupt. And no, I haven’t seen Lucky in a few weeks. Not since I got back from the islands. Why?”

“Because I need to find him,” Nikolas said. “If you hear from him, you have to tell me immediately.”

Lulu studied her brother carefully. “Nikolas, you’re pretty odd to begin with but it’s worse than usual. What is going on?”

Nikolas shook his head. “Nothing.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be in touch.”

He left, slamming the front door to the mansion behind him. Lulu pursed her lips and tapped her chin.

“What did he want?” Dillon asked coming down the steps, keys in hand. “Did you still want to head the hospital? Georgie just called–Monica says her family should be there tonight just in case.”

“Something is weird with Nikolas,” Lulu remarked instead. “Robin’s always been one of his friends but he just stormed in here tonight looking for Lucky and didn’t even want to talk about Robin.” She glanced at her stepbrother. “Why do you suppose that is?”

“He’s a Cassadine,” Dillon said as though that answered everything.

“Yeah, but my instincts tell me that it’s something more this time. And his sudden search for Lucky seems awfully coincidental. Why would Lucky disappear the same time as Robin getting shot?” She tapped her foot. “What’s the connection?”

“You know, you’re being more paranoid than usual.” He took her by the elbow. “Let’s go to the hospital before you start talking about tailing your brother.” When she opened her mouth, he pointed at her. “Don’t even say it.”

She closed her mouth and glared at him. “Fine, let’s go to the hospital. But I’m telling you, something is going on here and I’m going to find out.”

General Hospital: Waiting Room

“Have you been able to get a hold of Anna?” Mac asked. He sipped the coffee that Felicia had brought up and winced at the strong–translation: awful–taste. But it was caffeine and that was more important right now.

“I keep trying but she’s not picking up.” Robert took his cell phone out and moved to a corner of the room to try again. Her phone was on this time and when she picked up, he began, “Anna, it’s Robert–”

Click.

He glared at the phone. “Bloody stubborn woman,” he growled. He started to dial again.

Elizabeth slipped back in the room, her eyes tired, her shoulders slumped. She joined Mac and Jax. “The surgery is still going, it’s going to be a few more hours but Robin’s hold her own and that’s encouraging.”

“Good, that’s good.” Mac sipped his coffee again and this time he was more accustomed to the taste and didn’t wince nearly as bad. “Liz, you needed to speak to me before…?”

“It can…” Elizabeth broke off. It mostly certainly could not wait. “It’s about what happened tonight. I think…” She bit her lip, took a deep breath. “I think I know–”

“I finally managed to get through to her on the third try without her hanging up,” Robert interrupted, joining them. “She’s taking the first flight from London. Do you have an update for us, Elizabeth?”

“Robin’s holding her own,” Elizabeth repeated. “But it’ll be a few more hours.”

“What were you going to say about the shooting?” Mac pressed. “Do you know something?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted when Patrick reentered. “Is there any word?” he demanded immediately.

“She’s holding her own,” Mac said impatiently. “Now, Liz…?”

This was going to be both the most painful and mortifying moment in recent memories, Elizabeth realized as Mac’s voice had been raised and now all eyes were on her. But she had to get through this and it wouldn’t be a secret much longer. “Nikolas came here tonight, he was looking for Lucky and it occurred to me that there’s a strong possibility to that Lucky might have shot Robin,” she said, speaking so fast that her words were coming out and tumbling over each other.

Mac shook his head. “That’s impossible, Elizabeth. What in the world would make you think that? What would make anyone think that? Robin and Lucky have been friends for years–”

“I know and it’s awful and I really hope I’m wrong,” But the longer this nightmare continued, the more Elizabeth realized that she could be right. Because otherwise, Lucky would have heard the news and would be here right now. In pain or not. “But Nikolas told me tonight that he gave Lucky news that would have upset him and with the pain medication he’s been on, he hasn’t been acting himself–” she licked her lips and wondered if there was a way she could get this out without having to say what Lucky and Nikolas both believed.

“What news?” Robert pressed. “I can’t imagine what news Lucky could have received that would make him break into Drake’s room and shoot an innocent woman.”

“If it was Lucky,” Elizabeth said painfully, “he would have thought it was me…not Robin.”

The room was so silent, a pin could drop and make a sound. Elizabeth lowered her eyes, ashamed.

A split second before Robert Scorpio lunged for Patrick Drake’s neck, Elizabeth realized that she’d forgotten to tell them that the news Lucky would have received was false.

June 1, 2006

General Hospital: Waiting Room

Robert grabbed Patrick by the neck and slammed him against the wall. “You son of a bitch!”

“No, no!” Elizabeth tugged at Robert’s arms. “Wait, you don’t understand–”

“You were cheating on Robin?” Robert growled, squeezing harder.

“Elizabeth, will you please explain this to him?” Patrick grunted.

“It’s not true!” Elizabeth said frantically. She looked back at a dumbstruck Mac. “Mac, will you help me! He’s going to kill him!”

“I’m not so sure he doesn’t deserve it,” Felicia said scathingly. “And shame on you, Elizabeth!”

“Wait, wait–it’s not true!” Elizabeth cried. “I would never do that to Robin or to Lucky!”

“Yeah, come on, Uncle Robert!” Georgie said. “Robin is going to be really pissed when she wakes up and finds out you’ve killed Patrick.”

“Will you let him go?” Noah demanded, but not actually stepping forward to extract his son. Noah wasn’t stupid after all–Robert was former WSB. “Patrick would never cheat on Robin!”

Robert finally released Patrick who was gasping for breath at that point. “Crazy son of…” he muttered, rubbing his neck.

“You might have mentioned it wasn’t true,” Robert told Elizabeth disapprovingly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize everyone thought I was an adulterous tramp,” Elizabeth shot back.

“Well, it’s not you so much as it’s him,” Robert jerked a thumb at Patrick, who glared back at him.

Mac stepped between Robin’s father and boyfriend. “Okay, let’s just all take a step back here. Elizabeth, before my brother went homicidal–” at this Mac shot Robert a dirty look, “–you said that Lucky might have thought it was you. Why would he think you and Patrick were having an affair?”

“Which we weren’t,” Patrick said, irritated. “If this is what happens when I try to do something nice–”

“Patrick–and Robin–were helping me study for a certification test,” Elizabeth sighed. “Lucky asked Nikolas to find out if anything was going on and Nikolas hired someone to follow me. I guess the PI got a lot of photos of me meeting with Patrick and either missed Robin or didn’t care enough to include her in the photos. Tonight, I was at Patrick’s hotel room and I kissed him on the cheek when I left. Nikolas got that photo and concluded that I must be having an affair–” she stopped and had to take a second to gather her thoughts.

“He took the photos to Lucky tonight. And not long after Robin was taken into surgery, Nikolas came in and confronted me about the whole thing. I told him he was crazy but he’s on a search to find Lucky which leads me to believe that Nikolas has a good reason to think that Lucky is guilty.” She rubbed her eyes, exhausted beyond all comprehension.

Mac nodded. “It does sound suspicious that Lucky receives that photo tonight and then Robin ends up being shot. And you’re right, in a dark room, it would be very easy to mistake the two of you.” He glanced around at the multitude of interested faces. “I’m sorry for this, Elizabeth. It probably would have been better if we’d talked about this alone.”

“Well…” Elizabeth shrugged and looked away. “It’s not like this stuff never comes out. Might as well begin the embarrassment now.” She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m going to call my grandmother and check on my son, if you’ll excuse me.”

She all but fled the room. Robert had the decency took slightly ashamed. “Sorry about that, Drake.”

“Right,” Patrick muttered darkly. “As if this isn’t already the worst night of my life.”

Audrey Hardy’s House: Living Room

Audrey Hardy hummed as she turned out a light on the desk. Just as she was starting up the stairs, the phone began to ring.

“Who on Earth could be calling this late?” she murmured, stepping off the first step and reaching for the receiver. “Hello?”

“Gram?” Elizabeth said. “I’m sorry to call so late but I didn’t have a chance before now. I won’t be able to pick up Cam tonight–you probably heard about Robin on the news–“

“Darling….” Audrey blinked and shook her head. “I don’t have Cameron.”

There was long a silence before Elizabeth could find the strength to speak. “What do you mean you don’t have Cameron?”

“Lucky picked him two hours ago, sweetheart. He said that you’d been held up and wouldn’t be able to get him. What’s this about Robin…?”

“Lucky picked him up?” Elizabeth demanded. “Two hours ago?”

“Yes, dear–was he not supposed to?” Audrey asked, unsure.

“I have to go, Gram.”

The line went dead and Audrey stared at for a moment. Finally, she set it down and reached for her keys and her purse.

Sonny’s House: Foyer

Jason stepped inside and nodded to Max before turning his attention to Sonny. “Robin’s in surgery and in critical condition.”

Sonny exhaled slowly and looked away. “I can’t believe this–do you know what happened?”

Jason sighed. “No. All I know is what the news is reporting. Robin was in Patrick Drake’s room, she was shot and she called 911. It’s not Drake, he was at the hospital with a patient and…” he hesitated, wondering if he should confide Elizabeth’s theory to Sonny. It had been weeks since the two of them had had an actual conversation and Jason couldn’t help but think he should take advantage of the temporary truce between them. He would need Sonny’s help with tracking down Lucky Spencer anyway.

“Lucky Spencer thought Elizabeth and Patrick were having an affair and Nikolas Cassadine went to the hospital tonight, hell bent on finding his brother,” Jason said, leaving it at that and knowing that Sonny would make the necessary connection.

“Robin and Elizabeth look enough a like for someone to mistake them in a dark room,” Sonny murmured. “But to think Elizabeth would have an affair, that’s just ridiculous. Have they found Lucky?”

“No,” Jason admitted. “And I promised Elizabeth I’d find him for her.” He scratched his temple. “So I need to borrow Max.”

Max frowned. “Borrow?”

“Sure, whatever you need.” Sonny nodded to Max. “Jason’s going to require your assistance to find Lucky Spencer.”

“Yeah, Boss, I got ears,” Max said dryly. “Do we have to turn him over with or without injuries?”

General Hospital: Hallway

“So I’m sure my dad would approve–” Lulu was saying when Dillon stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway and slapped a hand over her mouth. She glared at him.

“Listen very closely, Lesley Lu Spencer,” Dillon began. “We just got back from the islands a week ago. During the two weeks we were there, there were numerous guns shoved in our faces, okay? And then there was a cougar. And lots of insects that could kill us. Now I’m all for adventure and having fun but the last thing I need for the next caper is a Cassadine family mystery, is that clear?” He removed his hand.

“Oh, okay,” Lulu huffed. “But I’m just saying that my dad would totally be okay with us tailing Nikolas for a few days. And I know that you, like, want to be Luke Spencer–”

“What is she doing here?”

Lulu and Dillon turned to find a very irritated Georgie standing behind them, the door to the surgical waiting room open. “It’s supposed to be family only,” Georgie continued.

“Well I care about Robin, too,” Lulu replied, rolling her eyes. “Besides, we totally bonded in the Maarkams.”

Georgie narrowed her eyes at the mention of the island chain and Dillon sighed impatiently. “Georgie, Lulu just wanted to show some support.”

“She can show all the support she wants…at the mansion.” Georgie sniffed. “Are you coming in or not?”

“Hey, you know, I’m not the one that took the convicted felon to Prom,” Dillon retorted. “So you want to back off a little? Lulu is my stepsister and whether you like it or not, she’s a friend of Robin’s.”

“Look, you know what? I’m not in the mood for another episode of the Young and the Stupid, okay?” Lulu remarked. “I’ll be in the cafeteria if you get any news on Robin and I’ll wait for your decision on that other thing.”

She started down the hall. Georgie glared at Dillon. “What other thing?”

Before Dillon could answer, Elizabeth rushed around the corner and plowed into Lulu, sending the teen flying the ground. “Geez, Liz!” Lulu sighed. “What’s with you?”

“Lulu…” Elizabeth gripped her sister-in-law’s shoulders. “Have you seen your borther?”

“Which one?” Lulu asked suspiciously. “Because Nikolas was at the Q’s earlier asking me if I’d seen Lucky.”

“Have you?” Elizabeth demanded. “Lulu–”

“Nope, I haven’t seen him in weeks.” Lulu wrenched herself out of Elizabeth’s grasp and picked herself up. “But that does seem to be a popular question.” She tossed a look to Dillon as if to say — Told you so.

“Is Mac still in there?” Elizabeth asked Georgie, dismissing Lulu entirely.

“Ah, yeah,” Georgie frowned and stepped aside just in time as the frantic brunette rushed past her. “What in the world…”

“You’re not keeping me out now,” Lulu muttered to Georgie as she went into the room and Georgie just rolled her eyes.

“See, I don’t get women,” Dillon grumbled under his breath.

“Mac, I just called my grandmother and she said that Lucky picked Cam up two hours ago,” Elizabeth blurted out, so upset that she didn’t even realize that she had grabbed Mac’s arm. “But no one’s seen him and he’s not picking up his cell phone–”

“Deep breathe,” Mac said. He took her shoulders. “Slow down. We don’t even know that Lucky is–”

“No one has seen him, Mac! And he told my grandmother that I wouldn’t be able to pick him up!” Elizabeth cried. “Why would he say something like that?”

Robert swore under his breath. “He’s probably on the run, hasn’t heard the news reports. If he picked the kid up two hours ago…”

“The 911 call came in at 10:05, Lucky would have gotten to Audrey’s at about eleven,” Mac checked his watch. “And Nikolas came to the hospital when?”

“10:30,” Elizabeth answered numbly. “He said he’d been by the apartment and Lucky wasn’t there.” She closed her eyes. Oh, God. It was all true. Lucky had done this. He’d shot Robin, intending to kill his wife. Oh, God.

He had her son!

“Whoa!” Mac reached for her and kept her standing upright when her knees suddenly buckled. “Can I get some–”

Patrick stepped forward and wrapped an around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “Let’s sit down, okay? We’ll sit down, you’ll take some deep breaths and we’ll figure this out.”

He led her over to the group of chairs and when she was seated, he kneeled in front of her. “You went from the Metro Court directly to your test and then to work, right?”

“Right,” Elizabeth licked her lips. “I haven’t even seen Lucky since this morning but Gram was supposed to keep Cam until I got finished my shift at eleven. But she sometimes keeps him overnight when I work late because I’m too tired to pick him up. Lucky never picks him up.” She rubbed her eyes. Her eyes focused on a bewildered Lulu. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“What is going on?” the teen demanded. She planted her hands on her hips. “Why is everyone so determined to find Lucky? Why is it such a big deal that–” Her mouth closed abruptly and she stared at Elizabeth. “You guys think Lucky shot Robin.”

