Part Two
FNF#48: Immature love says: 'I love you, because I need you.' Mature love says: 'I need you, because I love you.' ~ Erich Fromm
She had always found the Quartermaine mansion intimidating. Oh, it wasn't decorated with gargoyles like Wyndemere or haunted by an unfulfilled promise of happiness like the Spencer home. But it was stately. And massive. And so effortlessly elegant that it made everyone feel like they just didn't measure up. Or, at least, that's how the estate made Elizabeth feel, and she had been visiting the impressive home for years. After all, her best friend was a Quartermaine.
It was late, though, so she wasn't approaching the house by its regal front door. There would be no ringing chimes to announce her arrival, and she wouldn't get to make small talk with Reggie, one of the only people who resided in the mansion who made her feel comfortable in their presence. Instead, Elizabeth was sneaking in through the den's always unlocked patio doors. Emily had showed her the covert access route when they were still teenagers. Though it was convenient when she wanted to visit her friend without having to see any of the other Q's, the fact that such a wealthy family felt so secure and untouchable that they left their home unlocked at night when they went to bed shocked her. It always had, and it probably always would. Those wily Q's were quirky, though. There was no doubt about that.
Because of the late hour, the house was dim but not dark. Apparently, when you were as rich as Edward Quartermaine, you also didn't worry about your electric bill. So, she didn't have to fear that she would fail to see where she was going and run into a priceless antique which housed other priceless artifacts and heirlooms. Quickly, Elizabeth made her way out of the family's luxurious den, into the impressive foyer, and up the sweeping stairs to the second floor where Emily's bedroom was located – where all the seemingly dozens upon dozens of bedrooms were located.
Even if the rest of the household was asleep, she was confident that her best friend would still be awake. Emily was a night owl. They both were, probably because of their ages and the fact that they had nothing yet in their lives which made going to bed early an attractive idea. But that was soon to change for Elizabeth, and, not for the first time, she found herself wondering how such alterations to her lifestyle would affect her relationships with her friends. Not only was there Emily, but she had the acquaintances she was making at the hospital – girls like crazy Kelly Lee and her sex-obsessed self – and the other waitresses at Kelly's that she liked to spend time with outside of work.
But those concerns would have to wait, Elizabeth chided herself as she stepped up to her best friend's door and knocked softly. Without waiting for a reply from Emily, she turned the soundless handle and pushed her way in just far enough to poke her head into the room and call out, "hey, Em? Are you still awake?"
And, just as she predicted, Emily was awake, though she was propped up in bed, her numerous medical school text books spread out around here. Without even questioning how Elizabeth had gotten up to her bedroom, the adopted Quartermaine daughter grinned widely. "Hey, you," she greeted Elizabeth warmly, immediately setting her homework aside. Patting the bed next to her in a wordless invitation for the expectant mother to take a seat, she asked, "what are you doing here so late? Not that I mind," Emily was quick to reassure her. But then the humor and joy fled from her face, and her gaze quickly dropped towards Elizabeth's still flat abdomen. "Oh my gosh, nothing's wrong with the baby, right?"
She loved her unborn son or daughter. She really did – so much so that it shocked even Elizabeth sometimes. However, she also hated the fact that, not even four months into her pregnancy, and the small ball of ever expanding cells had now trumped her. She wasn't just Elizabeth anymore, Emily's best friend; she was soon-to-be single mother Elizabeth, Emily's pregnantbest friend. Though she would never admit her feelings out loud – partly because she was ashamed of them and partly because she would never want to hurt Emily's feelings, she resented the change in their relationship. However, that didn't mean that she wasn't above taking advantage of her best friend's concern.
"The baby's fine; we're fine," she reassured soothingly. "It was just... a long night at the hospital, and I wanted to come and see you, hoping you'd help me forget about bed pans and bed sores for a while."
"Ouch," Emily sympathized. "That kind of shift, huh?"
