A Broken Wing Parts 5-6


Disclaimer:
As usual, the characters depicted in this story belong to whoever owns and writes for General Hospital. I'm just borrowing.:)
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Chapter Five



Luke Spencer sat at an empty table in his club, long after it closed for the night. Images of the past ran through his mind. The day he first met her. Playing with Foster. Her smiling at something funny that Lucky said. Tears that would have never been associated with 'The Great Luke Spencer' rolled down his cheeks, unchecked, but he brushed them away.

Maybe Carly was wrong. I should ask the Cowboy about it Luke got up from his chair and walked out the door, leaving Claude to close up for the night.






Sonny Corinthos sat back, watching his best friend's enigmatic face. He had just finished telling Jason about Carly's performance at the warehouse that morning. Sonny well knew that Carly was worried about something if she bought up Emily's name. He just didn't want Carly to see it. From the second he threatened her about using Emily to get to Jason, he knew that Carly was the real deal this time. If she was out to help herself, she would have argued with him up and down the warehouse, not leave quietly. Jason knew this too.

"I don't know what to tell ya Jase.", Sonny said. "She came in there saying that she had to talk to you about your sister. She was serious man. Ah, you don't think that she's back on drugs again?", he asked.

Jason snapped out of his thoughts at that question. When Emily was on drugs, it hurt him more than most people knew. When Emily was like that, it was like someone was plunging a knife in his heart. When she went into rehab and came out clean, it was one of the happiest days in his life, besides the day Michael was born.

Jason sighed. "No, I don't think that could be it. Why would she want to be on drugs again? Everything is good in her life right now. She practically floats around.", Jason said, thinking about Lucky Spencer. He made his sister that way. When he came back, the light went back into Emily's eyes. "I'm gonna call Lucky and find out if he knows anything.", Jason said.

Sonny took that as his cue to leave. Jason had that pensive look on his face. He wanted to be alone. Sonny silently closed the door as Jason reached for his phone.






Meanwhile........



Luke Spencer knocked impatiently on his son's door. It was the wee hours of the morning and the neighbors were less than pleased.

"Shut Up!", Luke yelled.

Suddenly, Lucky opened the door, clad in a tee-shirt and sweats. He eyed his father dubiously. His father looked semi-drunk and there was no reason why. Lucky rolled his eyes and dragged his father into his apartment and locked the door. He sat his father down on his couch and went into the kitchen for a glass of water, which he gave to his father.

"Does Mom know you're here? It's one o'clock in the morning!", Lucky said, agitated.

He was patiently waiting for Luke to get to the purpose of his visit. Oh, he wasn't mad that his father came to visit him, but one did not appear on your door in the wee hours of the morning for a social call. Lucky got impatient and got up to call his mother. The phone rang six times before Laura picked up.

"Hello?", Laura said, sleepily.

It was early in the morning and she was tired. She had spent the last few hours waiting up for her errant husband, to no avail. He was probably on his way anyway.

"Hey Mom. I just called to tell you that Dad's here so you don't wait up.", Lucky said, glancing at his father. Luke had been staring into space for the last fifteen minutes. Laura sighed, relieved.

"So that's where he is. Tell him that he's gonna pay for making me wait up when he knows I have to go to the hospital later on today.", Laura said.

Lucky smiled. His father was in for it. "Will do Mom. I'll talk to you later.", Lucky said hanging up the phone. He didn't notice that the receiver wasn't fully in the cradle. "Okay Dad, I just covered for you. Now tell me why you're drunk and in my apartment at this hour.", Lucky said, not amused. "I'm supposed to bring Emily to school in what, six and a half hours. I need to sleep."

Luke's head snapped up when he heard Emily's name and he remembered why he was there. All traces of liquor were erased from his system immediately. He turned to his son and took a deep breath.

"Ha...Cowboy, I got a visit from Caroline today.", Luke said unsure of how to continue.

"Oh, I saw her today too. Me and Emily were in the park and she was passing by. Is this about Carly, because if it is it could have waited.", Lucky says.

Luke just shakes hid head. He continues his story. "Caroline came into the club, hell bent on getting a drink and asking' me if I knew where Jason was." Lucky motions to interrupt, but Luke halts him. "I gave her a drink and she kept on asking' for another one so I gave them to her. I figured that I'd throw her in a cab when she wanted to leave. Anyway, she started mumbling under her breath about telling' Jason something, so I asked her what she said."

Lucky was all ears now. "Yeah, and?", Lucky said. Carly lived in the mansion and he suspected that Emily was real unhappy there. More than usual at least. She was always getting him to take her places, like she wanted to be anywhere but in the mansion. Luke looked directly into his son's eyes and told the rest of his story.

"Lucky....she told me that she had to tell Jason that someone was beating Emily.", Luke said.

Lucky sat back into the couch. I did not hear what he just said. He said something else Lucky turned and looked at his father angrily.

"What! And you believed her?! If Em was in trouble she'd tell me!", Lucky said, then a realization came into his eyes. Luke noticed the 'look'and knew what it meant. It was the same look he had when he realized that what Caroline said could be and probably was true. "Oh God.", Lucky said, tears rolling down his face.




