GreyStone. The Nursery.
Claudia sat down in the rocking chair, talking into the cell phone.
"About seven hours ago ... six minutes apart. ... No. It should be awhile. How long should I give you? ... Okay. ... I love you too. ... I will."
She hung up.
She went into the closet and took out a replica of the labor bag she'd given John. She went over to the crib and opened up its false bottom.
*********************************************
General Hospital. Nikolas' Office.
Nikolas waited for his call to connect. "Johnny? ... It's Nikolas ... She's in labor. ... It's going to take awhile, but you need to get out of there as fast as you can. I'm going make the call in five minutes. ... She sounded good. I think you're going to get the worst of it. ... See you soon."
He hung up, and dialed again. "Dr. Waters? ... Nikolas Cassadine. Mrs. Corinthos is in labor ... Seven hours. ... Six minutes apart. ... She didn't tell me. ... All right. ... Thank you."
He pulled up the Nurses' work schedule on the computer. Then he looked up the Doctors' work schedule. Elizabeth and Matt were both due in an hour. They could wait.
He picked up a cell phone, purchased for this occasion under Alfred's name. And he texted Lulu. "Looks like I can make dinner. Meet me at my place after work. S.D." Spencer's Dad. He sent the message. At least she wouldn't miss any work. One worry out of the way.
He checked his watch. Picked up his phone again. So this is how it feels to press the red button.
He dialed. "Mr. Chiarelli? Nikolas Cassadine. ... Sì. ... Oggi è il giorno." Today is the day. " ... È Claudia capire. ... Tutto è pronto." ... You know Claudia. ... Everything is ready. "Un'ora. ... Potrai sentire da lui a destra prima del piano decolla." One hour ... You will hear from him right before the plane takes off. "Ciao."
Nikolas hung up. He turned around in his chair and stood up. He removed the painting behind his desk, revealing a wall safe. He entered the combination. He took out three envelopes and a folded set of papers. Closed the safe back up. Returned the painting to the wall.
Time to call Matt and Liz.
***********************************************
After Uncle Rudy called Javier Rivera in Puerto Rico, Javier Rivera did not wait the agreed upon hour. He'd been waiting for over ten years to avenge his uncle's death. One more hour was a little too much to ask.
Every Corinthos loyalist in Puerto Rico was summarily executed. Then Javier Rivera left a small army of his own men behind in Puerto Rico and boarded a private jet to Sonny's island.
***********************************************
Metro Court Hotel.
Johnny sat waiting in the lobby. He had a file beside him -- the same one he'd removed from Trevor's file cabinet all those weeks ago.
Olivia hurried out to meet him. "John?"
Johnny stood. He handed Olivia the file. "Page Two. It details where I was held by Sonny's men. I'm sure that's where you'll find Dante. I would use the F.B.I. if I were you."
"Where'd you get this?"
"It's all in the file. Good luck." Johnny headed out of the Metro Court.
"Where are you going?"
"To meet someone new," he said, never breaking his stride.
***********************************************
GreyStone. Claudia's Bedroom.
Sonny shook Claudia awake.
"What?," she said. "What's happening?"
"I have to go to Puerto Rico," he said. "Rivera is trying to take over the territory. I think most of our men are gone."
Claudia rolled over onto her back, trying to distract Sonny from the fact that a contraction had just begun. She tried looking like she was thinking really hard, instead of like she was about to grab him by the throat to relieve the pain.
"I don't think you should go to Puerto Rico," she said, when the contraction had passed.
"Why not?"
"You're outnumbered. But it's your call. Who do you have to take with you?"
"Jason's getting the names together for me right now."
Claudia nodded. "Do you need me to do anything?"
"Not yet. Will you be okay if I go in to the office?"
"Can you leave my two guards behind with me?"
"I'm going to probably need one of them."
"Okay," she said.
"But the one you're getting is locked and loaded."
"Thank you."
"I'll have dinner sent in for you."
"Thanks."
Sonny left.
So long, jackass, she thought. She looked at her bedside clock. But so much for Puerto Rico sticking to the game plan.
**************************************************
Hidden Room Under General Hospital.
Helena's Lab had been transformed.
The outer room was a comfortable waiting area. There was a seating area with a T.V. and refrigerator. There were empty archival boxes, a full size garbage container on wheels, and extra pillows and baby blankets. And there was a closet and a bathroom.
The inner room was a state-of-the-art delivery room fully stocked with every amenity available.
Nikolas sat in the waiting room, flicking through news channels on the T.V.
The outer door slid open and Johnny wheeled his luggage inside, while carrying Claudia's labor bag.
"You're late," Nikolas said.
"I forgot the labor bag and had to go back," Johnny said, letting the bag fall to the floor.
"Puerto Rico started without us."
"Yeah?" Johnny checked out the T.V. screen.
"Sonny will be looking for you even sooner."
"Does this give Claudia enough time?"
"It better."
*************************************************
The Office Behind Sonny's Coffee Shop.
"I don't think there's any way to get Puerto Rico back, but we should be able to take back the Island," Jason said.
"We need to get on that soon," Sonny said. "Before it weakens us in anyone else's eyes."
"I think he's got maybe a hundred of his own men."
"If we can take some of the Zacchara men, and pull some Russians, we should have enough manpower here and over there to smooth things over."
