The Fallout

Chapter Three

The medics whisked Elizabeth into the emergency room, ordering more than asking "Mr. Lansing" to please stand back. Ric watched anxiously from outside the curtained room as they ascertained her condition. The ambulance ride had been a confusing blur of action and emotion. Anger, worry, fear, remorse—if only he'd arrived moments earlier, maybe he could have stopped Sonny—bounced back and fourth within him like wayward Ping-Pong balls. He watched the doctors check his wife's vital signs, set up an I.V. drip, hook her to a heart monitor. He caught clips of conversation as the physicians exchanged information and requests.

"—concussion—"

"—patient is pregnant—"

"—nurse, if you would page Dr. Meadows—"

Elizabeth looked so pale, so fragile, like a porcelain doll. Ric wished he could be with her, offering her words of encouragement, even if she couldn't hear. It seemed so impersonal, referring to her as merely "patient" when she was so much more. Couldn't they see how beautiful she was? That she was a vibrant person, not just a medical case?

Ric ground his teeth. No, they couldn't see. But at least they cared what became of her. Sonny knew her and he didn't care. She was a means to an end—the end being getting one over on Ric. Sonny hadn't felt a thing when he pushed her down those stairs. He'd probably laughed, walked away without a bit of remorse. He could hear his brother taunting him.

"You think you're the only one who can play this game, Ric?" Sonny asked him, putting a disgusted emphasis on his name. "You think you're safe? That you're family's safe? That you have control of the situation? Well, think again. You're not. I am the one in control." Sonny began to laugh, and his laughter became more and more insane until

Sonny asked him, putting a disgusted emphasis on his name.ISonny began to laugh, and his laughter became more and more insane until

Ric jumped when something brushed against his arm.

"I'm sorry for startling you, Mr. Lansing," the nurse said. "You can see her now. She should be waking up soon."

"How is my wife?"

"Her condition is still being ascertained, but the doctors are confident that she will recover fully with rest. She appears to be suffering only from a mild concussion and a few abrasions and contusions. The doctors expect her to make a full recovery."

"And the baby?"

"It would appear all is well. There's no bleeding or bruising, but I'm on my way to page Dr. Meadows. She'll give her a checkup to make sure everything's all right. Go see her."

"I will. Thank you."

The crowd of physicians that had shrouded Elizabeth's bed from his view a moment ago had dwindled down to one. The man nodded to Ric. "Make sure she stays in bed. Dr. Meadows will be along shortly."

Ric murmured his thanks, taking Elizabeth's hand and stroking her soft brown hair. "Wake up, honey. Come on, wake up." Her eyelids fluttered. "That a girl."

Elizabeth brought a hand to her temple. "Ow. My head."

"I know. It's okay," Ric said soothingly, rubbing her fingers. She looked more beautiful than he'd ever seen her, despite—or perhaps because of—the scrapes and bruises covering her face.

Elizabeth took in her surroundings, her expression confused. "What am I—the baby!"

Ric shushed her. "The baby is fine. Dr. Meadows is going to come and give you an exam, but it's only a precaution. Now, I'd like to ask you a few things, but if you don't feel up to it, just let me know." He didn't want to press her. He needed every detail, and he didn't want to force her memory. If he did, she might miss an important fact.

Elizabeth nodded. "Go ahead."

"Can you remember what happened?"

"I—I asked Sonny to meet me at Rice Plaza. I wanted him to promise not to hurt you. I thought it would mean something to Sonny, because family matters so much to him. I'm so stupid."

"Never say that," Ric interrupted, raking a knuckle across her unmarked cheek. "Never, ever say that."

Elizabeth kept going. "I actually believed that he was a good person. That he'd care that you made me happy, but he didn't. I told him he wasn't God, that he didn't get to decide who lived or who died, but it meant nothing to him. He didn't care about me or the baby. I've never seen Sonny so mad. I mean, I've always known he had a temper, but he's never yelled at me like that before."

"Go on."

Elizabeth sat up, swinging her fair legs off the bed.

Ric tried to guide her back into a reclined position. "The doctor said you shouldn't be getting up—"

"I've never been afraid of Sonny before, not even when he held that broken bottle to Jax's neck. But I remember—I was truly scared of him. I didn't think he'd hurt me, but…I started down the stairs. Someone pushed me." Elizabeth stood, using the bed as a crutch. She looked at Ric with big eyes. "I can't believe Sonny pushed me! If there had been anyone else there, anyone at all, I would have believed it had been one of them instead of Sonny. But there wasn't anyone else. It was just him and me and he was so angry and—ow!"

Elizabeth clutched her belly, doubling over. Ric rushed around the bed, taking hold of her. "Something's wrong with the baby!" she wailed. She clutched his arm so tightly he could almost swear he'd have bruises, but if it helped her feel better, he didn't care.