“Ding, ding, ding, give the girl a prize,” Georgie muttered.

“Hey! I have had it from you, you little brat!” Lulu snapped. “I’m not the one who’s dating a sick twisted jerk!”

“I am not dating Diego!” Georgie stamped her foot.

“What do you call it when you take someone who isn’t your husband to the Prom?” Lu countered.

“God save me from teenagers,” Mac muttered. “Felicia…?”

“Right,” Felicia nodded. She took her daughter and yanked her into the hallway. “Maxie, Lulu, Dillon, let’s go.”

“I didn’t even do anything,” Maxie complained following her mother out the door. “Typical, Georgie. Ruin it for everyone.”

“I hate to say it but it’s looking more and more likely that Lucky Spencer is our guy,” Robert said. “The times just add up too well. And if Nikolas Cassadine is tracking him down as well, you’d better believe it’s to get him out of the country.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen. We’re going to find Lucky first. Elizabeth, has he legally adopted Cam?” Mac asked gently.

“No,” Elizabeth said hoarsely. “We never had the money.” She wiped at her nose. “You can use that right? You can say he kidnapped Cam so that you can find him.”

“We can do that, but I want to make sure that you’re okay with that. Because it could turn out that Lucky didn’t shoot Robin. That he honestly just picked Cameron up for you and there’s another reason that he’s not at the apartment. It could happen that way, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth smiled wearily. “It could. But I don’t think anyone here thinks that’s the case.”

Monica Quartermaine stepped into the room and everyone snapped to attention.

“I thought you were going to be longer,” Patrick said, stricken. “Liz said a half hour ago–”

“We thought it would take longer,” Monica sighed. “But Robin’s blood pressure finally stabilized and we were able to pick up the pace. We closed five minutes ago and she’s been moved to recovery.”

“That doesn’t tell us anything,” Robert snapped. “What is my daughter’s condition?”

“I’m not going to lie to you.” Monica cleared her throat. “She came through surgery which was more than we were expecting. We repaired the damage as best we could and right now, we’re going to play a waiting game. The next twenty-four hours are critical. If she pulls through, we’ll go back into surgery to repair the rest of the bleeding. Right now we need her to be stronger and she’s too weak to survive more surgery.”

Mac exhaled slowly. “So, what are you saying Monica? There’s a good chance that my niece is going to die anyway?”

“I’m saying, Mac, that Robin is young and she was alert and coherent enough to call 911 when lesser people would have been passed out by then. But I can’t give you false hope. It’s going to be rough couple of days and we won’t know that she’s out of the woods until we complete the second surgery.”

“Can I see her?” Robert asked quietly. “Can she have visitors?”

“No, not until we move her into the ICU, which will be in about an hour. She’s not going to be conscious, we’ve got her on too much medication for that to be a possibility. If she does wake up, it’ll be for seconds and she’ll probably go back under. I want you to be prepared for this.” She surveyed the men gathered. “It’s not going to be an easy week. Have you contacted her mother?”

“Anna will be here tomorrow evening,” Robert answered.

“Elizabeth, you’re more than welcome to stay on shift if you want,” Monica told the nurse kindly. “We can assign you to the case–”

“I couldn’t–it would be wrong,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I shouldn’t be here–”

“There’s not a doctor or nurse in this hospital that doesn’t know Robin,” Monica said. “She’d want you to be her nurse right now.”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “Okay, I can stay.” She smiled bitterly. “Nothing to go home to anyway.”

June 1, 2006

General Hospital: ICU Waiting Room

Dawn broke out over Port Charles and Jasper Jacks couldn’t help but compare this morning to the one that had come before it.

Yesterday morning, he had argued with Robin about telling Nikolas Cassadine the truth about John’s paternity. She had come into possession of a paternity test somehow and was trying to persuade him that keeping the truth helped no one and that he should come clean. They had argued bitterly at his penthouse apartment and she’d left in a huff. He’d been disappointed by the entire encounter and had resolved to solve the problem once and for all.

This morning, he sat in a waiting room, surrounded by those nearest and dearest to Robin Scorpio. Her surrogate mother, Felicia curled up on a sofa with her eldest daughter Maxie’s head resting in her lap and her youngest daughter Georgie’s head on her shoulder–all three had dozed off shortly before the sun had peaked over the horizon. No amount of coffee could keep them going any longer.

Mac had been pacing the room since the group had moved up here at two o’clock that morning. Robin had finally been allowed visitors but only one at a time for ten minutes. They’d been trading off but only family had been allowed. Robert was sitting with his daughter now but in a few moments, Jax was sure Mac would be trying to peek in.

Elizabeth had done all she could to bend the rules so that Felicia and the girls could take turns sitting with Robin even though they weren’t technically related anymore but no amount of twisting arms had allowed anyone else through–including an irritated Patrick who had sat in the corner and brooded over that fact before leaving for his rounds at six.

Mac had whispered with police officers who had come in and out all night but if there were any developments, he’d told no one. Apparently, there was still no sign of Lucky Spencer or Cameron Webber, a fact which Jax felt awful for. After all Elizabeth had been through with two miscarriages, for her now to have lost her only living child, he could scarcely imagine that torment.

When Elizabeth entered the room again, Jax had stood and crossed to her. “Elizabeth, I want you to know that if there’s anything I can do–”

“Actually…” the nurse sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. “My grandmother is down at the police station for questioning. They’ve had her there all night, grilling her about Lucky’s condition when he showed up at the house and I would really appreciate it if you could pick her up. If that’s not a problem.”

“No, no. I’ll be glad to be doing something.” Jax sighed. “Brenda won’t be here until tonight and I’ve already been elected to pick up Robin’s mother in a few hours at the airport but I can’t…I can’t sit around here anymore and wait for news. They won’t let me see her–”

“She’d be glad to know you were here. That everyone was here–” Elizabeth sighed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you guys in, I don’t know what I’m going to do about Brenda–she’s never going to take no for an answer–”

“Have you slept yet?” Jax interrupted softly. “I don’t think I’ve even seen you sit down since Robin was moved to ICU.”

“If I stop for a second, I will think about my son. I will think about all that has happened in the last twelve hours and how it could have been avoided if I had just told Lucky I was studying–”

“And I think about what would have happened if I hadn’t given you a ride home that night,” Jax cut in. “If we had taken that road, if I hadn’t looked at you for a second. We could spend our whole lives second guessing our choices, but when it comes down to it, we cannot control the actions of others and we are not responsible for them.”

“I understand the theory,” Elizabeth said. “It’s the execution I’m having trouble with.” Her beeper vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s Jason…”

“Jason?” Jax repeated. “Why is he calling you?”

“I called him to tell him about Cam but his phone was off…I have to go call him back, okay?”

“All right,” Jax agreed and watched her leave the room, never understanding what the women in Port Charles saw in Jason Morgan.

General Hospital: ICU Nurse’s Station

Elizabeth reached for the phone and dialed Jason’s cell number. He picked up on the first ring. “Jason, hey–I’m sorry I had my phone off–”

“It’s fine,” Jason said. “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you before but I was getting the search going. Is there news?”

Elizabeth hesitated. “Well, Robin’s in the ICU, hoping that she’ll get stronger so they can take her back into surgery. No one here has any leads on Lucky even now that…” she bit her lip. “Jason, Lucky picked Cameron up from my grandmother’s last night and no one’s seen either of them since.”

“I’ll be right there, Elizabeth.”

He hung up without waiting for Elizabeth to say anything else. She sighed and placed the receiver back on the hook and was just going to check on Robin when her eyes caught something in the second waiting room at the opposite end of the hall from the one where Robin’s family was waiting.

She stepped into the room and immediately sighed at the sight of her sister-in-law Lulu curled up on a couch and Dillon Quartermaine sleeping upright in a chair, snoring. The two had been banned from the other room when Lulu and Georgie had gotten into a second fight and Mac couldn’t very well send Georgie or Maxie home so he’d just sent these two out.

“Lu…” Elizabeth knelt beside the blonde. “What are you still doing here, honey?”

“Liz?” Lulu started to sit up and yawned. “How’s Robin?”

“She’s still holding on. I thought Dillon was supposed to take you home.” Elizabeth sat next to Lulu.

“Well, Dillon didn’t want to leave in case Georgie needed him and I didn’t want to go home and face Dad.” Lulu bit her lip. “Do you really think Lucky shot Robin?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Elizabeth said slowly. “I know that he picked Cameron last night and never brought him home. No one has seen them and even Nikolas was searching for him.”

“At best, he’s guilty of kidnapping then,” Lulu picked at her nail polish. “And at worst, he tried to kill you and succeeded in nearly killing Robin.” She met Elizabeth’s eyes. “My dad loves Lucky. He has always loved him best and I don’t know how to tell him that any of this is possible.”

“Sweetheart…” Elizabeth smoothed Lulu’s hair off her forehead. “No one knows about Lucky save those we’ve told personally. If you don’t want to tell Luke until we know more…”

Dillon kicked in his sleep. “Spiders!” he yelped.

Elizabeth and Lulu both looked at him and Elizabeth cracked her first smile in hours. “Lu, you and Dillon should both go home and get some sleep. And as for telling Luke, I don’t know how he’d take it but knowing him, I think he’d rather be told now rather than later.”

“Yeah…” Lulu sighed. “I guess I’ll do that. Besides, if I stay here, I’m just going to tell Georgie Jones exactly what I think of her and that won’t be good for any of us.”

“I never touched her!” Dillon mumbled again. “I don’t even like gumdrops!”

“What in the world…” Elizabeth peered at the Quartermaine teen oddly. “What’s that about?”

“Oh, something that happened in the Maarkams,” Lulu said with a wry smile. “You should get back to work and I’ll wake Spielberg up to drive me home. Thanks, Liz.”

General Hospital: Locker Room

Emily Quartermaine collapsed on a bench and leaned her head against her locker. “I’m thinking about changing my career to something a lot less painful.”

Kelly Lee looked over from where she was changing for her shift and laughed. “Oh, really, like what?”

“Bartender,” Emily said seriously. “I think I’d be a lot happier listening to people’s problems than trying to fix their bodies. I just had the most horrendous night–I had to observe an operation for one of my oldest friends and then I had to watch her vitals for the rest of the night.” She glanced at Kelly. “You heard about Robin right?”

“Yeah.” Kelly sobered and sat next to the intern. “It’s just awful and to think, she’d finally managed to tame Doctor Hottie. He looks like someone smacked him over the head with a two by four–I can’t believe he’s doing his rounds today.”

“For the same reason that Liz is still on shift and why I was here all night.” Emily opened her locker and took her jeans out to change. “Because when you stop, you start to think about the possibilities. My mother told me there’s a seventy five percent chance Robin will die before even going into a second surgery. She didn’t tell the family that though.”

“Why not?” Kelly asked. “I would think she wouldn’t want to give them false hope.”

“She’s not. She told them that Robin’s not out of the woods, that there is a chance but…my mother’s known Robin for most of Robin’s life. She’s known the family and I don’t think she could stomach telling Mac Scorpio that despite everything he’s done to protect her, it’s very likely that Robin will never open her eyes again.” Tears pricked the corners of Emily’s eyes and her throat felt tight. “I keep remembering her the night we went out to Jake’s and she was smiling and she was laughing and I can’t believe it’s barely a month later and she might be dying. It’s…it doesn’t seem fair.”

General Hospital: Fourth Floor Nurse’s Station

“What are you doing here?” Noah demanded of Patrick as he saw his son giving instructions to Epiphany Johnson.

“My job,” Patrick said roughly. “I have to take care of my patients, Dad, so spare me the lecture–”

“After what you went through last night, I can’t believe you’re still on your feet,” Noah began but Patrick sent him a seething glare.

“What do you expect me to do?” Patrick countered. “Go find the nearest bar and drown myself in vodka? Take a page from my dear old father’s book? I’m sorry to disappoint you.” He finished his notes and all but shoved the chart at Epiphany who just glared at him and walked away. “Sitting in the ICU room isn’t going to make a damn bit of difference. I can’t change anything, I can’t even see her. So why stay up there and think about all the things I can’t do when I can do something worthwhile down here?”

“I’m not talking about sitting in the ICU,” Noah returned angrily. “I’m talking about getting some sleep, maybe eating something. When was the last time you did either?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Patrick said shortly. “If I were hungry, I’d eat and if I were tired–well–” he broke off. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Nowhere to go remember? Some psycho shot up my hotel room.”

“Do not give me glib answers, Patrick, I know how you must be feeling–”

“No, no you have no idea how I’m feeling right now!” Patrick exploded. “You went into an operating room and you knew there as a good chance Mom wouldn’t come out alive but you know what? I didn’t know that when I walked out of my room last night it could be the last time I saw Robin! There is a huge difference, so don’t stand there and pretend like you have any idea–”

“I know what it’s like to blame yourself for things you cannot control,” Noah cut in. “And I know you’re blaming yourself for Robin being there alone–”

“You’re damn right I blame myself–” Patrick broke off abruptly when he saw Alan Quartermaine approaching them, looking both annoyed and concerned.

“I know that we are all under a certain amount of stress here,” the Chief of Staff said, “but let’s please try to remember we’re in a hospital.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Quartermaine,” Patrick mumbled.

“You know, Patrick, if you want to take the day off,” Alan started.

“No,” Patrick shook his head. “I would rather be working and doing something right now. I don’t have any surgeries today, just my rounds and some consults.”

“All right, I can’t say that I don’t understand. Robin would be probably be doing the same thing in your position. But if you need the time, it’s yours. Noah,” Alan nodded. He passed by the two of them and stepped into the elevator.

Patrick closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath, trying to clamp down on the maelstrom of emotions raging though him. It seemed that life had been a lot simpler before he’d come to Port Charles. “I don’t want to argue with you, Dad. I may not be handling this the way you think I should but I’m doing the best I can, okay?”

“Okay,” Noah said after a long moment. “Okay.”

General Hospital: Parking Garage

“You know, I really should write this down.”

Lulu rolled her eyes. “I cannot believe you forgot where you parked your car. Why does this always seem to happen when you’re with me?”

“Probably because I’m too busy trying to talk you out of some lunatic idea,” Dillon muttered, scanning the parked car. “Was it Purple Four or Chartreuse Eight?”

