A Familiar Stranger
Disclaimer: I don't own most of these characters and you will recognize the ones I do own. and all that other good stuff.
"Hey," Layla Marchett said waving her hand in front of her friend and patients face. "Is there something wrong.what are you looking at?"
"Well, do you see that woman over there," Emily asked pointing to the tall brunette across the street. "She looks a lot like my mother."
"Sweetie I've seen your mother she's blonde and at least a little shorter than the woman you are pointing at," Layla said as she squinted to get a better view.
"No, not Monica I mean my biological mother Paige," Emily half- heartedly responded as she got up and started to cross the street.
"Isn't she dead?" Layla asked before she noticed the woman take of running and Emily darting after her. She couldn't help, but to feel proud when she saw her running. I had been two years since she had shown up at the physical therapy center in Arizona, and at that time no one knew if she would ever be able to walk again, and now she was running. Granted she was running after a woman she though was her dead mother, but she was running nonetheless.
Two Hours Later
"Okay now what are you doing," Layla asked for the fifth time in ten minutes and was still awaiting an answer.
"I'm packing," Emily said giving her physical therapist a look as though she should have already known that. "Then I'm going to find my aunt Corey and try to figure out what the hell is going on."
"Why don't you ask your mother," Layla replied and then noticing the look she was getting continued. "I'm mean Monica. you know the woman who has been you mother since Paige died."
"Two reasons," Emily said as she picked up a picture of her and Jason and looked at it for a second before throwing it into her bag. "One being I don't want her to think I'm totally insane. and two I'm not sure that she doesn't already know my mother is alive."
"You do realized that your reasons sort of negate each other," Layla asked as she reached over the bed she was now sitting on and dialed her bosses phone number.
"Dr. Martin," The voice on the other end said.
"Hey Sharon this is Layla I just called to tell you that I am going to go ahead and take the vacation we were talking about last week."
Emily looked up from the work she was doing and stared intently at her friend who had never taken a vacation in all the time she had know her. Actually it was known by everyone that Layla didn't take vacations, she always said that since she didn't have any family to share holidays and things of the-such with she could at least be keeping her patients company. So here she planning for a vacation and telling her boss she didn't know how long she would be gone. "What do you think your doing?"
"I'm coming with you, if your going on this crazy trip the least you could do is have some company and anyway I had some things I wanted to tell you today and if you don't mind I would still like you to know them." Layla said.
Emily stared at her for a moment not quite sure whether this was a good idea or not, but then she told herself that there would be no one else for her to talk to if this was true, if her mother really was alive she was going to need a friend and right now the woman in front of her was all that she had. Now it was her turn to reach across the bed and call someone.
"What do you want," the voice on the other end yelled.
"Hey Mr. Spencer it's Emily Quartermaine and I sort of need your help with something if you don't mind."
"Oh hey little darlin' sorry for yelling at you, what do you need," he said. Then he realized what she called him. "Wait a second I'm not Mr. anything so if you really want me to help your gonna have to call me by my name."
"Umm.okay Luke can you help me with something I'd be forever grateful," Emily said as she looked at Layla who had picked up the other phone in the room and was laughing at the crazy guy on the other end.
"Well what do you need?"
"Actually I need you to find an address for me, I have a name and a city I just need the address for this person. Also, I'm gonna need your help making sure no one knows where I am especially the Quartermaines."
"Sure darlin' just give me the name and tell me why you can't ask your big brother, Jason, for help with this."
"I don't want to worry him and I don't want him trying to help he's got enough going on right now with being married to Brenda and all."
"I will never be able to figure how those two got together...let me tell you some weird things happen in this town," Luke said as he reached across his desk and grabbed a pen and paper. "So give me the info and I'll get you ready to go.hey that sort of rhymed anyway shoot. Well not literally."
"Luke," Emily said interrupting him. "You're babbling. I need to find Corey Mathews and she lives in Tucson, Arizona."
"Wait a second," Luke said now interrupting her. "Isn't this the aunt you and Cowboy went looking for? Darlin' what are you doing this time?"
"Nothing bad Luke I promise, it's just that something came up and I need her to help me.I can't really explain it, but after I talk to her I'm coming home and I'll explain it to you and Lucky then. Okay."
