Chapter 4- Back To Life

Aly was by no means devastated by Maxie's research however she felt herself doing a lot of reflecting. It had been a long time since she had thought about her childhood, or her parents. There was something else on her mind as well. Something that Maxie had said got under Aly's skin. Maxie said that Aly's parents lived in Port Charles until they had to suddenly move. This was something Aly didn't know anything about. It had her curious. She didn't remember being there for anything other than the occasional weekend or summer vacations.

"You know what I don't get?" Aly said as she was changing Logan's bandages on his hand.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I don't get why Maxie did it. I mean what did she get out of it?"

"She just did it to be mean. You know what I don't get, I don't get why you kept all of those things a secret anyway?" he said.

"I did it because I didn't want to be the freaky genius girl anymore. I just wanted to be a normal person…I wanted to be just Aly," she told him.

"You are just Aly. But, you are also a very smart woman, who should be proud of her intelligence and her accomplishments. For God's sakes, you're a doctor. That's incredible, no matter how you slice it," he said, pulling her close to him, planting kisses down her neck.

After a minute, she stared off into space. She was back to thinking about what Maxie said.

"Aly? What's on your mind?" Logan asked.

"Nothing…its nothing," she said with a forced smile. "You know what? I'm gonna go run some errands. Get some rest, I'll be back soon," she said as she kissed him, grabbed her purse and went out the door.

Aly had to find out exactly what Maxie had been talking about. She knew of only one way to do so. She headed straight for Kelly's.

Once she was at the diner she found exactly who she was looking for -- Spinelli.

"Hey, what are you working on?" she asked as she sat down at the table where Spinelli was frantically researching on the internet.

"The Jackal is currently working on something for himself," he said, not looking up.

The silence caught his attention. He looked up to see the questioning look on Aly's face.

"I'm searching for the father Jackal," he said quietly after looking around.

"I could help you with that. And you could help me with something too," she said with a grin.

He raised an eyebrow as if to ask "what can I help you with?"

"I need to know why my parents left Port Charles. I mean I didn't even know they ever lived here, I thought they just came here for weekends and vacations. So, you help me, and I'll help you."

"The Jackal regrets that I may need to do this on my own, finding my father," Spinelli said.

"Spinelli, you know as well as I do that two heads are better than one, and what could be better than our two heads together? We have to be the smartest two people in Port Charles, hell we're probably the smartest people in the entire state of New York," she laughed. He smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "I will be much better help than Maxie was with finding the Text Message Killer. And besides, you owe me."

"The caregiving one has a point there," he said. "After what I did to help the wounded blonde one and hurt you in the process, I will give you my services, and we can help each other. Between both of us, we may be able to solve both mysteries."

"Great," Aly said. "I know we can. Meet me back here after breakfast in the morning and we'll start our mission."

"See you then, most gracious caregiving one."

She paused before she got up from the table. "By the way….what exactly did Maxie bribe you with anyway?" Aly asked. She knew he'd never help Maxie on his own free will.

"Uh…" he stumbled. She raised an eye brow.

"She promised me a date with Nadine," he said as he slumped in his chair.

"I thought you had learned to not be so blind after what you learned about Georgie. You don't need Maxie's help. Just man up and ask the girl out on your own," she said.

He gave her a shy smile.

"I'll see you later….Man Up!" she said as she left.

After Aly left, Spinelli sat there and thought for a minute. He was grateful that she was giving him a second chance. He knew he had messed up by teaming up with Maxie to find out the dirt on Aly and regretted it the minute he said yes. This was his way of making it up to her. Stone Cold didn't have any plans for the Jackal tomorrow morning so meeting the caregiving one would not be a problem.

Meanwhile back at Logan's apartment, Aly walked in through the door. "Hi honey, I'm home," she said. He looked up from the chair and smiled. "I've always wanted to say that," she said with a grin and kissed him.

"Glad you're back. Everything ok?" he asked.

Yes, much better now," as she sat down on the sofa next to him and felt his arms around her. "I needed to talk to Spinelli about what happened yesterday at Kelly's with Maxie. Everything is back to normal again."

Logan paused and thought for a minute. Aly looked up at him. "What?"

"Did I hear you say normal?"

She laughed. "Yeah guess I did, at least for today." She snuggled closer to him and, and they both relaxed by the tv, and eventually took a late morning nap until her phone woke her up at 1 pm.