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Chartreuse,” Lulu remarked soberly. “I think it was orange.” She rubbed her arms, feeling some what chilled despite the warm weather. “You have to help me figure out how I’m supposed to tell my dad.”

“Well, you could try to soften it or you could tell him bluntly. Maybe it was green.” Dillon pursed his lips and frowned at the color coded sign. “Was it blue?”

“My dad’s gonna freak whether I tell him nicely or bluntly, okay? So what I’m looking for is a way to tell him without him disappearing on me again.” Lulu glanced out the surrounding buildings. “Weren’t we higher up?”

“His middle name is Disappearing Act, Lu, I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid it. And before you suggest it, I’m not going to help you track him down.” Dillon frowned at the scenery outside the garage. “I thought we had a better view of the harbor from our parking spot.”

“I know, I know, you have to stay and work on your marriage,” Lulu remarked in a tone that was neither annoyed nor sarcastic and he frowned at her anyway. “Georgie is more important than me and that’s totally the way it should be. I just hate how she treats you.”

“Well, my abandoning her for the Maarkams and your father probably didn’t go over well. Was it Red Nine?”

“I don’t think it was abandoning her for the Maarkams and my dad. I think it was your choice of company on the flight there,” Lulu said delicately. “We could see more of the docks from our parking space, I think.”

“Georgie is not jealous of me spending time with you,” Dillon said. He paused. “Well…she shouldn’t be. You’re my stepsister, it’s not like it was with Sage. Though…the similarities are amazing. I get asked to look after a teenaged girl who drives me crazy. I should learn to say no.” Pondering that, Dillon shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned as his hand closed over a scrap of paper. He withdrew it and grinned. “I did write it down. Yellow Twelve is where we parked.”

“Next time, write it down and give it to me,” Lulu instructed. “And we won’t have to spend fifteen minutes standing here staring at color codes.”

General Hospital: ICU Nurse’s Station

The elevator doors slid open and Jason stepped out. “Elizabeth–”

“Hey…” Elizabeth rounded the counter and met him halfway. “Is there any news?”

“No, not yet but I sent some people up to the border in case he tries to pass over into Canada,” Jason remarked. He took her arm and led her to a chair. “You said he picked up Cameron from Audrey’s?”

Elizabeth nodded miserably. “I called Gram to check on Cam last night and she told me that Lucky had picked him up at about eleven and told her that I wouldn’t be able to.” She was too tired to cry, too exhausted to feel anything but numb. “Mac put an APB out on Lucky and Cam last night but there’s been no word so far.”

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I wish there were more I could do,” Jason remarked. “But I’ve been where you are in a way. When Michael was kidnapped…” He trailed off, not wanting to go there again.

“It’s all I can do to go from one moment to the next. The only thing that’s keeping me sane is the knowledge that Lucky loves Cameron and I have to believe that no matter what else he’s capable of that he would never harm him, I have to believe that Jason.”

Before he could answer, there was an announcement over the loudspeaker and Elizabeth tensed before springing to her feet.

Code Blue, Room 314. Code Blue, Room 314.

“That’s Robin’s room!” she gasped.

June 1, 2006

General Hospital: ICU

The crash team was already in Robin’s room when Elizabeth and Jason got to the room. An ashen Georgie was standing outside the room, crying into Robert’s chest. “It just started beeping,” the teen was sobbing. “I was sitting there and–”

Mac was practically running as he launched himself out of the waiting room at the other end of the hall and had to skid to a stop to prevent him hitting a wall. “What’s going?”

“Robin’s dying!” Georgie wailed. Felicia and Maxie joined the group in time to hear that announcement and Maxie grabbed Georgie’s arm.

“Don’t say that!” Maxie cried. “Don’t ever say that, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, okay? She’s supposed to have a family and live until we’re all old and gray and–” her voice broke off and she had to bit down on her lip to keep her own sobs back.

The shrill beeping from Robin’s room finally ceased and the team started filing out of the room. The doctor running the team pulled Elizabeth to the side and away from Robin’s family and friends.

“What’s the situation?” Elizabeth asked. “Did you…?”

“We stabilized her,” Megan Jennings sighed. “Whether or not she’ll make it…it’s up to her. Her heartbeat is weak but it’s there and her pulse is still strong. We’ll stay nearby–I don’t think it’s going to be the only time today we’ll be down here.” Megan patted Elizabeth’s arm before she and her team left the area.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts before returning to the group. Before she opened her mouth, the elevator doors slid open and Patrick skidded out. “What’s going on? I heard the code–”

“She’s stabilized,” Elizabeth assured him quickly. She looked back at Mac, at the girls, at Robert. “Dr. Jennings and her team got Robin’s heart started again, the beat is still there. The pulse is strong but…you might have to brace yourself for this again today.”

“She could flat line again?” Robert demanded, agonized. “Where is that idiot blond? If Robin…before Anna gets here…”

“Anna’s flight was due in an hour ago, I’m sure Jax is on his way back to the hospital now with Audrey and Anna,” Felicia said, touching Robert’s arm. “She’ll be here and Robin…she’ll hold on.”

“Georgie, honey, do you want to finish your ten minutes?” Mac said softly.

“No…I can’t–” she shook her head. “I can’t–I can’t go back in there right now. I can’t face her–” she started to cry again and Felicia led her daughters back to the waiting room.

“I’m going in,” Patrick told Elizabeth. “You can call security, you can call the damn army for all I care but I’ve played by the rules and I haven’t pulled any strings but God damn it, Elizabeth, I’m going in–”

“I’m surprised you held out this long,” Robert said dryly. He looked to Mac. “You gonna arrest the boy if he storms the ICU?”

Mac glared at his brother but didn’t answer. Instead he spotted Rodriguez stepping off the elevator. “Excuse me for a minute.” He pulled the detective away from the group and they went to the empty waiting room at the other end of the hall.

“Go ahead, Patrick. If anyone asks…” Elizabeth shrugs. “I asked for a neurological consult.”

Patrick nodded to Elizabeth and then stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind him.

That left Robert, Elizabeth and Jason alone in the hallway. Robert eyed the other man warily. “And what are you doing here?”

“He came to see me,” Elizabeth said quickly, not wanting a repeat of the epidemic. “Jason’s helping me find Cameron.”

“Elizabeth, you should leave that to Mac–” Robert began.

“If it were Robin that was missing, would you leave it to the police or use every resource available to you to find her?” Elizabeth countered with an arched eyebrow.

“Point taken.” Robert cast a glance towards Robin’s room before moving down the other end of the hall and disappearing back into the waiting room.

Elizabeth sighed and turned back to Jason. “I’m so sorry about this. This has just…” she shook her head. “This has been the worst day in at least six years.” She exhaled slowly and fought off the slight dizziness that came when one has been up for over twenty-four hours. “Thank you for coming, Jason. I mean, I could have told you this on the phone but it means a lot to me that you’re here right now.”

Jason studied her for a long moment without speaking. “I know all the reasons you’re going to say no, but you should sleep, Elizabeth. Because if you don’t, you’ll be the next one in a hospital bed and that’s not going to help anyone.”

She smiled faintly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll catch a nap when Robin goes into for her second surgery.”

“I’ll keep my phone on this time. I want you to call me if you need anything, or if you hear anything,” Jason instructed her. He touched her cheek, letting his fingertips slide across her cheekbone. “If you don’t want to sleep, please at least eat something.”

“I promise,” Elizabeth replied. “And I’ll keep you updated on Robin’s condition if it changes.”

ICU: Robin’s Room

Patrick slowly lowered himself into the chair next to Robin’s bed and kept his eyes anywhere but her face. Instead he focused on her hand, picking it up and cradling in both of his much larger ones. “The last time I saw you,” he began quietly, “you were sitting in my bed and you were clutching a sheet to you as if I hadn’t just spent a good two hours exploring every inch that you were trying to cover,” at this he had half a grin, remembering.  “And you were smiling at me.”

He ducked his head and stared at the tiles on the floor. He would not give into the lump in his throat, to the tightness in his chest. If he did, he was terrified he would lose it and start begging her to wake up. He didn’t want that.

“It was almost six months to the day we met that I managed to talk you into bed, do you realize that?” Patrick continued, somewhere finding the strength to continue, to pretend that she could hear every word he was saying. “I’d never spent six months chasing the same woman and the whole time, I kept telling myself it was because you said no when no one else did. But after we…after that first time, I knew it was different with you. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore or pretend that you were like every other woman I’d ever known.”

“So I’m going to do what I’m sure everyone else in here has done. I’m just asking you to hold on because…because we’re not finished yet, Scorpio. I’m asking you not to leave me because for the first time in my life, it’s not about the finish line for me. Because I would really like to see your smile again, even if it’s not at me.”

Patrick finally raised his eyes and focused on her face, with its delicate features and the pale cast to her skin. He’d never seen her looking so still, so…quiet. Even in sleep, her mouth would be open just slightly to breathe. And sometimes, her lips would curve into a smile that made him hope she was dreaming about him.

But to see her like this, to know that this could be his last memory of her, it was almost more than he could take.

Quartermaine Mansion: Pool

She found her father lying out on a lounge chair, drinking some concoction Lulu was sure that Alice had made special for him.

“Okay, suggestions for how to begin this conversation would be extremely helpful,” Lulu said to Dillon.

“Hey, Dad, your oldest son might be a cold-blooded killer and baby snatcher?” Dillon suggested. Lulu slapped his arm. “Hey…you asked!”

“You are the bane of my existence,” Lulu grumbled. She closed the distance between herself and her father and heard Dillon sigh before reluctantly following her. “Dad?”

“Hey, Princess…” Luke sat up. “How’s Robin? And Robert?”

“When we left, Robin was still doing okay and I guess Robert doing the same.” Lulu sat in the adjacent lounge chair and planted her elbows on her knees. “Dad, look, there’s something I gotta tell you and I’m really all that sure how to do it.”

“What is it, Lulu?” Luke asked, sounding somewhat resigned. “If this is about me disappearing again, I got no plans–”

“Dad…there’s a very good chance that Lucky might be involved in whatever happened to Robin,” she said reluctantly. “He thought Patrick and Liz were having an affair and apparently, Nikolas gave him some sort of proof last night.”

Luke was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “No, Cowboy would never do anything like that. There’s a mistake–”

“That’s what I thought when I heard it,” Lulu admitted. She looked to Dillon who bit his lip and took up the conversation.

“Luke, Lucky picked Cameron up from Elizabeth’s grandmother last night because he told her that Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to. And no one has seem them since,” the teen revealed.

“I don’t care,” Luke said stubbornly. “I know my own son. What reason would he have for shooting Robin?”

“If it was Lucky, he wouldn’t have known it was Robin,” Dillon explained. “The theory is that he saw a small woman with dark hair sleeping in Patrick Drake’s bed and thought it was Elizabeth.”

“Well now I know this is all a crock,” Luke snapped. He sprang to his feet. “Lucky would never hurt Elizabeth, and he sure as hell wouldn’t try to kill her–”

“Come on, Dad, Lucky is not the same kid he used to be,” Lulu said. She jumped to her feet. “You still see him the way he was before the fire, the smart and cocky kid who lived by his own rules.That Lucky treated Elizabeth like a precious figurine. He would never have become a cop and he would never have even dreamed that Elizabeth would have an affair. But he’s not that Lucky anymore, Dad, and you’ve got to stop seeing him that way!”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing, Lesley Lu. Your brother loves you–he would never betray you like this–”

“I’m not betraying him, I’m just stating facts,” Lulu interrupted. Her eyes were filled with tears as she realized once again that Luke would always love Lucky first and best. “Lucky is different. He’s not kind and he’s not compassionate anymore. Okay? You’re never around to see him–he treated Liz like dirt last year during the surrogacy and you know what? If the rumors are true and he’s addicted to his pain pills, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to kill Liz! Lucky hasn’t been the same since Helena Cassadine screwed with his mind!”

“That’s all over and done with,” Luke countered sharply. “He’s cured of that and he would never–”

“You just refuse to see that things have changed! That I’ve changed, that Lucky has changed–well you know what, Dad? You’re the only one who doesn’t think Lucky is capable of this, the only one! Even Nikolas is out looking for him!”

“I’m not going to stand here and listen to this anymore,” Luke remarked coldly. “Your mother would be ashamed of you–”

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that,” Dillon cut in sharply, covering Lulu’s agonized cry. “She’s right, you haven’t been around at any point long enough to say Lucky isn’t capable of this. Lulu has. She’s the one that didn’t leave, Luke. And I can’t believe you’re treating her like this–she’s your daughter!”

“I’m going to go find Lucky,” Luke said instead of paying Dillon any mind. He stormed away and Lulu collapsed back onto the lounge chair.

“I can’t believe he said that,” she whispered. “I can’t believe he said that my mother would be ashamed of me–” she turned to him with devastated eyes. “Is that true? Would she hate me too?”

“Hey, no one hates you–” Dillon sat next to her and put an arm around her. “Look, we knew he wasn’t going to take this well. And you know your dad always reacts with his mouth first and his head later. I bet he’ll be coming back and begging you to forgive him.”

Lulu sniffled. “It must be nice to be that optimistic about everything.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “Okay, well now I have to find out the truth. So I’m going to track down Nikolas and figure out what he knows so I can find out if Lucky did do this.” She stood. “You should go back to the hospital and stay with Georgie.”

Dillon rose to his feet. “Yeah and let you wander off alone to chase down a Cassadine? He might be your brother, Lulu, but even I know that’s a death wish.” He sighed. “I just knew I was going to get pulled into this. Well, I’ve gone up against everything but a Cassadine so I figure it’s about time.”

General Hospital: ICU

The elevator doors slid open shortly after Jason left and Anna Devane darted out. “Where’s my daughter?” the brunette demanded of Elizabeth at the nurse’s station.

“Ah…she’s in Room 314, Ms. Devane, but you can’t go–” Elizabeth broke off as Anna ignored her and took off for Robin’s room. “Good luck getting Patrick out of there,” she mumbled. She turned her attention to Jax and her grandmother. “Gram, Jax…”

“Darling…” Audrey rounded the station and embraced her granddaughter tightly. “I haven’t had much of chance to be here for you during this mess. I can’t imagine why they needed to keep me so long and ask the same questions.” She pulled away and framed Elizabeth’s face with her hands. “I am so sorry that I let him walk out the door with Cameron–”

“No, no…Gram, you couldn’t have known. Don’t blame yourself for this, there’s enough people blaming themselves right now without adding you. Just…be here with me.”