Chapter Six



Jason Morgan hung up the phone for the fifteenth time. He had been trying to get Lucky Spencer on the phone, getting a busy signal every time. Then he realized what time it was.

"He's probably asleep or something.", Jason said to himself. "I'll talk to him later on in the day."






Meanwhile....



"I can't believe it Dad! Why wouldn't she tell me something was wrong?", Lucky asks, bewildered. "I'm her best friend."

Lucky gets up and begins pacing around his living room, remembering past conversations. Luke watched his son warily. Lucky looked mad enough to spit. He'd never seen his son this way over anyone, not even Elizabeth. He had thought that Elizabeth and Lucky were made for each other and would protect each other forever, but now he knew better. After Liz left with Prince Nikky, Lucky seemed to distance himself from women that weren't related to him. Except Emily. He always had a soft spot in his heart for the brown-eyed girl, so he knew what Lucky was goin' through.

A thought struck Luke. "You remember when I saw that she was walking funny?", Luke says, getting his son's attention. "She said that it was because of a gym class. Maybe she's being bullied at school or somethin'.", Luke says.

Lucky looks at him, a thoughtful expression on his face. "If that's true, I'll find out today. I told Em that I would give her a ride to school.", he said, an unreadable expression on her face.

Luke just stared. Lucky had Jason's patented 'Somebody's Gonna Pay' look on his face. He almost felt sorry for whoever hit Emily. Almost. Nobody messed with that girl. No one.

Luke got up and headed for the door, passing Lucky's phone. "Hey, did you know that your phone was off the hook?", Luke asks, placing the receiver in the cradle properly. Lucky looks at him.

"Doesn't matter anyway. Who would call me at this time of night?", he says. Lucky gets up and follows his father to the door. "Listen Dad, I'll check up on Em at her school. After that, I think we need to pay a visit to Jason. He'd want to know about this.", Lucky says.

Luke nods. Jason will definitely want to know. Emily was his heart, besides Michael. He'd kill to protect her. Luke sighs. "Later Cowboy."






Emily Quartermaine rolled out of bed. Gotta do another day. Her tormentor had given her a night's respite, but it was short lived. A piece of crisply folded paper lay on her night stand. With great trepidation, she picked it up and read it. What she read struck fear into her heart.

"If you tell anyone anything, I'll destroy everyone you love, starting with the Spencer. I know how you look at him. See you tonight."

Emily got up and stuffed the note under her stationary. The tears in her eyes threatened to spill over, but there was nothing she could do. Besides, wasn't she a bad person? He'd said it herself. She was bad and needed to be punished for what she had done to her family. I guess I deserve it or this wouldn't be happening to me With those sad thoughts Emily got ready to face another day.






Meanwhile....



Lucky Spencer drove down the familiar roads to the Quartermaine Estate. The conversation that he had played in his head over and over and he cursed himself for not seeing something earlier. It had taken a person that Emily didn't even like to see that something was wrong with her. That hurt. He was supposed to be her best friend and he let her down.

"Never again Em.", Lucky said aloud to himself. "Never again".

As he turned into the Q's private strip of road, he passed AJ, who scowled at him from the seat of his luxury sedan.

Lucky flashed him the 'Spencer Grin'. AJ sped off in a huff. That was when Lucky realized that he was early.

"Oh, well. I'll just go in and wait for her". Lucky drove up and parked his truck. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. Monday was in full swing. Lucky got out of his truck and rang the bell. A few seconds later, a disgruntled Reginald answered the door.

"Hey Lucky. Edward's on the war path. Go give him hell.", he said, with an evil grin. He could always count on Lucky Spencer to rile the old man.

Lucky grinned, but shook his head. He had important stuff to do. "Is Emily ready yet?", he asked.

Reginald shook his head. "I haven't heard a peep out of her all morning. If she doesn't hurry, she'll be late.", Reginald said.

Suddenly, there were footsteps coming down the stairs. Reginald turned away as Lucky looked up to see his cousin and her son. Carly looked up and blanched when she saw who was at the bottom of the staircase. Carly rarely got drunk, and when she did, she usually said something that she wasn't supposed to. Yesterday was no exception. She told Luke something that she shouldn't have and by the look on Lucky's face, Luke repeated it.

Seeing no way out, Carly continued down the steps to face an angry Spencer.

"Um...Goodmorning Lucky.", Carly said with a small smile She tried to hurry past him, but Lucky grabbed her arm.

"I have to talk to you...now.", Lucky said. "Now." It was a demand. Carly nodded her head. Lucky was truly his father's son today.

"Stay here. I have to bring Michael to Leticia in the family room.", Carly quickly gave Michael to Leticia and hurried back. She grabbed Lucky's arm and dragged him up the steps. Things needed to be said. "I can't believe I'm trying to help the little brat.", Carly thought to herself.






Emily applied the last touches to her makeup. She had bags under her eyes and a sallow complexion, all testament to her restlessness.