Keeping the charade of her visit going, Elizabeth ran a hand through her messy, softly curled hair. Exhaling exasperatedly, she explained, "I just can't seem to do anything right, Em, at least not where Epiphany... I mean, Nurse Johnson is concerned."
"Do you want me to talk to my mom or my dad for you?"
"What," she exclaimed, eyes wide with bafflement. "Of course not! That would just make things ten times worse." Tempering her response, Elizabeth added, "though I appreciate the offer, Nurse Johnson already thinks that the only reason I was allowed into her program is because of who my grandparents are."
"That's ridiculous," Emily instantaneously defended her. Even becoming somewhat self-righteous, she stood up and paced before the king sized bed. "No one in that nursing program has worked harder than you have."
"Maybe... but I've been really distracted lately."
"Well, I think you have a reason to be."
Elizabeth shrugged, not arguing with her but also not agreeing either. "I need to find a way to keep my personal life out of my school work, though."
Reclaiming the seat beside her, Emily said, "but it's not your fault that Ric shows up at the hospital or that you're pregnant."
Chuckling softly, Elizabeth countered, "that's not quite true, Em, at least one the second claim. While I never intended to become pregnant, I obviously didn't do enough to prevent it from happening."
"Yeah, well, that still doesn't mean that Ric should be allowed to harass you. Have you talked to your lawyer? What did they say?"
"He's," Elizabeth stressed the pronoun to give the man some semblance of an identity, "is an overworked public defender who agreed to take my case because he knows Bobbie and she asked him to look into the matter for me."
"Alright, so what does he have to say?"
She shrugged helplessly. Despite the fact that she had come to visit her friend as a ruse, Elizabeth found herself getting sucked into their conversation, her concerns about her impending divorce temporarily overshadowing her other worries and intentions. "The first step is to get the divorce finalized. Then, once Ric and I are legally separated, he loses some of his claim towards my child."
"Only some," Emily scoffed.
"Well, Ric's claiming that he's the father, and, since I was still married to him when the baby was conceived, the courts recognize his claim. Until I prove otherwise, legally he is the father. Even after I have a paternity test run, though," she sighed, feeling unexpected though not surprising tears well in her eyes, "I'll probably still have to deal with him and his custody pursuits. While I now know that Ric is a liar, the rest of this town believes him to be the next best thing to sliced bread – a handsome, charming, intelligent lawyer with good breeding, amazing connections, and a smile that could seduce even my grandmother... and you know how judgmental my Grams can be towards the men I date."
"You know that I'll do everything I can to help, right," her best friend offered and not for the first time either. "I can't access my trust fund yet, but I think Mom would lend me the money if I asked her to, so we could pay for you to hire a good custody attorney. Hell, I could probably even wrangle the funds from Grandfather if I played the 'Grandmother loves Elizabeth like a granddaughter' card."
Despite the somber mood of their discussion, Elizabeth giggled, leaning over to give the future doctor a tight hug. "Thanks, Em, and I'll definitely keep your offer in mind, but, for now, I'm going to try to do this on my own... if I can." Pulling away, she grinned self-deprecatingly. "You see, I'm trying this new thing called being an adult. I figured, you know, I'm already knocked up. Maybe I should stop being a kid since I'm having one."
So tenderly that the gesture shocked the tears back into her eyes, Emily lifted her left hand to softly stroke Elizabeth's hair behind her ear. "Sweetie, I think we both know that you grew up long before you were supposed to. What you're doing now isn't making you an adult; you've been an adult since Lucky found you in the park all those years ago. No, what you're doing now is giving up on all your dreams, and it breaks my heart."
"Em, please," she begged, biting her lip to keep the emotional moisture from escaping the confines of her wide, suddenly now burning eyes.
"I won't say anymore," her best friend promised, "at least not tonight. You came here wanting me to cheer you up, and, instead, I'm just making you sadder. Sorry about that."