It was time for her to get ready and head back over to Carly and Jax's house to watch the boys for the afternoon. As she was driving over, she started thinking. Sonny and Carly had been wonderful to her after Logan's accident, but now she needed to get back to work. Carly and the boys met her at the door.

"Hey Carly, hi boys. It's so good to see you. What's up, how are you guys doing?" she asked Michael and Morgan.

"The boys are all set for the afternoon. Jax will be back after the meeting at Metro Court but I won't be. I have some things to get ready for another party tomorrow. Before I go, I wanted to talk to you." She sat down on the sofa and Aly sat down too.

"Something wrong with the boys?" Aly asked.

"Not at all. I heard something this morning and I wanted to ask you about it," Carly said. Aly nodded. "Did I hear that you were a doctor? I had walked in to the kitchen to ask Mike a question and when I came out, all I heard was that you were a doctor, and there was a tragedy and you don't practice anymore. Is everything ok with you, if you don't mind me asking."

Aly looked at her. "I feel I should be honest with you. The shortened version of the story is that my parents were doctors. The night I graduated, they were in an accident and died. I felt responsible that I couldn't save them and quit being a doctor just as soon as I had started it. Haven't thought about starting again. Not sure if I'm ready to yet."

"There's an opening at GH for the Head of Pedriatrics. I've heard Monica talk about it, they are looking for someone responsible and dedicated to fill that spot. After watching you with my boys, you would be completely perfect for the job. There is no one else in Port Charles who could do that job. I know you will be a tough chief to work for. It's challenging, plus you wouldn't need to be a nanny anymore and you can put that medical jargon to good use."

Aly couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Really? You think I would be great at it?"

"Yes," Carly said. "You should go and see Monica or Dr. Ford later today or tomorrow. I'm sure they would be interested in your background. And besides I know you can do it."

"I will check it out. Thanks for thinking of me. It's going to be a change if I decide to do it. Who would watch the boys?" Aly asked.

"Sonny and I will figure something out. Look, I have to run. Enjoy your afternoon with the boys. Remember what I said. See ya later."

Aly had a good afternoon with the boys. Once Jax got home, she left and headed back to Fox Hollow.

On her way home, she called Logan and decided to stop by for a few minutes. She had to tell him what Carly said and needed his opinion.

She walked right in, he was expecting her. "Hey babe," he said.

"Hi there. How's my favorite patient?" she teased.

"As far as I know, I'm your ONLY patient," and they laughed.

"Strangest thing happened today," she started and sat down. "Carly overheard part of the conversation we had with Maxie and Spinelli the other night and felt bad. She suggested, almost pushed me, to apply for the Head of Pediatrics job at GH. She said I'd be good at it, there wasn't anyone else who could do a better job, and no one better qualified. I was floored. Do you think I should go for it?"

"That would be a fantastic job, and you would be great. You should do it. I am proud of you. Wow, a doctor and maybe Head of a department. What a deal," he smiled and kissed her.

"I will do it. You are too sweet and good to me. I'm gonna get going so I can get ready for tomorrow. Meeting Spinelli to talk about finding out about my father's connection here and why they left. After that, I'll head to GH. Goodnight."

"Nite nite, talk to you tomorrow," they kissed and she left.

Once she got back home, she grabbed something from the kitchen, and took a bath. She thought about Carly's suggestion about the doctor position at the hospital, and finally about her new mission with Spinelli. Maybe moving to Port Charles was a good idea, the thought came into her head as she got out of the bath and got ready for bed. She had some sweet dreams of Logan.

She was up early and looking forward to seeing Spinelli. It is high time that I get started and figure out exactly what Maxie meant when she said my parents lived here and suddenly moved, she thought. She jumped in the car and headed over to Kelly's.

She found Spinelli at his usual table. "Hey there."

"Greetings. Good morning," Spinelli said.

"I have a plan," she told him.

"What does the highly intelligent one suggest?"

"As far as finding your father, do you have any information at all on him?" she asked.

"I know his name, that is all. It's Peter Romanoski."

"That's funny. My father's name is Peter as well, and Romanoski, that's similar to Romanav. Well anyway, its something to work with."

"Yes, yes it is. So what's your master plan?" he asked.

"Well, you aren't the only one who knows how to hack into a computer. So I thought we'd start there. I'm thinking I should check on files at the NYU Medical Center where my parents were both on staff. You should check General Hospital's personnel files. We can obviously do a search using your father's name. And I thought maybe I should do some snooping around at Fox Hollow."