“Of course.”

Elizabeth turned to Jax. “Thank you so much for picking her up.”

“Not a problem, Elizabeth. Has there been any change?” Jax asked.

“She flat lined about ten minutes ago,” Elizabeth admitted. “But she’s stabilized again and Monica’s scheduled to take her into surgery about three this afternoon.”

“Okay…I have to stop in at the hotel and then I have to go pick up Brenda at about six. Will you call me?” he asked. “I need to know the moment anything changes.”

“Of course,” Elizabeth agreed. “Thanks again, Jax.”

When the blond had left, Audrey touched Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I’ve taken the liberty of assigning myself to Robin’s case,” she told her granddaughter. “So my first order of business is to relieve you of your duties long enough to get some sleep and something to eat.”

“I couldn’t sleep right now,” Elizabeth sighed. “My mind is going a mile a minute–”

“I don’t want to hear any arguments, darling,” Audrey said in a brisk tone that made Elizabeth feel like she was sixteen again. “Now let’s make a bargain. You’ll lie down and if in ten minutes you haven’t fallen asleep, you can get up and I’ll let the matter drop.”

“Fine,” Elizabeth agreed reluctantly. “I’ll go to the break room–but if I do fall asleep, I need you to wake me up if anything changes, okay?”

“Of course,” Audrey agreed.

ICU: Waiting Room

“Forensics came back,” Rodriguez reported, finally getting down to the meat of his reason for the visit to the hospital. They had spent the first ten minutes going over what the police were doing to find Lucky. “All the blood found in the room belongs to Robin, which means there was no struggle.”

“She was probably asleep and didn’t wake up until after the first hit,” Mac said, trying to pretend he was talking about someone other than his beloved niece. “Any fingerprints?”

“Nope, none save for Patrick Drake, Robin, Noah Drake, and Elizabeth Spencer. There were some unidentified that we think are going to match up to the hotel staff but Carly Corinthos is arranging for those who have worked on Drake’s room since he checked in to go down to the station and be printed. She has to round them all up so it might take some time.”

“What about ballistics on the bullets Monica removed?” Mac questioned.

“They match the type of gun that Lucky had a permit for,” Rodriguez admitted. “But we can’t match them to a specific gun so we’re pulling all permits in the city for them right now and cross referencing them.” The detective hesitated. “We got the security tapes back, Mac. There is footage of Lucky Spencer entering the hotel.”

Mac exhaled slowly. He’d wanted to believe that his former employee and someone he’d known for so long wouldn’t be capable of this but the more he found out, the more he realized that he couldn’t pretend anymore. “So that’s it then,” he murmured. “The gun matches, there was motive and opportunity and the security tapes–”

“There’s more…” Rodriguez scratched his neck uncomfortably. “We got the footage of the hallway outside Drake’s room and the person entering the room is not Lucky Spencer.”

June 1, 2006

ICU: Robin’s Room

“You must be the arrogant doctor that drives my Robin crazy.”

The smooth, accented voice roused Patrick from his thoughts and he turned to see a woman who could only be Anna Devane, Robin’s mother. “I see Robin’s mentioned me,” Patrick said idly. “She’ll be glad you’re here.”

He kissed the inside of Robin’s palm and gently set her hand back at her side before pushing himself to his feet. “I’ll go–and let you sit with her.”

“Mmm, thank you.” Anna touched his shoulder as he passed her. “But stick around, Dr. Drake. I’d like to speak with you.”

Patrick flicked a glance back in Robin’s direction, his eyes lingered for a moment as if willing her to wake up and say goodbye to him. When she remained motionless, he looked back at Anna and nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Anna sat gingerly in the seat Patrick had vacated and took her daughter’s hand. “You weren’t kidding when you said he was good looking, sweetheart.” She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be here sooner, but I am glad that I made it before the second surgery because I wanted–your father tells me that you might not…” Anna couldn’t bring herself to say the words. It couldn’t be true, she wouldn’t let it be true.

“We won’t think about that now, darling. We’ll concentrate on what we’re going to do when you get released and you can tell me all about how Patrick Drake went from being the man you barely liked to someone who sits at your bedside.”

ICU: Waiting Room 2

Mac stared at his detective for a long moment. “Not Lucky Spencer.” Thank God. Thank God. He hadn’t misjudged Lucky after all. Maybe Lucky was going through some tough times and maybe he was addicted to those pain pills, but Mac could get him through this. He could fix this now, just so long as Lucky wasn’t the shooter. “Who was it then?”

“Well…when I say it’s not Lucky Spencer, I mean we can’t say for sure that isn’t…or that it is.” Rodriguez dragged his fingers through his hair. “Could be the Tooth Fairy for all we can see. The hallway was dark and the person is no more than a shadow. I’m sorry, I worded it badly.”

Mac let the breath rush out of his chest with a fast whoosh. “So it could still be Lucky.”

“It could, but I gotta say from what I can see of the shadow, it doesn’t look to be the right build. But that would never stand up in court.” The detective sighed. “But Lucky was there that night. We have him entering the building at nine forty-five and if he didn’t shoot Robin, it’s possible he might have seen something that sent him running.”

“But why take Cameron? Why make a stop and take the kid with him? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe he thought he was in danger, thought his son would be in danger,” Rodriguez shrugged. “Hard to say, Mac. We won’t know until we find him.”

“If we find him,” Mac muttered. His eyes felt gritty, his limbs were heavy and he knew that if he didn’t get some sleep soon, he would crash and that would be the last thing his family needed. “Okay, I appreciate you coming by. Keep the APB out for Lucky. We still can’t rule him out.”

“Do you want to tell Elizabeth Spencer that her husband might be in clear?” Rodriguez asked.

“I don’t want to give her that kind of hope unless I can back it up and right now the fact that the shadow didn’t fit Lucky’s build, it doesn’t work. There are too many other factors against Lucky to make that work. If the DA took this to court today, she’d get a conviction.”

“All right, I’ll head back to the hotel and do some more questioning. We’re about done with the scene if you want to tell Dr. Drake. He’ll want to get the rest of his things at any rate.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Patrick’s going to be going back to that room any time soon.”

ICU: Waiting Room 1

Luke pushed open the door to the waiting room with a clear agenda in mind. He was going to get to the bottom of this mess and find out why people were so damn convinced his son would do such a despicable thing. Lucky would never shoot anyone, much less Robin and he sure as hell wouldn’t do it to kill his wife.

It was ridiculous and Luke would show them all.

When he entered the room, he stopped short at the sight of his old comrade sprawled out in one of those armchairs that looked a lot more comfortable than it actually was. It suddenly struck Luke that Robert looked more than exhausted, he looked old. He looked worn out and down for the count.

He could understand that look, that feeling. He’d been where Robert stood now. He’d stood in a morgue while Mac Scorpio told him that his only son had died in a fire. Lucky was alive now, but Luke didn’t think he’d ever shuck that feeling entirely.

The others in the room didn’t notice him–the Jones girls were still crying and being consoled by their mother and Junior Drake was over in a corner, brooding.

But Robert noticed him and slowly got to his feet. “You shouldn’t be here, Spencer.”

A witty remark sprang to the tip of Luke’s tongue and had they been anywhere else, with anyone else, he would have said it. But instead, he swallowed. “How’s Robin?”

“Her mother’s sitting with her now,” Robert remarked. “She’s holding on.” He hesitated and his next words sounded painful. “But you shouldn’t be here.”

“My son didn’t do this,” Luke said quietly. “My son would never do this, he would never harm Robin and he would never try to harm his wife. My son would not do this.”

“Do you think I want to believe that he did?” Robert demanded. “Do you think I want to believe that the only son of my oldest friend could have nearly killed my daughter? Luke, it tears me up inside to think that he did! But I can’t ignore the facts–”

“It’s my son!” Luke retorted. “It should count for something–I know him, Scorpio. I know him inside and out and he would not do this. I don’t care what any of you think–Lucky didn’t do this.”

“He’s not making it any easier on himself,” Patrick said, joining the conversation. “He ran didn’t he? He disappeared and he took Elizabeth’s son with him. He was stupid enough to think that Elizabeth would cheat on him–”

Luke took a step towards the neurosurgeon who didn’t back away. “You know nothing about my son–”

“No, I don’t,” Patrick admitted. “Except that he abused his morphine drip to the point that Elizabeth begged me to change it to pills that had to be doled out manually. And I was here when Elizabeth found out that her son was missing–picked up by Lucky. So maybe I don’t know your son, Luke, but the longer Lucky is missing, the guiltier he looks.”

“Exactly, Luke,” Robert said, surprising Patrick with his agreement. “Now I don’t like this idiot but I don’t believe he had an affair with Elizabeth–”

“–not now, anyway–” Patrick muttered.

“–but if a Spencer thinks he’s been betrayed, I know from experience that he’s sure as hell going to do the dumbest thing he can think of to get even,” Robert said.

“Maybe that’s true,” Luke admitted. “But I know my son. He would never hurt Elizabeth so this crazy notion of him thinking Robin was Elizabeth just doesn’t hold water and I’m going to prove it.”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Patrick demanded.

“Never ask a Spencer that question,” Robert remarked, resigned. “It’s a death wish.”

“I’m going to find Lucky and I’m going to make him tell me what happened,” Luke said, glaring in his old friend’s direction. “He didn’t do this and I’m going to make sure you all know it.”

Wyndemere: Study

“It is a really bad idea to break into a Cassadine mansion,” Dillon muttered as he flipped through some paperwork on Nikolas’s desk.

“Please–it’s my brother’s house,” Lulu snorted as she searched Nikolas’s planner for any clue to where he’d disappeared to. “If we get caught, I’ll just say I was here to visit my brother and was looking for a notepad to give him a note.”

“Uh huh and how do we explain that we didn’t knock on the door but climbed through a window? Or that we took a boat we stole from the Quartermaines instead of the launch?”

“Well, if it came up, we’d be too busy running to worry about those answers.” Lulu reached for the phone on desk and hit redial. She sighed in irritation when Lucky and Elizabeth’s answering machine came over the line. She dropped the receiver down. “There are no clues here,” she said, disgusted.

“Well, the Cassadines have been trying to rule the world for about thirty years, I think they know how to hide their tracks from a couple of teenagers,” Dillon remarked. He reached for a photo that was beneath one of the papers. “Hm.”

“Hm, what?” Lulu made a grab for the photo but Dillon held it out of her reach. “Dillon, don’t make me hurt you.”

“It’s just a photo of Jax’s kid. He’s brought him by the house a few times to see Ned. I guess Nikolas hasn’t let go of him yet.”

“No, I guess not,” Lulu said. She pouted for a moment but then spotted a pile of Nikolas’s unopened mail. She lunged forward and grabbed it.

‘Whoa, whoa!” Dillon reached for the mail. “Now we’re stepping over line, Lulu. Breaking into your brother’s mausoleum, that’s mischief. Messing with mail, that’s a major felony!”

“I’m not opening it, I’m just going to see if there’s anything interested–you don’t give me enough credit,” Lulu huffed. She found a plain white envelope with her brother’s name written in block letters and no return address. It was postmarked Port Charles. “Hmm….”

“Oh, no…that tone is not encouraging coming from a Spencer,” Dillon sighed. “Why do I do this to myself?”

“Oh, you love it and you know it,” Lulu said absently. She stuck her finger in the flap and tore it open. Dillon yelped but she ignored him and slid out a single sheet of paper. “Well, well…now this is a surprise.”

“It had better be worth ten years in a federal jail,” Dillon grumbled.

“Oh…I think it is.” Lulu held up a paternity test. “Someone mailed my dear brother the results of a test that say that John Jacks is Nikolas’s son.”

“Why would someone do that?” Dillon asked. “Isn’t that kind of mean?”

Lulu whistled as she took the second piece of paper out. “Not if it’s accompanied by a note saying that someone close to my brother knows the truth and neglected to tell him,” she said in a sing song voice.

Dillon frowned. “Close like who? Lucky? Elizabeth?”

“Well, Nikolas never got this message,” Lulu said instead. “So here’s the question I have for you. What if Robin knew–because she works at the hospital and has access to records–and never told Nikolas?”

“That would make some people panic. People who do know the truth,” Dillon said slowly.

“I wonder if Jasper Jacks knows that he’s not the father.” Lulu slid the letter and test results back into the envelope. “But if he did and he knew that Robin might tell…”

“She was shot in the Metro Court…” Dillon trailed off. “But that’s insane. Jax would never shoot someone. He’d pay them off or something.”

“But Robin can’t be bought. And everyone knows the story about Michael Corinthos’ paternity and how that played out. It’s not like Robin’s been known to keep quiet–and I wouldn’t blame her. So who had reason to protect that kind of secret?”

“We’re operating on a lot of assumptions here, Lu,” Dillon said, shaking his head. “We don’t even know that Robin knew. And even if she did…she didn’t send this letter. So there’s someone out there who’s not Jax that knows the truth.”

“And you thought we wouldn’t have any fun,” Lulu said with an excited grin, smacking Dillon in the shoulder.

“No, I said we wouldn’t make it out alive, there’s a difference.”

Metro Court Hotel: Patrick’s Room

Carly stepped into the room and grimaced at the sight. There were still blood smears on the walls that would need to be painted over though Carly was tempted to just rip the wall out and start again. She’d never be able to think of this room without remembering the horror of seeing Robin Scorpio rolled out on a stretcher.

“I almost wish we could turn this room in a supply closet,” Jax muttered.

“Well…it’s a possibility though it’d be a large closet.” Carly avoided looking at the bed and sighed. “We’re going to have rip that wall out. I can’t–we can’t just paint over it. It would…I would never be able to walk past this room.”

“I just can’t imagine Lucky Spencer walking in this room and shooting Robin,” Jax shook his head. “It’s mind boggling. I mean, he’s an ass and he’s never trusted Elizabeth because during the surrogacy, he acted like an idiot, but I still…I thought he loved her.”

“Well, it’s not a hard and fast fact that Lucky did it,” Carly reminded him. “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt Robin. I mean, she’s annoying as they come but still…” she sniffed. She glanced at Jax. “I know how much she means to you. I really do hope she’ll be okay.”

“She and I argued yesterday,” Jax sighed. “She was so disappointed in me.”

Carly slowly turned and looked at him oddly. “Why…why did you argue?”

Jax tugged his ear. “She found out about John.”

“What?” Carly demanded. “When? Has she told Nikolas? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She wants me to tell Nikolas,” Jax remarked. “She promised she wouldn’t tell anyone because she refused to put herself in that position but she thinks I should tell Nikolas anyway.”

