Chapter 66- Mixed Couples

Adam grunted when immediately after the hearing, Stuart went over to shake Marian, Zach, and Liza's hands. "What in Sam Hill is wrong with him? He never does anything I tell him!"

"Dad, calm down," Hayley said in her raspy voice.

Adam huffed. "Stuart just gave away half his assets to the woman who cheated on him!"

"For once I agree with Daddy," Skye spoke up. "We should've stopped him. Marian should be spending the rest of her life paying Uncle Stuart back for the way she treated him. Not the other way around."

"Enough," Myrtle spoke up. "It was Stuart's choice and Stuart's choice only to make. Whether we agree with it or not and whether or not it seems fair, it was his choice, and we need to support him on it. In fact, all of us could learn to be as generous as Stuart is. Perhaps everyone would get along better then."

"Grandma…" Skye scowled at her. "Whose side are you on?"

"Stuart's, of course," Myrtle said. "And if this is what makes him happy, then it makes me happy too. It's a lesson for all of us to turn the other cheek and to bless our enemies."

Adam groaned. "Oh, enough of your preaching! Why are you here anyway?"

"Stuart is my friend."

"Well, I think you've been spending way too much time with him. He is a Chandler. And Chandlers do not hang around uncouth low-life carnival workers like you!"

"Shut up!" Skye blurted out. "Don't talk to my grandma like that. I just happen to think an old carnie is much more couth and refined than a miserable rich man like you!"

Adam grunted and headed over to Stuart.

Skye groaned. "I need to get out of here and away from Daddy's stench."

"What time is your date?" Myrtle asked.

"He'll be here any minute."

"Jax?"

"No." Skye frowned. "It's Ryan Lavery."

"Oh. Well, he's a lovely man. But I thought you liked Jax."

"Well, that's history. He's with Kendall now."

Myrtle gaped at her. "Jax and Kendall are an item?"

Skye nodded. "The little boyfriend stealer…"

"What time will you be home?" Myrtle asked.

Skye shrugged. "Depends on how the date goes, I guess. Okay, Daddy's stench is lingering… I'm going to wait for Ryan outside. Give Uncle Stuart a big hug for me."

After Skye left, Myrtle spoke to Scott and Hayley for a few minutes, then made her way over to Adam and Stuart. "Stuart, you are such a generous man."

"Pfft!" Adam gritted his teeth. "He made a huge mistake, that's what he did. He's too naïve and too trusting! What he did was stupid and it's going to affect all of us!"

Stuart pouted and his eyes welled with tears.

"Oh, don't listen to that old nincompoop!" Myrtle glared at Adam, then smiled at Stuart. "This was your decision to make, and I think it shows how big your heart is."

Stuart started to smile, but Adam stomped off towards Hayley and Scott.

Myrtle patted his cheek. "You just continue to be yourself and don't mind what Adam says."

"Ahem."

They turned to find a woman in a skirt walk into the courtroom. "Is Myrtle Fargate or Skye Chandler here?"

Myrtle and Stuart walked over to her. "I'm Myrtle Fargate. My granddaughter just left."

"I'm the receptionist. Erica Kane just called. Your daughter was taken to Llanview Hospital by ambulance."

Myrtle's heart skipped a beat, and her knees almost gave out.

Stuart reached for her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Rae will be okay. I'll go with you."

FargateFargateFargate

Erica sat in the waiting area for what felt like an eternity. She wasn't worried about losing Rae, no, siree. She was worried with how this would affect Myrtle. That explained the quick beat of her heart and the dread in the pit of her belly. Not to mention racing thoughts of every argument she ever had with Rae, Rae calming her down in the elevator, and their late nights of worrying together over Skye and Kendall… No. Nope. This was just about how Myrtle would respond to this.

She casted aside the copy of the Sun that she didn't retain any information from, and she made her way to the nurse's desk. From there, she was directed to Rae's room. Just as she turned the corner, two porters pushed an unconscious Rae into the hallway on a stretcher. Following them was Dr. Larry Wolek with a chart.

"Doctor…" Erica walked over to him as the stretcher disappeared down the hallway. "How is she? Where are they taking her?"

Dr. Wolek cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, I can only give out a patient's status to family.

Erica stood up taller. "I am her sister! And I demand you tell me everything right now."

He nodded. "We've given her something for the fever and nausea which will make her sleep for a few hours. I'm very concerned with her swollen abdomen and the fact she's been constipated for four days. And even worse, she told me she's had this issue for weeks, but it just got worse this weekend. I'm sending her for an ultrasound, and we'll go from there."

"How long will the ultrasound take?"

"Since this is an emergency, we should have the results within the hour."

Erica set her hands on her hips. "And did Rae say just exactly why she didn't tell any of us about it if it's been going on for weeks?"

"All she said was she had more important things going on."

FargateFargateFargate

Ryan and Skye walked into the dining room at the Yacht Club at just the same time as Jax and Kendall. Skye and Kendall shot daggers at each other, then both held their heads high and led their dates to opposite sides of the room.

"Don't you want to speak to Kendall?" Ryan asked as he pulled the chair out for Skye.

"No."

"I thought you were friends."

Skye scoffed. "I thought so too."

When the waiter brought their menus, Ryan looked up longingly when Jake and Gillian walked in and sat near Jax and Kendall. As they decided what to eat, Leo and Becca came in and sat near them. Moments later, Scott and Greenlee arrived, and Greenlee purposely sat near Leo and Becca.

But what surprised Skye most was when her new brother AJ walked in with no other than her other brother Jason's baby mama and they came right over to their table.