"What do you think you'll find there?"

"I may not find anything but maybe there are some files or some kind of document. It's worth a search."

"Ok, well, let's get to work," Spinelli said with a smile, then started pecking away at his computer.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Aly finally spoke,"I wanted to get your opinion on something, Spinelli. The news of my true identity has spread like wildfire. Carly has already heard everything and you know how Carly is. She is pushing me to talk to Dr. Quartermaine or Dr. Ford and apply for the Head of Pediatrics at the hospital. What do you think?"

"The Valkyrie happens to be correct. I think you would be most worthy of that job at the hospital. You should go and see what needs to be done. You would rock there," Spinelli said to her.

"Thanks," she said shyly. She was still a little unsure of herself. She stayed and chatted with Spinelli for a few more minutes. She finally decided to go to General Hospital.

So many things going through her mind right now, as she drove over to GH. Her parents would be so proud of what she is doing, applying for this new job. She thought to herself ' I'm starting to feel as though I'm arriving in a brand new place in my life.' She parked the car and headed up to the 7th floor, and asked for Dr. Quartermaine. With Emily and Monica's husband Alan gone, they knew the only Dr. Quartermaine was Monica. They led her in to Monica's office. She sat down and waited.

"Hello there, Aly. Nice to meet you," Monica said as she walked into the office and over to Aly. So this was Jason's mother. This should be interesting.

"Hi, Dr. Quartermaine. Nice to meet you too."

"Please, call me Monica. What brings you by today?"

"I heard there is an opening for the Head of Pediatrics and I wanted to apply."

"Yes it's still open. Are you a doctor? Last I heard, you were working as Sonny and Carly's nanny." Monica had a puzzling look on her face.

"I'm still there, however I'm looking to get back into my original line of work. I was, or still am, a doctor but I'm not practicing now. My parents were both doctors, and they even lived in Port Charles years ago before we moved out to the Upper East Side. I trained to become a doctor as well, but on the night that I graduated, we were in a horrific car accident, and I couldn't save them. I blamed myself for a long time, that I was a doctor and I was already a failure. I haven't done anything in medicine ever since but I try to keep up with the latest technology and advances."

"That's a very heart breaking story. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you. It takes forever to get over it, if you ever do. My son AJ was killed years ago in a bad accident too, and I had finally come to terms with it. Then what happened to Emily was devastating. She was in the prime of her life and very happy with Nik and Spencer. I was relieved when they finally captured the real text message killer." She looked at Aly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent there."

"Please don't worry. It's never easy to handle death," Aly said. "Even doctors."

"Thank you. By the way, here is the application. Do you have your resume with you? If not, you can always drop it off or fax it to me here."

"I planned ahead. Here it is," and she handed it to Monica.

"Great. Take a few minutes to fill it out and then you can give it to Elizabeth. I need to run out for another appointment, but she will get it to me," Monica said as they walked back into the lounge near the nurses' station. "It was so nice to meet you, Aly."

"Same here, Monica. Thank you, and talk to you soon." With that, Monica left. Aly filled out the application, and handed it to Liz.

"Hi, Liz. Would you give this to Monica? She's expecting it. How are you?" Aly grinned at her.

"Better than ever, thanks to you," she winks and smiles at Aly. She had never seen Liz happier than she was with Jason. Aly had watched Cam and Jake a few times so that Liz and Jason could meet up. It was all on the down low. Aly had been a real friend to Liz. "I'll be sure that Dr. Quartermaine gets this. I'd love to chat, but I've got to get back to work. Talk to you a bit later?"

"Absolutely. Bye, Liz." As she was heading to the elevators, she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Hey Aly."

She turned around and saw Nikolas standing there. "Hi, Nikolas. How are you today?" she asked with concern.

"A little better. I stopped in to see Liz but saw you first. How's it going with you?"

"Good. I just came from sitting down with Dr. Quartermaine about the Head of Pediatrics job. Before you ask and get that puzzling look, I'll explain."

"Ok, because I was about ready to do that," he laughed, then he got serious. "What's wrong, Aly?"

"I don't know if you've heard it or not, but Maxie started some trouble with me the other night. I'm not sure if you remember, but the night of the ball when Alexis found Ric pinned to the wall with the sword, I was doing everything I could to help him and get Robin and Patrick prepared for the surgery."

"I kind of remember that. Most of the night was a blur," Nikolas said.