"Whatever you say I'll get right on this, it should only take me an hour or so unless she's trying to hide. Where can I reach you?"
"Hold on a sec," Emily said as she reached in her bag and pulled out her cell phone number and Layla's. "You can try either my number 555-3264 or my friend who's coming with me 555-9864 and thanks a lot Luke."
"Anytime darlin' you've kept my boy out of enough trouble.got him into some too, but mostly kept him out so I'm at you mercy anytime you need me and don't be a stranger when you get home okay kid."
"Alright," Emily said and then she noticed that the line was dead. " I hate it when they do that."
"Here's the plan," Layla said throwing one of Emily's bags over her shoulder and walking out of the room. "We need to go to my place and get some stuff for me, then we'll need to call and make flight arrangements to Port Charles. I figure meeting you aunt and getting the information we need shouldn't take anymore then three to four days so I'll get us a flight out in four days. Since it's 5:00 at night now we should go get food get my stuff and then we can drive until we get to a town called Eloy that I saw on the map it's about half way to Tucson from here and by then your friend Luke should have called with the address."
Emily looked at Layla in shock-she couldn't believe that she had come up with all that in like fifteen minutes-as she piled her stuff into the red Mitsubishi Eclipse that Jason had bought her when she could finally drive. It wasn't the best car in the world, but it was from him and it was what she saw first, and in the right color so it was perfect.
"How do you know this woman doesn't just look like you mother?" Layla asked breaking Emily out of her thoughts.
"Do you remember the tattoo I got when I ran my first mile, the one of a rose" Emily asked and then continued when her friends shook her head. "Well the reason I got that was because my mother got the same one the first time we were told that the cancer was gone. That woman had a rose tattooed on her ankle, that's what I was staring at when you asked. It's not just that though, when my mother died I went to see the body and when I looked at the tattoo I thought it was in a different place.a little higher up on her ankle than it had been before, but at that time I was too young and had no reason to doubt her death, now I'm not so young and have good reason."
After that they were both silent until Luke called with the address.
Disclaimer: I don't own most of these characters and you will recognize the ones I do own. and all that other good stuff.
"Hey," Layla Marchett said waving her hand in front of her friend and patients face. "Is there something wrong.what are you looking at?"
"Well, do you see that woman over there," Emily asked pointing to the tall brunette across the street. "She looks a lot like my mother."
"Sweetie I've seen your mother she's blonde and at least a little shorter than the woman you are pointing at," Layla said as she squinted to get a better view.
"No, not Monica I mean my biological mother Paige," Emily half- heartedly responded as she got up and started to cross the street.
"Isn't she dead?" Layla asked before she noticed the woman take of running and Emily darting after her. She couldn't help, but to feel proud when she saw her running. I had been two years since she had shown up at the physical therapy center in Arizona, and at that time no one knew if she would ever be able to walk again, and now she was running. Granted she was running after a woman she though was her dead mother, but she was running nonetheless.
Two Hours Later
"Okay now what are you doing," Layla asked for the fifth time in ten minutes and was still awaiting an answer.
"I'm packing," Emily said giving her physical therapist a look as though she should have already known that. "Then I'm going to find my aunt Corey and try to figure out what the hell is going on."
"Why don't you ask your mother," Layla replied and then noticing the look she was getting continued. "I'm mean Monica. you know the woman who has been you mother since Paige died."
"Two reasons," Emily said as she picked up a picture of her and Jason and looked at it for a second before throwing it into her bag. "One being I don't want her to think I'm totally insane. and two I'm not sure that she doesn't already know my mother is alive."
"You do realized that your reasons sort of negate each other," Layla asked as she reached over the bed she was now sitting on and dialed her bosses phone number.
"Dr. Martin," The voice on the other end said.
"Hey Sharon this is Layla I just called to tell you that I am going to go ahead and take the vacation we were talking about last week."
Emily looked up from the work she was doing and stared intently at her friend who had never taken a vacation in all the time she had know her. Actually it was known by everyone that Layla didn't take vacations, she always said that since she didn't have any family to share holidays and things of the-such with she could at least be keeping her patients company. So here she planning for a vacation and telling her boss she didn't know how long she would be gone. "What do you think your doing?"
