"You ready for this?"
Carlos cocked his 9mm and looked over to Sonny who did the same "Oh, I'm ready."
"So what exactly did you tell Julian when you called him?" Sonny asked.
"I told him that I was too late and that Morgan had already talked and that I was holding you both here" Carlos replied looking around the ransacked coffee warehouse.
"Good. I have Shawn and Max covering both entrances. As soon as he shows up, we'll take it from there."
Carlos started to say something before the sight of headlights through the window stopped him.
"Ok let's do this." Sonny said walking to the back of the warehouse and hiding behind an overturned table.
Carlos tightened his grip on his handgun and leaned up against the wall. He was ready for whatever was about to happen. The threats, the demands, all of it had to stop and Carlos was ready to do whatever he needed to for that to happen. Even risk his life and abandon his alliance. Carlos looked up to the entrance with a haunting smile on his face when he saw Julian come through the door. "What's up, Boss?"
Julian slowly walked into the warehouse and looked around before reaching for his gun.
"Uh uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you" Shawn said gripping Julian up from behind.
"What the hell is going on, Carlos?" Julian asked trying to break free from Shawn's grip.
"What does it look like?" Carlos replied walking over to face Julian. "You told me once that a man's greatest handicap was love. Well Mr. Jerome, I have to say, I disagree with that assessment. I happen to think that a man's greatest handicap is ignorance. To believe that you can threaten the one thing someone holds above all else and not face the consequences. That was a fatal error on your part."
"I happen to agree with him" Sonny said appearing from the back of the warehouse gun drawn. "Nice to see you again, Derek. I mean Julian. Sorry our visit will be a short one."
"Wait a minute!" Julian yelled "We're all business men here. Let's talk about this."
"What is there to talk about? You blew up my shipment, you destroyed my warehouse, you put a hit out on my kid. There is nothing to talk about! The only way to get rid of a pest like you is by extermination."
"Yeah I agree with him" Carlos chuckled.
"Do you honestly think Sonny is going to be loyal to you, Carlos? The second he kills me, he's taking you out too."
"Nice try, Julian, but I'll take my chances, thanks."
Julian looked back and forth between Carlos and Sonny and knew his time was running out. Thinking he was about to die, he decided not to make it easy on anyone involved. As hard as he could he stomped his left foot on Shawn's causing him to yell out in pain. Julian connected his right elbow to the side of his face and broke free from his grasp. As Shawn buckled over, Sonny aimed his gun at Julian who ran to the back of the warehouse and shielded himself behind a metal cabinet. 4 men, all armed let out shots in every direction.
"Hey Carlos, it's me. Just wanted to hear your voice. I guess you're still at work. Call me to let me know if you're going to be late. I love you." Sabrina hung up her cell phone and placed it back into her pocket. She leaned up against the desk of the ER nurses' station, rest her head on her hands and sighed.
"Girl, I hate ER duty too" Felix said walking up behind her. "I tell you, ever time those doors open, I cringe."
"Yeah me too" Sabrina replied with a halfhearted smile.
"Ok something tells me it's not the ER that has you looking like a sad sack of potatoes. What's going on? You didn't have a fight with Carlos did you?"
"No. I haven't even talked to him." Sabrina looked up and pointed to the clock on the wall "Look what time it is. I haven't seen or heard from him since he left this morning. It's not like him not to call."
"Maybe he's just busy at work"
"Yeah that's what I'm afraid of" she whispered.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, I just… I don't know. I have a bad feeling."
"Sorry to break up this pow wow kids, but we have 2 GSW's coming in." Elizabeth said handing them both latex gloves.
"Oh great" Felix smirked. "Typical night in Port Charles. A gunshot here, a stabbing there. Any babies on the roof we should know about?"
"Funny. Let's go" Elizabeth said leading them to the entrance of the ER as the ambulance pulled up.
"Why am I not surprised?" Felix said as Sonny walked into the ER unscathed.
"Sonny, you ok?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah I'm fine. I wasn't hit. Shawn on the other hand…"
"One in the leg. Another in the shoulder" The EMT's yelled rushing Shawn into the first cubicle.
"Ok, we'll take this one" Epiphany said as she and Elizabeth followed. "Dubois, you and Santiago take the next one."