Sonny's phone rang. He picked up and connected to the call. "Yeah? ... When? ... You tell them to hold steady until I tell them otherwise." He hung up.
He threw his phone across the room, shattering into unsalvageable pieces.
"What happened?"
"We lost Russia."
"How?"
"Same as Puerto Rico, only bloodless. They say they're sending our people home to us. We gotta teach the Russians a lesson now."
Jason's phone rang. He picked up. "Yeah? ... I know, his phone broke. ... When? ... What about their guys here?"
"What's going on?," Sonny asked.
Jason shook his head at Sonny. "I gotta get back to you." He hung up. "The Zaccharas took back Italy. The three men we had out there are on their way back. And the Zaccharas we had here just defected to the Five Families."
"Not possible."
"I'm telling you. This is real."
"Well, it's gonna reverse itself. Because we have the Zacchara crown prince. They're gonna have to meet our terms."
*************************************************
GreyStone. Living Room.
Claudia came down the stairs, grasping the railing and pulling a labor bag behind her.
"Hey!," she called out to Sonny's guard. "I think I'm in labor." She winced and cried out. "Help me!"
The guard rushed to her side.
"It's not supposed to happen this fast. Isn't it supposed to take like eight hours? All of a sudden my water broke, the plug is gone, and the contractions are like five minutes apart! Do you have a sister or someone we can call to ask?"
"We'd better call your doctor," the guard said.
"Can't we do that on the way to the hospital?," she said, a little hysterically. "Can you get the other guard?"
"Other guard? Your husband --"
"The one outside," she said. "Viktor."
***************************************************
General Hospital. The Waiting Room for Claudia's Delivery Room.
Johnny and Nikolas were glued to the T.V. screen.
Dr. Waters entered.
"Where's the patient?," he said.
Nikolas looked at his watch. "She should be on her way."
*****************************************************
Johnny's Garage.
The knocking continued frantically.
"Open up, Johnny," Sonny said in a voice that was slightly threatening.
"Back up," Jason said. "On three. One. Two Three." Gunshots rang out and the door fell open.
The garage was empty. Not a car being worked on.
"Check the back," Sonny said.
Max hurried into the back room. He came back out. "He's gone."
That double-crossing traitorous -- No. Oh, no. What was the name of the guy guarding Claudia? Freddy. "Jason," Sonny said. "Get Freddy on the phone."
"On it."
*********************************************************
Claudia's car.
Freddy was in the front seat driving when his phone went off.
"Here!," Claudia yelled at him. "No, there! You passed it -- look, it says 'Emergency Room' -- just back up or something."
Freddy backed up. He popped open the locks on the doors. He picked up his phone. "Yeah."
Viktor swung the labor bag over his shoulder and helped Claudia out of the car. Claudia took a few deep and slow breaths.
"We're at the hospital. The emergency room. She's in labor. ... We couldn't get the doctor in, and we couldn't get Mr. Corinthos on his phone. I left a voice mail. ... Okay, Mr. Morgan."
Freddy hung up in time to see Viktor and Claudia inside, Viktor helping Claudia into a wheelchair and asking the administrator something.
Freddy hurried out of the car, and rushed inside the emergency room doors. And a loud siren-like alarm went off. He was shoved back by two security guards.
One of them pointed to a large metal detector that Freddy hadn't noticed before. "Would you mind removing your coat, sir?"
"I'm with Claudia Corinthos -- the pregnant woman. Where'd she go?"
"We can help you in just a moment, sir. Please remove your coat and any metal objects you may be carrying."
************************************************************
General Hospital. Elevator.
The key was in the floor lock. The basement button was pressed.
Claudia smiled at Viktor. "You're good," she said. "Are you coming with us?"
"What is in this bag?," Viktor said. "It is very uncomfortable."
*************************************************************
General Hospital. Emergency Room.
Sonny and Jason burst through the doors. The alarms went off full-force again.
The guards exchanged a look and surrounded Sonny and Jason.
"My wife is here," Sonny said.
"This will just take a moment, sir. Would you mind removing your coat?"
Jason removed his coat. The guards disarmed him and sent him back through the metal detector. The alarm went off again.
"What is this?," Sonny said. "We were just here a few months ago. What is this?"
"Sir, please. Please remove your coat and any metal objects."
"Liz," Sonny called out, seeing his friend at triage. "Where's Claudia?" He removed his coat and the guards disarmed him, sending him back through the metal detector.
Liz looked up. "I don't know. I haven't seen her. Dr. Hunter?," she called out.
Matt stuck his head out of an exam cubicle. "What's up?"
"Have you seen Claudia Corinthos?"
Matt looked at Sonny and feigned a memory clicking into place. "The pregnant woman with a gunshot wound a few months back?"
"Yes," she said.
"She didn't belong in Emergency. I sent her up to Maternity."
"She's not there," Freddy said, coming in from inside the hospital. "I checked."
Sonny and Jason were finally let through, their guns and knives deposited with the guards.
"Let's go," Sonny said to Jason and Freddy.
The three men left the Emergency Room and went into the hospital proper.
Matt and Liz exchanged a look.
Epiphany passed in between them, glaring at Matt.
"You and your damned metal detector," Epiphany said.