"I'm coming with you, if your going on this crazy trip the least you could do is have some company and anyway I had some things I wanted to tell you today and if you don't mind I would still like you to know them." Layla said.
Emily stared at her for a moment not quite sure whether this was a good idea or not, but then she told herself that there would be no one else for her to talk to if this was true, if her mother really was alive she was going to need a friend and right now the woman in front of her was all that she had. Now it was her turn to reach across the bed and call someone.
"What do you want," the voice on the other end yelled.
"Hey Mr. Spencer it's Emily Quartermaine and I sort of need your help with something if you don't mind."
"Oh hey little darlin' sorry for yelling at you, what do you need," he said. Then he realized what she called him. "Wait a second I'm not Mr. anything so if you really want me to help your gonna have to call me by my name."
"Umm.okay Luke can you help me with something I'd be forever grateful," Emily said as she looked at Layla who had picked up the other phone in the room and was laughing at the crazy guy on the other end.
"Well what do you need?"
"Actually I need you to find an address for me, I have a name and a city I just need the address for this person. Also, I'm gonna need your help making sure no one knows where I am especially the Quartermaines."
"Sure darlin' just give me the name and tell me why you can't ask your big brother, Jason, for help with this."
"I don't want to worry him and I don't want him trying to help he's got enough going on right now with being married to Brenda and all."
"I will never be able to figure how those two got together...let me tell you some weird things happen in this town," Luke said as he reached across his desk and grabbed a pen and paper. "So give me the info and I'll get you ready to go.hey that sort of rhymed anyway shoot. Well not literally."
"Luke," Emily said interrupting him. "You're babbling. I need to find Corey Mathews and she lives in Tucson, Arizona."
"Wait a second," Luke said now interrupting her. "Isn't this the aunt you and Cowboy went looking for? Darlin' what are you doing this time?"
"Nothing bad Luke I promise, it's just that something came up and I need her to help me.I can't really explain it, but after I talk to her I'm coming home and I'll explain it to you and Lucky then. Okay."
"Whatever you say I'll get right on this, it should only take me an hour or so unless she's trying to hide. Where can I reach you?"
"Hold on a sec," Emily said as she reached in her bag and pulled out her cell phone number and Layla's. "You can try either my number 555-3264 or my friend who's coming with me 555-9864 and thanks a lot Luke."
"Anytime darlin' you've kept my boy out of enough trouble.got him into some too, but mostly kept him out so I'm at you mercy anytime you need me and don't be a stranger when you get home okay kid."
"Alright," Emily said and then she noticed that the line was dead. " I hate it when they do that."
"Here's the plan," Layla said throwing one of Emily's bags over her shoulder and walking out of the room. "We need to go to my place and get some stuff for me, then we'll need to call and make flight arrangements to Port Charles. I figure meeting you aunt and getting the information we need shouldn't take anymore then three to four days so I'll get us a flight out in four days. Since it's 5:00 at night now we should go get food get my stuff and then we can drive until we get to a town called Eloy that I saw on the map it's about half way to Tucson from here and by then your friend Luke should have called with the address."
Emily looked at Layla in shock-she couldn't believe that she had come up with all that in like fifteen minutes-as she piled her stuff into the red Mitsubishi Eclipse that Jason had bought her when she could finally drive. It wasn't the best car in the world, but it was from him and it was what she saw first, and in the right color so it was perfect.
"How do you know this woman doesn't just look like you mother?" Layla asked breaking Emily out of her thoughts.
"Do you remember the tattoo I got when I ran my first mile, the one of a rose" Emily asked and then continued when her friends shook her head. "Well the reason I got that was because my mother got the same one the first time we were told that the cancer was gone. That woman had a rose tattooed on her ankle, that's what I was staring at when you asked. It's not just that though, when my mother died I went to see the body and when I looked at the tattoo I thought it was in a different place.a little higher up on her ankle than it had been before, but at that time I was too young and had no reason to doubt her death, now I'm not so young and have good reason."
After that they were both silent until Luke called with the address.