“Oh, my God…” Carly leaned against the sofa. “This is a disaster.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Jax said quietly. “I believe Robin when she says she won’t tell–”

“Don’t be naïve, Jax. Robin might even believe she won’t tell but she will. If she survives–and I hope she does–she will tell, Jax. She’s not like you and me. She’s honest. And she thinks every man deserves to be a father. She’ll feel more and more guilty until she can’t stop herself.” Carly took a deep breath. “There’s only one solution then. We have to come clean.”

“Wait…what?” Jax frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“We have to come clean,” Carly repeated. “We have to tell Nikolas the truth and pray that he forgives us. It’s only been a few months, it’s not so bad.” She bit her lip. “It’ll be better coming from us and it’s not…no one else should be put into the position Robin is and I’ll tell you–if she knows, there’s someone else who knows and the more people who do know, there worse this gets. No, we have to come clean.”

She stalked towards the door but Jax grabbed her elbow. “Whoa, Carly–”

“I don’t mean right now, but as soon as Robin’s out of the woods and Nikolas comes back to town, we have to tell him.” She tugged her arm from Jax’s grasp. “It’s the only way to fix this.”

ICU: Hallway

“Okay, so we’re not going to say anything about what we found out,” Dillon reminded Lulu as they headed towards the waiting room. “You’re going to stay out here and check in with Elizabeth and I’m going to check in with Georgie but we are not telling anyone what we found.”

“I got it,” Lulu rolled her eyes. “Look, I’ll leave you here. Dragon might sense my presence.” She went towards the nurse’s station where Audrey Hardy was standing.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you mean when you say Dragon,” Dillon called after her. He sighed and entered the room.

“Dillon…” Georgie jumped to her feet and crossed the room to join him. “I thought you’d be back before now.”

“Sorry…” he kissed her cheek. “I was…look, Georgie, Luke took the news pretty bad–”

“I know,” Georgie replied. “He was in here, yelling at Robert. But it’s pretty clear what happened right? I mean….there’s no other explanation.”

“Right,” Dillon said slowly. “Well, then you can imagine how Lu felt giving Luke that news. He threw it in her face and made a big deal about how she’s being loyal so she wants to find out what happened and me…well Robin’s pretty important to you, so I figured if I help find out what happened–”

“Oh, no…” Georgie stuck her finger in Dillon’s face. “Don’t you dare come in here and tell me you’re helping Lulu for me or for Robin.”

“Georgie–”

“You’re doing this for her,” Georgie continued in a snarl. “You’re doing this for your precious Lulu–”

“Whoa…” Dillon held up his hands. “You’re seriously upset about this. You’re jealous–” he stared at her in disbelief. “Do you think….do you think something is going on with me and Lu?”

“I don’t think, I know,” Georgie retorted scathingly. “This is the second time in as many months that you have dropped everything to help her. If you’re not sleeping with her–”

“Sleeping with her?” Dillon repeated incredulously. “How in the hell did we get to that? You’re being ridiculous–”

“If you’re not sleeping with her, it’s only a matter of time,” Georgie said as if he hadn’t spoken it at all. “This is just like Sage all over again. She wants you Dillon and if you’re too thick or stupid to see that–”

“First of all, even if she did–which I’m not saying she does–nothing would happen because I love you,” Dillon said testily. “Though you’re making it pretty tough for me to remember that right now. This is not Sage all over again. Sage–Sage was something completely different, okay? Lu is my stepsister, she is my friend and she’s going through a rough time–”

“Oh and I’m not?” Georgie interrupted.

“You both are,” Dillon corrected. “And if tracking down Lucky Spencer helps the both of you, then I can’t imagine what the harm is.”

“Yeah, of course you can’t because you refused to believe that Sage wanted you either!”

“That is not true,” Dillon contested. “I knew Sage…had feelings for me but nothing happened between us until you broke up with me remember? Because of my mother–”

“That was three years ago, Dillon–”

“Exactly. Sage was years ago. It’s in the past. I can’t believe you don’t trust me–”

“Hey, maybe the two of you don’t realize this,” Maxie snapped joining them, “but this is the ICU and Robin is down the hall fighting for her life. Maybe you should get your asses in gear and remember that.”

General Hospital: Break Room

Elizabeth yawned and reached for her cell phone. She propped it up to her ear. “‘Ello?” she asked sleepily.

“Elizabeth?”

She sat up, nearly avoiding bumping her head on the bunk above her. “Jason, what is it?”

“We found Lucky.”

Metro Court Hotel: Carly’s Office

“Yes, Sonny…” Carly rolled her eyes and tossed a file in her bag to look over at home. “If I knew anything about the investigation, I wouldn’t tell you because it’s none–and it’s also none of your business what’s going on with Jax. I’m not your wife anymore, I don’t answer to you.”

Frustrated, Carly slammed the phone down and stood. She was going to spend a relaxing night with her boys at home and try to answer their questions about the shooting the night before.

She stood behind her desk another moment, rifling through her bag to double check that she had everything. She was just stepping away when there a sound of glass shattering and suddenly there was a pinch.

She would remember the rest of her life it only felt like a pinch which was odd because she’d always imagined it would be worse. Like a thousand needles ripping into your skin or maybe a hot poker being pressed into the flesh.

But this felt like a pinch and Carly pressed a hand to her abdomen. When she drew them away, her fingers were smeared with blood.

“Oh my God…” Her knees felt weak and she nearly went to the ground then.

“Oh, my God….I’ve been shot.”

June 1, 2006

Metro Court Hotel: Carly’s Office

“Okay. Okay.”

Carly closed her eyes and dug her teeth into the flesh of her bottom lip. “Okay. We–we just–we just have to take a deep breath. We have to be calm and we have to–Sonny’s done this like fifteen times, I can do it once.”

She pressed a hand to her abdomen and reached for her phone. “If Robin do this with two, I can certainly do it with one.”

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“This is Carly Corinthos at the Metro Court Hotel, I’m in my office and someone just shot me!”

“We’re sending an ambulance now, Ms. Corinthos. Do you know who shot you?”

Carly winced and swallowed hard. That pinch was turning into the hot poker feeling she’d been expecting in the first place. “No, and they’d better hope I never find out or I will kick their asses! God damn it, this hurts!”

ICU: Robin’s Room

Megan Jennings exited Robin’s room for the second time that day and faced her patient’s exhausted mother. “Ms. Devane?”

“Why is she crashing?” Anna demanded. “She was stable just a few moments ago–”

“Anna…” Audrey placed a hand on the former police chief’s shoulder. “Robin’s been through a lot of trauma and her body is dealing with it the best way that it can. Dr. Jennings brought her back and that’s important to focus on. They were able to revive her.”

Anna shrugged off Audrey’s comfort and started down the hall. “I have to go tell Mac and Robert about this.”

When she was out of earshot, Megan looked at Audrey with sad eyes. “She’s not going to survive a third round, Audrey. Monica needs to be paged and Dr. Scorpio needs to go back into surgery now if she’s going to have any chance at all.”

“I’ll page her,” Audrey sighed.

“I’m off shift but Marian Hawthorne’s taking over for me,” Megan said as the two walked towards the nurse’s station. “I made sure to brief her on the case and the, ah, principles involved.”

“Thank you, Megan. Say hello to Derek for me,” Audrey said absently as she reached for phone to page Monica Quartermaine.

General Hospital: Break Room

Elizabeth swallowed hard. “You found Lucky.”

“Yeah…listen, I’ll come to the hospital and tell Mac so he can send someone to go get him,” Jason continued. “He’s in a motel just over the Canadian border and he checked in there last night about two in the morning.”

Her voice shook as she asked the next question, “And Cameron?”

Jason was silent for a moment. “Max said the clerk didn’t notice a kid but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t in the car, Elizabeth.”

“Right,” she said hollowly. “He was probably in the car.”

“I’m coming to the hospital, okay?” Jason said. “I’m telling Max to stay on the room in case Lucky leaves and if he sees Cameron, he’ll let me know immediately. And if he doesn’t have him…” Jason hesitated. “I’ll find him.”

“I’ll see you when you get here,” Elizabeth said dully. She shut off her phone and leaned her head in her hands. She would do anything to go back in time and fix this so none of this could have happened.

ICU: Waiting Room 1

“I feel like I’ve been here forever,” Maxie said to her sister. “And it’s barely been a day.” She propped her head up on her hand and stared out the window at the harbor. “This is so much worse than Jesse.”

Georgie arched her brows. “How can you say that? You loved Jesse!”

“Yeah, but…” Maxie shook her head. “I’m not negating how we felt towards one another, Georgie, but this is Robin. This is our cousin–better yet, our sister. And they can’t tell us one way or the other if she’s going to make it. With Jesse…it was quick, you know? It was a few hours and he was gone. But this just keeps dragging and dragging and everyone’s here and you and Dillon are arguing–” she closed her eyes. “I want to skip ahead to the end just so I can avoid this middle stuff.”

“Robin is going to be okay,” Georgie said firmly. “I have to believe that. She was, you know, okay enough to call 911. And that’s what I keep telling myself. She had to reach for the phone and she had to dial and she did that. She’s strong, Maxie. She’s been through so much and she’s the strongest person I know.” She hesitated. “She watched Stone die little by little and she was in the room when he did pass away. And she got through that and made a life herself anyway. So many other people would have given up after going through a quarter of what Robin has.”

“I know she’s strong,” Maxie said softly. “But how long does a person have to keep picking herself back up before she just stops bothering? How much more does Robin have to take before she gets a break?”

The door to the waiting room opened and Monica stepped in. Immediately everyone was on their feet and Monica had to take a step back to keep herself from feeling crowded. “After Robin’s last flat line, I’ve decided that it’s too risky to keep waiting for the second surgery.”

“Is she strong enough?” Robert demanded. “I thought the whole point of waiting was for her to regain some strength.”

“She’s not as stable as I’d like,” Monica admitted, “but the internal bleeding has to be stopped or the next time Robin flat lines, we may not unable to revive her. If I don’t take her back in now, she won’t survive the night.”

“But will she survive the surgery?” Patrick asked roughly. “If she’s not strong enough to last the night…” he couldn’t speak anymore.

“There’s no way to say for sure whether she will or not,” Monica told him. “I will do the best I can, you have my word on that but I won’t make any promises.” She held a clipboard out to Anna. “You’re her next of kin, legally. You need to sign the consent forms.”

Anna hesitated but signed her name at the bottom of the form. “A small chance is better than none,” she said quietly. “Can I see her one last time before you take her in?”

“I want to see her as well,” Robert said.

“You can all go see her if you make your visits short and quick,” Monica said. “It’s going to take a half hour to prep the team and the OR. Liz Spencer will be up shortly to prep Robin.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Sonny strolled up to the admittance desk. “My ex-wife Carly Corinthos was just brought in, I, ah, heard on the news that she’d been shot.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Corinthos,” the nurse began, “but as her ex-husband, we can’t release any information to you. Only to the next of kin.”

“Her mother is out of town, and won’t be back until tomorrow,” Sonny said, making a note to call Bobbie in Florida where she was vacationing with Lucas. “She has no other next of kin save our boys.”

“I’ve got Carly’s power of attorney,” Jax snarled from behind Sonny. “You don’t need to be here.”

Sonny turned around and glared at the man he’d probably hate for the rest of his life. “She’s the mother of my children–”

“Only two of them,” Jax clarified with a smirk. “And the other two…aren’t they with a mother and daughter duo?” He clasped his hands behind his back. “I repeat, there is no reason for you to be here. If Carly wanted you here, she’d ask for you.”

“I want to know how she is I can tell our sons,” Sonny all but growled. “Don’t you think Carly would want them to know she’s okay?”

Jax pursed his lips, knowing that the man was right and hating him all the more. “Fine. Carly was hit in the lower abdomen, but it was a relatively clean hit and there was an exit wound. She’s conscious and they’re going to take her in for some quick surgery to sew her up. She’ll be here for a few days. Is that enough for you?”

“Do they know who did it?” Sonny pressed. “Any suspects?”

“Other than your enemies, you mean?” Jax asked pointedly. “No. Now, you know Carly’s condition, so you can leave.”

“Oh…” Sonny shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

ICU: Waiting Room 1

It had been only fifteen minutes since Robin had been taken in for the second surgery but Mac Scorpio kept waiting for Monica to come through those doors and tell him that they’d lost her.

He’d paced the carpet so often in this room that there he’d worn a groove into it. Felicia kept pressing him to eat, to try to nap but he refused. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate until he knew Robin would be all right.

When the door did push open, Mac tensed and looked towards it with dread. He exhaled in relief when it was Jason. “What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for Elizabeth,” Jason answered, glancing around at those gathered and feeling uncomfortable. “But they said she was in surgery. I found Lucky Spencer.”

Those four words garnered the attention of every person in the room. “How did you even get involved?” Patrick demanded. “Since when have you given a damn about Robin–”

“That doesn’t even matter right now,” Robert cut off Patrick’s tirade. “Where is the little bastard?”

“He’s holed up in a motel over the Canadian border,” Jason answered. “I have some men watching him in case he makes a run for it but I know…” he looked to Mac. “Robin would want this handled through you and if Lucky has Cameron, then I can’t take any chances.” He took a piece of paper from his pocket. “This is his location.”

Mac took it and met Jason’s eyes. “Thank you. I’ll send my detectives up there immediately to get him. Hopefully, we can talk him into surrendering himself without having to deal with extradition but if you could keep your men watching him until they get there.”

“It’s done,” Jason agreed. He hesitated. “Is Robin…has her condition changed?”

“She’s in surgery,” was all Mac could say. “Thank you for asking.”

The indication for Jason to leave was clear and he didn’t need any more encouragement. He would just wait in the other room for Elizabeth.

When he was gone, Felicia exhaled slowly. “I can’t believe he’s just turning Lucky over so easily or cooperating with the police. It’s so unlike him.”

“Jason knows how to use the PCPD when it’s to his advantage,” Mac said dryly. “I have to step out for a moment and give Rodriguez a call. He’ll want to be the one that brings Lucky in.”

It was almost two hours before the doors opened again and Emily, who had been observing the surgery, stepped in. “Mom sent me to give you guys an update.”

“Is the surgery done?” Anna demanded. “Is Robin all right?”