"Hey, Skye," AJ said. "This is a nice place. I just found out about it."

Skye raised an eyebrow. "And is there a reason why you're out with Jason's—?"

AJ shot her a look. "With Jason's old suit? He hasn't worn it since before his accident. I figure it shouldn't collect dust."

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "It's good to see you, Skye. Can you introduce us to your date?"

Skye stared at her for a few seconds, but finally responded. "This is Ryan Lavery."

AJ and Elizabeth found a table not too far from them. Skye gritted her teeth. "How could they do that to Jason?"

"Who's Jason?" Ryan asked.

"And here I thought AJ was the brother I connected to most…"

FargateFargateFargate

Stuart and Myrtle found Erica and John (whom Erica also called) outside of Rae's room. Erica filled them in on the ultrasound and that the doctor would be there soon to read them the results.

Finally, Dr. Wolek returned.

"Is she all right?" John asked.

"What is wrong with her?" Myrtle asked.

Dr. Wolek sighed. "I'm afraid she has Intestinal pseudo-obstruction."

Myrtle's face paled.

"What's that?" Erica asked.

"It means she has a severe impairment in the ability of the intestines to push food through."

"My father had that," Myrtle said and Stuart held her hand.

Dr. Wolek nodded. "It is sometimes genetic. She can't digest properly so we're going to have to put her on a feeding tube. But before we can do that, she's being prepped for a procedure called intestinal decompression. It's performed by inserting a tube within the intestines allowing us to decompress abnormally swollen segments of the intestines. We'll update you as soon as it's over."

"Rae was dealing with this for weeks and she didn't say a word to any of us!?" Erica said in frustration. "They could've caught it sooner!"

"We better tell Skye," John said.

Myrtle shook her head. "No. We can't even see Rae right now. Let Skye enjoy her date. Rae would want that."

Erica scoffed. "Who cares about Skye's date? I have my own negative feelings about Skye, but for some God forsaken reason, Rae loves her and needs her here."

"I don't even know where Skye went on the date," Myrtle said.

"Well, do you know who she went with?" Erica asked.

"Ryan Lavery."

"Well, I have his cell phone number. If you won't contact her, then I will myself." She pulled out her phone and walked a little away from them.

FargateFargateFargate

Ryan pulled his phone out of his pocket when it began to ring, but after looking at the caller ID, he hit decline.

"Aren't you going to answer?" Skye asked.

"Oh, it's just Erica," Ryan said. "We are on a date and it's rude to be on the phone when you're supposed to give a woman your complete attention."

"Erica, eh?"

"If it were an emergency I would answer. But she's been wanting me to run a site for Enchantment."

Skye excused herself and headed to the bathroom. She leaned over the sink and stared at the mirror. "Jax doesn't want me. He hasn't even looked over at me and Ryan once. I guess jealousy is a one-way street."

She looked up as Elizabeth walked in.

"Hello, Skye," Elizabeth said. "Ryan seems like a nice guy—"

"What are you playing at?" Skye crossed her arms. "Don't you know that Jason is crazy about you? And you're supposed to be pregnant with his kid, but now you're seeing AJ? Well, then I think both Jason and AJ deserve better than you!"

Elizabeth sighed. "You don't understand—"

"And all of this after Jason rescued you from drowning?"

"Skye, it's all a show."

Skye scrunched her face. "A show?"

Elizabeth made her there was no one out of the bathroom. "It was actually Jason's idea. I wasn't for it at first, but he and AJ talked me into it."

"What are you talking about?"

"We're pretending AJ's the father so I can move into the Quartermaine mansion for protection against Jason's enemies. No one can know though. That's why we're making public appearances to keep up the act. Just until Jason thinks we're safer."

"And just why would both Jason and AJ agree to this?"

"For the baby's sake… well, Jason said for my safety too. I don't know why AJ wanted to come to Pine Valley for dinner, though. I though it was to convince people in Port Charles.

"Jason must trust you a lot."

When Skye and Elizabeth made their way out, they passed Ryan who just pulled his phone out but this time he answered it. Inside the dining room, AJ was looking over at Jax and Kendall as Kendall massaged Jax's hand.

Skye gritted her teeth and marched over to their table. She grabbed a bottle of steak sauce, yanked off the lid, then poured it onto Kendall's lap.

Kendall scoffed. "What was that for?"

"What was that for!?" Skye seized Kendall's brown curls and tugged her to her feet. Kendall reached for Skye's arm and bit her. "OW! No one takes something from me and gets away with it!"

"I haven't taken anything from you!"

Skye tackled Kendall to the floor, and they rolled around, pulling each other's hair.

"Skye, stop." Ryan called out, then pulled Kendall off of her. "Come on. You need to get to the hospital."

"What? Why? I was about to shred Kendall to pieces!" She charged at her again, but Ryan held her back.

"Your mom is in the hospital," Ryan said. "That's why Erica was calling me."

Skye turned to him. "What?"

"Come on, I'll drive you."

"Are you serious?" Kendall asked.

Ryan crossed his arms. "Would I lie about something like that?"

Kendall frowned. "Skye, I can take you."

Skye scoffed. "Like I'd go anywhere with the boyfriend stealer!" She turned back to Ryan. "I don't know what you're talking about. Mom had just a small flu bug, but she's fine—"

"She's not fine," Ryan said. "Erica had to call an ambulance."

"Skye, are you okay?" AJ came to her side and wrapped his arms around her.

"We'd be more than happy to take you," Elizabeth offered.

"She's really in the hospital?" Skye asked.

Ryan nodded and Skye's face paled.