"Doctor!" he shouted. "We need a doctor over here!"

Dr. Meadows rushed in, helping Elizabeth back into bed. "You need to leave," she said to Ric quite firmly.

"I can't lose my baby—" Elizabeth began.

"Your baby is fine," Dr. Meadows assured her. She pulled Ric aside.

"What's wrong with my wife, doctor?" he hissed.

"It's likely she's having a miscarriage. Please step outside."

Ric went, blinded by sorrow and rage. He slammed a fist into the wall and fought back tears. And it was all his bastard brother's fault.

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Sonny stared out the window at the harbor. It was a nice view, almost a comforting one, until he thought about the glass he was gazing through. It was bulletproof. It'd be nice, not to live in a place where all the windows were bulletproof. But that was only a dream.

Slender arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Hey? You okay?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine."

"You've been staring at nothing since I went into the kitchen."

Sonny turned and gave her a quick hug. "I was just, you know, thinking."

Carly's smile held a hint of suspicion. "About…?"

"How thing's could have been different."

Carly frowned. "What do you mean?"

Just then, the phone ran, as it always seemed to do when he and Carly were discussing something important, or were trying to tell each other something. "I have to get that," Sonny told her, walking over the desk. She rolled her eyes. She knew. He gave her an appreciative smile as he picked up the phone and put it between his ear and shoulder. "Yeah?"

"You bastard!"

Sonny winced, almost dropping his glass of water. Ric continued shouting.

"How could you do that to her? How could you do that to anyone? What did she ever do to you? I will kill you. I swear, I will kill you."

The animosity in Ric's voice was more powerful then it had been during the confrontation at Martha's Vineyard. This wasn't just resentment and hate, this was pure, undiluted, obviously misdirected, rage. A far different tune than the one he'd been tooting the night he married Elizabeth. So much for the truce, which Sonny had never believed in anyway. "What're you talking about?"

Ric continued on his seemingly pointless tirade. "Tell me, huh, Sonny? I wanna know!"

"Ric," Sonny said with much emphasis. "I don't know what you're talking about. And you know what? I don't really care." He started to lower the phone, but Ric's next words stopped him.

"What kind of monster pushes a pregnant women down a flight of stairs?"

Sonny froze and gripped the desk with his free hand for support. The one holding his glass of water was shaking. His mouth went dry, and his mind emptied of any thoughts that had been tumbling around. He couldn't feel or think. Carly noticed the change that had come over him. He saw the worry that flashed in her eyes.

"Sonny? Sonny, what's wrong?" She took the glass from his hand and set it on the desk, where it was safe from his trembling fingers. "Sonny?"

Sonny barely comprehended what she was saying. He was hardly aware of what he himself was saying. It was like he wasn't in control of his own body anymore. "I'd never touch Elizabeth," he heard someone say very calmly. It was him. But he didn't believe the words that came out of his own mouth. He couldn't remember what happened. All he knew was how angry he had been, and how he'd yelled at her as he'd never yelled at her or in front of her before. He felt his throat constrict. He couldn't breathe. Was he capable of this if he was angry enough? What if he'd done it?

"Is that the story you're going with? Well, I don't believe a word that comes out of your lying mouth! You are going to pay for what you did to her and my child."

"I didn't—"

Sonny's objection was cut off by the dial tone.

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Ric pressed the END button on his cell phone. Sonny Corinthos had everything—money, power, a wife and son who adored him, a baby on the way, a best friend who would do anything for him. But that wasn't enough for him. The only thing that made Sonny happy was control. Ric had had the opportunity to start over with the woman he loved and a child. Sonny had stolen that opportunity from him. Just like he'd stolen the opportunity for a good life from their mother. It was time for what Sonny sent around to come back and bite him. Ric wouldn't stop until Sonny was broken, alone, and begging him to kill him.

Maybe it'd been a mistake to warn Sonny ahead of time. But it'd only make revenge ever so much sweeter, Sonny knowing he was coming after him, so confident that he'd defeat Ric, and then losing.

He liked the idea of Sonny losing.

Ric punched in another number. He had one more call to make.

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Carly hung up the phone for Sonny, who still looked stunned. This couldn't be good. "What did Ric want?" she demanded. "Something happened to Elizabeth, something he's probably responsible for himself, knowing how sick he is, and he's using it as an excuse to come after you, right? God, that man is a creep!"

"Rice Plaza—you ever been there?" Sonny asked, completely out of the blue.

She shook her head. "No."

"It's kind of like this platform, with stairs on either side leading up to it. It's not a real busy place. Elizabeth and I, we met on the platform. Now, she kept going on and on about Ric. What a good man he is, how he's given up his vendetta, that he had nothing to do with the car bomb, the drug setup. So then she asks me to promise that no matter what he does, I'll let him live. That's when I lost it. I remember yelling at her, you know? And that's it. The time between when I lost it and when I got back here, it's all a blur. I don't remember what happened."