“We’ve stopped the bleeding,” Emily informed them, “and Mom’s just repairing the artery now. But…” she hesitated. “There’s a lot of damage and Robin lost a lot of blood, you know? There’s…there’s a really good chance that she might not…”

Robert stepped forward. “You’re telling me that even if this surgery is successful, that Robin could die anyway?” he demanded. “What the hell kind of doctors work here?”

“I’m sorry,” Emily said softly. “But even last night, there was only a twenty-five percent chance that she would make it. And after flat lining twice, that chance has shrank considerably. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, of course, but you should prepare yourselves–”

She broke off abruptly when Patrick slammed out of the room. Anna hesitated but went after him.

“Just tell us straight, Emily,” Felicia said quietly. “Robin’s probably not going to make it?”

“The chances are slim,” Emily agreed sadly.

ICU: Hallway

“God damn it!” Patrick slammed his fist into the plaster wall. The wall didn’t crack but the stinging pain that radiated in his hand and up his arm was the first feeling Patrick had had in hours.

“You probably shouldn’t do that,” Anna stated. “Robin tells me you’re a gifted neurosurgeon and you wouldn’t want to damage your hands–”

“To hell with my hands!” he retorted. “What good are they doing me now? They can’t fix Robin!” He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. “If I had just stayed in Manhattan, this wouldn’t be happening right now.”

Anna arched an eyebrow. “So you regret meeting my daughter?” she asked bluntly. “Not the best way to make a good impression here, Dr. Drake.”

“Before Robin, I didn’t give a damn about anything,” Patrick shot back. “Nothing except my career. I didn’t care about my father; I didn’t care about the future unless it was medically related. And now…” he shook his head. “What’s the point?”

“The point?” Anna repeated.

“Of giving a damn. Of letting someone in and caring about them?” Patrick demanded. “If Robin had been anyone else last night, I would have just sent them home and forgot about them and if I had just done that–”

“And if I had just convinced Robin to move to London with me instead of Port Charles last fall, she wouldn’t have been here at all and then where would you be?” Anna said. “Are you going to tell me you’re not better off for having known her?”

“Right now, it doesn’t feel like I am,” Patrick muttered.

“When things get tough, that’s when you prove yourself,” Anna said. “Now, when Robin talked about you in the islands, I was so disappointed because I realized she’d fallen in love with someone who had all her father’s worst qualities–”

“Wait a second–” Patrick snapped his head up. “We’re not–”

“According to Robin, you’re arrogant, you think you’re God’s gift to women and that you’re infuriating, which are all of Robert’s worst personality traits.” Anna paused. “After having met you, I realize you are exactly like her father. In all the worst ways…and the best ways. Robin wouldn’t want you to blame yourself–”

“I am so sick of hearing what Robin would want,” Patrick cut in. “Well, she’s not here and you know what? She might not ever be here again so I’m just going to do whatever the hell I want, okay?”

Anna glared at him. “I wasn’t finished. Robin wouldn’t want you to blame yourself but she also wouldn’t tell you how to feel so if you want to sit out here and feels sorry for yourself and torture yourself because you let yourself care for my daughter, that’s your prerogative. But a real man stands up, Patrick.”

She left him standing there and went back into the room. Robert frowned at her. “Is he all right?” he asked grudgingly. “He’s taking this all kind of hard.”

“It’s a little difficult, Robert, for a man to lose someone and realize that he loves them all at the same time,” Anna said slowly. “I imagine that’s difficult for anyone.”

General Hospital: Records Room

Dillon slid the chair up against the door and then turned the lock. “Okay, anyone who wants to come in is going to have find a key and then get the chair out of the way so that should buy us time to either jump out that window out there–”

“–we’re on the third floor!” Lulu said with wide eyes. “We couldn’t jump out the window–”

“–or make up some really good excuse for why we’re in here,” Dillon finished. “So let’s just get this done quickly.”

Lulu sat at one of the computers and booted it. She cracked her knuckles and then flexed her fingers before starting the delicate process of hacking into the patient’s files.

“Where did you learn how to do this?” Dillon asked curiously, leaning over her shoulder.

“My brother gave me my first lesson when I wanted to change a failing grade,” Lulu informed him as her fingers flew over the keys. “And I kind of used what Lucky taught me and expanded it. I hacked into your mother’s bank account, remember?”

“Vividly,” Dillon muttered, remembering Tracy’s wrath.

“Okay, here we go. John Michael Jacks, complete patient history.” Lulu clicked on his file and started to scan it. “Okay, the first part of this is all his actual history. His premature birth, how he was sick with the virus…okay, here are the tests that have been run.”

“Three separate paternity tests,” Dillon said, surprised. “One back in 2005 and two this year. Why would they need so many tests?”

“Well…first, let’s find out who had access.” Lulu pressed a few more buttons that Dillon didn’t catch. “Okay, Dr. Lynn Meadows accessed the one created on May 8, 2006 and the one from October 2005. Dr. Robin Scorpio also accessed both of those as well as the third one created, February 25, 2006. Only one other person accessed all three but…” she leaned forward. “Whoever it was didn’t have legal access so it was someone who hacked in, I think. Like us.”

“What’s in the tests?” Dillon asked.

“The first one says that Jax is the father, and the most recent one lists Nikolas.” Lulu frowned. “Weird.”

“What about the one from February? From right after John was born?”

She clicked on it and sat back in surprise as she read the results. “Well, this one says that neither of them is.” She looked at him, confused.

“Well…hell…” Dillon said disgusted. “Who the hell is his father for Christ’s sake?”

June 1, 2006

ICU: Waiting Room 1

“Okay, it took four planes and one minor assault charge but I am finally here.”

Brenda Barrett swept into the waiting room, lacking the energy and vibrancy that was so characteristic of the diminutive brunette. The sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her lips were also gone and her movements weren’t smooth but frantic.

“Jax didn’t pick me up at the airport, something about a shot Carly but I found a cab.” Her eyes searched out Mac and she zoomed in on him. “Where is she? Surgery? Recovery? Has her condition changed?”

There were some things in life that would never change and the dull ringing Mac got in his ears after Brenda began speaking seemed to be one of them.

“She’s in surgery, Brenda,” Felicia said, rescuing her ex-husband. “Monica just came in to let us know everything was progressing as expected.”

“Progressing as expected,” Brenda repeated. “What does that mean?”

“It means that the surgery is going fine but Robin’s still probably going to die,” Maxie said harshly. She stood and stormed out of the room. Georgie sighed and followed her sister.

“Oh, Robin can’t–” Brenda blinked and looked back at Mac. “But she can’t…she can’t die. That’s my thing. I’m the one who goes away. Not Robin. She’s supposed to stay and…she’s supposed to be okay.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Anna murmured. “It’s good that you’re here, Brenda. Robin would appreciate it.”

“Okay. Well.” Brenda planted her hands on her hips. “She’s just not going to…” she waved her hands. “I’m not letting it happen.”

“And when did you get your medical degree?” Robert demanded, rising to his feet.

“About the same time you graduated from Deadbeat Dad University,” Brenda shot back. “I’ve seen Robin survive a lot of crap in her life–from thinking her parents were dead, to Stone, to that idiot Jason and his bed partner Carly. I believe in Robin and she has a lot to live for.” She sniffed. “Besides, she hasn’t given me the 411 on Doctor Hottie over there so she’s not going anywhere yet.”

With Brenda’s attention on Patrick now, she crossed the room and stood in front of him. “I’m Robin’s best friend and your potential worst nightmare if you ever hurt her.”

Patrick just looked at her, at a loss for words. How was his sane and steady Robin friends with this lunatic?

General Hospital: ER

Kelly Lee had been many uncomfortable positions in her life. Some for fun and some…not so fun. Despite her patient’s relative good prognosis, she still didn’t want to go into that waiting area and confront the three men waiting for news on Carly Corinthos. Jasper Jacks and Sonny Corinthos were either trading barbs or dirty looks and Jason Morgan…

He was probably one of Kelly’s least favorite people after the debacle with Samantha McCall.

But she was a doctor, and more importantly, she was a professional so it would just be better to get it over with. She straightened her shoulders and started towards them.

Jax and Sonny were too busy trying to one up each other but Jason saw her coming and got to his feet. “Ah…Mr. Jacks?” Kelly said, “I’m only authorized to give news on Carly’s condition to you.”

That got Jax’s attention and the Australian stood. “I thought I was just waiting to go and see her.”

“Well, the surgery took a longer than we thought and it turns out that the bullet did nick Carly’s liver so we had to repair that,” Kelly continued. “However, my original prognosis remains the same, she’ll just have to stay in the hospital for a week or two.”

“Can I see her?” Sonny asked.

“Ah…well, right now she’s in recovery but when’s she moved to her room…” Kelly hesitated and wondered how to tell the town’s foremost mobsters that Carly didn’t ask for them. “Carly’s only asking for Mr. Jacks.”

Jax smiled smugly. “I thought so. When will I be able to see her?”

“In about an hour,” Kelly answered. “One of the nurses will be able to direct you to her room. I have another patient to see.”

She made her escape after that.

“I should go check in on Robin while I’m waiting–” Jax broke off and closed his eyes. “Oh, hell.”

“What?” Sonny asked almost reluctantly.

Because the wrath Jax would receive when he met up with Brenda would be understood by these men more than any other, he told them. “I forgot to pick Brenda up at the airport.”

“Brenda?” Jason repeated. He closed his eyes and grimaced. “And I didn’t think this could get much worse.”

General Hospital: Records Room

“Well, I guess there’s no way to know from these records,” Lulu remarked. She pressed a few more keys. “Here’s something intriguing. Robin accessed the test that lists Nikolas as the father last week but then she accessed the test that says neither of them are the father at five p.m.yesterday.”

“Whoa…” Dillon leaned over Lulu’s shoulder more closely. “That is definitely an interesting twist.”

“If Robin knew that neither Nikolas nor Jax was John’s father…well…I think that’s a secret that is definitely worth shooting for,” Lulu said with a smirk. “So our list of suspects is…”

“Jax, the baby’s biological father and Lucky.” Dillon shrugged. “My money’s on the biological father but how are we supposed to figure out who that is?” He sat in a chair next to Lulu. “Courtney was married to AJ, Jason and Jax and engaged to Nikolas before she died. Was she ever linked to anyone else?”

“Well, I never heard anything on the grapevine but there has to be someone else. AJ was dead and Jason was with that Sam chick all last year.” Lulu pursed her lips.

“Yeah, but vows of fidelity mean nothing in this town,” Dillon reminded her.

“That’s true…” Lulu turned back to the computer. “The hospital keeps all DNA on file so we could just a run a search of any DNA that matches John’s.”

“How do you know that?” Dillon asked as he watched Lulu set up the search.

“I hack into the hospital files all the time,” Lulu said as if it was something anyone did on an ordinary day. “I can hack into the school’s too. I’m still working on cracking the PCPD mainframe.”

“Oh.” he stared at her for a moment. “Well, those are handy skills to have.”

“We might get chased out of here before the search finishes but I’ll set the results so that they get sent to my untraceable email address,” she said.

“You have an untraceable email address,” Dillon stated.

“Sure, doesn’t everyone?” Lulu pressed another button. “We’ll have to get you one too if we’re going to keep doing this stuff.”

“Uh uh, I promised Georgie this was my last caper,” Dillon said stubbornly.

“Right. How many times have you promised her that?” she asked, glancing at him with a wry smile.

“Six times,” Dillon admitted. “But I mean it this time,” he added.

“Okay…the search is running.” Lulu sat back and studied her hands. “So…I’m sorry if I’m causing problems for you and Georgie.”

He dismissed that. “Georgie’ll get over it. There’s no reason for her to worry anyway. I mean, there’s nothing going on and she’s just being paranoid. I gave her reason to worry with Sage, I guess.”

“Well…” Lulu frowned and looked at him. “She’s not paranoid, not really Dillon.”

“What?” he said. “There’s nothing going on between us. I mean, the islands–that was something else. That was a plan, a ruse, a cover. There was nothing and I never–it was nothing,” he said quickly. “I never even–it was nothing.”

She sighed. “Dillon, you’re so obtuse. Even for a guy. Why do you think that every time we need a cover, that my first suggestion is to make out?” she asked him.

“Because I’m a guy and you’re a girl and it always works?” Dillon said desperately. He really didn’t want to have this conversation. He would rather discuss his mother’s sex life than have this conversation. Well…maybe that was too drastic.

“Well, yeah, but…” Lulu smirked. “Come on, Dillon. I like you.”

He blinked. “I like you too.”

Men. “No…Dillon, I like you–don’t make me spell this out because you know where I’m going with this, okay?” she huffed.

“I guess I do, but…Lu–”

“I know you’re married, Dillon and you were with Georgie before I even really knew you so I know that it can’t go nowhere,” she rolled her eyes. “But Georgie’s not stupid, okay? She knows.”

Dillon coughed. “Yes, but…Lulu, you’re–” he gestured. “You’re completely–” He shook his head. “I don’t even know where to go with that. I can’t imagine why you like–”

“You’re cute, you’re funny and you’re sweet. Plus, you pay attention to me.” Lulu shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable. “And even though you think this whole thing is stupid, you’re still helping me. Look, Dillon, I didn’t tell you to change anything and I don’t want it to change anything.”

Little late for that now! “Then why tell me at all?”

“So you understand that it’s not about Georgie not trusting you,” Lulu said. “She doesn’t trust me. But it’s okay; I’m not going to play the vixen and try to break you guys up. I figure…she keeps dating Diego–”

“She is not dating Diego–”

“–and you two will take care of it for yourselves.”

“I wish you’d stop saying she’s dating Diego,” Dillon muttered. He trained his eyes on the computer screen, wishing like hell a match would come up and this conversation would be over. He didn’t want to think about this. He didn’t want to think about how much easier it would all be if Georgie understood his need for adventures like Lulu did. He coughed. “She’s not–”

“As a girl who has a crush on a guy she shouldn’t…” Lulu smirked at him. “I know the signs–” she broke off abruptly. “Was that footsteps?”

“The window!” Dillon went towards it.

“You idiot, we’re on the third floor,” Lulu hissed. She minimized the search to hide it from then next person who used the computer.

“There’s a fire escape,” Dillon growled at her, grabbing her arm and shoving her out the window just before someone tried to open the door.

ICU: Waiting Room 1

The only sound in the room was the tapping of Brenda’s heel against the wooden leg of her chair.

Tap, tap, tap.

Robert glared at the ex-model. “Will you stop that?”

“Sorry…I tend to fidget when I’m nervous,” Brenda sighed. She glanced over at a sullen Maxie and Georgie who was trying to comfort her.

