Brenda Returns – Chapter 1
On the 10th floor of General Hospital, the elevator door opens and Brenda Barrett walks off of the elevator.
Jane Jacks is standing at the nurses' station.
"Mrs. Jacks, your daughter-in-law just called and said her meeting is running a little late. She asked, if you could wait here a few minutes for her," the nurse tells Jane.
"Oh, thank you," Jane says before turning around.
Brenda notices Jane and gets a big smile on her face. She walks over to her. "Jane?"
Jane turns around and smiles with a surprised look on her face.
"Brenda!"
She opens her arms and the two embrace.
"Look at you, you look wonderful," Jane says as she holds onto Brenda's hands. She takes a step back to get a better look at her.
"So do you! God, it's so good to see you," Brenda says.
They squeeze each other's hands.
"I know it happened awhile ago, but, I'm so sorry about John," she says soberly.
Jane nods and is still holding onto both of Brenda's hands.
"Thank you. Some days it's harder than others, but I have my sons and my grandchildren to get me by."
Brenda gets a confused look on her face and their hands drop.
"Grandchildren? Please tell me Jerry hasn't procreated," she laughs"And I didn't mean to ease drop, but did I hear correctly? You're waiting for your daughter-in-law?"
Carly walks up behind Brenda.
"I hope you didn't have to wait too long, Jane."
Brenda turns around and watches Carly as she walks over to Jane. Jane and Carly embrace and then she turns to Brenda.
"Hi Brenda. I didn't know you were back."
Brenda raises an eyebrow. "I'm not back…really. Just a quick visit."
"So, what brings you back to Port Charles?"
Brenda looks at Jane. "Wait a minute. Carly is the daughter-in-law you're waiting here to meet?"
Carly smiles. "That's right. And I believe the grandchildren she was talking about are Michael and Morgan. They adore their Grandma Jane," she says squeezing Jane's arm
Jane nods. "And they're such precious boys."
Brenda places her hands on her hips and shakes her head. "Wow….I really thought Jax had better taste than this."
Jane tilts her head slightly. "Now Brenda, Carly is a lovely young woman and she makes Jax very happy."
"Oh, I'm sure she does," she mumbles.
"And he makes me very happy and he's a great father to the boys. So, you didn't answer my question. What are you doing in Port Charles….Brenda?" Carly asks.
"Oh, I was in New York so I thought I'd stop by and see Robin."
"How lovely," Jane smiles.
"Very," Carly says flatly. "Jane, we should probably get going."
"Yes, you're right. Brenda, it was so good to see you again. I hope to see you before you leave town?"
The two embrace again.
"I'll make sure of it."
Brenda looks over at Carly with a disgusted look. "Carly."
"Good bye, Brenda," Carly says before following Jane over to the elevator. She stares in Brenda's direction as soon as she gets on the elevator and doesn't stop until the doors shut.
As soon as Carly and Jane walk away, Brenda walks over to the nurses' station.
"Hi. Can you page Dr. Scorpio for me?" she asks one of the nurses.
The nurse nods and picks up the phone.
Brenda walks over to the waiting area and notices Jason walking down the hall. She smiles and starts walking over to him quickly.
"Jason!" she practically squeals.
Jason smiles and then prepares himself for her jumping on him. He catches her and hugs her tight, then gently sets her down.
"Oh my God….look at you! It's so good to see you," she says.
"Yeah, you too. How is Europe?" he asks.
"It's great. Thanks again for all of your help. You know, before, when I left."
Jason looks down and shakes his head. "It was nothing. I'm just glad you're happy."
"I am. Soooo, what's new with you? You still working for Sonny? Are you seeing anyone?"
Jason starts to answer but a nurse walks over to him with Jake.
"Here you go, here's daddy," the nurse tells Jake right before she hands him over to Jason.
"Thank you for bringing him out to me, I had to take that phone call," he tells her.
"No problem." She smiles at Brenda before she leaves.
Brenda's mouth is practically hanging open. "Daddy? I guess I don't have to ask what's new with you, huh? Jason, he's beautiful."
Jason smiles like a proud father. "Thank you. Let me introduce you properly. Brenda, this is Jake. Jake, this is an old friend of mine, Brenda."
"It's nice to meet you, Jake."
Her smile is big as she looks at Jake. She waits for a few seconds before her curiosity gets the best of her.