"Understandably so. Then the night of Logan's accident, when we came in, I was rattling off all this medical jargon to Patrick and the staff. Well, Maxie happened to be there both times and started questioning me. When I didn't give her any answers that would satisfy her, she went searching for her answers."

"Go on," Nikolas said.

"The other night at Kelly's, Logan and I were there, and she was there with Lucky. Robin just happened to walk in and started to ask me how I knew all the medical terms. I started to answer and was interrupted by Maxie. You know she had to put her two cents into the pot and stir it up. She found out that my parents were both doctors, they had lived in Port Charles up in Fox Hollow until they had to suddenly move, and that we were in a tragic accident and they died. I tried to do everything I could to save them, but I couldn't. It was the night I graduated med school, and just as quickly as my career took off, it came to a screeching halt."

"Oh my god, Aly, that is so awful. I had no idea. Believe me, Maxie isn't my favorite person in the world either, after what she did to Liz. I'll save that for another time. What happened afterwards?"

"I blamed myself for everything, if we hadn't gone to graduation, we wouldn't have been on that road and gotten into the accident. I sat in my house for the whole year afterwards, blaming myself, wanting to see no one, and not facing the world. I wasn't ready to move on yet…." she trailed off.

"We sound so much alike. I'd like to get together and talk. I haven't really been able to sit down and talk to someone about the night of Emily's murder and the Ball. Do you have some time tomorrow?"

"Yeah in the morning. I don't have to be at Jax's until one. Where do you want to meet?"

"Definitely not Kelly's. How about the Metro Court around 10?" Nikolas asked.

"Perfect. See you then. In the meantime, hang in there. My phone is always on if you need to talk to someone. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Aly," and with that she left the hospital, and Nikolas went off to find Liz.

After her chat with Nikolas, Aly headed over to Carly's for another day with the boys. As soon as she gets there, she decides to surprise them. "Hey guys, wanna go for ice cream?" she says with a smile.

"Yeah," they both yell. They pile into Aly's car and take off. As soon as they walked in, Aly wanted to turn around ---' I don't think this is the best idea I had, 'she thinks to herself. She sees Maxie there already, and she doesn't want to have any trouble today, not with Michael and Morgan in tow. They head up to the counter and order from Mike.

They had a quiet afternoon at Kelly's and then back home. Maxie behaved herself and didn't start any trouble. Aly wasn't in the mood for it so it's a good thing Maxie stayed quiet. She waited for Carly to come home and all she wanted to do was head back home, but first she needed to run over to see Logan. She really missed seeing him today.

She knocked. He opened the door, and greeted her with a kiss. "Hey sweetie." He made her heart melt.

"Hi back handsome," she said to him. "How you doin'? Something sure does smell good, what have you been up to?"

"Well…I made you dinner. I can cook too," he said with a grin.

"Logan, you shouldn't have. You should still be resting," she said.

"I know, but you've taken such good care of me I wanted to do something to thank you."

She smiled.

"There is one condition though," he said with a sly smile on his face. She kinked her eyebrow, "One condition?"

"You have to spend the night here, I don't want you going out and getting in an accident. No need for a repeat performance of our last dinner together."

"Logan….I," she hesitated.

"We don't have to do anything Aly. I just want to wake up tomorrow morning with you in my arms. I think its just what the doctor ordered," he smiled.

Aly agreed to stay. Everyone had warned her about Logan. Their words about him still lingered in the back of her mind, and sometimes she wondered if she should trust him. She convinced herself that it was her lack of experience talking, because he'd never given her a reason not to trust him.

The two spent the evening enjoying their dinner and cuddling up on the couch. The morning found the two wrapped in each other's arms. Logan had been a perfect gentleman.

She decided to stop at Kelly's again this morning before meeting Nikolas. She realized she had been spending a significant amount of time at the diner. She giggled at that. On her way out, she ran into Sam and Lucky coming in.

"Hi Aly," Lucky said with a smile.

"Hi…" she barely got out. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about Lucky Spencer that made her heart skip a beat.

"Aly, do you know Sam?" he asked.

"Um, no, afraid not," she said, again struggling to speak.

"Hi, I'm Sam McCall," she offered her hand.

Aly shook her hand, "Hi, nice to meet you. I, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to get going. Sam, it was nice to meet you, and it was good to see ya Lucky," she said and bolted out the door.

"What in the heck is wrong with you?" she asked herself. She regained her composure and was on her way to the Metro Court.