Robert looked like he might argue the point just to be contrary and for God’s sake…to have something to do but Monica stepped into the room before he could decide.

“Robin’s in recovery,” Monica said, wiping her forehead. “She stayed stable throughout the last half of the procedure and after repairing the artery and stopping the internal bleeding…we’re going to upgrade her condition.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Anna asked.

But Patrick understood. He got to his feet. “She’s going to make it.”

“I didn’t say that,” Monica said, but she was smiling a little. “I’m saying that Robin made a turn around in the last hour that we didn’t predict. Her blood pressure is stable, her pulse and her heartbeat are strong and the damage was repaired. The next twenty-four hours remain critical, she could still develop an infection but I’m cautiously optimistic enough to upgrade her to stable condition.”

“Stable condition,” Mac repeated like it was a mantra sent straight from heaven. “Stable means she’ll be okay.”

“Barring any natural disasters or infections,” Monica reminded them. “But with a little luck, yes. We’ll be moving her back into her room in the ICU in about a half hour.”

“When will she wake up?” Brenda asked.

“That all depends on Robin. With her condition and the HIV, her healing process is going to be more difficult, her T-cell did drop significantly and I’m bringing in some specialists to work on raising that but with all her body’s been through, she may not be conscious for another few hours or even until tomorrow morning.” She took her pager off her waist. “I have to go take this–”

“Monica,” Anna stepped forward and clasped the woman’s hands in hers. “Thank you. For saving her.”

“Robin did the hard part.” Monica patted Anna’s shoulder. “I’ll be back later to check on her.”

Budget Motel: Room 12

Rodriguez stepped up to the room number Jason Morgan had given Mac and knocked. There was no immediate answer. He knocked again.

He reached to the small of his back to remove his gun but before he could actually grasp it, the door swung open and he was confronted with Lucky Spencer.

He wasn’t sure what he suspected when he finally came face to face with his old colleague. With the rumors and the suspicion, he expected Lucky to have the red eyes and dazed expression of a drug addict.

But Lucky Spencer looked mostly alert and more importantly, he looked worried. “How did you find me?” he hissed. “Never mind.” He yanked the detective inside. “Did anyone see you?”

“Spencer…” Rodriguez scanned the room and was relieved to find Cameron Webber sitting on the bed, chewing the ear of a stuffed rabbit. “What the hell are you doing up here?”

“What does it look like?” Lucky snapped. He peeked out the curtains. “How did you find me?” he asked again.

“Jason Morgan found you–” Rodriguez shook his head. Spencer was a suspect, not a friend. “Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr. I have a warrant for your arrest in the kidnapping of Cameron Hardy Webber–”

Lucky stopped and whirled around. “Kidnapping? He’s my son–I had to protect him–”

“From what?” Rodriguez dropped the cop mask and reverted back to former colleague. “Spencer, they think you shot Robin Scorpio.”

“Robin?” Lucky repeated. “Robin was shot, too?”

“Too?” Rodgriguez repeated. His head was spinning and none of this was making sense. “Robin was shot at the Metro Court last night–”

“How is that possible?” Lucky demanded. “Why would she be at the Metro Court–” he stopped. “So she knows, too.”

“You’re going in circles, Spencer. Robin was with Patrick Drake in his room before Drake was called back to the hospital–”

“No, no, that was Elizabeth,” Lucky shook his head. He pointed at Rodriguez. “Elizabeth was in his bed, I saw her.”

The agitation, the strange manic look in his eyes and Rodriguez could finally believe the rumors. “No, Spencer, your wife was at the hospital last night. Robin was in his bed. She was sleeping and you shot her.”

“No!” Lucky’s eyes widened. “He said you’d say that but I didn’t! I didn’t shoot my wife, I wouldn’t!”

“Lucky, just come back to Port Charles with me,” Rodriguez said quietly. “We’ll get this all straightened out there.”

“No, I can’t–I can’t go back. He’ll find me and he’ll kill my son.” Lucky shook his head. “That’s what he said.”

“Who said?” Rodriguez demanded. “Who said that, Lucky?”

“He killed her.” Lucky dropped onto the bed and put his hands on his head. “I just wanted to talk to her–I just wanted to ask her why and she was in the bed, and there was blood and she was dead. And he was there and he said if I told anyone–anyone at all, he’d find me and he’d kill me and he’d kill Cameron.”

“We’ll protect you, Lucky,” Rodriguez promised. “We’ll protect you and we’ll protect Cameron.”

“I don’t care about me, I care about Cameron.” Lucky rocked back and forth. “He killed her and if he kills me, Cam won’t have anyone. I have to protect Cameron–”

“We’ll protect Cameron, Lucky. Just come back and straighten this out. We know you didn’t kill your wife. We want your help to find out who did.” Rodriguez knelt in front of him. It was important to make him feel safe, to make Lucky feel like he was believed and in safe hands. “Come home and we’ll fix this.”

“You’ll protect Cameron?” Lucky demanded. “You’ll keep him safe no matter what happens to me?”

“I’ll protect him with my life,” Rodriguez swore. He stood and held out a hand. “Let’s go back to Port Charles.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Elizabeth found Jason sitting alone in the Emergency Room. “Hey…Monica said you’d be down here–Carly was shot?”

Jason stood and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah–she’ll be okay though. They said you were in surgery with Robin–how’s she doing?”

Elizabeth smiled briefly and felt lighter than she had in days. “She’s stable now. Unless she develops an infection, she should be okay. And I also stopped in to check with Mac. The detective found Lucky. And Cameron was with him. Detective Rodriguez is bringing him home.”

“That’s great news, Elizabeth.” Jason stepped towards her. “Maybe we’ll get to this bottom of this now.”

“I’m just so relieved Cameron is safe,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I feel like I’ve aged a thousand years in just a few hours, you know?” Her lips twisted into a half smile. “I guess after what you went through with Michael last year, this must look easy in comparison.”

“That was rough,” Jason agreed, “but nothing about this has been easy, Elizabeth. Not knowing where your child is, if you’re ever going to see him again, whether that lasts a few hours, a few weeks or even a few months, it’s the worst thing I could think of for any parent.”

“Cameron’s safe, Robin’s going to live and they’re bringing Lucky home.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “And I’ll find out for sure if he wanted me dead.”

Her voice broke on the last word and all of the desperation, the fear, the panic, the devastation–it broke at that moment and she started to cry. Her tears turned to sobs and Jason hugged her tightly, wishing he could take her pain away as easily as he’d found Lucky Spencer.

PCPD: Electronics and Surveillance Division

“And here is the security tape for the garden right outside the office.” Cathy shoved the tape in and pressed play. “I hope this has the shooter on it.”

“Please,” her fellow technician Melanie snorted. “I read the tabloids you know. Carly Corinthos has a list of enemies as long as well…have you seen the Nile River?” she remarked as she centered the frame on the window area. “How far away did forensics say the shooter was?”

“No more than few feet from the window, so he should be in the frame.” Cathy reached for her box of Tim Tams and frowned when she found them empty again. “You’ve been eating these again.”

“Have not,” Melanie said innocently. “It was probably the night staff.”

“You always eat them–” Cathy began heatedly.

“Hold on a minute–” Melanie straightened and pressed the zoom button. “Holy shit. Is that who I think it is?”

“What?” the other woman leaned in and gasped. “Oh my God. Oh my God. There’s no way.”

“I better call the Commissioner right away.” Melanie reached for the phone. “Though I bet he’s not going to take this well. Damn it, don’t people ever stay dead in this town?”

June 1, 2006

ICU: Waiting Room 1

“I don’t know about you,” Robert began, looking at his brother, “but I need to do something more than sit around waiting for Robin to wake up.” He cracked his knuckles and flexed his neck. “She’s going to be okay. I think it’s time we started to digging into this.”

Anna nodded. “Yes, I think we should go to the police station with you, Mac. I need to feel like I’m doing something. Monica said it could be hours until Robin wakes up–”

“Okay,” Mac agreed. “But neither one of you is getting anywhere near Lucky Spencer, not during interrogation and not in the squad room. I will not hesitate to shoot you.” That he directed to his brother.

Robert narrowed his eyes. “Still haven’t forgiven me for the last fifteen years then, I imagine.”

“Gee…you think?” Anna remarked dryly. She turned to Patrick. “Since I don’t think you’ll be moving much until our daughter wakes up, would you call us soon as she does?”

“Ah…” Patrick glanced over at the more qualified members of Robin’s family but Brenda, Maxie and Georgie were conversing with Felicia across the room. “Sure. I guess. I mean, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” Anna patted his shoulder. “That’s good to know.”

“Felicia, we’re going to head down the station,” Mac told Felicia.

“That’s a good idea,” Felicia replied. “The three of you are going crazy in here and you need to get to the bottom of what happened to our Robin.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Georgie’s going to head to Kelly’s for some food, Maxie’s going to take the first shift with Robin and then Brenda and I are going to go the house and get changes of clothing for everyone.”

“I’ll call you if anything comes up,” Mac promised.

After they had left the room, Patrick sat alone for the first time in nearly twenty four hours. In fact…he checked his watch. At this time the night before, Robin had just been arriving at his hotel room. She’d been less than cheerful when he’d called her to make plans but considering the fight they’d had that morning, he couldn’t blame her.

Robin had been upset for days about the news her cousin had sprung on her after her return from the Maarkam Islands and she stressed about whether to keep the secret or tell Nikolas and as a result, it had driven Patrick up the wall because he’d wanted to her to be concentrating on him. God, he was such a selfish bastard sometimes.

Yesterday morning, it had blown up in their faces. He’d spent the night with her at her place and was already off kilter by that fact and she’d seen a picture of Nikolas in the paper for some hospital function and the guilty expression on her face had pissed him off because she should have been thinking about him–he was beginning to notice a pattern.

He’d been angry, Patrick remembered now. And he’d told her that she should just stay the hell out of people’s business and concentrate on her own life or there’d be nothing to concentrate on. And he’d left.

He’d apologized to her at the hospital later and she’d said she accepted but Patrick hadn’t felt like it was really solved so he’d asked Elizabeth to help him set up the romantic evening. He was really going to prove to her that he cared about her and wanted to give her all the things she wanted.

Robin had come to the door and she’d told him that he was right–she should concentrate on her own life instead of getting wrapped up in things she didn’t understand. Before he could ask her what that meant, she’d kissed him.

They never did manage to eat dinner when they were together.

The door to the waiting room opened and Patrick looked up, hoping it was Maxie to announce that Robin had woken early though the surgeon in him knew that was not possible.

But instead it was his father. Noah was still pulling off his operating scrubs when he sat next to him. “I’m sorry, I was in surgery all day–I heard Robin was upgraded to stable.”

Patrick exhaled slowly and took the first easy breath in nearly twenty-four hours. “She was. We’re just waiting for her to wake up now.”

“Thank God,” Noah replied. “I was so worried…” he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. She’s going to be okay.”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Elizabeth pulled away from Jason and swiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry…you shouldn’t–you shouldn’t have to deal with this.” She sniffled. “You have your own problems to deal with and I can’t keep expecting you to drop everything when I need you–”

“Hey…we’re friends aren’t we?” Jason said quietly. He took her hand in his. “Elizabeth, I am always going to be here if you need me. That’s never changed, no matter what we’ve been through. And I know that I can count on you the same way. You put your career on the line to do that operation on Sam–”

“For all the good it did,” Elizabeth huffed. She folded her arms tightly. “I mean, I know why Alexis is doing what she’s doing but I just wish…I wish that for once, you’d get the happy ending.”

“I’m going to find Alexis and Sam,” Jason told her. “And I know that Sam is being cared for, that despite how Alexis feels about me, she’d make sure Sam had the best care.”

“I’m sure that must help,” Elizabeth murmured, “but you would rather be there with her.”

“Yes, but–Elizabeth, you don’t have to worry about any of this right now–”

“I get to worry,” she cut in with a weak smile. “We’re friends aren’t we?”

Jason accepted that and nodded. “Fair enough. Do you need a ride to the PCPD to pick up Cameron or is Audrey going to take you?”

She shook her head. “Gram’s staying on shift–she’s insisted that I pick up Cam and go back to her house for some rest. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a ride–”

Jason’s cell began to chirp and he held up a hand to indicate for her to hold that that thought. He opened his phone. “Morgan.”

“Jason?” Alexis’s voice was shaky. “Jason…it’s me.”

“Alexis?” he asked, in disbelief. “Why–why are you calling me?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Alexis? she mouthed. That would be a miracle–if she were calling to tell Jason that she’d changed her mind and would be bringing Sam back to GH or even better…if she were telling Jason that Sam was awake.

“Jason, you need–Sam is awake. You need to come immediately.” Alexis paused for a long moment. “We’re at the Petersen Clinic in Manhattan. I’ve registered her under Kristin Nilsson. I’ll leave your name at the front desk.”

She hung up without waiting for him to answer. He slid the phone back in his pocket and blinked. “Sam’s awake. Alexis needs me to go see her in Manhattan.” Jason exhaled slowly. “I’ll take you to the station and drop you off at Audrey’s–”

“Absolutely not,” Elizabeth interrupted. “You’ve been waiting three weeks for this news. I can get a ride with someone. You should leave for Manhattan right now.” She reached up and hugged him tightly. “It would make me feel a lot better if you were to go to Sam right now. She’ll need you.”

“Are you sure?” Jason asked. “Because I can–”

“I’m positive.” Elizabeth drew back and smiled up at him. “It’s a good night for us, you know? I’ve got Cameron, Sam’s awake and Robin’s going to live. It’s good to concentrate those things right now. The rest…it can wait.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Mmm…this burger tastes so good,” Lulu mumbled biting into the sandwich. “I feel like I haven’t eaten in days.”

Dillon glanced over at her from where he was booting his laptop. He’d briefly thought about conducting this in the room upstairs but it felt weird to invite Lulu into the room he shared with Georgie after the extremely uncomfortable conversation from the records room.

“You were the one that insisted we stop off at the hospital cafeteria to grab a snack before we committed a series of felonies right?”

Lulu bit into her burger again with great relish and swallowed before speaking. “I have a healthy appetite and adrenaline seems to fuel it. Let me connect to my email account–” she reached for the laptop but he smacked her fingers.

“Uh uh. No one touches Sophie but me,” he told her. He reached for a French fry from her plate and tossed it in his mouth. “You just tell me how to get in–”

“Sophie?” Lulu repeated. She snickered. “I suppose that’s for Sophia Loren or something.” She sipped her milkshake but paused when she saw him staring at her. “What? Do I got ketchup on my face or something?”

