"You Keep the Darkness with You"
Show: General Hospital
Ship: not really shippy, but it's Liz/Lorenzo
Rating: G
Setting: after Lorenzo has been blinded in the car bomb explosion
Summary: You never forget.
His world had always been dark.
It just took a bomb explosion meant for Sonny Corinthos to show Lorenzo Alcazar that his world could in fact become even darker.
The last thing he saw before the glass shattered was Carly. And he willed himself to run to her. To cover her. Protect her. But he saw Sonny already on his way to Carly. To cover her. Protect her. Lorenzo stood in place. He didn't know that standing still would cause him this pain, to lose so much.
When he woke up, he felt the cold hospital gown and sheets around his body; he licked his dry lips and tasted nothing; he smelled the hospital rich with anesthetics; he heard the bustle of doctors and nurses.
But he could not see any of this.
That was when he realized his eyes were bandaged, and when he touched the gauze, he did it calmly and without fear.
Hours later when Carly came to see him, he took comfort in her voice and her touch. He tried to joke and smile, but in Carly's voice, he could tell something was wrong. He didn't need to see her face to know. She was afraid for him.
And when Sage came to see him, he tried again to joke and smile. But his niece would not have any of it. She only assumed the worst. He found it ironic that he was supposed to be the victim. He had never been the victim.
When his door opened again, he heard the soft clicks of heels. But he didn't recognize the sway of the hips like he would have with Carly, or the smell of Sage's flowery perfume.
"Who's there?" he asked into the dark.
He felt the person standing next to his bed, saying nothing.
"Who's there?" he asked again.
"It's Elizabeth Lansing."
His narrowed his eyes with confusion behind the bandages.
"What are you doing here?" he said.
"My husband informed me of what happened at the courthouse," she said. "He told me someone had lost their eyesight due to the explosion."
"And you decided to make me your charity case?"
"It's nothing like that." She pauses. "A few months ago, I was blinded in a car accident. I know what's it like to lay in that bed and to not see anything."
He turned his head. "Have you come here to bond, Mrs. Lansing?"
"I came here to let you know you're not alone," she said.
Lorenzo thought about how he had been the only one to fall.
He smiled. "Thank you for your visit, Mrs. Lansing, but I think we both need our rest."
He remembered seeing her walking out of Kelly's weeks ago with a round belly. He had heard it wasn't the district attorney's child, but one of Sonny's former men who had impregnated her: Zander Smith, who was working with Faith Roscoe before he died in the hotel fire. Lorenzo found it sort of amusing that a person like Elizabeth Lansing would associate herself with Zander Smith. Then again, she did stay married to the man who had kidnapped Carly.
He heard her walk to the door. He waited for it to open, but she seemed to have stopped.
"Mrs. Lansing?" he said.
He heard her inhale.
"You never forget," she said.
He sat up with attention.
"Even though I got my eyesight back, and yours may return also, you never forget the darkness." The door opened. "You keep it with you."
The door shut.
Lorenzo clutched his sheet. He leaned back in his bed.
And he tried to picture days with blue skies and yellow sun. Carly's red shirt. Sage's brown eyes.
But all he saw was black.
END
His world had always been dark.
It just took a bomb explosion meant for Sonny Corinthos to show Lorenzo Alcazar that his world could in fact become even darker.
The last thing he saw before the glass shattered was Carly. And he willed himself to run to her. To cover her. Protect her. But he saw Sonny already on his way to Carly. To cover her. Protect her. Lorenzo stood in place. He didn't know that standing still would cause him this pain, to lose so much.
When he woke up, he felt the cold hospital gown and sheets around his body; he licked his dry lips and tasted nothing; he smelled the hospital rich with anesthetics; he heard the bustle of doctors and nurses.
But he could not see any of this.
That was when he realized his eyes were bandaged, and when he touched the gauze, he did it calmly and without fear.
Hours later when Carly came to see him, he took comfort in her voice and her touch. He tried to joke and smile, but in Carly's voice, he could tell something was wrong. He didn't need to see her face to know. She was afraid for him.
And when Sage came to see him, he tried again to joke and smile. But his niece would not have any of it. She only assumed the worst. He found it ironic that he was supposed to be the victim. He had never been the victim.
When his door opened again, he heard the soft clicks of heels. But he didn't recognize the sway of the hips like he would have with Carly, or the smell of Sage's flowery perfume.
"Who's there?" he asked into the dark.
He felt the person standing next to his bed, saying nothing.
"Who's there?" he asked again.
"It's Elizabeth Lansing."
His narrowed his eyes with confusion behind the bandages.
"What are you doing here?" he said.
"My husband informed me of what happened at the courthouse," she said. "He told me someone had lost their eyesight due to the explosion."
"And you decided to make me your charity case?"
"It's nothing like that." She pauses. "A few months ago, I was blinded in a car accident. I know what's it like to lay in that bed and to not see anything."
He turned his head. "Have you come here to bond, Mrs. Lansing?"
"I came here to let you know you're not alone," she said.
Lorenzo thought about how he had been the only one to fall.
He smiled. "Thank you for your visit, Mrs. Lansing, but I think we both need our rest."
He remembered seeing her walking out of Kelly's weeks ago with a round belly. He had heard it wasn't the district attorney's child, but one of Sonny's former men who had impregnated her: Zander Smith, who was working with Faith Roscoe before he died in the hotel fire. Lorenzo found it sort of amusing that a person like Elizabeth Lansing would associate herself with Zander Smith. Then again, she did stay married to the man who had kidnapped Carly.
He heard her walk to the door. He waited for it to open, but she seemed to have stopped.
"Mrs. Lansing?" he said.
He heard her inhale.
"You never forget," she said.
He sat up with attention.
"Even though I got my eyesight back, and yours may return also, you never forget the darkness." The door opened. "You keep it with you."
The door shut.
Lorenzo clutched his sheet. He leaned back in his bed.
And he tried to picture days with blue skies and yellow sun. Carly's red shirt. Sage's brown eyes.
But all he saw was black.
END