"It's okay," Elizabeth assured her, grinning through her misery. Finally seeing an opening, she pounced upon a way to get Emily to leave her alone for a few minutes. "However, all this talking about Ric and my past has made me a little nauseous. Do you think that maybe you could get me a cup of herbal tea to calm my stomach?"
Immediately, Emily was on her feet. "Of course. I can't believe I didn't ask if you needed anything when you first got here. Grandmother would be appalled..." The rest of the other woman's words faded away into incomprehensible mumbling as she made her way down the hall.
As soon as Elizabeth couldn't hear her friend any longer, she was up and on her feet, zeroing in upon the cramped and messy desk positioned by the room's one lone, large window. Rifling through Emily's various items of paperwork, correspondence, and junk mail, she searched desperately for the item which had inspired her late night visit to the Quartermaine mansion in the first place: Emily's address book.
Though her best friend had an impeccable memory and sharp mind, she was also Lila's granddaughter. She'd scoff at the idea, but she was a society wife in training. Every single contact Emily had ever made in her entire life had an entry in her address book – even her family members. And it was this anal-retentive attention to detail that Elizabeth was depending on.
While Jason might have skipped off on her before she could help him earlier that night, she wasn't about to let the incredibly stubborn man suffer. Obviously, someone had believed his injuries severe enough to take him to GH. Despite the fact that she didn't know the rebellious Quartermaine grandson very well, over the years she had picked up on quite a bit of information from being friends with Emily. She knew that Jason hated hospitals, hated his family, and hated to ask others for help... and not necessarily in that order. Not only as a nurse in training had she taken an oath to do no harm, but she also couldn't allow Emily's brother's injuries to go untreated.
It would have been so much easier to just tattle on the stubborn man. All she would have had to do was go back inside the hospital and have one of the Doctors Quartermaine paged or use the hospital's phone to call the mansion and tell them that she had seen a hurt Jason limping away from GH. Between Alan, Monica, and Emily, somehow, someway, Jason would have gotten the medical treatment that he needed... or, at least, he would have if he was anyone else besides Jason Morgan. The truth of the matter was that, despite their training, she wasn't sure if Emily's brother would have allowed his estranged family to help him. She meant nothing to him. He probably didn't even know of her connection to his sister, but, still, he had run away from her. Even if he didn't want her help, though, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep that night unless she saw for herself that Jason was going to make it, that he was going to be alright.
Finding his address in Emily's address book, she read over it several times, committing it to memory. In fact, she had barely closed the leather bound notebook and returned to her place on her best friend's bed before Emily swept in with a freshly brewed cup of tea. She had only been gone a few minutes – more proof that it paid to have a full-time, live-in cook. "Here you go," Emily announced, graciously handing Elizabeth her tea.
"Thank you so much, Em."
Dutifully, she took several sips, burning her tongue slightly in her haste. Once the mug was half empty, she sighed in mock appreciation. After all, she hadn't actually been nauseous but had used her pregnant status to distract her best friend and get Emily out of her own room. Then, setting the cup onto the bedside table, she stood and yawned. "Oh, excuse me," she feigned behind a small, pale hand. "You have no idea how much a tiny fetus takes out of you." Emily laughed, just as she had intended. "Sorry about skipping out on you like this – I mean, I just got here, but I'm exhausted, Em. I think I just want to go home and crawl into bed."
"Sure, sweetie," her best friend was quick to agree. "I understand." After giving her a hug goodbye, she added, "but call me tomorrow, okay?"
"Will do," Elizabeth promised, leaving the beautifully decorated bedroom as quietly as she arrived.
Retracing her steps, she went down the sweeping stairs, back through the impressive foyer, and exited by the still unlocked patio doors found in the family's luxurious den, without a single Q, besides Emily, of course, being any the wiser towards her uninvited and unannounced presence. But Elizabeth couldn't focus on her Alias-esque movements. Rather, all she could think about was how she had just lied to perhaps her staunchest remaining supporter... and about her beloved brother of all things, too.
She was the worst best friend in the world. Ever.