“No, no…you’re right,” Dillon coughed. “It’s for Sophia Loren. Ah…no one’s got that connection before, that’s all.” He coughed again and slid the laptop towards her. “Log into your email and we’ll see if the results are there yet.”

“You’re not all weirded out about the records room, right?” Lulu asked, wiping her fingers before using Dillon’s precious Sophie.

“What?” Dillon laughed, but it was kind high and sounded extremely nervous. “Me? I don’t get weirded out. I’m cool. I’m always cool.” He coughed and took her milkshake, taking a long sip.

“Okay, because I wouldn’t want things to change–” Lulu began.

“I knew it.”

The disgusted outburst came from the doorway where Georgie stood, hands planted on her hips. “I cannot believe this–my cousin–no, my sister–is lying in a hospital bed fighting for her life and you are here with her instead of with me–”

“Georgie, we’re trying to help–” Lulu began.

“I don’t want to hear from you, Lesley Lu,” Georgie snarled. “I don’t give a damn about you. You’re nothing but a little piece of trash–”

“Hey,” Dillon stood. “I know you’re upset and that you’re worried about Robin and mad at me, but you don’t get to say things like that to her. Lulu hasn’t done anything wrong, okay? Be mad at me. I’m the one that went to the Islands and I’m the one who chose to help Lu clear her brother’s name, okay? Be mad at me, Georgie.”

“Of course you defend her Dillon!” Georgie retorted. “Are you actually sleeping with her or has she just–”

“Whoa, sweetheart.” Lulu stood. “You’ve been watching way too much television. I am not sleeping with Dillon and I don’t intend to. For one thing, he’s married,” she rolled her eyes, “and secondly, I’m a virgin so clearly I’m not going to waste it on a guy who’s in love with his wife. I’m seventeen and I don’t live in the O.C.”

“I don’t hear any denials about not wanting to,” Georgie growled.

Dillon frowned and then looked at Lulu before looking at Georgie. “Georgie, this is all a big misunderstanding–”

“Oh for the love of…” Lulu rolled her eyes. “You are completely delusional–why does it matter what I want? What? Dillon can’t say no?”

“Apparently not where you’re concerned,” Georgie said though clenched teeth.

“Now, wait a second–” Dillon began, really angry for the first time. Before he could finish, Diego Alcazar emerged from Kelly’s.

“Is there a problem out here?” he asked. He looked from Georgie to where Dillon and Lulu were clustered by the table. “Do you need–”

“No, we don’t need anything–why don’t you just go back inside–”

“Diego is my friend and I want him stay out here,” Georgie said stubbornly, crossing her arms and lifting her chin.

“Oh and you’re mad at me for Lulu?” Dillon demanded incredulously. “At least she’s not a felon!”

“Only because she’s never been charged!” Georgie retorted.

“Hey!” Lulu cried, insulted.

A bell chimed on Dillon’s computer, indicating new mail but the four teens were too busy arguing to hear it.

ICU: Robin’s Room

“You look better,” Maxie finally managed to say. She shifted uncomfortably in the chair and peered towards the doorway, hoping that someone would come in and take over sitting with Robin. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to sit with her, but she was nervous about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

She had last spoken to her cousin the night before, shortly before Robin had left for Patrick’s hotel room. Robin had called and told Maxie that she had checked the hospital records and that there was a third paternity test that didn’t have either Jax or Nikolas listed as the father and that before they made any decisions, they would have to find out what was going on.

But Maxie had had enough of the entire affair and had called Nikolas to meet with her at the hospital. She’d wanted to take this entire situation out of Robin’s sphere and just tell Nikolas that there was some question to the paternity.

But Maxie had had an emergency call from Georgie about Dillon and she’d reluctantly canceled the meeting with Nikolas–after all the news could always wait, right? If she’d known Georgie’s emergency was all about ranting about Dillon’s involvement with Lulu, she would have thought twice.

“You have more color,” Maxie offered, deciding to pretend that she would talk to Robin as if she were really there instead of…wherever she actually was. “Um, so your parents were getting along for at least a good two hours so I suppose that’s something right? And I think your father’s finally warming up to Dr. Drake.” She bit her lip. “Brenda’s here and she wants all the dish on the doctor, by the way, so if that’s not reason enough to wake up, I don’t know what is.”

She cleared her throat and picked some more at her already chipped nail polish. “Speaking of Dr. Drake…I wanted to tell you that I was sorry. I know that I’ve got you involved in this whole mess and that it’s the last thing you wanted or needed and that it’s been causing problems with you and Patrick. I’m sorry for that because I know how much you like him and how much you hate the position I put you in.”

Maxie sniffled. “I knew about the dinner last night. I was at the nurse’s station when he asked Liz to help him set it up and I knew it was for an apology for a fight and I’m scared that the fight was about the paternity stuff and then it makes it my fault that you were there last night instead of at your apartment or whatever. I don’t believe it was Lucky Spencer but it still doesn’t change the fact that you were shot in a hotel room that you wouldn’t have been in it hadn’t been for me dragging you into this whole paternity mess.”

There was a sound of a throat being cleared and Maxie whirled around to find her mother staring at her with an arched brow.

“What paternity mess would that be, exactly?” Felicia asked.

PCPD: Squad Room

“Wait in my office,” Mac instructed Robert and Anna as they entered the PCPD squad room. Before the duo could obey that order (or argue as it looked like Robert was preparing to do), the door to the primary interrogation room swung open and Rodriguez walked out, dragging a hand through his dark hair. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours and the drive to and from Canada hadn’t helped his mood much.

“Have you gotten anything useful out of Spencer?” Mac asked, momentarily forgetting his brother and his sister-in-law standing behind him.

“No,” Rodriguez said, disgusted. “He’s too high on his pain medication. It does appear that he was a witness at the very least. I managed to piece some stuff together. Apparently, Spencer showed up to talk to Elizabeth–so he says–and he saw her in the bed, with the blood. He thought she was dead so my guess is that he showed up after Robin made the 911 call. He goes on to ramble about if Lucky tells what he saw, he’ll be killed and so will Cameron.” Rodriguez shrugged. “But I can’t really tell at this time if he’s telling the truth or has come up with something in his head to absolve himself of shooting his wife or at least attempting to.”

“We’ll have to get him admitted to the hospital, to the detox center if we’re going to get anything useful out of him,” Mac sighed. “Look, I haven’t checked my messages yet but I think the ESU called. Why don’t you head down there, find out if they’ve got anything and then take the rest of the night off?”

“Thanks,” Rodriguez sighed. “I already called for a car to take Spencer to the hospital. They’ll be taking him down momentarily.” He rubbed his face. “Do I look as tired as I feel?”

“More.”

The detective left the squad room and Mac turned back to Robert and Anna to escort them into his office.

Elizabeth entered the room then with Emily on her tails. “Mac…I want Cameron released to me.”

“Of course.” Mac snapped his fingers to the one of the patrol officers. “Lewis, can you please show Mrs. Spencer to the office where the social worker has Cameron Webber?” He looked back to Elizabeth. “You might want to think about admitting him to the hospital, at least over night for observation.”

The door to the interrogation room opened and an officer started to lead Lucky Spencer out to escort him to a car that would take him to the hospital.

Before Elizabeth could even process the sight of her husband standing before her, his eyes unfocused and rimmed with red, Robert Scorpio had launched himself across the room and attacked Lucky.

Kelly’s Courtyard

“You know what?” Georgie said. “I think we should get an annulment!”

“Best news I’ve had all night,” Dillon shot back. “This was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”

Georgie huffed and looked to Diego. “Can you give me a ride to the hospital?” she asked deliberately glancing at Dillon to get his reaction.

“Uh…sure,” Diego drawled out, uncomfortable now. “Let me just tell Mike I’m leaving.”

“Oh, that’s real mature,” Dillon rolled his eyes when Diego had gone back inside. “Go out with the convicted felon who drugged women to make a point. You know, Georgie, right now…you’re acting exactly your age. Clearly, you weren’t ready to be married.”

“Well, you were going to die,” Georgie muttered and Dillon paled.

“That…” he shook his head. “No…I asked you to marry me because I loved you and I thought we were going to be together. I wanted to spend my life with you. That’s why I asked. Are you telling me you only said yes because I was sick?” he demanded.

“Oh come on,” Georgie stomped her foot. “You’re being stupid about this, Dillon. Of course you asked me because you were sick and I thought you were going to die and–”

“Wow…” Dillon looked away. “Wow. So why didn’t you just get an annulment to begin with? Why make this big deal about making our marriage work?”

Georgie cleared her throat, feeling somewhat embarrassed now. “Because we were going to be together anyway, might as well stay as married.”

Lulu wisely kept her mouth shut and sat back at the table to finish her dinner. They were obviously going to implode without her help. Her eyes widened she saw that the test results had finally come in. She turned to tell Dillon.

“Might as well stay married,” Dillon repeated. “Well, you don’t have to bother making that sacrifice for me anymore, okay? We’re done.”

Diego exited the diner. “You ready?” he asked Georgie.

“More than,” Georgie muttered. She stomped away and Diego followed.

“I cannot believe her,” Dillon took a napkin and started to shred it into tiny little pieces. “Might as well stay married, can you imagine?”

Lulu huffed. “Okay, I don’t want to change the subject and I promise you that we’ll get back to this in a second but the results are in!”

“No, I don’t want to talk about Georgie or my marriage anymore,” Dillon shook his head. “Let’s concentrate on this. What do the results say?”

She opened them and scrolled to the bottom where the list of possible matches were listed. “Okay, it looks like it was only able to narrow it down to the family–” she broke off. “Wow.”

“So it might be Nikolas’s child after all,” Dillon said, perking up a little at seeing the list of Cassadine male relatives that had been treated at General Hospital in the past. “It lists Nikolas, Stefan, Stavros, Mikkos or…” he frowned. “Since when is he a Cassadine?”

“The last I checked, he wasn’t,” Lulu muttered. She tapped her fingers against the table. “Okay, out of the only two people alive at the time of conception on this list, Nikolas is the only one who has a possibility of being the father because he was actually with Courtney.”

“Well, we don’t know that he wasn’t,” Dillon gestured towards the second name. “I mean, I doubt it but would we really want to rule something like this out?”

“Oh come on,” Lulu rolled her eyes. “For one thing, he’s not a Cassadine and secondly, it’s Jesse. Why would he have slept with Courtney?”

“Okay, so John is Nikolas’s child,” Dillon remarked. “But it still makes me wonder why exactly Jesse Beaudry is showing up as a member of the Cassadine family.”

PCPD: Squad Room

Robert had his hands wrapped around Lucky’s throat, Lucky was gasping for air, Mac and Anna were both trying to pull them apart and the dozen or so officers were just standing around watching because clearly this was not business as usual.

“I’ll kill you!” Robert bellowed as Mac finally managed to pull him off the shaken former police office. “You bloody son of bitch–”

“Get in my office,” Mac snarled. He shoved his brother in the general direction and of course completely missed Anna grabbing Lucky by the collar.

“Why did you try to kill my daughter?” she snarled.

“I d-don’t–” Lucky started to struggle and Anna lost her grip, Robert grabbed her to keep her from falling. “I didn’t try to kill your daughter!” he finally managed to get out.

“Okay, then why did you try to kill your wife?” Robert growled.

Lucky’s eyes widened. “I didn’t–I didn’t kill her–” and then he saw Elizabeth standing there, her face ashen and her eyes large in her face. “No! You’re not here! You’re not supposed–” he stumbled back and started gasping for air. “You’re dead, he killed you, he’s going to kill me–”

Emily wrapped an arm around a trembling Elizabeth. “Lucky–” she began in a calm and patient tone.

“You’re dead!” Lucky cried again, struggling against the hold that an officer had on him. “You’re dead!” he kept repeating.

“Take him down to the car!” Mac yelled. “Elizabeth…” He took her elbow. “Let’s go into my office. We need to get you out of his sight.”

She followed him wordlessly and the officer led Lucky out of the squad room even as he was still mumbling to himself, “He killed her, he killed her.”

PCPD: Electronics and Surveillance Department

Rodriguez strolled into the small room that housed PCPD’s very tiny ESU department. So tiny, that it was made up completely of Detectives Catherine Sullivan and Melanie Horowitz.

He approached the latter and touched her shoulder. “Hey–the Commissioner thought you might have tried to get in touch with him.”

Melanie glanced up at him. “Hey, Carlos. Have you slept at all since you got the call last night?” she asked softly, keeping an eye on her partner Cathy who was currently trying to remember where she’d put her backup package of Tim Tams.

“Well, no,” Rodriguez said, but he grinned. “But Scorpio’s ordered me to go home after this so maybe I can rustle up some company.” He arched an brow at her. “Know anyone who’d be interested?”

“Carlos!” Melanie hissed.

Cathy snorted. “Please, like the entire department doesn’t know you two are banging each other. Rodriguez, she gets off in an hour.” She fished out her Tim Tams and set them next to her work station. “Are we going to get down to business or what?”

“So you do have something for me,” Rodriguez remarked, taking the empty seat next to Melanie. “I’m going to need you guys to go further on the Scorpio footage from last night. We think there was a second person in the room.”

“Sure…but first…” Melanie punched a few buttons. “We have your shooter from the Corinthos shooting. It looks like some guy dressed as tourist. He literally strolled up to the window, shot her and walked away. We don’t have clear shot of him but Cathy was able to zoom real close up on his profile, so we’ve got a partial photo for you.” She cleared her throat. “But the real surprise on that tape came about ten minutes before the shooting.”

She keyed up the footage and started to play it. Rodriguez leaned forward and watched as the familiar man walked past Carly Corinthos’ office window. The man paused for only an brief moment but it was long enough for the camera to get a full view of his face. “That can’t be…”

“Oh…we double checked,” Cathy remarked. “We pulled some photos from the system and it’s him. A little older, but it’s him.”

“Even if it is him,” Rodriguez began slowly, “I can’t imagine why he’d have anything to do with this.”

“Since when did his family never need a reason?” Melanie pointed out. “You’re not from PC, Carlos. My mother still tells stories about the Cassadines trying to freeze the world, okay?”

“Okay,” Rodriguez allowed, “but he’s not like the rest of his family. Or at least he wasn’t. And I can’t think of one reason why Stefan Cassadine would want Carly Corinthos dead.”