"Well?"
Jason squints and quickly shakes his head. "Well, what?"
"Who is Jake's mom? Is it anyone I know? And please don't tell me it's Carly," she says, rolling her eyes.
Jason chuckles. "No, it's not Carly."
Brenda shrugs. "Ok, I give…"
"It's Elizabeth Webber."
Brenda's mouth practically drops open again. "Wow…didn't see that one coming. Wait….Robin, told me that she was married to Lucky."
Jason nods. "Yeah, she was…..it's a long story."
"Well, he's gorgeous and you look very happy. Fatherhood agrees with you, but I always knew it would."
"Thanks."
Robin walks over to the nurses' station.
"Someone paged me?" she asks the nurse.
The nurse points over in Brenda's direction. Robin smiles and thanks the nurse. She walks over in Brenda and Jason's direction.
Brenda is playing with Jake's fingers. "He looks like you."
"I always thought so too," Robin says as she stops and watches the trio.
Brenda screams and throws her arms around Robin, who returns the embrace.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Port Charles, I would have moved my shifts around?" Robin asks.
Brenda shrugs. "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I had something I had to take care of in New York and decided to take the train here so I could see you."
"Well, I'm going to leave the two of you to catch up. Jake needs to get home before he gets fussy anyway. It was good to see you again," Jason says while touching Brenda's arm.
"You too. I'll come see you before I leave. You still at the penthouse?"
Jason shakes his head. "No, not anymore…."
"I'll give her directions to the house," Robin says.
He nods and walks to the elevator. Brenda grabs Robin's hand and pulls her over to sit on the couches.
"You look great. So, what's it been like being back in Port Charles?" Brenda asks.
"It's great. I was worried when I first came back, but it's home, you know?"
Brenda nods and looks down at her hands. "Yeah," she says almost sadly.
"So, what about you? How is Italy?"
Brenda tosses her hair back. "Italy is great. I mean, it's beautiful, the food is good. The men are hot.." they both laugh and Brenda glances over at the desk. "Speaking of hot. Who is the hot doc?"
Robin smiles and looks over at Patrick.
"Oh, that's Dr. Drake."
"He can take my temperature anytime," Brenda says.
Patrick turns around and sees Robin so he walks over to them.
"Dr. Scorpio, I'm sorry to interrupt your consult…..I just have a quick question about a chart."
Robin tries not to smile at how professional he's being.
"That's okay, Dr. Drake," she says seriously. "Give me just a second," she says to Brenda before standing up.
When Robin stands next to Patrick, she reaches up and pulls his head down for a kiss, which startles him and amuses Brenda.
"Uhh, why did you do that?" he asks.
"Because, this is my best friend, Brenda….not a consult," Robin teases. "And she thought you were hot so I had to make sure she knew you were taken," she says, winking at Brenda.
Brenda stands up. "Well, you could have just said so," she teases"It's very nice to meet you…."
They shake hands.
"Patrick. And it's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you."
"Uh oh. Only some of it is true and usually it was someone else's fault."
Patrick's amused. "I'm sure. Well, again I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion but Robin, Mr. Meadows is here and I would really like it if you could be there, as well."
Robin glances at Brenda.
"It's okay," Brenda says. "We'll have dinner or something, right?"
"We better. Oh, do you need a place to stay?"
Patrick's phone rings so he walks away to answer it.
"No, I'm good, I'm staying at The Metrocourt."
"Oh….okay. Have you checked in yet?"
"Yeah, why?"
Robin shrugs. "Just wondering."
Brenda raises her eyebrow. "You don't usually just wonder. What's up?"
Robin sighs. "Well, Jax owns The Metrocourt. Along with his wife…"
Brenda slowly nods. "Oh right….of course he does."
"You didn't blink when I said his wife," Robin says.
"Yeah, well, I already ran into Mrs. Jacks."
"Oh, how did that go?"
Brenda smiles. "Carly is Carly. It's okay, Robin," she says, touching Robin's arm. "I'm not here for Jax. I just wanted to see my best friend."
Robin smiles and hugs Brenda again. "Good. I'm glad you did. I'll call you later and we'll make plans."
"Count on it," Brenda says before Robin joins Patrick by the elevator.
Brenda smiles as she watches Robin and Patrick walk away and then her cell phone rings. She smiles and picks it up.
"Hi sweetie."