Carly didn't get it. So Sonny couldn't remember exactly what he'd said to the little twit. Big deal. "What does this have to do with the phone call?"

"Someone pushed Elizabeth down the stairs. I think she lost the baby."

"Oh no." That was horrible. Carly wouldn't wish the pain of losing a child on anyone, not even Elizabeth Webber—or was it Lansing now? "Does Ric know who did it?"

"Ric thinks it was me."

Carly didn't need Sonny to say what he said right next. She knew what he was thinking. She saw it written all over his face.

"And I think he might be right."

Uhn-uh. No way. Not happening. Hell would have to freeze over before she let Ric do this to her husband. "Okay, Sonny. You did not push Elizabeth. Just stop and think for a minute. You would never touch a woman. With the exception of Faith, but she doesn't count. And Elizabeth? You would never hurt her. You've gone out of your way to protect her. And never mind the fact that she was pregnant."

"You weren't there, Carly."

Carly reached up and stroked his hair. "I didn't have to be there. I know who are. You'd never lay a hand on a woman, Sonny."

He looked away. "I pushed my mother down the stairs at the cottage."

"You didn't push her! She fell!"

"If I hadn't been arguing with her, she wouldn't have fallen."

Carly stared at the ceiling. This was all Ric, playing with Sonny's head. That man was poison. Sonny had just come back to her, and now here Ric was trying to take him away from her again, trying to send him back into that unimaginably painful place deep inside himself where no one could reach him. "That's ridiculous—" she began, but the familiar thumping of Michael coming down the stairs stopped her.

"Can I go to the park yet?" Michael looked at them expectantly.

Carly held back a sigh. Michael hadn't a clue what a bad time it was for this. He was just making Sonny feel even more guilty, and he didn't need that right now. "No, honey."

"But I want to go!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but Daddy and I have explained this to you over and over again." Please let it go, Michael. Just wait until tomorrow. Wait until tomorrow.

Michael didn't wait. "It's not fair! I hate you!"

Carly glanced at Sonny. For a moment, she hoped he'd been too deep in thought to tune into what was going on around him. "That's enough, Michael!" he shouted at half-volume, and she silently thanked him for that. Michael would be petrified if he yelled at full-force. "You don't talk to your mother like that. Ever. Go to your room!"

Michael hesitated.

"Now!"

"But I—" Michael tried once more to plead his case.

"Go!"

Carly turned back to Sonny as Michael stalked off, about to tell him he'd handled the situation well. That's when she heard the pottery shatter.

"Michael!" she shouted, and at the same time, Sonny yelled, "Hey!"

"Ow!" their son cried.

Carly ran over to inspect his hand. There was a shallow cut on his upper left arm. "My hand hurts," he told her.

"Let me see," Sonny said, his tone gentle. Carly would have liked to take a step back in admiration of what a good father he was, but not when her son was bleeding. Sonny inspected the wound. "It's not very deep. I'll go get the first aid kit."

"That's good," Carly said. "No stitches. Stitches hurt."

Sonny disappeared into the kitchen. Carly suspected he kept the first aid kit there in case she chopped a finger off trying to cut with one of his very sharp knives. He came back, and while Sonny cleaned the cut and prepared a Band-Aid, she let her curiosity get the better of her.

"Michael, why'd you do that?"

Sonny was sticking the Band-Aid over the cut. Michael looked at his arm.

"Daddy does it."

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"Call me back. I need your help. It's about—it's about Sonny."

Ric had just terminated the phone call when Dr. Meadows called him back into the curtained room. Tears glistened in Elizabeth's eyes as she told him their baby was gone.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"It's not your fault," Ric assured her. He felt his heart constrict at the news. He'd wanted that child so badly. He wanted to hold it, read it bedtime stories, watch it grow from an infant to an independent person. Give it a happy home with two loving parents who loved each other, something he'd never had. That dream was shattered, in the blink of an eye.

"I should have fought harder for it—"

Ric shook his head. "You fought as hard as you could. I know because I saw you. You are so strong."

Elizabeth held onto him. "Ric?" she asked after a long moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"I don't know how we're going to get through this, but I can't just stand by while the man who killed our baby is out on the streets. I—I want to press charges against Sonny."

Ric almost smiled, but repressed the urge just in time. "Are you sure?"

Elizabeth nodded, wiping away her tears. "Yes. But I'm scared. What will he do to me if he finds out?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm a lawyer. I'll get a restraining order."

Elizabeth buried her face in his chest and cried for their baby. He kissed her hair. This was perfect. The PCPD wouldn't be able to make charges stick against Sonny—they never did—but maybe Sonny would think that this was how Ric intended to make him pay.

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