"Everything is fine. Everything is fine.", she said to herself. Yeah, keep telling yourself that a voice in her head said. She gathered up her books and surveyed her room. She had taken time to clean it up so no one would rag on her about it. As she reached for her jacket, she felt a sharp pain in her side. Frozen in place, Emily took shallow breaths to ease the pain. She had long suspected that her ribs might be bruised or cracked, but wouldn't go to a doctor. They asked too many questions. "Everything is fine. Everything is fine and dandy. Lucky's back and everything is okay."






Carly Quartermaine turned around to face her cousin. She had dragged him into one of the guest suites in the mansion. She smoothed her hair back as she watched Lucky take a seat. He said one word,

"Talk".

Carly took a deep breath and sat down. "Your father told you something didn't he?",Carly asked, already knowing the answer.

Lucky nodded. "He told me that you said someone was beating Emily. Why would you say that Carly?", he asked, still not wanting to believe what he already knew to be true in his heart. Carly gave him a sad smile.

"You really love her, don't you?", she asked.

Lucky nodded again. "She's my best friend. I'd die for her." Carly gave him a 'look'. Whatever those two had, it went deeper than 'best friends', but she shrugged it off. She had to get this off her chest.

"Lucky, I'm gonna tell you some stuff, but its just what I saw. You know that there is no love lost between me and Emily, but that girl is hurtin' man.", Carly said. "Ah...Sunday, Lila asked me to go see if Emily was up 'cause she was supposed to meet you.", Carly says. Lucky motions for her to continue. "Anyway, I said I'd go wake her up or something 'cause Lila was my friend. I had to get a toy for Michael too. I went to get the toy first and I heard some water runnin." By this time, Lucky was looking at her so intently that she could actually feel his gaze, like they were lazer beams.

"Get to it Carly, I have to take Em to school."

Carly nodded. She didn't know he could get so serious. "Um, I followed the sound of water and it was coming from Emily's room. I pushed in the door and looked around. Her room looked like a bomb hit it! You know, clothes and stuff everywhere." Lucky glared at her and she continued. "The door to her private bathroom was kinda open so I pushed it in. It was bad man. She had bruises everywhere except her face! She saw me and started yellin' at me to get out when I asked her what happened. Listen Lucky, I don't care WHAT she said, but no gym class does that. Somebody's beatin' her.", Carly said. That's it, I've laid my cards out

Lucky got up and paced the room, his jaw ticking. Suddenly, he turned on Carly.

"What were you talkin' about in the park yesterday, and don't say decorating.", he said.

Carly squirmed. That boy was too smart sometimes. "I was trying to get her to tell me what was goin' on. I told her that if she couldn't tell me, I was gonna tell her brother. I just wanted to help.", Carly said. "I know its ironic, me wanting to help her, but I kinda like her, even though we fight."

Lucky looked at her with a small smile. "I always knew that.", he says.

Carly just shrugs. "I'm still gonna tell her brother, Lucky. Jason deserves to know. He could protect her.", she says, getting up.

Lucky nods. "Not if I get there first. Me and Dad are going over there today.", he says. Carly nods. She thought as much. Lucky was not going to sit on this longer than he had to. They both head to the door and leave the room. Carly heads downstairs, her heart (yes she has one) lighter for getting all that off her chest. Lucky heads for Emily's room.






Emily looked up sharply as she heard a knock at her door. She hoped it wasn't Carly. She'd been successfully avoiding her god son's mother since she came home last night. Suddenly, she heard a voice, muffled through the door.

"Hey Em, you in there? You're gonna be late for school. Can I come in?", Lucky asked. Emily smiled. Lucky was here. Everything was going to be fine.

"Sure I'm just fixing some stuff in my back pack.", Emily said, quickly grabbing it off the floor.

She grinned through her pain as Lucky opened the door to her prison. Emily got up quicker than she thought she could ever move, gave Lucky a hug and grabbed his hand.

"What's up? You have a funny look on your face. Something wrong?", Emily asked, concerned for her best friend. She walked ahead of him and down the steps. She didn't see the look that Lucky was giving her.

"Oh, I was thinking about a conversation I had with my Dad. Nothing important.", Lucky said.

Emily turned and gave him a smile. "Then don't frown!", she said cheerfully. Emily made her way into the family room, said 'hello' and left, Carly giving her an odd look the whole time. "Let's go!", Emily said brightly. Lucky shrugged as she lead him to the door and to his truck.

They rode in silence until they were half way to PC High. All of a sudden, Lucky turned to look Emily in the face. "Em, you know you're my best friend, right?", Lucky asked. Emily gave him a smile.

"Forever.", she replied.

Lucky nodded. "You know that I would do anything for you right? You know that you can tell me anything.", he said. Emily nodded. She didn't know where this conversation was going.

"I'd do the same for you Lucky, you know that.", Emily said. Lucky nodded his head in satisfaction and gave his attention to the road once more.

In no time, they were in front of the high school. Emily turned and gave Lucky a hug. He used to come out with her, but didn't because of all the airheads that would follow him around. After coming back, he became some kind of weird celebrity.

"I'll see you later, Em.", Lucky yelled, as she gave him a bright wave from the steps. Lucky drove his car away as Emily slowly walked up the steps.