Sabrina rushed up the next gurney and almost fell over in shock when she saw an unconscious Derek Wells in front of her.
"Multiple wounds to the torso. One to the neck." The EMT announced.
"Call up to the OR stat!" Felix yelled wheeling him into the second cubicle. "Sabrina! Girl, snap out of it. I need your help."
Sabrina slowly came out of her shock long enough to help stabilize Derek Wells for him to be transported to the operating room. Once he was on the elevator, Sabrina rushed over to Sonny who was sitting on the steps waiting on word about Shawn. "Mr. Corinthos, I'm sorry to bother you but Mr. Wells…"
"You mean Julian Jerome?" he replied.
"Huh?"
"The SOB's name is Julian Jerome."
"Ok, whatever. I'm not really concerned about that. My boyfriend works for him. His name is Carlos. Do you have any idea where he is?"
Sonny grew quiet and looked down at his hands "I'm sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry about what? What the hell happened tonight? Was Carlos there? Was he hurt? Where is he?!" In a panic Sabrina began shouting out questions faster than Sonny could comprehend them.
"Querida…"
Sabrina spun around and saw Carlos standing behind her. A wave of relief came over as she ran into his arms "You're ok."
Carlos winced at her touch and placed a kiss on her head. "Yeah I'm ok."
Sabrina pulled away from his arms and saw the pain on his face. She brought his head up into his hands and noticed his eyes weren't focusing "Carlos? What's going on?"
"I love you…" He whispered.
Sabrina pulled back his jacket and saw the blood soaked shirt underneath. Before Sabrina could say another word, Carlos' body went limp and fell to the floor.
"CARLOS! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Sabrina shouted trying to put pressure on his wound.
Felix and Elizabeth ran out of Shawn's cubicle and found Sabrina on the floor holding Carlos in her arms.
"Don't you dare do this to me!" Sabrina cried. "Do you hear me?! No te atrevas a hacer esto a mí!"
"We need some help over here!" Felix yelled trying to lift Carlos up from Sabrina's arms. "Sabrina, sweetie you have to let him go."
"I… I can't."
"We have to get him help" Felix said as additional nurses and doctors came over to their side.
Sabrina finally loosed her hold and allowed them to lift Carlos onto the gurney and wheel him to an awaiting cubicle.
"No, Nurse Santiago" Epiphany said blocking her path.
"He needs me!"
"We will come back out and let you know how he's doing, but you have to stay out here. That is not a request!"
Sabrina watched helplessly as Epiphany walked back into the cubicle and drew the curtain shut. She stood there for a moment in disbelief listening to the chaos around her. After a while the noise around her faded and all she could hear was the sound of her own heart pounding out of her chest. The sound was so deafening that she didn't hear Patrick calling her name at first. Finally she turned around and saw him and Robin standing there with concern on their faces.
"Sabrina, my god! What the hell happened?" Patrick asked rushing to her side.
Sabrina stared at him blankly as he held her head in his hands.
"Sabrina, talk to me! You're covered in blood!"
"It's… it's not mine" She finally said.
"Whose is it?"
"Let's move!"
Sabrina turned around and saw Epiphany wheeling Carlos out and the cubicle "What's happening?!" She screamed running behind them.
Felix grabbed Sabrina by the arms to keep her from running on the elevator with them.
"CARLOS!"
"They're taking up to surgery. He has a bullet lodged in his lung."
"I need to go with him!" she cried as the elevator doors closed.
"You have to let them so their job, Sabrina."
Sabrina turned and buried her face on to Felix's chest "I can't… I can't lose him. He's all I have left."
"Ok two things. 1. He's not all you have left, ok? And 2. You won't lose him." Felix promised knowing there was a chance he wouldn't be able to keep it.
Sabrina held on to Felix for a few minutes before her pain turned into rage. She pulled away from his arms and walked back over to Sonny who was talking to Max "Did you do this?! Did you shoot him?!"
Sonny shook his head "No I didn't. We were on the same side."
"That doesn't make any sense! He doesn't work for you, he works for Derek Wells."
"I can't get into all the details with you right now" Sonny said noticing Anna and Dante walking through the ER doors. "Let's just say Carlos did what he had to do."
"I don't understand" Sabrina said wiping the tears from her face. "Did what he had to do what for?"
"To protect you."